OSLO MASSACRE

In the summer of 2011, on July 22, the totally
unexpected occurred. Norway, a country of some of the most peace loving people
of the world suffered a travesty of immense proportions. The unthinkable
happened to this small peaceful country on the North Sea. One of their own,
opened fire on the nation’s young people attending a summer camp on the island,
Utoya, located in Tyrifjorden, Buskerud. He showed no mercy. But instead, he
killed looking them straight in the eye. And he did it for an unachievable and
unchristian cause, using a method of unabashed cruelty and disregard for the
lives he took. Young lives that still had their whole lives ahead of them. He
was demented of course. First, he set a car bomb outside the office of Prime
Minister Jens Stoltenberg in Oslo, killing eight people, wounding even more and
leaving 10 more people critically injured. Then traveling north to the summer
camp of the AUF‘s youth division of the ruling Norwegian Labour Party. He
dressed in a police uniform and showed fake identification to gain access to
the island and opened fire, killing 69 people, including personal friends of
Jens Stoltenberg and the stepbrother of Norway’s crown princess Mette-Marit. It
was considered the deadliest attack in Norway since World War II. Anders
Behring Breivik, a 32-year old Norwegian right-wing extremist was arrested and
charged with both attacks. His mission was to stop the tide of Muslim
immigration into Europe. He hated Islam, and sadly he saw himself as a knight
dedicated to eradicating the Muslims who he felt were taking over his beloved
country. He desired to return Europe and Scandinavia back to only Christianity.
It is hard to understand why he chose to kill his fellow Christian countrymen
to try to achieve this mission. An entire nation country grieved. Anyone of
Norwegian ancestry grieved, no matter where they now reside. I attended a
memorial church service at the Mindekirken Church in Minneapolis where 69 roses
were laid in front of the altar as we grieved for those who lost their lives
and their families. We said prayers of thanks for the 153 who survived with the
help of God and their fellow countrymen who came to their aid. In the aftermath
of this travesty, my prayer is for the Norwegian people to once again feel
secure in their country. Norway is a country I plan on visiting in the near
future and where I hope to once again feel the peace and security I have always
felt in the past.

FISHING ON PRIOR LAKE

My daughter, Cassie, and her husband, James,
came to Minnesota for their summer vacation in July, bringing my 2 ½ year old
grandson, Coen, who was extremely excited to spend time at Grandma’s beach on
Prior Lake to go swimming and hopefully fishing. We managed to hit great hot
summer beach weather and Coen got his wish. If you are not familiar with
Minnesota lakes, I will just mention how very clear the water is in our lakes.
From the shoreline, the small minnows swimming in their schools back and forth
can easily be seen. To a little kid this is about as good as it gets, but
unfortunately for him as soon as you walk in the water, the minnows swiftly
swim away. He, however, had great fun chasing them back and forth in the water.
I picked up a Lightning McQueen children’s fishing rod, which he thought was
pretty neat, for him to try and catch a fish from the boat. Well, it seems luck
was not on his side that day because the boat wouldn’t start. So we opted to
try fishing from the dock. Then we moved to sitting on the boat while it was
tied to the dock. Coen didn’t have any luck catching a fish from the dock or on
the boat. Usually we can see the Sunfish swimming around, and I mean full grown
fish not minnow size fish. And that day was no different. We could see them but
he didn’t have any luck, so my daughter decided to give it a try with Coen’s
Lightning McQueen fishing rod. She managed to expertly catch one almost as soon
as the bobber hit the water. She reeled in the Sunfish and pulled it into the
boat only to have Coen back away because he was afraid of the fish. He had
never seen a fish out of the water, especially not that close to him and he
wasn’t so sure he liked it. Not at all! After he calmed down, we released the
fish back into the water. So all in all, it was really a lucky day for Coen to
participate in catching a real Sunfish, my daughter to catch a fish on her
first cast, and probably the luckiest day was for the Sunfish that was released
back into Prior Lake!

NORWAY DAY 2011

 Norway Day falls on the second Sunday in July each year. This year will mark the 79th
year of celebrating on July 10, 2011. It is held at Minnehaha Park in
Minneapolis, the home of the Minnehaha Water Falls which due to the heavy rains
we have experienced in the past few months was flowing with great force. This
day is a celebration of Norwegian ancestry which has become a yearly tradition
for many local Norwegian immigrants, their children and now grandchildren. I am
a first generation Norwegian-American and I attended my first Norway Day with
my father and mother when I was about two years old. I don’t know that anyone
would have thought we would still be participating in this celebration some
fifty years later, but we are. First there is always a Lutheran Church service
(most of the Norwegians are Lutheran) presented by the Mindekirken Church in
Minneapolis where services are still held in Norwegian and of course English
too. The Nordic dancers perform on stage along with the Norwegian Glee Club
which my father has belonged to for over fifty years. This year a newly formed
group, Daughters of Norway, had a small choir perform, also. The event consists
of booths selling Norwegian and Scandinavian books, sweaters, music and an
authentic Scandinavian food booth, Nordic Treats. A number of years back, my
sisters and I attended the event and were shocked to see there were no
authentic Norwegian foods to purchase. Now it may seem odd, but our mother who
is 100% German learned to make the Norwegian foods and taught us, so we decided
to sign up to have a food booth at the event the following year. Thus in 2005,
Nordic Treats booth was started. We serve Norwegian Meatballs, Klub, Romegrott,
Norwegian Heart -shaped Waffles, Norwegian Ferry Boat Pancakes, Sandbakkles, Krumkake,
Lefse, and Norwegian little Donuts. We also sell Nordic Photo cards featuring
photos I took in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland, a Norwegian
Children’s book I wrote, Real Norwegians Eat Lutefisk, with matching T-shirts,
a Nordic Family cookbook my sister wrote, Norway Day bookmarks my sister made
and other miscellaneous Norwegian items. It has become a family tradition,
where each year we add more items to sell to our list and are joined by family
members who come great distances to be with us. Last year on probably the
hottest day of the year, my daughter and her family came from Oklahoma, my
nephew came from California, my sister came from Florida and my son and nephew
along with other family friends from the Minneapolis area

