The trees here have finally decided to give up their summer brights for a more suitable autumn wardrobe. Even Nature likes a make-over once in a while…
Tag: urban landscape
Weekly Photo Challenge: Express Yourself
For all the writers, artists and actors
slogging through another day in the wrong job to make ends meet
Find inspiration in the entries of the Weekly Photo Challenge: Express Yourself
Weekly Photo Challenge: Serenity
Even the sound of our breath
can be too loud for serenity
Be calm with the entries in the Weekly Photo Challenge: Serenity
Travel theme: Laughter
Waiting for the bus:
stupid is as stupid does
⁈
Snicker your way through the entries of Where’s my backpack?’s challenge
Travel theme: Laughter
Travel theme: Above
modern ivory towers
⩧
Get on top of the entries in Where’s my backpack?’s challenge
Travel theme: Above
D words
D is for Door
within or without
Diminished by time
Darkened by Doubt
rattled, avoided
closed or awoken
the last sound heard
like a soft word spoken
Decrepit, Delightful
Distant or near
Divulged and Defended
passed through
Disappear
⫒
Distill the entries in Frizztext’s A-Z Challenge: D words.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Zigzag
suspicions were
that lost mail
floated away
to some dun-coloured bin
in the far recesses
of an alternate universe
post office
now we know
it zigzags
straight
to the alleys
to become bright
decoration
for marauders
of all kinds
⋛
Go up and down the entries in the Weekly Photo Challenge: Zigzag.
Travel Theme: Meeting Places
north, south, east, west
coming from
or going to
we are usually on our way
to meet someone
do something
be somewhere
sometime
⨒
Make contact in the entries of Where’s my backpack?’s Travel Theme: Meeting Places.
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Fire or Season of Summer
it must have seemed a good idea at the time:
keep the jollity flowing well into the new year
until crisp as tinder
where but a breath
sends needles spiralling to the floor
like lost good will
fanning the flames of disaster
the task at hand is well nigh
forsooth, ’tis christmas in july
♨︎
Heat things up with the entries of
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Fire or Season of Summer.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Relic
poor george has seen better days
≏
Remember what has gone before in the entries of the Weekly Photo Challenge: Relic.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Contrast
the city screams
for distinction
while bentleys and bicycles
battle for supremacy
high-priced whores and hipsters
haggle over who will win
the race, the game
the housing crunch
in a soulless search
to leave their stamp
on the door
in a town
where everyone is an artist
≑
Make disparate parts whole in the entries of the Weekly Photo Challenge: Contrast.
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Crooked and Squiggly Lines
Not stylistically harmonious but still serviceable
～
Wrap yourself around the entries of
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Crooked and Squiggly Lines.
Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Surprise
almost uprooted:
good thing we believe in the procrastination method of weeding…
Across the Bored can’t remember which year it was that Miss Z insisted daisies would be the perfect potted plant swaying in the breeze beside our door but we do distinctly remember pulling out the dried brown husks of their summer daintiness once upon a frosty day in late October and pitching them into the front flower bed. They had been surprisingly high maintenance despite their hardiness, much like Miss Z, requiring much hydration, daily rotation, some artful pruning and a watchful eye to make sure they didn’t go off in all directions.
We can’t say they were spectacular nor did they deliver as many blooms as we had hoped to make little rustic bouquets from and that was pretty much the end of that. Until this very late spring when we espied some new previously unidentified growth next to the rather large seeding dandelion plant and the oriental lilies pushing their way through the soil. Our first thought was to pull it all out by the roots but then we got distracted by something more pressing and walked off. A week later the Two Cents Tuesday Challenge was hauling the recycling bin out to the curb when – Surprise – the weeds had bloomed overnight into quite the pretty little floral display…
“How does surprise look to you?” – Awkward or elated, with a bang or for the bin, elegant or understated, sweet and delicious, with a side of sin… 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?
- 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.
- 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!
- Please, don’t just link to an old post… challenge yourself.
- 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.
- ENJOY, have FUN and TELL your friends and fellow bloggers.
SO – Create your Two Cents Tuesday Challenge post
- Then add a link to your blog in my comment box.
- 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.
- 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.
