1. Had a dream that somewhat connected to the dream I had, the other night, about a short trip to Melbourne. Except in this dream, it was Sydney we visited. I think about our recent very short trip to Sydney, and wonder if I need to write about it on my blog. I feel I should, but I feel weird that I didn't mention it sooner.
Well, the difference between Andrew and me is I DID give my family the URL. It's not just something that happens in my imagination.
Sometimes I'll see on Statcounter that someone (usually an Australian) has spent a large chunk of time on my blog. It's funny that a complete stranger is more interested in my life and opinions than most of my family.
12. Thought about something in what Andrew said—the idea of family members wanting to read about themselves. Sometimes I think my family avoids my blog BECAUSE they're scared of what I've written about them. Well, I think a lack of curiosity and interest is the main reason, but I also imagine they might be scared to see my true feelings about things.
Though I have a lot of curiosity, I have occasionally avoided reading things online because I was afraid it would hurt my feelings. I've done this when speaking out against a popular opinion on a blog—sharing my alternative viewpoint (in a polite way!) I was been attacked in the past for this, so after that I've sometimes taken the coward's approach—comment and don't look back.
13. Decided that I never/rarely write things about my family in my blog that I haven't tried to express to them directly (at some point). So my blog has ignored, dismissed and/or unresolved feelings about my family...NOT secret feelings. I mean it's not like I'd say to my family Wow! I had so much fun at that party! I loved being with you guys; then turn around and write on my blog about how the party was so incredibly boring.
14. Changed my mind about what I said in #13. I probably do sometimes find it easier to express something in my blog rather than confronting people about it. But I still don't think that I'd be completely two-faced—act happy about something when in reality I'm very unhappy. It's more like I'd show a limited response...hide my feelings. Then I'd blog about it.
15. Watched an episode of The Saddle Club. I really do think that Veronica (Heli Simpson) is the most dynamic and interesting character on the show.
16. Started watching an episode of Neighbours. I am loving scene with sisters Paige (Olympia Valance) Amber (Jennifer Rosenow), and Imogen (Ariel Kaplan) playing in the pool together. I think it's very cool that Amber and Imogen were best friends and then learned they had a mutual sister. What I like even more is that Amber and Imogen both strongly disliked Paige...before they knew she was their sister. As I said before, I have a weakness for enemies-becoming -friends storylines.
17. Started watching another episode of Neighbours—the 2015 Australia Day episode!
18. Liked Toadie's (Ryan Moloney) outfit, because his shorts don't match his shirt at all. I don't know why, but for some reason I have a thing for clothes that don't match. I think it's because I used to be very uptight about clothes matching and shoes matching my clothes. Getting rid of that rule has made me feel much more free.
I don't know if I'd be brave enough to go as far as Toadie's fashion choice. I try to find some bit of color matching when I mix patterns. Well, at least out in public. At home, I'll wear clothes that clashes or doesn't match.
19. Decided to finish with season two of The Saddle Club. I have one episode left. Then I can pick a new show.
20. Thought it was interesting to see Lisa (Lara Jean Marshall wearing a God Bless America t-shirt on The Saddle Club.
21. Liked what Scooter (Alex Marriott) said to Veronica towards the end of the show. After a romance begins between then, he reveals that he's not of modest means. He's very wealthy. Veronica asks, Are you rich, Scooter? He says, Now that I have you, I am.
That's very sweet.
22. Decided I liked the twist about Scooter being from a wealthy family. I wasn't sure at first. But now I think it's actually lovely. It's Scooter who taught Veronica that she didn't HAVE to have money to be a valuable person. Anyone could have given her the message, but I think it's more poignant coming from someone who is in her same financial situation. Or in the situation that she used to be. And in case, Veronica's family fortune is restored, Scooter can help her see that being wealthy doesn't have to equal being snobby and spoiled.
23. Used Random.org to pick my next show. It's season three of The Secret Life of Us! It's going to be weird getting back to Claudia Karvan and Michael Dorman, because I'm now used of the former being in Puberty Blues and the latter being in Wonderland.
