Living dead corpse pride

♫ Mägo de Oz – Molinos De Viento

On Saturday there was a Zombie Walk event in Tampere! Or, like I saw a mate call it, Zombie Pride. :D However, a funny event with a funny idea. So many participants, several hundreds!

I didn't have that much time to prepare for the event – I didn't come up with a role or a carefully-thought full attire. It's a pity, but I didn't have the time to tinker with zombie props or even buy some fake blood. The best preparation I had was a night shift on Friday – a very unlikely thing to happen when you work in an advertising agency. However, one project required me to work on Friday evening instead of the normal office hours, and I was quite dead on Saturday. I might have looked zombie enough without any white face powder or dark rims around my eyes, but nevertheless, I applied some.

For mere amusement and illustration purposes I can provide you with photoshopped images, so well yeah... The photo on the left is right after I finished my makeup, on the right I'm with my finished look, which is barely even zombie-like; it just made me seem like I had the worst hangover ever. On the other hand I took that photo at night, when the make-up had partly worn off already. Anyway, I didn't want to look too grotesque because I figured we might end up spending the night somewhere without a flock of zombies around us, and... I don't know, but somehow I feel more comfortable looking like a freak when I don't have to do it alone. But on the other hand it's mostly about feeling like a freak. I'm quite sure someone conventional thinks I'm a freak in my everyday attire, but I don't feel like one – thus I don't feel uncomfortable.

On Sunday I also went to Chilifest Finland with my brother. :D I'm not really their target audience – I can barely even touch a chili pepper! For real – years ago I chopped a few mild chili peppers and couldn't touch a thing for two days. Needless to say, I don't eat those things. But the world cup eating contests was interesting.

The internet connection I ordered was supposed to start working today, but surprise surprise, it didn't. To be honest, I'm not the least bit surprised. Either way, the day's been tough and I'm quite sure tomorrow will be too. I'm looking forward to several things worth blogging about; the Ofelia market sales event, the 80's party, and a bit of this and that... And oh, I started reading The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. Cheers!

And OH! I have a few new readers! You're warmly welcome aboard! ♥ So long!

Kraken came home!

♫ Excalion – The Wingman

I've been so very exhausted these past few days, having slept too little for no real reason. I haven't been busy or stressed, but I just "stay up late every night and realize how bad an idea it was every morning".

However, what cheered me up after work was (yet another) parcel waiting for me! I had gone Etsy-shopping, having found out how good their search engine actually is... Etsy is a dangerous site.

The main reason for me to go shopping was this Kraken necklace, which is simply adorable. I've noticed I certainly have a thing for octopi and well... piratey things. *whistle*

But I didn't want to buy only one piece, and the same seller had this dead lolita cameo, so well... Since I hadn't yet joined the crew of miss skeletons, it was probably high time. I guess every other goth has accessories with the same cameo, but well... What-bloody-ever.

The merchant's tag. Go find the shop!

Since I like my Photoshop and my new Kraken, I hereby present a picture of meself showing off the little creature. And now, I suppose I should try to go to bed as soon as possible. With some luck I might have a night shift coming on Friday, just as strange as it would be in this field... So long!

I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity.

♫ Ashbury Heights – Christ

I have finally got around to writing a blog post which might actually be interesting at best! This time I shall babble about Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) and my everlasting interest in his literature. And well, persona too.

My first touch with his literature was in secondary school, at the age of fourteen, when we read a short Finnish translation of Berenice in a Finnish class. Quite soon I started to read his story compilations in Finnish, starting with The Gold Bug.

Today I own four books, one audio book and Lou Reed's concept album The Raven. Two of the books I have are in English: Tales of Mystery and Imagination; and The Complete Illustrated Works of Edgar Allan Poe. Considering that I have all of his stories within the covers of the latter, I would barely need anything else. However, I don't personally like holding and reading a book with nearly a thousand pages, thus, if I want to read a certain story and can find it in a lighter book, I opt for it.

Other two of the books are in Finnish; one contains Finnish translations of his less-known stories whereas the other comprises translations of his poems and a long introductory article.

