Keeps Getting Petter And Petter

Sup barkeep! I’m back home after three months! / Oh, I didn’t notice you were gone. / – / OULU COMICS FESTIVAL

Oulu Main Library: / The right-wing populist cryptofascist party has blown big money to reserve the large auditorium for their meeting, right at the same time as the comic festival opening ceremony. / Christ. // You could tell from miles away who had come for the comic and who hadn’t. / (Just by the confused and offended look on their faces. Making fun of people’s clothes and appearance is not cool or punk rock. // In the ”101 Comics From Finland” exhibition opening I was pretty and quenched. / OPEN IN OULU MUSEUM OF ARTS UNTIL JAN 7TH 2018!

On Saturday I interviewed H-P Lehkonen. / What advice wouldst thou give to cishet authors writing LGBTQ characters? / I recommend you get yourself a sensitivity reader! / For my new comic ”Life Outside The Circle” I got help writing and designing the Finnish-Turkish main character from a person I know who’s also Finnish-Turkish.

Hetkinen… / Love wipes evil out of me! / In Tukikohta: Independence Day blah bluh blah blah.

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Do you agree to the terms and conditions of this rental contract? / (Work space. 62,50€ per month. Deposit: 145€.) / No. No. No! It’s too expensive! No!! / Yes. // You can’t afford to keep it up for twelve whole months! Käänny takas! Käänny takaaaaaaas!!! / Bye now! / (”Bye” but in Tampere dialect which I loathe and despise) //

Well! Now that I have to pay myself sick for the work space I think I might just actually go and work there every once in a while. / But I still gotta wait another full week before the Hyhky basement locker will start paying herself back, because… // OULU COMIC FESTIVAL is here again! As am I! Hi Oulu! I missed you <3 / (”I missed you too. Will you come and hug me?” but in Oulu dialect which I love and adore) / No. / Ok.

Oulun sarjakuvafestivaali 1.-3.12.2017

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Mua jotenkin epäilyttää julkaista tää kuvitus??? Vaikka siinä on natsipariskunta esitetty naurettavassa ja epäsuotuisassa valossa (ja tungin vielä varmuuden vuoksi FUCK NAZIS NATSIT VITTUUN-vesileiman overlay-filtteriksi :D) niin onhan ne silti vähän symppiksiä eläinhahmoja. Mutta ehkä mun nyt pitää vaan luottaa että useimpien ihmisten mielikuvissa sika on tyhmä ja likainen eläin…

Tässä vielä vaitonainen kohtaaminen nasuparin kanssa:

(Central Square.) / Oooh, look at that voima-asetelman vakiinnuttaminen. / (A nazi and his girlfriend, walking into red lights.) / (Me on a new bike waiting for green lights, not wanting to fall over in front of a car.) // (Kaleva district.) (A narrow walkway.) // Does this look like a bike lane to you?! // Not all the rules are meant to or worth breaking. / (Car lane.) / Anarchism is about making room for EVERYONE. (Except nazis.)

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Now that my room is liveable I can finally report on Helsinki Comics Festival! But first… // H-P Lehkonen paid my deposit! <3 / (2000€ per month salary in comics industry.) / You can pay back whenever, no rush. / Thank you! / (Unemployed bum.)

SO YEAH, HKI. / (Several kilos of Pokuto comics.) / Thank God that was my last Oulu-Helsinki busride! / (Nine hours in a cheap bus.) // I missed Broken Minds exhibition because I really needed to rest after my trip. Next year I’ll be more awake: there’s a regional train from Tampere to Helsinki! / I didn’t buy any of my friends’ zines! I’m such a bad friend!

It’s always nice to see my friends and colleagues in Helsinki Comics Festival. It’s such an empowering feeling like ”You got this dude, you’re a good comic artist and if you work hard you will make great things.” / (Jiipu won in Best Comic Blog category!) / (I was too shy to talk to Sophie Labelle.)

Nothing much to say about moving to Tampere. Packing the car, 6-hour trip in the car, unpacking the car, all went smoothly. My room is all decorated and everything. / I only needed to pack my clothes, books, and electronics; the house has its own furniture in place.) / I’ll talk about adjusting to my new life in Tampere as soon as I get to it. For the time being, I’ll wait for employment center benefits so I’ll get a bike or a bus card. Bye! (Tampere dialect is not my favourite thing in the world and it’s getting kind of old to imitate it whenever you hear somebody lives there.)

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Summer play’s been played, and I’m worn out as hell. // I’m moving to Tampere in 2½* weeks, and th– / WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ARE YOU GOING TO STUDY OR GET A JOB WHAT HUH WHAT!??!!!!???!?!? // God I hate that question. What if I just want a change of scenery? Discover myself?? Yeah, I’m an unemployed piece of shit! I’m only going to hang around and drink beer in Vastavirta pub! // Olkoon sitten niin! I’m not interested in a ”real job”! / SKEITTAA JA DELAA!

(*: Bloggaushetkellä tasan kaksi viikkoa. / Two weeks at this exact time of blogging.)

I’ve slowly been saying goodbye to all the places in Oulu. / Regular pub. / Gig joint. / Gay bar. *smooch, slobber* / Regular pub. / Underground culture centre. / Regular pub. / Regular pub barkeeper custard! // Don’t go! All the cool guys are leaving Oulu! / I’ve already done my mourning. / Not again. Ou-hu-huu! / Some have even said they’re angry that I’m leaving. I’ll let ’em be.

I attended a tarot reading the other day. / What’s all this tomfoolery. / Aw come on, it’ll be fun! / Ugh, fine. // In my opinion, tarot is not a divination device or a magick item, but rather like a lense through which one can put different aspects of their life into focus. One universal main theme at a time, one can observe their past, future, values, choices and human relationships. All the aspects of the cards are within all of us already, but with the aid of the cards it’s easier to focus on them in more depth. I know I said ’focus’ twice. / Ooh! Aah! The universe is guiding me! Gumbaya!

Atop thy head. Within thy core. Beneath thy feet. Thy past, thy future… And the peeps and things and stuff affecting your life ’n shit. // I do not fully recall my deck or what each card symbolized, so this is a fully liberal recital! Obviously the whole picture affects each individual card immensely, so it’s not possible to deduce much! / (Fear of failure, a will to survive and thrive.) / (Great things and deeds ahead, very exciting.) / (Something something fucked up family Freud Freud blah blah blah.) / BUT FUCK THE DECK FOR NOW!

Huh! / I’ve been a bit angry at you for leaving, but this deck is totally saying that you’re doing the right thing. / So yeah! Good luck on your journey. // … // OUUU-HU-HU-HUUU!!! That’s exactly what I wanted to hear from you-hou-houuu!!!

So what if I cherrypicked the most pleasant interpretation for myself! / I’ve got the universe’s blessing – and more importantly, my friends’ blessing! / I’m moving to Tampere if it kills me! // And hey, I absolutely do have a ”real job!” Because making art is some laborious shit! / Gimme all your art grant money! And all the main roles! / Nyeoom! Bam! Suck on my left titty, Job Centre!

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