Pause

Posted By Mark on Jul 3, 2012

Doesn't post for over a week and then he goes and posts a bloody close-up shot of some plant! I dunno! What's the world coming to? I've had one of those weeks full of things and irritations and stuff and joys and other things too. You possibly (I might even go so far as to say absolutely definitely here) don't want to hear about my week but I'm going to talk about it anyway. It's good to vent. 1. Moved to a new, busy office at work and it would be fair to say I hate it beyond belief. I've already voiced my displeasure. I doubt anything will happen because I am but a lowly serf to the lords and masters who run things from their thrones. Anyway… seriously considering new employment opportunities. 2. Picked up my first ever speeding ticket for going twice the speed limit through the crowded streets outside a school at chucking out time… wait… wait a minute… I mean: for going 7 miles per hour over the speed limit just after it had reduced from 60 to 50 on an empty dual carriageway at 9 in the morning on a Sunday. My thoughts about Hampshire police must remain censored inside my headhole for the time being. 3. Some smartarses developed something called Events which means people have been adding me to things I couldn't care less about and my phone has been happily scheduling bloody reminder alerts for the aforementioned things I couldn't care less about which has been scaring the crap out of me when they've been going off at all times of the day. 4. My wife had a big birthday which necessitated some big presents and a big night out at a restaurant in Portsmouth. This was a lovely thing; wonderful food, very reasonable price, great evening. Of course it's made the rest of the week seem even worse by comparison. So, yeah… I'm hoping to be more back to normal soon. But, for now, you'll just have to gaze at the close-up photo of the plant and wonder about the world and what it's all coming to. Google+: View post on...

Serenade

Posted By Mark on Jun 25, 2012

Levitation Fascination

Posted By Mark on Jun 25, 2012

It's very easy to take things for granted, a point that was driven home to me a few weeks back when I took this shot. How many of us, for instance, regularly hover around town to save on wearing shoes out? I know I do. And yet this simple act can surprise visitors, sometimes to the point of stupefaction as was the case here; a girl meditating three feet above the ground is so commonplace you or I might not even give it a second glance but a tourist from outside the E.U.'s Levitation Zone might find it to be almost magical. Something to remember. Google+: View post on...

Disabled Beggar

Posted By Mark on Jun 24, 2012

I have finally finished going through my photos from Spain; some fantastic memories brought back in doing it but it was hard work. And in addition to fantastic memories there were a few oh! moments too, case in point being the photo I'm sharing now; Barcelona is a truly lovely city but the sheer number of beggars was quite a shock. One of the problems with beggars is you never know if they're genuinely in desperate trouble or if what you're seeing is part of some scam (like the guy I saw with the placard saying he'd been robbed and needed money to get back home to the U.K.; sorry, but I've heard that story so many times before) so you become hardened to them, ignoring them, not wanting to make eye contact. When I saw this particular beggar sitting motionless in the shade of one of the wide alleys running off La Rambla in Barcelona I initially just thought his arms were clasped between his legs and I surreptitiously fired a shot as I approached since he didn't seem in any way to be aware of my presence; it was only as I passed that I glanced down and recognised his crippled state for what it really was. Definitely one of those oh! moments. Google+: View post on...

A Girl In Tarragona

Posted By Mark on Jun 20, 2012

To celebrate going through my photos of Tarragona now I've decided to inflict upon you one of the pictures from this particular place, that being of a girl walking past some buildings on a sloping road. Other people might have shared the images of the amphitheatre or the hippodrome or any of the other Roman buildings prevalent in the Catalonian city but with me you get a girl walking past some buildings on a sloping road. It's because I like you. A lot. The really good news is this means I can start on the Barcelona pictures next. Google+: View post on...

Church At The End Of The Street

Posted By Mark on Jun 18, 2012

I've reached day three of my Spain vacation photo processing marathon which featured a trip to Reus, home town of the madman/genius Gaudi, and wanted to prove it's not just colour, colour, colour in my photo stream at the moment. Look! Monochrome! Yay! And, since it fits the bill I'll tag this for both the #LeadingLinesMonday theme curated by +Pam Chalkley, +Jakob Nilsson, +CJ Sros, and +Michael Stuart and also for the #MonochromeMonday theme curated by +Hans Berendsen, +Manuel Votta, +Steve Barge, +Jerry Johnson, and +Charles Lupica. Google+: View post on...