Jack, Shoalhaven, Grapes, and Soda

1. Talked to Jack about Sydney. He was looking at Lord Wiki's entry on Woolloomooloo because one of my stuffed animal characters is named that. Then he looked at a list of suburbs Lord Wiki had listed.

He asked me about Surry Hills.  Have we been there before? I reminded him that it was south of where we stayed, and that we walked past there when we walked to Moore Park.

I also reminded Jack it was there that he suddenly mentioned wanting to move to Australia.   I repeated what I had told him back then. If we did move to Australia we probably couldn't afford Surry Hills.  We'd probably have to live somewhere like the Western Suburbs. Then I showed him that on Google Maps.

2. Went back to read my trip report post for that day.  It was Crown Street where Jack mentioned wanting to move to Australia.  That does go through Surry Hills though.  So I don't think my memory was making a mistake.

From the blog post, I can see that I didn't tell Jack back then we'd probably live in the western suburbs. I just told him we probably couldn't afford to live next to the CBD.   

3. Excited to see I Wasn't Blogged Yesterday's post about food in her life. She had a similar post a week or so ago.  In that one she provided her life history in shoes.  That was so much fun to read, and I don't even care that much about shoes. I do care about food, so this should be even more entertaining.

4. Learned that I Wasn't Blogged Yesterday has some Italian roots. I'm totally picturing Looking For Alibrandi, especially because she talked about her Italian grandmother in her post.  

5. Watched an old KFC commercial on I Wasn't Blogged Yesterday's post. It's VERY interesting.   The children in the commercial wear no seat belts, and they're both overweight. These days I don't think any fast food restaurant would feature overweight people. They wouldn't want people getting the idea that their food might make people fat.

The little jingle actually talks about the children getting thinner. There's the idea that they need to hurry and get some food before they starve.

6. Learned from Shelly Argent's Facebook Page that Queensland's government site has a petition page. I can't sign it because I'm not from Queensland. But if you are from Queensland, there might be something on there you'd want to sign.  

If I was a Queensland resident, I'd sign the one Shelley Argent wants us to sign. It's called "non-violent homosexual advance defense". In Queensland, someone can murder a gay person; then get pardoned if they explain that the gayness of their victim made them panic.  

That's really crazy. I'm wondering if anyone has used that for a defense and won. I hope not.

7. Annoyed by Australian family psychologist Sally-Anne McCormack. According to this article she suggests having two, four, or even more children. But don't have three. The middle child will be ignored.

I think what makes me most annoyed is she left out the suggestion for having just one. Is she against only children?   

As for having three, why not just tell parents to give more attention to the second child?  She could say, Middle children are often ignored, so try to avoid doing that.

What about a child with three siblings? Wouldn't they take up much of the parent's time? Wouldn't their be less time left for each child to have individual attention?

8. Went to Tallygarunga.

Today I'm going to read a story thread called If You Come With Me, I'll Warm You Up.

It takes place in the Sturt dorms; and it stars Artemisia Bellerose and Reade Ainsworth.

The date of the story is Saturday, August 13. It's late afternoon.

9. Started to read the story.

It's funny. I feel negative towards Arti because her face claim is Mila Kunis. Mila recently was in an article that annoyed me. She lost weight so she believes this means EVERYONE can lose weight. I get annoyed with that kind of arrogance. It worked for me, so it will work for everyone.

We all have different bodies and different situations.

I would say most people can lose weight if they use extreme measures. But then they'll probably gain it back again once they get tired of being extreme.

Anyway....

I'll get back to reading the story.

I'll try to separate Mila from Arti.

10. Learned there's big some celebration in the Great Hall.  I wonder what that's all about.

The Penrose students are there. Maybe. This includes Arti's sister. Arti is worried about running into her. She doesn't want her her sister to see Reade and then report back to their parents that Arti has a boyfriend.

Arti and Reade are avoiding the celebration.

They go to Arti's dorm. She has something to show him. There's all this suspense.

It reminds me of the Twilight Zone movie. 



I forgot that Nemo's dad was in that. 

11. Learned what Arti can do. It's not scary like Dan Aykroyd's trick. Her magic is much more pleasant.

12. Learned that my Australian of the day is Valentin George Anderson.  He was a chemical analyst.

Valentin was known as V.G. He was born in 1885, in Hotham Victoria.

Like the Anderson I read about yesterday, V.G lost his father when he was very young.  He was raised by a single mother. As soon as Anderson was able to work, he helped support his family.

V.G went to the School of Mines in Ballarat.

Lord Wiki says this school eventually became the University of Ballarat.

V.G went on to do chemistry work and chemistry teaching.

It seems his big thing was water.  He wrote a paper on evaporation of Australian waters.

13. Reminded Jack that today is his birthday in Australia.

14. Went to Flickr.  I'm going to start looking at the Shoalhaven photos.

The first set is called Shoalhaven Beaches. 

15. Decided to find another Flickr stalking target. Unfortunately the photos on the Shoalhaven account aren't the best quality. They're a bit small.

Well, at least that set is.

I'll try another set rather than finding a whole new target.

16. Started looking at Shoalhaven Culture. The first two photos look okay at least.

Here's a cute baby pig. 

And here's an upside down clown. 

17. Saw this photo from The Treat Factory in Berry. Then I went to the Treat Factory Website. 

They make handmade old-fashioned candy.

Yum.

18. Looked up Berry on Google Maps.  It's about 12 minutes north-west of Shoalhaven.  

19. Loved this picture of grapes.  They look so delicious.  

I love grapes.

20. Looked at a website that describes the health benefits of grapes. 

They say grapes have antioxidants, and that slows down aging.

They also contain something called Resveratrol. It's believed that Resveratrol has cancer-fighting qualities.

Cool!

21. Consulted Lord Wiki about Resveratrol.  He says it might also have adverse effects. Some studies show it can prevent breast cancer.  Other studies say it can stimulate breast cancer cells.

The idea I'm getting in general from Lord Wiki is there's not sufficient proof that there's benefits to humans taking supplements with Resveratrol. There may even be adverse effects.  People get a small amount of Resveratrol from eating grapes, peanuts, or drinking red wine.  That's probably enough.   Studies are still being done, and maybe one day it will be suggested we all take supplements.

I'm just going to stick to grapes....at least for now.

22. Enjoyed this picture of someone picking grapes.

I'm really in a grape mood lately.

We have a few left in our house, but they're getting old.

We have lots of strawberries. I should push myself to be in a mood for them.

23. Saw a picture of more grapes. Plus there's also cheese and crackers.

That looks so delicious. 

24. Saw more grape cutting. It's at a vineyard. 

And here's a great photo of grapes. It reminds me of A Walk in the Clouds.



25. Saw this photo of grape-crushing. Unlike A Walk in the Clouds, it doesn't involve feet. 

It's probably less fun, but maybe more sanitary?

Although I guess maybe people wash their feet before stomping on them.  

26. Saw that the photo set DOES have a grape stomping photo. 

27. Ate some grapes while watching this Harry Potter video with Jack.



28. Started to look at a Shoalhaven photo set called Shoalhaven Wildlife.

I like this kookaburra picture.  

29. Liked this picture of pelicans and seagulls together.  

30. Read James' post about soda. He's stopped drinking it, and he believes the abstinence has helped with his weight loss. 

I drink too much soda. I need to cut down.

The thing is I like drinking water. I love water. But I don't like water with meals. Maybe I'll make a rule that I have to drink water except for meal times. For dinner and lunch I can have soda.

Although I don't know if that rule will mean anything. What I do is open a soda, drink some of it, and then put it back in the refrigerator to drink later.   I can rarely drink a whole can in one sitting. So if I drink half a can at lunch, would it be so wrong if I finish the rest of the can later?

I doubt it.

Maybe I should just make a rule that I can have only 1 can a day.  

The worst is restaurants. In America, we have the refill thing.  Some places keep bringing you refills, even if your first soda isn't even finished yet. I think I just have to remember to say no refills—ask for water for the rest of the meal.

The last restaurant we went to was a Japanese restaurant. I don't think they take your glass away to refill. Before you can even say yes or no, they bring you a new glass filled with soda.  

Now that I think of it, it's a bit wasteful. I was too busy enjoying the food to notice. They have REALLY good food there.

Next time I'll tell them no refills...or I'll just order water when we go there.  

32. Confused by Finnikin of the Rock. 

33. Thought more about James Young, the squib who looks like Simon Baker.

I think now I understand why I was bothered and distrustful about his niceness—especially the lines James is also very patient and slow to anger and quick to forgive.

I have someone close to me who is slow to anger and quick to forgive when it comes to his interactions with SOME. He is always 100% super nice to certain people. But he's not like that with everyone. With some people, he's quick to anger; and his anger can get nasty.

I know everyone has different sides to themselves. And we show different sides to different people.  But when there's such a huge contrast, it can be unnerving and frustrating.

34. Started looking at Shoalhaven photo set called Bawley Point. Shoalhaven.

35. Saw a photo of the Bawley Beach Cafe and went to look at their website.  They have pizza there.

I'm feeling like such a foodie today.

36. Saw from Statcounter today that there are people from The Netherlands looking for information on Julie Goodwin's restaurant.

I'm not sure why that's of particular interest to people in The Netherlands. Is she opening up a restaurant there?

