macro
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Pick any direction and walk in a straight line. After 100 paces take a photo of what is in front of you.
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At the next opportunity turn right. Photograph the oldest and newest building on the street.
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Turn down the next street that starts with a vowel. Photograph something that moves.
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Head in the noisiest direction and find somewhere to take a self portrait.
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Wave and smile at the next surveillance camera. Photograph it.
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Turn left. Find a place to sit for a while and watch the world go by. Walk to the subject that most captivates you.
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Go north until you see something red or yellow. Or both. Take its photo.
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Take two lefts and photograph the middle of the road. If it’s safe to do so.
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Take the next right and photograph something wonderful.
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Find something that no longer works.
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Meander to a nearby tree. Photograph it close up and far away.
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Take a typical photo of Durham.
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And then photograph something discarded or lost.
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Stand somewhere and photograph a passer-by.
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Walk until you notice something unreasonable. Document your experience.
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Continue until you want to photograph something. You choose the subject. It’s a free world.
- Opting for a sausage sandwich and small pot of coffee instead of a full English at breakfast.
- Choosing to wear the padded liners in my cycling shorts, despite the heat.
- Seeking advice about which direction to cycle around the reservoir… and then listening to it.
- The Creative Independent
- everything changes by Mandy Brown
- Anna Havron’s blog
- Sue Hetherington’s daily blog
- Weekly Musings and Random Notes by Scott Nesbitt
- Nick Cave’s Red Hand Files
- Lisa Olivera’s Human Stuff
- Mandy Brown’s A Working Letter
- Oliver Burkeman’s The Imperfectionist
- Kat Vellos’ We Should Get Together
Green Sea, 2020 - ★★ (contains spoilers)
This review may contain spoilers.
Not entirely sure what to make of this film. It felt like it could be a wholesome story about friendship but there was an edge of something sinister throughout that I couldn’t let go of.
And at the end I’m left with one overriding thought: Why did she take the dog?
Derivé in Durham
This morning I took a short train ride to Durham to take a walk and explore some (new to me) corners of the city. This activity and the prompts I used to guide me were inspired by Andrew Eberlin.
Here’s what I found…
The End.
The walk took about 90 minutes in total with 60 minutes time on the move. This final image is the route the prompts took me in.
I enjoyed seeing some new parts of this small city. I know it a little but definitely found some areas new to me, and appreciated some places I used to frequent during my lunch breaks when I worked here briefly. I’ll definitely do this again and maybe see what new perspectives it can bring to my home town.
My Neighbor Totoro, 1988 - ★★★★
Almost ashamed to say this is the first time I’ve watched this. I was tired and feeling a bit sorry for myself and some time with Totoro et al was exactly what I needed.
I’m kind of amazed that a film almost as old as me could feel so timeless, but I guess that’s the magic of Miyazaki.
Always Be My Maybe, 2019 - ★★
Needed something light for the end of my first week at work and this fit the bill perfectly. I enjoyed the broad story and central relationships. Not sold on the big name cameo though and at least one joke left a bit of a bitter taste.
Full Time, 2021 - ★★★★
Before we went to see this I was flippantly referring to it as Run Lola Run for the middle aged. It’s not quite, but it did get my heart racing in a similar way and a lot of that is down to the use of sound.
There were moments that had me on the edge of my seat, as well as a lot of subtlety in script, direction and performance.
Kielder Water — cycling
My goal for day two of my trip (read about day one here) was to cycle a full loop around the reservoir. At 40 km this would be by far my longest ever ride. On the whole I was looking forward to it, but in the back of my mind I had a few anxious thoughts about what could go wrong.
Thankfully those fears remained in my imagination and my day was characterised by some good decisions. The first two made before I even left the B&B…
This last one, I believe, was the difference between me finishing the ride and being beaten by it. Starting at Tower Knowe and cycling anti-clockwise meant that I was descending most of the steepest sections. There were still a few uphill stretches that proved a challenge for me but in general they were more gradual rather than short and sharp.
