s-track | X-Ray Spex - Warrior In Woolworths

After one week nearly offline yesterday (checking email, nothing else) I was enthusiastic to continue Coloria updates which I started on October. But destiny had decided otherwise. I had a killing headache, that even a hot bath in a dark bathroom with a few painkillers didn't cure. I had to go back to bed. I woke up without pain at about 6.30pm after which I had a moment of blankness. However, somehow I managed to collect my energyball rolling again and sat before my c:ter planning to start updating. As I sat down I noticed that I had got a lot of emails with *Coloria forum* as their subject. Several people vere sorry about the fact that Coloria forum had been hacked. WTF?


And so it was. Hacked by some Turkish nerd idiot. First I though that it would be an easy - just configuring a bit mySQL. I got the hack-msgs removed but I didn't get to return my admin rights. So I had to get my backup (at this stage I thanked powers-that-be about the fact that I DID take a full backup copy on the beginning of December) and install it. But as these unfair stories often go: something-error-fatal-unknown-&%¤%¤¤##. The whole forum crashed. I did find one older BUcopy from Jan2005 and got it installed. So I didn't have to re-configure the whole forum but all the messages and info from this whole year went missing.


S##t.


Maybe better luck today. I'll get more some cold coffee and continue my backup-project. Transferring all my workfiles to m-stick in case this computer would explode. I wouldn't wonder at all.


Here - better late than never: go and build yourself a snowman.

s-track | Unkle & Ian Brown - Reign

Getting a bit serious here. Went to sleep at about four in the morning. Well, went to bed anyway. Yesterday I continued making Periferia demo and all small Muhi adjustments. But somehow it feels I haven't got very far with them. With Muhi I'm starting to be a bit too anxious to see it finally finished and I feel that my brain is locked most of the time. No new ideas, no creativity. With Periferia, Simo has got a strong vision how the site should be (always better than 'duh, dunno') and I'm half way through making it. But I'm not all too happy with the layout things. It's always harder to realize someone else's ideas and visions while youself know have something totally different in mind. Maybe mostly because there are a lot of these simple looking little things that turn always out to be most difficult ones to make. A lot of time spent in help forums lately...



But anyway: something good also. Demosite for Opus is finished and I just got a message from Elina - they really like it! I enjoy making that one: even if it's simple the look of the site will be somewhat not-so-conventional with a quite wild watercolor splashes. I'll transfer it soon online.



Christmas coming up - I see it every year from the pile of papers and amount of emails I receive. Panicing people all around. I'll have to make some kind of list all the unfinished business there is still lurking. Maybe I could then get something done. One of them being a report of our Live Herring to those who granted us some money. And glad to say: some more progress made with the festival...

s-track | Theatre Of Hate - Conquistador

A few days ago updated a few more images to LiveHerring - flickr.


Layout finishing and setting up demo sites for Periferia Design and Opus publications. Some layout plans for the conservatory of Kuopio and some small thingies for never ending Muhi project.


I've been half sick and all panicking here. There's so much things to be finished and I'm not getting there...
Not a good day, this one.

s-track | Swans - A Screw

One of the characters of this household.


Oops. A hole in time. Live Herring went better than well and spending some time with Jani was fab - but afterwards I was soooo tired I haven't done almost anything for a week. Nearly all packages from the event are still on our doorway waiting to be placed somewhere. This week I'll make all the rest of the paper job and all... Maybe then I can concentrate fully on work... and Coloria and a colour exhibition next year.


Last week I had to go and see dentist for my awful tooth ache - half of my head was in fire. But they didn't find anything serious and now the pain is over. Otherwise last week went by playing Ratchet: Gladiator (played through in under three days!) and now I'm continuing my sessions with Jak&Daxter III which was left unfinished last winter... What a joy!


Today has been a bit c:ppy. About a week ago I gave an interview about net art for Kauppalehti. They asked me already for some art work images (which is good) and now they're asking for a personal photo to that same page (not good). I'd rather let my works to speak for them and I really wouldn't like my face printed on Kauppalehti pages. Even the photosession for Image has troubled me a bit though it'll be about my projects such as Live Herring and Coloria. I've sort of made a decicion that if it's about some project or such I'm working with and some kind of publicity photos are necessary, it's ok. But when it comes to my artsy projects I feel that it's somehow wrong - I'd like my art works speak for themselves and not give any people any extra information which could somehow effect the way people receive the works. It propably would be different if I made some kind of traditional art but because many of my works are based on stories and playing with image montages, I feel that it would be nice to start on point zero. This may sound stupid but I've thought about this a lot.

...
Zzzz. Back to work. Periferia design, Opus and Muhi project (f.ex.) under way.

s-track | The Stranglers - No More Heroes

Today (well, actually yesterday) was so very strange day.
First of all, it was the first day for about month I had some freetime. I'm not exaggerating here. If I've been out, it has been work/project related. Today I had to take one day off and it has been fabulous.


After waking up Timppa and I headed for a photo shoot of Image mag (photographer Hanna-Kaisa Hämäläinen). The small one double page story will introduce shortly some cultural persons in Jyväskylä area. It was fun - and quite different start for a day. But I just can't keep my eyes open when the light flashes. Eyes closed in all photos...
After the session I had to buy some stationary for next week's event (and that's all work today...), we visited other shops too and then went to Memphis to eat.
On the way home I stopped in Vakiopaine to bring there some flyers and chatted a while with people.


...
Freetime. What a luxury!
...


And the image: my online-friend asked to send him a drawing; only guidelines were the word 'box' and time of 20sec to draw. A bit of engineer style... Imagination?

Back in work: tomorrow.

s-track | Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart

Art


I have to start work-blogging more often again. It sort of helps me to get a grip of what I'm doing. All the things are so messy in my head right now that I really wouldn't be surprised if my brain would exlplode.


Live Herring is going on under heavy pressure. I've made some new really interesting contacts and everything will propably go well - no big worries there. Yesterday I had a good chat with Jani (well, I whined and cursed and Jani coughed in fever - typical project) and it gave me some more power.


Yesterday I had a lunch with Simo and Teija in thai restaurant and we looked through some plans for the web site for Periferia Design. The whole day was just soooo nice even though it was cold (crispy but fresh). After the meeting I didn't get much time to finish up all the works waiting which has made my whole day a bit hectic. Almost crying here.


Funny, how these things, both free projects and work seem to always pile up. I've started to make small notes all around me, writing down the things I should do. It makes things a bit easier when I don't have to keep it all in my head. But still... Last night I updated Playce.org and made some really small updates here and there and today I've made some more updates to f.ex. Gallery Becker, The Craft Museum of Finland and Papiina. I've got a lot of small thingies done today and updated after update + adjustment after adjustment - but more work keeps coming. Which is of course a good thing - but still - if there are a lot of projects that are in the middle of the process, no where near of finish line, and the rest of the work is very robotic no-brain thing, it sometimes feels like I'm not getting anywhere. I can't reach even half way of my today's to do -list. I'm losing my faith here. And the best of all: just when I had brainwashed myself to believe that these all 'this has to be online tomorrow morning' things are really small, I can finish them today, what do I receive? The craft museum site in Russian. With CYRILLIC letters... I go and cry. :)
But really: the Russian page is not todays work - so I go and chill a bit before continuing my undone businesses...

Ulla from Muhi project called and we talked for a while. Some new adjustments to make. But as I visited the project site again, it really looked quite good. But what was really upsetting thing: Ulla hadn't receive my email concerning layouts. I'm starting to develope a small panic here: hopefully all the e-correspondence concerning Live Herring is ok.


Have to stop and update Arctic & Fabulous Film Festival before entering into mindless emptiness.

s-track | N.E.R.D. - Rock Star

playce.org Logo design by Teppo Järvinen.


Oh my /&/%¤###! I woke up at noon, after a good night sleep, ready to work all day non stop until my head explodes. But ha, my MOUSE is invalid. WTF? It doesn't work properly and it's breaking my nerve totally. But I'll have to manage. Soooo frustrated right now.


Some usual updates: Gallery Becker, Alvar Aalto Foundation and The Craft Museum of Finland. Also made few small adjustments to never-ending (grrr) national dresses project. It's quite sad that the project has taken so long time - technically it's getting old before it's published. But later it'll be seemingly easy to convert into f.ex. xhtml + css.


And the work continues...

s-track | Lacuna Coil - Halflife

Where have I been? ...