37. Started to look at Shoalhaven photo set called Depot Beach.  

I think this picture is very beautiful. I like the clouds. 

The water in this picture is very blue. I wonder if that's real, or did they use some type of color-editing.  

38. Read sad scene in Finikkin of the Rock.

39. Started to look at Shoalhaven photo set called Dolphin Point. 

I wonder if this is the type of rock pool where you'd find a blue ring octopus.

40. Started to look at Shoalhaven photo set called Kioloa.   

Kioloa...that sounds kind of Hawaiian to me.

41. Amazed by all the kangaroos in this photo.  I'd love to be in one of those houses!  

Wait...actually.  The photo says it's a caravan resort.

42. Looked at the website of Merry Beach Caravan Resort.   It's the one featured in the photograph.  

I wonder if they have kangaroos all the time.

Lord Wiki says Kioloa is infamous for not having good mobile phone reception.   Well, that's okay.   People can use their phones to take photos of the kangaroos. Then when they reach the next town, they can send the photos to their friends.

43. Saw this holiday park website which talks about the kangaroos at Kioloa.  They say pebbly beach is famous for them.  I've actually heard of pebbly beach and kangaroos.   I just didn't realize it was
 part of Kioloa.  

44. Looked at Kioloa and Pebbly Beach on Google Maps. They show them being about 40 minutes apart from each other.  So maybe there're just lots of kangaroos all around that area? 

45. Read some more of Michael Fuery's Dream Within a Dream. 

Strange things are happening yet certain characters won't even consider a supernatural explanation.   If I remember correctly, the same thing happened in John Birmingham's time travel series. 

I'm so not like that.  If something weird happens, my first suspicions are along supernatural lines.   Then I'll start considering other possibilities.

I don't always speak about my supernatural ideas, but they're at least swimming around in my head.

46. Watched True Blood.   I haven't been watching it this season.  But Tim was watching it, so I decided to join him.   It wasn't bad.  But I can't say it was good enough to make me regret missing episodes.  Nor am I sure I want to watch all the remaining episodes.  It might be nice though to watch some here and there.

47. Consulted Lord Wiki about True Blood episodes.  We saw #5 tonight.  So that means I missed only 2, 3, and 4.

48. Started to look at Shoalhaven's Lake Tabourie photo set.

49. Wondered about the Jack Nicholson collection in this photo. Is that like the actor? Or is it just someone with the same name? 

50. Found out from this website that it's a different Jack Nicholson.  This Jack Nicholson is not an actor, but rather the guy who started the Tabourie Lake Museum.

51. Thought this picture was a little scary.   I don't know.   I get the idea of something hiding behind the grass.  My imagination is probably influenced by True Blood type stuff right now. 

52. Started to look at Shoalhaven's Shoalhaven Heads photo set. 

The pictures are beautiful.  They seem to all be around sunset time. The sky has a dreamlike quality.

53. Watched some Megan Cracknell's bird video on Kondoot. 

I wonder if she's related to Ruth Cracknell.  

Oh!  Wait. There're other Cracknell people on Kondoot. One of them left me a comment on my videos earlier today.  It's funny.  I didn't notice the last name then. I was probably too busy being excited about getting a comment.  

Social Pickiness, Mining, European Settlers, and Reincarnation

1. Found an old dream about Australia.  It's from January 23, 2007.  

I'm in some place/movie/story with people obsessed with Australia. I'm kind of embarrassed of them and embarrassed to be associated with them. Melissa Gilbert is there and Bill Paxton. He sits behind me at one point. Maybe on a bus?

When I read that first I was amused.  Why would I ever be embarrassed of people obsessed with Australia?  

Then I thought about how I can be passionate about something.  Then I meet a person who's a fanatic compared to me, and I'm embarrassed about it.   For example, what if there was a person who wore an Australian flag t-shirt everyday with Australian-themed face-paint; and they also always wore Australian flag thongs even when it was cold outside?   What if they carried a jar of Vegemite wherever they went and the only dessert they ate was Tim Tams, Lamingtons, and Pavlova?

I'd probably think they were a bit wacky and had gone too far.

Although if they just wore the costume and ate the food, but could still carry on a variety of rational conversations.; I'd probably think they were just fun and quirky. It would especially be okay if they had a sense of humor about it.

2. Saw how the Internet can be wonderful when I read Tinkertines' post about moving to Australia.    She says;


I have been welcomed with open arms not only by family and friends but also the wonderful online community that I have been sharing this process with for the past year. I was so pleased to see all the welcome "home" messages from my Australian twitter friends upon our arrival, I was DM'd phone numbers and offered to be picked up from the airport from people who I've never met but hope to one day. I've had the pleasure of meeting 2 of my favorite Aussie tweeps already and have plans to see them again and meet others soon.

It's neat that people can find each other via the internet.   It makes me think about my own social life in Fort Worth.  I sometimes make attempts to meet new friends.   Last year we had a disaster of a party at our house.  And well...the people did come from the internet. I advertised online about our homeschooling party.  But I think maybe the trick is to get to know local people on the internet; then if you find you get along well, THEN meet in real life.

3. Tried to find Fort Worth bloggers. It's a bit disheartening. I'm not finding people who I feel would be good friends for us.

There seems to be a lot of very religious people.  I don't have a problem with someone having a religion. But if they put it as a top interest, it makes me think that religion is a huge thing for them.

Then again I have an online friend.  Religion plays a big part in her life and she's cool.

Maybe I'd be okay with religious people if they had something quirky on their profile.   For example: I love role-playing, studying insects, playing the ukulele, glow in the dark condoms, and God.    That might be interesting. But I'm tired of the usual I love God, scrapbooking, knitting, collecting antiques, and hanging out with the girls!

I sound judgmental.   I know.  

I don't think there's anything wrong with people who like all that. It's just I feel we wouldn't have enough in common. 

4. Annoyed that I already know people online who'd make great friends for my family. But most of them live in Australia!

5. Decided to give up on finding Fort Worth people. We're not lonely. We're fairly satisfied with the friends we already have.

I think I'll just leave it up to fate. If someone in Fort Worth is meant to be in our lives, we'll run into them somehow.

6. Read Fruitcake's blog.  She talks about the recent tragic dog attack. A four-year-old child was killed.

I just went to read the article for myself. It's extremely awful.  

I went to the article, because I was wondering why Fruitcake said, But as a dog owner it’s my job to do the teaching – people who don’t have dogs should not need a dog training certificate to live in their own homes.

I wanted to know what she meant. Why would a dog be at the house of someone who doesn't own a dog?  Was it a playdate? Were they babysitting?  Well, in that case, I think the family should learn a bit about dogs before taking on the temporary responsibility.


But that wasn't the case. A pitbull escaped one neighbor's yard and entered the house of another family. There he killed the child and injured others. I guess they had a door or window open?  Or maybe they had a doggy door for their own pet.

Fruitcake says, I’ve lost count of the times people have been walking dogs, off lead, and when their dog has attacked another they’ve said “He doesn’t normally do that!

I remember walking with Jack when he was young and having dogs run up to us. It's scary.   We don't know if they're going to attack or be friendly. I think people should use leashes.If they want their dog to be off a leash, then go to a dog park.     

As for dogs in their own backyard.  If someone has a mean and scary one, people should make sure they can't escape.    

I've dealt with a few dog escapes since we've lived in Fort Worth.    It's really not safe for the dog, because they could get hit by a car.   It also might not be safe for humans, depending on the dog's personality.  I understand that accidents happen sometimes, but I think people should work hard to prevent it from happening.

I can think of three times we encountered an escaped dog.  In each of them, it was a matter of the dog escaping from the yard and the owner not even realizing it (until we informed them).  I think with two of the dogs, there were multiple escapes.  So it's probably just a matter of patching up a fence.

7. Read disturbing article about mining companies.  Certain ones are making broad promises about Aboriginal employment.  Yet, when the Aboriginal people come over to get the jobs, they're not being paid well and they're apparently not being given sleep accommodations.  

It reminds me of one of Fruitcake's recent posts.  She talks about how there's a push for people to get themselves employed. The problem is there's not always decent jobs out there that match the unemployed's qualifications.  

The article says a spokesperson from one of the mining companies said that....all of the trainees are adults and that they were fully aware of accommodation issues before they came to the Pilbara, were told they'd need to make their own travel arrangements, and that most training courses pay no wages at all.

I guess these workers were desperate enough to make a go of it. Or maybe they didn't read the fine print.  Maybe they weren't given clear information. I don't know.

My feeling is a training program like that shouldn't even be offered. To me, it sounds like exploitation.  I understand that there are many training programs out there that don't pay. I was in one of them when I went to graduate school to be a teacher. Not only was I not paid, I had to pay to be trained. It seems a bit unfair to me really.  But that's the world of education for you.

I think if a company or organization uses trainees in a way that provides service to the organization, the trainee should be paid or at least get benefits. They should have a place to sleep at least.

From what I understand from the article, it's not just the fact that the trainees aren't being GIVEN accommodations (free or at a reduced price). There's not enough places to stay...period.

8. Went to the website of Fortescue Metals.  They're the ones featured in the training article.

Here's their employment page and here's a page about the benefits of working in Pilbara (the place where trainees aren't finding accommodations).     

