Five-Hundred Word Challenge 850: Grand Proclamation Device

Well, here we are, into the first afternoon of the first day of this year and that is the way that things go.

Whatever that sentence means, I do not know, but let us just pretend that it is some sort of grand proclamation that I can use to wave some sort of grand proclamation device around as it is advertising the device that I am now going to try and sell to you, the reader, so that I can then do something or something.

So that is the device and you may now look upon it. What this device does is make grand proclamations and it does it at the ease and convenience of some sort of thing that expresses some sort of ease and convenience and also at a very low price that anyone may be able to afford so long as they have the correct currency at the correct quantity, thus allowing them to be able to afford the object in question. This is obviously something that is a good thing, or something.

So then you need to know what it is that you need as a reason as to why you would want to get this, and the only answer that I can provide is to corner the market. Sure, the market is always on the move and one day due to planned obsolescence, this will be something that is considered a relic of the past due to there being better and far superior options available at the time this is classified as a relic of the past; something of which will likely occur within two years or less, but whilst it is still hot and fresh you would have the home advantage over others as you were an early adopter. There is a certain air of superiority in that and that means that you get to be ahead of the curve. Sure, there is some sort of positive in staying with the curve, but this is something that will allow you to be ahead and very much so. You’ll be seen as a trendsetter, and what could be more powerful than that when it comes to stature in society?

There is also its unique, flawless-looking design of which allows you to look flawless whilst carrying it around. Sure, it weighs a lot and perhaps seems unwieldy and unwilling to yield to easy operation, but these are all things that benefit in the long run. There is no downside to this thing that is easy enough for you to own and straightforward when it comes to doing the thing that it does, so long as you understand that straightforward is a term relative to this device in terms of this device, but it has all these buttons and looks like an accordion during a moonless night, but sometimes feels the loneliness of existence sink in when it is perforated by saturation, but it certainly does do the thing it does, so you should buy it now.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:59:63

After that first sentence was written I very quickly wanted to derail what I was writing. Somewhere during the second sentence I decided I was going to try and write some sort of advertisement, which ended up derailing into some sort of silliness.

Not great, but I’m content with what the writing gets across.

Written at home.

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The End of 2020

I’m not sure as to what it is that I want to say about this year. What can I add to the conversation that has not already been said?

Maybe I’m thinking about it the wrong way.

It’s not something that we cannot surmount so long as we take precautions to look after ourselves and each other, and I don’t just mean within our own communities; I also mean those in other countries.

At the end of last year I said something about how I felt as though I’d lived every day of the year. I think it would be more appropriate to say the same thing about this year, but I certainly spent a lot more time sitting around and doing little.

Sure, there was work; There was a lot of writing. Culture Eater saw more reviews and interviews go up which was nice. Kept the podcast going (known as Podcast Eater) There was still a decent amount of photographing and there also was a good amount of reading.

More bushwalking than usual, which also was nice. Still, I did a lot of sitting around doing very little which wasn’t exactly a good use of time, but ultimately I was very lucky to be able to waste so much of it.

I did manage to complete two things for Stupidity Hole I set out to do earlier in the year and that is something I’m sort of content with, but only due to now having the desire to see if I can take those two things further.

Despite things feeling a little more uncertain than what I’d hope, I’m still looking forward to next year. Hopefully it sees us all faring a little better and with a less loss of family and friends.

2021? Bring it on.

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Under the Suburban Sunset

I’ve had the good fortune of seeing some strong sunsets over the past few weeks, such as this one.

This is the last sunset I photographed this year. It also is the strongest (I think) of the ones I’ve seen this year.

This is a rather moody and “quiet” scene. It feels close to night, though still quite vivid.

I hope you enjoy.

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A Poem About Doing Stuff and Resting… I think

This came together quickly and it reads as such.
I think I need to start spending more time on these if I am to continue them.
Also need to branch out a little more.

I hope you enjoy.

The work day is over
And I attempt to finish this
Whatever “this” is
Beyond a coupling of words

On this particular eve
Celebrations seem distant
Though they remain
In a diminished form

Perhaps rest is needed
Though that arrives later
For now work remains
And shall be addressed

Then rest will come
And perhaps celebrating
Whilst loudness remains vague
Quiet becomes a long friend

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One Thousand Word Challenge 100: Desire Driving

I’m not quite sure as to why I am doing this right now. I could do it later and perhaps it would be better to do later rather than now. However, now is the time in which I have chosen to keep on writing and so I am going to do that.

