Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1285: Thinking Away the Morning

Posted on August 10, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

Gut doing gut things. Trying to get stuff done early. Usual process of processing the usual things. Getting through the things and thinking away the morning.

Thinking, slinging, doing all of those things.

Well, now that that’s out of the way it is time to engage in the banal. The banal is where the fantastic shall lie today and it’s all fantastically banal. It’s dull, dry, flat, all of those things.

Yes, I am already struggling.

So there’s this idea where, if you have an idea you should write it down as soon as you can as a just in case. However, what if that cements it and locks in the idea in a certain way that lowers your chance of developing the idea in certain other ways? What if it doesn’t? What if the idea is meant to fade away and instead of letting that happen you have now brought it into being? What then?

But on a more serious note, ideas a good. Ideas are good to have and they’re good to think about and they’re also good to write down. They allow things to happen and thinking is a good thing, I think. Maybe it’s a bad thing but I think it is a good thing.

Yep. Really struggling.

Time to shift gears but there are no gears to shift as, as far as I am aware there are no gears in my body, though it really depends on how loose you are with the definition of gears. I wonder if, in the future where the development of mechanical beings gets so far that the idea of gears becomes a foreign concept. It’s quite possible that that form of development is already there; I don’t know as it’s not something I’ve taken much of an interest in over the years. However, it is something to think about.

How would the connections all function and how would the internal stuff all operate? Of course there likely is circuitry, but would joints be more like ours and would there be a series of motors that allow for better manipulation and articulation? Are there a series of gears that help with motor control, but only to a small extent? Are there more gears than I would be aware of?

When do we reach a point where a mechanical being is considered a being? How do we measure that in a way that is not disrespectful? Just because there is a difference does not mean we should act as though another being is beneath us.

So anyway, I think that’s all I have for this morning. Stuff to do and all that stuff, and so I need to get on with it, but maybe I’ll think of ideas and all those things and then I’ll go from there. Maybe I won’t, but maybe I will. It’s all about just having to see and so I will see, or something. Maybe I won’t, but I certainly will think about something, I think.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 08:34:05

This was something I had to force myself through a bit early on. Then at the end I struggled to find a way to end the rambling. I think between the start and end there’s something worth developing, but even through that there’s a fair bit of stretching, so to speak.

Written at home.

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Partially Enclosed

Posted on August 9, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

Another photo from when my partner and I took photos with fabric (the other one is here).
This one is a little less dramatic I think. It feels more low-key, or perhaps it’s just a slight breather before a grand display.

This is my submission into Leanne Cole‘s “Monochrome Madness” for this week. Participating is pretty straightforward and something I recommend. If you do, then include the tag “monochrome-madness” in your post. If not participating, then at the least check out Leanne’s photography as well as what other people submit.

A lot of what people are submitting will likely end up here.

I hope you enjoy.

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Bark Psychosis: Absent Friend

Posted on August 9, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

One listen but rewound in some parts.

I think this is okay. I spent too much time trying to describe the song and doing so in a clumsy way. I feel like toward the end my writing improved by a significant amount, but perhaps it was too late.

Bark Psychosis’ “Absent Friend” is from Hex.

I hope you enjoy.

—

A low ring along with a steady beat. Guitar seems to lazily drift on and around whilst something that sounds like accordion rises and falls with a kind of yearning. Vocals approach and the whole form changes whilst keeping similarity. There’s a softness in the words as bass now moves up and down, seemingly slipping in and out. Guitar rings out in places and keys seemingly do the same.

A moment that seems like it’s meant to be large comes in quiet and carries something fond. Perhaps it is reminiscence and in the space it allows guitar floats more than earlier. Bass comes in and draws a little slower and longer, and percussion remains steady.

Low brass appears, or at least what sounds like brass, for it could also be guitar. It is low and seems almost disassembled. Vocals are there as though in a tube now, and various sounds appear at the edges and come in as the bass moves up and down and the percussion remains steady, but then it all stops and that accordion sound returns, draws long.n Other sounds touch on parts of the melody, and guitar returns to its drifting.

