So you all survived 2008 and look forward to a new year? Great.
Christmas was great in most aspects. I was in Norway for a change, so I finally got the chance to see my father, brother and sister and her family. The social aspect was the most important one for me. The weather was, in lack of better words, crappy. That's how Northern Norway treats you - with a big, cold slap around your nuts. That's just to ensure that you come back again at a later time - for that second, more intimate slap (okay, so I don't know how it can be more intimate than slapping your nuts, but you get what I mean). Being able to hang with my bro and sis filled me with a feeling of happiness. We don't see each other that often since I currently reside in Finland (yes, one foxy chick managed to trick me out of Norway), so whenever I see them, it's always appreciated. Look at me getting all sentimental. Well, it's human, isn't it? It always brings a smile to my face to see my sister's kids too - they are so cute, charming and they grow up so dang fast! In a few years one of them will be a real teenager, and I can't wait to see how her parents handle that period. It can be a tricky one , filled with raging hormones, the first "real" boyfriend and it's a lot about finding yourself and fighting your parents and arguing with them is one of the first steps one has to take to get to the destination. The destination of identity.
So coming back to Finland wasn't actually as bad as I thought it would be. Sure, I miss the peeps up in Norway, but somehow I felt alright returning. I dropped by Helsinki to see one of my best friends first. We went out and brought down the reputation of one of the more famous bars in Helsinki. We're sorry! No, really. We should never have had that third (or was it sixth?) shot. After spending only a few days in Helsinki, I got my ass on the train to Vaasa. Got home, got seated in front of the computer immediately. Must be in my genes. Luckily my lovely fiancee came to visit me already the day after my arrival to Vaasa. We had a lovely time and I actually felt that our relationship grew stronger during the days she was here. Lovely, just lovely. I won't go into detail about everything we did, but we did a lot of the romantic stuff you see in movies. I'm talking about watching movies, going out to eat and lying next to each other on the sofa. There's just something very special about that feeling. Having someone else resting their head on your chest. Holding hands. Being able to sleep next to someone and to hear them breathe.
Guess what - I kept my New Year's resolution about getting a more active lifestyle. I'm back at the gym, baby. Lifting weights with Arnold Schwarzenegger look-a-likes and what not. I was doubtful at first, but after going there a few times now I actually feel comfortable with it. Maybe it's not my favorite thing to do, but I actually feel satisfied when I walk out of there panting and with shaky hands. Let's hope this continues. It does good for me to do something else besides sitting in front of this goddamn screen. Oh computer: I curse Thee! No, I don't. I love you.
Naturally we have to talk about something computer related, so here we go: Grand Theft Auto IV. I got it a few days ago. I just had to after playing it in Norway on my sister's Xbox 360. It's every bit as great as I thought it would be, although the PC version suffers from bad coding. Lazy programmers at Rockstar. They should have oranges thrown at their nuts. I must have some sort of nut-fixation. Just talking about punishing nuts today. I must be nuts! Hmm...that's not even funny. Anyway - I do enjoy escaping reality and I love to take on the role of Niko Bellic. He's the protagonist in GTA IV. I get to kill, I go to strip clubs, I get to steal, I get to hijack cars. I get to fuck shit up! How can that not be satisfying? Doesn't harm anyone either, except the computer animated figures. And that doesn't really count, does it?
May 2009 be good to us all!
søndag 18. januar 2009
onsdag 17. desember 2008
What is the purpose of it all?
How many centuries has man wondered about just that? It’s a question I won’t be able to answer in this simple post, but that won’t stop me from pondering about it. Why do YOU think we are here? Are we here to aspire to great things, to reach our full potential or are we here simply to enjoy sex, drugs and rock ’n roll? Maybe the sole purpose of our being is to see how long it takes before we fuck mother nature up beyond all recognition? Who knows. Maybe we’ll never get an answer, but history shows that we do make lousy decisions. We don’t even learn from our mistakes. I believe I once read that the only thing we can learn from history is that we can’t learn anything from history. How true.
