Tag: weekly photo challenge

Weekly Photo Challenge: Illumination

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bus shelter

in darkness one finds light reflected

How many of us believe in coincidence? Its dictionary definition – in which events or conditions that are closely related by time, space, form, or other associations which appear unlikely to bear a relationship occur at one time apparently by mere chance – can in itself be puzzling.

Statisticians note in dry, withered tones that synchronicity is inevitable and often less remarkable than it appears intuitively but it is nonetheless marvellously strange that the photograph now being entered in a challenge about light on the 11th day of this month – and that had lingered in a folder titled “future blog pix” waiting for just the right moment to appear in the multiverse – was taken the eve of December 11th last year, the very same day Across the Bored posted the Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Illumination.

Hmm.

Trip the light fantastic with this week’s entries at the Weekly Photo Challenge: Illumination.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Resolved

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to do

how long have these been here?

Everyone knows that bad habits are hard to break but those that may masquerade as good ones are sometimes even more difficult. What once upon a time seemed like frivolity, a dalliance, a minor amusement, can become addiction, obsession, a time-sucking void upon whose edge we teeter precariously while all else falls away into the blackness of eternity.

So with that in mind, in an effort to fit as much creative productivity into 24 hours while still managing to get some sleep, attend to the quotidian demands of real life and retain some semblance of sanity without losing too many bits, Across the Bored resolves to:

  • Keep posting what the Muses hurl at us
  • Continue participating in the challenges to which we have become accustomed
  • Visit, like, reply to and thank our followers, readers and casual passers-by as much as humanly possible
  • Visit at least 5 “new” blogs a week

BUT

We also find ourselves having to:

So not bad in all, nothing all of us can’t live with and hopefully just as entertaining…

Find as many visual declarations as there are days in the New Year at the Weekly Photo Challenge: Resolved.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Surprise

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naughty

One of the nice things about Christmas
(and any other time of year for that matter)
is that you can make people forget the past with a present

This next week promises to be full of revelations, some we will be ecstatic over, others not so much.  Long before the 25th, this canine was more than happy having sniffed out his bonus badly hidden in an unzipped suitcase.

The unexpected comes in many forms at the Weekly Photo Challenge: Surprise.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Changing Seasons

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toad

Off to find a place to sleep… and perchance to dream

“We love to think in winter, as we walk over the snowy pastures, of those happy dreamers that lie under the sod, of dormice and all that race of dormant creatures, which have such a superfluity of life enveloped in thick folds of fur, impervious to cold. Alas, the poet too is in one sense a sort of dormouse gone into winter quarters of deep and serene thoughts, insensible to surrounding circumstances; his words are the relation of his oldest and finest memory, a wisdom drawn from the remotest experience. Other men lead a starved existence, meanwhile, like hawks, that would fain keep on the wing, and trust to pick up a sparrow now and then.”
Henry David Thoreau– A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers (1849)

Find out how others see the passing of the solstices at the Weekly Photo Challenge: Changing Seasons.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Thankful

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Yes, we did get snow!

This week has been both chaotic and calm, a series of days where lots gets done but nothing seems achieved – could be worse.  American Thanksgiving has reminded us to be both grateful and content, but in truth this is something that should be a part of our daily lives. The Weekly Photo Challenge: Thankful would have us reflect on “good things in (our) life” – from where we sit those are almost too many in number, a laundry list of how lucky we are to be in this place in this time.  We should add to that canon all the experiences, all the elements that have come together in our particular sphere of influence to make us who we are – no matter what type of adjective we use to describe their condition.

So on that note, if there was only one thing to be thankful for at this precise minute in time, it would be you – the 100 plus followers and many readers of Across the Bored – you who read and laugh, comment and disagree, present a new perspective and point us in directions we may not have ventured otherwise.  Thank you.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Renewal – Urban

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A fascination with graffiti and architecture combines for the Weekly Photo Challenge: Renewal – Urban.  Talk about the changing face of the city in some circles and you’ll either be met with suspicious glares, get embroiled in a heated discussion about the lack of civic leaders’ adequate foresight or will be pleasantly surprised by the rehabilitation of a down and out neighbourhood.  A vision, conception, the wrangling of red-tape and public consultation,the first scarily destructive steps taken towards revitalization – all these are but part of the protracted birthing pains leading up to the awakening of a unique community. Like a newborn child, the shell of this building only hints at what it could possibly become.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Foreign

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One of these things is different from the others….

