The End of 2021

Posted on December 31, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

It was another long year, though the years do seem to get longer with each subsequent one. I imagine that that implies being busy and productive; whilst this year was busy, it certainly was not productive. Culture Eater saw more reviews (and a small amount of interviews), but work was sporadic. Podcast Eater kept on going, but the amount of episodes that came out was far smaller than I had hoped.

In a few ways this year was really intense. Whilst I didn’t have to deal with the pandemic as much as others, there was a lot of stress which led to cutting more branches which was for the best. There still is a lot of stress right now; there’s uncertainty as to whether I’ll be able to afford keeping a roof over my head at the end of January. It’s better than what my partner and I were dealing with before, but it’s still not exactly a great situation for us to be dealing with at the moment.

There was a lot less of a lot of things this year, and a lot more of a lot of things, and right now things are uncertain. Still, we persist and we keep on going. We persevere and try to make things better where we can.

It wasn’t an entirely rough year. There were things I was able to see that I hadn’t seen before; I was able to work on music in a greater capacity than in the last few years; I’ve started drawing again, and I’ve been able to be fortunate enough to have a number of good moments sprinkled throughout.

I’m really not sure as to what else I can say at this point. Next year begins tomorrow, though ultimately it’s just another Saturday, so we keep on persisting and persevering, or at least try to. We keep on trying to make the world a better place for everyone and everything. It’s the least we can do.

2022? Bring it on.

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Houses Behind the Quarry

Posted on December 31, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

Here is a photo I took.
This photo involves a scene. There are clouds, there are houses and there is a small portion of a treatment plant. Vegetation is visible, as well as some land off in the distance.

I feel like this photo is a bit dry, and perhaps it feels too dry. I also feel it gets a bit muddled around the rock wall. However, I still like the photo. There’s something rather simple to it which at this moment I find a little pleasing.

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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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1055: Continuing March

Posted on December 31, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

In its continuing march the day rolls on forward. There is no stopping it from rolling forward as that is what the day does; you just have to go with it.

It is currently the afternoon and I’m sure that I will write again later on in the day. It is the last day of the year and tomorrow is the new day of the new year and we will experience it once, though the idea will at least repeat many times ahead of now. It all stretches out into an eternity until there is no one around to measure time anymore and the idea disappears. The last remembering how weeks and all that stuff are meant to function will fade away and the ideas of time will be changed as they are forgotten… maybe. Of course, there is no telling and that is not currently what I want to write about. There are other things so let us move away from this grim, yet humbling talk.

Of course my saying that it is humbling is rather egotistical in this instance and displays how not humbling it is. Maybe it’s more the thought that is humbling and not the writing, for it makes me think about the meaningless of everything, and yet how it is important to strive to do better in the face of that meaninglessness. Our lives are over in an instant and ultimate what we do probably does not matter, but at the same time it matters as we create meaning and there are impacts that our actions have whilst we are alive, and well beyond our lives. We add meaning to what we do and we should strive to better things, for even if things are ultimately meaningless, we should still strive to do better and treat each other better, and also treat the environment better.

Anyway, the feeling that nothing you do matters, at least on a grand scale, is somewhat humbling as it’s nice to be reminded of how, ultimately, you happen to be here at this particular place and time and all that stuff. It’s nice to feel insignificant in the grand scheme of things, and it’s good to work toward the betterment of all as we all live here and all that other stuff and I think I’m getting the message muddled so I think I’ll stop trying to make it as right now there are other concerns, such as the heat that is going to heat up the place a little later.

Live in the grand, concerns are small. Is the way things are or something.

Anyway, I think I need to get back to doing things, but later there will be more things and then even more things and slowly, yet surely all will come together and it will be a day of days and a night of nights, and I’ll keep on writing and keep on trying, as that is what I do and I’ll keep on doing so.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 06:41:72

It was a long day of work and I can’t explain why this became as serious as it did as it has been a good few hours since I wrote this. Probably had something to do with the idea of writing about how something is humbling can end up being an egotistical endeavour.

Written at home.

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Mouse on the Keys: Stars Down

Posted on December 30, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

Written over one listen.

