Scatter

I had an afternoon/evening to kill, and had already done as much exercise as I'd thought reasonable that day.

So what better way to spend the afternoon than cruising down to the local point to watch all the kite-surfers doing their thing.

Except that for some reason, my brain didn't get a kick out of watching all the acrobatics and smooth-riding skills. Instead, it decided that looking at the patterns made by the kites themselves was more enjoyable.

And I have to say, I agree with my brain on this one. Something in the way the kites would just slowly move in different patterns, it was like watching birds in flight (or even a fire burning).

Maybe I'm just easily distracted. Or maybe patterns are my thing.

I like to think that the fascination with these patters is simply visual white noise. Similar to listening to raindrops on a tin roof, or a radio show where the people aren't being that interesting, the visual effect of the kites was very calming.

Incidentally, if anyone has any recordings of rain on a tin roof, I'd be quite keen to keep a backup for them.

October 23
Blown Away

Deep red

There's something mesmerising about fire. The constant flickering and twisting of flames just seems to have a calming and soothing effect.

I'm not saying I want to burn everything down, but if there's a fire going, I'm happy to just sit with someone special and share some time, gazing into the embers.

October 5th
Ignited

Depth

It's one of those lovely illusions. It lets you think there's something more to the picture, when there quite possibly isn't.

I personally can't see the big deal.

September 26
Litereality

Cake

Sometimes it comes in layers.
Sometimes it has strange bits in it.
And it's always good.

September 25
Gateux de la Freundin

Cute as a...

Why button? Who was it that originally thought a button was cute?

Is there some dark recess of the internet hiding this fetish from me? Are there groups where people get together and look through sewing boxes to find that saucy little red number at the bottom?

Or maybe it was a shortened saying? Perhaps the original saying was "As cute as a button mushroom sprouting from the corner of the house". Or maybe "As cute as a button being used to hold together a sheer nightie".

Who knows.

The saying still applies I think. Especially where babies are concerned (even if this one did poop when I held it).

September 19
I'm Spartacus

Fashionista

Just another typical day. Fashion show with someone wonderful, after breakfast with someone wonderful, and then finished off with a nice relaxing evening with the same person.

Just awesome.

September 12
Don't look now

EmPalmed

After a nice run in the local area, this sunset appeared just as I was going to the train station.

Nice way to finish the day that.

September 6
Palmed, off

And so it goes

This has clearly become more of a photo-a-week project, instead of daily.

In order to appreciate just what it is that you're looking at, you need to get closer and really examine the item in question.

And then step back again, and examine the picture as a whole.

Because if you like the details, and the overall scheme, then you really can't complain.

And if there's something in there you don't like, well you can always change things up a little.

August 28
Logged on

Hidden meanings

And back to the cryptic gibberish.......

Some people accuse me of being too cynical, of always looking for the extenuating circumstance, or the motives behind somebody doing something.
I'm not too worried about this though. I think those people are just a little bit concerned that they don't think to look for the extra information.

August 23
Bepuddled

Hungry for love

And it certainly wasn't flowing.

The food was lovely.

Only half the company was.

August 15
Remains to be seen

I woke up this morning

This was one of those awesome nights that just went well.

The music was awesome, the people were lovely, and some of the photo's even turned out.

As an aside, I'm changing the naming regime.....hopefully this will be easier to keep track of now that I'm not doing this every day.

August 8
Bom Bom

So many nights...

And I'd like to be updating this little blog of mine right now.....

But my camera is AWOL.

So if you've found a really nice looking camera, then could I please borrow it?
It'll be better than mine anyway :)

Downer

Last day of the holiday

Shite

Right up there

With the best holiday to date.

Definitely worth getting excited about

Yay

Vantage points

Nice to be able to choose them.

Even better when the view is this good.

Higher

Natural High

Now that's the kind of powder I like.

The good stuff

Success

Never looked so good

Yeeew!

Beautiful day

And no Bono around to ruin it with a bad song...

Greener grass

Seenic

Hard to take a bad shot of this bit of land, but I'm doing my best.

Haunted

Then again

If holidays are something you want to enjoy, then sit back and relax, and see things that just don't happen in my part of the world.

White Horses

Apologies in advance

I may have taken a little trip in the not too recent past, and as a result there is a recurring theme with most of the shots for the end of July. I'm going to post them all tonight, in one hit, so if you don't want to be reminded of just how awesome it is to be on holiday, look away now.

Lonely tree

Obtuse

Check out the angles on that one!

