I have a new regime when editing pictures for the posts here. Rather than relying on the app that came with the iPad I have taken some tips from Life In Lo Fi.
In a nutshell I take the following steps:
The above image is the after version of the original below.
Sydney Opera House
Morton Park, Sydney, Australia.
When I was at secondary school it was totally uncool to listen to, let alone like ABBA. I spent many hours alone in my bedroom listening to music that transported me to far away places. It’s funny how things turned out for the shy boy from Birmingham. Who would have thought he would move to Australia 20 years after buying ABBA: The Album. It features music from the documentary film of ABBA’s Australian tour, ABBA: The Movie.
We used our father’s redundancy money to go on our first overseas trip by aeroplane to Jersey in the Channel Islands. It was 1978, my parents, two brothers and I stayed full board for ten days at the Golden Sands Hotel. This is my first memory of live entertainment. I remember the soulful sound of a young woman in the bar, singing and strumming the guitar, while disco music pulsated from the ballroom.
I look back with embarrassment at a naive 14 year old proudly taking his brand new vinyl album down to the ballroom because the DJ had not played any ABBA. Thankfully one of the tracks was played and this holiday was filed away in the recesses of my mind as a happy memory.
I was filled with nostalgia as I read that last weekend was the 50th anniversary of the musical duo of Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson joining force and the first time in 30 years the group had performed together.
I now say with pride that I was and still am an ABBA fan, thank you for the music!
Do you have a happy ABBA memory you would like to share?
Loud country silence is heard.
Distant sounds; insects and birds.
Transition from day to night,
Air hinting of chill.
Softly bathed in Autumn light,
The landscape is still.
This peaceful moment was captured during a recent trip to Orange and Mudgee, five hours’ drive inland from Sydney.
I have a thing for bandstands. As I child I remember the difference in sound as I climbed the steps and entered these magical structures. The cold metal columns soaring up to an impossibly high ceiling were a place to play statues. They served as the starting and finishing posts in creating invisible crisscrossing patterns on the floor.
Today I see them as accessible follies. They are a welcome blot on a park landscape. A happy reminder of times gone by, seldom used for their original purpose.
Coincidentally the Sydney Urban Farm is being constructed in the background of the picture. It is on the site of another folly in today’s faster paced world; Camperdown Bowling Club.
1. Guilt
I don’t take sick leave from work lightly. My conscience tells me that I shouldn’t let my team mates down. The weighing up of the severity of my ailment against the potential for poor performance and the risk of infecting others determines the likelihood of my being away from work due to illness. Even so, I feel guilty when I’m at home.
2. Perspective
Being ill provides space for me to think as I don’t instantly fall into the ‘being at home’ routine. Thinking leads to creativity; yesterday I moved a knitting project forward after weeks of slumbering on the shelf next to my chair. Wanting to write is a sign of inner equilibrium and a step to recovery.
3. Reconnect
During my short stint of incapacity the Autumn temperatures have been a warm 22 – 28oC during the day. Mornings have been in the teens, ideal for reconnecting with my love affair with cravats. When the weather turns cool I eagerly make use of a silk cravat and lambs-wool scarves I bought in Italy around thirty years ago. I wonder if the cravat reminds me of creative types portrayed in the media of my youth and my wish to be like them.
Alas, tomorrow I fear I will be free from mind numbing medication and the malady that sent me to my bed. I shall return to the reality of of the everyday with a renewed aim to record my thoughts so that I can be more productive in my blogging.
Reading from a news headline, my husband let me know this morning that the Australian dollar is not looking good against other currencies. Apparently it is still worth going overseas to live like a king in Greece, Vietnam, India, Japan, and Indonesia. The article goes on to advise us that the cheapest maccers in the World is $1.56 in India; maybe a reason for me to stay in Australia especially as Vietnam has opened the door for MacDonalds to do its thing…….
It is fortuitous that Apple let me know my bit of charge-free cloud was close to reaching its capacity. I came across this picture taken in 2012; an industrial site next to Sydney Park. I like the angled section and the solid shapes nestled amongst the trees.
We are being treated to unseasonably warm days and colourful sunsets; I’m not complaining.
theINFP 