Third time is a tradition, right? 2016 was good - I experimented a lot, let go of things, but also made big decisions with lifelong implications.
I was pretty good with exercise, found new ways of destressing and kept my 50 books in a year challenge easily. Tokyo continued to influence me and I trusted myself professionally. I also made friends with people I was probably more of an acquaintance before.
This tweet probably summarises my year. Or, from my favorite Bunny Buddhism: “If a tiny hop is all I can manage, a tiny hop is enough.”
Here are 2015 and 2014. And here is 2016:
January
Visited Stockholm with Maija and saw Olafur Eliasson in Moderna Museet. Watched Cinderella with goofball cousins and loved hanging out with them.
Bought new cross-country skis and went skiing many times. Enjoyed the cold, arctic Helsinki. Overall had a good life rhythm - yoga, flowers & pizza on many Fridays in a row.
Moved to a new office, with glitter unicorns and beautiful big windows. Office had also many people in it - Lucas, Ilari & Olli started hanging out over. For the first time did a budget and set goals for the company. Discovered Wildflower Montessori that would influence and gushed over Lullatone with no idea I would eventually meet the family in May.
TED decided to feature my talk on TED.com and TEDx Billion. One of my bucket list things.
Read:
When breath becomes air. One of the best books of the year.
The Clasp.
The Fates and Furies.
M Train. Was funny reading about the storm Sandy, as I remember my own experiences still well.
Learner Centered Design of Computing Education. Wish I had read this earlier.
A Farewell to Arms. The memoir of Alice Toklas made me interested about Hemingway, and I liked this a lot.
February
Opened the Pedagogy Fellowship and recruited our wonderful three teachers (Olli, Ilpo and Elina) with Jemina. And the second Jemina also serendipitously walked in our lives. Lots of fundraising for the Summer School, running around meeting people.
Went to Beirut with Moaffak, Wili, Jaakko & Karoliina and really enjoyed meeting the young people and companies and seeing the city (and not to mention the food). Afterwards reminisced with this Instagram account
Was very influenced by Astrid Lindgren and her will to change the world, listened to Spotify playlists where she reads her stories before falling asleep. “Ge barnen kärlek, mera kärlek och ännu mera kärlek, så kommer folkvettet av sig själv. -Astrid Lindgren”. Saw many friends, had tea, did Ikebana.
Worked on second book every spare moment. Decided to become the principal of kindergarten of robots and AIs when I grow up.
Read:
Voittamisen Anatomia
Denne Dag, Et Liv. One of the highlights of the year.
The Summer without Men
The Hundred Languages of the Child
March
Visited Amsterdam for the Dutch launch of Hello Ruby and felt like a real author. Went to Lapland for Easter - first time downhill skiing in 5+ years! Heard Liisa talk about her research on stem cells for the first time, and was very proud to know such inspiring women - realized I had missed having close female friends.
Enjoyed International Womens Day activities from Stockholm and Ms Zamniski’s class. Saw Pekka Kuusisto (& Paperi T and many others) in Kansallisteatteri, one of the best concerts of the year.
What started with thinking about GPUs evolved into a bigger interest in deep learning, ML and AI. I started to have an idea of what the next two books would be (Internet & AI). Felt crazy (but also rewarding) that I have a pretty clear idea of what I want to work on until 2019 - of course I’ll never know what will end up happening.
Read:
Blood on Snow
Brooklyn
A Little Life. One of my favourites of the year.
Life of Pi. Finally!
The Quantum Thief
April
Started the month in Japan, finally during Hanami. Adored the city and found my face in surprising places. Sang karaoke with the Estonian mafia (well, startup people) and enjoyed the vision they offer for the world: small countries punching above their weight. Visited also Latvia (and fell in love with the library where we had an opening party for Sveika Rubij) Tallinn and Stockholm. Loved the Moomin exhibition in Junibacken.
Turned thirty - celebrated with family and felt both old and young. Did a fair bit of reflection on life and what I’d like the next 5 years to look like.
Bought noise cancelling headphones which turned out to be one of the best purchases ever. Cried over this podcast. Enjoyed the return of Game of Thrones.
Anttu had a dinner and enjoyed talking with other people working with kids products. Spent a weekend in Vierumäki with a group of old and new friends. Was overworked with too many projects most of the month, but had a lot of energy and optimism.
Read
Headhunters.