Snowed

The trouble with taking time off work is that no-one is going to do your job while you're away. And so this little pile of papers suddenly becomes that much more critical.

Day 1007 - Photo 1007
Powder please

Innervision

It would be nice to be able to look in the mirror and see the abstract. To see the inversion of your physical, and the extroversion* of the mental.

Now if only the photo had something to do with all that.....

Day 1006 - Photo 1006
*May cause drowsiness

Sun is shining

Ever had one of those mornings where everything just works the way you planned it?

We were even nearly on time to this one....

Day 1005 - Phoot 1005
relaxed

Interweb

I think life could be viewed as a series of intertwined strands. Each of which has a defined purpose and start/end point, and is simple enough when considered in isolation.

It's only when the other cables from the rest of your life get added that suddenly life doesn't seem so plain and clear cut.

Here's to adding a few more to the tangled mess!
Day 1004 - Photo 1004
Entanglements

Straight?

Or just curved slightly off centre?
Day 1003 - Photo 1003
Vented

(g)Loom

Anything can look imposing if you portray it in the right way. It's learning how to see past the appearances and make an informed decision that's tricky.

Day 1002 - Photo 1002
Eek!

High on Life

This blog is officially back up and running. Apologies for the long downtime, hopefully it'll all have been worth it (I find out in a month or two).

And now the rush is hitting me again. I need to photog. A lot. I'm not going to try and make up for the downtime, just keep hitting a photo a day target between now and the end of the year.
So onto today's subject - reality, and escaping from it.

Escaping from reality is a term (phrase) that is becoming commonplace. Just look at a travel agents, a day spa, or an airconditioners advertising, and you'll see that you too can 'escape from reality' by simply placing a certain amound of coloured plastic in front of the right people.

But how can you escape reality? Reality is, by definition, all that is real. And so if you are escaping the real, then are you embracing the unreal? Like people addicted to World of Warcraft, or those who choose to consume recreational drugs, or even those who just like hanging from the ceiling wearing an apron backwards pretending to be bats, is the real world that bad that you simply have to live a fantasy?

And surely if you are still there, having whichever experience you have chosen (or been forced into), then surely that is still reality? Is there such a thing as unreality? In order for you to take part in something, surely your body has to be stimulated in some way by an external force? And if your body is registering this stimuli, no matter how abstract or warped it appears, then you must be in some form of reality.

I guess it all comes back to relativity, and your point of reference. If you choose to believe that everything that happens is 'real', then there can be no Escape from Reality. But I guess if you choose to believe that certain things are 'real', and that others are 'unreal', then who am I to argue otherwise? I reserve the right to disagree with you, but that doesn't necessarily make you wrong.
Perhaps it's all about things being 'real' and 'true'? The corollary of which is that the 'unreal' is also 'untrue', or fake. Does this mean my watch from Bali is Unreal? The injuries sustained during the World Cup, are they 'unreal' as well?

If this is not reality, then please don't tell me. I don't think I could handle this if it was all false.

Day 1001 - Photo 1001
Rarified Air

Placeholding

Ok, I know it's been a week since I last posted.

And I know the last months posts haven't been that great.

The reason behind this is my growing appreciation for just how long my studies are going to take to complete, and my decision to do them properly.

So for the next month or so there will be no more blog posts, until I get this bloody thesis sorted and finished.

The next blog post should be of me with a degree in my hand.

Fingers crossed.

Rush rush rush

But is it you rushing around the room, or the room rushing around you?

Or maybe the fruit is doing all the rushing, while you're just a part of the room?

Day 89 - Photo 89
Distilled Life

Blooming hell

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day,
Or stick it up thee straight away?

Day 88 - Photo 88
Undead

Just missed it

Come on class, settle down, haven't you seen the hand of god before?

(note the lack of capital letters.)

Day 87 - Photo 87
Not the messiah

More than meets the eye

Ever catch something at the edge of your field of vision, and not known whether you really saw something, or it's just your mind playing tricks on you?

Now imagine your whole day is like that.

Day 86 - Photo 86
Undepth

And crossing over to the game....

....
It's stumps, due to bad light.

Day 85 - Photo 85
Howzat?

Reach for the stars

And when you get there, keep climbing!
Day 84 - Photo 84
To Infinite....

Low-level

Look at life from another angle, and sometimes you'll see the better view.

Then again, it might just be the pavement rushing up to meet you.

Day 83 - Photo 83
Bad funk stripe

Grindstone

Some people reckon two monitors is just overkill.

I personally think it's fantastic when you're working.