Once more I am aiming for under nine minutes. However, I am going to cut myself a little slack today as it is not the driving force. No, right now the driving force is the desire to write. I have a strong urge to write and write and then, when I get tired of writing, getting out of the feeling tired by writing some more. I don’t know as to why I am feeling this right now, but it is indeed what I am feeling and so I am choosing the entertain that feeling by letting whatever this is come out and spread forth and create something of which I have created many a time before, but this time with the desire of the desire to write, which, to be fair, is not that different from usual.

However, perhaps my desire to write is a little bit stronger at the moment, which I guess is a good thing as it is driving me into the act of writing more rather than less, though I should try and pace myself at some point so that I don’t burn out as the last thing that I want to do is burn out as then… well, I already have, so I guess I don’t want to burn 0ut more. Still, at the moment things feel okay so I’m just going to keep on going and hope for the best. See what comes forward and all of that other stuff.

Now that I’ve said that, I realise that I’ve sort of hit a wall. I can feel the fatigue that I have brought upon myself creping up and preparing to strike which is something I’d hoped to avoid. However, it appears as though I cannot and so this is now something of which I need to tackle so as to be able to keep on going on my merry way and get stuff done. It is a day of work and I am working to write this but at the moment as I have a little bit of time. Whether I actually get this done or not is another story, but what I am doing at the present moment is pretending that I have something to write about, though my mind feels as though perhaps it does need a rest, so maybe I should stop this sooner rather than later so I can get that rest in. However, I probably won’t and find a way to push on through and instead devolve into something circular.

On that circular thing that is the writing that I likely will do, I will try and run around to the other side but find that instead of getting to the other side I’m in place. There will be no moving from where I am situated and that is a thing that I’ll need to grapple with in some manner despite not wanting to grapple with it in the slightest. Maybe this isn’t actually much of a problem, but at the moment it does feel like it is a bigger problem than I would like for it to be as it means that I’m just doing the same thing over and over and I’d rather not. However, when I go the other way, I still remain in place and so I guess I’m a little bit stuck.

I should just stop the circle from spinning and then walk away from it and take it all easy for the rest of the day. That would be a thing to do and it would be something that I would be able t0o do sooner rather than later, assuming that there are things coming later, or something. However, instead of doing all of that I’m just gonna sit on the edge and watch the ocean pass on by and then do other things. I’ll look out at the beautiful view and hope for the best as the sunset approaches. Maybe some gulls or other oceanic birds will fly on by and there will be a light breeze and the whole thing will look scenic and romantic.

Time will pass on by but it will all seem so still and serene in a sense. I will be heavily held within the moment and perhaps I will be increasingly drawn into it as I look inward and try to relate to the scene in a way that implies something human about it as I connect to it as I look more and more inward and try to encapsulate and contextualise it, but really there’s nothing human about it other than perhaps a few boats and some development, but that does not mean that I can’t connect to it; it just means that it’s not all that I want it to be and represent in that particular moment, though at the same time it is in a way.

However, the day will pass and then I will have to go and do some other things and therefore, once the sunset is almost about to end and the colours are rather strong I will have to pry myself away and walk on off and go somewhere else, for the night will still allow a beautiful view and some inward thinking but there is another time and place for that. There’s some celebration that needs to be had, even if the celebration is on the small scale.

Well, technically there is no celebration required at all, but the year is long in the tooth. However, there will be no celebration other than on a rather small and perhaps quiet scale as, whilst an energetic celebration is fine, tonight I just want to take it easy.

The time it took to write one thousand words: 11:08:03

A bit slower than I had hoped but I’m okay with the speed.

I think this started becoming something toward the end. Not anything amazing, but still something.

Written at home.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 849: Three Sentences

And so we are now here. This is the last morning of the last day of the year, or something. Don’t know why I’m doing this now but I can confirm that there will be a few things going up today, not that that really needs to be announced, but now seeing as it has been announced I can get on with looking into other things and seeing how I can make the day go by without too much effort expended on my own behalf as I want this day to pass as once more I am tired and in a mood for complaining, so complaining there might just be, though I don’t know if that is indeed going to  be the case so I guess I’ll just have to see what comes out of my tired, slow writing that I am trying to engage in at the moment.

