Heedless…

Well, this is a quick wrap for the latest events here, after some long pause during Ramadhan. Ramadhan is over now and I'm trying to hop to the regular pace of a normal life (figurative speech). So many things to do here, including preparations for the vacation I'm planning to have on September, in which I'm supposed to travel to Oman first with the group for a workshop, and then I'm planning to head to Malta few days after that trip. I didn't organize the trip and timing still, and one thing new to me here is the transportation (supposing I'm going to land in Malta's main island, while I'd like to stay on the other island, Gozo). Up till this moment, I didn't even do anything about the visa.
Meanwhile, I'm not doing much with my camera except for visiting old photos and trying to do retouches and reworking some of them (specially converting some to B&W). I'm still aiming at that goal of doing a B&W panorama in JPEG format, but I'm still not sure about the location. Needless to say, summer is killing my chances in "cold" blood… pun intended.

Arabian Eye
One of the reworked images from 2014, adding luster to the iris and more sharpness.

This said, I did spend a considerable time with my Geltani trying to prepare some graphics to put on the page. I'm still not sure how I will send this to Omniglot, but anyway the process is going on. I prepare the characters for the syllables by scanning my own handwriting and then cutting the shapes and prepare them in a specific squared sizes to fit the main document about Geltani. This said, I did already add some more sounds to the syllabic system, beside adjusting some shapes for the 3^rd or 4^th time. Yet, there are things to add, and a numerical system to fix.

ِA scan for some doodles with
trials for the numerical system.
Click to enlarge.

In addition to that, I've added (or made up the idea) a symbol for stressing the syllable just as in Japanese syllables as well. The number of syllables so far exceeded 100, which seems a lot, but the virtue here lies in the fact that they are mostly systematic in derivation (or composing so to say). It is a leap if  I should say; there was nothing and now I'm already in the middle of something. I need to check some of those phonetic values and the transliteration system, essentially to be noted down in the document I'm going to send to Omniglot. The document must be in HTML, and with so many pictures, it seems I'm going to zip it all and send it over. Doesn't sound quite right though, don't know why exactly!

With all this work, and Ramadhan is over, I'm planning for some "move" that might probably get me to set a foot in some direction. Some celebrities did ask for the collection of photos I've taken for them on the stage after checking them out on Instagram. However, because of the malfunctioning endeavor with Instagram (which is embarrassing me a lot), it seems that I have to do it in person. I'm planning as well to make a print for a celebrity as a gift. I just need to know a way to deliver those to them!

Young and Old.

Meanwhile, I've trying to push myself further with poetry as I'm trying to get in touch with my inner feelings and expressing more of myself as I used to do in the old times. I've found out that some abstract photos that I've taken before do entice the memory and some writing capabilities. Well, it's not a joke to say that sometimes you have to be tortured just to do art, any art, if possible. Anyway, I did write a piece, which I called Young and Old, inspired by an abstract photo taken from Ireland in 2010!

Not sure for now what the coming days hold for me in store. All what I really want is just a vacation. A vacation... with that I should also be sleeping without thinking about the next day! I'm sort of having what I like to call a "relapse" to Phil Collins music. I was more into Irish music for some time. Well, Phil's music is good, pretty good, but I tried to avoid it in the past trying not to lick over my injuries… and I failed.

Playgrounds in My Mind...

Just decided to go on and write some words in my blog since I don't seem to be able to concentrate my words into a poem. Words come and words go but I just don't understand anything. I can't type or write anything. I hate this when it happens. Been fluctuating now and then between various songs for Phil Collins that hit to the core of the heart, and then change to Black Eyes Peas for some breathing away from my melancholy. Yet in all that process, the words don't stick together to allow me to write something, nor my daydreaming stops. In fact, I feel that my daydreaming is blocking the string of words from being complete and hence I'm jammed. However I try to write something, my pulses go passionate, always. I don't want to write another love story, and I'm afraid if I let go of my imagination and write something about my life or world, I would be going wild and violent. Not a pleasant picture if you ask me. Not for me. I'm not a rapper after all!
I think I need someone to aid me on completing the words or the sentences I make. Yet, this is somehow, a far away solution. 