SARA PALIN FAMILY BOOK SIGNING

The Mall of America has tremendous drawing
power for celebrities of all kinds. Movie starts, recording artists and
politicians all make their appearances there. Recently the Sara Palin family
had a book signing at the MOA at the end of June 2011. Sara signed her books,
“Going Rogue” and “America by Heart”. Bristol Palin signed her new book, “Not
Afraid of Life—My Journey So Far”. And even Todd Palin was on hand to sign
Sara’s books. Since Sara falls into the Politician category the security was
intense with police, mall security, and bomb sniffing dogs, along with the
whole area being blocked off with barrier blockades. The crowded rotunda area I
was expecting did not await me, but instead I was able to purchase books
immediately. To get past the barricades and stand in line for the signing, you
needed to purchase Bristol Palin’s new book and if you also wanted Sara Palin’s
signature you had to purchase one of her two available books. I think this
showed how Sara looks after her daughter. As a writer, I wish my mother could
help me sell books with an incentive like that. After your purchase, you were
allowed to enter the barricaded area, but only after a search of your bags and
undergoing a wanding of your full body. The line was short and pictures were
only allowed while standing in line, so no pictures at the signing table. And
if you thought going through security at the airport was bad, once you were
approaching the signing table, you were required to put all your bags, purses
and cameras in a plastic container. You were handed a ticket to retrieve your
belongings at the other end after your books were signed. But wait, that wasn’t
all, you had to submit to the wanding process once again. I really wasn’t sure
how they thought we could acquire other things while standing in line, but it
was not open for debate. I brought my book, Real Norwegians Eat Lutefisk,
to give to Sara and Bristol as a keepsake from Minnesota, but was told by
security I would not be allowed to bring the books up to the singing table.
Bristol was the first to sign and I must say she is a very beautiful and
gracious young woman. After watching her season on “Dancing with the Stars,” my
heart went out to her for all her willpower to keep learning the dances. I
think everyone applauded her success and how far she made it in her dancing
knowledge and expertise. She shook my hand and I told her how well I thought
she had done on the show. Sara was next; she shook my hand and asked, “What do
you do in Minnesota?” I told her I was a writer and wrote a book called, Real
Norwegians Eat Lutefisk, and I wanted to give her one but security
wouldn’t let me. She was more than willing to receive the book, and mentioned her
son, Tryg’s name was Norwegian. She motioned to security that it was okay to
leave a book for her with them. Sara Palin proved to be a very beautiful woman
on both the outside and inside along with being a genuine, friendly and
gracious woman who I admire. 

SVENSKARNAS DAG (SWEDISH HERITAGE DAY)

Every year on the last Sunday in June, shortly after Midsummer’s Day, the people with
Swedish heritage celebrate at Minnehaha Park. In 2011 they celebrated the 78th
year with one of the largest Swedish celebrations in the U. S. The day begins
with a church service, followed by singing and dancing performances by local
and visiting Scandinavian groups, and includes the crowning of a Midsummer’s
Queen for the Minneapolis Aquatennial Celebration held in July. The Midsummer
Pole is put for attendees to dance around and celebrate the longest day of the
year. The event includes art and craft vendors and of course food vendors
offering tastes of the delectable Swedish foods including a complete Swedish
Meatball dinner with potatoes and lingonberries. Saffron buns, herring and
pepparkaka are also available to sample. We decided to check it out in 2011,
just out of curiosity, to see if it was different from Norway Day. The food was
slightly different but interesting and we sampled the meatball dinner sponsored
by the Swedish girls’ choir. It was quite an experience to see the Midsummer’s
Pole decorated with fresh flowers which is a tradition dating back to the
Vikings Era and is still celebrated in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland
along with many European countries with large bonfires and food, of course. It
is most likely a celebration of more importance in the Scandinavian countries
because of their ties to the Vikings and the fact they have the longest days on
Midsummer’s Eve due to their northerly locations, thus the term ”The Land of
the Midnight Sun". So if you are Swedish or have any Scandinavian
heritage, I highly recommend experiencing Svenskarnas Dag to celebrate
Midsummer’s Day.