A tenderness comes in through the minimalism and through the sounds keeping their carefulness dreaming grows long in all directions and things just seem to float away. The yearning and fondness is there, and maybe there’s a closing there somewhere once the percussion ends. The guitar continues on and something seems to hit hard; not with aggression, but it’s just a hard hit that sinks into the chest, and the idea of scenes flicker on by as this happens. Memories are there in order and yet still feel scattered, but they are there and they make sense and they hold something special. They are, of course the past and they are a series that has to come to an end but for now, on every note and every sound that rises in and hums in a high pitch they unending.

They are as present as they are past, but of course memories change over time. We remember some of the details but ever so slightly the events around them may shift, and how we remember them too, but the longing and fondness remains. They remain as vibraphone comes in and all fades out, and they too stop at the song’s end.

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Shading

Posted on August 9, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

Another of the hand reference shots I took but ended up not using.
I’m fairly certain that this one was less about reference and more about how it appeared with the light contrast. Not anything particularly interesting, but I do like how the shadow removes some of my hand.

I think I’ll try redoing this at some point, see if I can draw out stronger contrasts. Not sure.

I hope you enjoy.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1284: Scrapped the Start and Restarted

Posted on August 8, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

So I started this off in a way that was far too familiar to me and so I scrapped the start of this bit of writing. Admittedly I did not lose many words but it still feels like a large wipe for some reason. Maybe I’m just thinking about it in the wrong way. Maybe I’m not, but maybe I am. Not sure and probably won’t work it out but sometimes it is good to ponder and all that other stuff.

I wanted to get a start on things a bit earlier today but was unable to do so for reasons and so now I’m starting now. It’s a bit late in the evening – I’d much rather be winding down at the moment – but I think I’ll get to the end of this and then toward the next thing… assuming I don’t decide to start again again.

I wonder what would’ve happened had I followed those words I’d typed out before I removed them from this space. I wonder how the writing would’ve turned out. Quite possibly better than this, but also quite possibly worse. I’ve chosen to go down one path and close off another and so now I go down this one which is less about following its own path and more about wondering what was on the other path, which in a way is its own path but you get the idea.

So now I sit here and wonder if I did the right thing. Sure, I feel like this is something better to follow as, based on the words I had typed I felt I was going to write something that was something that would be far too familiar in a sense, but perhaps this also is far too familiar and really all I’m doing is deluding myself into believing otherwise. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do though, or something.

So I wonder as I weave through paths what paths I am taking and I wonder as to what happens to a path I don’t take. Maybe there is some sort of split off in terms of universes or something and one is full of possibilities. That said, the one I follow is full of both possibilities firmly rooted in reality, and whilst it can be good to think of what choices aren’t made, I’m doing okay where I am and I think it’s a bit better.

Actually it could be worse. Could be much worse. Perhaps there is a great deal of danger that I keep throwing myself into. I don’t know and now that I think about it I’m not sure if I want to know. Maybe I should try and go back to what was instead of doing this. Really not sure. Not sure anymore.

I think it is time to reverse time and take the other path, but then again I might find myself in the same predicament. As that too is possible, I think I’ll just keep going forward.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 06:18:22

Not good, not bad, but certainly lacking.

Written at home.

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Heavy in the Afternoon

Posted on August 7, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

This was taken a few weeks ago.
I was trying to get a sense of the clouds looming over what felt like a nice afternoon. Sort of an impending sense of bad weather.

I hope you enjoy.

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Pockets in the Rock

Posted on August 6, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

I took this photo trying to frame this bit of rock in a particular way and I almost got what I wanted. I was also trying to get across an idea of the pockets looking like little shelters or residential spaces. It’s something I want to incorporate into something I’m working on and I think in terms of a visual reference I captured this well.

