Five-hundred Word Challenge 32: Wombat Story

Posted on July 28, 2015 by Stupidity Hole

There was this one time where I went to bed to go to sleep.
Well, that is something I do fairly often but this time was different.

I feel into a deep sleep and found myself dreaming of pleasant things.

As I was sleeping, a group of wombats sneaked into my room, lifted my bed and carried me away from my residence.

Down the street they waddled and all throughout the night they carried me to the Blue Mountains.

Eventually I woke up. I had no idea what was going on and I felt it better to not try and leave my bed, so I stayed and pretended to sleep until we reached the destination they were taking me to.

They put my bed on the ground and then walked away.
I found myself to be curious as to what had happened, so I followed them, hoping to get some answers.

It was still dark so I had little trouble following them without being caught.
Eventually I reached a clearing full of wombats socialising and enjoying company.

I walked towards the wombats and tried to seek out one of the ones that had carried my bed and I to wherever I was.

It took a few minutes, but eventually I was able to locate one.

I asked the wombat what was going on.

It blinked at me and then began to speak with a voice deper than an abyss.

“We brought you here for celebrations and for fun and good times. There is nothing more and nothing less we want. We knew that you would be needed so here you are, as we are here as well. Please, enjoy and relax. It is better if you do as the night shall proceed at a much smoother rate. If you don’t, it could cause problems that no one wants, as the night conceals much more tha….”

As the wombat was talking to me, its face began to peel back, slowly revealing flesh and skull until that slowly collapsed in on itself as though time was beginning to accelerate.
What remained as recognisable features seemed to be frozen in twisted terror as a single flower grew from what was left.

“Pretty flower”, I thought to myself.

The wombats began to participate in song and dance shortly after this.
Wombats are good at song, dance, being disgruntled and destroying cars.
As I was not in the mood for song and dance, I was not going to stand for any of this.

I took off as quickly as I could. Some of the wombats (presumably the others that carried me to the unknown location) gave chase.

I moved as fast as I could and somehow became lucky enough to get away.

Running to my bed, I picked it up and carried it with me. It was weighty but I needed it still.

Eventually I made it home. Dusting myself off and then having a quick shower, I went back to a deep, peaceful sleep.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 15:07:06
Written at my desk at home.
Slightly slower than last night.
Still looking likely that I write fastest at work.

Anyway, enjoy the story.

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Burning Drawers

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Stupidity Hole

Here’s a picture I took in 2012.
A bunch of people I knew and I set fire to two drawers.
I won’t go into detail as to why but I will say that it did provide a sense of catharsis.

Fire is interesting in how destructive and creative it is.
It does a lot of damage to the Australian bushland but it is needed for some plants to release their seeds.

The shapes and patterns it creates are usually brief before they disappear.

It is something that is feared and respected in equal measure.

I like how in this photo the flames are mostly wisps, slowly consuming the frame before it becomes not much more than ash.

In the middle of the frame sits paper just before it completely ignites.

I also like how the only colours in the photo are provided by the flames.
I think it is a stronger photo for it.

This was a lucky photo for me as it was a couple of shots before the flames had died down a bit before they strengthened again.

This is my choice for The Daily Post‘s weekly photo challenge this week.
“Close Up” is the theme.

I hope you enjoy.

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Five-hundred Word Challenge 31: Beard and the Seasons

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Stupidity Hole

SUMMER:

The thick growth on the face is keeping my chin, jaw and neck warmer than I thought it would.
The season started off okay, but the cycle of dry and humid heat is making it almost a danger to keep growing the beard.
I think it’s about time to get rid of it as if I keep allowing it to grow, things could become dangerous.
The last time this happened, I almost set my whole face on fire and I definitely do not want that to happen again.
Sure, there are worse things, but still, it’s time to start chopping this once glorious specimen of growth off and work on having something a little more manageable.

AUTUMN:

I didn’t expect it to take that long, but at least now my face is feeling much more fresh than it had previously.
It took much longer than expected and there was hair everywhere afterwards, but at least I kept the chops.
They’re feeling a bit fuzzy at the moment and I expect they’ll grow to feel even fuzzier, but maybe I’ll keep them short for a while.
I do wish they looked more like filthy chops than the ones I’ve got though.
The rest of my face feels rather naked and barren without the thick beard that graced it before, but at least I don’t look unkempt and wild anymore.
It’s certainly nice having a visible chin again and not having to worry about food getting caught and possibly lost in facial hair.

