The ‘Me!’ Nude Project

Who may participate?

The ‘Me! Project’ is currently open to all women over 18, regardless of body type, weight, etc… To that end, it is necessary to submit a personal participation request. Requests from couples will be considered. A male only project is scheduled for 2013.This project is being run internationally and there are currently examples of this work at the Nu Project - seen here. As you can see, this is about reality, not glamour.

Where do you shoot?

Our current series is set in participant homes. We are Port Macquarie, NSW based, but we often do shoots when we travel. If you are not based on the Mid North Coast, but you’d like to sign up, please send us a message on the contact form and we will be in touch if we are heading to your city.

Am I expected to be nude for the photographic session?

Yes, that is the point. The freedom that comes with nudity is essential. This is not about sexy, glamour or the perfect figure, this is about the acceptance of the reality of humanity.

What if I am concerned about being seen online?

There are 2 answers to that. Either, don’t participate, or decide to have an ‘Anonymous Me!’shoot. With an ‘Anonymous Me!’ shoot, your face will always be obscured.

Do you pay me / Do I have to pay you?

Participation in the project is free, but for your time you’ll receive approximately 10 retouched, finished images for your own personal use. We ask that if you use the images online, you accompany each with a photo credit and link to this ‘Me! Project’ website.

How long does a shoot take?

Usually around an hour if we’re in the studio and approximately 2 hours if we’re on location.

How long does it take to get my images?

Processing times vary depending on how busy we are with other work. We will contact you by email when your images are ready in general the answer is within one week.

What are you going to do with the images?

They will be part of eRomantica website and this blog. We’re also hoping to publish them in a book. We are negotiating with other international sites to bring these various projects together to celebrate the freedom and humanity of the nude.

If I don’t want you to use my images online / in print?

This project is all about the willingness of the subjects to share their stories in a public way. We understand that it’s not right for everybody, so if you’re interested in a private shoot or a couples shoot that doesn’t get published to the ‘Me! Project’, those begin at $250 and can include a print credit. Please contact us if you want more information.

What’s the next step if I want in?

Please fill out the confidential participation form and you’ll be contacted about your upcoming shoot.

Possibly Related articles

• The Professional Side of Nude Photography (pixiq.com)
• The ‘Me!’ Nude Project (dawnimages.wordpress.com)

The Kill – The Digital Caveman

Caveman stands behind a rock, rough hewn spear in hand, waiting, watching for the wildebeest to pass, ever scanning to find the leader, then the one with a limp, the one that can be brought down with a single thrust of the spear.

Cavewoman sits, surrounded by cave, by cave-kids and cave-art, waiting for a hunk of wildebeest to be thrown to her.

Caveman does what caveman does, he brings home the goriest hunk of meat for his family. All is well in cave-land.

Caveman survives by watching, scanning the horizon, looking for prey… and pouncing. He learned from the saber toothed tiger – his education is complete.

Cavewoman survives by huddling in the cave, preparing hunks of wildebeest and when signaled that it is OK by Caveman, she may venture out of the cave, gathering fruit from close to where cave-kids are sleeping – if the weather is good, she may even take them out on her forages.

===============

Let’s roll forward a little and introduce wheels, made roads, electricity, and (wouldn’t ya’ know it?) Digital Photography. (I will speak in photographic terms, and use masculine for photographer and feminine for model, because that is my larger experience).

Photographer sits behind a computer screen, looking at the wannabes and newbs that have just hit the latest modeling site. He cannot help but scan for the most likely mate, and the weakest link. It’s in his nature. He scans them all, thousands of them, and shoots off a few tags and emails to those that are most likely to succumb to his spear. After some time enticing the model to play the next part of the ritual out – emails, phone calls and then… the model appears at the photographer’s studio.

Photographer stands behind a tripod, eyeing the background in his studio, waiting, watching for the wannabe model to finish prepping makeup and clothes. She comes out of the dressing room. She is dressed to kill, alluring lips, flowing hair, and just enough clothing to spark the photographer’s imagination. She knows her role, it has been taught to her by society for a thousand years.

The posing starts, the camera clicks, the strobe fires, the first images are carved in rock for eternity to be enthralled. The rhythmic click of the camera, the racing flash of those strobes promotes wildebeest blindness. The speed of the flash picks up as the model dances more and more dervishly to keep pace. Her heart pounds. She sees glimpses of herself in the mirror of the lens, she may even see glimpses of herself on the back of the camera, she strives to do better – the photographer encourages her. The mating ritual has commenced.

