Going To A Town.

Budapest, Hungary

I write, because I was asked to. I must warn though, reading this might not be the best thing you do. Both Emmi and I seem to have lost most of our moral during these days and we have been a bit shameless. Not that I'm going to tell everything we've talked about. And this will be about the length of a Russian novel.
We did visit Auschwitz-Birkenau. It was eerie. And the day was hot as hell. No way near the nicest places I've visited, but it did gave a lot. If you could just imagine the amounts of hair and shoes that are stocked in the rooms... Enormous amounts. Horrible. The place cannot be described with words. I have some pictures, but unlike some, I actually respected their wishes not to take pictures of the crematorium ovens. When we got back from there we explored the Galeria Krakowska, a shopping centre that must have eaten like ten football fields. Just trying to find one grocery store. The place is huge and there must have been everything you could imagine you need. Not to mention it was shiny and lookjed really new. Some of the best parts of the day was when we were trying to find out how many receptionists our hostel actually had. "Oh, you work here? How many of you are here, really?". The last day in Krakow we spend sitting in the park (no surprise) and walking around in the Jewish quarter. We did manage to miss most of the synagogues though. Reading the map after you've done packing and are ready to leave for a another city is recommended. Here would have been this and this and I think we missed this place by one street... But the hostel was so great. I will sleep there again if I ever travel to Krakow again.
On Sunday we headed to Ostrava and got all the other Finns in the train into the same wagon with us. It was a bit hard to answer the questions why we are going to that town. We really couldn´t say because of one football stadium... And what a town was it. No one in sight when we started walking the streets and look for our hostel. We saw maybe twenty people during that day. It was like some nuclear accident had killed of all the people and left the city pristine. Totally odd. It is a pretty city, but really has nothing. We did walk to the Banik Ostrava stadium. It was 30 degrees and the sun was shining from a cloudless sky and we were exhausted, but still we had to do that. In the evening we watched the Spain-Italy match from the tiny hostel TV with a Czech woman. She didn't understand us and we had no idea what she was saying, but we were all three on Spain. All the desperate grunts and screams and the rest... It was funny, though the game nearly game me a heart attack. On Monday we did nothing. Slept long, bought some food after making a reservation for Bratislava train and talked shit. Oh how the conversation varied... And we did sleep with house lights on, because there was the biggest spider on the ceiling that I've ever seen. And we wanted it to stay on the other side of the room.
Bratislava started out as a nightmare. I had a flu the entire time we were there and when we started searching our hostel... No tourist info, no maps... We had to visit two book stores before we could find the place. And then hear that we could check in two hours later. Well, we sat by the Danube and read The Host out loud. There was some jazz band playing downstairs in the evening. It was ok, but the really noisy Brits behind the wall weren't. Gosh, some people are trying to sleep.I am not going to tell about the sights because they aren't all that interesting, but we did walk in the old town and after that found out that our dorm was full of men. Men with funny names, like the Aussie. And there was a really cool thunder storm in the evening. Lightning after lightning. On Thursday we checked out the Bratislava castle that is under reconstruction. It had a nice park, like did have the president's (I guess) castle. We were going to take few pictures of it, but we ended up sitting there for two hours. (Viulu tai joku muu vastaava oboe.) And we found the best cafe in the old town. The waiter man was nice, though he did come a tiny bit too close. But the food and the tea. Heaven. On Friday we headed for Budapest, but the night before that was... Well, Emmi didn't sleep too much. And at 5 am or so a man started yelling outside our window. Loud, really loud. Our entire dorm was awake thinking who's going to shut him up. The awesome Pianist (on top of certain list made last night) finally did. He first asked nicely, but eventually just told the guy to shut up. And we got to sleep a bit more. Budapest was easier, because we had a map and we knew where we were going. The hostel is nice, the owner is like "just ask if you need anything" all the time. We did wander around the city on Friday, but didn't do anything special. It did even rain that day. We just ended up sitting in Burger King for two hours and at some point there was a slightly too loud "UI" moment because of a person on TV. On Saturday we actually did do something. First we did wait an hour at the train station just to get to make a reservation. Not too fast. (Oh, and just to mention, so far HBO has been available in every country we've visited. Why can't we get it?) We have actually seen some sights in this town and are about to explore more of them today. And we always eat at the some junk food restaurants. This time it was Pizza Hut. It wasn't bad choice, the pizza was great, but even greater were the eyes of our waiter. It was really irrelevant, but still. Holy mother of all, those eyes. You see them only in movies or pictures. And the evening was even weirder if possible. We kind of got asked out by two American guys. And we were stupid enough to decline. Next time though, when we are both healthy and not going to another city the following day. It was a bizarre situation, totally. And sparked to ten-step list of foreign cultures meeting. If someone wants to know the list, ask me personally, because I won't post it here, it's from the category a bit shameless.
Yesterday we went to Vienna. It was too warm and there were a few people with us. It was great, watching the Spain and Germany fans to carry their colours and sing their songs and just make noise. The feeling and atmosphere can't be described, but it was marvelous. We weren't going to go to the fanzone, but there we were. With 70 000 other people. Really cool. We didn't stay at the biggest screen because all the Germany fans were there but searched the Spain fans and hung out with them. And I got to mention that I have two pictures of the most gorgeous too young boy ever. He just looked so... The match, oh the match. I was sure the Germany is going to win because the way Spain started. But the rest of the match was good. Spain's fans cheering the goal. Yes. The second half must have been the longest half ever. Thank God, Germany didn't score. And the cheering after Spain won. Wow. I haven't really been on the side of the winning team, well maybe never, so now it was totally awesome. I loved every minute of it. The excitement, the partying, everything. I have some photos from last night and I can't wait to see them on a computer screen. Something to tell the grandchildren, isn't it? Carrying Spanish flag (yes, really) sparked people to start stupid conversations and even one guy to kiss me on the cheek. No more of that thank you. The conversations last night were at least wild... Like wondering what is Torres like between the sheets. Yes, we were really tired at that point. And we both had the words Vamos Nando on our hands. It seemed like a really good idea at one o'clock while sitting on the railway station floor trying to stay awake till 5.25 while everyone else was sleeping. We did sleep here at the hostel. God will know what we'll do next. We've had some ideas, but let's not tell everything yet.