I hope you enjoy.

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The View Outside

Posted on August 6, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

A photo similar to this one but in a different room.
Sometimes a room feels much like this, and this particular room did.

I hope you enjoy.

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Bark Psychosis: Eyes and Smiles

Posted on August 6, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

One listen and I’m not quite sure that just describing was the right thing. I think that what I’ve written works well enough as there’s a sense of the song, but I wonder if drawing out  something else would’ve worked better.

Bark Psychosis’ “Eyes and Smiles” is from Hex.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Percussion lightly booms and sprays, and guitar comes in, drifting quietly, and they move together, and soon vocals come in and they too seem to drift. They seem, maybe not relaxed, but lacking desire to be anything more than they are.

Bass arrives and carries underneath as words draw long and quiet and sometimes a little louder. Something comes into the background, dispelling the space a little, and the vocals disappear, much like the bass did earlier. The guitar and percussion continue their dance and now find something else joining them, taking specific actions to move through the sound as it continues with its misery, regardless if said misery is actual, implied or imagined.

Bass and vocals return and the vocals continue their drift, and the percussion grows in fullness, keeping the drift steady, and guitar plays out its few notes, moving slowly and steady. Soon brass comes in, calling out, reaching and gently lashing, and it draws long and all grows quiet.

Bass is playing through the dark and guitar seems to float off of it in pieces. Brass draws long once more, as though a shadow that follows a little closer than it should. The guitar picks up in its notes; keys flow on through, moving with grace and perhaps detached. Percussion resumes its beat, vocals return and repeat a phrase, and brass becomes lively, calling and howling.

Guitar grows louder and perhaps more aggressive in its gentleness. Vocals loop, brass calls and squeals; bass, percussion and keys keep a steady bass and soon the percussion and guitar shift once more, becoming harder, more striking. The vocals distort and call out over it all, cutting into the sound, almost breaking the spell, breaking everything, looping and it all continues on, drifting, driving, shifting whilst remaining still and the percussion grows gentle, and sounds fade away, leaving the vocals and keys in the last moment as the song ends.

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Fabric in Motion

Posted on August 6, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

Last weekend I went to some sand dunes with my partner to take some photos.
We took some fabric with us as I wanted to see if I could capture their flow in the breeze. When we arrived the breeze was quite gentle so some photos took advantage of that and some required a bit of work form my partner.

When I process photos I’ll sometimes push some things further than I normally would. When it comes to processing I think I go more for “real” than I do “stylised” but I also like to play around a bit to see what happens. Sometimes I get something that I think will work, but even if I don’t I get to learn a little more. Anyway, the below is a result of playing around.

Part of the below was also in part trying to see if I could bring out the fabric (silk in this photo, as well as most of the rest taken) a bit more which was a success. I also ended up with something that looks like the result of someone trying to replicate Storm Thorgerson.

I like the form and shape seen in the fabric and my partner. I think there’s a sense of flow that comes through quite well.

This is my submission into the two hundred-and-sixty-first Lens-Artists Photo Challenge. The theme for this one is “Work in Progress“.

I feel this counts due to what occurred after my partner and I wrapped up. I realised I should’ve put myself more against the slope of the dune and we began discussing redoing the photos at some point. After we were back in the car and driving away we decided we’d plan out a shoot making use of fabric in the breeze, rendering the photos taken on that day as the initial step for something better planned.

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

Week 1 – Tina

Week 2 – Patti

Week 3 – Ann-Christine aka Leya

Week 4 – Amy

Week 5 – John Steiner

Week 6 – Sofia Alves

Week 7 – Anne Sandler

Week 8 – Donna

Week 9 – Guest host

Leya is curating this one. Amy is curating the next one.

I recommend participating in the challenges as they provide a fun way to interpret theme. If not participating, then at least you should still check out what others of the Lens-Artists community are submitting.

I hope you enjoy.

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