One Thousand Word Challenge 262: Boredom Rambling

Posted on March 23, 2026 by Stupidity Hole

Cold and warm at the same time. Almost no temperature. Room temperature. Feeling out the day in room temperature.

Feeling out where the writing will go in room temperature.

I’m about to have a rather heavy and intense week. A lot of writing. A lot more than usual. A lot of staring out windows. A lot of finding my way and waying my find, and right now it’s just about getting to the bottom of the writing and finding where the text lies. Confronting text and getting to the end of it all. Finding what lies ahead. A heading lies, what finds. And so on and so forth.

There’s a certain vapidity and subsequent emptiness I’m finding in the cycle of working and getting work done, and maybe I’m just feeling my age, or something. Maybe I’m yearning to break out of a cycle. It’s coming soon though, so I don’t know what I could be yearning for. I do know, however, that I will keep going after all is said and done. It’s all I have; the power to keep going, and it’s all I can embrace at the end of the day. Well, there are other things that I can embrace, but you know. Moody and pensive and reflective and all that.

The weather has not turned out as predicted, and that may be a good thing. Need it to hold for a few days, but right now I’m enjoying it. I’m enjoying seeing the clouds drift on over from the top of a building and pass through blinds that aren’t solid. These blinds make things slightly fuzzy, and that I find interesting. It’s still the same world out there, but some of the detail is lost. Some of it muffled and so it gains this slightly vague quality. Like watching old film footage that, whilst preserved as well as it can be, has undeniably aged. Is less sharp than it could be. It’s like that, but also, not quite. I don’t know how to put it into words, what it’s like exactly, but that’s a pretty decent approximation for a lazy attempt, I feel.

I’ve been asked if I’m fine for quiet periods, and I said I was, and I am. I have a lot of things I can do right now, and I’ll still have a lot of things I can do later. At least, if there is an expectation for me to entertain myself, I know that this is something that I can do. I know that I can take solace in my needing to entertain myself, and that’s a good thing. Maybe a bad thing, too, but it’s a good thing. Plenty of writing, not enough time, but there never is enough time.

And so the day continues on and the afternoon draws long. I’m just sitting here, trying to fill a quiet time. Trying to fill a silence and finding where the meaning lies. This silence is not one to embrace. It’s not a way of doing things. It’s time that’s quiet, and it draws itself out. It spreads and fills, and it increases my yearning to break out of a cycle. Or rather, it increases me wondering if this is what I want to be doing. If this is where I want to be.

I do want to be where I am. I do want to be doing what I want to be doing. I don’t know if I want to be here, specifically, though. I miss the brief work I’ve done in the arts, and it was certainly brief. Sure, I still do gig photography, but that’s a different form of work. That’s a different exploration, and if I could get paid to do that I’d be over the moon, but it’s not happening and so I just keep going. I keep powering on and ploughing on through, and I work at a place I want to work and I feel I am contributing. It’s just not fulfilling work, I guess. On one hand I’m fine with that; if I’m doing the things I want to do, I don’t mind. On the other, I’m feeling myself wanting to look elsewhere. Wanting to go elsewhere.

I guess I’m just dissatisfied with everything. Or not.

The days tick away, I’ve got some work but maybe not enough, and it keeps on going. But if I had more I’d probably be far to stressed to do much of anything. Then I’d be even more annoyed. Realistically, I think I might just be restless. Tired of sitting in one spot for long, you know, those sorts of things. The work is fine, but it’s not nourishing and little changes. It keeps going, I keep pushing forward, I feel myself desiring productivity and there’s not enough to be productive with, but that’s okay.

It is good that I can do just about what I want whilst it’s quiet. It is good that I can capitalise on this. I’m trying to take advantage of this as best I can. I just don’t know how long I can stick it out. But I try. There are people who have it far worse than I do, and I try to keep that in mind. This is not a bad spot to be in. In a way it feels like a reward for sticking out call centre work for as long as I did. As though the universe has said I’ve suffered enough. That’s okay. That’s fine. Brilliant, even. Great.

