"fuck the system"

Interesting title? Well... sorry to disappoint you, but I don't have anything special against any specific system. I just saw this cheerful statement across the street and thought it would make a fine title for this pointless post.

 

"last exit to Noljakka"

Meh, I know I just blogged yesterday and I don't have anything special to write about today -- just wanted to write something because it's Leap Day, so next year I won't be able to blog on 29th of February! ;-) 

Take care & see you around,
yours truly -

aftermath

Yay, I'm alive..! o/ Okay, first I had bronchitis, then I had migraine for 2 days, and now I have a cold sore on my lip (L0L). Anyway & overall, now I'm finally feeling like a humanbeing again. Still coughing my lungs out (did you know it's perfectly normal that bronchitis symptoms last up to 2 months?), but I can manage. Hopefully I don't get that sick any time soon again, because it really sucked, a big time. Looking for a silver lining? I'm now officially addicted to The Simpsons, I've watched almost 2 seasons in less than a week! The Simpsons has always been my more or less guilty pleasure, and now I've challenged myself to watch all the episodes - that's more than 20 seasons and 500+ episodes! OMG. Erm, well, time to move on, let's say me having bronchitis is now a closed case.

Yesterday was the first day I really felt better, and Emilia made my day even better by dropping by for a coffee. In case you've forgotten / don't know, Emilia is a friend of mine who used to be my flat mate, and after she moved out, we became friends instead of flat mates. We're both pretty busy in general, so even we live in the same city, we only meet maybe once a month or so, but every time we do - even if it's only for a quick cup of coffee - we have a good time together. She's the only one of my friends who's into photographing, so sometimes we go photographing together - eventhough she's a Canonist and I'm a Nikonist ;-) Anyway, yesterday Emilia came over for a nice little C&G (Coffee & Gossip). Damn it was great to have someone around after laying in bed for a week!

I also spent almost on hour on the phone yesterday, taking care of everything that got postponed because of me being sick last week. In the end I was very pleased with myself, this is everything I took care of yesterday:

• cancelled TOEFL (taking the test now doesn't really make sense, hence my changed plans about the next year)
• informed Itella that I want my mail delivered to Luumäki till the end of August (I won't be much in Joensuu from now on, hence the US and then summer job in Luumäki)
• called the boss of my boss and asked if I can come to work at the cemetery again next summer, and he said YES! :-) I'm so happy about this. I mean, I kind of knew I would get the job back, after working there for so long and all, but still it was great to hear it out aloud, you know. So, now my life is sorted out till the end of October.
• booked a hairdresser for tomorrow (my bangs are so long I can barely see!) 
• booked a cosmetologist for tomorrow (eeeeeep, I'm going to get my bikini line and legs waxed, which is pretty damn scary idea, L0L. Already had a nightmare about it last night xD but I'm sure it'll be worth of pain, I mean, ladies... who's up for shaving all the time while being on the road for month?)
• booked a massage for Thursday - it'll do me so good, I'm pretty damn sore after laying in bed for a week... besides, I think I'm addicted to massages.
• (and I also download like 10 albums - I'm building my very own USA road trip soundtrack)

So, things are looking pretty good right now. Now I only need to buy a sleeping bag and a new swimming suit for the US... Oh yes, and do laundry. Then I'll be ready to go! :-) I hope I'll get to leave for Luumäki by the end of this week, then I'd have a week for chilling out there before leaving for Helsinki and the US. I miss Luumäki so much... I just realized it's been over 3 months since my last visit which was in November after I got back to Finland from the Baltics tour. So I guess it's not a wonder I'm missing all my Luumäki people... On the other hand, now that my summer job is confirmed, I'll spend more than 4 months in South Karelia during the summer, and sooner or later I'll be whining how I'm sick of Luumäki and all its nosey people.

One more thing about yesterday - NORTHERN LIGHTS! We don't get to see much northern lights here in North Karelia (lol too much 'north' in that sentence) but last night the sky was lit up by the most beautiful northern lights I've ever seen. Took some photos too, but they aren't too good -- have you ever tried to photograph something that lingers in the sky, is constantly moving, fading away and reappearing somewhere else? Yeah, not too easy, especially because I was too lazy to use the tripod... Anyway, take my word - it was amazing, one of those rare moments which make think "Damn, this is worth of living up here in North - being able to see something like this from my own balcony."

yours truly -

sick of being sick

After our wonderful week in Joensuu, Abby left on Sunday. I was supposed to leave with her and go to see my folks, but NO - on Sunday, I woke up with this terrible cough and fever )-: I don't know what it is, but I bet it's not just a flu. Usually I only have fever for like a few hours, but now I've been feverish for 4 damn days, my lungs are killing me, and it just seems to get worse, not better. I think I've never been this sick in my life, and I'm sure I've never had fever for this long. It's kind of scary, and also very annoying - I'm not used to be this sick for this long.

This afternoon I'm going to see a doctor, and I truly hope he finds out what's wrong with me because this can't go on. I guess no one enjoys being sick, but usually I don't mind having a flu - it gives you a great excuse to watch TV all day long and be overall lazy. But now I'm too sick for that too. I can stay up for a few hours (and being "up" I mean sitting in bed) and then I need to go back to sleep (argh insane fever dreams are driving me insane) or I get a killer headache.

So, that's pretty much my life right now: watching The Simpsons (because I cannot concentrate on anything more serious), drinking gallons of Gatorade and sleeping, sleeping, sleeping. It sucks. The worst part is that all I can think of is I will be in Boston in less than 3 weeks! I simply have to get better and soon. I still have so much to do before actually leaving to the US... but right now I'm too sick to be excited about any of that.

