Won't believe your eyes
Leonard Nimoy (aka Spock) sings about Bilbo Baggings.
Posted 09:14
Links
I decided to do the unthinkable and clean out my few hundred "favorite" weblinks. Here's a few of the ones that I accumulated over the past months, for some reason or another:
Fishtank game - Quite fun
LOTR skins for Sims - Too bad I didn't like the game
Banner design - Never needed this for anything
Chat abbreviations - Useful to point to internet newbies
Top 100 Game sites - Can never have enough games...
iUniverse - Publishes books
CIA world factbook 2001 - Useful facts about countries
Critter's workshop - Workshop for sci-fi, fantasy and horror writers
USA Green Card lottery - If they give them out for free, no harm in trying...
Mars exploration - I still want to go there. Badly.
Murphy's laws - Quite an extensive list
Piggy and Puppy - Such a cute idea and fun reading
Project Dolphin - Nothing to do with dolphins actually, but typing
SamSpade - Useful internet tools
Shakeitbabe - Fun to watch the little guy
Constitution of Finland - It looks quite impressive
SF&F writers of America - Another writers' website
Mars Society - I'm not the only Mars-looney in the world
Star Wars Galaxies - Waiting for this game to come out
LOTR diaries - The hilarious diaries collected into one place
Cosmiverse - Space & science related news
RingCon2002 - Never been to a Con before, but this does look interesting
iFilm - Various kinds of short films and movie clips
InkTank strip - This particular one is funny for various reasons
SF site - Another site about SF & F books
WOT RPG board - I'd love to do this if I could find people to play with me
Green Dragon Inn - Unofficial LOTR fanclub page
The Shire - Another LOTR community page
Situationtwo - A few cool instrumental mp3s
Posted 10:10
Bended
Today was the first day since Wednesday and getting sick that I really ventured outside. Apparently it was too soon. We went over to a hamburger drive-in. I stopped right before reaching the little box where you say your order, turned towards my friend and asked her what she wanted. In the couple of seconds that it took for her to say french fries and a cheeseburger I managed to forget all about the little metal pole next to the box and drove right into it. Such a typical female driver thing that I just can't believe it. I was drugged (on cold medicine mind you) so that's my excuse.
Posted 20:49
Disclaimer of sorts
This is going to be a kind of a disclaimer post about something that I've been thinking for a while and Tacoshop's post gave it the final push. Let's just see if I can't put it to words this late in the day...
I love my country, Suomi (aka Finland), very much. I like to travel and experience new cultures, but I always want to return back here. My country has its faults too, but it also has so many great things. Sometimes I feel like writing about nothing but Finland, in some vain attempt to dazzle you all by just how wonderful this country is. Usually I stop myself though, because I do realize that nobody, not even Finns, not even myself in the long run, would like to read endless posts about just one single topic.
USA is the country I know the 2nd most about. I've lived 1.5 years of my life in USA, on the west and east coast. I've had numerous American friends, among them 2 boyfriends. I've been to something like 15 states and done numerous trips to USA in the past years. I've had 6 people from USA visit my home. I know more about USA and the way of life there than I do about our neighbouring country Sweden. Something which I should perhaps be ashamed about, I don't know.
What all this means is that it's just very easy for me to make comparisons between the two countries. People in Finland tend to be very quiet, while people in America tend to talk a lot etc. Three of my Finnish friends have also lived in the States and a lot of times our discussions revolve around the differences, similarities, what's good, what's bad and other topics concerning both countries. I've sometimes wanted to post some of these thoughts, but frankly I haven't for fear of misunderstandings. I often try to see things from many different sides, simply observing and stating my observations, without necessarily taking any sides. In Finland people do X, but in USA people do Y. It doesn't automatically mean that X is always the correct way of doing things and Y is wrong.
I'd like to write more posts with observations about differences and similarities, but I am afraid my pride for my own country will unintentionally shine through and whatever I say will be seen as criticism against the USA. I'll admit right now that there are a lot of things about USA that do bother me, but there's equally a lot of great things. I wouldn't continue to travel there if I really disliked the country. I'd love to be able to compare with more countries than just USA, but I just don't know any of them that well. I wish I did. I also wish more foreigners knew more about Finland, because I am always interested in hearing viewpoints from the other side as well, good or bad.
Now I wonder if I've just made a fool of myself by writing all this. My sleep deprived brains can't tell right now. Perhaps I'll delete this in the morning after reading it properly...
Posted 01:23
Amusing chinchillas
The little furballs absolutely love the freezer, particularly in the summer time. While they're running around in the kitchen, I open the freezer door (it's on the floor, not above the refridgerator) and all three of them line up, trying to push their way in. I have to shoo them off enough to get the bottom drawer out completely and in they go. They jump excitedly, roll around and generally just go all crazy. Chinchillas don't like it even warm and the summer is especially hard on them. Unfortunately I can't keep the door open nor the frozen goods out for very long. And no, I've never considered just slamming the door shut while the critters are still in there. Tsk tsk!
Posted 00:11
Back and forth
Remind me never to get involved in a political debate again. Heh.
Posted 13:50
Empire Strikes Back rewrite
The following has been circulated for a while now. This time I found it over at Inktank and thought to save it here.
A furious light saber duel is under way. DARTH VADER is backing LUKE SKYWALKER toward the end of the gantry. A quick move by Vader, chops off Luke's hand! It goes spinning off into the ventilation shaft. Luke backs away. He looks round, but realizes there's nowhere to go but straight down.
DARTH VADER: "Obi Wan never told you what happened to your father."
LUKE: "He told me enough! He told me you killed him!"
DARTH VADER: "No! I am your father!"
LUKE: "No, it's not true! It's impossible."