On the website they sound like a fantastic place to work.

Here's some of the stuff they promise.....

A. Housing and utilities subsidies and a Home Ownership Assistance Scheme for our employees based in the Pilbara. 

Well, I guess if there IS no housing, the company doesn't have to pay any subsidies. Hey yeah...if you manage to find a place to sleep at night, maybe we'll help you pay for it.   

B. Financial assistance for permanent employees wanting to undertake further education which adds value to their current role and/or Fortescue.

So why can't they give financial assistance to trainees who plan to become permanent employees?  

Anyway, no.   I don't see anything on this website that says, We'll train you, but we're not going to pay you and there's no housing available. Come at your own risk.  

I can't blame the Aboriginal trainees for seeking employment at Fortescue Metals. And if I was one of them, I'd be angry and disappointed too.  

9. Read article about Malaysia rejecting live animal imports from Australia. They're scared of the Hendra virus. 

So maybe that's how live transport will end in Australia. Maybe it won't be about compassion.   Maybe it will simply be about fewer countries wanting to take in the animals.

I know.  We're supposed to be sad for all the farmers out there who are left with an excess of product.  But isn't that the risk of any business?   You buy or make too much of something. It doesn't get sold, and you're left with excess.

How many warehouses out there are filled with things that never got sold?

If Australia gets rid of live transport, then there will probably need to be a reduction in animals bred and raised for slaughter. 

10.  Liked this part from Finnikin of the Rock.

I suggest you give your people words, not silence.  I suggest you all turn to your wife, to your husband, to your children and speak of those days. Of the little you did when your neighbors were taken from their houses and slaughtered.  Of the sorrow you have felt all these years.  And you suggest you forgive yourself. But more than anything, I suggest you beg the one true goddess to forgive the legacy that you have passed on to your children.  For they wear your coat of dissatisfaction and grief tightly over their bodies and this bloodless patch of grass you have chosen to live on will be where they die with nothing but rage in their hearts. I suggest sir that you find no joy in being an exile.  Do not make it a badge to wear with honor. 

I think there's many people in the world who choose misery and anger over self-determination and progress.  That's not to say people don't have a right to be angry. There's a lot of shit in the world.    But I feel we should do everything possible to make a great life for ourselves and our family. Then in your spare time, do some complaining.  Blog about it.  

It's sad when people actually AVOID happiness because they don't want to give up their badge of misery.

I've done that on a personal level.  I'll get very angry at someone and work it up in my head.   I gather evidence of my mistreatment. Then the person does something nice and I actually feel slightly disappointed. Shit.  Now I can't be mad at you anymore.  Or at least I have to be less mad.

11.  Went to Tallygarunga.

It looks like a story thread has been deleted. I've never seen that happen before.   It's the one about Korea.

Maybe it was just moved?

Anyway....

Today I'm going to read the continuation of A Serendipitous Sprawl.  This is the story thread with the two first years; Ella Glenn and Thatcher Hyland.  

Ella has a face claim now.   Oh! And Camryn Adiarte has joined the show.   She's the one with the awesome singing role-player.  

The kids have their own banner featuring the three of them. I guess they're going to be like Ron, Hermione, and Harry.—a cute little threesome. Although with this group, there's two girls and one boy, rather than two boys and one girl. 

12. Wondered who Ella is using for her face claim. I don't see a name.  

13. Tried to find where I left off lost in this story thread.

I think it was post #12, but I'm not positive.

Nope. I'm wrong.  I read all that.

I think I left off at post #17.

14. Could totally relate to Ella here.  

Ella wasn’t really good at hiding her feelings, and at the moment she was feeling conflicted, which was not an emotion she wanted Thatcher to see on her face. On the one hand, she really wanted to keep talking to Thatcher. On the other hand, the books in her bag were calling to her, as was her favorite spot in the common room, where the sunlight warmed a corner of the carpet that was perfect for reading. And there was that shy, reserved part of her that told her to run away before she did something really embarrassing.

That's me.   I sometimes want to socialize, but then I don't want to give up my reading time.   And if I read instead of socialize, I lessen the risk of embarrassing myself.


15. Started to read Camryn's post.  She says, She also discovered the library located there -- a big plus since she loved to read and had recently finished a book called "Where the Red Fern Grows". She'd loved it and cried over the two dogs in that story. She wondered if wizards and witches who grew up knowing about magic their whole lives read those types of stories, or if there were stories specifically written for such children by writers who also had magic.

I've wondered that myself.   I haven't heard much about wizarding world fiction, outside of The Tales of Beetle the Bard.   I wrote a post for my fictional blog talking about fiction written by wizards.   I think Alex read a book owned by her witchy sister.  I made up a very ridiculous plot.   Alex wasn't very impressed. I was hoping it would spark creativity in the other participants and that they'd make up their own wizard novels.  It didn't happen. I don't think that post got any comments.  

16. Saw that Camryn tripped on her shoelaces. The two others take this as an opportunity to play rescue heroes.

17. Liked that Camryn's American accent is mentioned and noticed.  I think Americans often don't understand that there's an American accent. I have Americans coming to my blog asking, Why doesn't Portia de Rossi have an accent? 

She DOES have an accent.  The question should be, why does Portia de Rossi have an American accent or why does Portia de Rossi not have an Australian accent?  

I don't think I realized there was an American accent until I was in college and a British guy imitated the American accent.

Our Australian friends have done American-accent imitations for us. They often strongly emphasize our R sound.  

18. Remembered that when we were in Port Stephens, a woman at the pool remarked that Jack didn't have a strong accent. I think it was because he couldn't say his American r's yet.  If an American child can't say the r's in the middle of the word, it won't sound exactly Australian. But they'll probably sound a bit less American.  

19. Saw that my Australian of the day is Samuel Anderson.  He was an agriculturalist and an explorer.

I'm guessing agriculturalist is a fancy way of saying "farmer". 

Samuel was born in Scotland in 1803  He was a twin. 

When he was in his early 30's, Samuel moved to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania).

He went to Launceston.  There he learned about planned expeditions to Victoria.   These were the ones taken by the fathers of Victoria, John Batman and John Pascoe Fawkner. They had both led their settlement groups to the same place, but then decided to share the settlement.

If I'm understanding things correctly, Samuel Anderson found a different place in Victoria. I'm trying to figure out where it was....

He had an "agricultural settlement" (farm?) on the Bass River. 

20. Tried to map out the general area of the river on Google Maps.   Lord Wiki says it starts around Korumburra and flows to around a town called Bass.

21. Read that Samuel Anderson discovered the Anderson Inlet. I guess he found the inlet and then named it after himself.

There's an Anderson Inlet Road.  

22. Learned that Samuel Anderson found coal near a town called Wonthaggi.  Miners were brought to the area and it became a coalfield.

23. Consulted Lord Wiki about Wonthaggi.  He seems to disagree with the Australian Dictionary of Biography.   He says the coal was discovered by a guy named William Hovell.   And he says it was discovered in 1826. I didn't know there were settlers in Victoria at that time. 

In 1826, Samuel was still in Scotland. Or London. He spent some time in London as a journalist before heading to Australia.

24. Confused about Victorian history.

25. Consulted Lord Wiki about the history of Victoria.  I need a brief review.

Okay....

The first settlement was in 1803 and led by David Collins.  They came from England.

If I understand this correctly, they didn't stay long.  Collins didn't like the area.  He went off to Van Diemen's Land and helped establish the town of Hobart.

The next settlement project in Victoria was in 1935 led by John Batman and the Fawkner guy.  

Just as a reminder: I'm talking only about white people settlement here. There were plenty of black people already settled.

26. Managed to understand things better, thanks to Lord Wiki.

Although there were no European settlements in Victoria from 1804 to 1835 there WERE European explorers.  One of these explorers was William Hovell, the guy who found the coal. I guess he found some coal in that area and then later Samuel Anderson found more.

26. Started looking at page 8 of Stuart's Tasmania photos. 

Here's a photo of Salamanca. I've heard of the Salamanca Market.  It's in Hobart...in Salamanca.

27. Wondered about this photo.  It looks like those are cauldrons. It must be for the witches of Hobart.  

According to Mousie, there is a school for wizards and witches in Hobart—both a secondary and tertiary one. 

28. Saw that Mousie has created a page to describe the four houses of Tallygarunga! 

From the descriptions, I'd guess I'd be a Flinders student.  That means my color would be yellow.   I'd sleep in Kookynie Hall.  My animal would be the possum.  My plant would be the acacia.

Lord Wiki reminded me that the Golden Wattle is an acacia plant. That's the plant emblem of Australia.   So that's pretty cool. I'd feel special if I was in Flinders.  Hell what am I saying?  I'd feel special to be a Tallygarunga student, period.  Although maybe magical people feel more special before they go off to wizarding school.   If they live in the Muggle world, they'd feel like big fish.   Then when they got to school, with a bunch of other wizards, they'd probably feel like small fish.  

29. Went back to looking at Stuart's photos.

Here's another picture of the cauldron thing.   It has one of those historical plaques.   It must be important somehow.  

30. Started to look at page 9 of Stuart's Tasmania photo set.  

Here's a boat statue thing. It's pretty cool. 

And here's a platypus statue. 

