1. Watched Megan's most recent Tallygarunga inspired video.
It's in honor of Lil's birthday. Lil is one of the staff members of Tallygarunga. She writes the parts of Arti, Jezabel, and other people which I can't remember right now.
After watching that, I indulged myself by watching the video Megan made for me a few weeks ago. She sang a song by Ingrid Michaelson. That got me thinking about Lost for some reason. And then I was in the mood to watch my favorite scene. I'm going to do that now.
2. Realized it was the lyrics of the song that made me think of Lost.
It's all about wanting to love and wanting to be loved. I think there were a lot of characters needing love on Lost. Then again....90% of fictional stories are probably about people needing and wanting love. I'm not sure why Lost came to my mind. You would think I'd think of Tallygarunga. I'm sure there's a lot of wizards and witches there who are wishing for love.
3. Thought: wouldn't it be cool if someone made a Lost montage video using the Ingrid Michaelson song. So I plugged Lost and Ingrid Michaelson into YouTube.
It turns out that Ingrid Michaelson made a song ABOUT Lost. That's too funny.
4. Watched another Ingrid Michaelson Lost video.
5. Decided Cloudstreet is a bit like Lost. It's very spiritual. It's about people coming together. They're trying to deal with their shortcomings and the tragedies in their life.
Cloudstreet makes more sense though; and it doesn't have a bunch of loose ends.
6. Went to bed and had some dreams.
In one dream: My friend Michelle lives in the same city as me. I think about this, and hope we both make an effort to be friends. I hope we do stuff together. Michelle hears of a new flavor milk shake at Steak 'n Shake. She suggests going there. I'm surprised she wants to do this, but I decide I'm fine with it.
7. In another dream. I'm on some kind of train-like thing that goes around a large area. There's some game I'm playing with my traveling companions; and we realize some of our group (who are back in another car) don't have the game with them. We worry about them being bored and think about passing the game back to them. Then someone reminds us that they can just look at the sights outside. I then remember we're in Sydney and passing things like the Sydney Harbour Bridge. We've begun to take it all for granted. I'm amused by this.
8. I read Michael's post about his eleven hour train ride with his son. They traveled from Adelaide to Melbourne.
Michael says, I wanted a slow journey to connect with James and wean him off computer games for entertainment. The train was perfect. I would not want to use a long train or plane ride to wean Jack off of computer games. This is the time that I'd want Jack obsessively addicted to his video game.
Although maybe Michael meant just computer games and not video games. He says, later, We had four bags, two of which we checked in. I carried aboard my backpack with electronic gizmos (iPad, Nintendo DS, etc) and enough food to keep a seven-year-old nourished for several days.
Yeah. So maybe they were just trying to do computer-game weaning and not electronic-entertainment (in general) weaning.
It's in honor of Lil's birthday. Lil is one of the staff members of Tallygarunga. She writes the parts of Arti, Jezabel, and other people which I can't remember right now.
After watching that, I indulged myself by watching the video Megan made for me a few weeks ago. She sang a song by Ingrid Michaelson. That got me thinking about Lost for some reason. And then I was in the mood to watch my favorite scene. I'm going to do that now.
2. Realized it was the lyrics of the song that made me think of Lost.
It's all about wanting to love and wanting to be loved. I think there were a lot of characters needing love on Lost. Then again....90% of fictional stories are probably about people needing and wanting love. I'm not sure why Lost came to my mind. You would think I'd think of Tallygarunga. I'm sure there's a lot of wizards and witches there who are wishing for love.
3. Thought: wouldn't it be cool if someone made a Lost montage video using the Ingrid Michaelson song. So I plugged Lost and Ingrid Michaelson into YouTube.
It turns out that Ingrid Michaelson made a song ABOUT Lost. That's too funny.
4. Watched another Ingrid Michaelson Lost video.
5. Decided Cloudstreet is a bit like Lost. It's very spiritual. It's about people coming together. They're trying to deal with their shortcomings and the tragedies in their life.
Cloudstreet makes more sense though; and it doesn't have a bunch of loose ends.
6. Went to bed and had some dreams.
In one dream: My friend Michelle lives in the same city as me. I think about this, and hope we both make an effort to be friends. I hope we do stuff together. Michelle hears of a new flavor milk shake at Steak 'n Shake. She suggests going there. I'm surprised she wants to do this, but I decide I'm fine with it.
7. In another dream. I'm on some kind of train-like thing that goes around a large area. There's some game I'm playing with my traveling companions; and we realize some of our group (who are back in another car) don't have the game with them. We worry about them being bored and think about passing the game back to them. Then someone reminds us that they can just look at the sights outside. I then remember we're in Sydney and passing things like the Sydney Harbour Bridge. We've begun to take it all for granted. I'm amused by this.
