Survival

I've survived the Christmas. Got some presents, best of them was definitely a gift card to a record store. (Thanks hun' for that.) Christmas was mostly over eating and spending time with my family and loved ones. Presents I got them.. eh, Santa got them, were appreciated as well.

I've also survived quite well the December without stress, as planned. Some was still unavoidable though. Got some last minute stress from travelling and time schedules. It seems to be every year a problem since everybody's got plans when and where to meet and you try to fit things to your own schedule. Luckily I got to take the passenger seat and just follow others.

Had splendid time with my nephew baking ginger bread cookies, playing memory cards and building Lego robot. We got a white Christmas after all the doubts and the winter weather still goes on, at least for now. Met my sister's family on Christmas eve. Unfortunately my niece had a little cold but she was still so into her presents that she barely had time to say hi. :)

Some planning to do for 2015, probably including a trip to London in April. One thing off of my bucketlist. And in a couple of months we'll see if one project gets a kick-start or not.. But before any of those I still have a few workdays this year. Also a few days left to look back at this year, all that's happened.

Can't wait for the new adventures!

Season's greetings

I'm spending the week mostly at my brother's family and visiting my parents.
My sister is spending Christmas in Finland with her family so I'll see them as well.

Just wanted to wish you all a merry Christmas.

Activity tracker

I bought a little while ago to myself Garmin vivofit activity tracker and heart rate monitor. I have been using the tracker couple weeks now, day and night. I've also tried the heart rate monitor but since I haven't been actively training it's been waiting on my desk for my next run.

I have sort of mixed feelings about the tracker. I don't trust the step count very much because you can fool it by shaking you're hand. The activity bar isn't that trustworthy either. Yesterday I was in yoga for 1.5 hours and the activity bar came visible. Yes, I can admit that yoga isn't that active sport but I wasn't sitting still either. So, that was a bit disappointing. But at the same time the activity bar have challenged me to get up from my chair, especially at work. The activity bar comes on after one hour of being inactive and increases after every 15 minutes. In that way it is good because it reminds me not to sit too long.

The synchronizing of the tracker with computer proved to be really easy. I've done it once but I'm really waiting to see the sleeping information from a longer time period. I know I sleep way too little ad probably my sleep isn't that deep and relaxing either. Maybe I can find some ways to improve my sleep with the help of this tracker.

I haven't taken part to any challenges yet, but I think I might consider those after Christmas.

The caloric tracker doesn't interest me at all since it doesn't count automatically also the calories I take. ;) I'm really not interested of counting every bite I take.

Anyway, small steps.. I guess, anything that takes me towards healthier life is good..

Oh, the joy of buying things

Yesterday I went for a little Christmas shopping. Mostly I've done my shopping in the internet but yesterday there was a glimpse of sun outside (and a spouse with hangover inside) so I thought that a little walk would be nice. So now I've bought presents to my nephew and niece. And one extra present that is going to a 3 year old boy whose family I found through Jouluapua. Jouluapua is a way to find families asking help for Christmas and you can pick one close to you or further away. Via the service I found/chose one single mom with a little boy and a baby on the way. The mom was asking for presents to her son and some baby clothes. Nothing too big in my opinion. But there are also big families with five kids for example and they need help to provide them Christmas food or clothes, the parents may be unemployed etc.

Now the thing is that usually when giving something to charity it goes through some organisation and you have no certainty if the help goes to where it is supposed to. I've given money to WWF, I think they are doing very important job by helping animals who can't speak for themselves. But this time I thought I could help someone personally and Jouluapua provided a good channel to that help. I could easily deliver the package myself and give it face to face but I think I'd rather send it although the family lives by my way to work.

Anyway, the presents are wrapped in Christmas paper and I can't wait to see the faces of the loved one receiving them. ;) (Especially waiting to see my what my sister and my nephew think of their presents. My nephew, almost six years old, is at the moment for some reason absolutely loving My Little Pony and his favorite is Rainbow Dash. So I got him a soft toy for sleeping pal just as he wished for from Santa.)

