I'm sure you've seen that commercial a bunch of times. It doesn't even matter what product it's for because you don't notice the product anyway. It's all about the atmosphere.

Let me describe it for you. A person wakes up one morning, in most cases it's an attractive woman, you see a shot of the bed, the clean and slightly curled up bed sheets, the bed has a head board, above it there's a small shelf or a picture or something like that. On both sides of the bed there are night stands with small lamps above them. The carpet is white or at least a very light color, that's what dominates the scene, plenty of white. The walls are white and quite plain but the room looks elegant, like you see in one of those home decorating magazines, the modern look. You can't see the window in the opening shot but there are scattered rays of sunlight protruding the bed and the room, not enough to blind the woman in bed and make the room too hot, just enough to create a nice effect of sunlight entering the room. The cherry on the cake is the soothing music being played over this sequence. The woman opens her eyes, stretches her arms and begins to exit the bed. She goes into the bathroom and takes a shower, the product is usually soap, shampoo, deodorant, perfume, something like that. But the whole point of the scene is to create a decidedly peaceful atmosphere in the room just as morning sets in, not a care in the world, perfect harmony. The woman wakes up perfectly rested, eager to start a new day. It's like a piece of paradise.

I would like to have *one* morning like that. I never get that, even if I buy the soap. ;) My morning looks like that Wella Shockwaves commercial, with the gorilla dragging the guy - who's asleep - through the room by his hair, doing everything to mess up his hair. I also never feel fully rested when I wake up, it happened to me once in years. It doesn't matter if I sleep early or late, if I go to bed early or late, what time of year it is, what the weather is, what the temperature in the room is, it just doesn't happen. Everyday I wake up I feel like I could use a couple more hours of sleep.

If you figure out a way to have that morning from those commercials, let me know.

Hotel Rwanda
Mar Adentro (omg it IS screening in Trondheim, call the president!! :o)
Hitch

- You know I'm not doing any more tv appearances, I feel like I've had enough publicity because people only go after the scandals, I want people to appreciate the story. I'd rather be a good person with bad book sales than a bad person with great book sales.
- Would you settle for douchebag with a library card?

Pictures from my recent excursion to Salerno have been published. There's also a series of pictures taken through an aircraft window going back to Amsterdam should that tickle your fancy.

Feel free to go nuts. ;)

You know these people that say "I'm not afraid of anything?" We've all met at least one, right? I won't go into how shortsighted and inconsequential that belief is but it is, as the British would say, absolute bollocks. The statement itself is imprecise, what they mean to convey is that there are a lot of things they are not afraid of, as if to say "I can make a list of things I'm not afraid of". Perhaps even to the point of not being able to think of anything that could (or would) scare them. But as human beings we are scared all the time. Scared of being late for a meeting, scared of oversleeping, missing the bus, of getting our car stolen, sometimes of strangers or people we barely know and dislike, of losing face among peers, of other people's opinions of ourself, of crime, of getting sick, of not finding a job, of losing a job etc. In short, I think everyone is afraid lots of times everyday.

And as a counter measure to fear comes confidence, because the mind needs a response of some kind. Confidence is that internal voice that tells you "I can do this". But a defence mechanism is all it is and I will give you what should be a convincing example. Do you remember being a kid and wanting something that your parents didn't want you to have? Did they ever tell you something couldn't be done or that you just wouldn't get something you wanted? Did you ever think "I'll show them?" and try to make it happen all the same? That is your mind countering the argument to your disfavor and constructing one that benefits you. Would you ever be confident *without* being attacked, without being afraid? No, you wouldn't.

So what is the point? The point is that what we're looking for is not confidence. Confidence is not our promised land. Did you ever think you wanted something only to get it and realized that wasn't it? How many different situations can you name where someone tried to inspire confidence into you to help you do something? A defensive mechanism, that's all it is. No, what the pursuit is about is comfort. When you're confident, you're trying to assert yourself, you're in that "I'll show them" state of mind. When you're comfortable, you're at peace with the world and you have nothing to prove. I used to think I wanted to be confident, I was wrong. I was propelled into a state of comfort without warning and I could not believe how it had come about. But it feels right and only in a state of comfort can one be happy. Comfort sets in when fears are disspelled, so nothing gives rise to confidence and instead there exists a peace of mind.