I also managed to avoid any nasty tumbles. Only on one of the latter steep descents that included some sharp turns did I feel the bike slipping from under me. I was able to respond quickly and managed to regain control.
I set off a little before 10AM with the intention of taking my time. However, there’s little reason to stop on the north side and little shade, so bar a couple of short stops to take photos and grab a drink, I continued along my way for 19 km.
I arrived at Kielder well before noon. This was originally where I had planned to stop for lunch as it’s roughly half-way. I was feeling relatively fresh, and not in need of anything more than a snack, so decided to keep going.
A few kilometres further on, near Matthew’s Linn, I found a quiet and shady spot next to a jetty to eat my sandwiches. I would have loved to sit here longer to read and enjoy the views but the lack of a breeze meant the midges were out in full force.
At 27 km, stopping for a tub of ice cream (the flavour was cherry crush, in case you were wondering) at the Waterside visitor centre felt like a brilliant idea but when I got up to get going again my legs felt like jelly. Thankfully the next few kilometres were pretty steady, retracing the route around the peninsula that I’d walked the day before) and I got back in my rhythm.
With 5km left of the loop I hit a wall. The loudest sound I could hear was my heart thumping in my chest. A brief stop half-way up a hill to throw cold water over myself and refuel was necessary. That pick-me-up just about got me to the finish line, where I arrived around 2:30PM.
Before setting off for home I bundled my bike back into the car, thanked the visitor centre staff for their advice, refuelled with my remaining sandwiches and a coffee and chocolate brownie from the café. I’d intended to take myself for a celebratory pint on my return home, but instead crashed on the sofa with a cup of sugary tea.
Cycling stats
Distance covered: 40.11 km
Elapsed time: 4 hours 36 minutes
Moving time: 3 hours 1 minute
Average speed: 12.5 km/hr
Max speed: 30.3 km/hr
Max elevation: 231 m
Tags: #holiday #northumberland #cycling
Kielder Water — walking
In anticipation of starting a new part-time role at the end of the month, and losing the flexibility that my freelance life offers, I booked myself a midweek overnight stay near Kielder Water in Northumberland.
My plan for day one of the trip was to walk a 10 km loop around Bull Crag peninsula, starting and ending at the Waterside visitor centre. Day two would involve cycling the full 40 km loop of the lake on the Lakeside Way.
On day one I set off for my walk around 11:30AM and, given the number of parked cars, I was surprised how few people I met on the path. For long stretches all I could hear was the crunching of my footsteps, the birds and the gentle lapping of water.
I walked for around an hour and stopped in the shade of the pine forest to eat lunch. I made sure that distance wise I was at least half way along the route. My picnic spot was idyllic with a strong, and welcome, breeze coming off the water.
Before setting off again I swapped my camera for my binoculars to see what I could spot in what proved to be a dense section of forest. There was plenty of activity, based on the birdsong. I heard wrens, robins, and a willow warbler but only caught sight of the underside of a siskin and a very friendly chaffinch.
The last section of my walk along the ‘alternative route’ which helps to form the loop around the peninsula was by far the least scenic few kilometres. It was hilly too with a far more uneven surface and very little shade.
I finished the loop around 2:45PM and treated myself to an ice cream (a mint Magnum was the day’s choice) and an espresso. After this refuelling stop and with a couple of hours to go before I could check in to my B&B, I hopped in the car, parked up near the dam and set out to check out another stretch of the shoreline.
Walking along the dam gave a great angle across the reservoir and I enjoyed the return of the breeze. With the exception of a few cyclists on the dam who were coming to the end of their rides at Hawkhope, I only saw one pair of walkers who were following the same route as me onto The Belling and up to the Wave Chamber.
On the dot of 5PM I made my way to the nearby village of Falstone to check in to my accommodation for the night. After cleaning up, I secured a quiet spot in the (relatively) cool bar to enjoy a meal and refreshing pint (or two) before turning in for an early night ahead of continuing my Kielder adventure on day two.
