personal

I'm so in love with several of the J. Herbin inks that I've been inking my two JInhao X750 pens with only them the last three or four months :D I didn't expect to love them as much as I do - they're my favorites along with Pilot Iroshizuku inks.

Image by J. Herbin

I bought six colors in international standard cartridges (they come in cute little tin cans! colors in the regular line shown in above image) instead of bottles just so I could give some of each color to my Mom - who relies on me to give her inks because she goes through ink a lot slower than I do, and doesn't speak English so can't order them online herself - and also, just so I would have some cartridges I could just snap in, especially if I'm out and about, instead of having to deal with filling from a bottle. I've also found I love using up cartridges - I seem to finish them faster than converters, and feel accomplished every time I do!

I'm totally in love with Violette Pensée and Rouge Caroubier, so much that I used two cartridges of both in row which is unusual for me, I usually want to switch inks when a pen runs out. Also love Corail des Tropiques and Rouge Grenat just may be my favorite dark red. Admittedly, I've only used them in the two Jinhao X750s so I don't know how they behave in other pens, but in these, the these inks flow perfectly :D Especially Violette Pensée is delightful - so cheerful yet calm and a pleasure to write with, I always feel happy when I'm writing with it :D

I've been trying to get Rouge Opéra and Orange Indien cartridges along with a few of the other J. Herbin colors while doing my last few online orders, but they seem to be out-of-stock every time :(

I don't like majority of blue inks because they remind me of those cheap pens you can buy anywhere/work gives you which would dry up on after a couple of weeks of use. So blues even by makers such as Pilot Iroshizuku though they write excellently and might even sheen or shade, I still find boring. The association is just too strong. I seem to be favoring reds, pinks and violet inks along along with some teal ones. I have many reds/pinks and a few violets I love, but only three blues I even like: Pilot Iroshizuku Kon-peki, Organics Studio Copper Turquoise and my newest find Robert Oster Fire & Ice - at the moment I'm very much into this last one. I only have a sample of it, but definitely want a full bottle at some point down the line. Fire & Ice is a pleasure to write with and look at :)

So, wickedlittletown over at Dreamwidth had the idea to take photos of favorite notebooks... here's mine!

My favorite size is A5, I love A4s as well but I don't need large ones like that very much anymore.

EDIT: added Notebooks 5 because I forgot two important ones!

Notebooks 1

My functional, every day type of notebooks. The top row are all by Nikki Strange; the two A5 ones I use for making quick notes while at doctors, or at the unemployment office etc. The A4 one I use when I need to write a lot - usually assignments given at a rehabilitation program or some such. These do okay with fountain pens (at least the inks I've used on them so far) but don't show sheen/shading, and very wet inks/wet pens might feather on this paper. But I've found it acceptable so far.

The bottom row are my most used notebooks. The first one I made myself, inspired by Lotus Blu Book Art's watercolor notebooks. I printed an image bought off on Etsy on cotton rag paper, used that as cover and 52gsm Tomoe River paper for the paper. It's a simple pamphlet stitch, which I learned by following Lotus Blu Book Art's video tutorial on how to do it. It takes about 15 minutes so it's really quick! This one is my inked fountain pens log - whenever I ink a pen, I use that pen to note what pen it is, what nib and which ink. This way I have examples on how the pen/nib/ink combo looks on 52gsm Tomoe River, and can easily reference back if I love or hate some combo.

The green one is a hard cover Rhodia Goalbook, which is for various record keeping and tracking - books read, new books I'll want to read in the future, online orders I've made and am waiting to arrive, ink bottles I have, ink samples I have, vacuuming dates... all sorts of stuff that I can't rely on my memory for. It's an okay paper for fountain pens, but doesn't show sheen/shading as well as Tomoe River or Oxford paper (below).

The last one is my most used notebook - my illness log. I log and track my symptoms here every day. It's a hard cover Oxford Black n' Red, it's thin but surprisingly heavy notebook. It came in a pack of three, and I've almost filled the first of them up and I'm very glad I have two more waiting to go. It takes fountain pens beautifully, shows sheen and shading well; it's my favorite paper right after 52gsm Tomoe River. It is rather boring (just white, lined pages) and because the content which I write is always neutral or bad it started to make me feel bad, which led me to pretty it up with stickers (MU print on stickers) and washi tape. So now it's looks very nice, with pretty ink, stickers and washi tape. And now I'm happy keeping this particular log.