WINTER:

Why did I shave my beard?
It was a bad idea.
Every year I forget how exposed my face becomes to the elements.
I forget how biting the morning cold is on my naked chin.
Why did I shave the chops?
My inability to grow filthy ones is never a good reason to expose more of my face to a harsh, horribly cold wind.
I look much younger than I am and I get to feel colder than I should all because I decided it was a good idea to look cleaner earlier in the year and reduce the risk of damaging my face.
I should have tried to keep growing it and work on preventing accidents.
It would have been a better decision.

SPRING:

Finally, the cold is over. The sun is out and warming me wonderfully.
It seemed much colder than it has been over the past few years.
The short bristles on my face have sprung as the temperature has risen.
A short growth has burst forth from my skin and shall soon grow into something mightier.
Something to protect my chin and jaw.
Something that may make my neck look as though it is hidden.
Maybe I’ll let it grow wild and unkempt in appearance.
It would certainly look quite different from something that has gone through grooming.
I will let it grow wild.
They may be young now, but the hair on my face will grow strong.
Who cares about the dangers?

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 15:26:24
Written in bed.
It looks as though I write faster at work than anywhere else.
Still need to do a few more cycles.

I got the idea to write something about facial hair today as I shaved off my beard on Thursday.
I hadn’t intended to grow a beard.
About two weeks before my stats exam I stopped shaving; my reason being that time spent shaving was time not spent studying.
After the exam I didn’t want to spend the time shaving as it would have taken longer than I wanted to bother.
After about seven weeks, my desire to not have a beard overtook my desire to not spend time shaving.
I did keep the chops though. They’re not that great and I’ll end up removing them soon enough but for now I’m fine with them.

Anyway, I decided to write about having a beard and shaving.
Then that quickly evolved into writing about facial hair throughout the seasons.

So… yeah.

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Five-hundred Word Challenge 30: Cycling and Chicken Feet

Posted on July 26, 2015 by Stupidity Hole

What a day!

Not much was done.

I spent most of it trying to draw chicken feet.

This morning was quite busy though.

I haven’t cycled for a couple of months and I had a bit of a hankering to get back on my bike, so a few days ago I decided that I would go for a cycle around Iron Cove early this morning, get to Rodd Park before the sunrise and take pictures.

I decided to get up at 5:45 A.M. to do this.
However, I ended up staying up much longer than anticipated last night so I decided to push my alarm to 6:15 A.M. instead.

I woke up before my alarm went off and lay in bed for a while.
By the time I was up the sun was out.

I left at 7:15 A.M, went into the cold and started cycling.

It was glorious.

It had been a while since I had cycled around Iron Cove and whilst I wasn’t as fit as I was the last time I went around, I still enjoyed it.

I still took pictures once I reached Rodd Park and I’m happy with how they turned out.

After my break I continued my cycle and found that a lot more people were walking around Iron Cove than there had been when I started.

I have a feeling my break was a few minutes longer than I realised.

The rest of the cycle was uneventful.

There was one point where I saw a small dog grab a fallen branch much larger than it, run a short distance, then into a small bushy area with it.

I found it to be both funny and cute.

The cycle, whilst tiring, made me realise how much I missed cycling and how much I love it.

I don’t know how much of it I will do in the remainder of the year, but I do plan on doing a fair bit.

In regards to drawing chicken feet (the other major thing I did today), it was for a picture I’m making of a giant chicken attacking a zeppelin.

Chicken feet are somewhat difficult to draw if drawing is not something you’re great at doing.

I ended up using my hand for reference as I found myself unable to find a good picture of chicken feet.

I was able to eventually get something that looks like chicken feet but I think the emotional damage of having to continually redraw them has put me off trying to ever again.

Now it is night and I’m feeling rather tired and at the same time hungry.

Just like cycling, cooking is an enjoyable activity as well.

It’s fun to experiment with recipes and seeing what you come up with.

