Entries by TATIANA

Today's trip to the grocery store resulted in.....water in cans and a red onion to be used with pierogies. No water in plastic bottles. I really need to install a water filter under the sink though. Of course I bring my own bag. And here in the US they always ask if you want a bag (to purchase) even if you only buy one or two items. Like people can't carry out a couple of items. NO you do NOT NEED a plastic or paper bag provided by the store for a fee to carry a couple of items! I don't care if I get ten or more items and would forget my own reusable bag, I still won't get a plastic or paper bag from the store. Because it is wasteful. And plastic bags that end up in landfills and oceans are harmful for animals.

I tried banana water for the first time the other day. Very yummy.

And I finally found some good milk tea. I was drinking milk tea almost daily in Japan. Now I can drink it here. Got these at Zupans in Portland, very yummy. Product of Japan of course. The land of yumminess.

Fort George makes the best pizza in Astoria in my opinion. 

My outfit arrived, with rhinestones this time.

My manager knitted a butt pad for me. I ALWAYS put something (usually a towel) between my bare butt cheecks and the chairs at work. No way that I am going to put my clean undercarriage down on some sticky yucky chair without a barrier in between.

And since I am also a world renowned photographer, same category like the ones that work for National Geographic.....I am presenting to you this pretty berry. Yes Hello National Geographic in case you wonder......I am available for assignments. 😉

Tonight's walk was peaceful and the air is warm.

And with that it is a Good Night from me. Tomorrow is July 1. June is already over, so soon. Too soon.

I ordered some new outfits a while back - check out this new stuff.
These two from Frederick's. A black longsleeved with rhinestones and a pink longsleeved with rhinestones.

Then this colorful little thing from Lavah. It was supposed to be covered in rhinestones but arrived without a single rhinestone. Supposedly they are sending a replacement......I am still waiting. And yea most likely I will throw in some pics here with me squeezed into these outfits, one at a time of course.
I need new heels too. I think another pair of 8 inch.

Yesterday I went back for some more of the festival (the yearly Scandinavian festival in Astoria Oregon). It was the last day of three. The first day I went I saw an art piece that I really liked, a mermaid inside an old wooden window. So nice. I told the artist that I would be back and if she (the mermaid) was there still I would get her. But no, she was gone. The artist told me that she is working on another mermaid, a purple one (I love purple) so I might be able to get that one. I love and collect mermaids and faeries.
In case you did not know, I am a mermaid and a faerie. Like a mix of both.

The Maypole was up.

I brought my eight inch heels and my blue & yellow string bikini to perfom at noon. I had the whole main stage to myself. 😉
Everybody in the US knows about the Swedish Bikini Team and I am a member of course.

The Oregon Midsummer Festival is taking place in Portland net Friday and Saturday at Nordia House.
I love that place.
 

Well.......June 21. Longest day of the year. It is Summer Solstice and a full moon today. And the Midsummer Festival is happening in Astoria. I am thinking about entering the meatball eating contest tomorrow and show these local folks here how real Swedes eat (not).
I went to the event today, walked around and looked at all the vendors selling things. I saw an art piece that I thought was quite amazing, if it is still there on Sunday I might splurge and get it. I ate (split pea soup with rye bread and then pancakes). I have an all weekend pass. The Maypole is getting up tomorrow. And this evening I wanted to see the sunset and the moonrise. The sun set behind clouds and I waited until 22 20 for the moon but I missed out on that too. But how?
Like where did the moon go this evening? Behind clouds as well or I was not in a good spot to watch it rise. I drove home disappointed. I love watching the full moon rise. 

Instead of a picture the moon I took took a picture of this boat. These cargo ships are always on the Columbia river behind Astoria. You can see their lights blinking out there on the water at night......it is soothing somehow.

