Mistakes, Child Abuse, Patience Regarding Ignorance, and Pickles

1. Dreamed about being on an interesting kind of airplane. We were either going to Australia or leaving. OR I guess it could have been a confusing both. Why not? Dreams are like that.

The airplane didn't look like an airplane. It was more like a big room that was easy to walk around. We sat in groups of three but not in typical airplane seats. We each had a regular chair, and a little desk/table.  It kind of reminds me of the Green Room on the Neighbours backstage videos.

In the dream: I sit by two other women. One of them seems to have won a contest to get her to Australia. 

We're all told that we need to get our boarding passes. I'm confused about whether or not I've already done this, and whether I need to go do it. 

I get up and do something. (not sure what)

Soon I get a big pile of papers back. It turns out I missed filling out a lot of stuff.  I sit down to do this but end up sitting in the wrong seat. My seat is the one on the far left. I've taken the one on the far right. I get up and go to sit in my own chair which is the ugliest of the three. Its stuffing is falling out.

I start to work on filling out the form  but then realize I'm making yet another mistake. Instead of marking things on the form itself, I've been trying to mark things on my computer screen.

Basically, the theme of the dream was making mistakes.  

2. Read article about the sexual abuse at Geelong Grammar School.  It's sad and disgusting that it even happened but what makes it even worse is how it was covered up.

It's one of those things that makes me glad we homeschool.

Though recently I've read anti-homeschooling editorials about how homeschooling puts children in danger of abuse.  In some places, like my own state, homeschooling has very low regulation. The editorials talked about how abused children can fall through the cracks.

That's very true. Parents can keep their children at home; do horrible things to the child; and no one would ever know.

But my thinking, when reading the editorials, is that homeschooled children aren't the only ones abused.  I think some abusive parents sometimes send their kids to school, right? It's not like our public and private schools are 100% filled with children who have safe and healthy home lives.

Also, even if you heavily regulate homeschooling, that's not going to stop certain horrible people from hiding their children from the world and hurting them.

As I can see from Geelong Grammar school, abusive people are often good at hiding it and good at associating with people who will help them hide it.

The other thing I thought about while reading the anti-homeschooling stuff is that abuse happens at school as well. Geelong Grammar illustrates that point.

Really. Abuse can happen anywhere—at home, by the parents; at home, by siblings; at school, at Cub Scout meetings; at the babysitter's; at an aunt or uncle's house; at a television studio....

3. Started watching an episode of Neighbours.

4. Liked the storyline about Aaron (Matt Wilson) and his dad, Russell (Russell Kiefel)

Aaron assumes his dad is anti-gay, because he freaked out when he found Aaron in bed with a man.

Later, we get Russell's side of the story when he vents about his day to his waiter...who happens to be Nate (Meyne Wyatt)

It turns out Russell has nothing against homosexuality. Nor is he strongly against his son being an exotic dancer.  It's more like he was shocked by it all and feels a bit awkward.

I think Neighbours is making an important point. There's a difference between being against something and being awkward, shocked, or uncomfortable with something.  Sometimes people just need a chance to get used to things. During that time period, they might say stupid things, and there might be some awkward moments. If they can be met with compassion and patience, I think the outcome will be better than if they're scolded, rejected, and ostracized.

That's not to say I've always been compassionate and patient with people who I felt were being ignorant.  It's hard sometimes.

Well...Hard almost all of the time, actually. For me, it is, at least.

It's not only the bigots who are closed-minded and closed-hearted. Sometimes it's the people with attributes that put them in the line of fire of bigotry.  It's like me as a Jew. Just because someone says something silly and stupid; it doesn't mean they want to stick me in a death camp. That's not to say I should completely ignore their ignorance, but I should try to give them the benefit of the doubt.

5. Glad to see Aaron and Russell both making a successful attempt to get along with each other.

6. Thought of two things in regard to what I said in #4.

A) Sometimes someone offends us by saying something that is NOT silly and stupid. It's just a different viewpoint than ours.

Where do you draw the line between silly and stupid and different viewpoint? It's hard to know!

