In the middle of 1950s Tove was very, very lonely. Her letters of that time are melancholy, as she desperately yearned for true love. By this time she was very interested in dating women (as to her, Atos Wirtanen was in a way the last man she wanted to love). But circles were small in a small town, where homosexual acts were both a disease and illegal.
It was 1955, when Tove met Tuulikki Pietilä. They knew each other vaguely by looks. They had attended Ateneum’s art school at the same time but Tuulikki was few years younger and usually students spent time with their own language group (Tove spoke Swedish, Tuulikki Finnish).
The love story which lasted until their deaths, almost half a century began at Pikkujoulu party (”Little Christmas” in Finnish, a party traditionally held in anticipation on Christmas, usually among coworkers or friends) arranged by Finnish art society. Tove asked Tuulikki to dance, but she declined - probably out of propriety. But later Tuulikki sent Tove a card picturing a striped cat and asked her to visit her atelier.
Next summer Tuulikki visited Tove at an island. Love was born. Tove wrote; “I have finally come home to that one person whom I want to be with”. The picture of a striped cat was always and still is on the wall of Tove’s atelier. The couple spent their summers together on an island and winters working in their ateliers, which were right next door from each other.
It can be said that Tuulikki saved Moominvalley. By the time they began their relationship, Tove was absolutely tired of Moomins. Tuulikki’s support restored Tove’s belief in Moomins and they became an important hobby to them both.
Moomin book Moominland Midwinter (1957) is a book about loving and falling in love with Tuulikki. And it really shows. In the book, Moomintroll (who is an avatar of Tove Jansson) wakes up in the middle of unfamiliar and eerie winter, facing loneliness and death for the first time. In the middle of all cold and silence Moomintroll finds Too-Ticky, who’s calmly watching a snow lantern. Too-Ticky is robust and strong with blonde hair and a knife at her hip; everything Tuulikki was.
Too-Ticky becomes Moomintroll’s calm and supportive mentor. She never gives ready answers and instead gently guides Moomintroll as he grows and learns. It is Too-Ticky who says the phrase which Tove repeated often in her interviews and which was seemingly one of her most important philophies: “Everything is insecure and that makes me calm”.
After Tuulikki’s first visit Tove wrote; “I love you both enchanted and very calm at the same time, and I don’t fear anything that might await us”. After finding Tuulikki, Tove described how much calmer and safer she felt. Whole living felt easier.
There are some things only humans can do in space. The rest can be left to robots. To free up valuable time for astronauts living and working aboard the International Space Station, we’re sending three robotic helpers to the orbiting outpost. Developed and built at our Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, the cube-shaped Astrobee robots will each stay as busy as a bee flying around the space station and assisting crew with routine tasks like maintenance and tracking inventory. The robots will also help researchers on the ground carry out experiments, test new technologies and study human-robot interaction in space. Learning how robots can best work with humans in close proximity will be key for exploring the Moon and other destinations. Get to know more about our new robots headed to space:
The Astrobee robots were tested inside a special lab at our Ames Research Center where researchers created a mockup of the space station’s interior.
The flying robots are propelled by fans. They can move in any direction and turn on any axis in space.
Each robot is equipped with cameras and sensors for navigating inside the space station and avoiding obstacles.
Claw power! Astrobees have a robotic arm that can be attached for handling cargo or running experiments.
Astrobee is battery powered. When its battery runs low, the robot will autonomously navigate and dock to a power station to recharge.
The robots can operate in either fully automated mode or under remote control by astronauts or researchers on Earth.
Astrobee builds on the success of SPHERES, our first-generation robotic assistant that arrived at the space station in 2006.
Two of the three Astrobee robots are scheduled to launch to space this month from our Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia! Tune in to the launch at www.nasa.gov/live.
Students from various schools paid tribute to two of their peers who died in the Christchurch shooting by performing a haka, a ceremonial Maori dance to mourn the victims and honour the dead. They were joined by scores of fellow students to form a deafening chorus. At least 50 people were killed in the attack, which was the worst mass killing in New Zealand’s history.
@jjabrams It feels impossible, but today wrapped photography on Episode IX. There is no adequate way to thank this truly magical crew and cast. I’m forever indebted to you all.
kei te pai means like… it’s all good.. in te reo māori (indigenous language of new zealand), and kinda sounds like katie-pie. keitepai was taken when I made my blog so i just went with a spelling mistake (actually how you’d spell it in some parts of the east coast but i didn’t know that when i made my blog!)
why did you make your blog?
i think… i had a crush on someone with a tumblr??? idk though it’s been a while
how long have you had it?
since 2012 ! too long probably
how many followers do you have?
not that many
what do you share/post about most?
there’s absolutely no consistency to the things on my blog but i guess maybe pictures of flowers??
what do you share/post about the least?
i almost never post my own content it’s all just shameless reblogs
what do you think your followers think of you?
i think like… a third know me irl and a third are bots and the third who are neither probably haven’t had a chance to form an opinion because i never post things haha
add a gif or photo and explain why you chose it?
i decided a while ago that i wanted to try out pixel art and this wee dancing daisy is the only thing i made
