Personal

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farewell wordpress wpc

Like many people, I suspect, I am saddened to see the unannounced demise of the WordPress weekly photo challenge. In the early days of belgianstreets the weekly prompts from the WordPress team often offered a much needed spur to action, created a platform and built a community.

The WordPress team, and their occasional guests, created a cherished sense of community. They will be missed.

How to choose a favourite? Not exactly Sophie’s Choice I know, but hey guys, you may be ripping out the soul from your blogging platform. Why not at least have issued some kind of warning, canvassed opinion, or even sought out those willing to carry the torch?

So, I publish again my very first photo for this esteemed challenge, and if you’d like to see the whole set from belgianstreets then here you go.

And, I wonder.

See also my posts on belgradestreets, salamancastreets and andytownend…

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afscheid | adieu

‘I’ll never see them again. I know that. And they know that. And knowing this, we say farewell’

– Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

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‘There was a point to this story, but it has temporarily escaped the chronicler’s mind’

― Douglas Adams, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

Watch this space.

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optimistic

Continuing my theme of the last couple of weeks, I ventured out this afternoon with the dual purpose of (1) bagging my 10,000 steps with my red (tangerine) Fitbit, and (2) capturing some optimistic images for this week’s WordPress photo challenge. A few things caught my eye.

As you can see.

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And the route I took in search of optimism.

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for wordpress weekly photo challenge – optimistic

see also my optimistic thought at andytownend

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alphabet

The alphabet does not go ‘A B C D What? When? How?’ but it does go ‘V W X Why? Z
― Douglas Adams

This year, or more precisely, at the turn of the previous year (if that phrase is indeed correct, maybe it is not), I resolved not to make any resolutions. Among the resolutions that I did not make, were to read more, and, maybe, to take more care of my health. Bizarrely, as far as the latter is concerned, a small collection of electrical components wrapped in plastic and connected to my wrist by means of a rubberised tangerine strap (yes, really, it seems red to me, but Fitbit deem it to be tangerine) have been pressing me to address this resolution (that I did not make, of course). So, when I saw that this week’s photo challenge from WordPress was alphabet, I recharged my Surge, stiffened my sinews, or (girded my) loins, or whatever, and set out to both become fit(ter) and capture the alphabet on the streets of Brussels. The results, largely unedited (apart from a tiny bit of cropping and lens correction) are below. And, if you are still with me, you will find (way down below) a map of my route, as recorded by my tantalisingly tangerine timepiece.

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The tangerine thing tells me that the walk that I took is as recorded below. I have attempted, from memory, to indicate where each shot was taken. All positions are approximate and may even be wildly inaccurate.

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And, if you are still with me, for which thank you, the book that I am reading (as part of one of my other non-resolutions) is Submission, by Michel Houellebecq, a particularly challenging read in the light of recent events and geography.

for wordpress weekly photo challenge – alphabet

and for lucile’s photo 101 rehab

*shot with nikon d700 and nikkor f/1.4 50mm lens with minor cropping and lens calibration in lightroom cc*

see also qwerty / azerty | andytownend

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just another day

I decided to take a walk today.  For a few reasons. Partly to see how Brussels is getting on, post holiday season and post #lockdown, and partly to try out some new tech on my wrist and in my iPhone. And possibly even to get a bit fit(ter).

I set out from Molenbeek and randomly snapped (I’m avoiding the word shooting in these troubled times – oops), tweeted and wandered around the cold, grey streets of Brussels in search of inspiration.

Here is what I found. And snapped. And tweeted.

Oh, and yes, the last leg of my adventure was accomplished by taking the Metro. Hence the straight line and significant change in pace.

And now, after all that, time for a glass of wine.

Cheers!

 

 

 

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changing (seasons) #12; or, ‘were you suddenly aware’

like the circles that you find
in the windmills of your mind
– the windmills of your mind, noel harrison

fleeting
pressing
loading
lighting
storing
crossing
waiting
commuting
turning
purring
shuttering
77’ing
parking

It began here. Well, a little before that. But hey, that’s another story, a road well less travelled?

‘Life 101’ perhaps.

And now.

It ends.

For now, anyway.

for the cardinal, and his changing seasons

 

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boundaries

‘A question with no answer is a barrier that cannot be breached. In other words, it is questions with no answers that set the limit of human possibilities, describe the boundaries of human existence.”
― Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being

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(for breendonk, concentration camp, willebroek, belgië)

(for DP weekly photo challenge – boundaries and for lucile’s photo 101 rehab)

*shot with nikon d700 and nikkor 70-200mm f/4 lens at ISO5600, 1/125s at f/4, edited in lightroom cc and analog efex pro 2, reflection on boundaries that should never have been crossed*

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a walk in the woods

“I want you always to remember me. Will you remember that I existed, and that I stood next to you here like this?”
― Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood

(woods near tervuren, walking and thinking)

*shot with nikon d700 and nikkor 50mm f/1.4 lens, will you remember?*

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about a boy

“and one by one the nights between our separated cities
are joined to the night that unites us”

― pablo neruda

the boy

the boy

for all those who, today, are separated from those they love

and

for this boy, in particular

pain and anger do not last for ever

strength, hope, can be found in surprising places

the thing

is to do

the right

thing

and for the boy

in the photo

know you are loved and

always will be

(the boy, grote markt, brussel)

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*shot with nikon d700, edited with aperture 3, blurred with photoshop cc to protect the innocent*