MSRA CAR SHOW

The MSRA (Minnesota Street Rod Association)
holds a car show at the Minnesota State Fair Grounds every year about the
middle of June. Usually, around Father’s Day. It is probably one of the largest
car shows in the nation, with people coming from all across the country to
display their cars. These cars range in age from the early 1930’s up to 1964.
Most have been totally redone with new interiors and paint, but some are all
original. They have gimmicks going on with themes from back to the fifties,
such as the dice hanging from the mirror, coca cola trailers, etc. When there
are masses of people in one place the vendors come bringing their wares to sell
along with the food vendors bringing yummy food for us to purchase to satisfy
our cravings one by one. Music from back to the fifties can be heard while
strolling down the streets filled with over ten thousand cars on display. In
the evening, bands perform for your dancing pleasure which always reminds me of
the song, “Dancing in the Streets”. I don’t usually stop to sit down and listen
for a while, but this time the band name caught my interest. Nordic
Surf! I will stop to check out anything that even looks Scandinavian
and this certainly qualified. The band consisted of four guys who of course
were Norwegian Americans and heck you could even tell that by their last names.
Interesting part was they don’t sing, but only play guitar and drums to only
surfing songs from the sixties. They had been playing together for a number of
years and began playing for small events, eventually putting out a CD and
landing a gig at the MSRA. Generally at this time year, it is hot in Minnesota,
thus the saying those “Hot Summer Nights” comes to mind. And nothing beats a
day at the MSRA car show at the Minnesota State Fair Grounds viewing immaculate
hot cars, a truly magical place where the day leads into a hot summer night listening
to Nordic
Surf playing surfing songs from the sixties!

RUNAWAY

Probably when most people my age hear the
word, Runaway, they think of poor, confused, teenagers who can’t seem
to fit in with their peers, don’t get along with their parents and just want to
be out on their own. Generally speaking, running away doesn’t work well for
these teenagers because they have no money for one thing and no life skills,
yet. As a Baby Boomer approaching 60, I feel I can identify with this burning
urge to run away from life we are currently living. Being in the work force for
way too many years is brutal in itself. Being a part of the aging Boomer work
force, means we now have to deal with the new younger work force consisting of
young people who have way more energy than us, have a desire to make their jobs
their total life along with managing to fit in a couple of hours a night to go
out with friends for dinner or drinks. I am at the point in my life when I just
plain don’t want to work anymore. Heck, the Boomers are running out of time to
do all the things we were going to do after the kids left. You know the empty
nest syndrome. Finally getting to do all those things we never got to do in our
younger carefree years. Unfortunately my husband left first and then the kids
left. Starting over wasn’t an option it was a necessity. Even if you don’t need
the money, which I do or I certainly wouldn’t be working, the medical insurance
is a must have, especially if you want to stay healthy and alive. So after
spending ten years in the travel industry and now the last ten in the financial
industry, is it time to choose another industry and put in another ten years?
I’m not quite sure I even have another ten years to invest in another company.
Retirement is looming on the horizon; in fact I can feel it in my bones that it
is near. Maybe it is best to just hang in there a few more years and wait for
that magic retirement age, whatever it is—62 or 65? Because when you really
look at it, retirement is basically the same as running away, isn’t it? They
both mean you don’t have to answer to anyone anymore and you now have the right
to do whatever you want, whenever you want and with whomever you want. Reminds
me of the Hippie era. Really it’s not all that different from the desires of a
teenage runaway. Maybe reaching retirement means we have come full circle. That
magic day is close but yet it seems so far away as I get up each morning to go
to work.

HARLEY DAVIDSON MUSEUM

While in Milwaukee in June for a writing
conference, I finally managed to make it to the new Harley Davidson Museum. The
last time I was in Milwaukee, they had just finished building it and the grand
opening wasn’t until the following week so I wasn’t able to go on a tour.
Needless to say when we arrived, the parking lot was full of motorcycles,
probably mostly Harleys. The building overlooks the river and the sleek and
shiny architecture it presents is appropriate for its appearance. There are two
restaurants, Motor and Café Racer, serving delicious sandwiches and entrees
that are true American Classics. On the outside patio overlooking the river,
the décor is all about Harley Davidson motorcycles and engine parts. Exhibits
proudly display the start of the Harley Davidson Motorcycle up to current day
displays. Rooms filled with antiques from days gone by graduate up to the
newest Harleys on the market. The museum encompasses 20 acres of exhibits and
displays 450 motorcycles. They offer classes to the motorcycle enthusiasts and
rent out space for special events and parties. If you want to experience riding
a motorcycle, there is an interactive ride called Jumpstart where you can
sample what riding a motorcycle would be like. And if you happen to own a
Harley you can belong to a special group of Harley owners called HOGS (Harley
Owners Group) and be entitled to special offers and discounts. We can’t forget
the gift shop filled with almost anything they can put their Harley logos on
ensuring we will want to buy them. Clothes are the most popular mainly shirts,
jeans, jackets and boots. I have had the pleasure of knowing many guys who own
motorcycles and know firsthand how much pride they take in owning a Harley
Davidson. It was extremely interesting to walk through the museum and see how
the bicycle has evolved into the motorcycles we have today. The paint designs
are all extremely unique and the bikes are loaded with chrome and leather. The
motorcycle symbolizes freedom to many. Especially men. It allows them to feel
the wind on their face and know they can go anywhere. I understand that part,
but it also has the stigma of the bad boys which attracts the women seducing
them into wanting what they shouldn’t want. Riding on a Harley can be
exhilarating but I think it is the danger that keeps me from getting on them
very often. One wrong turn by a car or truck driver can be the end to your
life, because on a motorcycle the chances of surviving an accident are so very
slim. I am sure I will get on one again, but I will never become addicted to
riding motorcycles. The idea of the tough guys on the motorcycles is exciting
and seductive but the idea of being alive tomorrow is even more enticing.