It’s also fun to eat what you’re making as you’re making it.

I can’t help it sometimes.

I think I enjoy my food far more than I should be allowed to.

It’s almost criminal.

Oh well. Time to get cooking!

And some eating.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 16:38:72
This was written at my desk at home.
The time is noticeably slower than the one at work.
However, it may be due to being more relaxed during writing.

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Five-hundred Word Challenge 29: Almost at the End of the Work Day

Posted on July 23, 2015 by Stupidity Hole

As of this writing there is less than ten minutes before I finish work tonight.
I’ve done another twelve hour shift because I don’t know.

I would very much like to go right home, curl up in a blanket and read Finnegans Wake and hope to slowly drift to sleep.

I would like to do that, but I’m concerned that reading Finnegans Wake shortly before I go to sleep will give me some horrible nightmares.

If not horrible, then I imagine my dreams will be incredibly surreal, confusing and leave me in a state of intense bewilderment.

So intense I will float out of a window and slowly drift over the wondrous city of Sydney, looking upon all the happy, smiling citizens as the small clouds that caress the sky meet me, dance and play and join me in a song.

The moon will look upon favourably as the stars continue playing their eternal games of chess and go.

I will reach the Centrepoint Tower and stand on the tip of it, looking beyond the horizon until I can see the back of my forehead.

Then I would continue my float and return to the clouds. We will laugh and play and sing and be merry until it would be time for me to head to the ocean where the whales will greet me with great confidence and gusto.

I will meet a blue whale named Henry Hobart. We will journey to the far depths where the golden liquid of the sun will be found and a wondrous land of aquatics and relaxation will be discovered upon a rainbow of velvet.

Eventually I will have to resurface.

Henry Hobart will be sad but he will understand, as whilst I love the ocean, it is not my habitat of natural inhabiting and to the sky I shall return, floating towards the mountains to see the trees extend their arms to ensure I do not fall.

I may be slightly tickled by them, but a tickle is a tickle and not torturous if it is only a brief experience.

I will land upon the earth and soil and say hello to the possums on my way down and “how do you do?” to the wombats upon the ground.

We will run and hop around and be playful as they celebrate their being during the night, dancing around a safe fire and being merry and raucous.

Once the sun of the sky begins to rise it will sadly be my time to return to my bed.

It is not something I will necessarily want to do, but one must get rest before the seize the day.

So I will say goodbye to all those that I have come across during my travel and return to my bed, close my eyes and then sleep for the briefest of times before I have to rise to head to work.

Yes, I am a bit bored but now it is my time to head home.

Hooray.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 8:49:24
This was done within the last ten minutes of my shift for today.
I do think it is much easier to type at my desk at work.
However, I do also think that my time was much faster than previous speeds due to being so close to leaving the office.

I put this under fiction as, whilst it could be considered random thoughts, it reads more like a story than anything else.

Also, apparently the actual name for Centrepoint Tower is Sydney Tower.

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Morning Traffic

Posted on July 22, 2015 by Stupidity Hole

This is a photo I took in late March.
I was heading to work when I saw how the sun looked so I hopped off the train at Milsons Point and snapped away.

I find it difficult to describe how this photo makes me feel.
I like it quite a bit.

I like how it only gives the impression of there being far more people driving to work than what can be seen.

I also like how everything beyond the cars becomes quite vague and appears more like different shadows.

I think that this photo is more suggestive than it is expressive.

I also think that this photo wouldn’t look anything like the way it does if not for the sun.

This is my eighteenth entry into Leanne Cole‘s “Monochrome Madness“.

I hope you enjoy.

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Five-hundred Word Challenge 28: Writing Speed

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Stupidity Hole

I was going to write about my working on music over the weekend but I ended up changing my mind.

I’ve been thinking (very briefly over the last couple of hours) about what affects my writing speed.

It seems that I’m able to write faster at work than at home at a table or in bed.

It seems.

I think it has a lot to do with how the positioning of my arms is altered based on the different surface levels that I work with.

At work I wouldn’t call my desk the most comfortable but I think I’m able to type faster as the desk is lower than the table I have at home.

When I’m typing in bed, I’m usually feeling much more relaxed than I would normally and I don’t have much support for my arms.

