If someone knows what the little fellow in the first picture is, please let me know! C:
That’s it from the Lichen course. I am left with a stack of good pictures but little knowledge of lichens. Perhaps not the aim of the course but I don’t regret taking it :D
Today’s dream quote: “The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things that never were.”
This picture was taken from Koli, a very famous place (at least in Finland), that has also been under conservation for a really long time. That makes it a great place to study lichens, since they grow really slowly.
Although we were supposed to focus on lichens, I found the mosses more interesting :D
A more unknown part of the Koli area is the nearby old-growth forest, which we also visited as a part of the course. The picture above is an other happy accident. I was trying to take a picture of the underside of a polypore but because I couldn’t look through the viewer I didn’t notice that the picture was only focused right at the bottom and that the sunlight was reflecting from the lens :D None the less I really like this picture. It’s not realistic at all but it sure is interesting.
A dream quote for today: “Sometimes the dreams that come true are the one’s you never even knew you had” <3
I had the opportunity to take a week-long intensive course on lichens a few weeks ago. After the course, it’s safe to say that lichens, though beautiful in their own way, are not really my cup of tea. However, I had my camera with me, and managed to get some interesting photos amid the lichen exploration :D
My Internet has been down for at least a week now, so that’s why this post hasn’t come until now. In fact I think it’s still down, I’m just at a different city right now.
Enjoy ^^
As you can see, I was somewhat distracted and disconnected from my lichen flow :DD I have no idea who this little caterpillar will be when he grows up… I wish I knew.
More pictures coming up soon C:
A dream quote for today: “Too many of us are not living our dreams because we’re living our fears.”
Last week I attended a wedding in France. My Finnish cousin married a lady from the small Alpine village of Thann. The wedding was somewhat different to Finnish weddings. It was very long, it started rather later late, and there was a lot more time for free mingling.The food was delicious and our hotel of the first night was incredibly charming. I can’t get over the intricate but easily operated citrus juicer at breakfast either.. Wish I had one at home :D
Also, I can now officially state that French men are quite charming indeed. At least the one’s I met :D But their English could really use some work!
Of course me being the typical somewhat reserved finn, I used some of the extra time to wonder around taking pictures. I had both my digital camera and my film camera there, and most of the pictures are on film and yet to be developed. Anyway, here are a few good (digital) pictures from the trip. Enjoy ^^
This picture is taken from about 1200 m (that’s about 4000 ft) above see level. You really can’t grasp the scale if your not there yourself, but it’s still beautiful. And yes, the white fluff in the middle left is a cloud :D
This was the view from the balcony of our room in the first hotel, overlooking the idyllic village of Thann. Just charming isn’t it. The wooden shutters and all. It was really very beautiful.
There were a lot of people hiking about these gorgeous mountains. I hope I have a change to do so too sometime.
A dream quote for today: “The future you see is the future you get.” ^^
Hi yah to all my blogging friends! It’s been a long long time since my last post. I could tell you again that I have been very very busy and leave it at that, but I thought I’d tell you something about my life instead. If you don’t want to hear this just hop right down to the pictures and enjoy, but otherwise, here’s a quick recap of what I’ve been up to lately C:
First of I want to say that studying has taken quite some time, but it has been very rewarding and I have enjoyed it hole-heartedly. I’ve learned so much and so far my enthusiasm towards Biology has not faded. This semester is nearly at its end already, and it feels weird to think that I’ve been a university student for a year now, and will no longer be a freshman in Autumn when the next semester starts.
The University choir has also had its work cut out for me. We have worked on a rather challenging Rock/Pop song program, had tree concerts and just a few weeks ago we recorded the songs to be made into an album. However there are still some small things to be done in the next few weeks with that.
And finally something I’m really exited about. I’ve finally started to get back to good old film photography! I have a nice camera, and the university has a really cool dark room. I’ve only gotten a few finished shots, but I am going to share some with you too once I get some more done. The process is a lot slower than the digital one, which also contributes to me not having much time to get digital shots.
I took these about a week ago, when I was just snooping around the corners of the city I hadn’t been to before. This kind of adventuring is really fun I think. You just never know what you find!
I found this skull in a forest near the lake Pyhäjärvi. It was rather big too, so I suspected it was a seagull, perhaps Larus argentatus. However as I did some simple comparing based on the Internet, I found that the beak is not curved enough at the tip to belong to L . argentinus. So the jury is still out on this one. If you have an idea, please let me know in the comments! C:
Nothing special to say about this one. I just like the peacefulness and simplicity of it. And the shy bokeh too C:
And finally this little fellow, a beautiful Zootoca vivipara, aka the common lizard C: He’s the first I’ve seen this year!
