Things Part Due (Italian for Two): The Roads Oft Traveled

No Excuse. Sheer lack of time management and situational awareness (and other such Good Business catchphrases). Months go by and my handful of readers stumbling haplessly upon this blog get nothing from my fool brain. Many a thing has happened. Many a place visited. Many a night not slept (either working or being an insomniac). There may be, and in fact likely are, many more interesting posts I could make, but all things in good time. For the time being, revisiting the thing theme is my desire. Largely due I am convinced to the muchness of moving about I have done of late, I am inspired by the various paths and vias out there that get the World from a to b (and beyond!). Be they manmade, or just a path in the woods.

I've always found the road less traveled requires an intense soundtrack. And fig newtons. And probably some patience wouldn't go amiss, either. Dodgy trucks on dodgy roads doing dodgy things at dodgy speeds...

 Because really, one never knows, does one? When a truck full of highly explody flammable fluid will have a whoopsie and cause a trifle bit of bother.

On the other hand, the road most traveled just requires patience and a good goal - unless that goal is just the same office one inhabits every day, in which case the final ingredient is an active imagination. And jerky. Any drive can become a scene from one's next novel or the next great psychological thriller, if one just lets one's mind wander. Even the weather knows when the end goal is a less than ideal place to be. Seems to say "nooooo... don't gooooo...only pain and darkness lie this way...turn baaaack..."

Whichever type of travelled road one finds oneself on...is the journey just as good as the destination? People are always saying it is. I am always saying it depends (about more than just this...am a trifle waffly about things). Sometimes, for example, the journey is all firey and burnt on both sides, and smells rather like soggy leather.

But sometimes out of the smelly burnt dark, come signs of life. Friendly signs of life, at that. Serving as both a momentary companion and a part of the beautiful view along the trip, moments like this make the journey much more tolerable, and downright lovely at that.

I was recently the victim of a hit and run. And no, it was not in my current residentiary city (Naples, Italy). In a crosswalk on 6th in San Diego - with the little glowy man telling me it was my turn - some prat in a large SUV swung round for a left hand turn and clipped me with his dirty great bumper. So aghast was I that this had just occurred, I did not have the presence of mind to get the vehicle tag. Too, there was but one bystander/witness, and he didn't have the angle. Thus, just a rose for my trouble did I receive from said bystander. It didn't make my leg not hurt, but it did make my heart swell a smidge and renewed a bit of my faith in humanity (which the guy who hit me had severely dinged).

Right. Sorry. Blog about roads, not flowers. But still. How do these things happen? Any rate, back to it. Say your road becomes less, shall we say, supportive. Whatever then? This simply means the journey becomes more precarious, but there is certainly no need to fuss in excess. Watch your step and enjoy the ride. You might even learn something, or better yet, enjoy the trip all the more for it.

Just to be a bit cheeky (do contain your surprise), I believe that the water is just as valid a "road" as anything else. Mayhaps being of the Naval Profession has influenced this perspective. Regardless, I like a bit of sailing. Or swimming. Or floating. How great is it to just cruise and not be restricted to the same, em, restrictions as those landlubbers in their wheeled transport.

But really, what if there were no roads? Easy there, Doc, I don't mean like that - though I'd certainly take the hovercar were it to be invented (I'm talking to you, sciencey types...). These folk don't play the car game, and it seems they have a good thing going. Sure, there are boaty issues to think of, and the whole city sinking might give one pause, but those are easily dealt with, and only persons with unlimited life spans need worry about Venice totally falling into the drink.

When it comes right down to it, we are all of us a'travlin' on along many a road, route, via, or way (deep, I know). Things don't always go according to plan, but usually the view is pretty great along the way, and the right mode of transport and the right companion make all the difference.

Besides, any day now, my TARDIS may come, and one must always be of a mind to go.

Life in Black and White, or Way to Class Things Up!

Disclaimer: There are many quotes in the blog that follows. If you have no patience for the words of others... why are you reading some strange girl's blog? See what I did there? The cheeky irony?

Moving on. There is a thought out there, shared by many, that life is more than black and white. I realise that this is a simplification of an attempt to point out the complexities of life or whatever the given philosophical situation may be. I am choosing to look at it in a completely silly way, inspired by the following:
"If everything isn't black and white, I say, 'Why the hell not?'" - John Wayne

My point from here on out (be it a good one or not) is that things look clearer, cooler, and downright classier in black and white. As a lifelong waffler, I am well aware that life is not a simple thing; making decisions one way or another is hard. There are always, or at least mostly, many differing points of view, interpretations, and stories, and these usually overlap quite a good deal. But really, I find that looking at something (anything, I suppose) in black and white (okay, really its greyscale, but just go with it) unmuddies the waters. Too much colour in any situation may please the eyes, but it also distracts. Take the following flowers for example. And yes, I have used a couple of these in a previous blog.

 Does it matter if you can see the different shades of yellow in the flowers above?

 Or pinky orange in these?

 Do the details of the delicate middle petals need to be a particular colour?

So what if God didn't invent a grey lilly. Clearly an oversight on his part, if you ask me (which I realise no one did).