The basic site for The Alvar Aalto Symposium 2006 is now online. Not so much content yet, though. Based on print graphic design by Jenni Reuter.
What else? All the usual updates. The layouts for Opus publications are also on their way. I actually started updating Coloria again after a few months stop. The changes won't be seen to readers but I've made some changes to more uniform code which will ake it easier to change later on, and fixed a lot of internal link errors. My aim is to change the whole Coloria site to work through styles only (without those tables or popup windows) but as yet I don't have enough time to make so.


But the most challenging thins is still the same: Live Herring has take a lot of my time. I've been in contact with all the artists but there are still some not confirmed - which makes me a bit anxious. We have now a good budget (not big but good enough) to print some brochures and such but the time is getting very short. I have to find a graphic designer and get all the facts down... which will give us about one week+ to print all the printed stuff. [Little panic would be placed here, if you'd like.] I've also have a new contact to make... I have to write all this down so I won't forget.


I've also been a bit fluish - all the projects are sort of hanging there. I'm trying but I'm so over occupied that concentration on one thing is impossible. I have to start making lists again - when you write all the little things down and get to overline the finished ones, you can actually see how much you haave accomplished. Because when you do work like mine, something that really don't exist, it's always reaching back to emptiness after one minute of joy when one project is ready.


But hey - I also had one FREE evening last week: our friend Sari came to eat and spent the evening with us chatting + all. Evening without computer. I'm so glad I had that.

s-track | The Cure - Forever (BBC session)

Riiminka (renewed September 26, 2005).


I'm starting to act like a typical career orientated middle aged woman: last night I woke up to a feeling that something important is left undone. Never before... Then I stayed up awake for ages thinking about how I could have done Live Herring organizing so much better. So, no wonder I'm starting to be worried about myself a bit. I'm a person who can be hectic slash stressed combo during the work day but when it's over I usually manage to forget all about it. I really don't want to live a life where these stupid unfinished projects come to haunt me. Grrrr.


Anyway: last week was sort of hellish because all the project that just managed to reach my email at the same time. The most important with the most fastest deadline was Teija's Playce.org, an international association of architecture education. I added some member articles and projects to the site as well as Soundings for Architecture 4 & 5 reports with images. The project took more time than I had thought: I got the images in separate cd and text to pick from pdf-files which I though to be a easy bitsy work. But *ha*. Images were in CMYK and somehow my Photoshop didn't manage the colours very well and converting to RGB didn't go as well as I had planned. Getting the texts from pdf file wasn't easy because of several layers - I had to check through the whole texts to see if there are double texts (and there were) and to write some things by myself. It was a long fight and I actually missed the deadline - but I managed to finish the pages at about 3am at Saturday night.


My sleeping/awaking rhythm has been messed - again. I've woken up at noon or later and got to bed at 3 or 4 at the morning. Tired as hell. Today I had my alarm clock ringing at 9 but I woke up 10 - so I'm getting to life among normal daytime people again.



+ Yesterday I made usual updates Alvar Aalto Foundation + The Craft Museum of Finland and added some images to Värjärikilta dyers' association home page.



And no, the marionette is not yet finished (thanks for asking - PLEASE don't ask again). I'll keep you posted about that. Will be a long time project I guess.

s-track | Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor

Finnish Colour Association (re-designed September 15, 2005).


I noticed my online portfolios (dig.art of my own projects and work-o-matic of my all projects) are both outdated, so I updated the last projects online. Work-o-matic has been like that for years now - not quite ten but it's getting close. I like the idea of that site, because it's so *me*, and I don't like the idea of changing it.

But maybe I should avoid a bit of those jumping windows... And I'd like to shorten a bit the selection row. I've already left out all small brochure-like projects but now I'm thinking of leaving all current projects online and drop all the old ones out. Maybe list them to some collective site. I should also make a better image viewing system to my dig.art site. I was planning some kind of drag&drop system. That would propably make the usability of the site much more worse than it already is - but who really cares. It's an artsy site... Ehem...

Some small updates. Mostly just sitting and wondering.

s-track | Nada Surf - Popular

Daidalos (released September 7, 2005).


Autumn is here. When I woke up and walked to kitchen to get my morning coffee, the scenery seen from the window... There was no scenery, just fogged emptiness. And no milk for my coffee - not a very good start for a day. But during these last two days I've had mail from my old friends of whom I haven't heard for a while + my brother - which made me very happy.


Hard core updating session here - and over: Riiminka site renewed (products, images, nearly all) in the beginning of the week and before that some other big updates too. Yesterdays session included f.ex. Gallery Becker, Aino-K. Pajari, Alvar Aalto Foundation and The Craft Museum of Finland updates.


Some The Online Gallery Henkevä Silakka / Spirited Herring updates/things made and some deals made for Live Herring Festival. I'm trying to get us a work shop artist to make a collaboral net art work but as the schedule is what it is...


Had some media students here yesterday making documentary (dvd) about artists from Central Finland. I always find it a bit hard to stand (or sit as I did) in front of camera. And they had some technical difficulties which delayed the project a bit. The shooting project was a bit complicated because it happened in our home (my castle, my working area) and we only have a few electric plugs free. When we finally got to shooting part it was hard for me to be without laughing all the time. I might be a bit disorientated.


Well, it's a new day, new challenges...

s-track | The Dirty Backbeats - The Bop

Rakennettu arki (released September 7, 2005).


Last two weeks I've spent in marionette course. That's making a marionette, not playing with one. I'm so proud of myself: my marionette is almost finished but some more fixing needs to be done. Nice to make something concrete for a change.


I've updated the usual stuff during this time but nothing new new. Like layouts or such. Yesterday I updated Habitek webpage (new images) and last weekend I made tech reneval for Kirsi Neuvonen's website: her prints are now displayed in different way. Other pages of the site need sine work too and the graphic design of that site is not yet quite finished.


Some big jobs coming up - I just hope I'll manage somehow. I was just listing the things I still need to finish... Glups.

s-track | Dead Kennedys - California Über Alles

Tee itsellesi tilaa (Make yourself some room, re-released September 7, 2005).


I've been a bit sick last week. I've had a small head ache, but more than that, I'm really tired. On Thursday I didn't woke up before four and even then I did it just to enjoy shower and eat something. Yesterday was a bit better but today I slept until half past twelve again. On Monday I should wake up before eight - I'm going to a marionette course - so I'm a bit worried about that. It feels almost impossible to imagine me up and well before ten. Damn.


Received new Ptah magazine a few days ago. There is a double page introduction to the new web page of Alvar Aalto Foundation site. It looks SOOO good. I'm pretty proud of myself.


There are over 200 work related emails waiting for me to do something. So far I've started the day slowly: updated Papiina while listening Robbie Williams interview on BBC Radio1.

Some more time, please.

s-track | Psychedelic Furs - Sister Europe

Annoying BGimage #3


My working desk is starting to look like a big pile of paper. No table seen. I have to start organizing my work somehow.


I continued finishing Muhi layouts - and got some more to do. I like making Muhi layouts because it's not the usual 'office-looks' everyone wants these days. But after this over year long period of slow making I'm finally starting to hope that it would be over soon... Expecially when it has been a small break during the summer and I've forgotten a lot - it takes a lot of my poor brain activity to understand the tasks completely.


On Saturday I opened the Finnish Colour Association files from my to do list and actually started solving the problems I had half a year ago. I managed to finish the demo site.


I've spent so much money during the last week that we'll propably soon have to pick grass and worms to eat. I'm a bit too careless with money - but sometimes it's just nice to spend some money and enjoy shopping... And eat outside + such.
No worries though. Everything seems to go well somehow.


...And there are some good things to come - like Depeche Mode. Best seats! And half a year time to worry if the band will be cancelling...

s-track | Dogs - Tuned To A Different Station

Yesterday I had planned to update Coloria but I got a head ache from hell. I slept through the whole day. Frozen. Unable to move a muscle. The whole day lost.


The day before that I made some updates to Playce @ Seminar 2005 + Aalto Foundation page. I've got to re-update Playce page today (some small updates) and if I have time, to make some adjustments to Rune's page. Am I going in circle or what?


Today I'm not having a full working day (it's Sunday and all - I have to have a break sometimes) but I promised to write a description of our next fall event for one grant we're applying. In Live Herring that's it. I've written the plan already so it's not so big of a work but anyway. I'm not very good with all the official papers. They give me heartburn. The other thing that is sooo very hard for me is to write bills. (!?) I'd be so much richer (¬_¬) if I just had a one drop of business sense in my blood.