However, now that I have said that, I feel that it would be prudent to maybe not write right now and instead think through what it is that I am currently doing in order to see if there are other ways around whatever it is that I am doing at the moment which is writing, assuming that there are other pathways in which I can engage and follow and see where those take me, but of course instead of doing that I’ll just do this and go full steam ahead as I don’t feel like going into the concept of exploring paths right now as it is something that I probably have done a little too much over the years and there are other things that I’d much rather cover, even if I am yet to find out what they are, though admittedly I do hope that I find out what they are sooner rather than later.

However, I do need to take into consideration a series of things and events that I am yet to take into consideration as if I don’t take those into consideration, then it is quite possible that instead of actually writing anything there will be no writing at all and I am actually just imagining all of this which is something that I don’t feel much like doing as I’m doing this before the commencement of work and seeing as that is the case, I’d much rather not be imagining this as if I am indeed imagining this bit of writing occurring, then I’m probably actually sitting here and staring off into space which is something I’d prefer to not do as that would mean that the time I have to do things before work is being spent on not doing anything at all which would lead to a lot of pressure to get more things done before the start of work in less time which is something that I think I’m going to try and do better at avoiding so as to be able to relax a little more before I start my shift.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:47:14

Written better stuff and written worse stuff.
I think this falls roughly around some sort of average of quality for my given quality of writing.

Probably annoying to read.

Written at home.

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Figure Eight

When I was bushwalking a few weeks ago with a friend we went to The Figure Eight Pool. I wasn’t overly interested in seeing it again (Here are two photos I took when I was last there) due to how often they’re visited, but it was my friend’s first time so I didn’t mind. We’d been planning to go for a few months but it had to keep on getting pushed back, so it was nice that we got to see the rock pool before it became too risky to go out again.

There were a few people around when we went there jumping in and out of the rock pool and posing which admittedly left me feeling a strong sense of disappointment. This is a rather scenic and beautiful sight and also a habitat that is easily damaged. The pool’s water had some oily substance floating in it which likely was sunscreen coming off the people jumping into it, but need to get that photo to show that you were in the rock pool, so what does it matter if there’s a bit of harmful crap left behind?

I was trying to imply a sense of length and distance with this photo and I think that I did, but not as to what I wanted it implied with. Oh well. I’m still happy with the result.

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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One Thousand Word Challenge 99: Aiming for Under Nine Minutes

So once more I am writing, but this time I’m just doing it to see how quickly I can get this bit of writing written which is probably a bit of a waste of time at the moment, but I’ve some time to waste and so if I do this I can get back to wasting my time elsewhere. I don’t know what will happen, but then again I seldom know what will happen other than I will complete this bit of writing and then I will go onto the next bit of writing that I need to do, or something. It is such an enviable task, let me tell you.

Well, to be fair, often my writing in this manner is in part to see how quickly I can get the bit of writing, but right now this is one of those very singular desire ones that I happen to try and do from time to time. Right now I am aiming for under nine minutes. Hopefully closer to eight minutes. We’ll just have to see as to what happens.

The issue that I am having is that I am trying to work out as to how I can justify the length of this writing before it is even nearing completion and of course I am running into trouble. I am really not sure if I can get this done today. Maybe I can. Maybe I cannot. I really do not know. We’ll just have to see what happens, and so on and so forth.

However, I feel that, being this close to the end of the year, perhaps I should take it a little easier. I won’t, of course, but I feel as though I should. I feel entitled to a break, though whether I am or am not is another story entirely. Perhaps I am not and only letting myself believe that perhaps I am entitled to a break. Maybe I am never entitled to a break at all. Maybe there are other things that I should be thinking about at the present time. However, if I think about those things, then I would not be doing this and doing this is what I want to do at the present time, so doing it is indeed what I will do at the present moment as this is what I want to do, but perhaps with a little less repetition.

Just checked the timer and it appears as though I’m doing well for time. I hope that I am as I want to get this done sooner rather than later. The aim is to get this done sooner rather than later, but in just saying those terms there is little to explain what they mean other than in specific relation to each other. Perhaps I am referring to a difference of one second, but perhaps I am not. I don’t know myself, to be honest.

