Finnished

Back with a song

unit.purple@gmail.com (unit_purple) — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 01:35:00 +0200

(And a slightly worrying realization) Hanging around home alone, Mrs. at some function I was happy to avoid. So I'm sitting here reading a book, and listening to music. More specifically - Carol King. When I first listened to her CD a few years ago, I was surprised I hadn't heard her name before, since I already knew half her songs... Such a wonderful voice, and what a gifted song writer. Yeah, so I just felt like sharing her with whoever still bothers to check if I'd updated. Here she is, with a voice and a piano that can break your heart: Beauti

Way overdue

unit.purple@gmail.com (unit_purple) — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 22:40:00 +0200

So yeah, I've been busy. But I can see on my statistics page that one or two of you check this page almost daily and finally decided I can't let my audience of one downmuch longer. A lot has happened since I last wrote. Packing the flat in Helsinki up, then a quick vacation in Barca, then a family visit in Mrs'. hometown, and then it was off to the Holy Land! Now I'm writing from our new rented flat in the City Put Together. After along month of living in an emptyapartment with 2.5 chairs and a couple of forks and plastic plates,our container finally found its way here and all our earthly belongings (give or take an item) are nowunpacked and each in its place (thank you Rakas ). Don't think I don't knowwhat you're thinking - what's she talking about with this 'busy' bull? She's probably just sitting in front of the Internet 18 hours a day, as usual! Well, normally you'd be right, but now that I'm in a country where I speak the language, I actually found myself a job! And not a ba

A Palestinian, a Catholic priest & an Israeil dyke walk into a room

unit.purple@gmail.com (unit_purple) — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 18:48:00 +0200

No, that's not the beginning of a joke (although I'm sure if I thought about it long enough I could come up with a good punch line, or maybe a reality TV show), it's actually what's been happening every morning this week in my new Finnish class. I doubt the priest knows I'm gay, but since we had to introduce ourselves on the first day - everybody knows I'm Israeli, and since then the Palestinian has been avoiding me as much as possible (which is sort of a shame, he seemed nice before the first class and my outing as the evil Zionist, when me and him and another Swiss guy were wondering around the building together looking for the right room). I wonder if the priest would throw holy water or something at me if I happen to reveal my fondness for boobies. God, I'm so sick of language courses. Every time trying to come up with simple enough sentences that are grammatically correct, again the obligatory 'My name is Purple, I am from Israel', again the five sentence essay about my family

!Extra Extra! Read all about it

unit.purple@gmail.com (unit_purple) — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 11:22:00 +0200

Today is a good day. To the Little Princess: Happy birthday! I can't believe you're twelve already. May your Bat Mitzvah year be full of happy surprises, of love and joy, fun and games, learning and growth. I'd love to see how you turn out, but for my own selfish reason, I hope you stay almost-still-a-child just a little bit longer. Andfor the Breaking News of the day -To the Dynamic Duo: You wonderful pair of magicians you! I'm sure nobodyin the world is as happy asyou areright now, but I promise you, I'm pretty close. You are two of my absolute favourite people, and though I won't even meet this little one for another 2 months, I already love her too.

Serenity now

unit.purple@gmail.com (unit_purple) — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 21:00:00 +0200

Fridays. So full of calm stillness. I'm sitting here, a little whiskey in my Coke*, breeze through the open windows, dog dozing off on the sofa beside me (when he's not chasing bees, that is). Old vinyls playing in the background - Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Marlene Dietrich, and now Edith Piaf - framing my perfect evening. I'msure my mind nostalgically idealizes them, butI remember these perfect Friday moments. Back from the army, allowing myself to fall asleep on the sofa in the living room, the sound of my mother cracking sunflower seeds and turning the pages of the weekend papers. From summers in Finland I remember distant lawn mowers and the smell of freshly cut grass and the lazy post sauna lethargy. From childhood and earlyteenage I remember faint music from neighbouring buildings. Classical music flowing through all the rooms of my grandparents' house. I know all these memories are not necessarily Fridays, but they all share that Friday feeling of worthy rest, of slow g

