Saturday 1 January 2011

Tina Predicts the Future

This New Year’s Eve, as in previous years, I consulted Tina to find out what is in store for me in the coming year.

Tina does not live in a caravan, or wear lots of cheap jewellery. Tina, as the Finns will know, is a small horseshoe made of tin, which one melts over a heat source and then throws into cold water. The molten metal solidifies instantly into a random shape, which is said to symbolise the future.

The shapes produced by Tina are quite extraordinary and, in my opinion, much more interesting, beautiful and unpredictable than a lot of Art found in museums and public places in towns across Finland (and indeed elsewhere). In fact, I would argue this is actually performance Art of the highest order and well deserving of an exhibition. Maybe.

Anyhow, the point about Tina, apart from the artistic fun, is fortune-telling.

There are so many things I would like Tina to tell me about the future, including whether at long last I will make any substantial progress in Finnish this year. I am sure Tina has the answers to these questions but unfortunately I only know how to interpret 3 things: love, money and bad luck.

Admittedly, Tina does not always seem to get it right. Last year, Tina predicted I would be receiving plenty of money. That didn’t happen, unless Tina meant the money I spent on credit... But like all good fortune-tellers, Tina has craftily adjusted the message this year and is promising me a lot of love instead of money.

So here’s to plenty of love and hopefully some progress in Finnish in 2011!

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