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 |   The simplicity of my day to day. |
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This is where I write my thoughts, feelings and my daily trials, tribulations and happy things
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Prompt: Photography Photography used to be an art. Nowadays, however, everyone is a photographer, especially with selfies, thanks to technology. What do you think about the ease that lets people take photographs and selfies in our day compared to several decades ago and the feeling that emanates from the photographs of the bygone days and those of today? I’ve thought about this often. I remember when having a photograph taken was something special. People of my age had few photos of themselves from childhood but we treasure the ones we have. We’ve seen them so many times each one is imprinted in our minds. There would be the first one taken as a baby. Probably not taken until the child could at least sit up. Many others would be incidental, where you’d be in the background of a wedding or some event. These photographs would all be taken by a specialist photographer brought in for the occasion. My favourite one of me as a child is walking along the seafront in England with my parents, two brothers and grandfather. There would be roaming photographers taking photos, asking if you wanted one. I think they’d only pretended to take one and then if interest was shown they’d take one for real. You’d wait impatiently for the time the image would be ready to pick up from the pier or another venue and the family would all ooh and ahh over it. When we had a camera when I was first married, photos would be taken with a wind-on camera. After the film was all used up, the film would be taken to the chemists or posted off for development. A week or so later you’d receive them back in an envelope. So exciting! Invariably there’d be disappointment as the quality of amateur photography back then was pretty dismal. But the photos would be placed in an album to be seen by generations. So different from today when everything is photographed, even what you’re eating is snapped and shared on social media. Kid’s lives are documented 24/7. But are those images ever even looked at again after they’ve been shared? As for the selfie, don’t get me started. If I, as a teenager looked in the mirror as many times a day as teenagers today take photos of themselves, I would have been accused of vanity and told to go and do something useful.😂 |
Prompt: Please use these random words: exile, physics, land, rifle, bald, system and outfit. I’ve had a realisation lately, it’s one I’ve always known on some level but when one suddenly becomes incapacitated by illness or an accident there is a feeling of being in exile which is sort of unexplainable. You feel as if you’ve arrived in a new land, a different country even. I’m unsure if physics comes into play in this instance but it’s quite unsettling. Life has continued on for everyone you know and yes, they all ask about you and show love and concern but still one feels different. Even the outfit you may choose to wear on any given day has changed. It no longer matters what you look like it’s comfort you require. Pyjamas are the look of my day and slippers. I rifle through my undies drawer for my most loose pair so they won’t dig into my operation wound. It’s the new system or new world order. Get out of bed, shower, pyjamas or something as glamorous back on and begin physio exercises in a desperate attempt to rejoin my previous life. I’ve been lying around the place so long I’ve probably worn a bald patch on the back of my head. |
Prompt: "A brain dump allows you to clear your head and have free space in your mind...writing down ideas with a brain dump is a great way to get the creative juices flowing." In what ways do you "dump" your brain? My poor brain has needed more than a ‘Brain Dump’ lately after getting concussed. I now know what it feels like when people say things such as, “my head is full of cotton wool.” I literally haven’t been able to think straight for the last four weeks. I tried to say something to my doctor about being discharged from hospital and could even think of the word ‘discharged.’ She told me about concussion and what it does to the brain. Fortunately one day this week I felt a difference. It was as if fresh air had entered my head. Maybe it was the swelling suddenly decreasing. Anyway back to ways of clearing the brain other than bashing it on a door frame! Lists are my go to. If it’s written down where I can access it, then it’s out of my thoughts and I can concentrate on other things. Going for a walk in nature is my next trick. I can walk and think and usually can arrive at a solution if one is required. Trees are a balm to my soul, I lift my head and stare at the tops of the trees, watch the swaying branches and the birds which live in them and am instantly de-stressed. I can get the same affect from waves, but trees are all around me and easily accessed, whereas I need to drive forty minutes to a beach. Singing is another way I clear my mind. I belong to a choir and singing with others is simply the best way of clearing the mind from all worries, even if it’s for just an hour. Even driving in traffic can make one forget as one attempts to stay alive. It’s not a stress free experience though and not one I would recommend. The worst thing is to sit indoors on your own and to worry. That never did any good.  |