This week’s  Photo Challenge: Foreign opens up a whole world of images with great visual impact. Although the text on this wall-sized butcher’s sign needed translation, the graphic content was fuel for a hot debate between travellers to ShenZhen.  Unpalatable to many of the group, vegetarians and carnivores alike, it proved once again that when travelling everything is relative – a matter of taste, so to speak – and that, like a good book or film, the enjoyment lies in our suspension of belief.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Silhouette

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to new ideas…

The learning curve has been a little steeper than usual this week.  Here, all things tech are absorbed at a pretty much need-to-know speed, manuals and instruction books a luxury for those few minutes when there are no deadlines or last minute tasks.  iphone, ipad, laptop, the computer itself with all its magic programs, the big camera (or “my baby” as Miss Z covetously likes to call it), each has its own universe of creative possibilities but also the caveat that you have to figure out how to get there.  This week’s Photo Challenge: Silhouette arrived in the middle of a work-related road trip to the wilds of Ontario. Yahoo! No archives to consult, a tight schedule and wi-fi became the borders to cross.

Out of the city and into the trees

Silhouette is not an easy challenge – it is a way of seeing we often bypass in favour of close inspection of the thing itself.  It is the shadow, the outline, the impression left by complex forms that sometimes says more.  Toying around with the iphone proved artistic salvation. Who knew one could get quite lovely results through the window of a fast-moving car in less than ideal conditions or just by pointing at the sky and hoping for the best?

Weekly photo Challenge: Big

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Anyone remember Devo? Close your eyes, flash back to the 80s and listen to the words…

“I am a (wo)man with a mission and yes, I’m in a big mess”

The blogosphere resounds this week with a wild variety of pics for the Weekly Photo Challenge: Big. Our household vibrates with largeness of a different kind – the ever-expanding, threatening to swallow one whole, can’t get a handle on kind of volume that results from  its occupants less than domestic skills and acquisitive tendencies.  We are all, by nature, collectors: books and paper ephemera, photos, slides, paintings, shoes, action figures (don’t ask), silver oddments, bits collected on trips, the list goes on. While it makes for an interesting nest and provides many a topic of conversation for first-time guests, it does entail some time-consuming curating.

Miss Z takes great pleasure in saying that our house is more organized, cleaner and “way better” than those of her friends and while this may be true and is some small consolation, we are still overwhelmed by ….. a big mess.

Big pile of laundry: not mine – at least it’s clean

This particular Monday arrived with a big thumping of construction equipment down the street accompanied by the barking of the big dog making a big deal about the big cat that likes to harass him.  A big argument about the correct way to compost got things off to a big start and now a big pot of chili sits simmering on the stove while a big pile of laundry slowly gets done and a big pile of ironing increases hourly. A big window full of emails to be answered and notifications to view could have been a big headache but were softened by a big cappuccino. So it is only a blog about Big to finish with…

Ample are the resources at hand and
Astronomic the patience needed to endure
Bear-sized muddy footprints
across the floor;
Colossal are the olives plunging
Deep into the pot
Enormous;
Formidable are those whose efforts
Gargantuan become even more
Heroic in the retelling;
Immense are the skies above,
the stars a
King-sized,
Larger-than-life
blanket to wrap you in;
Monolithic proportions abound
around us
Newsworthy, noteworthy
Oversized and over-promoted
Preposterous art;
Queen-sized media
Rotund in its
Stupendous glory
a 21st century
Titanic of information so
Unbelievable, so
Voluminous in its pervasiveness
yet
Wide-ranging are the possibilities…

Weekly Photo Challenge: Happy – Part 1

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Perfect every time

Thank G*d for small blessings.  We have been cranky, overworked, put upon and somewhat under the weather as far as inspiration goes this last week but luckily, this week’s Photo Challenge: Happy arrives just in time for our Canadian Thanksgiving weekend celebration. It is, like most things and ultimately, all about a state of mind – be it brief or prolonged, which we can measure against our own often high standards or those of the people that surround us. This Sunday, everyone is very happy with a groaning board of tasty treats and a plump, organic bird prepared with a few additions according to Gordon Ramsay’s Christmas Turkey recipe (which, by the way, is never fail mouth-wateringly moist and even better in a convection oven). So family sated, desserted and all gone home by a decent hour, I am happy it is over. A VPR radio broadcast last year offered solutions for dealing with holiday stress, especially for those who suffer from self-inflicted performance anxiety and are their own worst critics: Relax, for in the end, our best efforts are often better than that and only we really know the difference…..

