Welcome to Chaos !!

There is a curfew in Portland tonight and other cities across the US as well. I was tempted to go downtown and see the situation with my own eyes but in the end I decided against it. My thoughts on riot, vandalism and looting? I say go ahead and arrest and charge everybody involved with destroying stuff and endangering the safety of others. NOTHING....again NOTHING good will come out of it. I agree with protesting for what's right and fair, I believe in standing up for yourself and others when you see injustice and I also believe that violence is justified in certain situations like self defense but I do not believe in what is happening on the streets now. These people, or THUGS which is an appropriate term to describe them as said by president Trump are acting without logic. I would like for their own homes, businesses and vehicles to be set on fire and destroyed or perhaps their parents. Then there would be a different tune. Maybe that would be a fair punishment....you burn down somebody's house, business or car then you will stand by and watch when whatever you have gets set on fire. Portland has been scheduled to slowly open up after being shut down due to COVID-19, many have been without jobs and now add THIS to make things even more difficult. Yeah.... And speaking of the president....I got called a Trump supporter today for pointing out that making fun of his hair is immature. OK then. You are talking about the hair of a man in his 70s, like making fun of it? What the fuck does your own hair look like? Do you have a leg to stand on? If you do not agree with the president's policies then talk about that specific issue. Speak like an adult with some form of intelligence left in the brain. I definitely do not agree with the current US president on a lot but I am not a political science major, I try to limit my discussions to topics that I have some knowledge about and before getting so angry that my temper boils over I try to fact check and read up on stuff before spewing out some "facts" that are far from the truth. I know that there is a lot that most of us are not even aware of that goes on in the world of politics. I do NOT envy the role of president or prime minister anywhere, seems extremely stressful and comes with enormous responsibilities. Trump supporter? Actually I would had given my vote, had I been allowed to vote, to Bernie Sanders. As far as who I would vote for between the two candidates running here in the US in 2020.....there are other parties besides the two major ones. I would put my vote on somebody else.

Got Q-tips the other day, actually managed to survive without any for a few weeks before I caved in and got some. 500 Q-tips, let's see if something new/different/a change happens in my life when this box gets empty. Something good I hope! These things tend to happen when a box of Q-tips gets low or completely empty, strange perhaps but try it and see for yourself!



Look how cute....a little library. I have only seen this in Oregon but I am sure these are scattered throughout other states as well. Works on the honor system.



On the daily evening walk....empty streets (also the title of one of my favorite songs).





Now to food. I just discovered something incredibly delicious recently, cabbage steaks. I am obsessed....plus it's cheap and easy. Just cut cabbage into slices, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, I also chop up garlic then put the cabbage in the oven.



I also make my own pizza, well kind of. I buy the dough in the store and then I add the tomato sauce, Roma tomatoes, cheese and oregano. Then put the pizza in the oven. Perfect and yummy. And cheap.



Strawberry rhubarb pie, one of my favorites!





If I can cook, anybody can cook. Trust me on that one. I am impatient cause when I am hungry I just want to eat so I don't want to spend too long on making something and it does not have to look pretty on the plate. What for? It is just going to end up in my stomach anyways, all that matters is that it tastes good.
But now it is time for another obsession.....Gran Hotel. I am almost done watching the whole thing. I haven't been this enthralled with a series since Breaking Bad.

Walking around a city for hours is both relaxing and interesting. One of the things that I like to do. Here are 12 photos of Portland. There are many beautiful old homes all over town. Powell's main entrance. And Powell's other entrance. Pioneer Square.

My absence here is due to that I have been immersed in a Spanish series on Netflix called Gran Hotel (Grand Hotel in English). I have been watching for hours every night since last week. It has everything....drama, love, friendship, affairs, betrayal, enemies, hate, revenge. You name it! It all seems so.....familiar somehow but on a much smaller scale. Gran Hotel is subtitled which I love, hoping to pick up some (more) Spanish but they speak so fast that it is almost impossible and I have a knack for languages.
I took a nice long walk downtown Portland tonight and last night I strolled around in my area, close to Multnomah village. I saw these beautiful flowers or is it a plant? Not sure what to call it but it was quite majestic.



And this mural. Pretty!



But now it is time for the muy hermosa Alicia y Julio and the rest of the characters in Gran Hotel, I have been waiting all day to sit down to watch it and bite my nails. Ahhhhh.....revenge. You will ALL get what you so much deserve one of these days. I am sure you know exactly who and what I am referring to when you read these words.

