Friday, November 28, 2008
Perfection?
Sunset. Over Brighton. Over London. An easy decision at the end of the day ... or was it?
I had about 15 secs to spot, plan and catch this shot, whipping my new 8 megapixel camera phone out of my pocket to catch this unknown couple at the moment they wandered past the path of the setting sun over the water. I had decided to have a quick look and a listen to the sea, having returned home to the coast early on a half day. I had no plan to take photos and my camera phone was buried, switched off in my pocket.
Although I don't know them it represented so much to me in a flood of reflection/ recognition (or 'flash of recognition' would be more appropriate, given the timing of the moment). It captures so much; figuratively, the sun setting on my failed marriage and previous life in London; optimism in a new relationship looking ahead, if you will, into a golden future; I was raised by the sea and have wanted to return to the sea for years, not least since it became evident that life in London, on the personal front, showed signs of beginning to implode. Literally, this picture is the sun setting over the sea in Brighton, my new home - and it is a beautiful, happy image I think. A vindication of my gut instinct and, forgive the hyperbole, a personal sense of triumph in my decision making rising from the ashes of failure. For now anyway.
And that is the point, to come full circle. Despite the best laid plans and dreams, life has a way of making its transcience clear - sometimes bluntly and painfully. We live in moments, and when I spotted this one I realised in a split second what the feelings it evoked meant to me.
I was not standing at this vantage point. I was about 30 feet over to the left and almost level with the couple. So I am amazed I managed to see, sprint into position up the shingle, prepare the camera phone, compose and capture it in a way that has ended up pleasing me so much visually, while at the same time expressing everything I felt in that moment. It all just came together 'at
the end of the day'! Perfection.
Sunset. Over Brighton. Over London. An easy decision at the end of the day ... or was it?
I had about 15 secs to spot, plan and catch this shot, whipping my new 8 megapixel camera phone out of my pocket to catch this unknown couple at the moment they wandered past the path of the setting sun over the water. I had decided to have a quick look and a listen to the sea, having returned home to the coast early on a half day. I had no plan to take photos and my camera phone was buried, switched off in my pocket.
Although I don't know them it represented so much to me in a flood of reflection/ recognition (or 'flash of recognition' would be more appropriate, given the timing of the moment). It captures so much; figuratively, the sun setting on my failed marriage and previous life in London; optimism in a new relationship looking ahead, if you will, into a golden future; I was raised by the sea and have wanted to return to the sea for years, not least since it became evident that life in London, on the personal front, showed signs of beginning to implode. Literally, this picture is the sun setting over the sea in Brighton, my new home - and it is a beautiful, happy image I think. A vindication of my gut instinct and, forgive the hyperbole, a personal sense of triumph in my decision making rising from the ashes of failure. For now anyway.
And that is the point, to come full circle. Despite the best laid plans and dreams, life has a way of making its transcience clear - sometimes bluntly and painfully. We live in moments, and when I spotted this one I realised in a split second what the feelings it evoked meant to me.
I was not standing at this vantage point. I was about 30 feet over to the left and almost level with the couple. So I am amazed I managed to see, sprint into position up the shingle, prepare the camera phone, compose and capture it in a way that has ended up pleasing me so much visually, while at the same time expressing everything I felt in that moment. It all just came together 'at
the end of the day'! Perfection.
Don't fucking label me
you've no need to. I've done it myself! To while away the shocking commute doing something productive, have been going back through the 5 year blog archive labelling - tagging - my posts, which now appear on the right hand side.
My mind may be tiny, but it often feels cluttered. very cluttered and in the spirit of 'getting things done' and aiming to be more productive, I've seized on 'tags' as a way to try and both organise and distill the essence of things I do and am interested in. Have used a number of sites to do this: Google Notebook, Del.icio.us, Evernote, with I suppose the end goal being to synchronise and bring together all these disparate services and to find that there are a finite number of 'tags' that will define and frame all the things I am interested in.
Like life, it's a work in progress. And then over time, I could convert the lot into a tag 'cloud', and have a nice visual summary of my life, defined specifically by those things that occupied my thoughts, my time, my interests and by the people around me. An interesting empirical exercise in pure fact and evidence rather than the mental torment that is likely to grip as 'midlife' take else s hold (?!) and I like everyone seek to evaluate the sum, purpose and worth of my time on this orb. If nothing else, this visual cloud might look nice in a frame and make a perfect 50th birthday gift ... watch this space ...
you've no need to. I've done it myself! To while away the shocking commute doing something productive, have been going back through the 5 year blog archive labelling - tagging - my posts, which now appear on the right hand side.
