Peculiar Posts

You know, sometimes you try, but don’t succeed. This prompt was one of those moments.

Okay, so for this prompt I just wanted to talk about the year that’s passed and how I experienced it. A bit of self reflection if will. It’s not on the prompt list, but I thought that it would be a good way to end this blog with, as this is my last entry.

Since the concept is 30, I thought, okay, I’m going to buy a R300 bottle of liquor of 30% alcohol. Drink it, and write this self reflection while half drunk. Yes, I know, a fantastic idea.

I went to the store. Spent like fifteen minutes to get something that 30%. I was very disappointed to see that there was none. It’s either 35, 43 or 21. But I managed to find something that was R300 and 28%. So I figured, close enough. So the liquor in question was Disaronno.

I have never seen nor tried it before. To be honest, I was quite skeptical. But let it not be said that I am not up for trying new things. After all, how bad could R300 really taste?

So I got it. Low-key excited to try it and type out this blog. It had a seal and everything so I felt super fancy when I opened it. Served some on the rocks and took a sip.

Man...

Excuse the language, but it was fucking disgusting. Like... nothing could have prepared me for just how horrid that tasted. I don’t even want to think back on it. Sorry guys, but if I drink this again I am sure I will throw up.

Just take it from me and never buy this.

...Unless it’s a house warming gift for someone you hate. In that case, feel free to take mine, because I am never trying that again. I think I should have just flushed R300 down the toilet as a prompt. I would have felt a lot less bad, considering how the money was thrown away.

Thus, with the disappointing lack of alcohol. My first college year experience, will be told by me while sober. I know, I’m already getting depressed.

Although this could count as a prompt for Make a Mistake.

Because very expensive mistakes were made today.

But here we go!

Wow.

I can’t believe it’s November.

It’s insane. I remember my first day of orientation like it was yesterday. I remember feeling like I was back at my first day of first grade. I didn’t know anyone. And I felt so small.

Now, everyone knows everyone. And being going to Campus doesn’t feel like a lamb to the slaughter would. Now, it just feels right.

I think what surprised be the most this year, other than just how much I’ve learnt, (and how many films I’ve watched), was how much I’ve changed.

While I don’t think it will be a noticeable to my friends and family, I definitely feel more like myself. Which is why I am rather skeptical to go back home. Even though my brain feels like it’s fried from the amount of work I have done this last week.

This year, I have tried and experienced things, I wouldn’t have done a year ago. I’ve grown to like craft beer, I went to a club, attended a metal concert, watched the oldest and most obscure films I could find, attended photo-shoots, and dove into every music genre I could find (I’m really into low-fi at the moment). The list just goes on.

Even with constant working on new projects and exploring new mediums, it feels as if I have only scratched the surface of what I am capable of. (Not to sound narcissistic of course).

But I think the most valuable thing that I have learned or just a way of apportioning things is that to never think I can’t.

I am surrounded by so many opportunities and ways to so create.

I made a 3D character, a flip book, a boardgames, written a script for an original short film, completed over 50 drawings and illustrations, tried my hand at cell animation, animated a renaissance painting, made an info-graphic... I have so done so many things.

I feel the only reason why I was able to finish those things, and have it turn out good (in my opinion), was because I never, not once, thought that I couldn’t do it.

New project in a new medium and skill set that I have no experience in? I just hit the ground running.

I never doubted if I would be able to do it.

Now... I know how this looks and I can assure you, I am not an alcoholic. At the very least, I am a high functioning alcoholic. But I suppose that’s what college and a love for trying new things (especially if their are alcoholic), does to you.

So the reason I am sharing this questionable an possibly retarded a over cliché  collection,  for a first year college student, with you guys is... well. It is just that. Prompt #15 - Start a collection. A collection that happens to fit in with the prompt of Consumed. As the reason behind this collection (and life overall) has brought me to drink questionable amounts of liquor.

Now, it shouldn’t go without  saying that I didn’t accumulate this many bottles of craft beer in my last and most stressful week of the term. Possibly the whole year. Although I probably could if I tried.

No, this is half... maybe even less of the different types of craft beer that I have drank this year. Coincidentally, it is also in the same year that I’ve started drinking craft beer. I can thank my friends for that.

