No reason to stay is a good reason to go

♫ Hammerfall – Glory to the brave

I hope my post title doesn't sound suicidal as it's not supposed to, it was just a good quote I found when Google suggested I look for "quotes about moving on". I thought I would be all hyped about realizing my dreams when I would get back to updating my blog, but well, life's a roller coaster. I realized one dream – visited Germany and Berlin for the first time. On the day I returned my boss called me (although I am on vacation, yes) to tell he would have to lay me off "for the time being due to economic reasons". Well, we all knew what the situation was, but I certainly did not expect this – I had (my favourite recurring) a project coming up very soon after the end of my vacation, but then... Things didn't go quite as expected.

I refuse to think there was something else behind it but the fact I was probably an expensive employee (though still remarkably underpaid). I know my place and the level of my talent and know it's not overshadowed by my workmates'. And although I was not fired and I figured they want to get me back as soon as they get more clients and more money, I'm not going to sit still and wait for that day. I think they think I'm doing just that – but no, although I liked the atmosphere and had some nice projects as well, I had been thinking of looking for a job where I could get a reasonable salary and some new challenges. I have no reason to do much in July since most companies in this field are on vacation, but I will soon start to look for a new job... It's probably about the time I listen to all the people who have told me to do that even while I still was working without a threat of unemployment or a temporary lay-off.

I will soon flood you with Berlin posts, but not yet. I took over one thousand photos during the five-day trip. I spent over twelve hours a day mostly on my feet more than once, and still didn't see everything.

Yesterday I went out with a friend couple to celebrate the lady's birthday, looking like that. Didn't bother to take an outfit photo as my SLR camera was somewhere with a memory card full of Berlin. I opted for double-buns after a long time again. :> I think I heard something about "fucking Mickey Mouse" once, but I was also complimented by another person who told me I'm stunning (why, thank you!) and since I was asked, I told I'm a graphic designer, and this person thought it made sense I have such a sense of style. Though I'm glad the conversation died quickly, I feel a bit sensitive talking about work-related things at the moment. :| Almost felt I couldn't say I am a graphic designer.

So yeah. I suppose I'll get back to posting about Berlin soon enough. Somewhere between fighting bureaucracy and trying to rediscover my self-confidence and find a new beginning with a new job. With such hopes, so long.

Greetings from the Middle Ages

♫ Dreamtale – Firestorm

We popped to the Medieval Market in Turku on Sunday. It was a nice trip, the weather was quite nice (=okayish for me, hot for the others) and company was awesome.

Now I'm going to flood you with pictures. Sadly, some of them turned out, eh, not so good. I had the energy to edit some, and while I was resizing those edited ones to be posted here, the software I used seemed to compress the jpg-files quite a lot! Of course you lose some data each time you resave a jpg file, but oh dear, I've done the same procedure innumerable times when posting photos online and never before have I seen such a radical change. So yeah, the images which were supposed to be the best turned out the worst with the hardest contrast and such. :> But I don't have time to redo the whole thing or otherwise I'd end up posting these photos when they'd be anything but fresh.

Some of the photos are not exactly from the Medieval Market but just generally from summery Turku.

Sometimes I try to capture the names of the places I've visited with dates or years printed somewhere as if in order to remember when I've been there. After taking this photo, it took me a while to realize it says 2011 in the shade.

A proof that yours truly was there for real.

The Gear Yard

We were watching from the wrong side,
didn't even figure out what exactly was going on...

Um, yum?

Home-brewed beer. I also tasted a bit, it wasn't as bad as I expected.

Poor little fellow was all alone in the corral.

I really liked the contrast between the fresh grass,
the blooming flowers and the dirty river Aura.

Have you ever been to some Medieval events? Other types of historical events? This was my first time visiting a Medieval event although there's a similar annual happening near my original home town. So long!

Yesterday's news

♫ Dreamtale – Payback

I've been lazy again, and will only update very shortly about yesterday's musical event. Otherwise I'm in a hurry, I should get going very soon... But I will type fast!

Yesterday we went to see three bands playing live; Force Majeure, Dreamtale and SpellBlast. Seems like something you've already heard of, huh? Yes, already saw FM and DT recently. And talked about SpellBlast coming here. Well, there we went, and had a blast, pun intended.

I didn't take any photos of Dreamtale or Force Majeure because, well, I only had my cell phone with me again and the venue was the same too, I was standing in the middle of the front row again... The photos would have been exactly the same! I took a few of SpellBlast though, and they suck in quality.

Had no time to take photos of my outfit, being busy preparing a dinner for two (although I hate cooking), but I took a few random shots anyway to share with you.

I finally put on a pair of thights I had bought quite a while ago and let them wait for warmer weather. I had been unaware of how pretty the lacy pattern would be, so I had to take a photo of them before I manage to rip them. Usually that happens quite fast with fancy thights... 

Lately, I've been fighting eyeliners, getting frustrated and occasionally impressed by different products. If someone is interested, I could write a blog post about these issues.

Anyway, the night was very enjoyable! Good live music, and Dreamtale (which I saw for the third time within two months) played my favorite tracks too. Thus, I probably lost my voice. Already did after SpellBlast, who played second.

As yesterday was Ascension Day, I had a day off work, but would basically have had a work day today. However, we decided to keep the office closed today, which was perfect for me since the night went on late again. And the weekend will be rather busy too, let's see if I can post about it... Anyway, I really gotta hurry now, exercise calling! So long!

The clans are MARCHing

♫ Secret Sphere – Mr. Sin

It's too bad I've been a bit busy for a few days and had to neglect some blogging challenges I typically enjoy completing.

ANYWAY! Is it officially spring now that it's March? The first day of March seemed like the first day of spring here. I cannot remember what the thermometer actually said, but a few days have already been milder. We had a bit of frost today again and will most likely have during the week, but either way, I can already see some bare pavement. (And where I can't – it's bloody slippery there.) Even though I like winter and even though this particular winter has been relatively short, I'm truly looking forward to warmer days.

On Saturday we spent a casual evening in my apartment with a few friends, after I had tried to get creative in the kitchen the day before. I had ended up baking (again), which is something I kinda... I'm not sure if I can say "hate" anymore. I certainly hate cooking, but it's something I need to do anyway. I certainly don't enjoy baking, but I wouldn't have to do it if it was that objectionable. Back then when I was working in a restaurant, cooking, I pretty much refused to ever bake anything (well, since I could refuse; I'm sure the customers were also happier that way), nowadays I'd much rather bake than cook.

Yet I'm not sure if I should laugh or cry when I look at the photo. The slice of the cheesecake can be, err, recognized as cheesecake and it looks at least remotely similar to the photo in the blog post where I found the recipe, but... The sauce. If it had been very fluid, I could have drawn pretty decorations on the slices. Now it looks like someone had thrown up blood onto the plate. :D (Excuse me my associations. It's made of strawberries and lemon juice.)

And, I think I've never managed to build a card house this high. Hahah. I only needed enough rum (Captain Morgan!) to help me with the construction.

The night was fairly interesting. We tried to discuss the best song on Eluveitie's new album Helvetios, but couldn't agree on it (two votes for Alesia, but I disagree). We discussed whether Van Canto has raped Rebellion or Fear of the dark – let alone Primo Victoria – I don't think they have. So yeah, we discussed metal quite a lot, and strangely enough, my Spotify playlist has grown after the night. I wonder how or why... So long!