The past month

Finally, an update. About time. Some glimpses:

A sunday in April:

"Yesterday was a good day,
of wandering on sun-kissed city streets,
a man bicycling by, whistling a merry tune,
sun-warmed asphalt and stone walls radiating heat"

A sunday in May, very much similar as above but warmer still, about +20 C and blazing sun. Also a contrasting mood:

"In the metro, a sad sight on this brilliant day - yet, tragically, not an unusual one: two alcoholics, a man and a woman, their features degraded by years (decades?) of alcohol abuse so that they look almost identical, as if they were twins. Ages: impossible to guess. The woman drones on and on about a horse - I get the vague idea that it may be a childhood memory - her words intercepted with frequent expletives."

Quite enjoyable recent developments: my brother and sister-in-law encouraged me to join the list of assistant writers for the University of Helsinki magazine. The people in this list can sign up for journalistic "gigs" - go listen to a seminar or whatever the task might be and write a short news item (of c. 1500 characters) for the magazine. I had my first gig a week ago and enjoyed the experience a lot. My brother gave me a frank review, and it was fun to learn the difference between academic writing and the style of writing required in a publication which popularized science. I've got the next gig this coming week already. Very much looking forward to it! Not only is this enjoyable but it also gives CV merits in freelance writing which I aspire to have. 

Starting from next week I'm going to be otherwise busy, however, as I'm beginning the summer university computer science studies which I plan to complete by the end of this summer.

More upsetting news in the country: the rightwing, "immigration-critical" (that's what they call themselves) populist party PS (True Finns) became the third largest party in April's parliamentary elections, with 19% of the votes. This means they will definitely get in the government. Worst of all, their worst racist was appointed head of the parliamentary committee in charge of immigration issues. This guy has opinions like: an individual's human value should depend on how instrumental he/she is to the society. That's practically fascism. I couldn't believe my eyes when I read the news. The only good side in this situation is that the PS don't really have a consistent programme: very typically for populist parties they just promise whatever people want to hear. It's easy to shout out things in the opposition but being in the government is a much more difficult deal.

Ok, a part of the fault lies in the traditional parties' failure to deliver, but I still can't believe 19% of Finns are moronic enough to vote for PS. Not EVERYONE of the party's representatives is a raving racist but a great percentage of the supporters definitely is. And it's another thing I can't believe: why is it so easy to get people to blame the easy targets for their problems? Unemployment? Temp jobs? Economic uncertainty? It MUST be the fault of all those immigrants who come here and steal our jobs!

Some personal success

Oops, and a full month has passed since I last blogged. I've had a lot to do lately and not really anything to blog about. I received some very exciting news the other day however: a new photo sale through the photo bureau - but this time to a Finnish monthly magazine with over 700 000 readers and over 230 000 subscribers. Good as that sounded, I thought it would probably be a small picture not very prominently displayed. Of course I made my way to the closest news stand and had quite a surprise: page 7, FULL page, AND my name clearly displayed! Here is a scan of the page:

The title is 'dizzying sun!' and it's all about the spring sun and light, so I very much like the context where my picture appears. You might even say that the picture is the main thing in the piece, because there's only one other page with comments by four people about the spring.

This is really good news, not only because it's a big magazine but also because it's only one of many in the roster of a big publishing house. Since my name and the photo bureau address are printed in the picture, I'm hoping it will be effective as an advertisment for my work.

New resolve

It's a very long time indeed since I've last updated my blog, but in the meantime I have found new resolve an inspiration: I have decided to go back to studying, Computer Science. I will start with the 25 study points base studies at the open university during the summer. These include the basics of Computer Science, basics of programming and databases and a practice work which involves creating a small piece of software and documenting the process. This will mean at least 40 hours/week - and they actually warn against doing all of it in one summer - but I think it's doable because I am both bright and have good concentration skills. This, with good enough grades, will enable me to apply for a decree at the uni without taking the entrance exam if that seems the right path. I am going to discuss with the Computer Science department study counsellor about the different options. An option might also be self-acquired skills rooted in the base studies, as the computer stuff is about doing rather than theory. We'll see.

