17 Compact Discs

Molly is coming home tomorrow from Tunis where she has been working for the last week or so. Arranging all the little details that entail such event, as the returning home, Lili has been on the phone to her quite a lot today. She didn’t want to wait till she got home to use skype so she was using my mobile while in the Café creating a probably huge imaginary bill for the long and many international calls.

Tobi gets blamed for burping these days. Lili takes advantage and does not hold back while out in public and just blames it on Tobi… I wonder where she learned that from.

The joys of parenthood: Dinner

There is someone who does not like to eat dinner unless it is one of her favourite. Soup is especially deadly so it is not eaten under any circumstances. Lili fell asleep sitting at the table instead. I gave her some toast and cheese and woke her up because I do not want to be woken at 4am that ‘I’m hungry’ on a whingy voice. After quickly working the bread in, my daughter bursts into life and cheerfully engaged the evening. We tried to ignore her and be no fun responding to everything ‘No because you didn’t eat your dinner.’ Some time later she revealed that she wasn’t tired before at all, just knew this was the best way to get out of the soup and get some toast instead. Tobi Does Not understand her. Why, why is she picky about the food?! I guess this is what kids do. I asked him has he ever sat between lunch and dinner at the table because dragon mama made him for refusing to finish his plate (or whatever they may have been using)? He looked at me thinking I clearly do not understand the meaning of life. ‘Of course not’ he said but I have. Lili got to be stubborn for a reason.

Tobi doesn’t come to work with me anymore. I don’t think he is mean or anything, but as I am bored as hell with my job I believe so is he and he has the choice not to bother with it. He comes with me in the mornings, we meet up after work, hang out but in Onnela I am on my own. Instead of keeping me company he does stuff like jumping on flying trampolines in the afternoons or so Lili says so.

Some time ago I have written about the anarchist movement I began to build quietly here in Oulu. It is about the traffic lights. A choice of crossing the road when it is safe, when there is no traffic instead of letting a little bright green man telling us to go. I also have written about how I came to perceive that things have changed. There are more and many more followers of the idea while common sense is spilling into other areas of life. I can safely and confidently state that this tiny but powerful revolution has in such short time managed to rock society, the pillars that are set in seemingly indestructible concrete ideas and hold the very structure of social contract of Oulu society have bee shaken, the cement is cracked and the time for the next step has come. Smile!

Yes, we smile. And even Tobi’s otherwise almost terrifying smiles are returned. More and more people move to acknowledge ones present, existence and after creating even a brief eye contact, many smiles back! I know, just the same way Jen and I have revolutionised Glasgow by spreading the idea of cycling instead of getting into a car, here many will within a matter of years will share the town with a 100 000 others rather than merely happen to leave in the same post code area.

Within years Oulu will be the Northern City of Smiles!
A wonderful concept. Ask me about it at 6:37am on Thursday morning 12th February 2009 approximately 3.5 hours before sunrise, on my way to work waiting on the bus, outside temperature 32.35 Celsius below zero.

Ps:-one must wonder about the title