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Tonight my train operator said "Please use all open doors; please use all open doors" ...
And I thought today was going to be the day I could walk through doors.
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I know I did a lot of complaining about the heat while I was in Australia but do I have to be punished now by this hideous cold? The wind is just plain spiteful.
When I was home, the princess shouted me to brunch at the Max Brenner Chocolate Bar. Their menu includes: Danish Toffee Chocolate, Italian thick chocolate, Mexican spicy chocolate; warm Belgian waffles drizzled in chocolate and chocolate pizza. We had a Tutti Frutti waffle between us. The menu is here if you are interested.
This is a big pot of melted chocolate:
Which then travels along the pipes to the prep area:
Mmmm.... eat more chocolate; get bikini body? Well obviously!
Pour 2010, en guise de premier collavoyage, je vous propose ce petit texte ...
Je l'ai senti s'étirer l'autre nuit, comme si l'on avait cousu son extrémité à mon nombril et qu'on l'avait laissé filer, avec le reste, au gré des vents, dans l'entrebailement d'une de ces fenêtres ouvertes sur soi ... ou en soi. ça tiraillait tout juste, pas vraiment mal, parce qu'il y avait en fond ce son tendu comme un arc, cette imperturbable linéarité de ce qui ne saurait être mu : et l'un flottant autour de l'autre, comme les variations sur un même thème, c'était un peu de la bande originale de ma vie qui s'étiolait dans l'air brut, sans âme et sans odeur de la pièce. J'aurais voulu le corps, j'aurais voulu l'esprit, pour que l'un et l'autre suent la sève sublime de leur rencontre, en un point où de fil il n'est plus, que la courbure que l'on veut bien donner au monde pour qu'il nous ressemble ... c'est dans ces instants-là que les scènes, les points de vue, les cadres surgissent ... et c'était comme si lui-même était une personne légèrement différente dans chacun de ces cadres. Son intuition lui soufflait que ce compartimentage était une bonne chose, qu'il lui permettait de protéger la source la plus précieuse, la plus intime de la seule force qu'il possédât, la musique. Ce n'était qu'avec la musique, baigné en elle, qu'il se sentait vraiment en sécurité. Elle seule avait le pouvoir de le sortir de lui-même, de le soulager de son propre fardeau (1). N'était-ce pas cela l'infinité de soi, cette capacité moins à être libre qu'à connaître les chaînes qui vous entravent, à savoir où est la clef, comme on s'ébroue de sentir au fond de sa poche, tandis que tant d'autres la cherchent, la carte figurant où l'on a lâchement enterré sa véritable intimité.
Le voici donc ce fil qui vole et qui s'accroche un peu aux branches, de ci, de là, puis s'enroule et serre, se resserre, asphyxie sa propre autonomie, réaliste, sévère, puissant, complètement maître, croit-il, de ses errances : puis la sensation se dissipa. Il respira lentement, entra et tourna vers l'angle qu'il lui restait à observer, caché derrière la porte. (...) et ce qu'il vit fallit lui faire pousser un cri. Assis sur une chaise, de dos, un homme attendait.(2) Lorsque je me levai, la nuit avec les barreaux dans les côtes se rapela au souvenir de mes muscles abdominaux endoloris. Mais j'étais là, bien là, près à me lever, parce que l'horloge indiquait 8 heures en ce jour de nouvel an, sur cette nouvelle page, avec ce nouveau cadre et rien dedans.
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(1) Extrait de Conroy (Frank), Corps et âme, Editions Gallimard, 1996, p.266
(2) Extrait de Somoza (José Carlos), La Dame n°13, Actes Sud, 2005, p.404
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NB : Si vous souhaitez créer un collavoyage à votre tour et le poster, merci de respecter vos sources en les marquant et citant avec leurs références - c'est aussi respecter le lecteur qui découvre d'autres oeuvres par ce biais - et soi-même, par honnêteté intellectuelle. Pensez à taguer votre post avec le terme "collavoyage".
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Last night, I went to bed around 10:30pm expecting 8 + hours sleep and a good start to 2010 but my neighbours across the road decided I should vicariously party with them. They let off fireworks in the street around 11.30 and then continued to party on their front porch until about 4am..... they must have been fairly liquor-lubricated to continue partying in the sub-freezing temperature.
So ... 2009 has closed for business. After taking into account all the credits and debits of my year my balance sheet has finished very solidly on the credit side. I have a job and I got to go home for my first Christmas (and summer!) since 1999 and I witnessed my eldest son's wedding.
