Illuminated Curtain

Posted on November 1, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

Here’s a photo I took whilst waiting for Fleshgod Apocalypse to start playing so I could photograph them for Culture Eater (The gallery for the show is viewable here, whilst the review is readable here).

I’m not entirely sure as to why I like this photo, but I think it has to do with the relationship between the light and the curtain more than it does specific objects or framing.

This is my submission into the one hundred-and-twenty-first Lens-Artists Photo Challenge.

The theme for this one is “Focus on the subject“.

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

Patti is hosting this one. Next week Ana of Anvica’s Gallery is guest-hosting.

I recommend checking out how people are interpreting the challenges. I also recommend joining in. It’s a growing, fun community.

I hope you enjoy.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 797: Embracing Laziness?

Posted on November 1, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

So this has been a bit of a lazy day. Steam now is picking up, as they say.

Started off writing, got lazy, went back to writing, now I’m here. Here doing the thing. The thing? Writing.

Rain falls outside but I sit here in the hopes that the rain will go away and go bother someone else. Soon there will be doing other stuff but I want the rain to go away. Why? So I can sit outside and drink my TEA and read a book and not be concerned with getting wet. Horrible problems to have, I know.

Anyway, I’m just buying time. Trying to see if my hand recovered. This month is the month of the writing of the novel manuscript to the tune of fifty thousand words. That is what took up most of my time this morning. Well, not most, but that is what took up my writing time this morning. Had I not participated in the act of doing so and my hand might be fine right now. Oh well. You win some, you lose some.

Seems to be holding up and that’s something that I consider to be a good thing and not a bad thing. If it will continue holding up, then I’m in clear water, or green pastures, or something. Regardless, I do know that there will be more laziness for the day to come along and I will embrace it. Might go back to bed, even. Don’t quite care for this being up and doing things; not right now, at least. Or do I?

Anyway, I think that pretty much covers everything that I wanted to cover. This is more of a test for my hand than anything so it would be quite easy to something something, and verily so. I don’t really have much else to say. Probably should have started doing the writing of the manuscript after the writing of the this. Maybe would’ve had something else to use before handing it all over to something that will be forever stored away once I’ve completed it, unless somehow it turns out that there is stuff that is salvageable from it once the completion and the realisation sets in.

Anyway, I feel as though I’ve finished saying what I can say, but I’ve still a bit of words to write out and get to the end which is most unfortunate, so I guess this is all filler, though of course it is no less filler than anything else I write. Also no more filler than anything else I write. Oh well.

I guess that now I have to think of something witty or interesting to finish on, but right now I don’t have anything that I can use. Such is the way of things, but I guess that now that I’ve thought of the ending needing to be done, I can end this bit of writing with a few words, and perhaps a sentence that’s a little too long.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:15:57

My hand is holding up. It’s relatively okay and that’s okay.
Much better than this writing.

Doing NaNoWriMo again probably wasn’t the best idea I’ve had, but we’ll see as to how it all pans out.

Written at home.

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A Poem About an Itch

Posted on October 31, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

This one’s a bit silly. Also a bit undercooked; perhaps more so than usual.
I don’t know what I was looking to achieve.
This is what came out. I feel as though I should’ve had more of an idea in mind.
I know I didn’t want to write about rain again.

I hope you enjoy.

—

A sudden desire creeps slowly along a surface
At first it is minuscule but it is insidious
Through no fault of its own it spreads
And increases in perceived necessity

Initially the desire is easy to ignore
Though with time it becomes more apparent
And so as it caresses thoughts more
The desire begins to take hold

And soon it must be addressed
Pushing the desire aside is no longer possible
So a hand begins to vigorously scratch
Temporarily offering reprieve from an itch

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Perspective Shifting Appearance

Posted on October 31, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

I took this photo as I liked how Sydney Harbour Bridge appeared to be further past Blues Point Tower than it is, as here it appears as though almost the whole of the bridge sits past the apartment block rather than a small amount.