My other thoughts have buzzed around unrealistic projects. I have this new idea for 'freebie poetry'. I've collected words + imagery from all kinds of freebie sites and I'm now making some kind of weird poetry about it. Hopefully I'll have some time to finish that project sometime soon before I'll find out it's too freakin' idea to be made... I have couple other own projects on their way too: one colouring image site and artsy bitsy site about fear of butterflies. And of course there would be things to do with Coloria, if I just...

s-track | Ben Folds - Rockin' The Suburbs

Annoying BGimage #2


Yesterday I made some layouts for Gallery ArtDiana. Started day before yesterday evening, finished layouts today and updated temporary work site (just logo) in www.artdiana.com.


Yesterday I had a real floppy-brain day. I placed the GAD layouts in temporary url for gallery people to check out but when I logged in myself, I couldn't see anything. I tried it all: moved it to another server, changed the file names, dropped down my fire wall ad preferences (or what ever) and nothing. After a few hour serious fight I gave up because other people could see the page with all the images from their c:ters. Then, after a dull empty moment, I got it: the url had /AD/ in it... So. I can't watch any urls which has ad in them but I can still watch all the stupid pop up ads even if my firewall is denying it. These stupid stupid stupid machines. Grrr...


I visited The Arts Council of Central Finland today (to make some copies and some Herring stuff). There I chatted with one bloke from Oriental Jam - he had *big* ideas about band reheasal places and about how to develop situation of local bands here. Sounded interesting... But just a little bit too much info. Dropped.


Yesterdays updates included Rune's page+The Arts Council of Central Finland. Today I've updated Pajari's page, The Arts Council of Central Finland + The Craft Museum of Finland sites.


Uh. Tons of emails still waiting.

s-track | Union Of Knives - Evil Has Never

Annoying BGimage #1


I started my day with heavy correspondence. + Calling around about work things. My phone bill will reach the size of... well, something big. I'm a bit worried.
Starting to feel like summer is over: back to routine, a three hour play with Muhi project layouts.


I haven't been totally isolated. I met some friends when I went to visit Marja Liisa in Craft Museum (some Robbie W exchange going on...). She told me that the public viewing of National Dresses project didn't go as planned. Actually: it didn't go at all. Electrecity dropped. No data flow at all.


Funny (...well, not so much): last Sunday I coded Craft Museum page very late, in hurry, and soooo ready to get to sleep. I was so tired that I nearly cried. And today when I was visiting Marja Liisa I suddenly realized that I hadn't updated the files at all. Stupid me.
Gotta fix that.


Still have some layouts to make.

s-track | Fischerspooner - Never Win

Strange times. Two large two year projects (Sibelius Academy / Muhi and National Dresses) are now near ending. It *is* good thing but on the other hand I'm hating myself for being too lazy with both of them. It's always with these long time projects - when there's only small things left to finish, it's so easy to give up. Somebody called that 'making Leonardos' - yesterday I found out why. On television documentary about Leonardo da Vinci's inventions it was said that Leonardo was not so keen on to finish his projects. He started a lots of new projects and left them - many unfinished - as soon as something more interesting came to way.


Strange day. I started with writing invitations to artists whom I try to lure to come to Live Herring event. My mind is so spaghettized on all word games that no real words came to mind. Somehow I managed to make a quite convincing template for invitations. The project took over five hours - I thought I could have managed with using only twenty minutes or so. I'm so out of this system right now. The next project (that I thought would take only few minutes) was to write an offer about making net pages to one gallery. Somehow it took me a while to update all documents and such - and soon it was already three o'clock. These two things were the 'small ones' I thought I could have got rid off before noon. Well, they are done. That's the main thing.


That was about today. I really managed nothing else. Waste of time.


It really annoys me that I haven't left any empty space in my calendar - it's already booked until the end of September. And it's only August going on for heavens sake! Not big things though, not days filled with meetings from early morning to evening. But small and important meetings which are impossible to change to another date - as I just noticed when I tried to fix myself some time to visit Helsinki + Muhi project at it's final meters. And Jani who'll propably leave me again - for Africa. What kind of exchange is that? Damn.

s-track | Supergrass - St. Petersburg

Irritating backgrounds II.


Right. I have spent last weekend in Iitti in SE-Finland in International Colour Festival. I was lecturing in colour seminar on Friday and was quite nervous before (as being last on the list) but it went quite well. The time table was so busy that I had to shorten a little but it was ok. The following two days the Colour festival took place in the field next to the church of Iitti. It was raining quite heavily at time to time - that was a pity. The grounds were quite beautiful but what happens if you have a field + rain. Some mud. It's a bit shame that I left so fast. I didn't get time to say proper good byes to anyone - I just sort of vanished from the grounds.


Yesterday we drove to Helsinki to show Timppa's paintings to one gallerist. The gallery is situated in very good spot but anyway - money would solve a lot of problems. Timppa will have his first exhibition in Helsinki propably in next spring - more about that when it will be the time.


Tomorrow I'll have a meeting in Craft Museum about our colour exhibition. I should've had a meeting today with Ulla but I cancelled it because I haven't got anything finished. I'm so lame. Spineless.


I've tried to make all those little updates that my email ate while I was away. Everytime I leave the c:ter for a small time there are dozens of sweet little messages waiting for me. I'm not complaining about work. But I just hope I could have some kind of systemized mind to organize all the stuff. I wish to get my table cleaned even for once.


Small updates: Gallery Becker, Aino-K. Pajari, Alvar Aalto Foundation and The Craft Museum of Finland. And more to come.

s-track | Stateless - Bloodstream

[Written yesterday but since thunder came and I won't take another chance to blow up this &%¤# machine... I plugged out for evening. Feeling odd and empty withuot a cable connecting me to the world.]


OH MY GOD! I just realized that there is not time enough! Full time full size panic!
Updating Alvar Aalto Foundation took all day...


Tomorrow I'm meeting Ulla about our colour exhibition next summer. We should get to show our ideas etc in the museum the week after the next one. I've made some small digi-images of the museum layout but I'm still almost at the same point where I stood one month ago. BUT I've got some new ideas - have to call to Mikko first and ask if they are possible.


On Wednesday I'll be meeting teachers from JAO to discuss about my herring projects and if there could be some use for students. And vice versa. I was planning to make good layouts of how-when-who-where I had in mind... There are some nasty smutty drawings in several small post-it's. Not very convincing.


Next week I'm leaving to Iitti to celebrate International Colour Festival - as one of the seminar speakers. My subject is colours on web - but I just heard last week that they ARE NOT online. That's not a major problem (well, maybe a little: I can't introduce all those i.net sites I've found to be helpful). I have everything in html mode But as usual: my cd isn't burning! Crap. Installation day tomorrow. If it still won't work after one day fight, I'll go and draw pictures.


And yet to come: National dress project should be ready in two weeks...
Oh god.

s-track | Louis Furey - Hustler's Tango

Official no-money-let's-get-some-panic day.


I've done A LOT of small things but getting nothing finished. Or so it seems. New ideas are invading my head right now when I *don't* have any time nor skills to fulfill them. Where did the whole July go?


Yesterday I spent the whole day trying to inform all mailing lists and art info pages about our Live Herring. Today I've posted info about the new exhibition in Spirited Herring.


Updated f.ex. ArsLab3 + The Craft Museum of Finland. Send a working demo for Alvar Aalto Symposium 2006 (very clean and empty that one). Continued making Teija's 'Rakennettu arki' architecture learning project but some essential pieces are still missing. That project will be wild one...


Real life is too harsh now with nothing essential happening (work work tears). I lead so booooooring life right now, no one can even imagine. I'm starting to slip into dream world while making boring small updates with no mind needed - living in my fantasies as a Caribbean pirate queen (piratess?) Maybe this is because of my skull page (in plans).

---

¬_¬

---
Ok. Need some sleep now.

s-track | ...Trail Of The Dead - To Russia My Homeland

[Irritating background images #1]

The usual story: the sun is shining outside and I'm not shining inside.
There have been several small updates and several small ones and a few ones still waiting. I'm starting to feel that there is no sense in what I am doing. I have to make myself a list of what I'll have to finish and in which order so that everyone could be satisfied.


People are starting to return from their summer holidays. I know this by looking my mail box. I so was planning to cath up my doings during July but the time just flipped through my fingers. To slimy to catch. Damn.

Spirited Herring exhibition should change soon but as it is: I haven't even got to select the poster yet. So I'm a bit worried about that. I've so pleased with the invitation work to Spirited Herring (by Mika) this time but otherwise I'm bit down. I've managed the whole project really badly. Well, not badly but worse than I had planned. I realize now that I have too many projects in my mind and too much to handle. Maybe I learn *this time*.