I think I was mostly just looking to capture the song as it progressed but I didn’t think too much about the approach which may have been a good thing. I’m really not sure. The song is sort of dark in a way, but not violently so; it has a particular sound which I don’t think I did the best job in capturing, but I do think I gave a bit of an idea of how it progresses.

 

Mouse on the Keys’ “Stars Down” is from tres.

I hope you enjoy.

—

A slow beat plays out, steady, drawing out. Vocals appear, harmonising and piano twinkles away in the background. A low bass line comes in, brooding and weighted as the vocals keep moving along the rhythm. They rise and fall, almost like percussion in parts.

Piano continues its twinkling, though with more space and fragility. Then the melody rises and lowers, carefully, smartly, almost with a slickness that belies a sense of unease. It’s smooth; slickly so.

There’s a return to the main pattern and all remains steady. Piano seems to gently cascade downward and the vocals move around it. A pause in all, then the piano plays on with an implied drama and the vocals follow suit. It is a gentle moment offering a pause of sorts.

The vocals lift and the music plays louder, though retaining its steadiness. A power comes forward and expresses the grandness of the mood as the vocals flow on around all the instruments that play on. However, it comes to a stop and the piano cascades downward once more. The other instruments play at specific points, creating a base of sorts, the vocals call out one last time and the piano plays its last note at the song’s end.

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One Thousand Word Challenge 169: Eleven Sentences

Posted on December 30, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

So once more there isn’t much time and so I need to get my thoughts down in a fast and effective manner. How I go about this, I am not sure, but of course I will find a way to get all that needs to be put down down and I will do it in a manner that involves unnecessarily long sentences, as that is something that I do and so therefore I will find the way to keep on doing it.

Maybe I will need to find a way to do it with style, but style is something that I do not have much of and as such I need to find a way to put style in these sentences of considerable length, but before I work all of that out there are other things I need to cover, but then again there are always other things that I need to cover as that is part of the beauty of procrastination when you are actively engaging within it as a fine art rather than as an excuse to keep on pushing forward and away from whatever it is that you are trying to avoid doing, assuming you are indeed actually avoiding doing stuff and not actually just procrastinating as that is what you’re used to doing.

As such, I should probably consider trying to whip myself into a routine once more as that way I’ll be able to keep on chugging along whilst getting things done at a steady pace, which is something that I so desperately want to do but keep on having trouble doing as I keep on running onto the same problem which seems to involve a lack of further challenging myself with a challenge that was designed to challenge my ability to write.

It’s not that it does not remain a challenge, but rather I don’t challenge myself in the right ways half of the time, though then that makes me wonder if there is a right way to challenge myself when it comes to the writing as there are many ways and some may be considered right and others wrong, but of course this could change at any given moment and therefore I remain at the mercy of whatever the moment dictates and so instead of thinking about that, maybe I should work out what works best at any given time and try and go with that whenever I can.

Then again, maybe there will never be a best for any given time and therefore I should start trying to do all the things at once and see how that works out as surely that could lead to something that isn’t a state of indecision and more procrastination which is something that I hope to break free from at some stage that should come sooner rather than later, but of course I need to keep in mind that in doing all those things at once, I likely will remain exactly where I am which is something I want to avoid.

I think that in saying all of this I need to bear in mind that there are all these little things that  keep putting off and in putting them off I am creating the time to write this, but I should write other things rather than whatever this is as those other things will hold more weight and have a little more substance to them and I’d rather make sure that my writing has more, rather than less substance to it as I want to write something meaningful.

Of course when I say this I need to admit that it is quite probable that all of my writing has meaning to it and I’m just really bad at expressing it due to various reasons which may or may not include some of that meaning being more on a personal level rather than anything else as, despite all of the writing that I do mostly coming off as meaningless drivel, it still may or may not contain some sort of meaning to me and that is something that I feel is important to state at this present moment in time.

