Today's the day

My last working day, after almost 10 years in the same company.
It's sad, but it's also a good feeling.

Change.

My boss just asked me what were the most positive things over these years, and I said: the people.

Gladly I'm not disappearing from the face of the earth - so there are ways to keep in touch still.

And who knows where we meet again.

Korean, anybody?

I received a farewell gift (next week is my last week at my current job) from a business contact in Korea - it's something that every home should have, and I didn't even know that I needed...
It's an electronic photo frame. You can download pictures from digital camera / computer / memory card, and they will then show in the frame in a slide-show mode.

Well, its lack of usefulness and its total un-necessity put aside, there is a one minor detail which makes the use of it a tad difficult. All the menus and user advice in the screen itself are in Korean. According to the user's manual, there are language options - but what's "English" in Korean..

It's like the classic practical joke - take your friends phone and go to language options and change the overall phone language to ... well, for example to Korean. And then just watch closely as your friend (who, at this point, is quickly turning into an enemy) tries to tackle the usage of the phone with the new, improved language.
Do not try this at home.

Birthday girl

Yesterday we had some cake and cookies and sparkling wine, to celebrate somebody who's turning 14. (Well, obviously she didn't have any wine..). She got presents, and on top of all the festivities she had the honour to model my latest FO - which kind of reminds me of a birthday girl outfit, anyway... it's very feminine and pretty, I think:



So, finally, it's the "Auburn Camp Shirt" (Chrissy Gardiner, IK Spring '08), made with Sirdar BabyBamboo, Olive color. I like it's tailored effects:

I modified the sleeves a bit (leaving out the folded cuff-link with button). This cardi is a bit big for 14 year old's size, as you can see especially in the sleeve department, but hopefully will fit perfectly the person who's going to receive it as a present. But don't tell her yet! :)

On mortality

Today I noticed in the local paper that My Cemetery (which is of course a common cemetery for all to visit, but which I somehow feel is mine, due to the fact that I pass through it almost daily since it's located right behind our home, and I adore the old trees and calm athmosphere - I view it more as a park than a gloomy, scary place), together with some art students, has published a web site where you can find the location of the all the important or otherwise interesting people's graves. And there's some biographic bits and pieces also included.

Well, I know that there are more important and inspiring things in life than this particular web site, surely, but this is actually something I have thought of many times when walking among the old tomb stones. That why don't I know more about all these people, who could teach me more about them. And now, here's my answer.

I've been also thinking many many times to take photos of the fascinating old grave stones - they are like works of art, some of them - beautiful craftmanship.

Hello, I'd like to register a complaint - Vol. 2

Dear editors of Interweave Knits,

I just received your latest issue, Summer '09, and with my normal eagerness started to leaf through the pages immediately. To my huge disappointment there was not a single pattern which caught my fancy - not a single one! And come to think of it, there hasn't been that many in your previous issues either..

I started to subscribe in 2006, and was very happy with your magazine for a couple of years - interesting, challenging patterns which always inspired me to do my best and teach myself something new. But now..... the buzz just isn't there anymore. To be honest, most of the patterns are dull and boring - and don't even look like ones that a self-respecting knitter would wear in public. It seems that you have chosen the middle part of the road - the most safe and simple way to go.

Sorry to sound harsh, but I think I'm not the only one thinking these thoughts - since I've been reading and hearing about complaints also elsewhere in the knitting community. I've continued my subscription for 1 more year - it might be the last.

Yours complainingly,

-N-

greens

What's been going on recently at Chez Kudos?

*Finally, my green cardi is ready - a long time coming, that was.... ("Auburn Camp Shirt" by Chrissy Gardiner / IK Spring '08). You can see it enjoying it's bath in one of the pictures above. I'm not sure yet who will be using this piece of clothing eventually... might be someone else than the knitter herself.. :)

More pics to come, of course...

*I started a course. After 8 sessions I'm supposed to know all there is about InDesign (graphic design/layout tool) - but let me tell you, I don't know much yet, after 2 lessons.. Either it's me, or the teacher is somehow jumping from one thing to another and there are bits missing.. it can't be me, can it.. Anyway, it's just for my general personal improvement, so I don't take it too seriously - and heck, it's always good for the brain to get a little action.

*I've been wondering what to start next - knit-wise, I mean. .

*I've been enjoying loads of asparagus - yummy.

*..and yeah, Basil from Faulty Towers is still alive - and related to all things green, I'm planning to put our balcony into summer shape in the coming days.

World of more

St. Basil the Great is doing fine, requires more water now, it seems.

I've been reading a book by John Nash called "Enough - Breaking Free from the World of More" (in Finnish: "Riittää jo - irti maailmasta jossa kaikkea on ihan liikaa", Atena). The main idea is that due to the relatively quickly developed culture of humans, our brains have parts in them which are still pretty much from the Stone Age and haven't evolved that much - therefore we are programmed to think that all this food, stuff, success and happiness that we have accumulated can be taken away from us any minute, and we must always get more, more, more, to feel more secure.

Back in the good ol' days when a few hunter-gatherers roamed the woods and fought for life and death, it was important to be the most clever one and have most food stacked in your cave for the bad, rainy days - the survival of the fittest, you know..

Now, we are still stacking our closets and garages and cupboards with stuff we don't need, stuffing ourselves with more food than we actually need to stay alive and well, work our asses off because it's supposed to be somehow cool to always say to people that "I'm soooo busy at work", and aim for Bigger Happiness even though we should be quite content with what we've got now. And, by doing this, we all know what we are doing to the natural resources of this planet.

All of this in order to keep up with the Joneses, with the needs that are instilled into our minds. It's no use blaming The Society or Advertising or the Modern Culture (the famous Them, root of all evil) for this problem - it's just that our brains are programmed to act like this, and marketing people have found out where to strike with most power. You are nothing if you don't own this or that gadget, if you don't care about which shampoo you use, or if, god forbid, you want to drop out of the rat race and don't want more money, more power, more of everything.

The message is very simple: it's way past the Stone Age, dudes, we have enough of everything and consuming more or shopping for more will not make us any happier - and we should somehow de-program our minds to settle for less, be content with what we have. And in this context, the terms 'to settle' and 'to be content with' should not have any negative connotations.

Well, I guess I'm somehow carrying these ideas out in my own little way, now finally implementing into reality what I have been feeling over the past years in my private thoughts - by letting go of my 'safe' job (and just who's job is safe anyway, these days...) I'm also happy to renounce the mentality where nothing is never enough and more-more-more is always required.

It was fun while it lasted, sure, and brought along with it many good experiences, but in the end I'm happy to let go.

* * *

To end this posting with higher note after the Thursday Sermon, here's a May 1st joke for you:

Two cannibals were eating a clown. One said to the other: "I don't know about you but this sure tastes funny to me".

Yeah, I know. It's so last season :)