Working, earning

November leaves.

Once again I'm buzzing around like a crazy busy bee. I have one more week left in school before a long holiday. I also started a new job less than a week ago (I'm working as a writer after seven years of everything else) and my phone rings in every five minutes. And I still have to deal with my old job. I'm feeling a bit guilty about neglecting this blog, but I'm trying to be back as soon as I have time for a proper meal. Please don't abandon me yet! A week from this moment I only have one job to deal with.

Pig flu!

Greetings from the floor! I've been nesting in front of our television for a week. During weeks like this I really wish our apartment was big enough for a couch to fit in instead of two leather chairs. (Problem with our bedroom is that it's colder than our living room and there's no tv.)



I got The Divine Award from one of my favourite bloggers, Anna. Now I have to confess five of my sins. Only one I really feel guilty about is number 4, but anyway, here goes, my guilty pleasures.

1. Doing nothing.

Being lazy. Taking a day off school, reading comics and staring out the window and drinking coffee or tea. Being proud of doing nothing. Maybe a short walk to the Hakaniemen halli, some good book, good food, drawing, writing, but mostly just being.

2. Bars and after-parties.

Getting intoxicated with good friends, great gigs, beer, wine, another beer, anything except cider goes, having fun, staying up too late for no other reason but having fun. And yes, I'm that annoying person who tends to be one of the last ones up and the first one who wakes up in the morning, without a hang-over, the one who bashes at your hotel room after an hour of sleeping, saying "I heard they are serving breakfast downstairs, come on, let's go get something to eat, I'm starving!" (This happened at Lost in music in Tampere a while ago.)



3. Morning coffee.

The taste doesn't matter as long as it's brownish black and wakes me up in the morning. I don't go to places where I couldn't have my morning coffee as soon as possible after waking up, consequences would be awful. First comes the crankiness, then the headache and crying, and if there's still no coffee, comes the end of the world.

4. Unhealthy food.

My skin is very dry. That's why I should be following a rather strict diet, something between these three diets: 1, 2, 3. Starting the diet was one of the best things that has happened to my body. I get to eat delicious foods, even the restaurants are not a problem. But I'm still eating things I shouldn't be eating: wheat products other than rye bread, junk food when having a night out, beer, sugar, foods with lots of food additives. I eat poorly, my skin suffers and I have to use olive oil as a moisturiser.



5. Elitism.

Especially when it comes to music. There is bad music and then there is the good music. No compromises here.

P.S. Yesterday it was one year for birds, planes!

On repeat*

Yesterday. A long walk in our neighbourhood. Dinner in a good Chinese restaurant. Cold air, icy bond and sunshine. Branches and fallen leaves under our feet.













*
Silversun Pickups - Panic Switch
Joy Division - Shadowplay
Muse - Bliss
New Order - True Faith
Tom Waits - Rain Dogs
The Cure - Lullaby
Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man- Funny Time Of Year
Editors - Munich
Suede - Trash
Arcade Fire - No Cars Go
Kate Bush - King Of The Mountain
Interpol - Leif Eriksson (A perfect song for perfect last hours in a crowded and smoky bar before the perfect afterparty. Or a perfect song for a night alone at home.)

P.S. The film photos will be back soon. Some problems with a scanner.

Snow

The first snow fell down today. I sat in front of the window, drank coffee and watched our Budapest photos over and over again.

♥ ♥ ♥

Yesterday: Project Runway, juice and cookies at my friend's place. The guinea pig and cute Japanese creature live there.

Today: Salsa lesson and staying home doing nothing.

Ground after the rain

Rainy day lazy day

Green balconies

Balconies in Budapest, taken with a Diana camera. I usually try to avoid things such as traffic signs which can date the image but this time I wanted the sign to be in the picture.

Close To Paradise

Somewhere between Kotka and Helsinki
Today I was lucky while walking home. I saw a live fox and the minute I opened my home door the rain started.

There are albums for the springtime, records that tell to go out, meet some friends, have a beer, but there are also albums for these stormy autumn days, for staying inside, for rubber boots and blankets. One of my favourites of those albums is Patrick Watson's record Close to Paradise. The music will always remind me of a trip to my boyfriend's hometown, a small town in Western Finland, the raining, driving through the autumn forests, a trip to a lighthouse (I always want to go there when visiting the town!) and the smell of wet clothes.

Magic hour

In Budapest the last hour before the sunset is amazing. Everything gleams golden, the buildings, the river, mountains, the warm air. (I love that particular hour in many other countries too.)

When watching these photos it's hard to believe that it's already autumn! My vacation just started! I'm afraid of the winter. Soon all I can think about is "Brrrr. Cold. F*ck." or "I NEED SOME SUNSHINE." or "Why do I stay in Finland in a first place?" I guess this winter I should concentrate on good things such as staying in bed, reading, listening to music and drinking ginger tea. But at first I'm going to enjoy the autumn, rubber boots, sweaters and yellow and red leaves.

Pedal Cars

Pedal cars in Sziget, Budapest. Taken with Smena Symbol, bought from flea market in Budapest.

