1. Dreamed about Melbourne. Tim has a business trip to Melbourne and invites Jack and me to go with him. I'm happy about that. I think about how Melbourne isn't the place in Australia I wanted to go, but I'm glad to be going anywhere in Australia.
I start to worry that, since it is a business trip, it's going to be too short. In and out. I am wondering/hoping if I can extend my time there.
2. Looked at Australia weather on my phone app. It got me thinking that I might enjoy Australia in the winter. I used to like weather in the 70's and low 80's but now I'm starting to prefer weather in the 60's
I took a walk when I woke up this morning, thinking later it will be too hot. Well, it was already too hot. And it was only 81 degrees.
In celsius language: I used to prefer weather in the 20's. Now I prefer weather in the high teens.
3. Started watching an episode of The Saddle Club. I have three more episodes!
4. Read about the Iggy Azalea drama. She was going to perform at a gay pride parade in the US but then canceled, because gay and lesbian groups were threatening to boycott the event. They didn't want Iggy Azalea to be there.
Why?
Because In the past she wrote Tweets that were seen as being homophobic.
I've looked at the two Tweets. The first one doesn't seem bad to me. I can imagine myself saying something like it. She Tweeted, When guys whisper in each others ears I always think its kinda homo.
Maybe it's the word homo? Is that derogatory? But I agree with her. If I saw men whispering into each other's ear, I'd guess they might be gay. These days, if I see two men eating together at a restaurant, I wonder if they're gay. Actually, there's a chance that anytime I see two men together I question if they're gay or not.
But wondering if people are gay, doesn't mean you're homophobic.
If I see a man and woman together at a restaurant, I will usually make the assumption that they're a couple. But they could be platonic friends, siblings, cousins, work colleagues, etc. But making the assumption that something romantic is going on, doesn't mean I'm against heterosexuals.
If Iggy Azalea said, When guys whisper in each other ears I think think its kinda homo, and I want to vomit...THAT would be a different story.
5. Felt that I could much more easily interpret the second Tweet as being homophobic.
Wondered why my butt felt like it was about to grow legs, flip me off and walk away. then I remembered i played soccer yestrdy w 5 dyke bitches
I'm not sure about the word dyke. I think maybe it's one of those words where it's okay to use it if it pertains to you. But it's not so okay to use it if you're not a lesbian.
There's also a negative stereotype in the Tweet—an idea that a woman can't hang out with lesbians without them wanting to sexually assault her.
6. Thought about the argument in favor of Iggy Azalea. This is that she wrote the Tweets when she was younger and not famous. I don't think the not-famous part matters but the younger part does. And even just the passage of time itself is an excuse.
I've been reading my posts from 2011, and I sometimes find myself disagreeing with my past self. I haven't been offended by me yet, but that might happen.
Our opinions change through the years.
And the fact that Iggy Azalea wanted to perform at a gay pride parade says something.
The fact that people were planning to boycott a whole parade because past homophobic remarks from one performer says something as well.
7. Found myself seeing the other point of view.
How would I feel if Mel Gibson was invited to a Jewish and/or Holocaust event?
I don't think I'd boycott the event, but I might question why he wanted to be there. Is it because he changed and regrets his past remarks? Or is he thinking, if he attends the event, he can use it as evidence against anti-semitic accusations.
It's kind of like when someone says something very racist. You call them out on it, and they say, I'm not racist. My best friend is black.
So that COULD be Iggy Azalea's angle. She could have anti-gay feelings but doesn't want to be perceived that way. So by performing at the parade, she might be able to argue against the homophobic label.
8. Felt the world would be a better place if we could all just admit we have prejudices.
9. Tried to figure out how I feel about Veronica's (Heli Simpson) storyline on The Saddle Club. I'm tempted to be bothered by it, because the underlying message seems to be that wealth made her a brat. Now that her father has lost their fortune, she's becoming a nicer person.
I don't like the poor-as-noble vs wealthy-as-selfish-and-superficial stereotype.
