writing

DANGER (!)

Image | | andy townend

I have still not quite become accustomed to the fact that the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge has switched from Wednesday to Friday (or even, more correctly, from Friday to Wednesday!).

I had become (more or less) settled into checking the site each Friday evening, and firing off a quick riposte to the challenge. Now it seems I’m always late to the party.

Oddly enough, this week, I did check the WordPress site at the appropriate time but have still managed to delay my response to this week’s challenge DANGER! until now.

In her challenge, Michelle spoke about ‘injecting this unexpected frisson of Danger! into an otherwise uneventful afternoon’.

Often, in Nigeria, it is not the unexpected frisson of danger, but merely the unexpected direction from which the, expected, danger might come that makes many a day anything but uneventful. That’s not to say that Nigeria is dangerous all the time, it isn’t, and I’ve made some good friends here, and you should all come and visit!

But, danger lurks everywhere, or so it seems.

I took this shot just at the entrance to the block of the building in which I am (temporarily and from time to time) living. It seems to fit the bill, no?

The building itself lies within a razor-wire fenced compound with permanent security. To gain entrance to the compound my driver (I’m rarely allowed out alone and certainly not expected to take the wheel myself) honks his horn (this is actually pretty much mandatory for any driving operation here, including driving in a straight line on an open road). That honk permits the outer gate to be opened. The boot / truck is then flipped and the security guys have a quick look inside, a mirror is used for a cursory check of the underside of the car, then the inner gate is swung open. And home sweet home.

On my journey to work, I thought I would keep a weather eye out for other signs of certain danger.

A fire, stoked by a stack of old tyres sending a thick black plume of acrid smoke into the (now mercifully dust free) sky. An abandoned mansion daubed with a black painted warning of dire consequences ‘EFCC Keep Off’. A herd of cattle being led by two young boys meandering along the margin between the half constructed buildings and the partially built road. The road-sweeper with a stick broom diligently dusting the edge of the roads as cars hurtled past with no obvious attention to lane discipline. The guy on a motor cycle happily heading against the traffic on the wrong side of the road (and of course he wasn’t wearing a helmet, no one does). The swarm of three wheel ‘Keke’ (rickshaw) taxis, weaving between the battered green taxis, blacked out government SUVs, and the ubiquitous road side sellers. And of course the frequent road blocks.

So, no danger here, just an ordinary every day ride on nigeriastreets

*Shot with Fujifilm X100F at f/2.1, 1/1000s, 23mm (35mm equivalent, no other choice) and ISO200*

(just) words

Image | | andy townend

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words, obscured
by (razor) wire
and the (best of)
intention
words, unbidden
by careless
thoughts, and
inattention
words
just words
cause wounds
deeper, than razor

wire

it’s been a while, poetry 101 rehab

locked in

Image | | andy townend

We all live in a house on fire, no fire department to call; no way out, just the upstairs window to look out of while the fire burns the house down with us trapped, locked in it
― Tennessee Williams, The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore

This post was inspired by a few things.

For starters, I’ve been working too hard and neglecting almost everything, and everyone, else. Apart from the obvious social clues, my Fitbit sits on my wrist admonishing me with a digital iciness of tone, pointing out that I am not exercising enough, and it has facts, and they are not Spicerian alternative facts, but hard, cold evidence. And, not so long ago, whilst walking in the street, I felt decidedly odd, numb fingers, a sense of unreality, dizziness and a general feeling of fading vision. Trust me, that is the universe speaking to me. I think.

Also, I have been using the theft of my beloved X100T as an excuse for not shooting enough, or writing about it.

In conversation today, someone made some kind remarks about my photography. I took this as a challenge, and so set about capturing my environment. This in turn was an act of rebellion about an environment that feels like it has captured me. Shielded from the world outside by double locked gates, security guards, razor wire and faithful drivers.

I’m not complaining. I’m lucky. I’m just rebelling, a little.

These shots were captured (there’s that meme again) with my iPhone. I used Analog Efex Pro 2 (Toy Camera 3) because the effect seemed to capture the way reality bends when in a certain frame of mind.

As for my camera, at least my Nikon is safe at home, and there’s always the X100F to look forward to.

A glass half full?

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How would it be, if everybody did that?