LOVE IS BREWING

The Wisconsin Romance Writers (WISRWA) group
holds a conference in a different city every year on the first weekend in June.
The 2011 conference was in Milwaukee, so thus the name for the conference—Love
is Brewing. If you are not familiar with Milwaukee they are quite famous for
their beer breweries: Pabst, Schlitz, Miller, and Blatz. WlSRWA sponsors one of
the better chapter conferences around. The price is reasonable and the location
is close since Wisconsin is right next door to those of us residing in
Minnesota. I think what I like best about the conference is they have editors
and agents who take appointments with all of us writers who desperately want to
become published authors. They also feature various speakers during the
conference, so even if you aren’t interested in one you probably will be
interested in one of the others. I guess you could say they don’t put all their
eggs in one basket and only offer one speaker. Saturday’s speaker was Susan
Wiggs who presented, “From Idea to Printed Page: The Evolution of a Book”.
Author Brenda Novak, Harlequin editor Paula Eykelhof, and literary agent
Kathleen Ortiz critiqued actual query letters from conference attendees. Each
year WISRWA sponsors the Fab Five Contest and announces the winners at the
conference during the Awards Luncheon. YA (Young Adult) author Simone Elkeles
presented, “The Secrets of a Marketing Queen” followed by Carina Press editor
Angela James presenting, “Publishing Into the Digital Age”. Agent and editor
appointments where we get a chance to pitch our stories in the hope of getting
a request to send in our first few chapters or a full manuscript were held
throughout the day. This is a big deal because it is our chance to get
published. Of course getting published means we become rich, right? Not very
likely, so probably keeping your day job, for a while anyway, is a good idea.
Later in the day there is an opportunity to purchase books signed by the
authors at the Literacy book signing in the hotel lobby. Sunday starts the
morning with author Brenda Novak presenting, “Emotion: The Heart of the Novel”.
Novelist Carrie Lofty follows teaching us how to write a 35 word pitch for our
stories. Susan Wiggs finishes up the conference with, “How Not to Get
Published”. This was the second year I was able to attend and I learned something
useful from each speaker, had the opportunity to pitch my books and receive a
request for my manuscripts, spent quality time with other authors and just
plain had a great time. I even met another author who was writing a Viking Time
Travel romance novel. As writing goes, it makes perfect sense that her story was totally
different than my Viking Time Travel, On a Midsummer’s Eve. I unexpectedly
sold a couple of my books, Real Norwegians Eat Lutefisk, to
Wisconsin romance writers who were fellow Norwegians. So all in all, attending
WISRWA’s conference proved to be well worth the cost and time resulting in
manuscript requests, learning new things to use in my writing, networking with
other authors and having the opportunity to market myself as a writer along
with my children’s book, Real Norwegians Eat Lutefisk!

THOR THE MOVIE

Anyone who knows me knows I love the “Old
Norse Vikings” and I like the much newer “Minnesota Vikings", too.
Personally, I prefer the real Vikings who roamed the seas in search of new
lands and had their own mythological gods like Thor, the god of Thunder, and
Odin, his father, who ruled the realm of Asgaard where they lived. Marvel has
published comics about superheroes for years, which included Thor. Recently,
they decided to make movies portraying their comic book superheroes—Green Lantern, Captain America, Iron Man and Thor. The movie, Thor, takes place in a time long
ago, when a mighty but arrogant warrior, Thor, finds disfavor with his father,
Odin, and is stripped of his powers and cast down to Earth landing on a desert
in New Mexico to live with us lowly humans. Of course, the first person he
meets after his crash landing is Jane, who becomes his love interest while he
tries to get his hammer back and find his way back to Asgaard. Nothing of
course is ever simple and Odin puts a stipulation on removing the hammer from
where it is stuck. "Whoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall
possess the power of Thor." Loki, Thor’s brother who really isn’t his
brother at all but is a Frost Giant, causes more problems by trying to make
himself King and sends a Destroyer to Earth to kill Thor. Thor is played by
Chris Hemsworth, who definitely worked out for the show as he was a beautiful
display of well-toned muscles. Just looking at him would’ve made the whole
movie worthwhile, but I thought they did a great job on the storyline, effects
and the visual they created for Asgaard was amazing. I loved the movie and
can’t wait for Thor 2 coming
out in July 2013. There couldn't have been a more fitting way to end Syttende
Mai then by watching a film about Thor, the Norse god!

