I came across these rather stunning pics by Rasmus Mogensen over at Haute Macabre. Thanks to TeamRockStarImages for the link.
Archive for the 'Books' Category
Some days are so so boring.
The past few weeks have been super busy with quite a bit of social stuff and teaching surfing and kitesurfing and doing my own regular free surfing stuff.
All good.
But it started to become a bit of a grind after a while.
So this morning I have the morning off. I don’t have to go anywhere. I don’t have to do anything.
Since I woke up I was thinking of going for a light run on the beach, a bit of a paddle and maybe get a few waves. I do this most mornings.
But instead I’ve just been indulging in boredom.
Being lazy.
Having a super slow breakfast with lots of cups of tea.
Talking nonsense and a bit of work to people online. Most of them have office jobs and they are either bored or busy. Bored or busy in the office is the same for an outsider.
I suppose most people spend time online when they have nothing better to do. Well I know I do.
This afternoon I’m teaching kitesurfing again if the wind delivers as forecast. Before this I’m just going to eat as much as possible. Averaging 4 hours exercise teaching/ training and being quite busy has left little time for eating a lot and I feel I may have lost a little weight. Maintaining weight is always a struggle for me. I do like to be lean but I don’t want to loose too much muscle if I can help it.
That’s it I’m going for a nap and maybe cook some eggs.
Thank You.
She lives in a gigantic house but she sleeps on the floor.
She has a million pound education but she can’t think straight.
She has dreams with twitchy curtains and too much time.
She has addictions but she takes nothing.
For Them.
At night she hears waves and the gentle thrum of radar.
She can peer out through the fog of drugs.
Sometimes.
Blue and purple, pink and white. Twice a day.
She has words in her veins that can’t get out.
They cut deep deep down.
Why would she do that?
She had so much potential.
As though potential had a sell by date.
Gathering muddy tethers to keep her safe.
To keep her tied.
Deep deep down.
She’s content when drowning.
- Island Olly, New Years Day 2009
I have always hated new years eve and the whole baggage that goes with it.
It’s just too easily a collection of random drunk drugged frustrated aggressive people trying to collectively come to terms with their failures over the past year and hoping not to repeat the same fuckups year looming. Well this is to me the most idiotic way to plan to change something that you are a bit unhappy with. Drunken plans are almost always retardedly fucking stupid and never amount to shit.
The whole western calendar year thing is so stupid to me too. There is this crazy race that starts in the beginning of the year that is generally and commonly a real grind. Then it coughs and splutters as it slowly gathers a sickly momentum into a staggering limp that goes more and more out of control. Towards the end of the year there is this mad rush that is beyond bordering on pure lunacy. It is just insane. Regardless of hemisphere in the western world it appears to be the same: a silly mad rush before christmas wind down. Largely it appears to be driven by the financial year and the routine minimal holidays that people indulge themselves in to reflect on their achievements, some self pity, shattered hopes and forgotten dreams.
I guess I’m a bit weird but I just don’t get this. I can’t understand why anyone would do a job long term that they do not like for minimal financial compensation and almost no leave. There is almost always a choice. Over the years I have tried many jobs like this but I always end up quiting. Either that or the companies go bust before I get a chance. For some reason I’ve ended up working for quite a few companies that went bust. Incidentally these were often the most interesting companies or at least the places doing the most creative work.
Sometimes I work quite hard and focus a lot but this is always for specific projects. I cannot comprehend why anyone would want to work in such a way routinely and approach every project in the same way. All the things that inspire me were developed and created by chance encounters or through a specific tailored plans rather than through a slavish adherence to a generic conventional routine. For this reason most full time jobs are pointless to me. This is why I choose to make my living doing consulting service or freelance style of work. Sometimes people say that I am lucky to have the lifestyle that I do but really it is more a case of calculated risk and constant if sometimes apparently sporadic work.
Last night I had a great new years eve with most of my friends and family who live around a few Garden Route villages, farms and towns in South Africa. It was a pizza party in a remote location out of earshot of terrified barking dogs, fireworks explosions, frustrated angry screaming and shouting and loud motor vehicle noises. The nice chilled atmosphere and surrounding silence was so refreshing that I kept forgetting that it was new years eve. It was so nice to see these people all in one place together and catch up a bit with those I hadn’t seen for a while.
I drank mostly fruit juice, weird pop drinks and tea and this was nice. We missed the new year count down as most people left early and conversation and listening between half falling asleep was more interesting. I took a few sips of cheap champagne as a toast and this made me feel like a super evil rebel considering my tea total mission. It tasted pretty shitty anyway so I just went back to tea and pizza.
I never make new years resolutions. My plans constantly evolve slowly. As I grow older I seem to feel less frustration and enjoy things more as I do them. For me growing older is exciting as I feel like I understand things better, appreciate a wider range of experiences and learn faster.
I wish myself and you more of the same in 2009 with more of the good stuff and less of the crappy bits.
And I hope you quit your job if you don’t like it or at least spend more time on a hobby that you like. As my surf coach says sometimes with a laugh:
“I’ve never heard of anyone counting their money when they are dead.”
Have fun 
Thank You.
when i was a baby i
always used to climb as
high as i could
my parents always let me
go but told me to be
careful
careful became my first
word and i always used
to say it when i
ventured into the unknown
as i grew up i was
always searching for things
to make me happy and
keep me safe
i had lots of fun
but i always got hurt
then i realised that i didn’t need to
search
i had always had everything
i ever needed
- 11.2006, from the collection, Some poems about life and stuff by stuart barnes
A friend of a friend of a friend made this calendar for 2009.
Some guys have a total breast fetish. I never much got this whole trip. I always loved nudes but I’m usually more into whole body shots or closer quirkier details. But I really like to see a focus on a theme like this. I haven’t seen the original yet but probably will some time soon. It looks nicely put together and it’s always great to see indy publishing. Respect.
Thank You.
The shadow forewarns the street
from a high balcony flung
through the meagre jacarandas of the sky
the shadow forewarns the sun
through the song of the pennywhistles
fallen on the booming street
my doll with a name like a body
who just like us could speak
My doll shot like a sparrow
berry-naked from the window-sill stand
or was it the wind from the distance
or was it my very own hand
My doll fell down when the sun
rang its brass bell from the sky
when the clouds white-washed the walls
the shadow fell back from on high
The shadow forewarns the sun
porcelain with far sky amiss -
if I should fall from a high balcony
if I should break would I also look like this
- Ingrid Jonker
“WHEN GREGOR Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin.”
- The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka
“The following morning Peter Fortune woke from troubled dreams to find himself transformed into a giant person, an adult.”
- The Daydreamer, Ian McEwan
Mmm… I thought that Mr McEwan was more original than that. And to cap his little story sequence with this is rather unashamed. Oh well, he’s still a great writer and I guess no one is really that original…
Thank You.
I found a copy of The Libertine, a play by Stephen Jeffreys at a book exchange. It looked pretty funny and it is. I see that the recent film by John Malkovich featuring Johnny Depp is an adaptation. It looks worth a look.
it was worth a look. rather good and theatrical with rather nice acting. a rather tragic downfall story of a talented individual with an inclination to lean too heavily on the self destruct button. perhaps not your family movie but rather nice.
This is just fucked up. Anyone know of a charity that can help make a difference and bring a bit of peace?
Thank You.