Time out

Written during a break from reading the best book of the year until now, this will probably not be one of my most enjoyable blog entries. The book in question is "Middlesex", winner of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize (usually awarded to a book dealing preferably with American life and history, but this is so much more than that) and so much more entertaining than the newest Harry Potter. It has had me breathless, laughing out loud, amazed and, today, close to tears. But enough eulogy! Experience has taught me that praising books too highly only raises the hopes of future reades to frightening hights.
After days of not doing anything whatsoever, sleeping until lunchtime and yawning infront of the computer, the prospect of no less than TWO gigs tomorrow with CMS is enough to make my bloodpressure rise. As if that were not enough, as soon as the second performance is over I'll be off to the CM camp, bracing myself for the arrival of a hundred or so boys, ranging from teddybear-hugging infants (or so they seem to me) to people much older than that, next morning.

There we go again. Taking a short break to think about what to write next, I find myself suddenly automatically clicking away on the mouse at a game of Minesweeper. I've been addicted to this game since forever. It has taken me through various stages in life, from being tipsy for the first time (the mouse cursor just kept opening the squares covering the mines) to finally getting a desktop computer (no more navigating with the touchpad mouse). Get me worked up about something and I'll be boring a hole in the right button of my mouse. While impatiently waiting for the computer to download a file, open a website or whatever, the previously interrupted game is always waiting for me at the taskbar. I can even do it while carrying out a soulful conversation with someone on the phone.

To athletics now: watching the mens' 20km walk practically next door was more fun than I thought. All those competitors "walking" up and down Mannerheimintie were a comical sight, and the abundance of foreigners watching the race was quite thrilling! Cries of "That's right, Gary, you're doing fine, you're doing FINE now KEEP GOING!!" mixed with "VAYA COLOMBIA!!!!", and although the clouds seemed at bursting point, many people had come to sit on the rocks infront of Finlandia-talo or stand at the National Museum, probably also in hope of getting infront one of the many television cameras. One couldn't help but wonder where all those Suomi-shirts and Finnish flags came from, especially as nobody Finnish was competing in this particular race, but at least the clapping was always generous, especially when a lone walker struggled to keep up with the crowd. Next weekend should be even more interesting, with the marathons.
Probably the loudest fireworks I have ever experienced just started exploding all over the place. I went out to the balcony to see some of them but they were just so loud that I had to come back in.