tisdag 1 december 2009

något annorlunda någon gång

Ibland är min tro på människors överlevnadsinstinkt och förmåga att utvecklas så stark att min inställning nästan blir naiv. Missförstå mig inte, min profession är sådan att jag hellre behöver vara den som tror än den som tvivlar, trots att det är åratal sedan jag senast satt min fot i kyrkan. I en av mina vänners Facebook hittar jag följande fundering: "When the world says, ‘Give up,’ Hope whispers, ‘Try it one more time.’" och genast är jag beredd att tro att det till synes omöjliga kanske ändå är möjligt.

Jag önskar att du gjorde något annorlunda någon gång.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Photo: Pierre Gable

måndag 23 november 2009

Note to Self

"People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, make them."

- George Bernard Shaw
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"There is a bridge that links what I do with what I would like to do", he thinks. Slowly, his dreams take over his everyday life, and then he realises that he is ready for the thing he always wanted."

- Paulo Coelho from "Manual of the warrior of light"

måndag 16 november 2009

cast some light

"Don't you know that I'll be around to guide you
Through your weakest moments to leave them behind you
Returning nightmares only shadows
We'll cast some light and you'll be alright for now

Crosses all over, heavy on your shoulders
The sirens inside you waiting to step forward
Disturbing silence darkens your sight
We'll cast some light and you'll be alright for now

Crosses all over the boulevard
The streets outside your window overflooded
People staring they know you've been broken
Repeatedly reminded by the looks on their faces
Ignore them tonight and you'll be alright

We'll cast some light and you'll be alright"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

måndag 2 november 2009

love is my drug

image=link

fredag 30 oktober 2009

pumpkin

For various reasons we've been preparing for Halloween this year even if it's not an original tradition in Finland. There is always some debate going on wether the celebration of this feast should be allowed to interfere with the more traditional Solemnity of All Saints or Hallowmass, but for me...

... well, I just happened to find this pumpkin I could not resist!

My son did the carving. Quite nice, is it not, for an absolute beginner? Personally I have nothing to brag about. The pumpkin pie I tried to make both felt and tasted like oatmeal (porridge) in a tortilla bread. At least the roasted seeds turned out pretty tasty. I can sit here now pretending to be a bird, eating pumpkin seeds. Maybe also a little worm or two. *lol*

I always wanted to fly, though. For real.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

tisdag 27 oktober 2009

sprout and the bean

måndag 26 oktober 2009

stubbornness inherited

"It will NEVER be so cold on my birthday the 26th of October that I wouldn't be able to walk barefoot around the house!" my father states and proves this every year to anyone willing to witness the event. Never mind the frost or the rime on the lawn or the fact that there some years has been up to 10 cms of snow on the ground - after all this IS Finland we're talking about here! - he just does it anyway.

Congratulations, dear Dad, and make sure to put on some socks afterwards! :-)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Det kommer ALDRIG att vara så kallt på min födelsedag den 26:e oktober att jag inte skulle kunna promenera barfota runt huset!" påstår min far och bevisar detta varje år åt alla som vill bevittna företeelsen. Inte bryr sig han om frosten på gräsmattan eller det faktum att vi vissa år haft ända upp till 10 cm snö ifrågavarande datum - det är trots allt Finland vi talar om! - han bara gör det ändå.

Grattis, käre Far, och se till att dra på dig ett par sockor när du är klar! :-)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

/Anni

torsdag 22 oktober 2009

parasites

They are ugly, they are parasites and they attack dead or weakened birchtrees. You could say they are the necrophiles among sponges... Yet I find them adorable. Just can't help it.

onsdag 21 oktober 2009

die Angst

"Es gibt keine Grenzen.
Weder für Gedanken,
noch für Gefühle.
~ Es ist die Angst,
die immer Grenzen setst."

Ingmar Bergman

måndag 19 oktober 2009

"Nu e de jul igen, å nu e de jul igen, å nu e de jul igen..."

