Eating Muffins in an Agitated Manner

Myy and Kemut

Posted by Myy

We had visitors last Saturday. A whole bunch of them: big folk and even bigger ones. And some that were big, but in a small way. Curious creatures, screamed a lot (or that it seemed like, my hearing isn't what it used to be...) and run around quite a lot, too.

I guess they were celebrating my birthday. I turned 15 a week ago. I'm told that's a LOT. Doesn't really feel like that, methinks. I chased a squirrel the other day.... Where was I? Oh yes, a party. I mingled with the people and Girl and Boy seemed to be enjoying the occasion as well. People brought food (and gave stuff for me, much appreciated) and drinks. I got some vegan doggie goodies. Taste fine. Not so certain about the hemp chocolate I tasted as well. Lots of fibre, I reckon.

Tiresome, this partying is. I managed to stay up thru the whole shebang, but after I took Boy out with the last visitors, coming home was pretty tough. I blacked out like a light-thing on the ceiling when Girl or Boy touch the little knob on the wall. Wow. Woke up rather late.

I think it was a good party. At least Boy and Girl seem to think so. And Ninni, who is really spiffy with them art-things.

Yawn, better get some sleep now. I'm going to the stables tomorrow. Need to chase Whiskas, the Cat.

Housewarming party! RSPV

Posted by Sari

Wanna come and see if there really is a Big Red Cat on our wall, a book shelf in the loo and orange walls in the livingroom? Here is your chance. We are throwing a housewarming party on Saturday 24. May from 5 p.m. onwards. We need no gifts, but if you can see your way to bringing something to eat that would be great. And BYOB/OPM :-)

Kesä Kesä Kesä

Posted by Sari

Ainakin vähän aikaa. Oltiin maalla viikonloppuna viettämässä äitienpäivää: siivottiin saunan remppajätteitä, otettiin soutuvene talviteloilta, saunottiin ja grillattiin. Hautasimme myös pienen Mommsenin uurnan muiden suvun lemmikkien joukkoon ja nautimme peijaisissa akvaviittia. Loppu ajasta meni sitten kaikilta aika lailla kirjojen parissa, auringossa oli työkirjojakin kiva lukea.

It's not Terry's It's Mine!!

Posted by Sari

I have a sore throat and I feel completely knackered, but It don't matter that much. Firstly because we had a wonderful time at Fionna's and Mark's wedding at Vanajanlinna. Great location, beautiful ceremony, fun party, good company and an absolutely radiant bride. We enjoyed ourselves enlightening the FinnBrit players about SciFi and Science Fiction, and chatting with Ylva about all and sundry. Also, though it sounds snooty and silly, It was just wonderful to spend an evening speaking and listening to English.

Another pick-me-up was that though Behnford's has crappy selection of teas, they do stock Terry's Chocolate Oranges. The price is foul but, come on, Terry's Oranges! My favorite confectionery ever. Who cares about a sore throat when you can just whack and unwrap that chocolaty goodness...

Putting it together

Posted by Sari

I have a confession: I like assembling IKEA furniture; checking you have all the parts and tools, and then following the pictorial instructions until in the end you miraculously have a piece of furniture is fun. It is also fun to pretend to build something.

Today, I assembled an Aneboda chest of drawers. It had 26 parts and 97 pieces of other paraphernalia like screws and the ever present IKEA-tool. It took about an hour and now I have a nice, surprisingly sturdy and dirt cheap chest of drawers in the hallway for hats and gloves and stuff. Yay.

It is beginning to look like home!

Posted by Sari

Here is Jukka  two months ago trying to visualise how this new living-room is going to look like:

And this is how it looks now:

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Posted by jukkahoo

We're back! And since Sari already blogged, I will not linger here too long. Today was The Most boring one at current workplace. Stunningly boring. Tomorrow, overtime... Better get some zzzzzzzz's.

PeBloWriMo Day Five: The Writer in Me

Posted by jukkahoo

I have occasionally dabbled with fiction writing. Yeah, dabbled. Few short stories have been published, the most recent one at the Hannu Blommila Jubileum Book Hannun basaarissa (Hannu's Bazaar) called "Velho, joka tatuoi sieluja" ("Sorcerer Who Tattooed Souls"). It's part of a shared world which five of us way back when coined together in order to write stories together. Not a lot happened, Marko wrote "Kuin Benrubin syöksy" which was published in Spin several years ago and the next published work my story.

A pity really. I tried to NaNoWriMo with story set in the shared world, which basically continued the story Marko set in motion, but I never managed to finish it. Never made the NaNoWriMo goal of 50 000 words, either. I just went back and read what I had written (those parts that I posted on lj) and thought that maybe I ought to go back there and tweak it a bit. You know, finish it.

