When the sun is setting, between dusk and darkness, there is a moment when the light turns blue. And the world stops for a heartbeat.
Possessing a love for flowers and no green thumb can be… aggravating. Especially in Finland where the season for natural flowers is short.
Occassionally, I give it another go.
Kiara helped me pot some Erikas. A special favourite of mine – for obvious reasons.
Finns are not very good at building neighborhood communities. In general, Finns are not very good at casual socializing. Having lived in our current house for five years, only now – through Scouts – have I realized there is actually any community activity at all.
So today was a Soukka Neighborhood Day. The girls participated in a Scouts skill trail, which rewarded participants with a free crepe and jam.
Grassroots participation.
A good night out is a good night out.
Not much more needs to be said.
A city is always better with some element of water, be it the sea, a lake or a river. There are some cities that are nice despite not having any. But not many.
Considering I don’t want a boat, and very rarely even swim in the sea, I really can’t tell you why I find it so important.
It just is.
Company meet-ups can be a great place to pull your head out of the daily rat race and deal with things you never have time to solve.
This year we tested “speed dating” – two teams at a time, 30 minutes. Task: solve one problem in every meeting.
Surprisingly useful.
It’s a pity how rarely you actually go to any of the cool spots in Helsinki in your day-to-day life.
Foreign visitors are always a great excuse.
Since its founding, our company has been pretty diverse, even for a startup. I remember when we hit 45 employees, we had people of 19 nationalities living in 14 countries (and 49% women).
I love it, but it comes with its challenges. And, to be fair, any company culture benefits when colleagues occassionally meet face-to-face.
So once a year, we bring managers and a few experts together. We still keep it casual.
Good for business, tough on photography projects!
The older I get, the less likely I am to order a steak in a restaurant. It’s heavy. And often quite boring.
But a really, really good steak?
Still the food of gods.
Somewhat by accident Alanna, Kiara and I ended up in Design Week’s kids’ workshop.
The girls got to design fashionable outfits, new houses and a – best of all – a mascot that they could then program to make sounds, flash lights, or show images.
An accident to repeat.
I have seen many world-famous churches with breathtaking decor on my travels – and yet there is none I like more than Tampere Catethdral.
When painting the church in 1904-07, Hugo Simberg (who just happens to be my favourite artist) broke all the norms. He painted a snake (the most evil of creatures) eating an apple in a prime spot on the ceiling, roses to symbolize earthly love, and – shock horror- 12 naked small boys (the apostles?) carrying the “Garland of Life”.
None of which you would call typical for its time.
My favourites, though, are the two more famous works on the walls: The Wounded Angel, lovingly carried by two peasant boys (note the factories in the background, placing the scene firmly in the industrial Tampere), and the Garden of Death. In the latter, the creatures of Death tenderly care for the delicate flowers, the souls of the departed.
This is so much more approachable and warm than the massive cathedrals in Europe built to inspire awe. Fits my small-scale view of life much better.
