Forest Lair Plans For 2015

Here is a list of posts that will most likely appear here soon (actually, considering my laziness, you shouldn't trust these “most likely” and “soon” though...^^)

Books I read in December

Zoo photo hunt

Postcards & magnets

Sailor Moon (again!)

Wasabi and Star Wars

Video games live

African reading challenge

Pine needle kanji

Scanning toys!

My new books

Hobbits, swamps and dogs

A warrior llama

Fanart for N.K. Jemisin's novel

Review of World Maker by exist†trace

My new arm warmers

...and a lot of other things, I guess I'll have to post every day. :D

Also, I want to read so many books next year! Like Ancillary Sword, The Kingdom of Gods, Noriko Ogiwara's fantasy novels, The Shadowed Sun, The Slynx, Norwegian Wood, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, The Mirror Empire, Childhood's End, The Fifth Season, Lagoon, more Sailor Moon, more manga in general, some steampunk, Agatha Christie, Octavia Butler... Damn, where will I find enough time?!

What are your plans for 2015? ^o^

Art: Agnia's Winter

My friend Agnia wrote to me the other day, “Lately I just wanna grab a cat, get under blanket and spend this winter like that, with Placebo and coffee.” 

Well, of course I had to draw this*. (^-^)ノ

I was listening to the most appropriate music when working on this drawing.

Keiju, the Unusual Hedgehog

Our hedgehog Keiju is unusual. Normally Finnish hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) hibernate from autumn to Vappu in May, but this one wakes up around Christmas to enjoy delicious festive food.

Before that she will be sleeping in all sort of places.

I fed this rock musician with salad once

I made this biiig meal the other day: salad, soy, vegan tzatziki & nachos.

Happy tree-worshiping day!

Happy holiday wishes from us!

(*^▽^*)

Russian chocolate

When sweet hobbits* agreed to meet my mom in Moscow and bring a package from her to Finland, I asked her not to buy too many sweets**. “Just one chocolate block is enough.” But my mom's memory is very selective, it seems, because apparently she only remembered “buy chocolate”. :D Here is her idea of “one chocolate.”

There can never be too much tea

Souvenirs from Japan! o(^▽^)o 

Oolong and sencha.

A Japanese newspaper

My brother-in-law brought this newspaper from Japan. ^^

Villa Elfvik & Hazelnut Coffee

Today there was a Christmas market in Villa Elfvik, one of my favourite places in Espoo. They were selling local organic food and many cuuuute decorations. It was so crowded! And we ate cakes. :D

In Which I Promote Rurousha, Again

Today I'm gonna show you the funny side of Rurousha (I've shown the fluffy side here earlier). Since Ru makes me chuckle and ROFL all the time, I decided to make you suffer the same fate. :D

Here we go!

Rurousha loves trees.

Books I read in November: boxing, space opera and hamsters

November books are presented to you by Losik!

Boris Akunin “Любовник смерти” [Russia]

Thora Kerner, Jin Baron “Japania mangan avulla 1/2” (Japanisch für Manga-Fans) [Germany] 

Ann Leckie “Ancillary Justice” [USA] 

Suzanne van Rooyen “The Other Me” [South Africa, Finland] 

Tiitu Takalo “Kehä” [Finland] 

Nekota Medetai “Hamsteripäiväkirjat” vol. 4 (Hamster Club) [Japan] 

Arthur Conan Doyle “The Return of Sherlock Holmes” [UK] 

武内 直子 「美少女戦士セーラームーン」 vol.4 (Naoko Takeuchi “Sailor Moon” vol.4) [Japan] 

Marjane Satrapi “Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return” [Iran, France] 

Historical mystery novel by Boris Akunin. 

Thrilling even though I guessed the bad guy. :D

Science Fiction & Fantasy Short Stories Online

Sometimes I like to read short stories. I don't do it often, because I prefer longer immersion into an untrodden book world, but short fiction is a great way to quickly read something and discover new authors (or even genres!). Here is a list of places where you can read science fiction and fantasy short stories.

Где можно почитать англоязычную фантастику и фэнтези (в основном рассказы, но и немного поэзии и комиксов):

Beneath Ceaseless Skies

Clarkesworld

Electric Velocipede

Giganotosaurus

Light Speed Magazine

Strange Horizons

The Future Fire

Tor.com

Transcriptase

Anything to add? Leave a comment below.

Update: a huge list here.

Fanart: Mally's Puppies - わんわんの世界

Since it's not a secret that Mally really, REALLY likes dogs, I decided to draw her as a puppy for her birthday. And since it's not a secret that I really, REALLY like Mally, I ended up drawing six of them. :D Each puppy represents one of many styles of Mally. But, I'm sure there is some hair colour I missed. :D

The Wan Drums!*

お誕生日おめでとうございます!   \(^o^)/

And then I thought, how cute would such a puppy look at the drummer's seat? Can those short paws even reach anything? ^^

Carrot Time. Время Морковки

What's wrong with this picture?

