RE: "the finnish and magyar are supposed to be a tribe apart aren't they...? "

so say some historians. i speak finnish and the language that comes closest to sounding like finnish to me is actually not hungarian but -- figure this one out -- native hawaiin.

there's also the story about how one tribe near mongolia, maybe closer to tuva, split into two; one migrated south and settled in greece, the other migrated northwest to finland. to this day the greek and finn national flags are the same, except reversed (blue cross against white background) and the capitol cities -- helsinki and athens -- are directly connected by the same longitude, around 23degrees East

and don't even get me started on the Number 23.

living in california is a unique experience in many ways. the land is only recently settled by europeans. some old-timer miner folk may dispute this but to me there's no real substantial traditonal culture here. this place is just not steeped in tradiiton. there is a growing trend towards hybridization of art, science, religon, economics and an openess to experimentation that i think is quite rare for any place in the world. i think this is why some people thrive here, whle others go stark raving mad.

without traditional myths to live by a lot of folks lose direction and sense of purpose. if you are open to the possibility of creating your own myths and finding kindred souls who might have enough guts to band with you, california might be your home.