More behind the cut!

Notebooks 2

Next up are my second most used notebooks!

The black one is like 20 years old, I don't even remember where I bought it. It went unused for a long time, but for a couple of years now I've been using it to aid screencapping my favorite actors. I usually don't want to cap an entire movie/episode, so while watching the thing, I jot down the beginning times and approx. length of every scene my favorite is in. So it's a whole lot of actor, movie and episode names and times like 00.06.20 - 10s and 01.47.50 - 7m. I've found this speeds up capping a lot!

The bottom row were all made by Lotus Blu Book Art and are for art. The first two are for watercolor (originally the cover of the first one was uncolored, but I colored it when I first started playing with watercolors). The yellow ones conver is actually historical wallpaper Moneeza used as cover! They are made of cotton rag paper. The last two notebooks for drawing/journaling, and made of Fabriano drawing paper if I remember correctly. The red rose one I use for writing down quotes, lyrics, aphorisms, jokes, poems etc. I hear or read that I want to remember. It's also a way to relax by reading and writing them. The yellow rose one is where I practice drawing.

Notebooks 3

The violet one is one of Lotus Blu Book Art's drawing/journal notebooks, and this one I use for writing fiction and fanfic. Or more like brain dumping it these days. The other four I haven't quite decided what to use for. The two Sari notebooks (top row) can't handle fountain pens at all, but the bottom row can do it acceptably as long as it isn't a terribly wet ink/pen combo. I'm thinking that either of the other two in the bottom row, I might use for a sort of "one positive thought a day" type of thing. Just can't decide which one. The black one with red roses has tea dyed pages which appeals to me a lot.

Notebooks 4

And now we've arrived to my so far unused notebooks! The first one in the top row is by Nikki Strange and while it's so very pretty, I don't like the paper. It's different from the paper used in the notebooks in my first photo; too thin and feels unpleasant to my fingers, kind of like fresh newspaper which stains. The next four (green, yellow, pink, blue) and the red rose one in the bottom row are again by Lotus Blu Book Art notebooks for art/journaling with Fabriano drawing paper - she made an ombre series of them, and a few with PJ Redoute botanical art covers, and I bought many of them because I couldn't not buy them. I will eventually use them all once I fill up the ones I'm currently using.

Bottom row: first one is a notebook from the Sakura Dream line of notebooks by Clairefontaine, it's got lovely paper for fountain pens - I just need to figure out what to use them four (I have others from that line, shown in the last picture). The two in the middle are by Lotus Blu Book Art: the yellow one is a watercolor one and also uses historical wallpaper as a cover. The white cover one with a bouquet of flowers has interesting new paper called Extract, which is made from used coffee cups by G. F. Smith.

Here are the rest of my unused notebooks: the rest of the Sakura Dream line notebooks by Clairefontaine.

The green ombre one is another Extract notebook with a cotton rag paper cover, bought on a sale with the other Extract paper notebook shown in the previous photo. The last one is a real book, also by Lotus Blu Book Art, that I managed to snag half-off in a sale. Moneeza used to make a lot of these books for use as wedding albums, photo albums, scrap booking and such. The paper is suitable for mixed media.

Notebooks 5

I can't believe I forgot these two! The first one is Cosmo Note, with Cosmo Air Light paper and which is toted to be fountain pen friendly. I haven't really written on it yet, just a few lines with a few different ink/pen combos and so far it looks like a good alternative to Tomoe River. I added one MU print-on sticker to the cover to spice it up a little because it's stylish but just gray.

The other one I made myself, this time printing a digital paper I had bought on Etsy on 150gsm cotton rag paper for the cover (springled with some thinned golden acrylic paint because the golden bits didn't print as well), and 52gsm Tomoe River for the paper. I only started using this last week, and so far I'm playing around with fountain pen inks on it, using it for painting instead of writing.

So there you go! All my favorite and prettiest notebooks! I also have some Rhodia and Ayush notepads which I didn't photograph because I don't consider them part of my collecting/hording. They get used up so quickly for quick notes while on the phone and such.

