Green Swirl

This is a gig photo and there are performers in this photo.
I was playing around with dragging the shutter, ended up with this.
There are better results, but I like how this one turned out. Almost looks like an eye.

This is my submission into the two hundred-and-ninety-sixth Lens-Artists Photo Challenge. The theme for this one is “Abstracts“.

The host of the Lens-Artists challenges cycles weekly between the following people:

Tina

Patti

Ann-Christine aka Leya

John Steiner

Sofia Alves

Anne Sandler

Donna

Egídio

Ritva

Ritva is curating this one. Next week Egídio is curating.

I recommend participating in the challenges as they provide a fun way to interpret theme. If not participating, then at least you should still check out what others of the Lens-Artists community are submitting.

I hope you enjoy.

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Deniz Akbulut: Title

Two listens.

I went into this wanting to write something that went along with what the song was doing at any given time, but instead I sort of wrote a review, almost. Kind of. Not quite.

More of a trying to pull out themes, really.

Deniz Akbulut’s “Title” is from the soundtrack for CrossCode, CrossCode (Original Game Soundtrack).

I hope you enjoy.

A light set of sounds stir and rise into a space of possibility, and perhaps some sort of revealing. More come in but it all remains gentle; the melody fills out and changes, and seemingly strays for a moment, though it is firmly in line with what is happening.

Upon it all carries ideas of innocence and mystery, and revelation. Perhaps a bit of fun in there too, but that innocence is preserved throughout. It is preserved as the sounds lap and rise and fall, and they rise and fall and keep their drama firm, but they don’t push it. It’s there, but it’s not overt.

It is almost as though waves and a breeze, and it’s short and simple, and eventually the sounds fade away and the song ends.

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Bathing Ibis

A photo taken in the right place at the right time.

I hope you enjoy.

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Floating Bottle

So I took this picture with the intent to highlight the bottle, and I think I did a good enough job. Annoyingly, however, it was out of reach.

This is my submission into Leanne Cole‘s “Monochrome Madness” for this week. This theme for this one comes from Sarah of Travel With Me, and it is “Everyday Objects“.

Participating is pretty straightforward and something I recommend. If you do, then include the tag “monochrome-madness” in your post. If not participating, then at the least check out Leanne’s photography as well as what other people submit.

I hope you enjoy.

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Thirteen Years

So it has been thirteen years, or something, and the last time I did this was for nine years and that was around four years ago I believe. Could be wrong, but that’s what I believe.

Anyway, it has been thirteen years, and where were you? I’ve been here the whole time, minding my own business by shoving it in everyone’s face, and it has been a time. Sure, it has also been A TIME, but it has been a time, and what a time to exist. So much is falling apart and yet this stays on like a light resisting a fart of malicious intent.

There are more things to say and they would be worth saying, but that is not the aim of the game and therefore there shall be no aiming… or gaming for that matter. What is more important is that I extract the contents of all the messy ugliness from this place and then launch off into space so as to be able to see where everything lies and see if it can be done again, but in a much, MUCH worse manner.

There needs to be more sloppiness spread throughout the cosmos. I don’t think there is enough, and perhaps I am the right person for that kind of work, but I don’t want to do it for work; I want to do it because it is the right thing to do. There must be more sloppiness; there must be more waste.

Though, if I may be a bit more serious for the moment, I’m thinking about how it has been thirteen years, and that’s about as far as the thought goes. I don’t think I would’ve paid much attention had WordPress not reminded me, and to be honest it’s not really something worth celebrating. I’ve gone against my better judgement and continued on doing this thing and it weighs heavily upon me, and that’s on me, and for now I keep going as I march the place toward its inevitable end and take either far too long or not long enough to get there.

In a way it is interesting to see how this has remained constant in my life. Sure, other things also have, but this place really has, and for the time being it will remain constant I guess it’s nice, or something. I don’t know at this point.