DARTH VADER: "Search your feelings; you know it to be true."
LUKE: "NO!"
DARTH VADER: "Yes, it is true and you know what else? You know that brass droid of yours?"
LUKE: "Threepio?"
DARTH VADER: "Yes, Threepio, I built him when I was seven years old."
LUKE: "No."
DARTH VADER: "Seven years old? And what have you done? Look at yourself, no hand, no job, and couldn't even levitate your own ship out of the swamp."
LUKE: "I worked hard on that moisture farm."
DARTH VADER: "What? Hauling buckets? I spent my childhood as a slave then *real* Jedi training, not 'a few days in the swamp with Yoda'."
LUKE: "I destroyed your precious Death Star!"
DARTH VADER: "When you were 20! When I was 10, I single-handedly destroyed a Trade Federation Droid Control ship!"
LUKE: "Well, it's not my fault."
DARTH VADER: "Oh, here we go. 'Poor me, my father never gave me what I wanted for my birthday, boo hoo, my daddy's the Dark Lord of the Sith.. waahhh wahhh!'"
LUKE: "Shut up."
DARTH VADER: "You're a slacker! By the time I was your age, I had exterminated the Jedi knights!"
LUKE: "I used to race my T-16 through Beggar's Canyon!"
DARTH VADER: "Oh, for the love of the Emperor … 10 years old, winner of the Boonta Eve Open. Only human to ever fly a Pod Racer, right here baby!"
Luke looks down the shaft. Takes a step toward it.
DARTH VADER: "I was wrong. You're not my kid. I don't know whose you are, but you sure ain't mine."
Luke takes a step off the platform, hesitates, then plunges down the shaft.
Darth Vader looks after him.
DARTH VADER: "And get a haircut!"
Posted 10:59
End of the world
Ever since news of the approaching asteroid came out, I've been having somewhat apocalyptic thoughts. Now I do realize this particular one most likely will end up being a harmless one, but it's still been interesting to make some observations regarding my own thought process on the matter.
As soon as the scenes from Armageddon and Deep impact left my brains, I read onwards and found out that the likelihood of the asteroid hitting Earth is very small. It'll be weeks, perhaps even months, before we'll know for sure if or where it'll hit. It won't happen until 2019 anyhow, which is supposedly so far into the future that it's hard to imagine. In other words, there is nothing to even think about. It's amazing how quickly I am willing to push any and all kinds of negative news to the background. The whole 'no sense worrying about it now since it's not gonna happen now anyhow' phenomenon. Can't live your life always afraid of something, can you? "I could be hit by a car tomorrow anyhow" is the often used defense mechanism for anything unpleasant.
Assuming though that an asteroid would be on a direct collision course with Earth, it would be one of them global killers going to wipe out all life on Earth and they found about it now, but it wouldn't hit until 2024, would the authorities tell us about it? If they could would they try to keep it a secret as long as possible? They would work on saving Earth in secret, because revealing the information would send the world into chaos. I can imagine half the population choosing to live in ignorance still, refusing to talk or even think about the whole thing, in faith that the scientists will solve the problem in time, because the alternative is simply impossible. The other half of mankind would develope a 'nothing matters' viewpoint to everything, quitting their jobs, stealing, drinking and living like there will be no tomorrow.
I wonder how many would still choose to have children, holding onto the belief that life must go on, no matter what. As time grew closer the number of suicides would most likely rise rapidly, as well as attendance at religious institutions. I am sure there would be a lot of those who would welcome the asteroid with open arms, some for religious beliefs and some simply because it would mean a new beginning for Earth. Mankind had its chance, we managed to ruin a lot of things and like the dinosaurs before us, now would be our turn to go and give way to the whole new world. Would they find fossils of us? But surely some humans would always survive, no matter how huge an impact the asteroid would make? How long would it take for them to form something akin to modern civilization again? Would they make the exact same mistakes that we did?
It was interesting to note that Stargate SG-1's latest episode here was A hundred days, which just happened to deal with a planet being hit by meteors from an asteroid belt. An omen?
Posted 15:16
Birth day
Found from Neurotic Mother:
What day are you?
Not sure how to interpret that one... Does it mean that I'll get really far in life, as in I'll get rich, famous, powerful and all that? Does it mean that I'll have a long way to go before I'll find happiness, meaning and a proper life? So far it's feeling more like the latter...
Posted 21:37
Bored, bored, bored
Normally I'd be happy just staying home all day, watching tv, playing games, reading a book and other meaningless tasks, but now that I have no other choice, I'm really bored. Murphy's law strikes again.
Posted 17:30
Waaa
My temperature has risen to 38C (101F) and I feel like crap. I want my mommy! *sniffle* *cough* I remembered today that there was somebody at the party on Saturday who came there even though she had fever. I bet I got this from her. Grrr. There is something so wrong about being sick with a cold in the middle of summer.
Posted 21:53
Visitors
Over the years I've played host to 17 people that I've only met through the internet - three Finns, seven Dutch, one Swede and six from USA. Most of those people I'd never even talked on the phone with before. I had met them through various internet communities, either invited them to come visit or they expressed an interest to come and I agreed to let them stay with me. I guess I've been really lucky, because so far I haven't experienced any problems. It's so easy to pretend to be something else on the internet, but all my guests have turned out to be exactly what they portrayed themselves to be. I suppose it helps that 15/17 of my visitors have been male, as opposed to me being a male and expecting to see a 19 year old tall, blond woman at the airport and instead getting a short, dark 52 year old man.
I don't know why almost all of my visitors have been male. I've stayed with people in Sweden, USA, Malaysia and Holland and almost all of my hosts have been male as well. It's not something that's ever been planned, but has just happened. Out of those 17 guests only two have been romantic interests, the rest have remained strictly as friends. When I was going to visit Malaysia, for example, I received two offers where to stay - at a woman's place where I'd have to sleep on the floor and share it with her cats, or at a guy's place where I could get my own bedroom. Things just work that way for some reason.
