the book fair, the dead lemming, and the wardrobe.
First of all, happy Jesse Eisenberg's birthday to y'all. Though it's already morning over here, because I couldn't post this in time. Grrr. But still, happy Jesse-Day even though it was yesterday. ♥
I said this on Andrew's birthday and I shall say it on Jesse's, too: he does not look 28. *sings Forever Young*
Oh, I have so much love for Jesse (I bet you didn't already know that, ahaha). He's one of the most amazing, inspirational actors in the world. So, to celebrate Jesse's birthday, I shall ramble about books and animals. (and also try to forget that I read Jesse/Andrew Prison AU fic on Jesse's birthday. for some reason, I feel kind of awkward about that, because, like, "Dear Jesse, happy birthday. Guess what I just read?" but oh well, every day is fic-day. I'm just being weird.)
The Epic Book Fair Where Money Is Spent And Biebwalkers Are Spotted
Okay, so, books. There was a book fair last weekend. The 20th Turku International Book Fair, to be specific. It's also a food fair, which, like, books and food, really, you think that's a good combination? But as long as I can buy books and get free Fazer Nordic Gourmet chocolate in the same place, I'm not complaining. It's also a music fair, kind of. So, basically: books, cd's, and food. Best place ever. And I had a golden free ticket because my Creative Writing teacher gave us all free tickets so we could go and write RPF about her author friends who attended the fair. Not even kidding, that was the assignment. Something along the lines of: "Choose two authors. They both have a secret. They meet each other later, somewhere in the book fair area, and there's a conflict that has something to do with their secrets." My translation of the assignment probably sounds terribly awkward -- according to David the Academic Advisor, I'm better at grammar and literature than translation and linguistics, based on my entrance exam results -- but you hopefully get the idea anyway. I AM NOT COMFORTABLE WITH THIS ASSIGNMENT.
But, awkward writing assignments aside, the book fair was pretty great. It always is. Though I didn't go with my friends this year, and I get terribly self-conscious when I'm alone, but it was fine. I went alone on Friday, and then with my mum and her friend on Sunday (when I also had a golden free ticket because my dad got one from work and gave it to me because he reads like two books per year and I read, well, a bit more than that). Aaanyway. I bought loads of books, which probably wasn't the best idea because money doesn't magically appear out of nowhere and now I'm kind of poor. But how am I supposed to control myself when there are books everywhere? I'M WEAK, OKAY. So, I ended up buying:
- a book about the Laitila dialect (because my grandpa was from Laitila -- it's a small town not very far away from my home town -- so I want to learn at least some of the dialect, to honour his memory.)
- Ancient Egypt: A Very Peculiar History by Jim Pipe (because, okay, I flipped through the pages and then I had to buy it because the poor little book looked so lonely and I felt sorry for it? that's not weird at all. plus, it really is an interesting book.)
- The Cursing Hedgehog by Milla Paloniemi (google it! it's one of those things you know you probably shouldn't laugh at because you're an adult and swearing is not that funny, but it's still hilarious.)
- a book full of Finnish vampire stories (because I didn't know there were any Finnish short stories about vampires, so I got really curious and then I touched the book and it basically said, "Venla, please buy me, please, please", so... I'm weak, okay?!)
- a very nice and positive book called Eniten Vituttaa Kaikki, which, freely translated, means "what pisses me off the most is everything". That sounds really awkward, though. But yes, it's pretty much just a list of things that annoy the hell out of the writer, haha.
- another book about vampires. (what is wrong with me?! but this one is basically about folklore, and vampires in popular culture, and everything in between, so it's pretty interesting. Besides, the first thing I saw when I opened the book, was a comment about Twilight, by a 14-year-old boy. It was something like this: "In retrospect, Bella's constant gushing about Edward's perfection and her own stupidity is kind of disturbing." Haha, thank you, Captain Obvious. And then there was a whole bunch of comments from teenage girls, all of them pretty much just "I want to be Bella!" or "I could so totally be Bella!" or "Edward is so perfect, I wish I was Bella". I'm gonna quote my Cross-Cultural Communication teacher and say: Oh, my life.)