That said, that might not be the case and I could very well be intentionally misleading so as to obfuscate and cloud an issue that may or may not exist so as to make everyone believe that there is more to all of the writing that I’ve written than I often imply, leading to people going on a hunt for the hidden meaning that is inherent in all of this, but eventually it will be revealed to be a complete and utter obfuscation, leading to some to accept their defeat whilst others keep on going on with their lengthy and ultimately pointless search for what lies within these words.

I will, however, admit that there is no smokescreen, but there also is no message and meaning to search for within all the writing that I have written, aside from some but that stuff should be more obvious, I hope, as the stuff that has meaning in it probably should be more direct as, assuming that my writing hasn’t made it all too muddled, that stuff should be pretty obvious in what it is saying as I’m not exactly one who holds a proclivity toward subtlety at the best of times, let alone the worst.

No, rather most of the meaning in what I write that is personal is that it means something to me personally, even if it all is empty writing at the end of the day as it is a way to see how I’ve improved as a writer over time, though really there is a good argument for my not improving, but that is something that I’m not going to cover today as I’m running out of space for more words and as such need to start thinking about what combination of words I will use to finish off this last sentence.

The time it took to write one thousand words: 12:37:18

I think it is eleven sentences.
I had an idea and ran with it and it makes for something that’s really rough, but also something I enjoyed writing. Sort of.

Written at home.

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Bill Laswell: Echo

Posted on December 29, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

This was written over one listen.

I’m not sure what I was going for, but I know that I was trying to capture the song in written form.

Surprising I know.

This is a slow song and as such I was afforded a bit more time to get things down. I’m not sure if that had much of an impact; there are parts here that are really rough, but I feel that toward the end of the song I was getting to something that was capturing what I felt was a big part of what was happening with the sounds.

Bill Laswell’s “Echo” is from Possession. Originally Possession was the title of the moniker and the album was called Off World One, but it looks like when re-released Bill Laswell used his own name and had the album’s title changed to the moniker.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Something low stirs away, muffled at first. It gradually becomes clearer and percussion reveals itself with a sense of motion. More sounds reveal themselves and gather around the percussion. It’s a slow build toward something, though it’s not a search for something grand nor climactic. The mood remains relaxed and at ease.

Many sounds pull back for a moment, letting some of the percussion flow on. Then some sounds come back and carry more striking percussion with makes a brief mark, then falls away.

The striking percussion returns with voices floating along in the distance. Bass comes in and plays along, carrying a groove with it that comes off as easy. Some earlier percussion returns and the sound is big, though still calm and relaxed. It almost feels like a dance of sorts. The striking pulls back as other sounds echo in and out.

In the calmness and the afforded space a sense of breathing comes forward, and maybe in the clarity there is also a sense of peace. There is a stillness, even when the beat resumes in full.

The percussion and bass play on and formless shapes stretch out as clouds drift on above. The bass shifts into something a little busier, though still following the rhythm. The striking percussion stops to allow other familiar percussive sounds to return and a long hum stretches itself outward underneath, almost cradling. It stretches and flows and expands and brings in a great calm and peace. It is a sense of relaxation and stretching out and letting go. It almost looks within itself.

The striking percussion returns though it is mostly muted and warping. The bass comes back, creating new scenes with the hum and slowly the music becomes richer as it allows itself to unravel and change and shift. It seems as formless as it does formed and it continues on, drifting on and changing whilst not changing at all, drifting on and letting itself be carried upon air currents that only reveal themselves from what they carry, and the sounds flow smoothly and forward, looking toward whatever lies ahead, even as they gradually pull away, leaving the hum and whatever other sounds appear for brief moments.

The hum stretches out and remains low and at ease, familiar and new all the same, and it is beautiful, even at the song’s end.

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One Thousand Word Challenge 168: A Cram

Posted on December 29, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

I’ve about ten minutes so this is going to be a bit of a cram.

Well, maybe it won’t be, but I will be writing a little faster than I have been as of late as I am trying to hit targets and those targets are within reach, but sometimes you just procrastinate a little too much and in doing so you let things go too far and then you’ve not enough time to get done what you need to get done, so therefore I’m in that position and now I’m doing this thing in order to get some words written before I go back to work.

