the god of spring wants vomit

Finland is gearing up to celebrate Vappu/Wappen (the coming of Spring) this weekend. There will traditionally be lots of offerings to the god of Spring in the form of alcohol-based vomit. We will all be dressing in skimpy clothes and freeze our ***** off while having picnics in the rain. We will feel the heavy pressure of being absolutely obliged to have the Time of our Lives. Hearts will be broken.

Can't wait.

Anyway, it's Veteran Day today. To all of you war veterans out there who do or don't read blogs: Thank you. Without you, I would be scraping a living in a run-down, former Soviet republic. Now I'm scraping a living in a free and prosperous country, but at least it's our country. You are heroes!

intoxicated in Ireland

Editing my journal from my years in Ireland...

By the looks of it, it seems as if my time there was spent dating at least a couple of men simultaneously and flirting madly with men I wasn't dating. Was I really like that? I've certainly not been like that, before or after.

The place was mad. Airborne intoxication. That's the only explanation. I worked more than full-time, attended parties where people showered with their clothes on or set fire to themselves, intervened in domestic violence, had raging fights with my bosses, adopted a dog and had it kidnapped, played pool with a movie star and spent a night in a cemetery under the stars. Got my heart broken and I think I broke someone else's. (I'm sorry.) I was even involved in hiding people from the law.

At least I have something to brag about in my blog when my present life contains no news value whatsoever. But nobody needs to ever find out about that.

finished with the Finnish

I am a foreigner in my own country. I struggle when I speak to my neighbours. Linguistic minority: inferiority complex. Home is not really home. I'm so sick of this.

I am assaulted by the strange and threatening Finnish language wherever I turn but it runs away laughing when I try to make friends with it.

Perkele.

screwdrivers, old ladies and letters from the mafia

Weird things done this week:
Bought a screwdriver (not the cocktail, the tool!).
Received a letter in Russian (which I don't understand) from a stranger.
Got called in for a job interview.
Bought a bag of soil for my (dying) potted plants.
Took a picture of my house.
a) Went out for drinks with 2 men, b) got chatted up by a third, c) accepted a drink from a fourth, d) went home with none (d is not weird in my case, a-c are).
Watched a horror movie (Pitch Black, people say it's scifi, not horror but I was... horrified).
Cyberstalked my old crush again (OK, this does not exactly fit into "weird things" category since it happens regularly).
Argued with old lady over communal washing machine in my building. Old lady won.
Received threatening letters from Social Services.
Became instant Skype-addict.