Comment Verification, Casual Weddings, Art Direction, and Tracey

1. Had a very weird comment verification experience. First of all, I don't understand why I have to verify my identity on my own damn blog.

Now it's no longer about reading close-to-impossible numbers and letters. I had to look at a bunch of photographs and click which ones are steak.  I could see only one thing that looked like an obvious steak, but apparently there were more steaks, and I failed that. The next one had me click on the pictures that were of drinks. I was able to do that.

I guess I'm not the only one getting these things, but it was my first time today.

2. Tempted to write a bunch of comments on my blog, just so I can play more of this picture game. Well, it's not very fun, actually. But I'm curious about what other things they're going to make me find.

3. Started watching an episode of Neighbours.

4. Liked Daniel's (Tim Phillips) casual wedding plan ideas.

He wants it to be a picnic where anyone who wants to come should just show up. And they bring their own picnic food. For entertainment, he wants to just use the already-planned Erinsborough Festival.

It's a great way to save money, but it's also very inclusive. It's a good idea for people with many friends.

I think one of the hardest things about a wedding is coming up with a guest list. Who do you include and who do you exclude? And it's not just about liking someone, but also the fact that you'll have to pay a $50-$100 (or more) catering fee for them.  Then there's the political crap—not really liking someone but feeling you have to invite them anyway.

That being said. I did have fun planning a wedding—choosing a cake, music, menu, decorations, etc.

Actually, what I hated was the bride dress stuff. So maybe I'd want a normal wedding but everyone (including the bride and groom) dress very casual.

5.  Felt anger towards Tony Abbott regarding his response to the United States legalizing gay marriage. He said,  What happens in the United States is obviously a matter for the United States, just as what happened in Ireland a few weeks ago is a matter for the Irish.

Well, I think it's also a huge matter for many Australians, who are waiting for the chance to get married. Or they just want to know, that if they find the right partner, marriage is available to them.

And how about all the Australians who aren't gay, but care about, and are supportive of, those who are?

Gay marriage is not an American or Irish issue. It's a universal, international issue.

6. Started watching episode four of The Code.

7. Realized that three actors from The Code were in Slide—Adele Perovic, Steve Rodgers, and Dan Wylie.

There could be more that I'm not aware of.

8. Checked to see if Slide and The Code have any directors in common.

They do. Shawn Seet. He directed twelve episodes of The Code. Ah...so there's a second season. I didn't know that.

Well, actually Shawn Seet is the only listed director of The Code.  He also directed the first four episodes of Slide.

9. Saw that Shawn Seet has done directing for a lot of shows, including The Secret Life of Us, Hiding, Love Child, House Husbands, and Underbelly.

10. Hoped the Australian government is not as evil as it's depicted in The Code.

11. Thought about the cool editing and imagery in The Code. Who is responsible for that?  Is it the director? Cinematographer? Editor?  Do they all work together?

12. Wondered if Sophie Nash is responsible. She did the art direction for the series.

13. Consulted Lord Wiki about art directors. He says they're responsible for creating the vision of the project. So I think maybe it is Sophie Nash who does the cool visual stuff. Or she's the head of the team who does the visual stuff.

14. Saw that a guy named Martin Crouch did the screen graphics. The Code has a neat way of showing what's happening online. I'm not sure how to explain it.  There's a word I feel I need, but it's not coming out of my head.

Oh! I know. I can take a picture of it. Next time it happens, I'll do that.

15. Guessed that Sophie Nash oversees Martin Crouch, and also special effects, costume, and make-up people. And then maybe Shawn Seet oversees the work of Sophie Nash?

16. Wondered if the villains in The Code are doing bad things for a good cause. Or are they doing bad things for a bad cause?

I'm not saying that the ends justify the means. I'm just wondering if the means are good—sympathetic.

17. Thought of the word I wanted. Overlay! Or at least I think that's the right word.

18. Took screenshot of what I'm talking about.

I think that's an overlay. Probably?

If I'm wrong, tell me.