December challenge

Since Christmas is often said to cause stress I decided that my December challenge should be RELAXING. I'm still doing Christmas preparations, mostly buying and doing presents but the idea is to do something relaxing, something I enjoy of on a daily basis. It might be as simple as taking a nap or taking photos, drawing or for example taking a walk.

On the coming Saturday I've planning to go to movies. Last time I did that was when the previous Hobbit-movie came out. Now I haven't yet decided whether I'll go see Interstellar (Matthew McConaughey) or Fury (Brad Pitt). Of course I'll have to watch the new Hobbit as well at some point of this month. :D

I received some clothes this week that I ordered from the internet. I would love to promote the clothing brand to you or one the website I ordered from but I don't want to ruin my source of good(-looking), quality clothes. This due to the fact that basically everybody is already ordering clothes from EMP and since Turku is after all quite a small city (and my circles are even smaller) I'm hoping to keep my style as my own instead of seeing people wearing the same clothes I have in my closet. Blackgroup has been mentioned in many of the blogs I read so that one I can give. They rarely have clothes I like in my size or they are way too expensive to my taste but now I ordered a hoodie from them. I tried to find a picture of it which I could share from their site but I guess they ran out of it since I didn't find it anymore. So sorry, no picture. ;)

But now with these words I am wishing you all a relaxing month!
And don't stress over Christmas, it's just not worth it!

Living is hard..

.. but kissing, hugging and saying "I love you" is not.
And it doesn't cost a thing.
So do it. And don't always expect others to do it for you.

Top Ten

As promised here is list of the top ten albums I listened during last month's daily challenge. Not in any specific order. And notice that these aren't necessarily new albums, just new albums to me.

1. Adrenaline Mob - Men Of Honor
2. Smile Empty Soul - Smile Empty Soul
3. Silvertide - Show And Tell
4. Deftones - Koi No Yokan
5. Rains - Stories
6. Slipknot - .5: The Gray Chapter
7. Tad - Inhaler
8. Trust Company - Dreaming In Black And White
9. Egypt Central - White Rabbit
10. Mötley Crüe - Modern Vintage

+ one album as an extra: Blackberry Smoke - The Whippoorwill.

Gifted

Since I love to watch art documents among others and consider drawing and painting as a hobby of mine, I thought I'd list a few of my favorite artists here as well. I do have also a few friends talented in these areas but if and when I'll share them that'll be a post of it own. But to the point.

These are my favorite artists nowadays, still alive and sharing their art:

Derek Hess
- If I could have the drawing skills of any artist, live or deceased, my choice would be Derek Hess. Album covers, posters.. Love them all. For years I have planned to take a tattoo of one (or more) of his works. I would also love to own one of his originals.. Combining two of my favorite things, art and music, how could I not appreciate this master?!

Alyssa Monks
- Simply awesome. Again, combining two of my favorite things, photography and painting. Just love 'em.

Banksy
- Graffiti is art, no matter what you think of it! And Banksy is definitely the king of this art form. Clever, spot on, genius. In all the simplicity, touching and waking plenty of thoughts and ideas. Inspirational in so many levels.

Alex Cherry
- This one is my latest find. I can't really think of any other description to this than "combination of the three artists above". And that's enough of a reason to me.

And here you'll have my favorite artists from the past:

Salvador Dali
- The one and only artist who could pay his restaurant bill just by signing it. How cool is that! Although his work has suffered inflation because of the posters and all, you still gotta marvel at his imagination.

Leonardo Da Vinci
- Mysterious genius. Da Vinci is surrounded with conspiracy theories still today. His art is said to hold numerous hidden yet visible messages. I guess it's a big part of his charm and I suppose we'll never find the final truth of him. Although my appreciation to engineers isn't leveling that high, Da Vinci makes an exception. And although the TV-show 'Da Vinci's Demons' is more based on fiction than facts it sure does enhance that mystery around this master.