Sextonde oktober står en liten julpyntad gran på torget i Vasa, Finland, och frågar oss alla om det faktiskt e jul igen. Därmed är juldebatten igång. Huujeedamej.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
October the 16th a little decorated Chistmas tree on the market quare of Vasa, Finland, is asking us the ever so crucial question: Is it really X-mas again? Thereby the debate has started. Oh my.

lördag 17 oktober 2009

snö

torsdag 15 oktober 2009

thirty-four %

(click image for larger version)

söndag 11 oktober 2009

om att inte riktigt veta / to not really know

~ motljusfunderingar / backlight reflections ~

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

lördag 10 oktober 2009

gone

Mother and son have been making chocolate cookies with marshmallow topping today and we plan on doing it again.

onsdag 7 oktober 2009

nothing ever ends

although out of sight
never out of heart

söndag 4 oktober 2009

flower power




måndag 28 september 2009

Amélie goes to Belgrad



Dylika pärlor ska vi vara rädda om!
Pearls like these we should treasure!

video

söndag 27 september 2009

as the drama unfolds


tisdag 15 september 2009

the Puzzle

[Ane Brun: the Puzzle]

måndag 7 september 2009

fields of gold

"Mom, get over here! Hurry! There's something here I think You might like!" he shouts with his nose almost to the ground, standing in a field of barley with deer flies attacking from every angle. Two years ago this field was a small forrest and here and there in the middle of it You can still find pieces of wood, root systems a s o...

... AND in these pieces of wood You can find... it turned out... LADYBIRDS! And not only a few!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Mamma, kom hit! Skynda dig! Här finns något jag tror du skulle gilla!" ropar han med näsan nästan i backen, stående i en kornåker där älflugor attackerar från alla håll och kanter. Ännu för två år sedan växte det skog här och därför kan man lite varstans mitt i åkern fortfarande hitta bitar av träd och rotsystem...

... OCH i dessa träbitar kan man således hitta... visade det sig... NYCKELPIGOR! Och inte bara några få!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

söndag 6 september 2009

stillness


Hi everybody. It's been a while and I'm aware. A lot has changed in my life during this summer/autumn and of all the things I've wanted to blog, not a lot has actually been "blogable". Is that an expression understandable to You? Yes. I'm sure.

I'm no longer married. I used to be, that is to say: I was (we were) for almost fourteen years. I'm making this official now, at least on my behalf, because so many of You have been worrying and asking me about how I'm doing and what's going on etc.

These days though, I can of course only speak for myself, but I'm doing alright. Decisions like these are never easy to make, and hurting is most certainly part of it all - for everyone involved - but the best way to recover is I believe by moving forward. For me that means - as a good friend put it: "... by never forgetting You are first and foremost parents!"
and after that remembering this fact: the end of a marriage does not mean the end of love. Love can change it's form of expression - when allowed to continue it's excistense.

Photos shot by the Lake today as the unusally warm September
afternoon provided such stillness it was almost magical.

lördag 22 augusti 2009

wire to wire

fredag 21 augusti 2009

mermaid and son

Mermaid and son swimming in the Bothnian bay, Fäboda- seashore of Jakobstad, Finland.

onsdag 15 juli 2009

kreativt värre ...

... när EN klassiskt SKOLAD gitarrist och EN OSKOLAD klassisk gitarrist spelar/övar allt annat än klassiskt inför inkommande lördags pubunderhållning på Åminne Folkpark. Mellan varven reder en RIKTIG trubadur ut begreppen.

Den som hellre ägnar sig åt bensprattel till dom här POJKARNA kan ju i a f titta in på en bärs eller limsa.
VÄLKOMNA!

söndag 12 juli 2009

petrol perhaps but no green

Art kan never outdo or surpass nature's own way of expressing beauty, it can however try to interpret or explain. I'm not at all content with this thistle-softpastel, but I'm showing it anyway. When I was little I used to paint WITH thistles and paint made of "puréed" grass or flowers or mud and water... yet, when I'm sitting in front of my working desk with the opportunity to choose between hundreds of pastels I still can't seem to find the right nuance for the "flowerbrush".
.
"Funny. It reflects no green" he says, the one I always complain to about things I don't understand - like colours. "Petrol, perhaps. But no green".
.
Maybe that is why, in the middle of the summer, when my eyes are overflooded by green, green and green again (yes, I've been mowing the lawn this afternoon!) I need the thistles - not to drown and to wake me up.
.
Because they reflect no green.
The way my blue eyes do.
Even if they're not really blue at all.
.

lördag 11 juli 2009

the strangest thing

onsdag 8 juli 2009

... and that is when the trumpetist announces ...

