ELECTRIC BLANKETS ARE TERRIBLY UNDERVALUED BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC

I've always been a fan of Australia. My dad went there when I was very young, and he brought back a lot of really cool stuff that fascinated me: an Authentic Aborigine Souvenir Boomarang, opal jewelry, books, other stuff I don't remember, and a tablecloth printed with images of Australian animals. I eventually hung that tablecloth on my bedroom wall, which was sloped, so I stared at it often from my vantage point on my bed. I remember borrowing a book about Australia from our church library when I was about 10 years old and becoming fascinated with the place, mostly because the professional photographs were stunning and the rugged guy on the cover was so...ruggedly attractive. The reason I'm bringing this up now is I started salivating over Australia again tonight, as I am wont to do, only this time the urge was brought on by a weird movie based on two Brazilian characters and containing a lot of excellent Brazilian music. The music led me to think about the fact that I often prefer listening to some type of Latin music whenever it gets cold and depressing outside (i.e., winter) to spice things up a bit. I probably also have that Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.--deliciously appropriate acronym, don't you think?) so I can easily get in a funk if it's dark and cold outside for weeks at a time.

I've also always been a fan of summer, which at this point might go without saying. Having a summer birthday (July 27) always seemed fun to me, as if being a summer child made me more exciting and easygoing. I always tell myself during the harsh summer months here in Dallas that I can't wait for winter, but I find myself regretting the thought as soon as winter arrives. People will think lots of funny things when the temperatures reach over 100° for weeks on end and the drought actually makes it more bearable because the normal humidity makes everyone want to die.

Today the temperature dropped about 30° to 35° in about an hour and since then we've been experiencing nasty rain and fierce, freezing gusts of wind. My Google weather icon has switched to what looks like a cartoon of Antarctica with 24° as the predicted low tonight. That's the lowest temperature we've had since February! So right now I wouldn't mind some bossa nova music, beautiful bluegreen water, and an island to explore. And shopping. Shopping would be great too.

You know, that reminds me. People have always acted as if I'm crazy when I mention how much the weather affects my mood--it often dictates what I'm going to wear (obvious), what I am going to do recreationally, what movies I'll want to watch, books I'll want to read, and music I'll want to listen to. Doesn't this make sense? Does anyone else understand the concept of "winter music" and "summer evening music"? It's completely logical to me, but that's not saying much, I suppose. :P

All this to say:
1. I hope to one day move to Australia. I have really looked into this, you know. I've looked up jobs and apartments and everything. And tonight I looked up one-way ticket airfare, the cheapest being American Airlines at $1649.00. Hey, it'll be worth it! Someday I'll get there and be able to see it for myself. (Australia being relatively close to New Zealand and Japan also means I'll have some great vacation options.)
2. If you are depressed because of the wintery weather, pop in some bossa nova music. It's fun and energizing, and is likely to bring about mental images of warm locales.

Here are some pictures of Australia that I found on the internets. These photos depict the city of Brisbane, which is my favorite Australian city (after much research, of course).
(Click on thumbnails to enlarge)










And here are some photos I believe were taken by a fellow known as "Figaro" on Wikipedia but now I can't locate him. I like the blurry, old school camera qualities of his pictures. Wherever you are, Figgy, I hope you're still taking lots of pictures!