Entries by TATIANA

The first couple of days there were some dust storms. In fact I heard that they shut down entry into Burning Man for several hours on Monday because of dust storms. I dragged McKenzie through the dust on our bikes, glad that she got experience it. I got my bandanas on, covering my face and hair. Dusty eyelashes and brows....breathing in the playa and loving it.



Limited visibility in Center Camp.



Checking out what Black Rock City has to offer this year in "What Where When".



Once the first dust storms ceased it was actually great weather the rest of the week....the playa was smooth and easy to bike on. I am ready for the day ahead....



This was the year that Larry Harvey, the founder of Burning Man passed away. I never met him (that I know of) but I am forever grateful to him for Burning Man. A truly amazing adventure that really can't be described in words - it has to be experienced - Thank You Larry.

The gates to Burning Man 2018 opened at 12:01 am on Sunday August 26. We got there at 12:44 am (yeay I finally arrived in good time) and got to camp at 3:07 am, so not bad at all with waiting in line to get in. A lot of people were already settled in. People get early arrival passes to set up camps and others are there weeks in advance to build stuff, after all Black Rock City is basically a fully functioning city that supports around 70 000 people living there for the duration of the event. Putting on Burning Man is a huge undertaking.
A pic from the line.



This year I went with a girl that had never been to Burning Man before (a burgin!), McKenzie. As soon as we got the bikes out and a few things taken care of I took her out on the playa so she could see some stuff. And learn how to get around and find her way home to camp. The full moon was out and it was calm and clear - I felt happy to have arrived.
Center Camp and the moon.





We didn't stay up for that long, we were probably in bed by 5 am. A whole week at Burning Man was ahead of me, I knew that time was going to fly by. It always does. I was signed up for 16 hours of volunteer "work" (fun) as a barista at Center Camp and I was also going to DJ at Planet Earth this year.....check back tomorrow for more of my Burning Man 2018 experience.

I got out from the playa and Burning Man.....I got back home yesterday early evening. I have a lot of pictures to go through....even my Mom asked me when my Burning Man pics will be up and I told her that it will be a while. I need sleep, a bath, I have stuff to take care of, do and unpack and wash because I am now back in the default world now. What is the "default world"? It is, according to Burning Man community, "the rest of the world that is not Black Rock City during the Burning Man event". To learn more Burning Man glossary check this out
burningman.org/culture/glossary
I still have my Burning Man hair though....I might keep it a fe more days. So give me a while and the Burning Man 2018 pics will be up!
As always it is over way too fast.



My new necklace and my Burning Man manicure.



And when I checked my email last night, my phone was set to airplane mode for the whole duration of my burn, I saw this beautiful poem that a friend wrote to me.
How sweet! Thank You! I appreciate YOU!

I hope your adventure is all good vibe.
Amongst all the desert souls in your tribe.
I wish your soul soar high with excellent lift.
Your love, and your passion, is your gift.

Yesterday while driving around swamped with a ton of stuff to do I saw a dog running loose. A lost dog. I can't just continue driving and leave a dog on its own where it can get hurt so I pulled over and tried to get the dog to come up to me. The dog was scared but after a few tries I managed to put my sarong around her collar. She was wearing a collar with no tag. Since I was quite busy she had to ride along with me for a few hours and she seemed to be OK with that. She laid down and relaxed. Later on I had to drop her off at the Humane Society. I hope things work out for her, she is a very sweet and well behaved dog. Situations like these are difficult. I hope the owner comes forward but her toenails were long and her teeth were in rather bad condition, in fact when I gave her a treat it looked like she was uncomfortable chewing. Perhaps a nice and caring person will adopt her. Little Mama....such a cutie.

Hello. I haven't been here for a while because I am trying to deal with and adjust to my new "normal" and that is all I can say for now. But I am still here....and life goes on for all of us even when it's almost too painful to live. It feels like my soul is on fire right now.
I hope that everybody had a nice weekend. Back in the day I used to get anxiety on Sundays....more so when I was still living in Sweden and Sunday night meant that there would be school the next day. That anxiety or more of an uneasy feeling stayed with me for years afterwards and I know that it is a real feeling for many. Some have a really hard time on Sunday nights.....But before you know it the weekend will be here.
Here are some things that I have been doing since I last checked in....
My garden....so pretty, so colorful. I have veggies growing....WOW! I gave this big red tomato to my friend Mr.B that happened to drive through here last week on his way to a different destination. Mr.B is so very nice and a tomato is not really a worthy "gift" for such a good friend but that is what he got. We had coffee and talked for hours, it felt good.



More tomatoes......my Mom told me that this picture reminds her of when she would pick tomatoes and put them in her shirt, a long time ago when she was a young girl. I miss my Mom.



I found a place with locally grown and organic vegetables.....a super cute place.





That visit resulted in this.....pickled cucumbers! I am bringing two jars to Burning Man.



Yes....I am going to Burning Man. Sixth year in a row now. I am slowly preparing, I lubed the chain on my bike, one of the tires needs air.



I ate at my fave food cart, Ma'ama Jama's. Yummy.



What else? I signed up to volunteer at the Humane Society. But it's not a done deal yet....first there are some formalities and training next month and who knows, I might go in the first day and decide it is not a place for me. You never know. I love animals though.....



We had a pajama party at work all weekend. How many girls dressed for the theme?
Like three. I was one of them. The girls did not want to be without their platform heels and their usual outfits, they felt that they would not make money dressed in pajama stuff and slippers. Yes...those high heels make wonders for legs and butts. I got these slippers at Walmart for $9, they are great. I felt short compared to how tall I am when I wear my seven inch platforms and my feet were happy.
I got a guy kicked out....well the bouncers decided to kick him and his group out after he had mouthed off a bit too much to several girls, I just happened to be the wrong one to get smart with. And he was from Croatia.....yeah no wonder he thought he was being better than the rest of us. I know plenty of people from former Yugoslavia and I can say this....many of the guys from there have a crappy attitude towards women. His friends that were cool, said that he was an asshole in general and he just would not quit mouthing off to me even when I tried to be nice and ignore him. Finally it got kind of heated and the bouncers were like....what is going on here? I stepped to the side and they decided he had to go. Bye.



I got acquainted with this French mastiff (Dogue de Bordeaux) today, a big and friendly boy - Quincy. He lives with another mastiff and two pugs in an amazingly animal friendly house.
I want to live like that one day.



And that's it. I am not sure when I am writing again. It could be this week or it might be after I get back from Burning Man....I just don't know. I sometimes feel that I have said everything I want to say, that I am done with the blog. I have felt like that this whole year. But then another part of me loves writing, sharing my thoughts and taking fun pictures to go with the writing. Another reason for not wanting to write the blog anymore is that I simply do not want certain people to know anything about me anymore. That is how I feel....not sure what to do. Anyhow....it's almost 1 am and I am going to bed.

Today I decided to bring out my frugal side....oh yes I have one of those. When I find change on the ground I get ecstatic!
I am always eyeing the ground for change, hawk style.
Anyhow....Oregon charges a ten cent deposit per glass bottle (not all bottles count though) when you buy whatever beverage that comes in a bottle. I have until now recycled all my glass bottles by putting them in a container outside my place when there is pick up for recyclables. But today I took my bottles to one of the bottle redemption locations and got $3.20 for them. You basically get your deposit back per bottle. So this is what I will do from now on. My daily latte is $4.75 plus I leave a tip of course. All that extra change that I find and bottle money will pay for a percentage of my lattes. Yeay!