An interesting experience though, that when I worked with my camera for some time now, and work on concentrating on my pictures (processing and so on), I tend somehow to lose myself into it, and forget about all the vivid images or daydreams that I've been into. I know that occupying your mind with something might help already but, till when? I don't work with my camera all the time. I barely took some snaps in the past few days even, and all of them were in a hurry, being afraid of any cops, or security people.
One of these shots were taken beside the shopping center where I usually pick up my breakfast every morning...

The Giant Chessboard.

To tell the truth, this is not the view that I wanted to achieve. However, the light is nice in early morning just like that. That's why I like winter more than summer, well, along with other reasons. I used my 15mm fisheye lens here, but maybe I should have used the 55-200mm instead (which I did the next day). I wanted this to be taken from some elevated point as in a bird's eye view, but unfortunately, this is hard to be done in that location specially with all security people being around the place and you just don't know when they might catch you in. I left the lamp post o nte right side as it is, just not to make the sky all plain an dull. To take this image I was turning on the camera (and it goes into sleep-mode automatically after one minute or two) and left it in the car as I went inside getting my breakfast, and once I'm in front of this I had to park and get down and snap in a hurry. My first trial was blurry, thus I changed to AutoFocus to do my work faster. All this fuss, for this snap. Yeah, how easier can it be?

My next snap was the next day directly, in the parking lot in my work place. I noticed that the light lamps in this place were awesome in the morning, when they are still on. The thing is, I thought these lamps work by solar inductance or whatever it is called, i.e. they are turned off whenever enough light hits the main switch or, again, whatever. I discovered then they are switched on and off manually. The moment I went there with my camera into the parking lot and just when I parked, the lights started to go off one by one so I had to take some snaps in a hurry. The result then, when I got back home, I didn't realize how lucky I was despite all the anger that was inside me for that incident...

Alone...

As you can see, I called it "Alone." The thing that happened here is that I snapped it before the other lights at the back turn off as well, resulting in one light post being off while the others are on, like if this post is isolated from the others. I think this is somehow a lesson to me that I should wait on bad things and bad happenings, and see what or how I can change, do or deal with such things. Valuable lesson, let's hope I have the nerves to apply it to my daily life...

On the other hand, there seem to be some panorama that I won't waste my time on processing it. It was the one taken from Salmiyah park last week. The place was really empty except of some trees and even a HDR processing didn't do much to attract the eye, so I had to do just anything. So, I went on with the "ant's view" again or maybe I should call it "tunneling effect". Later on I used the name "tunneling effect" for another image.

I didn't bother to give a name even...

The image here was processed in HDR, then since the saturation was high in general (and lowering it down was not attractive as well), I converted the whole thing into B&W with some touches of slight yellowish hue and adding more contrast to give a touch of drama to the whole thing. That's all I could think of, and as for the straight flat panorama of the same scene, I don't think I will bother with it. I might have worked a bit with it if the trees were more and dense a bit though.

Following now on the same trend, I did the same effect for more "interesting" scene. The one I took last Wednesday in Bayan park while I was there with my friend. I made 3 different projections of the same panorama. The time was in the morning so, the sunlight was interesting and gave nice contrast and hues already.

Flat

Little Planet

Tunneling

The last one of those maybe gained most of the popularity on Mostphotos.com. Despite the fact that this panorama was taken completely on a monopod (with 3 mini-legs), this is one of the panoramas that I didn't have much problems with broken lines in it. Notice that I'm talking about a HDR panorama, with 3 exposures on each angle. It was shaky as usual but everything went smooth that day (despite the breeze as well). Taking a panorama from a monopod, although it might be shaky, it is much easier than taking a panorama with my old tripod, mainly because the legs problem (they show in the lower angle slides, along with the body of the VR-head too) and because the monopod head is equipped with a screw that can fit the VR-head and can be flipped to fit a camera. I'm currently in the process of ordering a separate head (just a cheap one) for this monopod. The problem though remains: stability. The end of the story is, of course, a QTVR.

There are some times when you do process an image and then you find yourself being into melancholy because of it. I don't know how it happens but, it just happens!

Once Upon A Time...

