THE SEVENTH YEAR

2014. Normally I'd go "we're so living in the future" , but this time it's more like "mah, 2014, whatever, been there already". Partly because I've had so many things scheduled for this new year since way back already and  partly since I feel half of what I read in the papers are prognoses and plans for a few years ahead anyway. But mostly since I've been so busy this fall I didn't really notice how fast it went nor have the time to do the usual closure thoughts for the year that was.

As you know I don't make any resolutions, although I've tried it with improvements. Three-four year in a row, the same things to improve, and still no change. I find myself unbelievable! (Although this year I am on in it with the bookkeeping right now, instead of panicking the night before it's due to hand over...)

So. Now it's 2014 and that makes this my seventh year of blogging - that's such a long time already!
My blog itself gets one year older around the same time that I do, in October, and the previous years I've reflected on that during this days.  But this year it's suddenly January already! My first blog post ever was about my 26th birthday. (I remember where we went and what I wore trough that but can't recall what I actually did :) That was back when I only posted with drawings; I had this idea of remaining incognito. Well, that was indeed then and now is now.  My 32nd birthday was, apart from the moments travelling and on stage, spent in a very crowded backstage among feathers glitter and suitcases at the Stockholm Burlesque Festival.  So in the spirit of my very first post, I made a similar drawing of that occasion.

Blogging has changed and developed trough the years, not just for me, as of course one develops as a blogger all the time - hopefully - but also in general. I've see that people also read blogs in a different manners than before. I know some readers have been here almost since day one which is pretty fascinating! I have a few blogs I've followed for almost a decade too. Some blogs come and others go, and I've noticed I seldom keep up with one for more than a few years - they either repeat themselves too much or then never seem to find their own flow, while there are a few that balance there on the golden path in between. Nowadays I hardly ever have the time to keep up with any blogs at all though.

As you've noticed I've had a lot of background ads on the blog the past year, which is part of my collaboration with Indiedays Inspiration. I know their color schemes sometimes lowers the over-all aesthetics of my blog, but it has become rather inevitable to have them there. As each blog post takes up at least a couple of hours time the income they can give me is welcome, especially now since I'm self employed.

I've said it before, that blogs are such a media that mostly only exists on their front page, and have the rest, apart from the well-linked and well-pinned posts, easily vanish into the abysses of the internet (to sometimes pop up in the most weird of google searches). So I've usually had my 'browse the year back-giveaway', to let some air into the archives. But this year I'll skip it. I'll try to come up with something else fun in the near future instead!

THE OTHER SIDE

When you blog you sort of make a product, or create an image of yourself and your life, choosing to show some things and leave others out.  Personal things of course, but also when it comes to details. Being selective does not mean that you make things up (well some do perhaps), but all things are not always like they seem. Or, sure they are, but there's always another side to it. Posting a picture of a nice stilleben in the kitchen with some dirty dishes magically cropped away from the photo is not necessarily faking it, it's just choosing to show a prettier side of the mundane. Or say a more fun, or interesting, or witty side, depending on the take of it. Perhaps you choose to show the dishes too sometimes, but then you manage to take a photo from just the right angle of the best cups and make that pile of dishes look fab. Either way they are still there to be washed in real life. Few people strut around in floral dresses eating cake in the sunshine all day, but the image of that is perhaps nicer than the one of someone getting down on their knees for the n:th time to pick up bread crumbs and goo off the floor (or filling the dishwasher with that pile). However, the knowledge of that that happens too, in addition to the strutting, can be a good add to the whole package. At least I think it's good to remember.

Sunday for example - I did get breakfast in bed but as Eddi had to go out and work in the field for most of the day (it's that time of the year) I was the one to clean up after it, and the breakfast of the others too (that how it usually is, isn't it, the kitchen a mess after a nice surprise, it's almost mandatory?).
And moments before the little one was sleeping peacefully like in the pictures he had done this for example:

With all rolls.
Later he tripped over on his little kick-mobile and burst both lip and nose. (Sniff!)



Also the porch behind my legs and cats looks like this for the moment...

And some of my newly planted plants are dead by now.

UPDATES AND INSPIRATION

As comments come and go, sometimes more, sometimes less, I've made these small positive reaction buttons for you after each posts. As most of you probably have noticed by now. (In fact I've had them for over a year but as my template is so old school they would not show and I had to ask my old pal google for help, which usually solves most problems, the technical ones at least). 

Then, I don't know how many of you ever browse or  notice the tags, but those of you who do might have seen some strange words among those lately, which would be tags in Finnish. If you wonder why, the reason is that I am part of a new inspiration network for Finnish bloggers, which was launched today.

Indiedays Inspiration is a site hosted by Finland's most popular blog portal Indiedays, gathering posts in a feed from 300 of the most interesting blogs over here. You can find and follow new blogs trough the inspiration site.

I totally suck at following anything, I never log in to Bloglovin' anymore for example, but I've tried out the inspiration site before it launched and it actually works quite easily, you can just pick articles from the flow, gathered under headlines such as fashion, food, lifestyle etc (hence the tags in Finnish I mentioned) without following anyone in particular.  Most of the blogs are in Finnish, some in Swedish, a few in english (like mine, well, obviously).

What else? I am having weekly giveaways over at my Facebook site  (which yes, you have to like to be able to join) at the end of each week. You can find the competitions straight trough this link: http://bit.ly/PonDjs
There will still be contest over here at the blog as usual every now and then too!

Last, my affiliate for this month is Aha! Shopping which offers you a 5% off, equal to their silver membership duiscount, with the coupon code: freelancers! Add freelancers to the coupon code bar and press validate before checkout and you're good to go.