Lake House, Anzac Day, Teasing, and Easter Bunnies,

1. Looked at more William Pitt buildings.  The Rialto building is on Collins Street.  I think someone mentioned Rialto to me, but I think they said it was a tower.  Maybe there's a Rialto tower as well?

Yep.  Lord Wiki says there's a Rialto Tower.  It's the largest office building in the Southern Hemisphere.  Cool.

I think we'll need to make a point to go to Collins Street—probably just for a quick glance at all the architecture.  We'll do that the day we go to the aquarium and Ian Potter Centre.

2. Saw Kevin Rudd media release about international observances of Anzac Day.  They say the Australian Embassy in the United States has something.  

The American Australian Association website has a list of events for 2009.  I'm guessing some of these venues might also have events for this year.

3. Wondered if I've ever seen this American Australian Association before. I might have when I did my post about Americans in Australia and Australians in America.

Okay, I found their calendar for 2011.   They're having an Anzac Day ceremony on the 24th in Los Angeles; and then in New York, they're going to have one on the 24th and another on the 25th.   I think that's good because it's hard to know when you should have the ceremony. Do you have it on the date of Anzac Day, or do you have it the same time people are having it in Australia?

I wonder that about Australia Day.  In America, should we consider the 26th Australia Day? Or should we consider the 25th Australia day, because then it's the 26th over in Australia.

How would our world change if we knew for sure there was life after death, and it was easy for our dearly-departed to talk to us via the Internet?   


The Dead are Online  a novel by Dina Roberts 


4. Realized suddenly that I keep changing plans in a way that will allow us to spend more time with one of my friends (and her family).  I don't do it on purpose.  I don't even think of them when changing the plans.  But then after I change the plans, I end up thinking Oh, and this will be good because we can spend more time with our friends.  Maybe my subconscious is pushing me to change the plans for that reason.  My subconscious LOVES these friends.  I dream about them all the time.    That's not to say my conscious self doesn't love them as well. It does...definitely.  But my subconscious loves them even more.  

Hopefully our friends will want to spend time with us. They might secretly be dreading our visit.   That would be funny. Well, sort of.  

5. Was handed towels by my dad, and one of them was our Australian flag towel. I forgot it was here.  I love that towel, but it's not my favorite.  My favorite is one that has a map of Australia. I'm not sure if that's here at the lake house or at our house.

6. Read survey on the Gay Marriage Rights in Australia's Facebook Page. They asked which state do people think will legalize gay marriage first.  A lot of people picked Tasmania and the ACT.  I'm tempted to pick Tasmania, because they accept marriages that have been created elsewhere. But who knows. Since they already have that, they might not be in a rush to push the envelope further.

We shall see.  It's exciting. I love hearing news of states and countries making it legal.

I think some of the last ones will be Texas and Queensland.  But maybe I'll end up being pleasantly surprised.  

7. Read article about New South Wales study that indicated teasing and insulting overweight people does NOT inspire them to exercise more.  They say it might be because if people are embarrassed about themselves, they might not want to go out in public to exercise.  It might also be that people use their energy to feel angry rather than using their energy to exercise.  When someone says something about my weight or in some way says something that encourages my eating-disorder behaviors, I usually feel resentful.  A part of me DOES want to rush into a diet and start doing major exercise.  But then I also start thinking, why do I want to impress people like that? Why do I want to fall into their way of thinking?

In a few weeks, we're having guests at the lake house that are very much into physical beauty and thinness.  They highly value all this, and there's a part of me that wants to lose a ton of weight, so I can be accepted within their high standards. Another part of me thinks it would be fun to gain weight just to annoy them.  In the end, though, I'll probably end up weighing what I weigh now.

Fortunately, these people don't say anything nasty about weight. They're very subtle in their weight judging.  But still....it's hard for me to deal with at times.  Maybe I'll read JK Rowling's weight essay before I see them. It'll give me strength.  

8. Prepared to have nightmares tonight.  My sister Melissa called out excitedly that there was a bunny.  I was super excited, because I love rabbits.  Jack and I rushed behind Melissa and my nephew.  We went out on the balcony, and she pointed to the neighbor's yard.   There was someone dressed in an Easter Bunny outfit. I know it's Easter and the Easter Bunny is a nice mammal who passes out chocolate. But seeing the giant rabbit waving to us was a bit creepy. It reminded me of a horror movie.  

9. Had an informal belated Seder with my family.  My dad talked about how the Passover story is very old.  Compared to the Australian Aboriginal story, it doesn't seem so old to me.

10. Made tornado plans.  I think it's America's turn to have bad weather.  We have a nice big bathroom to hide in at the lake house.   At our house, we have only a tiny bathroom.   Our house is not tornado friendly.  There are windows EVERYWHERE.