14 June 2008

a word on pictures

Due to indecisiveness I am now using both flickr and picasa. This is hardly newsworthy I suppose, and certainly not the sort of reflective chronicling I do on this page, but I thought my faithful dozen or so readers should know. I like picasa for its file management and flickr because it's quirky and the photo quality is far superior. Its file management is, sadly, rubbish and unintuitive. 

So I've broken it down like this -

Party, people and events shots are going on picasa. It's easier for people to browse and whatnot.
 
Arty, landscape-y, abstract-y pics will go on flickr. Because they look better there. And context is less of an issue. There may still be people shots, but probably not portraits. Unless they're particularly arty, landscape-y, abstract-y or some combination of the three.

I'm updating both sites today with shots of France and the wedding I attended. Have a look. The flickr page allows you to comment, so please feel free. 

Preferably more frequently than you do here. 

13 June 2008

waiting somewhere.

Delayed flights bring all manner of reflection and observation. Humanity drifts by, most of it generally impatient, waiting for a call on the loudspeaker or staring at the departure board. Some catch up on work, or read. Blackberries abound, laptops (like the one I'm typing this on) slowly drain their batteries. The sight and sound of someone shuffling a real deck of cards is pleasant, and has the ring of timelessness and antiquity. 

It's all some manner of escape. Some form of being somewhere else, of building a wall, of avoiding the grubby, anonymous sterility of their surroundings. They're somewhere that's on the way to somewhere else. Occasionally, there's a look of impatient excitement. They're on the way to somewhere special, perhaps for some special reason. It's nice to see. As refreshing as the sound of cards shuffling. 

I've travelled a lot recently. Well, relatively. I've driven thousands of miles round-trip, crossed four countries. Somewhere special, for something special. I haven't quite taken it all in yet;what I've seen, what happened. There's no respite. Reflection happens infrequently or all to often. You see more in it than what was there in the first place. 

And so I sit, waiting for the plane to board. My headphones are in and my fingers tap the keys. I've built my wall and I'm safely not here. 

I stare in the mirror and see more in it.

Too much. 

08 June 2008

small note

I am in the South of France. I'm leaving tomorrow. I don't want to leave, but that's the way it goes. 

One of the greatest weddings I've ever attended took place yesterday. The memory already gives that warm feeling - a glow of comfort and fondness. I played my part. 

I want to stay here. 

But I'm looking forward to home.