This one is taken from the same place; Bayan park. Just like the panorama from Salmiyah park, I really didn't find something interesting about it except that it is a general view for the playground in that park. I tried hard to make it somehow interesting when I processed the HDR slide, but no use. Thus, after the tone-mapping was done, I decided to just turn everything into a dramatic black and white with a touch of golden hue. By the way my usual "golden" color is #FCC200. There are other hues for "Gold" that can be found in Wikipedia. When I stare at this image, I try hard to remember did I ever play in those? I sure did but, when? Frankly, I don't remember much at all.

For the time being, I'm thinking of a new project and this time, no cops or anything or any security involved. I want to do a panorama from the inside of my car. I don't know how yet, but I have to try this practically myself, and of course I have to be in a spacious area and not in front of this house, where you can barely jump into your car. Probably I would have to switch to the tripod here since a monopod is hard to be stable inside such a situation. I've been roaming some places now looking for some kind of a converter that makes a small screw head fit into the large screw hole of the VR-head, but no luck so far.

Now as I type these words and trying hard to squeeze my mind for some words I'm writing, let's hope I finish this. Work is dull, but I have to not complain, because it has been worse in the past few weeks. I'm trying here to seriously control my love for coffee in some way, specially after getting myself a 3-in-1 coffee package  and put it at work. This, can really screw things up. I've taken my camera with me this morning trying to snap the "chessboard" scene again but this time with a 55-200mm lens, but that didn't really solve anything. It won't do much unless I can snap that scene with a bird's eye view. However, I might shoot a scene like this again, from my work place...

Ad Coelem (to heaven).

which was shot originally by a fisheye. After tone-mapping this and cropping a bit (and still it is off the center a bit), I realized this better be in black and white because the colors were, dramatic, but to saturated and desaturating them, again, will leave it dull. But I think if I'm going to try my 55-200mm lens here,  I have to try some different angles. I tried it already on some junk around the place the other day but it wasn't a trial I worked hard for. Just for fun...

Government

Named it "Government" for obvious reasons, I guess. I tried to achieve some blur here but I think the distance in between the fore- and background didn't help. I wonder if a stronger lens like a macro lens would do the job. Mentioning that, I'm on fire, waiting for my first macro lens to arrive. It's a tamron 70-300mm. Although it is well-known that to get a sharper image it is better to take a picture with a stable lens with a fixed focal length, but I don't that now. Let me find my way with the macro, then I might decide about it. The most important fact now is my fisheye got a fixed focal length and this is way too important for doing panoramas with this lens.

Now, it's time for me to rest, from the whole world a bit...

Alexander 6, V120.

Feeling numb again. So numb that I can't do anything except of being idle in my best suit. Now I wish I did pack up some electronic books about photography into my flash memory and brought it with me here to read after finishing several books now, but thinking about a bit, even that wouldn't work for me today. I was out of work for like 3 hours for my car service and also checking my watch for repair. I needed to finish everything just before Ramadhan begins because it's going to be somehow a sluggish time to do the many things I need to do. With this weather, fasting in Ramadhan is indeed a big challenge, and even though I've used to fast alone for around 2 months in the past few months but Ramadhan and the change of times for almost everything (work, shops ...etc), makes it a big deal to go through it all. The feel of hunger or thirst is nothing really; not to me. People are the big problem in Ramadhan, and specially if they are smokers and out of their nerves.

Been working yesterday again with my beach panorama and, thanks to my absent mind, I've lost the file that I've already created when I saved a small version of the file over the same name. Hence, I had to do the job all over again with the original HDR file which didn't go exactly the same, specially with the cropped portion.

First Version

Second Version

Well, after all I believe the second version is better than the first. The cropping is more organized in the second and also I tried my best not to oversaturate the blues and yet keep them interesting as much as possible. After all is done wuth the hue and saturation layers and fixing the blues and the reds (and/or magenta as well), I worked on dodging the sky little bit to make it smoother and going well together. As you can see from the first version which was to be worked upon again, the sky has dark areas in the middle caused by difference of lights as I was doing the panorama, and the sun rising high faster than my pace. The dodging, though, should not be simply smooth so much, or as I think, it's going to be dull and not so interesting. That's why there are thin dark lines in between that I didn't work on removing them even though I can; to add more motion to it.