24. Checked to make sure that Rebel Wilson was from Australia, because Jack thought she was from New Zealand. He saw Pitch Perfect 2 this afternoon with his cousins, grandparents, and aunt.
But yeah. Lord Wiki says Rebel Wilson is Australian, and she was born in Sydney.
He also says she once had malaria and had hallucinations. She saw herself getting an Oscar, and that's what inspired her to become an actress.
If that's true...it's a pretty cool story.
25. Saw that Chris Hemsworth is going to be in a Ghostbusters reboot movie. Fun!
26. Read this blog post about the upcoming Dance Academy movie. The blogger says,
the movie will follow Tara as she continues to pursue her ballet dreams. But we all know who the true star of the film will be-- OUR GIRL ABIGAIL.
It reminds me of how Dance Academy is similar to The Saddle Club, in that the "mean girl" is the most interesting one. Abigail (Dena Kaplan) is my favorite Dance Academy character. and Veronica is my favorite character from The Saddle Club. Although I think the "good" girl characters of Dance Academy were more tolerable than The Saddle Club "good" girls. I like Tara (Xenia Goodwin) and Kat (Alicia Banit) much more than Lisa, Stevie (Sophie Bennet) and Carole (Keenan MacWilliam)
27. Had some interfering- significant-other synchronicity. On a recent episode of Neighbours, I watched, Terese (Rebekah Elmaloglou) went to talk to Susan (Jackie Woodburne), her husband's boss to see about getting him some time off so they could go to Canada. Then, just now, I was watching Coronation Street. A guy (forgot his name) went to talk to Carla Connor about letting his partner (forgot her name too) take some time off. Both Susan and Carla Connor responded by saying their employees need to speak up for themselves rather than sending someone else to do it for them.
Or maybe I worried how to fit it into these numbered posts. Would it be like: 5. Thought about that trip to Sydney we took three days ago. What trip to Sydney? Oops, did I forget to mention that?
I think that dream was inspired by my one main hesitation about doing these number posts. It's the worry that I'll feel compelled to mention every Australia-related thing that occurs in my life.
An incident happened yesterday. I started watching a home video about a family holiday in Australia. I quit the movie before it ended, because I didn't like it very much. I had this feeling that I needed to mention watching it. But I didn't want to. Then I remembered that I often read Australian blog entries and I only occasionally mention what I've read. I don't know how I suddenly got it into my head that I need to mention everything.
2. Had dream that mixed up Hawaii and Australia. We're going to Hawaii. My personal main reason for wanting to go is to see our friend Alex. I've talked to him in general terms about us visiting, but haven't given specific dates or anything. I start to worry that he might not even be there when we're visiting.
To get to Hawaii, we're going to have a layover in Australia. I get the idea that we don't have a flight time yet for the Hawaii to Australia flight, and I wonder if we could stay in Australia for awhile.
I think in the real world, people would fly to Hawaii and then Australia, rather than to Australia and then Hawaii. Well, I mean if they were coming from the US.
To get to Hawaii, we're going to have a layover in Australia. I get the idea that we don't have a flight time yet for the Hawaii to Australia flight, and I wonder if we could stay in Australia for awhile.
I think in the real world, people would fly to Hawaii and then Australia, rather than to Australia and then Hawaii. Well, I mean if they were coming from the US.
3. Had some dream where I thought about how it sounds more classy to say I'm going to Sydney rather than I'm going to Australia. No, I don't think the dream was saying Sydney is the best place in Australia. But if you're going to be going to Sydney, it sounds better to say We're going to Sydney rather than we're going to Australia.
I think it's probably the same with any big city. What sounds better. I'm going to the US or I'm going to New York?
I'm going to France or I'm going to Paris?
If you name a less-known place, and are talking to people who you know aren't that knowledgeable about the country, it probably makes you sound like a travel snob.
For example...if I said to my sisters. Yes, this summer we're going to visit Wollongong. I know they won't know what that is. So, it's like I'd be waiting for them to ask me where it is, look confused, or pretend they know what I'm talking about. It would be better to say, This summer we're going to go to this town in Australia called Wollongong. It's near Sydney.
