1. Thought August 2011 me was brilliant when I read about my promote-Australia-to-Americans tourism idea in this post.
I hadn't been impressed with the Oprah campaign. I had an alternate idea using the 3.5 million dollars they had spent on Oprah's adventure.
My idea was that they should have taken that 3.5 million dollars and divided it up by $28,000. I'm not sure if it's the same now but back then, I had seen that round trip plane tickets in economy were $1400. For $28,000 per month, there could be one person who wins an Australia trip for themselves and twenty of their favorite people. That campaign could go on for about ten years.
The winners and their friends could promote Australia via social media.
2. Thought that Australia could also make it a world-wide contest rather than just for Americans.
I was just thinking of America, because I'm American, and we're naturally ethnocentric.
Also, the Oprah thing was probably mostly geared towards Americans.
The worldwide thing might get confusing, though, because the price is going to be different, depending on where the winner flies from.
3. Thought that I might also change the twenty-guests thing. That might be intimidating for unpopular people like me.
Actually, though. My lake house tribe alone has eighteen people. I'd need to add only two more.
4. Wanted to mention that my plan involved airfare-only. The visitors to Australia would have to pay for their own lodging and food. That way Australia would get American tourism dollars. It would also give social media a more varied view of what Australia has to offer. Some folks would afford the fanciest hotels. Others might stay at hostels.
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
5. Read article asking whether selling already-chopped vegetables, at the supermarket, is genius or lazy.
I'd say it's both. The consumers are lazy, and the people selling the chopped vegetables are genius.
I like buying already chopped produce. I AM lazy when it comes to cutting vegetables. Plus, I'm sometimes bad at it.
Lately I've been buying finely chopped up lettuce and cabbage.
We've bought chopped up onions before. I hate cutting onions. The only problem with the chopped onions is the container has much more than what we need. We end up throwing about half away. It would be more useful if we were cooking for a larger group.
With fruit, it depends on what it is. Apples are easy to just wash and bite into, so we usually buy them whole. With stuff like melons, mango, and pineapple, it's so much easier to buy them chopped. There are downsides, though. Definitely! First of all, it's usually more expensive. Second, you end up with plastic containers you wouldn't have if you bought the fruit whole.
The argument against the second, though, is that our non-produce food comes in packaging. So, what's the difference? We might as well buy a plastic bin of pineapple over a plastic bin of muffins.
BUT...we usually buy both.
6. Concluded if you're a non-lazy person who's good at cutting vegetables and washing cutting boards, more power to you. If you're not, then better to buy pre-chopped produce than not buy any produce.
ETA 1/24/20-Tons of ableism in the above paragraphs. Sorry!
ETA 1/24/20-Tons of ableism in the above paragraphs. Sorry!
7. Went to Twitter and saw that the top thing trending in Australia is Michael's birthday.
I had no idea who Michael was, so I had to do some digging.
It turns out he's one of the singers from 5 Seconds of Summer.
8. Wondered about the fact that Zoolander 2 is still trending. I didn't realize that it was such a beloved and popular movie.
9. Saw that Zoolander 2 is not trending in the United States.
I guess the movie franchise is more appreciated by Australians.
10. Started to change my mind about my idea for Australia increasing American tourism after watching a Crash Course video regarding Americans and their Manifest Destiny ideals.
If we're anything like we were in the past, there's a danger Americans might try to take over Australia and steal their land.
11. Decided it was unfair to label Americans as the type of people who still want to take land from other countries. We're not like that anymore.
Now we're just the type of people who don't want to welcome newbies into the land we once stole. IF they're not white enough. Though we're not the only country like this.
12. Felt a little bit less harsh towards Texas. Because if I'm understanding things right, Mexicans gave land to future-Texans, because they wanted the area populated. Then when Texans started getting a bit crowded with Americans, Mexico wanted to take back the offer.
Plus, Mexico itself was an invaded country. It's not like white people invading Aboriginal Australian land or white people invading Native American land.
The Native Mexican people had already been invaded by the white folks from Spain.
13. Started watching an episode of The Secret Life of Us.
14. Saw that Alexandra Fowler is on this episode.
I did have to look at IMDb to find her name. But I did recognize her as being the actress who was on Neighbours in the 1980's and on Wentworth recently.
On Neighbours, she played Zoe—a friend of Daphne's (Elaine Smith) and girlfriend of Jim Robinson (Alan Dale)
15. Saw The Secret Life of Us characters playing Connect Four. They have red and yellow pieces.
Here we have red and black pieces.
Or do we? Now I'm not sure. Maybe it's red and white.
16. Looked at Connect Four on Google Images.
Some games have red and black pieces and others have red and yellow.
Is the difference an international thing? Or maybe it's a decade thing?
17. Looked at Connect Four on Amazon. It looks like the newer versions of the game are red and yellow, while the used and/or nostalgic versions are red and black.
18. Decided to look at Target, because they won't also be selling used versions.
19. Saw on Target that it's red and yellow.
20. Thought that Bree (Brooke Harman) is too controlling. She requests that Justin (Sullivan Stapleton) promise not to have sex with any of her relatives or friends.
Now this comes after he sleeps with her mom (Fowler). I can understand that being controversial. But what about cousins? Why would that be wrong? What if Justin's soulmate is Bree's cousin?
I definitely think it's ridiculous to request he not sleep with her friends. Would that include Kelly (Deborah Mailman)? Kelly's her friend, but Kelly and Justin knew each other before Bree came along.
Right now Kelly is with Corey (Aaron Pedersen), but that could change someday.
21. Could someone understand Bree's feelings. Or maybe I understand it a lot, actually. If I had a male friend, and my sisters, mom, or cousins were single, I would probably be jealous if that friend started dating my relative. Or I guess it could be a gay male friend dating my dad or male cousins.
