Late at night. Again. All the others are asleep. Worn out from a tough week. Me, I eat muesli and watch garbage TV. We just got two more channels in our DIGIbox package. Yihaa. More rubbish. Read yesterday that the water tower might actually become a café. That would be cool our island lacks a good café. Apart from Mutteri, which is (smoky but) nice, we don't have any cafés with personality here. Only generically branded ones, and they suck. If only i had a decent digicam i could prove it to you. As it is you have to take my word for it.
Posts
Candlelights in darkness, biting chilliness in the air outside. Children sound asleep. Me, I'm still struggling to write my story from Iceland. Man, it has never been this difficult to get the magazine published! Like wading in syrup!! And i have 4 issues to publish before the end of the year. Talk about workload... But the candles, the nice smells, a cup of tea, some music, and a few hours worth of concentration feels really good too! -J
Slow time. Birds eating from our peep show table. They are in a frenzy. Rumble of a bike outside. Wind messing with our tree. Occasional cars. The house is quiet. Waiting. Dr. Kosmos and his lasergun are done. The music for a blogging generation. Some journos in Sweden loves to hate it. Gives the other side a face. Something to poke at. Me, i just laugh. This is my childhood described. And from this distance in time and space i smile. I finish my grapefruit, empty my cup of tea (prince william) and think about today. Nice.
Tour de force
I have been following the development of Neal Stephenson, and have read all his books (yes i tend to get a bot obsessed with authors i like). They have become better all the time. Cryptonomicon was quite a read, and the Baroque Cycle is one better. It is popular history, vivid imagination, sharp language skills, and a keen sense of details, all wrappep together in a lot of pages. The scope is so large it is almost breathtaking, and i lived in this cycle for quite some timne. Now i have left them all behind me, and feel the poorer for it. Sure you have to invest your time, but the payoff is more than satisfying. There is something about the smoothness is his writing that gets to me. See more progress on: Read the “Baroque Cycle” in its entirety
September caught me unawares, and i am down with the flu. Me, how odd. It has given me some unexpected free time to hang online, add some entries, and look at the crispness of autumn biting into the leaves, shaking the stems of our yards' birchtree, foaming up the waters around us. It is not a water you go dip yourself in voluntarily. Night arrives always earlier, home feels like a safe and cosy place (strange how it is always the same), and the smells of autumn are awesome. Suddenly 9/11 passes, and it is far away. Right now, for a couple of hours, i feel safe from the world. In retreat.
despite all expectations...
the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (a triology in 5 parts) really did deliver. At least, so it felt back in time when i read it. Interesting thought, can it be re-read with the same result? Usually it seems a bad idea to revisit your dreams, and try to re-enact good experiences, as the copy is always partly filled with additional expectations. I read it, i got lost in it, it was important. If i would be dissapointed now, does that make the books lees important, does it degrade my original euphoria? I would like to think not. See more progress on: Read “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”
Italy, land of contradictions
Not only did i travel there, i decided to live there for close to a year. Well, sortg of. My wife is an artist, and she got a scholarship to stay in Firenze for 10 months, so i quit my job and tagged along. That is already 10 years ago. It was an interesting experience, in a land full of contraditions. I like the history, the language, the films, the wine, the food, the climate, some of the music. I don’t like the snobism, the social divide, the shallowness, the egotism, etc etc. I don’t know whether these two sides are inseparable or not. I found out that i would not like to live in Italy, but i quite like visiting it. The books the Italians and the New Italians (if i remember the titles correctly) were really quite good introductions to, and explanations of, some of the history and mentality of thet country (or i should say countries) See more progress on: go to Italy
Textflow
It shouldn’t be so hard, should it? You sit down in front of your screen, and start tapping away. By writing at least half a page per day you should be finished in no time. I wonder. Why is it i cannot seem to finish my university studies? All i need to do is now to complete my paper, and i am done. But the screen remains white, the cursor blinking alone on that sheet of virtual paper. And i find myself remembering old friends, looking at something at home that needs fixing, writing this entry here…you get the drift. It is really amazing how it can come to seem so complicated. And i even like studying! Weird. See more progress on: finish my degree
sort of freedom
To learn how to sail has been a thing i wanted to do since i was quite young, and although no expert, and not with a mind for competing and racing, i can now manage ok on a sailing boat. it isn’t all that complicated, the thing is to have good, relaxed instructors, and not tyrants with ego problems. I guess you also have to be of a certain mind to enjoy the cramped space, the humid bunks, and the monotony of sailing. It is not for all people. And the skills do not simply involve knowledge of what rope to pull when, but also (and more importantly) skills of patience, coordination, trust… See more progress on: learn how to sail
dream come true?
for years i dreamed of making one, or several children’s books. We used to make up stories as we were walking, quite enthralled with the ideas we made up. Years later i got kids, and the process restarted, mostly as inventing bedtime stories, which gradually grew in scope and depth. So far, it hasn’t resulted in anything, but the thought was reawakened. Indirectly it helped me put together three books make by the pupils in the school leo attends. The pupils all contributed with one story each, and with a drawing (there are 39 students in Leo’s year class, divided in three groups). One of the books actually had our bedtime story as a theme, and it was fun to see what the kids invented. I haven’t yet gotten around to completing anything of my own, also partly because the amount of very good children stories are so abundant in Scandinavia. But i think i still would like to. See more progress on: Publish a series of children’s books
creating stories from images
making them come alive, putting them into context. Rediscovering the joy in playing, building bridges. http://larjanko.fotopages.com See more progress on: Take more pictures
Did it once, wanna do it again
I happened to find a book in a flea market in Helsinki with a Bookcrossing tag, read the book (quite good), and checked out when and where it was released into the wild. It felt really good, somthing similar to my sailing days when you would meet other boat-faring people in harbours and exchange paperbacks. I wanna do it again! That is, both sail, and find more bookcrossing books See more progress on: find a bookcrossing book
Lifelong learning
Like most other people i had a hard time at times in school. Even if i managed ok, i still vowed not to return to that particular part of the world. And here i am, working with lifelong learning and adult education. It may still sound boring and intimidating, but it’s basically about communication, listening to people, daring to enter into dialogue. As a journalist i see the similarities, and although at times it is difficult i always feel that is is immensely rewarding. See more progress on: teach a class
A massive thunder storm rolled in over Lauttasaari the other night. I had not yet fallen asleep when lighting and thunder followed by torrential rains washed over us. It was one in the morning. Very unusual to have thunderstorms here in the nighttime. Like a quick visit from the big world. And the images of Louisiana are awful.
Phew, what a day. Three intense meetings on three totally different subjects in different parts of town in one day. Makes me feel glad it is over. I have a dizzy feeling. And there are some things i could write, but don't wanna. This is after all a public space. I am amazed at the continous crossing of the border so many bloggers pass every day in their musings. Sure i like to be personal, and yes i can read some of it, but i also think some things are private. What do you think?