The photographer peers through the keyhole of his camera voyeuristically, encouraging the model to play out her role as exhibitionist. The model, blinded by the light and the strobes, enters a world of her own, playing out a private dance. She has been here before, in front of her mirror, posing privately for the world, showing up her girlfriends, creating a mass of followers that will drive her a long a red carpet of adulation toward the covers of magazines that she has never even seen. She is a force to be reckoned with that struts with confidence through the castles of Europe and has paparazzi clicking wherever she goes. She is admired, desired, loved and wanted by all but her closest friends that she has conquered. She brings them along for the ride in the backseat of her fantasy, more so that those old friends can ‘see her now’, now that she has made it. Her mind clicks back to the photographer’s direction…. just a little higher, a little lower. The hem rises, the cleavage blossoms, the clicks continue. Every time they slow down, she just has to swish so that the fabric gapes, or the light splinters through her diaphanous clothing. She has them all under control, exactly where she wants them… which is exactly where they want her.

She spins in bliss, he watches skin, she dips to offer thanks to her subjects, his lens gropes her breast. She is driven by the incessant clicking of camera, but to her it sounds like the cheering crowd. Her ego is being nurtured by her mere presence, but the subtle clicking only occurs when the skin flicks – subliminally she is sexualized more and more – her game was elegance, but his game was pandering, and she never, ever realizes. The drug of adoration seems more powerful if she bends this way, sways that way, shows more leg, breathes a little harder, faster and deeper. She is living the fantasy, but perhaps she is moving inexorably from her fantasy to his. He has done nothing. He was merely the mirror in her private chamber, sometimes the next door neighbour seeing glimpses through the bedroom window, but he didn’t force her to do anything. He simply allowed her the ‘right’ to follow her calling. He enabled the passion to flow, by speeding the metronome, by creating the environment, by needing her to be her impulsive self.

The images are sometimes secondary to the model. She has had her moment of fulfillment by just being able to express, explode, dance for an audience that continues clapping, cheering her on.

The strobe lights used at dances are designed to increase in speed, and the human heart rate tries to match that speed, creating a bio-feedback of movement and energy that is amazingly effective. The lighting gurus learned that from the world of photography.

In a photographic studio, the incessant flashing of strobes, lifts the subjects response for two reasons. The pulse of the subject attempts to match that speed, so we see models flicking from one pose to another, until it becomes a staccato dance. This is self perpetuating because of the second reason – the bio-feedback that occurs. Each time the strobe fires, the model realizes that the pose/look was good and looks for the next ‘stroke’ to say ‘good girl’.

Of course not all photographers use strobe lighting, but the rhythmic click of the camera can provide the same bio-feedback that gradually hypnotizes the subject into this dance.

With the advent of Digital Photography, the ability to view shots as they are produced can reinforce that bio-feedback also. The stage is set for some powerful reactions.

We now have the traditional ‘sexual partners’ preened and looking their best, in a tribal dance of exhibitionist and voyeur, with clicks like beating drums and flashes of strobes, beckoning for more and better, more and better, hypnotically. Sexual tension pervades, naturally.

The wonderful power of sexual tension that often invades a photo shoot with a member of the preferred sex, can drive the artistic experience, heighten the senses and promote powerful art. The concept of sexual tension is well known and well used by all manner of artists to bring out more emotion and create that ‘suspension of disbelief’ that is required for the viewer to be enthralled with the final work. Writers use it, Hollywood is bursting with it and painters have used it for centuries. Now photographers have a wonderful set of tools to drive that sexual tension to the point of…. release. Photographers can manipulate this power to transform the model to potential partner – and for the model, it can seem like a natural progression of a relationship. No-one has ever asked her to perform at her best, been praised for it, and enticed to move more and more to this pinnacle of art. But art some times takes a back seat, as the humanity unfolds. The moment that sexual tension becomes sexual fulfillment, the rules have changed. The art goes out the door to make room for the libido.

In a perfect world, art starts flowing, images abound, all is well. Even in that perfect world, models can create an attachment to their photographer that is similar to the way a patient/client can attach themselves to a therapist. This can occur even when the motives are pure, and more especially when the libido is left unsatisfied. The tease is perfect, the model is coaxed to her most passionate and remains hovering at that point without ever feeling that her guard has been compromised. She is still the person in charge. The images (and more) abound.