- Feel free to pick up your badge on the Two Cents Tuesday Challenge page
- Remember to Follow My Blog to get your weekly (hopefully) reminders.
Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Silly
really? i’m assuming that couch is for the hordes of people waiting for a table…
It was sheer disbelief that caught us unable to capture the preceding half of the photo above. There, set up on a patch of astroturf along one of the busiest thoroughfares, was a cluster of suitably summery umbrellas with too-small tables and uncomfortable chairs underneath: even more bizarre was that there were people actually eating in this spot. The proximity of a bike lane lending a little distance to regularly passing delivery trucks (bio-diesel or not) and the strategically placed potted palms adding ambience were perhaps a factor in making this the latest fashionable lunch spot but we just didn’t (and still don’t) get it. Has the Health Inspector paid a visit to ensure those water pitchers have covers to guard against passing pigeons? Do we really need some freshly ground pepper to go with an exhaust-cured wagyu burger? Uummm, no…. Evidently someone has convinced the administration of our uber-trendy town that everyone loves dinner and a show so what better place to be seen noshing on an overpriced Caesar salad than on the sidewalk not even arm’s length from on-coming traffic?
We thought this was a one-off but a scant five minutes later cruising down a side street there were not one, but two, similar yet different incarnations of this culinary establishment abomination: the roadside barge reducing the normally congested one-way two-lane traffic hell down to barely one. We could have grabbed that smoked-meat to go from our seat on the bus. Restaurateurs in these parts must have all been struck with cabin fever after a too long winter and banded together one night for some hard drinking and deliberation. Let’s take it outside they said, eat on the street, a platform with some tables, an awning and we’re all set! Never mind the waiters having to dodge pedestrians rushing back to the office – it’s summer, hurry up, get outside, it may not last! What’s not to love?
The Two Cents Tuesday Challenge this fortnight would like to investigate all that is – Silly – good or bad, absurd or inane, downright funny or incredibly unbelievable. Shouldn’t be too much of a stretch for there is a whole lot going on out there that could easily fall into this category…
“What is silly?” – A cartoon character or politician’s gaff, a two year old’s antics, a joke or a laugh, a funky fad or fashion craze, an old-timer’s tale or those newfangled ways… 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?
- 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.
- 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!
- Please, don’t just link to an old post… challenge yourself.
- 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.
- ENJOY, have FUN and TELL your friends and fellow bloggers.
SO – Create your Two Cents Tuesday Challenge post
- Then add a link to your blog in my comment box.
- 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.
- 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.
- Feel free to pick up your badge on the Two Cents Tuesday Challenge page
- Remember to Follow My Blog to get your weekly (hopefully) reminders.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Everyday Life
Rounding a corner to surprise
This week’s Photo Challenge: Everyday Life brought to mind a set of pictures that hadn’t been looked at in over a year. In need of a quick pre-winter holiday breather last December, we had managed to catch a few sunny days in San Francisco. It is always interesting to revisit places where one has not been in awhile, to see the changes in the urban landscape and how the vibe of the city has been transformed by those who live, work and play there. SF is very much like our own melting-pot of a metropolis in that it is full of wonderful, different things to see and do but we were very much saddened and shocked to find the economy had taken an aggressive and often brutal toll on many who seem to have no voice in their own society. An relaxed afternoon spent wandering and taking photos took an unexpected turn when we wandered into the back of a demonstration against big business, bad banks and the evils of capitalism. The desire to find an escape route, quickly, from the angry crowd was overpowering and yet at the same time the protest was oddly appealing in that it represented many of the issues that we held truly important: decent jobs and housing, a good, accessible education, medical care at affordable prices – not really all that much for a 21st century democracy, or any country for that matter. So, like the protesters, we straddle a very thorny fence: on one side the weight of real life bears down upon us and on the other is our continued hope for a better future. Where we land is all about the actions we take, and the decisions we make, every day.
On a lighter note, and thankful once more that we are in a position to be able to pursue what we are actually good at, here is a glimpse at the first image that came to mind when presented with the challenge:
What real life is actually like on a daily basis
While the world revolves and people go about the business of everyday life, some of us work remotely, solitary, with our tools close at hand – not even needing to go any place in particular to get our daily tasks accomplished…
ACROSS THE BORED 