Seeing a lot of dentists

Last week wasn't great at all. I haven't seen so many dentists for ages as I did last week. It started as a small ache in the back tooth and turned out as a gigantic pain which didn't let me sleep at all. I'm so glad it's over, even though it ment a root canal work.

I have all these good plans, but I feel like I'm facing all sorts of obstacles. I begin to wonder. Maybe it's a sign. Maybe I'm trying to do too much.



I quess we could all learn from my dog Jekku. He knows how to live a relaxed life. At the moment he sleeps on his back, paws facing to the roof. Last month I took a photo of him while he was birdwatching near Vartiokylänlahti (Vartiokylä bay in Helsinki)

Janis and me

"Sittin’ down by my window,
Honey, lookin’ out at the rain."

This Janis Joplin song has always been my favourite. Somehow it's so sad, but there's this undercurrent of independency there like in most of her songs. Ball and Chain is my music for the melancholy moments, and the moments I'm remembering the past moments of melancholy. It reminds me of my first year here in Helsinki in a student flat, a small room 12 m2 and a window facing north. A rainy autumn - first autumn alone.


I don't really listen so much music nowadays. When I lived alone, I used to play a lot of lp's and cd's. Now it's just occasionally in the car. No wonder that my music taste has deteriorated. Not to mention that I would know what's hip or cool in the music scene. I don't. I'm turning into my mom and listening to old tangos.

*Lyhyt oli kesän ihana aika, muistot jälkeen jää*
This was from Finnish tango "Punaiset Lehdet" - Red Leaves

The dog is sleeping under the table, perhaps I should do the same and go to bed.

Sudden deaths

It always stops you, when you hear that someone you know has suddenly died.

Last week I heard that Mr Pentti Vainio from SAK (the biggest labour market organisation in Finland) had died in the helicopter crash near Tallinn. Today another sad message, a chief economist of Nordea, Juha Ahtola had died in cancer.

I remember Mr Vainio as a colourful person, who was very direct in his words. A true trade union guy.
I knew Mr Ahtola better, I shall miss him and his clear explanations and views of the near future of Finnish economy. Media lost a good commentator.

Helicopters and fears

A Finnish helicopter crashed today down in the sea in its way from Tallinn, Estonia to Helsinki, Finland. There were 12 passangers in the helicopter and now they all lie in the bottom of the sea.
A helicopter belonged to a company called Copterline. It was carrying 12 passangers and a crew of two. Six passanger were Finns, two Americans and four Estonians.

I've been always afraid of flying. I would never fly with a copter and I don't like aeroplanes either. I tend to keep my eyes shut during the landing or the take-off. This accident just proves the point. They can fall. They really can.

Car music meme

I got this meme from Elena. It reminds me of getting a new cd player to my car. My car (or ours) is a Volvo, which I really like.

Name three songs that remind you of a car trip you have taken.
* Judas Priest: Turbo lover
* Bonnie Tyler: The total eclipse of the heart
* Mari Laurila: Aja hiljaa isi (Mari Laurila's children song called Drive slowly daddy)

Name three songs that are best heard in a car.
*Nirvana: Lithium
* Michelle Shocked: Memories of East Texas
*Ozzy Osbourne: Dreamer

Name three songs with cars in the title or lyrics.
Tracy Chapman: Fast Car
Smiths: There's a Light that never goes out (including a double decker bus and a ten ton truck)
Deep Purple: Highway star

Art exhibition in Sysmä

We were in the countryside last weekend. The parents of my husband have a summer house in Hollola near Lahti. It was so relaxing to row on Vesijärvi lake and go to the sauna, which is heated with wood. On the Saturday evening we played a card game called Skibbo with my parents-in-law. I didn't win at all.
Sunday we went to this art exhibition in Sysmä called Suvi-Pinx.
There were a lot of paintings from a Finnish painter called Markku Laakso. We thought his style was like Akseli Gallen-Kallela meets porn magazine Jallu. A lot of naked women, men from Lappland, Elvis - all this in national romantic style with a a hint of socialistic painting. Interesting, but definately not our style.

My favourites in the exhibition were Esa Riippa and Matti Lampi. Matti Lampi comes from Liminka.