 

Possibly Related articles

• Jake McDorman on Sexual Tension and the Surprising Are You There, Chelsea? Role He First Played (popsugar.com)
• Studio vs. Location Each can invite creativity. (foodservicewarehouse.com)
• Let There Be Light (cbugginsphotoblog.wordpress.com)
• Andrew Kornylak: Reality Show (nikonusa.com)
• Take a Class to Become an Assistant (blogs.photopreneur.com)

Multinary beats Binary

In 1988, while philosophizing with a fellow programmer, I digressed to the point of insanity with a spark of a concept that was to change my life. I had read papers on Quantum Mechanics and was musing over the incapacity of the brain to see that an object could be in multiple states, simultaneously. The cat is dead, alive or absent or…. but I couldn’t ‘swallow’ that the cat could be both dead and alive at the same time. I was a scientist, but obviously I was having a hard time making the jump to being a Quantum Physicist.

The computer world has, for many years, stabilised on an 8 bit hardware addressing system that has been beautifully expressed in Hexadecimal as 00 through to FF. This encompasses all of the values from 0 to 256 within 2 digits and is still present (and required), even on our wonderful 64 bit operating systems. The Hexadecimal numbering system (base 16) addresses values as : 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F.

This is shown in our ‘extended keyboard values’ and is the basis of virtually all computer code ever written. In other words, everything that can be typed at the keyboard has a value of 1 – 256. Compilers and interpreters mash these words in remarkable ways to create the ‘executable’ files that run on our computers. Of course, the computer’s processor, while remarkable, is still based on a set of binary gates. Binary gates are simply On or Off switches (Open or Closed Circuits) that direct electrical current through a maze to arrive at different positions to create different effects.

Data that is stored on computers is always stored in binary format. It is sent to the hard disk or whatever as a stream of binary data, although we normally view it in ‘words’ which are bunches of binaries, grouped in 8 bit format and represented as Hexadecimal chunks. Binary data is extremely difficult for humans to read, but is the only way for computers to read…. so far.

I was relating this to electronic data which is stored magnetically as either a North South ‘ I ’ or and East West ‘ - ‘ that created a series of ‘compass points from the molecules on the substrate of the disk. So ‘ - – - – - - ‘ was a bunch of zeroes and ‘ I I I I I ‘ was a bunch of ones. That was easy to visualize, as I had seen a compass often enough to understand the process. A hard disk is simply millions of compass needles, each one pointing to either NS or EW.

There were times when the data was corrupted and upon examination of the actual magnetic fields, it could be ascertained that some of the Compass Points were not always perpendicular, simply, some were pointed to NE or NW etc… ‘ I / –\ ‘. This is what is generally known as ‘noise’ and previously, computer programs were asked to skip the offending areas and jump to the pure NS or EW data.

My programming skills were called onto to throw ‘What If’ formulae at the data stream, making an irrational decision that if the data was at NE, we would ‘pretend’ that it was at NS, and if it was NW we would pretend that it was representing EW. Oddly, real answers started popping out, followed by junk. By creating a series of these What If statements within the program, however, known data that was intentionally corrupted could always be recovered. We were not changing a single byte of data, just reading it through a slightly warped magnifying glass. This work culminated in a series of patents that revolutionized the data recovery industry and brought our ‘Recovery Rate’ from the best in the Industry at 74% to greater than 99.9% (as reported by our clients). We had won.

Which started me thinking.

What if we didn’t have to store data in a binary mode? If computers can only read ‘on or off’, can they be asked to do that in parallel process or in ways that emulate more than On or Off? If these are the X and Y values that plot the data point, what about more values.

I came up with the concept of storing data with a ‘Z’ value also.

Consider this: A ‘NewDVD’ type of product stores data based not only on the NS and EW system, but also on the colour of that burned dash or stroke. There can be multiple colours, (we have defined millions under the 8 bit system,) so now we can store the letter ‘ A ‘ as being not only present, but also with attributes such as ‘Font’ ‘Bold’ ‘Size’ etc…. and 64 million other characteristics.

