1. Had a dream about Twitter and my blog. It's all because, before going to bed, I got into reading celebrity Twitter accounts. It started with Hero Fiennes-Tiffin who plays the adorable spooky child version of Tom Riddle. Then I glanced at some Full House former child-stars. And then I moved onto Alyssa Milano. That girl is really into her Twitter. After about ten minutes of reading her Tweets, I was totally charmed (ha!) by her, and wishing we could be best Twitter friends.
So then I dreamed.... I think of getting back on Twitter so I can be a follower of Alyssa Milano. That's not the only reason I want to join, though. Michelle, my Australian friend who has moved to America, seems to be a Twitter addict. I am thinking that if I get back with Twitter, I'll get better at keeping in touch with Michelle.
Then it changed to a semi-lucid dream. I'm with Alyssa Milano in person. I'm her assistant. She's very nice.; absolutely lovely. I think to myself that I don't need to be her Twitter friend, because I can just be friends with her in my dream. But then it all turns sour. Bad guys come and plan to kill us. They say they'll give Alyssa Milano an easy death, but they're going to torture me before I die. Alyssa Milano is a totally rude about the whole thing. She pretty much says she's fine with me being tortured as long as she gets the pain-free demise.
2. Had another Australian-related dream. Someone sends me a message with a recording attached. They sing on it; and the song is this very obnoxious anti-Australian song. It annoys me on many levels. A) I find the song offensive. B) I find it ridiculous that someone would send something anti-Australian to me. C) their voice grates on my nerves.
I think this dream comes from what I said yesterday about people being negative about something that you like or love.
3. Found another Australia related thing in my old dream journal archives. It's another hypnagogic thing and not a very pleasant one. But no worries, because I'm not really psychic.
So yeah. This is what I wrote back in January 2006. Big mushroom cloud bomb and Sydney Opera house (yeah. Not a pleasant thought)
You know, it's probably symbolic. Back in 2006, I had a mild crush on Australia. Then by late 2007, my little crush EXPLODED into a major obsession. So the image probably was a type of premonition, but Australians don't need to rush out and buy gas masks.
4. Decided that despite the fact that I'm still having delusions I can be best Twitter friends with Alyssa Milano, I'm not going to get back into Twitter. At least not for now. That place confuses me because you see only half-conversations. For instance, 12 hours ago Alyssa Milano said to someone Exciting! It sounds innocent enough—very nice and supportive. But what if this is a response to someone who has said, I'm going to torture my goldfish.
To someone else, Alyssa Milano said You are correct. What if this was in response to him saying. I'm a total loser and I don't deserve to live.
I'm joking, of course. I'm sure she's very nice. But the mystery of it all is aggravating. Really. What IS correct? And what IS exciting?
So I shall give up my delusional fantasies of having Alyssa Milano as my Twitter friend. Instead I'll keep her in my head as Phoebe Halliwall, the levitating ass-kicking witch.
As for Michelle. Every so often, I spy on her Twitter account. I can get a vague idea of what's happening in her life. But for the most part, I'm lost. It's probably best to just stick to emails.
5. Looked at examples of St. Kilda accommodations that Tim sent to me. I love that he's looking for places already. He sent three and they all look nice. But I do have a favorite.
6. Read article about neighbours being poisoned by fumes. What kind of fumes? Chili pepper fumes! Wow. The paramedics had to come, and everything.
I just watched the news report. People didn't know it was a chili thing at first. They were coughing, had red eyes, and felt nauseated. I guess they called 000, and the emergency folks came on by to see what was happening. They investigated, and traced the problem to a family drying out chillies. The chefs said it was the first time they prepared their chillies this way; and they said it's also their last.
7. Excited for an Australian blogger. She's flying to NYC in a few hours. I'm excited because she's excited. It reminds me of the first time we flew to Sydney. Well, flying there wasn't so exciting. Being there was fantastic.
8. Watched a promotional video for Port Fairy on a Port Fairy website. It didn't wow me too much, but I think it's because they showcased the type of things I don't really love.
I do like the photos on the site—the beach and the lighthouse. We're planning to stay for only one night, so I'm kind of glad I didn't fall madly in love with the video. We'll probably eat dinner there, sleep, wake up, look at the beach a bit, and then head off to Mt. Gambier. That's one thing I don't like about road trips— the in and out business.
