1. Read some more of my 2012 pretend-trip-to-Australia posts.
They may be fictional, but there's a LOT of emotional truth to them.
Blogging is a very good way to open up those bottled feelings, but I think fiction-writing is even better.
2. Started watching an episode of Home and Away.
3. Saw that Billie (Tessa de Josselin) didn't magically lose her manipulative ways, after all.
She's still a little stinker.
Billie has a crush on Nate (Kyle Pryor) and is doing what she can to make him her boyfriend.
At first, I actually kind of related to her. She was overly nice to Nate, fawning over him. I feel I've maybe been like that with crushes.
But then she went into territory I never went into. Or I hope I haven't.
I'm pretty sure I didn't.
What Billie does is, she tries to get in between Nate and Kat (Pia Miller). Earlier, she insisted on joining Nate as he ate alone. Then in the scene I just watched, she brings the meal up to Kat, who is Nate's girlfriend. Billie makes it sound like the meal was Nate's idea. She also plays up the idea that Nate kept the so-called date secret from Kat.
When Kat doesn't take the bate—doesn't show signs of jealousy, Billie responds with, Yeah. Cool. That's what I got from him as well. You guys really aren't that serious.
She's such a little bitch!
4. Listened to Spotify's Discover Weekly list—a collection of songs they're showcasing for the week.
I heard a song I recognized, and then saw it was The Waif's "Bridal Train". I haven't heard that song in a long time.
It's one of the songs I listened to a lot when I first became obsessed with Australia.
5. Read an exciting article about Australia maybe getting high speed rail.
I have a hard time understanding how serious the plans are and whether they're likely to turn into reality.
Is it a probably-maybe, a maybe-maybe, or a unlikely-maybe?
I hope it happens.
Then I'll be extra glad about waiting to go to Australia. Though I doubt it will be done by the time I plan to go (six years). I picture this taking ten or more years. But I could be wrong. I HOPE I'm wrong.
The article says the train could get people from Melbourne to Sydney in less than three hours. Canberra to Sydney would be about an hour.
The only thing I wonder is about the price. If it's the same price as a plane, is there that much of a difference? Or maybe it's better environmentally?
6. Wondered if trains are less affected by weather.
Maybe there are less delays.
7. Loved Kat's response to Billie on Home and Away.
Billie says, Look...about before. I hope I didn't upset you.
Kat replies, Were you trying to?
Then again, being confrontational with a manipulative person has the danger of backfiring.
Actually, now that I think of it, it's extremely likely to go wrong. It's not like Billie's going to admit to her deviousness. She's going to deny, try to come off as the innocent party, and maybe even play victim.
I still like what Kat said, though. Even though Billie probably won't admit the truth to Kat, at least Kat is letting her know that she's on to Billie. Billie's not fooling her.
8. Saw that Kat's tactics actually worked with Billie.
She's straight with her, but gentle. She says she knows Billie has feelings for Nate and that she and Nate had a discussion about it.
Billie gets upset and walks away.
9. Wondered if that kind of tactic is a good one when dealing with manipulative people in real life.
Instead of getting upset, be calm and kind. Maybe call them out on what they're doing but in a gentle way.
I don't think it's going to work to say, You're being manipulative. You're twisting things to get your own way. But maybe it would work to show that you know the truth behind their lies.
10. Predicted that Billie won't let this go.
Her next move will be to try to turn Nate against Kat. I think it will actually work until somehow Nate sees for himself that Billie is a manipulative brat.
Or maybe Phoebe (Isabella Giovinazzo) will clue him in, since she's dealt with Billie's manipulativeness before.
11. Saw that I was right.
Billie cries in front of Nate. Then she tells him how Kat yelled at her in public and totally humiliated her.
Yeah. Okay.
Of course, Nate falls for it.
As I mentioned before, I have three manipulative people in my life. I've often made the mistake of venting to one of them about one of the others.They usually do NOT take my side. It's like the three of them have some sort of unearthly bond.
I've thought, in past episodes, that Nate seems a bit manipulative. Maybe he and Billie have one of these bonds as well.
12. Thought about how I read recently that narcissistic people are often friends with other narcissistic people.
Maybe the same goes for manipulative people?
13. Saw that I jumped too conclusions too fast.
Nate DID confront Kat about Billie's side of the story, but he then listened to her and seemed to believe her when she gave her own side.
14. Started to watch another episode of Home and Away.
15. Thought more about the scenes between Billie, Nate, and Kat from the last episode.
Billie lies about Kat yelling at her. Kat was very gentle and calm, and Bille described it as a yelling attack.
The thing is, I've seen the opposite.
I've been spoken to in a harsh tone, or I've been given a glare or dirty look. Then when I confront the person, they completely deny it.
Sometimes this has happened with one of my manipulative people, and other times it has happened with people who are not manipulative.
With that in mind, it's hard to get outsiders to see your truth, because how do they know it IS the truth.
16. Thought that if there are opposing interpretations about someone's tone of voice and facial expressions, there are three possibilities.
A) The receiving person is very sensitive and maybe misinterpreting what they've seen.
I've been accused of yelling at someone when really what I've done is scold them. Scolding is interpreted as yelling. I'm pretty sure I don't have it wrong, because I KNOW and will admit that I've yelled at people before. I think I can see the difference.
B) The one with the behavior is in denial about their behavior.
Like MAYBE I really did yell at the people who thought I was yelling, and I'm in deep denial about it. I don't think that's true, but it could be possible.
C) The one with the behavior is downright lying. This is what Billie did in the last episode. Or at least that's what I assume she did.
I think she'd have to be very out of touch with reality if she mistook Kat's gentleness for yelling. In contrast, I do probably raise my voice somewhat when I scold, and I probably look stern or angry. So it's understandable if someone might interpret that as yelling.
17. Thought it was interesting that Kat was able to remain calm when Billie tried to mess up her relationship, but she's not calm when Billie does something that can mess up her career.
It's not really surprising to me, though. I think Kat has already shown that she's very career-focused.
The other thing is it could be matter of progression. Kat was able to stay calm with Billie's actions in the beginning, but now that they've progressed, Kat's had her fill. It might not be a career vs. relationship thing. But I think that plays at least a small part.
18. Glad to see Nate confronting Billie. He's very firm and harsh, and I had no sympathy for her, whatsoever.
19. Learned that Oscar (Jake Speer) and Denny (Jessica Grace Smith) are siblings.
I didn't know that.
From what I understand now, Oscar and Evie (Philippa Northeast) are twins, and I guess Denny is part of it too? Then Hannah is taking care of all of them. Maybe?
20. Googled and learned that Denny is half-siblings with both Oscar and Evie. Do they have the same mother or father?
21. Learned from Lord Wiki that Denny's father is Zac's (Charlie Clausen) brother, Ethan.
22. Learned that Ethan and the twins were involved in a cult. And yeah. He was their father too. So, it's their mothers that are not the same.
23. Ran into a major spoiler about Denny.
Oops.
That's the danger about trying to read about a character's past. I sometimes run into huge stuff about their future.
24. Proofread my post and saw what I wrote earlier about Kat confronting Billie.
After watching both episodes, I'd conclude it really wasn't a good idea. Now Billie is being even more awful.
25. Thought that when dealing with manipulative people, we shouldn't have the goal of trying to change or fix them. Instead, we should just work hard on keeping our own head straight.
Sometimes, doing that is far from easy.