Practically, all NewDVDs need to have a CRC or reference check done to calibrate the colours for the ‘NewDVD’ reader as it opens that disk…. then data could be read X-Y first, followed by Z. This means that the primary functions of a program could be running, while the Z data is still loading, or the raw text of a web page loaded before the ‘decorations’ follow.

The neat thing is that much more data can be stored more efficiently, although the cost of the reader and writer would be higher. In 1988 this was a pipe dream – today, it is a probability.

A standard DVD could hold approximately 50 terabytes of information, based on a simple 64 colour system. Future generations could hold much more data based on the colour depth (Z factor) and provide a commercial upgrade route.)

This process was the subject of my 5th Patent Application, the only one that failed. The term that I used to describe the multiple depths of data as being ‘Multinary’ – had been coined by someone else.

I gave up the fight and moved onto to other moving targets. I was wrong to do so.

Some day soon, the technology of reading and writing binary bits with a Z depth will become practical. Blu-Ray DVD uses a laser to calibrate itself against the known starting dataset on the disc. The jump to calibration of 64 colours, 16 million colours or 64 million colours is simply based on time. There would still only be 256 characters to your keyboard, but effectively each character could be assigned any of 64 million colour attributes.

The programming opportunities are endless when we consider that a ‘Colour Compiler’ could reduce a program like PhotoShop or Word to a megabyte in size and that could include all the language variations etc…

Bring it on!

The Trip

Previously: A New Day

The car’s external sensors glow a warm green as the Heads Up Display shows the path behind. In reality, there’s no reason to look, as the car knows the best way out of the driveway and will find it’s way to work via the most efficient route, today. As the vehicle leaves the driveway, the garage door closes, the house locks tight and the external house cameras come alive.

I touch the ‘Work’ icon on my ‘Faves’ list on the dashboard and the rest is automatic.

An advertisement appears on the outside of my vehicle as the OLED screen comes to life. That will earn me extra fuel credits, so that I can swap out fuel cells more frequently.

I use this time to converse with family via the ViewBar. As vehicles are so automated, I can talk on the video phone while driving and even flip the ViewBar up to see the other party on the Heads Up Display.

The trip to work involves a number of sets of traffic lights, a tollway and a short distance from the off ramp to the office. The heads up display shows an icon to let us know we have crossed a traffic monitor point. These points are set at intersections and read the sensors built into the car. Yes, Big Brother has arrived, they know who is driving, what alcohol level I have and whether my car is registered and has insurance paid up. We rarely see vehicles that are automatically disabled any more, but of course there is the odd person that speeds but their cars are automatically disabled after ten seconds.  The fleeing criminals can’t get past the system either. Apart from the fact that police have all got remote ignition disabling devices, the roads themselves will simply stop illegal usage.

Few cars run on petroleum based products now, changeover hydrogen cells are readily available to boost the range of the electric powered cars. The taxes on petroleum products has made both the cars and the fuel quite out of the question for most people.

As steering, braking, acceleration and parking have all been taken over by the onboard computers, the driver rarely has to intervene unless asked to by the car.  Voice controls normally work fine, but there is still a brake pedal and steering wheel that can override the computer. Acceleration has been taken away from the driver completely. Based on the old Cruise Control concept of ‘Resume’, the car accelerates at the optimal speed and maintains a safe distance between other traffic, courtesy of the cameras and proximity sensors.

As the car takes the on ramp to the Tollway, another tiny icon shows on the heads up display, a charge has appeared and will continue to increase as I travel.

Imperceptibly, the suspension hardens slightly and the tyre pressure is increased to provide a faster and more fuel efficient ride.

The charges for these cars are different today than they were. All cars are priced on a standardized rate. There is no upfront fee for the vehicle, insurance or registration, or even drivers licence. A simple ID check solves all of that. You are required to keep a vehicle for a minimum of 2 years, but you must change over after 5 years. There are no maintenance charges like Servicing, Tyres or Batteries. These items are all built in to the ‘per kilometer fee’ for the particular vehicle you have chosen and the funds are deducted directly from your designated account per day.

Simply put, the more you drive the vehicle, the more it costs, but if you don’t drive often, you will pay almost nothing to own a car. Any parking, toll or traffic fines are simply charged to that account and your ‘Points’ are able to be increased or decreased, depending on your driving quality. As your driving quality increases, your licence automatically extends to allow you to park in better positions and to receive priority in vehicle servicing. All repairs are taken care of free , because all vehicles are driven according to manufacturers specifications and government requirements. All driving costs are known by the manufacturers upfront.