9. Tried to find places to stop between Robe and Adelaide. There's Kingston Se. That sounds nice. But it's only 33 minutes out from Robe. Will we have to use a toilet that early? Knowing me? Probably yes.
The next place is Coorong. It has a national park with toilets. I don't know if we can buy food or water there. I guess we'll need to make sure to stock up on that stuff.
10. Found this helpful website. It has a list of places near Coorong, and lists what each town has.
Well...so far it's less helpful than I expected. Most of the places are very close to Adelaide. I want something more central.
It looks like Meningie is our best bet. That's the place I read about yesterday.
11. Came up with an alternate travel plan. We could skip Robe, and instead do our beach time at Port Fairy. Then we don't have to rush in and out. We can stay two nights there. Then we drive to Mt. Gambier. Spend one night there. We'll see the Blue Lake, and then we'll make our way to Adelaide. I think I prefer the drive from Mt. Gambier to Adelaide. There's more places to stop. We could go to Robe, and go the more inland route. That's not bad. It adds about 50 minutes to the trip, but there'll be more towns for us. We can go to Naracoorte which looks fairly nice.
We'll see. I'll look at Port Fairy and Robe, see what one I like better. If I like Port Fairy, we'll skip Robe. If I like Robe, we'll do the quick one night in Port Fairy.
12. Read about the lighthouse in Port Fairy. It was built in 1859. Since around the 1950's, the light has been automated, and there hasn't been a lighthouse keeper.
I don't think I can see a lighthouse, like that, without thinking of Pete's Dragon.
13. Saw that Port Fairy has an old fashioned lollie shop. Yeah. That's enough to win me over.
I looked on Google Maps, and there's an ice-cream shop on the same street.
14. Decided to look at Port Fairy photos on Flickr. It might give me a better idea of whether we'll like it or not.
This photo is really pretty. I love the color of the water.
This photo has the path to the lighthouse.
Here's a photo of a swamp wallaby. I guess it was taken in Port Fairy. See...that's exciting to me. They should put photos of those on the tourist video. Although maybe sightings of them are really rare.
15. Looked at more photos from Port Fairy, and saw one from someone I know. Well, I know Michael from the internet, at least.
That's pretty funny, though. I don't think that's ever happened to me.
16. Heard "O Children" and read an article about the use of the song in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. We also learned about it on the DVD thing. Anyway, the article talks about how the movie will introduce loads of kids, teens, and adults to Nick Cave music. Some of them might become Nick Cave fans. And MAYBE some of them will go from being Nick Cave fans to Australia fans. You never know......
17. Received a movie trailer from a promotional company called Way To Blue. They're international and have an office in Melbourne. They sent me the trailer because my blog is about Australia, and there's an Australian in the movie; Isla Fisher. The movie is called Burke and Hare. The release date is 12 May. That's pretty soon.
I see that it's a British film. So now I'm looking for Harry Potter actors.
I don't see any.
BURKE AND HARE - AUSTRALIAN TRAILER by Paramount_Australia
There's the trailer. I don't know if it's my type of movie. It looks fun, but probably not something that would make me rush to the theatre. I might see it on DVD. Actually, Tim will likely rent it and watch it. I'll see glimpses of it when I go into the kitchen for various reasons.
18. Read Facebook comments about the Australian Dollar now being worth more than the US dollar. Luke Attwells provides a brief economic lesson. It sounds smart to me; but I'm not an economics expert, so I can't really judge the validity of his argument. Anyway...he says, Quick run down of economics 101 - AUD high = cheap to purchase over seas, but bad for our exports (as it costs other countries more to buy our stuff) / AUD low = our stuff is heaps cheap, so other countries buy our stuff, but our imports are hella expensive... theres more to it, but thats the general jist.
The thing I'm wondering, though...don't you need to compare the Australian dollar to other money? How is it doing compared to the Pound and Euro? Maybe America has just tanked, and there's no point in comparing yourself to us.
I am hoping the Australia dollar goes down...way down when it comes time for us to visit. Then once we leave, it can rise again. Okay? We probably won't be back again until 2015 or later. So Australia will have plenty of time to prosper.
