Entries by TATIANA

I have been wanting to see Marilyn Manson live for years now and last night it finally happened! Me and thousand of others at the Moda Center in Portland screamed when he got on the stage. I was so excited!











I would definitely see him again. Love his music. And his voice.
And when Marilyn Manson was done it was time for Rob Zombie. And WOW what an amazing energy he had! I was super impressed. Interesting fact, he is a vegan. He stopped eating meat decades ago after watching slaughterhouse footage. My kind of person! That is basically what made me decide to become a vegetarian.



This Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie tour is called Twins Of Evil: Hell Never Dies. If you are interested in reading a good review of it, here is one that I found that pretty much sums it up.

https://cincymusic.com/blog/2019/07/review-rob-zombie-and-marilyn-manson-twins-of-evil-hell-never-dies-tour

I think I said "beautiful" several hundred times while visiting my beautiful Sweden. Stockholm is a breathtakingly gorgeous city.....it is difficult to capture its beauty in pictures. All the details of the majestic buildings. The colors. The old cobblestone streets of Gamla Stan. The church bells ringing in the hour. Even the subway is art is Sweden. The lion statues all over Stockholm. The green parks. Lake Mälaren surrounding Stockholm.....I can go on and on. I love Sweden. I celebrated Midsommar. Spent hours talking by a lake on Midsommarafton with my friend Marie. I walked so much and it felt amazing. I love walking. This statue is on Djurgården that me and Rose-Marie walked to from Stockholms Södra and all the way back again with several detours along the way. I took a trip with Carmen out to Utö, an island in the Stockholm archipelago. Mariatorget statue of Tor slaying the sea serpent Jörmungandr. Stockholm is where I grew up and Stockholm has my heart. ❤️ I am planning to go back next spring.

My absence here was due to me spending time in the land of fika and Abba - meaning Sweden. I went back home for a while. And it was GREAT to be there. And I am sitting here now, back in the US, missing everybody, everything and Stockholm..... I was definitely ready for fika everyday! What is fika? "A relaxing coffee and cake break. Fika is often translated as "a coffee and cake break", which is kind of correct, but really it is much more than that. Fika is a concept, a state of mind, an attitude and an important part of Swedish culture." I looooove Abba (of course)! One of my fave places for delicious fika is Vete-Katten. I like the original location on Kungsgatan in Stockholm. It's been there since 1928. Not bad. My absolute favorite is prinsesstårta. Pancakes at Plantshoppen in Ösmo. In Sweden the pancakes are not like the "Swedish" crepes you get at IHOP, those are misleading. We don't eat pancakes or crepes with lingonberries and butter in Sweden. Cringe. Yummy lattes daily. So many places for fika..... More about my trip tomorrow.

Mmmmmm rhubarb.....one of my favorite things to eat. So I decided to actually buy a few stalks of rhubarb and make something edible myself instead of going out to a cafe to get rhubarb pie. All I did was cut the rhubarb into small pieces, add sugar and vanilla beans......30 minutes in the oven, drizzle with heavy cream and then eat it all up. It was sweet and tarty and delicious. So easy that even a non cooking person like me could do it.



I am at the coast again. A pretty view from the balcony as this day came to an end. I am going to be up for a while, watch music videos and read.

Tried a new place for coffee and cake this evening....Rimsky-Korsakoffee House. Named after a Russian composer (Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov), the cafe itself is in the living room of a house that was built in 1902. I like that it's open late, until 1 am on weekends, great for a night person like me that loves late night snacks. Interesting atmosphere, I've had better coffee other places but Rimsky's is still worth a visit if you are in the mood for something sweet after the sun goes down.

I saw this on Craigslist a while ago,
"Have you ever been told to "Smile More" by someone? How did that make you feel? Good, bad, indifferent? We're hoping to change that. We're casting for a social-only video for a new health & beauty start up, but we're taking a different, much more empowering approach, and we're looking for real women (not actors), ages 21-35, all ethnicities, all looks who have experienced being told to "Smile More" by others.
The video role will require speaking in your own words, directly to a cellphone, in locations in and around the Lake Oswego, Tigard, and Portland Metro areas.
Total time required filming is 20 minutes max and we will compensate you $20 cash."
So I sent a reply with a link to a blog entry from last year when I was at Burning Man where I mention the phenomena of suddenly being approached by a stranger, (always a man) who is telling you to smile. But I did decided not to participate in the shoot although I got the offer to because I already had plans that weekend. Otherwise you would had been able to view me explain why I think people that do not know you at all but demanding that you "Smile" are completely inappropriate and annoying as fuck.
You won't get a smile out of me if you happen to tell me that. You might get a lecture instead. Or a FUCK OFF BITCH depending on my mood.
Coincidentally enough the letter of the week in last week's edition of the Portland Mercury covers this strange smile phenomena. Here you go....read and ponder.