Five-Hundred Word Challenge 786: Enough Time

Posted on October 21, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

I think that for once I have enough time. That’s a nice feeling, if I am to be honest. Work does not start for a few hours so I can take all of the time that I would like to do nothing before the panic sets back in and then I rush to get as much done in as little time possible, thus creating a situation where I don’t get much done and have no time to get everything done before the commencement of the shift.

Anyway, I don’t know as to what I’m going to do right now. Starting early feels as little more liberating than usual. Maybe instead of doing this writing I’ll just go into my backyard and do some gardening, which of course needs to be done, lest the weeds take over.

I could do that. I could do other things. I could go for a walk. Dare I dream such a thing possible? Do I do such a thing?

I don’t think so. It poses too much of a risk to my being. I need to get other things done.

I could go back to bed. Could rest and maybe even have a bit of a nap. Could do that. However, that might get in the way of the doing of the other things.

There are so many choices and I am not sure as to which I should go for. Maybe I should process photos due to the backlog that I’ve managed to build up over the past few weeks. That would be getting things done and those getting things done would mean that there would be less to do later which would of course create a situation more favourable to relaxing. Then I’d be able to get things done before work and relax after work. However, there would be other things that would need doing.

I don’t know what I should do with the time I currently have. This is a weird sensation. Maybe I should postpone all activities so I can do what I usually do, which is a whole lot of nothing followed by a massive burst of some stuff. That isn’t necessarily favourable, but it is routine and routine is as good as it is detrimental.

I think that maybe instead of doing anything other than finishing this, I should probably finish this. Get it out of the way. Have it done. Then after that I can look at moving onto other things that need to see some form of completion. Once those are out of the way, then I can move onto other things. Slowly chip away at the massive stone of which I have grown. Whittle it down to something slightly smaller. Do this over many a day, until there is little left and then I can relax.

However, that would mean that I’d be getting more, rather than less done and to be honest then I wouldn’t have as much to stress over.

Shouldn’t have started early.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:03:78

Was pretty chuffed that I wasn’t being completely lazy when I started this.
Apparently my being chuffed ended up seeping into the writing and thus I wrote this thing, which is… I don’t know what to make of it other than referring to it as silly.

Written at home.

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Reflection’s Pathway

Posted on October 20, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

Here’s another photo taken last year whilst on a field trip.
This was taken at around the same time as these three photos.

I feel as though this has a good balance of light and detail. I like that the sunset (or at least the suggestion of) is captured clearly, but the clouds are still quite visible in both the sky and the reflection.

I also like the how most of the reflection’s clarity sits between some of the ground and the reflection of the darkened clouds. To me it feels a bit like a narrow pathway.

This photo is available as a print.

I hope you enjoy.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 785: Thinking, Thinking, Thinking

Posted on October 20, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

Thinking, thinking, thinking.

Today has been a slow day, and yet it also has passed on by at a rather accelerated pace. Bit of a paradox, though not really. Anyway, That’s how this bit of writing has started.

Sitting here, the light of the light in the room shines on down and into the area upon which I am working. I race over the keyboard in order to express the words that want to come forward. I am trying to beat the clock but I am also trying to make sure that all of this makes as much sense as I can make it make.

I’m still thinking. Thinking about sleep, thinking about food, thinking about things that aren’t that important at the moment. Thinking about a lot of things, but mostly thinking about getting this finished off. Should probably adjust my seat so that I’m back at regular seat height for my regular seat height that I feel is my regular seat height.

Oh wait; Seems it is already there. Just does not feel as such. Oh well. Will keep on going. Still trying tog et tot he end of this but I already seem to be slowing right down and that is something that I really do not want to do. I just want to keep on going and then I can rest for a little bit before I pick up the proverbial pen and then get back to bashing away on the keyboard. Lots of things to do, little time; it’s the usual story. Oh well. Will find a way. Always do. Will just stress for no reason for most of it though, but that’s fine, but only so long as I manage the stress. Could be worse. Could be much worse. Still got to work on improving that, however.