Computer Science is something I'm really interested in, as I am a self-confessed computer geek and proud of it. This month, I'm taking part in the employment office's training for doctors (job-finding strategies etc) and today was the first day (two more days in March). Today already gave me lots to think about. The big thing was: they emphasized the importance of concentrating on a main focus and working for it determinedly. So, while I had the Computer Science idea before, this strengthened my resolve. During the day, I also thought about WHAT specifically I am interested in with computers. These include:

-Web and other IT solutions in historical research (e.g. databases).

-Web and other IT solutions for teaching history, the sort that make history interesting and fun for kids, kids like my elder nephew who think history is just a load of stories someone invented about things that happened a long time ago.

-Website stuff/publishing involving photography and writing.

Sense of Snow

Here, a few snow pictures from one of the sunny days we've had recently here.

And here, a little video from sunday:

It's funny how the sun at this time of the year always seems so miraculous, like a rebirth even, even though I logically know that days like this do come every year, eventually.

Nothing new to report on the job front, although I was informed today that the employment office is going to arrange in March a three-day course for their customers who have PhD, on the demands of modern work life, employment strategies and such. It's going to involve not only information but home assignments, group discussions and exercises etc. which all sound useful, so I signed up. Hopefully it will meet the expectations. Otherwise pretty much as before: writing work, photography, T.S. Eliot. Quite many movies too, all not at all incidentally featuring one Mr. Firth. His latest, King's Speech, is a stunning film, not only because of his performance but all the other roles, cinematography and all aspects. One thing I didn't expect was how much humour it has. I was expecting a very straight, even a tragical drama. Firth's previous film, A Single Man by Tom Ford made an equal impression on me. I had missed it originally when it was in theaters but saw it now. Such an acting performance in this one as well. To understand this one need only to see the scene where George receives a phone call that his lover of 16 years has died in a car accident.

Those ardent, long gazes...

I recently borrowed my sister-in-law's DVD box of the 1995 BBC adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, and yesterday got to watching it - the first time since the series was first broadcast in the 90s. Generally speaking I'm not really into romantic films and tv shows, because when the only subject matter is the romance, there needs to be real chemistry between the leading actors. That rarely happens, I find. But I make an exception on this version of Pride and Prejudice - as well as another Jane Austen adaptation, Emma Thompson's Sense and Sensibility. Jane Austen's novels are not just about romance and girls' (and their mothers') marriage aims. They are also wonderful in their gentle humour on the manners and mannerisms of Austen's own time and in their depiction of women's lot in an era, where the only way for a woman to survive was to find a financially secure man to marry. The tv and film adaptations I mentioned capture all this perfectly. As for the romance, the chemistry is definitely there. Me, I'm a sucker for those ardent, long looks and great passions relayed in subtle and outwardly restrained gestures and expressions. And oh yes, Mr. Darcy is indeed most agreeable.

That monday feeling...

On thursday, on my way to my brother's, I was delighted to find that ditch with open water. The white snow and the dark waters made such a visually exciting photographic opportunity in black and white. And: I so love having a camera that does what I want it to do.

***

I have a bit of a monday feeling of there being nothing interesting whatsoever happening. Undoubtedly the miserable weather fits the mood: wind and thick, wet snow coming from the skies. But I'd rather it be something that made it enjoyable to leave the house and make the day more interesting. If only it stopped snowing, at least. A good, long wandering around the city, that's what I'd like. Apparently, it's the sea's fault, all this snow and cloudy skies: most of it is not properly frozen, even close to the shores.

I have made some progress in the job search: so far, three schools have let me know that they'll add me to their lists of persons available for substitute teaching tasks. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that there'll be work: the teachers may not get ill, and let's face it, Latin isn't something that's studied by masses of students outside the universities (and not even there). But at least it's something. Summer job announcements are beginning to be available, so I'm looking into those. I already sent an application for a job at the city archives of the neighbouring town. Secondly, I noticed Summer University accepts applications for teaching tasks. Since their courses include history and Latin, I sent an application. What about gardening work in the city cemeteries? Hm... that's tricky. It can be lovely if the summer is beautiful (Yes! Even though I am not exactly famous for a penchance for physical work!). But what if it rains all the time?

