Author Archives: tashavic

Childhood Memories

So, I was procrastinating again, and got a new idea for a blog post. If you’re a facebook friend of mine you might have seen my status update a week ago; ‘Natasha is never going to procastinate ever again! Too scared!’ or something along those lines.. Well.. Here I am, avoiding school work – again..

Either way, I came to think of a song I wanted to listen to which I don’t have in my iTunes. I went on to youtube, and because I have an account there, and youtube has started to know me pretty well it had several suggestions to what I should listen to. I took it’s suggestion to listen to the intro to one of my favourite TV shows as a kid, and I figured; ‘Why not collect them all in a blog post?!’

I’m dedicating this to my dearest sister, Vanya, who I shared most of my childhood with!

‘Sesam stasjon’

This is the Norwegian equivalent to Sesame Street. I believe it’s the earliest memory I’ve got from what’s called BarneTV (Children’s TV) on NRK (the state broadcasting channel). This is not the complete video I remember, but at least this is a clip with the right song.

‘Jul i Skomakergata’

This was the intro melody to my favourite pre-Christmas show (I have none what so ever idea what these are called in English). It’s like a series sending one episode every day from December 1st through December 24th. This is obviously the intro for December 4th, as you can see from the ’4′ at the beginning of the video.
Btw, the title translates into ‘Christmas On the Cobbler Street’ (cobbler as in shoemaker, and not as pie).

‘Hvem er denne karen? – Jon Blund’

Sigh.. This was a part of the show ‘Jul i Skomakergata’. For those of you who weren’t born/old enough/don’t speak Norwegian, the talking part in the middle of the song is a presentation of an UN children’s human right.
The song;
Who is this guy with a bag and hat on?
He looks a little like Santa, but it’s not him, it’s Jon Blund (Sandman).
He visits big and small (as in old and young).
Yes, Jon Blund brings something every night to all small ones.
Something interesting, funny and weird.
The evenings ‘right’ is about to begin.
Let us start; ready, set, go.
(..)
I always get sleepy as soon as Jon Blund leaves.
It’s always been like that with Jon Blund.
I will/want to sleep soon.
Thank for now, and good night.

‘Thomas toget’

I don’t know how many times I’ve seen this clip, always humming the tune. Ask my parents, and they’ll tell you this was one of the shows I watched the most in my early years.

‘The Flintstones’

This is for sure one of my all time favourite childhood memories! I loved(!) the Flintstones! My parents even took me to the Flintstones theme park outside of Vancouver, B.C. for my 3rd birthday! I got to shake hands with Fred and Barney! I have vague memories of being there, but I love the pictures and one story in particular which my mom and dad likes to tell me from time to time.

My dad used to record Flintstones episodes for me and my sister on VHS cassettes. I think he started using the cassettes to record other stuff later, but I’m for sure checking in the basement the next time I’m visiting them!
I don’t really know why, but quite a few of the episodes we had on VHS were dubbed in Swedish, so the next intro gives me about the same amount of good memories (maybe more) than the English one (can’t remember ever seeing it in Norwegian).

As I can’t let you off with only TWO memories from the Flintstones when they’re one of my all time childhood memories, I’m slipping in this one as well! I believe Fred remembered his and Wilma’s wedding anniversary very late on the actual night, after Wilma had been trying to give him hints all day. He tried stealing a piano, with Barney’s help of course, got caught by the police, and they all ended up singing and playing for Wilma in the middle of the night. Enjoy;

As I’m going to leave the Flintstones for this time, I’ll give you the credits as well!

‘Tom & Jerry’

My sister and I actually had teddy bears looking like Tom and Jerry. I had Tom, and my sister had Jerry. I remember us playing with them, making them fight, and me getting angry (for real) every time she told me Jerry always won. I think somewhere deep inside I was disappointed I wasn’t the owner of the Jerry bear.
Funny thing though; the Jerry bear was almost the same size as Tom.

‘Muldvarpen’

I’ve got mixed feelings towards this one. I remember it as fun, but still, something tells me I thought it was somewhat boring. Hmm.. Got to ask my parents.

‘Emil i Lønneberget’

This is one of two intros I remember to this show. How I used to feel sorry for Emil. His dad was always so angry.

‘Asterix and Obelix’

My siblings and I have watched the Asterix and Obelix cartoons a million times. We used to borrow them from the local library and watch them several times over the one week we had them each time. Ahh.. This is the intro, though in French. I believe the once we used to watch were in English, though I’m really language confused some times, so they might have been in Norwegian – who knows.

I could have added so many more, but then I’d have been unable to make dinner for my lovely ‘room mate’ today – which I’ve promised I will. I’m making ‘Spaghetti a la dinosaur’! :D Wonder what it is? If it turns out good I’ll post a picture!

If I’m not working during Christmas holiday, I think I’ll dig out as many movies etc. from my childhood, wrap myself up in blankets and just re-live the good old golden days! What a plan!

Stay tuned! (:

And a small PS.: I’m sorry you can’t see much of this Mathilde, but this made my day (so to speak).

Facebook Fasting

I’ve got some abstinences. I want to click the link. I can’t. I’d disappoint myself, and everyone I’ve told. I’m fasting from facebook.

