Steder der vi bor

Over en milliard mennesker bor i slum. I utstillingen "Steder der vi bor" viser Magnum-fotografen Jonas Bendiksen 20 hjem i fire slumområder.

Utstillingen utfordrer publikum til å tenke på hva vil det si å leve i en by i det 21. århundre. Bendiksen har besøkt fire slumområder - Kenya, Indonesia, India og Venezuela - valgt ut fra geografisk spredning og variasjon av slumformer. Han skildrer forskjellige aspekter ved slumtilværelsen, fra samfunnets dårligst stilte til slummens ”stormenn”.

Hadde jeg bodd i Oslo skulle jeg tatt meg en tur på utstilling. Mer informasjon her.

Breathing

In yoga, we learn to breathe in ways that facilitate our practice, protect our bodies, and quiet the internal noise of the mind. Since breathing is an involuntary function, it can be a mental shift to think consciously about every breath you take. You don't need to shift into conscious breathing overnight, but slowly begin to bring more awareness to your breath during your practice.

Start by breathing in and out through the nose, not the mouth. This practice will ensure cleaner air, because the nose functions as an air "conditioner" by humidifying and filtering inhaled air. In contrast, when you breathe through the mouth, the air that enters the body doesn't gain the benefit of this filtration process, so it may be drier and contain more pollutants. As yogis say, "The nose is for breathing, the mouth is for eating."

You can learn more here (a bit long and winded...).

Obamania

George Bush

I am really happy his Presidency is almost over, but will really really miss all the laughs he has given us. This is hilarious!

Happy New Year!

I hope 2009 will be a fantastic year for all of us! 2007 and 2008 were both a bit tough for me, so I think 2009 will be a great comeback.

Cliff and I spent Christmas in Norway, which was wonderful. It was so nice to see family and friends again! Special thoughts to Bitten&Frode and Marie&Ronny who became parents to beautiful Aurora and Eirik. Look forward to spending more time with them as they grow up!

New Years Eve was spent in Amsterdam, which was fantastic! Almost a war zone there with all the drunken people shooting fireworks all over the place, but it was so much fun. We also got to do a bit of sightseeing (Red Light District, Van Gogh Museum, Rijksmuseum, wandering along the canals). Amsterdam is a lovely city, if you haven't been there you should go! Though maybe not in December/January, I have to say it WAS a bit cold..

I hope to put out some pictures soon, I am just the world's slowest person when it comes to uploading my photos...

Transforming contemporary Vietnam

For anyone interested in Vietnam, check out this article about young Vietnamese who were brought up abroad as a result of the war and are now returning home as managers of hip bars and nightclubs, owners of art galleries and fashion boutiques and executives at architecture and film-production companies.

A great article - written by my friend Emma-Kate for the Wall Street Journal.

Trist og nostalgisk

Faa forfattere har gitt meg så gode leseropplevelser som Anne Cath. Vestly. Det er trist å lese at hun nå er borte, men hun vil alltid leve gjennom sine fantastiske bøker. Min niese kommer hvertfall til å få maaange Vestly-bøker av tante om noen år! Mormor og de åtte ungene, Ole Alexander Filibom-bom-bom, Erle og Guro, knerten og alle de andre...

Recommended restaurant in Hanoi

KOTO Restaurant 'Good food for a great cause'

KOTO on Van Mieu
59 Van Mieu Street, (opposite the Temple of Literature)
Dong Da District, Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel (84 4) 747 0337 or (84 4) 747 0338

If you ever find yourself in Hanoi, I'd like to recommend a wonderful restaurant: KOTO.

The concept of KOTO began on the streets of Hanoi in 1996 when an Australian Vietnamese man, Mr Jimmy Pham, asked a group of street kids what they wanted out of life. They simply replied, "we need skills so we can find stable jobs" and so the concept of KOTO was born, providing training and education to kids and youth with disadvantaged backgrounds. After their education many of the young staff are invited to work in top hotels and restaurants in Hanoi and the program so far has a 100% placement rate of its students.

I had lunch in KOTO today and can highly recommend it - both the food and the atmosphere is wonderful, and you are supporting a very good cause by having your meal here.

Sosial kapital på godt og vondt

Aftenposten skriver i dag om grupper som gjør deg god eller grusom. Mye sosialkapital her, og en advarsel til europeere og nordmenn som jeg gladelig skriver under på. La oss inkludere folkens!

Pixels are like cupcakes

I have just bought a new camera - a REAL DSLR, the Canon EOS450! Very exciting...

So now I'm trying to learn as much as I can about photography. This article from the NYT is pretty interesting.

I've signed up for a beginners class next week so when I've figured out how it all works I may even post some photos here. MAYBE.