The sounds outside are calm, as though a spell of peace has fallen over the area. Still, if there was a bit of noise it probably wouldn’t be bad noise… I hope. Gotta hope in times of duress, not that I need to be concerned with such a thing, which is lucky for me. Not so much for others.

Anyway, I think I’ve said all that I want to say. Just going to sit here and kill some time and hope that the day slows down a bit so I can get back to doing more in more time, rather than less in more time. Rather do more in less time, but don’t always get to win the things I want to win so I’ll make do with what I can and just get to the end of this and then resume plans of relaxation and then float on off to somewhere else before my hand starts telling me to stop due to the pain I am causing it, such the pain that I just so happen to be causing it right now in this very instance. I guess that means that I’ll stop this writing here.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:10:60

This… I think I was trying to disengage from the day a little bit when I wrote this, which explains its sense of nothingness… I think.

Not great.

Written at home.

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COVID-19 Rant

Posted on October 20, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

So I’ve been out a fqw times in the past few weeks, just walking around and doing things that may or may not need to be done. Kind of a mix. Some recreational stuff, some stuff that does need to be done. Trying to pick the times I go out carefully, what with the current situation going on and all. Would rather minimise risk where I can whilst also trying to get out at point. Admittedly some of it is selfish. I cannot deny that. That’s not what I’m going to rant about.

What really surprises me is how many people I see not wearing a mask. We’ve had a few brushes with the risk of a sudden increase, and yet so many people seem to be taking a highly casual attitude to the whole thing.

It’s not fucking hard to put something that provides a form of protection over your mouth and nose. It really is not that hard.

It’s just… yeah. It’s really surprising. I don’t know if there is some sort of shared belief among people where they think that they won’t get it or spread it, and maybe they are correct in that belief. Not the point. The point is we all need to do stuff to get through this sooner rather than later. The fact that we haven’t had a massive outbreak in Sydney seems to be more pure luck than anything regarding taking steps to mitigate spread.

What pisses me off almost as much is that there are guidelines on public transport about where to and where not to sit and a lot of people I’ve seen aren’t following those guidelines. There is a reason that those guidelines exist. It is not to put you out; It’s to reduce the risk of spread.

Sydney might be doing relatively okay right now, but really really need to do more. I don’t think walking around not wearing a mask is conducive to actually getting out of the situation we’re in. We might be doing alright now, but not taking more precautions means increasing the chances of a serious outbreak. Everyone needs to do what they can; not just some people.

I hope I’m completely off with this, but I think that some people out there just have a completed disregard for anything outside of themselves and ultimately don’t give enough of a shit to be fucking considerate enough to be slightly uncomfortable for a short period of time so as to make sure that a preventable virus doesn’t spread as fucking fast or as severely. Apparently that’s a little too much to ask.

Earlier this year one of my friends died from COVID-19. As it was near the start of the pandemic, there was less known then that there is now. I don’t know how they got it, but I do know that I won’t be able to see them again.

Wear a fucking mask.

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A Poem About Trying to Sleep

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

I feel as though this would have been more effective had I written it during my recent bout of a lack of sleep. Oh well.

I think the flow’s alright.

I hope you enjoy.

—

One eye closed
The other open
Not sure why
Not both closed

Remain horizontal
Occasionally shift
Try to rest
Thoughts racing

Cover on
Cover off
Discomfort holds
This restless state

Try to relax
In the dead of night
So I can obtain
That which eludes me

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Acacia in Bloom

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

This was taken in 2018 whilst walking through Sydney Park.

I’ve spent a bit of time trying to work out the specific type of acacia this is, but the best I can work out is some type of white wattle.

I like how the sky frames the plant, as well as how fluffy the plant looks.

The photo is simple, but it shows something rather nice, I think.

I hope you enjoy.

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One Thousand Word Challenge 73: Apple Pie and Marine Stuff

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

AHHHH! and so on.

Yes, that is a good way to start this off.

So it’s a bit dark, I am here racing away. Want to go eat some apple pie. Also want to go and call in sick but cannot as I need the money, so it is a work day. Still have many a thing to do. Not complaining as a lot of that is on me more so than it is on others. Such is the way of things. Hoping for a quiet day. May not be, but if it is, then that is awesome.

