THE BAD PHOTOGRAPHER

2009-08-30T13:13:00.002+10:00

TOODLE-OO!!

Folks! Obviously I don't have enough time to keep my blog going, so it is time for me to say farewell for now, as I am busy playing elsewhere. I may be back in some shape or form at some point, but I am concentrating much more on the photography now. I feel a bit rough abandoning those of you that are still out there! I will try to catch up with you as much as I can. Maybe shoot me your emails if you want to keep in touch. The blogosphere has been so valuable and encouraging, and I am ever grateful. I really have met some top folk that I know I will always be friends with. Be creative people!

Feel the love

Pod

xx

2009-06-06T08:29:00.004+10:00

THINGS THAT MAKE ME LOVE HIM MORE

Bye Bye Blackbird (May 2009)

Compost (May 2009)

Windfall (May 2009)

2009-05-05T20:58:00.006+10:00

THE TWELFTH OF NEVER

I woke up this morning in the dark and quiet, feeling that I was the only person awake in the whole of the land. I thought about how many times I had said 'I love you', and I wondered were you watching me lying there from somewhere up above, and if so, were you gazing down at me as you did when I was born? All the hundreds of thousands of times I must have told you 'I love you'. At night we used to shout to each other from our bedrooms

'nighty nighty to you!'
'nighty nighty to you too!'
'see you in the morns!'
'see you in the morns!'
'i love you'
'i love you'
'to the twelfth of never'
'twelfth of never'

And sometimes all we would have to say was 'twelfth of never' and hug and smile and feel that everything was OK.

And lying there I realised that it was exactly seven years to the day when I last would have whispered 'twelfth of never.'

2009-04-12T18:56:00.001+10:00

I HAVE BEEN MAINLY

Working hard

And being lazy in the sunshine

2009-01-30T23:34:00.003+11:00

ONE NIGHT

He was just sitting quietly reading in his study, when suddenly they came. Voices. Layer upon layer. They said 'go downstairs, to the cellar.' 'Hurry!' they whispered urgently, 'and pull up the rug and the floor boards underneath.' Hundreds of soft feathery voices urging him on. 'Find the box, take out the leaf , then run into the woods.' Scrambling down the stairs, into the cellar he went. Up came the rug and the boards. A small wooden box with a coppery green clasp he found, and inside a small red leaf. 'Run, run'. Their words pressing gently onto his ears like hundreds of tiny cushions. 'Put the leaf into your mouth and run to the woods.' He ran. 'They are waiting for you, they are waiting.'

He was never found.

2008-12-24T19:42:00.002+11:00

MAKE IT BIG

Wherever you may be, whatever you are doing, whoever you are doing it with, have fun, make it count, be merry. I wish I could share a festive drink with you all I do!!

Much love and a big warm hug for those of you that aren't sweating like me........

2008-12-10T20:46:00.001+11:00

PEEK-A-BOO

I'm back
And relaxed
And wondering why more people don't smile.........?
(Not you)

2008-11-19T22:36:00.003+11:00

POOF!

And as if by magic, Pod disappeared to Thailand with his new 5d for three weeks.......

If you're in Sydney, please go and see the brilliantly intricate work of Jane Gillings

2008-11-12T21:29:00.003+11:00

SECRETS OF THE KITCHEN TABLE

What felt like all of a sudden, he found himself racing down a country lane in a smaller car than his usual. Although high hedges blocked his view across the fields on either side, he sensed he was driving home. A couple of spitfires buzzed overhead, and for a split second he felt a wave of terror, but thankfully remembered quite quickly, that that was all over now.

(Sometime later, the planes landed in a nearby school field to the ecstatic cheers of twenty-nine 9 year olds, four clapping and nodding teachers, and the faraway look of one little boy who hadn’t a clue what was going on).

Whizzing around a corner he saw the driveway and swung a left. The farmhouse sprang in to view. As he climbed out of the car his right hand caught a bramble that was taking over the hedge, and a small bead of blood formed on his little finger and dropped silently onto the car. He noticed then that the car was sort of torpedo shaped, and made of tightly woven wicker. As he watched his blood slip between the weaves, he frowned, trying to convince himself that the car must have always looked this way.

In the kitchen, the rest of the family were sat at the table. Father was talking rather quietly and anxiously about the future of the farm. There were heavy thuds from upstairs. Aside from Father, who continued to ramble on, they all looked up to the ceiling, following with their eyes the thuds from one side of the room to the other, down the wall to the stair door. The sound of the latch, and then grandma appeared, for the first time in three weeks, in her nightdress. She shuffled over to the head of the table and sat in the vacant chair there. Father stopped speaking.

"Ninety years I have sat at this table," she said, slowly lowering her head to place the left side of her face on the dark wood.

"The things I have seen and heard. All the secrets this table holds, all the things you will never know."

She stretched out her right hand across the table and stroked it gently back and forth, gazing off into the distance, looking through the wall to the stirring ocean outside.

The sound of waves.

Closing her eyes she continued,

"And now, as the tide turns, so do I."