Naturally, I'm also continuously looking for any university and research funding opportunities. There are four research grants to apply for by mid to late February alone. I still haven't heard of the articles but hopefully will not too long from now.

Well, if I don't get any kind of employment, at least it won't be for lack of trying!

A lovely bit of zen, and other things

I had a lovely moment of zen photography today - or rather yesterday, as of the (late) time of writing this. I love it when that happens: when you find a subject that inspires you and there's that concentration. It can be quite meditative.

The zen moment was followed by a visit to my brother's. As usual, a very lovely evening - which ended in a game of Monopoly with my younger nephew. A 6-year-old's rules to any game are somewhat confusing and seem quite random - and usually  are manipulated in the course of the game to always benefit the said 6-year-old. This time, for instance, I ended up in a lot owned by my nephew and was about to pay the rent required by the game rules as is right and proper, when a "guard" in the guise of a wizard appeared and I was told to pay 5 million euros immediately. Oh well, the modern Monopoly - at least this version - uses credit cards rather than cash so it hardly felt like paying.

On the same visit, I borrowed my elder nephew's massage chair - one of those things you can put on e.g. the computer chair. It gives a really good and strong shiatsu massage, so it's going to be a bliss.

I have progressed in my job search plans, in addition to sending two applications for jobs I had looked up earlier, in the way of posting an open application in the city of Helsinki recruitment pages and looking up all the secondary schools which offer Latin courses. My plan is to contact the principals to enquire whether they might accept an open application for substitute teacher tasks and such. Many of them may well get all the necessary persons for any teaching tasks from the department of classical philology of the university and they may even prefer formal teacher qualifications but it's at least worth looking into. Some of the comprehensive schools offer Latin as well, but... run away, run away! The idea of teaching comprehensive school kids going through puberty... *shiver*. In any case, I'm looking into all the options (with the aforementioned exception). I'm what I like to call a realistic optimist: I believe something will turn up eventually - but not necessarily immediately and not if I'm not active in looking for it myself.

I'll end this with a quote, for no other reason than that I love it - although the time of the night that I'm writing is the same as described in the lines.

And under the oppression of the silent fog

The tolling bell

Measures time not our time, rung by the unhurried

Groundswell, a time

Older than the time of chronometers, older

Than time counted by anxious worried women

Lying awake, calculating the future,

Trying to unweave, unwind, unravel

And piece together the past and the future,

Between midnight and dawn, when the past is all deception,

The future futureless, before the morning watch

When time stops and time is never ending;

And the ground swell, that is and was from the beginning,

Clangs

The bell. 

My plans for this year

Well, I did NOT get the position at the University of Oulu. Financially and in terms of the CV it's of course a disappointment, but on the other hand it means I don't have to leave Helsinki. Luckily I have found five other opportunities to apply for at the moment: two museum guide jobs (one full time, one part time), in addition to which I'm going to send an open application to the Helsinki adult education centre for teaching tasks in their Latin courses. Then there are two research grants to apply for until February 15th. The first three I'm writing the applications for this week, the two last mentioned I'm going to wait with, should either of the two articles I'm waiting to hear from be accepted.

My aim is to find SOME form of employment/source of income by April, which is when I'm due for my next control visit to the unemployment office. The money situation is not my main motivator. It's rather the desire to get rid of the control. I became exasperated with it in the past two weeks, having to try and get a hold of the owner of the photo bureau for a receipt for 36,5 euros (prior to taxes) worth of photo sales, in order to send it to the National Insurance Institution. The thing is, if you get unemployment benefits, you have to report any such income that is regarded as work income, however small, and it affects the amount of unemployment benefit they pay. The photo bureau pays photo sales to a photographer in May if the photographer's portion is at least 100 euros, and in December with any sum. Should I in the meantime collect photo sales for at least 200 euros, I can ask for payment anytime. But as it is now, I have to do the maths very carefully, because if any benefit gained from photo sales is eaten up by the reduction in the unemployment benefit, it's not really worth it to ask for payment.

