Entries by TATIANA

This year Burning Man's art theme was Radical Ritual. I have no clue how they decide on what art projects to include each year and how the art theme has anything to do with the art. All I do is look at the art with admiration. There were 270 art installations on the Playa this year. And sadly, yes I feel a tinge of sadness over this, I did not see close to enough of the art. But I did not expect to spend such short time at Burning Man as I did this year, I am usually there longer.....
But I did see some of the art and I took pics and here you go....some of the art of Burning Man Radical Ritual 2107.

This was called the Tree of Ténéré and it was my fave this year. People just loved this tree, it lit up at night with 25 000 LED leaves. Very beautiful, the tree switched colors. The inspiration for this piece of art, "We were inspired by a tree that once grew in the middle of the Sahara desert, in a region called Ténéré. It was the most isolated tree on Earth: not a single other tree could be seen for 250 miles. And yet, the tree became an important ceremonial gathering place for traders and travelers as they crossed the desert. It brought people together for community, ritual and rest.It was mysteriously destroyed almost 50 years ago."







Ursa Mater
This art was made with pennies, over 200 000 of them. I have to say that this Mamma Bear was very impressive.



The Flower Tower





La Victrola





The Temple Of The Inner Bitch
"The Temple Of The Inner Bitch is a shrine dedicated to radical, forceful feminine power. From birth, females are often taught by their families and society to 'be nice' above all else and to eschew assertive behavior. The Inner Bitch is a natural and necessary facet of self expression and fierce protectress - a force to be honored, loved and worshipped. The Temple Of The Inner Bitch seeks to explore how we can connect with that mostly feminine force in a more positive way."







XOXO



If you want to read more about these art installations you an find them all online. I like the story behind The Temple Of The Inner Bitch, the artist is Anna Metcalf.

I went to Barnes & Noble yesterday, when looking through the new releases I saw that THIS dude has a book out. Kevin Hart and life lessons? I don't know what kind of life lessons he might be pontificating about and no I did not look through his book. The funny thing is that Kevin is currently in the news because he is supposedly being extorted because he allegedly cheated with a STRIPPER in Vegas (OMG the SCANDAL) although the girl claims to be a model and an actress, of course she is.....if she wasn't earlier she will be now. Welcome to America.
A sexual encounter or a sex tape with a "celebrity" = instant fame. Funny because I can guarantee you that if I would ever be involved with somebody "famous" there would NEVER be a leaked sex tape/footage or anything of that sort.
It was rumored that Kevin cheated on his pregnant wife a few months ago as well but he denied it, what else? I actually wrote an entry where I talked about it (July 19). And now he is busy being a bad boy again and all people want to talk about is that he cheated with a STRIPPER and how bad this girl is. Hello....what about Kevin?
The funny thing is and I talked about this with another dancer the other day.
Once you are a dancer aka stripper that is ALL people can focus on. You will always be referred to as the stripper. Nothing else matters. It makes some people feel good to try to put somebody else down when in fact they are themselves so miserable and pathetic. Stripper.....whore....this that. But look at YOURSELF first! What are YOU?
Kevin on the other hand cheated on his first wife with the current wife and now he is cheating on his current wife while she is pregnant. Perhaps focus on Kevin and his moral compass and how about the current wife that was OK with being the other woman for a while. She is now getting a taste of her own medicine.
I am that stripper that does not think it is OK to go after men that are already involved with someone else. Why would I want to be the other woman?
Break people up? No thanks.
I have in fact met plenty of strippers that possess way more morals and class than a lot of "normal" people with regular jobs do. That is one of the reasons why I started this blog, to prove to people that the stigma/stereotypes associated with dancers are simply not true the majority of the time. But now I am over proving anything....now I am just being myself. If you don't like it.....oh well.

I took the movies that I rented back to Blockbuster this evening.....but not before watching a few more scenes with John Bender. SWOON......seriously!
I realized that I have several entries in the blog dedicated to my crush John Bender.
So what other boys have made me swoon? No real life boys now, I am talking about the ones I have fantasized about from early teens until now.
First, a bit of background....I was like almost blind before I got a summer job at Åhléns cosmetics department in Skärholmen one summer and could finally afford buying contact lenses. I had glasses since I was 12 years old, I am very nearsighted but I refused to wear my glasses outside the classroom because I was vain, embarrassed over my glasses and I was scared that I would get teased (lame I know that now). So before the contacts I would think that every other guy I saw in a half blind blur was super cute and whatever friend I was with at the moment had to patiently explain to me that nooooooo he is NOT cute. I was quite boy crazy and just crazy in general, in a fun way. Nothing has changed I guess.
I remember when me and my friend Jenny spent a month or two in Poland at my cousins house one summer. My older male cousin accompanied us to a night club called Bungalowa and the next morning he wide eyed and terrified told my Mom that she better hire security for her daughter that summer. The male attention had been overwhelming and my poor cousin was scared for my safety.....LOL. Plus me and Jenny wanted to go out basically every night and he was not going to be our chaperone, he was married with two kids and had no desire to be out until 5 am every night. In the end we survived that summer in Sopot, it was a wild and very fun summer. I still think back at it and smile. That summer I got my first marriage proposal. Me and Jenny almost DIED.....when this boy pulled out a ring and started telling me that he loved me. I barely knew him, I think we kissed a few times that's it.
Speaking of kissing. I want a boy like THIS to kiss me. THIS is the kiss I am waiting for.









