Entries by TATIANA

It's almost 2 in the morning, I am sitting on the couch staring at my laptop and listening to the silence. Today was a MEH kind of day, I think maybe yesterday was too....I can't remember anymore. I had to force myself to do stuff today. Like force myself to brush my teeth, force myself to fold the laundry that has been hang drying for two days. I did go on a couple of looooong walks this week. I have a list of things that I should do. I mean I have all the time that I need to do them. But I feel like MEH. Right now at least, today.
In a bit I will force myself to brush my teeth again (better take care of the teeth, imagine getting tooth problems in the midst of this situation), wash my face and put on face cream. But first I will clean my couch up so it looks nice when I wake up and see it again in the morning. I decided that my task for this evening was to fix the couch and maybe write a blog entry. Looks like both tasks will get done so it's not too bad. I will also turn on the dish washer, I like hearing the hum of the dish washer when I lay in bed about to fall asleep. It is comforting.....
Been talking to friends here and in Sweden about COVID-19, the stay at home order and everything else. Perhaps I can come up with a blog about that before the week is over. It's already Thursday tomorrow (actually it already is), it feels like Monday was yesterday.....weird how time goes by sometimes. Well, I should probably go to bed. Goodnight.

Check out my eggies! Since it is Easter I decided to spruce up the eggs, which come from "happy" hens by the way. Meaning not from some chicken factory.
I want to believe that the hens are happy at least.
Some people were upset that they could not go to church today because crowds are not allowed to gather. But in some places the preachers did not care and crammed in a bunch of people into church anyways. Whatever.
I don't see this social distancing thing going that well in many places, like in some religious dwellings. Kids at skateparks spitting and blowing snot rockets, people going to underground bars because they just have to get drunk in a bar instead of at home (like the wife of a mayor in some town in Illinois), people meeting up with friends....stuff like that.
I don't go to church. Last time I did I had some words with the pastor. And realized that there were many hypocrites attending that church after my little conversation with him. I left with a weird feeling.
Also a friend of mine that is very religious and a very nice person overall went to his regular church a few years ago and the preacher started talking about the homosexual sin which made my friend upset and feel sad. I told him I would not set my foot in that church anymore if I were him. I also have a problem with mega churches that have those multi millionaire pastors. I have a difficult time justifying that wealth. After all, "And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” New King James Version. I think it is OK to be rich but I feel that it is your duty then to do good for others. Otherwise that wealth is wasted on nothing. I would feel awful if I was a very wealthy person that did not use that wealth to do better in this world.
Multi millionaires have the luxury of doing a lot of good without risking becoming poor, unless of course they make a lot of poor choices along the way. And I feel it is wrong to force your religion onto others, that includes children at school. You should be able to choose your faith freely and willingly, not everybody is religious and that should not be a problem. If you really want to get into details, a lot of wrong and evil has transpired throughout the centuries by humans in the name of God.
You can have a relationship with God, Jesus, Mary or whatever you believe in at home and read your Bible at home. And if you go to church I think you should go there for the right reasons. Not just to show up to look righteous for an hour or two and then go home and continue to be an ass.
There is a very nice and spiritual place here in Portland called The Grotto where I have been a few times to feel a deeper spiritual feeling. And yes....I do pray. Not as often as I used to but it still happens. I consider myself spiritual.

It got announced today....."After much listening, discussion, and careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision not to build Black Rock City in 2020. Given the painful reality of COVID-19, one of the greatest global challenges of our lifetimes, we believe this is the right thing to do. Yes, we are heartbroken. We know you are too. In 2020 we need human connection and Immediacy more than ever. But public health and the well-being of our participants, staff, and neighbors in Nevada are our highest priorities." That was from burningman.org
And I also got an email as a Burning Man volunteer (one of the many volunteers), "In the interest of public safety and after careful consideration, Burning Man Project has made the difficult decision not to build Black Rock City in 2020. As you all know from having contributed so much over the years, a gathering the size and complexity of Black Rock City requires our entire community to put in many months of planning and preparing. Coupled with enormous investments of money and energy, we don’t think it’s practical to continue waiting for the circumstances to change, nor do we think that would be fair to our community members, contracting partners, neighbors in Nevada and cooperating agencies who give so much of themselves to this event. We take great comfort in knowing that we are the people who will find the opportunity, hope, and potential in the face of this change. Let’s show the rest of the world how to burn."

This was a hard pill for me to swallow. I cried a bit. To me Burning Man (well Black Rock City to be exact) is not just some place to go and party. I could go to other parties and dance all night long or at least until 2 AM depending on when the club closes down. Burning Man is something that I can't put into words. I am sitting here looking at my five Burning Man boxes, filled with stuff for the event. Thinking about my bike, the soft Playa dust in between my toes, the wind that feels so good and the dust storms and being there in the middle of it all and just BEING. I will miss it SO much. My fear is that there will be no more Black Rock City....that this is it. But it can't be so. I have no control over this. There has to be a Burning Man 2021. I will be there. I am sad tonight.....

Let's look at a few pictures from Portland, where I live..... I've been wanting a picture with this sign for a while, finally it happened! The Willamette River flows through Portland. There are many bridges connecting the city. Keep Portland Weird - the unofficial motto of Portland, as well as the mantra of the city's residents. Voodoo Doughnut. Not visible in this picture but the sign says, "Good Things Come In Pink Boxes" on one side and the other side says, "The Magic Is In The Hole". Yep, that pretty much sums it up. The one and only doughnut I got from Voodoo Doughnut (so far), this one is called Viscious Hibiscus. Peace Pole. One side in English and the other in Swedish....although "vaere" is Norwegian so something is not adding up.... A tree in bloom, so pretty! I think this is a magnolia tree. Coffee shop. The Willamette Week. The headlines reflect the current situation. I saw this in a window, thought it was cute. Outside Providence Park, a sports and entertainment venue. The blurry text on top spells out, "Be Well Everybody We Will See You Soon". And there you go, a glimpse of Portland!

Since I am limiting my latte outings I have been making coffee at home. Decided to finally make Dalgona coffee this afternoon after thinking about making it for about a week or so.
It's easy to make, mixing the ingredients takes a while (I would not attempt to use a hand whisk just stick to a hand mixer). And I liked it so I will definitely make it again. You can make it hot or cold. Next time I will try it cold. Yummy!

The supermoon of April 2020 is shining down on my house right now. No social distancing for the moon, tonight is the closest it will be to us earthlings this year and it is also the largest moon of the year.....and this moon is called the Pink Moon. I went outside to take a look at it, didn't look pink (I knew it wouldn't) but it looked nice next to Mount Hood. I did what I could with my cellphone camera, there were people out with long telephoto lenses hoping to get a killer shot to end up in the news.
Well....this is my news channel, Tati News and here is tonight's pink supermoon.









Let's send some positive wishes and good thoughts to the moon tonight for this planet and everybody living on it.