"Hey, You know what! No one has performed "Summertime" yet this evening!"
.
Anni Paananen in an open stage performance together with musicians accociated to Jazzoo at Andra Sjö Summerjazz, Nykarleby, Finland, 2 July 2009

måndag 6 juli 2009

watercolour

Last saturday I went to see "my lake" and it's surroundings. After more than a week of unusually warm weather - for Finland, that is! - the vegetation stood in full bloom. This evening was cloudy, not very warm and my lake is tiny, tiny, tiny...
.
... but it sure does shine!



onsdag 1 juli 2009

white for the blues

white for the blues

tisdag 30 juni 2009

vanans makt

söndag 28 juni 2009

clumsy clot's chickpea pot

.
Jaha. Jaha. Jaha. Så har man då semester och ändå måste man äta. Det här kommer sannolikt att få vissa er att skratta och ta er för pannan, för någon kock är jag då verkligen inte men just därför väljer jag att göra processen kort och därmed lindra obehaget köksarbete framkallar. Man låter alltså den äkta hälften grilla kycklingen och majsen och tillreder under tiden den varma kikärtssalladen till vänster på första bilden. Jag gillar kikärter.
.
kokta kikärter ur egen gryta eller konservburk
- du får själv lov att anpassa mängden efter hur många som äter
finhackad gul lök
- en normalstor lök till ca 4 dl kikärter brukar blir bra
finhackad vitlök
- nåja, efter var och ens tycke och smak
hackade färska tomater
- enligt behag, men ta bort det sladdriga innamätet från tomaterna annars blir allt så blaskigt. Stoppa det i munnen genast istället, det är hälsosamt.
grön currypasta
- från burk, och ja, det är viktigt att den är grön. Här får du anpassa mängden efter styrkan på currypastan, den varierar har jag märkt. Ca en rågad matsked till 4 dl kikärter brukar jag ta.
slarvigt hackad färsk mynta
- enligt tycke
olivolja

Fräs hackad lök och vitlök i en kastrull eller stekpanna, på förnuftig temperatur och i vettig mängd olivolja - inte så att löken blir brun. Rör ner currypastan. Lägg i kikärterna och tomaterna, de behöver bara bli varma. Ta bort kastrullen från spisen. Ner med myntan och krafsa ihop allt lite grann. Jo, man får salta om man tycker att det behövs. Så där ja. Har den äkta hälften nu skött sin plikt vid grillen och ungarna dukat bordet är allt klart vid det här laget. Praktiskt och bra, och har man vegetarianer vid middagsbordet hålls även de nöjda och du kan med ännu bättre samvete äta upp kycklingen själv.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well. Well. Well. So I'm on vacation but still have to eat. This is likely to make some of You laugh out loud, for a good chef... I'm not. Maybe that's why I choose to keep the process of making food really short and thus alleviate the discomfort working in the kitchen provokes. We therefore now let the better marital half do the barbecuing of the chicken and the corn, while we prepare the warm chickpea-salad seen to the left on the first image. I like chickpeas.

cooked chickpeas out of Your own pot or tin
- You might want to adjust the amount to suit the people You are planning to serve...
finely chopped yellow onion(s)
- a normal size onion per 4 dl chickpeas would be advisable
finely chopped garlic
- well, according to taste
chopped fresh tomatoes
- as much as You please, but do remove the sluschy pulps from the tomatoes otherwise the whole salad will turn out watery. Put the pulps in Your mouth right away instead, they are good for You.
green curry paste
- from the jar, and yes, it is important that it is green. Here you should probably adjust the amount accordinly to the strength of the curry paste, I have noticed it varies. I usually add about one brimfull tablespoon to 4 dl chickpeas
carelessly chopped fresh mint
- according to taste
olive oil

Fry the chopped onion and garlic in a saucepan or frying pan, on sensible heat and in reasonable amount of olive oil - see to it that the onion and garlic does not get burned. Add the curry paste. Add the chickpeas and tomatoes, they only need to become warm. Remove the pot from the stove. In with the mint and toss it around little. Yes, You may add some salt if You think it's necessary. There You go. Now, IF the better marital half has done his/her duty at the barbecue and the kids have set the table everything should be ready. Practical and easy-peasy, and if You have vegetarians at the dinner table they will be satisfied too, and you can have the chicken Yourself with an even better conscience.

lördag 27 juni 2009

Andrew

Sometimes the internet allows You to stumble into beauty You would otherwise have missed, not really knowing that You unaware of it's excistense still longed for it from the very beginning. This can happen in various ways - art, nature, religion, understanding, friendship, love...