Walking stats
Distance covered: 16.46 km
Elapsed time: 4 hours 46 minutes
Moving time: 2 hours 7 minutes
Average speed: 5 km/hr
Max elevation: 249 m
Tags: #holiday #walking #activity #northumberland
Joyland, 2022 - ★★★★
Oof, this was everything I expected, and more. A devastating story of identity, repression, love, pride… The fact that it is a debut makes it all the more remarkable.
There’s so many layers that I would have liked a little more time with the characters, especially Mumtaz and Biba. You know they had more of their lives to share.
Wayfinder, 2022 - ★★★½
Sometimes I can forget that film is an art form. I get caught up on narrative or action and forget to experience how a film makes me feel. Wayfinder reminded me.
I enjoyed the stillness of the visuals, the poetry of the narration and the almost hypnotic music and folk songs that accompany them. I wasn't concerned with following the story so much as paying attention to certain words or phrases that spoke to me.
I'm glad I set aside the time to watch this in its entirety. I can't help feeling that the people who popped their heads in to the gallery for just a minute or two, instead of immersing themselves in it, have missed out.
Just me
If you happened to pass by me this morning while I was out for a run you’d have seen me in my usual state during exercise; huffing and puffing, streaming with sweat and growing increasingly red in the face. Look a bit more closely and you’d also have noticed the tears rolling down my cheeks.
The tears took me by surprise and were brought on by my choice of listening — an episode of the podcast Changes where Annie Macmanus interviews Kae Tempest. It brought up such a range of emotions for me that are bubbling to the surface again while I write this. The tears came from recognition, frustration, overwhelm and ultimately hope.
The interview starts with a conversation about words and writing, and it feels appropriate therefore that the reason I connected with this episode so much was because Kae was able to put into words their experience of childhood, a childhood that has echoes of my own, in a much more articulate way than I’ve ever been able to talk about mine.
They talk about effectively living as a boy until puberty at which point the world kind of forgets that we’re all just kids and starts to streamline the sexes — girls to the left, boys to the right. Of the challenge of getting your hair cut or buying clothes. Of constantly being asked ‘what are you?’
“But the people that knew me, knew me, and they accepted me for who I was. But it was hard to meet new people because you always have to start from zero. Like you know, what are you?”
I’m grateful that my family knew me too and let me be who I wanted to be and do what I wanted to do. But when you’re out of that bubble it’s tiring, and lonely, not feeling like you fit in and constantly having to explain yourself. I used to think it would be so much easier if I’d been a boy.
Now, with a whole heap of hindsight I’m grateful for my experience. Of being neither one nor the other. Of having such a strong sense of myself, and a big dose of stubbornness, that I didn’t feel I had to change to fit in to a world that wants you to pick a side. It makes me unique.
“I’m very glad of being this person now because I have the perspective of both. I have the perspective… which makes me sensitive to things about gender that cis people or people that have always been confident and comfortable in their gender, it would be much harder for them to have contact with. And this is real. This is what we have. This is the blessing of it. This is why it’s beautiful to have people like us in the world, because there’s things that we know that other people just don’t know.”
There’s so much more covered in this interview about discovering yourself, the creative process and how we cope amidst everything that’s going on in the world, that it’s well worth an hour of your time to listen to it all.
To finish though, I want to return to that question, ‘what are you?’ There are many answers. Each one is the right answer for a different audience. But ultimately the answer I want to give and that should be enough is — I’m me! Emma, Em, or Craggy (whatever name you know me by). That’s it. No other labels or qualifiers needed. Just me.
Tags: #reflection #listenting #exercise #gender
My media diet
I’m fascinated by the different ways we consume, interact and engage with different forms of media. Over the past few years I’ve become very aware of how I’ve adapted my own approach to suit my needs and save my sanity.
I’ve read a few posts where people have shared the what and how of their media diet and thought it would be an interesting activity (if only for me) to write my own…
Blogs
When it comes to reading blogs, RSS is my friend and I happily pay an annual fee to Feedbin. As with newsletters I try to be judicious with what I subscribe to and review the list regularly. When I do this I try to notice when I regularly stop reading and start skimming posts in a certain feed.