I'm not naive though. I realize there are all kinds of risks involved when letting strangers into your house or when going to see strangers half across the globe. There are cultures out there where things like these might be seen as open invitations to rape me in the middle of the night. "Never seen him before" does not always equate to "don't know him at all" though. In most cases when we have finally met in person, it has been preceded by years of chatting and e-mailing across the internet. Granted, some people are able to pull out long and elaborate hoaxes, but I can either spot such fakers or I've just been very lucky.
The latest visitor was a complete exception though. One day I received an e-mail from a guy who was thinking of visiting Finland, had been looking for blogs kept by Finnish people and was asking me if I could give any tips what to do while here and where to stay. Without really thinking about it, I happened to mention that I might have a free couch at my place. The guy got all excited and asked me if he could really stay with me, which I didn't know how to answer. Here was a complete stranger who could turn out to be my worst nightmare. We e-mailed for a while where he tried to convince me he really isn't an axe murderer and after about a week of constant pondering I agreed to host him. Luckily everything turned out for the best again.
I love showing people Helsinki. Everytime I see tourists on the streets I feel like running up to them, hugging them and thanking them for coming here. So many people who think of visiting Europe always go to London, Paris, Rome and the other usual spots. Very few are interested in some weird country hidden northeast of the continent. The two Americans I had staying with me last year only wanted to stay for two days, because "there isn't that much to see in Finland". If you are only interested in running from building to building, taking photos of each and then moving on to the next, then I suppose they were right. Helsinki isn't that big, but there's all kinds of other things to do. The latest visitor didn't get to see any of the sights, but instead was taken to a party, to clubs, to sauna, swim in a lake, camping, chopping wood with an axe and all kinds of things which he hadn't experienced before. I think he had a great time.
I've been pondering signing over at Global Freeloaders, but at the moment I don't want any more visitors nor am I going anywhere, so it can wait.
Posted 13:13
Aaaaugh
The tourist has left, but there's only going to be a short update still, because now I am really sick. Blah. Nausea, seriously sore throat and coughing constantly as well as a little bit of fever. I haven't been this sick in quite a while so it really sucks. I want to be pampered! *more pitiful wails*
Posted 20:55
Muahahahaaa, part 2
Ladies and gentlemen, on our final day together Aurel's Torture Tours(tm) will be taking you to the woods where you can enjoy more cold lakes, weird sausage by a campsite and lovely mosquitos. All in the company of several weird natives.
Posted 08:55
Muahahahaaa
Today is the 'torture the poor tourist with sauna and lake' day.
Posted 09:15
Parteeeeee.... is over
Waiting to see if I'll get a hangover... why oh why did I have to drink so much?
Posted 11:08
Swearing - warning: contains bad words
Some lessons from childhood are so welded into my brains that I am unable to change them even though I am now an adult (or pretend to be). Swearing is one of these things. I didn't resort to swearing even when I was a teenager, although I rebelled in other ways. If I ever say a swearword, then it's something really serious.
I've never understood the need to add swearwords into regular conversation - so I had this fucking busy day yesterday cause this goddamned American is coming over and then we'll do shit together. Some swear because of the apparent shock value in it. If a music artist says fuck then the teenagers of the world all bow down to him. I make it my point to avoid people like that. To me swearing is just a sign that the person really has nothing to say, but is just using every trick possible to appear cool.
For some swearing has become so common place that they really don't pay attention to it anymore. They add in fuck and shit at every other word without much realizing it anymore. That's really no better, but only makes one appear completely retarded. It'd like be like nothing else than like adding like a completely like unnecessary like word like all the time.
On the other hand, foreign swearwords just don't carry the same kind of a stigma, to me. Even though I know English quite well, words like fuck or shit really are just foreign words when it comes down to it. If somebody told me that bumbahumba means something bad in Swahili, it'd still be just a funny sounding word to me. I've been to know to say 'what the fuuuuuuuuuck' from time to time, because it sounds so funny... well, here anyhow. On our latest trip to USA we came to the realization that what sounds like a funny foreign gibberish here, is actually real swearing over there and perhaps we should refrain from making each other laugh.
I'll have to watch my mouth for the next few days again.
Posted 11:39
Lazy slob
Back when I had the cat I was forced to clean the whole apartment once a week - putting things where they belong, vacuum, wiping dust away and changing the bed linens. It wasn't a question of whether I wanted to or not, but rather if I didn't clean weekly I got really sick really fast. I'm a bit of a slob at nature though and I think now I am taking back all that time I "wasted" cleaning. My place looks a real mess. There's piles of stuff at every corner and on top of every horizontal piece of furniture. I still haven't unpacked all of my things from the trip. Once in a while I try to "clean" things up. I take a plastic bag and stuff everything in it, to be sorted out later and just deposit the plastic bag somewhere where I won't trip over it. You don't want to know what's going on in the kitchen with all the dirty dishes...
I've been meaning to clean lately, because I have a guest coming over, but since he wasn't coming till Sunday my brains kept telling me I still had plenty of time to worry about it later. Now I hear he's arriving already on Saturday. Today is Friday. Panic. I need to make this place tolerable, wash the dishes, do some laundry, get some groceries, find the mattress from the basement and drag it up here (ack, I hope it hasn't been eaten by rats or something) and go downtown to buy two presents for the party also on Saturday. All today. Hopefully I have enough plastic bags...