Epilogue: A Memoir
The Tao of Montessori
Snow Crash
May
Travelled a lot for work: Tokyo, Barcelona, New York, DC. Only glimpses of the cities, most of the time spent in meetings and e-mail. Did a fun videoshoot for Elisa involving flying in a helicopter - came out in June on the frontpage of Helsingin Sanomat.
Very happy about Hello Ruby release in Japan, the book ended topping the charts in Japan for a week. Experienced my first tiny earthquake.
Observing progress and plans and provenance of ideas evolve felt great. On the other hand said bye to some disappointing and toxic work partnerships. Started a running club with close girlfriends, that evolved into a discussion/mentoring thing that gave me a lot of energy in the rest of the year.
Worked every spare minute on the second book. I had initially been afraid that I would have one book in me, but was happily surprised when ideas and stories just kept coming. In some ways fell in love again with Computer Science and the depth and width of the field. Art of the Problem kept inspiring me throughout the year.
For a moment dreamed of building a house when the perfect piece of land was on sale. Realized soon it was too expensive and wrong timing, but was a great feeling.
Read:
Those who leave and those who stay
The Story of a new name
My Brilliant Friend
Code: The Hidden Language
June
Got to visit the old Bell Labs facilities in NYC and was very impressed with School for Poetic Computation. Taeyoon’s work has inspired me for a long time. New thoughts. Got my first real transistor in DC. Saw Cassie.
Saw Ruby’s Summer school grow to be a real, live summer camp. Exhausting, fun, exhilarating two weeks that offered a lot of empathy for teachers, but also created many lifetime memories.
Finished the second Ruby book. Sat the whole surreal Midsummer weekend in office drawing and listened to BBC Brexit reports over and over again. Somehow the book was again finished 5 hours before print deadline. Big thank you to team Otava (also got to hear some superb stories from Maikki Harjanne of her path as a children’s book author).
Was very lost and frustrated towards the end of the month (mostly with myself) and decided to postpone decisions until end of vacation. Did a quick day trip to Amsterdam and finished Ferrante. Swam. Started to properly prepare the wedding.
Read:
The Cuckoos’ Calling
The Story of the Lost Child
The Travelers
The Kite Runner
July
My traditional vacation mode month. It’s impossible for me to take a full vacation, but I compensate by slacking on e-mail during July. Went biking in Turku Archipelago with Ville. 250 kilometers and one of our bucket list things. Next year bigger bike adventures ahead.
Was completely convinced that I had micromanaged my own bacherolette party by going to see Beyoncé in Stockholm with friends. Little did I know. But she was amazing.
Went to New York and Boston. Loved the hot & heated days. Made plans for next year, hung out and hiked with friends. Played Pokemon!
Did book touring in Tokyo and Fukuoka. The kids, always the kids. Was also fun to show Jemina the city that has influenced me so much. Met a hedgehog and went into Miyazaki’s catbus.
Read
Zen Attitude
The Salaryman’s Wife.
The Silkworm
August
Married my best friend. Wedding was magical, talks were beautiful and I tear still with the photos. Was also so happy to have many of our friends from all over the world in Helsinki. All the feels. "Give me a mystery - just a plain and simple one. .A mystery which is diffidence and silence, a slim little bare-foot mystery: give me a mystery - just one!“ -Yevgeny Yevtushenko
Had a complete surprise bachelorette party - I thought I was going to give a speech for teachers and I was taken on a three day countryhouse / Flow festival extravaganza with glitter & pink hair.
Read the new Harry Potter on the plane ride back from Japan. The Potter series returned in my life at many occasions in 2016 (1,2,3). Safe to say, I loved the new movie too.
Did a lot of press around the second Hello Ruby in Finnish. Started observing this yearly routine: springs are for making things, falls for talking about them. The summers are for energy required for an introvert to talk constantly. Made it to a list of Nordic top business thinkers which made me laugh, considering my dismal business know-how.
Read
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
The Manioca Sisters. Enjoyed this a lot.
Before the Fall.
Rakkaus niinku
Diamond Age
September
Celebrated Wili & Linda at their wedding in Split. Friends & sun.
Was thinking of the third book, talking about the first and second one (which isn’t out in English until next October) and felt that publishing in the era of Internet is SO OUT OF SYNC.