Are we good or bad when we are born? Are some people destined to become what society likes to refer to as losers (unemployed people or people with low status jobs) and are some more prone to become serial killers and drug abusers? Do we make our own destiny or is it made for us? This is turning into a very philosophical thing, isn’t it? And I’m using way too many question marks. Have to stop using those. It’s not like anyone bothers to comment on any of my posts.
Education. That’s a powerful word. School and universities – the cores of knowledge. Big, scary, mighty and intimitating power banks. School is without a doubt one of the most important institutions in our society today. It’s also the work place for millions of kids for many, many years. With knowledge comes power. What comes with power then? Money and status? Probably. At least in part. Are schools neccessary or are they just places to put troublesome, annoying, snot-digging and crying kids to keep them off the streets and to stop parents from whacking them with a baseball bat? We certainly like to think that education is important. Education – gotta have it to be something. Right? I can only state my subjective opinion, naturally. You should know this. I’m friggin’ blogging here. I think education is important and a great way for us to develop ourselves. It’s not only the theoretical book knowledge. There’s always the social aspect. We mingle with people. We learn how to act in the presence of others. We learn how to be members of a group, or a society if you will. How messed up wouldn’t things be if we didn’t know how to interact with others? Or maybe things would be better? Perhaps bad things happen when people started interacting? Perhaps that’s when the shit started to hit the fan.
Why do we bother to go to school for so many years? Do we really want to do it? It’s not just a joy ride. It’s hard work. We have to read, write, keep presentations, show up at lessons at ridiculous hours and we often have to sit passive and listen to what that old, greyhaired chimpanzee with glasses is saying. The question I ask is – can that goddamn chimpanzee be trusted? It’s easy to manipulate us. Especially when we are young. We are fragile, accepting and quite frankly stupid people. But we have potential, don’t we? We can be something! People have showed that it’s possible. We read about great people, we watch movies about great people, we read books about all these great people. The legends. With the right tools, we might even become great some day. Maybe we can live to our full potential.
I wonder if we would even go to school if it wasn’t compulsory. Now we sort of have to do it. It’s in the law. No fighting it. For approximately 9 years we have to drag our sorry, lazy asses out of bed in the morning and show up at school to learn something. To read about wars and great philosophers, to learn algebra and to play out our wildest scientist dreams in the chemistry lab. One good thing has happened. No need to hand over a fuckin’ green apple to the teacher to assure a good grade in the future. I call that evolution! Who in their right mind would do this voluntarily for so many years, without getting a dime for it? The truth of the matter is – without an education we are hard pressed to find a job. At least that’s what we are told. It’s not entirely true. Thousands of people have managed to get jobs without an education. Most go through with the compulsory education though, because it’s just that – compulsory. Compulsory as in you don’t have a fucking choice so don’t you start any rebelling! Some quit after elementary school, others continue to high school or vocational school, others go further and get themselves bachelor and master degrees. The latter ones are the ones that we particulary look up to.
Education is not a bad thing. In fact it’s, in my opinion, a neccessary thing. At least the compulsory nine years. After that it’s more up to oneself and one’s goals. Who am I to pass judgement on someone who are happy and satisfied with a ”low status job”? Not everyone is made for high school, college or university. Not everybody wants to. They don’t have to either, that’s the beauty of it. The thing is, however, that society more or less provokes us and forces us to do more than those nine years. When I say society I don’t only mean the media and the politicans, but also friends, family and whatnot. That’s when it becomes wrong. When you do it because someone forces you to do it. It’s a choice you have to make on your own. And it’s a tough call. High school can feel frustrating after spending so many years in school already. Maybe it’s a good thing that friends and family pushes us to our limits. Maybe. College and university though – well, that’s another matter. I think people who go there should be motivated and enjoy their studies. It’s not easy to decide what to study at first, but it’s okay to try. You don’t have to get it right the first time. Maybe you realise that you want a bachelor in English at age 40. That’s fine too. No one should tell you when and what you should do. Ever. At least when it comes to education. Try to follow your heart.