Either way, I can imagine being jealous. This would especially be the case if I had a secret crush on the male friend. But let's say I don't. Then I might worry about being abandoned and replaced—not needed anymore.
But I think this is one of those feelings you don't act on. You kind of just suck it up, and learn to get through it. Sometimes you can actually grow to enjoy the situation...or at least be happy for the couple.
22. Thought about how I don't know a lot of single people, and I don't have a lot of friends. So I kind of have to reach into the past to imagine all this.
23. Tried to think of whether or not I know of single people in my extended family.
I don't think I do. Most of the relatives I know are in the state of being unavailable.
24. Had a rare moment of regret about quitting Facebook. Because if I was on Facebook, I could look through it and see if there are any single relatives.
25. Started realizing I DO have single relatives. Or the last I heard, they weren't in a serious relationship. That might have changed.
26. Tried to imagine having a friend that started dating one of my relatives.
I think I'd probably be okay.
That might be because I'm so unsocial lately.
If it was back when I was social and eager to find new friends and keep new friends. I'd probably be jealous and feel threatened. Still, though. I think I'd be decent enough to not demand that the relationship end.
27. Started watching my next episode of Farscape.
So far, Crichton II hasn't been eliminated. Maybe it will happen this episode?
Or maybe there's going to be double Crichtons for the rest of the series.
28. Looked at this episode on IMDb.
The cast list is very small.
I wonder if the episode has a limited cast or if the IMDb list is incomplete.
29. Finished watching the episode.
It was very intense; and it truly did have a very small cast—four actors and a puppet. Though I guess the puppet counts as an actor as well. He's a voice actor, at least.
By the way, the voice actor, as I've mentioned before, is Jonathan Hardy. He's the one who wrote the screenplay for Breaker Morant.
30. Saw the top Twitter trend in Australia right now is BlackLivesMatter.
I think most people know that at the tip of their minds but aren't truly thinking it deep inside.
Otherwise, why do people notice deaths in Paris more than Nigeria?
31. Saw that although BlackLivesMatter is mattering to Australian Twitterers right now; it's not a trending topic in the United States.
Isn't it a United States thing? Or, at least, I think the movement originated there.
32. Checked some individual cities in Australia.
BlackLivesMatter is not trending in Sydney. It IS trending in Melbourne.
33. Saw that it's not trending in Brisbane and Perth.
So, it seems to be a Melbourne thing.
34. Wondered if BlackLivesMatter has found supporters in Melbourne.
35. Wondered if BlackLivesMatter refers to just African Americans or black people around the globe.
36. Read editorial about how Australians are more likely to notice mistreatment of black people in America than black people in Australia.
I read the same thing in a book a few years ago.
In the same way, both Australians and Americans...and other countries seem to notice the mistreatment of Palestinians more than they notice the marginalized people in their own country.
37. Hoped I haven't come across this way.
My blog is about Australia, so I tend to talk about Australian atrocities more than American ones. But I hope I haven't made it seem like I think America's morality is superior to Australia's.
38. Couldn't remember if I've already looked at palg1305's album of Heron Island.
I feel like I did; though the photos don't look that familar to me.
I don't remember the interesting thingies in this photo. What are those?
39. Decided that if Australia and the United States ever had a war, it would be about which country is most racist.
We've already had two fights that I can think of offhand. There was the blackface incident with Harry Connick, Jr; and then the KFC West Indies battle.
I also vaguely remember some documentary that was maybe somewhat popular a few years back. It showed how African American soldiers were treated much better by Australians than they were treated by their own country. And that's probably true. But it goes back to people showing more consideration to mistreated people in OTHER countries. The same can be said for the blackface and chicken issues. Whether it was a misunderstanding or not, one of the main issues is that Americans were pointing their fingers at Australia rather than pointing them at themselves.
40. Imagined there are people out there who have the time, energy, and consideration to notice the atrocities abroad and in their own backyards.
41. Went to IMDb to see what The Secret Life of Us actor I'll be exploring on Twitter and Instagram today.
Why does that suddenly sound sexual to me?
I don't know.
But whatever. It's probably going to fail.
I get the sense that actors from The Secret Life of Us aren't into Twitter and Instagram. That's fine...admirable, in a way, actually.
42. Did not find an Anna Torv Twitter account, but there are a LOT of fan accounts.
She's well-loved.
43. Figured the love is more about Fringe than it is about The Secret Life of Us.
Actually, though, I think the first time I ever saw The Secret Life of Us was on a YouTube channel of an Anna Torv fan. I don't think I watched a lot of the episode, because there were problems with the audio. I also think I didn't realize it was the fourth season instead of the first one.
That being said, when I began watching the fourth season, a few weeks ago, I didn't get feelings of deju vu. So maybe I watched a very small amount of it.
OR... it was probably four to five years ago that I watched part of the episode. Even if I watched the whole episode, it's doubtful I'd remember it.
44. Figured I'd probably at least remember the dead cat.
So I'm betting I didn't get to that part.
45. Remembered that when I first started watching The Secret Life of Us on Hulu—from the beginning, I was confused and thought Sibylla Budd was Anna Torv.
I knew Anna Torv was in the series and didn't realize she doesn't appear until the fourth season.
46. Saw that Anna Torv is going to be on an Australian TV series called Secret City.
Alan Dale is going to be playing the Prime Minister. When was the last time he was on an Australian show?
47. Tired of looking through Alan Dale's credits. He's a BUSY man. But from what I can see, the last Aussie thing he did was Sea Patrol. I think mostly he does American stuff but also a few British and New Zealand things.