It's humid now AGAIN which gets on my nerves, but I've noticed that in the early morning, the sky is having a weird composition; clear sky, no clouds at all, except where the sun is where you can the sun light pass through the clouds. Like if the sun was a magnet for clouds. Interesting view that I've been observing for 2 days now, but I wish I can settle my mind on some location to shoot that view. With my work pace and time, it's hard to be done almost any where, except in the busy streets (which are empty a bit busy at the time I go to work). I don't want any more troubles with cops just now. I have my own load.

I received some positive reviews (well, not completely positive of course) for my poem (or lyrics) 1945. I'm happy that I got my feelings through it, even though I didn't live that era. Being idle today made me think of writing something indeed, but my strength was leaking like water through mesh because of the heat outside and all that time I spent outside. There was no time to concentrate on my feelings, but rather I spent the rest of the time thinking how can I get myself cooler!
And now it feels like no one understands...


__________

2857. Alexander fell on his knees to the ground with no power
2858. the melancholy attacked him severely for the deeds of his men
2859. Agdalán passed his hand over his head like a father does
2860. and this he said to Alexander: raise up O dear, you did it
2861. Alexander looked up to Agdalán with heavy eyes and said
2862. "all what I did is mischief across the lands and wars,
2863. I wandered this world to let people know God,
2864. but then I found out that my loyals did not know Him"
2865. Agdalán smiled and said: but you did the commands already,
2866. you should be proud for you happen to do what none done,
2867. if people are to be judged for the mistakes of other people,
2868. or if the son should be judged for the sin of his father,
2869. and the daughter would be stoned for a sin from her mother,
2870. if all of that was to hold true and a law for life,
2871. then who shall be living on Daynur, or Uhir Daynur?
2872. Alexander then stood up again with hard movement
2873. he felt no power in his body to do anything he desires
2874. then Agdalán said: go and take care of your Cadid,
2875. we will talk about some of the matters later on dear
2876. thus Alexander went to check his Cadid who got better
2877. he passed his hand over the head of the horned Cadid
2878. and while doing so, he sang a song he learned from his mother
2879. then this he said: now my friend, no one is out there,
2880. but a tired man like me, and a loyal Cadid like you

alexander 6, V116.

Well, I'm lucky to type this down here as the internet service in my work place is beginning to become more like a trash now. I should end up this fast before I get stuck! I know my luck just the right way. Mentioning luck, I was happy to wash my car today (in a weird car wash station), but yet, it got dirty again from water on the road the moment I drove out of the station. Yes. My luck.

Not much was done today, except that I bought 3 CDs after having a break from work to wash my car, then off to some mall here to get those CDs. I've been away for some long time now from buying such stuff and always listening to the same old on Youtube or on CDs I already have.

 

 

 

Bought CDs

I've stopped listening to my favorite Phil Collin's Greatest Hits CD and started with the new Boyzone's CD, Brother. So far, the style had changed a lot here. It felt like I'm listening to a rock band rather than that soft Boyzone band that made the strip of memories pass in front of my eyes as usual. I'm not finished listening yet, so I hope there is a song to my style.

As for the two other CDs, I've listened to some songs from them already and they are available (legally) on Youtube. Some of them, not all.

Right now, after reading more and more of Alain Briot's book, things are not hitting the bullseye. The discussion goes on about the audience, choosing, finding, and managing the audience and finding a balance between what people expect and what you really like doing. These lines now made me re-think of my project idea that I had a plan to do one day (soon supposedly). My project was supposed to be about my life; some set of images reflecting the routine of a single guy like me. But then I asked myself "Is it really worthy? Are there people who really want to know?". I can't really answer these questions now, as all I can see now is, busy people. Who would want to see what TJ is doing? Or how important it is to see what he is doing? So far, I think there is no one that would like to do that still...

Now, after printing out some small panoramas on the HP glossy paper, I had the urge to buy another pack today (and they are NOT cheap by the way). I had a problem yesterday when I tried to print out some of those and eventually, I had to sacrifice some sheets. The comedy is to know that my printer is HP, yet this type of paper (the dimensions) was not on the list of the papers provided in the software that manages the HP printer! Thus, I had to define it myself and since I did that myself, things were screwed up with the width and height and the units (inches to/from centimeters) and so forth. Finally, I was able to print 4 small panoramas, and that encouraged me for more. I want to do more panoramas, and print more of them too! There are some stuff that I need to experiment with and see their results, specially when it comes to the color management and the color profile (or space) in use. Long way to begin with...