I'll try to write more often from now on, but it depends so much on the hostel and the computer.

For All The Cows

Krakow, Poland

Writing this is hard. The keyboard for starters is so odd. It's missing half of the letters. But the Internet is free, so one shouldn't complain. The way here was interesting. The flight was boring, since most of the people were some businesspeople reading their Financial Times and other that kind of stuff. And the bustrip from airport to railway station. Our bus was ok, but the one before that... Shame I didn't get a picture of that. It was all rusty and looked like it was hundred years old. But like said, ours was fine. We even found the right place where to get off. To the actual staion we had to take some undergroung tunnel that didn't look too nice. And we learnt like one word of Polish there. The staion was awesome. It was like we were thrown back to the year 1981 though we weren't even born then. All the departure times were on a board that was no where near electronical. The times were on separate notes, it looked like flappitaulu, if you know what I mean. And this computer just started acting really weird, so the rest of this text is going to look like this. Not my choice, but I don't know what to do about it either. Yeah, so after we got over the shock of being back in the eighties, we lined to the infocounter where the lady told us to go to another counter. Actually, after waiting for what seemed like an hour we got tickets to train to Krakow and headed for the platform. There was a earlier train to this same city and this nice man told us that it wasn't our train. We did know that, but it was nice that he really made sure that we know that. At the train we got ourselves a wagon that was airconditioned and otherwise very nice, we even got some free bottled water. What we saw during the three hour ride? Hell of a lot cows, they were everywhere. Really, cows, fields, some old stations, some rusty things that were painted blue. Everything around here seems to be blue, we just don't have any idea why. If it's made of metal, it's very likely it's blue. Hostel was easy to find even though we didn't read the instructions very well. A nice place, good location. There is a brilliant park just around the cornenr. We actually sat like four hours there today. We have pretty much already seen all the main tourist attractions, the old town and the castle. Not the inside of the castle, because the prices were ridiculous high. We might have something worth seeing left, maybe checking the map will help us on that one... It is very likely we'll visit the Auschwitz concentration camp tomorrow, if we just get some info on how to get there.

More when I have something to write about. That means that I'll prolly write next time when we are half way done with our Interrail :).

Set It Off.

