Nothing - Guilty of Everything

I rarely post exclusively about music, but shoegaze band Nothing's new release has me utterly smitten. I've been listening to it for about three days straight, truth be told.

Here's a piece on them that covers a bit of their background, which I find musically fascinating. I've always seen a connection and an opportunity for convergence between shoegaze and heavier forms of music. These guys seem to embody that idea, although you could really debate just how much hardcore influence there actually is to be heard in their sound.

Either way, wherever they come from and whatever their influences are, this album is great and I love it. 

Crazy Sexy Cool

I used to think that eating a sandwich for breakfast was truly bizarre. I remember the first time I took the Finnair flight from New York to Helsinki, I was sort of bemused to find that what they were calling "breakfast" was what I'd call "lunch": rye bread, ham, cheese and, totally out of my realm of experience, butter.

Now I'm writing to all of you at 8.00 over coffee, rye bread, ham, no cheese, and tomato.

How I've changed.

Earlier in the week, I went with a very special friend to Jyväskylä, where I had a few hours to myself in which to explore the center.

I haven't traveled nearly as much as I'd like within Finland (due to lack of funds, travel companions, etc.) so it was nice to broaden my horizons so to speak. Firstly, I was sort of amazed at how much shopping there was to do. Being right on the border, Lappeenranta is known for attracting Russian tourists with promises of shopping sprees. It made me chuckle to see just how much more there was to consume on Kauppakatu in Jyväskylä than pretty much anywhere in Lappeenranta. I've mentioned before that I'm not much of a shopper, but there's something about doing it alone, with the music in your earbuds subsuming what plays over the loudspeakers, that I really enjoy. I even bought a skirt! I think that proves there's a normal human lurking somewhere within me.

Because this winter has been unbelievably mild, it was pleasant to hang around outside, too. I found the kaupunginkirkko and the kirkkopuisto, where I sat for a while and scarfed a Mars bar.

And, finally, I found this gem in H&M:

I'd like to title this photo "Adventures in Getting Old". You see, a large percentage of my friends had both this shirt and this album when I was about 10 years old. It's now a retro item, something "the kids" wear for its nostalgia or its irony or just because they see it in H&M. On a related note, this is Finland. Was TLC even a thing in Finland? Perhaps someone can enlighten me.

And now, powered by coffee and ruisleipä, I'll take my leave and run on the snowless streets of LPR.