Today I was very surprised that Bryn told me she loved Finland. Full stop. She didn’t get it from me…….. and is going to adopt Finnish Independence Day with me. Here’s a breadcrumb for the people who already know this story. It’s on December 6th.
It’s so stupid and yet it works. Believe me, she is not adopting Finnish Independence Day just to share something I like. Nope. She loves it for the same reason I do, because when we write our stories together, they fit like holding hands, which is very interesting in and of itself. I’ve written about it before, so let’s just not go there. It’s not relevant anymore, and it’s too deep for today. I want to focus on something else. Basically, being a Finn for a day helps me not think about something else that needs to stay walled off, because I’ve already had that exorcism and feel peaceful about it….. but not invincible. Triggers happen.
I have a long sleeve gray t-shirt that has the outline of Finland on it, so I have something supportive to wear that day. It is my armor. I laugh to myself when I read Jesus saying “it is finished,” because to my mind that’s a typo.
I don’t think I’ve ever said that before…….. about something being too deep for today. However, the weather is miserable and I don’t want to help it out.
When we get the pennies, we’re out of here. At least for a little while. We need to stand on the steps of the “outdoor living room” in Helsinki, with all the military bands and choirs and the blue and white candles and the lights and EVERYTHING. I’ve just told her be prepared not to want to come home. It’s the happiest country in the world, and we’ll be there in December, so if that’s not a road test I don’t know what is. I don’t mean this December. I’m just holding onto the dream of doing it *someday.* I want to save up my pennies because there’s a chef I will do some shady shit to meet. Hell yeah, reindeer pizza. Plus, I have developed a soft spot for salmiakki (sp?). The other plus is that most Finns speak English, so we wouldn’t have to be fluent in Suomi unless we just wanted to be sort of impressive. Why would white girls speaking Suomi be special IN FINLAND. 😛 It would blow their minds to hear us in our Oregon and Texas accents, because it would only be when we switched to English that people would realize something is afoot at the Circle K.
An additional bonus is that we’ll get to see what used to be a part of Russia without ACTUALLY HAVING TO GO THERE. I am seriously unimpressed with Russia and geeked out over Finland. I watched a documentary on a few of the epic battles. Keep in mind these people basically live in Hoth, okkkkkk. So, they played to their strengths. White camo. Skis. Bazinga.
If I was Russia, I’d be pretty pissed that a country full of skiers fucked up my program, too. But they deserved it, just like they deserve Zelenskyy handing them their asses.
Since conversation about Finland invariably leads to conversation about Ukraine given world events, I also told Bryn about “Servant of the People,” the show that launched Z’s career. He created some amazing people that I can’t wait to spend more time with, even if it’s just watching the first season again.
Maybe I’ll ask Zac if he wants to watch an episode. We’re getting together later and it seems like a show he would watch. I’m not sold on it for tonight, but I do think he would think it’s funny. The pilot is a masterpiece. For the uninitiated, here’s the basic plot.
Ukraine has ranked voting. That’s the first thing you need to know.
The second is that Zelenskyy’s character is a history teacher. The day before the election, one of his kids films him going off on a rant about the government and what it should be doing, and doesn’t see a kid filming him, who promptly posts it on YouTube. Oblivious, Zelenskyy goes to bed. The kids have registered him as a candidate, and he’s in the bathroom when the Secret Service arrives to pick him up.
Every bit…. EVERY bit as funny as “The Office.” For instance, Zelenskyy says that he needs to go to the mall to get a CD for his niece. The Secret Service says they’ll take care of it. They can’t find the CD, so they just go and pick up the band.
Life happens when you’re doing something else. Through comedy, Zelenskyy absolutely filets Putin. I have no illusions about the fact that Putin’s ego probably helped cause all this if my blog is any indication. Zelenskyy embarrassed him on television, so he deserves to die.
Imagine what Trump would do if there were no laws preventing him from something like starting a war because someone embarrassed him on television. I’m surprised he didn’t do it while he had the chance. All of his other enemies were merely people who didn’t agree with them, and the facts were on their side.
I imagine Trump being Putin’s confidante, where they can talk about all the ways in which the world is just so unfair to them.
Maybe they’d be happier if they celebrated Finnish Independence Day. It worked for me.
Stories That Are All True 