Translated poetry is quite a controversial subject. On one hand I think that poetry is such a play with words and their carefully chosen placements within sentences that it's not a good idea to translate poems. On the other hand, the Finnish translations of Poe's poems are good, for real. I've read at least two different translations of The Raven, and years ago I could also recite the other by heart – yes, the whole long poem. I still remember very long parts of it. However, naturally his poems are at their best read in English, but I'm not a puritan telling you NOT to read any translations. The stories within his poems might still be worth it.

"'Prophet!' said I, 'thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!—" (The Raven)

"And neither the angels in heaven above, / Nor the demons down under the sea," (Annabel Lee) 

"A blood-red thing that writhes from out / The scenic solitude!" (The Conqueror Worm)

Edgar Allan Poe wrote mostly short stories with only one full-length novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. I have to admit, shamefully, that I haven't yet read it although it's been included in that full collection I own (d'oh!). I certainly should...

I've enjoyed many stories, and it's difficult to choose my favourite ones. Some of them, however, are The Pit and the Pendulum, The Fall of the House of Usher, Ligeia, The Black Cat and The Masque of the Red Death. Those are all relatively well-known. He wrote many intriguing science fiction stories the plots of which I might remember, but not the names! :D If you have never read anything by Poe, I could recommend starting with one of those titles.

Poe is known for his "gothic horror stories", but I think that can be slightly misleading. That cannot be used to describe his whole (fiction) works. I think the name of the book I own, "tales of mystery and imagination", describes his works better. Sure, some of his stories are "pure gothic horror". Very many of them are not. He's sometimes considered to be the inventor of the modern detective story – so go figure; he's written stories of that kind. Some of them are science fiction. Some of them are just, well, the results of a dreamy mind wandering here and there, depicting strong humane emotions from anxiety to passion. If you're looking for actual gothic horror, you might not want to start with The Balloon-Hoax. The Murders in the Rue Morgue might not be that rewarding either.

And what was that CD I had? Lou Reed's concept album The Raven. I bought it merely because of the concept, and back then I didn't like it much. I haven't listened to it probably after that... I might like it more now, so I might need to try again.

"I have no faith in human perfectability. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active - not more happy - nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago."

Ever since I found out about Poe, and at least until the end of high school, he and his stories were a great inspiration source for me. In Finnish classes I wrote several theses of him or his works and in art classes I depicted the world of his works (and even his personal life) in various ways. His effect on my personal works has been smaller in and after university, though my love for ravens will never fade. :}

"If you wish to forget anything on the spot, make a note that this thing is to be remembered."

I think Poe's simply genius. The sad story of his life is also very interesting, and I think it explains many aspects of his stories and poems – not literally, but many of the emotions he must have undergone.

"Science has not yet taught us if madness is or is not the sublimity of the intelligence."

"That man is not truly brave who is afraid either to seem or to be, when it suits him, a coward."

"The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins?"

"The true genius shudders at incompleteness - and usually prefers silence to saying something which is not everything it should be."

"There are few cases in which mere popularity should be considered a proper test of merit; but the case of song-writing is, I think, one of the few."

"They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night."

"Were I called on to define, very briefly, the term Art, I should call it 'the reproduction of what the Senses perceive in Nature through the veil of the soul.' The mere imitation, however accurate, of what is in Nature, entitles no man to the sacred name of 'Artist.'"

"Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality."

Pardon me for the spam of Poe quotes, but I couldn't just choose a few. And still I omitted many. But I chose the ones that I found the mots inspiring and well, I hope other creative minds do so too.

I'm not particularly interested in visiting the US in general, but the Museum of Edgar Allan Poe is a place I'd like to go to! I wonder how many hours I could spend there if I went there... And how much money I could spend buying unnecessary shot glasses with his face printed on them etc. Oh well, maybe one day... I guess this is all for now. So long!