My mind may be tiny, but it often feels cluttered. very cluttered and in the spirit of 'getting things done' and aiming to be more productive, I've seized on 'tags' as a way to try and both organise and distill the essence of things I do and am interested in. Have used a number of sites to do this: Google Notebook, Del.icio.us, Evernote, with I suppose the end goal being to synchronise and bring together all these disparate services and to find that there are a finite number of 'tags' that will define and frame all the things I am interested in.
Like life, it's a work in progress. And then over time, I could convert the lot into a tag 'cloud', and have a nice visual summary of my life, defined specifically by those things that occupied my thoughts, my time, my interests and by the people around me. An interesting empirical exercise in pure fact and evidence rather than the mental torment that is likely to grip as 'midlife' take else s hold (?!) and I like everyone seek to evaluate the sum, purpose and worth of my time on this orb. If nothing else, this visual cloud might look nice in a frame and make a perfect 50th birthday gift ... watch this space ...
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008
A picture is worth ...
well ... nothing ... kinda .. for the time being. I spotted this story this week that Google is publishing Life Magazines 130-odd year photo archive into its image search feature for all to see, for free:
"The Zapruder film of the Kennedy assassination; The Mansell Collectionfrom London; Dahlstrom glass plates of New York and environs from the1880s; and the entire works left to the collection from LIFEphotographers Alfred Eisenstaedt, Gjon Mili, and Nina Leen. These arejust some of the things you'll see in Google Image Search today."
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/life-photo-archive-available-on-google.html
And here's the direct link. Enjoy.
http://images.google.com/hosted/life
well ... nothing ... kinda .. for the time being. I spotted this story this week that Google is publishing Life Magazines 130-odd year photo archive into its image search feature for all to see, for free:
"The Zapruder film of the Kennedy assassination; The Mansell Collectionfrom London; Dahlstrom glass plates of New York and environs from the1880s; and the entire works left to the collection from LIFEphotographers Alfred Eisenstaedt, Gjon Mili, and Nina Leen. These arejust some of the things you'll see in Google Image Search today."
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/life-photo-archive-available-on-google.html
And here's the direct link. Enjoy.
http://images.google.com/hosted/life
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Wa(l)king Dead
Oh boy. Was on call last night .. TWICE. mid late eve last night then called out again at 0400 this morning .. now sitting here .. sleepless, twiddling my thumbs in hospital till my 'normal' day begins. No time/ point in going home.
Did I really sign up for this .. don't remember but if I did it must have been in blood
ps .. on a brighter note, thanks for the Birthday t-shirt Miles (logo below)
Oh boy. Was on call last night .. TWICE. mid late eve last night then called out again at 0400 this morning .. now sitting here .. sleepless, twiddling my thumbs in hospital till my 'normal' day begins. No time/ point in going home.
Did I really sign up for this .. don't remember but if I did it must have been in blood
ps .. on a brighter note, thanks for the Birthday t-shirt Miles (logo below)
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
No use asking for God's help ...
No use asking for God's help ...
'What the f*** is going on? I could lose my job. God help anyone who isin the Army, the prison service, health care, police officer or ateacher.'
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?BNP_fear_as_members_list_is_leaked&in_article_id=408430&in_page_id=34
my heart bleeds for you, you fascist w*nkers.
Anyone else curious to go online, to check the list and see if there is anyone we know - that would be something!
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Happy Birthday to me
Happy birthday TO me. Happy BIRTHDAY dear Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to ME!
37 today. Thanks in advance for any text messages, which I won't receive as I have been without a phone since mine died almost 3 weeks ago. Sony Ericsson are on the case and I hope will be providing me - after much to-ing and fro-ing - their flagship camera phone the C905. Pretty much the same as the one that crashed and burned but with an 8mp camera.
http://www.sonyericsson.com/bigpictures/Flash/Default.aspx?cc=gb&lc=en
Bit annoyed at having to pay the difference since my last phone had to go back to the factory a record 5 times in 12 months. Even the final brand new replacement died in under 6 weeks of use. Now I know I am a heavy user (of camera and web features) but I would hope that current generation phones will be able to handle our increasingly mobile demands. Avoid the SE k850i like the plague I say. Although I know a handful of people who never had a problem. I must have bizarro-magic fingers.