Let me tell you about what happened to me last Sunday. I arrived to my volunteering shift with Pet Pack. Helped set up, started giving out dog and cat food and other things that I had bought and brought with me to give away. After about 15 minutes I decided to go and get my phone from my car because my friend and mechanic was coming in all the way from Bend to fix whatever was wrong with the shifter in my car.
Next thing I know.....I can't find my phone. So I check my car. My pockets. Dig around the Pet Pack stuff. No phone. I start to panic and feel very stressed and sad. My phone is not locked. So everything on it is available.
I had no idea how to do that "find my phone" thing.
My mechanic somehow found me and since he too has an Android we started locating my phone with/on his phone.
Somebody else walked us through the process, a houseless guy that was like a genius. Otherwise we (me and my mechanic) would had never been able to figure it out. I am NOT a technical person.
We all hop in my car to go and try to find my phone. I can see that it is on the move. Somewhere around downtown Portland. I asked all kinds of people, offering $100 to get my phone back but nobody knew anything about my phone. The houseless guy had to leave eventually (I was super impressed by him by the way, really cool guy), so then I decided to go to the police station on SW 2nd Ave. At this point I am crying, not hysterically but I am super sad.
See.....the last two years I've had enormous stress. Some of the things I have not shared in the blog. And it is never ending, it is just one thing after another. I have basically reached a point where I can't take it anymore. A stolen phone on top of it, it was just too much. I am so tired mentally from all the stress that I have been through that even a simple small task can feel like a mountain. 
A police officer inside the police station asked me where we had last pinged the phone. Around Union Station area I said. He told me to drive over to Union Station and said there would be another police officer waiting for me there.
And yes, when I got there, there were two police officers - a female and a male. I explained the situation, they asked my mechanic if they could borrow his phone and told us to wait. About 20 or 30 minutes go by and next thing I know the female police officer is outside my car with my phone in her hand.
UNREAL! LIKE HOW? I asked her if I could give her a hug and she said yes. They said some guy had my phone (thanks a lot you asshole).
I am just so GRATEFUL I got my phone back. I decided that I will get both officers coffee giftcards from Stumptown Coffee (my fave coffee shop in Portland) next time I am in Portland. They were amazing. And the female officer was super hot. Thank You Portland Police! ❤
 

On May Day or International Workers' Day me and the rest of the girls at the club I work at went on strike. How fitting. May 1 is a day that people all over the world (?), well Europe at least like to go outside and voice their opinions for better work terms. I recall May 1st demonstrations growing up in Sweden.
The owner of the club I am at decided to change some terms in our contract and we are not OK with the terms. I am really not willing to say much more than that. What I can say is this, more than half of the girls are ready to fold and agree to the owner's terms, not even a full day into the strike. One of us is fiercly opposing the terms. I am leaning towards that as well. And two other girls are not having much to say at all. Just radio silence.....
Disappointing is how I would describe the situation. I am at risk of getting fired of course. A dancer that speaks up is labeled difficult and dancers are disposable. We are also dealing with an owner that is not playing with a full deck of cards.
I suspect not much is going to change. Accept the situation I guess.
I wish Riverside Corral was still open, what a nice and relaxing club that was. I was actually looking forward to going in to work there. It was so easy.
The owner Mike cared about us girls, the bartenders did as well, the stage was great with good lights, the dressing room was comfortable with chairs that you could relax in. Low and reasonable house fee. A five hour shift which is perfect.
We mostly had FUN. Were there issues? Yes there were issues but at least all the boxes checked for a comfortable place to work at.
No place is perfect. The club I am at now has one good thing going for it which is super important to me, no touching allowed. I strongly prefer no touching strictly enforced. We shall see how this situation unfolds......we have even loosely talked about getting unionized. So far to my knowledge there are ONLY two out of thousands of strip clubs in the US that are unionized. Star Garden in Los Angeles and Magic Tavern in Portland. Lusty Lady in San Francisco was the first club to unionize but they are no longer open. Much respect to the dancers that went through months and months of unionizing.
I have no idea how that works and I do not have a lot of knowledge of what that means for the dancers in reality, if anything.
I hope it was beneficial for them to unionize. I just know that they fought for a long time. I do not think that I have that time on my side because I will most likely quit at some point in the not too distant future. Not too distant does not mean next week or next month though!
One of the dancers at the club I am at just quit, a few of the resons were that if she did not quit the club she was going to start hating men. And that she could not take the noise level in the place. I totally hear her. It is definitely a gathering hole for loud troglodytes of all ages. Far from an elegant gentlemen's club. But touching is strictly not allowed. So I am here, for a little longer.

Meanwhile one of the dancers has an Instagram, she posted about the strike on there and a kind and generous human asked if there is a solidarity fund to donate to for us to split while we strike. Like......how nice, thoughtful and generous!
And speaking of funds. There is something I should had done a long time ago, gotten on some sort of platform in order to get paid for blogging. Instead I have been writing here for free because I love writing, for many many years now.
Anyways.....I will keep ya'll updated on our strike. Again, I do not think much will happen in our favor. It is an it is what it is situation. 
Tati's strike fund 😉 Venmo Tati-J-1