When writing…only occasionally…every other day…now…just to fuel the creative fire.
“I can DO this! Right? RIGHT?”
“This is OK, I’m in touch with my thoughts and my feelings, and I need that, I can identify them, I am my own psychoanalyst, I’m my own well of double-checking for that realistic human touch, I can DESCRIBE, for God’s sake, just the fact that I’m writing down this (hopefully not pointless) stream of consciousness makes me my very own James Joyce, so THERE.”
“Oh no. I’ve been sitting here for an hour now, and the text field is still empty. Shouldn’t something be happening by now?”
“This idea isn’t working. Why did I think it would work? Am I writing and making sense, or am I just typing whatever comes to mind? Does this even sound like me? Is it authentic? Is it true? Is it just a monologue about my idiosyncrasies and nothing more? Noooooo.”
“I don’t know if it works, or if it turned out the way I wanted it to, but at least I finished it! And now I can dance! Watch mah fingers!”
“Huh, I’m getting likes for this? Wow! Yes, of course this was a brilliant idea, dahling.”
“I’m just going to go outside and breathe in the smell of flowers and look at butterflies. It might inspire me, I’m allowed! Everything will be alright!”
I have stretched this last post quite a bit, or rather posting it, and therefore extended the Oslo experience… Oh, Oslo. You have won my heart.
With these feelings tugging on the sensitive strings of my soul, we got up to fill up our last full day in Oslo. The perks of having an evening flight is still having enough time to do things after checking out in the hotel. We left our bags and off we went. The Oslo City Hall had been popping up in front of us the previous days as we returned by different routes from our various escapades. I had read that it was free and it seemed fitting to visit this building (completed in 1950) which was important to Oslo before leaving the Norwegian capital.
A short ride in the tram and we hopped out at the familiar dock from where we had made the beautiful ferry trip on the Oslofjord. It was another gloriously sunny day and I couldn’t remember when I had last taken so many unfiltered Instagram photos. We confidently proceeded to the front part (as I thought) of the City Hall facing the water, to discover a polite note on the door that said the main entrance was at the opposite end. We could have actually walked straight there from the National Theater, but maybe the subsequent discovery would not have left such a strong impression otherwise.
The part of the City Hall which one usually sees when out and about is noticeable, but not necessarily immediately arresting. It deserves a closer look, a longer stop to see that this facade already includes some reserved, but artistic details among its marked rectangularness and red brick. But the main entrance took me completely by surprise.
I had read about it, or maybe I had not read enough. A beautiful clock adorned one side of the facade in front of us, while numerous carvings, engravings and sculptures stood out from the stone parts of the display. Everything you see is responding to events in Norway’s history and also depicting scenes from Norwegian mythology, like the colourful murals lining both walls stretching towards the entrance. My favourite? The three valkyries. And once inside, the quite dignity of the spacious, light-flooded main hall and its beautiful upper floors make for a joyful and respectful observation of wall-high murals depicting life and work in Norway, especially after World War II.
In short, don’t miss this, the City Hall is an absolute must among (free!) places to see in Oslo.
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After that we dashed to the Popsenteret for some afternoon fun, Oslo’s museum about the history of Norwegian pop music. Slightly hidden in a courtyard situated parallel to the street listed online, the Popsenteret is an interactive museum. Inevitably and quickly we walk past an exhibit about the band A-ha and I start singing along. “Taaalking away/ I don’t know what I’m to saaay/ I’ll say it anyway/ Today’s another day to find you/ Shyyying away/ I’ll be coming for your love, OK?/ Taaake ooon me (take on me)/ Taaake me ooon (take on me)/ I’ll be gooone/ In a day or twooo…” Ach, the memories! Such nostalgia. There’s also a booth for recording yourself and a drum set with some headphones where we let loose. The results did not sound bad at all!
A very special city, indeed. A kaleidoscope of impressions, experiences and memories. Oslo!
“Touch your eye, touch your eye, nothing bad can happen!” says the optician encouragingly. I can tell he’s hovering somewhere to my left, but not much else, because my eyes are shut tight, as my brain is telling me the opposite of “nothing bad can happen” every time my hand tries to take out the contact lens. The optician had to take them out himself and that was the end of my eyewear other than glasses experience, after which I had to go look at shoes for half an hour to calm down.