Vehicle manufacturing costs are much lower, because lighter weight materials are being used as the heavy engines of yesterday don’t have to be hauled around. Small electric motors with solar boosters and fuels cells do the job adequately and, as all vehicles are computer equipped and aware of each other, there simply isn’t the need for the extraordinary protective capsules that were present in the last generation of gasoline powered cars.

We slip quietly from the tollway via the off ramp, another icon shows the toll paid as the suspension resets itself for the minor road we are taking. The car pulls into my designated car space and shows a reminder of those things that are in the car that I need to take into my workplace.

As the door pops open, the vehicle begins its security shutdown procedure and sits quietly absorbing solar rays while I’m at work.

Next : At work

A New Day

Nothing in this story is about tomorrow – everything is available today.

A New Day:

I awake to my glasses playing Hall of the Mountain King followed by a weather report while they sit in the charger on the bedside table – Good, I know what to wear. Hauling myself off to the shower, I step inside and the shower starts at my preferred body temperature, at my preferred pressure. No wasted water or time in adjusting flow. The shower screen displays the headline news. I tap on a few of the more relevant stories and listen to the latest reports. As always, my preferred Live Cams show a few of the major intersections that I’ll be travelling on and give me a readout on traffic jams, and travel times.

Enough of that shower, but as I get out, the image reverses so that I see the screens as I dry off. Back in my room, I start to get dressed and as I select my pants, a selection of my shirts show in the mirror – I select the pre-dress feature and see myself dressed in a variety of tops that are suitable for the day’s weather conditions. Selection made, I get that shirt from the wardrobe, and immediately see the reminder for the correct belt, shoes and other accessories back on the mirror-screen. An icon of my ViewBar flashes on screen and a familiar ‘Pling’ sound is heard from the charging dock on the bedside table.

Great, the coffee is ready as always, sitting in my temperature controlled mug.

Another Pling is heard in my ear from the ViewBar – the overlay screen shows that it’s Charlie – I take the call and see that he’s nearly ready for me to pick him up – ‘Hi Charlie – be there in 5”.

As it’s going to be a sunny day, I know all the windows will switch to full solar feedback mode as I walk out the door – that’ll keep the temperature lower inside and all those rays working for me – nice to make $500 every month from the electricity company at last!

As I go out to the garage and approach the driver’s door of my car, I hear a gentle klunk as the nudge bar charger retracts, the garage door opens and the driver’s door pops open. I drop my coffee cup into the heated cup-holder.

My ProximAccess Chip synchs with BioMetrics and allows full access to the vehicle’s functions. My ViewBar shows the image from the reversing cameras. Now that Solid State Disks are so inexpensive, my vehicle is programmed to keep the last month’s Digital Video Files from all six external cameras as well as the TeleMetrics from the vehicle in case of an insurance claim.

The car clicks and then purrs gently as it rolls quietly from the garage.

NEXT: The Trip

The Trouble with DVDs

All the things that were wrong with VHS are pretty much the same faults in DVD and Blu-Ray.

These are my proposals for Gen Next DVDs and their tuners. Profile 2.0 (standard that includes Picture in Picture etc.. starts to address some of these issues, but falls way short. BD-Profile 3.0 is for Audio Only, and addresses more of the sound issues, but of course, none of the image issues.

1/   The music and background should be on a separate sound track to the dialogue – so simple, because they were recorded that way, then mixed according to one person’s idea of balance. It could be possible to Mute Music, Mute SFX and Mute Voices separately. Missed that dialog? … Replay with the SFX turned way down or off.

2/   DVDs should have those crazy little barcodes on them, the New ones called QR-Codes.

You point your phone at the barcode and up pops the web page with the full IMDB or Wiki on the movie – so simple to do. Settles so many arguments.

We need a Phone App also that will keep a note of all DVDs watched, and the date we saw them, via either barcode. If they would only update that barcode to the new QR-Code!!! Next time we click on the barcode with our phone:

“Watched <Feb 3rd 2012>”
‘Watched today? Y/N
‘Go to Wiki?’ Y/N?
‘Go to IMDB?’ Y/N?
“Add to Wish List” Y/N
“Email this movie code?” Y/N

Of course this barcode needs to be on the outside of the DVD box so we can perform these actions at the Video store, the retail store or from our friends collection. It also needs to appear on the Main Menu & Credits – hell – it could even be an Onscreen Display (OSD) Pop-up by using a defined Remote Control button on the player.