SYTTENDE MAI

Syttende Mai is the Norwegian National holiday
celebrating Norway’s independence from Sweden. It is celebrated on the 17th of
May in both Norway and the United States. Locally, celebrations are held in
Milan, Minnesota, and the largest celebration is held in Stoughton, Wisconsin.
Minneapolis has a celebration each year at Mindekirken, the Norwegian Lutheran
Church. My father is a member of the Norwegian Glee Club and they sing during
the church service which is in Norwegian. Many women who attend wear their
Bunads, traditional folk costumes from the area in Norway their relatives immigrated
from. After the church service there is a parade of the many
Norwegian-Americans who proudly celebrate their Norwegian heritage by wearing
Norwegian sweaters and waving Norwegian flags. In the parking lot of the
church, booths are set up displaying examples of Norwegian arts and crafts
consisting of Rosemaling, Hardanger, Wood Carving and books written about
Norway. This year the Sons of Norway sponsored a concert with a new band, Norville,
consisting of Norwegian and Norwegian Americans, at the Mall of America. Ottar
Johansen, from Bodo/Oslo, Norway, is a two-time Norwegian Grammy winner in
Norway and has multiple albums released. He plays bass guitar, sings and writes
songs. Joe Sun, originally from Minnesota but now residing in Nashville,
Tennessee, has released over fifteen albums placing on the charts in both
Europe and the U. S. He plays guitar, sings and also writes his own music. Tore
Anderson, from Stjordal/Oslo, Norway, won a Norwegian Grammy in 2010. He plays
guitar, sings and writes songs. Karen Pendley, from North Carolina, plays the
fiddle, writes songs and sings background vocals. She specializes in Norwegian
and Scandinavian Folk music. The group got together in 2009 and recently
released the video for their new hit song, "Take Me Back", which
brilliantly captures the majestic beauty of the mountains and fjords in Norway.
This upbeat new song, “Take Me Back” was recently released
on I Tunes. You can watch the video on their website, www.norville.no. I
attended the mini concert with a fellow Norwegian-American and we became
engrossed in the new style Norwegian American blend of music. After the
performance, we took advantage of the opportunity to have our picture taken
with the members of the band. I don’t think that makes us band groupies of the Norville
band, but it definitely was a uniquely different Syttende Mai!

LUTEFISK WARS MOVIE

The Minneapolis St. Paul Independent Film
Festival makes its showing every May. My son had an internship working for the
festival after college and still makes sure he attends at least a few of the
films each year. So it came as no surprise to me, when he called to tell me
there was a movie this year that he was sure I would be interested in seeing. Lutefisk
Wars! Well needless to say I committed to seeing the movie that
Saturday night at the St. Anthony Main Theaters. There simply was no question
about my interest in seeing the movie since my current published book is, Real
Norwegians Eat Lutefisk. Before the movie we had dinner at a quaint
little restaurant on the banks of the Mississippi River and arrived early
enough at the theater to get second row seats in a soon to be sold out movie
theater. I had no idea what the movie was about, but was pleasantly surprised.
The movie takes place in Newford, North Dakota—not a real city, just one they
made up. So it wasn’t in Minnesota but North Dakota is right next door, so that
works. The actors took on Norwegian American accents of our fellow Norwegian
immigrants who settled in North Dakota. The main character, Karl Larsen, a
Schwan’s frozen foods delivery man who dreams of becoming a chef, is sought out
by an old Norwegian fisherman who wants to give him an urgent message but dies
before he can tell his secret. Afterwards Karl receives threatening phone calls
urging him to give up the recipe. Bad things begin happening to Karl and his
girlfriend, including a dead cod fish in his bed. Everything comes to a head
over a hot dish at the local Lutheran Church when the Norwegian Mafia shows up.
Now I’m not sure my summary is the best so I will quote the movie’s storyline
from their website, lutefiskwars.com. “A rural frozen food delivery man
is mistaken for someone else and ends up in the middle of an ancient feud
between two Norwegian Mafia families.” I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and
afterwards was able to meet one of the producer/writers, Christopher Panneck,
who grew up in North Dakota. I even told him about my book, Real
Norwegians Eat Lutefisk and may just have to send him a signed copy of
the book! Lutefisk Wars will be available sometime in 2012 and I will
definitely be adding it to my collection of Norwegian films. Lutefisk, the fish
of our ancestors is gaining popularity both in Norway and the U. S. and is on
its way to becoming the fish choice of future generations!

ALT FOR NORGE

Alt for Norge is a reality television show filmed in Norway for Norwegian
Television. At this time it is not broadcast in the US. A few months earlier,
they put out a call for auditions which I ran across on the internet totally by
accident while searching for Norwegian topics of interest. However, I was not
eligible to audition. The show takes Norwegian Americans back to Norway to find
out where their grandparents and great grandparents immigrated from and to see
if they still have any relatives who are still alive. Unfortunately as far as
the show is concerned, even though I am a first generation Norwegian American,
I do not meet their qualifications since I already know where my Norwegian
relatives live and have met them numerous times. I think this actually makes me
very fortunate, even though I would’ve loved to have been able to try out for
the show. So after reading about it online I didn’t give it another thought.
Then one Sunday in April after church, we decided to try out a new restaurant
for breakfast. It is a small restaurant in Savage, Windmill Cafe
catering to the locals. A friend of mine from work frequents Windmill Cafe
and recommended it highly. It was quaint and the breakfast was delicious so we
took our time eating and reading the Sunday newspaper. As we were getting ready
to leave, a large group of people came in followed by a camera crew who set up
to interview them. On our way to the door, I stopped and asked one of the women
what the interviewing was all about. She graciously informed me her husband was
chosen to be on a reality show about Norwegian ancestry that would be aired in
Norway. I knew before the words came out of her mouth that we just happened to
be, totally by accident, where they were filming one of the contestants for
Alt for Norge. Her husband was a trucker and this little quaint restaurant
provided a great filming location for parking his semi-truck and interviewing
him along with his friends at a place he frequently ate lunch. During a break
in the filming action, I introduced myself to the show’s producer and seized
the opportunity to give him a copy of my book, Real Norwegians Eat Lutefisk.
He was surprised to see it was in Norwegian and graciously took the book. That
copy may be the first one to end up in Norway! The co-producer advised me to
audition for the show next year, but I regretfully informed her I already knew
my relatives living in Norway and had traveled there numerous times. We stayed
a little longer to watch the Alt for Norge camera crew film the lucky
Norwegian American trucker as he chatted with his friends while seated at a
table.

