Happy Halloween

Today is the real Halloween, the Trick or Treat night. It's also customary for the grown-ups to dress up at work, we had few people dress up - I just didn't have time to come up with anything new so I went for my red classic. I was actually quite pleasantly surprised that I could still fit into it - it's been about ten years since the last time! Some of the costumes at work were exeptionally good - my lead was Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean, and the winner was a girl who dressed up as Carrie, complete and drenched in blood. We also had lunch time entertainment in form of pizza and a movie (Shaun of the Dead - yay!)... and of course this was the day I had to move desks to make room for a new guy starting tomorrow.

The TOS uniform is a funny thing to wear anyway, as people's reactions vary enormously. Surprisingly, all the men were very careful to look me straight into the eyes, whereas the women were the ones that wanted to check exactly how short the skirt was and didn't shy away from bending down to examine it. The weird thing was, I felt that had to work more to get the same respect I would normally expect... good thing I had the pirate on my side!

Work has been challenging - we're in the begining of a new project when projects are always at their most unstable. Still, it's been very satisfying since I feel that for the first time ever I'm in a position where I can fully utilize my both my skills from the time I was developer and as a QA engineer - and I'm actually starting be in a position where I'm no longer just learning the job, I'm actually doing it. I can refer back to my earlier experiences and bring something new to the table, I can actually improve the process and get things done faster and more efficiently. People around me have learned to know me and trust me, and listen to what I have to say.

And it feels good. It's funny, that I have these two things inside me that are so different - QA that is so rational and logical, and yoga that is so mental and spiritual. Both feed a part of me that I need. Balance.

(And no yoga today!)

Challenge over

Yes, it's finally over.

I feel completely drained - this weekend has for several resons been a big landmark, I've been working for it for weeks. Now it's over and I'm completely exhausted... had a chat with Chu this morning, but I couldn't even hold a proper conversation for too long.

To celebrate the end of the 30-day challenge, we had a brunch this morning (luckily the clocks went back otherwise I would have had serious difficulties) - it was actually really nice and relaxing. Starting with mimosas, and delicious vegetarian food, good company... And I got to hold Jack - my close family and friends have never really had any babies, so I've never been around them and know next to nothing about how to handle them. I think first time I ever held a baby was when Mikki's mother without any warning put his baby sister on my lap - I remember being quite terrified. Jason was surprised when he heard that I've never really held a baby, so of course he insisted I took Jack, which I then did... and it was fabulous. He's such a happy baby, and quite happily lets anyone hold him.

Check out the photos if you're interested.

Birthday boy

Late

It's late, but I've got a cake. (Work was hell, too.)

Musings

Last week at work I got myself speakers with a headphone jack (one of the applications I was testing had sounds that needed to be checked) so this week I've been listening to BBC Radio 4, something I got addicted to while living in England. Lets face it - no one in the world does news like BBC, something I got really blasé about when it was the standard but that I've really now missed in Canada where the news come from various biased sources (unfortunately some of them American - never good). And I still like to follow British politics, it was part of my life for so long that once and a while I need to check how "folks back home" are doing - whereas Finnish politics are starting to feel like ancient history and only things that stick to mind are idiots like Vanhanen and Karpela which probably doesn't give a very accurate image of the state of the affairs.

Anyway, British politics. Something that they have been wrestling with lately has been banning of smoking in public places. This is actually a topic close to my heart - something that basically prevented me from spending much time in British pubs was the smoking: I literally get sick from tobacco smoke, and I'm not even getting to the effect of second hand smoking that are quite widely known. In Vancouver there is a total ban on smoking in public places, and I love it, love it, love it... The fact that you can eat your lunch or dinner in a nice environment, but also that you can spend an evening in a club without getting sick from the smoke is simply fabulous. And this was the way England was going to go, too - I understand Scotland had already decided to do that, and Wales will probably follow suit - until Blair started flip-flopping and yesterday made a decision to go for a partial ban. The arguments put forward have been ridiculous to put it politely - for example that "if people can't smoke in the pub they go home to smoke and expose their kids to second hand smoking" whereas research shows that in the countries where smoking on public places has been banned there has been a decrease of smoking altogether - people still want to drink more than they want to smoke.

Result is that smoking has been banned in places that serve food and will be allowed in clubs and pubs that don't serve food (although what constitutes as food is apparently not defined), and in "private clubs". This does very little for the original aim of the ban that was supposed to protect the bar staff - it puts them in unequal position where in some places they are protected and in other they aren't, let alone compared to their colleagues in Scotland and Wales that are all protected. It's a complete cop-out, and the only reason I can think for this is got to be some kind of lobbying from the tobacco companies. Research done on the bans in other countries prove that bans are in fact very popular and health benefits are tangible, so I find it difficult to believe that the result is because they would be afraid of what people will think.