My second goal for this year is to see my photo sales through the photo bureau increase so much that each individual sale will cease to feel special. Last year and the start of this year has shown promising development to that effect: six picture sales so far, four of these appearing in the sales list between November and now. I'm particularly pleased about the latest sale, which was a picture involving some artistic ambition (as opposed to being a basic documentative picture) (LINK). This desire to see the picture sales increase is not about greed or purely about the money only (although that is nice). It's the idea of gaining some income from your creative work and finding that others like your pictures enough to buy them. It's fun to see who have purchased your pictures. So far it has been private individuals, the ministry of environment, a medical journal, an advertising firm and the Helsinki Commission (Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission).

I have also since a few months begun to participate in what photo competitions I come across if I happen to have or take pictures that are appropriate for the themes of the competition. It's a good, alternative way to try and get some visibility for your pictures, especially as pictures that might be successful in a photo competition are often different from good, i.e. sellable photo bureau photos.

A picture to make one think

The handwritten sticker, found attached to the glass of a tram stop in central Helsinki, reads: "Go ahead and judge" (or "Judge away"). 

Who put that sticker there and for what purpose? Did someone simply think it a cool sounding phrase without a more profound purpose or was it a comment? If it is a comment, what is it about? 

It could be an anti-anything statement, by someone who thinks it's completely right to judge whatever or whoever he or she doesn't approve. Perhaps it was a supporter of the True Finns party who has what the party likes to call a "critical attitude towards immigration" (in most cases amounting to not much more than 'most immigrants don't need protection, they're just here to take our jobs'). Or maybe a Christian fundamentalist who doesn't approve of gays.

Or, it could be a comment AGAINST judgemental attitudes and prejudice, prejudices about specific things or prejudice in general: prejudicial people can go on all they want, it's all just empty talk that has no power to hurt.

It could also be something personal: someone's anonymous comment about judgemental attitudes he or she had met.

What do you think it's about?

Helsinki - Two January Moods

Saturday, 8 January

Thursday, 6 January

A beautiful thought

Wanted to post, partly just to write it down. In reading T.S. Eliot's letters, I found this thought which I found so beautiful, in a letter that he wrote to his mother on 30 December 1917. This was about a family album of photographs that his brother Henry had taken and sent to him, and he and Vivien had had delightful time looking at the pictures and showing them to friends.

"It gives one a strange feeling that Time is not before and after, but all at once, present and future and all the periods of the past, an album like this." 

Was it partly thoughts like this that came back to Eliot's mind much later in the early 1930's, when he wrote the first lines of Burnt Norton - not so much in the meaning of the lines but how to express them?

Time present and time past

Are both perhaps present in time future,

And time future contained in time past

Also, in East Coker, there is:

There is a time for the evening under starlight,

A time for the evening under lamplight

(The evening with the photograph album).

I suppose at least a part of the reason why Eliot's thought about the photograph album so delighted me is my own passion for photography.

How to Make an Igloo - the Urban Method

Author: unknown - but may have been the same who elsewhere had written in snow: 'Eat porridge you brave one.' That made me smile :-) 

Even poets need undergarments

So I went and got the two volumes of The Letters of T.S. Eliot at the uni library. They are surprisingly thorough, some 900 pages each. I partly read, partly browsed through the first of them, a revised edition of the original, published in 2009 (I was going to say 'published last year' but we are freshly in 2011 now). It adds 200 pages to the original edition of 1988. Included indeed are several wartime (1st world war) letters of Vivien Eliot to T.S.'s mother, in which she details the state of Tom's woollen undergarments (several are in need of darning), grieves their expensiveness and tells how she all the same has been able to obtain some items of clothing. What the letters reveal is... life, getting on with life. I'm not sure what the editors' intention was with such hefty volumes. Perhaps simply to present things 'as is' rather than to create a particular kind of impression with a more selective publishing of the letters. Of course, in a different sense the volumes are NOT thorough, as Eliot burned a good part of his correspondence, for example of his student years at Harvard.

