Two new favourites

ah, english language, somtimes you are quite clever...

claptrap - aplodiansa (kalastella aplodeja)
shortchanged - huijattu (annettu liian vähän vaihtorahaa)

i know exactly how these feel!

Relaxation stress

i must be mad, at least it feels so...

i wanted to have a simple, mundain, long lasting crafts project that i could pick up anytime for 15-20 min. when i would feel like it. i chose to make a double bed cover (160-200cm) with this pattern super simple hexagon. i chose it especially for the good marketing line "super simple".

recently i did the math after crocheting 5 hexagons and joining them on the go. so 160 cm x 200 cm = 17-18 hexagons in a row and 29 rows = 508 hexagons.

ok, seems to be what i want: big, mundain and easy pattern. BUT i'm working on it using leftover yarn (nailing an eco-project tag at the same time) and now my biggest stress factor has become choosing the prettiest yarn from the mix!!! (plus i tend to forget the super easy pattern after i haven't been in the mood for it for some time stressing even magic loop for 20 min.!!!) at least i shouldn't be getting dementia anytime soon when i challenge my brain so - hm... should i pick a pink yarn, no no, next one is supposed to be a stronger color, that one doesn't really go with that etc... (help! maybe the beginning row should have an odd number of hexagons so i can end both ways with stronger colors since i have alternated dark with pastel :P )


äitisuomennos: virkkaaminen ja matikka + värien suunnittelu = stressi!!!

Harry Potter fanfiction

for some time now i've read a fanfiction called harry potter and the methods of rationality. the author states that:

Rule of Rationalist Fiction states that rationality is not magic; being rational does not require magical potential or royal bloodlines or even amazing gadgets, and the principles of rationality work for understandable reasons. A rationalist!hero should excel by thinking - moreover, thinking in understandable patterns that readers can, in principle, adopt for themselves. As opposed to the hero just being a born “genius” who comes up with amazing gadgets through an opaque discovery process, or who flawlessly pulls off incredibly complicated gambits that would fail miserably if the reader tried something similar in real life.

All fanfiction involves borrowing the original author’s characters, situations, and world. It is ridiculous to turn around and complain if your own ideas get borrowed in turn. Anyone is welcome to steal anything from any fanfiction I write.

 harry potter and the methods of rationality

basically in this story harry potter is a rationalist and a scientist to the core. he explores the laws of magic the same way he would do science experiments. the characters are more complex than in the original story and "good and evil" are not so easy to distinguish. the story loosely follows some of the main events of the original story, so it's best not to read it if you don't want to know any spoilers (in case you have for some reason lived in a barrel since 90's potter craze). 

the story has odd rewritings and chapters that don't belong to the "finished" version and harsh criticism of j.k. rowling so it's not for people who expect book like read or fans who worship rowling. especially the grim rationalistic touch made me also question my viewpoint on harry potter and if i can feel the same about the original story like ever. then i just made the distinction that the original story is a magical fairytale and the other well grimmer, "rational" take on the matter (i wouldn't call it realistic as it is still situated in the magical world).

i really enjoyed reading "harry potter and the methods of rationality" which made me rethink a lot of things (especially moral dilemmas were interesting). it's not easy to read but it's worth a try.

word of warning: in case you get hooked on - the story is not complete yet!


äitisuomennos: olen lukenut englanniksi netistä harry potter fanifiktiota (nettiosoite ylempänä hyperlinkkinä)

Purging

what a better way to start a new year than purging unused items!

tip: i've already donated several books to the local library for community use.

sometimes it's difficult to decide which items should go and which to keep. i recently heard about a new book (in finnish) that promises to end all my clothing troubles: Rinna Saramäki, Hyvän mielen vaatekaappi. source: pupulandia
i'm interested in to give it a try. i hope the local library has it already.


äitisuomennos: uuden vuoden siivous...

Nothing to do?

This little award is all about discovering new blogs and helping those with less than 200 followers to get recognised. (Thanks inah! :P )

1. Each person tagged must post 11 things about themselves.

2. They must also answer the 11 questions the "tagger" has sent for them. 

1. Mitä suurta olet oppinut viimeksi?
2. Miten nykyiset tulevaisuudenhaaveesi poikkeavat lapsuuden unelmistasi?
3. Mikä on salaisin julkinen paheesi?
4. Mikä on lempikirjasi, ja miksi?
5. Kun päätät jotain, pysytkö yleensä päätöksessäsi, vai onko mielipiteesi muutettavissa?
6. Kerro muutama asia, joissa koet onnistuneesi viimeisten viiden vuoden aikana.
7. Mystiikka ja symbolit vai pelkistetty riisuttu kauneus?
8. Millainen olet kun suutut?
9. Mainitse viisi esinettä, joilla on jokin erityinen merkitys sinulle.
10. Jos sinulla olisi enemmän aikaa, mitä tekisit?
11. Koska olet viimeksi nauranut tikahtuaksesi, ja missä seurassa?

