I: States

So I'm back in the states.

Maine right now with A, H, M, O, C, and E.

Briana and I had an awesome time on Scandinavia '09.

Pictures will come soon.

Psh

I think I am the only person from my high school that isn't either... engaged, married, or has five kids.

I swear this crap come in waves...now the few people that were single and are now finished with graduate school are getting engaged.  Looking through facebook tonight I wanted to puke a little, maybe it was more like wanting to slit my wrists, I can't distinguish between those feelings very well right now, I've had the flu.

For the first time in my life I am starting to relate to Bridget Jones.  Next thing I know I will be running a marathon or driving a red convertible sports car.  

This is not good.

Stockholm Photos II

Stockholm Photos I

We boarded the ferry bound for Stockholm at 5:00 p.m.

Goodbye Helsinki

Suomelinna-cool fortress island I have yet to visit

The sweetest ferry/cruise ever!

I woke up early and stood on the deck for a while.  There were thousands of beautiful little islands that our boat had to weave through.  The water was so still and and the land serene.  It was amazing.

The water looked like a very good rendering of water.  It was really weird.

Almost viscous.

Heading into the Metro bound for the city center.

City center-ish.

Market by our hotel.  Everything was so cheap and fresh even the guys selling were "fresh."

They sell punk here.

My favorite new saying.

THEY HAVE 7-11'S THERE!  But unfortunately no slurpees, very disappointing.

(I love the kids in the foreground, looking at me like "WTF?")

Stockholm Public Library by Gunnar Asplund, 1928.

The entrance/ascent into the main room was very dramatic.

Main room.

Metro.

St. Mark's church by Sigurd Lewerentz in Bjorkhagen.

I loved the large light fixture.

I was trying to get beamed back to the mother ship.

This was just outside of the church.  Loved it.

This was the entrance to Skogskyrkogarden, apparently they really want to keep the living out at night.

This was the first vista of the garden and it was depressing.  Everything looked brown and dead.  Little did I know...

Random chapel #2 in the garden.

The trees were magnificent!

And the scales of the bark were huge!

Greta Garbo's grave.

It was absolutely amazingly beautiful.  It was so serene, clean, and peaceful.

I wouldn't mind being put there after I croak.

This is the only straight path through the garden.

This was kind of weird.  But it had a very cool ascent.

Sooooooo

So I'm not very good at blogging.  

I'll write again sometime soon.

But quick update...I am totally annoyed with everyone here....but other than that things are great!

Talk to you soon!

Candy that will kill you

Okay so as most people know I have a sweet tooth, or many sweet teeth, and as part of my adventure in this land of Fin I have been testing out Finnish candy.  Well yesterday I went to the grocery store to get some chicken and vegetables for a stir-fry and while I was there I stopped in the candy isle.  Now up to this point I have only experienced mediocre candy so I decided to go big and try something that had a cool and brightly colored package.  So I pick up this package that was black with an abstracted yellow lion head and writing that looked crazy.  Now I could see the little green, purple, red, orange, and black sugar coated candies through the package and thought at worst they would be fruity and really sour.  I bought them.

Later that night after a really nice stir-fry dinner, some Pepsi-Max (max taste, no sugar!), and a nice long shower I was feeling good.  I lay down on my bed and decide to watch the Italian Job and play a little free-cell before I go to sleep (believe it or not I actually have had time to do this!)  I start the movie and decide to tryout this long awaited finnish treat.  I open it up.  It smells a little peculiar, kind of like black licorice but not quite.  So I pop one in my mouth and chew.  It's not licorice, it's more like a detergent.  Now I pop another one just to make sure I didn't just get a bad one... and of course it was just as bad, if not worse.  I needed to wash my mouth out the taste was so bad.

Today I bring the vile candy with me to school and Jono helps me figure out what it is.  "Tar Lion, Wild North" is the name of the candy.  The main ingredient is TAR.  That's right tar.  The flavors in the package are as follow:  lemon juniper berry, lacquer-licorice, licorice-tar, tar salt, and lingonberry-coniferous.  WTF?  

On the bottom front of the package it says "Exciting flavors of Finland's forests."  

I never want to taste Finland's forests again.

I can honestly say that it was the most disgusting candy I have ever had in my life.

Music

As I am sitting at a small window nook in my fourth floor flat in the middle of Helsinki, eating Honey Nut Cheerios and listening to "Australia" by The Shins, I am overcome by a deep realization of love and appreciation for music.

I used to love music for the high energy and kick-in-the-face attitude, but now I gravitate towards music that is more calming and that with lyrics I can actually understand without having to read them.  

Music makes me happy.  Good music makes me happy.

I love The Shins.

They make me happy.