Edward Abbey talked a lot of sense

I'd not even heard of him before despite his 'guns don't kill people, people kill people' being repeated endlessly, and I'm sure there'll be elements of his view that don't resonate or that particular grate but I've just been scrolling through some wisdom.

"Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul" 💙

"There are some good things to be said about walking. Not many, but some. Walking takes longer, for example, than any other known form of locomotion except crawling. Thus it stretches time and prolongs life. Life is already too short to waste on speed. I have a friend who's always in a hurry; he never gets anywhere. Walking makes the world much bigger and thus more interesting. You have time to observe the details. The utopian technologists foresee a future for us in which distance is annihilated. … To be everywhere at once is to be nowhere forever, if you ask me."

"Abolition of a woman's right to abortion, when and if she wants it, amounts to compulsory maternity: a form of rape by the State."

"Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread. A civilization which destroys what little remains of the wild, the spare, the original, is cutting itself off from its origins and betraying the principle of civilization itself."

"Be true to the earth." 💚

'You have to be careful with it. You don't just throw it away.'

Edward Sheffield
Nocturnal Animals

"A little coffee. A little sunlight. Your troubles will get smaller."

Today I had coffee and sunlight with a good old friend. Relatively I don't have real troubles but it certainly made my day brighter. We don't talk enough. We always seem to be catching up when we see each other.

She saved me at university. I think she took some solace in me now and again too.

Tracey Emin managed to summarise my feelings about Kate with this. A print was on the wall in the house we shared.

29.07.17

Book Ten – a recommendation from my dad. It's good already and easy to read.

Last night we had a nice chat about a potential CID future, why he rates this book, why he didn't like DUNKIRK (accepting that it was quite pretty), about the true events and what the Germans were doing and why, about his retirement and what he might have done differently, about my sister's fluctuating condition, about changing the dogs routine and how at the time of talking he was sleeping in his bed with his paws crossed so that " it's as if there should be some sailor tattoos on his forearms".

Real Peach

“We’re coming back to the demon-killing work of love.”

 

June 2017

Balance restored.
NB: I like faces on film

I've learnt that this camera needs a fair amount of light to make some beautiful photos. I tried playing with ISO in different environments but ultimately natural light appears to be the key.

The 🇬🇧 weather variability means I'll be pretty selective about the days I bring it out, but from this first batch the blue sky days have produced the best photos. I think I'll watch for a steadier hand too.

In the genre of simply memory capturing, I like the way they look, in contrast to the pristine, self adjusted, phone produced photos which have become the standard and which I appreciate too. (Although luckily, I also get to see the supremacy of some of the photos Tom takes with a real camera. With him I also get exposed to professional work despite my lack of understanding).
There's a time and a place for both.

I'm now trying to work out if the excitement I felt waiting for them to be printed and the resulting joy i found in seeing that some of them are a bit lovely, is worth the financial cost. It's not extortionate and now I've got to grips with the camera more photos will hopefully be successful. (These 3 aren't the only good ones!)

For now I'm onto B&W film to see how that fares, or how well I fare with it. I'm still excited so it's still worth it.

I was probably not trying particularly hard to get out of my funk last week but the disparity between how I felt 3 days ago and my current feeling is huge. A solid incline.👌🏼

The tears on my cheeks have been for difference reasons; some significant and imperative, and others inconsequential.

In quiet times my mind has rested on forms and furniture we might sit on and appliances we'll use and a slightly different everyday.

The kisses on my face have felt redeeming. The eyes I'd like to stay in have been warm and welcoming. Mine have been graced with my favourite face for nearly 36hrs.

I'm out of that momentary heavy drag and I'm motivated and looking forward to potentially waking up more regularly with the warmth.

What's next?

Dick Vincent makes things that make me smile.

I'm unmotivated and thinking about my bed too much this set. I need a day and to reset and I need this humidity to lift a bit.

“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard” 
Winnie the Pooh/A. A. Milne