And one thing I have never understood either, has been the insistence that smoking is somehow an issue about personal freedom. Yes, I can understand why people argue they have a right to pollute their own lungs and take years off their own lives - albeit it means they still use the hospitals that I pay for - but why do people think they have the right to do that to anyone else? Some people wouldn't dream of smoking in front of their children (and good for them) - but still insist they should be able to do it with their friends and complete strangers. They oppose having to go into smelling smoking rooms on the airport, but still think it's fine to expose me to that smoke and make my clothes smell like that. I hope the government in Britain will have the balls to go with a total ban eventually.

Weird

After complaining yesterday how broken I feel, I ended up having a good practice today. It's impossible to guess - in the morning I was contemplating on skipping flow and going to yin... but by the time I was in the flow class I was feeling pretty good again.

Tough before the end

25 down and 5 to go.

And yes, it's getting very tough. Last week was good, but on Sunday, and still continuing, it's blood and tears. Physically I'm feeling very fragile, especially my hips are so tender bending down to take off my shoes almost makes me cry. I try to keep the balance between being determined, getting through the challenge and being compassionate towards myself and listening to my body's needs. I do this by still going to the classes, but easing off on postures that just don't feel right - for example Prasarita series has been completely out of the question. It's just soreness, and given rest it'll go away.

I've come this far, I can't give up now.

1st to Die by James Patterson

Since Outi recommended James Patterson's books I've had them on the radar waiting for a suitable vacant spot in my reading schedule to try them out. Unfortunately my list has been pretty full, but since I started using Audible and listening to audiobooks I've downloaded some of his books on my iPod. For some reason my first pick was one of his less known book 1st do Die, the first book in the The Women's Murder Club series. The story is about four women - one San Fransisco PD instector, one reporter, one coroner and one district attourney - come together to solve a case of a serial killer after newlyweds.

Patterson has a strange habit of making his chapters very short, sometimes cutting a scene in the middle, for dramatic effect, maybe - but personally I didn't see the point. But this short and to the point style makes me think of CSI or Law and Order - in fact, the whole book with it's plot reminds me of an episode in a TV series. Like chapters are scenes that are cut off by commercials, and even the characters are TV-like. Which is interesting - most of my favourite crime authors are British and their style is very much more traditional and book-like.

What bothers me most about this book though are the women. I think writing believable women characters, especially strong women, is very difficult for male writers, and Patterson is no exception. He gets everything slightly wrong, nothing major, but somehow it never feels quite right. What they think, how they behave, and especially how they interact - it all looks like he's been watching a bad sitcom with some groovy chicks and mimicked the dialog from that. I like the idea of four women coming together to solve the murders, but how they meet and becomes best friends in space of couple of hours is in my opinion just plain unbelievable. (All my major relationships, with both men and women, have been cultivated across a long periods of time, trust has been earned and given... how for example an inspector comes to trust a reporter in an hour and a day later calls her her closest friend is just... stupid.)

But it's a crime novel, and plot is what makes or breaks a book. And the plot is clever - it starts out as pretty conventional serial killer story, but there are some nice twists to the story that keeps the attention up until the end... possibly even too many twists. I'm going to read at least the next book in the series - this book read like a prelude, so I'm interested in seeing how the characters develop.

Spooked

Here's what our next door neighbour has on their door. I got spooked enough when I saw it for the first time - which is stupid, really, as I didn't think I would - but today it started talking. The neighbour seem to have turned it on and it had some kind of motion detector and it started shouting and laughing when I walked past which made me jump. The sound was quite loud - I woke up on it several times today when napping on the sofa - someone was first knocking and then banging on some neighbour's door and kept walking past the boody thing which was laughing and cursing all the time. By the time I got home from yoga they had mercifully turned it back off.

So, basically, it's Halloween time.

Which also means Dragon's birthday - and for the first time... well, probably for ever, Dragon is in the position where he likes his work mates enough to actually want to invite them to a party. So, we're having a birthday/Halloween party next Saturday, and I'm trying my best to juggle the preparations and the last week of my yoga challenge next week. It's going to be fun - I'm not sure how much I'll have time to cook, but I will be at least baking a cake (pumpkin cake, of course - Dragon loved it) and doing some chicken nibbles and dips (that Dragon also loves).

But, you know, I think I've learned a thing or two about myself with this challenge and surprisingly I'm not overwhelmed.

The face of the future?

Two weeks into my stay, David Coe, Doug's son and the presumptive heir to leadership of the Family, dropped by the house. My brothers and I assembled in the living room, where David had draped his tall frame over a burgundy leather recliner like a frat boy, one leg hanging over a padded arm.

“You guys,” David said, “are here to learn how to rule the world.”

I ran into this article called "Jesus plus nothing" during one of my random Internet crawls. Originally I thought it to be a spoof, but it seems that it is the real deal. The article describes the experiences of a writer who infiltrated a "House" owned by "Family", where the scions of the rich and powerful are raised on ultra-conservative Christian values. It is a facinating glimpse into the culture that raises the future leaders of the planet. I have to say that the content is so incredible that I struggled with the magnitude of the piece, so many powerful men were involved in it that it sounds like a fiction novel rather than a piece of investigative journalism. How truthful is it? You be the judge.

