Summertime

So, the first leg of my summer vacation is behind and I'm back at work. Waking up early in the mornings seems awfully difficult. The weather and the vacation was partly a disappointment. I guess I had a bit too high expectations.. Since me and my spouse had vacation the same time, I was expecting our relationship to be somewhat a priority to my spouse as well during the vacation. But he was more in the sleeping/going out -mode. We sorted things out though and the end part of vacation was very relaxing. I did take a day-trip to the island of Vepsä. I also went to a couple of gigs, took photos and relaxed in the chair of my hair stylist. (I'm back to being a redhead again.) I also sewed quite a lot and read two books, ate breakfast on the balcony and so on. But I still sort of hope we would've done more out of the usual things together or taken (half) a day to go someplace not-so-obvious.

Next week I'll take one day off of work again and take off to Sweden. My sister's son is being named and I'm going there with my father to celebrate the little fellow. In the end of August I'll have the second part of my vacation. In a way I sort of would've wanted to take the vacation all at once but then again I think it's a good idea to break the autumn a bit, to shorter work periods. Maybe that way the work doesn't get that overpowering. Hopefully that way I can avoid burnout.. Because that was what I noticed during my vacation: I have been (and still am a bit) tired both physically and emotionally. And it was also a part of the disappointment.. I guess I felt a bit left alone by my spouse and especially just when I needed a hug and him telling me that he'll be there for me, he'll take care of everything so that I can take a break and just breathe. Even now I feel a bit teary-eyed because of the tiredness. And why I'm so tired? Well, let's just put it this way: if I would get a significant amount of money right now, I would quit in a heartbeat, buy myself a hiding place and stay there for a long time, just taking photos, painting and drawing, sitting on the porch drinking my morning coffee, reading and writing, taking long, slow walks through the forest or by the sea.. anything but work.

Luckily, there still is plenty of vacation AND summer left, so I can do at least some of those things.

Places

"..It's not about races
Just places
Faces.." (Michael Jackson: Black or White)

I believe we all have those special places where we feel right at home, where we find our own inner peace and inspiration. I have several places like that. Market hall in Turku has one of those places. Sininen Juna (=blue train) is a cafe inside the market hall. It has seats and plenty of the other furniture and decoration taken from old trains. It is a perfect place to sit and write or just observe people walking by while having a piece of cake and a cup of coffee. 

A couple of parks in the city are that kind of places to me as well. The park around Turku Castle is that kind of place. The trees are old and remind me of the Ents in The Lord of the Rings. Those big trees always wake the inner child in me, I can picture myself climbing those branches and maybe stay up there taking a nap.. 

I also found one place in London that felt immediately like home. Close to the Old Truman Brewery, on Brick Lane. I could have sat there with a coffee in my hand and just watch people passing by. Or maybe with a sketch book. From close by I found also Absolute Vintage, a dream place to find vintage clothes and shoes. There's shelves and shelves and still some more shelves of shoes. I'm not that much of a shoe fanatic myself but I do know a few. ;)

I have to mention also that even though my co-worker said that Hyde Park is nothing special, that it's just a huge plain green area in the city, I kinda liked it. I can easily see myself there wandering around with my camera, sketch book or just sitting on the grass having a picnic. (Unfortunately my visit to London was way too short to enjoy of just spending my time like that.)

I have also a few dream places, places I dream about that I hope I someday can visit or have as my own. Places that feel like home even before you've been there. I dream about a summer cottage. I hope to visit London again, so much was left unseen. Anywhere with beach, sand and sea also seem very inspiring to me. Especially sea breeze has sort of cleansing effect on me. Near the sea I find it easier to breathe and calm down. And even though I love nature in its every form forest for example won't have that exactly same effect on me as sea has.

But that about me. What or where is your inspirational place, where do you feel at peace, at home?

VIP

I got myself a VIP -ticket to Mötley Crüe concert in November 18th in Helsinki.
I'm excited. I can barely breathe.
And I can't stop smiling.