Something from Ireland, done just for fun...

__________

2761. thus Alexander asked: why some good Ayvars were chosen?
2762. Agdalán replied: to teach the new creation about God,
2763. and some of them followed the Ayvars and some did not,
2764. but they did not involve in fierce battles like the Ayvars,
2765. thus, the descendants of the Ayvars spread again on Daynur,
2766. but this time within the tribes, south and north of Daynur,
2767. and soon they forgot all about their lives and their faith,
2768. and thus the connection was cut between this world and them
2769. Alexander asked then: and where do I come in all of this?
2770. and why my Charnagút is so important for the matter?
2771. Agdalán smiled and said: before I answer this, come with me,
2772. I will show you something you need to see for now
2773. and the two walked side by side until they reached a wall,
2774. it was the end of the large cave they were sitting in
2775. there were some holes in the wall with random sizes
2776. then Agdalán said: come O dear and put the Charnagút,
2777. thus this wall shall open for you with all its contents
2778. Alexander was surprised and he put the Charnagút in
2779. and with some movements he made with his hands
2780. the wall was wide open like a gate made of rock
2781. but the place was dark and Alexander barely saw a thing
2782. thus Agdalán brought a torch and enlightened the place
2783. and soon the fire got into some torches on the wall rapidly
2784. and the eyes of Alexander opened so wide for what he saw

Alexander 6, V114.

Three days passed now and the air is still humid. Yuck! I can't walk outside without taking off my glasses just to take a glance in front of me! When does this all just be over?
A slightly busy day here in the office, with some stranded sample showing in and had to be prepared like the others. Boy, I just can't stop listening to Phil Collins all the time; eating, working, reading, sleeping. I've noticed that most of his songs were written completely or partially by him, and that proves the genius behind this head to write such touchy words, to me at least, where every song I hear seems to be telling a phase of my life in some sort of way.
Speaking of songs and words, I do have some light into this brain for writing something but so far, only few lines were done and the rope was cut and I got blank. In my work place I barely have the time to write now. All I do is read and read (after working with my samples) and then, I have plans that I must accomplish for my Ayvarith that stopped now for some unknown period of time. Ramadhan is coming on the way by next week, and the schedule would be, definitely, so clogged, that is if I was able to do anything at all. The working hours are shortened in Ramadhan, and despite the fact that I do come here so early even in Ramadhan when the working hours begin later than usual, there is still the tiresome time, and most probably, the nap that I must take in the office, and at home as well afterward. I think no need to do sports and burn calories with a busy mind like this and clogged time table like this.

Today, as usual, I went on picking something to eat for breakfast and also I had a look on some speciality printer paper. I was looking for glossy papers to try out and print my photographs at home with my regular inkjet. When I asked about the possibility of this, since I know nothing about printing and the methodology, I've been told that I have to look after a glossy paper made up by the same brand of my printer. Thus, I went on looking for HP glossy A4 papers. I got glossy ones now but unfortunately they were not A4 size, but nevertheless, I had them. I thought I might be able to print small photographs with those now. The thing is, they were long papers and not in a regular shape. They were 30x10cm (WxH), go and figure how many inches please! However, after arriving to my work place and taking another look at them, I've discovered that they were specifically made for panorama, as indicated on the cover! Well, what you know, another spark of light in this brain! Why not! Let's try printing panoramas with this! If it didn't work anyway, I think I can make one sheet of those print 2 images beside each other and we're done.

On the way as well and before I leave the place, I've fiercely resisted my temptations to buy another book from there. I already have dozens of books I need to read. The books I got from Ireland last year were not touched so far; lot of them. That book however, was about face reading, and I like such wisdoms. I do have some books though, but one more wouldn't hurt! Yet, I had to give up. I hope it is always there to grab it when I need to or when I have the time to.

Talking about the glossy paper and photography, brings me back to the origins of everything that this blog has been about for big time now, away from the Ayvarith. Photogaphy.