The platypus is the animal mascot for Sturt House in Tallygarunga.  

31. Wondered if this was Stuart.  I think it is because he looks a little like Stuart's Flickr icon photo.  The icon photo is small though; so I can't tell for sure.

32. Liked this picture—especially the dog house. At least I think it's a dog house. 

33. Listened to this song.



 34. Started to look at page 10 of Stuart's photo set. 

This page has more Hobart photos.  

35. Wondered if this is a wombat.

Are there wombats in Tasmania?  

Maybe it's not a wombat.  It doesn't exactly look like one, but I can't figure out what else it could be. 

36. Looked at a wombat distribution map.  They are in Tasmania. 

37. Wanted to say that I'll be doing less blogging next week because of Jack's birthday. And we're going to be doing a little holiday together.   It's our tenth anniversary of being a family. 

38.  Read chapter four of Michael's Fuery's novel Dream Within a Dream.   

I totally love it.  It involves recurring dreams, reincarnation, and a mystical Aboriginal man. 

I also love the book because it has little things that go along with my own personal preferences and philosophies.  There's one scene where the doctor recommends that the character seek counseling.  She hesitates because she worries they'll try to prescribe psychiatric drugs.   That's the main thing that would make me hesitate too,  The doctor reassures her that it will be a psychologist and not a psychiatrist.  The psychiatrists are the ones who prescribe drugs.

I have to remind myself that not all people in the field of psychology (or psychiatry) are into the whole lets-drug-everyone mentality. 

I also often have the stereotype that psychologists are anti-spiritual. If you see experience something mystical, they'll automatically assume you're hallucinating and/or delusional.   But that's not true.

When I had my past life regression thing done it was by a psychologist.  And some of my favorite reincarnation books were written by a psychiatrist.  

39. Looked at Frederick McCubbin's painting "Lost". It's talked about in Michael's book.    

40. Called downstairs because Jack wanted to remind me about the Paddle Pops in Australia. We looked at the Streets website. 

I looked at this Bubble O'Bill ice-cream thing and it feels so familiar to me.  I joked with Jack that I must have eaten it in a past life.  He said, no...it's new. 

So I must have eaten something similar in my past life. Or it could have been this life. 

41. Consulted Lord Wiki about Bubble O'Bill. I don't know where Jack got the idea that it is new.  

Lord Wiki says it was born in 1985...in America.   But it achieved more popularity in Australia.  

I probably ate it during my childhood.

42. Told Jack he was wrong about Bill.  He accepted that, but reminded me that I couldn't have had Bill in my past life because I was in this life in 1985.

Yep. Michael Fuery's book is filling my head with all kinds of wacky ideas. 

Liam Hemworth, Blue-Ringed Octopuses, Flavored Milk, and Beach Boxes

1. Had a dream about Australia.

I'm in Australia with my family,  My friend Tracey tells me she is going after this dream job; but she's very unsure of it.  She wants to be a staff writer for this blogging group for mothers.  The name of it sounds familiar to me, and I have this idea that many other bloggers, I know of, are part of it.

Tracey is doubtful she'll get the job because it's an American organization.  It would be too expensive for her to fly to America when needed.  That surprises me because I know of many Australians who participate in it.  I assumed it was an Australian thing.  My feeling is she could still work for them.  Why would she need to be physically there?   

In another part...We're all leaving our accommodations to go somewhere.  Tracey ends up having to stay back to do something.  I end up exiting the building with my family.  You have to take a airplane-like device to get out (instead of an elevator?) and my dad misses it.  He'll have to take another one.  My mom's annoyed by this.   

When we get out, I start to feel bad that I didn't wait for Tracey.  But I also have insecurity. What if she wasn't even planning to spend the day with me?  Are we going to spend any time together? If we were supposed to be together today, is she going to be mad that I didn't wait for her?

And then this part:   Tracey and I are on a bus.   While riding, we pass by Thérese Rein, Julia Gillard, and then some other celebrity.  Tracey sees Gillard too.   I talk about how it's different in America.   You rarely see famous people.  But here you see them all the time. I tell her besides Gillard I saw Rein, and someone else; but then I couldn't remember who (even in my dreams now, my mind goes blank).  I worry that I'm pronouncing Julia Gillard's name wrong.   

2. Read Andrew's blog post.  He has lots of cool pictures of trains.

He also talks about the air-conditioning issue.  He says, Do not believe all Australian's use air con when they mean heating, but as our old oil and subsequent gas heaters, and hole in the wall air conditioners are being replaced by reverse cycle air conditioning units, that is they heat and cool, I feel it is time to just use air con to describe heating or cooling.

That makes sense.   It seems to me that most Australian hotels, holiday parks, and short-stay apartments have the reverse cycle air-conditioning things.   I see that listed quite frequently.   I never knew what it was.  I just thought of it as an Australian thing.  

Well, actually I kind of thought reverse cycling referred to how the cold air was created. Yes, I am so dumb when it comes to air-conditioning.  Sorry.

I thought American air-conditions use one type of method, and Australians use another.   

Now I get it though.  Reverse cycle refers to warm or cool air.

3. Continued to read Nick Earl's 48 Shades of Brown.  It has some major vomit in the story. I hate vomit. I think the level of my vomit fear is high enough to qualify as a phobia.

It amazes me that other people can be so casual about it. The characters in 48 Shades of Brown are very casual about all the vomit.

Why can't I be that casual about vomit?

Do I want to be that casual?  Vomit is so disgusting, and it's full of germs. It's like shit coming out of someone's mouth.

4. Started a group on the Free Rice page.  Please join!    It's this website where you play learning games.  And for each answer you get right, ten grains of rice are donated.    It's fun.  It's educational.   It's for a very good cause.   It doesn't cost anything, except our time.  And it's time well spent.   I played it in the past and there was just vocabulary quizzes.(as far as I know).   That was great, but now they have a bunch of subjects.  I just practiced some Spanish.

Anyway, if you want to join my group....here's the link.    Or you can start your own group.   You could also just play without joining a group.  But you know, I'd love to have you in my group.  

5. Learned from Facebook that Liam Hemworth is going to be in The Hunger Games.  I might have already known that.  But if I did, I forgot.

Tim's reading the series right now and says it's worth its popularity.  I want to read it.   He has it on the Kindle though, and I don't like using that.  

I think my sister likes Liam Hemworth.  Or maybe it's the other Hemworth guy she likes.   

6. Looked at Liam Hemworth on IMDb.   He's the one that my sister likes. She likes that movie;  The Last Song.  I don't know if she has a minor interest in him, or some kind of major crush.   Maybe it's somewhere in between. 

7. Followed the Facebook link to Entertainment Weekly.  They have publicity photos for The Hunger Games.  

8. Tried to understand the American debt thing.  It goes way over my head.   I'll just choose to remain ignorant....and scared.  Well, yeah.  I'm smart enough to know it's all very bad. 

9. Saw that the Australian dollar is now worth 1.10 American dollars.  Seeing that the American economy is completely shit right now, I'm not sure that's a huge accomplishment.   

10. Decided to watch interview with Liam Hemworth.  I want to see what my sister sees in him.



 11. Read article that says a death adder snake was left in the yard of a police officer.   It was a message of intimidation.   It sounds like a scene from a bad political thriller.    Tim listened to one in the car once, and we had to hear it too. The bad guys attacked someone with a blue-ringed octopus.  

12. Saw that there's someone who says he has a blue-ringed octopus as a pet.  That's a strange choice.  

13. Read website warning people against owning the blue-ringed octopus.  It's probably the same as owning a gun.  Having one makes people feel cool and strong.  They can't imagine an accident would ever happen in their house.  But it IS possible.

The website says, if they don't kill you, they could kill your daughter, grandson, or the neighbor kid down the street. Inquiring hands get into tanks, and octopuses get out of tanks.

I can understand the thrill of owning one.  And they're beautiful.  The risk of accidental death might be small.  But the website also points out that it might not be a good thing for the animal either.  You are encouraging the collection of an animal that is relatively rare over much of its range. Even with moderate demand, given considerable wastage in collection and shipment, the numbers taken soon may place undue pressure on these animals. Couple this with rampant environmental degradation of the inshore habitats in which blue-rings occur, and we must be concerned about the conservation of these octopuses.

Then again, it might be less scary to swim in the Australian ocean if I knew that most of the octopuses were now living in the homes of exotic pet collectors.   Maybe they'll take all the Irukandji as well.

It might be really bad though.  Remember what happened in the political thriller? People could start using them as weapons.  Like the death adder.

14. Consulted Lord Wiki  about the death adder.

There's an anti-venom now; so there have been less deaths from the snake. It still gets to keep its name though.

15. Watched video about the blue ringed-octopus. 



They're beautiful, but terrifying.

There's no anti-venom.

The good news is the victim can survive if they get prompt medical attention. This website talks about that. 

The patient will likely need artificial respiration and mechanical ventilation. Why? The venom causes paralysis of all the muscles, including the heart.    

Within 24 hours the toxins leave the body and the patient can recover.  So...if you get bit by one, hope that you're near a place that has good medical facilities.  

16. Went to Tallygarunga.  Today I'm going to read a story thread called Dinner And Some Fun. It takes place in the Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne, at the Blair-Black beachfront apartment.  This page describes the Blair-Black beachfront apartment.  

