Report from Tampere Kuplii
First of all, happy Cosmonaut Day!
So, Ainur and mum talked me into going to Finland, and here I am, in the ice and the cold.
This visit happened to coincide with the comics festival Tampere kuplii last weekend. We just showed up on Saturday, and there was an empty table, which they let us book for the rest of the day and Sunday. So we could sell some zines to the unsuspecting Finns.
Lots of fangirls stopped by to point at Falco on the cover of Goldenbird #3-4 and say how cute he was.
THE PIGGY IN THE BATHTUB!!!!
Remember the piggy in the bathtub, in that disturbing house in Dahlewitz…?
When I encountered it, it captured my heart, and ever since I have been scouring eBay worldwide to find another one like it!
And believe it or not (I certainly almost DID NOT!!!), but last week at last I found one!!!! Someone in Florida, USA, was selling a piggy in the bathtub!!!! Along with two other piggy bathroom items:
The toilet paper holder is kind of cute, I guess. The liquid soap bottle is extremely disturbing.
Well, of course I won the auction, whatever it may cost (just 10.50$ actually). Problem is, the seller only ships within the US, but I’m having it sent to Ilan’s parents (I’m sure they will understand). If I have waited this long to find it, I can probably wait a little longer until I finally have it …
Aww. Of course, I can’t quite fathom yet what has transpired. It’s like a dream. Will it really come true …?
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Edit, March 28th: The piggy in the bathtub is now in New York. Miriam sent me a photo of the truly perfect packaging in which it and its friends arrived:
It is indeed a value pack of sweetener! V^(oo)^V
Phew!
I could confirm today that nobody has broken into my trailer to murder sheep and throw their body parts all over the place.
But I saw two deer bouncing away with their white butts. They ran off when I stepped outside. Aww.
Above is the excuse I had to steal away to the countryside in the middle of the week like this. I got this lovely washboard off eBay from a nice lady who happens to live in the same town where I have my garden. She said it’s at least 40 years old and DDR make. In any case hand washing laundry will be much nicer and easier with this simple tool. Yay!
Wild piggies in the city
One of many reasons why I like Wedding so much, especially the northern part, is Volkspark Rehberge, and, more specifically, the wild piggies that live in an enclosure there. It’s part of a little zoo where they have some other animals as well.
The enclosure is quite big, but still not big enough to not get worn out. Piggies need a lot of room. Also I think it would be nice if there were more possibilities for the piggies to get privacy from the human visitors also outside of their little houses. On the other hand there aren’t terribly many visitors, so they do get some private time every once in a while.
All the piggies are elderly, over 20 years old. I wonder if the park will get other piggies once these have all passed on …
OLD STUFF
I’m going to move in a couple of months, and I’m sorting out what to keep and what to get rid of. My goal is to get rid of as much as possible, so I’m doing it in several waves. I’ve already purged two thirds of my books to be donated to the social bookstore in my neighbourhood as well as the comic book library Renate.
I obviously have a lot of old drawings from my childhood and youth that I’ve been carrying around with me. A lot of the stuff from my teenage years is really terrible and traumatic, and I’m happy that I can BURN it to ASHES in my wood stove. Good riddance.
Here are some pieces that I’ll keep, though:
I think this is the best drawing I made in 1995, at the age of 13 or 14. :o)
(Continue reading …)