Fashion

Fashion is guidance for those without taste or imagination.

Foreigner

You know that you have been away from home too long when you can’t find your way in the city centre and don’t remember where things are. Some memories, however, are so deep inside, that you find your way around intuitively, without understanding why you still remember things.

Yet, there are too many places, streets, new bars and clubs, celebrities, politicians, which I don’t know anything about. At times, I feel, well, not exactly like a foreigner, but as if I had just come from a very remote countryside to the capital city. Except that the other day, a girl at the cash-desk in a supermarket turned to me in English (very unusual for Estonia). That’s when I felt really out of place.

My favourite place

I am crazy about the zoo! I love going to the zoo, even the smallest dirtiest little animal park anywhere in the world. I have friends who refuse to go to the zoo because they pity the animals. In my view, the zoo is a scientific institution, which has saved many animal species from extinction.

I love the zoo in Tallinn – it changes all the time. It is such a magical place, which gives sense of hope and optimism. From Soviet times, our zoo has inherited world’s second largest collection of goats and a state of decay. It has been under renovation for the past ten years. Right now, some of the animals are in their new beautiful spacious enclosures, while others are in old, Soviet-era, filthy, narrow cages. The old part is miserable, of course, but all the inhabitants of our zoo are gradually moving to their new homes.

What I like most about our zoo is that every time I come, I see new beautiful developments. This time, it was a new fish and small animal house, the new enormous enclosure for the elephants, beautiful potted plants and palm trees everywhere, new enclosures for the leopards and hyenas, and the best news – our zoo has got a pair of lions – a boy and a girl. On top of that, a baby-tiger was born this spring.

Chocolate II

One of the million things I like about being at home is the chocolate. Estonia is the chocolate paradise!

The land of the free

Vishen knows how to make my day, and does it when I need it most. Just as I was becoming sad and miserable about leaving Edinburgh for good, he sent me a link to this wonderful article – virtually and ode to Estonia. It is music to my ears and I want to share it with everyone.

“Economists call Estonia the Baltic Tiger, the sequel to the Celtic Tiger as Europe’s success story, and its policies are more radical than Ireland’s. On this year’s State of World Liberty Index, a ranking of countries by their economic and political freedom, Estonia is in first place, just ahead of Ireland and seven places ahead of the U.S.”

Read the full article and comments here…

Anatomy of music

I discovered a new habit recently. It started in Shetland when we were listening to a live band in a pub (which, by the way, was really good). There were seven people playing all sorts of interesting musical instruments, most of which were with strings. Recognising the fiddles and the guitars was easy, but there were also weird-shaped things that produced the most amazing sounds.

Having nothing better to do, I entertained myself trying to detect the sounds of various instruments, which is a hard enough task for an ear not accustomed to (actually) listening to music. After enormous efforts and confusion, by the end of the second hour, I could distinguish all the different sounds.

It would all be good if I had only left this silly amusement back in a Shetland pub. Last night at a concert, when I caught myself listening to the different sounds of the instruments played by the five guys in the band, I realised that my innocent entertainment risks growing into a habit. I wonder if such an anatomic approach to live music will ruin my chances of enjoying concerts.

Girls

This is a present for my landlady Vivian - a portrait of her two daughters. I took their picture a year ago and started the drawing. The outline was ready, and then I got carried away by my essays and dissertation, until I bought a bunch of really nice hard pencils and felt the urge to finish the drawing. Unfortunately, by that time, I had lost the original photograph, so the drawing is quite a bit made from memory.