"We only exist in terms of... conflict, in the zone where black and white clash" - Louis Aragon
Now there's a weighty thought for you. And speaking of conflict, check out what an ominous Rwandan volcano looks like when the freakishly green surroundings are dampened. Really makes the Big White Mansion there toward the middle bottom look like a toy.

 And do you need to see the iconic red uniforms of these chaps to recognise who they are? Their uniformity is even more impressive when you see how it stands out against the rest of a B&W photo (sorry got lazy there for a sec).

 And the similarly but differently iconic city scape of San Francisco is more urban against the texture of the water and sky.

"It's about you. If you win, it's you; if you lose, it's you. Black and white. Nowhere to hide" - Greg Rusedski
I like the cut of this man's jib. Or maybe just the way he thinks. Either way, it is a brilliant way of encapsulating what responsibility we all have for our own path, our own future, and how we move about on and toward these things. Even if we chose to do so like this crazy fellow.

 I prefer to do it like like this (though this photo is by me, not of me). See how little chance of painful death and / or maiming there is here?

Mister black bird here has some rough terrain, but he doesn't expect someone to come and comb the beach to smooth it out for him. if he's not so much feeling the lumpy bits, he'll just fly away over them, lodging not a single complaint.

 This one is just neat. And really, talk about a rough path. Win or lose on this track, it is all up to you.

"In the beginning it was all black and white" - Maureen O'Hara
Thanks very much, Ms. O'Hara. She may be talking about television and films, but so, too life started out black and white. Or really just black, I suppose. But even after someone switched on the Universe Lamp, there were no people mucking about giving things names and labels. Thus, things were simple (getting metaphorical about black and white, but bear with me). I like simple. Simple lines.

 Simple angles and shapes.

 Simple cycles of living and moving on.

 Simple textures.

"There's something strange and wonderful about black and white imagery" - Stefan Kanfer
Here I am in total agreement. Strange and wonderful are great ways to describe black and white images. They make the eyes think a tiny bit harder sometimes, in order to pick out things from backgrounds.

 They make a scene more universal, temporally speaking. The lines of time and eras and ages become blurry, but that is kind of neat.

 An otherwise strange juxtaposition seems to just make sense when seen through these lenses. I mean, when one is thinking "Where shall I park the wagon?" the logical place is not usually on a big rock in the garden. But all darks and lights, and you have something bordering on artistic.

 And sometimes, it just makes things look neater. No other word but neater. Kind of like the font on the Cola Cooler.

 "Bah! I won't believe it until I see it in black and white" - Samuel Goldwyn
Now, I'm not entirely sure if Mr. G of MGM is waxing poetic about films, or if he means it in the sense of contractual obligations. Whatever he meant when he said it, though, I find that the inanimate looks more alive in black and white. Statues of Romanish ladies seem less cold.

 Little garden gnome looks simultaneously longing and contemplative.

 Even Mister Bobblehead can get into the excitement of a baseball game (when someone is kind enough to give him a seat with a view).

"Human nature is not black and white but black and grey" - Graham Greene
Enough said, Mr. Greene. Though I do like a little bit of white in things, even with the accompanying difficulties of keeping it clean.
To close, the following things are already black and white, and already awesome. So the piccies look even better with the rest of the colours stripped. Bob Dog = already a badass. Check out all the grey hairs (they mean he is old and crotchety but wise and loving).

 Poor lonely Zebra living in Djiboutian cheetah refuge = awesome every day of his badass life.

 And yes, even a Cyberman. Look how cute.....

Where one sun sets...

...somewhere another rises? That I suppose is the idea. Now, don't worry; this is not going to be a godawful treatise or me waxing philosophical about the sunsets and sunrises of life. I am far too cynical for that. This is simply a largely gratuitous display of some of my favourite sky pornography. The amount of space on my hard drive taken up by shots of the sky and clouds is absurd. Thus, they shall no longer hide away.

Enjoy. I'll start with a bang.

OK, maybe more of a hum, or perhaps a light knocking on the moonlit door.

Now to the more subtle, friendly, molten, kinda magic cloudy looks.

Faces in the clouds take on a whole new attitude when lit by a sleepy sun. See the big ole' alien?

Even when the clouds are taking a backseat on the awesome ride, they make ordinary trees look downright sinister, or at least a bit odd.

 Same tree...

 Same tree, different night... No fancy photo magic, just nutty light and stormy sunset.

Next, the power of a backdrop to make silhouettes of other things look brilliant. Simple Street Lamp becomes Lit Arch in front of Fire Sky,

 Sad Front Tree becomes Reaching for Heaven

 Power Line Pole becomes Connecting the Skies

 Or maybe even The Holy Power.

I should comment on the next series, but it is lateish, and I am tired. And really, the commentary is a bit unnecessary... You'll see.

How's this for fires in the skies?

And someone had a go with some crayolas

To close, I'll share with you my favourite ones. If I'm honest, this is largely because they look too good to have been taken by me. But that's mother nature for you. Lovely enough to overcome the most rubbish photographer.

Does a sunset always mean a sunrise? I certainly hope so. Mine certainly looks to keep on with it.

Better post next time, I promise.