Another Urban Sprawl

Posted on December 12, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

This was taken a few weeks ago during a series of events that led to being rather tired.

There’s a bit of colour in this photo, but the whole thing feels pretty dreary, in part due to the pointlessly large casino being visible (among other large structures) and in part due to the cloud cover.

This is my submission into the one hundred-and-seventy-seventh Lens-Artists Photo Challenge.

The theme for this one is “Celebrating“.

This isn’t exactly what one might describe as a celebratory photo, but that I am now able to once more and head out to take photos like this is something I feel makes this somewhat-celebratory.

The challenge is hosted by four people and cycles weekly:

Week 1 – Patti

Week 2 – Ann-Christine aka Leya

Week 3 – Amy

Week 4 – Tina

This one is curated by Amy. The next one is curated by Tina.

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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Damage to Rock

Posted on December 11, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

Here is some more rock in various states of damage.

I like how this feels uneven. It makes the whole thing feel fitting in a sense.
There’s damage from when this area was mined and some weathering that creates this sort of variable texture thing, if that makes sense.

I hope you enjoy.

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Side of an Arch

Posted on December 10, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

This is a photo of one of the arches in the previous photo I shared.

I think this one gives a good idea of the geometry of the arch.
I like the ominous feel the clouds help to create.

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 1044: Bit of Rain, Now Sunny

Posted on December 9, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

A bit of rain and now it is sunny and sunny is good, though not always. I enjoy the cold of the rain and hide from the heat of the sun, or something. I think.

I prefer it not being too warm. Too warm is something something and therefore I’ll whinge about it a bit and then get back to whatever it is that I’m doing as really, I can’t control the temperature but I can do my best to live with it and do my best to be better to the environment and all that other stuff, so there you go.

There I go too.

So anyway, it looks as though today will be warm and that’s fine. That’s okay as a warm day is not necessarily bad. What is bad is a day that is unusually warm. That is bad. However, it won’t matter too much as I’ll be home and inside and doing the things and all that other stuff. I’ll be here and I’ll be writing away, hoping for the great inspiration to strike. I do hope that it doesn’t strike too hard as I don’t want to be hurt, but sometimes that happens and so you make do and all that other stuff.

Already I am feeling stretched, but I can keep on going. I can get over this hill I’m building for myself. I might sit on top of the hill for a little while, but I can get over it. I can find that which I seek and in finding that which I seek I can reveal all the truths and the other things and then get to the bottom of the mysteries that lie under the hill. There probably aren’t any, but it’s a good excuse for an adventure and an excuse for an adventure is what I’m looking for right now. Maybe.

What I am actually looking for is a way to make all of this connect in a way that implies things making sense. However, I don’t necessarily want to lean too heavily on that as doing so would mean that I would be relying on one thing too much and that wouldn’t help with the process of spreading myself thin. I need to spread myself thin so I can be a fine spread that moves over the bread and carries the taste that people so readily crave.

What am I going on about?

So anyway, I think today is going to be good. It may be productive, but it should be good… I think. Of course it could be bad and that is something I need to consider. However, I don’t want to consider that as I want to bang away on the keyboard and pretend all is fine and dandy, and I will aggressively ignore all that challenges this exercise in delusion. I will do that and I will spread myself thin whilst constantly willing the best to exist whilst being struck by inspiration, but gently of course.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:35:97

This was written much earlier on in the day and I feel it’s pretty obvious that I was struggling with writing.

Written at home.

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Shoji Meguro: Living With Determination

Posted on December 8, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

This one was written over three listens.

I was trying to get across what I think the song is trying to get across and it didn’t quite work. Probably could’ve done more, but that did not happen, so yeah.

Shoji Meguro’s (目黒 将司) “Living With Determination” is from Persona 3 Original Soundtrack, the soundtrack for Persona 3.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Piano plays gentle and with space. Underneath strings stir and rise, underscoring and supporting the piano. A slight flicker and a slow descent, almost asking a question.