(I dreamt this)

2008-11-06T19:02:00.002+11:00

THE UNEXPECTED COMFORT OF TACKY ORNAMENTS

Dad's House May 2008

2008-10-25T15:46:00.012+11:00

STEALTH

I have been feeling a little like this of late. A bit stuck. Perhaps a little stuffed (no comments please Gary). Or maybe full is a better word. Frustrated. I have been working rather hard and consequently have had little time to even think about being creative, let alone picking up the camera and making some pictures. Recently, I have felt that work is defining me. I go through phases like this, and know that balance will return once I have realised that it has been lost.

I was looking down at my hands today and thinking about a change of career. I think a penny dropped and a few other things then fell in to place. You know when you've been choosing not to observe yourself for a while, and then all of a sudden you see it all quite clearly. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror looking a little too much like the stuffed weasel that we see here. A little bit stuck and sneery. Only a little, but we don't want that do we?

So, some thinking to do.

And I also keep putting off getting a Canon 5D.

And I also want to read forever.

And
And
And

2008-10-15T19:23:00.003+11:00

TREE SWALLOW ME

Last night I dreamt that I was sitting beneath an autumnal tree in the park behind my childhood house. I was making something out of leaves and wood, and there blew a gently odd wind, of the kind that stirs when magic is about to happen. A branch of the tree reached down to me in the shape of a pointing finger, and then it spread out its fingery branches so that they surrounded me under its palm. I sat inside and felt very safe and protected.

This morning, at breakfast, I am positive that the strawberry jam plumped up and rose a little to meet my spoon.

Just a little bit.....

2008-09-28T12:07:00.007+10:00

ON THE MOON AND MOONING

The heat has returned. It is meant to be spring, yet we have had some days this week above 30 degrees, which has meant balmy days and warm scented nights. Gone are chilly morning fuelled quick steps to the bathroom. Gone is the need to linger under the hot shower. Gone is Paul Newman (farewell you wonderful man.....but I won't miss be missing your salad dressings I'm afraid).

Welcome nude breakfasts and nudey sunbaking in the back garden (despite being pelted with seeds by the myna birds!). Welcome sleeping with only a sheet, and welcome being able to poke one's bottom out of the sheets without fear of waking with frostbitey. However, and herein lies the danger, when one doesn't expose one's bottom on these hot nights, one is liable to overheat and dream that the moon is in fact inhabitated, and then one is subjected to witness the earthly chaos that ensues.....

All in all though, summer is coming

Now all I need is you

And you

Oh, and you!!

2008-09-13T15:30:00.002+10:00

I'M JUST A RABBIT

2008-08-29T19:20:00.001+10:00

I DO WANT WHAT I HAVEN'T GOT

2008-08-19T16:58:00.000+10:00

STILLNESS

2008-08-08T10:03:00.004+10:00

OFTTIMES WHERE

How many times have I wondered where you are?
Where exactly did you go?

Last night as I drifted off, I found myself sitting in our old house, waiting. You breezed in, young again, shining.
In awe I said 'you are so beautiful'.
You smile, as only you could, and I see you with as much of me as possible, knowing that you will soon be off again.
When I woke, I kept as still as can be, unblinking, like you were on that last day.
If I pretend to be you, will I feel what you were feeling?
Will I know what you were thinking?
Will I feel the comfort of your warm cheek against mine for the last time?
If I keep really still, will I know?

All curled up you were.
So quietly leaving us you were.

How many times have I lied there, so still, wondering?

Is this letting go?

2008-07-25T22:18:00.001+10:00

SOMETIMES

I just want to be a bobble-hat in a bobble-hat world.

(thanks to HRH for being bobble-hat model and doing it so well)

2008-07-15T20:22:00.004+10:00

POD GOES BATTY

Well, battier I should say really.

I have just started another photography course, so I may be even quieter than usual. I keep feeling I haven't time for blogging, but I can't quite give up!

2008-07-06T10:13:00.002+10:00

ORANGE APPLED

There's something rather frightening about this photo.
Ella however is a great kid. She seems to believe that every plane in the sky is full folk on their way to the shops to buy apples. Specifically apples, nothing else. I am pretty sure that she just spotted an airplane here, and distractedly thought for a moment 'there they go again!'. She has convinced me to think the same now.

2008-06-12T21:05:00.003+10:00

VINTAGE (WONDER?) POD

One of the best moments about being home was finding an old diary that I thought I had lost forever. I had thought lots about where it could be, but had resigned myself to the fact it gone forever. I didn't really know exactly what was in the diary, but I just wanted it. I'm such a nostalgic and silly old Pod you see. So when I pulled out an old suitcase from the bowels of one of my dad's sheds (yes he has more than one...posh eh?), and midst other 'things' found the diary, well, as they say here in Oz, I was stoked. Or as they say back home "ee, i wa made up".

There were so many funny entries, and some that were quite telling (see Saturday January 10 for example), and of course memories came flooding back. And Pod loves memories. He would pay for them. In January 1981, I would have been three months away from my 10th birthday.