After failing with my experiment with that high monopod approach, I didn't really think of something else to do, except of sitting there and fix some images from Ireland. I've found myself doing things in black and white again, primarily because the colors, even though beautiful and unique, I felt them distracting my eyes more. Like that snap of the little path in the little forest in front of the Waterfront...

Little Forest Path

This slide was in fact part of a panorama. After checking the photos since my arrival from Ireland last year, I've discovered some images were shaky and not suitable at all to be combined into a panorama. I've re-visited that specific folder of this panorama and I got this slide out (one image from three brackets) and worked on it for some time trying to enhance the contrast and the green glow with the beam of light from the sun. Unfortunately, it hurt my eyes more than it did give pleasure to them. I think this is mainly because of the composition that made a fuss from such a beautiful and calm place as a whole. I do remember the fragrance and the calm atmosphere in this place, yet my photo was noisy. Needless to say of course it had that "real" noise which was hard to be cleaned and smoothed by regular methods. With all of that, I've decided to go on and make it a BW version, with the addition of some contrast of course. I tried as well to make it a sepia, but I didn't like it as much as the BW version. I didn't ask many people how they feel about this, but to me, it feels like a fairy tale (like the original colored one) but the place is lost in time.

Again, I didn't stop here though, and picked up some number of photos trying them in black and white, and found one more that might be fitting as well, and it was colored and I've published it as a colored one as well, some months ago.

In this photo, I think the whitish part of this flower (is it the Dandelion by the way?) is better emphasized (I guess) in the black and white version, rather than colored one. Why I emphasize the white? Well, I believe for this specific flower, the white tone is the core of the matter, or like this flower is telling everyone "Hey! I'm white!", and to let this flower speak the truth and not lying about her existance, I made her that way instead of being a bit yellowish originally!!!

Reading now, still, Alain Briot's Mastering Photographic Composition, Creativity, and Personal Style, and combined with my BW trend lately, I've came up with a sort of an idea after reading the specific chapters in this book about vision and personal style. It is the beginning anyway and it is not the fingerprint of my style however. I still don't have a style yet. But in his words, Briot inspired to talk about my life in pictures, and when the word "life" comes, I usually picture it in black and white always, because history (which is a topic I like to read into from time to time) is something usually old, or frozen in time, and BW images reflect this idea better, or sepia tones as well. First, I have to settle down this project on paper. I shall write notes about what I do want to tell, and what aspects of my life I'm talking about. Definetely, there would be some rebull in it!!! This is one undividable part of my existance! My plan is to create 10 images to tell the course of my everyday life. Why I shall be doing this project, is something behind my comprehension yet. I think merely to talk about my life but I'm shy to say it in words, so I left pictures talk about me. I shall try as well, to make them as much as possible fit into one image only and no panoramas.

The words about concepts and ideas of Briot in his book, also made me think about some aspects of my life and what do I think about them or what is the philosophy I hold for them. One of these things were actually women. Well, I'm a man so I guess it's natural to talk about women, and photographing women. I'm not a portrait person as yet, but I think, or let's say, I made a belief for myself here, that the first thing I would look at in a woman is her face. To me, this is the center of her emotions. I believe also that 50% of the woman's nature is held in her face, and the rest of her body holds the other 50%. Maybe some men like the aspect of sexuality in a woman and her body, but to me as a man who got raised big time under the presence of a mother more than a father, I do believe that the face tells the real emotions; the passion. Whether than a passion for a man or simply a mother's passion to a child, I believe it is there, in the face. More specifically as well, the eyes of a woman are the first catching factor to me, hence I've been editing the eyes as the first thing, always, when people send me their photos to "enhance". Maybe I had hard time in college days with females, but I always considered those as merely, out of the line or bad products and should not be considered females really. Maybe my next book shall be something about portrait photography...