Image | | andy townend

How would it be,” the police officer asked him severely, “if everybody did that?”
– Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt

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Douglas Adams may not be an established literary giant, but for me (at least) he has long been an inspiration. His original The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy series, first broadcast on BBC Radio 4, captured my heart and mind many years ago. Captured my mind as I was figuring out who I was, what I wanted to be. Gave me an early insight into alternative perspectives.

Made me think.

Last week, I (or at least my business alter ego) was privileged to be invited to speak at the Baltic Project Management Forum 2016. The subject of my presentation Cultural Diversity: Making the Project Fit the Culture.

In the lead up to the Forum, I was invited to give an interview to Simas Čelutka at IQ magazine, a Baltic publication affiliated with The Economist.

The questions posed to me, the contributions of my fellow speakers, the warmth of the welcome extended to me by the organisers of the Forum reminded me of those days long ago when the world stretched out ahead of me, waiting to be discovered. And so, again, I realised that no matter how rich one’s experience, there is so much more to be learned.
The interview I gave to IQ, transcribed below, reminded me of how lucky I have been, of the opportunities I have had, to learn more about our world, about how much more there is to learn.

Always.

For we can never stop learning.

Or sharing.
Continue reading →

poetry | 101 | rehab | red

Image | | andy townend

No matter how much suffering you went through, you never wanted to let go of those memories
― Haruki Murakami

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voices, filled (the air)
have, one more
don’t despair

(warm) fingers, tracing, searching
did they (who watched) care
have, one more

more, and more
no one (really) saw
or so, it seemed

blue eyes
yes (they cared, oh how so much)
told, no lies

feelings rising
choices, stretching
(out)

don’t be scared
choose, the blue
ride, the red

you’ll soon
be

dead

red

This week, my poetry prompt is red

poetry | 101 | rehab | whisper

Image | | andy townend

There’s no need to raise your voice here. You don’t have to convince anybody of anything, and you don’t have to attract anyone’s attention
― Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood

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I hear you,

whisper

in the long grass

and in, the reeds

along, the banks.

I hear you,

whisper

in the leaves, of the

trees

and (in) the beards of those

who ride long,

and hard.

I hear you,

whisper

in the (endless) night,

when the stars,

fall,

and (yes)

I hear you, whisper

when you, are

gone.

whisper

This week, my poetry prompt is only a whisper

poetry | 101 | rehab | smile

Image | | andy townend

There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

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blue eyes
that
hold, no
lies

sparkling smile
that
holds, no
wile
(nor guile)

words
softly, spoken
not, just
words

what lay,
inside

all
those
years

it is clear,
to me

now

smile

This week, my poetry prompt is simple, it’s smile. Why not?

out in the midday sun | 4

| andy townend

To the complaint, ‘There are no people in these photographs,’ I respond, There are always two people: the photographer and the viewer
― Ansel Adams

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This post is about my passion for photography.

It is also about the process of learning. In a recent post in this (rather sporadic) series, I featured a photo which I believe was the first that I ever shot.  It was of a hovercraft, a futuristic vehicle that like others, including the Concorde, has disappeared into the history books.

That camera was a Kodak Instamatic 25. It was (almost) idiot proof (if not Andy proof). A cassette was inserted in the rear of the camera, a single click captured (most of) what could be seen through the offset viewfinder, the cassette was wound on by a large black plastic wheel and that was it. The cassette was then dropped off at the developers and then the waiting began.
Continue reading →

poetry | 101 | rehab | misty (ambiguity)

Image | | andy townend

Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer

– Rainer Maria Rilke


so no,
or (yet) yes,

anyone’s
guess

in perpetuity
always, (ambiguity)

the clouds and, the
rain
swept, window
pane

conflated with
snow and a (bitter)sweet
scented, candle
flame
that burned

red
and (yet)
(never)
quite
dead

and
the pain
yes,
exhaled
(from)
that, place

lingering
in perpetuity,

in misty,
(ambiguity)

misty (ambiguity)

My prompt for this week’s Poetry 101 Rehab is MISTY (AMBIGUITY), just because

You can link to your post in response to today’s prompt by leaving a comment on my post and you can also tag your post with Poetry 101 Rehab so that it shows up in the WordPress Reader.

Please feel free to copy and paste the badge across to your own post and your own site 🙂

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More information can be found on my poetry | 101 | rehab page.