Here's an excerpt that's basically a mood piece with some serious exposition going on. In Finnish.

- Harvoin eksyy Kaabasta kukaan tännepäin Adornoa.
- Harvoin täällä lienee muutenkaan muukalaisia, Lyon vastasi, selvästi huvittuneena.
Paimen hymyili ja vastasi:
- Se on totta myös, täällä ei ole liikaa nähtävyyksiä vieraille tutustua. Kaupankäyntikin on pientä suureen maailmaan verrattuna, ainakin uskoisin niin.

Lyonin mielessä nousi esiin pieni epäilyksen siemen, joka alkoi heti itää ja kasvaa. Paimen oli yllättävänkin puhelias. Hänen ulkomuotonsa oli kuin kenen tahansa paimenen, mutta sekä hänen pellavainen paitansa etää jalkineensa olivat kuin tavanomaista paremmista raaka-aineista valmistettuja. Eikä hänen puheensakaan ollut aivan niin maalaista kuin ensi kuulemalta olisi odottanut. Lyon alkoi kertoa kuvitellusta matkastaan Crandesista, siitä kuinka hän oli eronnut matkakumppaneistaan jo jokin aika sitten, tavatakseen heidät myöhemmin satamakaupungissa. Hän kuunteli tarkkaavaisesti kumppaninsa vastauksia ja kysymyksiä, pyrkien löytämään tämän sanoista vastauksia epäilyihinsä.

Paimenen puheista kävi ilmi, että Adornossa oli tekeillä jotain tavanomaisesta poikkeavaa. Lyon käsitti tämän puheista, että Adorno olisi mahdollisesti lähdössä sotaan, mutta koska paimen puhui asioista niin kuin hänen puhekumppaninsa olisi niistä vähintään yhtä tietäväinen, Lyon ei halunnut tiedustella asioista liian suoraan. Hän oli kuitenkin melko varma siitä, että kyseessä oli jälleen kerran yksi lisäepisodi lähes ikuiselta vaikuttavaan sotaan Adornon itäisen rajanaapurin, Turainen kanssa.

Lyon muisti kuinka hän oli lapsena joutunut osaksi tuota taistelua. Sota oli alkanut vuosia sitten. Silloin Adorno ja Turaine olivat vielä olleet yhtä ja samaa valtiota. Eteläinen Turaine oli ollut maallinen, vapaamielinen sivistysvaltio kun Adorno, pohjoinen ja kylmä Adorno, oli tiukan patriarkaalinen ja askeettinen. Silloiset mahtisukujen edustajat olivat yrittäneet yhdistää kahtia hajautuneita maakuntia solmimalla liiton, jossa kuninkaan ainoa lapsi, prinsessa Cendria oli naitettu Adornon mahtavan pappissuvun vanhimman vesan kanssa. Yritys oli epäonnistunut kauhealla tavalla. Pääkaupunkiin tulleet adornolaiset olivat joutuneet hääyönä laaja-alaisen salamurhan uhreiksi ja vaikka prinssiksi noussut Adornon Kevyn olikin saanut pitää päänsä, hänen elintilansa oli tosiasiassa panttivangin veroinen. Adorno oli noussut saman tien aseelliseen kapinaan, jonka seurauksena maa oli hajonnut kahtia. Pohjoisen ylivertaisten joukkojen marssi kohti entistä pääkaupunkia oli ollut lähes vastustamatonta, kunnes etelän velhot olivat onnistuneet pysäyttämään heidät. Sota oli raivonnut vuosikausia alueella, jota tultaisiin myöhemmin nimittämään Kuolleeksi maaksi ja jonka omistamisesta sota sai aina vain lisää pontta ja syytä. Lyon oli pakkovärvätty kolmetoista-vuotiaana mukaan sotaan ja hänen adornolaisille harvinaisten velhon kykyjen ilmetessä eräänä karmaisevana päivänä, jolloin lähes kaikki hänen yksikkönsä sotilaat olivat kuolleet. Lyon oli siirretty puoleksi vuodeksi läntiseen naapurivaltioon Aduatucaan, jossa kaabalaiset velhot olivat opettaneet hänelle kaiken mahdollisen ja mahdottomankin. Lyon oli palannut sotatantereelle ja oli taistellut, tappanut, vihannut ja pettänyt vuosikausia, kunnes jonkinlainen väliaikainen rauha oli tuonut jatkuvaan taisteluun pienen hengähdyshetken.