Today I got craving for beer. Perhaps the spirit of Cinco de Mayo influenced me and by the way I do not celebrate this holiday. It usually means barbecue and booze, which is not me. I'm more latte and book (or laptop). But once in a while I do enjoy a cold beer. A chilled glass with lime and salt on the rim and fresh squeezed lime in the beer. YUM! And I got some doughnuts that I have been wanting to try for a while.



What else? I saw this downtown on my walk the other day. Rent strike. So in Portland and I am sure other places in other states as well, if you can't pay your rent (due to the current state of emergency) you can inform your landlord of it and either not pay or pay as much as you can without getting evicted. This order took effect April 1 and is in effect for 90 days, unless extended or terminated. You would still owe the unpaid rent and it would have to get paid back at some point, so you basically would owe the rent. That can add up fast and become a real burden.
It has also been suggested that rents and mortgages should be forgiven during the ongoing state of emergency. A lot of people live paycheck to paycheck. And rents in Portland and suburbs are high. It is not cheap to live here. It is not cheap to live anywhere PERIOD unless you live for free or got some other arrangement going. So I get it that people are worried and upset.
Now a rent strike is something different. I think it is more of a refusal to pay and I am not sure if that includes a plan to pay back or not. I suspect the latter.



I have been studying. I didn't for a while because that is just how I am. I get consumed or distracted with other things so easily and I tend to procrastinate. Why I don't know. But I am back on track again. Right now I am repeating the law portion.
Here are a few recent notebooks. One my Mom gave me, that one and the light blue one I will use when I am done with my studies and transition (hopefully) to something else. Then I got a dream diary. I decided a while back that I was going to write down my dreams, I had a vivid dream which inspired me get the dream diary. Well, I don't even recall that dream, did not write it down of course and the dream diary is still empty. I tend to recall my dreams right after I wake up, once I am up and start moving around and my mind goes elsewhere and I tend to forget what I dreamt about. A few years ago I had two incidents while sleeping, I woke up screaming loudly in terror both times. I was going through a very difficult time then and it affected me a lot. I developed anxiety and I would average maybe four hours of sleep per night. No more anxiety or bad dreams and I am back to my normal sleeping pattern.



I am down to my last roll of toilet paper! What to do? Should I start scooting my butt on the carpet or should I jump in the shower after each bathroom visit? I will need to go out there into the craziness and enter stores on a toilet paper mission, fighting others for the available rolls.
I have not hoarded anything during all of this. Those people that hoarded stuff, I think it is good that they can't return it. You wanted all that toilet paper, hand sanitizers and whatever else you decided to stock up on then you should get stuck with it. Have fun with your stuff. As far as turning around and making a profit on selling overpriced bottles of hand sanitizers, face masks and whatever else aka price gouging. I think that is morally wrong but hey....isn't that a form of capitalism? And capitalism is good right? At least in America. Make profit! Most of us think it is wrong to price gouge during a crisis, I feel it is wrong to price gouge on necessary goods period. Crisis or not. What about the extreme price gouging on medical attention and medications? When you need medication or hospital care, that is a personal crisis (usually because most people don't seek medical attention unless they need it) and the prices of such services and goods are extreme. To charge people exorbitant prices for medications and health care including health insurance should be illegal and that is morally wrong. Unethical. Quite disgusting the greed that is out there. I am with Bernie Sanders 100%, FREE healthcare for ALL. I like Bernie a lot. And how is it going to get financed, people that don't like Bernie often say. I don't know, again I do not get paid to sit and think about and try to work out solutions for the people. Had I been a politician on a payroll I would had worked hard to try to improve a lot. But if other countries can do it so can the US. I try improve what I can, for no pay at all.

I decided to drive downtown the other day.....join me on a walk through Portland. Portland is a walking friendly town, although there are plenty of intense dudes on bikes to watch out for. I call them “Tour de France”, they seriously act like they are in a race. You can start on one side of the river and walk across one of the bridges to the other side, which I did. I started a bit after 7 and walked for about 1 1/2 hours. I love walking, looking at things and taking pictures along the way. Here are a few from the other evening....















And a pic of me....your amazingly skilled photographer, still using my Samsung S3 that I had for seven years this month now. Perhaps I should enter the Sony World Photography Awards or something similar? I surely have a strong chance at scoring a top prize, don't you think?



One of the things I entertain myself with when I sit up until 4 in the morning reading about all kinds of things online, in between coming up with blog entries, is to look at photography contests and the photos that are featured. There is some amazing photography out there, it is truly an art.