Что-то здесь не так.

Penny TV

I found our plush penguin Penny near my computer mouse the other day. What was she googling?

Pirozhok & Morticia

We had snow the other day! (for a few hours...)

No Pink For Boys?

This guy went trick-or-treating and three people refused him candy because he was wearing pink. Pink costume of loofah. People and their gender stereotypes are weird. :D

My plush raccoon Pirozhok (who is also a boy) wears a pink bow on his tail. And yeah, some people asked why pink, why a bow. “Isn't he a boy?!” WHAT.

Books I read in October: naked boys, bug magic and exiled gods

Because there weren't enough books in my previous post, here is a list of all I read last month, brought to you by The Latvian Bunny.

Look at all this book goodness

Library harvest time! Guess who is happy now? ;-)

Hamsteripäiväkirjat 4

by Nekota Medetai

Hamsters! God I love this manga about the cutest (and silliest) balls of fur who eat too much and frolic adorably.

So What Do Vegans Eat?

Happy Vegan Day, everyone! (｡･ω･｡)ﾉ♡

World Vegan Day is celebrated on 1^st of November. Great time to try something vegan, isn't it? Vegans are vegetarians who don't eat dairy and eggs, and so vegan food is 100% plant-based.

Many people become vegetarians because they love animals like this one. Oh wait...

Cutest Porcupine Ever

Via Morning Kindness ^.^

'Awwwwww' does not describe the level of cuteness which is about to unleash upon you, my gentle reader. Please watch these videos with caution – your high-pitched squee might break windows and other glass objects in your room.

Tomboys & DapperQ

Awesome writer Malinda Lo shared a link to DapperQ, and so I found Beauty and Happiness. Just look at all those stylish people!

Our Favorite Images of Feminine Gender-Benders (including Sigourney Weaver, Cate Blanchett, Emma Watson)
The 100 Most Stylish dapperQs 2014
The 100 Most Stylish dapperQs 2013

DapperQ
“Founded in January 2009, dapperQ is for anyone who wants to make any element of men’s style truly their own. It’s for all who have been discouraged — in a million and one subtle and not-so-subtle ways — from gleaning for self-expression from the rich and robust universe pioneered over centuries by dapper gents and today reflected in glossies such as GQ, Details and Vogue for Men.”

Puppy Reads In Glasses

Kusaka Jr. heard that some humans read in glasses. 

He wanted to give it a try. But...

World Animal Day

October 4 is World Animal Day! To celebrate it I'm sharing our photos from the Moscow zoo. They were taken in October 2008 when I still lived in Russia.

4 октября - Всемирный день защиты животных! По этому поводу делюсь фотографиями из Московского зоопарка, сделанными в октябре 2008, когда я ещё жила в России.

What I read in September

A very manga month. :-)

Mei Noguchi “Finlandia” vol 1 [Japan]

Mei Noguchi “Finlandia” vol 2 [Japan]

Ai Yazawa “Paradise Kiss” vol.3 [Japan]

Ai Yazawa “Paradise Kiss” vol.4 [Japan]

Ai Yazawa “Paradise Kiss” vol.5 [Japan]

Marjane Satrapi “Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood” [Iran, France]

Kameron Hurley “We Have Always Fought”: Essays on Craft, Fiction & Fandom [USA]

Meet the Somalis: The illustrated stories of Somalis in seven cities in Europe [Somalia, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, UK]

あずまきよひこ よつばと!2 (Kiyohiko Azuma “Yotsuba&!” vol. 2) [Japan]

Andi Watson “The Complete Geisha” [UK]

Elizabeth Bear “Shoggoths in bloom” [USA]

Tatyana Tolstaya “Зверотур” [Russia]

武内 直子 『美少女戦士セーラームーン』 vol.3 (Naoko Takeuchi “Sailor Moon” vol.3) [Japan]

A Japanese girl moves to Finland to become Joulupukki's assistant.

Done!

Yay, I finished reading the third volume of Sailor Moon! ^.^ It only took three months. :D

Уряя, я дочитала третий том Сейлор-Мун! ^.^ Всего-то три месяца ушло, хы.

Japan is so, so beautiful

HD videos showcasing Japanese nature.
Красивейшие видео о японской природе.

Funny Corgi Videos

Prepare to say “aww” many many times. ;-)

The Best of Sparky Kibble Dancing

Corgi Snow Tunnel

Chibi desu

This UFO Catcher ball travelled all the way from Japan. Let's peek inside?