I do agree that there are many wealthy people who are quite awful—spoiled, demanding, and greedy. But some are caring, open-minded, and generous. And I've known people who aren't rolling in cash yet have too much of a liking for material goods. Or they want the high life and will make unwise financial decisions to obtain it.
The thing about the Veronica storyline, though, is it could be argued that it's not the loss of wealth that has bettered her but just a big life change in general. She's lost something and that has humbled her a bit.
10. Started watching an episode of Neighbours. It looks like Karl (Alan Fletcher) is going to survive being poisoned by Brad's (Kip Gamblin) surfboard catalyst stuff. He's burned his esophagus, but it seems to be treatable.
11. Read about Aidan Puglielli on IMDb. He's a student at the famous NIDA acting school. And for the past year or so has been appearing in various projects as extras and brief guest appearances. He's on the episode of Neighbours that I'm watching now.
I wonder how he'll acting career will turn out. He could become a huge celebrity. He could end up being an easily recognized character actor. He might do more theater than screen work. He might be an actor that's successful in Australia but not an international star.
He might be one of those actors who struggle and rarely find success; then ends up choosing a different career path.
12. Looked at Aidan Puglielli's Instagram page. His bio says he plays the tuba and likes green tea.
13. Looked at Puglielli's Gallipoli photo. He appeared on the miniseries. I think as an extra? So the photo is probably from the set.
14. Looked at Puglielli's healthy breakfast—fresh figs, strawberries, and yogurt.
I'd like the fruit part, but not the yogurt.
15. Looked at Puglielli's goblin in a garden photo. The goblin looks familar. Maybe we have it at the lake house? We have some kind of creature...I think? I'll go look outside later.
16. Had a spider crawling up my leg while I was looking at Puglielli's photo of a French Harry Potter book.
Actually...it was more crawling under my leg.
And I'm not 100% sure it's a spider. It might be an insect.
17. Did not like scene on Neighbours with Chris (James Mason) expressing unhappiness with Lucy's (Melissa Bell) plan to use an anonymous sperm donor.
He asks who's going to teach the kid how to fix an engine and kick a ball around.
It sounded very anti-single parent, and fed into gender stereotypes. At least Nate (Meyne Wyatt) fights against the latter. His response is that Lucy can teach him. Chris responds by saying she doesn't care about these things.
Whether a child has one parent or two, those parents aren't going to have the skills to teach the child everything.
Jack has a mother and father. Neither of us have the skills to teach Jack gardening. Nor can we teach him to fix an engine, do a back flip, breed puppies, fix a broken air-conditioning, etc.
18. Thought of something else. If Lucy's child expressed an interest in fixing engines, Lucy and the child could learn together how to do it. Or Lucy could learn and then teach her child.
Sometimes a parent isn't interested in something UNTIL their child becomes interested. I wasn't very interested in geography until Jack became interested in it. Then it became much more interesting to me, and I've spent a lot of time playing geography games.
19. Liked a dress worn by one of the Neighbours' extras. I guess she would have picked it out herself? The costume designers don't dress the extras, do they?
20. Looked at an answer to my question on Yahoo Answers.
It says there that extras usually bring their own clothes, unless the program is a period piece.
That makes sense.
21. Watched Lucy talking to Nate, and remembered when she was the little girl who had to have an emergency tracheotomy.
Oh! And I also remember all the trouble she gave her dad and his girlfriend Zoe!
For long-term fans of the show, that memory would be from decades past. For me, it was about only a year ago.
It's like I jumped into a time machine in Erinsborough.
22. Glad to see Nate push Chris to make the baby with Lucy.
I wonder if the situation will have that much of an effect on Nate's life.
I'm thinking even if Chris isn't obligated to make a financial contribution to the child's upbringing, if he and Nate end up sharing finances, some of the money will go towards the baby.
The big thing is plane tickets. If Chris wants to see the baby, he has to fly to the US. Well, and also Lucy and the baby can fly to Melbourne. But I imagine he'll want to be nice enough to visit the baby in it's homeland sometime.
With every couple, though, one person's interests or passion is going to use up part of the finances.
Chris will have the baby. Nate might start up an expensive stamp-collecting hobby.