A dream quote for today: “For all their bitching about what’s holding them back, most people have a lot of trouble coming up with the defined dreams they’re being held from.” Sad but true :C Make sure You aren’t like those people! ^^
And an amazingly delightful musical piece to get you all in the mood for Spring: Flower Dance by DJ Okawari
I’ve been crazy busy studying, but finally finally finally I have something nice to show you. And it’s a treat too, at least for me :D The northern lights blazed in the skies in the whole of Finland, including the southern parts, last night. The appearance of the northern lights in the south is pretty rare, so there are probably a lot of pictures floating around, but here’s my take on them! ^^
And why the peculiar name to this post? In Finnish the northern lights are referred to as Revontulet which literally means “The foxes fires”. Apparently the early finns came to the conclusion that the northern lights appear when a fox runs in the mountains, and it’s tail hits the snowbanks creating sparks that then flash in the sky. Most of us know, of course, that the lights are actually caused by small electrons carried from space hitting the upper layer of the atmosphere, but that’s just no fun, right? :D
Please enjoy the photos! C:
Please note the cute couple in the last picture. They where having a romantic walk and they stopped for a sweet moment under the northern lights. And just in the right spot to get into my picture too ^^ So cute C:
And a dream quote for today: “If you don’t build your dreams, someone will hire you to build theirs!”
And I just can’t not share this with you: I have fallen in love with this artist by the name of Foxes. A very talented lady and amazingly whimsical music. Go listen to this right now, the song is called Let Go for Tonight ->
“Fell from the sky/ We fell from the sky and started walking/ leaving our footprints on the ground” <3
The university has started again, which is one of the reason why I haven’t been updating recently. Yesterday nigh however, I took a little walk with my camera and managed to get a few nice shots C: The sky was overwhelmingly gorgeous! I never seem to get bored of sunsets :D Hope you enjoy the pictures! ^^
A dream quote for today: “One must desire something to be alive” ^^
Remember what I said in my last post? About the interesting pictures that could have been made anywhere outside that day? We’ll here’s what I meant! Hair + breathing + cold weather = amazing :D
There’s something quite magical about this IMO. Doesn’t really look like hair either :D But it is my hair. The macro lens sure does deliver! C: (As usual, I haven’t processed these photos in any way in photoshop or anything like that.)
This last one was taken with a regular lens (aka not a macro lens). It’s not so magical anymore, as one can more clearly see that it’s my hair in the picture (and the black thing is my coat). You can’t get close with a regular lens, I even cropped this one a bit to shave of the excess picture i.e my nostrils and the zipper of the coat :D
I do quite like these, so I may have to work this idea again in the future.
A dream quote for today: “If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again.”
PS. I went to the ER about my finger. Turns out it has a minor fracture, so now my pinky (which has the fracture) is nicely tied together with my ring finger… EXTREME it was :D
Today, it was again extremely cold. I had to really push myself to go outside to take some pictures. However the storm that apparently (I wasn’t here to witness it because I was in my other home) raged here a few weeks ago had resulted in a whole lot of things on the lakeside getting an icy coating. There were some pretty amazing ice formations, but unfortunately the light was not what I desired (aka the sun didn’t hit the icicles because it was shining so low) :c The ground beneath my feet had also gotten an icy coating, I discovered; I slipped and am now wondering about the possible need to go to the ER because of a possibly fractured finger… Extreme. :D
Babbling aside, here are the best pics. Enjoy!
I love this, but my infinite love for bridges might have something to do with it… :DD
Of course my love for ice it not a secret either ^^
This plant was not in the water line, but it had also been bitten by the cold
While walking by the lake I noticed that I would have been able to get some very interesting photos without having to have to go there. It would have sufficed to just go out side. I’ll show you what I meant in the next post. Hint: The cold air was a factor with this too C:
A dream quote for today: “Happiness is having a dream you cannot let go of and a partner who would never ask you to.” Now here’s a happiness I too wish to achieve ^^
I promised some wintery photos for you guys, so here they are C: At least we won’t have to worry about not having snow over Christmas :D The days are pretty short now too. It was only like 3 p.m when I took these, and already it was that dark.
And a dream quote: “Listen to your dreams for they are the answer to your future. Allow your dreams to guide you like an angel by your side” <3
Have a merry Christmas, and lots of angels by your side! ^^
