Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1552: Still Feel Good

I’m worn out, and it’s a good worn out. I have things that I want to cover. I have things I want to talk about. Right now is not the time, but I do want to talk about them. Just writing to say that there are things.

Okay. That’s it. Go home.

I’m in Hawks Nest at the moment, sitting here, waiting for the shower to be free. I’m going to shower after this. This is not important information in any way, shape or form, but I feel like my life is finally, FINALLY getting back on track. I’m in a good position. What a fucked year. This is good. This is desirable, as far as I’m concerned.

I’ve spent a lot of the day on sand, walking around, taking photos. exploring, seeing where things are and how they appear. I’m sitting here in a room, waiting for the shower to be free. I’m ready to go to sleep and I feel ready to go to sleep. I feel like this year isn’t one to write off entirely.

I feel good. I feel lucky. I feel happy, and satisfied. And this is good.

Saw a bunch of birds today and I’ll see a bunch more tomorrow. I’ll breathe in the air outside and I’ll feel relaxed doing so.

I’m so tired.

There’s a certain joy that comes with getting away from Sydney and being in an area with few people. There’s a certain joy in being away from the crowds and experiencing places that one doesn’t normally see. It’s all sorts of pleasant and pleasing and satisfying, and it’s relaxing, too. It’s relaxing to be in a position where one can stretch their legs out and actually relax. It’s relaxing to be in a position where one feels tired at a time when they should feel tired. I am looking forward to getting sleep tonight. I am looking forward to sleeping heavily and waking up in the morning feeling less tired than I did this morning, because it has been a long time since I slept well, and I can feel that I am getting there, and it’s great.

I’m glad I have the time to do these things. I’m glad I have the energy and the drive to do them, too. I’ll get into the specifics when I return to Sydney; this is mostly being written because I need to write, but I don’t know what to write, hence this being written. Also the being tired.

Places away from the city, they change so much in appearance. It’s expected, but it’s nice to see it happen. It can still feel fresh in a way. The colour doesn’t change but the space does, and so does the vegetation you see, and I think that’s part of why I enjoy getting away from the city, even if it is to a small town in an area that gets tourism, but not too much. And it’s just nice being able to relax.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 07:22:31

Not good writing at all. Don’t care right now.

Written at Hawks Nest.

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Face at an Edge

I thought I’d have more time to write today but I don’t, and that’s okay. I’m sitting down and I’m taking it easy right now. Just relaxing.

I took this photo a few weeks ago, finding myself interested in the shape of this part of a building. I walk past it a lot, but at this particular moment something about it appealed to me.

I hope you enjoy.

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Sculptural Light Tower

As seen at Railway square in Sydney.

I hope you enjoy.

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Rows Upon Rows

Started this yesterday as a five hundred word challenge, had to stop before I finished. Decided to wrap it up just now. Writing’s uneven, but I like the flow.

I hope you enjoy.

Rows upon rows of hell and boredom, and all the tedium that passes through the day condensed into a moment stuck on repeat. Coursing through veins of valleys and found within shadows bent toward the sun, dissipating and unable to look away, trying to claw back some of their domain and control, always unable to, always unable to find where they lie and unable to find themselves anchored within a solid realm. Always on the move, running from something they wish to stop ceding ground to, and always at a loss. Always running.

Crawling through rows of desks and computers and hell in a frozen point in time, and breathing. Inhaling and expelling, transforming constituent components of gasses and being alive but barely living, and finding new ways to construct forces that prevent openness whilst always wearing a mask that promotes some sort of idea of openness. The shield is up and it is invisible.

The sound of machines humming away to a tune not known and not familiar, but always there, always present and always finding its way into one’s ears, despite how much they do to block it out. Despite how much they do to plug their ears, that hum always seeps and creeps, and it always furthers its cause to be as in the back as it is in the fore, always present, always haunting an existence that is lived and not one spent living.

Through time and space, various forms take on meaning rendered meaningless, and only found when they are absent, and that is if they are lucky. Often it is that there is space they cannot find for it is provided to other things. the shape of things may be thought of and there may be longing, but memories and moods look for comfort in other things familiar, because the space only mattered in the context of it being used as was required. Otherwise objects were just lines taking form recognised as familiar and part of the background blur.

Rows upon rows of hell and boredom, separated from at specific times of the day in order to move to another location, elsewhere, contained within more lines, and to watch the light disappear as the shadows approach and take hold of the space, or rather move to the space in order to continue escaping the sun; an object that they wish to dominate, but never can.

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Geological Pattern

Now I’m wondering how much of this is due to geological structure and how much of it is due to weathering damage.

I hope you enjoy.

 

 

 

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1551: I Feel Good

I’ve begun writing a fair bit earlier than usual, and so I feel good. I feel so good, in fact, that I’m not going to write another word and this whole post is merely my announcing my entering a silence of a sort. Yes, this is the time for silence.

I feel so good I’m going to stop writing and I will never write again. There will be no more words. There will be no more time. This is the end of the writing; it’s quiet time, now. Quiet for all eternity so that I can get a good nap in and quiet so that the koalas out there, somewhere, might find what they are looking for as they will no longer be tormented by my incessant tying, sending everything into disarray and disorder, thus leading to a stressful life for an animal that does not need anything less than something approximating a sense of order in their lives.

My fingers will finally find their rest and I will be fine. I will take it easy and in taking it easy, easiness will be taken… for me. No one else. Everyone else has to work harder to compensate for the sudden dearth of crap emanating from this space.

But I will relax and I will read and start catching up on my books. Could probably catch up on them more if I was doing less driving as I’d have more time for reading during transport, but one step at a time, and often going away from where I need to, or feel I should go. And the first step is stopping the writing because I feel good.

You see, so much writing is built on suffering. In fact, all writing is built on suffering. There is no denying of this. It is so simple, yet so misunderstood. A writer’s greatest weakness is feeling anything better than average at best, and even then that might be pushing it too far. The moment a writer feels good, that’s it. Career over. Go home, turn around, don’t even think about thinking as there is no thinking left to do.

And so… yeah. Feeling good. Career over. Nowhere to go but away, into permanent retirement where I will get to experience the golden oldies and eject myself from contemporary society so suddenly and violently that people just won’t understand, and they never do anyway as the life of a writer is one of struggle and suffering and paint and torment, and trying to make sense of it all whilst trying to make sense of it all in a way that shows that some sense has been made… of it all. These are the things that we concern ourselves with on a basis only described as “daily”, and not forthrightly, though I have a feeling someone will attempt to. They may try; they are always welcome to, but I shall laugh at their failure as I write no more words and feel good about it.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 06:49:42

Bit of fun. Bit of silliness. Mostly easy to write. Had a few moments where I was actively thinking too much, but otherwise a smooth piece to write.

Written at home.

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Worn Fire Exit Sign

Late night, gotta sleep, gotta share this photo still. Have been meaning to for a while, but I keep forgetting to.

I hope you enjoy.

 

 

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One Thousand Word Challenge 231: Rambled Thoughts

Got a bit of work to do today so I’m gonna churn. I say that a lot, but I am churning at the moment. Got cleaning, got mowing, got other stuff; now churning. Now churning and getting a lot of words out and flying. Watching the breeze move the trees. How moving.

It’s a wild world out there and it’s full of the most boring shit you could ever imagine. It’s full of excitement, too. It’s full of lots of stuff you could see in one lifetime, and plenty you won’t. You gotta get out there to find out what you will and will not see. So is the way of things and so is the way it goes. And so on and so forth, and you get the idea.

What an introduction.

But I can see a breeze and I know it’s warm outside and there’s not much of anything I can do about that. I just need to keep on going and find where the everything lies. Find where everything sits and find where, among all the crap, the diamonds lie. Then I will discard the diamonds and admire the mud. You know; the way it goes here, because there is only one way to be about things and I will not hear any other way offered as that’s not what I want to indulge in. Too many other things I need to indulge.

I need to indulge my desire to produce silly fiction, and maybe some good fiction, too. I need to engage in a lot of things and I need to find nothingness and find how it shapes everything and nothing, and then I need to go from there. That seems like a bad idea. Could be a good idea. Only one way to find out.

I don’t want to think about the amount of words I’ve written as of yet, and I don’t know why I’m writing this. I guess what I’m writing is a bunch of disconnected thoughts again. How true to life and how true to this space. I shall keep on going, though I feel that it si not good as I should be more responsible. No wait, I shouldn’t; I made this time for myself and I’m gonna capitalise upon it. That’s what I’m gonna do as that’s what I need to do. Or I don’t, but I should.

I can feel that I am exhausted. I need more rest and rest will come. It won’t come right now, but it will come. Also, I’d much prefer to watch the breeze than write right now, but I also know that if I stop writing I won’t watch the breeze. I will be compelled into indecision and that’s not what I want right now. Right now I just want to force myself through what I am doing and then get on with the getting on. Get on with life and living, and get on with finding my way to wherever I may be. I guess where I will be is outside, in the car, giving the inside of the car a good clean whilst outside.

It’s a good day to do this though I should’ve started earlier. Still, I’m making progress. I’m making tracks. This is one step and there will be a few more to come, hopefully. Maybe today is the day where I churn everything out. I wonder. Maybe this will be when everything starts properly, and then once that is done and is the case, I’ll be good. I’ll be fine and I’ll just produce so much rubbish that I will finally feel like I am celebrating the end of this space. Maybe that’s what I need to do. Maybe that is what I will do.

Don’t think I’ll be able to keep it up, but I’ll try.

Or I won’t.

New sentence.

The people across the road will probably start blasting music soon. Don’t want them to, but they will. They do it here and there and it is aggravating, but there’s not much I can do about it. I could go over and tell them not to, or rather, ask them not to, and maybe they would actually stop. Unfortunately I have my doubts. This, however, does not matter. There are so many other, more important and pressing things to worry about and I’m gonna worry about those and not this. I don’t need to worry about this right now. It’s not even happening.

Maybe I could blast my music back at them. I could do that. Would be incredibly shitty of me, however, to do so, and so I don’t think I will do that. Besides which, there are so many other, more important things to worry about, that are also pressing, and I definitely did not say this a few sentences ago.

I think I should stop and get to it. I should get to the work of the house and the maintenance of the yard. I should find the brow on my sweat annoying and desire to stay fresh and refreshed, and that’s not gonna happen today. Too much nothing to get through and too much everything to get through. Who has time top consider the sweat of their brow when they are playing the eternal game of catching up to being merely a few months behind rather than a few years? Not me, that’s for sure.

I guess, however, in saying this, I know that being productive is good. Balance, balance, and not balancing. Finding balance; striking balance. Getting through things one step at a time, continuing on and then going on from there. That’s what I need to do. I need to get on with my life and that means chores need doing, so I’m gonna do them. Don’t wanna, but gotta. The way it all goes and it’s not really the worst thing in the world, despite my protesting.

So there was a point I was gonna make, but I forgot.

The time it took to write one thousand words: 10:37:30

Good speed; crap writing.

Written at home.

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Framing the Face

This is another reference photo that turned out well enough to share. I was thinking about trying to get form in what I hoped would be an interesting way, and I think I did, but this one I’m not much a fan of. I like the form. I like the angularity in my arms and I like that my face is in shadow. It feels a little too “cool” to me, if that makes sense. Very unintentionally, but it feels like it’s touching a little on mysticism in a shallow way, or just the idea of some badass. However, people have told me they like it and I do like it, and it is just a reference photo, so I figure it’s worth sharing a bit more than I have.

This is my submission into the three hundred-and-seventy-eighth Lens-Artists Photo Challenge. The theme for this one is “Last Chance“.

The host of the Lens-Artists challenges cycles weekly between the following people:

Tina

Patti

Ann-Christine aka Leya

John Steiner

Sofia Alves

Anne Sandler

Egídio

Ritva

Beth

This one is curated by everyone. The next one is curated by everyone when they return on Jan 3rd (4th in some countries) from a hard-earned break.

I recommend joining the community and participating in the challenges. They’re pretty straightforward, allow room for interpretation, and provide a good way to think about photography in general. If not, however, then at the very least you should check out what others submit to the challenges.

I hope you enjoy.

 

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Time Wasted

Given myself a little bit of time to churn out a number of words. Bad idea to do at this juncture in my life as it causes little else other than strain in my writing. And everything else, really. So what do I say to that? Where do I go from here?

I go to the writing and I write and churn and churn some more. And then once done churning, I churn some more. All churning, all the time. Get the words written; get the words done. Get everything in an order that makes as sense as it does, much.

I could be editing right now. I could be editing essays and reviews and a bunch of other things that I need to work on. I could be doing that and I’m not and that’s on me. Instead I’m doing this, which right now feels like a waste of time. Still, it’s an enjoyable waste of time and that’s the main thing, really. Or is it?

There are so many ways in which we waste time and in doing so, time is wasted. However, what actually counts as time wasted? A life lived is still a life lived, even if it is between frames. That’s okay. Sometimes you just burn out and need rest, and sometimes you get distracted by whatever it is around you. That is okay. I need to tell myself this. I need to tell myself that it’s okay to not be as productive as I would like, and that I can rest here and there. I don’t tell myself that nearly enough. Not a good move on my part. It happens.

So what do I say from here? I’ve said what I feel I need to say. I’ve written plenty about wasting time. I don’t need to say more. I need to not drag this out further than I already am. I am wasting more time. I need to get on with the getting of the on and move toward wherever and whenever I do that I need to make sure that I get there in as may pieces as necessary.

Okay. Now I’m feeling something push its way out of me, and it certainly isn’t gas. That… could be a good thing? I don’t know. I feel it and it is coming and I feel it rising out of me and it is coming to you in the form of text as represented by images known as letters that form structures and on a screen of the digital variety.

Imagine writing all of this out by hand. No thank you.

Where was I? Oh right, so you know when you’re on a couch in a room lit not as bright as it could be, and the walls are weatherboard and the joint smoke curls around the space, and you’re not down for it, but because you’re at a moment in your life where you don’t give enough of a shit, you partake anyway? Yeah, that was a good time. Was a bad time, too, but it was a good time. Laughed about pointless shit and didn’t get on with much of anything. Got food delivered from a restaurant that was around fifty metres away. This was a good few years ago now and they’d always get a little confused because we were so close, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. It was a good time and a bad time, and that room had a dinginess to it, but it was clean.

The day me and my housemates moved in, the place was crawling with roaches. Had to bomb it before we could actually move in. Had to wait around for one housemate to disappear and return as they didn’t want us moving stuff in before then, for some reason. Who knows. Who cares at this point.

Somewhere around then I’d stumbled upon The Mark of Cain and a few other things, and I was with the ex that broke up with me, which helped get me moving on writing again, all those years ago. I was stressed and already not wanting to live with the people I was living with, but I hung on as I’d had not much of anywhere else to go. It was a tough time. These people cost me a place I wanted to live in and cared about. It wasn’t the best of places, but it was a place I liked.

Since moving out of home I’ve lived in eleven places. Ten, depending on if you don’t count a short stint at Ewe and Anna’s place. But that’s a lot, and I’ve collected a lot of time spent doing very little. A lot of time wasted. A lot of time depressed and empty and full and stressed out, and I wonder if, perhaps, if any of that has to do with the likelihood that I have ADHD or not. I think about it, but I try not to think about it too much. Need more money before I can go through the diagnosis process as it’s a bit expensive here. Probably expensive in a lot of places to do this as an adult. But I don’t know. I don;t know much about that stuff; I just know that I feel more functional when I’m looking after myself, though my procrastination still reigns supreme. Just not as supreme as when I am not tired and all that stuff.

But yeah; this place had cockroaches and we bombed them and then we still had cockroaches. You’d get food and have it in your room and they’d gradually start coming out of the walls wherever they could find space and you’d try to deal with them however you could. Once food was gone they’d usually disappear. It was an unpleasant house to live in, but it was a pleasant one at the same time. The kind of place where you become a little more tolerant of housemate behaviour, because you’re united in your loathing of the real estate you’re renting from. You tolerate housemates being shitty at you because of rent reminders coming through because of your pay not aligning with the time the rent is required. You tolerate them being angry at you despite your telling them that it’s fine, and you accept their apologies when you get a letter from the real estate showing that, yes, it doesn’t matter so long as the rent is paid.

It was a place where I tolerated a housemate coming home from work and losing their shit over not being able to find where their weed was, and when they finally found it, calming right down and acting as though nothing happened. It was a heated place; a heavy place, where little in the way of creativity was done. It was a place of disaffected existing and emptiness, where days sort of blended into each other, and little changed. A lot of wasted time.

But some of it was good. A lot of it was definitely bad, and like anything in my past, something I am quite happy to never revisit, but some of the time there that was wasted, some of it was good.

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