Who has raised the issue of eye damage

Tikkurila 1

Tikkurila 2

Espoo 1

Espoo 2

During the vacation I have read a lot of books, well over 50 in all. Quite a few have been graphic novels, a genre which is for me something new to get into. Right now I'm reading Blankets by Craig Thompson, a massive 600 pages long masterpiece, a memoir of youth and the first love.

During the summer I have visited several different libraries with the children, to see what there is available. These photographs were taken at Tikkurila in Vantaa, and Espoo Centre, on July 17th and 19th.

(Posting title is from the poem the library of t-shirts by Joanne Burns.)

When you open the door, everything falls into place

Library 1

Library 2

Yesterday I visited Warsaw. It was enlightening.

(Posting title is from the poem In the Lake Region by Tomas Venclova, translated by Ellen Hinsey.)

The library’s heavy door to the world

Library

Today some good things happened at work. And yesterday wasn't bad either. I'm getting almost a feeling of contentment. Should I start worrying instead?

I have commuted by bicycle on two days this week, which means four hours of exercise so far. Tomorrow I'm planning to take the bus, I need a rest day.

The gear I have for riding the bicycle works rather well. This morning the temperature was -9 °C, and there was headwind 7 m/s, making it rather cold, but I didn't have any problems. The Buff merino wool headwear works very well in protecting the face, and it is versatile on how to put it on, in how many layers, etc.

I haven't been using my bicycle shoes and neoprene overshoes, though, because the toes tend to get cold when the temperature drops below -7 °C. Instead I'm using my Sievi hiking shoes with two layers of socks, merino wool underneath long thick wool socks. This works well even below -15 °C.

(Posting title is from the poem Girl in a Library by Gail Mazur.)

Notes from the lark I’ll borrow

Fallen

Cloudberry

Pier

Moon

Night

I'm still posting photographs from the trip to Salla. I haven't taken many photographs since returning home, due to all kinds of busyness, so I hope you are not getting bored yet with pictures of Lapland.

Today I went to the tire shop to have the broken bolt fixed, and later today I'll look into what additional repairs should be done on the car. I think I should have it washed also, it got quite dirty during the trip.

I have read quite a lot of books during the summer, all kinds of books from light comics to rather serious novels. I must say that the library system we have in Finland and here in the Helsinki region works admirably.

Now there is a pilot phase of a self-service book reservation system, during which there is no fee for reserving an item from the library. Well, the fee was only 0.50 euro, but still, not having to pay for reserving something from the library is quite nice, as I'm a heavy user of the service. Since April, 2008, I have borrowed 2531 items from the library, most of them through reservations. Right now I have 39 items borrowed (the max is 40), and 20 reservations (the max is 30).

Update: I haven't written about new cameras for a long time, but the appearance of the Panasonic GX7 got me interested. Although, when I think of the size and weight, my LX5 feels still quite attractive.

(Posting title is from the poem Love's Good-Morrow by Thomas Heywood.)

Whispering something about clouds and cold wind

Blur

View

It seems that currently I just can't arrange time for taking photographs. I commuted by bus today, but I didn't take photographs then, but instead I read e-mails and a book of poems. Later I went to the library with the children, who seem to be rather big consumers of books, just like I am. Here are two photographs taken during the ride to the library.

(Posting title is from the poem Reading an Anthology of Chinese Poems of the Sung Dynasty, I Pause To Admire the Length and Clarity of Their Titles by Billy Collins.)

But most I love the tube that spies

View

During the weekend I cleaned and repaired my bicycle, patching the inner tube which had a leak. I didn't find out what caused the puncture, as the tire seemed to be intact. The inner tube isn't in a great condition thanks to "running on empty" until I realized air was leaking out. I hope it holds until the replacement of the gear hub with a new one in the beginning of November. At least so far so good, air is holding.

I went to the local library with my daughter, to return some books. I have been mostly reading e-books recently, but as I mentioned the library doesn't offer a great deal of choices. And you need to have several programs for reading the borrowed books: Adobe Digital Editions on the Mac, and Bluefire Reader or Overdrive on the iPad. None of these programs is really bad, but they aren't great either.

(Posting title is from the poem The Flâneur by Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.)

I'm just looking backward to see

Morning

Fast

Blurred

Today I didn't go out for a walk, and as it is raining, I'm planning to stay inside. It is dark out there.

Yesterday I wrote some words about the local library system. I'm a big customer: since April 22, 2008, I have borrowed 1420 items, mostly books, but also some cds.

There is a limit of 40 items one can borrow. And there is also a limit of 30 reservations. I have been most of the time maxing out on these, going to the library at least once a week to return items and borrow some more. It is not bad, but sometimes I wish the limits would be a little higher.

But anyway, the independence day in Finland is coming up, and weekend ahead. If only the weather would be better for spending some time outside.