Ultimately, this totally unplanned stop ended
up being one of those times when I happened to be in the right place at the
right time and only through sheer coincidence. Or maybe it was by accident?  Or maybe an act of God?

All I know is I am very thankful I chose to
attend church that Sunday in April and decided to have breakfast at Windmill
Café!

TEAGAN’S BAPTISM

My newest grandchild, Teagan, was baptized on
May 8, 2011. I flew down for the baptism and for a long awaited visit to see my
daughters and grandchildren. It just happened to be Mother’s Day that Sunday
and would be the first Mother’s Day I would spend with my daughters in at least
five years. Little did we know the weekend would become almost a total
disaster. The evening after my arrival, Travis, my daughter’s husband, came
down with a 24-hour vomiting flu and needless to say he was up all night.
Postponing the baptism for a later date was discussed, but after taking into
consideration the fact that I flew down specifically for the Baptism and
everything was already set up along with brunch reservations for Mother’s Day
for all four mothers—myself, my daughters, Tiffany and Cassandra, and Teagan’s
other grandmother, Linda—Travis took some anti–nausea medicine and went back to
bed to try to sleep for a little while. A call was made to the pastor at their
church and the baptism was changed to a private ceremony after the regular
Sunday church service. An hour later, we all got dressed including a very weak
and still sick Travis. The church handed out carnations to all the mothers, and
since we arrived at the end of the service, all four mothers received a carnation.
We proceeded into the private chapel for Teagan’s baptism. When there is only
the baptism without the regular church service, it takes much less time, so we
were done quickly and on our way to the Mother’s Day brunch at the club house
of a local golf course. Travis, still not feeling well, and knowing he wouldn’t
be able to eat any food, went home instead. The brunch was superb and filled
with many delicious entrees and desserts. Afterwards we went Cassandra’s house
in an effort to prevent anyone else from catching the vomiting flu. Opening
Teagan’s baptism gifts was next on the agenda, along with Mother’s Day gifts
for the Grandmothers which consisted of hard cover picture books of new baby
Teagan, and Coen, my grandson. As soon as we were back at Tiffany’s house, she
started not feeling well and went straight to bed with some anti-nausea
medicine. Travis started to feel a little better but still was weak. About ten
that night I started not feeling so well, so I also took some anti-nausea
medication and went to sleep praying I would not feel nauseous in the morning
for my flight home. I didn’t feel great in the morning, but at least I wasn’t
vomiting which was a real plus and I managed to make it home without getting
sick on the plane. That was definitely an accomplishment after the past 24
hours.

Baby Teagan will not remember her baptism day,
but considering the circumstances, I don’t think any of us will ever forget it!

SCRIPT FRENZY

Script Frenzy is a worldwide contest to see
who can write a movie script consisting of 100 pages in one month. April is the
month set aside to do this. The people who sponsor this contest also have the
NANOWRIMO (National Novel Writing Month) contest each November where you commit
to write a 50,000 word novel by the end of the month. So if you put this
writing goal into perspective, realistically it should be by far easier to
write the movie script. I currently have one movie script, "No Angels
In Hell", about the Sturgis, South Dakota Motorcycle Rally and it is
copyrighted with the Writer’s Guild of America. The McKnight Foundation in Minneapolis
gives $25K grants to deserving individuals every year in various writing
categories. I have wanted to enter this contest for a number of years now, but
there was one little hang up—you need to have 3 copyrighted movie scripts to
enter the contest. So every year the contest deadline nears, I tell myself I
will write two more scripts by the next year. When I saw the Script Frenzy
contest, I knew it was just what I needed to get another script written, so I
signed up. This one would be a sequel to "No Angels In Hell",
and would take place in Daytona, Florida at the Daytona Biker Rally. April
started out as a good month for this writing challenge, even though Easter fell
in this month with its traditional Easter church services and Easter dinner. I
was on track and only had thirty pages to go on the evening of Apr 29, when I
sat down to tackle the last pages. I knew I had all day Saturday to work on it
too and felt pleased with my progress, knowing the goal was totally reachable.
That was of course until I typed in a couple of pages and my laptop shut down.
At first I assumed it must be the battery, but upon further examination of the
electrical cord, it became evident it was indeed still plugged in. I tried
frantically to power it up for at least an hour, but to no avail. Finally, I
decided the battery had to be dead and I would have to take it in to the Geek
Squad at Best Buy in the morning. I still felt confident I would reach my goal.
Saturday proved to be an extremely disappointing day, especially after hearing
the verdict from the Geek Squad that my laptop had died and would not be coming
back on ever again. And they meant never. They kindly informed me most laptops
only last 3 years and I was extremely lucky mine had lasted 5 years. This,
however, did not help my script in the least. Unfortunately when writing
scripts you need to use a special program, like Final Draft, which I had on the
laptop. Being the trusting person I am, I had forged on writing the script and
was waiting to back it up on the jump drive when it was finished. So needless to say
it was not backed up. Luckily though, being the paper fanatic I am, I had
printed hard copy the night before, so at least I have 1 printed copy. However,
there was no way I would even try to attempt retyping the script onto my old
desk top into an old version of Final Draft. The deadline came and went and I
didn’t make my goal of 100 pages, but I did make it to 70 pages, which in
itself is an accomplishment I am extremely proud of. In the next weeks I will
get a new laptop and they will pull all the info from the hard drive
(hopefully!) and put it back on the new laptop. Hopefully, my script will
magically appear on this new laptop and I can forge on to page 100.