3. They must also create 11 more questions to ask bloggers they have decided to tag. 
4. They must then choose 11 bloggers with less than 200 followers and tag them in their post.
5. These "lucky" bloggers must be told.
6. There's no tag backs. hähää!!

1.

1. i'm a grown woman but i still refer to myself in my thoughts as a girl. i suppose this is relative.

2. i'm happy that i had a friend over - there's no better motivation for cleaning (except coming exams).

3. i work bilingually. (is that the right term?)

4. i graduated recently. jei! (see previous post)

5. i like plants.

6. i like sharing plants.

7. i don't own any plants that i bought (every one of them is a shared one).

8. i do however buy plants for others.

9. i enjoy doing handicrafts.

10. for some years now i haven't owned a tv - just another type of time consumer.

11. even when i don't really have time for anything, i read.

2.

1. Mitä suurta olet oppinut viimeksi?

Liittyy työhöni... Kuuntelemaan erilaisia ihmisiä ja "lukemaan" heitä. Tässä voi toki aina kehittyä.

2. Miten nykyiset tulevaisuudenhaaveesi poikkeavat lapsuuden unelmistasi?

Halusin olla pienenä kaupan täti ja vähän myöhemmin pankkineiti (kun ne sai pukeutua kauniimmin). Nyt oon tosi onnellinen siitä, että työni on haastavaa ja vaihtelevaa ja joudun käyttämään aivojani. Kaupan kassan työ ois kyllä ollut varmaan ihan hauska kesätyö... En koskaan tätä haavettani siis toteuttanut. Pankista vielä, onneksi ei tarvitse pukeutua ihan niin muodollisesti joka päivä!!!

3. Mikä on salaisin julkinen paheesi?

Luen siirappista romanttista kirjallisuutta...

4. Mikä on lempikirjasi, ja miksi?

Yleensä en lue kirjoja uudestaan. Romantiikkaa voin kuitenkin lukea, vaikka juoni olisikin jo tuttu. Siitä saa aina hyvän mielen! 

5. Kun päätät jotain, pysytkö yleensä päätöksessäsi, vai onko mielipiteesi muutettavissa?

Tottakai! Siis on. ;)

6. Kerro muutama asia, joissa koet onnistuneesi viimeisten viiden vuoden aikana.

Valmistumaan! Ajanhallintani on muuttunut piirun verran paremmaksi. Kehitystä on selvästi tapahtunut. :)

7. Mystiikka ja symbolit vai pelkistetty riisuttu kauneus?

Riisuttu kauneus! Ah, mökki ja hiihtoladut, kuinka teitä kaipaankaan!

8. Millainen olet kun suutut?

:/ pahalla päällä olo ei oo kivaa. - ikävä ihminen.

9. Mainitse viisi esinettä, joilla on jokin erityinen merkitys sinulle.

Vihkisormus, astianpesu- ja pyykinpesukoneet, yölamppu, kastelukannu. (Tuli ekana mieleen... Muitakin on.)

10. Jos sinulla olisi enemmän aikaa, mitä tekisit?

Harrastaisin tanssia ja jotain muuta. Kävisin pohjoisessa useammin.

11. Koska olet viimeksi nauranut tikahtuaksesi, ja missä seurassa?

Mieheni kanssa kuluneella viikolla. 

3.

1. How does your current life reflect your childhood dreams?

2. What have you learned during last 5 years?

3. What would you do if you had more time?

4. What would you do if you had more money?

5. How do you define sentence: I am happy?

6. Do you have an idol you'd like to meet?

7. What inspires you?

8. What irritates you?

9. What made you stop recently?

10. Which art form is closest to your heart?

11. What makes you get up from your bed?

4. 

iBlog 

My Untitled Blog 

PorinaPata 

Valaistumisia

 ...

don'ẗ know any other bloggers... in fact i don't even know if these people have less than 200 followers! :D

ps. you can use whichever language you wish. saa kirjoittaa myös suomeksi!

Navegaciones y regresos (Pablo Neruda)

voyages and homecomings

- seikkailuja ja kotiinpaluita...

that's life.

<3 katja <3

Finally!!!

finally i got the labels done!

i reveal a secret: if i bump into a new blog i rarely read it through. i mostly just concentrate on few topics which i can find from the listed labels and if there are no labels... i usually just close the tab.

however i haven't been living like i preach or whatever. but now i finally got it done. hip hip hurraa! hip hip hurraa!


äitisuomennos: ota ensin hirsi omasta silmästä ja vasta sitten tukit muiden silmistä. vai?

Proposing?

- did he propose you?
- no!

- wait a minute! why don't you ever ask if i proposed him?
- well, did you?
- no!