Posted 10:21
The Sims
I bought Neverwinter nights yesterday. Installed it today, but haven't tried it out yet. I've heard such mixed reviews about it that I'm afraid to play. Right now the game is still perfect. Some logic huh. I only paid eight euros for it though, because I took back a few old games in return. Among the returned games was The Sims. I never understood the point of it. The whole premise of the game wasn't very luring to begin with, but I kept reading all these fantastic reviews on it. Lots of diary writers, many whom don't usually seem to play games much at all, wrote that they were completely addicted to it. So finally I decided to give it a try. I played for a while, didn't get into it and uninstalled it. Couple months later, after hearing more stories of addicted people I installed it again and really tried to give the game a fair chance. Sorry, but I still don't get it. A game where you make people go to the bathroom, take showers, talk with their neighbours and watch tv? How can that be so addictive? I've liked quite a few "god" games, where you control people's destinies, such as Dungeon Keeper 2 and Pharaoh, but those involve building cities, amassing resources, conquering new colonies and annihilating your foes. Where's the fun in making your character prepare dinner and then watch him eat it? I don't want a presentation of real life on my computer screen - games are supposed to be an escape from reality.
Posted 14:28
All quiet on the midnight front
I love real summer nights. The ones that come after a warm day, a day when the air stood still and you felt like you were being smothered by a thick blanket. Then the sun begins to set and the air cools down, but remains still warm enough to wear only a t-shirt and shorts. Everything becomes quiet and peaceful. I love to stand at the balcony, lean against the railing, breathe in the cooler air and watch as the world sleeps. Most of the windows in the nearby houses are dark, their occupants already in bed. Occasionally a random wanderer walks down the street heading for their home, looking a bit eerie amongst the streetlamps and the shadows they create. The cars that once in a while drive past on the busier street behind all the buildings create the only noise I can hear. Even that has a kind of a purring, comforting quality to it. Everything feels so serene, like all is right in the world.
Posted 00:25
One topic
Found from Sam, the Topics blog. Here's one of my answers:
What's the worst summer job (or any job for that matter) that you've ever had? Why was it so bad? Was it the pay or the work or both?
The two weeks I spent doing gardening jobs at a cemetery. After the first day I knew the job wasn't for me, but there was a two weeks notice, so I had to endure it a while longer. It wasn't really the location that sucked (although bones sticking up from here and there was quite gruesome), but rather the hard work, odd hours and lousy pay that I hated. I was working under an overachieving brand new gardener who had us work our butts off all the time, with no rest. The workday was nine hours, starting at 7am, because for some weird reason there was an hour reserved for lunch. You weren't allowed to go anywhere though, so we just spent it getting bored and wishing we could have rather woken up an hour later in the morning. And for all the trouble, it paid the minimum wage.
Posted 13:21
Not Finnish enough?
I get a lot of hits from people looking for Finnish diaries, on the average at least one a day. None of them ever leave a comment, sign the guestbook or visit again. I wonder what I am doing wrong... I really am Finnish, I swear! *chuckle*
Speaking of Finland, yesterday's big news was a car bomb that exploded downtown Helsinki at around 6.50 am, killing one (the driver) and injured another driving nearby. It's being investigated as murder - somebody had tried to kill the driver by shooting him already in December and apparently there's been an arrest today. Just what is this world going to? Not that killing isn't wrong in the first place, but if you really want somebody dead, then don't put a bomb in their car and let it go off while he's driving around populated areas!
Posted 12:04
Recuperating
Yesterday when I finally got home I felt like I had fallen down and a tank had rolled over me. It was a fun day, but still quite taxing, emotionally and physically. Today I've been sleepy most of the day and don't feel like saying a word, so this'll be short.
Posted 19:44
Never grow up
A five year old asked me today whether I am a child or an adult. It says a lot that she couldn't tell... I told her that I am a childish adult.
Posted 22:46
Birds
This morning I found a dead Greenfinch by my shoes, which are at the entry hall nearby the outer door. The bird must have come in through the open kitchen window and flown around the apartment, before flying too close to my toxic-fume shoes. I wish I had woken up to try and help it out from the balcony door. It looks so sad with its head lolling from side to side and feet sticking in the air.
Couple years ago I ended up saving three European swallows from my apartment. With the kitchen window and door closed, these birds just miraculously appeared in there. I live on the top floor and apparently right below the roof there are some ventilation holes that lead inside my kitchen, behind the cupboards and refridgerator to be exact. My guess is that one of these birds had made a nest in one of the holes and when the offspring decided to explore the world, they fell down the hole and ended up in my kitchen instead. They'd just lie on the floor, let me come close and even touch them. With the first one I thought it must be seriously injured, because it never made any move to fly away, not even when I picked it up. However as soon as I carried them off to the balcony, they flew off. I hope they made it out there in the cruel world.
Posted 11:00
Quiet people
This is one of my favorite literary "quotes", taken from Kim Stanley Robinson's book Icehenge:
You see, quiet people know they have a reputation for being close-mouthed.
Sometimes the reputation is like a power, for they see their acquaintances
think that when they are moved to speak it will be for something special.
But that is also a sort of pressure, a pressure that grows as the years
pass and the quiet person's reputation ages. What, after all, is really
important enough to say? Not much. And quiet people become overly aware of
that, and thus aware that most talk is a code masking vastly more complex
meanings - meanings unfathomable to the very people most aware of their
existance.
Posted 13:17
Being social
I'm usually really awkward when it comes to meeting new people. I'm the one that ends up sitting quietly in some corner, with people staring and wondering just what am I doing there. Other people make contacts, exchange phonenumbers, agree to meet at another date, while I slip away unnoticed. It takes me a long time to really feel myself comfortable amongst new people, let alone make actual friends. Still, I'm always determined to try one more time.
