Keep That Hibachi Burning

The World’s Happiest Country Is All About Reading, Coffee, and Saunas

For five years in a row, Finland has ranked No. 1 as the happiest country in the world, according to the World Happiness Report. 

Finnish people are by nature introverted and they love silence. They do not show off their emotions and are known for their stoicism and resilience. They also do not enjoy small talk or talking casually to strangers and are known to be blunt when they communicate. They are sincere, honest, and modest.

Finns enjoy many outdoor activities in their free time. Some typical hobbies include cross-country skiing, snowboarding, ice skating, Nordic walking, camping, and foraging for wild berries and mushrooms.

The Finnish people have gathered a reputation for being reserved, non-talkative, and shy of the physical contact many take for granted in Western culture. Some believe the nature and vastness of Finland make the Finns seem remote.

The consumption of alcohol in Finland is the second highest in the Nordic countries. Since the early 1960s the total consumption of alcohol has quadrupled and negative effects of alcohol have increased. In Finnish culture, the state of alcohol intoxication has not been seen as shameful.

I Googled "Who are the happiest people" this morning.  Finns.  Than the rest of the Northern European countries. So I wanted to know what makes them so goddamned happy.  It turns out, I'm Finnish.  Or Finished.  I mean, for awhile now, I've not been so happy.  

I went out with the gymroids last night.  I can't do that anymore.  I don't know why, really.  I can't figure it out.  I just get sad somewhere along the line.  Last night when I came home, I thought about it for awhile.  Not for long.  I was tired and went to bed.  Not before watching this, though. 

That album, "Kind of Blue," is the apogee of music, I think.  What do I know?  But it is.  Remember the first time you heard it?  Everything changed, right?  With roots in orchestral jazz like Duke Ellington, it stripped everything to bare emotion.  Unbelievably, everything on the album is one take.  Just straight out of the box.  It is still the best selling jazz album of all time and even now sells around 5,000 copies every week.  Here is a YouTube link to the album if you don't have your record player handy (link).  

I think I've always been kind of blue.  

What I think I have come to realize about going out with the gymroids is that there is too much talk.  I can't react to all that talking.  You can't try more than five syllables at a time because someone will interrupt you.  Bam! Bam! Bam!  

I don't enjoy employing my wit as a defensive/offensive tool.  

Maybe that's it.  Or maybe it is the money thing.  They ALL have money.  Tennessee is building twelve houses in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains on the North Carolina border.  The fellow who just bought the McLaren said he would like to have a house up there.  Tennessee said he had thirty adjacent acres he didn't need and he could sell him that and build him a house there.  McLaren said he was thinking of buying an airplane so he could fly around to his four properties.  Here, the mountain home, the island home, and. . . where was the other?  I can't remember.  They all had four homes.  They talked of St. Lucia and Portugal were buying a $200,000 property would get you a passport from that country.  

I guess I wanted to cry if I remember correctly.  

They like me.  It's not that.  They invite me to go places.  

"I've got a condo on the beach you can stay in." 

"You can stay in one of the A-frames in the mountains."

"Come out on the boat."  

Last night's bill came to $300.  I threw down fifty.  When I got home, I despaired.  I should have picked up the whole tab.  I could have.  I missed the opportunity.  It made me angry.  It made me sad.  

I am silly.  Everyone had fun.  The waitress wanted to date me.  I don't know why.  Maybe that's not what she meant when she told me, "We should hang out."  It was nice, but I didn't love her.  

I felt more Quasimodo than ever.  Is it a spiritual deformity? 

I want to learn to Zen dance.  I don't know if that is a "thing."  It is just what came to mind.  I'll probably Google it later.  I want to move to the Life Force, to let it flow gently through me.  

O.K. I Googled it.  This is not exactly what I had in mind. 

I don't know what I have in mind, and maybe that is the problem.  Maybe I no longer know my own mind.  I'll have to call my Life Coach and my Spirit Guide.  I'll take lessons in Happiness and Glee.  

Or, I'll climb back in my bell tower and wait for darkness.  

I should have picked up the bill.  

I should be a Finn. 

Music changed after the 1959 release of "Kind of Blue."  I imagine it is a large reason why I like the show "Peter Gunn."  The music. . . and the fact that in the face of everything, he had his own true love.  

"Keep that hibachi burning."  

 

Indeed.