Baby's fighting

♫ The Cure – Burn

Ah well, my summer vacation ended and I returned to work. This week was quite... quite, well, horrible? Yeah, that is the word I'm looking for. It was not horrible because of work, but death came a bit too close to my dog on Monday. She was diagnosed with pyometra and was operated on in the middle of the night. Thus, I barely slept, and on Tuesday I was dead tired at work. Even a work mate said he noticed immediately that I wasn't my usual cheerful self. I could barely concentrate on work on Tuesday because my dog didn't begin to recover at the expected pace after the surgery. Then they diagnosed anaemia. Then my dog got a blood transfer... After that she began to recover. She's doing better now, recovering well, I suppose. But well, she certainly gave me some anxious feelings and a few skipped heartbeats etc.

Otherwise the first week at work after the vacation wasn't that bad, I kind of like my job anyway. I don't like getting up early in the morning and this week it was particularly difficult – both because of the daily rhythm I had on my vacation and the issues with my dog which kept me awake.

On Sunday, when I was still happily enjoying the last day of my summer vacation, I was being somewhat lazy, but still wanted to make myself look somewhat humane so that I could go downtown. (Yeah sure, I could go without making myself up, but it's no fuuuun...)

For someone with a SLR camera and a proper tripod, I'm bloody lazy when it comes to taking photos of myself. Setting up the equipment is just so troublesome..! Anyway, I found the mini vest at UFF the other day, and I think it was quite a good find! (If you think you see a jar filled with cigarette stumps, well, yeah, you do. But I don't smoke myself.)

The Cure's Burn is quite a nice, somewhat a hypnotic song. I haven't seen The Crow, but it's fascinating me. I wonder if it contains too much gore for someone like me? For someone, who doesn't watch movies which have been rated R for graphic violence?
So long~

We are buildin' a house of fire

♫ Orden Ogan – We are pirates

Woah, I had a housewarming party (+ a graduation party) on Saturday, and... Well, I will never forget it. My guests said they will neither.

I won't go into details, although some of them would probably be interesting. Well, my apartment is in one piece, and my neighbours haven't yet complained – on the other hand I warned them in advance. I doubt the disturbance was too remarkable. Yet I've never received a phone call from a police officer before. Well, things happen, I suppose. At least I wasn't being scolded.

Like I said, the party had a theme, which was, obviously, PIRATES!

I had been working on a piratey playlist for months. It comprised a lot of songs from Alestorm, some other epic metal songs, Pirates of the Caribbean songs (had to put in some instrumental tracks so that people wouldn't need to sing along all the time) and other funny things. Drunken sailor, etc. Songs about rum, vodka and tequila, so... Yeah. But we had no vodka or tequila, just... rum. And enough of that (=rum).

The curse of Captain Morgan has lead us to this fate, so have no fear and don't look back – the afterlife awaits!

And the image gotta be misty like... rum. I shouldn't have had that, really. The punch (rum and lime liqueur based) was strong too. Sunday gave a whole new meaning to Captain Morgan's Revenge, which is a good song by Alestorm. I didn't throw up or anything, I had no headache, I just couldn't eat.

I had also made a very ugly cake. It was disastrous in many ways, but I heard it tasted... good? But it was so ugly I was quite ashamed to serve it.

We also played Karibia and had great fun. So yeah, thank you all who share all those insane memories!

I also drew a pirate map to serve as a guest book. I told my guests they could write their name/greetings anywhere, but most of them opted for the back side. I dyed the paper with coffee.

My friend N gave me some tasty sushi rolls! Thank you, they were omnomnom!

My friend J gave me a saucepan mat made of cast iron. It's pretty, don't you think? Well, I got some other nice things too, thanks everyone! All in all, the party was, well... unforgettable. Since most, if not all of the guests said they had fun, I guess it wasn't too bad... :D Well, so long!

She's in parties — Lumous 2011

♫ Ultravox – Man of two worlds

I'm officially a very lazy blogger, occasionally too busy too. It's been almost two weeks since Lumous Gothic Festival 2011.

Ah well, my first summer vacation since my freshman year in high school began a week ago! I've been enjoying it, and then I've been busy organizing another kind of party. On Saturday, I will be celebrating with my friends – a combined housewarming and graduation party. And with a theme – more about that later, but if you've been reading my blog, you can easily guess what the theme is.