4. Had either a dream or was thinking about this in the middle of the night: The idea that when we go to Sydney, I want to spend most of the time near the water—probably near the Eastern beaches. I was thinking about this past dream where I hung out in this street near the beach that had shops and stuff. In my dreams (or middle of the night thoughts) I knew what I remembered was a dream, but I figured there was something similar to it in real life.
5. Dreamed about my blog. I try to read one of my entries, but it's hard to read. I decide to change the font. I can't figure out how to change the font for my whole blog, so I just do one entry. It looks weird—huge spaces between words and paragraphs. I show it to my mom, and she likes it because the writing is nice and big. I start thinking maybe I don't need to change font, because readers can change the font, when they read, to what is most comfortable to them.
6. Read Andrew's post about family members and friends reading our blog. The comments, on the post, were very interesting to me, because many of Andrew's readers are in my same situation. Their families are not very interested in their blogs.
Tim reads my blog often enough. My dad reads it on rare occasions. As far as I know, the rest of my family reads it rarely or never.
It's hard for me to understand. I can't imagine not wanting to read a blog written by someone in my family. I'd be so curious! Especially if I knew the blog had a lot of personal stuff.
I don't think it's that I love my family members more than they love me. I think it's really about curiosity.
For example, if someone in my family has a medical issue, I will often go Google it, and then sometimes freak out a bit. I'll worry. I'll ask questions, try to get updates...(but try to hide the fact that I'm totally scared for them).
The other day I asked my mom if she could drive me to the doctor. I've realized that the hair on my leg seems to have stopped growing. Being a hypochondriac, I googled and learned this is a sign of a circulation/cardiovascular problem. My mom laughed at me and said you don't go to a doctor for that. Or at least not a regular doctor. If anything, maybe you'd see a dermatologist. I got mad and stormed out of the room. I imagined her Googling and reading that this could be a serious health problem; then profusely apologizing for her ignorance and callousness. It never happened. Though she did email me and said she'd take me to the doctor. But I feel it was more to humor me and my hypochondria not because she had taken the time to do her own research.
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
7. Looked up the basketball player Matthew Dellavedova, because Tim sent me a text about him. He went to a work-induced game yesterday in Cleveland—something about needing to wine and dine some clients. Anyway, he learned that one of the players (Dellavedova) is an Aussie.
8. Saw that Dellavedova was born in Maryborough, Victoria. I think that's where they had some major fires in 2009.
9. Consulted Lord Wiki about the fires. He confirms that it's known for fires, but doesn't mention the 2009 ones. He mentions 1985. But he does say there's been fires there on multiple occasions. So maybe there were fires there in 2009, but they weren't as huge as the 1985 ones.
10. Went to a bushfire website. It says it was MaryVILLE that had the devastating 2009 fires, not Maryborough.
11. Read more of Andrew's post and comments. Or I should say, I reread some of the stuff. I can relate to what Andrew says in comments here....at times I imagine giving my blog url to my family members, and they would hungrily hunt through it to find which person they are anonymously referred to as. In my dreams. They would not be interested.
Well, the difference between Andrew and me is I DID give my family the URL. It's not just something that happens in my imagination.
Sometimes I'll see on Statcounter that someone (usually an Australian) has spent a large chunk of time on my blog. It's funny that a complete stranger is more interested in my life and opinions than most of my family.
12. Thought about something in what Andrew said—the idea of family members wanting to read about themselves. Sometimes I think my family avoids my blog BECAUSE they're scared of what I've written about them. Well, I think a lack of curiosity and interest is the main reason, but I also imagine they might be scared to see my true feelings about things.
Though I have a lot of curiosity, I have occasionally avoided reading things online because I was afraid it would hurt my feelings. I've done this when speaking out against a popular opinion on a blog—sharing my alternative viewpoint (in a polite way!) I was been attacked in the past for this, so after that I've sometimes taken the coward's approach—comment and don't look back.
13. Decided that I never/rarely write things about my family in my blog that I haven't tried to express to them directly (at some point). So my blog has ignored, dismissed and/or unresolved feelings about my family...NOT secret feelings. I mean it's not like I'd say to my family Wow! I had so much fun at that party! I loved being with you guys; then turn around and write on my blog about how the party was so incredibly boring.