Just to give a rough idea from a vantage point close to where this was taken, here’s a photo of the same area.

Outside of that I like the colouring in this one. It’s quite similar to the colouring of the photo I shared yesterday. I think that (in conjunction with the amount of sky in the shot) it helps things feel small and diminished.

I hope you enjoy.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 796: More Writing About Writing

Posted on October 31, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

One of these days my hands are probably going to tell me to stop racing so much and take a bit of time to sniff the flowers, so to speak, heh.

I don’t even know as to what I’m on about, but let’s just go with it this morning. Little else to go about and all that other stuff, other than the jazz that I so desperately want to consume, but there is so much of it and so little of me. Such is the conundrum, or something.

Anyway, once more doing the racing thing. Once more doing the thing that I said I was trying to stop doing, but sometimes that is the way that these things go. It’s raining outside. Bit of a weird storm. Coming and going in some sort of cycle. Clouds can’t decide if they want to stay or go, but sometimes that is what clouds do. Of course clouds don’t think, but I’m going to pretend that they do as that makes it easier form me to keep on going and pretend that this is some sort of quality but of writing that everyone in the whole wide world will enjoy.

Perhaps I need a map to navigate this whole mess. Need a map to get around the wall that I seem to think that I can keep on walking through even though time and again I am unable to walk through it. Perhaps I need to run into it and then tackle it so that it falls over, then apologise, help it back up and walk around it, therefore finding some sort of acceptable solution to the dilemma at hand. That would be a good idea if this indeed was a mappable problem, though it is and I am just trying to waste some time. Well, I’m not, but you know what I mean. Just trying to see if I can do this and produce something that is worth reading.

Most of the things I write aren’t worth reading but that is not the reason as to why I write them. I write them as I enjoy writing. There is little else to it. Well, there is plenty else to it all, but that is mainly the main reason as to why I produce these diatribes of drivel.

Now that I have once more revealed the revelation, I don’t know as to where I should go from here. So many options, so many routes and can only pick one at a time. Sometimes that is the best way to proceed, but sometimes you need to sit down for a bit before you do pick an option. You don’t want to get lost, after all. I don’t want to get lost. However, sometimes you do need to get lost in the art and joy of writing as you don’t know as to where you’ll end up if you don’t. Not everything should be something you’re aware of, destination-wise. Knowing all means you’re learning less.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:24:59

This is a mess.

I was doing really well for time up until the last sentence which led to me slowing right down. Oh well.

Written at home.

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One Thousand Word Challenge 76: Caught in a Loop

Posted on October 31, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

Flummoxed by nothing at the moment, so I must take a step forward and volunteer myself to do something that I have done before. It is something that I have done many a time but I don’t know if it will work this time, let alone last time or the time after this time in when I inevitably, ineffably do the same thing once more. There is no escape. It is all on a loop caught i0n a tape deck that somehow rewinds itself as it moves forward. Must have four loops, or whatever they’re called, all daisy-chained together so as to make it all keep on rotating and going, or however it goes. There is no other side other than the side that is the other side to the side on which I’m currently stuck, but of course seeing as this has no end there is no reaching the other side. It’s smooth the whole way around. Someone don’t cut the tape as eventually I will escape somehow. Probably not today and probably not tomorrow. Probably not ever, but I will find a way out and then on that day of being out there will be the glory of the victorious. Will not feel very victorious, but sometimes that is the way things are and that is my hand to hold and accept.

This is of course assuming that the whole thing is a slog; a slog of the more variety, which is probably what I intend to make the whole thing out to be unless I get bored or something. There is every possibility that it won’t be. There is the chance that instead of a war of attrition I’ll just be able to bide my time and then step out and then it will feel more celebratory as I will have the energy to do the celebrating and all of that stuff that comes with the process of celebrating, or something. I don’t really know, but I will know at the time and once I know at the time I will be able to make my move and step out and be free from this loop of which I am currently stepping forward to volunteer myself to perpetuate even though I don’t want to perpetuate it as I don’t want to do so and would rather do something else. Don’t know if that will happen, but as always there is only one way to find out.