I try not to complain too much. I've had my share of this summer ok - yesterday we had a extraordinary beautiful day at shopping malls... And on our way back I collected a large amount of tansies for dyeing purposes.

s-track | Chemical Brothers - The Boxer

I've been lazy - and now I'm panicking with all projects. The worst of these are The Online Gallery Henkevä Silakka / Spirited Herring and Live Herring. But I'm getting there...


I was so releaved today when I received the invited art work from Mika who did great job in very short time - I invited him a bit late. I'm soooo happy right now about that - I can hardly wait a new exhibition to open.


Now I'm taking my words back: I actually haven't been lazy, I've just concentrated on wrong things. Like making unique colouring pictures. Last week I started drawing something while watching telly and though 'well, this could be nice to color'. And I made some more pictures. But instead of colouring them myself I took them to Gallery Becker yesterday. Go, fetch, buy.


Actually my soundtract now is Leya which is playing live on Gideon Coe on BBC6. Beaaaauuuutiful.

...I really should start my working day now...

s-track | Louis XIV: God Killed The Queen

I feel sooooo miserable right now. This day just sucks.


This has been a sort of manic depressive July so far. Some absolutely fantastic days with sun shining and ice creaming and all. And then the days of universe killing our machines (the latest one being our dear Spirit of St. Louis phone - propably hit by lightning yesterday). And then these gloomy days when nothing seems to be right.
This day started nicely: with rain dropping down to window pale. I like to push my head deeper into pillow and listen to the sound of rain. It's still warm and all the balcony door and all the windows were open and light wind blew over. Enjoyable morning. But after I got up, everything sort of started to go wrong. I've been up for about three hours now and I feel like I've done a twelwe hour day already.

Whining, whining. *sob sob*


Yesterday morning started by installing windows repair disc - which itself wasn't a big job. I actually managed to finish some layouts for Aalto Symposium 2006 which has been there half ready waiting to be forwarded. Hopefully they will do. Even though I'm not really satisfied with myself. Configuring this damn machine (even Photoshop, my dearest friend, refused to start properly) always pushes me to the edge and even though I remained sane yesterday, it really didn't need much to knock me over.


I really need to close this damn machine right now and go to get some fresh air. Maybe walking around could help a bit.

s-track | Louis XIV: God Killed The Queen

Where did time go?


I've forgot to pay my VAT and my bills because the time has suddenly just passed me. The two last weeks have been totally bbbbeeeeautiful summer days - and total waste of time. I've had nothing finished and my working is so spineless it's even embarrassing me. If I had a time to have some holidays this lazyness wouldn't be any harm but as I'm in a hurry with a couple of messy projects... I+Sun=no good.
I've done some fixings to Sibelius Academy project but nothing big yet. I'm avoiding it a bit. I really like that project and with knowing my ameba condition... Nothing good would happen. Right now I'm actually fixing the first page - which I have done a lot within the last month - but I'm not yet satisfied so I haven't made it to the net so far.


I *should* make some informing about Live Herring, update the regulars and finish my coloring images project. More of that latter one later.


Heart burns. Eaten too many strawberries with ice cream.

s-track | Ordinary Boys: Boys Will Be Boys

I planned this week to be a very intensive week with work + Coloria... But universum has its own laws. Yesterday we got a new fridge/freezer which took the whole day to install (+ clean etc). Today I turned on the washing machine only to see it break down in front of me. The smell was awful and I thought the fumes were dangerous so I called the fire department to ask what to do. So, three charismatic firemen came to visit and noted that there was nothing to do - buy a new machine. But the fumes were no dangerous so here I am.


Anyway, Ulla was here after the evil-machine incident and we planned the 2006 colour exhibition a bit further. A few days ago I started to make some kind of visual script for the exhibition with Photoshop. Today I continued by drawing my ideas - it's so hard to hold pencil these days. At least the way I'd like to. How come the straight lines I try to draw are nothing but.


Now I'm about to update Aalto Foundation site.



Woaaaah.


Cheer me up someone.

s-track | We Are Scientists: Nobody Move Nobody Get Hurt

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The work and fun project I wrote about earlier has quite not yet realized. I've worked, yes, but I've had less fun than usually. Wednesday evening was fun though - we drove to small town of Jämsänkoski (Rune, Timppa, Naoji and I) to a Pöllölä gallery for exhibition opening. After the opening we went to see the dam/falls/what ever (...I think we went there accidentally while trying to find a way out of the town but I'm not sure - fine place anyway). And after taking tons of pictures we left for Jämsä. It was a true summer trip: we ate ice cream on the market cafe/beer terrace where everyone else were enjoying their beers... And then we continued the trip. There was this strange ghostly kind of wooden house and we left our car next to it. We headed to the river and walked to see a environmental art piece by Pertti Karjalainen (The Herb Garden of the Pharmacist) whre there are several herbs planted and pickable. We took some coriander and mint before leaving to see another environmental art project near by river. After a while we left home - enjoyed sun shine and rain and double rainbow...


Anyway, not any work project finished on Wednesday or yesterday (spent the whole day with The Craft Museum of Finland updates) - no time to Coloria. Today I realized that there are still 25 emails (read: updates / wishes) to fulfil so... Maybe tomorrow.
Argh- the sun is shining outside. It's hot and THERE IS NO MORE ICE CREAM ON OUR FREEZER. But on Monday we'll have a new freezer with more space. I'll dedicate one shell to ice cream only.


With these thoughts... *opening my DreamWeaver*

soundtrack | Salad: Drink The Elixir

Back to work. Timppa left for Jämsänkoski to put up an exhibition with five other artists from Central Finland. I would have liked to leave with him to help but since yesterday was some sort of thunder head day and I practically slept through the whole day... That's it.


I just made a decicion to divide my work days during weeks to work and fun (read: work and Coloria). Coloria has been linked to YleX radio station pages which has brought me A LOT of new visitors and comments about Coloria. And I'm feeling a bit down about it since I really have wrote only few sentences to the site since the beginning of the year. Last week I received a book by Arturo Péres-Reverte from the Finnish translation for thanks (for a little help with one colour related thing).
I've sort of taken the easy step closer to Coloria. On Midsummer fest I had a lo-fi fest: I went to my parents and left the work totally. I took my portable computer wth me and studied their books and some articles and wrote bases for colour stories. And I had some wool with me which I dyed with madder, Dermocybe mushrooms and nettle with boletus mushrooms ...Could it get more lame? I'm ruining my reputation as rock chick.

Still one more foot note: I still find it nicer to listen to radio (hard core BBC6 fan) while working but I have to say The buther and The Butterfly by Queenadreena... Gives me some extra kick I need in mornings.


And so it begins. Work.

soundtrack | Dover: Die For Rock'n'Roll

Spirited Herring here...
and

Live Herring there...


For your information: No, I'm not dead, just a bit older! Last week was busybusy and then theere were minimal birthday festitives and after that maximal rock festitives. After a long weekend of hectic running around sand fields and bridges over the river at Provinssi-rock working feels like holidays. It was great though - seeing Marilyn Manson and NIN live... The weather was better than good and I found a good festival theme: I started taking pictures of people wearing clothes with skulls. It's a shame I got it so late, I only had about 30-40 pictures. But this will be ongoing theme with me in future fests too - so wear your skulls!


Before we left I managed to finish an awful lot of projects - and still there are many left. But Live Herring is online and so is my new artsy bitsy Uninvited words which is also exhibited at Spirited Herring. And propably in Chicago next month if everything goes well. Today I also filled in the work description for Rhizome ArtBase...


On my birthday (16th) the only festitive thing was a birthday dinner: we ordered all appetizers on the menu except one. Otherwise I worked through the day. ...Well, I had to try: Timppa bought me two PS2 games and I had to try Sonic collection a little. I knew it was a mistake - I almost couldn't stop. After finishing these couple of late project in my hands, I'll play a bit.


So: following are the exhibition space thingy for Mikko in Craft Museum and rest of the site renewal for Kirsi.

soundtrack | Magazine: Shot By Both Sides

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What?! Yesterday night I lost Britain from the world map! Tried to open BBC6 on RealPlayer - and nothing. After a while I thought I lost the contact to the whole world but soon realized that only the British pages were banned. There was no problem in getting to German pages (for some reason the obvious choice for me was to try the homepage of Berlin...) Glad it's back though - most of all BBC6. Right now I'm easing down listening to Phill Jupitus Breakfast show on BBC6. I've said this before but I will say it again: time zones are great! I can wake up at my own time not feeling quilty about not waking up at early morning like rest of the population seems to be doing. When I start my work and open the radio there is breakfast show running. It sort of gives me more hours to day as I can pretend that I have woken up early. I'm actually going to mail this to BBC. Right after I've managed to get through my most important thirty about mail waiting for reading. Actually, I have mentioned BBC6 so many times they should actually send me some stuff for this. T-shirt or something. Today's world as it is: nothing for free.


