Entries by TATIANA

It's 3 AM Thanksgiving Day and I am debating whether I should sleep or stay up a bit longer. I am a night owl. I don't have any plans for Thanksgiving, it's not something I celebrate in a big way. My fave holiday is Halloween, or Summer Solstice if I am in Sweden, New Years if I am at some rave or club besides that my fave week of the year is the week of Burning Man. Because Burning Man is like celebrating all your fave holidays for a whole week. I will make some mashed potatoes and I have some cranberry relish, green beans from a can and two pies and vanilla bean ice cream. Good enough for me. The pies are from the store, no baking or cooking on my part with the exception of the potatoes.
Let's talk about something that matters, the other day an important law took effect, The Pact Act. It's the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act that is a spin on the ban on crush videos that took effect in 2010. This law was proposed back in January by a Democrat and a Republican, not that it matters for me but it matters for some. The President signed it this past Monday I think. Good....about time! I think the law should cover a broader spectrum of animal abuse and torture but this is a step in the right direction. To me a person that abuses an animal is sick and dangerous and needs to be locked up, I would like to see animal abusers have to register like sex offenders do. Lengthy sentences for people that mistreat innocent animals, make room for them in jail and free the non violent criminals instead.
I hate people like that. That's right - hate.
You can learn more about the PACT Act here.
https://aldf.org/project/preventing-animal-cruelty-and-torture-pact-act/

I have a memory from a few years back that still makes me uneasy. I was in Alaska....I lived in Kenai with somebody I used to be together with. We were outside one evening and I saw a large beetle of some sort scurry across the deck, I had never seen a beetle that big before and for a second I thought that I shouldn't point out the beetle to him (the ex) cause he might stomp it but then I thought no he knows I care for all living things even insects so I pointed at the beetle and said something like....oh look how big! My intention was to scoop it up and take it to the side of the house or into the forest. Well.....his face distorted into a grin and with a crazy look in his eyes he stomped that poor beetle once with his huge heavy boot while loudly laughing together with his brother that happened to be visiting. I got upset. I STILL think about that moment, how bad I felt for the beetle, for showing him the beetle, how psychotic he looked in that moment when he stomped it. And guess what, he turned out to be the most evil person I have encountered so far in my life. That was just a minor demonstration of what he is capable of.
What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?
I am thankful for my health, my strength, friends and family including pets, that I have food to eat every day and a comfortable home with everything that I need and I am also thankful that I am not sharing my time with a person that finds joy in being cruel. I never belonged there cause I am not like that.

It's Sunday evening and as usual I am reading.....scrolled through BBC.com and saw an article about sanitation workers in Mumbai India. Last Tuesday on November 19 it was World Toilet Day.
I HIGHLY recommend that you look at the article after reading this blog entry. Here it is.
https://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-50406148
Puts things in perspective doesn't it? SO MUCH suffering in the world, so much injustice. We are approaching 8 BILLION people that share this planet.
We share the planet together with animals and many animals suffer greatly due to us. We all need shelter, we all need food, some are not happy with what they have even when they have plenty and only want more more more. I think that the more people there are the higher disregard for life there will be. Everybody is replacable and easily forgotten, we are disposable. Another mass shooting and the next day we are on to something new, unless you personally knew one of the victims because then it becomes reality and not only a headline. Prayers and thoughts are just empty words, words are easily said.
I am SO grateful for what I have.....even when I usually don't pay much thought to being fortunate enough to have a working toilet and clean water coming out of the faucets with a simple twist.
I feel bad that there are so many people that have nothing when others have far more than they need.
World Toilet Day.....be grateful for your toilet if you have one.

Sunday night and foggy outside. I love it when it's foggy, the outside feels so mysterious.
Smith Tea came out with a new tea called "Portland Breakfast" - perfect for a rainy Portland morning or evening for that matter. I have lived in Portland for a year now, a year that went by really fast. I have only scraped on the surface of this city.



This cutie got some food today and something tasty to chew on. Animals are amazing, please treat them right. ♥️



I went to see a Pink Floyd tribute band last night - In The Pink. Three hours of Pink Floyd, excellent performance.





And here is a latte I had a while back with a fun framed message that I saw in the same coffeeshop.



I am going to spend the rest of my evening reading. My latest obsession is a very intelligent human, Václav Smil. I am studying him and deciding on which one of his books to read first, 40 published so far. He has been named one of the top global thinkers and I would really like to attend an event where he is speaking. What an honor to be one of the top global thinkers.....something to strive for. In a world where clowns like Kanye West and Dan Bilzerian are talking about running for president in 2024 (seriously scary and comical as well).....and people looking up to everything fake and vapid like the Kartrashians and others like them it is truly reassuring that intelligence and class still exists.
vaclavsmil.com

It is November 3.....and it is post Halloween which is my fave time of the year. I usually go to several haunted houses (I looooove running through a haunted house screaming at the top of my lungs while chased by a bald guy with a loud chainsaw) but this year I was a real fogbone and went to only one. The thought was to go to at least two but after freezing in line for almost two hours to get into House Of Shadows the thought of freezing in another line made me decide to stay inside where it is warm and cozy.
I went to House of Shadows with my friend Tawny, she is only 21 and full of energy....good that I am too.