So what to say from here? I’m staring out a window, looking at a sanded back, smoothed outside area. I can see shadows and I can see clouds, and everything moves slowly and quickly, and little changes. It all keeps going. This is fine. This is okay. I just need to keep getting through the days the best that I can. Soon it’ll be time to head on home, and the days will continue onward. Everything will keep on going.

The time it took to write one thousand words: 15:07:25

A decent enough speed, but a really boring bit of writing. I’m glad it touches on boredom and dissatisfaction with work, though I probably could’ve said the same with fewer words.

Written at work.

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Underworld: A Moth at the Door

Posted on March 23, 2026 by Stupidity Hole

One listen, and I’m surprised I got this much out of the song. I was a bit looser with this one than I was with the other writings today, and that’s good. It all just came forward. There was a little active thinking, but that stopped early on.

I’m not sure how well this represents the song. I think it does in a way, but there are probably other things I could have said that would’ve covered it better.

Underworld’s “A Moth at the Door” is from Drift. Drift is a series of experimental releases. The first set is comprised of songs and videos Underworld put out between 2018 and 2019. They were also compiled both as a series of EPs and a full release known as Drift Series 1 – Complete. “A Moth at the Door” was on the EP EP 5: Game and also included on the Complete release.

I hope you enjoy.

—

A gentle calm, almost as though a breath taken after a stressful situation. Tension releases as voice repeats. A recovery commencing, and bits and pieces of other sounds here and there. Gentle, gentle, gently, and it’s almost heavenly. It’s drifting sound, moving toward wherever next, drifting around itself, and the vocals disappear.

These are tender sounds. Fragile, almost. They play light and easy, and then all grows quiet.

From the silence a chorus grows, and the melody returns with it. It grows and grows, and keeps that tenderness. Keeps that fragility, and there seems something dark within all of this. Something perhaps more violent and intense, but that peace is still there. Perhaps as a thin veneer, easily penetrated. Maybe that violence is an emotional release; a vetting among tears and howls as emotion overwhelms, and the words are trying to comfort, to bring someone back down to earth.

It could also just be a wondering about the nature of our world, and watching things recover and move away, and grow and spread, and it all changes and fades out and away, fading into nothingness as the song ends.

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Go Ichinose: Pokè Mart

Posted on March 23, 2026 by Stupidity Hole

One listen.

I pretty much wrote everything in the first two sentences. From there it was stretching. I feel I could’ve gone deeper into what was going on, or about where this piece is used, but I didn’t. Oh well.

Go Ichinose’s (一之瀬剛) “Pokè Mart” (“フレンドリィショップ”) is from GBA Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire Music Super Complete and Nintendo 3DS Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire Super Music Complete. These soundtracks cover Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald, and Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. The version I wrote about is the original version.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Energetic percussion with a bit of a skip in its step before keys slide down and everything moves into a bop. There’s energy and life in this, and it sounds inviting and joyous. It’s a place to be.

The sounds move neither quickly nor slowly. They keep a space and flow, and the rhythm stays steady and upbeat. The melody changes and there’s a little pause in there. Perhaps as a way of asking which way to go, how to move forward, what is needed, and it’s all kept brief enough. Brief, brisk and pushing onward as the sounds fade and the song ends.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1583: Eventually Someone Will Arrive

Posted on March 23, 2026 by Stupidity Hole

Right now I have to play the waiting game. I’m desperate to use the bathroom, but I’m the only one here. Being the only one here, I have to wait for someone to show up before I can use the bathroom. It’s a terrible spot to be in.

I’m waiting. I’m listening to the rain and I’m waiting. Yes, it’s raining again. I find this annoying as I need the grass around my place to dry so I can mow it and keep it short so it doesn’t overgrow and all that stuff. What a life. What a tough life for me.