Anyway, I've done a lot of work. Most recent updates: Gallery Becker, Alvar Aalto Foundation and The Craft Museum of Finland.

soundtrack | System of A Down: BYOB

...god. The beginning of June has been hectic. Most of the time has been spent with Spirited Herring - www.webgalleria.net - now open. Go, register as an artist and submit your Crime associated works! First invited artist is Lea Turto whose interbiew will be translated also to English. So funny - as the Spirited Herring is now a project of The Arts Council of Central Finland I asked them to give me a name of a good translator I could ask to translate the texts to proper English... They actually gave me the name of my old school friend - from about twenty years ago.


I've made some basic updates for Alvar Aalto Foundation and The Craft Museum of Finland but nothing big (if you don't count the Spirited Herring)...

soundtrack | Nine Inch Nails: The Line Begins To Blur

It's unbelivable stupid life I live. On Friday I got tired to get error notes from my c-ter and not be able to run chkdsk for some reason.

And the result? The new hard drive is three times bigger but as the last one was so silent and soft this feels like driving monster car or something. Crunch crunch crunch. And it seems that the problem wasn't actually with the system but with something else. The first thing that happened when I turned the machine on at home was: 'Epson scanner file is missing or corrupted... run chkdsk' - which it still doesn't do when I ask it to. And plus to that: the mouse is acting hectic. It takes about every third click as double click. I tried to update the drivers but Logitech site doesn't find the model and just throws me to some general support page.

GGGGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! Could I just hate this 1001001001 world any more?


Yesterday we spent the easy-life day visiting my parents: good food, playing cards, not much c-ter. Today the reality is back again: have to try to complete my most important work missions for today and after that installing XP again.


Something finished though: Piitu's small page is now online: http://www.piitunykopp.net.

soundtrack | Wednesday 13: Bad Things

Nerdy life continuum. I stayed in the whole weekend making final changes to Alvar Aalto Foundation site - now published. Exactly 6.30am this morning. I went to bed at about sevenish and a few moments after that Timppa woke up - he's restauring one wall painting by Jaakko Valo with Jaakko Valo for a couple of weeks and they start each morning early. It was actually quite funny: I had my morning alarm at noon and shorly after that I went to kitchen to make some coffee I saw them through the kitchen window heading for University (Ilokivi or Lozzi I suppose) for something to eat. Hmph. Funny? I'm functioning on overdrive. After waking up (and having straight week of only few hours of sleep each night) I've been feeling euforious. I've been laughing to every small thing and - ! - almost made the dishes, cleaning the sink... This can't be right.


But still no end anywhere to be seen: Muhi project and updates are waiting and phone is ringing again. As I've said before: no rest for the wicked.


Feeling very Joy Divisional - a couple of days ago when BBC 6 Music had Ian Curtis memorial day and played Joy Division the whole day I wasn't in the mood. But thank the lord for 'listen again' buttons.

soundtrack | My Chemical Romance: Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge

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Angel's here! Angel's here! The last season just arrived from DVDon!

Nothing else much.


Most of the time spended with Muhi project and even more with Aalto Foundation site renewal - which is almost finished. Some polishing and all is set for publishing.


And the usual one: machines break down. I was about to write a bill to ArsLab3 when I found my offer *file corrupted*. I tried to run chkdsk but the c:ter doesn't allow - it only asks if I's like to run chkdsk next time I start this &¤%##/%#/ machine. And when I answer yes, shut this damn (/&%%¤%¤####! down and re-start - nothing happens. I'm doomed. I don't want to play games anymore with this because of the few crucial projects had to be finish first. So I just try to ignore the whole thing. Pretending works always.
Anyway, it tells something about my professionality that I had to contact Jari from ArsLab3 and ask him how much I had to bill...


But I heard from Teija who's back from Italy. We'll hopefully meet next week! Something to be glad about. Which reminds me: I have to check if Tuija is already back from China - a small coffee moment withtravel stories would be good for my mental health.

soundtrack | Queen Adreena: Medicine Jar

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Life is vicious and against me. I've been practically a prisoner at home for over one week. On Friday when I finally got out my back started aching again - I + cold spring air = not good. I've been so mad and frustrated. I've tried to convinve myself that it's almost ok, I have work to do anyway and... Getting tired and paranoid. But I'm so glad: the summer is coming and hopefully warmer air too. I wouldn't like to stand dead stiff and hurting watching Marilyn Manson, NIN and Turbonegro. Or worse: listening the hotel room tap tipping through the whole weekend. Well, there are leaves on the trees already. That's a good sign.


German and Swedish language versions of The Craft Museum of Finland site will open tomorrow. There are propably still some odd typos - but still - FINALLY online. This has been one of the long-time sessions of this spring.


Yesterday I lacked life totally. I woke up after noon, *tried* to accomplish something ...but nothing. I actually then lied on sofa watching telly and wondering if I should play some Jak or Kingdom Hearts but I it was too big project for me (getting up and turn on play station). Instead of having any activity I Ended up staring to the emptiness and letting my mind wander around. I had these odd conspiration-sort-of-things like: Hey - there is only one letter difference between money and Monet. Could this be coincidence? I still can hear my brain snapping.


This can't go on much longer. I have to get me a life.

soundtrack | Sons And Daughters: Dance Me In

Drinking cold coffee and water, watching sun shining outside and having fingers tapping on keyboard. Normal geeky day.


Some Spirited Herring and Live Herring (net art events) done. Small things but they took a lot of time. I should be better organized for these kinds of thing.
Yesterday was actually a total head bangers ball - inside my head. Still: new article layout for Muhi project. Few new images added to Aino-K. Pajari's page and a couple of small updates to Colour Association of Finland.


And the Aalto Foundation... There was zzzzzzz with BBC 6 Music a few days ago and I went for BBC Radio 2 to hunt down for something complete different. I found this nice light music show Friday Night Is Music Night with musical themes and light classic music to go with my non-stop working mood. I was listening Finlandia by Sibelius with tears in my eyes (well, almost) while coding the Alvar Aalto site. Could it get more patriotic (and pathetic) than this?


Yes, the sun is still shining outside. I'm waiting for Timppa to come home and take me out to eat pasta/soup and some ice cream. And maybe some dvd-shopping...

soundtrack | Plastic Berntrand: Ça plane pour moi

ArsLab³ online...



My back ache continued through the weekend. It was quite hard for me to move at all - so when I sat in front of my work desk I practically didn't leave it very often during the weekend. These back ahces seem to be quite productive for my work projects.


I spent the whole weekend coding Aalto Foundation new web page. It was so sunny outside yesterday that I almost thanked Powers That Be (...hmph... living in Joss Whedon's universe I guess) for my back ache - I would't have gone out even if I didn't have this hardcore working session. Today I'm again as movable as I should be and no big hurting areas regocnized - but rain rain rain. Can stay home safely.


[Edit 12 hours later:]
Blogger threw me out twice but better later than never.
Today I have made small updates for other projects (before re-entering to the universum of the Aalto Foundation): small updates to Art + Architecture 2005 and small fixes to ArsLab³. Wrote an evaluation for one JAO student. And of course, the above mentioned ArsLab³ site which I finished coding last morning at five.


No go, no flow day today. Maybe tomorrow'll be a bit better. I promise to press my mental refresh button and not to be this dull...

soundtrack | The Scaramanga Six: Horrible Face

More pinkish, flowery desktop images on their way...

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O_o ... Haven't blogged for ages. Nothing to tell actually. Physically I'm decaying alive: my back has been hurting since Easter + right foot has been hurting for about four months now (no reason known which adds a bit to my restlessness). Yesterday I sort of stretched my back and had to stay in the rest of the day. And propably this whole weekend. I was so pissed off yesterday - I had planned to visit Anssi+Liisa in their new home but instead I played salt statue the whole evening.


Now it's a bit better - I can still sit. So working it is.


Actually, right now I feel I haven't been this busy ever before. Forget all my earlier whinings: this is the most turbo panicish time ever. The mother of all the oppression. I've been coding the new Aalto Foundation site like maniac, remade Muhi project layouts, coded Kirsi's pages and made LOTS of smaller updates. I haven't actually done anything else apart from working and watching reality television.
Now I'm lying: I've also worked with my 'hobby' - The Online Art Gallery Spirited Herring is now closed and waiting to be re-opened in the beginning of June. Jani visited here last week and we gave the project some reality check. Needless to say-

soundtrack | Hope of The States: The Red The White The Black The Blue

Still no life signs. Void mind.