I didn't go to Lumous on Friday, which might be a pity actually... I heard Freakangel was good. On Saturday the artists were not too exciting. Larva was alright, as well as Anne-Marie Hurst. The others, well... Not so much. Funnily enough, the act I liked the most were those guys playing Depeche Mode covers on Sunday before The End club. Depressed Blokes, huh?

Larva

The Dark Market sales event was quite a disappointment. So few merchants there! I didn't buy anything. However, my friend J took a few photos there which show what I was wearing on Saturday.

Shirt: Second-hand

Corset: Morticia

Shorts, gloves: Seppälä

Socks: Boutique Lou Lou

Shoes: DinSko

This kind of showcase is rare of me as a blogger. I guess you should try everything once... Except for your own mother. I was too lazy to take photos of my clothes by myself, so yeah, thanks J – at least there's a bit of documentation. 

And no pics at all of The End club attire, but to cut a long story short, my attire was way more elegant with a simple black dress and high heels. Although this wasn't my first Lumous, it was my first time going to The End – mostly because earlier I had had to go to work on the following day, at 8.30, and in a different town. This time I also went to work on Monday, but at least in Tampere, and well... I guess I reached the office at 10 am. Anyway; I had a point: I had only heard of the goings-on of The End clubs. I was slightly surprised to see how insane it was. :D My wannabe-elegant attire made me feel strange among all those half-naked friends who took of their shirts while I remained fully dressed. I guess the least boring detail of my evening was the fact that I danced a lot, but not even once on the floor. I had fun, I stayed there until the very end although I had work in the morning, and the music – ah, what fun it was! Such absurd party songs.

Ugh, and now my shoulders are very sore. I've been cleaning and carrying shopping bags – gotta prepare for the Saturday's party. Tough work, but at least it's fun – I rarely host parties after all. So long!

Hooray to the glory

♫ Real Life – Nowhere Girl

Not exactly sure about the glory part...

I've been quite silent as I've been both busy and well... occasionally unable to write too? Yeah well, I recently moved, and I still lack an internet connection of my own... Kind of. It's a complex story, and I think that anything that can possibly have gone wrong, has also gone wrong. And the secret is, although it's not illegal: I've been leeching on my neighbour's unsecured WLAN...

I would have so many things to write about! I cannot choose, and I don't want to put everything in one post either! While I still couldn't access the internet at all at home, I watched Dorian Gray, and I could write about that... I could show off my new apartment (will do, eventually) or what not. But I'll show a few nice things which I found at the summer sales.

Suomalainen Kirjakauppa (Finnish Bookstore) had some nice wooden boxes, or should I say – treasure chests. At least the bigger one is almost pirate-credible, isn't it? It may lack metallic frames, but it's pretty. Anyway, I bought those because I really needed some pretty storage boxes for my jewellery and other accessories.

In the same bookstore I found this book, which I had seen there earlier too, and well... I began to feel sorry for them as they hadn't yet got rid of the last piece. Then I just had to buy it, right..? It was a friendly favour, right? The book cost 12 € and it was actually quite interesting. The layout was quite nice with exciting details. The book introduced several famous pirate (captains), such as Blackbeard, Henry Morgan and Sam Bellamy. (The last one made me smile indeed – the man was better known as Black Sam, and well, my mother has a black, long-haired dachshund whose real name is Bellamy.) The book is, however, way too violent considering it was in the children's department. :O I mean, details of the real, violent ends those pirates faced... But I recommend it to all pirate fans. :D

Cheap lacy gloves are cheap lacy gloves, and I don't think I'm supposed to resist them. They're not too decorative, which is nice too.

This summer dress only cost 5 €. It's surprising that I like such a print, but well... There's something that really fascinates me. I cannot quite figure out what it is, but it gives me some deep feeling. And it's brownish, which is rare for me too.

I also bought some socks online the other day, and they were all very nice. Maybe I should take photos of them too... Although it's more tricky to take photos of socks. Naturally I should put them on first. Anyway, I shall keep going. I should have four days of work left before my summer vacation! Yay! And it's a Lumous weekend! I'll go there on Saturday and maybe even Sunday, but since I will obviously go to work on Monday, I really cannot party too hard on Sunday evening. Too bad. So long!