A tiny Serenity!

Wasabi Happiness

This is how you make happiness. Cook some soba noodles...

That's a lot of fantasy

Today is the Sweet Day, aka getting the books I ordered from post. Pirozhok the Raccoon helped carry them.

Oh my pretty babies, you are home now. Enjoy our bookshelves.

Note to self: Must buy more bookshelves.

Books I read in August

Hello, ten readers of this blog! ^.^ It's my monthly reading post again. In August I read an Egyptian author for the first time, lots of Korean and Japanese manga and some other things.

The books are presented to you by the Softy Dinosaurs!

Music Teleport Into Asian Landscapes

How about some travelling with me? Let's teleport through the musical gates of these wonderful Asian bands to their motherlands. How many horses will you hear in their songs? ;-)

Hanggai (Beijing, China) – folk rock

(Saw them in Helsinki in 2013 – pure awesomeness!)

Tengger Cavalry (Beijing, China) – folk metal, black metal

Bookworm Problems

I had a great time in the library today. Usually there aren't many people there in the evenings, so I had a whole sofa for myself. I got four books: The Silkworm (finally! I loved The Cuckoo's Calling, now I can read its sequel), two books about Japan for research and a historical mystery novel by Boris Akunin.

In search of a song

My husband hummed a familiar tune the other day. Something I heard in an old Soviet cartoon that he didn't watch. I said, “How do you know this Russian song?” But he swore it wasn't Russian and played me this:

But! That's what I heard in the cartoon “Nu, pogodi” (jump to 2:33) in childhood:

Books I read in July

I want to read books from all sorts of countries, not just Europe (so far it's mostly been Finland, UK and Russia), USA and Japan, so from now on I'll be paying attention to where the author is from. In July I read Caribbean, Irish and Korean writers for the first time!

This month, the books are introduced to you by the Trio of Curious Lizards!

My July Reading

A Very Asian Day

Somehow today was very Asian. First, we had a lunch in a Chinese restaurant.

Mandarin Palace in Sello

Then I returned these books to the library: 

Fan Art: Atsushi Sakurai

I rarely draw men, because it's harder for me, but sometimes I still try, and here is one of my recent attempts.

Atsushi Sakurai, Buck-Tick's vocalist.

It's Here! It's Here!

Yay, my exist†trace fan club card has finally arrived!

やった！exist†traceのファンクラブカードが届いた！

Sailor Jupiter approves!

「すごいです！」

Igu Day Fanart

Today is 19^th which means it's exist†trace's day! Their name is pronounced as igujisuto toreisu in Japanese, and “igu” sounds like 19. ;-)

今日はイグの日です！

I wanted to portray how the band looks like in their video comments. Usually two of them are normal, two are sleeping and one is hyper. (*^▽^*)

miko is holding Cheburashka, the unofficial band member.

Will we ever hear Cheburashka's back vocals?

Lots of hyperness here.

Fanart: Diamond Warrior Mally

It's fanart time again! (^o^)

I imagined Mally, drummer of exist†trace, as a warrior in samurai-inspired armour, and here is the result.

exist†traceのダイヤモンド戦士

To be honest, I love the colours a lot.（＾ｕ＾)

We play this, we play that

Sometimes it's hard to introduce someone to a new band, when their sound is so diverse that you don't know which song is The Song, the one that reflect the essence of the band the most. Some of my favourite bands are like that, switching from aggressive metal to soft ballads to pop-rock to something darker like it's no big deal. And the vocalists who can handle different styles of singing are the best!

I can't feature everyone here, sorry my dear Janne Da Arc, Dead Can Dance, Lacrimosa and many others. Only five bands tonight.

Nightwish (Finland)

Romanticide (vocals: Floor Jansen)

vs

Slow Love Slow (vocals: Anette Olzon)

Finnish dogs. Финские собаченции

Finns love dogs, there are lots of Canis everywhere I go. :-)

Любят финны собак, куда не пойдёшь – везде псинки. :-)

June Reading: LGBTQ

Because June was LGBTQ Pride Month, I only read books with queer characters. Here they are:

Wolf Kankare “Miska Pähkinä” (transgender)

Дарья Вильке «Шутовской колпак» (gay)

Arthur Conan Doyle “The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes” (asexual, aromantic)

Caitlín R. Kiernan “The Drowning Girl” (lesbian, transgender)

Joana Estrela “Propaganda” (everyone? ^^ you can get this comic book here, read a review here)

Alaya Dawn Johnson “The Summer Prince” (bisexual, polyamorous)

Julie Maroh “Blue is the Warmest Color” (lesbian, gay)

Laura Lam “Pantomime” (intersexual, bisexual, gay)

Watched in June: