I don’t know if you’ve ever had a dream where, when you wake up, you remember it for a moment—and then it’s completely gone. But it’s not really gone. Even though you can’t recall the details, you somehow instinctively know what the dream was about. I know that sounds strange, but it happens to me a lot.
It reminds me of fireflies—the way they use light to communicate. They’re not speaking in any way we’d understand, but they seem to have a complex language of their own, using those tiny flashes to select a mate. It’s all happening through light.
I know that remembering dreams and fireflies flashing their bottoms might not seem like the same kind of thing—but it is, in a way. It’s that unspoken, mysterious part of life that can’t be explained. Like déjà vu. That feeling where you’re sure you’ve been somewhere before, or met someone already, or that what’s happening has already happened. I don’t know if I’ve lost you, but that’s happened to me too. Not often—but enough for me to mention it.
Some really weird things happen to me.
Take today, for example. I was at the supermarket picking up The Australian and The Financial Review for Mum. I grabbed a drink near the checkout, and when it was my turn to be served, a young kid rang up my items and said, “That’ll be $14.65.”
As I pulled out my card to pay, the kid at the checkout next to us said exactly the same thing to his customer—“That’ll be $14.65.” Same words. Same tone. Same total. Myself and the kid serving me just stared at each other in disbelief.
I’ve been thinking about it—the odds of something like that happening are astronomical. Like, one in a trillion.
I’m into ancient astronaut theory, and I love delving into religion, but I’m not actually much of a believer in things like fate or signs. Still, I have to say: even though it was such a small moment, that might be the biggest coincidence that’s ever happened to me.
Even after it happened, the kid who was serving me and I sort of paused—like we were both waiting to see if it was some kind of mistake. Maybe the other checkout kid was unintentionally parroting him, or maybe there’d been a glitch in the system. But no. The customer at the next register went on to pay exactly $14.65.
Last week was my hairdresser's 21st birthday. I sent bunch of flowers with a 21 balloon to the salon. You can see below.
I’ve been seeing my hairdresser for a couple of years now, and she’s absolutely lovely—but lately I’ve been going to one of the owners, Mario. He runs the salon with his wife Angela, and they’re both really hard workers. I imagine they’d be tough bosses, but I enjoy talking to Mario. He’s a little closer to my age—he’s 60, which is only 16 years older than me—whereas my darling young hairdresser just turned 21. She’s nearly 23 years younger than me!
Mario’s interested in politics and world affairs, which I sometimes enjoy thinking about. I went in today to get a colour, and Mum came along for a blow-dry at the same time. The three of us had a good old chat about the upcoming election.
At one point, I mentioned to both Mum and Mario that I’ve been getting some 3D printing done by this guy who runs a business from home. And honestly, this guy is so incredibly rude. The few times I’ve seen him, I’ve been super friendly and polite, and he just gives me short, one-word answers—like he couldn’t care less if I were there. He acts like he doesn’t want your business.
I don’t want this to sound like I’m stereotyping—because I’m not—but I have wondered if he might be on the spectrum. But I said to Mum and Mario today, “You know what? I kind of like being treated like shit by him.” I said, “I don’t know what it is, but I’m drawn to him because he’s so rude.”
And then Mario goes, “Ohhh, you like it like that, do you?” And for a moment, it was a bit weird… But then we all just cracked up laughing.
When my dad was alive, he spent years working on these small kangaroo sculptures. He had them cast in metal, and I’m not entirely sure what he intended to do with them—but he gave one to me and said I could do whatever I wanted with it, artistically.
So I decided to have one of the kangaroos professionally scanned for 3D printing.
At first, I thought I’d use resin or the basic materials most 3D printers use. But I quickly realised those aren’t very durable. That’s when the rude 3D printing guy I’d been working with suggested nylon—a professional-grade material that’s strong and long-lasting.
I decided to go ahead and have a range of them printed in different materials.
After scanning the original kangaroo, he printed a few versions at home. Then he sent those files to China to have the resin and nylon prints made there. I was so impressed with the results.
You can see three of the printed kangaroos below.
You can also really see just how talented my dad was as a sculptor. He wasn’t known for his artistic side, but I think he did an incredible job on these.
So here’s the plan: I’m going to have 200 kangaroos printed as a limited edition. I know that 200 might not sound especially “limited,” but my aim is to get them out there—to have them seen, collected, loved.
Once I’ve sanded and finished each one, I’m going to gild them in 24-karat gold leaf. They’ll be housed in custom-made boxes, and I plan to approach galleries and high-end boutiques. This is not just a little sculpture—it will be a fine art object.
And I think that’s really important—to position yourself as a high-end artist from the very beginning, so there’s no confusion about what you’re offering. It’s not a souvenir. It’s a work of art.
But I’ve hit a dilemma.
On the original kangaroo, my dad included genitalia. And over the years, when he showed the sculpture to friends, people often laughed about that detail and made fun of him for it.
On one hand, it’s a realistic and detailed little sculpture, and including the genitalia supports that anatomical truth. It was part of his original vision. On the other hand, some people might find it in poor taste, or think it’s unnecessary—or worse, that it detracts from the elegance and seriousness of the piece.
So I asked the rude 3D printer guy to remove the genitalia from the scan and print one without it. Just so I could compare.
And now… I’m stuck.
I’ve been talking to my dear friend ChatGPT about it—trying to figure out what’s best—and honestly, I’ve been getting mixed messages.
Below you’ll see two photos. The first is the kangaroo with his manhood. The second is without
What would you do?
