1. Started watching an episode of Home and Away.
2. Thought that John (Shane Withington), so far, is doing a good job handing his son Jett's (Will McDonald) announcement about wanting to join the army.
He's not happy about the idea, but he still tries to act civil and somewhat supportive.
He doesn't belittle Jett's plans or try to make Jett feel guilty about having the idea.
3. Saw that I spoke too soon.
John starts looking angry about the whole thing.
4. Thought that I may have been exaggerating when I said he was somewhat supportive.
Well...unless being supportive equals not yelling or not looking like a pot about to boil over.
5. Decided John's reaction is better labeled as restrained-disapproval.
6. Saw that I might have to post this tomorrow, because we have no Internet.
We had no Internet earlier—for many hours. I planned to skip doing a blog post. Then it came back on, and I thought it would be on for good. But it looks like that's not the case.
7. Had Internet restored...for now. So I was able to finish the episode of Home and Away.
8. Thought about teens joining the military and what it might be like for parents.
I think hearing that your child wants to join the military is somewhat similar to hearing your child wants to donate a kidney, or other vital organ. If I was in one of the situations, I imagine being proud, but mostly I'd be terrified and depressed. I'd be worried sick.
I don't know the statistics, but I feel the military would be worse. I'm GUESSING the military avenue would more likely cause death, but I don't know for sure. I forget how dangerous it is to donate a kidney. I don't think the risks are huge.
But with the military thing, even if you survive, there's the after effects. It seems like so many of the armed forces end up with major psychological problems. Then there are the physical disabilities as well.
9. Wondered about the positives of being in the military...for those that survive. Does it better any lives rather than worsen them?
Maybe it gives people a sense of purpose?
10. Started watching another episode of Home and Away.
11. Started to finally begin having sympathy for Leah (Ada Nicodemou). She got her MRI results back. She doesn't just have typical brain injury symptoms. She has an aneurysm. I think it would be very scary to live with that.
12. Wanted to make it clear that I don't lack sympathy for brain injury victims. It's just Leah had seemed to come off pretty good from the ordeal. She simply woke up from a deep coma. Her physical and mental abilities were all intact. Then she was so overdramatic about everything. It made it seem like she was very ignorant about how much worse it could have been for her.
BUT now it looks like things might be quite bad for her.
I don't know.
13. Wondered if it's common to get aneurysms from a brain injury.
14. Saw on the Mayo Clinic website that head injuries are listed as one of the causes of aneurysms.
15. Went to the Brain Aneurysm Foundation website.
They say that there are approximately six million people in the United States (1/50 Americans) that have an unruptured brain aneurysm.
That's much more common than imagined.
Though I'm not sure how they came up with that number. It's not like we're checked for aneurysms during our yearly well-visits.
16. Figured it's a science thing. Maybe they tested a sample population. Or whatever.
17. Felt guilty for giving Leah a hard time.
18. Thought that Leah shouldn't have had to have a aneurysm for me to have sympathy for her.
I was rude.
My reason for being that way is my sister had a brain injury. She went through so much more than Leah. Or so I thought.
I shouldn't have compared Leah to my sister.
It's not fair.
It's like if you know someone who's had cancer. They've been through chemo, radiation, surgery. They have a long horrible ordeal. Then someone else you know gets diagnosed with a much less dangerous illness. They need minimal treatment and have a high probability of surviving. Still, they freak out and feel sorry for themselves.
Should we feel sympathy for them too?
Yes! Just because someone has a smaller problem than someone else doesn't mean the problem doesn't feel huge to them.
No, Leah didn't have to learn to talk again or walk again. Yes, she was able to come home soon after waking up. But all that still could have been very hard on her. Even without the aneurysm diagnosis, I should have been more sympathetic towards her.
19. Thought that maybe now I'm being too sympathetic.
Sometimes people CAN be overdramatic about their problems. I can't deny that's annoying.
I think everyone deserves at least a little sympathy for their problem, no matter what their problem. I mean a hangnail isn't pancreatic cancer, but it still hurts.
The problem is when people act like their problem is one of the worst in the world, and they see themselves and their problems as being the center of the universe.
20. Thought the best thing to do is put our problems in perspective. No matter what our problem, someone has it worse than us. We should remember that. But then once we start feeling guilty about our self-pity, we should think about people who have it better than us.
21. Went to the Tropfest website, and saw that I'm on the last 2010 film. I didn't realize I had gotten through most of them.
The film I'll be watching today is the winner of the 2010 contest. It's called "Shock", and one of the stars is Patrick Brammall.
22. Started watching the film.
23. Saw that the film has a lot of crying from Brammall.
24. Saw someone that looked like Anna Paquin in the film.
Is it her?!
25. Saw Anna Paquin again.
I'm pretty sure it's her.
26. Saw that it's not Anna Paquin.
I'm kind of disappointed. I really like Anna Paquin.
I started liking the film, just because I thought she was in it.
I think, though, that it's an actress I've seen before, and I think this isn't the first time I've confused her with Anna Paquin.
It might be Helen Dallimore, but I'm not positive.
27. Wondered if I watched this film when doing my post on Patrick Brammall.
And maybe then too I confused Helen Dallimore with Anna Paquin.
28. Looked at my old post.
I did watch "Shock" before, and this IS the second time I was fooled by Helen Dallimore.
29. Hoped this doesn't happen a third time.
30. Looked up the director of the film, Abe Forsythe. His name sounded familar to me, and IMDb reminded me that Forsythe is also an actor.
I've seen him in a few things.
Also....Well, I probably knew this already. I probably mentioned it already. Still, I'll say it (probably) again. Forsyth also directed the other Patrick Brammall short I watched—"Being Carl Williams".