The Circle

From my Early Writings – a re-discovered book of stories and poems from my anguished youth!!!

The Circle – The dawning of the Dark Age

************

Yesterday I dreamt I saw,

an enormous room, without a door,

and a million people trapped within,

paying with their lives for a horrible sin.

*****

The ceiling was black, the walls were red,

The people inside had a feeling of dread.

So in their subterranean life giving tomb,

they sat and watched and waited their doom.

***

The dim lights flickered off and on,

No-one knew what was going on.

A blue grey mist moved across the room

They knew that something would happen soon.

***

And then I saw appear, a door,

and on it was written one word – WAR.

Those convicts wanted to find a new life,

away from sorrow, hardship and strife.

***

Men first, they formed a queue,

Women and children followed too.

Lining up at the door with all they had,

To escape their cell before going mad.

***

They unlocked the door, turned off the lights,

Peered outside to see the sight

For now they knew that freedom was dearer,

And so the dawn of another era.

***

One by one they crept outside,

Away from the tomb where they’d had to hide.

They vowed to oppose anyone they saw,

who might force them back inside that door.

***

They met a man whose skin was black,

and slew him for fear he’d send them back.

For they thought that once they’d stepped outside,

Not another soul would be on their side.

***

They plundered on and one night,

discovered a man whose skin was white,

But he believed in Peace and Love,

Wore a white robe, carried a dove.

***

So they killed him too for fear he might,

Estrange them of their inalienable right

to find greed, hate, power and war

and remain outside that wartight door.

***

They travelled on across all nations,

Causing havoc, pestilence and deprivation.

Reaping a perverted harvest of fear,

enslaving nations without shedding a tear.

***

They met a man whose skin was yellow,

his ody all bent and his cheeks were hollow.

With his dignity broken, he begged for bread,

from an army of captors that wanted him dead.

***

But the warriors played their almighty role,

and traded a tractor for his soul.

His self-respect? A packet of seed.

That’s the story of a victor’s greed.

***

With conscience sated and a treaty in hand,

they carried on to another land.

But they found a barren desert there,

A vast expanse, arid and bare.

***

It was so dry, they couldn’t survive,

Not even an insect was still alive.

But still not realizing their ultimate fate,

they drilled a well to irrigate.

***

Out poured water, so they drilled more wells

and decided this was where they’d dwell.

But the wells dried up – then spewed forth oil,

killing the crops, polluting the soil.

***

Still they laboured on through heat and drought,

trying to work their problems out.

With their livestock dying, and short on gold

They realized the oil just had to be sold.

***

They went abroad and learned to sell,

the black gold  gushing from their well.

They found the worth of their trade,

by the hordes of enemies that they made.

***

As time went on and their knowledge grew,

they began to make machinery too.

They built factories out of concrete and steel

and monolith flats, austere and unreal.

***

To protect their cities, they built ships

and jet planes for reconnaissance trips.

They made guns, arms, mortars and tanks

and distributed them among their ranks.

***

But still they feared their enemies were stronger

(for they’d experienced peace much longer)

So they stepped up the factories’ pace

Intent on winning the weapons race.

***

They learnt about bombs that explode in flames

But the mushroom cloud was their ultimate aim

So the scientists worked until they found,

they could melt the earth for miles around.

***

They tried it once and then could see,

the destructive power of nuclear energy.

The strength of an atom, far greater than man

could control the world and achieve their plan.

***

They bombed and slaughtered till they felt strong,

never realizing it might be wrong,

to fight for peace by active agression

to lay waste nations in their possession.

***

And so they travelled on until they saw,

in front of them, a mighty door.

Written on the door was one word – PEACE

and on the ground, a bunch of keys.

***

They unlocked the door, turned on the lights,

stepped inside and closed it tight.

for now they new that peace was dearer,

and so, the dawn of another era.

BN – 1971 – Age 21

Life Sized Doll

From my Early Writings - a re-discovered book of stories and poems from my anguished youth!!!

***********

Take a trip with a life sized doll,

blotting out the past,

Sellotape seals an inkspot meal,

Turned on by a key in a bottle of vitamin C.

