Happy Father's Day Cipher Key

"Dear Father: Crack the cipher before you get the greetings. Love, Smart-ass Kid. "

Below is a Father's Day letter I wrote when I was nine years old. It was in a brown envelope with a Scrooge McDuck sticker for a stamp. Evidently little has changed over the last 21 years as far as the author's general frame of mind and abundant geek idiosyncrasies go.

No idea what the symbols stand for. I used to ink up all sorts of weird symbols and mandalas.

HELSINKI 7.11.1989

Hello Father!  I'm doing well in school, and today I'm writing to you, as I'm sure you already notice. How are you doing there at home? (Like I didn't already know.) Solve this puzzle for starters! Solution at the bottom right corner. Below is the code cipher key.

    5    10    15    20    25   29 
ABCDE FGHIJ KLMNO PQRST UVWXY ZÅÄÖ

8 25 22 28 28 9 19 28 14 16 28 9 21 2x28 ! ! !

Love, Oskari

[Answer: Happy Father's Day!!!!]

Kathmandu Friends

One of the beautiful aspects of Kathmandu is the constant flow of beautiful people you come across. In the sketch above, Shantiwale Tokyo Baba from around Badrinath. He spent months sitting at the Berlin Wall before it was finally torn down.

My experiences in the Vaishnava world led me to an almost xenophobic state, ready to give up my hope in humanity. My experiences here have revitalized the hope, rekindling a spark of trust in a fundamental potential for goodness.

The curious can skim over my FaceBook KTM Friends album for a few memories from this part of the world.

Care and Attention

So many men - so little time. How can I lose?
So many men - so little time. How can I choose?
They tell me I'm up to no good
I should just settle down...

But I don't wanna stay with just one man
I wanna sample what's around.
Feels like I'm in heaven every night
being here with someone new...



With apologies to everyone affected by infrequent communications. The universe is so vast and full of curiosities, and I'm just a petit petit baba sometimes too lost in the flow...