Welcome to Chaos !!

Hurricanes and tornadoes have ravaged through parts of the US. Many people dead and missing. 
A dog was found standing in water, tied to a fence. It probably would not had made it had a highway patrol trooper not seen and rescued the dog. The dog is now safe. The "owner" has been located AND will face prosecution for aggrevated animal cruelty. Florida Governor De Santis said, "Totally unacceptable, and we're going to hold you accountable." And state Attorney Suzy Lopez said, "We take animal cruelty very, very seriously in Hillsborough County. We protect our most vulnerable citizens: elderly, children and our four-legged friends. You don't get away with doing what this man did in Hillsborough County, not under my watch."
Those are some of the best words I have heard in a long time. Thank You for rescuing that dog. And Thank You for taking animal cruelty seriously. That is all I wanted to say before I try to sleep.

Last year on October 7 Hamas decided to massacre innocent people who peacefully were enjoying themselves at the Supernova festival in Israel. I won't go into details because with the internet at your fingertips there are many articles to read about what happened. And you should read up on what happened to those innocent that got murdered or taken hostage, a very sad read. Showing how truly evil humanity can be. 
Since then there has been many demonstrations and support for Palestine and a lot of acts of antisemitism. I am disgusted by this. I am 100% in support of Israel and I am 100% against all terrorist groups like Hamas (Hamas and Hezbollah are backed by Iran by the way). I can say without hesitation that I hate the ones spreading violence, terror and murdering innocent people. Looking back at history, say since 1950 and forward there is a repeated common thread, mostly crazy men commiting henious acts in the name of their Allah. It is disgusting.
Hijacking airplanes, murdering Israelis at the Olympics, murdering staff running a magazine, murdering writers, plowing vehicles into crowds, knife attacks on random people out in public, kidnapping innocent people, rape.......the list goes on and on, this random violence in the name of Allah is neverending. Brainwashed sick people. HOW do you become this way as a human?
I do not comprehend it.
Yes, I KNOW many innocent people in Palestine have died. I don't have a solution......move the Palestinians somewhere else in order to end this? To some other Arab country like Iran that supports Hamas anyways or wealthy Saudi Arabia. There is enough money in the Arab countries to house all the Palestinians comfortably. But they don't want them. Egypt for example closed its borders to the Palestinians.
Just as a comparison, Poland immediately took in millions of people fleeing Ukraine and a lot of the Ukrainians live in Poland now. And speaking of Poland, as a message to never forget there are several concentration camps still standing in Poland that the Nazis operated during World War II. And there are idiots here in the US and Europe that are antisemitic?
Educate yourself you morons. Go live in Palestine and see how you will like it. Throw on a hijab or a burqa, submit to your husband and Allah, pump out a bunch of kids and know that your daughters will have limited rights. Have fun with that.
And since I am on this subject......if you want to keep your cave man beliefs and fight to death for your God please stay in the countries where this lifestyle is the norm. Do not soil civilized countries with your beliefs, those beliefs DO NOT belong there. I feel so bad for the women, children and animals in countries where basic human rights do not exist and where only men rule and spread violence.
October 7, to all the innocent beautiful people that were exposed to terror - I am so sorry that this happened to you.

Sunday evening, tired feet and calves......eyes burning. I need to take out the contact lenses. Sleep will feel amazing tonight. I love to sleep.
One week ago I was in Portland for a couple of days. Got some vareniki (basically pierogi) at Pelmeni Pelmeni, a food cart located at Hawthorne Asylum. The way they make them is smaller than the pierogi I am used to and they serve them with some red tomato (?) sauce/paste. This food cart is popular, I had to wait for my order but that is OK. I really like food carts. I had some borscht too, served with a slice of dark bread. My Mom's Polish barszcz is better (of course).

Driving through Sellwood I saw this sign and I had to stop and investigate. What is this? Another pierogi place?
Next time I am in Portland on a Saturday I will go and try the "perogies" at St. Johns (a church). I will hunt down every place that serves pierogis in Portland!
Guess what I made for dinner tonight? Yup - pierogis.

Can't visist Portland without a visit to Stumptown for a latte.

Tati the local pierogi guide has spoken. Keeping up on the latest pierogi news is exhausting.

I almost did not go to Burning Man this year......so how did that happen? I have been going since 2013 after all. I guess a break once in a while can be a good thing but the intention was to go and not to take a break. 
I got my Burning Man ticket the day the general sale took place, back in April. The plan was to go with two other girls and I secured tickets for them as well. Everybody was on the same page....or so I thought. We had been talking about going to Burning Man since last year. I found a camper trailer for us to rent. Then one of them started talking about bringing her then boyfriend. Not even asking, just decided to add him to the mix. And when that relationship was over there was mention of bringing the new boyfriend (which I had not met) and I said no. After all, they had only been together for about a week at that point. Then the day before their tickets had to be purchased (end of July) they decided that they could not afford to go to Burning Man. Ok then. Thanks.
After recently dealing with another friend (former friend at this point) flake on plans just this past weekend, I can say that I am so over people that do not follow through. With some lame exuse as a poor explanation. I do not have the time for friendships like that. 
So I first thought that I was out the cost of the Burning Man ticket and the vehicle pass, this year you could actually get tickets at the gate which has not happened since 2011. People that had a change of plans were selling their tickets for way less than what they purchased them for. I knew that selling my ticket and the vehicle pass would not happen.
And since I already had a ticket I felt like I kind of had to go. So I started looking into other options, I really did not want to go to Burning Man on my own. In the end I found a rideshare to Black Rock City from Portland with a fellow Burner that turned out to be really cool. And I found a small camp, Snow Cone Zone to stay with which turned out to be nice. First I thought about doing open camping but decided against it. And I stayed in my tent, a first since 2016. I had to cancel the camper trailer and everything worked out in the end. 
Got my ticket and vehicle pass at Will Call. Getting in took maybe 1 1/2 hours so not bad at all. We left Portland Monday afternoon August 26 and rolled into Black Rock City around 3 am Tuesday.

Serious death or injury may result from attending Burning Man. It happens.

Having my morning beverage (London Fog) outside my tent and reading What Where When. 

Biking out to the man during the magic hour, feeling that now familar breeze, the sand, the everything that is Black Rock City.

Well......I have been back from Burning Man since a week now. Ouch. Returning from a week at Black Rock City back to life in reality is not my favorite thing to do but it is what it is. Back to reality or the default world (the world outside of Burning Man) it is.
I went back to work, it was loud, abrasive, rough and I spent most of the time in the dressing room. I have been making London Fogs at home every day. I did all my laudry and dusted off and put away all the stuff I brought with me to Burning Man. And I have been putting Burning Man magazines in places for people to read. And now I will spend the rest of this Tuesday evening (it is past 9 here in my neck of the woods) watching the first debate of the 2024 election.

Besides that I have been spending most my time with my girls (dogs). And dreaming on rescuing animals in need.
This is Senna. She is amazing. 
Until next time - Tati, Childless Dog Lady.