While awake...

Aubade is slowly waking up.

A family reunion of some kind is taking place at my grandmother's. I see a van pull up and many of my relatives get out, all dressed up which makes me feel underdressed. I notice that some of the younger relatives wear very expensive jewellery and clothes, and they hastily skip up the stairs and vanish indoor since it's raining outside.

While awake...

Observations from a dear Finland...

Don't expect fast service in Finland. No, people don't normally tip. Yes, it can take up to 45 minutes or more before you see the food you ordered. But, restaurants and bars in Helsinki have become much much better in the past few years.

Heikki Aittokoski of Helsingin Sanomat wrote this article about Rumsfeld and really went to the attic to find someone "more worthy" than Rumsfeld.
Some quotes from Mr. Aittokoski's article:
"The purpose of the rhetoric was to drive a classical "divide and conquer" wedge into Europe. A united Europe is not in the interest of Washington’s hawks." or "Masaryk’s idea was roughly that there should be a zone between Germany and Russia comprising small nation-states that would remain independent but would engage in mutual cooperation. Democracy and peace would prevail, and no large country would be allowed to exercise power over the others. Rumsfeld may have more divisions at his disposal, but in the battle of spirits, Masaryk should have air superiority."

Personally I have great respect for Rumsfeld, and I am saddened by the growing anti-Americanism in Europe...

While awake...

The person who wrote this could at least have signed it with her/his own name. Pfft!

I encourage you to visit the Inklings - I do so daily.

A claims to have escaped the Crimson Room - I am, as usual, impatient and expecting someone to help me! And after you've solved the Crimson Room you can go to the Viridian Room and think about how bad you've really been. And then, and only if you've solved the previous two (oh, I personally skipped right ahead to this one) you can give this a try: Pixel Heroes - can you identify them? I got 14/20 and I don't know my action heroes except for the Phantom and Superman, oh and Tarzan... they were my heroes.

Potpurri

Nicole Kidman is visiting. E.S. was also visiting. Something about clothes. Nicole is very tall, and looks even paler in the grey light. I am worried I will be late. I repeatedly look at my watch until I realize it's well over 8:30 and I already am late. Maybe I still can leave? I look again, and someone tells me, oh it's only 5AM! Yes, it really is only 5AM - how funny. I will not be late after all...

While awake...

Just finished watching the first episode of Colonial House on PBS, and it just makes me think of some of the older women I grew up around. Some of them would have known what to do! I know I probably grew up closer to a harsher reality than some who read these blogs, and I continue to be fascinated by how people survived in the past. How they got through the daily toils.

Oh, and insomnia...

While awake...

Fruit Smash is my current favorite. But, before Fruit Smash there was... tranquility!

I am currently reading some back issues of Gilbert!, "a magazine devoted to the ideas and approach" of G.K. Chesterton. For those with appetite equal to that of the famous author there are Chesterton Lunchboxes that will fit properly sized sandwiches!

Oh, and I did go to the gym today!

While awake...

Peter Elk aka "A Self-Hating Finn in New York" has a post (sorry, it's in Finnish) about Esko Aho's (a former Prime Minister in Finland) newly published article (freely translated into "The Known but Unknown - Keys to Understanding the United States").

I have had extensive discussions with A about the differences between Europe and the United States, and over the years I have lived here (more or less completely immersed in the American culture, since I have no Finnish, or Scandinavian, friends here) I have gained a much deeper understanding for this country and its foundation. Current events are now part of my daily routine - I have to read up on the latest news. In a way I am disappointed in myself and my lack of interest in political and historical issues while I still lived in Finland. Those thoughts I had when still living there were mere emotional reactions and repetitions of pseudo-journalistic sources. So much has happened in the world since I moved here. Finland has changed. The U.S. has changed. And I have changed.

While awake...

While awake...

A Little Diary holds a big secret?

I have so many ideas for Aubade , and cannot wait for the summer to begin, when I can work on it some more. If you've peeked at it, don't give up on me. It will expand. It is expanding.

I'm standing up on the top of our hill looking down at the old tractor tracks that lead down to the barn at the bottom of the valley. They are overgrown now. Years ago in the wintertime we used to slide down the steepest parts with hayfilled plasticbags. I'm rinsing off something from a faucet, and I see that the wastewater is forming a small stream that rapidly spreads down the hill. I watch it in fascination. I wonder how far it will get. Will it reach the barn? Then I walk down the hill further to get a better look. The grass has grown tall, but the old tracks let the water flow with a steady forward motion. I'm almost at the bottom of the hill when I notice the other stream. Somewhere, from the other side of the stonehedge near the tracks, another, more powerful stream is flowing down the hill. A new stream. It is already flowing with ease down the hill, and ultimately it collects into a pond beyond the barn, where the fields take over. I look at the area that I used to know as a small group of trees and that pond that we always skated on as kids. But now there is no more forest there. Instead all the trees are gone, and I see that the pond has extended itself into a much larger collection of water. And there is more. Beyond the barn, where the fields were - right there under the hill, is a wide stream. Almost a narrow river! The water from the stream running down the hill collects into the larger stream that runs perpendicular to the small stream. I look at it all in wonder. So much has changed. In a way I miss that forest. It was a fairy forest.

I take the bus back to the airport. I've been home to visit. I might be late. When getting off the bus I notice some girls laughing about something. I wonder if they're laughing at me. In the next moment I see one girl crying. I try to ask her why, but I get no answer. I look down at my own suitcase and notice a few pockets are open. I can see some rolled up clothes in there. I bend down to close the suitcase pockets. It's grey outside and I am not very happy. I look out over the empty market square and think to myself that I can take the underground walkway instead of walking above ground.

While awake...

Ihmissuhteet (or "Relationships" in English) can be entertaining. Henry sometimes stirs up a storm out there in the Finnish teacup.

I half-promised my class I would make ice cream with them. They remember things like these forever. Last year I had a group that made their own whipped cream, and for some reason they thought that was the coolest thing in the world! They were amazed that one could actually make whipped cream out of... cream! That it wasn't sprayed out of a can. It took them about 20 minutes to whisk a cup of cream into whipped cream using a fork - some continued on to 30 minutes to get the right consistency! It was a priceless sight!

While awake...

A and I went to the Renaissance Faire today. If you haven't visited one - do so before they close for the summer! And read up on your Elizabethan insults!