Next week is looking to be some kind of a social bootcamp. On Monday I'm going to a family gathering of sorts, with some people there that I've never met before. On Thursday is the Blog meetup day that I signed up for, for some odd reason, but now I'm not so sure I want to go. Haven't confirmed yet. At the end of the week first there'll be a party to which I was invited and then I'll be getting an American visitor whom I've never met before for a few days.
It feels like the calm before the storm right now.
Posted 12:59
Favorites
Talking of being disorganized and lazy, I have 386 favorite websites marked on the browser. 386?!?!?!!! I actually use around 5 of them daily, the rest are just... something. But you know, I can't just delete them, because, you know, they might become useful one day...
Posted 20:02
Jokes for Tolkien enthusiasts
Taken from the message boards at LOTR fan club, written by StefBaggings:
>Why didn't Tom Bombadil answer the phone?
Because the ring had no effect on him
>Who is Frodo's favorite musician?
Sting
>When Melkor was taken captive by the Valar, what were his parting words to Sauron?
Keep an eye on Middle Earth
>How do orcs greet each other?
With a Uruk-hai five
>Why did the asthmatic dwarf leave the Lonely Mountain?
Because the Smaug was bad
Posted 11:03
Oh wow
Blogger is working again for me, after all the hiccups I experienced yesterday.
Posted 09:44
Wonders of summer
The last two days have been extraordinarily great. I've had a permanent smile spread across my face and just felt like bouncing about, because I have been so happy. The last two days sun actually shined and it was warm. It felt like summer at last. I went swimming in the sea on both days and yesterday just stayed outside for 12 hours. I went scubadiving! Granted it was only at a small lake that had nothing to look at beneath the surface, but it was still the first time in years. I've really, really missed diving. Hopefully by next summer I'll be fit enough again to do it for real. Please, oh, please let the good weather continue.
Posted 10:40
Dentists
After being inspired by Delphine, SPB and Animamea's entries about dentists, my one remaining wisdom tooth has decided once again to remind me of its existance. It's grown half-way out, it's growing straight up and there's enough room for it, so technically I could just let it be. The problem is that part of the cheeck muscle in the back pushes over the tooth and when the tooth decides to make another push upwards, the muscle gets sore, as well as the gums around the tooth. So sometime in the future I am most likely looking at a trip to the dentist again.
I hate dentists. Well, no, hate isn't exactly the right word. Actually I am scared to death of dentists. I'm not kidding now, but when I was a kid I got barred from a lot of dentists' offices. My parents were told outright never to bring me there again. I kicked, screamed and absolutely refused to open my mouth. I remember being surrounded by something like 5 people all trying to pry my mouth open. I was given sedatives, didn't work. At every new place I was taken to, I was determined to be braver and the first few visits went well until I decided I had had enough and then no amount of coaxing or brute force could get me to co-operate. Off we went to a new dentist.
At school you're forced to go to a dentist at least once a year. They just give you an appointment and you go, during school time. If you have to go more times, again you just skip classes and go. It's all free, x-rays, drillings, braces, the whole works. Very convenient and easy, but didn't make it any better on me though. I had braces for a long time. I had to have most of my first teeth pulled out, because they just wouldn't leave on their own. I had one completely rotten permanent tooth which they pulled out and to balance it off they pulled another tooth from the other side of the mouth as well (don't ask me what kind of a weird logic that is), which explains why I have enough room there for wisdom teeth. Almost all of my teeth, except the front ones, have fillings in them. My teeth aren't really horrible, but there's been a lot of work done to them. Way too much for somebody who abhors the dentists.
Regular checkups are the norm at the university too. They'd send me invitations, but since I was no longer a kid whose parents and teachers would come after me if I didn't go, I never went. I haven't been to a regular checkup in something like ten years now. Considering how many cavities I used to have, I probably have a lot even now, but unless they become a major problem, I don't care. The only way I managed to go and get my three wisdom teeth pulled out was when the pain got so bad that I just cried. The last time my remaining tooth acted out badly, I had an appointment all setup, but a day before the tooth just stopped. Needless to say, I cancelled the appointment.
Maybe I need another appointment to scare my tooth into submission again.
Posted 22:00
Dreams
Most likely due to my George Lucas comment from yesterday, I ended up having a Starwars dream last night. It was my own version of Episode 2, with Hayden playing the main part and I watched the dream as if watching a movie. I don't remember much else, except that Anakin got kidnapped by the dark side people and taken to some base where they thought to convert him over. When Obi-wan, bent on rescue, entered the base the alarms started out, except they sounded more like kraa, kraa over and over. I remember thinking to myself, still dreaming, that sheesh that is such an annoying sound, before waking up and discovering that there were two crows having a concert just outside my window.
Posted 10:32
Btw
It was too good to be true. I do have to manually update at Weblogs for it to work right.
And for some !(/"&#(/"&# reason Blogger isn't archiving entries properly, but a day late. If I could, I'd use something else, because there seems to be constant problems with this system.
Posted 20:58
The fate of the world
Now even this blog can be considered worthwhile, insightful, thoughtful and all those things which makes a blog great, because I'm going to make a couple of comments about this thing called internet and the way it's changing our world.
While I am not particularly interested in the music industry, I read this excellent article today about the state of the music industry, downloading songs for free - that whole thing which has been on the news ever since Metallica sued Napster. The article got me to thinking again about the role of the internet and what we should do about it.
I think everything is in need of a change - we need a new industrial revolution. People should rather look at building something from scratch than trying to just add in new features to an old system. The millions of homepages, blogs and numerous nonsense pages on the net may not change the world, but rather the fact that information can move so freely and quickly. Look at almost any large industry and you'll find it filled with middle-men on top of middle-men. There are people at every junction each wanting their own piece of the pie. Take the music industry for example - just how many people does it take to manufacture one CD and then transport it from the factory to a store in Finland. In Finland more money is used to pay the clerks, rent the store etc. According to the article the artist only receives 8 cents per record sold. The rest of the $11-$15 goes to everybody else. The common sense here says that the majority of the money should go to the artist - the one who made the music in the first place.