äitisuomennos: naisetkin voivat kosia! :P



ps. this might actually be my 200th post! ;) edit: it probably isn't but it's close (+/++ a post)!

things to do?

when did my weekends become so boring? and shouldn't i be happy because i really don't need to do stuff - isn't that what (we think) makes us happy (especially when we're stressed)?

it's pretty difficult to do nothing... (just imagine i only have 3 things in waiting: to write a short story, to pack and to wash dishes.) it's so boring...

on the other hand i could also book a laundry turn, technically vacuum, knit, watch a movie, watch anime, play some computer game, read a book... but nothing is obligatory, so i do nothing. please, somebody help me! i have serious trouble to amuse myself. :P


äitisuomennos: on tylsää... eipä olekaan ollut sitten joskus alakouluaikojen! ;)

BarokkiKuopio

baroque music in kuopio!

as i didn't go to see kuopio dance festival this year i figured i should go to some other culture event...

i went to see the final concert of the barokkikuopio festival.

"The final concert Mystery and Relics includes French baroque music for viol with harpsichord. The performers are Markus Kuikka and Pilvikki Virtaperko."

i liked it though at times i thought the music was quite challenging having a bit complicated melody. otherwise the performers were excellent - with some pieces i was truly amazed. the performance was held in an old wooden church of Männistö which has quite a modern altar painting. the church is small and intimate and with a few coins one could get yummy refreshments like home made rhubarb juice.

i recommend!


äitisuomennos: barokkikuopio, kannattaa kokeilla!

Inspired!

i'm inspired
- to crochet
- by colour green
- by ruoka & matka -magazine
- to read famous five by enid blyton
- to cook gourmet food and blog about it
- to bake scones
- to enjoy sun, summer and fresh air

- by my thesis?

"i write when i'm inspired, and i see to it that i'm inspired at 9 o'clock every morning."

peter de vries quotes


äitsuomennos: graduinnostusta ootellessa...

I'm a barbie girl in my barbie world - I am plastic, its fantastic!

swarowski window in zürich september

äitisuomennos: swarowskin barbie zürichin näyteikkunassa

Reflections

just the other day i realized that i've been living quite many years without a big mirror... (and without a tv but that's another story.)

it is inconvenient i know but what does it matter if i'm not able to check my outfit daily? does it make my life any different? (yes, sometimes i do care, sometimes i'm just too plain lazy to give a damn.)

then i realised, i certainly do check out myself more often from the elevator mirror (once i was desperate and called the lift just to do that ;), from windows, glass doors and from other reflective surfaces. (warning! don't try to use side mirrors of the cars - they are too, well you'll see...)

i truly am missing a mirror but so far - people have survived from more difficult situations than this.


äitisuomennos: ken on heistä kaikkein kaunein...

Last day of odp

i feel a bit better that for the last week i wore my dress for 6 days. otherwise i wore it maybe 30 % of my time (mostly out of the house though - it doesn't mean that i was inside all the time however;).

it's been nice to have kind of a uniform. no clothing worries in the morning. :) i also think my dress has been very neutral - no one has commented anything on it. i think they have noticed it though - people always do. here it's just difficult to get an open reaction. people fear they are impolite or say something wrong. - i remember when i cut my hair very short, it was real weird of not getting any feed back about my radical hairless look.

but back to the dress... i hoped that this experiment would help me wear it more often. i succeeded in that. i also feel more comfortable wearing it which is a bonus. :) maybe later i should have a skirt&dress challenge for a summer...

happy dress day!

äitisuomennos: nyt ei tartte ennää jännittää, että mitenkä se selviää.

The Byuk-Pah Dance Research Society

photo borrowed from http://www.kuopiodancefestival.fi/fin/artistit.html 



four seasons of korea - blooming, passion of the heat, harvest of the autumn moon, silence of the winter - waiting


little movement says it all...


fans, lift of the foot, change of the hand position, sight of the red underskirt, drums


what more can we ask for?


___

ps. how stupid can a girl be? - a click away from bliss = i finally manage my posting!!! hurraa! :D

Mimulus Cia de Dança

photo borrowed from http://www.kuopiodancefestival.fi/fin/artistit.html

dolores - passionate, rough, jealous, brainless, joy of dance (inspiration from pedro almodóvar)

lot of machista grips, sensual tango, amazing lifts and colourful relationships

made me wan't to be on the stage as well

...

they sure know how to make use of accessories (of clothes too!)

energizing and atmospheric music - fine way of guiding the mood

certainly not without humour

me encanta!