So of course that knowing all of this, I could always just refuse to continue on with the state of things. I could choose to not step forward. However, this song and dance has been going on for so long that I know not another way. Refusal seems like a thing that just isn’t a possibility other than a vague dream that could lead to something else. It’s not that it requires bravery to do so; to not step forward and break the chain now instead of later at some hopeful point in the future. It’s that it just doesn’t seem like something that is doable. Of course it is and I’m just not doing it, but after so many loops and so many repetitions there is only so much you can consider at a given time of the day, so that is the way that things go sometimes.

However, maybe now is the time. I know of this thought and I know of this idea. It has aligned with the act of stepping forward, so perhaps I could pull my step back. Perhaps instead of moving forward I can reverse. Perhaps that reversing can come after the step of going forward. I can retract my volunteering. I can break through no when I know that I won’t have fought a lengthy battle, or have had to wait it out until the time is right. Maybe this is the right time to take action. But then what? What will happen once I have done so and I am no longer beholden to the task of which I am endlessly doing and without a shred of feeling flummoxed by the fact that I am endlessly doing the same thing without any concern or questioning?

Could the whole thing rearrange itself as though what I have done does not matter at all? Could it be that no matter what I do I have to keep on waiting and the reality will shift so that what I think I have done that breaks the whole looping sequence is really just a part of the sequence as there is jo true escape at all?

What if it shakes the whole thing off and nothing bad happens at all and things just allow me an out and then I walk out and then I am away from the whole thing and there is no turning back as there was no need to turn back or question anything at all? What if that is indeed the whole thing in its entirety?

What if then that leads to some series of successes and thus I am finally free from the restraints of which I use to hold myself back intentionally and then go on to gain even more success and thus finally find some sort of meeting point where contentment and happiness finally agree and walk off in unison and then I get on with living my life and do other things and see the world and gain experience and just learn to humble myself and do all the other things and continue all of the working hard rather than the hardly working and then other things come my way and I grapple with them with confidence in my ability to learn and gain insight into the world?

To be honest, I don’t know as to what I would do. These all seem like great things, but at the end of the day it is all a dream, so for now I must continue engaging with this loop.

The time it took to write one thousand words: 09:55:00

Mostly free from the grasp of my recent headache and this is the first thing I write.

Written at home.

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Structure Behind Goat Island

Posted on October 30, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

Not all of Goat Island, but just enough of it to make it appear as though it’s attached to the area where the buildings behind it are by land.

I was stuffing around a bit with processing when I got this result. It’s not quite how the area looks; the colours are rather different, but I do like how the image has a partial faded feel. I think it works with the sky being mostly cloudless.

I hope you enjoy.

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Zuntata: Photosynthesis Suite ~No. 01 Iron Fossil~

Posted on October 30, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

There were a few pauses and slight rewinds when I was listening to this. Helped me get some things down, but overall this mostly flowed. It was easier to write than the prior one and took less time.

I feel as though I’ve done the same as I did with the last one, but perhaps a little closer toward describing the song.

This song is also known as “組曲光導 ～第一曲 鉄の化石～” and “Photoconductivity Suite ~ First​ Tune: Iron Fossil~”. It’s from Zuntata’s Dariusburst Another Chronicle Original Soundtrack, the soundtrack for the game of the same name.

Zuntata is Taito’s in-house music team.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Tender, certain. A ringing bass-like instrument under a vocal line. A quiet air. Some descending whilst the vocals keep producing sound. the instrument more overtly reveals itself as percussive as it lowers. There’s time for thought.

The instrument simplifies itself, slowly peters out. The vocals stretch out a bit more. Then a sort of signalling off before percussion comes in at full force. The time for action is at hand. A slight swell of strings and the song blooms in full.