I shouldn’t keep on working like this. It is not a good way to go about things. I used to write earlier in the day and I need to get back to doing that. I need to try and write earlier in the day so that I’m not fretting about writing later in the day. That is not something I quite enjoy doing and so now I’m here doing that and in doing that I’m cramming a bunch of words together in the hopes that it makes sense without the need for me to think about what it is that I’m writing.

Maybe I should be a little more like this music and relax a little and let the sense of relaxation carry me away from whatever it is that troubles me and then carry me toward some sort of salty sea breeze and thus watch the waves as they crash on beneath me whilst I keep on floating.

Maybe I should go for a dive of the deep variety and really dig into whatever it is that troubles me. I don’t know if I really want to do that, but maybe I should. Maybe it will make for some sort of entertainment and in that entertainment it could be found entertaining. That might be a good thing as that would then reveal things. Then there would be other things and you get a link of things that form some sort of object that might be viewable from all the wrong directions.

It will have many faces and those faces shall be pleasing to see and understand, though maybe not. Maybe they will be terrifying or something. Maybe they will pierce the hearts of those considered innocent and reveal them to a realty most terrifying, and those who are the ones who try to corrupt the innocent shall be tormented about their continuous advances into the world of innocence as they try to corrupt it and turn it into something not innocent.

I don’t know as to where I’m going with this so I think I will find another thread to explore. There are plenty of threads out there and they all come from the same thing and slowly spread on out and form intricate patterns among intricate patterns that appear simple, and in fact may actually be depending on which threads cross over which other threads.

Maybe all the threads will coalesce into some sort of powerful being that can do the things whilst wearing a snazzy hat. Maybe this powerful being will be able to make a cake whilst talking about things in a grand and profound manner, and somehow be able to devote their entire attention to both at once, therefore preventing either from losing any on the attention afforded to them.

Maybe I need to think about what it is that I’m writing at the moment and find a way to turn it around so that it makes less sense whilst simultaneously making more sense. Maybe I need to find a way to construct my sentences in a way that allows for them to provide information whilst also being entertaining in a manner that implies both an increase in knowledge whilst being entertained at the same time.

Maybe there are other things out there to worry about. In fact, there are other things out there to worry about, but I’m not worrying about them right now as I’m a bit tired and lazy and wanting to feel sorry for myself in all the ways that I can, so therefore something something and so on and so forth and I need to make sure that all food is available where needed so that the food needed can carry forth in a way that allows all to be sustained in a sustainable manner.

Where am I going with this? What am I going on about? I don’t even know if there is a point to what I’m currently churning out. It seems so disconnected, but maybe there is a thread running through the whole thing. If there isn’t, then I will claim that there is anyway. If I make that claim then I know that somehow all of this can be considered as linked together and in that consideration I know that all of this drives on forward and becomes a work. Sure, it is a messy work but it is a work. Therefore it deserves attention, though then the question that raises is from whom does it deserve attention from?

I will have to say that in my highly advanced opinion, it deserves attention from not any creature out there as it is not a work worth viewing, and perhaps that is part of the beauty in it or something. It is a work unto its own and beholden to no one as it transcends space, time, and genre in its ongoing quest to bring enlightenment to all as it leaves this planet in search of a different one in order to find new civilisations old and new, and perhaps it will find itself feeling lonely on the journey, but its journey is a tough one and it knew the risks and the sacrifices that it had to make and it took those on for the greater good, whatever that is, but then again the journey might be really fun.

The time it took to write one thousand words: 12:24:37

Written earlier today. It took longer than I hoped.
I was throwing things together with less though than usual and as such this feels really messy.

Written at home.

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Mouse on the Keys: Spectres de Mouse

Posted on December 28, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

This was written over three listens… sort of.

I was looking to capture the song any way I could. I think I should’ve pushed more for imagery than anything else as this song works with a sense of imagery really well.

Mouse on the Keys’ “Spectres de Mouse” is from An Anxious Object.

I hope you enjoy.

—

A percussive crash along with a strike on the keys as other keys seem to oscillate around a point. The crash and strike thump together a few more times before the percussion begins playing a quiet and careful racket. There’s an interplay going on and the mood already is firmly set.