__________
2713. and Alexander awaited for the words from Agdalán
2714. thus Agdalán started his speech: listen O good king,
2715. it is the time when everything should over and finish,
2716. for my life for now, until the day of the great judgment,
2717. tell me O Alexander, do you know how everything started?
2718. Alexander replied with a weak voice: no knowledge I have
2719. and Agdalán went on saying: In the beginning was the mind,
2720. from the mind the lights were created,
2721. then God commanded the mind,
2722. go! He said, and so the mind went
2723. come! He said then, and so the mind did
2724. thus, God announced the Mind His beloved
2725. thus, He shall judge by it and command,
2726. and by it He shall reward and punish,
2727. thus by glance of the light of the Mind,
2728. He made a burning sun, and a ground,
2729. He called the sun as Sun, and the ground as Earth,
2730. thus He started the life with the bless of fourteen lights,
2731. and He made various peoples to meet each other,
2732. and among those people there was the Ayvar,
2733. a man who conquered and ruled over the world,
2734. and he called the world as Daynur as he wished,
2735. while people lived in wisdom and riches in his time,
2736. until the time had come for him to die, like everyone

Alexander 6, V113.

Lovely weather indeed... NOT. Humidity is back again here and this time with a strange sky hovering around that I can't tell still is it just cloudy or another haze of dust on the way. I had plan to wash my car today, but changed my mind, luckily!
Nothing new for today though, except that I've conducted an experiment in the yard yesterday and it didn't work out at all. The experiment was to make a panorama with a monopod extended up high. The total height of the camera (monopod+VR-head) might have been around 2 meters from the ground. The breeze and the shaky mini-tripod legs were killing factors for me. I tried to balance or stabilize the monopod as much as possible with my barehands and I even tried my nose! Yes, my nose. I simply stood beside the monopod and extended my nose to support the monopod's beam, since my hand was shaking (for the excessive consumption of coffee).
This said now, my mind took the verge of two different ways of thinking, or let's say new methods of some sorts. I would either try to "think" of something to stabilize the monopod when expanded to such height with a VR-head, or I would consider now going on and work with what I like to call "dwarf's view" photography and make a panorama with the monopod folded into its minimum position (around 50cm in length). When unfolded of course, the monopod becomes more stable with little shake that can be managed. The thing is though, how to really stabilize the monopod? The only way I can think of is some support, of some sort, stabilizing the monopod depending on the ground, and even that might not sound feasible because the monopod's body is cylindircal and smooth. I have to resort to meditation as it seems!

The rest of my time is almost idle, except of some photo processing for various images mostly those from Ireland taken last year. To tell the truth, I don't feel them. I just did it. It feels a bit like a sinner, but I couldn't think of anything to pass my time with. After that experiment failed, I even became more "hollow" from ideas and couldn't find much to do, except of of processing my images even though I didn't have much vision for what they would be like in the beginning...

 On the other hand, some memories started to flow (along with visions or imaginations if you like), that kept me listening to old songs all the time. It is a weird feeling of idleness. Maybe I should call it "Idle with emotions". However, I hope this week brings on some more energetic ventures to try out some projects concerning Ayvarith and photography. I don't feel the urge even to play games like before...
I shall leave you now with one of the most beloved songs to my heart. It's old, yet it feels new every time I listen to it. It has a great history and story behind it, if you like to dig more about it...

i

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2689. Alexander put his hand on the floor to keep his body up
2690. then the old man said with a smile: this is not everything dear
2691. and Alexander raised his heavy head up and gazed up
2692. he was waiting for more of the shocking news from the Hermit
2693. thus he did ask: and what else is there to be told O old man?
2694. the old man was so calm and with a gentle smile on his face
2695. and this he did say to Alexander: I am Agdalán
2696. the news were so tough for Alexander and he fainted
2697. time passed before he can open his eyes again
2698. he looked left and right and he saw the old man again
2699. and he could not hold his tears in his eyes anymore
2700. thus the tears gushed out and he shouted out loud
2701. he went hysterical and could not comprehend anymore
2702. then the old man approached him with a cup of a drink
2703. Alexander was looking at the old man with thoughtless eyes
2704. he did not know what is going on around him anymore
2705. thus the old man helped him to hold the cup and drink
2706. it was few minutes until he could gather his powers back
2707. then he said to the old man: what is going in this world?
2708. how come you are what you are for me? impossible!
2709. the old man then calmed Alexander down with a pat
2710. and this he said: calm down O son, and listen to me,
2711. by now, you should not be surprised by the miracles in life,
2712. my story is long and ancient, as old as time itself is