So far, I don't find the letters particularly relevant to my experience of Eliot's poetry. They neither add to nor take away from it, although they do offer some interesting background to The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and The Waste Land (Eliot's nervous breakdown, his correspondence with Ezra Pound regarding the poem's editing). My favourites, I think, are Eliot's letters to his cousing Eleanor Hinkley, in which he at times details his 'great ten reel cinema drama' he says he is working on or relates his impressions of people and surroundings. This in Marburg, Germany, July 1914:

"Here I am, safely out of harm's way, settled in the bosom of the family of the Lutheran Pastor, and the church is right across the street. I have just been to church, and feel as good as gold. This will not be an exciting sumer, but I think a pleasant one, though I hope you will not circulate any gossip about me and the Pastor's daughter. She is named Hannah. In the evening, when we gather about the lamp, and the Herr Pfarrer takes a nap and composes his thoughts, and the ladies sew needlework, then the Frau Pfarrer says 'Ach Hannah, spiel uns ein Stuck Beethoven', ['Oh, Hannah, play us a bit of Beethoven'] and Hannah spiels for 15 minutes. Hannah also sings, and can talk a little French and English (but she hasn't tried it on me). Then we read the paper, and discuss the Balkan Question, and the difference in climate between America and Deutschland. Altogether they are aw'f'ly good people, and we all eat a great deal."

This in London, March 1915:

"Beside Belgians, there is a very pretty Miss Cobb whose mother was a Bostonian (I don't know what her name was); the mother is an odd fluttering person who is evidently looking out for her daughter, and lays compliments very thick (I know this because I have seen her laying them on to other people); she never talks to me for five minutes without bringing out Julia Ward Howe, whom she knew in Boston, and evidently considers a very illustrious person. - A very tiresome person, I should say, for all the anecdotes about her end by making her recite the 'Battle Hymn of the Republic' (like Mrs Leo Hunt[er]'s '[Ode to an] Expiring frog) which I always considered pure bombast. But Miss Cobb is very nice. Then there are the Petersens, a mother with three daughters. Unfortunately the beautiful one (really very beautiful indeed) is the younger one, aged sixteen or so; and, as in the Taming of the Shrew, the interests of the elder are consulted first. This is really a very nice girl however; she plays the fiddle and raises white rats, and we have lots in common - at least I shall have to take her punting next term. I should like English girls better if they were not so completely managed by their mothers - but perhaps it is merely that the ones I have met have been rather young."

And this in March 1917 when he started work at Lloyds Bank:

"I share an office with Mr McKnight, who lives in a suburb, cultivates a kitchen garden out of hours, polishes his silk hat with great care when he goes out, and talks about his eldest boy."

So why did I get the volumes of letters as just in the previous post I had professed that biographical details of an artist are not important? Curiosity I suppose. One thing the letters confirm is a thing familiar from most artist biographies: the road of an aspiring artist, one who seeks to make a career as an artist, has always been a rocky one, in all times of history. For several years after their marriage, T.S. and Vivien Eliot were at trouble to make ends meet. Now the general standard of living and the safety network of the welfare state may be better but it's still as difficult to make a name as an artist, even less so to earn enough for a living with one's art.

Just wondering...