20. Wondered if the Australia dollar is worth more than the American dollar because Australia's economy is doing so well. Or is it doing better than the American dollar because the American dollar is doing so bad? The pessimistic side of me is thinking it's the latter. That's not to say that Australian politicians aren't doing brilliant things with the economy. But there have been floods and cyclones—stuff like that. I know that's costing the country some money.
21. Looked at a website about Robe; trying to compare it with Port Fairy.
I like the slideshow on the Robe sight. The photos look fun and casual. I like the people picnicking on the beach. It reminds me of when I was young and we lived in Madison Wisconsin. We'd go to Devil's Lake, sometimes with friends or relatives. We'd wade in the lake and play on rafts and inner tubes.
We'd eat yummy picnic food.
It's a nice memory.
The Robe site actually has three picnic photos. I love all of them.
22. Looked at accommodations in Robe. If we stay there, I think we'll do a holiday park or motel. We might pick the place that doesn't charge a bunch of extra money for Jack. I hate when they list low prices and say the room/cabin fits 3-6 people. But then you have to pay a bunch of extra money if you have more than two people. It makes no sense to me.
I looked at this holiday park. I started up a mock booking. They charge $9-10 dollars a night extra for Jack. That's not too bad, especially if we're staying for only two nights. Still, though. It really shouldn't cost extra at all. What about families who have two or three kids?
23. Looked at the Best Western Motel in Robe. They charge $20 extra a night for Jack, and that's even in a two bedroom. I think that's absolutely ridiculous.
Anyway, it seems to be almost universal. I guess I just need to add 10-20 dollars a night to the price. If a place says they're $160 a night, I need to see it as $170-180. Instead of hoping to find places that don't charge extra for the third guest, I think I'll seek out the places that charge $10 rather than $20 or more per night.
24. Thought about it more and decided maybe I can excuse the greedy practice of charging extra for extra guests. They do have to provide extra towels and stuff like that. I'm not sure those towels are worth ten dollars a nigh,t though. Oh well.
I like the places that just charge you for the linens. That way you have the option of bringing your own linens. We won't. We'll pay extra and use their linens. But I'm grateful that they've given me the choice.
25. Did some thinking. Although Robe and Port Fairy each have a unique history, to us American tourists, they're two very similar beach towns. I don't know if we really need to go to both. I think it will be easier to do two nights in Port Fairy, one night in Mount Gambier, and then make our way to Adelaide.
We might exchange Port Fairy for Warrnambool. I'm planning to look at that site next.
26. Took it as fate that the Warrnambool website isn't working for me. I think we'll stick to Port Fairy; at least for now.
So then I dreamed.... I think of getting back on Twitter so I can be a follower of Alyssa Milano. That's not the only reason I want to join, though. Michelle, my Australian friend who has moved to America, seems to be a Twitter addict. I am thinking that if I get back with Twitter, I'll get better at keeping in touch with Michelle.
I think of announcing my return to Twitter on my blog and providing a link to my account. I'm not sure, though, if Twitter will work for me. I don't want to announce I'm doing Twitter, have people follow me, and then decide I want to quit. I decide to say on my blog that I'm going to try to return to Twitter and if I like it, I'll post the link to my account.
2. Had another Australian-related dream. Someone sends me a message with a recording attached. They sing on it; and the song is this very obnoxious anti-Australian song. It annoys me on many levels. A) I find the song offensive. B) I find it ridiculous that someone would send something anti-Australian to me. C) their voice grates on my nerves.
I think this dream comes from what I said yesterday about people being negative about something that you like or love.
3. Found another Australia related thing in my old dream journal archives. It's another hypnagogic thing and not a very pleasant one. But no worries, because I'm not really psychic.
So yeah. This is what I wrote back in January 2006. Big mushroom cloud bomb and Sydney Opera house (yeah. Not a pleasant thought)
You know, it's probably symbolic. Back in 2006, I had a mild crush on Australia. Then by late 2007, my little crush EXPLODED into a major obsession. So the image probably was a type of premonition, but Australians don't need to rush out and buy gas masks.
4. Decided that despite the fact that I'm still having delusions I can be best Twitter friends with Alyssa Milano, I'm not going to get back into Twitter. At least not for now. That place confuses me because you see only half-conversations. For instance, 12 hours ago Alyssa Milano said to someone Exciting! It sounds innocent enough—very nice and supportive. But what if this is a response to someone who has said, I'm going to torture my goldfish.
