Felicia Fredlund

Writer. Editor. Reader.

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Great Garden: Portland Japanese Garden

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This series of posts are about entertainment that I recommend when people ask me for recommendations. It also includes place-specific “entertainment”, such as beautiful gardens; it might be stretching the definition of entertainment, but I enjoy myself in the places I recommend.

They are not universal recommendations. I wouldn’t recommend a dark thriller to someone looking for something nice and happy; I’d recommend a romance.

They aren’t perfect or without mistakes.

Art is never finished, only abandoned. ~ Leonard da Vinci

Portland Japanese Garden

I’ve been fortunate enough to visit Portland Japanese Garden twice.

I still remember the first time.

The feeling I get is like being able to suddenly breathe very deeply. Like there is space in my chest for endless breath and with that feeling comes relaxation.

The second time I visited (May, 2018) I saw the new entrance they’d added and the culture village (as they call it).

They had a bonsai exhibition. Miniature trees that look like full grown ones. I’ve seen some amazing ones, and one of them looked like a small forest (pictured to the right).

The main garden area is divided into several different types of Japanese gardens. The most famous type of Japanese garden being the zen garden with raked gravel and rocks; Portland Japanese Garden has one of those with beautiful Japanese style historical walls closing it off from the rest of the garden and the outside.

Personally I love the wandering type of garden best. It often have a river, perhaps a waterfall; or it has the simulation of those things with pebbles. Wooden bridges to cross the water filled with colorful koi fish.

Mostly Japanese gardens are 50 shades of green. That is what I love.

Water, green shades, and some small human made details, come together to calm and refresh me.

It is also a good place to write poetry, and I’ve written some at Portland Japanese Garden, as well as in other gardens.

Picture of the Month — December 2018

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Christmas advent lights all lit-2016
Taken on fourth advent, 2016. Christmas is here!

Christmas, or winter leading into the holiday season, is one of my favorite times of the year. I love Christmas music. I love how I take the time to slow down. I love baking holiday treats. I love lighting candles and all the holiday/winter/Christmas lamps/fairy lights that show up in windows and that I set up around my own home (when I have a home).

Each advent Sunday, I light another candle in my advent candle holder (see picture above). I’ll usually have a fika at the same time, which will usually be a glass of glögg (mulled wine) or tea and some gingerbread cookies.

Christmas breakfast-2016
Best Christmas breakfast evah!

If I have my advent pause with breakfast, well then, just look at the picture of the kind of breakfast I’d make myself on such a morning. One of the few food pictures I’ll ever share, haha.

Christmas tree close up-2012
Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas!

Great Music: The Corrs

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This series of posts are about entertainment that I recommend when people ask me for recommendations. It also includes place-specific “entertainment”, such as beautiful gardens; it might be stretching the definition of entertainment, but I enjoy myself in the places I recommend.

They are not universal recommendations. I wouldn’t recommend a dark thriller to someone looking for something nice and happy; I’d recommend a romance.

They aren’t perfect or without mistakes.

Art is never finished, only abandoned. ~ Leonard da Vinci

The Corrs

I’ve listened to The Corrs for as long as I can remember. It wasn’t something I chose myself.

I was more Spice Girls, Aqua, Backstreet Boys, etc. when I was a kid.

During summer vacation, we’d often go somewhere by car, visiting my much older half-brother or driving over to Denmark to vacation at the beach and visit Legoland.

On those long car rides, when my dad picked the music, we often listened to The Corrs. At least, that is the only music outside a few things us kids loved that I remember hearing.

I love listening to The Corrs. Whenever I’m on a bus, train, plane or other transport and I want music, The Corrs is my most often picked music.

Nostalgia is definitely a part of it, but it is also pretty calm (country-ish) and cheerful (I can’t speak for the lyrics (I honestly haven’t listened to the lyrics much), but the sound is cheerful). Basically, it is very easy to listen to and it doesn’t jar me out of thoughts or out of naps.

What more can I ask of music while traveling?

Picture of the Month — November 2018

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Halloween-2013
The cake was good!

Happy Halloween!

Photo taken in 2013, when I held a halloween dinner for some of my close friends when I lived in Stockholm, Sweden.

Picture of the Month is one day early this time to be right on time for halloween. November says hello in a few hours. Next PotM will be on December 1 as usual.

Science Fiction Short Story Released: When She Gained Her Soul

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It is time we headed into space! Or more accurately go to another planet. In my latest release, you’ll be on planet Raun.

Here is the description:

Who’d imagine caring for pets is dangerous?

Sierra lives on the planet Raun where she takes care of a family’s pets. As an Earth human on Raun, she wears googles every day to protect her eyes from the local sun. Much is different on Raun, some a lot more dangerous than on Earth.

Her charges, the Raun version of cats (similar but also not), can make a lot of trouble for her. And why wouldn’t cats do that?

You can buy it here as an ebook.

The next Picture of the Month post will be a day early so I can post about Halloween right on time!

See you on Halloween!

Great Web Comic: XKCD by Randall Munroe

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This series of posts are about entertainment that I recommend when people ask me for recommendations. It also includes place-specific “entertainment”, such as beautiful gardens; it might be stretching the definition of entertainment, but I enjoy myself in the places I recommend.

They are not universal recommendations. I wouldn’t recommend a dark thriller to someone looking for something nice and happy; I’d recommend a romance.

They aren’t perfect or without mistakes.

Art is never finished, only abandoned. ~ Leonard da Vinci

XKCD by Randall Munroe

I don’t remember who introduced me to XKCD, a webcomic I’ve enjoyed immensely for years, even if I don’t always understand them.

There is a lot of physics, maths, and other sciences, but I read for the humor and the cutely funny ones. I also do find the science ones interesting, at least when I understand them!

The one thing to know is that after you finish reading the comic, you should hover your mouse over it and read the text that pops up. Those are the best.

The comic is made by Randall Munroe.

A few years back I bought a couple of the comics in print. I can share those comics here, Munroe allows it, and I will share my absolute favorite, but for the others, I’d rather link so you can potentially go down the rabbit hole of the wonderful and sciency weird.

Jealousy

XKCD Loves the Discovery Channel

Lastly I want to share one that kinda transcends the comic format. I was reading XKCD regularly when this one came out, so I got to follow it in real time. It is called Time and is more like a cartoon/animated movie, except you can pick the pace yourself, or let it go through the many many frames automatically.

Click the play button in the top left to let it run with some pauses on key frames. You can adjust the speed in the same area. Or you can step through the frames with your arrow keys or the buttons in the top right.

Have fun with this last one. I have no idea how long he worked on that one, but it is long.