So anyway - have been at home in bed sick the past two days which is not the best preparation for the special day. No runs or retching this morning though so fingers crossed for a nice mellow day with M, phil, tom and louisa who have agreed to come down as planned, in spite of my lurgy.
If I am up to it - tchaikovsky/ dvorak piano concerto tonight at the Brighton Dome, which is part of the Brighton Pavilion - a theatre built in the rather lavish former stables of the pavilion built by the Prince Regent
http://www.royalpavilion.org.uk/
I propose a toast (to myself you egotistical bastard!) - 'Happiness'
N xx
Happy birthday TO me. Happy BIRTHDAY dear Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to ME!
37 today. Thanks in advance for any text messages, which I won't receive as I have been without a phone since mine died almost 3 weeks ago. Sony Ericsson are on the case and I hope will be providing me - after much to-ing and fro-ing - their flagship camera phone the C905. Pretty much the same as the one that crashed and burned but with an 8mp camera.
http://www.sonyericsson.com/bigpictures/Flash/Default.aspx?cc=gb&lc=en
Bit annoyed at having to pay the difference since my last phone had to go back to the factory a record 5 times in 12 months. Even the final brand new replacement died in under 6 weeks of use. Now I know I am a heavy user (of camera and web features) but I would hope that current generation phones will be able to handle our increasingly mobile demands. Avoid the SE k850i like the plague I say. Although I know a handful of people who never had a problem. I must have bizarro-magic fingers.
So anyway - have been at home in bed sick the past two days which is not the best preparation for the special day. No runs or retching this morning though so fingers crossed for a nice mellow day with M, phil, tom and louisa who have agreed to come down as planned, in spite of my lurgy.
If I am up to it - tchaikovsky/ dvorak piano concerto tonight at the Brighton Dome, which is part of the Brighton Pavilion - a theatre built in the rather lavish former stables of the pavilion built by the Prince Regent
http://www.royalpavilion.org.uk/
I propose a toast (to myself you egotistical bastard!) - 'Happiness'
N xx
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Inevitable questions about the most famous dog in America
Inevitable questions about the most famous dog in America
"Malia (Obama's daughter) it seems is allergic, so the search is on for a hypoallergenic hound, although the politically correct preference would be for a shelter dog - "a mutt like me" as the new president-elect put it, making light of his mixed racial heritage which is the talk of the world. "
I see my recent comments are shared by the president-elect ... minds .. think ... alike!
Thursday, November 06, 2008
a little bit of Obama for everyone
"The very things Republicans hoped would alienate him from the average American apparently made him appealing to some. As the campaign gathered pace, it seemed as though there was a little bit of Obama for everyone: the immigrant, the midwesterner, the Hawaiian, the black, the white single mother, the Christian faith, the foreign schooling, the Ivy League education and the middle-class upbringing."
sounds and feels familiar
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
I don't get all the fuss ...
What's all this nonsense about 'the first black american president'?? Have we all got collective amnesia??? What about Tom Beck?? You're 10 years too late Obama ... ; - )
What's all this nonsense about 'the first black american president'?? Have we all got collective amnesia??? What about Tom Beck?? You're 10 years too late Obama ... ; - )
Remember, Remember the 5th of November ..
So I suppose Obama has proven a little more successful than Guy Fawkes in blowing the political status quo to smithereens., non?!
Well done tom and miles for sticking it out. am on train as i type looking at updates of states taken on
http://www.270towin.com/
and have seen north carolina and indiana change colour to BLUE since logging on. so with only two states to call, barack has taken a whopping 9 states from the republicans and 112 electoral college votes.
impressive stuff. after 8 years of disdain, i feel the way i used to feel about america a long long time ago. The American Dream! Nice to see it happen in our lifetime eh.
god bless america!! and another moment for the mutts to savour x
So I suppose Obama has proven a little more successful than Guy Fawkes in blowing the political status quo to smithereens., non?!
Well done tom and miles for sticking it out. am on train as i type looking at updates of states taken on
http://www.270towin.com/
and have seen north carolina and indiana change colour to BLUE since logging on. so with only two states to call, barack has taken a whopping 9 states from the republicans and 112 electoral college votes.
impressive stuff. after 8 years of disdain, i feel the way i used to feel about america a long long time ago. The American Dream! Nice to see it happen in our lifetime eh.
god bless america!! and another moment for the mutts to savour x
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