To someone else, Alyssa Milano said You are correct. What if this was in response to him saying. I'm a total loser and I don't deserve to live.
I'm joking, of course. I'm sure she's very nice. But the mystery of it all is aggravating. Really. What IS correct? And what IS exciting?
So I shall give up my delusional fantasies of having Alyssa Milano as my Twitter friend. Instead I'll keep her in my head as Phoebe Halliwall, the levitating ass-kicking witch.
As for Michelle. Every so often, I spy on her Twitter account. I can get a vague idea of what's happening in her life. But for the most part, I'm lost. It's probably best to just stick to emails.
5. Looked at examples of St. Kilda accommodations that Tim sent to me. I love that he's looking for places already. He sent three and they all look nice. But I do have a favorite.
6. Read article about neighbours being poisoned by fumes. What kind of fumes? Chili pepper fumes! Wow. The paramedics had to come, and everything.
I just watched the news report. People didn't know it was a chili thing at first. They were coughing, had red eyes, and felt nauseated. I guess they called 000, and the emergency folks came on by to see what was happening. They investigated, and traced the problem to a family drying out chillies. The chefs said it was the first time they prepared their chillies this way; and they said it's also their last.
7. Excited for an Australian blogger. She's flying to NYC in a few hours. I'm excited because she's excited. It reminds me of the first time we flew to Sydney. Well, flying there wasn't so exciting. Being there was fantastic.
8. Watched a promotional video for Port Fairy on a Port Fairy website. It didn't wow me too much, but I think it's because they showcased the type of things I don't really love.
I do like the photos on the site—the beach and the lighthouse. We're planning to stay for only one night, so I'm kind of glad I didn't fall madly in love with the video. We'll probably eat dinner there, sleep, wake up, look at the beach a bit, and then head off to Mt. Gambier. That's one thing I don't like about road trips— the in and out business.
9. Tried to find places to stop between Robe and Adelaide. There's Kingston Se. That sounds nice. But it's only 33 minutes out from Robe. Will we have to use a toilet that early? Knowing me? Probably yes.
The next place is Coorong. It has a national park with toilets. I don't know if we can buy food or water there. I guess we'll need to make sure to stock up on that stuff.
10. Found this helpful website. It has a list of places near Coorong, and lists what each town has.
Well...so far it's less helpful than I expected. Most of the places are very close to Adelaide. I want something more central.
It looks like Meningie is our best bet. That's the place I read about yesterday.
11. Came up with an alternate travel plan. We could skip Robe, and instead do our beach time at Port Fairy. Then we don't have to rush in and out. We can stay two nights there. Then we drive to Mt. Gambier. Spend one night there. We'll see the Blue Lake, and then we'll make our way to Adelaide. I think I prefer the drive from Mt. Gambier to Adelaide. There's more places to stop. We could go to Robe, and go the more inland route. That's not bad. It adds about 50 minutes to the trip, but there'll be more towns for us. We can go to Naracoorte which looks fairly nice.
We'll see. I'll look at Port Fairy and Robe, see what one I like better. If I like Port Fairy, we'll skip Robe. If I like Robe, we'll do the quick one night in Port Fairy.
12. Read about the lighthouse in Port Fairy. It was built in 1859. Since around the 1950's, the light has been automated, and there hasn't been a lighthouse keeper.
I don't think I can see a lighthouse, like that, without thinking of Pete's Dragon.
13. Saw that Port Fairy has an old fashioned lollie shop. Yeah. That's enough to win me over.
I looked on Google Maps, and there's an ice-cream shop on the same street.
14. Decided to look at Port Fairy photos on Flickr. It might give me a better idea of whether we'll like it or not.
This photo is really pretty. I love the color of the water.
This photo has the path to the lighthouse.
Here's a photo of a swamp wallaby. I guess it was taken in Port Fairy. See...that's exciting to me. They should put photos of those on the tourist video. Although maybe sightings of them are really rare.
15. Looked at more photos from Port Fairy, and saw one from someone I know. Well, I know Michael from the internet, at least.
That's pretty funny, though. I don't think that's ever happened to me.
16. Heard "O Children" and read an article about the use of the song in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. We also learned about it on the DVD thing. Anyway, the article talks about how the movie will introduce loads of kids, teens, and adults to Nick Cave music. Some of them might become Nick Cave fans. And MAYBE some of them will go from being Nick Cave fans to Australia fans. You never know......
