Messy canines

Have you ever noticed how "filthy dog", "mucky pup" and "dirty bitch" all have such radically different meanings? So different that to confuse them - calling a chocolaty-faced child a dirty bitch, for example - would be hideously inappropriate? It's at times like this I'm glad English is my first language.

I went around Cathays cemetery with Ross today, both of us carrying our DSLRs and snapping anything that looked good. It was a lot of fun, and although it would be unforgivable to be glad that he's currently unemployed, at least he's a full-time friend now, not just one of those crappy part-time friends! Then we went back to Ross's and edited them. We'll be doing it again soon, probably around Roath Lake (hopefully at sunset, the place is stunning then). Camera and Photoshop club is born.


I'd like to remind you all that my Flickr exists, and that lately I've been updating it every few days with things I've very proud of. Please stop by, comment if you can, maybe print one out and put it on the fridge?

Words are not enough - or too much

I was walking home from Gavin's just now when I noticed a cat sitting by the side of the river. She was just waiting in the dark, watching. As I passed, she turned to look at me, then resumed staring and thinking.

I was struck by curiosity - what was she thinking? How could I ever possibly know what a cat thinks about in its leisure time? As I reflected on this, I recognised the same awe and wonder I felt when my little sister was too young to speak. I'd stroke her short, wispy hair while she played with duplo bricks, and wonder what was going on in her oddly-shaped babyhead. She was thinking, all right; she was doing some of the most rapid learning any human ever gets to do - she just had no words for it yet.

This is something that affects all of us at some time or another. As we grow, our thoughts progress from "I don't want to go to Grandma's house, it smells funny" to "Her routine and standards are completely alien to me, and she reminds me of my own mortality and that of my parents." The same feelings, just different thoughts. Just because we learn new words.

Sometimes I wonder if words interfere with the experience. I've been writing for so long now that I can't sit and watch anything without describing it to myself, layering the sights, sounds and smells with words. This isn't a bad thing; words are beautiful, words are another way of digesting an experience - but between that and my obsessive photography, I don't often stay in the moment and just drink it all in.

It's at times like that I envy the cat. She has no words to describe the wind brushing through her fur; the sound of the river trickling over loose pebbles; the occasional sight of a lone human walking tiredly home. She just experiences it, raw and unprocessed; she just Is. She just Is a Cat, and things Are what they Are. Maybe that should be enough for me sometimes too.

This is what I was thinking about as I walked home tonight. The church tower chimed twelve, and I wondered how I'd describe it to you.

Happy New Year, apparently!

Oh my. I've put a video on YouTube. That is SO much scarier than blogging, because here a) I have complete control over what I say and how I say it, b) it doesn't matter how I look, and c) I'm pretty sure people don't actually read this, whereas people do watch videos on youtube. So, I'm nervous.

Still, to the important part. Happy New Year. I hope 2007 is as good for you as 2006 has been for me! Here's to returning to routine and a healthy lifestyle. My sleep patterns have gone to pot, many nights I don't get to sleep until about 5. AM. I know... so, of course, I'm not waking up until 2pm... oh dear.

As you probably haven't noticed, I've put hit counters at the top of my blogs, and I've put links to them in my signature on the boh3m3.net forum. Chances are, if you're reading this, that's how you got here.

Because it's difficult to get exposure, you know? I refuse to spam people with the link (not often, anyway), so I just leave links in key places, so if anyone's actually interested in me, they can find it. The one glitch in the plan is that nobody seems to be interested. Maybe they will be if this YouTube thing takes off, who knows... it can be so unpredictable!

I'd like to say I don't care, but I do. I'm doing this because I'm interested in people, and so far my internet experience has been sad and pariah-like, with me feeding off their lives. Here's hoping interactivity is on the cards.

Ooh, I just noticed that "on the cards" is a reference to tarot. Sorry. There's the linguist in me again! I'm odd that way.