I haven´t packed yet. Thinking about it all the time, but not doing anything. Damn, I´m just so lame. This shouldn´t be this hard, it´s Europe not Mt. Everest. Actually, I´m going to stop writing some nonsense and go do my packing. And then go to sauna for the last in time in a month. Then try sleeping (last night I slept 11 hours, I wasn´t tired or anything... :D), because I have to get up way too early. Then again, this is what I have waited for the last year. It is going to be so much fun. That is what I hope. I´ll try to write here as often as possible, if I have something to write about. While waiting for that, I can give some reading tips for the only person who is reading this. The entire Twilight-series by Stephenie Meyer, since the last part is coming out in August. Also, The Host by same author is something we´ll be reading during this trip. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova is a good read too. If you want to watch movies, I highly recommend my favourites The Beautiful Mind, Almost Famous, Trainspotting, Little Miss Sunshine and Chocolat. And there is the new Batman movie screening some time soon. Or you all can be smart, go out and have fun. We will. See you!

Daylight.

Two posts in one day... This can´t be good for anyone´s health, especially not for mine. I think I should be doing something. Packing things or at least trying to figure out what are the essentials and what can I leave home and buy somewhere if I need. And now that I remember I could check some weather forecasts... Looks like it´s going to be sunny at Krakow. Nice, though it shows some rain for Wednesday. We can just lurk in the corridors that day. Like we (I can speak for myself only) have any energy left when we actually reach that city. Hopefully. At least we know where we are sleeping. Right now it looks like it´s something like +23 degrees celsius in every single city we are going to visit. It can change soon, I know, but it looks like we won´t be freezing. Always a great thing. Still hard to believe that we are actually leaving the day after tomorrow. I really have to go to bed dead early today so that I don´t spend tomorrow sleeping and stay awake the night I should be sleeping tight. Mom is really freaking out because we are leaving. I don´t understand. Ok, we are going to wander through Europe by ourselves with just the things we really need (well... might need...though it was proven last night that waiting without doing anything is boring, so I think we have justified some cards and maybe a football game). It´s just that we are (most of the time at least) reasonable people, who stay out of trouble, don´t get drunk and hit on guys. She shouldn´t have any reason to be nervous.

I have so many things to get when we get back. CD´s mostly (new Ladytron, Campbell/Lanegan), but I´m dying to get a nice camera that doesn´t make all my photos look awful. And a certain book is coming out too. I know I´ll write tomorrow, there is no way I´m staying away from my laptop. I do sound pathetic don´t I?

Exhausted.

I survived Provinssirock. Okay, I think I have couple of bruises and my feet and lower back are really sore and lifting my arms hurts. Not to mention that I have slept only three hours or so. I tried sleeping after having my breakfast, but didn´t work. I´ll just go to bed early tonight. Will do me good. But yes, Provinssirock was awesome. Weather could have been better, but it didn´t ruin anything. This is going to be a hell of a long post...

Friday-13th June
Started the day with Samettivallankumous. I had never heard of them. It was ok, nice warm up, nothing special. After that it was time for Coheed & Cambria. Can´t remember if we watched the entire gig or not, but I´m pretty sure we saw most of it. The mixing was awful, couldn´t hear half of the singer, just the guitars. Liked the two songs I knew. Then it started raining and we (like many others) decided to go and see Hardcore Superstar. Not my cup of tea, but it wasn´t horrible either. Von Hertzen Brothers were up next. Enjoyable, since they really can play. And we had a pretty good spot for the gig. They have been better, but by no means they did not suck. After the lovely brothers we headed to the mainland stage to catch a glimpse of Linkin Park. It was really disturbing to notice how many of their songs I knew and could sing along. I don´t like them, but they were okay. We ended the night with Stam1na and a terrible mosh pit right in front of us. I spent the gig sitting on a security fence because I thought it might be nice to be able to walk later and maybe get out of there alive. A good show, I´m not a fan but they are good in what they do. And it was nice to see Speksi (Sexy-Pexi) later too. (I actually almost bumped into him when leaving the Foo gig, missed him by two cents.) Heard CMX play when we left the area, weren´t too keen on them and headed to bed.