Okay, now my head is starting to ache again, I better go offline. See you later xxo
yours truly-

Botanic Garden of the University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu Campus

So, here's some photos from THE BOTANIC GARDEN :-)

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Joensuu Art Museum

Since Abby left yesterday, and I'm home, sick as a dog with a nasty cold, I decided to collect some photo posts about our recent adventures... This first one is from my hometown's ART MUSEUM :-) I like the local art museum and visit it at least three times a year, so I added some photos from past exhibitions as well.

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HELL

Haha, one of my favorites! I don't remember who painted it, but it's called HOLIDAY.

 

sketches by my favorite artist, Oscar Parviainen

super creepy painting!

by Oscar Parviainen

me & a weird sculpture...

DON'T BLINK. BLINK AND YOU'RE DEAD! ;-)

not 100% sure I was allowed to do that but come on... an empty ballroom and a piano - who could resist?

super creepy painting #2: HEAD

Virginie!

LOL this photo... I thought I was taking a photo of me & Abby, but later noticed the girl in the background was NOT Abby! xD

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stay tuned, next I'm going to do a photo post about the botanic garden (don't you just love being sick enough not to go out, but well enough to stay online all day?)

xxo

a little bit of theater magic

We visited Carelicum the other day and... I think we were just in the right place at the right time ^^ I think it's better to let the photos tell the story...

Here we go...

Sketches

I'm a perfect gentleman (and I play tennis too)!

Abby and our makeshift dressing "room"

Abby as geisha :-)

ME WEARING PINK (wtf)

I've got the moves!! ;D

me & a lot of cool stuff!

Taking a break at the Stone Age...

Cool antique maps :-)

Chilling at Old Dog Pub in the evening... Abby looks like Dean!

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Yes, we had fun fun fun! =D

yours truly-

nothing to write home about...

Madison: I don't understand how grown-ups can be busy when they aren't doing anything.
JD: Sometimes we're... you know, like, busy on the inside.

...Harper's Island, anyone? I think the dialog above describes my current life pretty well. I've been damn busy for the last weeks, but at the same time I feel I haven't actually done anything. Nothing worth of blogging at least, that is. Today I forced myself to log in, just to avoid Blogger's Block. I don't have anything special in mind, I just feel like writing.

This is Abby :-)

Well, my boredom will end tonight - Abby is coming over for a week or so, yay! :-) Abby is one of my best friends, and we always have so much fun together. I have my plans for our Valentine's Day, we're planning to visit the botanical gardens, the museums... and watch crime series for countless hours! Crime series are kind of our thing... actually, I think crime series were the reason we became friends in the first place. We're both addicted to stuff like NCIS, CSI and Bones, and I think our first real conversations were about those shows. In case you didn't know, Abby is also my boss at the cemetery where I work during summers. I consider myself lucky, being good friends with my boss - makes the job so much funnier.

CSI: Cemetery Scene Investigation!

And while talking about TV series, Abby and the cemetery... I'm also going to introduce Abby to my latest TV addiction, Supernatural. Haha, I hope she likes it! You know, I've worked at the cemetery for 5 years now, and I've never really thought anything about it, but after watching 6 seasons of Supernatural... L0L, I think I might have some issues next summer! xD Like for example... well, I don't think I'm allowed to tell you what happens to human remains we found at the cemetery (the fact is that we always find bones and stuff), but I think I can tell you that those don't always go back to the grave they belong to (in most cases, just because we don't know where they belong)... I've never thought anything about it, but now, after all those salt'n'burn Supernatural cases I'm thinking "OMG, I hope this person's spirit doesn't come back, getting rid of him/her would be a bitch with some remains missing!" xD

Abby taking it easy at work! ...the best boss ever :D

Erm... back to Abby. I think I like her so much because she really understands me. I know I'm pretty complicated person and not always the most pleasent one to be around, and Abby must be the only person I know who really gets it. Like, I can be so damn moody, and it's like Abby always knows when I need someone to talk to and when it's better to leave me alone. For example, last summer Abby did something that really pissed me off, and I was sure she wouldn't realize what she had done. I bet no one else would have realized it, since it was actually just a small thing, but it deeply insulted me. But... at the end of the day, Abby came to me, and apologized for what she had said. I cannot tell you how surprised I was that she had figured it out. I think that was the moment I really realized that she understands me. That's the great thing about Abby - I can talk to her about difficult things and trust that she understands and helps me, but I can also fool around with her and LMAO at our insane inside jokes. Abby is great.

Last September we were in Vienna :)

We work together, we travel together, we go to concerts together, we go shopping together, we watch TV series together, we gossip together... we have even been in a car accident together! xD We complete each other, we're similar enough but also different enough to spice up our friendship. But the most important thing is that I trust Abby, I really do. Sometimes she pisses me off or I get annoyed with her, but I still know she will always have my six (works both ways, obviously).

Ohh, seems like I got a little carried away with introducing Abby to you. Well, I think it doesn't matter, you don't mind, do you? After all, this is a blog about me, and Abby is an essential part of my life and who I am. Take this as a countdown to Valentine's Day, it's time to appreciate your friends and let them know how much you love them! You can say all about how letting your friends know how important they are should be a daily act, but still it's good to get it loud and clear once in a while.

Soon I'm off to meet Abby at the railwaystation. I guess I'll see you in a week or so. When Abby leaves, I will take a train with her and go to South Karelia for a few days. As long as wifi works, I try to blog something once I'm home-home (see, 'home' stands for my own place here in Joensuu / North Karelia, and 'home-home' stands for my childhood home in Luumäki / South Karelia).

In the end... my favorite photo of Abby. She's such a badass! =D

SNIPER!

yours truly~