Weekly Photo Challenge: Mine

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Well, this pretty much sums it up…

All the best intentions were laid waste for the Weekly Photo Challenge: Mine when the camera to be used stated in incontrovertible and eerily prescient terms “Warning! Battery is exhausted.” Another device could have been used but time, like usual, being of the essence necessitated a reformulation of an answer to  “What is mine?”

A list was tallied and the results were surprising:

  • Jewellery (good and otherwise) – not since Miss Z has reached an age where she can be trusted not to lose or break any of it
  • Shoes – the dog would argue otherwise
  • Clothing – much of it is only temporarily in the closet
  • Art that is hanging around – anything collected usually belonged to someone else and will eventually be handed down to another
  • Books – we are librarians at best
  • Photos, slides, film and assorted media – has turned into a family affair with more than one person disputing ownership of a work that resulted from multiple cameras all in the same place at the same time
  • All that stuff in the warehouse – at least 75% of it is definitely not mine
  • All that stuff in the studio – we won’t go there today
  • Money – in one hand out the other
  • the Dog – he is his own master as he seems to do as he pleases
  • the Ancestors – claimed by a large crew some known some not

So what is really mine? Memories, all those those crazy ideas, lazy day dreamings and creative brainwaves, world-changing inventions formulated but never realized, brilliant musings and flashes of genius; everything I ever learned or heard or read about rolling around in my skull. Knowledge.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Solitary – 2

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I know he’s there

Solitary has as many definitions as entries in this week’s Photo Challenge and is, as we have seen, not a state unique to humankind.  Our barbet, although spoiled and overwhelmed with love, knows the meaning of “alone”.  Lonesome for his friend, even the first snows of winter do not deter him from his vigil – he sends his doggy thoughts across the fence and waits patiently.  The reward is in the simple pleasure of play.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Solitary

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When few are awake 

Travelling into a time zone that is ahead of our own lets us rise comfortably early.  As the sky starts to change from inky blue, everything is calm and it is easy to imagine those who have already been up for a few hours, from the vendors in the market and the bakers pushing golden loaves into ovens to street cleaners sweeping away the dust of yesterday. From a hotel window we can survey the city as it stirs from sleep: at dawn, all is quiet and one can easily pick out single sounds before they get swallowed by the rush of the day – water tumbling over itself into the fountain, a robin calling to its mate, the far-off rumble of a city bus making its rounds.  Like the solitary woman who wends her way to work or the man practising tai-chi in the clear light of a new day, we are alone with our thoughts, undistracted and undisturbed. 

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Everyday Life

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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…

Weekly Photo Challenge: Near and Far

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A shift in perspective

This week’s photo challenge: Near and Far brought to mind that visitors to our city have often been primed by picture-perfect postcard views and sweeping panoramas taken from the many lookouts. They are rarely disappointed but the local art and architecture sometimes becomes a shadowy backdrop for those who live here year round. In this photograph, a hazy autumn afternoon had found us playing the role of guide for a friend who had never been to the Oratory – we had taken an alternate route than usual to get there, one that circled around the back of the mountain and it offered up the landmark in a very different light.  It asked for nothing but quiet contemplation – a gentle reminder that beauty is always there when we choose to stop and refocus.

 

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Free Spirit

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Where sky and ocean meet to whisper

The sea is magic. In search of renewal, each year we migrate from our landlocked home to the coast. On a sandy beach rife with the sounds of summer, we close our eyes to the bright sun and are suddenly alone, the waves’ voice a soothing lullaby. On other days,  a free spirit may seek the water’s edge to wizard an answer from the deep.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban

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The conversation of crows mutes the low rumble of traffic

Remain in the same spot and the urban landscape changes slowly, depart for a few months and the transformation of little details begin to pop, return after many years and neighbourhoods once familiar seem foreign territory. We tend to contemplate our surroundings at eye level, taking stock of the doors and windows, pedestrians and passing cars for it gives us a sense of place. Unable to get out and document just how much childhood neighbourhoods have been altered, this week’s photo challenge: Urban forced some archive digging and a little thinking outside the box. No matter which side of the country we may find ourselves, a constant can be found in the crows, ravens and blackbirds that love to congregate in big trees.  As the cityscape changes at a sometimes furious pace, they watch, wait and follow.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Merge

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Urban, meet wild – concrete kissing rock

A fashion photo-shoot along the causeway illustrated proof that many west coast urban areas seem to run right into the Pacific.  For all that is intrinsically wrong with cities taking over once-green spaces (the subject of a future post) there is still much beauty to be found, sometimes right beneath our feet.  This weeks’s photo challenge: merge and the very act of just looking down are serendipitous indeed.