1. Felt a bit envious of one of my Facebook friends. Her status update is about bonding with a kangaroo. I shouldn't be jealous though. I have my cats. They are both adorable, and one of them is EXTREMELY cuddly.
2. Decided that now I have even more respect for Barry Humphries. It's not that easy to create an alternate identity. I'm doing it all for the Harry Potter game; and I'm getting really into it. I hope it doesn't lead to me becoming insane. Oh well. In the meantime, I'm having a lot of fun.
3. Read news about Yang Hengjun. At first I thought it was good news, but now I don't know. He called his friends, said he was sick, and explained that his phone wasn't working. That's a plausible explanation, but people aren't buying it. They feel there's something weird going on. He sounds weird to people talking to him, and there's the possibility that he's in duress and trying to speak in code.
I hate when those things happen. You're worried. You get good news, yet you get the feeling that it's a lie, and there's really bad news. I've never been involved in a kidnapping, or anything traumatic like that. But maybe I can relate to it through fiction, such as it reminds me of the second to last episode of Medium. Allison was kidnapped.
From my own personal life, it reminds me of when relationships go bad. Someone stops calling so you worry that's it's over. You finally get up the nerve to call. You ask the other person if something's wrong. They insist everything's fine. They try to act like their good old self. They give you reassurance against all your insecurities. You get off the phone feeling somewhat relieved, but deep inside you know it's all a lie. You try to be happy despite feeling sick.
4. Read article about Anorexia in children. It makes me furious. I'm angry that this happens to children so young. I'm also angry at the people with the nerve to say this is a purely genetic/biological mental illness. What bullshit! If it's purely genetic, why is the rate in children increasing? Maybe someone out there can explain it to me.
Our society is so thin-obsessed. I found this blog entry earlier today; Katie talks about the "fat talk" we use and has examples of the damaging language.
There's the weight talk in the disguise of a compliment. You look great! Have you lost weight? I've gotten that even after telling my family multiple times that I had an eating disorder. Sometimes they leave out the you look great, but the tone of voice definitely indicates that the weight loss is a positive thing.
There's the fat talk that's not aimed directly at us, but said about others AROUND us. Katie has the example of “Maybe if she’d lay off the Cheetos just a little bit…”
From my mom, I've heard the saying She let herself go referring to a beautiful movie character who no longer had a perfect concave abdomen. It's funny that SHE let herself go. But when I was obsessively counting calories, weighing every bit of my food (including fruit and veggies) and pacing my office almost constantly (to burn calories) no one said that about me.
Once, when I was openly struggling with eating disorder issues, we watched home movies with my parents. Almost every comment that came out of their mouth was about people's weight. This person was thin back then. This person was fat. Oh, too bad that one gained all her weight back.
I complain about my family, but sadly I'm just as bad sometimes. This thin-obsession is ingrained in some of us. Once I scolded my brother-in-law for making some snide comment about losing weight. Then on another occasion, I was stupid enough to make the same mistake. I think I even said it in front of him. I was ashamed but didn't apologize. I should have. I can't remember exactly what I said. Oh well.
5. Thankful that the anorexia article has a poster of a very ugly victim of Anorexia. She kind of looks like Zelda from Pet Sematary. Often eating disorder articles have photos of very thin, yet also very attractive women. What happens when people like me look at these? Well, I end up thinking. Eating disorders are so evil. Why do we value the malnourished look? Oh....and I really wish I could look like her.
2. Decided that now I have even more respect for Barry Humphries. It's not that easy to create an alternate identity. I'm doing it all for the Harry Potter game; and I'm getting really into it. I hope it doesn't lead to me becoming insane. Oh well. In the meantime, I'm having a lot of fun.
3. Read news about Yang Hengjun. At first I thought it was good news, but now I don't know. He called his friends, said he was sick, and explained that his phone wasn't working. That's a plausible explanation, but people aren't buying it. They feel there's something weird going on. He sounds weird to people talking to him, and there's the possibility that he's in duress and trying to speak in code.
I hate when those things happen. You're worried. You get good news, yet you get the feeling that it's a lie, and there's really bad news. I've never been involved in a kidnapping, or anything traumatic like that. But maybe I can relate to it through fiction, such as it reminds me of the second to last episode of Medium. Allison was kidnapped.
From my own personal life, it reminds me of when relationships go bad. Someone stops calling so you worry that's it's over. You finally get up the nerve to call. You ask the other person if something's wrong. They insist everything's fine. They try to act like their good old self. They give you reassurance against all your insecurities. You get off the phone feeling somewhat relieved, but deep inside you know it's all a lie. You try to be happy despite feeling sick.