I think that, if that is the case, then I need to test this to see if it is the case.

I know that a lot of it does have to do with how tired I am as whilst I am still able to think with clarity, I find it harder to get my thoughts written than when I’ve had a good sleep.

I’m going to test this by cycling through the places I type for each new challenge I manage to type.

My typing speed may also be affected by environment so this can be tested at the same time.

Hopefully this also leads to me finding out if my ability to write in a stream-of-conscious manner is also affected by environment.

I think that three of each will be sufficient enough to show me where I work best.What

There is also the possibility that where I’m typing doesn’t matter so much and it is entirely based on how tired I am at any given time.

Maybe it falls down to how good an idea is, or maybe there is not cause and it is completely random.

Maybe I should stop thinking about it so much and just get on with typing out more words right now.

I think that this is a good thing to test.
What someone is working with can have a significant impact on their ability to work at any given time, so finding out anything that may be affecting performance and then working on that can overall produce better results.

Well, that was a lengthy bit of waffling.

I don’t know what else I can write about my wanting to test what affects my ability to write quickly.
I thought I’d be able to say much more about it, but that does not seem to be the case.

Maybe I should head to bed.

It’s still so early though.

I wonder if listening to music has any detrimental impact to my writing speed.

I do think that ambient music would have less of an affect than something more attention-grabbing.

I don’t think I’ll test that though.

I think I’ll stop waffling now.

Or will I?

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 21:46:32
I wrote this whilst in bed and it’s more than double the time of the last one.
Oh well. Bed is comfy.

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The Entrance to Sydney Harbour

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Stupidity Hole

This is a picture I took when Ewe, Anna and I walked from Spit Bridge to Manly last year.

I’m not exactly sure as to what part of the walk this was taken.
Based on the view of the photo, I think it was somewhere between Grotto Point and Dobroyd Head.

The strait (if it is one – I’m not certain) in this photo is the entrance into Sydney Harbour from the Tasman Sea.

The Sydney Heads form the entrance.
I think North Head is visible.
Quarantine Head and South Head are.
The others are not.

I don’t know if Dobroyd Head is considered part of the Sydney heads, but if it is, it may be the close landmass to the left.

Anyway, I like this photo as I find it to be busy and relaxing.

I find it busy as there’s a fair bit of activity.
I find it relaxing as the sky is cloudless, the water is calm and the colours aren’t vibrant.

I decided to use this photo for The Daily Post‘s weekly photo challenge this week.
This time the theme is “Half and Half“.

Whilst the sky takes slightly less than half of the photo, it still provides a nice contrast to the water.

Whilst the water is calm, it is also rippled.
The sky is remains smooth in appearance throughout the area it covers.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

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Pathway into Water

Posted on July 16, 2015 by Stupidity Hole

Here is a picture I took the last time I was in Melbourne.

I have family there so I usually visit often.
Unfortunately the last time I was there was around the Christmas period in 2013.
I’m happy to say that I’ll be seeing them just before my flight to Japan and for a few days when I return.

I digress.

When I’m there we’ll usually go to some of the beaches for a few hours towards the end of my stay.

We had gone to a small beach near Brighton Dog Beach when I took this.

I like how it looks like a path through feels as though it continues beyond its end.

The next time I’m there, I might go and sit at the end.
It seems like a relaxing place to be.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

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A Bridge for Clouds

Posted on July 15, 2015 by Stupidity Hole

Sometimes clouds need to take a different route than usual.
Sometimes this will carry them across a bridge.

Ewe and I went walking around Blackwattle Bay for a brief period on Sunday.

It was the first time I had been on to any of the wharfs there.
It was more relaxing to be on them instead of the footpath as it was sunny at the time and there was not much wind.

After being on the footpath again for about a minute, I decided to take pictures of Anzac Bridge.
Whilst I was snapping away, I noticed that some of the clouds looked like they were traveling on the bridge, so I took a few more pictures with the intention of capturing the clouds and the bridge in the same way.

I like how it turned out and it made me happy to be in the right place at the right time.

The first image is my seventeenth entry into Leanne Cole‘s “Monochrome Madness“.

I hope you enjoy.

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