I haven't made New Year Resolutions since I was a teenager and realised that few lasted past the middle of January, but I do reflect on the year just passed and think on ways I could make going forward better.
This morning, feeling tired and grumpy, I gave some thought as to how I could ensure I see many more January 1st mornings - strangely, those thoughts turned to conjuring up ways to get rid of the neighbours!
* photo taken in the country town of Merriwa, NSW, Australia
Happy new year, pals!
and I will be in bed before it gets to midnight.
The first of the year will come around whether I am awake or not and I might as well face 2010 well rested.
I'm having my champagne and chocolate now and I'm going to spend the evening sorting through my Australian photos imagining myself back in the warmth of the southern hemisphere.
This is really an answer to the Question of The Day on: How will I be ringing in the New Year which I've seen others post .... but I never seem to find the QoTDs myself.
Anyway, to use an expression I heard a zillion times today, see you next year.....
Hello all!
The most important thing that has happened to me this past year might just be going pro with my photography. Being able to take photos, with my best friend as well, and to earn money from doing something I love has been amazing. The only downside has been the fact that I've had less time and motivation for my street photography. It feels funny to be shooting so many photos and actually sharing less here with you. Next year is already looking very busy wedding-wise for us, so I might just have to apologise well in advance for this trend to continue. ;)
A lot of things happened in 2009; our offices moved in March, I had the swine flu in May and I finally found the courage to get my wisdom teeth pulled out in November. I also survived a minor accident on a London bus in April and lived through the massive snow fall in February (which got me published in the Flick 2009 review just a few weeks ago!). Oh - and I met Ethan Hawke (and went all mushy babbling fangirl on him). There were some amazing fun I had with my friends, for example when I celebrated my birthday in a Victorian cell (converted into a bar) as well as seeing and hearing a lot of great live music; Rachel Yamagata and Heather Nova being the most memorable gigs this year.
Work has been very challenging this year and there have been times when it has got me to a point of apathy, which is very unlike me. 2010 is going to be full of further changes in the office and I'll need you all to keep your fingers and toes crossed for me as there are big things going on work-wise for me in the first quarter of the coming year. I'll really need all the positive energy and luck out there sent my way, please.
The end of the year has been particularly difficult and I have been so grateful for all the support me and my family have had from all our friends and immediate family. I really had no idea how blessed and loved we really were until we hit some really hard times in September. I cannot say thank you enough to all the people who helped us through these last few months. Actually, it's been quite a difficult year to a lot people I know, so here's hoping that 2010 will be a little better and brighter for all of us.
The things that have got me through this year, apart from my amazing friends and family, have included Spotify; which is an incredible service for free music, Etsy; which continues to be an amazing place to find all things unique and crafty as well as Easyjet (from all the things!) as it has been a lifesaver this year flying me without a fail to and back from Finland. I've also been spoiled by some great books this year from which I can recommend The Exception by Christian Jungersen, The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and The Colour by Rose Tremain wholeheartedly. Big up to Bookmooch at this point for providing me with these and a lot of other good books for free this year!
For 2010 I am unusually not making any resolutions as such. This year has been good to me in a sense that I am thinner, richer and bitter-sweetly happier than in 2008 - something I'd like to keep up this coming year. The overall plan really just includes taking better care of myself, having more quality time with my friends and family and just enjoying myself in the small moments life and London throw my way.
Although my blogging here has been quite irregular and erratic this year I'd like to thank you all for your patience and ongoing support and comments. My photos are few and far in between, but I promise to continue to share them with you as much as I can. The photos in this post are from my Holga 35mm which took me a long time to shoot this autumn/winter. However they seemed to have turned out lovely on the Neopan 1600. :)
Actually, after all the above I'm really looking forward to the New Year as it seems to bring with it great opportunities and big challenges. So, I wish us all a fantastic, exciting and positively eventful 2010 as we start the new decade tonight! Happy New Year! <3
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If I don't post these now the New Year will be here... I took these around the Ryde area in Sydney. With so much light around their own homes I wonder if they even notice any New Year's eve fireworks. I can't imagine how annoying it must be to try to sleep next to a house flashing like these - and I'm very glad I don't have to pay any of their electricity bills! (although pretty I am of the opinion that this is quite a waste of power!).
I love the alien Santa in this one:
Happy New Year to all my neighbours who, due to various timezones, will start their year (and hangovers) before I do........
Okay, the recording quality sucks so here's a better look at his eyes:
Please don't mind the lyrics of this one:
Happy birthday, crankypants!