Breaking news! A dancer (stripper) is running for Portland mayor. I know what you are thinking......is Tati running for mayor? I guess another dancer beat me to it. A dancer I have actually mentioned in the blog......her name is Liv but her dancer name is Viva Las Vegas.
A couple of years ago (two years ago actually) I went to Hollywood Theatre to watch a documentary about Liv called Thank You For Supporting The Arts. You can read about it here.
https:://fargosisters.com/styx/archives/3392-Thank-You-For-Supporting-The-Arts.html
So now Liv is running for mayor and I am intrigued. I think it is great - the REVOLUTION has arrived! Liv is thinking to put together a team of knowledgeable people to help her run the city. And yes.....Portland is a great city! Yes there are problems but problems have to be dealt with and problems can be resolved.
So it dawned on me.....Liv should put me on one of the teams. Afer all, I have been volunteering downtown Portland for years now. I am totally comfortable in random situations, I strongly believe in helping others, I advocate for animals, I pick other people's trash every day, I believe in transparency connected to leadership and money and I can talk to anybody (it's a dancer thing). So......there must be a spot for me somewhere on a team when, or if Liv becomes the mayor of Portland. Let's make Portland more magical together! Read an interview with Liv in the Willamette Week here.
https://www.wweek.com/news/city/2024/02/27/liv-osthus-stage-name-viva-las-vegas-is-running-for-portland-mayor/
Today's yummies!
Before Pet Pack I stopped at Stumptown and had an oatmilk vanilla latte. A free one at that. Extra exciting cause I have a girl crush (yes!!!) and she works there and she took my order and she talked to me! I have liked her for some time now......she is on the today's yummies list for sure.
Tonight waffles (from IKEA) with raspberry jam and whipped cream. Watching Dateline right now and relaxing.
I've done a couple of IKEA visits in the last week. On the first I ate by myself and missed everybody in Sweden. It is not easy emotionally to feel torn between two places. Should I live here and then what? Or should I move back to Sweden but how will that go?
I always have the plant or veggie balls and those come with mashed potatoes, brown sauce and lingonberries.
Apple cake. And coffee. If you have an IKEA card (of course I have an IKEA card) you get the coffee for free.
I came across this at IKEA and it made me happy and sad. I often feel happy and sad at the same time......Portland based Daren Todd is collaborating with IKEA and designing small spaces for unhoused people. I don't want anybody to be unhoused, unless by choice. A lot of people are only one rent payment or one unforseen expense away from risking becoming unhoused. Rents all over the country are going up, unaffordable for many. And I speak about the US now.
A few years ago I had nowhere to live. I thought I did, I thought everything was just normal until it wasn't. My life turned upside down in the span of a phonecall. But for a short time I had nowhere to live due to another person's shitty actions.
Lucky for me I have friends, savings and good credit. But many don't. Again, I do not want anybody to be houseless, unless of course by choice.
I believe we all have the right to basic human needs - food, water (clean water preferably), shelter (a safe place to call home) and clothing. Beisdes that we all have the right to rest and sleep.
The living space you see is 96 square feet. (There is a bathroom as well but not visible in the picture).
Thank You Daren and IKEA!
I saw this sign in an antique store a couple of days ago. Bäst av allt är ett eget bo. That is Swedish and means best of all is a home of your own. I agree. Preferably your OWN home, no landlord raising the rent or being difficult. I love spending time at home. Coming home, closing the door to the loud outside, take off my shoes, change into something comfortable, make a cup of tea and get cozy on the couch and then get comfortable in bed. That moment when you burrow down in bed, I love that feeling. If you are lucky you have a pet or a few pets that share the bed and your living space with you.
IKEA knows what's up with those amanitas. Mushrooms hold the answers.
Then I went back to IKEA yesterday with Ann and Molly, it was their first time. They thought thumbs down for the meatballs and potatoes. Like gross to them. OK, like we say in Sweden "smaken är som baken." I mean, it is not a gourmet meal, it is cafeteria style fast food. But beside the food they liked IKEA. What is there not to like? I love IKEA. I should work there.
I did my volunteer Pet Pack shift yesterday as well. Somebody told me that the shopping carts used to hold and transport people's belongings are called Burnside Cadillacs. Burnside Street is one of the streets in Portland. It was a rather chaotic scene down there yesterday. We gave away all but one of the four pound kibble bags that we prepare for dogs.
I am going down there again on Sunday. The dogs and cats need food and whatever else we have available to give away.
What a nice day today and yesterday too.
I decided to pay the Iredale shipwreck another visit.