OMG. I love his hair, his face and his style. Maybe I should be John Bender for Halloween? I have the gloves and the jean jacket already, the rest I can get.
Other crushes I've had/have, my crushes kind of don't die....I am super loyal......Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran), Keith Flint (the Prodigy), Keoki (a DJ), Chester Bennington, Putin (yes, THAT Putin), Ville Valo (HIM). Did I forget anyone? I think Dave Gahan (Depeche Mode) is super seksi too. Oh and Zlatan (there is only one Zlatan) minus the current mustache. I can't leave out a young Sebastian Bach (Skid Row). And Samir, best looking guy in Sweden. I have girl crushes too of course, I LOVE Rihanna and Ellen. Those are the fantasy crushes.....any "real" people crushes currently? No.

Look at this little rascal posing with her new toys. I have to get her extra tough toys because she rips everything up, these toys although "tough" will be ripped apart in time. Chhaya gets very excited over new toys, or "binkis" like I also call them. She has two toy bins where all her binkis are stored, she has full access to rummage through the bins and play with her stuff whenever she wants.





Today I got myself a book, finally a new book to read! And about a character I personally very much like, Lisbeth Salander. The main character of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy. If you know anything about these books, the story is about a badass girl in Sweden - Lisbeth. The original author that came up with the story of Lisbeth, Stieg Larsson passed away unexpectedly and could not continue writing about her. He said that to him Lisbeth was Pippi Långstrump (Longstocking) as an adult and in one of the novels he makes a reference to Pippi's house (that is on an island outside Sweden called Gotland that I visited when I was 12) Villa Villekulla. I LOVE Pippi, I drive around with a Pippi doll in my car. Pippi is Swedish too and I think that both Pippi and Lisbeth are great role models to have for anyone. Strong, confident, independent, brilliant.....
This new book is called The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye by David Lagercrantz. Interesting title as well, because the title very much resonates with me and where I am in life right now.....strange coincidence.
And prior to this book David also wrote a previous one about Lisbeth, that I wasn't aware of until today (talk about not keeping up on stuff) I need that one too. It is called The Girl in the Spider's Web .



What else did I do today? I went over a friend's house and together we installed a new battery in a Maserati GranTurismo. Never quite seen a car battery situation like that before but I was determined that we would get it done WITHOUT having to call a man over. Fuck that. I have tools in my car and we did it.
What would Lisbeth do? She would had installed that battery. Me too.



EDIT . Changing car batteries might not be that complicated with most cars....like mine for example. Although my car has a rather difficult access to the battery compared to most cars I have looked at. This Maserati though was a bit more complex than I had expected. And I am far from a mechanic....but I am stubborn.

The leaves have started to fall slowly around here, the day's are getting colder and the wind is picking up. Me and Chhaya found that first yellowy orange leaf laying on the lawn in the yard the other day. Fall is arriving, Halloween and haunted houses are around the corner!



I am almost done with the after Burning Man stuff. Meaning cleaning, folding and putting stuff away where it belongs. I have four large plastic totes with Burning Man/camping related stuff. All I have left to do is to clean my bike and I have one pair of pants to hand wash. But yes, Burning Man is over and I am looking forward to the next time already. I get the Burning Man newsletter called The Jackrabbit Speaks and in the latest one it says, "It’s over. Can you believe it?
We can’t, either. This year’s Burn was so… much. How could it have all already happened?
Sorry, playa brain makes Englishing more harder."
Playa brain! There is a word for it and it makes total sense. I just don't feel "normal' for a while after Burning Man because I have Playa brain! And obviously I am not alone in feeling that way.
I usually do errands on Sundays and today it is Sunday.....so today I have to or I should go and get some more food for Chhaya, clean at home, do a load of laundry, go to the store and get some stuff that I need. Tomorrow I work in the afternoon, I started that new job I mentioned briefly and I have worked for almost two weeks now. I am taking my car to the mechanic on Wednesday to put in a new battery and have a bracket put in. I found a great mechanic that I can trust, I am there the whole time he works on my car so I am learning at the same time. The other day we opened up my battery (the old one) and I learned about the battery cells and battery acid.
And let's see if I can wrap up my Burning Man story next week as well here on the blog.
Well, I better get going so I can get some stuff done already. I am going to an RV show in about an hour.

When I saw this event, a George Michael Video Wake in the Burning Man What Where When book I knew that I would be there.....



It was amazing and also sad. The ones that gathered for it all danced and sang along to the songs while watching George's videos on a big screen. Occasionally people would yell, "we love you George". The moon and the stars were out, was George out there somewhere watching us? I hope so. We all loved him very much right there and then.