The Other World

Important things first: I have a new idol. Virginie Despentes. I don't agree with every single thing she says in 'King Kong Théorie' but I think she has a very good point in most of her arguments. Plus I enjoy the informal language she uses; feminism to the un-academic world.

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I am now also officially impaired.

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And my sheets are under siege due to a fucking huge moth that was there yesterday and might still be there. If I have to wait until the snow and a temperature below zero to be sure it's gone, then so be it. The sheets and the shirt will remain on the balcony until then (which will probably be some time next year). Or I have to beg my sister to come over and check the sheets and te shirt before bringing them indoors.

A moth... and some of you yahoos think butteflies and their evil kin are actually beautiful. I'm willing to agree the *possibility* of their beauty if they are dead, dried and pinned to a cushion which is inside a glasscube. Perhaps I should join the Butterfly Association Finland to record my numerous observations (read: moments of the innate and profound instinct of fight-or-flight) on those flying beasts of doom as they seem to be like cats and find the one person within miles to have lepidopteraphobia. Have you noticed how there are only a few butterflies around when it's cloudy? Here's my theory: when the weather is cloudy, it's too cold for them so they return back to Hell since it must be warmer down there in their home.

And a solution to the butterfly effect (= a butterfly flaps its wings, whcih creates a tornado on the other side of the planet): let's kill all the butterflies! YAY!

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Look me in the eyes and tell me that thing below is in any way cute.

Went there yesterday and spent three hours of voyeristic quests through other peoples houses. It turned out three hours of walking and climbing the narrowest staircases isn't recommended on the shoes I was wearing: my left calf still doesn't bear much walking (which means that for the fourth time this year, I will miss P's Combat class... damn it!). Seriously, the average width seemed to be somewhere arround 40 centimetres. Not very child-friendly. Or elder-friendly.

Anyway, voyerism and exhibitionism appeared to be the dominating themes in most of the houses: the houses were situated in a semi-circle around the bay which resulted in an extremely nice view from one house to another, especially from the balconies. And there were bedrooms in which there were no curtains or even a slightest hint that there might be curtains coming. So I'm just saying: how can one have sex in a place in which there is a direct view to the nice big double bed from the window of a neighbouring house? And to continue with the same subject: there was a house in which there was one big room for the entire family, that is it had a double bed for the parents and three smaller beds. It might take a while before the other two smaller beds are occupied if the only time parents can have sex is when the kids are not home.

Furthermore, all the houses had a special room for household chores such as washing machines and so on. They all seemed very nice except for one thing: I don't recall any of them having room for *hanging* the laundry. And why is it that apart from Col Legno (lila), all the girls' rooms were pink? Boys had different shades of blue and green. At the end of the trail I skipped most rooms titled as "a girl's room" when one glance revealed the dominating colour surprisigly enough to be pink or -if they were feeling breathtakingly adventurous- red.

The houses that somehow stood out were the Stone House, the Vaasan Meri and the Lighthouse House. The Stone House was all stone (or concrete or whatever it is called). The interior's dominating colour was white. Hurts the eyes, actually, on such a bright day. The view from the balcony, however, was probably the best as it had the directmost view towards the bay and the sea. And it was a somewhat surreal experience to look at my left and see a lighthouse next door. =) Which brings us nicely to the Lighthouse House. I don't really recall any major things (positive or negative) from the house otherwise except for the huge balcony and the lighthouse on could enter from the balcony. The public wasn't allowed to go to the top of the lighthouse but I could see from the Stone House's balcony that it did have a big bulb there to be lighted.

And then there was the Vaasan Meri appartment house. The Penthouse was spectacular! The actual appartment was far from being finished but the the balcony that will circle the entire apartment (and have, for instance, two pools in it) was humungous and the view... wow. You know, I've alway wondered the penthouse thing. The elevator door open straight into the apartment. How does one keep unwanted visitors out?