I've always used up a lot of notebooks, but I didn't used to care whether they were pretty or not. But maybe five years ago, I started to need to have them be pretty to look at. Don't know why, really. I guess it's something to do with being ill for so long and wanting to have pretty things around me. Notebooks bring me easy joy for relatively little money (say, compared to buying a painting or something like that) and there's so much to choose from.

I LOVE all the notebooks and blank books Moneeza of Lotus Blu Book Art has had available for sale! I wanted to buy ALL of them, but had to choose which ones fit my budget. She upgraded the materials she uses in her books a while back so now most of her creations are too expensive for me, but she makes such amazingly beautiful books that I love to follow her Instagram and website just to see her new stuff. I hope that some day I can afford to buy one of her Storyteller watercolor books... you could say that's my Holy Grail at the moment, but otherwise I'm pretty satisfied with what I've got. And happy that I can make my own Tomoe River and cottog rag paper pamphlet stitch notebooks using Moneeza's tutorial!

Answers to yesterday's questions at https://thefridayfive.livejournal.com/200499.html

1. Do you have Spring or Fall allergies?

I have some sort of food allergies and an atopic skin condition but nothing that is only seasonal. It's always been year around thing.

2. Do you have something in particular that you are allergic to or is it just general?

My allergies used to triggered/worsened by certain foods (citrus fruit, chocolate etc.) but even when I avoided them, I always had rashes on my arms and legs year round. The rash would get better during summer as long as I got to swim in the ocean a lot. Then since I reached my 20s, it's been just general allergy instead of specific foods and very mild and mostly only on my fingers. I still have to treat my skin with hydrocortisone creams fairly regularly when it flares up (only a few times a year instead of daily like when I was under 20), but still daily with emollient cream to keep my skin moisturized.

3. What do you take, if anything, to help?

I don't need oral supplements for my allergies, luckily. Looking back, as a kid, I could have used something that reduced itching but I was never given anything orally - I don't if such meds existed then in the 70s/80s? In any case, I've never been treated orally for my allergies. Only various creams, and this blue tincture which was used to "paint" the rash bits and which I loved because it eased the itching and made my rash skin feel cool (it always felt hot) :D

4. Do you seem to be saying, “It’s just allergies” a lot more than usual these days (i.e. because of Covid)?

Nope.

5. What do you hope to get out and do this spring, allergies and pandemic willing?

Not so much "to get out and do something", but I'd love to not have to wear a mask while grocery shopping/in the library. I hope it's possible this spring/summer again like last year, and I'm looking forward to it so much! I hate wearing a mask - it fogs up my eye glasses and that messes up my depth vision (a problem going up and down stairs/getting on and out of the bus), makes my face sweat like crazy and my nose run. And if I'm having a bad headache day, it'll start a migraine attack or makes it worse if I already have one on. So not having to mask up in the spring/summer is one my wish for the near future.

Answers to f.riday5.com today's questions.

1. Have you ever asked someone for their autograph?

In the mid-80s when I was a kid, I asked Anneli Saaristo, a Finnish singer, for her autograph.

2. What do you think happens when we die?

Nothing at all. We just cease to exist.

3. What’s your favorite action movie?

I can't decide between The Terminator and The Last Of The Mohicans. One of those two!

4. What’s your favorite smell?

Fresh, still hot from the oven home baked bread/rolls/buns.

5. Exercise: worth it?

Not in my experience. Nope.

Image from Pixabay.

I can't believe it's Friday already! Where did the week go?! Answers to today's questions The Friday Five @ Dreamwidth.

1. What's your favorite candle scent?

Unscented. I don't burn candles myself so I don't have much experience with them, but my Mom likes to burn them during December and she likes unscented ones. Sometimes she burns scented ones she was gifted, and I think maybe vanilla or citrus were okay if I remember right (as long as the smell isn't overpowering). But usually when I'm around she burns unscented ones because many artificial smells are too strong/smelly for me and she's not a fan either.