Industries are trying to remain the same as they always have and instead of thinking of completely new, radical ways how to operate, they are spending millions of money to make copy-proof CDs that work poorly, raising the price of CDs (which results in even fewer wanting to buy them) and getting involved in messy lawsuits. George Lucas, the creator of the Star Wars movies and the current "spokesperson" for digital cameras said in one interview that one day it might be possible for movie theaters to directly download the movies they are going to show. Just think how many middle-men that'd get rid of. That's the sort of new thinking that is required.
The internet itself is a good example of old fashioned thinking. While most services on the net are available for free, their owners must get money from somewhere and so most people have turned to the good old advertising. But I've never heard of a person who actually read their spam e-mail, let alone take the "great" deal it offers, nor have I heard of a person who really liked the multitude of pop-up windows. Instead people are busy installing all kinds of additional software that would get rid of ads. Rather than using the same old scheme of advertisers, people need to think of something new. One thing that appears to be a success is the method to give something for free, lure people into users and then offer additional, worthwhile benefits for a cost. Once you have people hooked, they're more likely to pay for something. As the article at least states offering some things for free actually incites people to buy more products and is thus beneficial to the artist.
Perhaps the whole idea of possession is outdated. We are so used to being surrounded by products, but a lot of things - books, movies, music, newspapers - can be offered these days solely in a digital form. Do we really need the physical object of a CD if we are able to listen to the music by other means? I don't think I am myself ready for a complete change, for one thing I like holding a book, made out of paper, in my hands rather than reading off of a palmpilot or such, but there's generations being born who will not have the same viewpoint to materialism than we do, who'll see the world with completely different eyes than we have... all thanks to the internet.
Posted 18:44
Weblogs
Feeorin has a cool system set up in the favorite reads to show which ones have been updated according to Weblogs. I don't remember ever signing up with Weblogs, but I could have... and apparently Blogger/Blogspot updates automatically, because I never have. That's so cool!
I really need to organize this blog more, but just been so lazy. I still have the near-template layout for the page and apart from the The One Ring Net link, I've got nothing. I should put the diary/blog links on the archive page into better order. Someday the inspiration will finally strike!
Posted 01:09
Not another one
I know this goes against my own principles about silly online tests, but I'm out of words today. What kind of a cat are you was found from Tacoshop.
Take the Purrsonality Quiz!
Posted 22:02
Nutjobs
I turned the tv news on just in time to witness how a man shot a dog dead. The lunatic shot around, hijacked a bus and finally barricaded himself at a gas station, shooting a poor police dog in the process, until the police shot him in the leg and got him.
In other news, we've actually had weather slightly resembling summer lately. Yay!
Posted 21:47
What/who is Aurel?
Here's another thing copied from elsewhere - do a google search on "[name] is" and see what it comes up with. So here's the most popular results of what aurel is:
- a very beautiful village peacefully situated in the Sault region on
the border of the Vaucluse
A village? A beautiful one too? Cool! - upcoming german trance ace - Marc Aurel
Hmm wonder if he's single... I could possibly change my last name to that... - Faubert Aurel, a blind graduate of Polytechnic University
Gooo Aurels! At least some of us are graduating... - Marc Aurel (again?) who is specialised on the needs of younger and youthfull people
I had no idea Aurel was such a common last name and just what needs are they talking about... - Aurel is a being of great light, and a student of the Divine. ... Aurel is an Anchorite, one whom lives in seclusion for religious reasons
The weirdest link - Aurel is cycling from Romania with a group of 7, via the Eurovelo cycle route network
Aurel is a first name in Romania? - Aurel is chair of For Mother Earth - Romania
Hmm, apparently so - Aurel is currently pursuing new simulator library developments with a variety of companies
I wish this was really me - Aurel is also the name of one of the four sisters in the background story of Emeralda, titled Her Story: The Women Who Fell to Earth
A literary character too? I'm so popular - a product similar to a MIPOT module
Umm ok whatever
Posted 15:25
Questions on the net
I am not a member of any of these, nor have I previously answered any of these questions, but I thought I'd give it a try. See what the whole fuzz is about, so to speak. These are the three that I am aware of:
Posted 13:04
Monday Mission
1. In the United States of America, it was recently ruled that the phrase "one nation under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional. Do you agree with this ruling? Should the phrase "under God" be removed? Why?
I'm not American, so while I certainly have my own opinion about this thing, it's not really my business though. But if you really must know, I find the whole pledge to be unnecessary and cannot understand why such a thing needs to exist at all. It's just brainwashing. I understand patriotism and loving your country so much that you'd be willing to die for it, but it shouldn't come from some chant that you were forced to say at school and other events.
2. When was the last time you took a road trip? Where did you go and what did you do?
It was a one day trip, if that counts, about six weeks ago. I went with my mother and we visited two towns along the coast east from Helsinki, Porvoo and Kotka. We did a little sightseeing, walking and mainly just eating well at a restaurant. It was a good day.
3. Do you have any vacations planned for this summer? Already gone? Where to and what?
Already went to USA. Don't have anything specific planned for the rest of the summer.
4. What is the most drastic change to your appearance that you have ever made? Are you brave enough to post a photo?
I didn't make the change on purpose, but it just happened, as is often the case. I've gained a lot of weight during the past couple of years. I've never been an overly skinny type, but I used to be normal at least. Then I got sick with asthma, which prevented any exercise (even walking to the cornerstore was really hard at times), combined with quitting my job and sitting inside a lot and slowly the extra weight just added on. I absolutely hate it. When I see myself in the mirror or in photos, I can barely believe that it's really me in there. I look so completely different.