I guess that it would be evident based on my saying it a few times thus far (I think), that I know not what I am doing at the moment. However, I must admit that I know less of what I am doing at the moment than I usually do and perhaps that is a bit of a problem as it means that I’m proverbially twiddling my thumbs at the moment and that is something that I’d much prefer to avoid. There are better things for me to do than just sitting here and proverbially twiddling my thumbs whilst I hope that somehow all of this turns out well, but of course there are always better things for me to do over not doing anything, though sometimes doing nothing is alright. Not at the moment, however, for I am racing against myself once more and soon this will come to an end and there will be a result of which I will be able to display to all pf those who are interested in reading whatever the result may be, which will be the result of this writing where I am just wracking my brain in the hopes that somehow all of this turns out okay.

Realistically, I could have written the same word over and over and perhaps that would have provided some sort of entertainment. However, entertainment is not what I am looking to provide, though maybe I am. However, I’d rather provide engagement of some sort, even though that engagement is through a completely egotistical endeavour, despite what my intentions are. Such is the way that these things go and such is the way of things that go the way that things such as this thing goes. After all of the ones I have written, it is only fair to admit so much of whatever that is meant to admit.

Well, I think that I’ve managed to do well so far. Still doing well for time (I think), and still powering on. Only time will tell if I get this under nine minutes. Hopefully I do, but if I do not, well, at least I tried. I made it most of the way and making it most of the way is better than not going any of the way, though really there is a pretty solid argument in suggesting that I probably should not have done any of this at all. Oh well. It is now done and soon it will be uploaded and then I will move toward the next thing and then that will be the next thing that I do. However, I do need to wrap this all up first if I am indeed going to move toward something else that requires more of my attention rather than less.

With all of that being said, I guess I should close this off by making the ending sentence awkward, but instead of doing that I might just not and instead try to think of a witty few words that I can use that will summarise all of this.

The time it took to write one thousand words: 09:31:44

I didn’t make it and produced this lengthy mess, but still happy with the time.

I think that often what happens is I get faster, then get better at writing more coherently at a faster speed. There’s a sort of balance where the quality suffers for a bit, then improves until it reaches a somewhat-tolerable level, then suffers when I get faster again. I think.

Written at home.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 848: Effort Later

Enough of the being lazy and now it is time for the doing the thing that I do all the time, which is being lazy. Gotta do that and get that out of the way so that I can do some other things. Lazy first. Lazy next. Effort later.

It has been raining on and off for a few days now and there is a bit of sun at the moment. It is nice. It is pleasant. It is outside and I am inside. That is the way that these things go. That is fine. There are other things to worry about at the present moment, I don’t know what those things are, but they are there and they are something of which I need to worry about at some point in the future. Whether I do or do not is another story entirely, but right now they will be worried about which I guess makes it not something that is another story entirely, or something.

Yes, it is one of those days where I throw words together and hope for the best. Maybe something will come forward. Maybe something will not. I don’t know. I don’t care. I’m just letting it all flow out and hoping that something comes of all of this, which is something that will happen. What will come of all of this is a mess of messy proportions and untidy dimensions. There will be the spanning and the scanning of the span that emanates from all of this… “writing”… and then hope that somehow there is a little something that can be spotted off in the distance that I can use to make sense of all of whatever this thing is that is coming forward. Maybe there will be a little something extra along with that something and that may be worth visiting too, assuming that is indeed something that can be visited.

There is always the possibility that when I get to where those things are, they will be at the same distance away from me as they were earlier as they are forever fixed at a certain distance away from me so that I can never reach them. which I guess would be rather annoying as it would mean that all of the walking that I did was all for naught, but then again it is about the journey and not so much the destination, though sometimes it is about the destination. In this particular case it is most definitely about the destination and not so much about the journey, so I should do my best to pay attention and therefore find another way to reach that which cannot be reached.

Maybe instead of that I should focus my energy elsewhere and look to see what it is that I can take care of at the present moment and try and reign all of this in so that it makes a little bit more sense. That would require a bit of time, however.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:01:12

Writing whilst tired is not the best idea I’ve had and yet I keep on doing it which leads to whatever this is.

Written at home.

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Bulbous Rock Pool

As seen in The Royal National Park.

This photo doesn’t show much of what is in the rock pool, but I think it’s nice that it still provides a glimpse.

I do like how there’s some life surrounding the rock pool as it makes the photo feel more like a photo of part of a marine ecosystem.

I hope you enjoy.

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