Today I'm 27. It's been a good day.

Balloons in Budapest

We are back from hot Budapest with two new cameras and a lot of photos which I'm going to show you one by one in long winter days. The blue thing is on again so no more text today. I just hope that my hand will feel better one day.

And a little rain never hurt no one

So my holiday finally started and so started the raining. But I have my books and I have my records, and in a week we are off to, if not to the mountains, but to at least to mount Gellért in Budapest.



It's been seven years since my last visit to Budapest, I have forgotten a lot. It will be nice to visit the same places which bring back the memories and to find some new ones to remember too. I haven't planned anything special, but I know our program will include eating, resting, walking, culture, more eating and then some walking and maybe some shopping. We will miss the WAMP design market, but I found this article from The New York Times. It has many great tips in it.



The photos in this post are few years old. Only the first image is taken with a digital camera, and the last one was taken with a Pingo. (I still prefer film.) I have some new pictures to show as well, but I was too lazy to scan the negatives or search for some recently taken digital photos. And the headline is from a Tom Waits song. (I still adore him.)

5? No way! 7? A challenge, but maybe...

I promised to Elsa to introduce five of my favourite places in my hometown, Helsinki. They could be bars, cafés, restaurants, shops, anything. I started to think the places and this challenge yesterday, and it was extremely hard because there's so many alternatives! Then I decided to narrow my search and to think only about my own neighborhood, Kallio (and neighbouring areas such as Harju). It was still extremely difficult to choose only five locations, so I added two more because writing a blog should be easy and relaxing. Especially writing an entry about your favourite places. So, here goes: my seven loved ones in Helsinki.

1. Taverna Zorbas

A cosy Greek restaurant. The prices are reasonable, lunchtime offers, the food always tastes great, atmosphere is warm and welcoming.


Tokoinranta, Kallio. Im hiding in this picture

2. Keräilyliike Kulkukatin poika

Comic books. What more there is to say? Friendly service and room full of Disney comics. (At the age of 26, I still need my daily dose of Donald Duck.)


Some old picture from Helsinki

3. Hakaniemen halli and Hakaniemi market place

A classic for the groceries, fresh vegetables and special goods.

4. Wanha Kaarle

Finnish design from 50's, 60's and 70's. Enamel plates and mugs, porcelain dishes, old toys, ets. I pass this store almost every day, and the shopkeeper is often out building the display for the store and he is always so nice!

5. Flea market Valtteri

Another classic. Sometimes it's full of pirate crap, plastic shoes and old dirty clothes, but there are days when it's full of treasures.


Old wooden duck from USSR, found from Valtteri and a tiny piece of our record collection

6. Lepakkomies

Small, hot and sweaty bar near Kurvi. A place for live music. I've seen many great gigs there, Jolly Jumpers, Murmansk, and for those late nights out, Vegemesta is never far...

7. Avikainen bakery

Best bread in Helsinki!

+ a bonus: Café Sinisen huvilan kahvila in Linnunlaulu. The view is beautiful. And Rytmi! And Sävel! And Lemon Grass! And and and....

Outfit of the day

jeans: Uniqlo
top: 2or+ by YAT (underneath I wore a Filippa K top)
bracelet: 2or + by YAT
another "bracelet": Tamla for Terveystalo health care (this stays on my wrist for a week)

Night at home

My phone tells me that I've seen a lot of water this summer. Maybe I'll see some mountains too when it's time for my summer holiday in August.

Today I'm staying home. Almost everyone is in Ilosaarirock, I've turned my cellphone off and soon I'll be away from computer. Nothing can come between me and my books. I have ice cream, Bat For Lashes, I have Leonard Cohen and maybe a good movie, just maybe. And when it's time to go to sleep, I can listen to Tom Waits as long as I want. (Listening to Tom Waits before falling asleep is like a blanket, a pillow, something to cover me, soft and warm.)

Quick visit to Tampere or I ♥ Helsinki

Laura from Murmansk behind a pint of beer

My meds worked their magic, migraine is gone, so we paid a quick visit to Tampere with two great bands, Murmansk and Mesmer. It's sometimes good to see other, unfamiliar, towns in Finland to realise how much I love my own, after all. It's small, sometimes boring, grey, but it's my hometown.

I can't think right now

I'm (barely) alive. I've been suffering from migraine headaches for almost a week now and today I gave up and went to see a doctor. As I presumed, more different kinds of prescription drugs. Let's hope they'll help this time, lying in bed or in the bathroom floor like yesterday is not my idea of a perfect summer vacation.

While waiting for my meds to do their thing, I'll try to focus on good things, so here's a list of them:

-Pitkä Kuuma Kesä-festival (I saw the Flaming Lips! And Melvins!)
-new glasses with white frames (pictures later)
-Goji-berry&Green Tea drink
-strawberries
-my friend came back from Japan and I'm feeling a bit better today so I'm meeting her soon

And while I'm spending my days tring to get out of bed, here's links to some of my favourite blogs.

Travelling north to find you

I don't usually care about compilation albums, but there is one exception - Dark Was The Night.

