Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1115: A Mess of Words

Posted on June 19, 2022 by Stupidity Hole

I’ve got under five minutes to get this done before I go back to work and so I need to power through thigs. Probably a bad idea, but it is an idea and so I will go forward with it and hope for the best.

No phones will ring and I’ll just be able to get this done with a bit of ease and no grace whatsoever. It will be like sandpaper but there will be no satisfaction derived from this writing. There will be nothing derived from this writing and so I’ll just get on with it and get it done and all of those other things that come when I do the writing and hope for the best.

Maybe hoping for the best is the wrong way to go about this and really what I should be doing is expecting the best as that is what I am generating from all the banging on the keyboard that I do on a highly regular basis with some irregularity. I don’t know really, but sometimes I do hope that I will get there in the end.

Now that that is said, It think I should actually try and complete a sentence but I don’t know if I can. Already I feel the struggle coming on and the issue with the struggle is that it is hampering my ability to get this done. Maybe I need to stop struggling and start doing and start letting the words run more free than I do. Maybe they need to come out in the order that they want to and my continuing in this manner is preventing anything happening in a way that is conducive to the art of writing.

I don’t really know, but this is what I am guessing and this is what I am making up, so therefore it must have some truth in it, or something. Maybe. There is yet to be a time when I found out.

There will be a time later when I think back on this and wonder why I even thought it would be worthwhile getting anywhere near the idea of sharing, but perhaps that is something that I need to deal with later and not right now. Right now I just need to see this through to the end and then once I have done that I can get on with my life. That said, perhaps there is something else that I need to consider before that even happens and so… I don’t know where I’m going with all of this.

I feel lost in a way that I probably shouldn’t, but it is of my own doing really and now I need to find a way to navigate out of all of this and then once I have done that, truly I can set my course for wherever I need to go for the rest of the day. Until then, however, it’s all just a big mess with no cleaning that comes forward.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 04:42:48

This is pretty messy. I think I was too focused on trying to bang something out before my break ended which harmed the writing overall.

Written at home.

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Yoshino Aoki: Prayer

Posted on June 18, 2022 by Stupidity Hole

This one was one I found tough. It might be due to how late in the evening it currently is, but for whatever reason it took three listens for me to get this out.

Probably was thinking too much.

Anyway, at first I was trying to get forward some imagery and that didn’t quite work, but neither did expressing the emotional content nor describing the song as it happened. I was trying to blend and… yeah; Fragmentary writing that gets something across, but not in an effective manner.

Yoshino Aoki’s (青木佳乃) “Prayer” (“いのり”) is from the soundtrack for Breath of Fire IV, Breath of Fire IV: Original Soundtrack.

I hope you enjoy.

—

A large expanse stretching beyond what the eye can see spreads out, and land’s vastness becomes overwhelming. A sadness weighs heavy and is deeply affecting for there are actions that need to be made despite a desire for an alternative, and loss remains inevitable.

Through the expanse stretches a sense of rest and those that stop in time are carried forward as much as they are left behind.

Soft and drawn are the sounds as slowly all builds, and the hope that this will end comes forward. Soft something finds a lonesomeness in the distance. It disappears before another sound rises up, only to also disappear, and lingering weight remains as the song ends.

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A Great Amount of Green

Posted on June 17, 2022 by Stupidity Hole

A lot of green in this photo.
Perhaps more green than birds.

Not sure what to say on this one. Pretty happy with the angle; not so much the view of this small bit of environment. Too much cover on the water.

I hope you enjoy.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1114: Some Public Transport Stuff

Posted on June 16, 2022 by Stupidity Hole

There was a lot of driving done today and it wasn’t due to work or anything remotely resembling work, but let me tell you, it certainly felt like work. This was not helped by a number of wrong turns leading to increased travel distance as well as a bit of a sidestep somewhere around the rough middle of the day that added a fair bit more time than I had anticipated. However, I’m not going to get into that.

There was a lot of time for thinking, but it was not the kind of introspection that I would normally expect to do on a long drive. I was still firmly within the confines of Sydney and I wasn’t driving what one would consider to be a long distance. There was a long distance covered, but it was not long distance driving.

