Spotlight on ... Finland!

~Waving~ to my friends in Helsinki and Vantaa :)

My first introduction to a Finlander was an acquaintance with a lovely lady named Tynna Tammanen who was a World War II war bride. Classy -- intelligent -- beautiful -- quirky -- a wonderful friend.

Life in America being what it is, Finland didn't enter into my consciousness again until the 1984 Winter Olympics, when Matti Nykanen burst on the ski-jumping scene.

Just ... wow. For the first time ever, man flies.



Matti was, and remains, totally cool. People have always said man can't fly by himself. But Matti did. (That's him, on the left, below.)



To me, Finlanders have cracked the code of how to take a consistently bleak weatherscape -- a metaphor for pretty much life -- and just, basically, do stuff. You know the Nike slogan? Just do it? Finlanders JUST DO IT.

They're not into being "players" on the "world stage." They're quiet. They're cool.

They're smart. They're funny, if you take the time to listen. They know they can fly -- but they're not going to spout off about it the way we adolescent Americans might.

They just do it.

Finland is green and beautiful, and winter is no hardship. There are endless things to discover, just within its geography. Roads to go down, unique houses to appreciate ... ugh. I wish I could spend a year simply roaming around.

But as I can't, I can only ~wave~ to my Finland visitors, and give you this advice:

Put your thumb to your nose, and tell the world to go to hell -- because YOU will always manage :)

UPDATE: Many congratulations to Martii Ahtisaari, for winning the Nobel Peace Prize. If ever anyone deserved it, it's this fine gentleman.

As opposed to THIS boob.

Ripples in the stream

My friend Charles Henry at Covenant Zone recently gave a eulogy at the funeral of a co-worker who had taken his own life.

What does one say at a time like that? There are so many conflicts inside our own heads, at any given time -- we all wrestle with the demons that all too easily take over thinking to the point where we may feel we're glad to end it all. Most of us may celebrate life -- indeed, our Creator gave us life so we could, basically, have a ball on this short chapter in the long story --

But demons are seductive. We know how easy it is to slide down into despair. Nothing is going right. We keep fighting, and not winning. We've all been there. And so, to speak at a funeral for someone who lost the fight is extremely hard. Where do we find the words that will comfort?

Here's what he had to say about the day:

"This whole sad nightmare makes me think about how far even our short lives can take us. All it takes is that first step, that first act of faith, the attempt to live with the doubt that we can never truly know whether there might yet exist a better tomorrow than the yesterday we leave behind us."

And here is the secret to victory over death. No demon -- even those persuasive enough to convince someone to "end" their life -- will win, in the end. When we move on, we are beyond demons.

It's hard for us ants to know we're going to be okay, in the end (or the beginning) of a chapter -- especially when one of us ends his own life. But we will.

Frankly, few things are harder than to stand up at a funeral and address these things. A hug to you, Charles Henry.

'Sending out an SOS'

Bottom line, my fellow conservatives.

Despite the insanity, keep this in mind:

What we are all about is food in the mouth first, and making ourselves happier second.

We WILL manage survival, so have no worries. The rest will take care of itself.

And with that in mind ... don't worry. Be happy :)

All ... my ... friends

Marketing whores

Or, what ELSE is contributing to economic collapse.

Puppy-blogging the debate live!

Gay Patriot has generously offered the services of his sidekick Shadow to give the definitive account of tonight's debate.

Bonus! You get to choose which beverage GP imbibes while following Shadow's progress.

Shadow will be utilizing the latest technology from Dr. Emmett Brown in order to facilitate immediate canine-human interface.

'I'm a Hollywood conservative'

I thought that was kind of like saying, I'm a vegan for the meat industry ... but it's heartening to know that, though still underground, conservatives are sticking to their principles, even in Tinsel Town.

To those (probably miniscule amounts of) left-leaning readers, I have a question:

Why do you make it so hard for conservative thinkers to co-exist in the entertainment industry?

ADDED THOUGHT: Heh -- who'd a thunk CNN would actually run a story like this?