5. Tell me about something to which you are committed?
Losing this damn extra weight.
6. Now tell me about something you just flat-out gave up on.
Can't think of anything. I give up on things, but they don't usually end up being forever. I gave up on a friendship some years ago, but I'd be willing to give it another try if the chance came along etc. I'm a big advocate for second chances and also try not to limit myself by absolutely prohibiting myself from doing something ever again.
7. (new saga) I've had it, this place is just wearing me out. You too? We need a break! Let's head out and go someplace new. You make the plans, I'll get things ready. So what do you have it mind, and did you want me to pick up anything special to pack for the trip?
So many places, so little money... See the pyramids in Egypt. Drive around Australia. Visit all the Lord of the Rings film locations in New Zealand. Check just how hectic Tokyo really is. Walk in the many parks of London. Rest and scubadive in the Maledives. Experience the Antarctic. So I guess what we're looking at is a year long round the world trip!
Posted 13:03
Tuesday Too
1.) What do you find most troubling about your way of life? If your life is carefree please give me a hint, which has nothing to do with winning the lottery.
I am quite happy most of the time and compared to a lot of others, I have a really lucky life that I am grateful for, but I'd like to find a purpose for my life. At the moment I need to find a job, but I have absolutely no clue what I'd like to do. The little education and prior jobs I have had were in a field that I certainly don't want to be involved in again. I've always envied people who are really good at something. The ones who knew even as kids what they wanted to be as adults. I've always been average with everything. I need a job badly, but I still end up just sitting here most of the time, because I can't make up my mind what to do exactly.
2.) What is your prescription (non psychotropic), or outlet for dealing with stress and anxiety?
Solitude. Peace and quiet just with myself relieves all stress and anxiety, but it's certainly no cure for loneliness or depression in turn.
3.) What's the real reason you get up every morning?
No reason not to. Curious to see what the day will bring about. I like living and I like getting new experiences.
Posted 13:01
Friday Five
1. Where are you right now?
At home, sitting by my computer.
2. What have you lost recently?
Hmm, can't think of anything. (Such a boring answer I know)
3. What was the first CD you ever purchased? Does that embarrass you now?
I feel so old now, since the question wasn't about a first LP. Do kids these days even know what an LP is/was? The first CD I bought was Queen's The Miracle from 1989. I really wanted to buy the LP, since they were so much cheaper, CDs were these weird new things, but the shop didn't have it and the man finally convinced me to go with the CD instead. No, I am not embarrassed to reveal that I own that CD. Poor Freddy Mercury.
4. What is your favorite kind of writing pen?
I don't use a pen anymore really. I guess I'd say the good old-fashioned yellowish pencil with a small eraser on top, because it's such a reminder of childhood.
5. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
I've tasted very few different kinds. Liquorice is always good. Something called butter pecan I think it was was delicious when I had it about a year ago. I'd love to try just what the heck does bubblegum taste like.
Posted 12:57
Googlies
Everybody else seems to get such interesting google searches. These are the ones I've received over the past few days:
comment hacker dungeon siege
rome colin firth
bathroom line
pee standing
photos of rhiana griffith
pee for finland
Lots of interest in peeing apparently. The last query is especially intriguing. And now thanks to this entry, I'll probably get queried even more about peeing. The world is filled with weird people.
Posted 16:44
Blogger
Blogger has been going through major hiccups again. For hours last night you could write posts, but you couldn't publish them due to server maintainance. Now the whole system is lagged beyond belief and while the publish button is back, it's not actually doing anything.
Posted 11:58
Abuse
I've been going back and forth to Nige's entry about Violence and women. There's something I'd like to write in response, but when I got started, I found out it's just too personal to share here. So I don't know if I should discard the whole entry then. I'll say though that I've never understood violence either. Judging from the movies and tv it's the female thing to do to slap a man on the cheeck and storm off when he insults a woman, but I could never do even that. The only excuse for any kind of physical abuse is if it's to keep somebody safe, like keeping a drunken person from driving as Nige had done. Not once in my life have I ever wanted to even slap a person. I've never had to stop myself from doing it, to restrain myself or anything of the sort. The thought to hit a person has never even entered my mind... so far. I have a fear though that it might happen one day.
Posted 00:46
Rulers of land
Gert's entry about the USA independence day reminded me of the one Swedish guy, who told me, in person and in all sincerety, that he thinks Sweden should still be ruling Finland. He was really disappointed about the fact that Sweden lost Finland to Russia in the 1800s. He figured it'd be so much better if we were one big country instead, with all the Finns speaking swedish. Needless to say, I didn't quite agree with him.
Why do Canada, Australia, New Zealand and a number of other countries still see the Queen of England as their leader, of sorts? They're all independent countries, but yet in a way they're not. It's a really strange relationship that I can't understand. What do the english themselves think about this? Are there still those who would like to see England's former imperial glory restored? Would there be a lot of upset people if the Commonwealth was completely disbanded? I wish somebody would even disband the European Union, but that's a whole entry of its own one day...
Posted 22:54
Words
Maybe I should start to study semantics instead - I always find myself wondering about words, their meanings and origins. For example, why is it natural vs. unnatural, but normal vs. abnormal. Whatever happened to unnormal? abnatural?
Why is there a separate word for he and she in the english language, but you (one person) and you (lots of people) do not have different words to describe them? Why do some languages insist that nouns must be feminine, masculine, neutral or whatever else? Why is a table masculine, but a chair feminine? Just who made up all these things? When new words are invented who gets to decide what gender it'll be?