Wow, this is some heavy stuff. I could go on for pages and pages, but I’m going to try to wrap it up now. I think we are born as good people. We have good in us. Our environment plays a huge role in our upbringing though. If we live in a bad environment with bad people, well, we learn bad habits. We learn a certain way of living. Maybe we continue to make bad choices. Choices we do create our character. A good environment is crucial for us to stay good. We need good people around us. Parents that lie to us and treat us bad will have a negative effect on us and our future life. That’s common sense. We know that. People can change though. Oh, that was useless. I feel I just mentioned a lot of things people already know! Oh well, moving on...I think a lot of us try to get an education or/and a job just in order to survive. Think about it – without an income it’s hard to survive. Unless you are filthy rich. However, I also like to believe that we have potential. We are not just lazy. Many of us want to develop ourselves. We want to leave a print. Most likely most of us will go by unnoticed, we won’t leave prints in future history books, but we can try to fullfill our dreams. We can reach our goals. If someone wants to become an engineer, they can do it. A 15 year old girl who loves languages and wants to become a teacher – she can do it! Education helps us. It’s a tool for us to develop ourselves. It’s not something we should be too cocky about, we can be proud of the hard work and effort we have put into reaching our goals though. We shouldn’t use it to separate ourselves from those who haven’t spent 15 years in school. Education doesn’t mean we become better people than the rest. It’s just a way for many to reach their goals. It’s their ticket to a better and more fullfilling life. I truly believe knowledge is power. Not power over other people, but power as a source of happiness and maybe a sense of purpose.The more knowledge we have, the better we understand ourselves and the world around us.
Hope you enjoyed reading this post. It became a bit messier than originally planned, but that’s how it goes when I try to be philosophical. I certainly could have written a lot more and made this whole post more structured, but I hand it to you like this. Raw and pure.
Are we good or bad when we are born? Are some people destined to become what society likes to refer to as losers (unemployed people or people with low status jobs) and are some more prone to become serial killers and drug abusers? Do we make our own destiny or is it made for us? This is turning into a very philosophical thing, isn’t it? And I’m using way too many question marks. Have to stop using those. It’s not like anyone bothers to comment on any of my posts.
Education. That’s a powerful word. School and universities – the cores of knowledge. Big, scary, mighty and intimitating power banks. School is without a doubt one of the most important institutions in our society today. It’s also the work place for millions of kids for many, many years. With knowledge comes power. What comes with power then? Money and status? Probably. At least in part. Are schools neccessary or are they just places to put troublesome, annoying, snot-digging and crying kids to keep them off the streets and to stop parents from whacking them with a baseball bat? We certainly like to think that education is important. Education – gotta have it to be something. Right? I can only state my subjective opinion, naturally. You should know this. I’m friggin’ blogging here. I think education is important and a great way for us to develop ourselves. It’s not only the theoretical book knowledge. There’s always the social aspect. We mingle with people. We learn how to act in the presence of others. We learn how to be members of a group, or a society if you will. How messed up wouldn’t things be if we didn’t know how to interact with others? Or maybe things would be better? Perhaps bad things happen when people started interacting? Perhaps that’s when the shit started to hit the fan.
Why do we bother to go to school for so many years? Do we really want to do it? It’s not just a joy ride. It’s hard work. We have to read, write, keep presentations, show up at lessons at ridiculous hours and we often have to sit passive and listen to what that old, greyhaired chimpanzee with glasses is saying. The question I ask is – can that goddamn chimpanzee be trusted? It’s easy to manipulate us. Especially when we are young. We are fragile, accepting and quite frankly stupid people. But we have potential, don’t we? We can be something! People have showed that it’s possible. We read about great people, we watch movies about great people, we read books about all these great people. The legends. With the right tools, we might even become great some day. Maybe we can live to our full potential.
I wonder if we would even go to school if it wasn’t compulsory. Now we sort of have to do it. It’s in the law. No fighting it. For approximately 9 years we have to drag our sorry, lazy asses out of bed in the morning and show up at school to learn something. To read about wars and great philosophers, to learn algebra and to play out our wildest scientist dreams in the chemistry lab. One good thing has happened. No need to hand over a fuckin’ green apple to the teacher to assure a good grade in the future. I call that evolution! Who in their right mind would do this voluntarily for so many years, without getting a dime for it? The truth of the matter is – without an education we are hard pressed to find a job. At least that’s what we are told. It’s not entirely true. Thousands of people have managed to get jobs without an education. Most go through with the compulsory education though, because it’s just that – compulsory. Compulsory as in you don’t have a fucking choice so don’t you start any rebelling! Some quit after elementary school, others continue to high school or vocational school, others go further and get themselves bachelor and master degrees. The latter ones are the ones that we particulary look up to.
