November 21, 2002 - 11:11 p.m.

tidbit #1: in australia, voting is compulsory. in fact, if you don't vote, you will be fined!

tidbit #2: voting runs on the preference system here. instead of voting for one candidate or party, you vote for your first choice, second, third, etc. first choice gets one point, second choice gets half a point, and so on down the list. if your first vote turns out to be a turkey, your other voting will still help out other candidates. (a number of people here vote for the greens party, knowing full well that they will not win, and vote for a more mainstream liberal party as their second choice.)

political parties distribute their preferences, too. this is when you start talking about a "two-party preferred vote", which can change after preferences have been distributed. i just quoted what simon said because it sounded interesting and complicated, but i have no idea what he's on about.

because i'm not a citizen of australia, i won't be voting. in fact, i won't be voting in america, either. bit if i was, i'd vote for this guy.

as strange as it seems, bethb reported a problem in her local area, and i witnessed the same thing on the very same day. only this time, it was a woman, and she was crouching on a fairly busy sidewalk in the city center. when she was finished, she decided to catch my tram and wait one inch in front of me. the inch soon disappeared as the personal space bubble was broken. gasp. this woman's mind was nowhere near our planet, and i was glad when the tram arrived.

in other news, i've finally put some wedding photos online. now my mom will be able to sleep at night.