Enneagrammi

löysin hauskan enneagrammitestin. sen mukaan (ja mitä itse ajattelen) minua kuvaavat sekä luova individualisti että uskollinen kyseenalaistaja. noh, toisinaan kuvaavat ja toisinaan eivät. :P -halpaa hupia silti. ;)

"Luova Individualisti on sisäänpäin kääntynyt ja romanttinen persoonallisuustyyppi. Neloset ovat itsensä tiedostavia, sensitiivisiä ja varautuneita. He ovat emotionaalisesti rehellisiä, luovia ja henkilökohtaisia, mutta saattavat myös olla ailahtelevaisia ja itsetietoisia. He saattavat olla pidättyväisiä muita kohtaan tuntiessaan itsensä haavoittuvaisiksi ja puutteellisiksi. Neloset saattavat kokea tavallisen arkisen elämän itselleen vieraaksi ja jopa halveksia sitä. Heillä on tyypillisesti ongelmia surumielisyyden, itsekeskeisyyden ja itsesäälin tunteiden kanssa. Parhaimmillaan Nelonen on inspiroitunut, erittäin luova ja itseään sekä kokemuksiaan uudistava ihminen."

"Uskollinen Kyseenalaistaja on sitoutunut ja turvallisuushakuinen persoonallisuustyyppi. Kuutoset ovat luotettavia, ahkeria ja vastuuntuntoisia. He ovat hyviä ongelmien kartoittajia ja osaavat luoda aitoa yhdessä tekemisen henkeä, mutta saattavat olla myös puolustelevia, vältteleviä ja hermostuneita. Kuutoset saattavat haalia itselleen liikaa töitä ja stressiä ja valittaa siitä samanaikaisesti. He saattavat olla varovaisia ja päättämättömiä, mutta myös reaktiivisia, kapinoivia ja uhmakkaita. Kuutosilla on tyypillisesti ongelmia epävarmuuden ja epäluuloisuuden kanssa. Parhaimmillaan Kuutonen on sisäisesti vakaa ja itsevarma ihminen, joka rohkeasti kannustaa itseään ja muita onnistumaan."

http://www.namaste.fi/enneagrammi/testaa+mika+tyyppi+olet/

in english: i found a wonderful site - http://www.pipstudio.com/en/floral-porcelain/other always wanted to have such a colorful set of porcelain. i wonder if they can be machine washed...

ODP

i'm still young and restless, so it's time for some radical minimalism. good logic, eh? ;) i'm joining a challenge of a blog called 'one dress protest' written by kristy powell. http://onedressprotest.com/2011/05/join-me-and-odp/

well, she has all these high ideals that she wants to achieve, but don't you think i have some sort of virtues in my mind when i'm starting. oh, no! i just want to test my limits (=do something radical but fairly unnoticeable), i happen to have a dress i rarely use, (which probably fits fine in most of the occasions in my future month) and i'm curious. i'm curious of what this experiment will bring into my life.

the only problem will be next week: i'm going out of town to a 5 days long "camp", where a group of people will spend time together very closely and where my washing opportunities might be scarce... since i'm not so serious about this i'll just have to take some spare clothes to replace the dress in case i can't wear it all of the days. anyways - exciting future lies ahead of me (despite maybe the "boring" clothing choices).

äitisuomennos: no, ei sitä kaikkea äitinkään tartte tietää, että mitä hullutuksia se taas...

Kuopio Dance Festival - here i come!

i was a bit sour that i couldn't participate in a kdf vip viewer competion... the local newspaper was searching for different people to write about the dance shows and no previous experience was required. - the idea is of course to make the town citizens involved and get commoners interested in the art of dance (and also to sell the newspaper). - anyway i suppose the competition was only for the subscribers because i couldn't see any hint of it on the newspaper website. :(

well, since i've been eyeing on the dance festival for years i finally bought tickets to three different shows. (some of the happenings are for free but i don't have time to hang out in the centre for all day. besides i'm doubting it would only lead to getting fed up with dance quite soon.) i think you already guess where i'm heading to... i'll be writing for what i see - here. i don't have vip seats, not even tickets to all of the shows but i have an urge to write about the ones i chose. - and i'd like to see somebody to try to prevent me! :P (ah, how i love to be melodramatic - it shows that i'm already in my artistic mood. :)

so beware kuopio dance festival - there's a pair of alert ears and eyes among the audience and they do not keep silent afterwards! :PPP

äitisuomennos: kuopio tanssii ja soi - vihdoinkin.

Empty

i think last month was the first one when i didn't blog anything. quite interesting: january, the silent month. well, of course i'm too lazy to check it out. :D maybe some stray reader will point out my error (after all that's what stray readers tend to do. ;) to be honest, some months i do not actually blog - i've been just timing my posts earlier or maybe i sometimes cheat a little and publish something after "the due date"...

i used to love all the modifications i could do for my posts but it seems that only writing html would give me the same freedom anymore. sad - blogger be more user friendly with simple girls! :P

off centre:

“the first follower turns a crazy guy into a movement.” http://sivers.org/ff