I’m waiting and I need to use the bathroom, and part of my thoughts are going “Hey, you should try and come up with something that says something interesting. something that says something about the condition of society as it currently stands”. Part of my thoughts are going “Why are you writing when you need to use the bathroom? Isn’t it interesting that you need to use the bathroom? Have you considered that, as you need to use the bathroom, you need to use the bathroom?”, and other continuing forms of importance through in forms of nonsense.

At least I have some quiet, but I’m itching and scratching and I need to get moving. Oh please, won’t someone appear? Won’t someone show up and allow me to get moving, with the potential of grooving thrown in for good measure? How do I deal with this? How do I get through these horrible minutes if I am forced to tolerate a state of discomfort, and it is taking away everything from me? I cannot think, I cannot walk, I cannot move away, and I have obligations to attend to.

This is where my life has led. This is where I now sit and this is the torment that I must now endure. That I must now suffer. I go through it all and I hope for the best, but hoping won’t resolve anything. I cannot take action. I must become as though I am stone. I must become hardened and one with the earth. With nature. I must watch time and shadow draw long, and I must remain in one position, and I must do my best to overcome this grave transgression placed upon my being. Etched upon my soul. How do I? How can I? Is there any point in hoping, or is everything a lost cause held upon silence as it screams, screams loudly, erasing all other things and scraping the space clean?

Eventually someone will arrive. I know that much. I will be able to leave this chair. I will be able to leave this desk. I must hold out until then. I must not lose myself to discomfort. I need to keep on going and I will become some sort of enlightened being, or something. It takes time, but the path to understanding is never an easy one, and I am one to walk it.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 07:00:33

A fun bit of writing that came from discomfort. Stretching a bit in it, but I like how it turned out.

Written at work.

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Kimitaka Matsumae: The Act of Gehena ~ The Imprisonment

Posted on March 23, 2026 by Stupidity Hole

One listen and got through it, and I was thinking that this would be more about some wondrous cosmic exploration or something similar. Instead what came to mind as I was writing was a fathomless being weaving intricacies that could only be understood superficially, or rather an effect of them, or something similar. Somewhat like seeing just the tip of something significantly greater, if that makes sense.

Kimitaka Matsumae’s (松前公高) “The Act of Gehena ~ The Imprisonment” (“ゲヘナの業〜封印”) is from Tamamayu Monogatari Original Soundtrack, the soundtrack for Jade Cocoon: Story of the Tamamayu.

I hope you  enjoy.

—

A deepness spreads and above it, some sort of otherworldly, perhaps cosmic, sound scatters and spreads thinly. Something drips in rhythm, and seemingly there are long, considered breaths taken. This is almost a swirling upon an eternal plain of existence, and something seems dire here, as it does a process. A step.

And the sounds spread and continue their movement, and that scattering flickers in and out rapidly, in instances, and disappears, and the deepness fades away, and sounds continue breathing. Breathing and lingering, until they come to their stop and the song ends.

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Kimitaka Matsumae: The Divine Tree

Posted on March 23, 2026 by Stupidity Hole

One listen, and this one felt really easy to just knock out. Probably feels a bit small and simple, and it is. Admittedly, going into this I was hoping to really build a scene of great spiritual appreciation, or at least natural appreciation and that didn’t come through, partly because that’s not where the writing went and partly because I’m not good enough a writer to be as articulate as I want. Still, I think this turned out well.

Kimitaka Matsumae’s (松前公高) “The Divine Tree” (“御神木”) is from Tamamayu Monogatari Original Soundtrack, the soundtrack for Jade Cocoon: Story of the Tamamayu.

I hope you  enjoy.

—

Refreshing sounds create a reverence, and perhaps a breathlessness. Also a peace. A calm. A space seemingly protected, or rather a space respected. Thought deeply upon, explored. A space considered.

Slow moves the air, and lush the space appears. It holds frozen outside of time as though protected by great care and desire, and all in it seems deliberate. All seems massive, overwhelming and brings a peace. A calm. And continues to do so as the sounds fade and the song ends.