Some of the yards didn't appear to be very practical. I'm sure it's very nice to have elaborate backyards but the winters won't be too much fun, I should think. Speaking of yards, the voyerism/exhibitionism was present in them as well. As said before, the houses were in semi-circle so people have a very good view on each other's backyards. And half of the backyards had pools in plain view (the exception was one house that had an atrium of sorts in the middle in which the pool was; very inviting but only *nearly* perfect as it could be seen from the street [!]).

There were several separate houses alike one another in very close proximity to each other. I cannot understand that: why buy a house and live so close to the other that you could basically share a wall since the result's the same? I had the same idea while watching the actual houses. Why buy an area of land and build a house on it if you have no privacy at all? Okay, I grew up on the countryside so I'm lacking experience on this type of living but still... the idea of a house is to have something of your own, right? So if you can't go outside and stand on your own balcony or your own lawn without being seen by someone, then what's the point of having a house?

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www.asuntomessut.fi
Vaasan Meri on the right, the Stone House on the left and the lighthouse you can see for yourself.

No idea. Nothing even remotely remarkable apparently since I've forsaken this blog for such a long time. Well, time to rave about something I found out today: the second X-Files movie is finally coming to the theatres (not according to the schedule of 25th of July, though)! YAY! Happyhappyhappyhappyhappyhappyhappyhappy!!! See the trailer at

. Doesn't enlighten the story that much but... seriously, can't wait! And I thought the sixtth Potter would be the only movie to expect this year. Good to be wrong!

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My mother, brother and aunt visited me today and I concluded the following: nineteen days without having an actual face-to-face conversation with anyone is, indeed, a longish time to me. I really, truly, bluely enjoyed having them around for the four hours we spent together first at my flat and then roaming the town's malls. And now I have an ironing board so I can make the tie (more of the project part of which the tie is later...I know, the suspense is killing you... ;D). But anyway, I don't recall being so relaxed around my relatives before. I guess I do spend too much time alone.

Actually, I tried to come out to my mother today. We went to my sister's place to drop some of her things there (she's working in our home town and is staying with my mother and brother's place for the summer). As we were leaving -for some incomprehensible reason- I blurted out that I had once hid there to get someone off my back (see the entry on 9th of February 2008). No one seemed to pay any attention to that small sentence so I thought -as I was already beginning to regret saying it in the first place- I got off the hook. But no. On our way to my brother's car (I really don't get what's the thing about cars) she asked if the person I was hiding from was a male one. I said yes, and complained that he just didn't get the word 'no' or the phrase of 'just friends'. So that was my more or less planned attempt to come out. However, my mother either choce to stay ignorant (don't ask, don't tell) or really just didn't get it. So, as far as she's concerned, I'm probably still her probably straight daughter.

Lovely.

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Reading now:
'Koko kosmokomiikka' (I love the allitteration!), org. 'Tutte le cosmicomiche' by Italo Calvino & 'The Poisonwood Bible' by Barbara Kingsolver. It rained the whole bloody day so I didn't get to read much today. Well, perhaps tomorrow. Have to ask Foreca... or the snails. Yup, more rain tomorrow. Damn it. I love reading outside (as can be seen from my half-tanned hands =D). Well, no can do, I'm just going to have to wait till Wednesday.

I was reading by the seashore today. From the corner of my eye see a couple approaching. As they walk past me I glance up and having a sinking feeling surge through my stomach; the woman walks forward without me seeing her face and then she stops with her back towards me to take a picture of the gulf. My first thought: Wanderer is back. The woman looks so much like her: short though a bit skinnier, but her hair is the similar colour and even closed in a similar way that that of Wanderer's. I seem to forget so easily how many thoughts and how much hope can go through my mind in one second. During the few seconds required to take a picture I had thought of Wanderer's smile when she recognises me, how we would laugh at her not recognising me, or her explaining she just wanted to surprise me by not talking to me before taking the picture, to feel her arms around me as she would hug me, talk with her about all that has happened in a little over a year to both of us... in short, to have a friend again. And then to feel another sinking feeling as the woman turns and walks away and I realise it is not Wanderer.

