Tag: post a week 2013

Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Out

27 Comments

acrosst the bored is out

with apologies to charles shulz

±

There is something to be said for taking a sabbatical – this may seem odd seeing that we are only two weeks in to the academic year but the idea of taking time off from those endeavours that are habitual and recurrent, the tasks that we do from some misplaced sense that they actually need to be done and that they make some difference to our daily existence, can be a good thing. This extended recess for adults can apply to anything from housework, making meals and doing laundry, chauffeur service, brushing the dog, getting dressed, answering the phone when we know it is not for us or those million things that we automatically do in the course of our jobs that we have just gotten used to and that are often taken for granted or overlooked.  The grown-ups in our direct sphere of influence can pretty much fend for themselves, in fact it might do them a world of good, so Across the Bored is (this week anyways) working to rule, not so much on strike as withholding time and effort that would be better spent on putting our own sh*t in order. 


The virtual world is no exception nor are other pursuits no matter what form they take.  When we start to ask ourselves why we are doing things, it is time to take a breath, step back and creatively refresh and regroup. 

Taking a cue from others who have done the same, for all intents and purposes, the Two Cents Tuesday Challenge is now – Out.

 

Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Routine – Week 2

7 Comments

routine 2is it hoarding if it’s organized?

☍

Half of our horde has been back in the academic grind for a week now with great success.  The courses are inspiring, the professors better than expected and the schedule, well, not everything can be perfect but it is only until December when the collegial masses get a 6 WEEK break. Nice to be young. Across the Bored took the opportunity of one less body in the house to put all the paperwork lying around from the summer in order, file the bills, catch up on correspondence and get back to the arduous process of going through 20 years of accumulated boxed ephemera that has been sitting in the warehouse.  Multitasking was going relatively well until the computer stated in no uncertain terms “Unable to save – Memory scratch disk full”. What? How is that possible? Didn’t we just go through this 2 months ago?

Odd that these files seem to take up an inordinate amount of space and much like all of that stuff in the physical storage facility, must be gotten rid of.  Story of our life that we save so much that only we are ultimately interested in and then heart-wrenchingly have to dispose of like stale left-overs or unwanted houseguests. Would that there was an easy, Zen way to deal with this phenomenon and not have to wrestle with the body-numbing paralysis that sets in whenever we turn that piece of paper or fiddly bit over and over in our hands wondering “Are we going to need this 3 months after we throw it out”?   Or worse still, the dreaded terrors of not being able to find that one thing you really really needed because in a fit of disposal anxiety you didn’t do one last triage on that box you dropped off at the Goodwill….

Do we ever learn from those things that we seem to do over and over again or does it just transform into something different but similar as time goes by? Like this fortnight’s Two Cents Tuesday Challenge, we might need to change our – Routine.

Last week we asked “How does routine appear to you?” –  The drive to town every morn, that pair of shoes always worn, wake-up calls or favourite malls, superb meals or special deals, meditation, daily prayer, yoga mats or just a love of all that …

We would love to see your vision.

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this fortnight’s challenge can be found here. Need more info – Have a look at HOW DOES THIS WORK.

HHH – Challenge

7 Comments

HHH happy

How far
from the Hardscrabble life
you Have come
Hell at the end of a Harpoon
no more
Havoc wrought with Headstrong
Hybrid Huckleberry Finns
has been
Hewn from its roots
the Heir apparent bolted
How long
were you Hunkered down
Heroic against the Hurricane
of Half-wit Hysteria
while
Hibernation Held in thrall
the Hollow Hallucinations
Hag-ridden by Hissing Hipsters
and
Hoarse coarse-mouthed Hippie chicks
who played Hit and run Hitchhiker
with Hallowed Heart
Heavy
Hobbled until soft words dripped
from lips like sweetest Honey
where
Hallelujah Howled from Hilltop
became a Hymn
and He was
suddenly
Happy to be Home again

♥

Head over to the entries in Frizztext’s HHH – Challenge.

Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Routine

13 Comments

routine

back in the saddle

♞

At the end of June, the summer always stretches before us long and languid. The first weeks of July chafe with the heat of expectancy, vacations and moving days, summer camps and road trips all tumbling into each other as fast as can be and by the middle of August we spend the last few mild evenings either happily reflecting on vacation time well spent or wondering whether we might have gotten more on the to-do list accomplished while good weather permitted.


Back from the West coast, our garden is lush but weed-ridden and, if dust is any indication, household items have not moved an inch from where we left them. No matter – the soft light of September beckons, the air smells different, less green while awaiting the harvest and we have a new set of projects, ideas and motivations to carry forward into the winter. We try to ease back into the habitual slowly, soaking up the sun on the patio and lingering along the not-yet frantic city streets but underneath it all, and oddly enough this season, we don’t mind that it is over.


The Two Cents Tuesday Challenge puts forth that, as much as wishes for the golden spontaneity of summer are great, on a year-long time frame things would probably fall apart without our – Routine.

“How does routine appear to you?” –  The drive to town every morn, that pair of shoes always worn, wake-up calls or favourite malls, superb meals or special deals, meditation, daily prayer, yoga mats or just a love of all that …

We would love to see your vision.

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, here are some guidelines for the challenge: HOW DOES THIS WORK?