Located in Brighton, the penthouse is a virtual miniature palace in accordance with the wishes of the 'Princess' of the house. Not only complete with more than enough modern conveniences, but is also located a mere hop, skip, and jump across the road from the beach. Not as cold upperclass as it seems from the outside though, inside is very warm and homey, full of life (especially its mini residents) a comfortable place to visit or stay over.

I think "princess" refers to Jezabel Blair. She lives there with her man, Viktor Black.  

I guess they have a lot of money.

17. Looked at the characters in the story. There's Jezabel, Viktor, and Vladimir Valentin VII.   I forgot who that is.  Oh....wait. Is it Viktor's twin brother?

18. Skimmed through Vladimir's biography.   

Yes. He's the twin. He used to think Viktor was dead, but then he learned it wasn't true.

This family's story is very much like Days of our Lives. You think someone's dead. Then later you realize you were wrong.

19. Started to read the story thread.

Vladimir is with his children (twins). They've just apparated to his brother's house.  Little Ivan wants to go to the beach.

20. Looked at Brighton on Google Maps.   It's south of St. Kilda.

Since Viktor's and Jezabel's penthouse is supposed to be near the beach, I wonder if it's on Esplanade.

Here's a Street View of the area.  It would make me worried living there with young children.   There's a busy road between the houses and the beach.

21. Went back to reading the story and learned that Jezabel had been kidnapped in the past.

22.  Continued to read more of the story.  Jezabel offered Viktor's niece and nephew some flavored milk.    Their father said no to that.   They have to drink regular milk.   But they can drink flavored milk after dinner.  That sounds fair.

In some Australian restaurants, we went to, they called flavored milk "milkshakes." We learned this after Jack ordered one. It wasn't like the milkshakes we have in America.

It could depend on the location though.  Some restaurants might have milkshakes that are similar to what we have in America.

23. Consulted Lord Wiki about flavored milk.   He says Australia has the highest consumption of it.

24. Thought more about milkshakes.   Even in America, it varies.  Sometimes they're very thick.  You can hardly drink them with a straw. Other times they're pretty thin. Still, though, I think they're usually thicker than flavored milk.  

25. Learned that Vladimir's twins are Dhampirs like their father. They have little fangs.

They might like blood-flavored milk as much as the strawberry flavored kind.

26. Watched video of people dancing in Brighton Beach.  



The colored shacks starting at 2:33 are really awesome. Is that the right word—shacks? Or would they be called beach sheds?

Do people rent those, or do they own them?

This website says they're called Beach Boxes.  Some are privately owned, and some are owned by the government.  

27. Found a whole website about the beach boxes; although here they're called bathing boxes.  

It's like a work of art.  And like many works of art, it's protected.  If people buy one, they're not allowed to repaint it.    That way the city can preserve the original look.  I don't blame them.  The beach boxes are lovely.

28. Started watching video of Liam Hemworth on Neighbours.   



His character uses a wheelchair. His name is Josh Taylor.

He likes a girl, but she only likes him as a friend.

In another scene he thanks someone for saving his life. Then he tells this same guy to stay away from Bridgett.  Who's Bridget?   Is that the girl Josh loves?   

29. Learned about Bridget from Lord Wiki.  She's physically disabled, and almost drowned. That's when Declan saved her. Declan must be the guy that Josh was arguing with in the video.  

30. Learned from The Perfect Blend website that Josh Taylor became paralyzed in a surfing accident. 

31. Learned that Liam's two brothers have also been on Neighbours.  Luke played one character in 2001 and another character in 2008.  Chris played a character in 2002.

Which Hemworth brother was in Thor? 

32. Consulted Lord Wiki about Thor.   He says Chris is the star of that.   Lord Wiki says that Chris was in Home and Away.   He doesn't even mention Neighbours.   So I looked at The Perfect Blend site.   His character description is very short.   I'm guessing it was a small role—probably just a few episodes.  

33. Saw that I have two Australians of the day today.  They're brothers; and both of them were printers.  One was George Anderson and the other was William Anderson.  

There was a big age difference between the two of them.   George was eleven when William was born.

George was born in Scotland. William was born in Melbourne.

They had two siblings between them.

34. Learned the George read a lot and had a prodigious memory.  I'm not sure I've seen the word prodigious before.  I'm guessing it's related to prodigy.

This dictionary site says prodigious means wonderful or marvelous; abnormal, monstrous. 

35. Went back to reading about George and William.  Well, they did printing things.  That's about all I want/need to know.

Well...here's something.   George liked Astronomy.  From 1953-1955 and 1961-1962 he was President of the Victorian Branch of the British Astronomical Society.

36. Saw that there's an Astronomical Society of Victoria.  I wonder if they grew out of the British Astronomical Society. 

Well, no. It looks like they didn't  The site lists their past presidents. George Anderson isn't one of them.

37. Went to Mousie's Australian database so I can get exposed to more Australian music.

The song for me today is "Touched By Love" by Eran James.




I remember this song.

It reminds me of Christian rock. Although it's not like I've heard a lot of Christian rock.

Wizard rock reminds me of Christian rock too.



I'm not a big fan of wizard rock—at least not the stuff I've heard so far.

I do like this gospel song.



Why do I like that fandom song, but not the Harry Potter ones? I don't know.

38. Decided to find another Flickr person to stalk.  I like doing that.  

39. Found Flossy1040's 2007 Australia trip.  That's the year of our first trip there!

40. Saw that Flossy1040's name is Lynne; and she has a blog.  

She's from Sutton in the United Kingdom.  That's about 40 minutes south of London.  

41. Noticed that Flossy1040 went back to Australia in 2008. I'll look at those photos too.  

42. Started to look at the 2007 set.

I see that the photos were taken in December 2007. That's when we were there. 

43. Saw that on Boxing Day (if the camera date is right), Flossy1040 was in Cooma watching sheep shearing. 

We didn't go to Cooma. Where is it? 

44. Looked for Cooma on Google Maps.  It's about 4 hours south of Sydney.  

45. Saw that Flossy1040 visited Narrabeen.  I looked at Google Maps.   It seems to be part of the Northern Beaches (in Sydney) 

46. Saw that Flossy1040 visited the Queen Victoria Building.  She took some pictures of the clock. 

47. Felt envious when I saw Flossy1040's accommodations. They had an apartment right on Manly beach. You go out on the porch and you can see the beach.  

She forgot to take a picture of the inside of the apartment. Andrew needs to talk to her about that.

48. Loved this photo from Cooma.

49. Started to look at Flossy1040's 2008 Australian photos.

Why did she go back so soon?   Is she a fan of Australia like me?   Or does she have family and friends there?

50.  Saw that this time she spent time in Melbourne. I love this shop photo.  

She also went to Beechworth.   Is that in or near Melbourne?

51. Found Beechworth on Google Maps. It's about 3 hours north-east of Melbourne.  

The shopping centre there looks cute.  

52. Saw that she went back to Cooma.  I wonder if they have family or friends there. Or maybe she just really loved it the first time. 

Here's a beautiful photo from Cooma.  

53. Proud that I have donated 3500 grains of rice today.  Again....if you want to join my group, I would totally love that.  Here's the link.  

If you start your own group, I'll join that (if you'll have me).   I think it's fun to play other people.  Then we can get all competitive. And in this case, I think competition is a fantastic thing.  

Detention Centres, Water balloons, Dairy Australia, and RSPCA

1. Listened to Sally Seltmann singing Heart that's Pounding.  I saw it when looking for a Bran Nue Day song.  I haven't listened to "Heart That's Pounding" for a few days.  I'm glad I ran into it.   My love for Offspring has been overshadowed a bit by my obsessive love for Tallygarunga.  But hearing the song has rekindled the love.  I'm going to download another episode soon.   I think I'm going to wait though and watch the show in New York.  I'll watch it on the plane or car ride...or both.  I'll split it up again.  

2. Found the Bran Nue Dae song. It's the title one.  I thought of it because someone found my blog by searching for it. I saw that on Statcounter, and it made me want to listen to the song.

3. Remembered what I thought about in the shower.  It was regarding what I said in the last post about feeling bonded to Adrian, the character from Tallygarunga.

I do think you can bond with characters.  Maybe bonding is the wrong word.   I don't know what's the right word.   But it's where you start having feelings for the character.  It could be love, in a very lose form of the world.

Let's go back to Offspring.  I think I immediately had feelings for Nina and Cherie. It was love at first episode.  It took me awhile to like Billie. I think the last character I "bonded" with is Mick.   It took me a long time to like him.  He was blah to me at first.  I was always eager for his scenes to end.  I look back at those past feelings and it seems totally crazy. He's one of my favorites now.

4. Went to sleep and dreamed about my sort-of Australian cousin. She's an expat, and I think in the dream, my older sister Dawn and her friend were expats as well.   I'm with Dawn, and her friend, in a room.   I ask Dawn if she's seen our cousin lately.  She replies that I can answer this question myself by thinking of Dawn's photos that I've seen. Are there any recent photos of our cousin?  I don't remember seeing many photos, so I'm guessing the answer is no. Then Dawn and her friend start complaining about my cousin. They say she uses all these Australian words and phrases; and it sounds very fake.   I defend my cousin and say Australian words and phrases sound strange when you first hear or see them.  But after awhile you get used to them and it feels very natural to say and hear them. I tell them that there are Australian ways of saying things now that sound more natural to me than the American counterparts. I try to think of an example, but I can't.  