How can babies learn any language in the world just by listening to it? But a few years later you need to be taught to learn a new language and the older you are the harder it gets. Life's little mysteries...
Posted 21:51
Things
Things to be proud of today:
- I've managed to wake up at 10am for two mornings in a row. It might not sound like much, but for me it is progress at last on my path to recover from jetlag. What helped me the most was plain old sunshine. Since coming back from the trip, it's been cold and cloudy around here, but the past two mornings sun's been shining a bit right into the bedroom.
- I didn't take asthma medicin last night. Or, well, at least I don't think I did. I've done it every single day for the past few years, so it's hard to say for sure. Ever since I gave up the cat in January I've been waiting to be completely cured and while I've gotten better gradually, I've still had to take that one inhale before going to bed. Otherwise I'd just lie there listening to myself struggling to breathe. Last night I felt a little difficulty with breathing still, but I told myself it wasn't serious enough and that I could forsake the medicin at last. I hope so.
- I had a doctor's appointment this week, but I didn't go, because it was at 9am. I hadn't gotten to sleep until 5am and when I tried to get up at 8am, after only three hours of sleep, I couldn't do it. It's not just lack of mental power that keeps me from waking up, but feeling so crappy physically as well - hands shake, feeling nauseous and dizzy. Ugh.
- I had an exam this week that I didn't go to. I forgot about it before and by the time I remembered it again, it was too late to start reading for it. Blah. I think I should just give up once and for all, because I'm really not interested in studying anymore.
Posted 15:53
Hmm
It's been a kind of a strange day today, or at least tonight. There's some problems going on and a friend of mine wanted to come see me, because she didn't want to be alone. However, as well as eating my dinner, she ended up spending most of the time using my computer to read and send e-mail and then an hour talking on the phone. So yeah... so nice to see her. I feel so used sometimes and I have problems saying no most of the time. Since I don't have that many friends, gotta just take what little I can get. Too many times I just keep everything inside and never say a word. I'm one of those great friends to whom you can do anything, because Oh she never minds. I do mind, but I don't say a thing. My own fault really. I'm in such a strange mood right now.
Posted 21:04
Foxy man
I finished Michael J. Fox's book Lucky man. It didn't offer any tremendous revelations about anything, but it was still interesting reading. It was written very well and quite humorously in places, especially when describing the crazy world of hollywood. The personal accounts of Parkinson's disease, how it developed, changed his life and what he went through to hide the symptoms was fascinating to read as well. Even if you're no particular fan of Mr. Fox (like me), I'd still recommend checking this out at a book store.
Posted 19:02
Gone gaming
I've been completely occupied by the Poseidon expansion to Master of Olympus. Pure ecstacy. Can't stop. Must go.
Posted 21:18
Cultural matters
While reading through Obconic's entry about greeting people, I was reminded of the first time I came into contact with the weird kiss-on-the-cheeck phenomenon. In Finland that's just not done. At all. If you're very good friends, then you hug. If you meet somebody for the first time or in business type meetings, then you shake hands. Otherwise it's just a nod of your head and a verbal hello to the other person. So that's what I did when I was travelling in central Europe. I smiled, extended out my hand for a shake and said hello, when all of a sudden this guy just came at me. My eyes widened and I took a quick step backwards, before blushing profusely. I knew him, I knew he meant no harm whatsoever and I certainly don't mind being kissed by men, but it was a completely spontaneous reaction that I had no control over. The guy blinked at me, I blushed and stammered some apology and then standing there like a wooden pole I let him do the cheeck kiss. It felt like the most ridiculous of things and I didn't feel like making a more of a fool of myself by attempting to return the "favor".
Cultural differences are a very tricky thing. On one hand the other person might seem completely normal, acting just the way you are, but then something happens that offends you and it's hard to know whether it's to do with cultural differences or just personalities. I remember a long time ago when I had an American visitor over and we went to visit my parents for dinner. The visitor wouldn't eat most of the food my mom had cooked and I got angry about that. Over here it is just one of the rudest things a guest could do, it'd be the same if he had farted loudly all throughout the dinner. If you're a guest and you absolutely hate the food you're offered, then you just grit your teeth and eat it anyway. I thought he was the worst spoilt brat ever, but then again, maybe where he came from it was perfectly acceptable to leave food on your plate and he didn't realize the insult he was doing. Later on I went to visit him in return and we stayed at his aunt's house for a couple of days. I'd sit on their couch and watch tv, while they cooked and did the dishes. Only later I heard that I had been very rude, because I had not offered to help. Now I had been the spoilt brat without knowing it. Over here guests just do not help. We take our hospitability seriously and one of the rules about it is that guests are guests, they are entertained and they certainly do not take part in household matters. Offering to help would be the same as saying that you don't think the hosts are doing a good job.
When I was in Thailand, I was sitting on a couch with no socks on, I lifted my one foot so that the ankle rested on the other knee, resulting in my bare sole pointing at the others sitting next to me. I was told that was an insult to them. If you have socks on, no problem, but pointing the bottom of your bare foot at a person is rude. Something about their buddhism. How are we supposed to know all these weird rules from country to country? How can you tell if a person is being purposefully rude to you or just acting that way, because she/he doesn't know any better? Even if you had a list of etiquette rules per country, the same rules do not always apply to every situation. Things are usually different whether you are amongst friends or mere acquaintances. Different sets of rules for family gatherings vs. business meetings. It's so easy to say that asking and discussing things would solve all of these problems, but most of the time you're not aware that there is anything to discuss about. For me it's inconceivable that there might be something wrong about the way I hold my feet. For the hosts, some things are easier to spot as being cultural ignorance, but more often than not matters are just listed under 'generally rude personality'.
Still, it's great that we're all so different.
Posted 15:19
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