Wanted to write a bit of fiction this morning, but apparently that is not going to be the case as it already seems that I am rooting myself firmly within the confines of reality. There shall be no fiction based on reality this morning. It is all reality based on reality. There is no other way. Which reality that is? Well, I guess I’ll find out soon enough.

So anyway, I should probably write a bit more about the fish of the water rather than the birds of the sky, but I’m not in the mood for proselytising, if I am to be as honest as I feel like being. I’m also not feeling the itch to write about water and its various inhabitants, which is a bit of a shame as I feel that I should do so more often. I have a desire, but right now that desire is elsewhere. It is currently focused on obtaining pie of the apple variety. Of course this will soon happen, but right now it is not and as such I am here writing about a desire to go and eat. Should still write about water and stuff related to water.

So quite often there are bodies of water all over the planet. In these bodies of water there are plenty of organisms. There are some known as fish. There are some known as whales. Some known as plankton, and some known as phytoplankton.

Some bodies of water hold coral which hold zooxanthellae. They are in a relationship known as a symbiotic one, if I am remembering that information correctly.

Some other creatures live among corals. Some do not live among corals. Some creatures live among seagrass and some live among kelp.

There are some that live in sand and some that live in rocks. There are a lot of creatures in the ocean and slowly, yet surely we are learning more about them. Learning more is good as it means more decisions that are informed better based on whatever current information is available, which of course leads to even more decisions that are well-informed. It is a continuous thing and hopefully it gets better sooner rather than later. Well, it’s always getting better, but you get the idea.

Some water has some form of salt in it, which of course leads to a saline environment. Some water does not which creates an environment often considered freshwater. There is of course a mix of both which is known as a brackish water environment. Some organisms tolerate one of these, whereas some others tolerate a mix of these. Depends on what they are adapted to, of course.

Now, with all of that being said, we need to consider that there is a lot of water out there. There is a bit more water than there is a bit more not-water (depending on what you consider a part of our planet and what you consider to not be water). This means that there are a lot of environments in which creatures that rely on water can inhabit.

In some parts of the ocean there are underwater mountain ranges. As the name suggests, these are mountain ranges that just so happen to be underwater. There are reasons as to why they are there and I’m sure that if I was giving myself enough time, I would be able to go into them. However, I do not have as much time as I would like and therefore I am not going to go into those reasons. Perhaps another day when I have a spare few hours to work on something that is a little more coherent and focused.

Some fish are sharks. Sharks are awesome. If you  think sharks are not awesome, well, that’s on you then. However, admittedly sharks are not the only awesome thing in the ocean. There are plenty of awesome things. There area lot of organisms. Some cannot be seen with only the eyes and thus need some sort of enhancement device in order to see them with a greater sense of understanding and clarity.

My hands are getting sore, but I’m near the end of this so I think I can power on and get there.

Now that I’ve written about something I did not feel like writing about. I think it is time to reward myself with pie of the apple variety. Of course work starts soon, so I need to get the pie sooner than work, as if work starts and I attempt to go and get pie then, then I might start late and of course this comes as a detriment to my pocket, and my pocket I mean my income, so therefore I should probably stop writing soon and go and get the pie as it is currently in my fridge and therefore it is easy enough to get.

However, perhaps instead of getting the pie soon I will have it a little later. Still want to think about sharks, now that I’ve started to write about the bodies of water and their inhabitants. Maybe if I write about them enough, then I will be able to spread more awareness about their existence and why we need to keep them alive and not hunt them, or something.

There are plenty of reasons to like sharks. There also are fewer reasons as to why I should go and get pie.

The time it took to write one thousand words: 10:37:32

Wrote before work, only getting up now that work has finished for the day. It was a rough day. Not as rough as this text.

Written at home.

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Khost: Buried Steel Review

Posted on October 18, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

I had a draft of this written up a few weeks ago and only finished editing now.
There wasn’t much editing done and I feel it was not enough. I’ve described some of the album, though I don’t feel I’ve said enough about how it works as an album.

Most of my interview and review work now appears on Culture Eater.
My colleague and I set up a Patreon to further develop Culture Eater as a source of good quality arts coverage from both ourselves and our contributors.