Alphonse Mucha
- All the ladies of Mucha are just perfect. Yet I would love to see how would Mucha's ladies look like today.. goth, steampunk, hipsters..?! :D

November (+lottery winner)

Since only two comment came to my post "Likes, yikes!" picking he winner was more than easy. But just for fun I used random number generator (google it, you'll find several) and the winner is... drums please.... Reija! :)

What comes to November and my project of month's daily challenge I think it's only logical to concentrate to preparing for Christmas. To me this means preparing presents, knitting, sewing, crafting cards etc.

"Don't know where I'm going I just keep on rowing .."

Don't feel like working.
Neither do I feel like going home..

Minimum motivation

I've been employed in the same company for 1,5 years now plus my practice period.
So.. all in all about two years.
My work load has grown.
So has my knowledge.
I'm barely doing anything that relates to what I've studied for.
My only motivation each and every morning for going to work is my monthly paycheck.
I'm trying really hard to figure out what is the asset or bonus in learning things that are as interesting to me as a bullet to my head.

The problem is that I'm not sure what would be suitable job for me.
Although, I think I'd be happier shoveling shit in a pig house than what I am with my current position.
When I was 13 years old, I said I'd like to work in advertising business as art director or copywriter.
Now, I think my dream job would be something where I can do things with my hands.
Carpenter. Painter. Writer. Car mechanic. Something.
Something that doesn't require me sitting 8 hours a day in an office. With engineers.
Something that allows me to use my creativity.
Something with less stress, with more attractiveness.
Something with less straining working hours.

Likes, yikes!

Since my pageviews reached 12 000 this week, I thought I'll give you a chance for a little gift.

So be brave and leave a comment:

tell me about something that you like (colors, books, animals, cartoons, fashion style etc.).

Then just add your contact information ([nick]name, e-mail or blog link) and you might win a coin purse made just for you.

The lottery ends on Friday 31st of October 2014 and I'll pick up the winner on the 1st of November.

Sick and twisted

Soooo.. this week didn't go as planned. I'm on a sick leave the whole week since my lower back resigned. I got a lumbago, to be exact. I was preparing to work on Monday morning when my lower back just snapped. I walked worse than Ozzy Osbourne. Fortunately I got some medication for it and hot water bottle and hot gel have also been very helpful. Just have to say that now I understand old people in traffic a bit better, crossing a road can take a while.. But at least now I have plenty of time to listen to music. ;)

Music month

In October my goal is to listen an album a day. And more than that, albums I haven't heard before. Spotify and Youtube are providing me enough suggestions to take this through. At the end of a month I'll make a top 10 (or more) list of the albums I've listened.

Here's some suggestions I've got to my email that I plan to listen:

Illdisposed - With the Lost Souls on Our Side

In Mourning - The Weight of Oceans

Carnal Forge - Testify For My Victims

The Crown - Doomsday King

The Haunted - Exit Wounds

Adrenaline Mob - Men of Honor

Exodus - Blood In Blood Out

Guitar in focus

We went to a concert on Thursday. Turku Philharmonic Orchestra was playing a concert named 'Guitar in focus'. I was expecting an interesting evening. Well.. I wouldn't call it that interesting but different for sure. The concerto was made by Risto T.T. Pulkkinen and in our local newspaper it got quite a good review afterwards. I (and my better[?] half) don't seem to understand that kind of artistic output. Such discords that even I who don't play guitar at all could make those. Not necessarily in the right order or rightly timed but anyway.. I was expecting to hear more of a classical guitar playing. This might have been a bit too modern concert to me..

I sort of felt myself stupid sitting there, listening to it and not getting it. Lucky for me, my guitar-playing-better-half said the same during the halftime. Not only was the concerto and guitar playing a disappointment but the time that world famous (From doing what?) guitarist Timo Korhonen spent on stage.. If the concerto is named 'Guitar in focus' I really expect to hear that guitar throughout the concert. But no. Not a chance. But since the dischords, I guess we we're just lucky not to hear it the whole time. The orchestra played actually really well before and after the guitar.