This brief tour, which resulted in the familiar yearnings of a nearsighted person wishing to see like she does with glasses on when she goes swimming or dancing, brought me down to Earth and reminded me that I do like glasses much more after all, at least for now. They agree with me.
So! Obviously when you wear something on your face quite regularly, it plays a part in your interactions with the world. For some reason I often get treated like a teenager or asked if I’m in school if I wear mine when out in the city, with the use of the German pronoun du in my direction statistically going up. I have never been teased because of my glasses, but then I don’t remember having a problem with wearing them, as seeing well was always a priority. Tripping and hurting myself on a date was not something I wanted to experience, or being glasses-free, but not getting a good look at the guy opposite me. And I enjoy my memories when they are focused, not blurry. No way I’m not getting a proper view of my favourite band playing. Also, when you actually put on glasses, you immediately become conscious of just how many people around you are wearing them.
My first ever pair was on the circular side, elegantly shaped, and the frames were multicoloured. I’m actually wishing they were available now in my adult size. The base was dark blue and artfully covered with specks of colour. I had picked them all by myself and I loved them. Over the years, checking my bag to see whether I hadn’t forgotten my glasses case became second nature, and that’s still the same today (with the same added for my phone and house keys). Fun cases are another part of owning glasses. I got one in Oslo covered with the motif from Starry Night by Edvard Munch. And I was extra proud of the new frames I saved up for after I got my first job – that was the first time I had gotten new frames because I felt like having different ones.
Styling around glasses if I have to go out and wear them for a few hours, particularly for special occasions, is a normal part of the daily styling experience, but also a fun one. I don’t have to wear glasses all the time to get around, but I like to sometimes, especially during an evening do. My go-to tips?
If you love your frames, whatever you do will work, because you are already comfortable!
Just as you would otherwise, go with outfit colours that bring out your eye colour.
Pick a hairstyle that won’t make you constantly adjust the hair around the frames.
Complimenting colourful earrings if your hair is pulled away from your face.
Smile!
Sometimes the fact that you are wearing glasses does make you rethink the process of putting an outfit together. Here is one example with three looks for inspiration. I like how relaxed the vlogger is with the glasses she has on.
As mentioned, hairstyles are also a factor you might reconsider when you wear glasses. This vlogger shows five ideas, which might also get you thinking of your own.
I’m convinced glasses have also considerably upped their cool since a certain wizard with a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead forever joined our lives, so here’s to seeing, playing, and enjoying.
I wanted to use another adjective in the title for this post, but there’s a list of vocabulary that I will not use in this blog, hence the (still good) choice of synonym. I was standing at the bus stop the other day and feeling a strong urge to succumb to acting in a way that would match the offending adjective, so I simply started thinking, what can I do to make sure that won’t happen? Because I didn’t like it. The feeling was giving me a lot of energy, though, so what can I do? turned in to how can I refocus this?
Well, the wish to act out can be channelled in to sensible things like letting loose for your morning strut to work, or what feels like a strut to you.
Continuing with the Charlie’s Angels theme, flip that hair while you’re at it!
You WILL catch that bus, dammit! Run, baby, run!
How about a little self-imposed psycho-analysis? What exactly is making you feel this way? Did you spill your coffee at breakfast? Did you not get quite enough sleep? Does the dude in the line in front of you stink? Spilled coffee can be wiped up, stained shirts can be changed (if you’re already somewhere else when this happened, remember the world at large always has other things to worry about), one can catch up on sleep and the dude in front of you will eventually move away, or you can change your spot.
Basically it’s better to remember the nice thing your grandma said to you yesterday evening on the phone, or scroll through the Instagram pictures from your recent city break. And whatever anyone else who really is mean does or says:
“Oh no. I’ve been sitting here for an hour now, and the text field is still empty. Shouldn’t something be happening by now?”
“This idea isn’t working. Why did I think it would work? Am I writing and making sense, or am I just typing whatever comes to mind? Does this even sound like me? Is it authentic? Is it true? Is it just a monologue about my idiosyncrasies and nothing more? Noooooo.”
“I don’t know if it works, or if it turned out the way I wanted it to, but at least I finished it! And now I can dance! Watch mah fingers!”
“Huh, I’m getting likes for this? Wow! Yes, of course this was a brilliant idea, dahling.”
Writsomnia 
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