Education is not a bad thing. In fact it’s, in my opinion, a neccessary thing. At least the compulsory nine years. After that it’s more up to oneself and one’s goals. Who am I to pass judgement on someone who are happy and satisfied with a ”low status job”? Not everyone is made for high school, college or university. Not everybody wants to. They don’t have to either, that’s the beauty of it. The thing is, however, that society more or less provokes us and forces us to do more than those nine years. When I say society I don’t only mean the media and the politicans, but also friends, family and whatnot. That’s when it becomes wrong. When you do it because someone forces you to do it. It’s a choice you have to make on your own. And it’s a tough call. High school can feel frustrating after spending so many years in school already. Maybe it’s a good thing that friends and family pushes us to our limits. Maybe. College and university though – well, that’s another matter. I think people who go there should be motivated and enjoy their studies. It’s not easy to decide what to study at first, but it’s okay to try. You don’t have to get it right the first time. Maybe you realise that you want a bachelor in English at age 40. That’s fine too. No one should tell you when and what you should do. Ever. At least when it comes to education. Try to follow your heart.
Wow, this is some heavy stuff. I could go on for pages and pages, but I’m going to try to wrap it up now. I think we are born as good people. We have good in us. Our environment plays a huge role in our upbringing though. If we live in a bad environment with bad people, well, we learn bad habits. We learn a certain way of living. Maybe we continue to make bad choices. Choices we do create our character. A good environment is crucial for us to stay good. We need good people around us. Parents that lie to us and treat us bad will have a negative effect on us and our future life. That’s common sense. We know that. People can change though. Oh, that was useless. I feel I just mentioned a lot of things people already know! Oh well, moving on...I think a lot of us try to get an education or/and a job just in order to survive. Think about it – without an income it’s hard to survive. Unless you are filthy rich. However, I also like to believe that we have potential. We are not just lazy. Many of us want to develop ourselves. We want to leave a print. Most likely most of us will go by unnoticed, we won’t leave prints in future history books, but we can try to fullfill our dreams. We can reach our goals. If someone wants to become an engineer, they can do it. A 15 year old girl who loves languages and wants to become a teacher – she can do it! Education helps us. It’s a tool for us to develop ourselves. It’s not something we should be too cocky about, we can be proud of the hard work and effort we have put into reaching our goals though. We shouldn’t use it to separate ourselves from those who haven’t spent 15 years in school. Education doesn’t mean we become better people than the rest. It’s just a way for many to reach their goals. It’s their ticket to a better and more fullfilling life. I truly believe knowledge is power. Not power over other people, but power as a source of happiness and maybe a sense of purpose.The more knowledge we have, the better we understand ourselves and the world around us.
Hope you enjoyed reading this post. It became a bit messier than originally planned, but that’s how it goes when I try to be philosophical. I certainly could have written a lot more and made this whole post more structured, but I hand it to you like this. Raw and pure.
onsdag 15. oktober 2008
Stray leaves
What's up, readers? Are you feeling the cold, dark winter sneaking up on you? I am. It's pitch black outside, the trees are soon left naked, pretty leaves are flying restless alongside the pavement, the air is cold and crisp and the shops are already selling Christmas decorations. It's just a matter of weeks before good, ol' Santa breaks into your home - pipestyle! Some people don't fancy Christmas that much, but I for one actually like it. I like the atmosphere - it's truly magic. Gingerbread, julebrus (a red-colored soda sold only during Christmas in Norway), marsipan, Santa, Christmas movies. All of it! For most people it's a time spent with the people you love: girlfriend, spouse, family, kids etc. Some like to escape the cold winter in the north and go south. I've been on Gran Canaria once during Christmas. It wasn't bad, just different. I did miss the snow though, but with global warming and whatnot, who's to say we even get snow this year? The last years there's not been a whole lot of that white lovin' on the ground. Christmas just isn't the same when it's raining outside. It should be snowing! Let's wish for lotsa snow this year.