I think Bhutan sounds an amazing place to visit. A balm for the soul. In this world of rush, rush and busy, busy, a week or two of peace sounds amazing. I love the idea of Buddhism but I’m afraid I could never live up to its ideals and philosophy. In simplistic terms, to say one lived a Buddhist way of life, one would never harm a living creature. I have a friend who has dedicated her life to the Buddhist way of thinking and she won’t even kill a mouse, rat, fly or ant. But I’m afraid the idea of a rat being in my house and just letting it live its best life is simply too much for me. I’ve never heard my friend say one bad thing about anyone either. When her husband left her for another woman she was obviously hurt and confused but the way she handled herself, refusing to stoop to his level and call him names, was inspiring. Although she calmly went about ensuring he didn’t get away with her share of their assets. Just like a calm assassin! Bhutan is supposed to be a place of happiness, although I’m sure everyone has their share of troubles, even there. Visitors to the Kingdom are kept to a minimum, ensuring their way of life isn’t too disrupted which happens to almost all other tourist-driven countries and destinations. There must be something special about being so near to Heaven which gives that feeling of being special. I hope it remains that way forever. |
Please use these words in your entry today: Mother, accurate, handy, relevance, reckless, swop, fork, and accountable. My dear mother was a stickler for good manners. Fork in the left hand, knife in the right. I now see that many people swop their fork into their right hands when transferring their food from the plate to mouth. Perhaps it’s in America this is more prevalent. Being left-handed myself I always held the belief that everyone ate left-handed! Is this an accurate observation or is this an example of old-fashioned etiquette and has no relevance today? Obviously, it makes more sense to use your right hand for food transferral if one is right-handed. Especially when attempting to get a forkful of peas from plate to mouth, one would be reckless to attempt it with the least dominant hand. Besides table manners we should all be accountable for our actions. Respect seems to be on the wane, especially in schools toward their teachers. Sometimes I think it would be handy for the teachers to regain the upper hand and to be allowed to implement punishments which fit the crime. I never believed in corporal punishment but a rap over the knuckles now and again wouldn’t go amiss. |
BCoF shorter prompt: We're going to be exploring this location. Your job is to write a review. Your choice raving or dreadful. Have fun. Welcome to my home town since 1972. Back then it was simply a big country town. Virtually no traffic and the crime rate was almost non existent. Housing was cheap; having emigrated from the UK meant our money doubled overnight. (A pound was worth twice as much as a dollar) We purchased our first home here in Perth for $17,000 and today one can’t purchase a similar home for under a million. Perth is a busy city now, spreading North to South, mainly sticking close to the coast. We live East of the city in the hill suburbs where we are surrounded by bush and trees. We live only about thirty kilometres from the CBD. but rarely go there. At Christmas last year for my husband’s eightieth birthday we stayed in a hotel in the city and like a couple of country mice rediscovered our home city. It really is beautiful, the Swan river runs through the city and it’s used each day by commuters going to other side to work by ferry. Skiing is popular as well as rowing, yachting, fishing etc. The climate is what’s called Mediterranean but is definitely warming. The winter months are very mild and that’s when we get our rainfall, but never enough of it. Perth is known as the most isolated city in the world and we wouldn’t have it any other way. We are very lucky to call it home. |
Prompt: Weave us a tale about an opal heist. Although I’ve never been to Cooper Pedy, all Australians know about this weird and desolate place. Today’s prompt made me smile as I wrote a short story about an Opal heist of sorts in February last year for a contest, but I’m unsure which one. I really don’t think I could do better than the hours I spent on writing that. So if anyone is remotely interested in reading The Last Vein this is the link.