Though it is long and obviously much disputed article, it is also very well written, facinating, and utterly, utterly terrifying.

Happy reading.

I'm a little teapot...

I've mentioned this before - but I happen to collect teapots. With the arrival of my nineth tenth teapot yesterday (a fantastic thermos teapot) I decided that it was time to publish my collection. Go and have a look - and you other mad hatters, I'd love to hear your comments.

Turning point

The challenge enters it's final leg as the remaining days go to single digits - as of today I've got 21 days down and 9 to go. And you know what - even if my legs fell off right now, I'd still be extremely proud of what I've done.

It's been interesting, and as they promised, I've learned new things about myself. For example, I've noticed more and more the importance of proper eating habits - if I eat any crap, I'll notice it now immediately... that cheesecake brownie sure sounded like a good idea at lunch time, but several ours later you end up paying for it by feeling heavy and sluggish... or that Chinese lunch I just had to have... Also I notice changes in my body, which kind of surprised me as it has been a relatively short time - my favourite tight jeans are not so tight anymore - looking at the mirror I don't see a difference, but there must be something happening. On the downside (not counting the lack of free evenings) I'm constantly a bit sore - not too much, not so much that I would feel I shouldn't practice, but little sore and stiff that can especially be noticed when bending down.

I have no doubt now that I can do this - and not only this, I think this experience has taught me a lot about what my limits generally are. And to my surprise I can actually achieve a lot more than I would have imagined - I tend to be good at coming up with excuses for why I shouldn't do something or why I can't do it... turns out I have more strenght if I just reach for it.

Migrating Dragon

Next Monday I start in a new job in another office of my company, this time with a new title and and in a Vancouver Downtown location instead of suburbia. I am happy about my move which eliminates my commute and I like my new position, but at the same time, I will miss my friends from the old team terribly. As I have grown older, human relationships have become more important to me, and it is hard for me not to see all my friends every day as I am extremely fond of my closest co-workers. Of course we will still meet as often as we can, but it is not the same anymore -working together on a project forms a bond that is quite unlike anything else in your life.

On the plus side this is one of the funniest things I've ever read in ages (click on the this link). Why Saddam Hussein is the the only viable exit strategy for US in Iraq. Hilarious!

Torchwood

BBC has announced a new spin-off series to follow the latest and extremely popular reincarnation of Dr Who - it's called Torchwood (which is, of course, an anagram of Dr Who). Now those of you that remember the catastrophic K-9 spin-off may cringe, but wait! This one is going to be targeted to an adult audience, and will star my absolute favourite guest start of the last series, John Barrowman as Captain Jack.

"Torchwood will be a dark, clever, wild, sexy, British crime/sci-fi paranoid thriller cop show with a sense of humour - the X Files meets This Life," says Russell T Davies.

"It's a renegade bunch of investigators charged by the British government to find alien technology that has fallen to Earth," BBC Three controller Stuart Murphy told The Independent.

The show will be set in Cardiff, and will be 13 45-minute episodes, transmitting between series of Doctor Who. Confirmed writers include Sapphire and Steel creator PJ Hammond.

It sounds perfect, and I can't wait - Russell T Davies is certainly the man to do it.

But meanwhile, in the spirit of the marvellous Llama Song, you can amuse yourself by listening to the Dalek Song (which contains some major spoilers for those who haven't seen the latest series and are still planning).

Emotional

Somehow I was feeling very emotional today. Some time ago we were invited to take part in an opening for a fund raising campaign for United Way. Or actually, they promised free lunch, so of course I signed up. I had no idea what or who United Way was, or what they were fundraising for... but free lunch sounded good.

So today the lunch was held, and I was almost in tears for the most of it. United Way gathers money for community projects, kids, seniors, the poor - or they actually finance projects, mostly actually done by other organisations like Red Cross and local ones. They showed an emotional video - not meant to be a tear jerker, I'm sure, but it just had that effect on me. Pretty standard stuff - for people who want to contribute they offered payroll deductions, which our employer will match. The goal that was set up by the people organising it inside the company was $8,000, and then our HR manager stood up and said that she was going to take a leadership role and she, as a cancer survivor, was going to donate $1,000 in the course of a year.

That almost did it - her voice was shaking as she was obviously very emotional about it, and I kept thinking about my aunt who died of cancer and how I would never see her again and could hardly keep my tears.

Damnit.