I finally got the layouts for ArsLab3 + logo's sent to Jari.


Aalto sitereneval project has been on stand by mode today.
Small updates: Gallery Becker and Aino-K. Pajari.

soundtrack | Cradle of Filth: Devil Woman

Work'a'holic weekend + some days after.


On Saturday I first updated all the small(ish) updates, some Muhi project adjustments + the rest of Kirsi's corrections (all of which I hadn't coded before). Then I started coding national dresses project and it took about 2/7 with only a few hours sleep and some mind emptying moments with reality television (and chicken fajitas - I will never eat again).
Then I started coding new Aalto foundation site which will propably be THE project for the couple of few weeks.


And a card from Teija from Florence (how come I remembered that she was going to Venice?) - my contact to outside world. Well, not totally: today (...as: yesterday) I met Mirkka from Aalto Museum and we discussed something about the new Aalto site soon to be opened...


No life signs here. Move away, there's nothing to see here.

soundtrack | The Secret Machines: Road Leads Where It's Led

I've got the Art + Architecture 2005 registration pdf finally online. The site has been online since February but all the important pieces are now together - so I guess the site is finally published. The visual design + layout are based on the print material designed by Teemu Taskinen.



Work'a'holica day.

The Craft Museum of Finland Swedish and German pages will open soon - several small adjustments made.
Alvar Aalto Foundation redesign is due to open in few weeks time. Unfortunately, the first stage is only slight make-over, renewal of the few most important pages. Those projects done with one piece at time are always hard for me, I easily lose the logic... But thumbs up now.

And of course some time spent with Muhi project (colour codes for Hannes, searching for old layouts for re-designing, some info for Petteri).

Ups - look, it's already tomorrow. Time travelling.

soundtrack | Hard-Fi: Tied Up Too Tight

So, most of the time with Muhi project. Nothing to show yet, some small adjustments again. It's annoying how making some small changes can take the whole day. But the strange thing is that I actually like making the graphs for that one. Sometimes it feels like the project is in the never-ending mode - but so are many other projects too and in more disturbing way. In this one I have only graphs to deal with, nothing else. Maybe that's the reason why it's still on the good side of the planet...
Recent updates: Alvar Aalto Foundation, The Craft Museum of Finland, The Arts Council of Central Finland>, ArsLab...


I've been a bit ill so all so I'm a bit late with everything. The work doesn't end soon: basic updates awaiting, Muhi layouts unfinished, Kirsi's site renewal unfinished, Aalto Foundation site renewal coding not even started (well, some ground work is done), some layouts for ArsLab3 unfinished (new logo based on the old one is already finished), Webgalleria texts to be written and Väripaletti site to be updated. And I should've get the national dresses finished last weekend but as I hit the zombie mode so totally, I'll just have to try to finish the project ASAP. Which just might be too much right now.


I've tried to spy on Teija's blog (sorry, only in Finnish) now and then to find out is she already in Venezia or still in Norway - or where? But nothing new yet. I've got some good news to her: our five-year architectural online project is now finally working. I'll code the front page as soon as possible and we can finally rest...


Yesterday I was practically in all-day-coma (except of the little must-be-done-updates) and watched four first episodes of Buffy S4. Maybe today I'll have four more to medicate myself. I've missed all the buffynism in this busy busy world.

soundtrack | Magyar Posse: 6

General tiredness. Fluish feelings. Rudolphian nose.
A few long lasting projects have dominated my days - no end is near. (And so I won't face the final curtain...) ¬_¬


My week'o'rama: a few meetings, Sibelius Academy Muhi project, Kirsi's web site renovation, small updates: Gallery Becker, Alvar Aalto Foundation, The Craft Museum of Finland, The Arts Council of Central Finland, European Cultural Foundation / Finland. And: after heavy work session with Matti on Thursday, I finished a small Sixty Files site + got it online on Friday (layout + content by Matti Reivi, I just coded the page).


Some freetime this week: it's a 60 year celebration of the Jyväskylä Artists' Society, so all kinds of festitive things are on, above mentioned Sixty Files being one of them. Something sort of free-timish too: Artists' Society annual exhibition opening in The Jyväskylä Art Museum was on Friday. I met a lot of people and some of them even chatted about reality television with me. Time not lost.
AND: Jani send some The Online Gallery Henkevä Silakka / Spirited Herring layouts for me a few days ago. I'm absolutely stunned. And amazed. Now it's starting to be my turn to make some content thingies. And it's starting to feel a bit too real. We've had a few panic calls but the situation is still quite not out of our hands. O_o


Nothing else. My life is boring as... I can't even think of anything else so boring.
Maybe it's better to enter to a pause mode for the rest of the night.
(I do it my waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.)

soundtrack | The Dears: 22 The Death of All The Romance

Friday's first work hour: active update renewal of my virus blocker. WHY was it so hard? First I didn't understand what was the VAT tax-number the program asked and after trying several vartiations of that number series I finally got through. Then I got the bank account information and refeernce numbers which weren't recognizable by e-bank. I finally got the thing paid but now I'm waiting the final renewal day in fear. I really should find some person to do this all for me.


Second project: there are still some strange problems with our architecture teaching project Tee itsellesi tilaa (Make some room for youself). Made in shockwave, it has some strange looping problems in destination/final server when the same project still works fine in the testing server. Problem still unsolved. But I finally mailed to get some help.


I also brought some papers for my accountant who kindly reminded me that I had forgot to sign my tax papers... Hopefully they won't get any extra charges because of that. When I returned home my back ache started again (wind, cold, wet) and my shopping for food didn't go so well. I bought all kinds of sweets but nothing to eat. So pizza and kebap it was - again. The whole morning I felt an urge to go somewhere and to meet people but after getting home, it was very clear to me: I'm not a people person right now. There should've been an exhibition opening in Galleria Becker on Friday but I was too apathic to use my feet to get there or my mouth to chat with anyone, so... I guess it was better to stay home than be the party downer of the year.


Yesterday I woke up at half past twelve and started working right away. Well, working and working. Actually: I first started making things nobody is paying for me, Webgalleria Spirited Herring things and all. Tomorrow same work flow continued (well, not really - it's like walking in tar).
Some updates: exhibition changed in Gallery Becker, Alvar Aalto Foundation, The Craft Museum of Finland, Värjärikilta, The Arts Council of Central Finland and Papiina's moving (new products were updated last week). And of course - rest of the Riiminka proucts updated.


I should have updated Kirsi Neuvonen's updates and start the site renewal - but it seems that it's already tomorrow and I'm not getting any smarter - only sleepy. Should propably get some sleep first.

soundtrack | Radiohead: Subterranean Homesick Alien

Back on duty.

Last weekend was quite hectic. I had to finish Värillä-zine before last weekend but it was Saturday I finally got it finished. Basicly it isn't so hard to make but Mr. Murphy had his almost final words in many small things and the project took a LOT of time.


On Friday I had a meeting with Kirsi Neuvonen who's website is under heavy renewal. Last week I made a new front page but the site is going to be changed during this spring. Then I met Riiminka's two owners. We had set the meetings originally at the beginning of March but with me being sick it finally was about a mont later. So, the Riiminka's web page reneval was the next job. All products etc. were to be replaced. I started on Saturday, continued through Sunday until 5 o'clock Monday morning. At that time I had managed to put product information for babies, girls and boys clothing online but others (adults + accessories) didn't make it yet... I promised to get rest of the stuff online at the end of this week. Same thing with other stuff I was going to update last weekend...

On Monday I updated Alvar Aalto Foundation and The Craft Museum of Finland + a couple of small fixes here and there before I left to Helsinki. The rest of the Monday was off-time for me - and I totally needed it. On Tuesday I held a 9-5 lecture about Colours in UIAH / Continuing Education and Development centre. I actually was amazed that I wasn't tired at all (after surviving weekend at total sleep amount of 10 hours and then reading sophisticated literature (...eh, refreshing musical memoirs of Mötley Crüe...) still after midnight at the night before) and I had fun. I think the students had too. At least not a one of them started to cry which is always a good sign.


Yesterday I had a meeting in Sibelius Academy. I'm a bit ashamed about my slow working mode with that. I can't understand why the small things like icons have been so hard for me to make. But the meeting was good+energetic and I actually gained some faith on myself. I just started this morning by making a clearifying list of all the things to make with that project. The list is long but it's not so terrifying as I thought it would be.