Lower keys come in and strings stir a little more. Hints of brass appear off in a distance as the opening is repeated, though they started just before. There’s a sense of uncertainty, even as the higher keys return. A gentleness comes through as a sense of needing to walk forward and push through hesitation lingers.

The space affords more focus on the keys as they lead the melody forward through soft drama. It’s not loud, but quiet and tender, and perhaps fragile. That uncertainty and hesitation remains, but the determination comes through, even at the song’s end.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1043: Rambling and Some Podcast Talk

Posted on December 7, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

How much time do I have? Very little.

I was meant to leave  few minutes ago, but I am still here. I am still at home. I need to get going soon, however, as I need to get stuff out of one place and into another. I need to do things and things I need to do come in an order of importance and all that, yet I still sit here and write away for some reason. Procrastination I guess.

Not sure what I’m going to write. Might just twiddle my thumbs for a while, hope for some change that puts itself forward and that way I will then be able to understand what it is that I want to do, or something. At least, that is what I hope. Don’t know if that will come to be.

I had a plan earlier and that plan did not come to pass due to reasons. Now I sit here and I bemoan my fate and I do all of those other things and all that other stuff. What do I do from here? Other than leave and go do the thing that I need to do, of course.

I could think of other things to say and do and I could try and think of other, other things to do and say.

I could also talk about the issues I had with recording.

So I was recording earlier. Part of a podcast. I was recording and the recording went well. My friend and co-host and I had a great flow going and the episode felt really easy to do. It was great. One of the better ones we’ve done.

We finish the recording and I start listening back to what I had and my audio was glitching the whole way through. It is also not in a state that can be fixed (as far as I am aware). As you can imagine, this is not something I’m happy with. It’s a little annoying as it means the episode has to be done again and the way that it all came forward was really natural and it worked due to how natural it felt. Can’t really force that (as far as I am aware) and so the audio is not condemned to not being used.

It’s a little annoying, though it is actually highly annoying as I wanted to make use of what we had due to how well it turned out. Can’t quite capture that again though. Then again, maybe we can but in a different way, but it still remains something that I’m not happy about. However, what am I gonna do?

Sometimes these things happen and I can’t do much about that other than have another go, as they say. That’s what has to happen here and so that is what will happen. Hopefully the next run works better. Hopefully it turns out all okay. Not sure if it will, but there remains some hope and effort to spare.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:59:35

This was written way too late in the day and as such it probably suffered as a result. I was thinking less than usual about what I was writing.

Written at home.

 

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1042: Passed on by

Posted on December 6, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

The day passes on by and the sun sets over another series of buildings that compromise a city and the day passes as it always has. The mundane and the banal reign supreme and it all seems to drift on by and drift on away. There is a strong desire to break free from all of this and create a new world and path and follow that, but of course watching the clouds pass on by and seeing the sun rise and set over gray slabs and people rushing here and there must happen. There must be observation. There must be rest. There must be following routine.

It all seems so standard and yet there is so much that happens within any given day, and perhaps there is a sense of beauty in that. Perhaps there is a sense of beauty in the passing of time and seeing the repetition that plays on out. Perhaps it is less mundane and banal than it seems, but seeing it happen all the time makes it seem as such.

Perhaps it really is all about perspective and the only real way forward is to shift perspective. Perhaps all of this really is fantastic. Maybe all of its dullness is just from exposure and all that has been done and is happening right now shows just how amazing and wonderful everything is. Still, the desire to break free and go elsewhere remains strong, and perhaps it needs to be followed, for the city can feel like it traps people.

Sometimes the drifting of the sky and the passage of time seems like it can be stuck on a loop that slightly changes in minor ways with each repeat, but it’s so easy to ignore until you realise that you’ve gotten yourself stuck in this thing and so you set out to create a new world, but there needs to be the realisation that a change of scenery does not necessarily mean a change in routine. Life may remain the same in many ways and as such there may be no pleasure or greater excitement pulled from something different. With that being said, there is no denying that even if there is a slip into the banal and mundane whilst among a different environment, there also can be just as much of the fantastic. Plenty of things may reveal themselves that were not apparent beforehand and there may be the discovering of more of the self among the drifting of the sky.