As I said already after the concert to my spouse I might feel a bit (understatement!!) screwed after that concert if I had paid for the ticket. Luckily we didn't pay anything, so it was just a sort of waste of time. And fortunately we've seen plenty of great concerts by the Philharmonic orchestra so this definitely won't be our last visit to the Turku Concert Hall.

Open my eyes

My online photography course enlightened me in many ways. But one of the biggest realizations must have been during the last module. One topic in that module was asking what kind of photographer I am and the module also represented a quote that opened my eyes: "If you find yourself going to the zoo too often, it's because you belong in the zoo in the first place. You're at home there". I understood that I like to photograph people. And even more, people in music. I'm at home in clubs, out in the city, observing people. I also came up with a principle/sentence I want to work with.. Here it comes, are you ready?! 'As a photographer you need to blend in so that your work wouldn't.' I think that being true especially if you're photographing people.

That last module also inspired me to look out for photographers that have inspired or might inspire me. And here I give you a list of them (as well as links to their work).

Nikki Sixx
This is a no brainer.
I love Mötley Crüe and I've read both of Nikki's books (several times, actually).
I absolutely love black and white pictures.
And you just have to respect a person who sees beauty where most people don't.

Ross Halfin
If you don't know who Ross Halfin is, you don't know anything about rockstar photographers.
Just click 'Gallery' and choose 'Bands'..
He had recently an exhibition in Finland (which I unfortunately didn't see).

Matthias Hombauer
He was a Ph.D. student in molecular biology.
He left that promising career.
And then he became a successful rockstar photographer.
Not so long ago.
And he is happily teaching others (those willing to pay) how to do the same.

JoeyL
Robert DeNiro on his landing page? Seriously?
Seriously. And it doesn't stop there. Just check the 'Quick portfolio' and you'll be amazed.
Also, if you're in to photography yourself, you might want to take a look at 'Gear' as well.
I haven't yet had the time to take a look to his tutorials but I'm planning to (that will probably give me something to write about as well).

Chase Jarvis
Shoots various subjects. Can especially well freeze movement in his photos.

Joe McNally
I like especially his 'Environment' and 'Faces' photos.

Reaching for zen

I have a new, old hobby. I started yoga (again) yesterday.

When I was studying in polytechnic I used to go to morning yoga but I haven't done it since (That's not entirely true: I did do yoga couple of times through yoogaia.com but since Mr Right wasn't being supportive for me doing it in our living room so I stopped doing it.). But now I'm into it again (Not at home this time though.).

If nothing else at least I was the youngest participant. :D But however, it was quite alright. Although I think I could do a bit heavier stretching as well.

Forever student

I have always been a reader type of person. You can learn new things from books you read. Studying often requires reading in form or an other.
But for once I wanted to learn something without reading. I've had a lack of motivation lately and just couldn't find the time or energy for reading and through that, learning. My solution was to became a student. Sounds a bit weird but if you bare with me and let me explain..

I started a free online course few weeks ago. I'm not expecting to get any specific degree from it. More than anything I would like to learn new skills. The course is named 'The art of photography' and it is provided by Open2Study, Open universities Australia. (RMIT University to be exact.) And I absolutely love it! The lessons are simple and easy to follow, from 4 to 10 minutes Youtube videos. After every video you answer a little pop quiz and after you've finished learning one module, you'll do an assessment. You can also share your photos in Google+ in Open2Study community. The course is led by Dr Shane Hulbert (http://shane-hulbert.squarespace.com/).

What comes to other stuff.. My August challenge (here: http://hellproduction.blogspot.fi/2014/08/a-is-for.html) was somewhat a disaster.. I didn't draw as much as I hoped for, many days went by when I didn't draw at all. So I'll continue the challenge this month as well, hopefully with better results.