17. Received a movie trailer from a promotional company called Way To Blue. They're international and have an office in Melbourne. They sent me the trailer because my blog is about Australia, and there's an Australian in the movie; Isla Fisher. The movie is called Burke and Hare. The release date is 12 May. That's pretty soon.
I see that it's a British film. So now I'm looking for Harry Potter actors.
I don't see any.
BURKE AND HARE - AUSTRALIAN TRAILER by Paramount_Australia
There's the trailer. I don't know if it's my type of movie. It looks fun, but probably not something that would make me rush to the theatre. I might see it on DVD. Actually, Tim will likely rent it and watch it. I'll see glimpses of it when I go into the kitchen for various reasons.
18. Read Facebook comments about the Australian Dollar now being worth more than the US dollar. Luke Attwells provides a brief economic lesson. It sounds smart to me; but I'm not an economics expert, so I can't really judge the validity of his argument. Anyway...he says, Quick run down of economics 101 - AUD high = cheap to purchase over seas, but bad for our exports (as it costs other countries more to buy our stuff) / AUD low = our stuff is heaps cheap, so other countries buy our stuff, but our imports are hella expensive... theres more to it, but thats the general jist.
The thing I'm wondering, though...don't you need to compare the Australian dollar to other money? How is it doing compared to the Pound and Euro? Maybe America has just tanked, and there's no point in comparing yourself to us.
I am hoping the Australia dollar goes down...way down when it comes time for us to visit. Then once we leave, it can rise again. Okay? We probably won't be back again until 2015 or later. So Australia will have plenty of time to prosper.
20. Wondered if the Australia dollar is worth more than the American dollar because Australia's economy is doing so well. Or is it doing better than the American dollar because the American dollar is doing so bad? The pessimistic side of me is thinking it's the latter. That's not to say that Australian politicians aren't doing brilliant things with the economy. But there have been floods and cyclones—stuff like that. I know that's costing the country some money.
21. Looked at a website about Robe; trying to compare it with Port Fairy.
I like the slideshow on the Robe sight. The photos look fun and casual. I like the people picnicking on the beach. It reminds me of when I was young and we lived in Madison Wisconsin. We'd go to Devil's Lake, sometimes with friends or relatives. We'd wade in the lake and play on rafts and inner tubes.
We'd eat yummy picnic food.
It's a nice memory.
The Robe site actually has three picnic photos. I love all of them.
22. Looked at accommodations in Robe. If we stay there, I think we'll do a holiday park or motel. We might pick the place that doesn't charge a bunch of extra money for Jack. I hate when they list low prices and say the room/cabin fits 3-6 people. But then you have to pay a bunch of extra money if you have more than two people. It makes no sense to me.
I looked at this holiday park. I started up a mock booking. They charge $9-10 dollars a night extra for Jack. That's not too bad, especially if we're staying for only two nights. Still, though. It really shouldn't cost extra at all. What about families who have two or three kids?
23. Looked at the Best Western Motel in Robe. They charge $20 extra a night for Jack, and that's even in a two bedroom. I think that's absolutely ridiculous.
Anyway, it seems to be almost universal. I guess I just need to add 10-20 dollars a night to the price. If a place says they're $160 a night, I need to see it as $170-180. Instead of hoping to find places that don't charge extra for the third guest, I think I'll seek out the places that charge $10 rather than $20 or more per night.
24. Thought about it more and decided maybe I can excuse the greedy practice of charging extra for extra guests. They do have to provide extra towels and stuff like that. I'm not sure those towels are worth ten dollars a nigh,t though. Oh well.
I like the places that just charge you for the linens. That way you have the option of bringing your own linens. We won't. We'll pay extra and use their linens. But I'm grateful that they've given me the choice.
25. Did some thinking. Although Robe and Port Fairy each have a unique history, to us American tourists, they're two very similar beach towns. I don't know if we really need to go to both. I think it will be easier to do two nights in Port Fairy, one night in Mount Gambier, and then make our way to Adelaide.
We might exchange Port Fairy for Warrnambool. I'm planning to look at that site next.
26. Took it as fate that the Warrnambool website isn't working for me. I think we'll stick to Port Fairy; at least for now.