"Dark Was The Night will be released on February 17th, 2009. It’s comprised of 31 exclusive tracks and it will be available as a double cd/triple vinyl/download and will benefit the Red Hot Organization – an international charity dedicated to raising money and awareness for HIV and AIDS through popular culture."

One of my favourite tracks from the album is a cover of Vashti Bunyan's Train Song performed by Feist and Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie. It's one of those songs I could listen to over and over again.



And here's the original version.

On the road

Our mid summer. Three different places, Porvoo, Fiskars, Vääksy.


Porvoo. I've never seen a town this empty! We walked around for a while, had some coffee and drove back home.


Vääksy. It was raining so much and because of that my back hurt like hell all night long but I met lots of nice new people and some old ones too.




Fiskars. A rare glimpse of miss Pigeon and better weather.



It was nice having a car for a while. We don't have our own, I don't even have a driver's license, so when we get to loan a car, we try to make most of it, go to places where it would be difficult to go with public transport. For these rare moments spent in a car, there should be proper music for driving: Iggy Pop - Lust For Life - Chad VanGaalen - Bare Feet On Wet Griptape - Chainsmoker - Drop Test - PJ Harvey - Good Fortune - Anssi 8000 & Maria Stereo - I Feel Like Surfing- (one for the night) m83 - Kim & Jessie

Not much but something

I'm not so busy anymore, but after all the rush I was still very tired, so I spent the weekend with my parents, reading books, playing board games, sleeping, sunshine, thunder storm and a long bicycle ride, about 30 kilometres (I love bicycles!). I also cancelled some next weeks events and meetings and I already feel more relaxed. Now just some more sunshine, good music and so my summer begins.

From the streets

Last days of school before the summer, last exams, salsa lessons, great gigs... That means I'm busy busy busy. But I heard some very happy news today.

White wolf has grown up a bit

Sunshine, rain, sunshine, thunderstorm, sunshine, rain, sunshine. Cheesecake, brownies (too much), tea, coffee (too much), hot chocolate. Old music. Old friend and her dog. Sunshine.

Plans

Murmansk, one of the most interesting bands in Finland, is having their second album's release show at Bar Loose tonight. Great way to celebrate the fact that my flu went away!

All I need

Lazy, sunny days, drinking coffee with a friend, sun, seagulls, perhaps it's time to clean the windows, what else could a girl need?

Great.

This is something that can happen only to me. I was going to write an entry, with lots of pictures and I had actually something to say. But I took a shower 20 minutes ago and noticed just now that I didn't rinse my hair! So I'm writing with shampoo in my hair! Talking about being absent-minded... I guess I'm going back to the bathtub and try again tomorrow.

Please watch Lyckans Undulat by Detektivbyrån. It's a great song, there's pigeons in the video and I've been playing it over and over again. I'm stuck with that song!

Lyckans undulat

This morning I went jogging and took a camera with me. I'm not actually a big fan of digital cameras. I take better pictures with film camera. Taking digital photographs is way too easy. I think photography should be more difficult. Shooting with film requires more thinking and concentration and that can be seen in the results. That's a perfect way to learn to take better photos. (Toy cameras have their own rules.)







If I had been jogging with a film camera, I don't think I would have taken these pictures. I'm a bit old-fashioned; I think that a photograph should be something more than just a pretty picture, it should tell something. And I have dozens of pictures of the same old Töölönlahti, ducks, canes, ice. Well, at least these pictures tell a story of my morning, this morning, jogging in Töölönlahti, ducks, cold breeze, people walking on the ice, dogs walking their people, sunshine, being happy. If I can look these photos again after two or three years and remember that I was happy, these pictures are good enough.

I made some cauliflower curry for dinner and spent the rest of the afternoon by listening to Detektivbyrån, exploring The photographic dictionary and scanning some old photos. This afternoon tastes like raspberries.

Oh f*ck!

My poor bird! It's been with me at so many occasions, clubs, gigs, parties, everywhere, and then it snapped while I tied my shoelaces. Well, we had fun for an year and a half. I could order similar one but it wouldn't be the same magpie. Let's hope it still could be fixed somehow. I don't have that many pieces of jewellery that I like to use. This week this also happened to someone else.



The red circle, the goldfish and the birds on a branch are gifts from my boyfriend. He knows my taste better than I know it myself. The golden bird is a gift for me from myself, bought last summer. It's almost too girly for my taste but somehow I still like it. Two little birds on the left used to be with me all the time but now I'm afraid of losing them so they have to stay inside. In addition to these, I have some vintage pieces from the 50's my grandmother gave me a couple of years ago. They just need some extra care before I can use them again. Jewellery is also the only way to wear plastic. Plastic shoes are not shoes.

Yesterdays Fever Ray gig was magical! The sounds, the visuals, everything. I'm easily attracted by laser beams, I see them so rarely. During the warm-up act, Svarte Greiner, I had hard time concentrating but when my boyfriend dragged me almost to the front row to see what the artist was really doing with his instruments, it got more interesting. But if you ever have a chance to see Fever Ray playing live, you should definitely go.