Shangri-La

Vancouver real estate industry is booming, but it's a bit unclear to me who is going to be buying all these super-luxurious super-expensive apartments. Take, for example, the ambitiously named Shangri-La, a new apartment tower they have just started building. Not only do the apartment prices start from $2.65 million, it's also going to be a huge new landmark for Vancouver - those of you who have visited us in our 23rd floor apartment know how high it is, but it's nothing compared to the 60 floors Shangri-La will have. I like living this high up, but to be honest I can't even imagine what it would be like to live another 40 floors or so higher. I mean, if I notice I've forgotten something up when I'm leaving, I don't usually bother going back for it because it takes too long...

The apartments, of course, are extremely nice... yes, Michelle pointed them out to me and we spent half an hour day-dreaming and ooh'ing and aah'ing on them. Smallest ones are two and a half times as large as our current flat that is quite a nice size for us, and the penthouse apartment on the 60th floor includes a private roof top garden with BBQ patio, trees and a swimming pool. Kitchens come with wine coolers and top of the range appliences, all bedrooms have a walk-in closet and an en-suite bathrooms.

But honestly, with quite a few of these style apartments popping up lately, it really makes me wonder if Vancouver has enough that rich people that can afford them. I mean, over two million is a lot of money, and I have to say that even if I had that kind of money, I'm not sure I'd want to spend it on a house, let alone something as pompous as that. But I am curious to know who exactly would...

The yoga baby

17 down, 13 to go.

Jack, the yoga baby, celebrated his 6 month birthday today. He's a delight to have around the studio, and it has been fantastic to see him grow up from a small bundle into a happy little human. Lately he's started vocalizing quite loudly - today, I swear he said "hello" to me... he's always happy and smiling. Not many parents and babies as lucky as he and his parents, they get to spend practically all of their time together.

Sometimes Jason brings him in to the class in the end - once he was sitting in his lap after we came out of Savasana, and the look of amazement on his face when he heard the vibriting om from us was cracking me up so I could hardly finish. Today Kelly was teaching, but Jack and Jason came out to listen to the om again, this time Jack joined in by making making a raspberry sound.

Cute babies, whatever they come up with next?

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

The Time Traveler's Wife is got to be the best book I've read all year. It's an ageless (or should I say timeless) love story, between Henry and Claire, and it's beautiful, intelligent and moving book.

It's a story about Henry, who has a genetic mutation that makes him travel involuntary through time, and Claire, his wife. Claire meets Henry for the first time when she's six and Henry is 36, but Henry meets Claire for the first time when he's 28 and Claire is 20. Claire lives her life lineary like rest of us and has known Henry all her life, but Henry gets to know her much later in his life, only to visit her as a young girl when he is older.

Dispite the complicated sounding concept, it actually works extremely well and is easy to follow. The timeline follows Claire, but since Henry is visiting from her future it works in two levels. However it sounds like, it's not science fiction, it's a pure heartfelt love story, perhaps the best one I've ever read. Claire and Henry's love is undying and can take anything, it starts from the end and ends with the beginning, and it intertwines into itself. Henry is gravitating through time towards Claire, and it's like a self-fulfilling profecy: it will happen because it has happened, and the future can't be changed because it has already happened.

It's such a deeply touching book, it's also about letting go and living in the moment, something that Henry is never able to fully do. As Henry involuntarily gravitates towards important events and people in his life, he also has to live again and again his mother's death, deaths of other important people in his life. But he also gets to see his mother alive and happy, he gets to see Claire grow up into the the woman he falls in love with. But although Henry is the one travelling and leaving, Claire is equally impacted. She is the one left alone, she is the one who has to worry and wonder where and when Henry is. It's hard for Henry to go, but it's just as equally hard for Claire to stay.

This book takes my breath away... Please go and read the prologue from USA Today. I hope you will love it as much as I have.

Half-way point

15 down, 15 to go.

I can't believe I'm finally at the half-way point of the 30-day yoga challenge. This week has been tough - Monday was pure pain, Thursday was a total disaster, but Friday was a winner. The class was full, but Shannon turned two first rows 180 degrees, so everyone was facing each other - it must have been the first time I've been in a "back row". Somehow it worked though - the room was full of incredible energy, and I ended up having the best practice of the week.

I try to take the weekends easy - today I went to hatha (which was ok, but nothing spectacular) and tomorrow it's yin... then back to flow again. I'm pretty confident now though that I can do this, unless I injure myself (which is always a possiblity when you train this intensively).

Some psychologists say it takes about three weeks to form a habit - but I think I can achieve a routine a lot quicker than that, normally under two weeks. It takes planning - but planning is what I do well, I do it so automatically I don't even have to think about it. First week I just pick out the classes I want to go to, then plan out the "early" evenings so that I can go shopping and do cooking, select meals so that leftovers can be eaten on the "late" evenings. Plan laundry so that I have clean yoga clothes for the whole week, then just pack everything in the mornings and go with the flow - the second week is already routine.

(And I don't know why I'm writing this down... I find it unlikely that anyone else will find it of any interest... but it's actually more likely that I need to remind myself in the future.)