Not feeling well. Not at all. I think I'll spend the rest of the day watching movies and television, 'V for Vendetta', 'The Day After Tomorrow', 'Without a Trace'. Fuck this day.

I just finished today a book I found at the library by accident, a book called 'Why Is Sex Fun? - The Evolution of Human Sexuality' by Jared Diamond. Worthy of reading for all. The book explains the development of different aspects of human sexuality through examples from the fauna. Itis explicitly concentrating on straights but it's fun to read anyway. Diamond deals with sexual issues such as women's menopause (only one whale species is another mammal the females of which have menopause), women's concealed ovulation (compare ovulation tests with the strikingly red vulva of an ovulating bonobo) and the purpose of men. All of you who have been following my previous entries can easily guess which chapter is my personal favourite. Yes, the chapter about the evolutionary purpose of men. Diamond cannot deny - mainly confirms - what I've been saying all along: the sole purpose of men is to function as a factory and a storage to sperm, and considering the energy required to build a human being genetically, to give birth to it, nurse it and take care of it until it is fit to look after itself (that is longer than any other species), Mother Nature's storage is highly uneconomic. Why build such a complex for such a simple job? It would be so much more useful is women were naturally hermaphrodites, like a certain lizard species.

Oh, and men: Diamond also dealt with the penis. He concluded that it is a product of an comparisatory process whose purpose is to boost one's ego. According to Diamond, most women find the penis ugly (Amen to that!!!). Reminds me of the headline of Iltalehti (or Ilta-Sanomat) saying that most [straight, ed. note] women do not have an orgasm during sex. Gee, I wonder who MAN figured that one out. Seriously, is it any wonder? The intercourse of an average male lasts for four minutes (thanks to Diamond for this bit of information as well). Add the poor knowledge men have -or care to have- about women and female sexuality, is it really a newsflash to someone else than men??? The only way for a woman to have an orgasm in four minutes is by another woman. Men can fuck off and let the experts do the job, they should have enough to do by concentrating on each other or their hands.

What can one say to a question like that? When the genuine answer is 'no' but you still wouldn't want to be just downright cruel when telling so? Giving many explanantions why not?

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And as a continuum to the previous entry, I just took out my winter coat from the closet and pondered a great deal whether or not put it on when I left to have lunch at the university. In the end I didn't but my nails are beginning to be so blue I might go home and change the wardrobe. Lovely... driving a bicycle in January and wearing my winter coat on July. Bloody fantastic...

It's far too hot out there for so little wind to be blowing. The son is scorching and therefore I can't finish Saramago's 'Gospel' outdoors. Instead I took refuge at an IT class at the university. Ah, the soothing coolness down here. Shutters closed, small sunbeams coming through the little openings between the lids... ah, the coolness. And better yet, this class seems to be nearly always empty even during school semesters. What a lovely place!

Now, if you excuse me, I'll continue reading. Haven't finished any books this month yet.

For some time now I have been considering of getting a driver's license. I have now gone through all the driving schools in my town and reached the depressing conclusion that all driving teachers are men. So I guess I'm not going to get the license after all, since I have no interest in being taught by a man, in a car, in small space, with him invading my personal space and quite possibly touching me to guide me somehow for teaching purposes. I can consult one of the pedagogic course books but I doubt that my entering the car fifteen times in a state of pure hatred boosts my ability/will to learn. So it's highly unlikely I'm not going get the license. Unlike my little brother, I don't have a car nor do I need one, so why pay for skills one piece of plastic proves I have but don't really need?

Why are there no women as driving teachers?