8. I read Michael's post about his eleven hour train ride with his son. They traveled from Adelaide to Melbourne.
Michael says, I wanted a slow journey to connect with James and wean him off computer games for entertainment. The train was perfect. I would not want to use a long train or plane ride to wean Jack off of computer games. This is the time that I'd want Jack obsessively addicted to his video game.
Although maybe Michael meant just computer games and not video games. He says, later, We had four bags, two of which we checked in. I carried aboard my backpack with electronic gizmos (iPad, Nintendo DS, etc) and enough food to keep a seven-year-old nourished for several days.
Yeah. So maybe they were just trying to do computer-game weaning and not electronic-entertainment (in general) weaning.
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
9. Read Fruitcake's post about unemployment. She talks about how matching the unemployed with jobs is easier said than done. One of the things she talks about is Gillard's plan to force teenage moms to finish school, get training, and then eventually have jobs.What I wonder is who's going to take care of the children while the mom is attending school? Who's going to babysit while the mom attends a training course? Is there going to be free daycare for all these moms? Is it a safe and dependable daycare?
To me it's crazy that we send a mother off to work so then another woman can be paid to take care of her child. I think it makes more sense to pay the mother to stay home with her own child. No, she won't be employed. But if she has a young child, she WILL be working.
10. Read an editorial about Australia that I found via Facebook. I think it's ridiculous, and it reminds me of a certain American editorial that finds its way into email forwards.
The basic idea is that our fellow countrymen should stop whining about the problems in our country. Instead we should realize how lucky we are.
Julian Lee says, Just as the riots have confirmed to me that English society is deeply flawed, it has also prompted me to reflect on my adopted country and to conclude just how lucky we are.
What????
I'm sure British people could have said a similar thing before the riots began.
Julian goes onto say, Were you to search for something to complain about then you would not have to look hard. To Greece, where a generation of Greeks face rebuilding an entire social order; to Ireland, where the roar of the Celtic tiger has turned into a whimper; to Norway, Christchurch, tsunami-wrecked Japan, and to America, finally coming to terms with the fact that its days as a world leader are over and saddled with an economy that threatens to sit in the doldrums.
What????
Norway has one crazy man and a mean polar bear; and now Norwegians are no longer lucky?
Australia had a crazy killer too once. Does Julian know what happened in Port Arthur in 1996? And Australia may not have scary polar bears, but it does have crocodiles.
I love Australia...obviously. But it's not perfect; and Australians have the right to do some whining. There has to be a balance of appreciation and criticism regarding our homelands.
I think America is full of some major shit. I'm not going to ignore that just because we have it better than starving nations in Africa. But I'm also not going to ignore the fact that we have wonderful things here.
11. Read article about people trying to rescue Barramundi. They buy them from their holding tanks and them let them go free in Sydney Harbour.
It sounds great in theory. I like that people care about the fish, and I love that they're willing to pay money to help them.
Unfortunately, the plan is not a good one. According to the article, Barramundi need warm tropical water; and the winter coldness of the Sydney Harbor is dangerous for them.
I think the moral lesson here is that we can't just use our hearts when seeking to do a good deed. We also need to use our brains, Google, and Lord Wiki.
I love the idea though. I think it would work well if the fish in the holding tanks came from local waters.
12. Looked at website about Barramundi. They live in the waters of northern Australia. So I'm thinking it would be better for people to buy and release them up there.
13. Went to Tallygarunga.
Today I'm going to read a story thread called Tomorrow Comes Today, For All We Know. That happens if you fly to Australia. You lose a day, and suddenly it's tomorrow.
14. Saw that the story thread takes place on the grounds of Tallygarunga.
It features two characters; Améa Du Contiaea and Zane Nedvidek. Zane is new to me. Améa is the troubled girl who's reluctant to love her new family because she's been hurt before.
The story takes place on Wednesday, August 10 in the morning.
When it was Wednesday morning in Australia, it was Tuesday evening in Texas. At Hogwarts, it would have been between midnight and about 2 am. All the wizards and witches would likely be asleep. Albus Severus Potter wouldn't be one of them. He's only about five-years-old now—way too young for Hogwarts.
Time is a funny thing.
15. Started to read the story.
Améa is trying to rebel. She's skipping classes and has shortened the skirt of her school uniform. If I remember correctly, Améa is usually modest in her clothing.
16. Checked Améa's biography. I'm right! I'm so glad I remembered something correctly.
It says here, She carries herself like a lady, having been brought up with very old fashioned values, she dislikes clothing with sleeves shorter than her wrists, and thinks that skirts higher than the shin are the sign of 'loose' women. Needless to say, she dresses quite conservatively.