Here are a few blogs that keep me reading:
I also predominantly follow my micro.blog timeline via RSS (primarily on my phone). When it comes to the social aspect of micro.blog I switch to the app.
Books
For the last couple of years I’ve committed to reading only books that I already own. Before that the ‘to be read’ pile (or shelves in my case) was only growing. Now I see that I’m making a small dent. An occasional books slips through the net though — a gift, something for work or a loan from a friend or family member.
I mostly read in the mornings as I wake up with a cup of tea. I switched to this approach after I realised I couldn’t get past a few pages at bed time before nodding off.
News
I made a conscious decision to stop watching the news on TV in the run up to the Brexit referendum in 2016. I briefly went back during the early days of COVID but was soon reminded how very narrow the reporting is and how there’s so much pressure for news to be 24/7 that often we just end of watching the same features over and over. You can add to that the increasing feeling that much of what is reported as news these days is merely gossip. These things all contributed to the sense that for me watching the news does more harm than good.
My consumption of news is now filtered through other channels - often word of mouth - and then I make a conscious choice to engage with it or not.
Newsletters
I use a separate email alias to subscribe that allows me to set up a rule so anything sent to it skips my inbox and gets dumped in a ‘Newsletters’ folder so I can choose when I want to see them. Nevertheless it’s still easy for them to get out of control so I’ve recently cut my subscriptions down to what I consider the essentials ie those that I read in full every issue, including:
Lately I’ve discovered that Substack newsletters have RSS feeds. I prefer to read in my feed reader so I’ve moved most (I’m keeping some essentials in my email) Substack newsletters over there.
Podcasts
Here is where the overwhelm lies. So many podcasts so little time to listen.
I prioritise sports podcasts. Why? They’re time limited. Next the list I call ‘downtime’ which includes my other interests and hobbies outside sport; film, food and books. I mostly listen when I’m exercising, on the move or in the kitchen. They’re also my go to when I’m struggling to get to sleep.
Everything else, especially work-related stuff, is building up and up and UP. Sometimes I think about declaring bankruptcy…. but the FOMO is real!
Social media
I only access Twitter via Tweetdeck on my laptop. I don’t have the app on my phone and I have Hide Feed turned on in my browser to block my timeline and all the trending topics that do nothing but raise my blood pressure if I have to visit the website for any reason. Until the API was turned off I mainly followed a few private lists via Feedbin. Since then I’ve noticed my engagement has dwindled.
The two social apps I have on my phone are Mastodon and Instagram. I check these a couple of times a day each and post occasionally.
YouTube
I’m not one of those people who spend hours browsing YouTube or following breadcrumb trails from video to video. I go with a specific purpose in mind which is usually to watch a live sporting event, a recording of a live event that I missed or an instructional ‘how to’ video. I use lists to create a queue for watching things later. Anything over 15 minutes usually gets added to the queue and I then schedule time to watch these over a lunch break.
Nobody, 2021 - ★
A waste of time. Should have stopped watching at the bus incident when I realised it was going to be unnecessarily violent.
Chungking Express, 1994 - ★★★½
I don’t quite know what to make of it. In the first half I felt like I had no clue what was going on and couldn’t make any real connection with the two central characters. And then it shifts and my experience changed completely. I wanted to spend more time with Cop 663 and Faye.
There’s a lot to love about the film making too, of course: the use of sound, the humour and the attention to detail.
BPM (Beats per Minute), 2017 - ★★★★
This has been on my list to see for some time and now it is certainly going to sit with me for some time to come. At times it felt like a documentary and at others a love story set against the realities of the 1990s AIDS crisis. By the end I was bawling my eyes out. Necessary viewing.
My Days of Mercy, 2017 - ★★
It's the chemistry between Page and Mara that makes this film. It's clear what the film wants to be but it fails to either unlock the complexity of the relationships (between all the characters) or explore the conflict between the opposing sides at the death row protests within its 100 minutes.