Tori

Went to a concert yesterday with my better half.
That black metal maniac is surprisingly a huge fan of Tori Amos.
So I got him tickets as a birthday present.
The concert was yesterday at Finlandia Hall in Helsinki.
The warm-up act was pretty interesting, Petteri Sariola.
Even I stayed awake during his show.
It reminded me of the street guitarist I saw in London, Warren Cahill.
Then Tori came on stage.
I stopped existing and my spouse started drooling. :D
He was really digging it, he didn't see, hear or feel anything but the artist on stage.
I was more like looking my watch every other minute hoping it would end soon.
The two hour concert felt endless.
But what wouldn't you do for the one you love..
He was happy, so I'm happy.

My inspiration

These days sharing inspirational pictures and quotes in Facebook is almost a must, you can't really hide from it. And since all of us need some inspiration I thought I'll share some of my favorites.

My absolute favorite quote is also tattooed on my arm and it is a line from Alter Bridge song Ties That Bind. It is simply: " The risk is worth the gain." I believe I have shared this one before but to open this shortly it means to me over-coming a fear whether it has something to do with people, things or with doing something. It means to me also that risk of getting to know me is worth the gain, I am worth the gain.

One quote I also like very much and find true in my life is quite famous sentence by equally famous photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson. "Camera is my memory" -quote pretty much says it all about my love for photography. I can go back to a certain memory or a feeling just by looking the photos I've taken. And it's not a memory to just me, they are memories to my friends as well.

Inspirational pictures are harder to define. I'm a very visual person and I love pictures, I love observing my surroundings, people around me, I love colors, I love black, I love white. One of my favorite pieces is street art by Eddie Colla (not Banksy as often thought) which combines text with picture.

I also admire pretty much all b&w photos taken by Ross Halfin. Chase Jarvis has absolutely awesome photos as well. And Matthias Hombauer. But if I absolutely MUST pick one picture, at this moment I'd take one of my own photos, it's one I took in London. You can check it here.

Music is of course always inspirational. I have some songs that inspire me every time I hear them. Since there are more than one I'll give you my top 5 list:

Tommy Lee - Good Times
Danko Jones - Code of the Road
Alter Bridge - All Ends Well
Preacher Stone -  Come On In (Absolutely love the bass line in this one!!)
Sandi Thom - I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker

Pictures - new address

I changed the address to my pictures site: lindahellbom.pictures.fi

(Previously lindiz.pictures.fi)

Less is more.. or is it? (London, Part 2)

On Sunday I visited the Buckingham Palace, Millennium Bridge and St Paul' Cathedral. Buckingham Palace seemed nice since it is located next to a couple of parks but oh-the-amount-of-tourists around the palace.. I moved on quite quickly. A quick look on the Houses of Parliament and THE clock. From there I headed to St Paul's Cathedral. It would have been nice to attend to a mass but it was over an hour to the next one so I just drank some coffee in Cafe in the Crypt below the cathedral. There I met an older lady who was talking to her lady friend that she's going to celebrate her daughter's birthday on the following day. I mentioned I have also birthday the same day and ended up hearing a whole history about her children. Since Millennium Bridge was close to the cathedral I took a look at it and few photos as well.

My main goal on Sunday was to see the lego exhibition The Art of the Brick at Old Truman Brewery. So I took a bus to Liverpool Street and walked from there. Luckily so because I found the most interesting area around Old Spitalfield Market and Brick Lane. The area seemed to be filled with my kind of people and things to my liking. Hand-made, unique and vintage clothes and shoes everywhere. And live music to my liking. I stumbled along the Brick Lane and saw this musician named Warren Cahill play his guitar on the street. Go check his Youtube videos and Facebook page.
I also saw the exhibition and I'd like to send  thank yous to the young man at the entry checking those tickets. After the exhibition I walked on and ended up to Absolute Vintage and bought myself a pair of shoes.

Monday was my birthday and my feet were killing me. If I had walked in three days over 30 kilometers Monday was the day when I didn't move far from the hotel. I visited The Brunswick and bought some clothes and accessories to myself. I sat in the park and headed back to hotel to read the book I bought from Skoob Books, Ten stories about smoking. Packed my bags and sorted out how and when I need to get to the airport next morning. In the early evening I went around the corner, ate some Spanish meat board at The Queens Head and then back to hotel.

If you wish to see all of the pictures from my trip you will find them from my site here.