The corner

I re-organized our living room during the weekend. Now I have my own corner there!! Wohoo! Here I can write, study, sew, draw, download my photos, etc.

      

I bought some blackboard sticker a while ago and covered one locker door with it. Blackboard paint would have been better but this way I can take it away whenever I get bored to it.

And now the bookshelf works from both sides.

Even our cat appreciates. :)

I also had to add some motivational postcards to my corner. Just wonder where have I lost my other (read: better) Einstein card with the text "Imagination is more important than knowledge".

Anniversary

Whoops...
Noticed just today that I've been writing this blog for five years now.
First post was written August 23rd 2009.
A lot has happened since then, good and bad.
Way over 10 000 page views.
Mostly from Russia and USA.
Some from Finland.
Other places occasionally.
I want to thank you all for visiting.
I would appreciate few comments even more.
And I'd like to know how you ended up to my page.
Who are you people?

Anyway.. Thank you.

No bad hair days

My hairdresser got me hooked with these products. I especially like the one on left, the very sensitive moisture mist. These have no colorants, no parabenes and no perfume. They might cost a bit more than the hair products in your nearest grocery store, but mu honest opinion is that these are worth it.

By-gones

Two vacation weeks.. bygones. Way too quickly.
But that's the way it goes when enjoying my time.
Luckily I still have one week of vacation left that I'll have later.
Might take it if and when my brother comes to visit Finland.
Or I'll take it later and delete one thing off of my bucketlist..
But whenever I take the vacation, until then I'll be sweating in the office.
The basement finally got warm and it won't be cooling any day soon.
Before my vacation I used to go out on my breaks to warm myself a bit in the sun.
Now I'll go out to cool down (it's not easy though since the weather is getting even warmer this week).
But I'm not complaining, the winter might be right behind the corner and it'll be cold, dark and long.
Did you guess already what's my favorite time of the year..? ;)

Smoothie

I got a bit inspired again..
In this one I have blackberries, banana, honey, quark and ice cream (or milk).
Made also some with watermelon and strawberries.
Healthy, delicious and cold - perfect for hot summer days.

A is for..

August. And art. Yes, you guessed right, I chose my August challenge to be art. Drawing and painting daily for the month. Planning to do some smaller drawings like this City Cat pt. 1.

I made this already in February. I drew it very quickly and as a joke but Mr. Right liked it so much that he published it on Facebook. I have plenty of ideas for more City Cat adventures, so there will be more of them this month. But not only small and quickly done pieces, I also plan to at least start some bigger ideas I've had for some time now.

Last month's challenge was handicraft and it went more than fine. I haven't finished the test knitting project yet but I did do knitting and sewing throughout the month missing only a day or two.

All I've got is a photograph (it's not enough)

The title comes of course from the lyrics of Def Leppard classic 'Photograph'. If you've been following my blog you already know by now that photography is a dear hobby of mine, something I wish to take further in a form of selling some of my pictures some day. That hasn't happened yet but in the meanwhile I got an email asking for my approval to use photographs I've taken. Yay!!

The pictures will appear at some point at least here and maybe also in here. Although I'm not getting any money with my pictures yet at least I'll get the picture credits and maybe that way make some name to myself. Which will probably help me with my future goals. And of course it feels good to share since a friend of mine is playing in AHOLA. It's good to see their fans are active and genuinely interested (and well mannered).

Y'all have a great Saturday, I'll go out tonight on a gig. To take more pictures. ;)

Being zen

I am used to listening to music while at work, when writing or reading. Usually I listen songs from Youtube, Spotify or some rock radio online. But what I've noticed, even though I try to find new music every now and then, that you can get sick and tired of  music. Or maybe not sick and tired, but fed up, stuffed. And when you are stressed or need to concentrate to something 'important', listening to the latest hits or 80's rock classics isn't a good option. That is when you need something else. Of course Youtube has these meditation and relaxation tracks but even those might be annoying if listened too much, too often.

