I've been working on a project for the clothing brand WeSC for the longest time now, doing the interior graphics for their new store here in Oslo. Today was the day the people from the company were finally gonna see the results. In other words, my first really big client meeting.

In my opinion, we should've had this presentation a long time ago as it's only three weeks left now til the opening of the shop. The interior architects, who designed the store and who I'm actually working with/for, only told me last week that they hadn't shown anything to WeSC yet! Still don't know why. Maybe because they weren't comfortable with the work up until now, who knows. In either case, this was risky business for them and us. Love it or hate it, take it or leave it. Due to lack of time, actually more of a 'Take it, you don't have choice anyways'.

At 2:30 today, Nikki and Myrna, the architects, came by and we quickly went over the presentation. Ten minutes later the WeSC guys and girls arrived. Damn! Instead of two, like I was told, it was an entourage of four and they were just the ubercool, stylish, good-looking young people with that air of importance, that I expected them to be. I've seldomly been so intimidated in my life.

And they were so friggin' hard to read! They didn't show any emotions! All I got was some laid back nods, hu-hums, ok's and blank faces. Didn't exactly help my self-esteem – actually thought, I totally blew it. Then they started discussing in Norwegian and I was on the verge of losing it. Fuck, fuck, we're screwed! The longest minutes ever.

As it turned out though, I must've gotten it completely backwards. My project manager and Nikki were totally stoked after the meeting, said the WeSC squad was really happy and gave us the ok to continue. The quick chat with one of their girls and a couple of friendly goodbyes took away some more of my concerns. And eventually the fact that Svein overheard them talking very positively about my work in the hallway lifted that last huge load off my shoulders.

Still, those one and a half hours managed to completely drain my energy resources. This is definitely not gonna be my favorite part of the work as a graphic designer...

It's just so beautiful, when music and animation are blended together like in the following two examples. I could look at stuff like this all day.

No.1 – Music by Axelle Renoir, animation by Yoann Lemoine.
No.2 – Music by Chris Chameleon, animation by Shotopop and WIZZ.

Yesterday, Frederika and I went to see the new Bond movie Quantum Of Solace at one of the local cinemas called Colosseum. The movie was good but the really impressive thing were the huge dimensions of the theater. The place – over 80 years old and supposedly the world's biggest THX cinema – can pack almost 1000 viewers and one sits underneath a huge dome, like in an observatory. Pretty cool actually.

Norway is freezing during wintertime. And even though Oslo, thanks to the gulf stream, is relatively warm, temperatures then still drop to an average -3°C. Even now, only halfway into autumn, the scale falls below zero every second day or so. The thing is – I really like it.

It's that kind of dry, crackling cold that you can feel in your lungs with every breath. When the streets get this white frosty film even though there's not a hint of humidity left in the air. When there's a clear sky and even direct sunlight doesn't let you feel any warmth on your skin. When the fallen leaves get so brittle that they crack like glass. When you can only leave a small slit for your eyes to see in between five layers of clothing, gloves, scarf and thick beanie – and even then you can't help but shed a tear from time to time. When you lose the sensation in your toes after half an hour of walking outside. When it's so calm and silent everywhere, just because no one dares to leave the house. When it snows and the white glory actually lasts longer than a day and a half.

That's when winter is, how it should be, how it used to be. It's the way I remember it from my childhood. And not that rainy, gray, wet mess that we usually get these days.

1) Shadows here are getting veeery long now.
2) Minesweepers at Frognerparken?
3) Swedish TV still has a test pattern after 3 a.m. Nice stuff.
4) Norwegian monster snow dogs.
5) Damn Bavarians invading the town.
6) Hightech at the gym. The key opens doors and stores workout plans.

We know the game and we're gonna play it. Ain't no one as slick as Rick. Plus, he's got the sickest dance moves since Bobby Farrell.

Thank god.

Rådhusbrygge. Den Norske Opera. St. Hanshaugen.