Now I sit here and I think about how much of the driving could’ve been avoided. Probably not much, but the amount of time saved had no wrong turns been taken would’ve been a great boon. Sometimes taking a wrong turn can add something to a journey other than time and distance, but in this case there was no gain that could be seen as a positive. Such is life.

On the plus side there was driving at a fast speed and there was driving at a slow speed. There was driving at various speeds and some of it was good. However, not all of it and sometimes I wonder as to how much better some of the roads I drove upon would be if they were only for public transport.

I can only imagine that if there was more public transport available in certain areas (at a reasonable price), then more people would take to it rather than take to private vehicles. There’s always talk of driving less but it’s not easy to drive less when it costs more and takes more time to take public transport than it does to drive.

Public transport should be more readily available in a lot of areas and it puzzles me as to why it is not. These are areas that have a lot of private vehicle use, even if it the vehicle is used to drive to the nearest train station. If there were more buses around and they were financially viable for people to use more often than they did drive, then I imagine you’d reduce the amount of traffic which would likely lead to more people getting to where they’d need to sooner rather than later. There’s probably a lot of complexity that goes into the dynamics of traffic and so I’m likely oversimplifying a really complex issue, but I still feel that incentivising public transport would go a long way in providing a net benefit to everyone who needs to spend time commuting to get to wherever they need to go.

Well, that’s my thought for today. In conclusion, incentivising public transport is likely a good thing.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 08:19:32

A bit more clear and concise than usual and I think that’s a good thing.
I wasn’t sure as to what I was going to write about and I meandered a fair bit at the start, but I got there in the end.

Written at home.

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Three Geese

Posted on June 15, 2022 by Stupidity Hole

When I saw these geese I tried to frame them in a particular way as I like how they were positioned on the incline. There was something about it that appealed to me. I think it may have had to do with how the geese were standing and how they almost seemed dramatic in this particular spot.

I should have moved a little before I took the photo so as to get a clearer shot, but you learn.

This is my submission into Leanne Cole‘s “Monochrome Madness” for this week.
I suggest checking out Leanne’s photography, as well as checking out what other people submit.

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

I hope you enjoy.

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Above the Ringway

Posted on June 14, 2022 by Stupidity Hole

I can’t remember exactly what I was trying to do when I took this, but I am certain that this is fairly close to what I was attempting.

I think this is another photo where I’ve little to say as I’m pretty sure it was mostly composition practise. I do like the balance of colour; nothing is over or under-saturated. I also like the space afforded by the sky as, even though the clouds are encroaching, there still is a sense of openness.

I hope you enjoy.

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Zu: Ostia

Posted on June 14, 2022 by Stupidity Hole

This one I think I was getting across the song as it progressed and little else.
It’s an interesting song and it works well with what it is doing which I won’t get into more than below as it is one that really should be experienced.

Zu’s “Ostia” is from Carboniferous.

I hope you enjoy.

—

A steady, pulsing beat whilst brass draws out lengthy and almost muddy. The beat picks up a light intensity whilst the brass seems to shift onto different lines. A brief pause in the percussion, a sudden roll and it changes shape. It seems to move around the brass rather than the other way around. It builds on its new form whilst more brass comes in and squeals and squiggles with a an almost frantic motion.

Soon a groove emerges and the instrumentation becomes livelier, switching from a dullness to a brightness. The instruments swirl around each other as they drive on, seemingly biting and barking and striking out all in a unified dance.

Almost muddy returns for a moment before returning to that unified dance. There is a rolling tension and a bit of a menace and meanness brought lively and bold.

All stop and something that is as familiar as it is not comes forward before the instruments all come crashing forward. A brief lightness before they return to crashing in all their heaviness, striking out and repeatedly striking in rhythm before suddenly stopping at the song’s end.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1113: Most of the World Disappeared

Posted on June 14, 2022 by Stupidity Hole

And so it begins.

What is it that begins?

It’s it. Or something. I am yet to decide.

I sit here. I am cold. I read the words that I write, but only briefly as I am not paying attention. Outside it is dark and in the darkness this bit of world seems contained and on its lonesome. It seems to have detached from everything else and there is nothing else out there. All I can see is all that exists and now this is in some pocket dimension removed from reality.

I don’t know what to do. I don’t know if I should try and return to the real world. I don’t know if I should leave this room. IS there anything that I can visit, or is this really all there is? I do not know and I don’t want to try and find out. However, there might just come a point where I have to try and find out as I can’t stay in this room forever. Besides which, there has to be more than what I am seeing. There has to be a world beyond the view I have. There needs to be, but what if there is not?