The last couple of weeks I've just been doing what I always seem to be doing. My life isn't exciting enough to write a whole lot about. I study and when I don't study one can usually find me at home in front of my beloved computer. Sounds boring, doesn't it? Truth is - I love it. I do miss having a social life, though. Just so that's clear. I hate spending too much time alone and only with the computer. It's fun for some time. Everything in moderation! Last week I actually went to Helsinki to see some friends (at that point I felt I really needed to see people, not only the ones I run into at the uni and in the city). So I went on Tuesday, but I already returned on Thursday. I got sick, so I decided it was better to just go home. Besides, I had an important assignment that needed to be worked on. Not to mention that my time schedule didn't exactly match that of my friends. I hate it when it becomes hard to see friends because of time schedule crashes. One is working, the other one is free. Stuff like that. Oh well, it was still good for me to see friends. Things are looking up socially; I'm getting to know people at school better and a good friend of mine is coming to Vaasa this week to spend over a week here. He's actually from Vaasa, so his family lives here. At least I'll have someone to hang out with for some time. My birthday is getting closer and closer. I'll be going to Estonia to celebrate it with another friend of mine plus a bunch of other friends (from mine and from her side). Looking forward to that.
I have a new addiction, people. It's called "Dexter". If you watch TV at all, you know he's America's favorite serial killer. You read right. Serial killer. One who kills people. A lot of them. And I support him! Sue me. Hear me out first, though. Dexter is the kind of serial killer that only kills bad people. He kills scum. He simply takes out the "garbage". His victims are murderers, rapists, pedophiles and so on. I don't see anything wrong with that. Besides, Dexter is so brilliant that it's impossible to hate him. The show is full of black humour. Gotta love it. I watch so much of it I feel like I'm part of the show. It's a great way to kill time though. And as if I didn't spend enough time on the computer already, I recently downloaded a SNES emulator. Only a true geek will know what that even means. Put shortly: It's a program that lets you play old Super Nintendo games on your computer. I've heard of it many years ago, but I never thought it would be anything for me. How wrong I was. I'm addicted to that shit now! It takes me back to when I was 10 years old and Mario was my favorite plumber. My little hero in red. My little ass-kicking fireball-yielding Italian. It's great to play those old games again. I find it so entertaining I easily spend hours on it. It just proves that gameplay is king.
The last couple of weeks I've just been doing what I always seem to be doing. My life isn't exciting enough to write a whole lot about. I study and when I don't study one can usually find me at home in front of my beloved computer. Sounds boring, doesn't it? Truth is - I love it. I do miss having a social life, though. Just so that's clear. I hate spending too much time alone and only with the computer. It's fun for some time. Everything in moderation! Last week I actually went to Helsinki to see some friends (at that point I felt I really needed to see people, not only the ones I run into at the uni and in the city). So I went on Tuesday, but I already returned on Thursday. I got sick, so I decided it was better to just go home. Besides, I had an important assignment that needed to be worked on. Not to mention that my time schedule didn't exactly match that of my friends. I hate it when it becomes hard to see friends because of time schedule crashes. One is working, the other one is free. Stuff like that. Oh well, it was still good for me to see friends. Things are looking up socially; I'm getting to know people at school better and a good friend of mine is coming to Vaasa this week to spend over a week here. He's actually from Vaasa, so his family lives here. At least I'll have someone to hang out with for some time. My birthday is getting closer and closer. I'll be going to Estonia to celebrate it with another friend of mine plus a bunch of other friends (from mine and from her side). Looking forward to that.
I have a new addiction, people. It's called "Dexter". If you watch TV at all, you know he's America's favorite serial killer. You read right. Serial killer. One who kills people. A lot of them. And I support him! Sue me. Hear me out first, though. Dexter is the kind of serial killer that only kills bad people. He kills scum. He simply takes out the "garbage". His victims are murderers, rapists, pedophiles and so on. I don't see anything wrong with that. Besides, Dexter is so brilliant that it's impossible to hate him. The show is full of black humour. Gotta love it. I watch so much of it I feel like I'm part of the show. It's a great way to kill time though. And as if I didn't spend enough time on the computer already, I recently downloaded a SNES emulator. Only a true geek will know what that even means. Put shortly: It's a program that lets you play old Super Nintendo games on your computer. I've heard of it many years ago, but I never thought it would be anything for me. How wrong I was. I'm addicted to that shit now! It takes me back to when I was 10 years old and Mario was my favorite plumber. My little hero in red. My little ass-kicking fireball-yielding Italian. It's great to play those old games again. I find it so entertaining I easily spend hours on it. It just proves that gameplay is king.