Tried to start studying Japanese, but failed miserably by not making even one of the classes. Fell in love with Bobby Kennedy and read exhaustively everything I could. Saw Captain Fantastic in the movies and decided to raise philosopher kings. Read one of my favorite essays of the year on Childhood & exploration by Michel Chabon. Ran.
Too much travel: Estonia, Split, Barcelona, Stockholm, Budapest and DC all within three weeks. But had also time to go climbing with Anna & kids, say hi to little Havu, brunch with Paula and Johanna.
Overall had a really meh month - decided to change things, cried a lot, had very high ups and very low lows. On the other hand took part in a tour around the Helsinki I rarely see: custodial care services, preventive youth work, homeless shelters and felt frustrated about lack of abilities to help.
Read
Magic and Loss. The Internet as Art. LOVED this. So bummed I missed the readathon.
Bobby Kennedy: The Making of a Liberal Icon. This too.
Short stories from Hogwarts 1 & 2
Normal: 1
The Sherlockian
Here I Am. Again, one of the best books of the year.
Invent to Learn
October
Was invited to White House for SXSL! I went back and forth whether I should go: 48 hours in DC, many things already in calendar and I had zero money, but then again it would be the last chance to see the Obama White House. In hindsight SO GLAD I DID IT. I pinched myself several times sitting on the South Lawn, eating popcorn & listening to President Obama & Leonardo DiCaprio discuss climate change. Already now feels like a forgone era.
Moved apartments. The new place is great and immediately felt like home. Although never schedule a moving day after a friends doctorate party.
Speaking of Ilkka’s doctorate party - so fun to see everyone all dressed up. Spent a lot of time with the friends from startup scene - we did a trip also to Copenhagen. Also visited Stockholm and Budapest for work.
Anssi and Erika got married and I celebrated in ways that no 30 year old should. (Felt very sick the next day). Yayoi Kusama exhibition opened in Helsinki and was excited to see the premier. Maija had her exhibition premier too. Bought a dryer which makes laundry soo easy. Had a spa evening with Henrietta and ended up watching AI talks on TED. Witnessed heated discussions over simulation theory and decided that at the age of 30 I’m finally surrounding myself with people who really understand me.
Taught public speaking with almost zero credentials, but it was fun and I made the students lipsync to Obama, Beyonce and Sarah Kay.
Making food is my meditation. Important articulation for 2017.
Read
Paras mahdollinen maailma
Killfile
Last Days of Night
November
Was proactive with work: had first testing sessions for Ruby 3, trusted the process, talked with teachers and mentors. Very quick visits to Bucharest and Stockholm. Had a thought leader talk in Aalto. Most of the month I didn’t feel like one.
Met my childhood friends baby, saw Tatu and Patu with goddaughter. A close family member passed away and wrote a talk to the funeral, which was very hard. Had family over for dinner prior to the US elections. Woke up to a new world. Dyed my hair blue, but it only lasted for a few days.
Visited Rimini and met my Italian publisher. Also got one item off the bucket list: had a wonderful day in Reggio Emilia, a pedagogical approach I’ve been admiring forever. Surpassed my expectations and had some very profound implications to my work. Made a big bet for the next year.
Enjoyed returning to Stars Hollow with Gilmore Girls (and ate accordingly with Lotta, Suvi & Maria). Rory Gilmore affected my taste in books, schools and boys a lot.
Loved Slush. Interviewed Chris Sacca on stage, which was a first. Loved how our discussion ended up being about empathy and raising little girls, instead of VC. Ela & Seth being in Helsinki was amazing. Randomly started crying in the after party - it has been a long year.
Read
Gilead
Seveneaves
December
Spent a week with Lotta in Seuol. Loved the AI and humanity exhibition at Nabi. Met Korean kids, teachers and university students. Olafur again at Leeum.
With Maija in Tokyo, did Year Compass and finished year 2016 in Shimokitazawa. We decided to take the train directly to 2017 and it took us to unexpected adventures. Also visited Riga for a day. Enjoying the peace and quiet and working on book three throughout the holidays.
Ruby was exhibited in the new London Design Museum - hope I’ll see it for myself. “Other museums will exhibit this stuff in the future.”
Spent Christmas in Lapland. Worked all year on a secret project for husband and his family so for once I had a good present. I’m also excited about New Years Eve, which traditionally has been a pretty lackluster holiday for me.
Read
Swing Time
Tubes