Entries by TATIANA

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.

Area 51 has been in the news a lot lately due to Alienstock, the "takeover" or raid that prompted people from all over to gather in Rachel, Nevada. Initially there was talks of a couple of million people gathering for the raid and in the end a fraction showed up. Traveling to remote places is easier said than done. Rachel is located about 150 miles from Las Vegas.
Well.....I have been to Rachel several times, not at all out of the way for me. I heard a sonic boom twice while sitting at Little A'Le'Inn, Area 51 is after all a U.S. Air Force training range. After following directions from one of the locals and driving down an unmarked dirt road for ten miles I arrived to a point where I stopped the car and read a sign that basically said that deadly force may be used if crossing into Area 51. A black SUV was already there, "they" (Area 51 military people) knew they had visitors. We (I was with my ex boyfriend) sat there for about 10 minutes while I recorded with my VHS (I need to find that tape!), this was before cell phones. And before Instagram. Some people travel to places only for content for their Instagram Feed, I traveled all over the beautiful Southwest in my old Toyota 4Runner for the love of nature, hot springs, hiking, camping, feeling alive and exploring.
There is a lot going on with theories about extraterrestrials and unidentified flying objects. Even the US Navy recently admitted to some footage showing UFOs.
I watched that footage. Some highly religious people might have a very difficult time coming to terms with intelligent life on other planets, should this be true.
I think there is so much information out there hidden from us on purpose.
I spent many nights camping in my car in the middle of nowhere, never seen a UFO or an alien (that I know of) but I did experience feeling scared and strongly feeling that something was not right while spending the night at an Indian petroglyph site in Ash Springs, Nevada. We were not welcome there during the night. I explored the area during the day but nighttime was completely different.
Here I am.....back in 2003.

And here is the rest of some random pic from this year's Burning Man.....
Latte at Center Camp. Best day to start the day if you ask me.



Daily playa look.



Center Camp painting.



Selfie.



Be awesome in an awesome place. See you next year Black Rock City! ❤️