May 11, 2006

Streak of self-irony*

I've been lazy to write any new posts in a while. It's funny how sometimes I write the longest and most interesting (at least they're interesting for me) posts when I actually should be doing a thousand other things, but when I've got time on my hands I tend to disappear from this blog.

Which isn't to say that I'm not busy at the moment - the past two days were relaxed enough, but today was like a real kick in the butt, probably one of the worst days this month so far. It's hard to pick the lowest lowlight with so many candidates - feeling completely pissed off without really knowing the reason, spending one and a half hours trying to keep a group of hyperactive boys quiet, playing at a concert where the number of people listening who are not performers (or mothers of the performers) is ONE - - then of course we always have missing a singing lesson or standing at a deserted bus stop in the middle of nowhere for twenty minutes at around nine pm. I just don't know how all these things seem to get crammed into one day all at once, but on the other hand I suppose I can now expect clear sailing for at least the weekend.

One of the most uplifting moments today was listening to a young woman in the bus almost yelling at someone on the phone about her stolen bicycle. She kept repeating she just couldn't possibly get through the summer without a bike and she needed it now. I don't know why such things amuse me so much. Is it just that I feel happy that someone else is having a really shitty day or am I just laughing at someone whose personal dramas seem so ridiculous. Don't get me wrong, of course having a bike stolen is horrible - I just mean that, ultimately, we're all just stuck with our own problems and it's sometimes so refreshing to eavesdrop on someone else's phone conversation about doomed summers and calling the police.

I'm really not making any sense now. I just read in Lonely Planet's newest Finland guide that Finns have a good sense of self-irony (Chapter: The national psyche), and first I thought this was a funny way of putting it, but it's actually true. I won't elaborate, but maybe someone will know what I'm talking about. One of my favourite sentences was also "it's perfectly normal for best friends to sit in a sauna for twenty minutes without saying a thing to each other" - and I really know I have something Finnish in me when I think: "of course that's perfectly normal".

Good night, Finland - and the rest of the world.

*alternative headline: Crape diem

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