- Hatunnosto by Pekka Haavisto. And this is actually a relatively clever thing to buy, since Pekka Haavisto is one of the candidates in the 2012 presidential election (in Finland, duh). He is a member of the Green League -- best party ever (lol, that sounds wrong)-- and he lives in a registered partnership with a man. And honestly, how fucking awesome would it be to have a gay president? I mean, obviously gay people can be terrible presidents, too, but I think Pekka Haavisto would be good. And he cares about the environment! I pretty much want to go all Chris Hughes on his campaign and help him win, but it's kind of hopeless. Still, I really wanted to get his book and actually learn more stuff about him before the election.
Wow, yes. And I also bought CD's and DVD's because I obviously wasn't poor enough and therefore had to spend more money:
- Frontiers by Journey (because, hello, it's Journey ♥)
- Bounce by Bon Jovi (because, hello, it's Bon Jovi ♥)
- ...Hits by Phil Collins (because I have too much love for Another Day In Paradise, and the rest of the CD surprisingly came with that song)
- The Spirit Room by Michelle Branch (All You Wanted is one of those songs I honestly never get tired of, and I've listened to it on the bus like a billion times, so I thought it would be fair to actually buy the damn album)
- Arcade Fire, Arcade Fire's EP from 2003 (think they were actually called THE Arcade Fire, back then. *insert Sean Parker telling them to drop the "the"* And this was a completely random thing, really, because there was a whole pile of Arcade Fire albums and I grabbed this one and the cover art was so beautiful that I couldn't not buy it. Self-control: 1990-2011, RIP, you'll be missed even though you were awful at your job.)
- The Killers: Live from The Royal Albert Hall DVD+CD (which I was going to give to na_shao but she already has it -- just my luck -- so I'll just keep it myself. Sorry, DVD, you're gonna have to stay in Finland *pats*)
- Special Edition of the very horrible epic 1982 film Conan the Barbarian (in my defense, this is a Christmas present for my brother who has a very disturbing fanboy crush on Arnold Schwarzenegger. Speaking of my bro, he gave me half of his Ben & Jerry's ice cream today. ;____; ♥ Dear Lauri, I love you. I hope you didn't lick that ice cream before you gave it to me, so I won't have to kick your ass again.)
Oh my goodness, I do not want to count how much money I spent on all these things. Holy shit. I also bought postcards and badges. OH, MY LIFE. No, seriously, people, quit giving me free tickets to these events, yes? (Oh my god, honestly, if I keep spending like this, I'm gonna have to start selling myself. To blind people. I imagine it's quite difficult to find blind people looking... er, not looking... searching for a prostitute. I would have to hunt them down and that would be too much work. There goes that plan. *sigh*)
On an extremely random note: on Friday, I saw this kid. I swear, if Justin Bieber and Luke Skywalker had a son, he would look exactly like that. I named him Lustin Biebwalker, and was incredibly proud of that one for the rest of the day. What even.
And and and. On Sunday, I saw Miina Savolainen. Google her; she's the most amazing photographer and the most wonderful woman ever. She's so talented and kind and lovely and beautiful, and, just, perfect in every way. I have her book, The Loveliest Girl In The World, and it's the most magical thing I've ever seen. Her photography and the stories behind it are just so, so amazing. I kind of stalk her, a little, not in a creepy way. I saw her at the book fair last year and the year before that (if I remember correctly), and then, later last year, I met her at my town's library -- where she was talking about her work -- and she remembered me. Then she signed my book, and wrote really wonderful things on the first page. She does that for everyone who asks her to sign the book: she asks them what their favourite things are, what's important to them, and then she writes really lovely and sort-of-poetic things on the first page. It's really sweet of her, because it's so kind of personal and, I don't know, I love her. So she did that for me, too, and read it out loud to me, and I blushed like never before and almost started crying. So yes, she's the most wonderful lady ever. This year, my mum bought her book for my second cousin and we got it signed and it was amazing. ♥
The Lemming Who Lived Died With A Lingonberry In Its Mouth
My parents went to Lapland a while ago, and, while walking through the woods, they saw a lemming who had died with a lingonberry in its mouth. My dad told me about it and I was kind of sad for, like, three days. Because, really, it's the saddest mental image ever: a chubby little lemming, eating a lingonberry, enjoying its meal, and then the universe just goes, "Oh, no you won't", and the lemming drops dead. I wonder if it choked on the lingonberry. I know tiny forest critters die every day, but it's so sad.