In the time I started this blog I’ve had people come and go, finished a degree, been told to volunteer and network multiple times despite not being able to afford to do so, been rejected for jobs in my industry multiple times and dealt with abusive work environments. I’ve also done a lot of walking, photography, making of the music and drawing, and met some wonderful people. I’ve also managed to finally land a job that puts me in a better position and looks like will be something that’s genuinely good and in a healthy environment.

I don’t really know what to say. I’ve written a lot of crap and will likely continue to write a lot of crap, and maybe it will become better worded. I don’t know. I guess it’s one of those things where I’ll have to see what happens from here on out. Until then, however, something something and so on and so forth.

So it has been thirteen years and I’m still here, and so are you, and I guess it all keeps going for now.

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Grace Jones: The Crossing (Oohh the Action…)

One listen.
I’ve wanted to do this song for a while, but early on into the writing I sort of hit a point where I started wondering if there was anything I could write. Naturally there always is, but I struggled and I think that comes through. I think I short-changed the song, in a sense.

Grace Jones’ “The Crossing (Oohh the Action…)” is from Slave to the Rhythm.

I hope you enjoy.

Low voices, seemingly looping. Gradually become louder and clearer, and as they do, so do sounds, perhaps of the evening or the night. Percussion plays gentle, and almost playfully as the voices disappear, and there’s a pleasant calm that spreads through. Synths seem warm to the touch and they are joined by gentle bass, and something that could be water, and it’s peaceful, and playful, and nice.

More sounds come and go, staying at a distance and getting close, and the main melody is set, and they add on it. They don’t take away and they keep touching here and there, and there’s a nice sort of flow to it all. This isn’t trying to be massive; everything stays relaxed, and it seems to be more about the space and the atmosphere, and the setting.

It’s all easy, and maybe it’s idyllic. Maybe it’s not, but it seems to be, and those sounds keep steady and playful, and maybe joyous in a way. Maybe expecting, but not demanding.

When the percussion pulls away it doesn’t seem like there’s more space, and the sounds gradually fade away, leaving mostly the ideas of the evening or the night. And it stays gentle, and everything seems to fade back into scene, and the song ends.

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Sandstone Space

This photo didn’t quite turn out how I hoped it would, but it is very, very close.

From what I remember, I had a bit of trouble with balancing the light in processing. There was a version that looked flat and so I redid some of it, and the below is the best result from my attempts.

I like how there’s this rocky space that has this firm vegetation border. Makes it feel enclosed, almost.

This is my submission into the two hundred-and-ninety-fifth Lens-Artists Photo Challenge. The theme for this one is “Rock Your World“.

The host of the Lens-Artists challenges cycles weekly between the following people:

Tina

Patti

Ann-Christine aka Leya

John Steiner

Sofia Alves

Anne Sandler

Donna

Egídio

Ritva

Donna is curating this one. Next week Ritva is curating.

I recommend participating in the challenges as they provide a fun way to interpret theme. If not participating, then at least you should still check out what others of the Lens-Artists community are submitting.

I hope you enjoy.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1356: In the Club

I haven’t done much of anything today and I need to get on with doing things so I may as well ramble out some crap before I do anything else, which will inevitably involve getting ready to head on out, followed by heading on out.

Where am I heading, you may ask? Well, welcome reader, let me tell you.

It will be somewhere.

So there was this time where I was spinning around and I found that music sounded better with the person that I was spinning around with, and now that was a good long time ago and I spun and spun and spun, and then I got old. Then I got young and I don’t know what is or is not anymore, but I could tell what was going on. I was at least aware of my surroundings, but not understanding or them.

I decided that I would try and work out what was happening and all that, but then I realised I couldn’t as I needed to get ready to head off somewhere. However, I was doing this spinning action and all it was doing was leading to some sort of change in how I saw the world as it was all a blur and not very conducive to getting things done, let me tell you.

