Tonni

ONE THOUSAND

”Guess what? This is the ONE THOUSANDTH article in the Gaiverruksia blog!” //
”I started this blog on September 3rd, 2015. It took a little over eight years to get to 1000 articles.” //
”I wouldn’t have believed back then that my exchange blog would keep on living this long. But I’m glad it did.” //
”This is what I looked like in the very first post! There has (luckily!) been some development. Especially for the hair.” //
”So… Thanks to all of you who’ve been reading this silly little blog.” //
”I hope reading Gaiverruksia has brought you joy, as keeping it brings to me. Because… Thise were the FIRST one thousand articles.”

Uudistettu logo

A BRAND NEW LOGO

Vanha logoni oli ollut minulla jo kuutisen vuotta, joten päätin vaihtaa sen, vaikka kyllä pidän siitä.
I’d had the same logo for six years so I decided to change it, even though I still do like it.

Saukko tosin sai jäädä uuteenkin logoon.
I kept the otter in the new logo, though.

Uudet esittelytekstit

NEW INTRODUCTION TEXTS

Blogini vanhat esittelytekstit olivat vuodelta 2017, joten oli jo korkea aika tehdä uudet. Löytyvät tuolta yläpalkista Mitä kummaa? -osiosta. Alla ne vanhat vielä muistoksi.
My blog’s old introduction texts were from 2017 so it was time to make new ones. You can find them in the Mitä kummaa? (What on Earth?) section up there. Here are the old ones just for fun.
Gaiverruksia_e1_n
”We start by placing a large cauldron on fire.” //
”First, bring three liters to boil and season with black pepper, rosemary, ginger and cardamom.” //
”And then we add…” //
”One hat and some feathers. Preferably a cowboy hat and owl feathers, but other kinds will do as well.” //
”One and half libraries of books…” //
”A couple of bottles of ink and some water colors.” //
”One pocket knife and tent ropes to taste…” //
”A large bucketful of science fiction and a house plant. Or two.” //
”Lastly, a pair of binoculars and some griffin tail hair.”
”Let simmer for a quarter of a century and stir every now and then.” //
”And – TA-DAH!”

Gaiverruksia_e2_n
”What is this book, anyway? ’How to make your own comic blogger’? Yeah, nice…” //
”Well, good work! I guess…” //
”So, anyways, hello! I’m Kati, a biologist, student, nerd, camp leader and the person writing this blog.” //
”I started my blog ’Gaiverruksia’ in the autumn of 2015 as I went to study in Scotland for a year, and now I’m keeping it just for fun.” //
”English translations for my non-Finnish friends!” //
”Luckily, I’m not alone in this world or in this blog. Here are some people who have appeared in this blog…”

Gaiverruksia_e3_n
Mother: Likes carrots and her balcony.
Big Brother: Plays tennis and bakes buns.
Dad: Calls me every now and then, cooks often.
Snowhorse: An artist and my mental twin.
Mr. Brony: A birdwatcher and my camp leader partner.
Wiivu: One of the reasons I like scifi.
Julia: A camp friend and one of the reasons for me to star this blog.
Romeo: Dragged to the woods by Julia. Also, a fellow nerd.
Julia’s big brother: Camp master. Not actually related to Julia.
Knitter: Often found climbing walls.

Makuraati

PELLET TASTING

”These roaches are pretty cute alright. What do they eat?” //
”Veggies, I often give them apple. And these bunny pellets, too.” //
”What do those taste like?” ”I don’t know, I haven’t tested.” //
”Well, I’ll taste them.” ”Me, too!” //
”Hmm…grainy. Not bad.” ”Surprisingly salty.” ”Like a meadow pressed into a block.” ”Piquant! Green…” //
”Like some sort of tea powder.” ”Yes. Kinda, like, forest-y.” //
”The aftertaste is rather long.” ”Let’s have more.” ”Hey seriously now.”

Balinmuurdrilli

THE BALI ANTRILL

Paluu eläinyhdistelmähaasteen pariin! Tällä kertaa ihan oikeasssa elämässä… Tämänkertaiset internetin ihmemaan satunnaisgeneraattorin valitsemat eläimet olivat balinkottarainen, muurahaiskarhu ja mandrilli. Tapani mukaan aloitin piirtämällä kuvia oikeista eläimistä.
Return to animal mash-up challenges! This time in real life… The animals that a random animal generator somewhere in the Internet gave me were Bali myna, anteater and mandrill. As usual, I started off by drawing pictures of the actual animals.

Seuraavaksi suunnittelin, miten nämä eläimet muodostaisivat yhden eläimen, jossa olisi kaikkien kolmen piirteitä.
Next I planned how these animals would merge together into one creature with characteristics from all three.

Ja tässä on lopullinen balinmuurdrilli!
And here’s the final Bali antrill!

