Friday, March 1
Hakaniemi, 16:42
The first day of Spring arrived officially this morning and the weather celebrated by turning down the heating. The temperature fell to about minus 5; enough to make my ears burn as I walked to the bus stop.
I spent the morning with the files for the next Miaaw podcasts. Based on something I thought yesterday I went back and re-edited the end of episode 12. In trying to find a way of chopping the conversation with Francois into two I had picked the wrong point to break it. I went back and stopped it about five minutes earlier, and then recorded an ending that hopefully sounded fairly natural.
I then edited the whole of episode 13. This involved editing in Sophie’s somewhat distracted introduction, which she recorded at the end with Henry bouncing on her knee. I then recorded a bit that reminded people what had happened in the previous episode, which led into a question that Sophie actually asked Francois at the time. I think it worked.
Finally I publicised episode 11, in which Sophie and I talk about the resurgence of cultural democracy as an idea in the 1990s. By the end I felt very glad that I had made a podcast episode template for Todoist. I have so many small things to do for each episode that, when they overlap like this, I would find it impossible to keep everything straight in my head.
After this I messaged Naa to ask nothing very much, and she replied to tell me nothing very much. We agreed thta I will take Sunshine round to her apartment on Thursday, before we leave for Kerala on Friday morning.
I went downstairs for lunch and had some completely acceptable vegan tacos.
In the afternoon I sent off my Fulbright application, which they will either accept or not. Personally I hope they accept it, since it may prove my only opportunity to spend an evening in the Buddy Holly museum in Lubbock.
I then sent catch-up emails to six students and returned the Was (Not Was) cds to the library in Arabia before catching the 6T tram to Hakaniemi.
I walk across the square to where the 17 bus stops. With Buffy Sainte-Marie in my ears, I look around and I see where money goes to eat. A McDonalds sign towers over the Nordea bank sign. Money obviously goes upstairs to eat.
I will get to the British Embassy fifteen minutes early and feel the descending temperature as I wait outside for Irma to arrive. We will spend our usual ninety minutes at Well in the Park, talking with a variety of people.
Eventually we will leave and head home, pausing at Prisma. We will sit and talk and drink wine at home.