 So just
a word to the wise for everyone, ALWAYS,
ALWAYS back up your work because you never know what tomorrow will bring in
the world of computers!

THE WINTER THAT REFUSED TO END

Anyone who lives in Minnesota will from this
time on cherish those winters when it doesn’t snow until the day before
Christmas. The winter of 2010-2011 will go down in history as the 3rd or 4th
snowiest winter on record, depending on what happens in the upcoming weeks and
counting on no snowfall in May. As for the snowiest winter on record, it was in
1983 to 1984 when the Twin Cities received 98.6 inches. It has been over 25
years since we have received these snow levels. Winters can be very stressful,
with icy roads and snow, that make driving extremely difficult. Sometimes just
getting to work in the morning feels like you are risking your life to get
there. Now, if you are retired and don’t have to go anywhere, it’s not so bad
because if it snows you can just stay home and wait until it quits. This year
you would have been staying home a lot because it seems like it snowed almost
every day! When it starts snowing in November and doesn’t quit until almost May
1st, it is a long, long winter. Minnesotans deal well with the snow, especially
those who were born and raised here, but this year everyone could be heard
complaining they’d had enough. I don’t know how people manage driving in the
snow without a 4 wheel drive vehicle; I know I wouldn’t feel safe. Plus when
you get a foot of snow, it really helps to have the higher ground clearance so
you can get through the snow without getting stuck. Of course, some people
really like the snow, like ski resorts, snowmobile dealers, and snow blower
manufacturers, which I’m sure, did very well financially this past winter. Snow
for Christmas is one thing but when we are threatened with possible snow for
the last days of April, it is to the point of unbearable. We have had five
months of winter and snow! You may ask why we live here. I have already been
here in Minnesota, the land of the Winter Arctic Freeze, way too long, and it
is time to move on to browner pastures. Yes, I said brown as in the desert,
like Arizona. It will be pushing it, but I may have a couple more winters ahead
of me and then I’m heading for one of those retirement communities in Arizona.
I just can’t take it anymore.

DIVORCE WARS

Doesn’t anyone stay married anymore?
Unfortunately for the institution of marriage, divorce is becoming the norm.
People, who stay married even past 25 years, are in the minority, and to make
it to 35 is rare. Those who make it to 50 years, deserve medals of bravery for
having the staying power and courage to withstand the ups and downs of marriage
through all those years. Marriage is a tough commitment. You must be able to
put up with multitudes of things you do not like. Of course, hopefully there
are also many things you do like about the marriage. The problems surface when
people CHANGE—or so that is what they say. They usually claim they want
different things in their lives, and most of all they want a different person
to spend the rest of their lives with. Usually, this only happens to one person
and the other person is still quite content with the marriage the way it is.
This is when the war starts. And the fighting begins. One person wants to stay
and the other wants to leave, and the person who wants to stay tries to do
everything they can to change the other person’s mind. If there is another love
interest involved, which is usually the reason the one person wants to leave,
it is best to give up the fight and let them go because the odds of winning at
this point are slim. Letting go is probably the hardest thing you will ever
have to do in your life, but when the chances of your partner staying are at
about 1%, you must just give it up. When you are in the midst of the divorce
wars it is hard to see the wisdom of walking away. Having been there, I know it
is true. Sadly, during this time emotions are intense, anger is all consuming
and things are said that would’ve been best unsaid. And once they are said,
they cannot be taken back. Anyone who has been there, knows how painful it is
to let your dreams go, especially the dream of spending your life with that
special person who you married. There is no doubt that people who go through
divorce experience extreme pain. But, one must not give up, rather focus on the
fact there is always tomorrow and new beginnings. Choose to embrace the famous
saying, “Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life". There are
many survivors of the divorce wars who have gone on to lead much happier lives
than they had before. I am proud to be one of the divorce war survivors.
Remember, the pain and heartache will all pass with time. So for now, choose
your words carefully and don’t say anything you will regret later.

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR

The play, Jesus Christ Superstar, came
out in the 70’s when I was in high school. It was part of the whole hippie
movement taking place and was considered somewhat radical for the times. Coming
from a highly conservative Lutheran background, and since the church
disapproved of this new latest and greatest version of Jesus’ life story, I
never went to see it. Through the years it has had its revival periods on the
stages of Broadway and in movie versions. But, I still never managed to see it.
This year it is at the Chanhassen Dinner Theater, which is a local dinner
theater featuring Broadway hits and other local plays. It has been around for a
long time and is a big part of the Twin Cities theater world. When I saw the
advertising for the play, I was surprised to see Thrivent Financial as its
major supporter. Thrivent Financial used to be called Aid Association for
Lutherans and they have strong ties to the Lutheran Churches, especially in the
Midwest. But, times change and now the Lutheran Churches are endorsing this
play. So since Thrivent was offering a special price to its account holders, I
decided to make a reservation to see the show. The theater’s dinner tables seat
six so unless you have a party of six, you will be seated with strangers. It
can be a great way to meet people and we were seated next to two sisters, one
who had recently been living in the Twin Cities and her sister who was visiting
from Florida. The conversation lent itself to revealing intimate personal
information regarding cancer, fighting to live and how we can depend on family.
You just never know who will you meet and how they will touch your lives. As
for the play, to be perfectly honest, I didn’t even know what the story was
really about, except it was about Jesus. If there are any others out there who
don’t know, it’s about Jesus’ life but mainly focuses on his last days and ends
with his death on the cross. So you may want to know if I liked it. After all
the hype I guess I was expecting it to be different and better than it was. Now
I know, no one really knows for sure what Jesus looked like, but he was Jewish
and they almost always had black hair and olive skin. The actor who played
Jesus had sandy blond hair, so I had a hard time visualizing him in the role of
Jesus. The way he portrayed Jesus’ demeanor came across as extremely winey,
which just didn’t work for me either. Other than that, the rock music was
performed extremely well and the costumes were unique almost reminding me of
Steam Punk attire. If the point of the play and movie was to have it viewed by
the masses, the producers have more than likely achieved that. Unfortunately if
the point of the show was to tell the story of Jesus, the Son of God who was the
Savior of the World, I think the message came across as the story of Jesus, a
Man who was just a Superstar.