Lyon oli tiennyt mahdollisuutensa tulleen. Hän palasi kotiinsa, mutta löysi kasvattivanhempansa ja –veljensä joko kuolleina tai muuten vain täysin etääntyneinä hänestä. Mukanaan vain se minkä hän jaksoi itse kantaa, Lyon suuntasi tiensä kohti pohjoista ja jäi sille tielleen.

Paimenen kysymys herätti Lyonin muistoistaan.
- Anteeksi, muistelin nuoruuttani ja omia sotakokemuksiani.
- Missä kaabalainen…? Anteeksi, olisihan minun pitänyt ymmärtää. Sinä olet arvatenkin osallistunut Milembrian taisteluihin.
- Milembrian?
- Eikö se ole virallinen nimi? Minä olen aina luullut että se on se nimi jonka hargiaanien johto Bayardien valloitetuille saarille antoi?
- Tietenkin, totta kai. Meille mukana olleille se oli aina valloitussotaa, joten me kutsuimme sitä edelleen Bayardien saariksi.

Lyon tajusi puhuneensa ohi suunsa. Kaaba oli ilmeisestikin jo jonkin aikaa ollut rauhallinen kansakunta ja sen itäinen kaidiittikunta oli se, joka edelleen harrasti Bayardien kanssa taistelemista. Toinen ikuinen sota.

- Kysymykseni koski Kaaban keosta, nuorta Beiraa. Minkälainen mies hän on? Hänhän on vasta poikanen, tuskin kaksikymmentä vuotta vanha. Huhut kertovat, että oikea valta on Suurella neuvostolla ja sen hargiaani-siivellä?

Lyon ei voinut uskoa korviaan. Keskellä Adornon vilja-aittaa hän törmää lammaspaimeneen, joka lähes ensi töikseen alkaa kysellä kaukaisen maan asukkaalta kuningashuoneen asioista?

- Minun täytyy hieman ihmetellä, kuinka tavalliselta lammaspaimenelta vaikuttava mies voi olla kiinnostunut toisen valtakunnan hallitsijoista? Ellen paremmin tietäisi, saattaisin jopa epäillä, että minua vastapäätä istuukin adornolainen aatelinen, eikä mikään pahainen paimen.

Paimen nauroi. Hän puisteli päätään ja sanoi:
- Olen pahoillani, mutta en mahda sille mitään. Mikäli arvoisat vanhempani kuulisivat tästä, he tuskin olisivat edes ajatelleet tätä vaihtoehtoa. [huokaus] Minä en ole paimen. Tai siis ole alun perin sellainen ollut. Vanhempani ovat hyvin toimeentulevaa porvarisluokkaa, ei kuitenkaan niin hyvin toimeentulevaa, että heidän olisi ollut mahdollista ostaa myös kolmas poikansa pois palveluksesta. Niinpä minut siirrettiin kaikessa hiljaisuudessa kauas pois kaupunkien valoista ja nyt minulla on ilo ja etuoikeus vaeltaa vapaana sinisen taivaan alla, vailla pelkoa kuolemisesta turainelaisen sotilaan keihäänkärkeen tai satunnaiseen kuulaan tai sirpaleeseen. Puhumattakaan maagisista voimista.

Lyon hymyili.

Well, not immortal prose, but I like the mood, the people, the idea. Lyon is the renegade sorcerer ("a priest of Kairos" he's also called), while the shepherd is just a accidental passerby. Or is he?

PeBloWriMo Day Four: Return to Routine

Posted by jukkahoo

There is a growing realisation that our new home is simply Teh Best. It feels spacious, it has nice rhythm to it, the colour scheme is just right. Of course, we're still miles away from the finished product ie. getting rid of the boxes. As of now, we still have a score of red moving crates to unpack, not to mention some 200+ bookboxes... And those booksies need a place to sit.

The livingroom shelves are mostly up, I still need to drill a ladder above the smaller sofa, but after that, the shelfspace for genre (SF, fantasy and horror) is ready. To be filled.

But this is going to take some time. Most, if not all, of February. While there is still quite a number of other things to do and attend to. Weddings, parties, meetings etc. Not to mention the checking up of one very promising venue for the 2009 Finncon. If even half of what has been said and promised at closed meetings is delivered, this could be it. Good vibrations.

And talking about conventions, Åcon 2 is coming in three months! There is still time to reserve your rooms at the Adlon, as well as your ferry tickets. Viking is the choice du année. There should be some kind of activity on that front as well soon. I'm again messing up with the programming, but unlike last year, this time we should've something prepared well at hand and most (if not all!) of the programming and program participants at least a bit before con. Perhaps. I will talk about Åcon programming during the PeBloWriMo. Remind me, if this doesn't start to happen.