A large chunk of our finances have gone towards my Australia obsession. But Tim has used a lot of money for his interests as well.
23. Wondered if it's possible that Tim's purchases could ever add up to the Australia trips. Maybe? I doubt it.
He does buy more clothes than me and more expensive clothes. Plus, shoes. He has a ton of shoes! That wouldn't equal Australian plane tickets, though.
He buys more stuff in general—video game stuff and electronics.
It still wouldn't equal Australia.
He did go to Korea and Japan but used points we accumulated when changing one of our Australia flights.
24. Thought of a difference! Tim got to enjoy Australia along with me. Although it was my idea and wish to go there, he went too and had a great time. I don't usually share his clothes or toys. That's pretty much for him only.
25. Imagined it's likely that the Chris-Lucy baby will be for Nate as well. Maybe he'll be a second father to the child or an uncle figure.
26. Didn't see Aidan Puglielli in this episode.
I think he'll be in the next one.
27. Saw our lake house goblin statue. I think it's the same, or similar, to the one in Puglielli's photo.
28. Started watching another episode of Neighbours.
29. Reminded of my Chattanooga Synagogue when I read the Batty Tales' church experience. Batty says, Speaking with a few of the regulars afterwards, we were welcomed like old friends, and they seemed genuinely disappointed they we wouldn’t be sticking around long enough to make it to the next service.
That's how they were in Chattanooga when I was a student there—extremely welcoming. And not just to me, a born-Jew but also towards my friend who was interested in converting to Judaism.
30. Surprised by what I read in Eric Thompson's Japan blog. Kate, his traveling partner, slipped and fell. Thompson says,
The English people we had seen at the top were further up the path when Kate slipped and offered us some bandaids, which they called "plasters". We thankfully accepted.
I assumed that Australians used the word plaster as well.
I think Australians share more terms with the British than they do with Americans.
I wonder if there are other words that Americans and Australians use, but not the British. And are there words that the British and Americans use but not Australians?
31. Finished watching the Neighbours episode. I didn't see Puglielli in that episode either. Maybe he was cut out? But then why would he be in the IMDb credits?
I'm confused.
Read my novel: The Dead are Online
I start to worry that, since it is a business trip, it's going to be too short. In and out. I am wondering/hoping if I can extend my time there.
2. Looked at Australia weather on my phone app. It got me thinking that I might enjoy Australia in the winter. I used to like weather in the 70's and low 80's but now I'm starting to prefer weather in the 60's
I took a walk when I woke up this morning, thinking later it will be too hot. Well, it was already too hot. And it was only 81 degrees.
In celsius language: I used to prefer weather in the 20's. Now I prefer weather in the high teens.
3. Started watching an episode of The Saddle Club. I have three more episodes!
4. Read about the Iggy Azalea drama. She was going to perform at a gay pride parade in the US but then canceled, because gay and lesbian groups were threatening to boycott the event. They didn't want Iggy Azalea to be there.
Why?
Because In the past she wrote Tweets that were seen as being homophobic.
I've looked at the two Tweets. The first one doesn't seem bad to me. I can imagine myself saying something like it. She Tweeted, When guys whisper in each others ears I always think its kinda homo.
Maybe it's the word homo? Is that derogatory? But I agree with her. If I saw men whispering into each other's ear, I'd guess they might be gay. These days, if I see two men eating together at a restaurant, I wonder if they're gay. Actually, there's a chance that anytime I see two men together I question if they're gay or not.
But wondering if people are gay, doesn't mean you're homophobic.
If I see a man and woman together at a restaurant, I will usually make the assumption that they're a couple. But they could be platonic friends, siblings, cousins, work colleagues, etc. But making the assumption that something romantic is going on, doesn't mean I'm against heterosexuals.
If Iggy Azalea said, When guys whisper in each other ears I think think its kinda homo, and I want to vomit...THAT would be a different story.