Saturday-14th June
Negative was the opener. They were good, not that I listen to them on regular basis, just the sings played on the radio. It would be easy to diss them, but what I saw seemed that they handled their slot really well. After them we jammed while listening to Puolustusvoimain Varusmiessoittokunta. Funny, but not bad at all. Karoshi Lovers was another odd new band we listened to. The woman sounded very much like Björk and Tori Amos, but I didn´t get their songs. Stella was a time-killer too. They might be good, but just not my thing. But after that Apulanta managed to kick ass. This was the third time I saw them and absolutely the best one. Maybe it was the audience, because the songs were mostly the same old. We did manage to hear maybe two songs by YUP which was a bit shame, because they could have been good. Ismo Alanko Teholla was funny. Didn´t actually see much, but that didn´t bother. Songs were still great and I loved all the instruments Teho had. Especially the harmonica-looking thing he played at Kun Suomi putos puusta. Nice. I don´t get why so many people like Danko Jones, because they have like two good songs and the rest all sound the same. Or then I just haven´t listened properly... But then Justice live seriously kicked ass. I know, it might sound odd that I like them, but hey, I have spent ten years of my life listening to drum and bass and electronica and some sort of techno, so when something good from this field is around, it must be checked. They didn´t let me down. Simple, but oh so damn great. The Sounds would have been amazing if it wasn´t the horrible crowd and heat. Their music is nice, very good sing-along songs. But standing in the audience, it was like the whole crowd was a huge mosh pit. You just had to try and not get hit by someone´s arm or camera. When we got out of the tent they started the fireworks. Fucking cool fireworks I might add. Looked nice and instantly reminded me of last August and this.(And I wasn´t the only one...) Ended the night with Herra Ylppö ja Ihmiset. I don´t remember much because my back was killing me at that time. And after that we had to wait for a bus for what felt like hundred years.

Sunday-15th June
The "run to see all the artists and bands that you want" -day. Downstairs was first. I couldn´t tell what the singer was singing, but they seemed like they were having a great time. Lauri Tähkä & Elonkerjuu were entertaining while we were eating. They are ok, people seemed to like them. Went to see Paramore after them. Ok, but I don´t get why people like them so much. Mediocre at best is what they are. Best part of that gig prolly was the fact that Discipline was played just before it started. And it was warm in the tent. At the mainland stage Billy Talent was great. I know nothing about the band and have heard only the songs played on radio and TV, but still they managed to be awesome. Devil in the midnight mass and Red Flag. Thank you, that was all I needed to make me smile. I checked Mokoma for a couple of songs and headed to the tent to see Disco Ensemble. Oh boy, they are so lovely. I have to go see them somewhere properly this summer, because now I got to enjoy them for about 40 minutes. New songs sounded magnificent live and the old ones were as good as always. Bad thing I couldn´t hear anything Miikka was talking. Would have been kick ass if they hadn´t played at such a terrible time... Because I, like most of the people, left early to get a good place for the much waited Foo Fighters show. I actually managed to get pretty front, I was just a couple people behind the second fence. Saw the stage, the screen, the band. And what a show it was. Kicking off with The Pretender, which has charmed me totally. And straight to Times Like These. I can´t remeber the setlist in order, just bits and pieces, but not the right order. They played all the hits and some really sweet "specials" like Marigold ("this is an old song"-no shit?), Skin and Bones and Cold Day In The Sun with Hawkins on vocals (he sounds hell of a lot better live than on record). Learn To Fly was fun, and I loved the drumsolo on Stacked Actors. I might have liked the good old guitar battle too, but they kinda had it before that. (I guess Shiflett beat Grohl because he said "well, I´m a drummer") They all seemed relaxed and it seemed like they were really enjoying playing though Grohl had some problems with his voice (covered them damn well, because I didn´t notice them that much). Grohl gave a quite a long speech while introducing the band, talked about Hanoi Rocks with Shiflett (of course, I would have been disappointed if they haven´t), Grohl seemed pretty amused when it appeared that no one got his joke about being finished/Finnish. He even asked Hawkins if he got it. I didn´t hear the reply though. Oh, the acoustics. But, honestly (with Hawkins on backing vocals) was sweet, I haven´t liked it much on the album, but after hearing it live... Ah. And I can admit that I did cry twice, during My Hero and Everlong. Not because they were too beautiful or I was so overwhelmed of the band but because they remind me of someone I have lost recently. I can´t remenber everything Grohl talked, but he did wonder why they hadn´t played here earlier. I bet half of the audience was wondering the exact same thing. They ended massively with Monkey Wrench, All My Life and Best of You and did beat the shit out of me at least. I was bouncing and singing my head off. (The huge all-audience bouncing was something I missed, because I got so used to it when seeing NIN.) I can say it´s a miracle that I still have my voice left, I shouted and sang so much. Best thing is I know I called Emmi and she picked up and got to listen to some song, but I don´t have the faintest clue which song it was. Maybe DOA? I seriously can´t remember. I hope she does. All in all, it was absofuckinglutely amazing, the best one hour and 55 minutes of my life ever and at least right now the best gig I have ever witnessed. A huge thank you to Foos and I really hope they come back soon. (And the HS reviewer is so wrong when saying that thay aren´t anyhow special band and that their songs are just nice. Was he there? Did he feel what I felt? I guess not...) I mean, to quote Grohl:"How many bands on this festival have had a fucking triangle player? Yeah, that´s right. None. That´s why we are the headliners." I could praise them for hours, but instead I end this by saying the were the best and sharing the video of Drew Hester´s triangle solo. :D
And some not-so-good-quality pictures can be found here.