Hope everybody had a fun Halloween. I made a quick stop at Blåkulla of course.



I am watching movies tonight, right now The Dirt (about Mötley Crüe) and drinking tea. I am so tired today. I started volunteering, so on Sundays and Mondays I am busy with that. On Sundays I do something outside and animal related and on Mondays I sit at a desk acting very proper at a non profit organization. Plus I am trying to catch up on my studying, I am not particularly fond of studying when there are other things I could do instead but at some point I think I should be done. Hopefully. It is bedtime soon, I have to be at my desk at 9 am tomorrow.

Last night I went to Nordia House to listen to Joanna Cain speak about the differences between Scandinavian and US healthcare. "Joanna Cain M.D. will speak on the differences between Scandinavian and American healthcare systems both from the doctor and patient perspective. She brings with her a wealth of knowledge from her extensive experience across multiple US academic health systems, as a retired professor, a consultant with the World Health Organization, as well as Nordic culture." www.nordicnorthwest.org Very interesting. OF COURSE I think that the US should take steps towards free or at least low cost/affordable healthcare just like the Scandinavian countries, other countries in Europe and Canada. Nobody want to be sick (except for perhaps individuals with Munchausen's syndrome). Healthcare should not be a for profit business, pharmaceutical companies should not be allowed to charge exorbitant amounts for prescription drugs. Politicians should not be bought or sponsored by pharmaceutical companies whatsoever. It is very possible to change the US healthcare system. I am not going to figure out how to do it since I do not work as a politician. Bernie Sanders - "We say to the private health insurance companies: whether you like it or not, the United States will join every other major country on earth and guarantee healthcare to all people as a right. All Americans are entitled to go to the doctor when they're sick and not go bankrupt after staying in the hospital." Figure it out already! It's 2019 almost 2020 and the US healthcare system is majorly flawed. Since I only really have Sweden to compare with on a personal level I can say that I am sure that there are people in Sweden that complain about the healthcare they have received BUT having access to care regardless of income and/or insurance is SO much better and way less stressful than having to worry about whether you can afford to pay for your medications or not or if you will be able to afford seeing a doctor if you get sick or injured. Stress can make you sick as well. And in case you are not aware of it yet....Planned Parenthood does so much more than offer abortions. Planned Parenthood is great. I have used their services and I am grateful for them. I am pro choice, within guidelines. I wish people in general would spend more time contemplating if they really would be fit parents and if taking on the responsibility of raising a child is something that they are suited for. As long as there are individuals that molest, rape, beat, starve, sell and trade their children I fully support abortion. The people that commit these horrible acts (and there are plenty out there everyday that do) have no business reproducing.

By now most (?) Americans (I say most because some adults that I have talked to in the US know surprisingly little about a lot) have probably heard about Greta Thunberg, the 16 year old girl from Sweden that left school one day to strike for the environment, which she would then do every Friday and that turned into something big, leading up to her addressing the UN in a speech earlier this week.
There are people for Greta and then those that are against Greta, some say that her whole deal is orchestrated by her parents, especially her Mother. I can say this.....when I was 16 I was boy crazy and lived for clubbing on the weekends, I loved music and dancing. I also loved horses and read a ton of books.
No matter how you look at it, Greta is doing something positive. Especially at that young age in a society where many teenage girls are preoccupied with things that really do no matter.
I realized a long time ago that I should had put that boy crazy energy I had when I was a teenager into something much more meaningful and constructive.
My regret is that I should had realized it then.
Absolutely Greta has a point. Environmental issues are of uttermost urgency. Some say it's too late. That we have reached a point of no return. If you dismiss Greta because you think she is young and does not know what she is talking about then perhaps the scientists at NASA can make you realize a thing or two about climate change.
https://climate.nasa.gov
When I was in Sweden a few months ago I got ONE book. A small book with an important message, Greta Thunberg's "No One Is Too Small To Make A Difference". So very true. Most of us can do something. I believe in NOT littering. Picking up trash, yes even if its not yours. Recycling. Eating less meat and fish (I do not eat meat or fish at all), no reason to eat meat everyday.
But of course I can do more. Oh and I think that Greta is great.
Another thing and for many this is a difficult concept to grasp....understanding that the world is overpopulated and that squeezing out a bunch of kids probably isn't best thing to do. Limit the amount of children you produce or how about not having any at all? I am glad that I decided not to have any, I feel bad for the kids that have to grow up in today's world.