2. Do you have an artistic or crafty hobby? What is it?

Yes! Many! I play around in Photoshop making fandom wallpapers but also digital papers and textures. I used to make icons too but haven't made those in years now. I used to make WinAmp skins, and still make FocusWriter themes. I write fanfic and original fic, I do fluid art with acrylic paints (acrylic pouring) and alcohol inks. I paint with watercolors, both drawings I've done myself and color-ins I've printed from the internet. I also occasionally do some adult coloring book coloring. I make (simple) notebooks with Tomoe River paper for my fountain pen use, and also do some playing/painting/drawing with fountain pen inks on them. I still bake some, sometimes once a week other times once a month but it's something I enjoy so I try to do it more often than less. I also keep a log of my illnesses' symptoms to track them and that's so boring to do, that I love to pretty every page of that diary with stickers, washi tape and doodles.

3. What's one weird way you save money on food?

I guess: not eating. I have a lot of trouble with appetite, have been for a decade now... namely I don't have an appetite, even when I feel hunger. I'm trying to be better about eating (eating regularly, having a proper meal instead of a cookies etc.) but yeah, when I'm even more exhausted than normally and that happens a lot, I tend to skip meals without really noticing it because I just never feel like eating. Everything tastes right, I just never have an appetite. And when I have a proper meal, I usually lose interest in it about halfway through and eating it feels like work. Apparently not having an appetite is a usual feature of Crohn's Disease, judging from my peer's experiences. I don't know that it truly saves money though - the last 14 months I've been mainly buying ready-to-heat meals because I'm too exhausted to cook, or don't feel like cooking. Candies and chocolate, and salty things like potato chips go down easier than proper food and they don't feel like work because I love the taste, so between those ready meals and the sweets, I propably don't actually save at all compared to the kind of foods I used to eat before I got sick. Back then I rarely bought ready meals and used to cook my own food. I used to do meal planning and prep for the week ahead, and I miss those times. Now I rarely have spoons enough to that, but when I do I LOVE it that I have something home cooked to eat for the entire week. Because home cooked food so so much better than store-bought ready meals.

4. Do you collect anything weird or unusual?

I've always been considered kind of weird since I was a kid just because I have always collected something, although thinking on it I'm not sure if it was actually because what I collected was considered a boy thing. As a kid, it was X-Men, Star Trek and John Carter comics. I also collected sticks and pebbles.

These days I collect fanfic, fountain pens and inks (I actively use them though), and I'm somewhat into paper - I have several notebooks I haven't yet started using, and several of LotusBluBookArt's drawing/writing journals that I haven't started yet. I intend to use them all though! I'm just slow and it might take a decade or two. I also love pretty handmade art journals/books that are for watercoloring and/or mixed media (they're expensive 50-300 euros or more), but I don't really own any of those except for one or two thin ones that I'm already using. About a year ago I discevered (MU print-on) stickers and that and washi tape are something I easily could end up buying LOADS of unless I'm careful. I keep pen and stationery things purchases sensible and well within my budget, no matter how much I might want to buy ALL THE THINGS.

5. Do you fear the deep ocean, or does its unknown depths excite you?

I don't fear the deep ocean itself but when I was a kid, whenever I swam in not!swimming pool and something (a weed under water where I couldn't see it) would brush against me, I would freak out - as in, fly out of the water to the beach/pier freak out. I haven't swam in an ocean since I became an adult and I'm 100% sure I would still freak out if a weed touched me under water where I can't see it. I never thought it was anything other than a seaweed but for some reason it touching me freaks me out, and to tell you the truth, I'd propably freak out even if it was a weed brushing against me in a damn swimming pool. So that's what I fear, but not the ocean itself. The unknown depths theoretically excite me, in books/movies etc., but in real life I'm not interested in exploring myself.

Image from Pixabay.

I've now been using Ajovy, the new biological migraine prevention injection, for 6 weeks. I've given myself two shots (1 shot every 4 weeks). It's very easy - it's a injection pen, so just need to press the pen firmly against my belly or thigh. The needle stings a tiny bit going in but I hardly feel it although I've seen other users complaining about it? Maybe I just have had worse pains to deal with so that compared to them the pen is nothing. It certainly is like nothing compared to my migraine (or Crohn's pains when they were worse).

My neurologist uses the following criterion to categorize migraine pain:

Intensity level #1 - Mild pain, you notice it but it doesn't stop you from doing anything.
Intensity level #2 - Moderate/severe pain, lessens/stops you entirely from doing things (often mandatory things like work are done because you need money to live, but more voluntary things like seeing friends, cooking yourself or vacuuming can go on a break for weeks/months.
Intensity level #3 - Migraine attack. You can't do anything but be sick from the pain, and have to rest/puke/be in dark etc. until it goes away.