4. Read article about Anorexia in children. It makes me furious. I'm angry that this happens to children so young. I'm also angry at the people with the nerve to say this is a purely genetic/biological mental illness. What bullshit! If it's purely genetic, why is the rate in children increasing? Maybe someone out there can explain it to me.
Our society is so thin-obsessed. I found this blog entry earlier today; Katie talks about the "fat talk" we use and has examples of the damaging language.
There's the weight talk in the disguise of a compliment. You look great! Have you lost weight? I've gotten that even after telling my family multiple times that I had an eating disorder. Sometimes they leave out the you look great, but the tone of voice definitely indicates that the weight loss is a positive thing.
There's the fat talk that's not aimed directly at us, but said about others AROUND us. Katie has the example of “Maybe if she’d lay off the Cheetos just a little bit…”
From my mom, I've heard the saying She let herself go referring to a beautiful movie character who no longer had a perfect concave abdomen. It's funny that SHE let herself go. But when I was obsessively counting calories, weighing every bit of my food (including fruit and veggies) and pacing my office almost constantly (to burn calories) no one said that about me.
Once, when I was openly struggling with eating disorder issues, we watched home movies with my parents. Almost every comment that came out of their mouth was about people's weight. This person was thin back then. This person was fat. Oh, too bad that one gained all her weight back.
I complain about my family, but sadly I'm just as bad sometimes. This thin-obsession is ingrained in some of us. Once I scolded my brother-in-law for making some snide comment about losing weight. Then on another occasion, I was stupid enough to make the same mistake. I think I even said it in front of him. I was ashamed but didn't apologize. I should have. I can't remember exactly what I said. Oh well.
5. Thankful that the anorexia article has a poster of a very ugly victim of Anorexia. She kind of looks like Zelda from Pet Sematary. Often eating disorder articles have photos of very thin, yet also very attractive women. What happens when people like me look at these? Well, I end up thinking. Eating disorders are so evil. Why do we value the malnourished look? Oh....and I really wish I could look like her.
What would our world be like if we
knew for sure there
was life after death, and
we could easily talk to our
dearly-departed on the Internet?
The Dead are Online a novel by Dina Roberts
6. Read article about Tony Abbott's proposed welfare reforms. What he wants is people, under the age of fifty, working for the dole if they've been under unemployment for over six months. He doesn't want people getting a free ride. I'm all for that. I might even raise the age to sixty or seventy. My parents are in their early sixties, and they'd likely be capable of doing the type of work that Abbott is seeking. Abbott wants people to clean and pick fruit....stuff like that. If there's a need in that area, people should be put to work. What I disagree with is CREATING jobs just so people can have a job. That doesn't make sense to me. A person can be fulfilled and contribute to society without having an official job. They can take care of their family. They can write novels that end up being a cultural phenomena. They can make entertaining popular videos for YouTube. They can do volunteer work. They can sing in the church choir.
I also disagree with making primary caregivers go out and work. I'm not in favor of sending single mothers (or daddies) out to pick fruit while their kids hang out at a substandard daycare center. I'd rather the mother get the dole and stay home with the kid.
7. Read article about great white shark being near the beach, where water is about knee deep. That's scary. The article though makes it sound like this is unusual...alarming. Well, it IS alarming. But someone commented on my blog a year or so ago, saying that sharks can be found very close to the shore. So, the news isn't too new to me.
8. Started watching a video with Dame Edna interviewing Barry Humphries. I guess this is my kind of comedy, because I'm less than a minute into it and I'm already laughing out loud.
Barry Humphries is brilliant. I think he's one of my favorite Australians.
9. Wondered if Oprah has ever met Dame Edna. I think she should have visited her in Australia. Or maybe she did? I didn't watch the last two episodes.
10. Had a great idea. Dame Edna should guest star on Modern Family. That would be AWESOME.
11. Loved Dame Edna's response at around 5:09, but the exchange has to be watched back from about a minute or two. Let me rewind and see where it starts. Well, it probably starts at around 4:05. Humphries give this long rebuttal to Dame Edna. He lectures her. Then she just totally ignores all of it. I'm not at all funny trying to explain it. You'll have to watch the video for yourself....I mean if you want potential amusement.
12. Laughed very much out loud at 5:44.
13. Thought about how Humphries can be hilarious with facial expressions alone. I think the same goes for Stephen Colbert.
14. Decided to play my Hobart vs. Adelaide Flickr game. Let's see what pictures I get.
For Adelaide I got a photo from the Wollongong Hawks. It's a sports thing. The Hobart photo is going to have to be either very boring or very offensive in order for Adelaide to win.
For Hobart I got a photo of a man and woman sitting next to a mural. When it comes to art vs. sports, art is usually going to win with me. So I give Hobart the point.