A Stroke Of Luck.

Been watching football too much. Can´t help it though. Missing all the games this weekend. Or maybe not the ones on Sunday, we´ll see if we´ll find a bar or something since the train is departing in the middle of the night. Thank you VR, I´m so loving you at the moment. Not. But football. Let´s see. Spain-Russia 4-1 was awesome. Mostly because I really like Spain though I hate watching La Liga. I know, sounds odd and it is. Some of the player ruin the league, but the national team is great. David Villa´s goal were magnificent, seriously. Mom said I was way too enthusiastic at the moment when Fabregas was let to play. Krhm, maybe it has something to do with his team. And the fact that he is a great player. Mom just said: "Well, he ain´t that bad looking." Thanks, mom. Greece-Sweden 0-2 was a match that I only watched when I felt like it. Did something else at the same time, but I got to say that Zlatan´s goal was nice. Sweden played pretty well, representing us Scandinavians. Still not my favourites. Yesterday was pain. Czech Republic-Portugal 1-3. Why? Not happy with the result, not at all. What was positive was that Sionko played really well. But Portugal was murdering. Not funny at all. Switzerland-Turkey 1-2 was a real nightmare too. The fiels was filled with water and it was pouring all the time. It was a miracle that they managed to play the whole match and score three goals. Though it looked very hard. This Croatia-Germany that I´m currently watching is ok. Couple of pretty goals, but nothing special in my opinion. I like Croatia and I´d like them to win.

Provinssirock this weekend. I hope it won´t rain all the time, I´d actually like to enjoy the music as dry as possible. Then again, I finally get to see Foo Fighters. Should be pretty amazing.

A week from now and I´m already in Krakow. Did testpacking today, have to leave some stuff home if possible, but it wasn´t all packed. And it weighed aprox. 7 kilos, which isn´t that much. At least now it feels it isn´t that much. We´ll see if I think like that after carrying it for hours. Hopefully :). I´ll report about Provinssi and last minute preparations and packing and all that stuff next week. See you on Monday, I guess.

The Games We Play.

Greeting from Tampere. Exams are finally over. Don´t know how I did, but I did my best. And in case you sometimes visit that nice city and happen to be hungry and loaded with cash (mum was) I suggest you try The Grill. Seriously, the best wedges I have ever eaten. Not to mention the chicken. But yes, I am to write about sports. A lot.

Tennis first. I´m a little mad at YLE for not showing the Roland Garros finales live. Had to watch them when I already knew how they´re going to end. Men´s singles finale was, well, odd. Of course I´m really happy that Nadal won. And what match he played. Saying it was perfect was completely true. It seemed like Federer didn´t even try. He was there just because he had to. That man is in trouble this year. First he loses the Australian Open and now the French. Could it be so that he is going to lose Wimbledon too? We´ll see... And mum has to ask why I like tennis. Full of surprises that game is.