The good news is that in January I only had 3 actual migraine attacks (level 3) :-D Compared to 8-9 level 3 attacks  a month I had previously, that's good! Bad news is that it hasn't improved my daily headache much - I still have a "background" headache every day (levels 1-2), but Ajovy seems to have made it so that the intensity of them varies a lot more now than at least all of 2021. In January, of the non-migraine-attack-days, about half was level 1 and half level 2, while previously the whole of 2021, the background headache was pretty much always at level 2. So now I'm keeping fingers and toes crossed that Ajovy continues to work, and gently wishing that maybe it'll even keep improving its effects as time goes on. But even if it only stays as-is, it's still an improvement to what was.

Although I don't know if it's enough to be able to work again, I'd have to go into rehabilitation again to see how outside home, full-day commitment even one day a week and the stress of being around noise and other people affect the migraine in this new situation. The last time I tried, even one day a week, I ended up with migraine attacks on 2-3 times a week and on sick leave for a year because migraine got so bad again but then I had no Ajovy which may or may not make a difference. So I'm living exciting times for the next several months and have a little bit of hope again  :-D 

Also, I just counted today, that the longest time I went, since starting Ajovy, without a migraine attack was 18 days!! I haven't had that long an interval since the migraine became chronic in 2008!! I had a couple of really bad level 2 days in there, but no attack so it counts!

The neurologist will call me on the 21st of March, and that's when we'll see if Ajovy has been effective enough to apply for continuation from KELA. Fingers crossed!

Answers to The Friday Five @ Dreamwidth

1) Read any good books lately?

Nothing that stands out. Day before yesterday I finally finished (took me nearly two months) Minette Walters' Fox Evil and it was only okay. Everything else has also been kind of meh the last couple of months... I've been working on these three novels but can't seem to get going, and nothing else (except fanfic) really appeals me either.

The other book I'm trying to finish Ukkoshuilu by Johanna Sinisalo which is based on myths and has scifi/speculative fiction elements along with various social criticism, and descriptions of exploitation of workers and the unemployed, apparently Russian oligarchs involved with the main character's ridiculous new job that's taking advantage of her and the unemployment system by not having paying her for her work and treating her as "biomass" which is easily replaceable... which I have personally experience as well so that part feels like at least someone sees me and other people like me. I'm half way through, and it's been at least a month and a half that I've been working on it; not sure I'll finish it. I don't like any of the characters (except the little daughter but she's not focused on), feels like the plot started only in at exactly the mid-point of the book, and I don't care what happens to anybody or even what's the plot. But Johanna Sinisalo's books are usually good, so I keep feeling like it'll get going, and be exciting and good if I can just persevere with it.

I'm also working on Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds since mid-December, the synopses I've read of it sound really interesting and I kind of feel it too when reading it, but I'm still feeling mostly meh.

I'm actually starting to think the problem might lie with me actually - maybe I'm in a reading slump again! And also I'm impatiently waiting for the last The Expanse book from the library, so that could be a factor as far as scifi reading goes - maybe I just can't muster interest in other scifi until I've read that book!

I'm just happy that I have no problems reading fanfic.

2) Taken any good baths lately?

I haven't lived anywhere with a bathtub since 1993. It's showers for me!

3) Do you read paper books, or do you prefer another format?

I prefer paper books, hard cover first then soft cover. But if I can't get my hands on it as a physical book, I'm also happy to read ebooks on my laptop and/or tablet: epub is my preferred format there, but mobi's fine too, and other formats if those too aren't available.

4) Where's the most comfortable place in your home?

My bed! I love to read in my bed. For tv watching and work on my laptop, it's my couch. For writing with pen and paper, I like my writing desk even though my neck can't stand it for long, looking down like that.

5) What's the most relaxing sound you can put on?

I prefer silence - I'm sensitive to sounds/noise, my constant headache is easily worsened, or triggered into a migraine. My it's a good head day, I like to listen to my music: the last long while it's been The Last Of The Mohicans and The Leftovers soundtracks. I can lose myself in the music for hours at a time and do nothing but listen to it for like four or five hours. But I have to be careful not to over-do it because of the before mentioned headache/migraine, so such long stretches of sounds/noise are rare these days, usually more like 30 mins or an hour.