That time of the year again

unit.purple@gmail.com (unit_purple) — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 16:04:00 +0200

Last year I begged you to go to Jerusalem. A year is gone, and nothing has changed. Not that I'm naive enough to think all our problems can be solved within a year, but still, one can hope.. Lately I find myself on websites and forums and talkbacks and message boards, trying to explain, trying to inform. My biggest frustration comes not from the religious types (though, Lord knows, they are frustrating), but from the secular people, the ones who call themselves liberal, and most frustrating of the lot - the gays themselves. Ignorance is bliss, says the old line, but though that may be true for the ignorant himself, it is a bitch for the rest of us who have to live with him. Phrases like "I'm chiloni, but..", "consider the feelings of...", "but why Jerusalem?", "why the noise?", "I'm straight and I don't parade about it", etc., are pure slogans and cliches, without any actual coherent thought behind them, and without appreciation to how far the gay community has come, where it started

unit.purple@gmail.com (unit_purple) — Tue, 08 May 2007 12:51:00 +0200

I don't normally do this, because I never really integrated myself into the whole Israblog culture, but I'm sitting here laughing out loud (and I mean actually laughing out loud, not LOLing on MSNwhile really barely smiling). So I wanted to share - this girl is hilarious. My apologies to the Hebrewly Challenged �.

Great changes afoot

unit.purple@gmail.com (unit_purple) — Mon, 07 May 2007 18:03:00 +0200

Well now. It's been a long break, but I guess the muse (what muse there ever was, at least) is back. Big changes lie ahead of the Purple family. Some of you may know already, if you don't then mail me. But the big move that's been brewing under the surface for the last couple of months has finally been officially approved. We've been talking about it just the two of us for what feels like such a long time, it's weird to start going over the reasoning from the beginning with everybody else. At least now that it's a done deal, and the stress ofuncertainty is off our shoulders, we can finally start to get ready. So many things need to be done, and so little time to do it in. Decisions, decisions, decisions. Some easy like storage and housing and shipping. Some difficult, like leaving new friends. And old ones. Being a grown up can really stink. But I guess sometimes you really do have to do what you have to do. Gah. And for something completely different - Heck if I

Atonement

unit.purple@gmail.com (unit_purple) — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 19:27:00 +0200

Forgive me Doctor for I have sinned. It has been 4 years since my last appointment. Since then I have drunk coffee and Coke, andI have smoked cigarettes. I have had impure thoughts about L Word characters, I have yelled at a dog, I have eaten sticky candy. I have gone to bed without brushing my teeth and I do not floss. I do not chew sugar-free gum after meals to raise my PH levels. I have eaten chocolate. A lot of chocolate. "Five Hail Mary's, my child, three drilling appointments and one teeth cleaning, and all shall be forgiven. And don't forget the mouth wash!"

Three thoughts

unit.purple@gmail.com (unit_purple) — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 16:34:00 +0200

People watching Wednesday afternoon, on the way to town. As soon as I'd sat down, I knew I was intruding. The couple opposite me must have just had a fight. Maybe he was leaving her. Maybe she'd cheated on him. They didn't say a word, but their body language screamed their familiarity and their anger and their pain. She was looking at him eagerly, trying to catch his eye, but he was looking straight ahead. I wanted to tell her it's OK, it'll pass and it'll get better, but I didn't. I had to look away because in a metro full of people, they looked like they needed privacy. If I could draw I would animate them, on notebook pages, in rough draft-looking lines, with a blue ball-point pen. And a hint of red in his slightly puffy eyes. But I can't draw, so I wrote it down instead. Purple watching Got a big week next week - three midterm exams, two birthdays, a dentist (and a partridge in a pear tree). I don't know, I'm not feeling excited about this birthday. It's not that I have a pro