Monday 5th - I remember the lost library books, because I remember finding them. They were in what we called 'the bogey hole', which was a small cupboard under the stairs. The bogey hole, amongst other things, housed Mrs Toe, our hamster. Not only was Mrs Toe extraordinarily good at death defying acts of escapism and agility, she was possibly the world's strongest hamster. In the dead of one night, she was caught in the spotlight of a torch (we were investigating what we thought was a possible burglary), wheeling a crumpet (pikelet to some) across the terrible 70's carpet, toward her cage. She was literally wheeling it along with her tiny front paws, like a man would wheel along a massive tyre. I could go on about Mrs Toe (I may tell you at some point about the time when we thought she was dead and almost buried her alive), but for the purposes of this story, the point I am trying to get across is that she was most determined. And so the library books had been used to keep the lid to her cage firmly down....hence me remembering losing them.

Tuesday 6th - you will see at the bottom of that day 'missed cubs'. That is because the first time I ever went, I was blindfolded and shoved into a dark cupboard and made to feel and identify various objects hanging from the ceiling. The first was a rasher of streaky bacon, the second was a plastic bat. I didn't make it to the third. The only time I ever went back to cubs was when I heard they were teaching us how to make cream horns......

Saturday 10 - 'played Wonder Woman'. Mum had a gold rope belt (the lasso of truth), she had thick gold bangles (bullet deflecting bracelets made from impenetrable Amazonian metal), she had knee high yellow PVC Mary Quant platform boots.....she didn't have an invisible plane, but the outfit was almost complete. What was I to do? I loved Wonder Woman as well as Diana Prince, who was always so wise. I recently got hold of the DVDs, and I have to say, they are better than I imagined. I still wish I could twirl and change into a superhero, though perhaps not Wonder Woman anymore.

I love the fact that I know now, that on Saturday January 10, 1981, the most important thing I did on that day was playing Wonder Woman.

Ah the memories.

Be playful folk, and remember:

2008-06-02T17:40:00.001+10:00

I AM BACK

.....and am all muddled

2008-05-04T20:03:00.004+10:00

FARE YE WELL

This week I lost a very very dear patient. A lady. One in a million. She made a huge impact on me, and I spoke to many folk about how wonderful, amazing and inspirational she was. I told everyone but her. I had planned to take her picture. I had planned to take her out to the movies, or to the theatre. We had such similar taste. We had such a laugh. If we had been young at the same time, we would have caused trouble. It was an honour to have entered her life towards at the end of it, though I am left wanting more. I feel a little stunned. Her passing was also special, and suited her down to the ground. Now of course I regret not telling her how marvellous she was, and not doing the things I wanted to do with her. There lies the lesson.

Folks, I am flying off to Europe for a few weeks, and doubt I shall have time to blog. I will try to where possible, otherwise see you in June.

Stay special hey?

x

2008-04-23T22:18:00.001+10:00

THE MORNING AFTER

No, this isn't me the morning after my birthday party.
Why would anyone give this to their child to play with?
And why would anyone design a doll with teeth like that?
I'm all for a bit of imperfection, but.....

2008-04-19T14:14:00.003+10:00

THE BLACKNESS OF DARKNESS FOREVER

Fear not folks. I am not feeling blue. The title is a song reference...and a top one at that.
It has been nowt but grey grey grey here! I am hoping that my trip to the mountains for my birthday will involve sunshine.
Did I mention it's my birthday on Monday?
Not that I'm fishing for wishes.
Just gifts.
Thank you.

2008-04-07T17:51:00.001+10:00

Y

Why indeed.
Going for a walk in the woods....
Oh, but i will be back soon
Honest
x

2008-03-20T19:51:00.002+11:00

THE HAPPIEST OF EASTERS

2008-03-02T19:16:00.002+11:00

TOO HARD TOO HARD

So many things to catch up on, so many folk to catch up with.
I am feeling a little behind.
Ooh!
I was never very good at catching. Nor throwing.
I once really embarrassed myself at a wellie wanging competition by actually wanging the wellie behind me and hitting a small child.......

Pod must try harder
Pod must try harder

2008-02-09T19:17:00.000+11:00

THE INADVERTENT MIRRORING OF CORSETRY

Pod creeps slowly back into his corner

Slowly

2008-02-01T10:34:00.000+11:00

A SHIFT

Someone has moved the goalposts!
And I have been super busy
And I did see Bjork last week
And I did see Joanna Newsom last week
And I did see Low last week
And I am still unpacking
And I will come and visit soon promise
And I really appreciate all your comments thank you thank you
And I will return shortly (hang in there)
And I miss you
And
And
And.......

2008-01-19T10:02:00.000+11:00

ALL WORK AND NO......

........ makes Poddo a dull and uncreative boy. Sorry for quietness folks, I have been moving house and blah blah blah. I should be back on track to visit you all and reply to comments very soon. Been missing y'all!

2007-12-27T11:07:00.000+11:00

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE

Much merriment and joy to y'all wherever ye may be across the universe or on this crazy globe. Sorry I haven't had time to get around individually to say Happy Christmas and all, you know how it is this time of year. Would have been fun to have shared a festive beverage with you! One day perhaps.

Spread the love peeps!

Pod loves you

x

2007-12-21T21:17:00.000+11:00

UN HOMME DANS UNE GARE ISOLEE

Sitting in the back of a taxi, I took a final bite from one of those really disappointing apples that looks great on the outside, but in actual fact is really all floury and pah on the inside. I still, however, had three bites, but this was the last, knowingly awful one. I pondered the feeling of being disproportionately let down by the apple.

I discretely let it drop to the floor of the cab, even though I knew the driver couldn't see, and, pretty much guiltlessly, slowly pushed it underneath his seat, knowing, but at this particular point in my life, not really caring, that in a few days it would be smelly and brown. With as much brain power as I could muster, I willed the radio to play 'Fade To Grey' by Visage. After at least two minutes of concentration, I grew tired and sang it in my mind instead. Why did I say yes to tonight?

(alternative photo below)

2007-12-15T17:32:00.000+11:00

58 SECONDS

I wrote something today, lying here on the stone, in the sun. When I had finished, I turned over onto my back, only to find, typically, that a cluster of clouds had rudely gathered and were blocking out the sun. I stared up a little annoyed (only a little though), and spotted two balloons that had escaped the notsotight clutch of a little person. One looked black, the other looked pink. Pink seemed to be chasing Black, though in reality I assume they were in fact tied together, and their distance away from me was confusing me, making me susceptible to flights of fancy. I thought of you, and then of us running away.

Once the eloping balloons had shrunk to sesame seed size, I decided that I would count until they disappeared. Shortly the Shark Patrol helicopter flew over, and I was briefly distracted by thoughts of a paradisiacal swimming ending in disaster. If you could have seen me at this point, I would have been glancing to the left and frowning. When I looked back up to the sky, the balloons had vanished. I guess after all that was their aim. I felt a sense of smug completion. Then the cat came and started biting at the end of my pencil. His breath smelt.

2007-12-11T19:47:00.000+11:00

I FEEL I HAVE LOST A PART OF MYSELF, YET HAVE FOUND ANOTHER

2007-12-02T20:38:00.000+11:00

DESIRED CONSTELLATION

2007-11-29T08:54:00.000+11:00

ALWAYS BY OUR SIDE

Sadly sadly sadly we had to put Bernard PhD down on Sunday. He had been sick for some time, and was only getting worse. He managed to get up off his bed and walk around to all of us individually for a cuddle. I am sure he knew that the vet was coming. We held him whilst he slipped away. It was peacefully heartbbreaking. Bernard was the most gentle, loving and intelligent dog ever (hence the PhD), even though he was a little stinky at times.

I can't believe that I will never be able to squeeze his snout again, or pat his bottom until his back legs went all wobbly. He was full of love.

Thank you so much Bernard, here's a little song for you.......

2007-11-24T18:47:00.000+11:00

RECYCLED GARDEN

This was one of my favourites this year, though I realise now that I haven't shown it in its entirety. It was in fact a fairly large wreath, all made up of found plastic objects, put together to form flower-like structures. It is by Jane Gillings. Yet again, I found myself wishing that I had thought of this. I guess I have a mild obsession with plastic and little toys and bright colours. I spent ages looking at them all, they were very intricate and quirky, like this (you can click on the smaller images to enlarge them):

and this:

oh! and this:

The artist's statement:

Using the products of a throw away society, my garden needs no water to survive and forms a wreath in its own memory.

You can see more of the flowers on Jane's blog here

In the eyes of Pod, this is cool.

Thank you Jane!

2007-11-20T19:43:00.000+11:00

TETRAPUS

Another from Sculptures By The Sea. I got up, as instructed by my French mistress, at 5.30am on Sunday morning to avoid the crowds, but can you believe it was almost as busy! Very worth it though. I'll try not to bore you with too many of these.....

So Nathalie, this is for you!!

(Sculptor is Bert Flugelman)

2007-11-16T08:13:00.000+11:00

COMPETITION

From Sculptures By The Sea 2007. Always too many people around to take any decent photos......

2007-11-13T09:57:00.000+11:00

CORNOGRAPHY

Sorry to lower the tone guys......

2007-11-04T17:46:00.000+11:00

RESURRECTION

A test shot for a new project on the boil. Won't say much just now......

I have visitors over from NZ at the moment, and a course on too, so forgive my truancy

I kiss you

2007-10-28T18:17:00.000+11:00

APPARITION IN TARTAN

Just lately I seem to be noticing people that to me look like they are from somewhere else, or some time else I should say. I am sure that this says something about my current state of mind rather than there actually being a recent portal that has opened up for stray time travelers. This girl fascinated me a little. She looked as though she was looking at something that nobody else could see, and she appeared quite alien to her surroundings. I can't really explain why in words, it was more of a feeling. So I made the picture out of focus , for my own sake, to emphasise my feeling of blurriness. The image I am sure means more to me than it will to anybody else, but the girl was rather extraordinary. When I walked away, I didn't turn to look back because in my mind, she had blurred completely out of view and gone back to the place from whence she came, wherever that may be!

The Podbrain rambles on.....