17. Learned that Améa is making drastic changes to get attention from her mother. She wants a reaction, but mum (Adele) isn't giving her one. Is Adele not noticing, or is she noticing and purposely not reacting?
18. Learned that Zane is new to Tallygarunga. He's nineteen and in his 7th year. That's older than most 7 year students. I wonder if he was held back.
19. Loved this line from Améa's post.
Améa leveled an icy gaze upward, expecting to find a professor standing over her - ready to whisk her away back to her classroom where she could be 'productive'. It was the point, after all - she wanted to be found. If she didn't want to be found, she wouldn't have sat in such an obvious place.
Améa reminds me so much of myself. I'm not proud of the fact.
I'm just being honest.
20. Agreed with Zane when he said, Anything they teach me I can read from books. Things I have learned from my experiences had to be learned the hard way. Life. But, I'm sure you aren't out here to hear my give a lecture on street-smarts.
21. Loved Améa's quote here.
Only that there is only one person upon whom absolute trust should ever be placed - and even to that end, placing complete trust in one's self can be considered foolish. Human beings are, on the whole, completely unreliable and more given to breaking their word for the sake of selfish need than they are to upholding arbitrary values such as love and friendship. Even the values to which we are supposedly born, the family, cannot be taken as absolute. More to the point, I should think they are the least worthy of any trust.
Many would probably argue that Améa is bitter and that her ideas are lacking validity.
I think despite her bitterness, her ideas are very wise.
I think it's foolish to put absolute trust in anybody or anything. Although I never considered the fact that we can't even trust ourselves completely. It's so true, though.
How many times have I made promises to myself and then later broken them?
I'll never let that happen again.
I'll never put myself in the same situation again.
That's the last time I'm doing something for her.
For now on, I'm going to completely avoid.....
I believe, though, that you can have moderate amounts of trust. There's probably no benefits to being excessively cynical.
22. Learned that Zane is under probation from the International Confederation of Wizards. Intriguing....
23. Consulted Lord Wiki's cousin about the International Confederation of Wizards. She says it's the wizarding version of the United Nations. The leader is called the Supreme Mugwump. Albus Dumbledore had this position until he was renounced for announcing Voldemort's return. I should already know all this since I've read all the books multiple times. But I didn't. Well, I probably knew it, and then forgot it.
24. Learned that Zane grew up in America.
25. Started to read the biography of Zane Nedvidek. His role-player is Scotteh. The name sounded familiar to me. Then I remembered seeing it on the Tally Cafepress page.
I think it's all some kind of inside joke. Maybe?
I figure since his name is on a t-shirt, Scotteh has probably been around for awhile. He must have other characters. Zane is a new one. He was Tally-birthed on August 10.
26. Saw that Zane's face claim is Brant Daugherty. Lord Wiki says that Daugherty is on a show called Pretty Little Liars.
Here's a video of Brant Daugherty, and his fellow cast members, talking about Christmas stuff.
27. Saw that Zane is Halfblood, and his Patronus is a cobra.
28. Learned that Zane has a mysterious scar on his neck. Don't ask him about it. He doesn't like to talk about it.
29. Learned that Zane is officially a sociopath. Well, at least someone has given him that diagnosis. This means he feels no empathy and he's a pathological liar.
I wonder. Was he born that way or did something happen in his childhood to make him that way?
30. Learned that Zane's mother is a squib. His father is a criminal. I think he was a Muggle criminal, but I could be wrong.
Daddy Nedvidek wanted to exploit his son's magic for his criminal activities. I'm getting the idea that this might have pushed Zane into the sociopathic mode.
31. Wondered if Zane is really under probation from the International Confederation of Wizards. That might be one of his lies.
32. Found out that my Australian of the day is Phyllis Margery Anderson. She was a pathologist. I think that's someone who studies disease.
Phyllis was born in Sydney in 1901— twelve days after Australia became a Federation.
When Phyllis was twenty-five, she became a pathologist at the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children.
Lord Wiki says this hospital is also called The Children's Hospital at Westmeade.
33. Learned from Lord Wiki that in 1930, Margaret Harper a pediatrician at the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children, discovered the difference between Cystic Fibrosis and Celiac Disease. This is interesting to me because Cystic Fibrosis was one of my obsessions.
34. Went to this website about Cystic Fibrosis They don't mention a Dr. Harper in Sydney. They credit the discovery to Dorothy Anderson of New York.
What's the true story here?