søndag 5. oktober 2008
A different chapter
Things have happened. I have moved. Moved from Helsinki, which was my hometown for three years. That means I had to leave some really good friends behind. That's what hurts the most. Helsinki is a great city too - it's the city I've enojoyed living in the most this far. Somehow it just fit my personality, although I gotta admit it wasn't perfect either. Sometimes it just felt too stressful and depressive to live there, amongst hundreds of cars, thousands of people and companies. Helsinki never really slept. Despite that, I still liked living there. I think a lot of it was due to my friends. Those were what really made Helsinki a place to love. I often find myself re-living those memories: the movie nights, the crazy nights in the bars, the freak-outs, the game nights and simply all the great, crazy stuff that happened over there. I'll always keep those memories close to my heart. I still remember walking into Eira High the first day, scared and nervous of how things were gonna go. After a few months however, I had already made plenty of friends, so the remaining time there went fast. Almost too fast...
Now I live in Vaasa, which is a city on the coast of Finland. I study at a university here. The first weeks are usually a bit awkward: you don't know anyone, you don't know the city and you miss your friends. That's how it felt for me too. Still feels like it to some degree, especially the friends part. But it has gotten better. I really hope this is the place for me to be. I enjoy my studies so far, more so than the nursing studies. Still there is some restless part in my soul that feels something might be missing. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's a normal part of student life - maybe a fear of committing to a certain education. Freud only knows. I wish he could psychoanalyze me. I also miss my dear Norway. Maybe I'll go there for Christmas though, to see friends and family. If things go well, I will be able to study in Norway next year too! That would be great for me. I just feel I've been gone too long. Besides, the last summer spent in Norway has been great. It's left me wanting more of that Norway goodness!
Not much else going on. Studying mainly, and of course keeping up my nerding hobby (playing games, listening to music, chatting, watching movies and so on). A dude has got to keep busy when he's alone! It's weird not to have friends around...there's just so much more time for myself. Don't get me wrong - I like being alone, but I miss being able to call to friends to go out for a cider or go to the movies. One thing is for sure though - I'm going to Helsinki at the end of this month (if not before) to celebrate my own and Vivian's birthday! The plan is actually to go to Tallinn! I'm really excited about that. A friend from Germany is coming over too. It'll be really great to catch up with him.
That's all for now, folks.
Now I live in Vaasa, which is a city on the coast of Finland. I study at a university here. The first weeks are usually a bit awkward: you don't know anyone, you don't know the city and you miss your friends. That's how it felt for me too. Still feels like it to some degree, especially the friends part. But it has gotten better. I really hope this is the place for me to be. I enjoy my studies so far, more so than the nursing studies. Still there is some restless part in my soul that feels something might be missing. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's a normal part of student life - maybe a fear of committing to a certain education. Freud only knows. I wish he could psychoanalyze me. I also miss my dear Norway. Maybe I'll go there for Christmas though, to see friends and family. If things go well, I will be able to study in Norway next year too! That would be great for me. I just feel I've been gone too long. Besides, the last summer spent in Norway has been great. It's left me wanting more of that Norway goodness!
Not much else going on. Studying mainly, and of course keeping up my nerding hobby (playing games, listening to music, chatting, watching movies and so on). A dude has got to keep busy when he's alone! It's weird not to have friends around...there's just so much more time for myself. Don't get me wrong - I like being alone, but I miss being able to call to friends to go out for a cider or go to the movies. One thing is for sure though - I'm going to Helsinki at the end of this month (if not before) to celebrate my own and Vivian's birthday! The plan is actually to go to Tallinn! I'm really excited about that. A friend from Germany is coming over too. It'll be really great to catch up with him.
That's all for now, folks.
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