It still would be the same sky but perhaps the backdrop will be a little less gray. The passage of time would remain, but things may feel different. Things may be more noticeable at first, though they too could bleed into each other and once more it may just be all a great blur where little appears to be different. Still, it would be a chance to find a new world and a new path to follow and see if it leads anywhere.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 07:50:33

I’m not sure what my thinking was here, though I do remember feeling this was too dramatic as I was writing.

Written at home.

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Sophia: It’s Easy to be Lonely

Posted on December 5, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

This was written over two listens and I feel that that was a good amount to get something down.

I think that some of this is alright but I descended into a bit of a mess. I think that may be due to suddenly shifting focus. Maybe.

Sophia’s “It’s Easy to be Lonely” is from As We Make Our Way (Unknown Harbours).
It is also from As We Make Our Way (The Live Recordings).

I hope you enjoy.

—

Guitar strums away alongside ambient sound. Slowly they go down, reaching low before looping. The vocals come in, seemingly aching. Words that seem to hang in the air come forward, careful and precise.

There’s a shift and now some more instrumentation comes in. It’s almost a moment of anxiousness and hesitation. It starts to build, then transitions into something similar to the song’s beginning commences. Bass plays simple and striking, as does the percussion. Brass in the background emphasises and punctuates, and once more the vocals come in. There’s a fragility, though also a sense of strength.

Once more a shift and the music fills with grandeur. A sense of freeing; of casting off weight. A catharsis. A comfort and a release. The music begins to soar as the instruments push on forward. A choir comes in, reinforcing the emotion. In the final moments of the song the instruments rise up, creating a moving climax that flows and blossoms and spreads out, then finds a final note and draws it out at the song’s end.

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One Thousand Word Challenge 167: House Must Expand

Posted on December 5, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

It is morning and it has rained and it will rain again. However, none of that matters right now. In fact, one might say that there is little that matters, though of course I am talking about what is confined within the boundaries of this house. Therefore, the house must expand so as to better accommodate more matters so then there is more than little that matters. That said, it’s technically not my house so I don’t think I could get away with making it bigger. The owners might not appreciate that, so instead of doing that I might just not do that and instead get on with other things and also work out what those other things are.

Sure, I could extend the house, but see above. Do not see below as below is where I’m going to descend into gibberish and nothing will change and it will be as it always was. This is a place that does little in the way of change and already the derailing has begun. Might have to build rails in random locations in the hopes that the train lands on them.

No telling what will happen, aside from the writing and the writing coming forward as writing. Other than that it’s all open to whatever.

So anyway maybe I will expand the house and I will conclude as many things that matter to help establish the new foundation. From there I guess I’ll just build a bunch of rooms with no rhyme nor reason for either their placement or existence. That’s just the way things will go and that’s just the way I will roll. However, there will be no rolling, but rather there will be laborious construction and that is what will be embraced and brought forward so that the extensions will see completion.

There will be determination and grease of the elbow, and those two things will dance with each other in a manner that allows things to further themselves. The house will eventually get so big that it will extend itself. It will absorb new materials and in that absorption things will have changed, for no longer will the house need to be carefully built. It will instead need to be monitored to make sure that it grows in the way that it needs to grow so as to be able to be the best house that it can be in any given situation. That is the desire and that is what will hopefully come forward.

Of course there is no telling if any of this will actually work. There are so many things that can go wrong, such as continuing on with this train of thought, but there also are so many things that can go right, and go right is the desire of mine that I so hold dear, so hopefully the whole thing goes well and goes in the right direction so that I can stop going on about it, which is something that I will do soon. Maybe not in this sentence, but perhaps in the next one, which should hopefully signify the change into a different topic in a manner that speaks of a swift and smooth move as it were, but there is still plenty of time and so I will do my best to see what comes out of all of this.

