Today wasn't really hard. I had two options to take a picture of - my house, or my Dad. (Mwuhahahaha!) I chose my house because it's older. My house, which was once owned by the council until my mum bought it, is 90 years old and I've lived here all my life, same as my brother, Adam (who is 17 years older than me). It's not a nice house by any standards. The paint is peeling off the walls, there are dead ivy vines all over it, damp in the bedrooms and clutter everywhere. The downstairs decor is horrible - the wall paper looks like somebody puked on old lady curtains, and the wood furniture has seen better days. Still, there's no chance of moving and I guess it's okay. We have two gardens, both really rather big, and a nice green outside where we have bonfires, hog roasts and bbq's with the other residents along our 7-house row. So, without futher ado, I introduce my rickety old house.
“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature -- the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” ― Rachel Carson, Silent Spring
Well, I can honestly say I wasn't sure what to do for this picture. That is, of course, before I went to the zoo yesterday. I took thousands (that isn't even an exaggeration, I went through three memory cards) of photos of the animals at Colchester Zoo because that's the one thing I like taking pictures of - wildlife. So, I was sorting through the photos, classic pose of a teenager with my chin resting on my hand, until I came across probably my favorite photo of the day. See, we ('we' being my family and I, then a family friend with her granddaughter, Ashley, who we see a couple of times each year.) boarded one of the trains that took you for a quick tour around some of the near-by enclosures, giving some background information and facts on the animals. We've been on that train many times, but this time (we haven't been to the zoo for years, so a lot of things changed) we made a stop at the lemur enclosure and got to GO INSIDE. We walked round, taking many shots on our camera's (Mine being my trusty Olympus E11 and standard zoom lens, whilst my Mum hogged the E3 and MASSIVE telephoto lens.) and 'awwwing' and 'ooohing' at the sweet little baby lemurs, all munching away at celery whilst the older ones fussed over them. I hadn't realised I'd snapped this candid shot until later, but one lemur seemed to be having a great old time with his lunch. The bit that made it for me was in the photos of the same lemur afterwards, he had this shocked expression on his face, food falling out his mouth, as if he just noticed he'd been the star of some photos. He then ruffled his fur and stared at the camera whilst eating his food normally.
I haven't managed to sharpen, brighten or re-size this picture of PS elements yet, so it's not at it's best.
I don't have in inspirational person. See, most teenagers would find someone inspirational if they do something their interested in. Like....say for example I had my heart set on being a world-class tennis player, I might find Andy Murry inspirational. But I don't know what I want to do once I'm older. However, if I had to come up with someone I find inspirational, I'd guess it wouldn't be a 'person', it would be 'people'. A band to be precise. Black Veil Brides. Now I know some of you may of heard of them, some of you may not. If you have, it may be for good reasons or for bad. But they are my favorite band and I love them to bits. Here are some quotes:
"Creating art or something beautiful makes you a more fulfilled person than they can ever be because they're caught up in what they hate rather than what they love." "Each and every one of us has a fire that burns inside us and they can try like hell to put out that flame but as long as in our minds we know who we are meant to be, they don't stand a chance." "I had a goal, I had a dream…and at the end of the day no matter what people say to you as long as YOU know who you are as a person NOTHING in else in the world matters." "Life isn't about how popular you are... what girl or boy you're dating or who you know. Life is about always being true to who you are or what you believe in. Never let anyone convince you that their way is better than your way. In the end all we have is our hearts... and our minds. This is the reason why we sing... this is the reason why we cry... this is the reason why we live." "Sometimes in life you feel the weight of the world. it can push you down and make you fear it. it can cause stress and pain. but in those moments, remember all that you have done in your life, and what great things you can do in the future. the feeling of burden may not subside, but the fire you carry in your heart will burn stronger than ever when you live through it. Never let anyone or anything steal your flame. i once thought of calling our first record 'Alive and Burning' after a song I wrote. I know now that was a silly notion. we aren't here to "burn"... we are here on this earth to reach for all that we can get... to see the brass ring and strive for it. not via sardonic tendencies but rather through our own personal strength... to see our heros and say to ourselves "i want to be BETTER... I want to be the best i can be." so please, if nothing else, continue to live as you are and reach for all you can take... you are all beautiful people... live it." Okay, I won't prattle on with masses of BVB quotes. I hope I didn't bore you! Some of you may see why I find them inspirational, some of you may not. Now, I shall leave you with a picture of my all time favorite band. SciAwkward, signing off.