Luckily I follow Lifehacks and from there I found three new favorite sites of mine. The first one is Naturesoundsfor.me. Absolutely a wonderful selection of nature sounds, animals sounds, birds, household etc. I'm actually listening to it right now. The sounds I have on at the moment are whale, rowing and beach. Another combination I like very much includes wind chimes, fountain, crickets and wind in leaves.

The other good site is Simplynoise.com. There you can choose between pink noise, white noise and brown noice. I prefer pink and white noises. The third site can be found from Simplynoise and it is called Simplyrain. As you might have guessed there you'll find sounds of rain falling down.

So.. soothing sounds to work with.. or when you are stressed.. or if your boss pisses you off and you just want out of the office.

Weirdo

I had a weird dream last night.
In the dream I won a trip to Ghana with old school mate who I haven't seen for, ummm... three years..?
I was excited for the trip but at the same time I was thinking if there's any possibility to change my travel companion..
Would be nice to know why I always have so weird dreams.

"Everybody is somebody else's weirdo" - Scott Adams

Something to do with my own two hands

Last months challenge "get out more" went by and it is time for a new one. This time I chose something that shouldn't cause me any extra stress. The plan is to do some handicraft every day. This should be quite easy since I am doing it already almost on daily basis. I usually knit something anyway every day when watching TV. To make this more of a challenge I volunteered to be a test knitter for my friend who has made this awesome pullover with panda on it. It wouldn't otherwise be a challenge but what I've been going through her other knitting instructions it won't be easy because she tends to use all kinds of special techniques that I'm not familiar with. I prefer simple, no-need to think handicraft. So this will be something else.

I'll show the result when it's done, I've planned to do the pullover for my niece.

Things I carry

Most of you might have seen these "Things I carry" -updates all over the internet: in Slideshare, in LinkedIn etc. I read a couple of such updates over a year ago and thought then I'd do one too. Didn't get far then with the text but now, here we go.

The first thing I carry is of course music. I used to have an iPod but since it broke up few years ago I've had already two different MP3-players and occasionally I've used my mobile phone which I also carry with me everywhere I go. At the moment I actually have two phones, one I use only at/to work and the second one to personal use on my off-work time. Both are Nokia's phones. And for my personal phone I often also carry the charger. I've had bad luck with phone batteries in the past so.. (There's a reason for everything.. I've learned from my mistakes.) And I also carry the USB cord for the MP3-player so that I can load it with any computer nearby. The plus advantage of this is the same cord fits my pocket camera..

Second thing I carry is camera. It is something I carry pretty much everywhere I go. I have two cameras: pocket camera Canon Ixus 95 IS which is small and handy and easy to have with me wherever I go; my second camera is SLR camera, Nikon D3200. I finally bought SLR camera after years of thinking and dreaming of it. Bought it as a christmas present to myself.

I also carry a calendar, actual paper calendar. Although I save many things I need to remember to my phone, I use my calendar a lot. It works as a diary, sketch book, back-up memory for addresses, phone numbers, events/meetings, birthdays and all such things.. I've lost all extra information, twice, when my phones have died and it's not fun. This actually reminds me that I need to copy my photos from my phone to computer asap.

Wallet, keys, bus card and cigarettes are of course always with me. Usually also a little make-up bag which also ALWAYS has painkillers in it. Often there is also a little roll of duct tape in my bag (hang with musicians and you'll know why..), extra battery and memory card for my SLR camera.

So that's what I carry with most of the times I go out.

I take pictures

Pictures from Sweden Rock Festival 2014 (Thursday) can be found here: SRF2014

Get out more

Had one week of summer vacation last week and went to Sweden. There I visited my sister in Stockholm and Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg. My main goal there was to see Alter Bridge perform live and I did. So that's one thing marked as 'done' on my bucketlist. The festival itself was awesome, I can't even speak of Finnish festivals on the same day.