Random fact

You know that 31. facts about you meme that went around maybe a week ago... I'm not going to do it although I do occasionally enjoy reading other people's entries - there's just one question I'd like to answer:

12. Has anyone ever said you looked like a celebrity? Yes, actually. Steve used to say that I looked like (or was it that I am like) Fiona from Shrek. I'm still hoping it was a compliment. Go figure.

Better

Woke up this morning for the Wrestlemania ticket pre-sale, and to my shock I actually managed to procure three tickets. So, once again we have to opportunity to go to the year's biggest wrestling event... only it's in Chicago. It's one of those things - you'd think that since we're actually in North America, and Chicago is not on the East Coast, it would be fairly close... At least I'm constantly surprised about the distances on this continent - Chicago is actually over 2,000 miles away.

So it's still up in the air if we're actually going. It should not be a problem to sell the tickets if we decide not to go - they are not that good seats, but I'm expecting Wrestlemania to sell out within minutes (again) when the tickets actually go on sale tomorrow.

There are days...

There are days that retrospectively are not worth getting up for and today was one of them. Work was confusing, food was nausiating and yoga was not forthcoming. If tomorrow is not better, at least it's Friday.

Inspirations

12 down, 18 to go!

Today some girls were asking Jason after class if it was true that he used to be a lawyer and he was kind of shaking his head saying that he really should remove that bit from his profile on the web site. I disagreed - I think it's an inspiration, I think it shows courage that you can leave something you've worked for years for if you don't believe it's making you happy.

I'm constantly rethinking about my relationship with yoga. How serious am I about this teacher business? Would I have the courage or even the will to leave my nicely paying job for yoga? I think the difference between me and Jason (and the girl who asked the question who had come to realise she hated her job she had gone to school for for five years) is that I don't hate my job. In fact, I don't even dislike it - most days I'm very happy to have my job, and the comforts the money brings are certainly a plus.

Decisions- and I'm jumping ahead here as there is no decicion to be made, I haven't even started the training - is probably not as straightforward as it is for some people. I was thinking about it today when we were doing some extremely silly asanas with partners, that most of the people present who were doing the 30 day challenge were probably pretty much as nuts about yoga as I am. This is taking so much out of my spare time - if I'm not getting ready to go for a class, I'm dragging my gear from one place to another or relaxing after class.

Still, when I was walking home in the dark and pouring rain (yep, Vancouver) I was smiling happily and I felt so good.

As the dark clouds gather

It is strange how big news never seem to make it into the public domain, or even if they do, non-one seems to take any notice (presumably because celebrity breast enlargement operations are so much more facinating). The Iranian oil gambit is probably one of the biggest news stories of the 21st century.In a nutshell, Iran, one of the largest producers of oil in thw world, plans to start selling its oil in euros instead of dollars as of March 2006. For the first time in fifty years it would be possible to buy oil directly in another currency than the almighty dollar. For decades the US dollar value has been boosted by the necessity of the rest of the world to acquire US dollars in huge quantities in order to buy oil that is the lifeblood of human civilization. This has kept US dollar value sky-high and allowed the governments in Washington to reduce taxes at the same time as they generate massive trade deficit which has raked US foreign debt of some 8,000,822,191,149 dollars (and going up by around 1 million every minute). But rest of the world has no choice except to buy dollars and keep the US economy afloat.

Until now.

I quite frankly am not a big fan of Iranian theocracy. The Ayatollahs human rights record is appalling, as is the situation of vast poor masses of Iran. But as far as clever non-military attacks go, this is pure genius. Since rest of the world will no longer need acquire dollars to buy oil, EU, Asia and many other parts of the world will start moving their currency reserves away from US dollars. This has the potential of crushing the value of dollar, especially if countries like Venezuela and Russia join the Iranian oil Bourse.

Quite a few experts seem to agree that United States HAS to go to war to stop the Oil Bourse if it is at all able, or even if it isn’t. If it cannot scrape together enough troops or if the draft is truly politically unacceptable, then it must try to convince Europeans to stop this instead by making sure Iran cannot use Euro as their trade currency. But will EU do the bidding of America? Time will tell. Stretched thin, the US military would need to pacify Iraq completely before it could prepare another major campaign, and Iran could be a tougher nut to crack than Iraq. But the alternatives to US are unthinkable, namely potential loss of their pre-eminence in the world. So no wonder the planners of the Pentagon are burning midnight oil (pun intended).

March 2006 is the month to watch. Much of our future might be decided then.

Thanksgiving, one more time

I dug up the history of Canadian Thanksgiving:

In Canada Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday in October. Unlike the American tradition of remembering Pilgrims and settling in the New World, Canadians give thanks for a successful harvest. The harvest season falls earlier in Canada compared to the United States due to the simple fact that Canada is further north.