After getting the return ticket I sort of collapsed mentally+physically. There were no free benches to sit on in Helsinki Railway Station, the weight of my bag was killing me and my back was hurting after getting some cold seawind. So, after half an hour waiting when I finally got to train and to my seat, I swicthed on zombie mood. I had some mags (Image + Metal Hammer) with me but I actually just sat and stared voidly straight ahead of me the whole trip. The usual trains sessions that is.
After a good night sleep some kind of mental cleaness is now achieved... Some though patterns are still missing but I'm getting there.

soundtrack | Pulp: Feeling Called Love

It's very relieving to know that there are some non-variables in this world: coffee tastes good even if it didn't taste good. ...You know what I mean. Right now I'm helding my Nightmare-Before-X-mas-Jack-mug on the other hand (christmas present from my brother, which I received after a long and complicated journey just about one week ago - the mug's journey, not mine) and write with another. Not very comfortable. But there is no space in my work desk for my mug and the floor is filled with papers, cds and all...


I had a few holidays during Easter. On Friday I visited my parents and practically sleeping through the whole day. On Saturday evening (after a good day's work) I went to visit my parents again and left yesterday. Two whole days without doing anything work-related. Odd!


Reality check today: many smaller updates and some bigger ones. Alvar Aalto Society, Alvar Aalto Foundation, The Craft Museum of Finland and Kirsi Neuvonen's website.


Kirsi has made an introduction to her present exhibition in Becker (only in Finnish) and when I coded the page I had this strange flashback. I've always considered the moment I first called Kirsi about her web pages as a turning point of my professional career: it was after that call I decided to concentrate on making sites for cultural projects, artists, artisans and such trying to stay away from big firms and projects that don't give me anything. There was one text in Kirsi's text that brought that moment back to me very powerfully. Somehow it also gave me some extra power for other work projects - I've actually managed to stay away from strongly commercial projects.


So that's about it. Värillä colour-zine for Värjärikilta is still unfinished (deadline last week), some small icons for Sibelius Academy project made but still offline, Papiina updates are still unfinished... Jani will come tomorrow so the situation will be propably the same tomorrow... Still no rest for the wicked.

soundtrack | Eliot Smith: Waltz #2 (XO)

Yesterday, after three hour trip to visit a doctor (waiting, waiting, waiting...) I went to The Arts Council of Central Finland hoping to collect some ultimate pity-points (read: to get some coffee) - and the plan worked well. I actually had a couple of work things there: I had a meeting with Jari about ArsLab3 project and then I printed out some MediaDesk application forms for Spirited Herring projects. I walked home with Seija via Gallery Becker and the writer's house (where I have never visited before), then visited Aalto Museum/Teija shortly and we set some lunch plans for today.


Today I managed to make some small updates before we left to thai restaurant for lunch. After lunch Teija and I talked a bit about Aalto site renewing - Teija will be leaving Aalto museum at the end of this month. For good. Our co-work has been so close that I'm a bit worried about the change Teija's absence will make... But we'll see.


I'm living in some kind of updating continuum. Everytime I update something and consider the job done a new update awaits and I'm updating the same page. Bigger projects are on stand-by-mode as I can't concentrate well enough to finish them.
Maybe tomorrow.

soundtrack | Rufus Wainwright: The One You Love

Working working. The usual ones updated again: Gallery Becker and Alvar Aalto Foundation, The Craft Museum of Finland.
Last week Kirsi Neuvonen got finally a new front page - although it's still the temporary one.


We'll meet soon with Kirsi and take the site renewal to a next level.

Värjärikilta's dyeing-zine Värillä is under it's way but right now I'm having small problems with it. I should have finished it last weekend but I'm running late with every project possible. ...So what's new in this world? Nothing.

At the beginning of April I'm about to lecture about colours in Helsinki (TAIK/Continuing Education and Development centre). Everything is ok otherwise but I still have to check some material... I'm quite excited actually.

...I just made some chicken wings: emptied the vacuumed package and put it in the owen, that is. Only I read the instructions wrong: it was 20 mins instead of 1 hour and 20 mins... ¬_¬ Well, they are quite crispy now. O_o Hmph. Better to stick with my job. Luckily I had coffee with Teija today at university. Some energy still left inside.

soundtrack | Head Automatica: Brooklyn Is Burning

Total designer's block here. Void mind - thoughless head - brainless brain. Angst-fest at its best.

I'm actually trying to have some free time to heal my foot but somehow I found myself working. Work-a-holic? Arctic & Fabulous Film Festival announced new competition for Finnish film makers - I updated the page. Small adjustments to new Aalto site. Several small updates to many sites.

Kirsi Neuvonen came by to pick up her image cd's. Her exhibition opening will be in Becker next Saturday and I promised to try to make a new front page for her website. It's been already over five years when we first started making her site - it hasn't been changed after opening, so it's about time...

And of course working with Muhi - and I wont mention this again before I really get something done. My recent layouts + graphics have been so horrifying that I'm really ashamed.

I haven't been out for almost a week because of my foot. It starts to show. Last week I found myself watching football, on Saturday evening I watched Sweden's selections for Eurovision song contest and today I *almost* watched Dr.Phil.

Somebody please get me a coffee and life.

soundtrack | Kyuss: Green

Grrrr.... I've been so frustrated with this c-ter half of the time that I don't feel I have any energy left on my body at all. I've managed to make some small updates but nothing big, nothing finished. Last weekend I stole some time from my work projects and made some Coloria updates.

Yesterday Sari called me and asked if I wanted to go to eat something and then to go with her to exhibition opening - and I did. First of all: I hadn't seen Sari for a couple of weeks. Secondly: it was so refreshing to get out after almost one week (true nerd here - fresh air just might kill one) although it propably wasn't the most wisest thing on earth - now it feels like my foot was in fire. It's *so* beautiful winter day outside, the sun is shining and all, but maybe I'll stay inside this day and try to recover.

Now back to Sibelius Academy Muhi -project...

soundtrack | Louis XIV: Finding Out True Love Is Blind

Nothing.

I'm not dead yet, thank you for asking.

At the beginning of this week I got one project finished and after that I've been zombiezed. Totally. There are only small updates I've been able to make but everything else is standing still.

Plus: my email is refusing connection and all that &/%/&¤¤¤### - all emails are not coming through right now (only those who are wondering if I'm ok...?) and I'm not in the mood for reason-for-malfunction-hunting. I have to leave it for tomorrow.
Well, I really haven't had a holiday for a long time...

soundtrack | Bloc Party: Helicopter

I've propably told about this but I say it again: I work usually listening to BBC Radio 6. Good music - and not to mention the English accent... A couple of days ago I realized one more good thing: it's so refreshing to have others living same time as I - to hear some one saying 'Good Morning' when my computer clock shows 1pm. Physically I might be in Finland but mentally I'm not near the not CET+1 (or CET+2) Helsinki timeline. True Londoner I am...


I've spent a LOT of time with Muhi -project slicing finished images and saving them to web usable format. But still there are few layouts unsure and unfinished. And of course: when I try to transfer them to a temp directory to Coloria - the whole site is down.


Some other updates: The Craft Museum of Finland, The Arts Council of Central Finland, Väripaletti... + demo site for Architecture+Art2005, soon to be published.


I just made some Dalai Lama personality test Teija send me. Well: my priorities are: pride, love, home, money and career; I'm considering myself alerted, my loved one sleepy, my enemies fast... Please, stop sending me those tests. I usually trash them right away but sometimes when there is hurry and I really don't have time, I find myself answering questionnaires. Oh, and I consider my life to be fluffy.


I'm a bit tired, my foot hurts and - Oscars are live on television. I use them all as an excuse and leave my c-ter right now.

soundtrack | Disco Ensemble: We Might Fall Apart

Outburst coming up:
Some small updates yesterday: Riiminka, Aino-K. Pajari + Kirsi Neuvonen's press photos and other press stuff prepared. I tried to concentrate on some bigger projects but...


There are two big projects I'm working daily with and feeling that I'm getting nowhere: Muhi-project for Sibelius Academy and some new layouts for Aalto Foundation. Plus one project about national costumes which, at this point, is pure copy-pasting - if I try too much my head explodes and I propably end up putting wrong information somewhere. With all these small updates and some of these large projects I sometimes feel so not-accomplishish (uh, I know you can't find that word on official dictionaries but I'm for buffynism... Create your own words if you don't know the right ones.) And because I basicly like of what I'm doing and like the idea of seeing the *finished* sites, it makes the whole situation worse.


So luckily I'm got something done and proved that some projects CAN end - eventually:


I finished www.coloria.net/salekivi yesterday. The site is propably temporary (eh, slight usability problems maybe) but it's easier to handle now since it's made with css. The old site was over four years old, so it was about time to make some changes.

soundtrack | Led Zeppelin: Immigrant Song

Day started with some office working - bills and invoices, sending letters etc. I *never* seem to learn how much time it really takes to handle these small things. It was actually already afternoon when I got to do updates. So much work undone that I don't know how to continue. Blogger is a good place for pausing work.


