Dry skin is a real nuisance. You'd think the body can only take so much Jergens Soothing Aloe Relief moisturizer with cucumber extract (with WHAT??), but it never has enough. Another annoying thing is the timing of my creaming sessions. For example, while my skin is screaming for soothing relief from the elements (that's on the box) right NOW, I have to wait until I've brushed my teeth.

Martin was just asking me whether I already have a devoted reader base for my BLOG. He told me the key is in advertising, but I don't want to go any further than giving the address to a couple of friends and family members. It would be nice, though, to have one of those handy counter things somewhere on this page where it says, for example, "14502464213566231890 visitors since yesterday"!! Well, that might be overdoing it.

I just got a text message from Pasi who is all the way in Santa Monica, California right now with some other friends. It seems they got me the David Sedaris book I asked for (susceptibly titled "Naked") which is great, because I'm going to finish his "Me talk pretty one day" today. It's a hilarious collection of short stories and is also something I brought back from New York.

I will be so happy when tomorrow is over. Our school will be invaded by contemporary music when the citywide festival "Musica Nova" arrives in Ruoholahti. I'm performing, among others, a piece with a violinist where I'll have to march on stage with scotch tape and stick seven of the piano keys down (not one of my own ideas, it's right there in the performance notes) and then act like a six-year-old discovering his parents' grand piano by hammering away at the strings as the violinist warms the hearts of the audience by playing microintervals at an unnaturally high pitch. Sometimes I wonder why people compose pieces like this. Is it the fascination and ambition of doing something that's never done before? Or is it just to see whether anyone's crazy enough to say "Sure, I'll play this!" Honestly, I don't know. If you want to come and see for yourself, it'll be at 15.00 tomorrow in the Conservatory's concert hall.

Today felt like a normal working day, with rehearsals for the musical "Kauniiden lasten saari" (more about that some other day) and tomorrow's performances. I made it to half of Dominante's all-day rehearsal, after which we had a gig at a 40th birthday party with CMS. Now it's time for me to make some arrangements for the trip to England and, then, to go to bed.