The history of Thanksgiving in Canada goes back to an English explorer, Martin Frobisher, who had been trying to find a northern passage to the Orient. He did not succeed but he did establish a settlement in Northern America. In the year 1578, he held a formal ceremony, in what is now called Newfoundland, to give thanks for surviving the long journey. This is considered the first Canadian Thanksgiving. Other settlers arrived and continued these ceremonies. He was later knighted and had an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean in northern Canada named after him - Frobisher Bay.

Thanksgiving, details

The Thanksgiving dinner was a success, although not as perfect as I was hoping. This was my first time trying my hands on a turkey, and I'm told it was quite ambitious... Seems that when it comes to roasting turkeys, they don't exactly obey the laws of physics as they should. For example, I had a 2.5 pound roast which should have been done in about two hours, but it ended up being in the oven for four. Our American friends tell me that turkeys are not a science, they are voodoo, and Clay told the horror story about a turkey that was in the oven for 12 hours before they decided to eat it even though it hadn't reached the required temperature. Luckily our guests weren't in a hurry.

But it was my pumpkin loaf that got the biggest praise. You see, pumpkins are not a big thing in Finland so I've never really eaten any, but I got all sentimental about this whole Thanksgiving business and decided to go to town with the whole theme. Only when I was roasting my pumpkin at home it occurred to me that most people probably wouldn't do that but would buy some kind of canned product... but by that time I just took that as all part of the experience. I thought making the puree was actually extremely simple, really the biggest thing was to drag the damn thing home from the market.

Anyways, when we were munching on the pumpkin cake on Saturday we just though it was extremely nice cake, but Laura and Clay, our American Thanksgiving experts praised it to high heavens. Apparently the home-made puree made all the difference - and true enough, when eating the pumpkin cupcakes later on I understood what they meant. Pumpkin cupcakes had that kind of pumpkiny feel to the taste, but my cake was dense and moist with real sweet pumpkin aroma. I'm totally sold now, and as I still have loads of the puree left in the freezer I could bake another pumpkin cake for Dragon as the birthday cake.

Funnily enough, others have had wrestled with the pumpkin theme lately too. To answer the question about why pumpkin have never been part of Finnish cuisine is quite simple, actually. I believe (and my mother will correct me if I'm wrong) that it's basically too cold to grow proper big pumpkins in Finland, the summers are generally just not long and hot enough. Even today when pumpkins are grown, they are still at least partially grown in greenhouses. As for the taste - I'm not sure if the suspicion and dislike of pumpkins is just about the unfamiliarity, or is it just that the taste is unnusual for the Finnish palate. I can't say anymore, as my tastes so completely change with my environment, and I very quickly adopt different cuisines and local incredients. Pumpkin is a new one, but already a favourite.

Thanksgiving

Turkey, friends, games... no idea how Thanksgivings normally are, but this one was definitely spot on.

Pumpkin days

Canadians have their own Thanksgiving day this Monday, although no one has been able to explain exactly what they give thanks for. Most people seem to be thankful for the turkeys... so as it is our first Thanksgiving ever, I got myself ready for some traditional thanksgiving food for tomorrow.

On the right you can see a pumpkin - I got the smallest one I could find which weighed three kilos. I made some pumpkin puree and baked a pumpkin loaf - both firsts. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, pumpkin is not really the first thing I'd want to put into a cake - but the end result was an absolutely delicious loaf. For tomorrow I've got some sprouts, potatoes (for mash) and a small turkey roast... all very traditional.

And we're soon coming to and end of our first year in Canda. I can't believe it has been a year already... I'm looking back with mixed emotions and I want to write about it soon... just don't feel like writing about it right now.

Sore but going strong

7 down, 23 to go.

This morning when I woke up my first thought was; "No way I'll be able to do yoga today", but getting up and moving about gets me going, and there wasn't really a question when I was leaving for work. Today it was turn for Shannon's class, and I have missed them so. Jason's classes are usually my favourites, but having done so many lately Shannon's class was like a breath of fresh air. She has a very compassionate style but still works you very hard.

I find it impossible to predict when practice is going to be really good. I try my best to eat properly now, but before Surya Namaskar B's I don't know how strong I'll be feeling. Today I was feeling very strong, and those are the best times. My Prasarita Padottanasanas were stellar, although nowdays when I get real deep I also suffer from blacking out momentarily. My favourite poses at the moment are the inversions, and I do Salamba Sirsasana, the supported headstand, pretty well now. Getting up with straght legs even happens occasionally, but I'm still held back by the fear that I'm going to fall backwards. Need to work on those bandhas.

Professional con

Beggers in Vancouver are clever. They may not appear that way, but they use as clever "marketing" techiniques as anyone.

You might feel sorry for the old man without shoes in a wheelchair begging with a sign, but once you've seen him get his shoes out of his bag and walking away, it's not quite the same. We got fooled by an elderly lady just after we arrived - she honestly looks like she's just fallen a bit rough, dressed up in fine but a bit tattered clothes, a bit of smudged makeup and she just wanted a quarter so she could call home... only when you see her a month later with the same look and the same story it kind of loses the impact. My favourite was a young girl that was sitting on corner of Robson and Howe with a sign saying "Made an honest mistake, need a bus ticket back to Toronto" - I remember pointing her out to Dragon and we wondered if she was for real or not, as she looked very convincing. And again a great story is ruined by repetition and some time ago I saw her again which of course meant that it was bogus.