B) Prejudice people can't be divided simply into ignorant, well-meaning people, and murderers. There's a lot of in-betweens. Just because someone doesn't want to put kill me because I'm Jewish, doesn't mean they're not horribly anti-semitic.

7. Started watching an episode of Water Rats.

8. Thought that the dead body, retrieved from the swamp, looks like Daryl from The Walking Dead.

I was going to provide a screenshot but thought that might be in bad taste.

9. Wanted the the man who killed the Daryl-Corpse-Woman to not be lying about the killing being self-defense.

He seems so earnest.

He LOOKS like a good man.

But he might be a dishonest bad man.

10. Thought mysterious bloody man on show was kind of handsome and sexy—maybe in a Matthew La Nevez kind of way.

11. Learned that the guy who I wished to be innocent is probably not innocent.

The police now suspect him of being a serial killer.  Oh no!

I guess I'm not a very good judge of fictional characters.

12. Saw that the name of the maybe-serial-killer is Paul Roberts. And the actor who plays him is Peter Harvey-Wright.

He was on Neighbours as Graham Gibbons. I'm guessing that's the brother of Clive Gibbons (Geoff Paine). If I remember correctly, Graham was a doctor. He came into town, and pressured Clive into getting back into medicine.

13. Consulted the Perfect Blend website.  My often-faulty memory was on the right track in this case.

14. Saw that Paul Roberts might not be guilty after all.

It's his wife! Probably.

Although they might have been working together.

15. Learned that yes, they were working together.

And they taped the torture and murder on videotapes disguised as Days of our Lives recordings.

16. Started watching another episode of Water Rats.

17. Saw many Neighbours spoilers. I think it's because I've subscribed to their channel.

Should I unsubscribe? Or should I just accept the spoilers?

I guess I'll just accept the spoilers. For now.

18. Pressed the little X next to Neighbours on my YouTube recommendation page.

I think that might get rid of the spoilers.  But I can still be a subscriber.

Not that it's super important for me to be a subscriber.

But anyway....

I saw that Georgia (Saskia Hampele) IS returning; and Piper is joining the show.

19. Forgot if Piper is a Turner or Willis.

20. Googled.

Piper is a Willis.

Oh yeah! Now I remember. The Turner's not-there-offspring is Mason.

21. Went to the Triple J 2014 list.

Today I'm going to listen to the 51st song, which is "Pickles from the Jar" by Courtney Barnett.

It's a timely song, because Jack and I bought pickles at the grocery store today. We had a bit of a dilemma.  He likes sweet pickles, which I think are disgusting. I like dill pickles, but he doesn't like those.

We bought the sweet ones for him.

Now I'm wishing I wasn't so cheap, and just bought both.

Then again, I did buy some good stuff for me—honeydew, raspberries, carrots....

I'm making myself sound very health conscious. I'm not. It's just we recently went to Costco, and bought big bags of treats there.

22. Could not find an official video for "Pickles from the Jar".  So I guess I'll just watch the one with the most hits.

23. Listened. The song is about someone from Hobart who is comparing themselves to a friend (Or more than a friend?) that's from Adelaide.

24. Reminded of a Laurie Berkner song.  Like "Pickles from the Jar" it's about two people who have differences.

25. Found the Laurie Berkner song. It's called "I'm Me and You're You. 

I haven't heard it in so long.

I love it.

My favorite part is the end.

You're you, and I'm me.

You like the sand. I love the sea.

It doesn't matter; and here's why.

Cause you can build your castle. And I can sail my boat.

And we'll meet each other in the sky. 

The lyrics work better when Berkner is singing them.

26. Started to watch a Neighbours backstage video.

This one stars Colette Mann, who plays Sheila.

27. Watched Mann film a short scene that seemed fine to me. But she said it wasn't good and that it was just a rehearsal.

Am I bad at judging these things?

Probably.

28. Watched the scene again.

I can see some over-acting. Maybe? But Sheila often acts a bit over-the-top.

Mann called the scene "messy".  I'm not sure I see what she's referring to there.