Monday, June 30, 2014

The Far Too Near Future


Alright, it's finally time to write something.
Don't expect too much, as my time is very limited. For once, I think I'll manage to keep my post relatively short :/

Initially, I was supposed to write about two dreams I've had recently. I was lucid in both, and had a fair amount of control too. However, I feel no motivation at all to write about such things right now, so I'll save that for later.

The thing is, I am 19 years old, I am a male, and I live in Finland. What does this mean? Why would there be anything special about these three factors?
Well, as much as I like living in Finland, there are a few drawbacks. One of them, the one that will affect my near future quite a lot, is the fact that Finland has yet to rid of conscription...

That's right. After only a few days, it will be time for me to get drafted; join the army -_-

Luckily, we're not fighting any wars at the moment, nor have we for a while, nor plan to do so in the near future (as if we could win against any country that's even slightly likely to attack us).

Still, here we are. During the past year, give some months, I've written more than 50 blog entries. I never expected to get so hooked on it. I haven't written much in my book as of late (at all), but I'm glad I've been writing something. My English has surely improved as a result of writing this much. Writing the blog posts has also resulted in me getting opportunities to collect my thoughts like this, and write them down. Yet, for some reason, I've been much more lazy about writing the posts the eintire year of 2014. Mostly, it's probably because I've been so active on Newgrounds.

I don't intend to stop writing entirely, but there's a good chance that I'll be writing even more seldom the coming half year. One never knows though! On avarage, it seems as though we'll get about 3/4 of the weekends off, which means a long busride (altrenatively: train [I also tend to get motion sick = not fun]) home from southern Finland all the way to Vasa, only to get back after barely a couple of days. Still, I'll probably do stuff those weekends, and might even feel the need to blog about my experiences of the military training.

I don't look forward to the early awakenings (not to speak of the early bedtimes! I am a night owl!!!), the fact that you don't get to think for yourself (at least that means you don't have to think much at all |:), as well as many other things, like the food. I've heard that more money is spent per person on the army food than in the schools though, which I suspect may well be true.

My hair has already been cut as a preparation. I have no pictures to share of that though, and I'm too lazy to take one now.

I think that the thing that will bother me the most, is that I'll have little to none access to a piano. There might be one ore two laying around (in locked rooms), which you won't be allowed to play except if there's something special going on. I don't want people to notice me playing too much either; they might put expectations on me. I do NOT wish to join the army band (whatever the music groupish stuff there is called).
I guess I'll have to play at home during the weekends...

If I'm in luck, I'll be placed with someone I know in the army. I plan on being as invisible as possible, albeit my personality makes that difficult to achieve... Why do I wish not to be seen? I don't want much to be expected of me, as I said. I plan to stay in the army for the shortest period of time possible. I got diagnosed with a pretty queer sort of asthma too, so I might just succeed with my plan (as I'd be ranked as not as important or something, if everything goes well)... Even if I could, I don't even want to achieve the top scores in the Cooper test they'll organize for you. It would mean a few days of extra leave time, but I'm sure there's quite some cons too, unless you want the top army dudes to love you and want to keep you XD

Well, I might get to meet new people, which is fine I guess. I am somewhat of an introvert, but I can be social at times if I feel like it.
I should be able to get in an okay shape after all the training as well, which is a positive thing. Shooting stuff might be fun too. I really wish we get to have paintball wars (which I doubt).

The pamphlet, as my friend said, really wants to advertise the army as some kind of super fun summer camp for kids. I don't think many people buy it though, nor do I. It's a bit weird how Finland still seems to be quite patriotic at times :/
I've heard tell that there's supposed to be at least one sauna, pretty much everywhere, which is also a good thing, assuming it's true. I'm acually going to a place where people speak Swedish and not Finnish, but I think that it wouldn't matter all that much in the end :/

There have actually been some reddit "ask me anythings" about foreigners who've completed service in the Finnish military, which can be a pretty interesting read.

I do not yet know which company (as in military unit) I'll be thrown into. I had some alternatives, but you never know for sure where they'll put you. I guess that remains to be seen...

As the internet addict I am, I wonder how I'll manage? I did buy a new phone yesterday, so I should be able to something at least, although not as much as I could do with my computer.


Well, Now I'm somewhat bored of this subject. Monday is the day of my departure, and it will also be the day I'll stop being so active online or easy to reach in general. The first two months (the recruit period) seems to be the toughest one to face. After that, things might ease down a little...
Either way, that's really it for now.




In other news, I've had quite the busy schedule lately. I actually was on a trip to Sweden recenty, with a few friends. It was pretty fun, and we did a lot of stuff.
I'm sure you're not interested though, so I'll move on.

I'm actually supposed to write 6 short tracks (simple loops of about 30 seconds) tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow, and only that day. I don't have time any other day, so that will have to be when I make the songs. I think I'll manage if I work half the night... Wish me luck!


Speaking of songs, here's a new piano composition that I've... Composed... (Click the picture).



























There's something about combining red and black that's really appealing to me. Black suits a lot of colors, in my humble opinion. Making virtual cd cover art is really the only art - as in drawings/paintings - that I've created lately. Maybe I should aim to change that?
I wish I had more time for reading too :/

I don't know whether I've been accepted into the school I'm trying to enter either. "Peffan" is not known for being quick...

Anyhow, I don't have much more to say in this blog post. This is really just an update of what's going to happen to me in the near future.