This situation was quite bothersome and so I decided to throw a spanner into the works. I stopped spinning. This was not taken lightly, of course, but then again, what is in this day and age? Or rather, that day and age? I knew that it might not work out for me, but hey, them’s the breaks sometimes.

So I stopped, but I realised I wasn’t actually spinning but rather grooving and moving to the music that was coming from the speakers. I happened to be in “the club”. It was dark outside and dark inside, but there were some lights and there was a prettiness, and most people were off their face, but not all, and I realised that this was not something I actually enjoyed very much, but I was caught in the crowd and caught in the moment, and it would’ve been awkward to escape the grasp of the sound and the enjoyment of the people and so I tried to buy myself some time but continuing to dance. As I danced I found myself dancing, and the smell of sweat and good times and and all that was overwhelming, but not aggressive.

Eventually I found a crack in the darkness and the mass of moving bodies, and I followed the little light that came from it. Eventually I got out and it was dark outside, and it was night and people were lining up to get in but they couldn’t.

I headed on elsewhere into the darkness, though there were lights, and it was a cool night, and I reflected on the experience that I had, but there wasn’t much to be done.

It was a time.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 06:14:05

Early on into this I kind of went “Stuff it” and wrote whatever, and I think it turned out okay. This progresses, albeit roughly, and it goes somewhere, even if that somewhere is nowhere.

Written at home.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1355: Looking Forward

It is a Sunday and I have some fantastic news, in that I will soon be in a better job. It’s one that has actual growth opportunities and it’s one that’s closer to where I want to be, and hey, if I like it enough, I’d be happy to stay in the position. But that’s not what I want to write about this morning.

What I want to write about is wherever I can be in a given point of time given enough time and distance to reach said point.

Actually, I don’t know what I want to write about and I don’t really know if I want to write at the moment. I think over the last few weeks I’ve had a bit of an ebb and it’s all moving away from me. Who knows.

Perhaps I am deceiving myself and just trying to say that I don’t want to write, but I don’t know. I don’t know anymore, but I do know that I’ve had some good news and years of increasing poverty are finally averted; at least, for the time being. Yet to see what happens and will need to make sure I save a lot so as to stay afloat in case anything goes awry. But I can do that now.

I wonder as to what would have happened had I gotten this kind of success earlier in my life, but I don’t regret it happening now. I don’t regret being poor, and I don’t regret the chances I’ve missed because, at the end of the day, I am still quite lucky. I’ve managed to survive for this long and I have some great friends, and I have a great partner in my life. In some ways I’ve won the lottery.

My getting this job was a team effort, because there was a lot of falling apart that I was supported through, and I received a lot of help. I was really lucky with that. It was four years of increasing stress and pressure, and I haven’t been able to pay much in the way of rent for the last few months, and I received a great deal of help and support the whole way through.

But now here I am and I’m writing about something I don’t want to write about and I’m writing even though I don’t want to write, and there still are plenty of things that need doing, but that’s all okay. Everything is alright at the moment. Things won’t be soon as the current job still needs to be worked before the new one starts, but I’m okay. I’m alive and I’m okay, and that’s a good space to be in.

Many things will draw to a close in the coming months, but I’ll be able to keep looking forward and I’ll be able to let go of stuff, and maybe I’ll let myself not be stressed as much as I have been, but I’ll see.

But relaxing does sound nice.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 07:55:23

A bit more openly serious, but also a bit more optimistic. A bit lighter.
Don’t worry; it won’t last MWAHAHAHA and so on and so forth.

Written at home.

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Casuarina Silhouette

I recently was fortunately enough to get this photo, which was taken on a mountain with a lot of fog; Same area as where these two photos were taken.

I took this one with a great deal of intention in that I was trying to do something an artist I like has done, though what I did here turned out a fair bit different, mostly because I’m not that good at that kind of replication. Still, I like the result. It’s quite striking, I think, though I also think it’s something for me to do better with as there is a lot of room for improvement.

I hope you enjoy.

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