Something I've been wondering again, for the umpteenth time, as I've been reading T.S. Eliot... Why are so many fans unwilling to allow their idols or the persons they admire human faults and shortcomings? And why are they then so shocked and surprised when the idols then indeed turn out to have human faults? I recall during Pete's The Boy Who Heard Music - I'm using it as an example because it had a great personal significance for me - some complaining that he was at fault for doing the blog at all, because he was shattering the "mystery" of The Who. I also think that many did not take part in it at all, lest it shatter their images. Apparently, something similar happened with T.S. Eliot when biographical information came to publicity and it turned out that he was indeed very much a human with shortcomings to share. For example, I saw a customer review at amazon.com on Eliot's published letters and the review was about how very prosaic the letters of one of the greatest literary figures of the 20th century are. Oh really? What should he have written to his friends and acquaintances? Literary essays only? The idealised views of admirers, especially in the case of artists who in the public opinion are decided to be geniuses, manifest themselves not only in disappointment and surprise when the admired personages turn out to be human but also in a tendency to view everything they do and say as manifestations of their genius. To exaggerate a little, if Pete Townshend says 'I could really do with a good cup of tea', surely the cup of tea is not just a cup of tea but a profound metaphor for the universe, because he's saying it?

Methinks, if artists were superior beings, above all human faults and shortcomings, their art would be bloody boring, because they would have no understanding of humanity. 

Another thing I'm somewhat puzzled about is fans' and admirers' need to know everything about the artists they admire. Not all fans/admirers have this need but quite many do. Sure, I understand that it may be a way to feel connected, to feel that you "know" your idol who is otherwise quite distant from you. But it can also lead to unhealthy forms. The biographical detail that fans know may not be reliable. What an artist says in interviews, for instance, may be vague or intentionally misleading because the artist wants to maintain his or her privacy. Many biographies are written which are based on flimsy sources and are more the writer's interpretation of the person than fact. If this kind of biographical information does not cause disappointment or shattering of dreams, it is used to construct an image which matches the fan's pre-established ideas/ideals. If the artist then does or says something that seems to deviate from the ideas/ideals which to the fans are fact, there is an outcry: how dare the artist do it? It's not what he or she is about! A case in point, The Waste Land, when published in 1922, became the "bible" of a generation, expressing its disillusionment after the war. Eliot himself was adopted as an anti-establishment, anti-authoritarian, revolutionary hero, opposed to everything jaded and old. His conversion to the Church of England in 1927 caused a violent disappointment: Eliot was supposed to have sold out to the conservative establishment. Ring a bell with how some of the later actions of certain rock figures have been viewed by many, the established view having been that in their music they claimed to be revolutionaries?

The not always reliable biographical information is also often reflected onto the artist's work. Eliot a case in point again, in his case not only with regard to the fans but also to literary scholars. And don't say the latter are an entirely different matter, because that's nonsense. Plenty of literary scholars (or art historians) specialise in a given author because they are fans. It's just that the work they produce enjoys a different position because of their academic status. But I digress. Eliot held that his poetry is not autobiographical, yet numerous scholarly studies have been written in which the writers maintain with the whole weight and authority of their academic status that 'oh yes it is, all of it.' Another example from The Boy Who Heard Music: I remember some readers who at every turn maintained that it's autobiographical and also wanted to "teach" others who did not see this, with essays (mainly from the history of The Who) on what this or that part of the text was drawn from.

Irrespective of what is true with Eliot or any other artist, in the end, does it really matter whether or not an artist's work is autobiographical? Isn't the essence of art in the thoughts and emotions and impressions it causes in the reader/listener/viewer? A conversation between the work of art and the one who enjoys it, if you will? It's a subjective, personal process, and people love a work of art, whether a pop song, a painting or a poem, for personal reasons. I'm not saying the artist's person does not matter. I'm not an artist but I am convinced that the creation of a work of art is always a subjective and personal process in one way or another: the artist makes choices of what to include and what not to include, how to express things, and so on, based on reasons that cannot be entirely separate from what he or she is as a person, his/her experiences etc. He/she is human after all. I'm also convinced that a work of art always reflects the artist's person - but not (always) in the superficial level of biographical detail but in a much deeper, and to me more relevant, way, in that it reflects his or her spirit and soul.

Well, I went on a bit again, didn't I? That's the lovely thing about blogs: it's your blog and you can go on at will, without let or hindrance. :-)

The Fire and the Rose

With the drawing of this Love and the voice of this Calling

We shall not cease from exploration

And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time.

