Karen Karn

I, like the person who posted this, saw this pop up in my news feed and felt the need to share it here. Translated from the original Norwegian post . What if it had been you? 08/21/2015 - 9:34 p.m. It's not often I call friends to ask if I can publish their Facebook status as a blog post, but when I saw this pop up in my newsfeed today, I realised immediately that this had to be shared with a wider audience. It is my good friend Oliver who has written this great text, which is simply a beautiful symphony of emotions and gratitude, compassion and love, sadness and contemplation. Political or not - this is fantastically written. "Look at this picture. The one just below the advertisement for cheap industrial meat and fish. Translation: Police use tear gas on refugees. Via vg.no.  Original article (in Norwegain)     It looks like a dad holding a son. Such a dad who could just as easily have been me, if I had not won first prize in the...

When I read this  this blog post , I was compelled to translate it into English. (Originally posted in Norwegian in May 2015 around the time of Norway's biggest national celebration Constitution Day .) A  Palestinian  child. Photo: The Guardian “How are you?” An ordinary question, a phrase, something to say. “I’m fine, thanks”, we most often reply. Today, I got an eye-opener. What does it mean to be fine? According to  Maslow , we humans must have certain needs met before we can develop. One doesn’t need to be a psychologist to understand the basic needs of food, water and sleep for survival. Maslow's  hierarchy  of needs pyramid When these needs are met, we seek security and protection . Then comes a sense of belonging and love, and only then can one begin to think of status, self-esteem and finally personal and spiritual self-actualisation. It strikes me that I have every need in Maslow's pyramid covered, and most...

I bid on this gold shopping bag on eBay. 100% leather, beautiful, fun. This isn't the actual bag. The image was removed by someone... this bag is available on Etsy, here . But, it was £30 + £13 postage, and I don't need. I already have a gold shopping bag, 100% leather, beautiful. So i was relieved when, at the last minute, literally, I was outbid. That's £43 saved! Then, on the run up to Christmas, in the fog of online spending, I clicked on a 'Free UK Delivery' option on Amazon. Earlier this week, I noticed that £79 had been deducted from my bank account. I had, unwittingly, subscribed to a year of Amazon Prime. I contacted Amazon and, because I hadn't used any of the privileges, I got a full refund. That's £79 saved! £43 + £79 = £122 not spent! £122 saved and can therefore... spend! 

I haven't read this book, I haven't even read what it's about, but the title, I love. We were raised with no culture of food, no routine of eating at all, much less a meal served at a table. One of my healthy eating strategies is to eat seated. It's as simple as that. If ever I notice that I'm standing and eating, I know there's something wrong. I'm not being mindful, I'm not even being conscious. Julian Baggini is a journalist and philosopher who studies the complexities of personal identity. He is the editor-in-chief of the Philosophers' Magazine. See also: Why dieting doesn't usually work by Sandra Aamodt

Last year, Kenneth, Noah and I went to Lagunen (a large shopping cebtre on the mainland), At some point, I got really hangry and we stopped, at the first cafe we saw, to eat. At this cafe, there was a table, near the counter, heavily laden with loaves of fresh bread - a bit like a good breakfast in a nice hotel. The best bread there, by far was an orange loaf. Tomato bread. Noah talks about this bread, as though it were a fantasy. We talk about going back, just so we can have more of it (and another Club Sandwich with the mysterious brown sauce!) Skip to the chase, I decided to try and make my own tomato bread. Here's the recipe. Ingredients 5 cups of flour - you may need more. 2 tsp salt 12g dry yeast or 50g fresh yeast Pepper to taset Herbs to taste - I didn't use any in mine, but I would have love to add a couple of fresh sage leaves, or a pinch of rosemary. 2 tbsp honey or malt extract 2tsps sugar 100g tomato paste Four pieces of sundried tomato, chopped (opt...

My friend posted a link to a this image via 100Mandala.org's facebook page. I like those 30 day challenges and I love mandalas, so I signed up for the newsletter and started doodling. That was just a few days ago, but I'm already realising that I'd like to know more about mandalas. I went to Wikipedia  and came across this: Carl Jung's first mandala. Already a fan of Jung, I was surprised to find that he was responsible for bringing mandalas to the western world. Carl Jung refers to the mandala as “the psychological expression of the totality of the self.” I realise this is going to something splendid. I'm not going to get too involved in the deep spiritual and psychological aspects of drawing the sacred circle. I want to stay free and explore on my own terms. I know that I will explore more deeply later, but I have the whole year to get what I need to out of this project. For example, today, I just played around with PatternPie. ...

Dark thoughts pop into my head all the time.  Visions of morbid, violent, gruesome events. Horrific, devastating. All the time. I used to write. I wrote stories with fictional characters, experiencing fictional atrocities. But that was a bit like being a doctor, who happens upon a severely damaged body, a person. The doctor examines the body, in depth, to find out exactly how horrific the damages are, then she must write a report, in great detail, on the extent of the damages. Many years ago I decided that I no longer wanted to be a doctor. I wanted to be a florist or a baker. I wanted to start watching romantic comedies and listening to Lifehouse. The morbid thoughts still pop into my head, but they pass just as quickly as they appear. The why and what of them no longer need to be examined. Today, a storm is raging around us. The time now is 12:34, the storm will peak at 14:00 and last five to six hours. It is already one of the most severe storms I have ever experienced. Kenne...

I've always like cinnamon, but lately, I've been hooked on it! Here's my latest creation - Cinnamon Bread Make the bread. This is my basic bread recipe, to which can be added all kind of extar ingredients. In this case, we're going to stick to the basic recipe, but note that extra sweetening, spices, or other ingredients can be added at the dry mix stage. note: 1 metric cup is 250mls. Also, this bread recipe is for standard bread.  If you want the bread sweeter add an extra 1/4 cup of sweetening agent, such as honey, syrup or sugar.  DRY:  In a large mixing bowl add 1.5 cups  all purpose, plain flour 1.5 cups rolled/porridge oats 3 cups whole spelt flour (course ground and finely ground, 50/50, if applicable) 1 packet/12g dried yeast or 50g fresh yeast You can add  1-2 cups of dried fruit or chopped nuts here. You can also any spices you might want to use -  to taste, cinnamon, cardemom, anis, ginger, etc....

Nice blog post, translated from Norwegian. Original post written by Christine Otterstad - AKA, Otters A Mother's Worry Posted at  9:04 pm  by  christineotterstad - også kalt Otters , on januar 16, 2014 "I'm sitting in the living room with my 11 year old son. He does his homework and I work a little. Suddenly, he puts down his pencil and asks what I'm writing about today. "Today, I’m doing a little research for my book" I reply. "I have a tip on what to write about" he continued. "Something I've been thinking about.” I shut the PC, thinking that this could be interesting. The boy breathes and takes moment: "I thought you should write about mums, and all the concerns they have. Like you, for instance, you worry yourself sick for your kids all the time. For us to have a good time and stuff... But the problem is that when you worry yourself SO sick, it becomes sort so serious to not have be happy! It's almost ...

When I was very young, my sister had a friend who was a proper hippy. She was married to a Sri Lankan man and had some kids. Her hair was long, unmanaged and slightly transparent. She wore corduroy jeans and cheesecloth tops. She was of the tradition of never arriving at someone's house empty handed. One day, she came with a book. the Tassajara Bread Book. Since then, the book has been in my possession. Well loved and well utilised. Here's a short excerpt from the film How to Cook Your Life, featuring the book's author, Edward Espe Brown. "It turns out that we'll pay a lot of money not to cook, not to actually confront a half a potato."