Just to let you know: I finished both Monday's and Tuesday's crosswords this week. And correctly, too, not filling the blanks with random letters – like I'm known to have done in the past.

Filed under "true story".

Music can transcend time and place like nothing else (except apparently smell). Hearing a song can bring back memories that you didn't know you even had. And then make you wonder why you have them.

Here are my two examples. Except I know.

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Four weeks ago, I was sitting in the same chair I am sitting in now, writing an article, when I once again looked at the Bobby Orr photo hanging on the wall in front of me. It's funny that the photo is such an inspiration, even if I never saw the game, didn't grow up idolizing Orr, and don't really know that much about that particular final series.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 12, 2009

RISTO PAKARINEN TAKES A DAY OFF

STOCKHOLM – Risto Pakarinen, writer, hockey writer, blogger, and the CEO of ristopakarinen.com, announced today his plan to take off an entire day. Pakarinen said he will not be working on Tuesday, May 12, 2009, “not even a little bit.”

“After almost 350 different articles in the last year, and having just covered 32 hockey games in 17 days, I feel it’s time for a break,” Pakarinen says.

“It is my firm intention that this blog entry will be the only thing I write today. I will not check my email or spend hours online idly chatting with people, will not text people or sit on the phone all day, but instead I will just buy some food, make some dinner, watch TV, and sleep, possibly read a book,” he adds.

Mr Pakarinen recently returned home from Bern, Switzerland where he had been covering the hockey World Championship since April 24. While the tournament was a huge success for Mr Pakarinen, it was also a trying experience physically and emotionally. He’s confident, though, that a 24-hour break is enough to restore his vigor.

“Oh, I’ll be back tomorrow,” he says.

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For additional information and photos of Risto Pakarinen, please see www.ristopakarinen.com or contact

Hannes Pakarinen, hannespakarinen at gmail dot com

I like beef and veal. I like steamed vegetables, and I like beans. Rice, pasta, noodles, bring it on, I'm game.

But eating the beef or the veal, with the veggies, maybe some rice/pasta on the side, twice a day, for 17 days, has made me want for some pasta a la Risto, or pizza. And a fresh salad.

First off, exactly a year ago, I had no idea how little I knew about Switzerland. Now that I have been here almost a dozen times in the past 12 months, and find myself halfway through a three-week stay, I can see that I didn't know anything.

What I have learned recently is that the fact that I didn't know a lot about Switzerland (but thought I did) is exactly the most Swiss thing there is. They're hard to pigeonhole, those Swiss.

It's difficult to describe what the Swiss generally look like - they seem to be very outdoorsy - and I get no direct visual association of "Switzerland", like I get with, say, "France", "Spain", "Germany", or "Italy". Not immediately anyway.

If I think about it for a while, I can see a huge Toblerone chocolate bar, then cheese fondue.

Which, interestingly enough, I have not seen a glimpse of here. Yet.