Do not remind me about Patriots... snif.

Actually, funny story. We were able to pick up few channels from our digidigi last evening (today Sari got some good advice from Elisa and now our Telefunken is working as normal), of which MTV3 (not part of the Music TV conglomerate, but the largest Finnish commercial network - Mainos TeleVisio - on channel number 3) was one. They were broadcasting Superbowl, but after the weekends rather active workout, I couldn't face the workday without proper sleep (so I slept something like six hours...) and missed it for the first time this millenia. And my baby-Pats were playing!

I dreamt that Patriots lost the game, with four points. I kept pondering during the night, how on Earth could I know the end result, if I'm not watching the game, but I managed to convince myself, that Sari had seen the result somewhere. I was also somewhat sceptical about the referees call, which granted two points to NYBiggies due to "unsportmanlike conduct" by Belicheat. Which gave the NYTalls the four point gap and left Pats needing something bigger than a three-pointer.

And now I saw the decisive throw. What were Patriots thinking? Didn't see the game itself, so cannot really comment on the situation, but it looked amateurish, to say the least. Least.

Imagine my dissappointment. Somewhat confident that it had all been just a bad dream, only to find out, that while my dream wasn't reality, the loss was. Sadness.

There was a silver sports lining for today, however. Pena is gone, Pena is no more. HIFK has a new General Manager with Jukka Valtanen and a proper handler of  the sports side of running the club in Tom Nybondas. Shurely Mr. Valtanen cannot do anything wrong with that kind first name? :)

And as you can probably guess, we have reconnect ourselves to the Innernets. This should mean that PeBloWriMo should be able to continue without further hiccups like yesterday. And some news regarding this glorious venture:

There is Another PeBloWriMoer!!! Why yes! And from Sweden no less. Well done, Néa!

PeBloWriMo day three

Posted by Sari

Sort of cheating because Jukka isn't writing the entry (still no connection - we actually have to talk to each other), but at least it is content. He told me to blog something about taking baby steps. Go figure. Still unpacking the "stuff" we have "a lot of". Personally, I think we don't have that much stuff as such, all non-book stuff fitted nicely in about 60 boxes...

Annnyway, shelves are sort of up, clothes have been unpacked as are about half of the non-book boxes. And can I just say how much I love my bollywood inspired burnt orange and gold livingroom walls? It sounds ghastly but it is so pretty! Honest! And Jukka managed to pick the colours in the bedroom so that they (quite accidentally) match the ornamental tiles in the bathroom.

Huge thanks from me also to all who came to help. You guys knew what you were letting yourself into and still stepped up. We owe you big time.

PeBloWriMo begins (Day 1)

Posted by jukkahoo

Here we go. PeBloWriMo Day One.

I'm afraid this beginning will be more short than sweet, as at the moment things are a wee bit busy. We've been painting the new flat in all manner of colours (as white is so blaah): Yellow for the kitcher, burnt Orange and Gold (or as our helpful paintseller-dude wrote on the cans "Sari's Bollywood colour") for the living room, Blue for the study (or "Sea Play") and somewhat Moomin Purple (no name for this one, but as I recall, it was callede "bold choice") for the bedroom.

Looks good, even if I say so.

I'm heading back in few minutes to juryrig a sort of little trolley-thing where one can put larger things in top of and glide them forth; like a sofa etc. I'm hoping we can construct most of the bookshelves today, so that we can put all the boxes in front of the shelves, instead of the usual method of placing book boxes along the bloody walls and then starting to ponder how are we going to build them shelves...

And there also the (and I'm reaching out here, help) lasyyri, sort of see-thru paint that we're putting on top of the bedroom purple (it's sort of a reflection of the window, you'll get it when you see it'll put some pictures here when we're done). But other than those, I think that the rest of this move will happen tomorrow. Lots of boxes to carry. I may carry more stuff to the new apartment, provided I can find all the useful things we might need over there. Like cooking gear and utensils etc.

El Gordo (our computer) will soon be turned off and since we do not know whether our new cable provider has opened our connection, tomorrow's PeBloWriMo might be even shorter one... Then again, even with connection and all, I may be a tad tired after all of this. And then it'll be Sunday and we have clean up the Old apartment... Really not looking forward to that one.

Quick point before I go: Really Good News about Finncon 2009 today. Hopefully we're able to announce good news, sooner rather than later. Stay tuned to PeBloWriMo for that!

Oh yes: Happy birthday to Katariina!