Turning 23

Today is my birthday (in Australia, it'll be my birthday tomorrow in Canada.. that's kind of weird... but cool at the same time)

Anyways we've been up to a whole lot of nothing today really. We went on a harbour cruise which was pretty good, though they kept on talking about housing prices. (a bit American if you ask me.. i can picture all the american toursists asking about those kinds of things...)

A note on American tourists, now I know this is an over-generalization but I truly find that they are extremely conservative in their choices, and they like to stay in hotels with brand names. Hence the success of Hilton etc... My theory is that only rich americans travel, and thus they like their creature comforts.. A lot of them do cruises....

I bought (well i mean got as a present) a book about the transformation of Australia over the past 50 years, should prove interesting. I have been doing some thinking while travelling (some would consider this a sin I know) and i'm quite intrigued by the differences between NZ and OZ.

I also recommend that everyone read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, even if you disagree it makes you think. It's really interesting to see a philosophical statement made into a real world through the novel. I'm slowly realizing why I fundamentally disagree with her. It helps too if you think about when she wrote it and this puts it into context (hahahaha, she would argue likely that context is unimportant)

The one thing that seems to come through in her writing though is a distrust of intellectuals. I can see that for someone who seemed to have been a self-starter..

Anyways read that book, and if you finish by the time I get back, i'll argue with you about it!!! (i'm reading for the second time on my trip, shouldn't be much more than a week till i'm done.. yes i'm a fast reader and I know it!)