Helsinki: The Door Collection (#2)

This odd tri-part door on a rare vacant (abandoned?) building in downtown Helsinki caught my attention during some weekend wanderings.  I hereby add it to the collection.

Dublin: The Door Collection

You're in for a treat.  This might be my favorite door collection to date.  Dublin is full of incredible entries!  This warm-spirited, friendly and ancient-looking city will draw you in with coziness at every turn.

Weekend Roundup

Interesting articles and other specimens abound online this week; here's a taste of what caught my eye.
There's something for everyone here!

1. Trial of former Guatemalan president for genocide >> For the first time in history, a former head of state has been put on trial - and then convicted - of genocide by his own country's court system.  This op-ed in The Globalist was written by Laura Myers of Limitless Horizons Ixil. Laura was our guide and an ambassador from the Ixil community when I traveled to Guatemala with Belmont University in March 2012. Having lived for over a year and a half with the Ixil people in the remote highlands of central Guatemala, Laura's knowledge, experience, and empathy inform her unique perspective on this remarkable event in local, national, and world history.

photo credit: Eric Johansson

2.
Swedish Photoshop expert creates mind-bending images

3.
French-Namibian girl grows up napping with cheetahs, riding ostriches - incredible photos!

4. Finland's contribution to online shopping: Buy anything you see online! - Cool Helsinki-based company Kiosked makes advertising less annoying and more enjoyable for shoppers.  Read about it in the Huffington Post.


5. "Struggle is progress" - A young mother bares her heart as she chronicles the joys and challenges of raising her two small children.  The genuine emotion and thoughts she shares are a beautiful part of the human experience.

6. "The unbearable beauty of Finnish grammar".  Believe it or not, after living here for 8 months, I've actually started speaking Finnish - real conversations!  Even arguments.  I had to aggressively defend American cuisine the other day when some guy tried to blanket-statement American food is bad ... because he ate bad Mexican-style food from an "American" restaurant in Helsinki (where Finns manager and cook).  The parent company might actually have ties to America.  And I had all the words to set him straight in Finnish!

For all the warnings that you get about this being the most difficult language in the world, it's really not that bad.   I have found Russian most challenging so far.  

7. '13 Bankers', Financialization, and the Economy.  This was posted about 3 years ago, but the message is still incredibly relevant!  Let this be a foreshadowing of one of my newest and most exciting projects.  If you find this topic interesting, stay tuned!

photo: Cata Portin

8.  Philosophy of life: Insight & Inspiration with one of Finland's most loved philosophers. He also happens to be a researcher and lecturer at my university.  I had lunch with Esa one day; he's a brilliant and lovely man.  He's also my neighbor, and by some funny coincidence, I now live in the apartment he used to own - where he raised his kids.  Here's a paper on elevated reflection that serves as a great introduction to his work and passion!
If you've ever been to Finland, you understand how brilliantly Esa stands out!

9. What the World Eats in a Week. This is a super neat photograph collection of families around the world, surrounded by everything they eat in a typical week.  Highlights: I was astounded by the volume of what the German family drinks compared to all others.  I was also horrified by the minuscule 1/12th of the British table that contained unprocessed, fresh edibles.  Mexico appears to adore Coca-Cola; Guatemalans have insanely red tomatoes; bananas / plantains must be in every Ecuadorian dish.  Based on this table analysis, I should probably move to Turkey or Italy.  

Bhutan - photo: Peter Menzel

Barcelona in February

I spent the first week of this month in Barcelona, where we kicked off a course comprised of joint collaboration between my university (Aalto) and ESADE, called Innovation in Action.  I didn't have an exorbitant amount of time to explore the city, but I definitely made the most of the time I did have!  After a long, dark winter in Finland, my #1 goal was to maximize sunlight absorption!

Tip: click any photo to enlarge! 

Walking thru the neighborhood of Gracia, I looked up to see this magnificent dwelling on the hill.

A design by famed Spanish Catalan architect
Antoni Gaudi.  He's known as the face of
Catalonian Modernist architecture, and his
buildings are spread out all over the city.

First meal: Fresh Spanish Quesadillas. Ham & Mushroom for
me, oozing some kind of delicious Spanish cheese. Yum.

This is the coolest sundial I've seen in a while. Definitely a
piece I could enjoy having in my garden.

a tribute to my collection of doorways from around the world

Here's part of our group in front of another Gaudi masterpiece - La Sagrada Familia.
This church has been under construction for 40 years, using only donations from the public.
Still a ways to go, but already staggeringly beautiful.

Façade detail on one side of La Sagrada Familia

The inside of the church supposedly looks like a forest. It's a
25 euro entrance fee, so I didn't want to invest while I only
had time to run through it. Hoping for a long visit when I go
back in May!

Old meets new

I've just fallen in love with these balconies!

The Catalan flag is proudly displayed in many homes and
balconies.  Tensions between the Catalan people and Spanish
government aren't especially high at the moment, but they tend
to fluctuate. I was able to learn a lot about the unique culture
and language of Catalunya from some local students.

They say that if you drink from this fountain, you are sure to
come back to Barcelona. I must have slurped a few litres, such
was my enthusiasm for the sun, beauty, and charm of this place.

Fresh baked bread

local graffiti

An incredible street performer. Video to come.

Views from my window in Muntaner

In La Boqueria - an open air market

red hot chili peppers

authentic oven-baked nachos

home grown garden graffiti

afternoon espresso in Plaça de Catalunya

watching the sun rise with these men & women of old