Dear Finnish Association for Nature Conservation, I would be very happy if you used my monthly donation to protect lemmings and prevent their untimely, lingonberry-induced deaths. Sincerely, me.
Also, last week, there was a bunch of ducks in the river and they all had their heads tucked under their wings and they were all kind of just floating around. So I spent quite a few minutes staring at them, making sure they hadn't committed mass suicide or something (not very likely, I admit, but who knows).
Animals, you are making me worry.
The Wardrobe Where Suspicious Gum Is Found And Self-Esteem Is Destroyed
Okay, so it's not really a wardrobe. More like a small room with all my clothes and some other stuff in it. But wardrobe sounds cooler. So anyway, I had to organise my clothes today because there's a lot of stuff that I never wear and/or that doesn't fit me anymore and/or can't be worn in winter.
I found some very interesting things. Like a backpack that had a piece of my favourite gum in it. It'd probably been there for at least two years, but I decided it was a great idea to put it in my mouth anyway. Turns out no, no it wasn't. It was fine for the first three seconds, but then it started tasting kind of funny and I had to spit it out and there was, like, spit everywhere. So much spit, it was a total spit-fest. I don't know what was up with that gum, but I didn't enjoy it. Note to self: do not eat mystery gum.
Then I had to go through all my clothes -- and there's a lot of them because I suck at throwing things away -- and it was terribly depressing because there are so many clothes that almost fit me but not quite. And I always think I'll lose weight so that they'll fit me next year, but it never happens. Ugh. I think I should just sell them, or give them to my mum who is skinnier than me. Because it's really starting to feel less like a motivation to lose weight, and more like a huge neon sign that says "you're fat and you'll never fit these clothes". Ughh, my angst. Then again, it's my own fault for not exercising enough. I just have so many days when I don't want to go outside, at all, so it kind of makes things unnecessarily difficult. I could go to the swimming centre, though, because I love swimming, but I have one very unpleasant memory from there and then there's the being half-naked around other people thing.
But anyway, I did manage to get rid of some old clothes and the room looks a lot better now. Yay. There's finally room for new hoodies (when I get money from somewhere).
HOLY SHIT THIS THING IS LONG. I CAN'T WRITE SHORT JOURNAL ENTRIES. D:
I said this on Andrew's birthday and I shall say it on Jesse's, too: he does not look 28. *sings Forever Young*
Oh, I have so much love for Jesse (I bet you didn't already know that, ahaha). He's one of the most amazing, inspirational actors in the world. So, to celebrate Jesse's birthday, I shall ramble about books and animals. (and also try to forget that I read Jesse/Andrew Prison AU fic on Jesse's birthday. for some reason, I feel kind of awkward about that, because, like, "Dear Jesse, happy birthday. Guess what I just read?" but oh well, every day is fic-day. I'm just being weird.)
The Epic Book Fair Where Money Is Spent And Biebwalkers Are Spotted
Okay, so, books. There was a book fair last weekend. The 20th Turku International Book Fair, to be specific. It's also a food fair, which, like, books and food, really, you think that's a good combination? But as long as I can buy books and get free Fazer Nordic Gourmet chocolate in the same place, I'm not complaining. It's also a music fair, kind of. So, basically: books, cd's, and food. Best place ever. And I had a golden free ticket because my Creative Writing teacher gave us all free tickets so we could go and write RPF about her author friends who attended the fair. Not even kidding, that was the assignment. Something along the lines of: "Choose two authors. They both have a secret. They meet each other later, somewhere in the book fair area, and there's a conflict that has something to do with their secrets." My translation of the assignment probably sounds terribly awkward -- according to David the Academic Advisor, I'm better at grammar and literature than translation and linguistics, based on my entrance exam results -- but you hopefully get the idea anyway. I AM NOT COMFORTABLE WITH THIS ASSIGNMENT.
But, awkward writing assignments aside, the book fair was pretty great. It always is. Though I didn't go with my friends this year, and I get terribly self-conscious when I'm alone, but it was fine. I went alone on Friday, and then with my mum and her friend on Sunday (when I also had a golden free ticket because my dad got one from work and gave it to me because he reads like two books per year and I read, well, a bit more than that). Aaanyway. I bought loads of books, which probably wasn't the best idea because money doesn't magically appear out of nowhere and now I'm kind of poor. But how am I supposed to control myself when there are books everywhere? I'M WEAK, OKAY. So, I ended up buying:
- a book about the Laitila dialect (because my grandpa was from Laitila -- it's a small town not very far away from my home town -- so I want to learn at least some of the dialect, to honour his memory.)