Through the unknown remembered gate

When the last of earth left to discover

Is that which was the beginning;

At the source of the longest river

The voice of the hidden waterfall

And the children in the apple-tree

Not known, because not looked for

But heard, half-heard, in the stillness

Between two waves of the sea.

Quick now, here, now, always -

A condition of complete simplicity

(Costing not less than everything)

And all shall be well and

All manner of thing shall be well

When the tongues of flames are in-folded

Into the crowned knot of fire

And the fire and the rose are one.

This is the end of Little Gidding, the fourth and final poem of T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets. I had not read T.S. Eliot before, something that may be thought strange - or then not. He is of course one of the most influential figures in 20th century literature, but on the other hand, while school students in the English-speaking world would be likely to have some of the English literature greats, including Eliot, in their English classes, in Finnish schools the emphasis is on native writers (as in the German-speaking world on German authors, in France on French authors and so on). But I picked up Four Quartets at the library some time ago, motivated by hearing a radio adaptation of the Michael Hastings play Tom and Viv, about T.S. Eliot and his first wife Vivienne Haigh-Wood (the radio play itself I listened to out of a very shallow motivation: because it had Benedict Cumberbatch as Eliot - the man's got a voice you know). I went to the library to get any T.S. Eliot in original language and happened to find Four Quartets.

Now that I have read it, I find I HAVE to read T.S. Eliot and especially the Four Quartets. His poetry is not easy, but I feel I have to read it. Not because of his position in 20th century literature, but because of a kind of a hunger for the words. I don't necessarily need to read studies which explain all the references or which offer theories and explanations. More I want to read again and again,  all in one or one poem or part of a poem at a time, to marvel at and follow the language and find my own meaning in the poems - or perhaps not, never entirely. Perhaps in part they will remain a mystery to be marveled and wondered about. Who knows, and I'm not sure it matters. I put in an order for an edition of Four Quartets to have it at hand whenever I want, and I suspect it will be something I will return to again and again. Never have I been more happy about how good my English is.

MERRY CHRISTMAS OR HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!

Old and Beautiful

This is my father's mother's Singer sewing machine, made in 1935 in Scotland. It's still in excellent condition and fully functional. A beautiful item, isn't it? 

It's an example of the fact that in times past utility tools were cherished items that were kept well and mended if they broke. They were valued and valuable possessions. As such, the tools were manufactured to last - and they were frequently made not only functional but also beautiful to behold, like this sewing machine. This was before the mass production of consumer products eradicated that way of thinking. Now it frequently feels like products are made to last only until the warranty expires, and if they do last longer, they already feel hopelessly antiquitated - and this is frequently true with things like computers because technological development is so fast. Don't get me wrong, I don't yearn for some "good old times" when everything was supposed to be better. I quite like digital cameras, smart phones, laptops and the WWW. But I often feel it's a shame that the mentality which produced items like this sewing machine seems to be gone now.

In fact, it often feels like in the modern consumer society "good citizen" means  only A) a good tax-payer and B) a good consumer. You should make sure to choose a field of study that gives you qualifications for a well-paid job and you should graduate quickly, in order to start benefiting the state in the form of the taxes you pay. If you indeed have a well-paid job, your responsibility is to consume for the wealth of the fatherland. 

And the advertising industry does its best to keep people consuming and to increase consumption. Anyone who thinks the role of advertising is simply to inform customers of the availability and pricing of products they already know they need is a simpleton. If that was the case, why are children often specially targeted? Children are the easiest to influence, so if you get them hooked to your products, chances are good that they'll stay as loyal consumers. My brother mentioned an especially bad example: the hugely popular, Japanese pokemon stuff. The pokemon cartoons on TV actually have a ditty which directly tells the listeners that they have to obtain the entire range of merchandise. And if ads were simply to inform customers, why would they keep bringing out new products and items accompanied with advertising campaigns which use imagery that is designed to make the products as appealing as possible? Apple started selling the iPad in Finland a couple of weeks ago, and the advertising really annoyed me. The morning's paper was full of full-page ads by stores that sell the thing, all calling it 'unbelievable' and 'incredible' and 'revolutionary'. You could almost think that they were trying to brainwash you to believe that you actually need it!

