Wednesday, September 26

 

 

I started the morning by cycling to Puotila through a howling wind. I almost got blown backwards as I got towards the station.

Marina Westerholm had told me at the market last weekend that she didn’t believe that I still worked at Arcada because she had never seen me on the metro in the morning. Today I saw her, sneaked up on her, said boo, nad made her jump. We talked all the way to Sörnäinen.

Marina will go to London this Friday with one of her girl-friends to see the Frida Kahlo exhibition. Next month she will go to Berlin with Lisa. This much I learned.

I got off the metro and got on the tram and met Michael von Boguslawski. We talked all the way to Arabianranta.

At 10:00, after a series of misadventures involving mistaking a number 7 tram for a number 1 tram, I saw my doctor to discuss the results of my tests and determine the cause of my ongoing cough. We had a thirty five minute discussion and in the end agreed that the underlying cause of everything lay in my BMI score.

I need to stop eating almost all meat, and especially fatty meat, meat fat, or any processed meat products from Bovril and burgers to sausages. I need to stop eating and drinking any dairy products including butter, cheese and yogurt. I need to stop eating anything that contains refined sugar, including biscuits, cakes, white bread, and anything processed “with added sugar”. I need to stop eating any industrially processed foods because they all contain “added sugar” in one form or another.

I should also stop having iltapala.

After six or eight months of this my blood pressure should fall to that of a twenty year old, my weight should fall to that of another twenty year old, and my cough should stop, because the underlying cause lies in a completely reversible case of reflux disease.

I get back to Arcada with no tram mishaps and notice the newly painted box on the grass outside Arcada. I photograph the Love as it gleams in the dull morning.

At my desk I will email Nick Mahony, who has sent me further updates about the current controversies in England surrounding the Arts Council’s attempts to co-opt the term cultural democracy.

I will then email Nordea about their attempt to charge me for services that I have not used. I will tell them that I assume that we can dismiss this as teething troubles, and wait to hear if they agree.

Finally I will email Mats to explain why I have not yet sent him my proposed research project. Writing it down has opened up a number of unexpected trains of thought, and I need to see where they lead before finalising my proposal. I promise that he will receive it within two weeks.

I will finish the blog post that Nathalie asked me to co-write and send it to her. She will reply that she has sent it for review.

When I get to Puotila metro on the way home I will discover that thieves have stolen the basket from my bicycle. I will realise that I have, in one sense, got off lightly when I notice that the next bike has no wheels.

When I get home Irma will fix an emergency basket onto the back of the bike, using an old plastic box and some bootlaces. It will carry much less, but it will carry more than nothing.

In the evening we will have printer fun. The sooner printers go the way of fax machines the happier I will feel.