2007-10-19T21:23:00.000+10:00

YESTERDAY UPON THE STAIR

I saw a girl who wasn't there

2007-10-04T21:24:00.000+10:00

INTENTION

Summer cometh here! Yesterday was 34 degrees. My washing was dry within minutes, but was invaded by a swarm of moths. As I put my kegs on this morning, one flew outta my gusset, and then another out of my sock! Cheeky beggers!

The brother of Pod (Day-Day) is also arriving shortly, so do excuse my quietness over the next week or two. I shall be climbing the Harbour Bridge, petting roos and being generally adventurous.

Keep warm!

2007-09-30T22:46:00.000+10:00

POD PICKS

I didn't want to interupt the last series (for Reya mainly), to tell you that I had this image in the student show of the ACP. In the main gallery this time, if you please! It is great to see your work up there. I had all intentions of doing another course, but my apartment is being sold, so I have to move, and my brother is coming over, and summer is coming, and there is much fun to be had. So I will postpone it for a while, plus I am really enjoying making pictures again and want to luxuriate in that.

Also, please take a peek here and assist Mr Gust in his quest for random meats...

2007-09-27T18:55:00.000+10:00

FEETS

The last in the 'Kawhia' series for the time being.

I wish good weekends upon ye!

2007-09-22T18:14:00.000+10:00

DOG

Third in the 'Kawhia' series.
(this dog had a button sown onto its right upper eyelid.....?)

2007-09-17T22:30:00.000+10:00

LEG

Second from the 'Kawhia' series

2007-09-14T08:43:00.000+10:00

HEAD

From a short series 'Kawhia'

2007-09-10T08:40:00.000+10:00

TURN THAT WALLPAPER DOWN

Two shots from a wonderfully tacky weekend away on the water. The break did me the world of good, but the wallpaper gave me a headache.

2007-09-07T08:52:00.000+10:00

LIKE YOU KNOW ME

A shot from an ongoing project (podject?). This is just a working title, so I am open to suggestion. Oh, and no, this is not Pod. The project involves many willing participants, so if you are in Sydney, and you want to get your kit off in my bedroom......

Happy weekends folks!

2007-09-03T19:09:00.000+10:00

TAKE ME AWAY

2007-08-28T17:38:00.000+10:00

ALL TOGETHER NOW

Aaaah! Ain't that cute folks? Don't normally do cute (do I?), but I saw these little fellas in the park on Sunday and thought 'aaah'.

So I think spring has sprung here, which means winter cometh for some of you.

Snigger

Am just off to watch the lunar eclipse; picnic rug, fish and chips and cheap plonk in hand (class all the way).

Wish you were here!

Pip-pip!

2007-08-22T19:32:00.000+10:00

THE GEOMETRY OF CARELESSNESS (EXHIBIT A)

2007-08-16T17:42:00.000+10:00

POD EMERGES

Phew, well, the course is finally over. After a few weeks of feeling totally creatively uninspired, at the 11th hour, the podbrain kicked into gear and I had a vision for my final project. I shall be putting one image into to the exhibition, and I now have an ongoing project to work on (will post an example soon). Before I did the course I was pretty much wondering around fairly aimlessly (which I am pro at) just taking pictures of things that caught my eye. I think that can work for me, and in some ways think that is Pod style. Since doing the course I have been over-analysing and way too critical of the images I have made, and as a consequence feel that I haven't produced anything of much interest.It has also been quite challenging being forced to take pictures, rather than in my own time, and I am now looking forward to more aimless wandering. Saying that, I am eyeing up another course next term. A bigger one. Watch out.

Meantime, I shall come out from beneath my toadstool, and sit atop it, waiting for something interesting to pass me by. Hopefully I now have some time to devote to you guys again.

Speaking of (toad)stools, on Sunday I fell off a stool and into the wardrobe, whilst putting a pillow on the top shelf. I landed in a selection of jackets (and shouted a few expletives into a pocket). A few hours later my neck seized up and gave me some insight into the world of my patients....I have a little more sympathy now! All better, fear not.

2007-08-14T20:41:00.000+10:00

WHAT WHAT WHAT

A strange series of events and coincidences of the last 24 hours, left me staring up at the sky, silently shouting 'what are you trying to tell me?!', so after work,I dashed to the sea in the hope that the wind would bring some clarity. When I saw the little rainbow, I definitely knew that someone was trying to tell me something, but WHAT?

2007-08-08T21:07:00.000+10:00

WATSON'S BAY

As I am pushed for time, here is one of my favourite views over Sydney, from Watson's Bay. To me, Sydney has the kind of skyline a child would draw. I love it. Hope the sun shineth upon ye!

2007-08-01T15:52:00.000+10:00

WHAT A LOAD OF OLD

Hey! Sorry for my quietness, mainly due to the course that I am doing on colour theory. I have had lots of (quite boring and unimaginative) homework to do. All necessary and it will help me in the end, but there hasn't been much scope for creativity. So most of the pictures I have made recently have literally been a load of old rubbish (see above example). Of course I am now thinking way too much before I shoot, and consequently taking less photographs. Bear with me, I will be back soon, and I will visit/comment when I can.

In other news, we had a 23 degree day here today (it is winter), so I sat atop my hill in the sun. 'Twas bliss!

Keep warm folks!

2007-07-14T08:59:00.000+10:00

SHE SHINES (HER LOVE)

She told me, when she was little, that she would lie in the hugeness of grandma's feathery soft bed. The glow of the street lamp shining through the dark orange curtains would luminate the whole room, so that sometime she felt as though she were in the secret part of a flame, all warm and safe and out of reach. Sometimes, she said, she would lie there, so so still, staring at the wall, and feel so so tiny and so so far away from it, and then all at once a giant, and really close to it. It was too frightening and exciting to do this for any longer than it took to realise it was happening, when she would twirl around all in one go to face the other way.

Lying on her right, she said, she faced the window, aglow in its quiet burning flush. If she looked down, she could see the old mahogany wardrobe. On each door, the woody knots were exact mirror images of one another, and in this light, they looked like two knights, standing next to each other, keeping guard side by side in their guard boxes. She felt safe knowing they were there, and her toes grappled at the bedsheets as she basked in the comfort of it all.

Next to the wardrobe, closer to the window, was grandma's dressing table. Its dark wood matched the knights. It had three mirrors on it. One big central one, and two smaller ones either side that angled in towards each other. Sometimes, when the curtains were pulled back in the morning, she would lie there, pretending to be asleep still, but she would peek through half an eye at grandma sitting there, combing out her hair. She loved the crackling sound it made. That's what she said, that it made a crackling sound. If she looked at grandma in the left hand mirror, it made her look like a different person. She giggled at this she said, because it made her look like grandma at church, when they were kneeling to pray, and grandma looked all cross and would tell her to shush and give her a fluffy peppermint from the bottom of her handbag to keep her quiet and stop her from scraping her shoes on the pew in front.

There were many things on the dressing table, many things to touch and sniff and put on. Things that made her look and smell like grandma. Next to the brush (one of a set of three: brush, comb and hand held mirror, all with what grandma said had handles made of bone. Bone? Was that what made grandma's hair crackle she often pondered?), was the powder puff lady. A very well dressed porcelain lady, with crimson hat and matching dress that fell in big swirls right down to her ankles. She was very pretty indeed. She stood on top of the powder puff that rested on the tub of glittery white powder that grandma pom-pommed onto her face, all squinty of eye and pursed of lip.

Some nights, she said, the street lamp would shine through a gap between the curtains, throwing a thin line of light right upon the crimson lady. On these nights, she would fall asleep and dream that it was herself standing atop the powder puff. Slowly she would turn around, around and around, feeling the soft soft powder tickling her porcelain white toes. Gradually gathering speed, little clouds of powder would billow about her ankles. Then she would jump up high, still spinning, all giddy with laughter and whirl. Spinning and jumping, with her arms stretched out, ever so fast, so that eventually all she became was three spinning discs of hair, arms and skirt, all in a sparkling plume of powder. A great tower of a cloud sweeping up around her like a gentle tornado of giggle and flicker.

One night she said she woke up on the floor by the bed, with powder stuck all between her toes, and dusted about her ankles.

That is what she told me.

2007-07-03T08:08:00.000+10:00

WHEN YOU AND SLEEP ESCAPE ME

I have been dreaming lots lately. Well, let me clarify that. I dream lots anyway, but recently I have had very vivid dreams that feel very symbolic. Yet I haven't been paying enough attention to them. Two nights ago I woke with heart a-racing, to discover the light of the full moon peaking through the only gap in the blinds, directly onto my forehead.

Last night I dreamt that I was in a huge, lush field, sitting by a wire fence, beyond which was a strip of grass and then a forest. On the outer edge of the forest, the trees were hazelnut. I could see several windfall hazelnuts on the grass just beyond the fence. So through I clamber to grab some. I get a handful, some of them were in doubles, covered in their leafy cases. Suddenly I hear and feel the thunder of horses' hooves, and look to my left to see four galloping towards me. I scamper back under the fence as they race past.

I sit and crack open the hazelnuts between two stones, remembering how succulent they are when they are so fresh. I want some more, so I dare myself to venture in again, and whilst I am picking some from the tree, here they come again. But this time I stand quietly just inside the trees, and watch. They seem to go by in slow motion and I just stare in awe.

When I woke up, still in darkness, I felt sure I could see the faint glow of a street-lamp shining through the gap in the wardrobe.......

2007-06-28T17:47:00.000+10:00

SNIGGLE

Tis a funny world. I had a day off today, and whilst I was out shopping, I had one of those moments where I felt as if I wasn't there, but just observing, and I saw how weird we all are. I was snapped out of it when I noticed an old lady looking quite distressed and confused, she glanced at me and we both really smiled and everything was ok again, for both of us. Then I saw a Chinese busker on the verge of performing with his viloin. He clicked on his backing track (a rather pathetic beat), and flicked his nonexistent hair back all dramatically, composed himself, then smiled up to the heavens and began to play.

I had to giggle to myself, but as I have a cold, it was more of a sniggle.

2007-06-20T10:08:00.000+10:00

TOODLE PIP TODD!

Off he goes on another adventure! I don't suppose we'll be seeing him for a while.....

Just wanted to say sorry for not commenting as frequently of late. Have been busy with a course and blah blah blah. All good things. And another course starts in a few weeks! I have submitted some of the Todd series for the student exhibition at the Australian Centre for Photography, so we shall see...

Am also having trouble linking on my sidebar?? So I apologise if I haven't been able to link you yet, I'm not being rude, honest!

2007-06-15T19:41:00.000+10:00

FOUND

2007-06-13T08:21:00.000+10:00

A LITTLE LOST

(but perhaps not realising that someone is looking out for him, and that he is infact moving upwards)

2007-06-10T12:45:00.000+10:00

CONTEMPLATING

2007-06-07T22:08:00.000+10:00

FREE TO ROAM

2007-06-05T09:53:00.000+10:00

MEET TODD

As part of a photography course I am currently doing, we had to take various shots of 'an object bigger that the camera, not a person', using various criteria. I searched the house, and nothing deemed satisfactory. On my way to work last week, I passed a two dollar shop, and caught a glimpse of Todd hanging from the ceiling. Pod to the rescue! Perhaps I will post a few shots I took for my homework this week.

2007-06-02T09:32:00.000+10:00

FAREWELL PORTIA

Short but oh so sweet.
I will miss your perfectly tiny face and lazy loveliness.
I thought you were a little cat version of me.
Poop!

2007-05-30T13:43:00.000+10:00

GOING HOME

The end of a beautiful day.

Especially for Vicky, and all the others that have gone to help the sun to shine brighter for us.

How lucky we are.

2007-05-23T20:08:00.000+10:00

AUGMENTATION?

2007-05-19T09:26:00.001+10:00

LET ME HEAR YOUR BODY TALK, YOUR BODY TALK

2007-05-14T09:45:00.000+10:00

ICE ICE BABY

'Ice' aka 'crystal', a methamphetamine, is increasingly becoming a problem here. You can spot the addicts a mile off. They have been awake for days usually. There was a doco on ice abuse on TV here a while back. The woman in this image was featured. The pictures of her are 'before ice' and 'after ice' shots. I noticed the sticker on a fire exit and wondered why someone had decdided to make the sticker and stick it there. A question I often ask myself. Why?

(I thought you might benefit from knowing this rather than me just posting the image)

2007-05-11T10:58:00.000+10:00

NICE ICE BABY
(also titled 'One More Icecream Will Do You No Arm')

2007-05-08T10:37:00.000+10:00

FIVE YEARS

I want to run across the park and by the tall hedge, stopping to pick sour gooseberries that make my little toes curl as I giggle. I want to smell the wildflowers as I stand at the old gate watching the horses watching me. I want to run to the copse of hazelnut and conker. I want to inspect my kingdom of butterfly and bee.

I want to hear you call me home for tea.

2007-05-01T08:08:00.000+10:00

I SEE ME AS OTHER PEOPLE SEE ME

2007-04-29T10:02:00.000+10:00

UMA

2007-04-26T21:32:00.000+10:00

GRUMPY OLD POD

After two consecutive nights of being woken by either very heavy rain (which I don't mind), or very drunk Irish folk arguing outside my window (which I do mind), I found myself rather grumpy on waking this morn. A Pod needs his sleep you see. So I felt like knocking on the door of this place, shouting "Emergency! Could I have some happy gas please?!".

Instead I went for a walk in the hidden gem that is Cooper's Park, where I run, but because of all the rain, haven't been able to for a few days. The early morning sun was bouncing off the rain heavy trees, the birds were cheerily celebrating the blue skies, and the spiders were busy mending their rain damaged webs.

Further along I marvelled in the multi-layered smells hanging in the fresh morning air, and the sound of the babbling stream. I was reminded of my previous post (below) and I imagined myself in The Enchanted Wood. And then I saw this...

......and realised that I needn't be a grumpy old Pod. On my way to work, I was standing waiting to cross the road, when a runaway pink balloon drifted by and then up and up and up. Pinky blue. Not an ounce of grump left.

And then a bird shat on me.

True.

Have lucky days!!

2007-04-23T21:22:00.000+10:00

AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN

POD NOTE: When I was but a Podlette, I was sure that other worlds existed, the otherside of the mirror, the back of the wardrobe, behind a frosty spider web between two branches of a tree. I would often try to reach them, trying hard to get through the back wall of the wardrobe, or looking for trees with split trunks, so that I could climb through into another dimension. Sometimes now, I see little 'signs' that I fantasize point to another place, like the light shining on this one stringy frond. It seemed to me to be pointing somewhere 'else'. Of course 'The Magic Faraway Tree' and 'The Enchanted Wood' are still favourite books of mine (I was rather surprised to hear that they are favourites of none other than Jackie Collins, who apparently wants to make the film versions. How do I know this? More importanly, how do I stop this??). The point being, that to me, this photo was a little enchanting and magic, and I thought perhaps some may like to know this.

I still believe!