- Ancient Egypt: A Very Peculiar History by Jim Pipe (because, okay, I flipped through the pages and then I had to buy it because the poor little book looked so lonely and I felt sorry for it? that's not weird at all. plus, it really is an interesting book.)
- The Cursing Hedgehog by Milla Paloniemi (google it! it's one of those things you know you probably shouldn't laugh at because you're an adult and swearing is not that funny, but it's still hilarious.)
- a book full of Finnish vampire stories (because I didn't know there were any Finnish short stories about vampires, so I got really curious and then I touched the book and it basically said, "Venla, please buy me, please, please", so... I'm weak, okay?!)
- a very nice and positive book called Eniten Vituttaa Kaikki, which, freely translated, means "what pisses me off the most is everything". That sounds really awkward, though. But yes, it's pretty much just a list of things that annoy the hell out of the writer, haha.
- another book about vampires. (what is wrong with me?! but this one is basically about folklore, and vampires in popular culture, and everything in between, so it's pretty interesting. Besides, the first thing I saw when I opened the book, was a comment about Twilight, by a 14-year-old boy. It was something like this: "In retrospect, Bella's constant gushing about Edward's perfection and her own stupidity is kind of disturbing." Haha, thank you, Captain Obvious. And then there was a whole bunch of comments from teenage girls, all of them pretty much just "I want to be Bella!" or "I could so totally be Bella!" or "Edward is so perfect, I wish I was Bella". I'm gonna quote my Cross-Cultural Communication teacher and say: Oh, my life.)
- Hatunnosto by Pekka Haavisto. And this is actually a relatively clever thing to buy, since Pekka Haavisto is one of the candidates in the 2012 presidential election (in Finland, duh). He is a member of the Green League -- best party ever (lol, that sounds wrong)-- and he lives in a registered partnership with a man. And honestly, how fucking awesome would it be to have a gay president? I mean, obviously gay people can be terrible presidents, too, but I think Pekka Haavisto would be good. And he cares about the environment! I pretty much want to go all Chris Hughes on his campaign and help him win, but it's kind of hopeless. Still, I really wanted to get his book and actually learn more stuff about him before the election.
Wow, yes. And I also bought CD's and DVD's because I obviously wasn't poor enough and therefore had to spend more money:
- Frontiers by Journey (because, hello, it's Journey ♥)
- Bounce by Bon Jovi (because, hello, it's Bon Jovi ♥)
- ...Hits by Phil Collins (because I have too much love for Another Day In Paradise, and the rest of the CD surprisingly came with that song)
- The Spirit Room by Michelle Branch (All You Wanted is one of those songs I honestly never get tired of, and I've listened to it on the bus like a billion times, so I thought it would be fair to actually buy the damn album)
- Arcade Fire, Arcade Fire's EP from 2003 (think they were actually called THE Arcade Fire, back then. *insert Sean Parker telling them to drop the "the"* And this was a completely random thing, really, because there was a whole pile of Arcade Fire albums and I grabbed this one and the cover art was so beautiful that I couldn't not buy it. Self-control: 1990-2011, RIP, you'll be missed even though you were awful at your job.)
- The Killers: Live from The Royal Albert Hall DVD+CD (which I was going to give to na_shao but she already has it -- just my luck -- so I'll just keep it myself. Sorry, DVD, you're gonna have to stay in Finland *pats*)
- Special Edition of the very horrible epic 1982 film Conan the Barbarian (in my defense, this is a Christmas present for my brother who has a very disturbing fanboy crush on Arnold Schwarzenegger. Speaking of my bro, he gave me half of his Ben & Jerry's ice cream today. ;____; ♥ Dear Lauri, I love you. I hope you didn't lick that ice cream before you gave it to me, so I won't have to kick your ass again.)