OKAY IT'S GETTING QUITE LATE AND I GOTTA SHOWER AND GET UP EARLY TOMORROW AND I FORGOT TO BLOG TODAY AND I'M REALLY CONFUZZLED AND I DUNNO WHAT MY FAVE COLOUR IS AND I'M WRITING IN CAPITALS FOR NO REASON AAAAAAAAAAAAH! Ahem, I mean: Good evening, how are we all? I shall now post a picture of my favorite colour which took my some time to come up with (meaning i just randomly picked one):
I have WAAAAAAAAY too many books. Like, really. It would take me a year to gather them all up - I have them scattered around my room, 3 book cases in my room, two cases down stairs and 2 out of 3 of our sheds are stacked with them. So, as I told you it would take forever. Instead I decided to take a picture of just one book case. It's nestled between my desk and my DVD shelves which is right next to my door. As you can see, I have a lot of Terry Pratchett books, Kathy Reichs books and Michael Crichton books, not to mention a few other authors. With out further ado, I introduce book case one:
For some reason this didn't post yesterday (probably me being a divvy and clicking the wrong button) so I'll post it today, and then day 6's photo later today.
Day 5 - Morning sky
“Morning is wonderful. Its only drawback is that it comes at such an inconvenient time of day.” ― Glen Cook, Sweet Silver Blues
*Yaaaaaawn* So, I made it up in time to catch the morning sky. My dad rapped on the door, prompting me to quickly slip on shoes and a dressing gown before stumbling outside, bleary eyed and cursing. He handed me my camera then he himself plodded back to bed, almost appearing to be drunk. Muttering to my self, I stepped out into the cold, morning air and shut the door behind me, fumbling with the keys so I could slip them safely inside my pocket. Now, when I think of photographers taking pictures of the sun rise, I imagine breath taking orange and red skies with peachy clouds and a golden disk, the photographer in question smiling as he takes the shots that will surely be a hit. What I did not expect was waking up at six in the morning and being so tired it became almost impossible for me to stand up, let a lone get dressed and then manage to grab a few shots before falling asleep on the 'green' outside out residential area. I also didn't realize I had gotten up a bit late, so there wasn't much to take pictures of. Boring, blank blue sky and a few power lines. Ah well. Here it is:
I think there is a bird on the power line, but I fell asleep before I could find out and when I woke back up it had gone :(
"We were proud to know our daughter. She was funny, kind, loving and brave. She was a beautiful girl with a social conscience and values which made her a joy to know. Not being able to see her blossom into her full potential or even to see her smile again is a tragedy beyond words."
So, because of the whole photo challenge thing i haven't really posted anything else. But I'm going to write about something that really makes me not sad but angry. Really, really angry. And I guess disappointed, too; disappointed in the human race. (Yes in case you hadn't guessed this is going to be a little serious post hehe). Now, in 12 days, on August the 11th many 'alternative' people will be celebrating the memory of Sophie Lancaster. And yeah I know I could wait until then to write this post but I'm doing it tonight instead (oooh, rebel much?). So, who is Sophie Lancaster? some of you may ask. Well Sophie was a girl murdered simply because of how she looked. First, a tiny bit about Sophie:
She was born in 1986 (making her just 26 at the time of her death), and was a future student at college for an English degree that she was to start after she finished her gap year. She, and her boyfriend Robert Maltby (21 years old and an art student) were both described as 'goths'.
Sophie was a bright and intelligent young girl with a great future ahead of her, but that was cruelly put to a stop in 2007, August 11th. She was walking around the local town with her boyfriend when they were spotted by a gang during the early hours of the morning. The gang started following the couple but nothing really happened, until one of the group attacked Robert for no reason. He was thrown to the floor, unconscious and then the gang proceeded to attack Sophie who was now trying to protect her boyfriend. The gang repeatedly stamped on her head, kicked her and punched her as she lay over Robert, desperately trying to save him. The group of what can only be described as thugs then told their friends they had done, and I quote, 'summat good. There's two moshers nearly dead at Backup Park - you wanna see them - they're a right mess'. The pair were taken to hospital, both in a deep coma. Maltby recovered, but with brain damage. Sophie's family, however, were told their daughter would never wake up and they had to agree to turn off her life support.
Sophie was killed for no reason. It really was just because of how she looked, sporting dredlocks and a band shirt. Some people argue it was her fault for dressing like that - giving the gang a reason to attack her. But how is that any different from attacking someone because of their skin colour? Who gives the right to somebody to attack somebody just because of how they look? Some good has come out of this now - it is now officially considered a 'hate' crime to attack somebody due to their involvement with sub-cultures. This means it is the same offence do attack a goth as it is to attack somebody based on their race, sexuality, religion, disability and so on. All 'alternative' people (I suppose I could fall into this category) hope that one day all hate against sub-cultures will be stamped out, and the recognition of hate crime is just a small step to getting this.
Now you also may be wondering about the title. Well, the 'Sophie Lancaster Foundation', a charity in the memory of Sophie, now sell many wristbands, jumpers, bags and shirts with those three words in an effort to show you can't describe someone as any of those things, because they are their own individual person. They also sell S.O.P.H.I.E bands, which stands for: Stamp Out Prejudice Hatred & Intolerance Everywhere
I'll leave you with this cute little animation clip. SciAwkward, signing off.
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