2007-04-20T12:29:00.000+10:00

DELIVERANCE

Pod is free from pain! Hurrah! Pod can chew again! Hooray! Thanks for all the well wishes, it all helps. And so now I am off to the Land of Birthdays for further pampering. Hurrah again! Have a liberating weekend
x

2007-04-17T10:39:00.000+10:00

EXTRACTION

Could this be Pod on the operating table? Did they take out more than a tooth and some bone? Or is this how he is feeling perhaps? Could this infact be a still from a wonderful 70's American TV show?? Maybe there will be a prize for the first correct answer............

2007-04-15T13:22:00.000+10:00

I AM POD, HEAR ME (RAW)

Thanks for all the well wishes. I have to confess the surgery was a little worse than I was expecting! There was a little complication, and the anaesthetic didn't get to all parts of bone. What fun! I did roar a little. Funny what pulling a root can bring up too! But all is well chez Pod now. Normal service will resume shortly.

FOOTNOTE: I realised that I used the word 'little' several times in this post. I guess I must be feeling all wounded and small.....
Boo hoo!

2007-04-13T09:00:00.000+10:00

GOODBYE No.6

Part of Pod is being removed today (not my frontal lobe). Thanks to my wonderful UK dentist, who used to pin me down and tell me his marital problems, I have to have a tooth removed. Since he didn't seal a root canal properly, the root has crumbled, thus I have to have some of my jaw bone taken away to get it out. Ouch! Hurty...

So as of 2pm today, I shall be incomplete. The first step in a few thousand dollar process. Ouch again!

Oh boo hoo! Oh boo hoo hoo........

2007-04-10T22:29:00.001+10:00

RUBY-HA

2007-04-06T12:58:00.000+10:00

HAPPY EASTER FROM POD

I went to see the awe-inspiring Lisa Gerrard of Dead Can Dance fame t'other night, and was quite blown away. She has the most amazing other-worldy voice. She is on a world tour, so do yourself a favour and get some tickets to see her. For those of you in Old Londinium, she is playing at the Shaftesbury Theatre on Sunday April 29th, and in New York at the Concert Hall, Wednesday May 9th. Check her website for other venues and cities. If you have never heard her, one of my favourite tracks is 'The Host Of Seraphim'. Seek it and listen loud.

Following on from my last photo, I watched the film 'Children Of Men' last night. Very interesting and realistic I thought. I wanted to take photos of the set of course, of England in the future. Have you seen it?

Have a warm and cosy Easter folks.

And forget it not...Pod loves you!

2007-04-03T21:16:00.000+10:00

KNOCK KNOCK

2007-03-31T15:28:00.000+10:00

I STILL DREAM

2007-03-27T20:36:00.000+10:00

BOUDOIR

2007-03-25T13:26:00.000+10:00

WHEN THE PHONE RANG

2007-03-22T10:11:00.000+11:00

SUGARTIME

UPDATE

Oops i forgot to link to Sugartime. For those of you in Australia, their burlesque nights are great fun, so watch out for them!

2007-03-19T20:22:00.000+11:00

CONFESSION

Not me (but I do have toothache...ouch!)

2007-03-14T09:11:00.000+11:00

SMOLDER

2007-03-12T08:48:00.000+11:00

WELL?

If not, then have you seen this dog?

2007-03-08T12:42:00.000+11:00

CONSPIRACY

2007-03-06T09:27:00.000+11:00

POTENCY

One of the most tangibly powerful experiences I had in New Zealand was when I went to Kawhia a couple of years ago. The Tainui tribe had carved a replica of the double-hulled canoe (waka) that they originally arrived in from Hawaiiki, and had a festival to re-enact their landing. We were up before dawn, and entered the Marae (Maori meeting house). The waka was carried down to the water's edge, whilst the female elder welcomed us all and our dead ancestors. A spine-chilling and moving wail.

In the dark, the waka paddled off to the beat of a drum and the chanting of the tribe. It was timed so that when they arrived back, the sun was coming up. I had seen the haka before, but the one that the Tainui did, in the mud, when they got out of the waka was incredible. Not aggressive, but powerful, intense, energetic, passionate, close.

I have total respect for such preservation and endurance of tradition and ritual; something I feel a lot of the West has lost touch with, and that sometimes saddens me. It was an honour to have been welcomed onto the Marae to be part of the whole experience.

2007-03-02T09:23:00.000+11:00

SET ADRIFT

I knew then, as I stood at the door,
That it would be the last time.

I can still feel the warm soft of your cheek
Against mine.

2007-02-26T21:56:00.000+11:00

TEN SQUARED

My 100th post, so I am off down t'pub, from whence this photo was taken (actually i am lying, I am just going to have a cup of tea and a slice of the cake that has just come out of the oven). Tis you that makes it all worthwhile. I appreciate that every day, so don't you forget it!!

2007-02-22T21:49:00.000+11:00

DUBIOUS?

2007-02-20T21:32:00.000+11:00

MENAGE A TROIS

2007-02-19T08:28:00.000+11:00

NEWSFLASH

Sorry to have worried some of you sweetnesses, and thanks for the concern. Do not fret, for I was dumped by a big wave. Tis an Aussie term, forgive me for thinking you would know what I meant. Only a bruised ego, as it was in front of all the beautiful people at Tamarama. My heart is still intact and beating nice and strong!! Listen hard and you will hear it....