great places

Congratulations!

Today is your day. 

You're off to Great Places! 

You're off and away! 

You have brains in your head. 

You have feet in your shoes. 

You can steer yourself 

any direction you choose. 

You're on your own. And you know what you know. 

And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go. 

Dr. Seuss: Oh, the Places You'll Go!

winter winter winter

Dear December,

Please bring us the same kind of snow we've had in Helsinki for the past two winters. I won't mind you making my trains late or sneaking into my boots or clouding my glasses. Just bring us a cold white wet blanket and those red cheeks.

Please help me find my calm this Christmas. I swear I'll try my very best to do my Christmas shopping and fretting in time. I'll open my ears and my eyes for everything you want to show me, snowflakes and Christmas lights and delightful jazzy Christmas songs.

Speaking of which. There's this one Christmas song that always always makes me cry a bit. Because it promises things like next year all our troubles will be out of sight and faithful friends who are dear to us will be near to us once more. So, yeah. That. 

Thanks ever so. And I'll see you tomorrow. With all my advent calendars on the ready and my corny Christmas playlists on standby. 

Yours daily and nightly and ever so rightly (for the next thirty-one days at least), 

me

good night

(This was supposed to be a post with links in. 

But what do you know, I haven't found much to link to this past week. 

So have a gut-punching, spine-tingling, mercurial poem instead.)

I wanted to write "stay" 

on your sides, surround 

your bed with oceans 

of salt. 

I hope he folds you 

into a fox, loves you 

like a splintered arrow, 

brandishes the kill 

of your lips. 

May the bouquet 

of your hips wither. 

May the wolves 

forget your name. 

J. Bradley

saturday

thursday words

Rain, rain, exams, rain, rain.

Also my hand hurts from knitting too much.

I'm a bit how do you words right now as you can see, and amazingly uninspired.

But actually being uninspired and kind of lazy allows for some little delights: I've been dancing a lot lately, silly little dances while waiting for the toaster to ping or the water to boil or while drying my hair. Also I've been listening to musical theatre soundtracks rather a lot and singing staccato versions of Good Morning Baltimore while brushing my teeth. So it's not all doom and gloom, as they say.

I guess what I'm trying to say is maybe it's not so bad to make a habit out of making a fool of yourself in private. (And who knows, maybe I'll go public with my act one of these days, windmill kick my insecurities in the face.)

Promise me you'll always remember: you're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. 

A.A. Milne