So I thought I had become just a big cynic, but still some of them can surprise me. There's this one guy who's always on Robson, who looks like a total headcase - he's constantly shuffling his feet like he really really needs to get to the toilet and has a constant matra "please miss, please sir, spare some change, please miss, please sir..." over and over again. I always thought he looked like he genuinely needs help, until he speeded past me the other day on a fancy mountain bike on his way to "work" looking quite normal.

In a way I hate it that they become invisible for me, but I always remember what they used to say in London. Don't give money to the beggars, they will use it on drugs - if you want to help them, give your money to the charities that help them, it's the best way of ensuring your money goes to the cause. So in a way I like the ones more that are honest about it - it's not that uncommon to see signs like "Need money for pot", and not only are they honest, they make people laugh which believe it or not works. Truth is though that Vancouver has a huge drug problem and that it's quite likely that's where the most money goes to, whether admitted or not.

Business like any other

For those who are counting, the numbers are 4 down, 26 to go.

I was thinking about yoga as a business the other day, as yoga in Vancouver is such a huge thing. I never really came across it in England, as at least in Southsea and Portsmouth were we lived there weren't any yoga-specialised shops. But here, the amount of consumables around yoga is staggering.

For example, yoga mats. They are in fact extremely durable and last even in heavy use for ages - so shops need to come up with some plan to get people to buy new ones once or twice a year. I've actually go four mats myself... but I can rationalise them all, honestly! I've had my purple sticky yoga mat since I started doing yoga almost three years ago, and it's still in pretty good shape. I replaced it about six months ago with a Halfmoon's "raspberry red" luxury sticky mat - I prefer this mat as it's twice as thick which I find more comfortable. Dragon (and other visiting yogis) still uses the the purple one when he comes to yoga with me, so it's not completely retired. Then I have a what's called "Mysore rug", a cotton loomed rug - I got it because some people recommended it - but don't use it in ashtanga as I find it too slippery. This mat I use at yin classes, on top of my sticky mat - when lying down a lot it's more comfortable, and two mats gives me even more padding which is important in yin. My fourth mat I don't actually use - it's one of those hybrid mats that have fabric on other side and rubber on other - I got it because it sounded like a good idea, in practice I don't much like it as it's both slippery and uncomfortable.

Anyway, as seasons change, I've figured out how the shops get people to buy new mats even when they don't need them. It's as simple as any fashion - you bring out new "models". This season I've seen brand new colours (I love those pinks and blues from Halfmoon!) and some new style textured extra sticky pretty mats by Lululemon (in pretty colours, too, of course). And the embarrassing thing is - it works. I've really got my eyes on this gorgeous light blue/turquoise mat that I don't need (and I'm not going to buy either... no... I'm resisting...), and certainly the new mats are popping up in class.

With mats come new mat bags, and I've got five already. Big ones, small ones, fabric and nylon... and the fifth is indeed a new season's bag from Lulu. I've been considering the Timbuk2's bag on and off for a while, but now that Lulu brought in their model under half that price it seemed like a perfect time to buy. My excuse was that Dragon has been using my other large bag that would fit both mat and clothes in so I needed a new one, but I freely admit it's really just an excuse.

And of course, that brings us to yoga clothes. This is perhaps the least durable of all consumables - still, even in constant use, these clothes can last years. I'm still actively using the first gym outfit I bought for myself when I started my active life about four years ago, and although some wear and tear is visible, it's still very usable. This is were the fashion element really kicks in, of course. Lululemon brings out new clothes practically every month - they have small stock that sells out quickly, and they replace it with something similar but not exactly the same. Models change slightly, colours change... And Lulu is just one of the retailers here. I'm not even going to count how many outfits I have... still, I'm always ready to add something to my collection if I see something I really like.

Temptations are everywhere, and yoga is indeed a million dollar industry.

Bus driver humour

As heard on the very full number 16 bus this morning as I boarded it on Davie and Granville:

On the last stop before the bridge: "This is the last stop before the bridge! For those of you who just want to get across the bridge, and climbed in like lemmings, there's a number 7 just behind us! It's not too late to change your mind!". And then a lady shouted from the back of the bus: "I've been here since West Georgia! I'm not leaving!" The bus driver continued "If you're not leaving, you have to squeeze in a little! If I can't see the front doors, somebody's gotta get out!" Followed by giggling and lot of shuffling so that everyone fitted in.

And we started across the bridge and the bus driver goes on: "So we continue! We're now crossing the bridge so enjoy the view! It's nice and sunny, and we're now...higher than the rest of the city! Look, there are trees. Aren't they pretty!" (Which are all true, the bridge rises very high while going across False Creek, and the scenery is indeed very pretty.)