Anyway, I think I’m done writing about that house thing as that is going nowhere and I want to write about something else before I feel completely drained. The day is fading and it is cold but that’s all okay as there still remains plenty of time to get other things done. Getting other things done is always a good thing and that is a thing that I want to feel, but of course I need to get things done.

I need to rest and so on and so forth and right now I don’t know where I’m going with this. I’ve journeyed as far as I can and am awake as much as I need to be and yet I find myself fading out and soon will take a nap, but there are more important things to worry about, but I can’t worry about them right now as I need to worry about this and I need to make sure that I’m making sense.

Perhaps there was too little that matters in this house that is rapidly growing and as such soon it might just collapse into itself. Perhaps there is not enough to sustain the structure and as such I’ve done a great disservice. I feel shame and disappointment within myself and I don’t know as to how I can continue writing on about things that don’t matter in a way that doesn’t matter. Oh, woe is me and all those other things and you get the idea.

I think that perhaps now is the time to think about what it is that I have written here. There are few words left and the time is shrinking by the second, so I need to think about this as quickly as I can and then see how it pertains to the subject at hand. Of course I don’t know if I can, but I will try and I will try in a way that suggests trying. Whether that actually happens or not, however, is another story entirely, for I don’t know if I can do that as now I need to work on cleaning up a house that has become far too big for its own good. It has left a whole lot of debris scattered and strewn over a great distance and this displeases me, but it was my fault and so I need to accept the responsibility of the consequences, so therefore there will be a lot of cleaning going on now.

Well, maybe not right now. I need to do the cleaning, but I am feeling quite lazy and so I might just not right now.

The time it took to write one thousand words: 11:35:96

Not sure what I was aiming for here, but I can confirm that I was quite tired whilst I was writing this. It felt like a struggle.

Written at home.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1041: There’s Enough Crap

Posted on December 4, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

So once more I’ve postponed things to the evening and once more it was a bad idea.

I had this thing that I wanted to write about. I wanted to write about all the stress of the past few months and I wanted to write about how, when some people keep doing shitty things after realising they allowed for shitty things to happen. I wanted to write about that as it would be a bit of a purge and maybe it would serve as a warning, though really it was probably just in service of my ego more than anything else.

Choosing not to write about those things as there’s enough crap going on at the moment. I don’t need to put more drama into the world right now. Maybe I’ll write about it some other time, but right now I won’t as I feel there are better things to write about. I could write about the night or how soon this house will have more people in it. I could write about that but maybe there are even better things to write about.

I think that at the very least I am going to rest soon. I am tired an all those other things and so on and so forth and you get the idea so I don’t know why I’m going on about it.

At the moment I feel stressed and tense, but I know that with time that will pass. I know that in time I will feel a bit more relaxed, though perhaps no less driven. I am looking forward to that, but right now that is not something I am going to worry about. I live in the present and the future is always far off in the distance, even when it is right in front of me. Right now I’m going to enter a stage of winding down and then when I wind down I will hopefully fall asleep.

There is always hope and there is always determination and with these sometimes you can see your way through bad situations. Sometimes you need to have a plan too, but still, sometimes the insurmountable can be overcome, and I’m willing to argue that rather than sometimes, it is often.

So much drama and aggression is not necessary, and some people really don’t have any regard for how they treat people or how their actions may have an impact. Some people do and don’t try to change. Some people are all talk and refuse to back that up. Some don’t take responsibility for their actions. More often than not these people aren’t worth keeping around. I think that you owe it to yourself to not tolerate this kind of stuff. You owe it to yourself to not tolerate it from others as well as yourself. Respect should be universal, and that means you need to be aware of your own beahviour.

There should be little tolerance for shitty behaviour. Kindness and respect are much, much better.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 09:55:60

I feel that I didn’t use enough words for this, but I think I got the point across.

Written at home.

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