The only thing causing problems was the train strike in Sweden at the time. First of all, 9 hours of waiting all together on 3 different train stations wasn't fun. Especially during the night time and alone. And approximately 6 of those hours there was no possibility to get inside anywhere. Secondly, there was some sort of national day going on so one of the trains was replaced with a bus. Which was fine but it would've been nice to be informed about this before hand. And then there's this strange thing in Sweden that there's no customer service personnel on train stations (at least there wasn't any on stations I had to wait on). During the night time I had this thought of the possibility to change my train ticket to earlier train. But no. I possibly could have changed the ticket in internet IF I would've had access to internet.

But as said, that was a minor setback. I will gladly visit the festival again but probably not with public transportation and maybe with staying overnight possibility at some b&b or motel or something. And what comes to photos from the festival: I'll try to get them out this weekend.

Other than that, I started a new 30 days challenge during that week of summer vacation. The title says it all, get out more. Doesn't matter to me whether I sit on our balcony or walk a bit of extra to a bus stop that isn't the closest one. The idea is just to be outside and get some fresh air.

Whooops.. Sweden Rock Festival, here I come

And so it happened..
Just couldn't resist it anymore.
I just had to buy me a ticket to Sweden Rock Festival.
For one reason and one reason only.
Alter Bridge is playing there.
And since Finland isn't on their tour list Sweden Rock is the next best thing.
And I get to mark one thing on my bucketlist as done! :)

All Those Wasted Years

Reading challenge last month led me finally to read the Hanoi Rocks bio All Those Wasted Years. Interesting book in all but I felt it was a small disappointment after all. I must admit I'm not a huge fan of HR and I was mostly interested of their version of the famous Razzle story. And unlike Nikki's books (Heroin Diaries & This Is Gonna Hurt) the book didn't leave me feeling positive or inspired afterwards. I rather felt empty or nothing at all. I can't really say the reason for this. Started another book right after the HR book, Tony Iommi - Iron Man and it is way more interesting and inspiring already and I've barely read 50 pages so far. I wouldn't want to say it is a question of language: I usually read my music bios in English and Hanoi was written in Finnish. But I do have to say that English is somehow more descriptive and flexible as a language. For example I have hard times to imagine the fight scenes in R.A. Salvatore books of Drizzt Do'Urden if I read in Finnish, it sort of falls short.

But nevertheless the lacks in the HR book, reading felt good. I definitely need to do it more often. :) And since the challenge for this month is writing.. reading is said to increase your vocabulary.. ;)

Rise above this

Last months challenge went overall quite well. Only few days when I didn't read at all. And some days when I didn't touch a book but read newspapers or something else. Then again, some days I spent an entire hour reading. Now it's once again time for a new monthly challenge.

This month I chose writing. I came across this site. And so my writing yesterday was a postcard. I decided not to put any time limits on myself since I have trouble holding on any schedules in my personal life, mainly because I don't want to. At the moment it's more than enough to me that work restricts my time use and schedules. So, the challenge is more in the writing DAILY something and not on how much time I use to it or how many words I write.

Looking forward to this challenge. And I'll continue with the reading as well. Many books on my shelf that need to be read. :)

Aprils challenge

Decided that the challenge in April is to read a book for 15 minutes daily. Started the challenge already yesterday, but forgot write about it. Last months challenge (stretching and knitting) went quite alright. Mostly did the stretching and knitting in front of TV during the evenings, sat on the floor watching my favorite programs while doing on or the other (or both). My photo-a-day hasn't gone as well as I planned, I've wanted/tried to take photos daily but taking them weekly seems to be more accurate. But I'm not stressing about it, inspiration is probably just around the corner, hiding together with the sun and warm weather.

Double-trouble challenge for March

So.. February is done. Photo-a-Day challenge was really it: challenging. But mostly because of the targets I decided before-hand. I haven't loaded all the pictures yet, but I think I will continue the challenge but without pre-decided subjects.