Now I just need to get that second desk installed so I can get rid of the chair.....

Day 82 - Photo 82
Swamped

Gurgler

Little bit wet today. In the same way that the sun is a little bit hot, or Hitler was a little bit mean.

But it makes for some nice shots of the leaf litter. And I guess the beetles and ducks like it....

...well, the ducks that dodged the hail anyway.

Day 81 - Photo 81
Spouting

The End

Another weekend over, another week begins. Nice way to finish up though.

Day 80 - Photo 80
Peaceful Rest

Success

Is about not resting on your laurels, and taking every chance that comes your way. Better luck next time Taj.

Day 79 - Photo 79
Carve

Heat of the Moment

Could just be the heat of your life.....

Day 78 - Photo 78
Sleeping Beauty

Spinout

Those lights have been up to it again. This time I caught the computer monitors trying a dual-slalom event across the living room. The larger one was winning, but then they saw me with the camera and ran off to the background again. But I've got them on camera now. So there's no denying it.

Day 77 - Photo 77
Duality

Street

This isn't exactly Graffiti, but it's still pretty.

Day 76 - Photo 76
Painted

Acute

It has been said that your artistic leanings reflect on your mental state.

Agreed.

Day 75 - Photo 75
Pipe Dreams

Speed of Spend

It seems that as much as things are developed for improved speed and efficiency, they also seem to burn an ever-increasing hole in our pockets.

Today's subject would have cost a pretty penny back in the day, but these days it would be hard to give it away. And so the pile of equipment that has depreciated grows.

That said, it is nice to have things that work well, and are as good as you can afford. I guess that's the crux of it - living comfortably inside your means.

Day 74 - Photo 74
IDE(a)

Oh no!

Another relaxing shot. Make up your own stuff here, I'm all chilled out.

Day 73 - Photo 73
Lightly Sanded

Natural Attraction

Things often appear to happen by accident, but maybe there's a grand plan in place somewhere?

Day 72 - Photo 72
Fond Erosion

Soothing

There's something strangely relaxing about watching the waves roll in, the clouds roll by, and the hours roll away.

Day 71 - Photo 71
Chilled

Economies of Scale

If you take the smallest and largest objects on this planet, you'll find they have the same basic structure, and are similar in more ways than they are different. Mountains vs Sand Grains, Oceans vs Raindrops, Planets vs Atoms. It's all just a matter of where you're looking from.

Today's photo is a tribute to this Scaleism. If you knew the original image, you'd know this was a representation of a much smaller part of it.

But given it's a rather abstract piece, it could be a bit tricky...

Day 70 - Photo 70
Size This!

Infinite Loop

It's random rant time.

I'm not going to try and relate todays writings to any kind of higher meaning or purpose (or lower ones either for that matter). Nor is this going to be some great philosophy that life is like a sweat mark slowly building up on a keyboard, before being wiped away by the spray-on detergent of doom.

Today is simply a bit of free-writing.

right now I'm thinking of a little white rabbit sitting on a hill. You know, one of those typically English scenes, white fuzzy rabbit on the greenest of lawns. There aren't any rabbit holes around this rabbit, which means he's (yes, I've decided it's male, deal with it) either very respectful of the care and love which has been lavished on that lawn, or he's wandered a long way from the safety of the warren.

My mind twitches/blinks (something like that, I can't think of the right word to describe it), and now theres a red, fiery moat. around a lone outcrop of rock. And while the moat is all red and fiery, it's calm at the same time. Sure, the impression is that you'd probably die if you set foot in the moat. But the liquid itself is simply lapping gnetly at the old weathered rock, carefully insinuating its way into the various cracks and crevices.

Another blinktwitch, and it's a festival scene. Thousands of people thronging as a mob to the throbbing beats of a musical act on stage. The crowd a sort of barrier between the act and reality, the real world.

And all at once, the image fades into a shade of blue. Not a vibrant, exciting, electric blue. More the kind of blue you'd see after downing 10 pints while listening to a soul-wrenching blues performer. The kind of blue that just floats at the edges, and almost disappears into black at the centre.

But the centre has a smile. The warm, caring smile that is both new and familiar. The kind of smile that infects you with an inner warmth. A smile that's as much with the eyes as the mouth.

And now I will stop. For the smile has warmed me to peace.

Day 69 - Photo 69
Relationless

A light in the black

Or just a fear of the dark?

This little gem was found while driving home from an open-mic night (no I didn't sing). And only because we were lost did we even find this place.

Silver linings and all that....

Day 68 - Photo 68
Meaning Full