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BCoF smaller prompt is about Australian literature: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_literature Scroll through the different sections and discuss things you know about authors and the topic they wrote about. I didn’t arrive in this ‘sunburnt country, a land of flooding rains…’ until I was twenty eight years old. I brought with me an ingrained Britishness and barely had time in those early years to appreciate my new home. It was so different from ‘home.’ I’d been raised on English literature and authors. Truth be told, I felt as if I’d been taken back in time, as if I’d stepped on a plane at Heathrow and dropped in a backwater. I’d even left colour television and reverted to black and white. And once or twice we experienced racial discrimination. Poms we were called as were our children. Often said in jest but with an undercurrent of ill will and doubt as to why we had come and even told ‘maybe it would be good if you went back to where you came from.’ So I clung on to my Britishness, our superior novelists, our great classical authors, for many years. My children were brought up on Enid Blighton, Noddy and Big Ears and all the Tales of Peter Rabbit. So it wasn’t until my children learned poems by Banjo Patterson and others at school, I even gave them merit. I’ve not ever been a great reader of Australian authors until very recently. I loved Cloudstreet by Tim Winton and Breath by the same author. Tim lives very close to where we live and is an anvid environmentalist. My son, who was born here, said to me yesterday how thankful he was that his Dad and I uprooted ourselves from our family and everything familiar which allowed him and his sisters to grow up and raise their families here. Good to know😂 So I read mostly Australian contemporary authors now. Stories of Australia as it is today. I love nothing more than listening to Bush poetry written by those masters of the craft like Banjo Patterson, who tell of life as it was when this country was being pioneered by people of every race and creed. Of course the Australian Aboriginal people are the oldest continuous race in the world. Hopefully their Dreamtime stories will live on forever. ‘ |
| Please use these fun words in your entry today: reactor, sorcery, reality, tension, nuances, patronize, and forfend, (In case you're wondering forfend relates to some kind of real or pretended danger. Sometimes in comedic writing it appears as heaven forfend as a substitute for heaven forbid.) Have fun! In Australia although we mine and export uranium there are no Nuclear Power Plants. Although there is a push to build some as another source of energy in this overheating climate. I don’t understand how they work, it’s like sorcery to me. All I know is the reactor is at the heart of the power plant and it’s when it overheats that can forfend danger. The reality is we will eventually have to rely on Nuclear energy in the future. I’m sure there are still Climate Change denyers everywhere, but I’ve found it’s best to not get into political discussions with anyone. For instance, people may say they agree with one’s point of view, but you can tell by the slight nuances in their tone they are only being patronising and one can feel the tension in the air. |
BCoF smaller prompt: Let this quote inspire your entry: “ i had a dream when I was 22 that someday i would go to the region of ice and snow and go on and on till i came to one of the poles of the earth”― Ernest Shackleton Have you ever dreamed about seeing one of the poles? Where's your ideal dream place? This entry needs to be minimum of 100 words. I’ve always had a dream that someday I would travel from wherever I may be to see Niagara Falls. Ever since I was a very small child I’ve been overwhelmed by huge bodies of water. Large waves would scare me and until this day I can’t turn my back on the ocean. So when I discovered a place such as Niagara even existed and heard the stories of bravado or stupidness of the people who would dare to go over the edge in a barrel, I couldn’t believe it. The power of endless water, a never ending amount of water suddenly coming to the edge of its journey and falling, falling down to the river below still terrifies and thrills. When we married so many years ago I expressed my desire to one day to go and see Niagara Falls for myself. It was a pipe dream, we hardly had enough money to feed ourselves. But it’s always been a one-day. dream. So many of our compatriots have been. We’ve seen their videos and photographs and I’ve been envious. This may sound like a strange destination to desire so much as most of you who read this are at least in the right hemisphere but from here in Australia it’s a mighty long way. Anyway needless to say after nearly sixty years of marriage we still haven’t been to Niagara. I don’t think it will happen now. But I still love waterfalls and may have to be content with the ones more accessible. |
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I know, selfies are crazy! The sheer amount shared is wild- can you imagine how many they take that they don't share? 
So sorry you're dealing with all this. 
