Card Shark and the Sputnik Three

Hey there I think we can both agree that it’s been awhile since we last chatted about what has been going on over here in the Baltic Sea, so here’s the skinny as best as I can put in words. I’ll start where I am at the moment and then jump around a whole bunch just like I do when I talk with you face to face. Does that sound good? IT BETTER! Haha. (just joshin around) I miss that Jersey humor a bit although I haven’t thought about it till now but you know what I mean the way that only jersey people of my contemporary age bracket can say “how the @%*$ are you doin?! Just spent a good hour arguing with a gal who grew up in communist Russia and it was amazing to see the way that a mind subjected to such a philosophy from the time that she was born can’t help but always revert back to a communist way of thinking and not see it for herself. The “ego” is so squashed in her mind that she can’t even recognize it when it shows itself in ideas and behaviors of hers. Amazing maybe I will take some psychology classes next year and dive deep into something have to do with the communist mind on holiday?
At the moment it is 3:41 in the morning, the day is Tuesday and I have trained my voice singing tonight and I am hoping that when I wake I will not have lost it due to the dry air. Jpat has taught me some warm up exercises I have been utilizing before our sets and I have actually gained more range in a consistent way it’s so very cool to get lower notes than I thought I could hit. The exercises consist of humming beginning in the middle of my vocal range and working my way up chromatically in octave scales and then down to my lowest note which is an “F”. The song we were playing was House of the Rising Sun and I thought that we need to play it in a certain key that ended up to be too low so then I tried to jump an octave up and that’s when I did it. It is an odd feeling, kind of like my vocal chords are stuck to each side of my throat. We shall see what happens I will be fine I am sure.
I am looking forward to changing ships more than ever now that I have some friends to visit in Helsinki. Yesterday between our evening sets I walked past some kids that were talking English in a fairly English way so I started a conversation with them. They were four university students from a school in Helsinki that had gone to Stockholm for the weekend and were on their way back home. Last Thursday the boat they had taken to Stockholm was the Gabriella; which is the ship we will be working on, they said that it was a much more lively time then the Amorella (this ship). So first there was Julia she is From Milano and I can’t at the moment remember what she was studying at school but a very happy and smiley person. Next was Tim he is a German although I cannot remember what town he is a history and political science major, very kindly he had a bag of nuts in each of his sweat jacket pockets and kept munching all night. Shiona is from Glasgow a very bubbly Scottish girl who studies I don’t know what but is a DJ back home and loves music. Lastly, Nuria who is from Barcelona she is a Dentistry student who is only in Helsinki till april. They ended up on the Amorella because they missed the Gabriella, so they were taking my ship to Turrku and then the trains back to Helsinki. Nuria has missed the Gabriella both ways and was not doing well wit h seasickness until we all went to the disco. When you go to the disco there are so many lights that it gets the head so confused. Actually I think that there are to many lights, they were messing with my eyes last night when we were dancing. They promised to show me around Helsinki when I get there!
I am finally meeting more of the crew, the security guards and engineers, the kitchen cooks and maids it is truly amazing how many facets there are to this ferry business. It’s part motel, resort, high school keg party, all you can eat buffet, child-care, cargo ship, and office building all rolled into one. The full time employees work one week on the boat and then have one week off to do whatever they want. It makes for a very interesting atmosphere of ever revolving people that are happy with their work have a set routine for what they do many of them having made careers out of it. Bartenders, most of them have worked on the boats for more than 10 years, the engineers and sea men love the job because unlike cargo ships that go out to sea for chunks of time like 3 months at sea and then 3 on land work one week and are off the next. Better for family life they say, not sure what they mean. J/K.
The Bulgarian band “Celebration” has been playing on the boat for more than 12 years, well I guess not just the Amorella but the whole Baltic-ferryboat circuit. They are an 8 piece band and work here in Scandinavia because of the money. They are a whole bunch of fun Saturday night was spent hanging out with them after their set in the Fun Club, which is where the bands play along with casino tables and a big bar. The club sits on the 8th deck of the ship at the rear, there is a wall of windows that I sit at and watch the islands that we pass between every evening. I will take some pictures of it today so that you can see how beautiful the islands are.
I am tired now. Good night.
oh and as for the name I don't know what to tell you.