What if this really is all there is and I’m just deluding myself into believing that there could be more? What if I am truly isolated from everything and I can’t do much, if anything about all of this?

I don’t know what I can do, but I do know that sitting here and ruminating on the lack of existence of what used to lie beyond what I can se from my window is not going to solve the issues. Sure, I might be able to think about it and I may be able to think philosophically, but that does not change the fact that I am not doing anything about it and therefore I need to do something about it and not keep sitting here and doing thing, lest I lose more of the world that was once around me.

There still remain a lot of questions that I feel are important to ask. There remain a lot of answers that must be sought and there are a lot of hills to climb, but I am not sure if those are things that are worth entertaining right now. They can be answered on the journey, assuming the journey lasts any longer than a few minutes at best. However, that also is not something that I shall worry about right now.

Now that I think about it, I will not do anything. The world can come back to me; it left and so it is its responsibility to return. Why should I chase after it? I have better things to do with my time and if it is going to up and disappear without warning, then I shouldn’t be lured into kowtowing to its whims. Instead of going anywhere, I will sit here and do very little.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:40:91

Whilst probably already heavily explored, this could’ve been a fun philosophical thought experiment. Instead of that I went into silliness, but I’m okay with that right now as, whilst this is a mess, it still has coherence to it and that’s an improvement over some of my recent rambling.

Written at home.

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Port View for the Pathway

Posted on June 13, 2022 by Stupidity Hole

Here’s a photo of a different bit of this pathway.

I think that the view is interesting and contrasts heavily with the path, mainly due to the light differences but there’s also the appearance of simplicity against the appearance of complexity.

Probably also a bit about how industry is often inescapable and seems to encroach upon the peace and quiet, but industry probably did a lot of damage to the area before it led to the footpath being built, so I’m not sure what I’m trying to say here.

This is my submission into the two hundred-and-third Lens-Artists Photo Challenge.
The theme for this one is “Local Vistas“.

This one’s a bit of a cheat as it’s not quite local. However, it is fairly close, depending on which roads you take.

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

Week 1 – Patti

Week 2 – Ann-Christine aka Leya

Week 3 – Amy

Week 4 – Tina

This year three people have joined the Lens-Artists team:

John Steiner of Journeys with Johnbo

Sofia Alves of  Photographias

Anne Sandler of Slow Shutter Speed

As such the above hosting order is likely to change.

This one is curated by Anne. The next one is guest-curated by Sylvia of My Colorful Expressions.

I recommend participating in the challenges. They’re enjoyable and allow room for interpretation of the theme without straying too far. If you don’t participate, then I recommend that you at least check out what others of the Lens-Artists community are submitting.

I hope you enjoy.

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Pelican: An Inch Above Sand

Posted on June 12, 2022 by Stupidity Hole

This one I’d queued up a few days ago. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to get something out of the song but apparently I did. A bit more descriptive of how the song proceeds which is not quite what I thought I would do, but I did and I think it mostly works. There’s an idea of the song without giving everything away which I think is a good thing. However, I feel I should’ve gone more into what the percussion was doing.

Pelican’s “An Inch Above Sand” is from “What We All Come To Need“.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Silence before something almost peaceful drones in. A slight pause and a melody rolls in on a steady groove. Sounds seem to move downward before reaching upward, cycling, trying to rise higher and higher.

A meanness comes in; percussion punches a little harder whilst the guitars and bass strike a little more. There’s a bit more menace, then a flourish and the main melody returns. However, it does not last and soon a return to that meanness and a seeming stress and pressure comes forward.

Suddenly a bit of space: The guitar and bass is less full and driven; the percussion keeps a steady and simplified beat. Sounds elongate before pausing briefly. A little noodling and riffing away returns, seemingly as a reflection of the first melody. It seems twisted and harsh and shifts into the pressured section briefly.

Something else crawls forward and a sinking continues, revealing more of a sense of fading, of disappearing, of being stuck. Once more that pressured section returns, this time with more guitar action, more seemingly reaching out and not quite getting there, but before a conclusion is found the beat stops and the other instruments stretch out and fade away into a noise as the song ends.

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