– can lift and lower its crest according to its emotions
– thick tail help in keeping balance while climbing
– males have more brightly-colored facial patterns than females
– catches insects with its long tail
– flexible toes and opposable thumbs help in climbing and strong claws in ripping tree bark
– walks on its knuckles to prevent its claws from wearing
– a young individual is grey and its face less colorful than adults’

Jos jollain lukijalla on hyviä ideoita eläinyhdistelmiin, niin kertokaa toki! (Kesäkurpitsa ei ole eläin.)
If some of you readers have good ideas for animal mash-ups, feel free to tell me! (A zucchini is not an animal.)

Torakkakoulu

ROACH SCHOOL

”Hey, easy now…” ”Heeeeeellllppp!!!” //
”My roaches are not at all used to be held on hand so they really freak out about it. I’m sure they get used to it eventually but maybe I could train them a little.” //
”If they could connect being held to something nice… Maybe they’d like to eat jam if I put some on my hand.” //
Tony didn’t care about jam. ”There’s jam.” ”Oh. Well, I’ll just sit here.” //
Bruce didn’t even notice the jam. ”There’s jam – ”Ruuuuuunnn!” //
Neither did Steve. ”There’s j – ” ”Aaaaaahhh!” //
But Clint… ”Hey, what’s this –?” //
”Oh boy, JAM! Munchmunchmunchmunchmunchmunch…” Clint might be the brain of the operation.

Torakkostajat

THE ROACHVENGERS

”Most roaches are apparently bought for food for pet lizards….” ”Well, then you can be like…” //
”You have been chosen! You have been saved!” ”<3" //
In reality: "Most of these cockroaches are bought to be pets. People buy the smaller species for food." //
"You have been… Hey, don't go!" "Escaaaaaape!"


”Years ago we zoo summer guides had our own ’summer roaches'”. Someone had named them Wanda, Thor, Black Widow and Hulk.” //
”So they were all super heroes, which I found hilarious. I named my own roach boys according to the same principle.” //
”Bruce, after Bruce Banner, a.k.a. the Hulk; Steve, after Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America; Tony, after Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man; and Clint, after Clint Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye.” (Hawkeye is a bit ironic name for a creature that sees very little.)


BRUCE
– all black
– the largest of the roaches
– the left antenna has broken
– a feisty fellow with very loud hissing
STEVE
– easy to recognize by the brown splotches on his sides
– broken antennae
– almost as large as Bruce
– hisses a lot and often jump out of your hands
TONY
– all black
– smaller and wider than Bruce
– very long and elegant antennae
– pretty calm personality
CLINT
– dark brown back
– very skinny abdomen
– rather calm fellow
– possibly the brain of the bunch

Torakka saapuu taloon

ROACHES COME TO THE HOUSE

”I again worked in the zoo throughout the summer and showed cockroaches to people every day. And many really liked them, despite of not expecting it!” //
”And, well, I like them, too.” //
”I’ve always liked animals, but I can’t (at least for now) have a cat or a dog. I wouldn’t have the time to take care of one.” //
”Nut roaches! They’re really easy to take care of, and at the same time they’re fashinating little creatures!” //
I got a used terrarium for them. //
”Cockroaches don’t eat that much. One apple is enough for a bunch of them for two weeks.” //
”After decorating the terrarium I was ready to get some new friends.” //
”But, many might ask… what are these roaches like?”


”There are approximately 4,500 species of cockroaches in the world! That’s about as many as species of mammals.” //
Cockroaches have a rather bad reputation even though they’re mostly totally harmless and important decomposers. //
”My roaches are Madagascar hissing cockroaches, often just called ’hissers’. They are popular pets.” //
Madagasgar hissing cockroach (
Gromphadorhina portentosa)
– Smells and feels its surroundings with antennae
– Has no wings, therefore doesn’t fly.
– Can climb up a class wall with the hooks and suckers of its feet.
– Females can reproduce without males so I only got males. These roaches don’t lay eggs but give birth to live young!
– Eats fruit and other plant material.
– The head is under the body. Poor eyesight.
– Males have humps in their front back, females lack the humps.
– One of the largest species of cockroach – up to 8 cm long!
– When they get scared they let air out of the breathing tubes in their abdomen producing a strong hissing sound – hence the name!
– Coloration varies from mahogany brown to all black.

Torakoiden seikkailut jatkuvat… // The roach adventures will continue…

Työpaikkaäiti

WORK PLACE MOM

”…” //
”What’s up?” //
”I’ve just totally run out of energy.” //
”Do you need chocolate?” ”Well, actually…” //
”…right now I’d need someone to firmly but gently tell me to go home.” //
”Kati. Go home.” //
”Yes.” //
”Would you like that chocolate, too?” ”Yes <3"