Oh my goodness, I do not want to count how much money I spent on all these things. Holy shit. I also bought postcards and badges. OH, MY LIFE. No, seriously, people, quit giving me free tickets to these events, yes? (Oh my god, honestly, if I keep spending like this, I'm gonna have to start selling myself. To blind people. I imagine it's quite difficult to find blind people looking... er, not looking... searching for a prostitute. I would have to hunt them down and that would be too much work. There goes that plan. *sigh*)
On an extremely random note: on Friday, I saw this kid. I swear, if Justin Bieber and Luke Skywalker had a son, he would look exactly like that. I named him Lustin Biebwalker, and was incredibly proud of that one for the rest of the day. What even.
And and and. On Sunday, I saw Miina Savolainen. Google her; she's the most amazing photographer and the most wonderful woman ever. She's so talented and kind and lovely and beautiful, and, just, perfect in every way. I have her book, The Loveliest Girl In The World, and it's the most magical thing I've ever seen. Her photography and the stories behind it are just so, so amazing. I kind of stalk her, a little, not in a creepy way. I saw her at the book fair last year and the year before that (if I remember correctly), and then, later last year, I met her at my town's library -- where she was talking about her work -- and she remembered me. Then she signed my book, and wrote really wonderful things on the first page. She does that for everyone who asks her to sign the book: she asks them what their favourite things are, what's important to them, and then she writes really lovely and sort-of-poetic things on the first page. It's really sweet of her, because it's so kind of personal and, I don't know, I love her. So she did that for me, too, and read it out loud to me, and I blushed like never before and almost started crying. So yes, she's the most wonderful lady ever. This year, my mum bought her book for my second cousin and we got it signed and it was amazing. ♥
The Lemming Who Lived Died With A Lingonberry In Its Mouth
My parents went to Lapland a while ago, and, while walking through the woods, they saw a lemming who had died with a lingonberry in its mouth. My dad told me about it and I was kind of sad for, like, three days. Because, really, it's the saddest mental image ever: a chubby little lemming, eating a lingonberry, enjoying its meal, and then the universe just goes, "Oh, no you won't", and the lemming drops dead. I wonder if it choked on the lingonberry. I know tiny forest critters die every day, but it's so sad.
Dear Finnish Association for Nature Conservation, I would be very happy if you used my monthly donation to protect lemmings and prevent their untimely, lingonberry-induced deaths. Sincerely, me.
Also, last week, there was a bunch of ducks in the river and they all had their heads tucked under their wings and they were all kind of just floating around. So I spent quite a few minutes staring at them, making sure they hadn't committed mass suicide or something (not very likely, I admit, but who knows).
Animals, you are making me worry.
The Wardrobe Where Suspicious Gum Is Found And Self-Esteem Is Destroyed
Okay, so it's not really a wardrobe. More like a small room with all my clothes and some other stuff in it. But wardrobe sounds cooler. So anyway, I had to organise my clothes today because there's a lot of stuff that I never wear and/or that doesn't fit me anymore and/or can't be worn in winter.
I found some very interesting things. Like a backpack that had a piece of my favourite gum in it. It'd probably been there for at least two years, but I decided it was a great idea to put it in my mouth anyway. Turns out no, no it wasn't. It was fine for the first three seconds, but then it started tasting kind of funny and I had to spit it out and there was, like, spit everywhere. So much spit, it was a total spit-fest. I don't know what was up with that gum, but I didn't enjoy it. Note to self: do not eat mystery gum.
Then I had to go through all my clothes -- and there's a lot of them because I suck at throwing things away -- and it was terribly depressing because there are so many clothes that almost fit me but not quite. And I always think I'll lose weight so that they'll fit me next year, but it never happens. Ugh. I think I should just sell them, or give them to my mum who is skinnier than me. Because it's really starting to feel less like a motivation to lose weight, and more like a huge neon sign that says "you're fat and you'll never fit these clothes". Ughh, my angst. Then again, it's my own fault for not exercising enough. I just have so many days when I don't want to go outside, at all, so it kind of makes things unnecessarily difficult. I could go to the swimming centre, though, because I love swimming, but I have one very unpleasant memory from there and then there's the being half-naked around other people thing.
But anyway, I did manage to get rid of some old clothes and the room looks a lot better now. Yay. There's finally room for new hoodies (when I get money from somewhere).
HOLY SHIT THIS THING IS LONG. I CAN'T WRITE SHORT JOURNAL ENTRIES. D: