Little Brothers

Everyone should have one. I think they are probably the best things after girfriends. If you don't have one, tell your parents to get on it. If they are beyond their reproductive years, tell them to adopt one. And if they tell you no...well then you should probably put yourself up for adoption and hope that a family with a pre-existing little brother will adopt you.

My brother is the absolute best there is. This morning I woke up to the realization that I don't own a camera. Shocking, I know. Lost the privileges to one in the divorce. With the Pride Parade just around the corner it just dawned on me that I need one. And with a brother who works at a store where he can get discounts...who do you gonna call? Ghostbusters?!? No! R2! When he got off the work he met me at the electronics department, I handed him the camera and off to the cash registers he went. So I'm now a proud owner of a small pink (go gay) digital camera.

The weather is supposed to be perfect for the weekend. Sunny and around 26 degrees C for both days! I have my "Lebanese" tank top and t-shirt ready and I have all my pride jewelry out. I'm so ready. The only thing I'm not quite sure is how gay can I go/be? It was easier in NYC when I was with T and could take my cues from her and also we were at Christopher Street so you knew no one would harass you there. We were all one big happy gay family. Last year the pride parade in Helsinki got gasses. I've never really showed my gay pride in anywhere else except Forssa when it comes to Finland and I know Forssa, I feel safe here and I kinda feel like people wouldn't know gay pride here if it bit them in the ass so I could be walking around as a giant rainbow and they'd just think I'm crazy. I mean, seriously.

Yesterday at the Roof, me and Elviira were sitting by ourselves and I think I had just showed her my rainbow bracelets when this guy tries to sit with us. And all that time I had been leaning on my right hand with the bracelets showing. Ota silmä käteen ja kato! First of all...Who goes to a terrace at 8pm alone expecting to find company? I would understand in a bar but terrace? Really? Second of all...SEE THE RAINBOWS! Pay attention dude. And Third...we were in a middle of a conversation... and finally...Do I look like I'm interested?  I must be doing something wrong because to me it's pretty clear I'm gay. It should be pretty clear to other people too. All you gotta do is read the signs...And Elviira was sitting her back to him. Maybe she was neck flirting? I dunno people... The male mind is such a weird fascinating thing...

Anyways, Only one day left on this countdown! Then we can count down till I get my tattoo!

Toodles!

Hop in, hop out

Just here to say that it's 2 days to Helsinki Pride! I'm SO READY!

Going to have drinks with Elviira soon... finally able to drag her to the roof terrace! Gotta love summer!

Song of the day: Last kiss by Taylor Swift

Toodles!

Dedication

(Re)creating American treats in Finland requires a lot of hard work, money and dedication. Especially if you don't have much to spare. Earlier today I enjoyed the sweet taste of 2-euro-a-can ginger ale as I was suffering from dehydration and hunger! Right now, instead of dwelling into the sweet taste of ice cold cider after sauna, I made a root beer float. Another 2-euro-a-can delicacy. well, the root beer...then you also need the ice cream which is extra but just getting the ingredients...

So G.O.O.D!!!

Btw, me, computer in my lap and a pint size class of root beer float trying to smush the ice cream, probably not the bestest of ideas. Especially since I've been known to have accidents in the most inopportune of times. But whatevs.

Ink's been scheduled for next Tuesday. I walked to the tattoo place today after we talked about it yesterday and went to ask prices... since it's not much at all I just went and got the appointment. I really would have loved to have it already this week but since it's gonna be sore for awhile I don't wanna be hurting on Friday. So I scheduled it for Tuesday and then texted R2. His reply "Having mine done on Wednesday". Great minds think alike!

3 days till Helsinki! Who's with me?

Toodles!

Ink

I've decided to get some!

I don't really have anything profound or interesting to write about today and on top of that I'm little sleepy eyed so big post will just not do today but I definitely need to update you on the countdown. Well, who am I kidding? I'm updating ME! Down to 4 days! Can you believe it? I can't? It's supposed to be hot, thundery and possibly wet also...let's hope the thunder and rain stay away for Friday and Saturday, as I really need to have all the fun I can get and not get rained on. So DON'T RAIN ON MY PARADE!!!

I've also made a decision that I just can't talk about yet. Major changes happening in 2011-2012. That's all I can say. If the changes don't come to you, you go to them. And that's what I'll do. Make the changes happen!

Right now though...Happy Helsinki Pride and get your gaymo on! All aboard the gay tram!

(Picture from Hs.fi)

See the Rainbow! Taste the Rainbow!

Since it's the NYC Pride Parade today, and the Helsinki Pride Week starts tomorrow I thought I would post some Pride Parade pictures but that's not gonna happen today. Maybe tomorrow. And before I forget...Happy Pride Parade New York City!!! Put your wedding dresses/tuxedoes on and go march and show your PRIDE! Soon you can marry for real!

But now, let's move on to today's topic...Is it me? The City? The Month? All? Or is it just a coincidence? I spend a summer once in every 4 years in Forssa and every time I see a double Rainbow. And not JUST a double rainbow, but rainbow ON rainbow! In 2007, before I moved to USA I had the pleasure of seeing a double rainbow from my living room window.

Then today I was walking to get a pizza in the rain and looking at the bright sunny sky and thinking to myself "Where's the rainbow?" as I'm walking home I see this:

 It ends at my parents house, or so it seems!

I know you can't see it very well, my phone just does not have the sharpest of cameras, but that's a frikkin' Rainbow on Rainbow! It's rainbow sex! They're making rainbow babies! Although I'm not sure if rainbows can make babies since they are gay...but they are trying! I've seen pictures of double rainbows before, and witnessed one as obvious from the previous pictures but I've never seen rainbow on top of rainbow before! It's so cool! And I'm so G.A.Y!!!

So does this mean that the double rainbows follow me?
Is Forssa the gayest city on Earth even though I'm the only lesbian here?
Is Pride Month in June because you see more of these double rainbows in June?
Is this all just a coincidence?
And do you see double rainbows anywhere else at any other time if I'm not there?
All these questions...so little time!

I'll be back in June 2015 to answer these questions!

Helsinki Pride week starts tomorrow! 5 days till the party! See you in Helsinki on Friday!

Toodles rainbows!

So ironic, New York!

Yesterday New York State Senate voted YES for marriage equality. Starting July 24th, New Yorkers, ALL New Yorkers can get married! And this happened under Republican rule! Who knew they had it in them??? I need to review my world view and maybe change my opinion on (some) Republicans. But I am so happy and so proud that some of my friends can now get married.

Earlier this week President Obama was in NYC giving a speech at a LGBT fundraiser and said it's time for all LGBT americans to have equal rights. It's time to put your money where your mouth is Mr. President and DELIVER! Take a stand, and ACT! Unfortunately the presidential election is next year so whatever comes out of politicians mouths these days can be seen as pandering (for that particular group of people) and people would be wise not to believe everything they hear at this time of the year. One could say that while NYS Senate was in the news the whole week regarding the marriage equality bill, Mr. President might have ridden the positive wave and put himself in the middle of it to gain /keep votes... 4 years ago he didn't believe that marriage should be "redefined", so has he now reconsidered or if there is going to be a reform on marriage law, will it mean Federal civil unions or domestic partnerships, but no marriage? Because that's not true EQUALITY.

Anyways, this is progress on so many levels. Congrats New York! And all you NY gaymos out there! Go get married!

6 days...

Toodles!

Hyvää Juhannusta!

Song of the day; Paloma Faith, New York. Another song that was used to promote a TV show.

And our countdown has winded down to 1 week! That's just 7 days away!

Hope everyone is having a great midsummer and if you're near the water, don't drink and swim! Or more importantly, don't DROWN!

Toodles!

Best. Song. Ever.

Song of the day: Memories by Within Temptation. 

Had I not heard this song, I wouldn't be who I am or where I am today. Because of this song I came out. Because of this song I have a Masters Degree from a University in USA. Because of this song I discovered why "Prince Charming" was not an option for me. Because of this song I made great friends. Because of this song I have that "first love". Because this song was the start of my journey to discovering who and what I am...Because of this song I'll be going to my first Helsinki Pride next week! Because of this...I have memories.

In this world you tried
Not leaving me alone behind
There's no other way
I'll pray to the gods: let him stay

The memories ease the pain inside
Now I know why

[Chorus:]
All of my memories
Keep you near
In silent moments
Imagine you'd be here
All of my memories
Keep you near
The silent whispers, silent tears

Made me promise I'd try
To find my way back in this life
I hope there is away
To give me a sign you're okay
Reminds me again
It's worth it all
So I can go home

[Chorus]

Together in all these memories
I see your smile
All the memories I hold dear
Darling you know I love you till the end of time

[Chorus]





8 days...time flies when you have a countdown! Before you know it I'll be having the time of my life in Helsinki!

Toodles!

I must be off the wagon...bad!

I'm not exactly sure what I've done or said on Facebook to make it think that I've fallen off the wagon and not doing so good. Not sure if you are aware of this but the FB advertisements are supposed to be interactive and react to whatever it is that your writing there so that the right ads will pop of for the right people.

There's 2 ways to look at this. Either I'm drinking too much or not enough, because I keep getting the ads for Fonecta, a Finnish locator/number finding service. Basically, whatever and whoever you need to find, just call 020202 and they should have the number for you or tell you where you can find whatever it is that your looking for.

I got their ads twice yesterday. First one was "Looking for the nearest bar? Call 020202". Excuse me? I took that as I'm either so drunk that I can't find the nearest bar, I am somewhere unfamiliar and don;t know where the nearest bar is or I am not going to bars enough and it wants to help me find one. So, am I a lush or an absolutist?

Then later on yesterday, I got a new ad from Fonecta. This time it said "Eija. Call 020202". My big sister's name is Eija so that was kinda funny. So basically what I'm gathering from all of this is that I am drinking too much and should call my sister. For what? For help? To go drinking with me? I mean, it has been few years since the last time I spoke with her (we're close, I know) but seriously, for FB ads to suggest that I should get in touch...interesting. Now if it gives me my big brothers name as well, then I KNOW I'm in trouble!

Writing this post got rudely interrupted when my brother called "Come to my store. We need to check out some cute cashiers". That's it. So I went. As unemployed, I don't have too much money to spend on groceries and such and the store closer to me also has cheaper stuff, at least the stuff that I buy the most so I usually go there. But every once in a while I've been known to chase sales and offers. I did that last week and went to R2's store instead. Now the question has become, do I go for the cheaper stuff or the cuter cashiers? I told R2 about this cute cashier girl yesterday over drinks and we spent like 30 minutes going through his facebook friends, and friends' friends and I was trying to describe her to him. He kept pulling names out of nowhere, looked for their FB profiles and just couldn't find her. So today when he had to go shopping he called me and told me to come over and see if the girl was there. And she was. Reason why R2 didn't know her name was because she wasn't on his raydar. So it's good that we have different taste in women. Although I'd lost...everybody around here is straight. I'm not. And they are oh so young. I'm very aware of my age these days. And it probably doesn't help that I'm thinking I'm already 31. Let's just go through that birthday first and worry about that number then...

Wouldn't it be funny if her name was Eija? LOL. Maybe Fonecta knows what it's doing...I was having drinks yesterday and talking about a girl. Maybe that girl is Eija. Although R2 was pretty sure it's something else. Guess I need to check the name tag next time and stare at her chest. Oh well...sometimes you have to do the hard stuff...

9 days! we're down to single digits!

Cheers!

Song of the day, Adele: Rolling in the deep.

I bought root beer and vanilla ice cream today. I will be celebrating this mid summer by making root beer floats! Good times...yummy!

Today is the last day of double digits on my countdown! We're almost there... 10 days!

Toodles!

Neither me, nor my hair, are straight

Short hair grows faster than long hair. It's a scientific fact. And if not, it Jenni-tific fact. And yes, I just came up with a new word. But back to hair...Ever since I cut my hair short again, and especially since it's been really short, it grows like a weed. I think I got bit by the hair growth bug, or caught it from T. She used to go get her hair cut once a month or so because it grew so fast. Now I know how she felt. I love my short hair, it looks like me and I have more great hair days than ever before, and even though it grows fast and the style gets longer, it doesn't matter...when I'm having a great hair day. When I'm having a bad hair day, it just  sticks up and is all over the place. When it's really short, it doesn't matter because it can be contained. When it's kinda longer, like it is now, it does what it wants and doesn't do as I say. And the underlying curliness doesn't help. My hair is especially curly from my temples. Always has been. There's a string of hair on both sides that doesn't respond to any wax, straighteners or any other methods. I call them my devil's horns. Coz sometimes when the rest of my hair is pointing down, those 2 strands are pointing up. Like horns.

Anyway, I'm trying to decide whether I should cut it before Helsinki Pride or not.

Today's the first birthday of Adriana. Can't believe how much things change in just a year.

Here's a song of the day for your listening pleasure. Pink

11 days till we dance dance dance! And just a week till the Helsinki Pride week starts!
Toodles!

Tattoo fever

I really want one. Like REALLY REALLY badly. I NEEd it. I'm gay'ing up for the Pride. It goes with being gay. So it's a must, right? Ya'll with me? So I should get it? Great, ok. Thanks for helping me.

In the meantime...this is something everybody should see. My favorite Glee character, Brittany. I love her.

Actually, her cat Lord Tubbington might be my favorite but Brittany is very close second.

So last night at 3:15am I got a text message from my brother asking me if we could go to Tampere one day soon just to eat at Taco House! LOL! Only my brother would send me a text like that! I told him I'm going there on July 23rd for the Pride but if he wants to come at the same time we can go eat there. Might be a bit expensive trip just for taco's. We might tried it also on our amusement park trip, whenever that's happening. And the best part is...he's been there only ONCE, when I took him. Good times! I'll keep you posted. I'm sure this will hold you captivated till the end of time!

12 days and counting!

Suvi-illan maratooni/ Summer night's Marathon

Call me self centered by I think it's wonderful how my home town has dedicated/ named a marathon after me! Now many of you are wondering how the hell did I come to that conclusion. Well, my middle name is Suvi, which in Finnish means summer (it's alternative word for it), so as you can see, my name is in there! And it's today, going on right now, in fact. It's funny how on a normal Saturday you can take a magnifier glass and try to find cars in Forssa but today, when parts of the streets are closed, EVERYBODY has to drive somewhere.

Doom's Day Marathon

My mom's store is on route so I went there to watch it. You can stay inside when nothing's happening, and you can get a cup of coffee. And when things start to stir up, you can just go outside and the runners are right there.

Beginning of half a marathon

Jussi Utriainen, the eventual winner in black.

For a second there I felt like I was back in NYC

The white building on the right hand side is the kiosk where I went to buy my ticket for the women's party @Helsinki Pride and where I got "outed"! LOL.

Maybe one day I feel motivated enough to try this myself. I mean unless there's a Jenni-marathon out there, I don't think I could find a more appropriate venue to try it. Maybe I'll get up tomorrow morning and feel like a little run. Please gather yourselves and get off the floor, I'm serious! ;-) I also said maybe...

I saw my friend Noora and her son Juuda for a split second today. She called me this morning and said she's going to see her godmother and has to change busses in Forssa and has a 30 minutes to spare. So I went to see them and we caught up. And agreed that she'll come to visit me in Forssa later this summer and that I will go visit them in Turku and we'll hit a gay bar or 2. So I will get my gaymo on in 3 different cities in Finland this summer. It's the summer of Gay! I will also be attending Tampere Pride in July so I have things to look forward to! Maybe we'll have a countdown for that after the Helsinki Pride is over. Which is in 13 days!

Finland is finally getting a new government and ministers... Jyrki Katainen will be the prime minister. I cannot stand him, whenever he opens his mouth I just want to put my fingers in my ears, start humming something and act like I can't hear him. He's one of those politicians who talk a lot without saying anything intelligent. But he's not even worst of it. Päivi Räsänen, the right wing religious homophobic chairwoman of the christian democrats was chosen to be the new minister of interior. Already yesterday they were talking about changing the rules on abortions and maybe making it possible for religious people to refuse to do certain procedures on their patients based on their religious beliefs. And then there was talk about tightening the rules on immigration. As we really do have a major problem with immigration. Especially the non-skilled lazy "refugees" who come to Finland for the amazing weather and awesome and high social security benefits. (Please read the sarcasm in between the lines). Oh yeah, lets not forget the fact that "gender neutral" marriage act is NOT on the agenda for this government. 4 or 5 out of the 6 parties had that on their agenda pre-election. But now it's not there. It was a deal breaker for KD on participating in this government. So they are in, their homophobic chairwoman is the new minister of interior and the remaining parties just folded. Awesome. And that's the ONLY minister they have in the government. I don't see the added value in having KD in there, plus I think they have 6/200 MP's in the parliament so it's not like the government couldn't have gotten the majority without them. But no, they need to be there. Are you fucking kidding me???

well, I won't be watching the news for the next 4 years. I'll just live in my gay bubble.

Toodles!

Lucky Charms

Isn't it just wonderful when sometimes you talk about something, or miss something, and it just magically appears in your life? Poof, out of nowhere, you find the one thing, or one of many, that you wanted but couldn't have. Yesterday I talked about Dunking Donuts. Still not here. Toaster Strudels...nope, no luck. But...

I went to R2's store today and they also have a section of american foods. Same chain, different store. They had the pop tarts, jello (can you spell jello shots! Gotta buy vodka an I'm all set. Have the whipped cream already) vanilla coke and Orville Reckenbacher's (spelling is fucked up but who cares?) pop corn, majorly over priced as everything else, the salad dressing etc. They also had root beer, which I just might have to buy along vanilla ice cream and make a root beer float, and some other soda, cherry Dr. Pepper and Cherry Sprite. And to top that off, a 12-pack of Canada Dry GINGER ALE! The real deal, not the sugary crap they sell in other stores as "american ginger ale" which tastes like shit. Yuk. But the real deal people! This is big deal. I can get sick now, I can have a hang over now and I can have ginger ale for it. 

Oh wait...did I mention the price? 20 euros people. About 26 american dollars. When in USA you get it for $3 if it's on sale. For about $5 if regular priced. So yeah...20 euros was a no go. 2 euros for a single can. Same prices for root beer.

But then, I saw this! Lucky Charms!

 We now know what my pain threshold is when it comes to the things I like/miss/want. It's 7,50 people! ($10!) It's 7,50 for a ridiculously sugary cereal which has no nutritional value, except if by nutritional value you mean sugar! Packet says whole grain but I think it's just the cereal box...not the cereal. But it has marshmallows in it, which makes it delicious. And really sweet and sugary. But Noah used to eat this all the time and when I was making his 10th bowl of the day, I tried it. And liked it. And started eating it. And got hooked on it. Bought it in BK too. And didn't let anyone else eat it! By the time they tried it, it was all gone. Poor people.

Anyway...thought you'd might wanna see what it looks like. I didn't take a picture of the smile I had on my face. Nor  will I tell you how fast I ate it or how many bowls I ate...


2 weeks people! 14 days...Or if we want to be exact, 13 days and 23 hours till the start of the party!

Toodles!

American food

Looks like some american foods are slowly making their way over to Finland. Few months ago I found vanilla coke 12 pack, campbell's soups, hidden valley ranch salad dressing and some other items from K-market in Forssa. Other than the vanilla coke, which I really love, non of the other items really appealed to me. And the vanilla coke was so expensive that I would have to win the lottery to even consider buying it.

There are few things that I really miss from USA. Dunkin Donuts everyone knows about since I announce it on every street corner, on FB and sometimes/rarely in here! ;-) I really miss toaster strudels too. I could probably make them myself, but it just wouldn't be the same. So the second best and closest thing I can get here, is pop tarts. They're kinda the same as toaster strudels, but not really. And they too cost an arm and a leg! Almost 6 euros a packet. Sigh...

Since I don't like to cook every day, cooking for one really sucks, I've now made grilled cheese sandwiches 3 or 4 times a week. The cheese is bound to show up on somewhere in my body, although I don't use nearly as much of it as T did. But it's quick, it's easy and it satisfy the most urgent hunger. I've also made egg salad which was really amazing! Both products of my stay in the USA.

But why I'm really writing about food and USA is this...

If Starbucks is bringing products over, why won't you Dunkin Donuts?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
I went to get milk and ice cream before going to my mom's store today and this stared me in the eye. Now if this was DD iced coffee/latte/mocha/something-fancy-that-I-can't-pronounce, I'd bounce on it like a rabbit in heat! But it's Starbucks...it's an over-priced ulcer! Sigh. On other news though, my friend Regina promised to send me DD coffee so I should be good for another 2 months.

Later on, I went to that store where they have pop tarts and Vanilla coke and saw that they had the Starbucks lattes and mochas too. And additional Frappucinos! Right now I need every penny I have but when I win that famous lottery, I'll try all of these. Just because I need to make sure Starcraps is still worse than DD.

Just saw an article posted by Advocate on FB, an american magazine for the gaymos...the article was about David Tyree, an american football player who played for the NY Giants the year they won the Super Bowl. He is originally from Montclair, NJ, so even though I hated the Giants, I liked him a little. But not anymore! He battled drug and alcohol addictions few years back and then at rehab, he found god. And like so many born again christians, he thinks that marriage is between a man and a woman...and he said that in an interview to a organizations that promotes the "traditional marriage and family values" e.g. No gay marriage. According to Tyree, marriage brings you closer to god. What about those people who don't believe in god but still get married? People...people...people... Needless to say, David Tyree is OFF my raydar. Maybe on my gaydar though! LOL.

Anyway...15 days till fun!

Toodles!

BTW, congratulations to Boston Bruins and Tuukka Rask and Tim Thomas for winning the Stanley Cup last night! Thomas used to play in Finland before he hit it big in Boston so he's an honorary Finn, just like Brian Rafalski was! But why is this important, you ask? Well...back in October, before the season started I put a bet in for Stanley Cup Champs...I invested heavily for both Boston Bruins and San Jose Sharks. Sharks were eliminated in the Western Conference finals by Vancouver Canucks, the loser in the final, so may I just say how wonderful I am at predicting ice hockey and pat myself in the back? Good job Jenni! You are amazing! The heavy investment? 1 euro each. The winnings? 17,50 euros! Ka ching!

Diffusion

So we went from having temperatures of +30 degrees C last week to +12 degrees C this week. When it was the hottest last week, the inside temperature in my apartment was +29 C according to my meter. It has gone down to 22 today.

Now I am not saying that I understand anything about physics as I pretty much barely passed both the regular courses and physics labs, thanks to my friends and lab partner who carried me on his shoulders, but as far as I understand, when it's significantly colder outside and you have 2 windows open 24/7 to cool down the inside of your apartment, the temperature SHOULD be lower than 22 degrees. Am I right, or am I crazy?

Like I said last week, my body is not equipped to handle 30 C weather and so now while I can, I want to bring the temp. of my apartment down to bearable level, so that if and when the sun comes out again, it takes a little longer than 2 hours for my apartment to become sauna again.

Now here's my problem. According to the physics law of diffusion, hot air should be moving towards colder, and mix, so the temperature decreases. If that's the case, then why isn't the hot air moving OUT of my apartment, letting the colder air move in and COOL DOWN this place? WHY? Bedroom window open. Check. Kitchen window open. Check. Air should be moving...temperature should be decreasing. NO! What's the problem here folks? Why isn't this working?

Am I really that bad at physics that it can't work around me? It should be a natural phenomena. But I think I broke it. Me, proving physics wrong since 1980!

Countdown: 16 days...So looking forward to this!

Happy Birthday R2!

Today is the 21st birthday of the
Amazing
Brilliant
Wonderful
Handsome
Fantastic
Funny

little brother of mine, Arttu! Happy Birthday dude! You are the BEST!

Dianna Agron

Some time ago I spoke about my admiration to the TV show Glee and more specifically their version of Lady Gaga's "Born this way". To me it was about "being Lebanese" and ACCEPTANCE. You can find that from April's posts if you need to revisit the subject.

On Saturday, for the Glee Tour in Toronto, Dianna Agron, who plays "Quinn" on the show, wore "Likes girls" T-shirt for "Born this way", instead of the usual "Lucy Gaboosey", which refers to Quinn's nose job and crazy dieting and transformation on the show. On top of that, she wrote an essay on her Tumblr account about gay rights for gay pride month to show her support for the LGBT community. She wrote a lot of awesome things in support of us and our rights. And she said she wasn't a lesbian. This caused a huge uproar in the world of interweb. The lesbians went crazy, some because their favorite Glee character/actress wore "likes girls" which just totally made their day, whether for the sheer awesomeness or for the fact that their day dreams were just realized. Some because they felt betrayed. How does a STRAIGHT actress DARE put on a shirt declaring she likes girls when she doesn't? Unheard of. And totally unforgivable! (Extreme sarcasm people!!!)

I also read that the straight world went little crazy. OBVIOUSLY she has to be a lesbian to wear that shirt, right?!? And how DARE she wear a shirt like that and corrupt the minds of all the innocent children out there with this hideous promotion of the "gay life style"? Can you imagine the number of innocent STRAIGHT children turning gay because Dianna Agron/Quinn "likes girls"? O.M.G.

Now I don't read the message boards or the conservative right wing news from USA so I am not privy for the things that are being said in the hetero world exactly as I tend to stay in my pretty pink gay bubble  and be oblivious to the hate the world has for us. But what I've gathered from the AfterEllen.com and from Twitter, there's been a backlash against Dianna.

I can kinda understand the hetero world not liking it, especially the hetero world that is narrow minded and doesn't believe in equality unless when it comes to SWM (straight white male). But for the gay community to take offense? I don't get it. We are a minority in this world and unless we have straight allies and straight celebs who use their status to speak up about gay/civil/human rights, we will never achieve that equality. Dianna is in her early 20's, in the beginning of her career and she took a huge personal and professional risk by wearing that shirt. I personally cannot applaud her enough for doing so. She is an exceptional human being and just gained a fan in me by doing this. So instead of getting stuck on her sexual orientation, since she's not stuck on ours, let's celebrate the awesomeness that she is!

I personally think that it's a shame that we even need to talk about a straight girls T-shirt choice, but this is the narrow minded world we live in. And the narrow mindness is not just enjoyed by the hetero world. It exists in the LGBT community as well. But, she has created an opportunity for discussion, so this was not in vain.

Thank You Dianna, and welcome to the fold. "No matter gay straight or bi", we appreciate your support!

http://felldowntherabbithole.tumblr.com/post/6453072763 Dianna's essay.

Since it was Monday when I started writing this...18 days, YAY! And since it's now Tuesday...17 days, WOO HOO!!!

I might be sorry tomorrow

There is the possibility that I will be sorry tomorrow and as the week goes by and it's cold and raining but...my body is totally not equipped to handle this heat. I am not meant to handle 30+ degree weather multiple days at a time. It's just not in my DNA. But this helps!

Yesterday when I was coming home from my parents, I came across this cat. He was kinda shy at first and didn't respond to my "kss kss" sounds but since I am fabulous and fluent at "cat", as soon as I started meow'ing, he was all over me. He was kinda playing coy, enjoying the drive-by pets I was able to give him. But then when I got up and was ready to leave, he followed me. He even wanted to come home with me. But since he had a collar he wasn't for me to take. sigh. And we really don't need another text message on FL's "short" column where someone says that they're cat has been missing days on end and then when he comes home he smells like another woman's perfume.

To show how light it is here at night, I took some pictures yesterday. The first one is from my verandah and the second from my bedroom window. First one was taken at 11:58pm and the second 00:08. I sat outside from 9pm till midnight just enjoying the 25 degrees, no wind...what a perfect night. And despite what has been said about this summer being a mosquito summer, I wasn't bothered by them at all. And I even drank beer testing the theory I just read which said that drinking beer attracts mosquitoes. Maybe I didn't drink enough?

No wonder I have trouble sleeping. And the heat does NOT help!

Anyways...We are down to numbers starting with 1...19 to be exact!

Till tomorrow! I believe I'll be blogging since it's supposed to rain and be cold tomorrow. Me and Arttu were supposed to go to Tampere and hit Särkänniemi for the day but it doesn't look like it's happening.

Wow!

Mention "Playboy" on your blog and watch the hit count on your blog soar! I've never had so many people visit my blog because of something I said on my blog as I've had the past 24h since I wrote about the German women's soccer players posing for Playboy! Sorry people! No photos here! I think this might out-number the hits from "Who killed Jenny F***ing Schecter" and that still gets hits at least once a month if not more frequently.

Caffeine and hot weather

Does anyone know if there is some kind of a relationship between graving for caffeine and hot weather? Because I have been graving for caffeine like crazy in the past couple of days while it's been over 30 degrees Celsius. And despite of what you might have heard about me, that I'm a caffeine junkie, I HAVE decreased my coffee drinking from my hay days! A LOT! I drink 3 cups of coffee when I wake up and that's it. I occasionally have a cup at my mom's but that's like once a week these days. But for some reason these past few days when it's been hot as hell outside and just sitting on my couch inside makes me sweat like a pig, I've just wanted a cup of java in the afternoon/ early evening. And it's hot coffee because I don't have ice at home...Weird! I would kill for a Dunkin Donuts iced coffee now though. Instead I'll drink their hot original blend. Sigh. Tough being a DD junkie in Finland...you have know idea!

You would think that my sleeping pattern these days would increase my coffee drinking/addiction. Jet lag, Youtube and no darkness= Jenni doesn't sleep. When I came back from my NYC trip, it was Monday morning 9am when I arrived. I can't, for the life of me, sleep on a plane, so basically both ways I was up almost 24 hours straight because of the time difference, traveling and time of the day I left/arrived. When I got home around 11:30am, I took like a 4h nap and of course after that wasn't tired. I found the wonderful world of Youtube and stayed up till 2 or 3am. Next day I stayed up later and it got to the point where I went to bed at 7am few nights. Or should we say mornings? So now I'm a Youtube addict. And since there is "dark time" between like 1 and 2am, by the time I actually get tired, the sun is coming up. And it comes up on the side of the house where my bedroom is. But I'm not complaining because we don't get this light all the time so when we do...you need to take it all in. Before we know it it'll be winter again and we won't see the sun again. Right now I'm sitting in my verandah writing this. In a shade it's about 30 Degrees C. ~90 Degrees F. We really don't get this hot temps in Finland in June so this is a luxury.

So I've been talking about my desire to have a cat or cats for as long as I've been single now and I thought I had figured out the names for my cats too. I really do want 2 cats so that they can keep each other company while I'm at work, when ever that happens, and I had thought that they will both either be male or female. I was a huge fan of Grey's Anatomy, as I may have mentioned at some point, and so I was gonna name the female cats Callie Torres and Arizona Robbins. But that was before the second have of season 7 happened and Shonda ruined them. So those names are out.

Now the male cats I wanted to name after my 2 favorite football players, Ryan Giggs and David Beckham. They'd be called Giggsy and Becks for short. But now it has come to light that Giggs has had multiple affairs with other women besides his wife, one of which is his sister-in-law, so I don't think I'll be naming my cat after him either. And Let's face it, Becks had an affair with his assistant while in Spain so... It looks like I'm in the market for new kitty cat names. For the life of me I can't think of anybody who would be worth naming cats after right now and even though there is a lot of lesbian icons out there, no one is rising above. The good thing obviously is that I don't have a cat nor am I getting one anytime soon. So I have time to figure it all out!

And lastly... 20 days till the party!!! 21 days till the parade! Still excited!

Enjoy your sweating! Laterz

German football players on Playboy

http://www.iltasanomat.fi/jalkapallo/naisten-maajoukkueviisikko-poseerasi-kuumissa-tunnelmissa-playboylle---katso-kuva/art-1288394648163.html (The stupid link thing on blogspot doesn't work or doesn't work with Safari so I just put the link here instead).

So 5 members of the German women's under -21 football team decided to pose for Playboy. The German football team is famous for having openly lesbian and bi team members. If I've understood correctly, there is 3-5 players who identify as lez/bi. So in this article, which I hope is a bad translation, they say that the wanted to pose for Playboy to show that female football players are not  just "boyish" or only "homosexual". Homosexual? Is that an adjective to describe appearances? Behavior? Because as far as I understand, "homosexual" just describes your sexual orientation, not the way you behave overall or how you look. I mean, yes, you can stereotype lesbians into the "butch" and "femme" categories but not everyone falls under the strict stereotypes and even within these you have a wide variety of styles. And there are a lot of people who "look like" they are straight but really aren't. Call me sensitive, but the article kinda gives the impression that lesbians cannot be beautiful, attractive or hot and that we all are ugly and into women because we just can't attract men. And not just that, I guess we are into ugly women as well, as ugly women can only attract other ugly women.

I really hope that something was lost in the translation or that this actually wasn't what they said at all. But if it was...I doubt Germany will win World championship at home this summer if some of the team members think like this.

Anywhoo... 3 weeks till THE party! That's 21 days to you who like numbers!

Have a great and hot weekend! Laterz

Local warming vs. Global warming

I don't do this often but sometimes you just have so much to say at different times of the day that you just NEED to post twice. Today's one of those days.

I think Sarah Palin and George W Bush are right. Yeah, I said it. Republicans were right for once. The topic? Global warming. They've been saying it for a long time and we didn't believe it. There obviously is no proof of the polar ice caps melting, or the overall temperature of the planet rising, or sea levels rising, or any truth to ANY of that. There's no more intense hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes or any of those happening any more frequently than there was before. No one is suffering from ANY of these things. And you know why? Because it's just LOCAL warming. I cracked the code. I did it! Hail the next super scientist, ME! You're gonna be seeing a lot of quotes by me in the news the next few years so I just want to let you all know that it was right here when you first read it. Written by yours truly. The amazing me! Because seriously, who can proof what's happening in the other side of the world? I mean do I really know that the ice caps are melting? Do I really know that there's more intense hurricanes in the atlantic? More intense tornadoes in the midwest USA? No, and that's because I wasn't there! Never have, never will. I can't tell if the tornadoes from few weeks back were any more powerful than previously, because I've never experienced any of them. BUT...


I have spent plenty (20+) of early Junes in Forssa and I can honestly say with my experience spanning for over 30 years that 34 degrees Celsius on June 9th at 7:45 pm hasn't happened before. So what can we conclude from my scientific observations? That's it's LOCAL warming, not GLOBAL!  I am amazed by my findings! Scientific breakthrough! I'll be coming out with my own "The inconvenient truth" movie soon! Stay tuned!

So, if you can rationalize your insane theories and observations and just base your opinion on what you've experienced, you should be able to run for the presidency in USA, at least if you're a Republican! And there is absolutely no point for arguing with me on this because I can't know what you are feeling/experiencing, as I'm not you, therefore my argument is the correct one!

Have a nice (hot) night!

p.s. STILL 22 days!

Ticket

I got it! Went to get it from R-kioski today...and it's good that I'm out because if not, the teller totally would have outed me! I personally think she's a lesbian also, so maybe she was confirming my membership to the club, but first there was a "problem" with my confirmation number which she had to ask me about. Then when she found it she had to announce the event out loud "Helsinki Pride's women's party". And then of course confirm my name...So if anyone was paying attention, this is what they would have gotten " J K is a lesbian and going to the Women's party at Helsinki Pride!" There were only 2 other people in the store so it wasn't a big deal and I'm out anyway, plus if my appearances don't tell you I'm gay, then you ain't got a gaydar honey! Cuz today I'm sporting a mohawk. Or half of it anyway. And I have 2 ankle bracelets with rainbows and equality signs on them. And my nails are painted with different colors. And I just ooze gay. Seriously, you should know by now!

But enough about me...I know you're back to see where the countdown has taken us! And as I predicted yesterday, the number IS 22! Who would have thunk it? Come back tomorrow and let's see what the numbers look like then! Now I am off to the roof terrace to enjoy few beers with my awesome brother who's buying! So till tomorrow!

Brace yourselves!

If you are one of my 3 readers, you should brace yourselves! I am most probably gonna talk about Helsinki Pride and the women's party till it happens, and most likely afterwards as well. I'm giddy with excitement! And you know why? I'll tell ya!

I just bought both my ticket to the dance AND booked a hotel in Helsinki for July 1st! ARE YOU EXCITED? I'M EXCITED! Now we just need amazing summer weather for those 2 days and I'll be ALL GOOD! You still excited? So am I!

I think I should start a countdown for this event. Whatcha think? Good idea? Haven't had a countdown since who knows when so yeah, let's have a countdown! You know where we start? At 23 days! That's TWO and THREE! TWENTY THREE! It's 3 weeks and 2 days if you were wondering... I know not everybody is as great at math as I am or understand the concept of countdown as well as I do so I am just making life easier for you! So that's where we're at... come back tomorrow to see what the number is then! It's gonna be a surprise! It's most likely below 23 but higher than 21. Not sure though. We'll see.

Later!

It's not about the destination, it's about the journey

Or that's what they say anyway. What and how "they" know it, is beyond me...but right now for me it's about the destination. And the destination is July 1st. The women's party. Part of Helsinki Pride.

I've been thinking about this for awhile and I was checking the Pride week program online last week. I never got to experience the women's dance in NYC so I am going to take it all in and enjoy myself in Finland. Party is on a Friday and the parade is on Saturday. So if I get a hotel room I can stay Friday night and enjoy the festivities on Saturday too. I need something to get out of the funk and something to look forward to... but obviously shy little girl like me can't go there all my lonesome self so yesterday I sent a PM on FB to 5 of the girls I met in Tampere at the Seta training and asked them if they were going and if I could tag along. 4 of the 5 have replied and they've all said yes!  Ask and you shall receive! Isn't that great? It seems that every time I open up a little and let people in or ask something or need something...people respond. Isn't that great? Who knew people could be nice and selfless and not disappoint? I guess all this gay goodness is balancing out the disappointment that is my former family. But when you think about it, it's better to have good things happen to you in THIS moment as opposed to in the "past life". Cuz unfortunately that's what they are...my past. But let's not dwell on it, this is ABSOLUTELY GREAT NEWS! love my gay ladies! Woo Hoo! July 1st, anyone???

I've always...

When you say "I've always been/wanted/known/felt like/..." how long is that "always" for you? Since the day you were born? Hardly unlikely since we can't remember that far back unless your family has told you about whatever-it-is-that-is-in-question-here.  Since you can remember? When was that? My earliest memory is from when I was learning to stand on my feet and to walk holding on to something and I accidentally touched the volume button on the radio and put it on so loudly that I scared myself and started crying. And that's 30 years ago so it's a helluva long time. Since the day you realized you were gay or whatever mainstream sexuality you identify with? The day I finally accepted my gayness was when Marina and Jenny were doing the "nasty" on my TV screen in early 2005 and I was like "OH, that explains it". The day you moved out of town and started living outside the shadow of your family and friends? How long is always for you?

Why am I asking this, you ask? I was just wondering, where does always begin and does it end? Lets say that you've "always" wanted a big church wedding and lots of guests and everything it entails, does that "always" end when you get your wish? And if you have that, and then that marriage ends for some reason, do you still want that big church wedding the second time around or did that end with the first one? How does it work? 

And then how about with something little less definable? Like happiness. What is it that makes you happy? For different people it's different things. And if you don't have the one thing that YOU think will make you happy, what if you get it and it turns out it really isn't what you expected? "I've always thought that I need a lot of money to be happy?" Or when I have a lot of money I'll be happy. True or false? Can money make you happy? Lack of it can certainly make you miserable but there are so many other variables in the equation for happiness that money alone will not work.

When was the happiest time of your life? When you felt totally at ease with yourself, your life, the direction where you were going and everything just flowed the way it was meant to be?  For me, for my 30+ years, it has to be spring/summer of 2008 when me and T moved in together. I was still at school, had just started working there too, we had a new apartment and everything was kinda falling into place. I had no money worries, I didn't have to think about the future or jobs or deportation or visas or anything like that. I had just moved in with my gf and things were just peachy. I had 2 cats, great new friends who accepted me the way I was and the future was ahead of us. Things were perfect. Life was perfect. Love was all I needed. I guess I used all that luck back then because it hasn't been coming my way since. And this seriously was not supposed to be about T at all and it's not so let's move on!

What this post is really about is tattoos but I got all philosophical with " I've always wanted a Ying and Yang tattoo" and how long that always is and will be. I saw the words Ying and Yang on something, remembered my desire for a tattoo and remembered my conversation with Marianne from a week ago when we were talking about tattoos. Right now I have 3 different tattoos I want and I even know the places I want them to. And I even know who's gonna make them but before that...the dreaded job and money situation needs to be resolved.

So if we start this post with how I intended it to go... I've always wanted a Ying and Yang tattoo (always in this case meaning since about 7th/8th grade when we were taught about different religions at school and when I became aware of Ying and Yang and the meaning). I've always known that Forssa wasn't the place where I wanted to live for the rest of my life, and same might be said about Finland as well (Always in this case being since I realized I was different, not necessarily gay and it was re-enforced  since I moved to Swansea to become an au pair). But I've also always been a PROUD Finn, even if I wasn't living here or wasn't looking forward to spending the rest of my life here (always in this case meaning since I understood how bad some people in other countries have it). So when the time came for me to get a tattoo, I was aware that I wouldn't be in Finland for long and wanted something that symbolized my proud Finnish roots, I chose the Finnish Lion. I would put a picture up here but can't find any on my computer and I know I took them because I showed it to T when I had it done. Anyways... I've always rambled a lot and this was in no way an exception. 

Till next week.

Cee lo - Fuck You!

Feeling frustrated? No luck in you love life No luck in the job hunt? Your boss is an asshole? Your neighbor is too loud? Hate your family? Just tired of all the shit that's going on in your life? Well here's a song for you that is guaranteed to put a smile on your face. If not, you probably are worse off than I/you/we thought and there's nothing anyone can do OR you just don't have a sense of humor! Whatever the problem is, listen to this song... It DOES get better!

And FUCK YOU!

And if you want the cutie nice version, here's Glee f. Gwyneth Paltrow and "Forget you". I love Glee and I love this version and I guess I love Gwynnie too so whenever either version comes on on my iPod I just smile. Get a little swagger to my walk. Put I also sing FUCK YOU with the Glee version. Can sometimes be a bit confusing. And Cee Lo sings about a girl and Gwynnie and Glee about a boy so it makes it even more confusing. But what's really great is that you can watch the Glee version on mute and have the Cee Lo sing the song and then it's just perfection. Cuz what could be better than Gwynnie sounding like a black man and having high school kids saying FUCK YOU??? Not much! So, enjoy. Sing. Smile! And say FUCK YOU from the bottom of your heart! It is so liberating.

And just to show you how much I love this song...it's the ring tone I have for my brother! Sometimes I don't answer his calls because I listen to the song instead!

UPDATE: These videos are actually not in sync so you're just gonna have to watch them separately! But still, enjoy!

Black Swan

On the flight over to USA I watched Black Swan and I have to say that it was one of the most disturbing movies I’ve ever seen. The whole crazed lesbian aspect didn’t sit well with me and on top of that I sat next to a ~70 year old Russian woman who didn’t speak a word of English, or Finnish for that matter. And she wasn’t using her entertainment system so every once in awhile I could feel her watching mine. I felt a lot naughty watching Mila Kunis go down on Natalie Portman. Definitely NOT a movie to watch with people you don’t know/your parents/elderly/homophobes. 

Since I had to look around to see who was watching with me I feel like I missed some parts, but...if I understood correctly Portman's character was going crazy. Too much pressure maybe from mommy dearest, who definitely WAS crazy and from outside to succeed. Keeping ahead from the competition... and the incestuous relationship with the mother. Ewww.  Definitely not your feel good movie of the year!

After I was done I was like WTF just happened? Kinda like what I said after the Finnish election.

Let's all go eco friendly and buy electric cars, shall we?

NO!

I love a celebrity with a social conscience. There's nothing better than Crystal Chappell creating a web series about lesbian community to take her previous character to the next level (and Jessica Leccia following her) or Sheetal Sheth being gay for pay time and time again, or Naya Rivera hosting GLAAD awards, or Shay Mitchell's PSA about ending human trafficking in Thailand or any of the hundreds of other causes celebs take part and raise awareness every day, tirelessly. There is nothing better than an actress embracing the community they portray on TV or in a movie and raising awareness about gay rights, bullying and endless other issues they become aware of by playing one. You embrace us and our struggles and you have a fan for life!

When you go on Twitter and start following celebs, you pretty quickly start noticing what they are all about. When you go on Youtube and watch their interviews and the causes they support, you fall in love with them even more. Gay rights, human rights, hunger, human trafficking, religious freedom, natural disasters, and environmental issues to name a few can all be seen all over their twitter accounts. But what gets me is the misinformation they sometimes present as facts. Little things like fact checking and THINKING before you speak/post would go a long way...

I was just reading on twitter how this older american actress was asking for electric plugs in homes for electric cars. Let me tell you something: ELECTRIC CARS ARE NOT THE FUTURE, ESPECIALLY IN AMERICA! It seems to me that people think that as long as you take the going-to-a-gas-station-to-fill-up-your-car-with-gas part out of the car experience, it all of a sudden becomes environmentally friendly. NO! Have you considered where that electricity comes from? What is used to produce that electricity? GAS, most likely. Or maybe nuclear energy. Most likely some non-renewable type of energy source. So just because it's not gas straight to your car, doesn't mean that it's gas free.

American summers are not mild and pleasant. They are hot and humid. You have your air conditioner on 24/7 and your electric bills are ginormous! Sometimes you have to conserve energy because the old and outdated electric grid is so over worked that electricity outages are happening more than they should. So During the peak hours between 5-8pm when people come home from work, start cooking, put the A/C on even higher and have the TV on, you expect the electric grid to push a little extra too for ALL THOSE CARS to get their juices so that they would be working the next morning? I don't think so my friend. And isn't there rolling blackouts in LA every summer because of the heat? And to add to it the fact that many/most american families have a car if not 2 or 3... If you really wanted to be environmentally friendly, you'd try to find a way to seriously lessen your driving to everywhere, whether hours or minutes away and trying to invent a energy source for cars that is truly environmentally friendly from production to usage to emissions.

Efficient cars, efficient, emission free energy sources, less private cars/driving, better public transport system... and common sense when driving to the grocery store next door would be a start for more environmentally friendly existence.

Doing my part/PSA for environmentally friendly world since...10 minutes ago! :-D
This is Jenni signing out.