I'm not for banning consumption. If you've got money, it's your business how you spend it. But I do think there's something not so slightly wrong in the overly emphasized consumption mentality. As always, it's particularly visible before Christmas when you can't escape ads basically telling you that you have to get our products or your Christmas will be a complete failure. I think there are many people who actually buy into it, whether or not they can afford it. It's especially true with the new, expensive gadgets. iPads, smart phones, playstation 3's and so on fill Christmas wish lists, and parents, wives, husbands and relatives feel obliged to buy them so that they are not worse than all those other people who surely have them. Many actually can't afford the things and buy on credit or with one of these 'buy now, pay after 12 months' plans (why, that almost feels like you don't have to pay at all!), and consequently are in debt after Christmas.

Christmas rant over. Hope everyone has lovely holidays, however you spend them!

My unfortunate bike

...or "A Lesson in Laziness"

The thing is, the bike storage of my building is rather small. I don't know why. Maybe biking wasn't as popular in the 60s when the house was built as it is now. There used to be space in it, but then more residents bought bikes or more keen bikers moved in, one or the other. Now you have to watch out for someone to take his/her bike out before you can get yours in. I always meant to watch out for that... until the other morning I found my bicycle submerged. It's chained to the bike rack underneath the snow, too. Teaches me about being lazy, eh? The snow has reached about half a meter (1 and 2/3 ft.) and it's expected to snow some more tonight. Maybe people in Lapland will soon start travelling to Helsinki to experience proper winter!

(More) Winterly greetings

Snow's so pretty in its whiteness. I have to admit, though, that in my opinion winter isn't the most interesting season photographically. Pretty as it is, it gets a bit boring when it stays for months and months. Eventually you grow weary of taking pictures that feature snow in some form or fashion. I shall have to try and use my imagination to come up with new things.

So, I have sent the application for the research position in my old university. Fingers crossed on that. Otherwise, I've fairly satisfied with my activity this year. I have one article definite in an upcoming conference book that is supposed to be in print in early 2011. Otherwise I have sent two articles for review in different major journals of the field. I should be hearing on one of them in January, regarding the other I don't know. Of course, I'll be rather glad if one of them gets accepted. ;-) But it's not easy. It's worth a try though because IF you get published, one such article is worth several in small publications.

And now, another round of Pet Shop Boys I think. I don't know where I suddenly got the urge to listen to their 80's hits. Sure, I'm an 80s kid and Pet Shop Boys are one of those bands that made up the soundtrack of the decade. But I have never owned any of their records nor did I listen to them actively as a kid. Obviously I know the biggest hits. West End Girl, Suburbia, It's A Sin, and so on. Who doesn't? Maybe it's creeping nostalgy now that I'm in my 30s? :-) Nah, they're fantastic pop songs, there's something about them that the modern pop list hits lack. 

Let's take a ride, and run with the dogs tonight

In suburbia...

La la la la

Sunday picture

A photography walk in the crisp, frosty, sunny -17 C followed by 40 minutes of water running and Turkish steam sauna = VERY good feeling!

Here is a set of winter wonderland pictures: LINK. 

Then - Now

A FEW DAYS AGO:

Can you imagine the heat and brightness of the summer sun?

Can you imagine the light sparkling on the waves?

Can you imagine the warm sand under the toes?

Can you imagine the happy screams of children as they run into the waves?

Can you imagine sitting on the beach after a swim, letting the sun dry you up - without it getting cold?

Can you imagine the ice creams and hot dogs bought at the beach kiosk?

Can you imagine it?

TODAY:

Everything is truly and properly frozen. -12 C, -17 C with wind chill. But actually I prefer it that way: winter is unavoidable, so better it be a proper winter like today than either freezing, snowless and dark or just barely above zero degrees, wet, snowless and dark. Those are the other two options for winter in Finland.

And when it got cold, the skies cleared. What a beautiful day. Cold and crisp but I didn't mind the cold at all. I was properly dressed!