Yesterday's view.
And some sights around town.
And an empty box of Q-tips. Which somehow coincides with a change in my life or something happening that pertains to me. And yes indeed, I am in the middle of a change. A rather major change. Lots has been happening in the last couple of months.......I was hoping for personal peace in 2024, still hoping for that. I need it badly. Got an extra large Q-tip box to replace the empty one with, do not want any unexpected and unwelcome things to happen for a good while.
Hello from a cold, windy and rainy Portland. Oh and it is Valentine's Day and another mass shooting took place here in the US and caused grief and trauma......and death. It is going to be a "fun" year moving forward here, it is election year in USA and I am worried that people are going to get completely unhinged, more than they already are. My vote goes to Bernie (Sanders), yes I know he is not running (too bad) but my vote still goes to Bernie. Plus I can't vote here anyways. But I align with affordable health care for all plus other Bernie visions that seem to anger and scare many Americans.
I talked to my friend Ann the other day and she says she just doesn't care about politics because she feels like it won't matter who she votes for anyways, nothing will change and the world is not safe. I wish I could tell her differently.
I am holding on to hope, I guess. For now. Maybe one day I won't care either.
So Happy Valentine's Day, I guess to you. I saw this art heart at Kulturhuset in Stockholm.
Does anybody feel genuinly bad for all the flowers that go to waste? Like is it really necessary to have all these bouquets? Just buy a fucking plant and water it and watch it grow. I tell everybody, do NOT buy me flowers. Poor flowers. So pretty, just to end up in the trash. Humans suck.
I have no plans this evening. I am doing what I like doing - which is NOTHING or as little as possible. I do not want to be around strangers, don't want to be around noise - I like peace and quiet. I am around loud noise and strangers filling my ears with words and sounds and exhausting my brain when I work. People ask me all the time what kind of music I like to listen to and where I go out. The answer is, I rarely listen to music at home because I am around music so much at work and I do not go out, I go to work. Being at work is like going out. Except I go out in my underwear......A mix of strangers, music, alcohol, chatter and at the end of my night "going out" I count my money. Thank You.
Me being out.
There is a shipwreck on the beach here on the Oregon coast. I have been out to it once before but I heard that more of the shipwreck is exposed now so I thought I would take a look at it again. But there was high tide today when I was there.
Maybe another time. This is the Peter Iredale shipwreck and it has been stuck in the sand for over 100 years.
It is so nice outside today. It feels like spring. I feel restless inside.
Well......I am back in Portland since a few days now. Longest trip back ever. Getting to Arlanda (the airport a bit outside Stockholm) and dragging my luggage around, waiting for about six hours at Arlanda for the first flight, going through security, trekking from one gate to another and hoisting my super heavy carry on into the overhead bin a total of three times and getting it down as well was pretty miserable. Sat next to a three year old child that had a very loud meltdown because he was unhappy over his experience flying I guess.
He screamed like he was getting branded with a cattle rod for like 20 minutes. Missed my connecting flight to Portland so I got home three hours later than I was supposed to. Got some rest and relief on two of the flights out of three. But I guess what matters in the end is that I got back safely and my luggage too.
The following day after returning I had an appointment with a dermatologist for a full body check. Needed to have all my moles checked. Three spots got frozen off with liquid nitrogen right then and there. I want a liquid nitrogen tank so I can freeze off every mole on my body. And I got two moles biopsied and most likely I have basal cell carcinoma (again) and need that removed. I had a mole surgically removed in 2016 for that reason. Waiting for lab results. I so regret frying myself in tanning beds and laying out in the sun for too long.
Listen to me.....do not use tanning beds and do not burn in the sun.
I missed one shift at work because I could not get the biopsied areas wet for 24 hours. Worked one shift, I was super cold the whole time and fell asleep in front of the heater in the dressing room due to jet lag and had one of my worst shifts ever money wise. Not even worth being there, should had stayed at home but you never know I guess.
Let's end this depressing entry on a different note. I guess spring has sprung, at least here. For now. That can change depending on the weather.
Today was a repeat of yesterday pretty much. Fika and books.
Met Monika outside Åhléns, hopped on the subway and tried the Vete-Katten on Söder. They did not have any cinnamon there. Meh. I like to sprinkle cinnamnon on my latte, a proper café should have cinnamon.
I had an oatmilk latte (of course) a wienersemla and a muscovadobulle - a first for both. I love semla and this kind is a hybrid of some sort. The traditional semla is a bit different. There is even a day dedicated to the semla here, Fettisdagen which falls on February 13th this year . Big thumbs up for the wienersemla, I loved it. The muscovadobulle got thumbs down from both me and Monika.