  1.  I will post some commentary on a random topic that pops into my head (such as the above) and then ask you to respond on the same.
  2. Your point of view on the current week’s challenge can take any form: a quote, a motto or saying, an essay, poem or opinion of yours or attributed to someone else, a piece of music, a song, a video, a work of art, photograph, graffiti, drawing or scribble – but it has to be about the topic!
  3. Please, don’t just link to an old post… challenge yourself.
  4. The Challenge will be open for 14 days (there will be a reminder post at the 7 day mark) after which I will post another.
  5. ENJOY, have FUN and TELL your friends and fellow bloggers.

 SO – Create your Two Cents Tuesday Challenge post

  1. Then add a link to your blog in my comment box.
  2. To make it easy for others to check out your post, title your blog post “Two Cents Tuesday Challenge” and add the same as a tag.
  3. If you would like your reader to see what others are presenting for the same challenge, add a link to the “Two Cents Tuesday” challenge on your own blog.
  4. Feel free to pick up your badge on the Two Cents Tuesday Challenge page
  5. Remember to Follow My Blog to get your weekly (hopefully) reminders.

Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Calm – Week 2

5 Comments

2 calm

zen and the art of the tourist

∀

Glorious sunshine after a cold, grey dawn brought out the masses along the waterfront yesterday and we decided to join them in a decidedly un-local move.  Having come to this summer destination for as long as we can remember, we have become inured to the throngs spilling off the cruiseships and the ever-changing spectacle of festivals and street shows designed to please.  There were a few faces that had been around for a while who put on a great show for families with small children and posed good-naturedly for photos with random people they would never see again and so we waited until the crowd had moved on, threw some coins into the sturdy white bucket and asked if we could take a photo. Not only were we rewarded with a smile and a bit of conversation but a couple of hugs thrown in for good measure. Just what the doctor ordered to lift our spirits.

The life of the busker has been co-opted by local government to become an intrinsic part of the summer tourist trade. Licenses for prime harbour real-estate and the bustling shopping strip now require an initial outlay of hard-earned cash; paperwork and schedules replace once easy decisions to just get up, out to make visitors to the city smile and perhaps scrape together a few bucks in an afternoon. All inclusive vacations have made it hard for those who earn a living with their talent on the streets. Once-a-year travellers don’t always understand the art of outdoor entertainment, they see it and the artists who perform as just another part of the scenery, a living, breathing bit of pleasant backdrop and rarely as people with families, dreams and often, a mission in life. Just like us.

When faced with unbending rules and regulations and those events in our daily existence that give us pause, we must, like this fortnight’s Two Cents Tuesday Challenge and Plasterman, attempt to stay  – Calm.

Last week we asked “What does calm look like to you?” –  A placid lake or crystal snowflake, curled up cats, meditation mats, denim blues or an afternoon snooze…

We would love to see your vision.

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this fortnight’s challenge can be found here. Need more info – Have a look at HOW DOES THIS WORK.

FFF – Challenge

5 Comments

FFF found

Face Forward
Flanks protected
Flailing
in some Frenzied Fabrication
Flash burnt
From Fanning the Flames
that leap and Flare
then Fade soft Flamenco taps
Far into the night
Flasks and Fair trade
Factory Flatliners
Fainthearted becomes Fair spoken
Faced by Fearless
Flawless Falcon-gentle
Flickering Faith takes Flight
Feather soft Fast asleep
Falls away
like sand from Footsteps
and becomes Found

≡

Ferret out the Fantastic in the entries of Frizztext’s FFF – Challenge.

Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Calm

23 Comments

calm

into the mystic
❈

There are certain locales on earth that have a special something, be it the freshness of the air, the glorious colour of the fields or the crisp coolness of the forest. Sometimes, they can be found in the lovely rooms of a tranquil hotel, the galleries of a museum, on a piece of driftwood by the sea or even on one’s favourite chair in the garden. These destinations appeal to an inner sensibility that longs for quiet away from the hustle and bustle of our daily lives.

 

Summer seems to be the perfect time to find that little bit of respite – whether it is a conventional vacation filled with kids and dogs, relatives and friends or in the serenity of a solitary retreat, ten days or one, it is in these times and places that all the data that invades our very being gets subconsciously sorted and stowed to be retrieved when our days get back to their routine. The Two Cents Tuesday Challenge asserts that everyone needs to find that moment to take a breath, to restore the balance that nourishes, to be  – Calm.

 

“What does calm look like to you?” –  A placid lake or crystal snowflake, curled up cats, meditation mats, denim blues or an afternoon snooze…

We would love to see your vision.

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, here are some guidelines for the challenge: HOW DOES THIS WORK?

  1.  I will post some commentary on a random topic that pops into my head (such as the above) and then ask you to respond on the same.
  2. Your point of view on the current week’s challenge can take any form: a quote, a motto or saying, an essay, poem or opinion of yours or attributed to someone else, a piece of music, a song, a video, a work of art, photograph, graffiti, drawing or scribble – but it has to be about the topic!
  3. Please, don’t just link to an old post… challenge yourself.
  4. The Challenge will be open for 14 days (there will be a reminder post at the 7 day mark) after which I will post another.
  5. ENJOY, have FUN and TELL your friends and fellow bloggers.

 SO – Create your Two Cents Tuesday Challenge post

  1. Then add a link to your blog in my comment box.
  2. To make it easy for others to check out your post, title your blog post “Two Cents Tuesday Challenge” and add the same as a tag.
  3. If you would like your reader to see what others are presenting for the same challenge, add a link to the “Two Cents Tuesday” challenge on your own blog.
  4. Feel free to pick up your badge on the Two Cents Tuesday Challenge page
  5. Remember to Follow My Blog to get your weekly (hopefully) reminders.