Monday 27th May 2019, 1.10pm (day 2,832)
It was a public holiday today but I stayed in and worked: don’t give me sympathy though. It’s just a swap with tomorrow. And it rained today, anyway.
Being 42
Life, one day at a time
Tag Archives: monochrome
Bookstall, Oxford Road
Tuesday 23rd April 2019, 1.50pm (day 2,798)
Back to work properly, but still a relatively balmy vibe over Manchester thanks to continuing good weather (it’s on the change, though), and a general lack of people of the academic persuasion. Why black and white today? Why not? I haven’t posted in monochrome for a while.
No parking
Sunday 10th February 2019, 11.15am (day 2,726)
Which is less savoury — the graffiti, or the notices which pepper this wall and try to keep the space private and enclosed? At weekends, at least, the town could do with the parking spaces. Eventually someone will come and paint over the street art, but the warning signs will remain.
Clare awaits her lunch
Friday 25th January 2019, 1.40pm (day 2,710)
The liquid refreshment has arrived, at least. A slightly late lunch…. but it’s nice to be on a weekend away. These two factors explain C’s look of contentment.
The geese head west
Sunday 20th January 2019, 11.10am (day 2,705)
Why head west? Why not south? Well, the valley runs east-west here so I guess they were trying to work out the best route. Anyway I think Canada geese (which these are — Branta canadensis) live in the UK year-round these days, so maybe they were just commuting up-valley to Todmorden.
2018: the final selfie
Monday 31st December 2018, 11.15pm (day 2,685)
So how do I feel at the end of 2018? Well speaking personally it’s not been a bad year but then again nothing has really been achieved in my life; jobs and projects both work and personal have just been going on all year without reaching any real resolution. But I did have a couple of very nice summer holidays in August (Channel Islands, Berlin). My favourite photo of the year? This one from the football at Flint on January 27th did get used in the Flintshire Chronicle the following Monday (Headline: “Pride in Defeat for Heartbroken Flint”) and was a real right-place-right-time moment; it also epitomises my year’s non-league footie habit. So I’m going with that one.
And today’s shot? It’s been a while (2015 to be precise) since I could raise it to go out on the evening of 31st December, so there wasn’t much to depict. But feel free to compare this with the shot remaining on the “About” page, showing me on day 1, 26/8/11, and evaluate what the passage of 2,685 days has done to yr. humble blogger. Wherever you are and whatever you might be doing in 2019, Happy New Year.
Random portrait
Friday 28th December 2018, 2.10pm (day 2,682)
Sat by the river, as I often am, and pointing my camera across it to take random shots as I often do, this guy walked into view at just the right moment. I have no idea who he is, but the shot works for me (in black and white to mitigate the impact of the bright yellow ‘CCTV’ sign in the background). I have often speculated about how many such random photos I appear in, in the background perhaps, all unknowing. Maybe there’s a universal rule that applies, like everyone appears as a stranger in twelve photos in their life, or something similar.
View of Heptonstall
Sunday 23rd December 2018, 10.35am (day 2,677)
On the drive over to parents and parents-in-law for Christmas, a view over to Heptonstall, which rises above Hebden Bridge (being the original village) and has featured on many pictures in the past. Perhaps I have post-processed this one too much but with the continuing grey light, in colour this one looked kind of wan and washed out, the mist being just patches of out-of-focus space. In black and white I prefer it and the church comes out more.
Putting my feet up
Sunday 16th December 2018, 4.00pm (day 2,670)
A very unexciting day today, not least because I had to work for much of it — but by this point, that is over, and there are only two more working days left for me until Christmas. Whether the break will get much more exciting than this, who knows; but as usual at this time of year, I couldn’t really care.
By Canal Street
Wednesday 12th December 2018, 6.25pm (day 2,666)
The transformation of Manchester into a city of tower blocks continues apace. Over the last few years, how many shots from here have featured some giant construction project, completed or (mostly) otherwise? The end of Canal Street, at the New Union hotel, is now literally overshadowed by this concrete lattice, which just keeps going up, and up, and up.
Being 42 