Most people my age have a facebook account. Some people rarely check in to see if something new has happened. Others, like myself, sign in way too often. While working on a paper I’d check facebook every 10 min or so (minimum!). I’ve been aware of it being too much for a long time now, and after talking with Marthe about it I decided I’d start fasting – from facebook. The plan; Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday I’m not allowed on facebook.

Are you laughing at me? Well, I’ll tell you this; I’ve done it succesfully for two weeks already!

It’s important, not only for me, but most people to realize what’s in your way of doing better at school, having a healthy relationship with your friends, family, and not to forget God. For me, it was facebook. I spent so much time on facebook, not doing anything at all really I figured it was time to do something about it.

Some days it’s hard staying away, but some times, like right now for instance, it’s no problem. When I sign in on Saturday not much will have happened, so why bother? I’m better off like this.

Guess who’s proud of herself! (:

God Has Plans For YOU!

” ‘For I know the plans I have for you’,
declares the lord,
‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future’.”

-Jeremiah 29,11

Coffee Noodles

While I was staying in China, Isaac and I were talking about the life of an average student (or something along those lines). We agreed that coffee and noodles had to be the things mostly consumed by students. Isaac started joking around with the idea of making noodles in coffee. I think he was kind of disgusted by the thought, while I was more amused. I promised that I’d make it, and eat it of course, when I became a student. Since then I’ve found out I shouldn’t drink too much coffee, but I’ve still kept my promise. I’m handing in an exam paper tomorrow morning, and figured today would be a good day doing it. I’ve been looking forward to doing it for a while (all though I’m not a big fan of prepacked noodles), and ‘bragging’ about it a little as well.

Here’s the result, dedicated to Isaac;

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PS.. I think I deserved the ice cream afterwards..!

Edit: It didn’t really taste too bad. Hadn’t it been for the fact that I shouldn’t drink too much coffee, I might’ve just as well made it again.

Å gjøre noe for andre

Fredag stod jeg opp flere timer før jeg trengte for å rekke forelesningen min. Jeg hadde ordna med det lenge i forveien, fått innkallelse, og skulle troppe opp på blodbanken ved Haukeland sjukehus senest halv åtte. Jeg var klar for å bli blodgiver!

Jeg prøver ikke å si at jeg er flink som gjør dette, men det er viktig med “awareness” som det så fint heter på engelsk.

Liv avhenger av dyrebart blod. Jeg har lenge forestilt meg at jeg var for redd for sprøyter til å gi blod. Jeg tok min første blodprøve mens jeg gikk på videregående. Jeg husker jeg var overraska over hvor liten greie det faktisk var. De stikker deg såvidt i armen (hvis de finner en god åre – noe som visst er vanskelig med meg), og greit nok, nåla sitter i armen din, men det er jo ikke mer enn det! Hvorfor skal ikke jeg takle et BITTELITE stikk for at blodet mitt kan komme til nytt for noen som trenger det!? Hvem veit, det kan jo hende det er en av mine beste venner som ender opp med det. Jeg bryr meg ikke så lenge jeg kan hjelpe – på en av de få måtene jeg kan.

Bli blodgiver i dag ved å gå inn på www.giblod.no/www/banks/map.asp?level=7348, finn din nærmeste blodbank, og “sign up”! Det er tipp-topp-tommel-opp!

En annen ting det går an å gjøre er å bli organdonor! Det er også en kjempegreie! Du får ikke opplevd det på samme måten som ved å gi blod, men livsviktig er det uansett! Hva slags nytte har du av organene dine når du er død uansett? Hva med å si seg villig til å hjelpe noen andre? Hva med å gjøre det en kan for å være et godt medmenneske så lenge man kan?

Hva med å tenke på folk rundt seg framfor seg selv? Hva med å gjøre noe for noen som trenger det mer enn deg?

An Opportunity To Improve

YOU Are Beautiful!

I’ve been struggeling really low self esteem for as long as I can remember. It’s been really bad at times, and I tend to neglect myself and what I need, and rather be there for others. A good friend of mine told me this summer to look my reflection straight in the eyes every morning and say out loud; ‘You are beautiful!’ I didn’t really like the idea, but I noticed a difference between the days I did it, and the days I didn’t do it.

Now, a couple months later, and about a month and a half into my first semester I’ve noticed a difference within myself. I’ve realized how I matter, and the only person going to fight for me, is (yes, of course you guessed it!) me! It’s time for me to stand up for myself, and do things my way. No one knows who I am here, so why should I care what they think about me? I’m who I am, and I should be proud of myself!

I don’t know who you are (or maybe I do), and I for sure don’t know how you feel about yourself. But I know this;

Yes you are indeed!

How To Treat Others

I know I’m not writing anything myself when I leave you guys with these links, but I’m still sharing..!

Read this, and take a moment to consider how you actually treat the people around you, and how you’d like to be treated!

How To Treat Others: 5 Lessons From an Unknown Author.


Don’t really know how well the picture matches the topic, but hey, I like it!

A Word of Comfort

“The Lord your God is with you,
He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
He will quiet you with his love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”

-Zephaniah 3,17

You tell him, sister!

I just had to laugh when I read this. I can’t say I really care, but the lady’s got a point! (:
Read and smile.

So Funny I did not Change a Word – Velina – Open Salon.