****

Hey hey!!!

Don’t forget to pay

Before you go away

Because Travel Agents foreclose

In a most unusual way.

*****

They can leave you stranded there.

Don’t you think it’s unfair

That when you go,

you never know,

if you have to pay more than the fare.

*****

Take a dip in an acid bath,

burning out the past.

Hold on to an even keel,

even though it seems unreal

Cos’ you know that it won’t last!

BN- 1968 – Age 18

Congratulations to ‘Zen’

Congrats Zen!

At last! How come they took so long to figure it out?

Over the last six weeks I have kept my leg in the air as a glowing beacon to all the tropical insects that follow the storms and humid days. I have determinedly kept it aloft to be fit enough to attend the wedding of my wonderful friends who are together known to me affectionately as ‘Zen”. Their name got stuck when I needed to identify some images of them, but didn’t want to have their names displayed publicly.

I have known one member of the Zen Family since my days in Melbourne, around the time that my business was closed due to my declining health, advancing age and the complaints from family that I spent too much time at work anyway. She-Zen was a Fashion Model who had the opportunity to take the industry by storm. I was fortunate enough to work with her a few times before I left Melbourne in search of a bucket to write a list on.

She-Zen came to visit me at an old Art Gallery / Craft Shop that I purchased as part of my sea-change. It was to be a few weeks holiday by the ocean during her Xmas University break. That continued on for two years, the remodelling of the Art Gallery, (extensive renovations that cost all I had) and a complete change for She-Zen in her lifestyle.

Leaving her parental home, her full time studies, her lifetime of friends to share the growth of the Art Gallery had never been on her agenda… it just happened that way. Of course the fact that the local area had a great supply of fit and healthy young men didn’t seem to hurt either. She-Zen met He-Zen and as they grew closer, the days of the Art Gallery became numbered by the Local Council.

Renovations to the Gallery of 35 years, had apparently taken it away from the allowed usage of  ’Home Business’ and into the realm of ‘Commercial Enterprise’. As tourist numbers in Port Macquarie continued to dwindle, Council declared the Gallery shut until further notice.

Fortunately, She-Zen had been working on expanding her own skill set, beyond the Gallery walls. With the imminent closure of the Gallery, She-Zen was able to move seamlessly to greener pastures, tutoring secondary students and applying her skills in the IT industry.

He-Zen was already well established in his own business, was arranging to purchase a home and just needed to meet the love of his life.  He did.

Of course I take full credit for their meeting… well, if She-Zen wasn’t in town, she may have never met He-Zen!

I wish I had a right to feel pride – I’m not a parent, not a relative – so I have no right to feel that way. But I do…. I’m bursting with pride! Gotta get it when you can!

Last Saturday, they were married. Visitors came from around the world to wish them well in their new lives as man and wife. I was well enough to make it to the wedding, but now, it’s time to pay the piper… yep… flat on my back with my glowing leg in the air.

(I’ll be back when I can sit upright for more than a few minutes – B)

MS doesn’t incapacitate me

I had a problem walking and fell down a few steps. Not far enough to wipe out the memory of how to get up again, just far enough to graze and bruise  my ankle. Damn touchy things, ankles.  Swelling went down in a couple of hours, graze turned out to be a small lump of me that had been shared with the DNA soup that exists around all the steps in my place. It seemed to heal over OK.  Of course, a week later, my foot was swollen, red, inflamed, hot and running rampant with that delightful strain of cellulitis that wants slowly bloat my body painfully. The Doc said … Flucloxacillin… damn, that stuff is a pain in the gut… again.  Of course the doctor said I should be getting more exercise… hmmm….  and that I needed to elevate my foot… hmmm again.

After trying for 3 days to exercise with my foot elevated, I have given up. The footprints on the ceiling got me into trouble with Her Inside.

I went out the front door for a bit of air and ground level exercise. I failed. I fell headlong into the bushes and scraped all the skin off….  my (same) foot!

Imagine for a moment an oversized electric pencil sharpener…. One that is just the right size to accept a human size 9 foot….  Imagine the damage it could do to that said foot in just 2 seconds…. Now you know how I feel.

Back to the Doctor, culture swabs, ‘Nasty Staph!!!” Betadine and a good lie down.

MS doesn’t incapacitate me… it doesn’t get a chance…