But since it's March it is time for a new challenge. And I've decided to take on two challenges at once. Both challenges include minimum 15 minutes per day of doing the thing. So, 15 minutes per day of stretching my body and 15 minutes doing some sort of handicraft, knitting, sewing and so on. The stretching comes in handy because I've kinda lazy with everything that hints of sports and moving. And since doing working indoors, sitting by a computer the whole workday my body is a bit stiff. And besides, stretching is so easy to do in the evenings in front of TV. And the same goes mostly with handicraft as well, I'm used to knit in front of TV anyway, so this shouldn't be any problem. If I want, I could do handicraft while stretching as well. :)

I also believe these are habits I will continue with after the month.

Latest room mate

This fellow has now lived in our apartment for a month. In the picture I'm sleeping my flu/fever away and he's sympathizing with me. He's Cornish Rex and now seven months old.

Before kicking the bucket

My bucketlist.

From yesterday

Disappointed.
People failed again.
Sucked the joy and energy out of me.
None of those I call friends stood up.
Cried my frustration.
Gasped for my breath.
Today.
Feeling unwanted.
Aching from head to toes.
From skull to bones.
Sticks and stones...

Day 1

Pictures (and Finnish texts) of my photo-a-day -challenge you'll find behind the link:

http://lindiz.pictures.fi/blog/

Photo-a-Day -challenge / February

day 1: my view today

day 2: black and white

day 3: feet

day 4: drink

day 5: up

day 6: reflection

day 7: metal

day 8: under

day 9: words

day 10: a stranger

day 11: in between

day 12: dark

day 13: light

day 14: music

day 15: relax

day 16: details

day 17: water

day 18: hands

day 19: night

day 20: sun

day 21: create

day 22: shadow

day 23: childhood

day 24: shiny

day 25: in love with

day 26: favourite

day 27: art

day 28: magic

Back to basics

I haven't made any New Year's resolutions for several years. Didn't do any this year either. But.. I read an article few days ago about a man who tries new things on daily basis for one thing and one month at a time and throughout the year. I thought that I'd give that a try. Not necessarily with only new things though. My idea is to create myself some me-time and revive old hobbies as well, do the things I love the most. I haven't decided yet my plans/targets for each and every month but I have a general idea of the things I'd like to try.

First of all, my plan for February is to take upon a challenge of taking photo-a-day. I'll publish those photos on my pictures-site (I'll tell the link to you later on.) and probably write a few lines to it as well. Maybe just a short reason why that photo moves me or what made me take it. Something like that.

My plans involve things like listening to music (new song or album a day), drawing, writing, reading, getting outdoors and so on. Nothing too difficult. And maybe some of those things become a habit after doing them on daily basis for a month. And some I might even continue after that month for a certain time if it feels good, like that photo-a-day: I might be taking photo-a-day for a year. And if some thing becomes a burden, I'll just stop doing it after a month. Or do it once a week instead.

Feel free to steal the idea. :) And if you do, I'd like to hear what kind of things you've been doing.

Something old, something new

Year 2013 in numbers (not in any specific order):

- 47 bands / live gigs (No summer festivals, that explains the "why so little".)

- 1 moving in to a new apartment

- 1 wedding party

- 1 new job

- 1 new camera

- 1 application for school (access denied)

- 1st anniversary

- 5 shooting stars

- 3 house-warming parties (of which 2 were my own)

- 1 summer theater show

- 1 theater show

- 1 movie theater visit

- 2 Turku Philharmonic Orchestra concerts in Turku Concert Hall

- 3 Christmas concerts

- 1 sick-day from work

- 1 fashion show + 1 fashion flea market

- 1 cruise on ferryboat
- 2 donations to charity

+ plenty of new music, knitting, new friends, hugs n kisses etc.

Year 2014 in numbers so far:

- 1 cat moving in

- 0 debt

- 1 Aerosmith concert in May

- 1 full summer holiday