5. Felt that I could much more easily interpret the second Tweet as being homophobic.
Wondered why my butt felt like it was about to grow legs, flip me off and walk away. then I remembered i played soccer yestrdy w 5 dyke bitches
I'm not sure about the word dyke. I think maybe it's one of those words where it's okay to use it if it pertains to you. But it's not so okay to use it if you're not a lesbian.
There's also a negative stereotype in the Tweet—an idea that a woman can't hang out with lesbians without them wanting to sexually assault her.
6. Thought about the argument in favor of Iggy Azalea. This is that she wrote the Tweets when she was younger and not famous. I don't think the not-famous part matters but the younger part does. And even just the passage of time itself is an excuse.
I've been reading my posts from 2011, and I sometimes find myself disagreeing with my past self. I haven't been offended by me yet, but that might happen.
Our opinions change through the years.
And the fact that Iggy Azalea wanted to perform at a gay pride parade says something.
The fact that people were planning to boycott a whole parade because past homophobic remarks from one performer says something as well.
7. Found myself seeing the other point of view.
How would I feel if Mel Gibson was invited to a Jewish and/or Holocaust event?
I don't think I'd boycott the event, but I might question why he wanted to be there. Is it because he changed and regrets his past remarks? Or is he thinking, if he attends the event, he can use it as evidence against anti-semitic accusations.
It's kind of like when someone says something very racist. You call them out on it, and they say, I'm not racist. My best friend is black.
So that COULD be Iggy Azalea's angle. She could have anti-gay feelings but doesn't want to be perceived that way. So by performing at the parade, she might be able to argue against the homophobic label.
8. Felt the world would be a better place if we could all just admit we have prejudices.
9. Tried to figure out how I feel about Veronica's (Heli Simpson) storyline on The Saddle Club. I'm tempted to be bothered by it, because the underlying message seems to be that wealth made her a brat. Now that her father has lost their fortune, she's becoming a nicer person.
I don't like the poor-as-noble vs wealthy-as-selfish-and-superficial stereotype.
I do agree that there are many wealthy people who are quite awful—spoiled, demanding, and greedy. But some are caring, open-minded, and generous. And I've known people who aren't rolling in cash yet have too much of a liking for material goods. Or they want the high life and will make unwise financial decisions to obtain it.
The thing about the Veronica storyline, though, is it could be argued that it's not the loss of wealth that has bettered her but just a big life change in general. She's lost something and that has humbled her a bit.
10. Started watching an episode of Neighbours. It looks like Karl (Alan Fletcher) is going to survive being poisoned by Brad's (Kip Gamblin) surfboard catalyst stuff. He's burned his esophagus, but it seems to be treatable.
11. Read about Aidan Puglielli on IMDb. He's a student at the famous NIDA acting school. And for the past year or so has been appearing in various projects as extras and brief guest appearances. He's on the episode of Neighbours that I'm watching now.
I wonder how he'll acting career will turn out. He could become a huge celebrity. He could end up being an easily recognized character actor. He might do more theater than screen work. He might be an actor that's successful in Australia but not an international star.
He might be one of those actors who struggle and rarely find success; then ends up choosing a different career path.
12. Looked at Aidan Puglielli's Instagram page. His bio says he plays the tuba and likes green tea.
13. Looked at Puglielli's Gallipoli photo. He appeared on the miniseries. I think as an extra? So the photo is probably from the set.
14. Looked at Puglielli's healthy breakfast—fresh figs, strawberries, and yogurt.
I'd like the fruit part, but not the yogurt.
15. Looked at Puglielli's goblin in a garden photo. The goblin looks familar. Maybe we have it at the lake house? We have some kind of creature...I think? I'll go look outside later.
16. Had a spider crawling up my leg while I was looking at Puglielli's photo of a French Harry Potter book.
Actually...it was more crawling under my leg.
And I'm not 100% sure it's a spider. It might be an insect.
17. Did not like scene on Neighbours with Chris (James Mason) expressing unhappiness with Lucy's (Melissa Bell) plan to use an anonymous sperm donor.
He asks who's going to teach the kid how to fix an engine and kick a ball around.
It sounded very anti-single parent, and fed into gender stereotypes. At least Nate (Meyne Wyatt) fights against the latter. His response is that Lucy can teach him. Chris responds by saying she doesn't care about these things.