Football. I have watched six matches so far. Opener, Switzerland vs. Czech Republic 0-1 was actually a little boring. One goal, okay, but it wasn´t even the greatest goal. I´m sorry that Alexander Frei will miss rest of tha matches because he is a good player. And it really showed that Czech´s didn´t have their original captain and somewhat the soul of the team playing with them. Not the kind of thriller I was hoping for. Portugal-Turkey 2-0 was better though I don´t like Portugal. I´ve been OD´ed with Christiano Ronaldo and doesn´t help that he is shown all the time. Good match, some really great moments. I just wish that Turkey had been better. Austria-Croatia 0-1 was again kind of boring. First and only goal at 4 minutes and after that nothing. They tried I can tell that, but neither of the teams achieved nothing. I wonder if Croatia could have beaten Austria without that penalty kick. Maybe not. Germany-Poland 2-0 was something interesting, because this is the first time Germany has actually won something at the European Championships. An ok match, I wasn´t able to watch it till the end. Just have to say that Germans are so controlled. They got their goal and there was like four men hugging. Compare that to Portugal where, I think, everyone involved in the team was hugging. Romania-France 0-0 was dull. Nothing happened. No goals, no great situations, no nothing. Just some running after the boll. Romania tried more I think, France just was there. If it had been the late evening match most of the viewers might have fallen asleep. Thank god it wasn´t, there was something purely awesome in the evening. The Netherlands-Italy 3-0. Who would have guessed that the Azzurri gets that badly beaten? I love the score. The Netherlands played fantastic match, vivid, varying, interesting match whereas Italy was a disappointement. Group C is indeed the most interesting. One of my personal favourites, Spain, is on tonight. They have been horrible underachievers for years so I´m hoping they´ll finally succeed. At least they have the strongest midfield. So strong in fact, that they have at least one fabulous player on the bench. Should be interesting.

Eight days until Interrail. I should still buy some stuff for it, make a check list and maybe try to pack my backpack once to see what I really need and what I can leave home. I know I´ll take too much things with me and hate myself for that. I should also check some weather reports... It has been forecast that it´s going to be rainy this weekend. Please no, I want to enjoy my music dry.

I should go and make a couple of cards. To get at least one thing ready.

Tell Everybody.

My dad told me to create a website where I would write about our Interrail. Well... I said to him that I´ll do it in English like I´m going to. This one. Like I would need a third site just for that. Never. That would confuse me totally. He doesn´t need to know what we´re doing. He gets the censored version back home :D.

Today I find out the Czech Republic team captain. Ujfalusi. Not a bad choice in my opinion. Today it starts. My mom can´t stand me talking about football and she has to spend couple of days in Tampere with me. And I want to watch whatever matches they are playing on Sunday. Since I´m going to miss an entire weekend´s matches because of Provinssi. Where all the good bands are playing at the same time. Thanks.

I was reading, really, but then there was this tennis... Three hours. It was a decent match, can´t say that. Just ruined my studying. I´m so going to fail that exam. Well, got to start work on a Plan B. Tennis was just much more entertaining than some stuff about pictures. I mean, I love pictures and all visual stuff, but that book was just damn boring. I then decided that watching Nadal and Djokovic play is better thing to do. I don´t if it was, but at least I heard again stories of why Nadal plays left-handed and what he keeps shouting. Like I didn´t know already.

In the future, I´m going to be just like Alice. Then I´ll have two damn good looking brothers, loads of money and sweet cars. And my own Jasper.

Vamos!

Have It All.

I´m ashamed. I didn´t regognize Ryan Gosling. Damn and he´s not bad looking. I´ve seen dozens of pictures of him and then... Well, not the first time. Which reminds me that I prolly should get some glue and cardboard if we are going to have our cut-glue -party on Saturday. Before football, which my mom totally dissed yesterday. "I couldn´t care less." -style.

And I had a good intention on reading yesterday. Well, I did, just not the book I was supposed to. I did read it today. Before I decided to check my mails quickly. That was like an hour ago. And I was going to go to bed early, but then I watched (again) Band of Brothers. Still awesome. Eventhough I think that the first episode isn´t the best. Not that I could say which one is.

NIN is again giving stuff for free. A sampler EP of summer supports. Some pretty cool stuff. And member changes. Again. Apparently now they´ve got the same guy on bass that Beck once had. (2/5 members of the band have a horrible haircut, just to note off topic.)

I have like million things to do, but it seems like I can´t get even ten of them done. I should change the date on HBL subscribe, finnish my towel, start thinking what I should pack for Provinssirock and for the Interrail... Just for starters. And stop wasting my time on watching stupid TV shows.

I didn´t have anything to write about.