Oh, yes, my eightteen-year-and-two-month-old little brother bought a car. A 2004 Mazda (those are his words, I have no idea what that actually means in practise). He paid for it amount that made me retort him a new greeting: have you lost your fucking mind?! Apparently he has. He now driver a penile extension while having my contempt for such a masculine trait. Seriously, he decorates, wears pink and takes care of his appearance, and yet he plays along the cultural drama and gets a fucking car! But why buy a car that expensive (we're talking about a five-figure number) when he could have found a working car in one tenth of this car's price? I can think only one reason: to raise his status among his peers for having a car of his own instead of driving the parents' car like the others. But, seriously, aikuisten oikeesti... a car? That's just stupid. And environmentally far from responsible. Oh, to hell with it.

Perhaps I should have taken the Finnish translation... the English in this novel is very heavy to read. As the novel to provide counterbalance I'm also reading 'Hard Times' by Charles Dickens at the moment, again. I think I'm getting a better hold of the story this time.

"People like Sheba think they know what it is to be lonely. But of the drip, drip of the long-haul, no-end-in-sight solitude, they know nothing. What it's like to construct an entire weekend around a visit to the launderette. Or to be so chronically untouched that the accidental brush of a bus conductor's hand sends a jolt of longing straight to your groin. Of this, Sheba and her like have no clue."

Barbara Covett in 'Notes on a Scandal'

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I attempted to take ten key phrases from the book 'Kiilusilmä feministi' by Kaari Utrio, especially from the feminishm and childhood chapters. Turned out to be relatively difficult so therefore I will just say this to every man and every woman alike:

READ 'KIILUSILMÄ FEMINISTI'! Broaden your understanding of the world and of your status in it.

"Naiset tekevät omaisiaan ja kotiaan hoitaessaan yhteiskunnalle ilmaista työtä, jonka arvo on vuosittain 40% bruttokansantuotteesta. Kaikki maailman kulttuurit joutuvat nojaamaan tähän tosiasiaan: millään yhteiskunnalla ei ole toistaiseksi varaa [saatikka halua, toim. huom.] maksaa tästä työstä."
~ Menneisyys, nainen ja tulevaisuus ~

"En lakkaa ihmettelemästä suomalaisen naisen loputtoman korrektia käytöstä ja kohteliaisuutta. Vääristyneesti hymyillen, kimeästi nauraen hän nyökkäilee, kun hänen ruumiinsa poljetaan lokaan, hänen älyään syljetään, hänen työtään halveksitaan, hänen synnytyksilleen nauretaan. Ei koskaan, ei missään, sotaisinkaan feministi pysty häpäisemään miestä sillä tavalla kuin naista häpäisevät ne sivistyneinä itseään pitävät herrat, jotka huvikseen alentavat äitinsä, vaimonsa ja tyttärensä ihmisarvon suuren yleisön edessä kerätäkseen kiitokseksi muutaman hihityksen."
~ Herrain käytös ~

"Sotavankia ei voi kiduttaa, koska vastapuoli kävisi ikäväksi omille sotavangeilleen. Näin on asiat sovittu. Mutta naisille saa tehdä mitä tahtoo. Niistä ei ole sovittu mitään, ja jos onkin, sitä ei kukaan valvo. -- Kaikki armeijat ovat varkaita ja raiskaajia. -- Sodassa voivat vain miehet voittaa. Naiset ja lapset häviävät aina."
~ Kuolemaakin pahempi kohtalo ~

"Juuri kun aviomiehesi on tappamaisillaan sinut: kun hän on potkinut sinulle keskenmenon, iskenyt silmäsi sokeaksi, repinyt korvasi irti ja hyppinyt päälläsi, raadellut vaatepuulla rintasi ja kuristanut kaulasi siniseksi, iske hänet kuoliaaksi keittiöveitsellä, jos vielä pystyt. Suomessa naisella ei ole oikeutta puolustaa henkeään. Joudut taposta - et kuitenkaan murhasta - vankilaan viideksi vuodeksi."
~ Usko, toivo ja hakkaus ~

And most importantly:

"Onko suomalainen nainen teidän mielestänne ansainnut tällaisen kohtelun? Hän, joka pelasti kotirintaman? Hän, joka painaa kahta työpäivää?"
~ Liputuspäivä ~