Dawn and her friend seem surprised by this, but they seem accept what I say.

5. Dreamed about the sons of my sort-of Australian cousin.   I'm in a house with lots of people.   A child has just peed on the floor of the bathroom.   People start to take care of that.  Coming from down the hall, I can hear one of my young cousin's singing with a microphone.   I go in the opposite direction to another room. The singing cousin's younger brother is there.  I tell him that his brother is singing. He doesn't really respond to that.  He takes off a big piece of paper from a pad and starts to draw.  I watch him and think about how he's pretty adorable.  

I wonder if that dream is symbolic in some way. Singing vs. drawing?   Someone peeing on the floor.  It all seems like it could mean...something.

6. Dreamed about one of our Australian friends.  I have sent my friend a bunch of my clothes.  She's going to do something to them—some kind of favor for me.  I start thinking that it's a bit strange that I have sent so much clothes to Australia.   Then I remember that I didn't send money for the return postage. I feel guilty and embarrassed about that. 

In real life, I would have realized I could just send money through PayPal. 

7. Read article about the cows in Australia, the ones not being sent over to Indonesia.   It's a problem for some of the farmers because they don't know what to do with the cows.  I was thinking, why not just keep them for awhile?  But the article says they don't have enough feed.

There's talk of a lot of meat going to Australian grocery stores.  This might be good for the consumers. If there's a lot of supply, the price will go down.   It's not good for the farmers.  The article also talks about how cows are prepared differently for the Indonesian markets. They weigh less, and in turn they taste differently when dead. They're going to try to fatten them up before killing them.

For the thin cows that taste differently, could they not be turned into dog and cat food?

8. Wondered if it would work to have a charity set up for the cows and farmers. Maybe the money could go towards getting more food for the cows so they don't have to be slaughtered right away?

Also, this might sound weird coming from a vegetarian, but I sort of think maybe Australians should try to eat a lot of beef in the next few weeks.   It's best if it doesn't come from a factory farm, of course.

I wonder how much beef in Australia comes from factory farms, and how much comes from regular not-so-bad farms.

9. Changed my mind about my advice...sort of.   I read the article again, and it sort of annoys me.  The farmers don't seem to care about the welfare of the cows. It seems they (at least the ones in the article) only care about their losses.

I don't know. Maybe it's better if the cow industry has their losses and the farmers go onto producing something else.  How about more vegetables?  Fruit?  Cotton?  Nuts?  All that's useful.  

10. Decided I'd like to live in a world where animal farming becomes very rare.  Only a few farmers do it, and meat becomes a fairly expensive delicacy.  All the animals are treated wonderfully before dying.  On most days, people eat vegetarian food. Every so often, they have a steak or chicken sandwich.

The alternative is that thing where meat is grown in a laboratory with no real animals involved. It's just live tissue. I hope that happens someday. It's creepy, but cruelty free.   

11. Started to read an article about the experiences of an asylum seeker.  The man (Kamal) is from Burma, and he was in Malaysia. Then he got on a boat to Australia.   He's now in the Villawood Detention Centre.

Kamal and his family fled Burma because of slavery and persecution. That was about twenty years ago.  He spent a long time in Malaysia before coming to Australia.    He had to leave his family behind.  I'm guessing he was hoping to bring them over later.

In Malaysia, Kamal set up a refugee centre and was given donations by a Christian group. A Muslim group didn't like that, and stalked Kamal and his family. That's why Kamal left.

So now Kamal is stuck in a detention centre and he's away from his family.   It would be nice if he got out of the detention center, became part of Australia life, and brought his family over to live. I hope they're reunited someday soon, and have a happy life.

12. Consulted Lord Wiki about the Villawood Detention Centre. It's in Sydney.   I'm looking at it on Google Maps.  It's pretty far our west.  

Lord Wiki says it's been the center of a lot of controversy. There's been suicides there, and a few months ago, some of the detainees set the place on fire.   I vaguely remember that

13. Skimmed through article about the Villawood fires. There's a part of me that asks, what kind of rude person would come to a new country and set it on fire?    Then another part of me answers....one who's had an awful life, came to Australia to find a better life, and is now still living a very horrible life.

As for the fire, no one was injured, fortunately.  But three rooms were destroyed—a computer room, media room, and a dining room.  A place that provides those three types of rooms doesn't sound all that bad.  But who knows. It could have been a very gross and ill-equipped dining, media, and computer room.

14. Disturbed by some of the comments on the Villawood article.  Glynn says, Refugees who dont accept our temporary institutional detention system for filtering unsuitable aliens are potential threats to our safety, security and a drain on our taxpayer provided funds.   But it's not temporary.  In 1994, the time limit for detaining people was removed.  They can be there for years. I think there'd be much less anger if there were a reasonable time limit.

Nurse Ian says, Send them home. Anybody who wanted to be here and truly deserved to be here would not behave in this way. Does the government really think Australians want these people living in our society?    That's true.  You don't set fire to a place where you want to be lived and welcomed.   But maybe after being in the detention center, these refugees no longer even want to live in Australia.   I am betting they're extremely angry and disillusioned.  They don't feel safe and welcomed in Australia.  They don't feel safe in their old country. Their life is hell.   What are people supposed to do when they're in that type of situation? What would Nurse Ian do if he was stuck in a detention center indefinitely?


Still. I wonder. Are the detainees truly being treated horribly?  Now the whole indefinite detention thing gives me the chills.   I hate that.  But within the detention experience itself, is it horrible?   It's really hard to tell, because people have different tolerance levels.

How bad are the detention centres when compared to Nazi death camps? I mean minus the death.   I don't think anyone's being gassed in showers.  Are people getting enough food?   Are they overworked?  Do they have enough living space? Are they free from verbal and physical abuse?

Is the fire a desperate response to horrific abuse?  Or is the fire a response from people who are a bit too demanding regarding their accommodations? 

15. Wondered if the detention centres are comparable to prisons? Are they? If so, is it right to treat refugees like criminals?

16. Wondered if you could have a detention centre where people have a fairly decent life. It doesn't have to be full of luxury.  When I was young, my family used to go to this camp in Illinois.   It was fairly rustic. We slept in cabins with no air conditioning. You had to walk outside to go the bathroom.   There were daddy long legs there, and it was a bit creepy.   If I remember correctly the toilet stalls had no doors, so there was a lack of privacy.   There were also no private showers.   There was a big outside thing with multiple shower heads. All the women would have to shower together.   People would usually wash while wearing their swimming suits. 

It was all really awful, but we had a fantastic time.   Why?  We were treated with respect.  The counselors were nice to us; and they were fun.  We were also free. That was a big thing.  And we stayed for only a week.

My ideas for fixing the detention centre situation is to a)have a time limit.  I don't know if it's feasible to get people in and out within a few weeks; but how about a few months?   Maybe have a three month limit?  Would that work?   b) Even if the detainees can't have the most comfortable of living standards, make things as enjoyable as possible.

I don't know.  Maybe people are already trying to make things okay for the detainees, and the detainees won't be happy until they get the hell out of there. It's really hard to know.  

17. Read article that says underage drinking happens more in Australia than America. The belief seems to be that this is because drinking is more tolerated in Australia.  Well, at least a Dr. Hemphill believes that.   She thinks America has a zero tolerance approach, and that Australia has the attitude accepting that young people might sometimes use alcohol and other drugs but trying to encourage them to do that in a safe way.

That could be true.  The thing I wonder is whether the results were obtained by self-reporting tests only. What if American kids were less likely to admit to using alcohol BECAUSE of the zero-tolerance thing?  Yes, I'm sure they were told the results would be private and anonymous. But what if the kids didn't have full trust in the anonymity system?   


Personally, I think it should be a balanced approach. I don't have a teenager yet, so I'm talking out of my ass here.   I wouldn't want a zero tolerance approach when Jack's older.   I don't want him to feel something's absolutely forbidden, because then he might do it in secret.  I feel he might make safer choices if he feels he can be open about it. On the other hand, I don't want him to get the idea that I support drinking and drug use.  I want him to know that I think drinking/drugs are bad for you; and I already talk to him about this.  I think Tim is more open to drug use.   He drinks. His message is probably more about being responsible and moderate.  Jack's going to be getting mixed messages.   That's fine.  It's part of life.  I do hope my message wins out.   At the very least, I hope he waits until he's older to start drinking, smoking pot, etc.   I've already told him about the studies I've seen that show early pot smoking can lead to schizophrenia.  I told him if he wants to do that, wait until he's older.

18. Read Andrew's post about the cow issue.  His opinions seem similar to mine.  He says, this morning I heard a farmer come up with some doozeys. The poor Indonesian child sitting down to dinner with a bowl of rice and no beef to go with it. Worse was, the north of Australia will be full of farmers hanging from trees. I do feel some sympathy for the farmers, but you can't tell me they were all so ignorant.