31. Felt a bit like a character in Stephen King's Dark Tower series.
2. Thought that John (Shane Withington), so far, is doing a good job handing his son Jett's (Will McDonald) announcement about wanting to join the army.
He's not happy about the idea, but he still tries to act civil and somewhat supportive.
He doesn't belittle Jett's plans or try to make Jett feel guilty about having the idea.
3. Saw that I spoke too soon.
John starts looking angry about the whole thing.
4. Thought that I may have been exaggerating when I said he was somewhat supportive.
Well...unless being supportive equals not yelling or not looking like a pot about to boil over.
5. Decided John's reaction is better labeled as restrained-disapproval.
6. Saw that I might have to post this tomorrow, because we have no Internet.
We had no Internet earlier—for many hours. I planned to skip doing a blog post. Then it came back on, and I thought it would be on for good. But it looks like that's not the case.
7. Had Internet restored...for now. So I was able to finish the episode of Home and Away.
8. Thought about teens joining the military and what it might be like for parents.
I think hearing that your child wants to join the military is somewhat similar to hearing your child wants to donate a kidney, or other vital organ. If I was in one of the situations, I imagine being proud, but mostly I'd be terrified and depressed. I'd be worried sick.
I don't know the statistics, but I feel the military would be worse. I'm GUESSING the military avenue would more likely cause death, but I don't know for sure. I forget how dangerous it is to donate a kidney. I don't think the risks are huge.
But with the military thing, even if you survive, there's the after effects. It seems like so many of the armed forces end up with major psychological problems. Then there are the physical disabilities as well.
9. Wondered about the positives of being in the military...for those that survive. Does it better any lives rather than worsen them?
Maybe it gives people a sense of purpose?
10. Started watching another episode of Home and Away.
11. Started to finally begin having sympathy for Leah (Ada Nicodemou). She got her MRI results back. She doesn't just have typical brain injury symptoms. She has an aneurysm. I think it would be very scary to live with that.
12. Wanted to make it clear that I don't lack sympathy for brain injury victims. It's just Leah had seemed to come off pretty good from the ordeal. She simply woke up from a deep coma. Her physical and mental abilities were all intact. Then she was so overdramatic about everything. It made it seem like she was very ignorant about how much worse it could have been for her.
BUT now it looks like things might be quite bad for her.
I don't know.
13. Wondered if it's common to get aneurysms from a brain injury.
14. Saw on the Mayo Clinic website that head injuries are listed as one of the causes of aneurysms.
15. Went to the Brain Aneurysm Foundation website.
They say that there are approximately six million people in the United States (1/50 Americans) that have an unruptured brain aneurysm.
That's much more common than imagined.
Though I'm not sure how they came up with that number. It's not like we're checked for aneurysms during our yearly well-visits.
16. Figured it's a science thing. Maybe they tested a sample population. Or whatever.
17. Felt guilty for giving Leah a hard time.
18. Thought that Leah shouldn't have had to have a aneurysm for me to have sympathy for her.
I was rude.
My reason for being that way is my sister had a brain injury. She went through so much more than Leah. Or so I thought.
I shouldn't have compared Leah to my sister.
It's not fair.
It's like if you know someone who's had cancer. They've been through chemo, radiation, surgery. They have a long horrible ordeal. Then someone else you know gets diagnosed with a much less dangerous illness. They need minimal treatment and have a high probability of surviving. Still, they freak out and feel sorry for themselves.
Should we feel sympathy for them too?
Yes! Just because someone has a smaller problem than someone else doesn't mean the problem doesn't feel huge to them.
No, Leah didn't have to learn to talk again or walk again. Yes, she was able to come home soon after waking up. But all that still could have been very hard on her. Even without the aneurysm diagnosis, I should have been more sympathetic towards her.
19. Thought that maybe now I'm being too sympathetic.
Sometimes people CAN be overdramatic about their problems. I can't deny that's annoying.
I think everyone deserves at least a little sympathy for their problem, no matter what their problem. I mean a hangnail isn't pancreatic cancer, but it still hurts.
The problem is when people act like their problem is one of the worst in the world, and they see themselves and their problems as being the center of the universe.
20. Thought the best thing to do is put our problems in perspective. No matter what our problem, someone has it worse than us. We should remember that. But then once we start feeling guilty about our self-pity, we should think about people who have it better than us.
21. Went to the Tropfest website, and saw that I'm on the last 2010 film. I didn't realize I had gotten through most of them.
The film I'll be watching today is the winner of the 2010 contest. It's called "Shock", and one of the stars is Patrick Brammall.
22. Started watching the film.
23. Saw that the film has a lot of crying from Brammall.
24. Saw someone that looked like Anna Paquin in the film.
Is it her?!
25. Saw Anna Paquin again.
I'm pretty sure it's her.
26. Saw that it's not Anna Paquin.
I'm kind of disappointed. I really like Anna Paquin.
I started liking the film, just because I thought she was in it.
I think, though, that it's an actress I've seen before, and I think this isn't the first time I've confused her with Anna Paquin.
It might be Helen Dallimore, but I'm not positive.
27. Wondered if I watched this film when doing my post on Patrick Brammall.
And maybe then too I confused Helen Dallimore with Anna Paquin.
28. Looked at my old post.
I did watch "Shock" before, and this IS the second time I was fooled by Helen Dallimore.
29. Hoped this doesn't happen a third time.
30. Looked up the director of the film, Abe Forsythe. His name sounded familar to me, and IMDb reminded me that Forsythe is also an actor.
I've seen him in a few things.
Also....Well, I probably knew this already. I probably mentioned it already. Still, I'll say it (probably) again. Forsyth also directed the other Patrick Brammall short I watched—"Being Carl Williams".
31. Felt a bit like a character in Stephen King's Dark Tower series.