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Kimitaka Matsumae: The Blue Cocoon Master ~ Koris

Posted on March 23, 2026 by Stupidity Hole

One listen.

I thought I was done with this soundtrack. Put it on for my bus ride this morning, heard some stuff that caught my ear in a way it hadn’t before, decided to churn out a few more scribbles.

I don’t know what was going on here. I went more for imagery, or rather a sense of expression and it kind of works. Kind of doesn’t. Oh well.

Kimitaka Matsumae’s (松前公高) “The Blue Cocoon Master ~ Koris” (“青の繭使い〜コリス”) is from Tamamayu Monogatari Original Soundtrack, the soundtrack for Jade Cocoon: Story of the Tamamayu.

I hope you  enjoy.

—

A heavy and important tune starts playing, and the sounds keep it going. Percussion, strings and a whistle or woodwind continue on, pressing, urging and showing some reverence. Among it a sense of adventure; a sense of the dramatic flows forward as the sounds lower and lower, deferring to wisdom and experience.

They continue on, as though carrying upon a breeze. As though following a wind to wherever it directs, and that sense of adventure remains, and perhaps a little ridiculousness, too. But it is difficult to linger on that, for the music urges. It urges to press on and look forward, and it keeps going steady, continuing on to follow words.

Eventually everything pulls away, leaving one sound to fade out at the song’s end.

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Photographing the Dunes

Posted on March 22, 2026 by Stupidity Hole

Minimalism is a great thing to engage in, I think. You can do great things with it, such as flattening spaces, which is kind of what’s happening here. There’s a line along where the person is standing, suggested by their placement and the placement of the vegetation, but beyond that, it’s almost as though the dune is a flat, featureless space.

This is my submission into the three hundred-and-ninetieth Lens-Artists Photo Challenge. The theme for this one is “Color in Black and White“. I think this one works in terms of land and sky, as the sky is likely to be interpreted as being a sort of blue, and the sand close to a yellow, both of which were the case when this photo was taken.

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 Egídio. The next one is curated by Tina.

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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Morning Rainfall

Posted on March 22, 2026 by Stupidity Hole

I’m sitting in the rear room of where I live at the moment. Been sitting here for a bit, preparing to get some stuff done before the day properly commences, and it has been nice. Put some washing on. Low chance of rain. Have the back door open and it’s all nice. Sunlight coming through in rays among itself. You know, all that pleasant stuff. It’s a good thing to have at this hour, I feel. Then a storm hit.

It’s passed now, but it was great to be able to just sit here and watch it happen. See the rain fall and blanket everything whilst the sun kept shining upon a waking world, and now the rain has passed and the sun is brighter, and all feels quiet. And it felt like it was all mine to witness.

If you’ve been following me for long enough, you’ll know that I like the rain and I like water in general. I like watching it move and change, and I like how it transforms space, so being able to see it hit quite quickly, and now seeing how its result reacts with the sunlight is quite wonderful to me. I can barely hear any traffic or human action, and there’s bird sounds around, and all of this feels pleasant. It reminds me of why I want to eventually move to The Mountains.

But you get to witness these things and see change and movement throughout the day, and I think it’s great how, in the right situations, it sort of creates a pause on life. You know, it stops movement, scatters things, and then it’s all one moment of percussive sound and sheets of varying thickness. It interacts with the light of an area, changes things, creates moods and feelings, and seems to feel like a cleanser in some ways. Not always, though.

It has started and stopped raining again since I started this, and the sun is now out, brighter and more harsh than earlier. It seems like today is going to be a good day.

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One Thousand Word Challenge 261: Wrist Straining

Posted on March 21, 2026 by Stupidity Hole

Alright I’m gonna knock this one out as I’m far behind and I need to do a good bit of catching up at the moment. If I don’t do that, then I fall further behind and that is not something I want to do.