A while ago I was chatting about desk top images and promised to make a pinkish one with flowers. Promises must always be kept. So...



Want one? Get one: 1024x768, 1152x864, 1280x1024.

Other desk top images might be following: so far I have promised to make a 10-image flower series (this is the first) and 10-image ugly series...

soundtrack | Placebo: Twenty Years

I had thought that I could spend some quality time with Coloria this week... That's not going to happen. Instead of working non-stop during the weekend I ended up playing with Photoshop and made some images. View dig.art / right column.

Lot's of little boring things: last few days have been dotting and lashing uncorrect html-files (that is: adding dot to nameoffilehtm and slashes to directoryfile.htm). I haven't really bothered reading error reports from statistics site so when I finally did... There is still some work to be done. I updated Aino's webpage to work-o-matic but left some small sites out, I'll add them later. I should put my cv online (there has been some requests) but I think the one in dig.art page is enough. If people want more information, they can always mail and ask.

Websites of artists has been a topic here: I found unsent letter about Piitu's dollmaker website on my drafts - and I was wondering why she won't answer to me... Virpi's first layouts are *finally* finished. Hopefully there is the one we can work on. Timppa's new page will be propably online soon.

I have to start working with Art+Architecture2005 layout and finishing new Colour Association page (I started coding that one a month ago - - - I'm getting slow).

soundtrack | The Killers: Mr. Brightside

Nice. Yesterday I tried to keep one holiday but then I decided to try finishing Virpi's layouts for once and all (for some reason this has been really hard for me...) However, a couple of hours later I found myself making new layout for Timppa while I was downloading large press image to one work stuff. I actually finished the layout and started coding it - - - Noticing that dreamweaver had lost the sites AGAIN. This has happened to me once before. Now again. Only this time I didn't lose them all, only the one's alphabetically after k. I was just wondering if the site info still exists there somewhere. I couldn't find one to import to DW but when I installed Timppa's site again, it noted me about changing old settings... Someone wise - bring me the magic words with this.


I made some small code adjustments to Aino's page. It's now online and ready for viewing: personal.inet.fi/taide/aino-k.pajari.




Something almost fun happening on the working site. This could be THE best easter egg of my work history: I was so not in the work mood when I opened the Aalto Light Fittings envelope with image cd in it. There was no CD in it! One less work for this weekend! Ha!

soundtrack | My Chemical Romance: I'm Not Okay

Nothing has really happened in two days - just work. My life includes no life.

I got something finished though: the website for printmaker Aino-K. Pajari is online. Only in Finnish (English section is not finished yet) - but images work in any languages.

I've tried to make some layouts for Virpi Lehto, but my brain has like...freezed. No ideas, everything is either too wild or too sterile. It's hard to make web pages for artists - you can't really party with unconventional decoration etc because the web graphics should not remove the focus from the paintings. And I'm finding it difficult to make new minimalistic layouts without repeating myself. Anyway, Virpi's first layouts should be ready by tomorrow evening.

The biggest session of the last few days has been the Sibelius Academy Muhi-project. I'm finishing the article layout but there is something still not right. I'm not happy. grrrr The other thing I'm doing: I'm saving all the graphics to ready-to-use format which is slightly bigger job than I had thought. I've been working with that for TWO days.

Yesterday I had to take some time off and I spent some moments searching different kind of sentence generators. I was hoping to find something that should elevate my interviews with good artistic jargon but instead I found many others, like Ruåtsinkielisten lauseiden generaattori (makes random Swedish sentences - and you can even select if you want to use grammar right or do you want it to make mistakes...? Why not in my school time - perfect cheating machine). And the other one: Stupid translator (translates a sentence first to one language - badly - and then back or forward to another one. The results are hidious. If you have as lifeless life as I have, go and knock yourselves out with these. And the same translated with ST: If you it will have as the life liveless, as I have, goes mit_dieseno_yourselves_to beats for is.

Right now I'm waiting for some press photos Alvar Aalto Foundation to download. I'll propably fall into a sleep any moment now. ...Uh, here they are. Back to work.

soundtrack | Radiohead: Paranoid Android

Last Saturday I met Jani in Tampere. We set some plans for our net art festival, ate ourselves to near-to-death condition in Chinese restaurant and then headed to ex-TTVO multimedia student meeting. Next morning I took a train to Jyväskylä after three hour sleep. I got some good ideas in the train but now when I read my notes... The reality is harsh. The final conclusion is this: we really are not 24-hour party people. We are 24-hour megalomaniacs who have no life.

Some ancient projects are haunting me. Today I've called and mailed to some old ghosts that should already be over but which aren't - and not because of me. Irritating. I'd really like to move on to something new already.

Ryo just mailed me; there is a story of him in a local newspaper, Keskisuomalainen (in Finnish). It's been so great to see how the project has started and how he has managed to start his business in spite of the Finnish officers (nobody gave confirming answers to anything and always asked to call somewhere else - until we were at the same point where we started the whole thing). I made the original layout for Ryo's Muotoilu.com site but it wasn't commercial enough (today's layout is not mine).

I'm planning to work with the Sibelius Academy Muhi-project for the rest of today. I have to make a few adjustments and then I'll start to save images for Petteri who'll code the site. I'll propably make some kind of draft html page just to show how the elements should behave when using different resolutions. The project is quite demanding and I'm having temporary horror-momentums expecially with creating icons and buttons but still it's a saviour amongst other projects: they really want their graphics to be *something else* - in safe limits but anyways...

soundtrack | Kaiser Chiefs: Oh My God

Jeez. I checked Coloria stats today - I've never realized how popular work-o-matic is. Pressure to update.

These last few weeks have been hectic. I've made several small boring updates yesterday+today (f.ex. changed one photo of one site for four times because nobody could make the decision) and some boring bigger ones. I really shouldn't be whining - it's those updates which bring me my paycheck. Anyway, I've been like a high-productive factory here. A lot of unfinished small thingies got their deadline today. That eases a bit. On the other hand: I started a large scale panic after reading email from Jani - plans are getting bigger and bigger.

Anyway, I think it's going to be a bit easier from now on. This one killing project of mine is now partly finished - after this there is nothing I can do - I just have to wait and see if things went ok. I just have to find some happy thoughts.

Here is one: Timppa sold one painting a few days ago which means that we can afford to watch (reality) tv for yet another half a year.

soundtrack | Garbage: Stupid girl

Now I have two blogs, this one in English about my work related stuff and other one in Finnish where I try to sound intelligent and artistic, mostly about my own projects. Writing is a very purifying thing. So right now I'm wondering if I should start yet one more blog but with alias / secret identity. I'm having a big work dilemma of which I can't write because of the nature of the client (big one) + the top secret work (...even if I don't understand why). On the other hand I have this one sort of emotionally-heavy-stuff-own project that slowly eats me alive but of which I can't tell anything because there are other people involved. I really need the place to clear my mind. I tried to go non-digital - but hey - I can't write anymore with pen!

And then there are these killing projects I CAN talk about without reaching paranoia.

On Monday Jani and I met some people from University and Arctic & Fabulous/Nordic Glory and talked about organizing a small net exhibition event during Arctic & Fabulous film festival. The meeting was very promising and ...it's really happening. I've searched my panic button for a few days. It's hard to even breathe. Like I said in the meeting: there is a mention in our operating plan about some kind of small happening in the future but who could have known that the future would be here so soon.

Last weekend somebody told me about the possible possibility (...eh) to visit Potsdam (was it?) next autumn. On Monday morning I was planning to call about it but after the meeting with Jani I understood that there won't be time to breath before the end of November. This Spirited Herring net event propably will stand on my way. You people who'll come to visit the happening: remember my sacrifices.

Some updates: Gallery Becker, Alvar Aalto Foundation, The Craft Museum of Finland. Some more Jyväskylä Artists' Association bloggies will be online soon, layouts for new Spirited Herring and textile artist Hannele Ollakka are finished. I promised to Aino Pajari that I'd make her website during the weekend (...last one) and I just remembered it. Place some ugly words here.

Tomorrow will start with Aino's site and I'll have to try to make some icons for Sibelius Academy project - once again. I'm quite happy with the layouts otherwise but icons... I suck. I've tried to draw something using old fashioned pen & paper but I can't draw anything. It's now proved: I can't write and I can't draw. This is lame.

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And where is the reality ctrl+z when you most need it?