We’re looking at what we can give to supporters as we don’t want to set up a one way relationship, so suggestions are welcome. Podcast Eater is one of the things we’ve got going.

Please consider supporting, or at least sharing the Patreon page with others. Please also check out what our wonderful contributors are contributing.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Buried Steel is an album full of sound and intensity; Cold guitar and bass grinding away, and harsh vocals and various auxiliary sounds fed through a bent toward creating an immense onslaught. In some places the album becomes (comparatively) quieter, but often it’s quite loud and full-on.

There’s a bit of playing around with the sound whilst keeping the album rather familiar to itself. Opener “We Will Win” is somewhat-straightforward (relative to the rest of the album) in its flow and sound. It carries a more direct sense of aggression than most of the other songs and pushes on forward with a great deal of force.

“Intravener” takes on something more dance-like and rhythmic in approach whilst keeping the chorus prominent and distortion at the forefront. “December Bureau” is kind of compressed in sound (so to speak) which (in a way) gives the song a bit more clarity, as well as more of a sense of the unnerving. It keeps things thoroughly fuzzed out whilst remaining slow, spacey and menacing.

The first part of “Dog Unit” is as melodic as Buried Steel gets. Through the noise it holds a sense mournfulness that stretches out. Eventually the song sequestrates itself into the doom hole with all the crushing weight that Khost can muster.

The album holds a few spoken word tracks regularly delivered in a matter-of-fact manner, as though the narrators are talking of everyday occurrences. At the same time they describe events in a “specifically vague” and suggestive way. Along with background sound a sense of unease comes forward, as though there’s something fundamentally off with what the narrators talk about. On one hand these sections help to give a bit of breathing space between the louder stuff; on the other, they help preserve and transform mood and atmosphere without harming Buried Steel‘s flow.

When it comes to closing the album, “A Non Temporal Crawlspace” is an interesting choice. It is a bit glitched out and has one last gasp of noisy aggression, but closes things comparatively quietly. In a way it feels a bit disconnected in a way that “Two” (the last spoken word track) doesn’t, which may have made a better closer. That said, “A Non Temporal Crawlspace” provides the feeling of a different kind of urbanity compared to the other songs; that of (perhaps) desired illusion of something greater than one’s situation. It also follows “Two” well, and doesn’t take much away from Buried Steel‘s overall feel.

However, this also depends on how much you consider “…Temporal…” to be the album’s final instead of “Intravener In Dub (Mothboy Remix)”. Whilst viewable as a bonus track “Intravener In Dub…” fits the album well. It carries on a sound similar to the two previous tracks, making “…Temporal…” fit better with the other tracks. It also twists “Intravener” around enough to be its own thing; It’s more spacious, transitional and stretches out the original’s sounds whilst adding some of its own. The song also retains a sense of vague familiarity, keeping it attached to its original form without being too reflective of itself.

There’s a strong sense of the urban on Buried Steel. Perhaps it’s the spoken narratives. Maybe it’s the cold, industrial and clangorous feel of the whole thing. Regardless, whilst the album is a lot to take in, it provides a thoroughly engaging experience.

Buried Steel is available here.

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Stabilising Sand

Posted on October 18, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

Here’s a shot taken at The Hawks Nest Dunes.
This was taken on the same field trip as these three photos.

I feel as though this photo has a strong sense of layering due to the sand taking up most of the lower portion, the vegetation providing a sort of cap on parts of the sand and the clouds taking up most of the upper portion. I also feel the sense of layering is there due to the differing height levels and shades of the sand.

I like how the vegetation provides a stronger sense of definition to the dune, as well as the way it’s scattered. It gives a sense of transition to the landscape, which of course there is as, whilst occurring over a long timescale, dune systems remain in a constant state of change.

I also like how massive everything seems which (other than this particular spot being quite large) is helped by the openness of the scene.

This photo is available as a print here.

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

The theme for this one is “My Hideaway“.

I’ve included this shot as often I consider such a thing to often be away from the city and toward something closer to an idea of the natural.

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

Leya is hosting this one. Tina is hosting next week’s.