At the table to our left sat a couple that saw some books that I brought with me so we started talking books and authors. That was nice. I got some more books. These two. Stacken by Annika Norlin and Morgon och Kväll by Jon Fosse (recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature 2023).
When we were done with fika we walked. And took a peek inside Kulturhuset, I like that place.
Pippi, Barbapappa and the rest of the gang in this picture is childhood to me.
Then it was time for Hej Då och vi ses and a hug.
It might seem like all I do is meet up with friends for fika, read and take slow walks and take pictures of things. I WISH.
I have been occupied everyday since I arrived with stuff pertaining my Mom and I have been spending time with her everyday.
Busy day today. It is a quarter to midnight, I am tired.
I met up with Monika outside Åhléns and then we strolled over to Vete-Katten to fika, it's like our tradition. The place was packed, not a single table available so we left and wandered around for a bit. Saw this beautiful sight.
And this tomte in Gamla Stan. One thing I have not yet experienced, the beauty of the northern parts of Sweden. I want to visit Lappland. And other counties too. Sweden is made up of 21 counties (we say landskap). Lappland is the furthest North, Skåne is the furthest South and Stockholm is in Södermanland.
Then we walked back to Vete-katten and managed to find a table and sat there and talked for probably two hours - a proper fika. Prinsesstårta of course!
I could not resist, had to get these books. Jävla Karlar by Andrev Walden, the author's debut novel which he received Augustpriset for last year. I read a few chapters on the commuter rail back home. Promising!
I am looking at one extra suitcase going back to Portland. Bringing stuff back with me.
Last night I walked by myself in the winter evening from Medborgarplatsen to T-Centralen......I felt like a stranger in my own city. This place that I am so familiar with but at the same time removed from. The familiar sounds and views.....I love my city but I also don't know where I belong. It is a conflicted feeling. Like where should I be? I don't know.
The ice quietly bumped around in Mälaren. I kept on walking......my heart on fire.
Walked by people giddily ice skating in Kungsträdgården.
The lyrics to a melancholy (melancholy sounding to me at least) song that reminds me of childhood. "Ingen dager synes än men stjärnorna på himmelen de blänka." I get a weird feeling in my stomach when I hear that song. Staffan Var En Stalledräng is the name of it by the way, it's a traditional Christmas song.
I got off the commuter rail and walked. It felt like one of those winters when I was a child. A beautiful evening, not too cold a great evening for a walk. Those childhood winters felt majestic and mysterious.
I descended on Stockholm last week. Not a flashy arrival like Abba in a helicopter at the cover of their album Arrival (1976), more of tired and stuff because of delayed plane departure but still happy nobody sat next to me so I got two small seats all to my self.
It has been intense. Last night I got to relax a bit and today was the first time I made it into the city to meet my friend Carmen for fika. We went to Gunnarsons, it has been a Stockholm staple since 1946. I had a latte and apple pie with vaniljsås of course. So yummy and so cozy.
I have been trying to care for and help my Mom. Lots of tears. Angst. Guilt. Reflections and thoughts about life. Like I mentioned, a very intense time. I am tired in my brain. So much to think about. I have to write stuff down so I can focus and rememeber all the tasks.
I have the most amazing and wonderful friends here. Truly. I am so grateful for them and blessed to have them.
My friend Monika gave me this......a prinsesstårta made out of glass and a coffee mug that has FIKA written on it. Some of my favorite things.....
Well a winter storm came down on Portland and other places as well in the US. The street I live on has had no power for over 50 hours. That means no light, no hot water, no heat, no internet and my phone does not work in the apartment either due to a broken cell phone tower. The winds were so strong that several trees fell on the power lines and for a while a large part of Portland had no power. Lucky me my place is still out of power. Cause I need to live in an icebox for some fun.
I can see my breath inside. I slept inside in outdoors clothing underneath several blankets. I dug out my camping stove and some propane tanks so I could make tea, soup and other food. I had battery operated candles, regular candles and flashlights.
I do not like being cold. And I have lived in Sweden and Alaska and never been without electricity for this long. Like WTF? And Portland General Electric (the company I pay for electricity) raised their rates 18% this month (if I am not mistaken). Thanks! Here I am reading a book in bed while I am pretending I am camping at South Base Camp in Nepal.
After like 5 hours of this adventure it is not so fun anymore. If I wanted to go camping in January I would had rented a cabin in the woods somewhere.
Having said all of that.....I am currently at the airport in Portland. Flying to Sweden. My Mom is not well and I am going to help her. So I am stressed out. Plus I am dealing with a tumultuous situation at home (in Portland), so yes......stress level is almost off the chart . I need more than a day at the spa, I now need a facelift. Please donate to the Tati facelift fund.
Of course the flight was delayed so that means I won't be able to catch my scheduled connecting flight in Amsterdam to Arlanda Stockholm......so now I have eight fun hours to spend at Schiphol Amsterdam. Who wants to meet me there for lunch? About to board soon......write when I am in Europe.
I think I am getting sick. Woke up early today with a raspy feeling throat, felt cold all day and could not get warm until later, been having chills, achy scalp, sneezing the kind of sneezes that feel like "sick" sneezes and now I am like almost feverish......very warm. My face feels hot and my ear openings feel like they are slightly pulsating. Perhaps I will sweat it out tonight. So when I started to get a cold as a child my Mom would wrap me in a blanket head to toe, fill up a bucket with piping hot water, had me put my feet into the water (ouch!) and then I sat there until my Mom decided it was enough and my feet looked like red lobsters. Then she put thick socks on my feet, on with pajama bottoms, rubbed some vodka around the chest area and on with a warm cotton shirt. At some point during the night she would check on me, if I had been sweating she changed my pajamas and shirt and sometimes the sheets and pillowcase and comforter too if needed. That was called sweating out the cold.
I am just drinking fluids and I will make sure to dress warm and put on socks before I go to bed tonight. I feel like a babcia sitting here explaining that I have a cold and giving out some remedies. Rub the vodka on chest!
Of course I am not in the mood to do anything besides nothing and I love doing nothing. Afterall the sloth is my spirit animal.
I had pizza in bed while solving Wordle, of course the first word was "pizza" and I got lucky and solved it on the second try. Yeay.
Well......we are a little more than one week into the new year. How are things going for you? I am in the midst of a LOT of stress, a LOT. Anxiety and tears. And that is all I can say about that. At least I have the best baby to keep me company - Kaya. I need a full day at the spa when I come out of this mess. I need to create a spa fund for Tati.......donations accepted now.
I do not know if you have heard that an airplane 737 emergency door got lost mid flight over Oregon yesterday and the door landed in somebody's back yard here in Portland and a cell phone that belonged to somebody on that plane landed in Portland as well - intact. Like......what a terrifying ordeal! I am glad that nobody got hurt. I don't know if I would step onto an airplane after an experience like that.
This was it, my last latte of 2023. From Stumptown here in Portland. And I got it for free just because. Sweet! Here you can see the Stumptown locations. I actually brought a bag of Stumptown coffee beans with me to Japan to give to the location there but I never made it to Kyoto.
No snow here.
I am at home tonight, I can't recall the last time I went out somewhere on New Year's Eve. It's been a while. I took a bath earlier so I go into 2024 nice and clean. I'm in bed, reading and writing (as usual) and watching the Elvis movie on Netflix. What a story, I love Elvis by the way. One of my first memories of listening to music as a child was sitting at home with a small single casette player listening to Elvis songs over and over again.
I had tea and a piece of strawberry rhubarb pie tonight.
What do I wish for in 2024? PEACE. Both world peace and personal peace. Therefore I have two candles burning tonight......for peace.
Happy New Year everybody.
Well.......let's take a look at some work pics from the year that is almost over. I hope that I have not put any of these up yet, I really can't remember and I am too lazy to check.
I got two new outfits this year, they got lost at first and ended up at a neighbor's for a while. I tracked them down with the help of the post office and eventually got them back. Like WTF......give me back my lingerie you weirdo! If you want to sit at home with my lingerie in your hands you will have to purchase it from me like everybody else.
Lavender and black, both with rhinestones.
And this is what they look like on.
The lavender one is barely there......it is quite popular.
Sitting around. Being bored. I am bored a lot at work. I am sticking with the Pleaser Stardust heels.
I danced at a place called the Sandy Jug a couple of times, it wasn't a place for me. I decided to not go back there, some time later the club suddenly closed down. That club had the WORST dressing room I have ever been inside of (blergh and shudder) and I have been in quite a few. The club was crappy in my opinion, even for Portland standards.
After the Riverside Corral sadly closed I found another place, I am there once in a while but not often. No touching the dancers......I like that. That is how it should be and strictly adhered to. You can have a hug though if you are nice. Hugs are good for people.
Selfie from underneath the work lights. Is it time to go home yet? I want to lounge in my bed and read.