And then coming to the first stop after the bridge: "OK, we're here! Seven and a half second before number 7! Isn't that an advantage." And he was starting to tell everyone how to email to Translink when I climbed out on the next stop but I'm afraid I missed the punch line there. I think that's exactly what I needed, a giggle in a cold autumn morning.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

"You're a bit slow." said Loki "But you're getting there."

For me, that sentence sums up the first half of Neil Gaiman's American Gods. The book is about a guy called Shadow who is freed from prison after serving three years for robbery, and gets mixed up with the affairs of old gods who are not doing so well in the modern day America. For me the first half was really frustrating - it was more than obvious to the reader what was happening, but Shadow was so clueless it was getting very annoying. Also Gaiman seemed to treading the very familiar path of the different god mythologies he used in Sandman and there didn't seem to be anything new.

Then it got less obvious and a lot more interesting. Still, probably nothing new, but when the gods took the backseat and there weren't so many too evident clues around, when it was more character-centric, that's when the story started working for me. I also very much liked the little "Coming to America" stories in between chapters that told the stories of how people in different times brought their gods with them from the old countries. Gaiman is really good at describing little details, feelings and atmospheres, and those are the things that make the short stories so lovely to read.

It's a good book, and now I'm actually getting exited about reading his latest, Anansi Boys that is more or less continuing the story in this book. Before I get my hands on that though, I need finish couple of others...

Cyborg name

I tried kolibri too, but my real name was much more accurate. And if I was a robot, I'd definitely look like that, too. Via Dugi.

When in Rome...

Two down, 28 to go.

We finally managed to have a good heart to heart with Chu this morning and she was saying to me that adjusting back to work after such a long employment might take quite a long time, definitely over two months. You see, I had naively thought it might be something along the lines of couple of weeks... but what she's saying makes a lot more sense.

One of the things that I've come to realise is that as much as I'd like to do nothing at all at the weekends, the fact that I have very little time to do much else than eat and sleep while at home on weekdays means that lot of basic maintainaince like laundry needs to happen on the weekends. It's like I wait until the last possible moment to do the necessary evils, wait until the last clean garment is used before doing the laundry. For that basic weekend lazyness, yoga actually helps. I get out of the house early-ish in the morning, and once I have to momentum it's easier to get going.

As a result, today (and yesterday) haven't been nearly as lazy as they would otherwise be. Granted, we did watch five hours of the new HBO series Rome as per Henri's and Chu's recommendations - I was promised rugged men for me and politics in ancient Rome for Dragon, and on both accounts it pretty much delivered. I'm not a huge history buff like Dragon, and while most of the names in the series were familiar to me, I couldn't place them - and first couple of episodes were literally too full of people for me to be able to follow it entirely. But it was good time for me to do some cooking (we're currently doing Britain and Mexico) and after a while I was enticed by the story and the charactrs.

Starting

One down, 29 to go.

I went to hatha yoga this morning thinking it would be an easy start, but it ended up being much more demanding than I remembered. Or maybe the teacher got really carried away - apparently normally the Saturday morning class is fairly small, now all the people who were taking part in the challenge came in... the regulars looked quite surprised too. We got a big chart on the wall where all of our names are together with all the dates, and every time we come to class we can write it down so we know our progress. Looks mighty empty, right now! In any case, it was a really nice start to the weekend.

So back home I was full of energy, and we went out shopping. I bought myself a bedside table from a shop that sells individually handmade Chinese furniture from mahogany - something I've wanted for ages. We also found some other bits and pieces I've been too tired to get earlier, and I even bought my first Christmas present. Yes, I know it's October, but sometimes when you see something that you know a specific person would like, it just makes sense to get it right away. Too many times I've ended up empty handed when I've gone back weeks or months later only to find out that the item I wanted was gone.

So, I declare Christmas shopping season open!

The wisest decision in human history

Sweden takes the lead in the most important race in human history, namely the race of detoxing humans from oil. The aim of Sweden is to stop using fossil fuels by 2020, and they might make it, too. With the end of cheap oil looming, it seems that Sweden is one of the very, very few nations that are not ignoring the greatest challenge the mankind has faced. WW2, bird flu, plague, even world poverty and hunger (which I do care about deeply) are tiny problems compared to our addiction to oil. It is nice to see that at least one place on earth has guts to tackle the problem.

According to the reports, when president Bush asked his energy advisors what US should do once the oil production peaks and the prices skyrocket to 20+ times the current level in matter of very short time, the answer was "Mr. President, we must pray very, very hard." Allegedly this was acceptable answer. Not surprising, since the average American meal travels 1600 miles before it ends up in their plates, and it travels all that way on oil. I would be praying too, for the consequences are too terrible to contemplate. I hope my home country soon makes an announcement similar to Sweden's.