Picture from PIxabay.

Answers to today's questions at http://f.riday5.com/2022/02/04/friday-5-for-february-4-the-full-spectrum-of-human-experience/

1. What is the best sandwich?

Wheat bread buttered, topped with thin lunch meat slices, small pineapple chunks, blue cheese chunks and grated pizza cheese at the very top, heated in oven until the pizza cheese has melted and is golden brown.

2. What’s the one thing you own that you really should throw out?

I cleaned out my closets about a year ago, and I can't really think of anything that I should throw out now. What I should do is fix the stand-mixer so I can use it again, or take it to be recycled.

Logically thinking it should be simple fix with the right tools, but knowing how things are built these days, I'm not sure it actually is because things aren't built to be repaired but to be thrown out and new one to be bought :/ And also I would have to buy the tool first, and it's so far down my list of necessary buys that I never seem to get there. Particularly because the last few years I've been so fucking tired all the time that I haven't baked much of anything, and certainly not anything that would need a stand mixer. The tiredness is also why I haven't put the stand mixer fixing high on the list of things I need to do. So I guess it'll wait some more.

3. What’s the scariest animal?

Big reptiles - crocodiles, alligators and caimans and I can't remember if there's others like that. Snakes are almost on par with them, but not quite. Raised By Wolves which is airing its second season right now, has a big flying snake/reptile and it the awfullest thing I've seen propably since I first saw Alien as a kid. I love it but it's just the most awful thing - makes me shudder.

4. Apples or oranges?

I don't really like either - I eat them if they're sliced and part of a cake/salad etc, but I never buy oranges for myself and very, very rarely apples (and only one certain branch of apples at that). Apples are too tart/sour and oranges taste too strong plus the flesh can cause a rash on lips/in mouth for me. I like clementines/mandarins much better and they rarely cause rashes. I do love freshly squeezed orange juice though so I sometimes buy that.

5. What’s your favorite smell?

I'm not sure I have one. Maybe hot-from-the-oven home baked bread? I don't have good associationas with smells... Just in general almost any smell that is strong enough for me to take actual notice of it, especially artificial smells, is usually also strong enough to possibly trigger a migraine. So I prefer unscented in all things, and actively avoid things like perfumes or scented soaps, candles, detergent etc. I buy unscented versions of everything I possibly can.

Answers to this week's questions at https://thefridayfive.dreamwidth.org/107390.html

1. What is the first TV show you remember watching?

Pikku Kakkonen, a Finnish tv series for little kids. It started in 1977 when I would've been 3 and I know I watched it because it just has always felt familiar and like I've always known it. But the first one I have an actual memory of watching, is Nils Holgersson aka Peukaloiset retket aka The Wonderful Adventures of Nils aka Nirusu no Fushigi na Tabi (1980 - 1981). When I was a kid, Nils Holgersson was very important to me, and I still remember the Finnish version song from the tv series.

I have very faint memories of other little kids things but I've no idea whether they were tv shows or movies, or what they were. I couldn't explain these enough to, say, to my Mom or other older people for them to ID them.

2. What is the first “grown up” TV show you watched?

I'm not sure! I started watching them early I think. Maybe Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (1982 - 1983) or The Thorn Birds (1983)? Those two are certainly some of the oldest first run tv shows I remember watching.

The earliest Finnish grown up tv series I remember watching is Vihreän kullan maa (1987 - 1988), then I can't remember watching Finnish tv shows until Tuntemattomalle jumalalle in the 1990s. I don't like watching Finnish language movies and tv shows because of the awful dialogue. Either its wooden and unnatural, sort of formal and not how people talk in real life, or the rhytm is natural but pronounciation is unclear and I need subtitles because everyone is mumbling their lines. Basically I can never forget these are actors saying words, so I don't watch Finnish things except for a very special few cases where the thing in genres I prefer and is so praised that I want to check it out.

3. What is the first TV show you watched from the start to finish when it aired live (i.e., not via reruns)?

One of the kids shows, like the Nils Holgersson one mentioned above.