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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One Thousand Word Challenge 72: Accosted

Posted on October 18, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

On lunch so it’s time for a bit of a verbal spewing to see what happens. Don’t expect anything good out of this one. Well, don’t expect anything out of this one. I don’t know how this will all turn out and I don’t think it will turn out well. It likely will be more of a mess than usual. but of course there is only one way to find out, so here we go!

So anyway, I was walking down the street when all of a sudden I was accosted. I do not know as to why I was accosted or how someone was able to accost me, for there was no person around. There was no one around. Not even a two around. There was just no way that it could happen, but it did and I was there and I was in the process of being accosted for some thing, of which I found to be an affront to my not wanting to be accosted.

So I say, I tell this fellow “Hey, I do not want to be accosted. I do not  appreciate being accosted. There was no one around here, so where did you come from in order for you to be able to be accosting me? I find this to be an affront to my not wanting to be accosted, so please stop, and verily so”, to which the fellow replied “You do not want to be accosted? You don’t appreciate the effort in which I have gone through to in order to accost you? You do not appreciate that I was nowhere and then suddenly here, thus existing at this particular place and time in order to accost you? You consider the art of accosting an affront to your desire to not be accosted? Well then, so be it”, and then promptly vanished, though now with any trickery or effects. Just suddenly gone.

I did not know as to what to make of this scenario, but certainly it had a bit of a flavour of oddness to it, but of course seeing as there was no harm done, I just kept on going about on my day. It seemed all okay. There was a clear sky, the buildings kept on rolling past as I walked down the street. I was feeling rather merry and free, almost as though I could feel the gently caressing breeze against my skin. It just overall was a pleasant day. No worries and nothing wrong. No harm done.

Still, the event was gently gnawing at my thoughts. It completely caught be off-guard and that was something I also did not appreciate. If someone was going to go through all of the effort to appear from nowhere in order to engage in the act of accosting someone, though with no specifics regarding what it was that they desired, then… well, why? Why would they accept their defeat so quickly and humbly, and then disappear without a trace? Why would all of this happen?

There was no ribaldry between the accoster and I; nor was there any seeming sense of ill ill. Their intentions remained unclear to me and no amount of thought could decipher the riddle in which I was now finding myself trying to form in my own mind in order to seek out an answer that would explain the whole thing.

Why was there no one around to bear witness to the spectacle? I could not explain this either, though it was likely that there just so happened to be a distinct lack of people within the vicinity that would be able to see what happened due the the lack of people in the vicinity, thus creating a situation where no one would be able to bear witness to the spectacle that occurred between myself and a person who appeared from nowhere.

Who was this person? Were they someone from my past and I just did not recognise? Were they someone who wanted to examine me before making a decision that they needed to make based on who I was and who I happen to be? were they anyone at all, or was this just my imagination deciding that it would be a good time to conjure up some sort of situation where I was to be accosted and thus challenged on how far I will go to defend my desires? Were they even looking to accost me? Is it possible that they had the wrong person, thus that being the reason as to why they were so willing to leave?

The more I thought about the whole thing, the less it seemed to make sense and as such I was only left wanting to forget about the whole situation, which of course I was not quite able to due to its nature of being something that I found incredibly odd and disruptive to anything resembling a sense of flow for the day. The harmony in which I had engaged was disrupted then and there. Whilst I was able to continue, the thread was snapped and thus what I had was no longer able to return to me.  Sure, the day was pleasant, but it was not as it was prior to the event that occurred that caused the breaking in the flow.

As such I decided that perhaps it would be better if instead of continuing about my business I headed on home, and considered the act of starting again tomorrow something far more feasible. Of course I could still enjoy the caressing breeze on my way home and that allowed some sort of calm and relaxation that I certainly was appreciating.

I soon found myself on quick approach to the front door of the residence within which I reside. Once at the front door I put my hand into my pocket to get my keys. However, neither the pocket, nor the keys were there. I looked down, and upon realisation I thusly proclaimed “My pants!”

The time it took to write one thousand words: 13:08:46

Well, this turned out to be a thing.
I like the narrative going on. Also the silliness of what I wrote.
Could be much smoother in places.

Written at home.

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