The Indonesian child thing disgusts me. Are we still perpetuating the myth that a meatless diet is one of deprivation?   It's ridiculous.  And I agree with Andrew, it's hard to believe the farmers were ignorant of what was happening to their animals on the ships and at their destination.   I'm not a farmer.  I'm not even in Australia.  But I heard stories months ago.   Really.  Four Corners is not the first program or organization to mention the abuse.  It's NOT new news. It's old news that most people previously chose to ignore.   

19. Read article that says asylum seekers being sent to Malaysia will be spared the caning experience. I guess that's a good start. The article also says that the asylum seekers will be released into the community after six weeks. Is that the Australian community, or the Malaysian one?

20. Talked to Jack about drinking again. We had a nice discussion. I also told him about some of the cow issues in Australia and Indonesia.

21. Ate a bowl of mashed potatoes with vegetables and did not feel horribly deprived because there was no meat in my lunch.  I will admit that it had some cream and cheese mixed in.   It was leftovers from two nights ago though.  I feel less bad about eating leftovers because they're likely to be thrown away.   

I'm trying to be moderate rather than extreme.  Last night I had a small bowl of ice-cream. Tonight I'll choose abstinence.  Maybe I'll eat dairy the way I wish meat-eaters would eat meat. I don't wish for them to give it up all together, but it would be great if they didn't indulge in it at every meal.   

Last night I had ice-cream. This morning I ate my cereal dry.   The pathetic thing is we have soy milk. Tim and Jack drink that, and we rarely ever buy regular milk anymore. But soy milk grosses me out a bit.  I don't know why.  I do like almond milk; so I may buy more of that in the future. 

22. Learned from the Australian Dictionary of biography that my Australian of the day is William Race Allison.  

The family arrived in Hobart on November 22. That's my birthday!  William was about ten when they made big move from England.   

23. Tried to figure out if the Allison family stayed in Tasmania, or moved to New South Wales.  I was confused because the dictionary mentions the Macquarie River.  I thought that was in New South Wales.  And it is.  But there's also one in Tasmania. And they mention Sandy Bay. I looked that up.  It's a suburb in Hobart.  

The Allison family didn't have it easy.  At one point, their property was attacked by some rough people.   William's father ended up with a injured head.   I'm not sure if it was severe or not.

The family also had another family as their enemy; the Gatenbys.  It's like Romeo and Juliet. After William's father died, one of William's brothers was made manager of the property. The family lost the property to the Gatenbys, and William's brother committed suicide.

William became a politician.  He wasn't very popular because he supported the continuation of bringing convicts over for cheap labor.   On the other hand, some people liked him for other reasons.   I'm not going to go into detail about that.  It deals with stuff I don't understand, and I don't care enough to learn more.   

24. Watched the GetUp Australia video about the live animal transports to Indonesia. It's a sequel to the video launched a few days go.  It talks about the abuse, the internet campaigning, and the petitions. It's nice to see that sometimes people can make a difference.  

25. Went to Tallygarunga.  What storyline should I read today?

26. Decided to read a story called "It's Harmless Really".   It started yesterday, and is four posts long.  It's starring Emily Smith(the nonreligious athletic wizard who looks like Kirsten Dunst) and Riley Lightfoot.   I think I may have read a Riley Lightfoot story before. I think maybe he's the guy from New Zealand?   

The setting for this scene/story is the basement corridor of the Eureka Underground Hallway.   

I can see from this page that the Eureka Underground Hallway is a converted mineshaft. It's likely named after the Eureka uprising thing.   

Students would find themselves in the Eureka Underground Hallway if they were taking Herbology, Potions, Muggle Studies, or Wandless Magic. It's also the location of the Spencer Dorms and the Spencer common rooms.   

So here we have Riley and Emily in the corridors. Are they coming back from class, or were they hanging out in their common room? Are they Spencer students?  

Well, I'll read and find out.   

27. Started reading.  

Yes. They're both Spencer.   Emily is eleven, and Spencer is fourteen.  I can imagine an eleven-year-old girl crushing on the 14 year-old boy. 

Emily is in the Spencer common room. She's bored and finds some water balloons. She's going to do something wicked.

Do you know what?  Water balloons are hard to blow up.   I didn't realize this until my niece's birthday party last year. Then again., they might have been bad balloons.  I don't know.   But we couldn't just turn on the tap and let the water go in. The water went in, but the balloons wouldn't inflate at all.   Although now that I think of it, it doesn't make sense.  Shouldn't the balloons have expanded when there was enough water?    

Well, you would think so. But it didn't work that way. We had to get a water bottle and use that.  That way water and air was squeezed in at the same time.  

Emily just used the bathroom sink to fill the balloons. She probably has better ones than we did.  And no, they're not magical balloons.  The text here specifically labels them as being Muggle water balloons.  

Emily does use magic though, with the balloons. She suspends them in the corridor, waiting for her victim.   

28. Read the next post in the story. This is from Riley's point of view. He's reading an Alex Rider book.  What's that? 

Lord Wiki says they're British spy novels.  Maybe Jack would like them?  He hasn't read any novels since Harry Potter.   

Anyway, Riley's reading. And he wants some chocolate.   

Oh.  This is a disappointment.  Riley had a secret stash of chocolate hidden in a chair.  He opened the fabric with magic, and the chocolate was gone.   It's awful when you're expecting to have some chocolate, and then it turns out there's none available. Although it's probably not as bad as situations where people are expecting their heroin, and they don't get it.   

Riley leaves the common room to head to the kitchen. He meets up with the water balloon and Emily.  He catches her before the balloon falls.   

Now they're having a debate about rule-breaking.  Riley somewhat scolds Emily for doing the prank, but then he offers to be her pranking mentor.  Ah...now I remember Riley.  He's the one who likes wearing cargo shorts so he can keep pranking materials in his pocket.    Did I read his biography already?  I hope not, because I have probably forgotten most of it, then.   

29. Looked through my old posts and found that I did read about Riley before.  This is so annoying.  Things go in my brain and then out again. Well, at least my memory was triggered and I remembered the cargo pants thing.  

Riley is the one who likes the chase, but not the relationship. He's had many girlfriends, but hasn't kissed any of them yet.

30. Decided to read Emily Smith's biography.   I'm pretty sure I haven't read it yet. AND...in a few days I'll have forgotten most of everything I've learned.  

Emily is Muggle Born and originally from Ireland.   

She doesn't like her curly hair.

Why do people with curly hair so often not like their curly hair?   

Emily is sweet but she speaks before she thinks. She also has a bad temper.   

She likes being outdoors and she likes candy.   

Like Ron Weasley, Emily is afraid of spiders.  She doesn't like to pick on kids who are younger than her.   But I guess it's okay if they're older than her?   Oh, okay. I think she means just joking around—prank/silly stuff.   She's not into bullying, though.   Sometimes it's hard to know where the line is drawn.   My rule of thumb is if the target is amused, it's a good joke.   If they're hurt and not amused, and the behavior towards them is continued, it's bullying.   

31. Delighted to see that Emily was an Irish homeschooler.  The family fished and raised sheep.   Then they got a letter, and Emily went from being a homeschooler to a potential boarding school student in Australia.  I do have to wonder why she didn't get the letter from Hogwarts. Why Australia?  Was there something about Emily that disqualified her?   

32. Learned that Emily's also afraid of horses.  I like that. I mean I don't like that she's afraid. But I think it's an interesting quirk for a character.   

33. Went to the website for DairyAustralia.  Maybe it will give me some insight into what happens with the dairy cows. I'm sure they'll give it a very positive spin.   In turn, the animal rights group give it a very negative spin.  The true story is probably somewhere in between.

Here's their page on animal welfare. They have a nice photo of a woman having a tender moment with a cow.   

Here's the page on calves.  I'm going to read through that.   On this page, they do admit to removing the baby within 12 hours of birth.  They claim that this is to reduce the risk of infection.   Is this just a cow thing?  Cow babies are better off being without their moms?  Why isn't the same for other animals?   

Apparently mommy cows have a disease (or threat of a disease) called Bovine Johnes disease.   These are the milking cows.  If they're diseased, does that say anything about their milk?   Should dairy consumers be a bit worried?  Or is it a disease that effects cows only?   

Well, Lord Wiki says baby cows can get it in the uterus and through udder-feeding.   So maybe breast isn't best with cows.   I would be interested in hearing the animal rights groups position on this. I'll be so glad to find out that the animal rights anti-dairy thing is just anti-animal industry propaganda.   Then I can happily go back to eating ice-cream and super cheesy nachos.  

34. Continued to read the calf page, and they say there's another reason for separation.  The sooner the better. Then there's no time for bonding.   I think there may be truth to that.   Although it would be nice if the baby and mom could be together for the full natural nursing relationship. How long is that usually?  

Wow.  It's longer than I expected.  I thought it was going to be just a few months. This University of Florida site says that beef calves in the United States are weaned at 7-8 months. I think though that this is forced weaning. I wonder how long they nurse in the wild?  

35. Started to wonder something. If this Bovine Johnes disease is such a threat, why are beef calves allowed to nurse for so long?   Is the disease not a threat to them? Or are Australian beef cows weaned immediately? Maybe only in America they're allowed to get Mommy milk for several months.   

Nope.  The RSPCA Australia page says that beef cow babies are weaned at 8-10 months usually.  

What's going on here?  What protects beef cows from disease?  