The keys continue to strike out, providing more of a sense of shifting melody, remaining dramatic and emotive until the right sort of moment is struck upon. It spreads out and the keys play out with a sense of twinkling. Soon they pull back and resume striking before flowing once more.

Once more they pull back and once more they come forward, at first seeming to be experiencing something intense and perhaps violent before flowing forward with the rhythm.

The percussion pulls back and the keys become more gentle, though a sense of tension remains. The sense of drama sticks and the heaviness continues onward. The percussion picks back up as does a climactic nature in the keys. They dance with each other and flow forward, eventually reaching a point where the oscillating returns and all seem to unify and reach the final notes just before the song ends.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1054: Another Day Passes

Posted on December 27, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

And so another day passes and the rain falls rapidly and then disappears, as is the way that it proceeds. It is all cycles and it cycles on a regular basis, and perhaps that is a thing abut this is also a thing and these two things have no relation to each other, so I’m not sure as to why I’m going on about it right now other than for the purposes of continuing on with whatever it is that I’m furthering at the moment.

I could probably write something better, but I’m sitting here and I’m sort of in a bit of a state where I’m just drifting aimlessly. I’m looking for something, but I don’t really care if I get that something right now as I want to keep on drifting and floating about. I’m happy to let it continue on as that lets me relax a little more. I just want to relax and let go and relax some ore after letting go, but my hands have been gripping tightly for so long and now I’m not sure if I can let go anymore, but I still can relax a little and if I can relax a little I can then unwind a little and hopefully I can get on with things feeling a little more rested and recovered, so to speak.

There’s no telling as to what lies over the horizon, but sometimes we can make some pretty good guesses and so I try to make some good guesses. Sometimes those guesses are bad, but you do what you can and you make the best out of your situation. I’ll try to make the best out of mine, but things here are pretty tough right now and they could very well get worse. However, I will keep on trying as I do my best to persevere, though sometimes it doesn’t feel like there’s a choice there, but maybe that’s a good thing, or something.

Anyway, I keep on trying and anyone who can also should keep on trying. Sometimes you need help and it’s fine to accept help, but you should also help others where you can. We all go on our own journeys, but we don’t necessarily have to do it alone all the time and we shouldn’t be making it harder for others.

Be that as it may, right now I will keep on relaxing as relaxing is what I want to do and soon I may be able to slip into a state that is far more comfortable, which is probably what I want and as such I will keep on doing it and relax some more and so on and so forth and then there will be some really relaxed bones within me and I’ll feel at ease for a while. Maybe I’ll stop gripping the thing too and then not worry about trying to get things done, but until then, there will just be the doing the relaxing and little else.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:43:18

This came mostly easy and I think that has to do with the meandering I did.

Written at home.

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Motoi Sakuraba: The Second Book

Posted on December 26, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

This was written over two listens.

With this one I tried less to describe the song and more to capture the imagery of the song.
It kind of worked. I think I could’ve done a better job, but I still think it kind of worked.

I think that “The Second Book” works in contrast to “The First Book” (of which I rambled about here), what with it using “louder” instrumentation and feeling much like a continuation rather than a beginning. It also feels much weightier.

Motoi Sakuraba’s (桜庭 統) “The Second Book” is one of the songs used in Golden Sun. Unfortunately it does not appear as though there was ever an official release of the soundtrack; nor am I certain that “The Second Book” is the actual title of the song, but it is what the song is known as.

I hope you enjoy.

—

The heralding of a new journey is at hand and the dramatic expanse ushers forth into a new and grand world. Percussion beats away steadily as the sounds rise and fall, excited and energised, though also with a sense of focus and direction.

A slight hold back as the sounds shift into a slightly different direction and suddenly a little space comes forward. There is a hint of darkness, of pressure, of weight, but of course it cannot hold back the adventurers and so they continue their journey forward to whatever it is that awaits them. They are prepared to keep carrying their burden. Once more the instrumentation picks up and the journey resumes. It continues across the land and ocean and it spans continents. It is one that remains steady in the face of adversity, and it continues onward even as the song ends.

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