I think I’ve stumbled upon a bad idea in doing what I’m doing today, but I’m still aiming to get it all done. Still aiming, still should give up, but still aiming. Bad ideas come in good intentions, and bad intentions come in good ideas. It’s how it all goes, but I can get this done. I can get that done, too. A lot of things I can get done, really. Just keep going, aim for the goal. Aim for the prize.

The rain that had fallen is disappearing. It is drying up, and it’s a shame. The sunlight and the rain made for a good combination, I think,. but you don’t always get what you want. Hell, you don’t even get some of what you want, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. Them’s the breaks, and I’m not in the process of breaking things so it’s not something I want to explore too heavily. Or at all, really. There are other, far more important hings that I need to do with my time and now is not the time that I need to do them in.

So where do I go from here? I find myself at a juncture in time and writing where I need to keep going out of pure spite for anything resembling sensible processes, but I don’t have any spite left in me to use to be spiteful about. I do know that I have an immense reservoir of stubbornness and I try to tap into that here and there, but it doesn’t always work. There’s always something pushing against me and there’s only so much against I have to push against with something against the pushing of… yeah.

So… bad ideas. Bad ideas come and go and I have plenty of them. I have one right now, and that idea is an idea that involves continuing this silly endeavour. However, I said to myself that I was going to do it sooner or later and that is what I am doing. Sure, I could be talking about plenty of other things right now. I could be talking about what is happening in the world, but doing so would involve not talking about me and I want to talk about me right now.

I’ll talk about other things later. Right now it’s all mine. All slick, all awesome, all a fool, all me.

And so it all goes on and I keep going. I keep writing crap, or maybe crap is writing me.

What if I am fictional character in someone else’s story? I mean, we all are, depending on how much you want to stretch the definition of fictional here, but we are all fictional characters. We only matter to some stories and not others, and we matter to ourselves, of course. But we are not real.

Well, we are, but you know.

Perhaps this is the moment where I start losing it from all the stress and pressure I’m putting upon myself, and then that’s that. What then? Who cares. Well, I care, but maybe you don’t. Maybe I don’t. Maybe care is not something to be had, but to be given and therefore what I should be asking is who gives a care.

Who gives a care? I certainly don’t. Or I do. I don’t know anymore.

And so with all of that being said, there are only a few more bits and pieces that I need to write and then I am done for the day, and then I can safely say that the day is done and I’m checking out. There’s a big night ahead and plenty of time to be an awful writer than, and I certainly will. It’s how it all goes, anyway. But who is to say that I will remain an awful writer? Maybe after all of this writing is done, I will find that I have become… a tolerable writer.

I wish.

So in this mad dash for the finish line, I find myself wondering if I think any of today has been worth it, and maybe it has. Probably hasn’t, but maybe it has. I think there are better things that I could have done and this idea is definitely not one of them. It’s starting to hurt me a lot, but I persist as I’m a fool and I’m stubborn. At the very least, I know that I’ve had some fun with it all, but fun is not something that should be had all the time. Or something.

There really are far better things that I could be writing right now and this is what I’m going with. This foolishness. This tomfoolery. This waste of time and utter load of crap, but hey, it’s mine and it’s my pile and everyone can take it away from me, and perhaps everyone should. I don’t know. Or I do know. Only one way to find out, really, and that’s to offer all of this to everyone and then go from there.

But I think that now is a good time to stop. Or continue. I am yet to decide. I will still try, however. I will continue on and I’ll keep going, and I’ll make another attempt on another day, and then that will be that.

I think what I’m saying is that I need to rest my wrists and stop doing what I’m doing unless I want further hurt. I don’t want further hurt. I want rest. I want luxury. But we’ll see. Either there will be more stuff today or there won’t. Either way, I’ve put in a really solid effort and I’m at least proud of that, even if most of the writing today was incredibly lacking.

The time it took to write one thousand words: 10:48:00

This one turned out terribly. The main issue with yesterday is that I tried to cram a lot of writing into a very short period of time and it did not work. I ended up hurting my wrist by doing so. Next time I’ll pace myself a bit.

Written at work.

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