March 24, 2009
I’m uncharacteristically enthused by my current project, I’m using my limited DIY & woodworking talents to fashion a decent house for some gerbils. The plans for our gerbilarium started as just making a lid for the 16 gallon (20 US gallons) tank but it just didn’t seem enough so I am designing and building them a tank-topper that will, hopefully, be suitable for gerbil royalty. The enthusiasm is refreshing and I think it’s down to being creative in a manner that feels new to me, I’ve spent so long building intangible web solutions and for years now creating only digital photographs that I lost the joy of creation, the pleasure to be had from making something real and physical, something that exists in the physical world to step back from and be admired once I am finished.
Of course I shan’t finish it, like many of my creations it will go to permanent beta, built in modules and easily added to later. This is the way I create, I rarely see the finished object when starting out on a project, I see potentials. I saw an empty glass tank and in my head it becomes a three storey gerbil mansion. Sometimes I look at seeds and see not just the tree that will grow but the forest, complete with birds flitting about above early morning dog-walkers calling on Rover as he chases squirrels through the undergrowth!
My lesson to learn is to control my creative outpourings, to direct them towards a useful end and to learn to recognise when that has been reached and to stop. Afterall, if I never finish things how can I fully enjoy starting the new and the exciting!
This tank was left by a previous tenant, the temptation to clean it and then set it up as home for a pair of gerbils was too much for me to resist. This was the first stage of my preparations, there is more of everything now – except still no gerbils!
March 15, 2009
I think I have decided that my blog languishes too long between updates. It’s not the first time I’ve thought that, in fact I probably think it a couple of times each week – despite often having ideas for things to write they never seem to fit with the themes I’ve decided on, or if they do I never get around to finising off the writing part of blogging. So today’s idea is to relax on the focus and just update on a more personal level more often and let the “better” updates sit alongside a hopefully more productive output – afterall blog categories and tags are there for folks who want to filter what they read into more focussed topics.
And therefore, in the spirit of writing whenever the mood takes and including more personal blog updates I offer up this entry, The Sandwich. Being vegetarian (and a rather fussy eater) makes sandwich choices very simple: I like white bread, cheese & tomatoes. The bread is the most important part, I’d eat good bread dry with water every day and be happy, the cheese & tomato are simply there to qualify as a sandwich and anything extra added is considered a luxury treat. So there you have it, a personal fact revealed in a spontaneously written blog entry. I shall in future attempt to maintain this high standard of excitement – promise!
Providing two of my five-a-day in the cucumber & tomato. Providing five days worth of white bread in two slices but quite stingy with the cheese I think – only enough for a mild heart attack.
January 15, 2009
This is the first photo taken with a brand new camera, about thirty seconds after the battery had fully charged for the first time (lucky I had an attractive subject across the room).
It is also the first photo taken as part of my new Photo Blog project!
