Solution

Being the most popular blog writer in Finland (having at least 6 verified dedicated followers) and a somewhat sane person nevertheless (possessing hardly any delusions of grandeur, for example), I'm often called in, by the Finnish government, to solve severe domestic and/or international emergencies.

As is the case today with the economic situation in Greece. The prime minister of Finland (and a very dear friend of mine) lately asked me to find a solution to this severe crisis, that is actually threatening the very basis of EU, or whatever. So, here's my proposition.

First, some background.

Greek culture, philosophy, literature, music, sports and cuisine has been renowned for millenia. The mediterranean climate is very nice.

Finland has been populated by humans for several centuries, could also be more, it's hard to tell because no-one cares. The people have always lived in huts and tents without chimneys (so the smoke from the fire comes in), in arctic conditions, surviving mostly on bark and pinecones, and occasionally on small forest animals, if they're lucky. Favourite pastimes in Finland consist of drinking moonshine and battering peers with birch logs. Oh yeah, and in the recent years there's been the success story of Finnish hi-tech and Nokia.

So, it seems to me, that the Greek have had it easy, sipping wine and eating gyros by the mediterranean sea, for thousands of years, and now they're screwed. Meanwhile, we, the Finnish, have suffered miserably, but somehow we're doing ok, financially.

My proposition is simple: let's swap countries. The Greek move to Finland, the Finnish move to Greece. In addition, the Greek get to keep Nokia so they can sell it to pay for their huge national debt. This OK by you, Matti?

Man, I can't wait to get to the seaside, to lift my feet up and have some gyros and Retsina. I'm totally sick of having pinecones for breakfast, then skiing to work in the -42°C frost, while being chased by a hungry pack of wolves, each morning.

Self-actualization

I got to be alone at home today, which is a rare occasion these days. I sat on the couch, turned heavy metal music on the stereo to 11 (Viimeinen Atlantis by Stam1na), sat there for a while and thought to myself: "Wow, this is something else: I can actually hear myself think".

Of course, the first thought that I could hear was "I want some peanuts", but after getting the peanuts, I found out that there is a desire in me to practice arts and/or crafts.

I had a sudden craving to go to the backyard, pile all the snow in one place (there's lots of it, it's a record winter) and mould the pile into a sculpture of some kind. At the same time, I wanted to paint/draw/play the guitar/do some woodwork/build a shed. I experienced a spontaneous surge of creativity.

Knowing that I had just a couple of hours of time before the rest of the family got back home again, I rummaged frantically around the household, trying to find some arts and crafts equipment. I considered carving a sword for the kid out of a plank, but doing it in the yard in the snow, in an hour, seemed a bit extreme. So, I managed to find a pencil, a pencil sharpener and some paper, sat down and drew a Fiat 500 out of memory:


Endearing, isn't it.

Having let out most of the steam, I got a mirror and attempted a self-portrait. It turned out that photorealism isn't my forté. The portrait was scarier than I assume myself to appear. Or then my assumption of the scariness of my appearance is simply wrong. Yikes. Or then again, perhaps I should practice drawing more than once in a decade.

I did manage to crock up my (working) life in a series of croquis drawings, however:



But how come this sudden burst of self-expression? At work, even though I do things that other people tell me to do, I get to decide a lot about how the things are done. So, in my opinion, I get to express, or actualize, if you will, myself a lot. Also, my choice of rather bicycling to/from work instead of taking the bus is a form of self-expression of some kind.

I don't know, but I suspect that I got a spark from the music I mentioned in the beginning. Viimeinen Atlantis, by Stam1na, was released this week, 10.2.2010. Already it's been hailed as one of the best metal records of all time, the best Finnish record ever et cetera, and I fully agree. So, I just find it astonishing that a relatively unknown group coming from a small Finnish village creates this epic record that will probably do more for the benefit of eco-awareness than Greenpeace ever could (at least in Finland). At least it did that for me.

I'll do that snow sculpture tomorrow with my kid. Who knows, maybe we'll get a creative outburst and it will be the epic snow sculpture of all time.