Why do I have an awful feeling that I'm NOT going to be able to return to happy guilt-free ice-cream eating?

Ah...never mind.   This Victorian Government page says the disease IS more prevalent in dairy cows than beef cows.  

I'm looking at Google and seeing it's not just a Victorian phenomena.   The same dairy over beef thing is shown in other places as well, including America.  

36. Felt sad after reading this page from Dairy Australia.  It talked about calves being transported when they're 5-8 days old.   It's one thing to imagine them being taken away from their mothers and being hand-raised by some friendly human farmers. It's another thing imagining them being shipped off to somewhere like Indonesia.  

Are dairy cows sent to Indonesia, or just beef cows?   

This page does agree with the animal rights groups who say the calves legally can be denied food for a maximum of 30 hours.  They say scientific studies have shown this is okay for the baby cows.   Maybe it is?   It does seem like an awful long time though. Oh and just to clarity, although it's legal, the animal rights groups do NOT think it's an okay practice.    

37. Searched for information on how often calves are supposed to be fed. All I can find so far is this website.  They recommend feeding the cow every 12 hours.  

38. Looked at the Animals Australia site.   On their dairy page, they don't mention the Bovine Johnes reasoning for removing the cows from their mother. It's an interesting oversight.  I would have more respect for them if they mentioned it and provided a counterargument.  

39. Saw claims on various animal rights sites that baby and mother cows bond soon after birth. I decided to read this page to get more insight into the whole thing.  It's about the maternal behavior of beef cows.  

It's interesting reading.  They talk about how the bond is very dependent on hormones, and that it's somewhat dependent on cervical stimulation. Therefore, cows removed by c-section tend to have higher incidents of maternal abandonment.   

Now I'm reading that the cow licks the baby after birth and this stimulates the bonding experience as well.  If the mother doesn't lick the baby, then mismothering is more likely to occur.  So maybe dairy farmers need to remove the baby before this licking takes place?   

40. Felt after reading about beef calves and dairy calves, that it's probably better to be a meat-eater who avoids dairy than a vegetarian who eats ice-cream and cheese.   

41. Wrote a message to Dairy Australia.   I want to know what percentage of calves are slaughtered, what percentage of the slaughtered are used for veal; and whether any of the dead animal goes completely to waste. The animal rights group makes it seem like these animals are simply trashed.  But there's maybe more to the story?  I'm hoping the dead animal is maybe used for cat/dog food?   Hey, and how about feeding them to crocodiles in the zoo?   It's mean, but those guys do have to eat!  They could kill the calf beforehand, so it doesn't have to be tortured by the croc.

Anyway, when I tried to send the message, the system complained about the phone number. It might be because I have an American number. I asked Tim if he could maybe try to find our Australian number. 

42. Tried instead using the Dairy Australia's phone number. Hopefully, they won't try to call themselves.  I don't know if it worked though. When I press submit, I just get the form again.   I don't get anything along the lines of, Thanks for your message.  We'll get back to you soon.... 

43. Read some good news from Australians who like their veal.  The RSPCA says that Australia does NOT have that horribly cruel way of raising animals for veal.

They say one way to tell evil veal from okay veal is the color. Bad evil veal meat will be white. The other type will be light pink to red.

I wonder what's the status in America?  

Lord Wiki says they're still raised the bad way, but some states are phasing out the system.  Maine is supposed to get better sometime this year.

44. Found the answers that I asked of Dairy Australia. The RSPCA has them.  You know I'm thinking maybe the RSPCA has a more balanced approach to the animal rights issue.   I might start relying on them somewhat.  

So....

They say most male dairy calves are slaughtered at five days old.  Some are not though.   Some are raised for veal production. Then about 1/4 of females are allowed to grow into adulthood so they can become milking cows.

The newborn calves who are killed are not simply trashed. They're used for leather and byproducts of the pharmaceutical companies. 

Here's where the RSPCA complains.  Before dying the animals are TREATED like trash.   The RSPCA says, Because they will very soon go to slaughter, bobby calves often do not get the same standard of housing, cleanliness, care or attention as the valuable replacement heifers or the bull calves being reared for veal. For their health and welfare, bobby calves should be fed twice a day and be housed in sheltered, clean and dry environments with room to lie down on suitable bedding. 

This makes me think many in the animal industry lack compassion for the animals.  When they treat them well, it's merely for the fact that they want them to be in good health.  Healthy animals make better meat.   If you're not going to be turning the animals into meat, don't spend any time or money on them. Treat them like crap.

I think it's really sad.

45. Read what the RSPCA wants for the baby calves.

For these reasons, the RSPCA believes bobby calves should be at least 10 days old and be fed at least four hours before being transported. Further, transport to the abattoir should be for less than 10 hours and in trucks that have protection from the elements, bedding and enough room for all calves to lie down. 

Is that not reasonable?!!!!!

And they give a reason for the ten days vs. five days.   It's not so the cute little calves can have more time on earth.  As they get older, they're following behavior improves. When they're too young, it's hard to get them to follow the herd.  And because of that, rough handling is more likely to occur.

46. Saw that the RSPCA supports the killing of cane toads....since they're known to be a invasive species.  But they believe it should be done in the most pain-free way as possible.   They give detailed instructions on how to commit cane toad murder.  It pretty much involves making the toads cold enough to render them unconscious. Then you hit them really hard in the head. Or you can stick them in the deep freezer for 2 days.

47. Read about Queensland's Toad's Day Out event.   People go around and help reduce the toad population.   It used to be done in a cruel way.   The toads were run over and hit with bats.   Now they use humane methods of euthanasia.  I like hearing that. I'd probably feel less okay about it if I had just finished reading one of Morris Gleitzman's toad books.

48. Forgot to feed the cats because my mind was so wrapped up in animal rights.   I was only about 30 minutes late though. And it's not like they're on a super strict time schedule. I try to feed them approximately ever 6 hours.

49. Compelled to say that I feel really stupid for being this vegetarian who eats dairy.   I mean I always knew that it was a little bad, but I ignorantly believed it was less bad than meat.  And I hate to say it, but sometimes I probably have had a bit of a moral superiority complex.   Now it seems I'm worse than all those meat-eaters.  Then again, they usually eat milk products too. So we're equally bad.

50. Decided to see what the RSPCA says about beef cows.  Here's their page on that.    They talk about castration and dehorning.  They're not against it; but they believe it should be done by a veterinarian under anaesthetics.

They're okay with identification methods that are not harmful to the animal, such as microchips.  They're not okay with hot iron branding or ear mutilation.

It seems for the most part Australian beef cows are treated okay...until they're shipped off to another country.  Now do the farmers love their cows?  Do they feel affection towards them?   I'm doubtful.   Otherwise, I think they would have put a stop to the live transport thing a LONG time ago.  

51. Changed my mind.   Beef cows might not do so well in Australia after all.   Some of them go to something called feedlots.   This is where cows are crowded together before slaughter.  The farmers try to do some last minute fattening up of the animals.

The RSPCA says, There are, potentially, some serious welfare problems associated with keeping animals in this type of intensive system. These include the restriction on the ability of animals to move around, lack of adequate shelter from the extremes of weather (especially heat), and the problems of manure buildup and wet manure. Other potential problems are associated with handling of the animals, mixing of unfamiliar animals, dust levels and feed management. The RSPCA is opposed to the confinement of animals in ways that unreasonably restrict their movements and normal behavioural patterns, and that result in unacceptable risks to their health and wellbeing. 

52. Read about the killing of baby male chickens.  They're killed at birth because they won't grow up to lay eggs.  Sometimes they're killed by maceration, and other times they're killed with poison gases.   I would have thought the maceration is worse, but the RSPCA says if done quickly it's more humane.   Maybe I'm thinking of the wrong definition of maceration. I'm picturing some kind of chopping process—like a blender.

Well, Lord Wiki says I'm right. That's what it is. How can that not be horrible?

The thought of being chopped up into little pieces doesn't quite appeal to me. I guess if it happens quick, maybe it's not that bad?  I don't know.

Anyway, the RSPCA answers the question someone asked me the other day. Why aren't the male chickens turned into chicken meat?   The answer is they come from a different breed of chicken.   Still.  Might they not taste okay?  

53. Felt horribly guilty (and stupid) because I allegedly made a negative comment to my cousin when she ordered veal when we went out to dinner.   I don't remember it, but that doesn't mean anything.   We all know I have a horrible memory.  So here I was questioning her veal ordering and I was probably ordering some damn meal that had cheese in it.  Well, the cow who gave the milk might have been treated fairly okay. But there's a good chance her babies had a very short and uncomfortable life.  

I do still feel validated at thinking nasty thoughts about my family when they eat veal.  They're eating the American type. So there!    

54. Decided maybe I can imagine the cheese in my meal came from the cow who gave birth to the veal that my cousin ate. Maybe he had a fairly short life, but it was a wonderful one with rolling hills and smiling farmers. Then they came together at our dinner table. 

I must note again that as I don't remember the dinner conversation, I also have no memory of what I ate that night.   Maybe it didn't even involve cheese.  I doubt that though. 

55. Wanted to note (for the record) that I usually do NOT comment on people's food choices at the table.  I usually keep the nasty comments in my head.  

Read my online novel The Dead are Online (please?)