19. Went to the local Italian restaurant for dinner with my family.

My niece went to use the bathroom. She came back and told us she was freaked out. Why? Because there was a wasp in the bathroom. It was on the ground, but it's legs were still moving.

I found that somewhat significant, BECAUSE it kind of fits in with my bee story.

In 2009, we went to Tasmania to meet my Livejournal friend Tracey. She picked us up at the airport. I was very nervous about meeting an Internet friend. While Tim and Jack went to meet up with her; I went to the bathroom. I had to pee, but I was also kind of hiding. There was a bee in the bathroom.

I don't remember ever seeing a bee in the bathroom again, until 2013. We went back to Australia. Tracey and her family were now living in Melbourne. We went to visit them there. They picked us up at the airport. I went to the bathroom, and there was a bee.

The thing about today is this. I haven't talked to Tracey in a pretty long time, minus rare times where we comment on each other's Instagram photos. Then today, she came to my blog and left comments.

So I felt the wasp was kind of significant.

That being said. It's not like there's a bee-thing in the bathroom every time I have some kind of encounter with Tracey.

We went to Hawaii with her family. I don't remember ever seeing a bee in any bathroom.  Then again, Tim went to pick them up from the airport. Maybe if I had gone, there would have been a bee.

Also, it was my niece who saw the Wasp; not me. And a wasp is not exactly a bee. But I think they're in the same family.

On the other hand, Tracey leaving a comment on my blog is not exactly the same as her picking us up from the airport.  So a bee in the bathroom wouldn't exactly be appropriate.

20. Wondered if I ever told Tracey about the bee story. I guess if I did, I would have told her in 2013. I wouldn't have told her in 2009, because it wouldn't be that huge of a deal to see one bee in a bathroom.

Then again, it was a big enough deal that I remembered it and thought about it the second time I saw the bee.

21. Wanted to tell my other weird Tracey story.

I was playing Sims 3. I started a neighborhood where I created Sims based on pretty much everyone we knew. I was so excited for my Sims to start forming random connections and relationships to each other. I wanted people from various parts of our life to fall in love; get married; make Sim babies, etc. I thought that was the whole point of Sims 3—create people and then they develop a life and story on their own.

I'm not sure if my Sims 3 game was defective, or the game is not as good as I thought it would be. But what I wanted didn't happen. My sims would never get married or make babies. They just grew old and died. So I was super excited to see that the grown-up version of Tracey's daughter Tara was pregnant. I worked to find out who the father was.

I guess I had to wait for the baby to be born?

Anyway, it was Jack (my son).

And the Sim based on me became friends with Tracey's stepson, Alex.

So no Sims families formed connections, except my family's with Tracey's family. At least I think that's the case. There could have been a couple of others I've forgotten about.

I'm pretty sure there wasn't.

22. Thought about how there are other things, like Tracey and I having similar dreams about each other around the same time.

23. Used The Southern Ocean when playing Scattergories. My mom didn't believe it was an ocean. Well, at first. But she was nice enough to take my word for it.

Then I started kind of doubting myself, so I made her look it up on the phone.

24. Was having a few moments of feeling quite sick, and I saw Julian McMahon on my screensaver.  So then I felt more sick.

No, I'm joking. I think it made me feel better.  Because I like him. He's one of my favorite Australians.

And that's the other Tracey story. It's kind of silly, but oh well. I will share it anyway.

As I've said before, my Australia obsession began with Julian McMahon. And someone in Tracey's family has the same birthday as him.

I think both Julian McMahon and Tracey and her family have played huge parts in my Australia life; so I think the birthday thing is kind of cool.

25. Wanted to elaborate on the dream thing. I forgot the exact details. But we both dreamed that the other was giving birth. And both dreams had something to do with helping each other. Or not helping each other? I think maybe Tracey dreamed she helped me, and I dreamed I failed to help her.

Or something like that.

26. Sat here staring at the computer screen, feeling like I might want to say something else.

But I can't think of anything.

Well, maybe I'll just say that I hope whoever is reading this is having a good day. Or night. Whatever.    







How would our society change if we knew for sure that there was life after death, and it was easy to talk to the dead on the Internet?  The Dead are Online.