35. Found another website about Cystic Fibrosis history. They mention both Harper and Anderson. I skimmed through the the information a bit. I'm getting the idea that Margaret Harper is the first doctor to notice patients with the symptoms of Cystic Fibrosis. Initially, the disease was confused with Celiac disease. But with CF, it's not just the pancreas that has problems. The lungs have problems as well. So Margaret Harper started noticing these patients, but it seems she didn't give an official diagnosis. Then later Dorothy Anderson wrote a paper that made the disease more official.
36. Decided I should get back on track. I've totally neglected Phyllis Anderson. I'm sure she did important medical stuff as well.
One of the thing she did is help with research of the gastroenteritis epidemic of 1928-29. Yuck. That's like my total nightmare. Was this a major thing?
37. Googled the gastroeneritis epidemic of 1928-1929 and didn't easily find anything. I'm guessing it wasn't huge.
38. Saw that Phyllis Anderson died fairly young. She was only 56. She never married and had no children. She bequeathed a lot of money to the faculty of medicine at the University of Sydney. A research fellowship was named for her.
Here's a medical paper written by one of the recipient of the fellowship.
39. Watched video of a Kookaburra laughing.
40. Decided to find my next Flickr stalking target. I'm forcing myself to take a break from looking at photographs because I don't want to get burned out. I was going to start a new stalking-adventure tomorrow. But I figured today I could at least find the person.
41. Found a possible treasure. His (or her?) name is LJ Gervasoni. He has a blog called Australian Heritage Photography. It hasn't been updated since March 2010, but that's okay. LJ is still putting his work up on Flickr.
42. Decided to break yet another promise to myself. I want to start looking at his pictures now!!
I'm just going to look at one tiny photo set. The theme is bridges.
43. Saw a picture of the Yarrawonga Bridge. Where's Yarrawonga?
44. Found Yarrawonga on Google Maps. It's about an hour west of Albury.
45. Saw a picture of the Princes Bridge in Melbourne. I've heard of that one. I think one of the artists, I read about, did a painting of the bridge. Who was that again?
46. Found out the artist was Frederick McCubbin.
47. Loved this picture of Luna Park's Ferris Wheel. I'm disappointed though that I can't download it. LJ doesn't allow downloads of his photos. That's fair. I understand. He's trying to sell them.
I wouldn't use them for my own personal gain. I'd just use them for my own personal pleasure. I download pictures and put them on my screensaver slideshow. I guess if I really LOVE a photo, I can buy it. He has a link to a website where you can email and get information about purchasing a photograph. It's hard to justify that, though, when there's so much out there on the internet for free.
48. Decided to break another promise to myself. I'm going to look at one more photo set. It's called Rocks and Geology.
49. Wondered if the people in this photo are significant. Or did they just get in the way when LJ was trying to take photos of the rocks?
50. Thought this tree shadow picture was cool.
51. Reminisced about our backyard creek when I saw this photo. Although I'm not sure our creek had that much water usually. Sometimes, when it would rain, it would turn into a small pond.
It was really cool.
52. Wondered what's in the left hand corner of this photo? Maybe a balloon string?
53. Loved this photo of the Nepean Peninsula. It looks very mythical.
54. Wondered what's the game people are playing in this photo? Is it a golf-like thing? Lawn bowling?
How's it related to rocks and geology? I don't get it. I'm sure there are rocks and geological things somewhere in the background. But couldn't you say the same for almost all exterior photos?
55. Loved the purple sky in this photo.
56. Wanted to be excited about a photo of the Twelve Apostles, but I've become so jaded. I've seen way too many photos of that thing.
Is it going to be better in real life? How? I hope it dances for us or something.
It is very beautiful. I'll admit that.
57. Had a good idea. See...so many people take fantastic photos of the Twelve Apostles and Uluru. It's become a bit redundant.
I think even bad photographers could do a decent job photographing those sights.
Anyway, my idea is to have a contest of really bad photographs of the Twelve Apostles and Uluru. They can be blurry, have someone's thumb stuck in the picture, have not enough lighting, have too much lighting, etc.
We can make a whole book....or website. It can be called Bad Photos of Beautiful Things.
I know one person who probably thinks she could be the star photographer of the book. I'm guessing she gives herself too much credit. But I could be wrong.
58. Intrigued by this photo of the Twelve Apostles. Is it me, or does it look like the Apostles are going to slide into the ocean?
59. Liked this photo of a cliff. It may not be all famous like the Twelve Apostles. But it's still nice.
I bet other rock thing are jealous of all the attention showered on the Twelve Apostles and Uluru.
60. Saw this photo of Lake Wendouree. It has no water because there was a drought. The photo was taken in 2006. It's five years later. Maybe the water is back?
61. Consulted Lord Wiki about Lake Wendouree. He says the lake dried up in 2006 and stayed until recently. Now it's almost back up to it's full capacity. That's good!