Whether a child has one parent or two, those parents aren't going to have the skills to teach the child everything.
Jack has a mother and father. Neither of us have the skills to teach Jack gardening. Nor can we teach him to fix an engine, do a back flip, breed puppies, fix a broken air-conditioning, etc.
18. Thought of something else. If Lucy's child expressed an interest in fixing engines, Lucy and the child could learn together how to do it. Or Lucy could learn and then teach her child.
Sometimes a parent isn't interested in something UNTIL their child becomes interested. I wasn't very interested in geography until Jack became interested in it. Then it became much more interesting to me, and I've spent a lot of time playing geography games.
19. Liked a dress worn by one of the Neighbours' extras. I guess she would have picked it out herself? The costume designers don't dress the extras, do they?
It says there that extras usually bring their own clothes, unless the program is a period piece.
That makes sense.
21. Watched Lucy talking to Nate, and remembered when she was the little girl who had to have an emergency tracheotomy.
Oh! And I also remember all the trouble she gave her dad and his girlfriend Zoe!
For long-term fans of the show, that memory would be from decades past. For me, it was about only a year ago.
It's like I jumped into a time machine in Erinsborough.
22. Glad to see Nate push Chris to make the baby with Lucy.
I wonder if the situation will have that much of an effect on Nate's life.
I'm thinking even if Chris isn't obligated to make a financial contribution to the child's upbringing, if he and Nate end up sharing finances, some of the money will go towards the baby.
The big thing is plane tickets. If Chris wants to see the baby, he has to fly to the US. Well, and also Lucy and the baby can fly to Melbourne. But I imagine he'll want to be nice enough to visit the baby in it's homeland sometime.
With every couple, though, one person's interests or passion is going to use up part of the finances.
Chris will have the baby. Nate might start up an expensive stamp-collecting hobby.
A large chunk of our finances have gone towards my Australia obsession. But Tim has used a lot of money for his interests as well.
23. Wondered if it's possible that Tim's purchases could ever add up to the Australia trips. Maybe? I doubt it.
He does buy more clothes than me and more expensive clothes. Plus, shoes. He has a ton of shoes! That wouldn't equal Australian plane tickets, though.
He buys more stuff in general—video game stuff and electronics.
It still wouldn't equal Australia.
He did go to Korea and Japan but used points we accumulated when changing one of our Australia flights.
24. Thought of a difference! Tim got to enjoy Australia along with me. Although it was my idea and wish to go there, he went too and had a great time. I don't usually share his clothes or toys. That's pretty much for him only.
25. Imagined it's likely that the Chris-Lucy baby will be for Nate as well. Maybe he'll be a second father to the child or an uncle figure.
26. Didn't see Aidan Puglielli in this episode.
I think he'll be in the next one.
27. Saw our lake house goblin statue. I think it's the same, or similar, to the one in Puglielli's photo.
28. Started watching another episode of Neighbours.
29. Reminded of my Chattanooga Synagogue when I read the Batty Tales' church experience. Batty says, Speaking with a few of the regulars afterwards, we were welcomed like old friends, and they seemed genuinely disappointed they we wouldn’t be sticking around long enough to make it to the next service.
That's how they were in Chattanooga when I was a student there—extremely welcoming. And not just to me, a born-Jew but also towards my friend who was interested in converting to Judaism.
30. Surprised by what I read in Eric Thompson's Japan blog. Kate, his traveling partner, slipped and fell. Thompson says,
The English people we had seen at the top were further up the path when Kate slipped and offered us some bandaids, which they called "plasters". We thankfully accepted.
I assumed that Australians used the word plaster as well.
I think Australians share more terms with the British than they do with Americans.
I wonder if there are other words that Americans and Australians use, but not the British. And are there words that the British and Americans use but not Australians?
31. Finished watching the Neighbours episode. I didn't see Puglielli in that episode either. Maybe he was cut out? But then why would he be in the IMDb credits?
I'm confused.
Read my novel: The Dead are Online