4. What is the oldest TV show you’ve watched?

Edited: Actually, looks like it's I Love Lucy! That one started in 1951. Alfred Hitchcock Presents, according to IMDB. I'm not sure all episodes were aired/if I caught all episodes if they did. The oldest Finnish one is propably Heikki ja Kaija (1961 - 1971) that I've seen some of on re-runs at some point ages ago.

5. What is one TV show you will stop and watch if you come across it on TV, even though you've seen every episode at least 20 times?

I don't watch live TV anymore except for special things such as the governments COVID-19 sitreps (not all of those anymore either) or the Independence Day Reception every year (one eye on it, one eye on something else). Back when I did still watch live TV, Sledge Hammer! and Dark Skies were shows I always watched if I could even on re-runs. Otherwise, there haven't been reruns of tv shows I'm a huge enough fan of on tv channels I have had access to.

How many books read in 2022?

37 fiction novels cover to cover. Two novels I couldn't finish - one because I just couldn't muster enough interest beyond the beginning, and one because I ran out of time to finish it before it needed to be returned to the library due to it having other holds on it waiting. That one I will re-borrow sometime this year.

Plus something like a 1,5-2 million words of fanfic, propably.

Plus a bunch of non-fiction books about baking, and random subjects such as iron defiency or pictorial history books about my home town.

Favorite first-time read?

Ancestral Night and Machine (White Space #1 and #2) by Elizabeth Bear.

Least favorite first-time read?

Mentalisti by Camilla Läckberg & Henrik Fexeus. Just cliche-ridden, meandering and predictable.

Fiction/Non-Fiction ratio?

Probably something like 95% fiction, 5% non-fiction. Roughly estimated.

Author gender breakdown?

4 novels by men, all the others by women as far as I can tell purely by names.

Most books read by one author this year?

8 novels by Minette Walters.

Any in translation?

My mother tongue is Finnish. Majority are Finnish translations from English, a bunch from Swedish.

In languages other than English?

My mother tongue being Finnish, the majority of them! I did read 7 novels in English, and all the fanfic was also in English.

Oldest?

Ruumis jääkellarissa (The Ice House) by Minette Walters was published in Finnish in 1995. That one is probably the oldest this time round.

Newest?

About half of the 37 were published in 2021 and 2020, and that's too many to list.

Longest Title?

Quickly counting the characters in the longest titles and the winner is... Vedenpaisumuksen lapset by Risto Isomäki

Shortest Title?

Pyörre by Yrsa Sigurdardottir

Longest book?

I don't know, I don't keep count of the page count. A lot (most?) of them were in the 400-500 page range.

And of course, many of the fics I read were well over 100,000 words.

Shortest book?

Ruutitynnyri (The Tinder Box) by Minette Walters

Format of books read?

Paper: 35
Ebook: 2

Re-reads?

At least 5 of the Minette Walters that I know because I actually remember reading them. These are re-reads from 90s and 00s. I'm not sure of the other 3 Minette Walters - they might also be-rereads, but I can't say for sure I remember them.

First book acquired:

Didn't buy or get a book as a gift this year. All were library loans.

Last book acquired:

Didn't buy or get a book as a gift this year. All were library books.

First book finished:

I'm not sure but probably Elsewhere by Dean R. Koontz, or Pyörre by Yrsa Sigurdardottir. I usually have at least two books under works at the same time, and these two are the first ones on my list of books read in 2021.

Last book finished:

Ihon alla by Tiina Raevaara

Book that most changed my perspective:

Semiosis/Inteference by Sue Burke

Favorite character:

None. More like favorite concepts. Such as the plant world in Semiosis/Inteference. So different from what I'm used to reading!

Favorite scene:

None

Favorite Quote:

None

What do you want to read in 2022?

I hope White Space #3 will come out - although I'm not even sure if there's supposed to be #3!

I'm salivating for the last book of The Expanse series - I'm in line to get it from the library. But there are no Finnish translations of the series done, and only one copy in the original language in local libraries so it'll take months to get it because it's only just been published. Last I looked I was number 4 waiting in the line, so assuming everyone keeps it only for the month that is allowed and no overtime, I'll get it some in May.. waah! I'm trying very hard to be patient, but it's with ill grace!