In this case it's music. Let me introduce to You my friend - Mr [Andrew M. Pisanu]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ibland händer det sig att internet låter dig snubbla över skönhet du annars hade gått miste om, och som du utan att känna till dess existens ändå hela tiden saknat - ända från begynnelsen. Det här kan hända inom många områden - konst, natur, religion, förståelse, vänskap, kärlek...

I det här fallet handlar det om musik. Låt mig presentera för er min vän - Mr [Andrew M. Pisanu]

onsdag 24 juni 2009

Just a tiny little...

.
... and then the life outside of it!

video

tisdag 23 juni 2009

a place to drown

.

söndag 7 juni 2009

lakealike music by the sea


Jag är 37 år och och ser inte en dag yngre ut.
När jag ställer mig på scen tänker banne mig inte utge mig för att var något popsnöre.
Brittan, X-tina, Duffan, Rhianna och alla Katiesar får skutta runt och do their thing
- Själv har jag tänkt sjunga.
Dani Strömbäck har lovat spela piano. Det gör han något otroligt bra.
Åminne Folkpark (vid havet ni vet!) Malax, Finland
Inkommande lördag 13.6 kl. 20.30 ungefär.

Välkomna då!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am 37 years old and do not look a day younger.
When I enter the stage I will not pretend to be a teenage pop-princess.
Britney, X-tina, Duffy, Rhianna and all the Katies may jump around and do their thing
- Personally I'm going to sing.
Dani Strömbäck has promised to play the piano. He does that incredibly well.
Åminne Folkpark (by the sea!) Malax, Finland
Next Saturday 13.6, 20.30 in the evening something.

Welcome then!

fredag 5 juni 2009

bowling

.
When I was little I used to go to the bowling alley with my father. Since the town swimming hall was situated in the same building I always went swimming while he represented the bowling team of his working place. I was usually finished performing the crawl and the backstroke and the butterfly and the very, very interesting but maybe not so effective or accurate swimming techniques of my own invention before my father was done bowling, and so I'd sit and watch him and his team mates giving their best in the final run of every session.

It was fascinating. How did they do it! How did they manage to hit all those pins in a single stroke? I was filled with respect, extremely excited and very solemn and yet my father seemed more relaxed and humourous than ever. Why!?

This afternoon I went bowling with my colleagues. One of us is known for using not only one but several lanes for each roll, another one of us uses glasses for the first time in his life, a third has recently begun a new training programme and claims his body is trying to crawl out of his skin and as for me... well, I'm bowling with an arm that has been broken... twice... at the elbow... I still can't get it totally stretched out...

But it is not my failing elbow that finally makes me understand the nature of amateur bowling and why serious men and solemn women all of a sudden burst into laughter. No, no, no. It's my dear colleague P pointing out to me the way my right leg swings when I try to get that damn ball going in a direction beneficial for doing the ever-so-serious-sport-of-my-childhood- fascination some real honour. It's the way he claims that the POSES I STRIKE WITH MY LEGS are far more elegant than my performance with the bowling ball on the lane. "Are You doing the dying swan", he askes "or are You doing the tormented crow?"

Later in the evening I talk to my mother on the phone. "I've been bowling today", I say to her. "Oh! I must tell Your father!" she eagerly replies and calls upon him, still on the phone. In the background I can hear him state something like: "...it probably went pretty well, after all she's my girl and these kinds of talents are often inherited..."

I'm five seconds away from telling him about the dying swan and the tormented crow, but then again... nah! He does not need to know, does he! Let him keep the vision of his fascinated little girl, filled with admiration. The truth is though, I'm still quite intrigued by this sport! Not that I would ever admit that infront of h-i-m ...

... scared to death he would challenge me for a bowling session! I'm sure HE would laugh - but could I?


smileys


Thanks for the reminder, M!

onsdag 3 juni 2009

Hot N Cold



Who's to say who's Hot N who's Not?

Var bara tvungen att låna lite material av dig, Kattis!

måndag 1 juni 2009

belliart

you you you you you you you you you you you

fredag 29 maj 2009

ain't misbehavin'