This is almost a taking off. Synth sounds stretch out and at full speed and rhythm does the song thrusts forward and holds momentum with ease. There is a range of expression in the melody as it rises and lowers. It’s almost expressing a width that is visible from a seated, linear view.

A sudden shift into something less melodic and more “focused”. Something winds on down, strings begin to rise up. Tension builds, then releases to a beatless moment of strings and vocals, perhaps looking for a moment to rise up from some sort of defeat. The swirl of strings and once more the beat returns, and thrust returns.

Bubbling sounds join in on the rising drama and passion, though this stops once a plane is found to surf and flow along. A brief pause, a swell of strings and and now the vocals continue their impassioned expression. A pause in the scenery before the beat comes in once more. Momentum recovered, continues on and once more dives into a repeat of the focus, following that path the whole way through as it was the first time around. The loop continues as one more striking out and thrust forward, driving itself further and further toward some sort of end, but then it all drops out, the vocals rise and the song suddenly ends.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 795: Headache

Posted on October 30, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

My head hurts. My head hurts a lot. I should probably be resting but I don’t feel comfortable not feeling as though I’m being productive, but my head hurts. Such a problem that I must endure and suffer and all that other stuff. But seriously, my head hurts,

I don;’t know how I incurred this headache of (probably) the tension variety. I don’t know as to how I brought it upon my being. I don’t know as to why is has lasted for as meany days as it has (over a day, less than two days). I don’t enjoy this. I don’t enjoy this at all. Still, I shall push on forward and push on through it and deal with it and hope that it goes away after a second night of rest since the beginning of this ache of heads of the tension variety (possibly).

So anyway, my head hurts and now instead of resting I’m doing this. Should be resting, but probably won’t rest. Probably will keep on banging away on this keyboard and get some things done as I have had a rather lazy day. Do not feel comfortable with that. Should rest, but must do things. Must be stubborn and keep on beavering away and keep on doing the things that I want to do. Must somehow dodge the headache or find a way to forget that my head aches. If I could forget about the pain upon which I am “enduring”, then that would mean the headache would somehow go away. That’s how it all works. I know because… well, I just know.

Still, this is rather annoying. Has slowed my day down a lot more than I had hoped. Had hoped to be able to get through it, but now as the afternoon prepares to leave I am still dealing with the aching of the head and now only am mustering the energy to push through it.

This headache is much like the ones I get when I quit caffeine, though those at least don’t last more than a few hours and once they’re done, they’re done. I imagine that this headache will be done once it is done. I hope it isn’t planning on coming back. Still, I’d rather the headaches from caffeine withdrawal (or whatever it is) than this. This is disrupting to my flow. It seems as though it is not planning on ending any time soon, though perhaps it will. Perhaps it is ending soon. I don’t know. I just want it to be over.

There are worse things that I could be dealing with at the present moment, but there also are better things. If I were to review this headache, it would be remiss of me to not list its longevity and pain as a positive in its favour. However, overall it has very much overstayed its welcome.

Anyway, now that I’m done complaining I’m going to keep waiting it out until it dissipates. Hopefully it’ll go soon.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 07:20:64

I want to say that this is the best I can do at the present moment. Maybe I could’ve done better.

I was hoping to make this really dramatic. Headaches can be dramatic affairs, but this one doesn’t quite warrant it despite it being pretty rough (relative to the headaches I’ve had). I didn’t pull it off, but I got to complain for a bit, so… yeah.

Written at home.

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Sailing Through Sydney Harbour

Posted on October 29, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

Here’s a photo of a boat heading toward another part of Sydney Harbour.

I like that the boat feels small. Of course it is small relative to the objects around it, and it probably is a small boat relative to many other boats, but I still like that sense of smallness.

Other than that, I feel that this is a rather simple, kind of quiet, kind of busy photo.

I hope you enjoy.

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