WRITING CONTESTS

As a writer, struggling to get that first
novel published, we are encouraged to enter writing contests. In the Romance
Writer’s world there are numerous writing contests each month. Some are for the
best first chapter, love scene, hook, hero, heroine, cowboy, black moment, etc.
Most contests you can only submit a certain number of pages ranging from 5-50,
so if you do, they better be the best pages you have ever written. Since I have
been at this for more years than I care to mention, I can recall the days when
entering a contest meant printing multiple copies of the manuscript and paying
hefty postage fees to mail them. But times change, and today you enter a
contest by electronic submission. One would think this would be a whole lot
easier, but that isn’t always the case. There are always guidelines and rules
as to how the document should be sent or you will be disqualified. This I found
out the hard way a number of years back, shortly after entering the Romance
Writers of America’s prestigious Golden Heart contest. When reading
books, numbers always appear on the bottom page, so on my manuscript they were
on the bottom of the page. Somehow the rule, stating page numbers must be
placed on the top of the page, was completely missed. So, the entry was
disqualified. This was a costly mistake, as the fee to enter was $50 and
non-refundable. This particular manuscript was re-entered the following year,
since this contest is almost considered mandatory if you are to be considered a
serious Romance Writer. Sadly though, it did not win or even final in the
contest. That was enough of contest submissions for me for quite a while. This
year I decided to enter my screenplay in the Romancing the Script contest.
Never in my wildest dreams, did I think it would end up being such an
absolutely frustrating experience. The version of Final Draft I had was old, so
about a year ago, I transferred the screenplay to a newer version and submitted
it electronically to the Writers Guild of America to be copyrighted.
(Screenplays must be copyrighted to be sent out.) For the Romancing the
Script contest, the screenplay needed to be in PDF format. Normally, one
would think this would not be a problem, but for us non-computer people, it can
be a big problem. Never having created a PDF before, I was unaware you needed
to purchase a special program to do this. Thank heavens for free trials! The
only way to change it to a PDF was to convert it from a Word Doc, so I copy and
pasted the screenplay from Final Draft into a Word Doc. Sadly, in the process,
it aligned everything to the left margin. And ultimately, when it converted to
a PDF, the format was totally wrong. Giving up seemed like a good idea at this
point. Fortunately, there are angels out there and the coordinator of this contest
totally reformatted my entry so it could be entered in the contest. Without her
help, it would not be in the contest. So I beg to differ with whoever thinks
computers save us time. For me it would have been far easier to print it out
and mail it! The end result was achieved though, so now with a sigh of relief,
I will sit back, relax and wait for THE CALL announcing my fabulous romantic
suspense screenplay won the Romancing the Script contest!!

SINGLES SEARCHING FOR LOVE--NORWEGIAN STYLE

Recently,
a Norwegian television company, Nordisk Film TV, was in Minneapolis, Seattle
and San Francisco holding auditions for a Norwegian version of The
Bachelorette/Bachelor. They were taking email entries from American singles of
Norwegian descendants who live in these cities and then holding auditions. Once
the auditions are over they will choose four singles. These singles will get to
choose eight Norwegian singles to meet. Then the fun begins. The Norwegian
singles will be flown to the U.S. to go on dates in the single's hometowns and
try to find true love. The singles will be voted off one by one. This show
should be interesting and I can’t wait to watch it, since it has a different
twist with the aspect of using available singles from Norway. Oh, to be younger
so I could have auditioned! When I was in high school, I wanted to marry a
Norwegian guy, but that didn’t happen. I think part of the problem, even back
then, is Norway is a different country. This will be an obstacle for this show
also. It is one thing to visit another country and absolutely love it, but to actually
move there is another whole thing. Even with our mobile world, one person’s
family will miss out on a lot of events in their son or daughter’s lives. This
show may be better suited to the Boomer generation’s divorced population who
has already raised families and are now free to come and go as they please.
Living half the time in each country would be an option for them. It will be a
hard decision for these young people to make. I look forward to finding out the
results of this show once it airs. A huge factor in favor of relocating to
Norway is they have one of the highest standards of living and have been voted
the best place in the world to live. The people of Norway have all been able to
profit from the country’s vast number of oil rigs off their western coast. It
is said though, “If two people are really in love, nothing can keep them
apart.”

We’ll see if an ocean will…