What's happening in Elina's world.

Chapter 1

I visited Amoena last week, as she already announced in her blog. I wanted to finally meet her new boyfriend J.R. (not so new anymore) and her new puppy, Papu (aww!).

Amoena and J.R. were really cute and funny together, and I totally fell in love with Papu. She was a little wary and shy at first and barked at any movement that I made. But by the evening, she let me touch her already and accepted me as her new friend. The next day we were on super-cuddly terms. I love dogs that like cuddling.

She was so beautiful, I didn't quite expect that. Miniature pinschers are now at the top of my potential candidate list for a dog breed, if I'm ever going to get a dog. Papu was very energetic and athletic and nimble. If she got excited, she just bounced around the apartment on sofas and chairs. She can also jump very high. Isn't that cool?

I can still see her soulful eyes and ears in my mind. But I'll have to be careful when choosing my own, as Amoena demonstrated to me that not all miniature pinschers are as pretty as Papu.

Chapter 2

Yesterday I finally met Deniselle. I've known of her for about six months now, through her blogs and Twitter. It's a fun story how I "found" her.

Once upon a time during my Christmas break, I was searching for Gaius Baltar fanfiction stories on Google. Gaius is a character from the scifi tv series Battlestar Galactica (probably the best of any tv you'll ever see). It was difficult to find any good ones, but I stumbled upon Deniselle's blog post where she gave her critique on some stories. Her writing style was so intelligent and analytical that I was hooked. Moreover, it was fuel for my James Callis-mania which had waned a little at that point.

I had a little crush on Deniselle the blogger. I like her sense of self-irony and crazy humour. She also writes very long posts, but it doesn't matter because there is nothing redundant. I may not be able to read whole books, but I like reading thoughtful blogs.

So we had a fun afternoon, ate at McDonald's and had coffee and tea at Coffee House, then visited some bookstores just so we didn't have to walk outside in the rain. She physically assaulted me and harassed me sexually, but I survived. We started planning our own religion centring on Jamus, the holy duality of James Callis and his spiritual incarnation in us (or something like that). We'll build an altar for him and share his love through hugs.

I'm kidding, of course. In reality, we talked about business meetings, world politics and economy, human rights and the finesses of translating.

So it was good that we finally met. I'm much more bold now about meeting new people.

Chapter 3

I also have some new hobbies. I bought a quality badminton racket from sale on Budgetsport and I've played twice already, according to the real rules! I found my badminton buddy online, which is a little random, but if it works, to heck with it. The same guy also carried my new sofa 1,5 stories on his own to my apartment! I can see he's muscular, but that was a Supermanly feat to perform.

I've also been seeing Frenchie's Finnish girlfriend, whom I briefly met last summer. She was very nice and funny and I think she likes my company too. She will move to Hämeenlinna soon, but she will probably still visit Tampere occasionally. The Frenchie isn't very excited though that we like to gossip about his peculiarities when we meet up, but it's his fault - shouldn't have introduced us if he's so afraid for his privacy. Guys are too paranoid about their privacy in any case. It's healthy if you're a politician or a celebrity or a king or whatever, but nobody cares about a nobody.

There's also this girl from Tampere, about 2km from my place, who added me on her MSN upon seeing my penpal advertisement. Turns out she's also from Hollola and we went to the same high schools at the same time! I hope to meet her too at some point. She likes to knit, which brings me to my next bit of news from Elina's world.

Chapter 4

I didn't just sit around and chat at Amoena's. She taught me how to knit and purl again! I knew how to do that a long time ago, but I never got beyond knitting scarves, which I never even finished. I feel more determined now to finish whatever I start. Besides, now there's Youtube and Google, unlike in the times of yore when I started out on knitting the first time. I also plan to learn crocheting, which according to Amoena is easier than knitting. We'll see.

I finished my very first mitten in two days, barely stopping to say "mhmhm" when Amoena told me she would take Papu for a walk again. And here's the result!

The photo is a little blurry but the mitten looks nice live, trust me. I like the colour, it ranges from pink to fuchsia. I knitted it very tight with bulky yarn so it was a bit hard, but I made it through. I always tend to knit too tight. My right ring finger still has a small spot with no sense of touch, since it was completely numb during the weekend. Knitting is dangerous, kids! Especially to people with Raynaud's syndrome.

Epilogue

I still haven't written all those papers I should in order to graduate. There's always tomorrow, and then there's next week. What's the hurry anyway? I like lounging and being lazy and enjoying life and people. I don't feel so good about neglecting my painting hobby, so I plan to enroll to a painting course at Työväenopisto in Tampere (a workers' institute).

It costs 44e, which isn't too bad. I want to get some feedback from a real teacher and learn the proper basic techniques. I will probably refuse to use local colours, but that doesn't mean I can't plan my colour usage more carefully to attain some special effects. I'll never achieve that on my own, due to my incredible impatience and short attention span.

I'll also take some language courses at the Uni, since this is my last chance to learn languages for free. No one will know if I graduate in the middle, because I don't plan to take the tests anyway. I don't need the credits or grades, I just want to educate myself. Languages don't really take that much effort from me.

I'll take up spoken French, advanced basics in German, and Italian reading comprehension. I also thought about English speech practise because I'd like to more fluent. I'm confident and satisfied with my writing skills in English, but my speech skills could use some extra practise.

Well, I think I've spelled out the essence of my life of lately. I still plan to discuss my experience with Windows 7, no worries. I'll probably be back to my blogging routine when the summer ends, since I'll want a diversion from the ever-increasingly depressing weather.