14. Changed my mind about what I said in #13. I probably do sometimes find it easier to express something in my blog rather than confronting people about it. But I still don't think that I'd be completely two-faced—act happy about something when in reality I'm very unhappy. It's more like I'd show a limited response...hide my feelings. Then I'd blog about it.
15. Watched an episode of The Saddle Club. I really do think that Veronica (Heli Simpson) is the most dynamic and interesting character on the show.
16. Started watching an episode of Neighbours. I am loving scene with sisters Paige (Olympia Valance) Amber (Jennifer Rosenow), and Imogen (Ariel Kaplan) playing in the pool together. I think it's very cool that Amber and Imogen were best friends and then learned they had a mutual sister. What I like even more is that Amber and Imogen both strongly disliked Paige...before they knew she was their sister. As I said before, I have a weakness for enemies-becoming -friends storylines.
17. Started watching another episode of Neighbours—the 2015 Australia Day episode!
18. Liked Toadie's (Ryan Moloney) outfit, because his shorts don't match his shirt at all. I don't know why, but for some reason I have a thing for clothes that don't match. I think it's because I used to be very uptight about clothes matching and shoes matching my clothes. Getting rid of that rule has made me feel much more free.
19. Decided to finish with season two of The Saddle Club. I have one episode left. Then I can pick a new show.
20. Thought it was interesting to see Lisa (Lara Jean Marshall wearing a God Bless America t-shirt on The Saddle Club.
That's very sweet.
22. Decided I liked the twist about Scooter being from a wealthy family. I wasn't sure at first. But now I think it's actually lovely. It's Scooter who taught Veronica that she didn't HAVE to have money to be a valuable person. Anyone could have given her the message, but I think it's more poignant coming from someone who is in her same financial situation. Or in the situation that she used to be. And in case, Veronica's family fortune is restored, Scooter can help her see that being wealthy doesn't have to equal being snobby and spoiled.
23. Used Random.org to pick my next show. It's season three of The Secret Life of Us! It's going to be weird getting back to Claudia Karvan and Michael Dorman, because I'm now used of the former being in Puberty Blues and the latter being in Wonderland.
24. Checked to make sure that Rebel Wilson was from Australia, because Jack thought she was from New Zealand. He saw Pitch Perfect 2 this afternoon with his cousins, grandparents, and aunt.
But yeah. Lord Wiki says Rebel Wilson is Australian, and she was born in Sydney.
He also says she once had malaria and had hallucinations. She saw herself getting an Oscar, and that's what inspired her to become an actress.
If that's true...it's a pretty cool story.
25. Saw that Chris Hemsworth is going to be in a Ghostbusters reboot movie. Fun!
26. Read this blog post about the upcoming Dance Academy movie. The blogger says,
It reminds me of how Dance Academy is similar to The Saddle Club, in that the "mean girl" is the most interesting one. Abigail (Dena Kaplan) is my favorite Dance Academy character. and Veronica is my favorite character from The Saddle Club. Although I think the "good" girl characters of Dance Academy were more tolerable than The Saddle Club "good" girls. I like Tara (Xenia Goodwin) and Kat (Alicia Banit) much more than Lisa, Stevie (Sophie Bennet) and Carole (Keenan MacWilliam)
27. Had some interfering- significant-other synchronicity. On a recent episode of Neighbours, I watched, Terese (Rebekah Elmaloglou) went to talk to Susan (Jackie Woodburne), her husband's boss to see about getting him some time off so they could go to Canada. Then, just now, I was watching Coronation Street. A guy (forgot his name) went to talk to Carla Connor about letting his partner (forgot her name too) take some time off. Both Susan and Carla Connor responded by saying their employees need to speak up for themselves rather than sending someone else to do it for them.
Maybe it's a message from the universe telling me I shouldn't talk to Tim's boss about giving him time off. Because I HAVE been tempted. It's kind of a similar situation to Terese's. From what I remember, she's good friends with Susan. Tim's boss has been a friend of mine for over twenty years.