Summer of 2024

pink and yellow flowers on field
Photo: Generate with AI

The summer of 2024 so far has been both slow and eventful. Weather-wise, it has been different. There was a heatwave here in Finland in May, and then it’s been a little chillier. There have been hot days in June once in a while. I hate hot weather, so this summer has been much better. I prefer it to be between 20 and 22 degrees Celsius, but anything hotter than that is not my favourite. I’m glad we haven’t had the heatwaves they have in other countries.

An event that I went to was Bryan Adams’s concert on June 5 in Tampere, Finland. I love every minute of it. I sat pretty far, but I didn’t get to choose any closer. I bought the ticket in advance when it came on sale, so I couldn’t choose where to sit. If I had bought it later, I could have. But I didn’t know the tickets wouldn’t go that fast. You never know how fast concert tickets go, so I had to ensure I got one. He’s been one of my favourite artists for years. It didn’t matter where I sat; I was there to enjoy myself, and I did. The concert was sold out, so he is still famous here. Rock music is a popular genre over here.

Here is a short clip of one of the songs he performed. If you can’t see the video, do let me know.

Bryan Adams performing, Can’t Stop This Thing We Started

And a few photos.

It was definitely the highlight of my summer.

Other things that have happened this summer for me are lame compared to that. I got another achievement in the GuruShots Photo Challenge. I levelled up to Challenger. I could get one step further to Advanced, but I need a few steps to do that. That’s the highest level I will get. The highest level is Guru, but you need to win a lot of challenges to even get to Veteran. My goal is to get to Advance, but it doesn’t matter. It’s only a bit of fun.

GuruShots new level status

Last but not least, I am going on holiday to Stockholm in August. There will be a noisy festival in the park I live near, so I want to get out of here. Two days away from that noise will be bliss.

My rain playlist

raindrops
©Mia Salminen 2024

Another heatwave is here, so there will be no rain for a while. But you can still listen to songs that contain the word. Here is my Spotify playlist for the rain. Sorry about the colour, but I can’t change it. If you can’t see it below, click here to listen to the whole list. Enjoy.

Rainy songs playlist

Bloganuary: “I don’t whine” – Daphne Moon

green mailbox on brickwall
Made in Canva

What do you complain about the most?

Bloganuary 2024

Nothing in life is perfect. You can complain all day long about the small things, but some things you can’t do anything about. I try not to complain online. You can be alienated by other people if that’s all you do. When I complain, it’s about hot weather. I hate it, and I don’t miss it at all. Maybe it’s the hot weather I complain about the most. Weather is something you can’t change, but we still complain about it.

This is not a complaint, but sometimes it feels like other people alienate me on social media. No matter what I post, it’s like talking to a wall. I might get a few likes, but comments are rare or never seen. It feels like there is no point in wasting time by posting anything. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Maybe my photos aren’t good enough. It’s not uplifting to post on social media when you never know if people even see my posts. But in the end, I won’t stop posting. I do it for myself. I wonder if people who follow me don’t even read or see my posts. Maybe they only collect followers and don’t interact. They’re called a lurker. They only follow and don’t do anything else. With my luck, I wouldn’t be surprised.

I feel I’m getting alienated from getting a job, too. Maybe I’m in the wrong occupation. Maybe I could get one if I was in health care or being a cleaner. But I can’t do those jobs. I’ve been away from working far too long, so no one wants to hire me. I don’t even know if I want to work with anybody anyway. Only time will tell how things will go in the future. It’s my life, and I complain if I want to. It will make me feel a little better.