Hej!
Soooo, I went back into the abandoned hospital today.
The reason why I've had the opportunity to visit this place is because we filmed some scenes for the Lights Out movie there these past two days. While the film team was in another building I could lurk around however much I wanted.
So after my scenes were done and I could get back into my normal clothes I sneaked away for an hour or so again. This time to the basement, the kitchen and... the morgue... (more on that soon).

When you find a room with a locker that spells Disaster wrong, all you can do is scream.

"They did WHAT here?"

What is this shiny thing? And who is that person?

"I think you're right Marge, this cafeteria seems to be closed today."

Then I found the kitchen. What's cooking in that big ol' cauldron to the right?

Who is making noise?! Stop it immediately!

And then, it took a turn for the weird(er)...
I found the morgue.
And thought to myself: I wonder what is inside those metal cabinets in the walls. Imagine if it was a dead person.
I opened one of them...

...AND FOUND THIS!!!!

(It's a doll. Yes. I'm sure. There's yellow foam where his ribs should be. And that nose is just a little bit too perfect. Plus, I looked -very- closely)

The weird thing is that I kind of expected it to be there. I had already told my scared brain that there might be a dead person in there so when I first saw the scalp I was like "Oh, yep, there's the dead guy."
What mean person decided to leave that there after filming?!?!
Apparently CSI have been shooting here. So maybe they are responsible for scaring the crap out of me.

But it was quite awesome to go back to set and show my "find" to everybody in the crew...

After seeing the "dead guy" I was actually a bit shaken and all the dark rooms looked super scary instead of exciting so that was the end of today's self portrait bonanza. But what a great ending, ey?
And here's a photo in which you can see me three times. One of me is in the back, acting away. The other two on the screens.
It felt great to be filming again. I really love it, and hope I get to do it more and more in the future!

But look at this cool GIF I made!

Talk to you soon!
/Lotta

Hi!
Today I had the amazing opportunity to roam around all by myself in an abandoned hospital. For two hours I wandered the hallways searching for good photo spots.
It was the BEST!
Wanna see?
OKAY!

In the hospital chapel the light was just wonderful.
The floor was not very clean though, but who cares!? Not me!

This photo turned out so much greater than I thought it would. I had so much trouble securing the gorilla pod and the phone slipped sideways all the time. I decided to take a photo anyway and hope for the best. I'm so glad I did because this might be one of my favorites from today. It gets my imagination going.

Science Fiction Lotta!
When I found this room it felt like I had struck Self Portrait Environment Gold. It made me all giggly and I might have done a victory gesture all by myself.

STOP!

I said STOOOOOOOP!

Okay. I'll stop.

Hello hello.

Hmmmm, let's see what we have here...

And let's end this with a photo that shows my emotions for this place more accurately. YIPPEEE!

It was one of those adventures I think I'll remember for a long time. And I'm going back again tomorrow!

Hope you liked this spooky hospital tour, and talk to you soon! '

/Lotta

I go for a long walk in the grey and muggy weather.
For the first time in ages the temperature has dropped below 30 celsius degrees, and if I stand completely still it feels almost cool. But when I go for a walk I instantly notice how humid it is and I kinda regret wearing pants today. Skirts are always better. Always. That's why I only own one pair of pants.
After ten minutes I reach the tree with a portal in its branches and to my horror I realise that they've cut three of the branches that used to hang over the pavement- and the portal is gone. Completely gone. My kingdom has been destroyed; It feels like something has been stolen from me.
I walk for an hour, dry my sweaty neck and forehead with a tissue every ten steps or so, and then I arrive at a part of town that feels like London, South France and a little bit of LA all at once.
I go into a vintage store and buy myself a brown crocheted sweater with batwing arms from the 70's or early 80's if I should try to guess. It suits my outfit for the day perfectly and in that moment I don't regret wearing pants anymore.
When I come out onto the street there's an available table outside of the Italian restaurant and
I decide that's where I should have my lunch.
The woman at the table to the right of me is eating Moules-Frites, and instead of a hand bag she has her cell phone and wallet in a wicker basket. She tells the guys next to her that she lives in a tree house in Hollywood hills. I think to myself that I wish I could live in a treehouse of my own. That would be the ultimate dream come true.
To my right is a table with three large Italian men that look like they could be in any maffia movie ever made. They talk loudly about the neighbourhood and politics. They have American accents though so the illusion of being in Europe is slightly bruised.
I eat a huge Salad Niçoise.
Afterwards I go to a coffee place a couple of blocks away. I pass dream homes and stop to take a photo of an especially wonderful house.
When I reach the café it's exactly what I want it to be. Cozy atmosphere, good coffee and outdoor seating. I sit down to write a little about my day, but first I have to pet the cute dog that sits next to me.

Hope you enjoyed this little snippet from my day.
Have a lovely weekend everybody, and talk to you soon!

/Lotta

When I was a child I had my very own kingdom.
It was next to a little stream in the fishing village where my family spent our summers.
On one side of the stream there was a small path leading down to the ocean, and on the other side was my kingdom. Underneath huge ferns I could lie down and not be seen by a single person walking by with towels under their arms, ready to go for a swim.
I remember feeling so safe there. And very very sneaky. I probably giggled a lot. And there were most likely at least a couple of grownups who did see me but was nice enough to let me believe I was completely invisible.
When I told my parents about my Kingdom they asked if I didn't mean I was the queen. In Swedish we have a word for a country lead by a king and one word for a country lead my a queen.
I remember thinking that the queen is not as high in rank as a king so I said No, I'm the best, so therefore I'm the king.
Kind of sad to realize how gender roles form us so early on, but at the same time I really like how I didn't feel limited by my gender. King was at the top. Queen was next in line. The gender of the person being King or Queen didn't matter at all.
So I was the King of my Kingdom of Ferns.

I still search for Kingdoms to rule.

Where we live now there's a tree with a magical portal in its branches.
I noticed it one afternoon on my way home. I walked with my head in the clouds and all of a sudden I was standing right underneath it.
I stopped. And stared.
It felt almost the exact same way as when I found my Kingdom of Ferns. In my mind a place no one has ever seen before.
The branches had formed a circle, a portal to another space and time in its foliage. I snapped this photo and had trouble to move forward. I just wanted to stay there, on the sidewalk, looking straight up into the greenness.
The other day when I was on my way to the grocery store I walked underneath the tree again. I tilted my head back and dreamed I could transport myself through the portal and exist in a magical place bathed in green light for a little while. My Kingdom.
My Kingdom of the Magical Tree Portal.