Before the year started, all beer tasted like the exact same yeast juice to me. Now I would probably look at you like you are the biggest idiot if you said the same thing. Granted, I won’t blame you if you said that, without actually going out of your way to try different craft beers and learning what makes them different.

But enough about that. I suppose I should tell you guys more about the collection that made my tiny room look like a sjebeen. You can look that one up ;P

The idea came to me whilst I was working on some projects... at one in the morning ...possibly intoxicated.

I got the idea of a making a short/ documentary /surrealist film. I would basically entail me filming myself working at one am every night.

...Clearly my creativity was dried up at that time.

But what did the bottles have to do with a short film?

Simply put, there was a single shot that came to mind. My computer, framed by a background of stacks and stacks of beer bottles. Possibly illustrating the main thing that kept me working through ridiculous morning hours.

You know what... maybe I was drunk.

But it sounded like a good idea at the time.

As for what happened to that glorious, alcohol induced idea?

At the moment, it is mostly abandoned. Or rather, it inspired another idea. This one revolving around found footage, but still maintaining the idea of a documentary.

I suppose that if there is anything to take from this questionable collection from mine, is that strange ideas come at the strangest of times when you least expected. And just because they are different or unique doesn’t mean they are good. But that also doesn’t mean that these bad ideas can’t inspire something better.

For the sake of creativity and creating, us creatives sometimes have to do strange of questionable things. One of those being collecting bottles of craft beer.

Well...this should haven posted weeks ago. And it would have, if Tumblr wasn’t refusing me to click post.

But it seems as if luck and coincidence is staying my my side when it comes to these prompts. A few weeks ago Open Window and the Korean embassy of South Africa hosted a Korean food and film festival. And with how much I love to try new things, especially Asian cuisine, there was no questioning in whether I would go.  

I have never tried Korean food so this was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up.

It fits in perfectly with the prompt of: Eat Something Culturally New, as well as the extracted concept of Oriental.

Now, onto the experience!

Food. K - pop. Films. Games. Snacks. More food!

The Open Window campus was packed! You could hardly take a few steps without bumping into someone. But those rows of people were no match for my hunger. And surprisingly, the rows went by quite fast.

Its difficult to explain being surrounded by an entire culture tot he point of almost being overwhelming. It honest like being transported to another world... or country in this case. This weird and wonderful experience is just like the food, wonderful and weird.

The food was almost like it was made my five star chefs from another planet. There was rice cakes with honey inside. These delicious and glistening, almost see through noodles, what I am just going to call a Korean taco and a drink that tasted like liquid pancakes... no I’m serious.

My only regret was that I didn’t get to eat more or stay longer because of the rain, my stomach being impossibly full, that I couldn’t pronounce anything that I ate... and that I won’t be able to eat Korean food for every day of my life.

As for what I learnt from being at this festival...

If you wan to experience or learn something new, surround yourself with it as much as possible. Do not be afraid to try something new, even if it seems out of this world.

Considering the fact that I visited the Nan Hua Temple a few weeks ago, it seemed fitting to take up mediation for a week there after. That, coupled with the extracted concept of Tranquility, and I have the perfect time (before I go to sleep) and song.

But how about a cool music video using the song instead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaR-xcp8UaY).

Since I have never tried meditating before, well... actively at least, I made sure to look it up on the Internet. Making sure on how to do it properly.

Personally, I thought it was going to be a lot more complicated. So far as I can still tell, it is simply a few minutes of thinking of completely nothing while you sit, with the type of posture that my mom would be proud of, and focus on your rhythmic breathing.

I also learnt some interesting stuff about different types of brainwaves and how meditation access those brainwaves. Unfortunately I couldn’t find that article again when I went back to look on it. But definitively look up the topic if you’re interested.

Now, for the experience:

Unsurprisingly, I was a little hard to get into. Or at least, harder than I thought it would be. Mostly because I am always busy thinking about things, so it was difficult to think about nothing for five minutes. Which might sound very short right now, but once you get into it, you’ll be checking your timer just as much as I did at first.

But like all things, the more you practice, the better you become. By the end of the week, I could keep my thoughts, (mostly) in check, and five minutes went by rather quickly. Not to mention it helped with my posture a bit.

The experience I found, really helped in getting me to fall asleep easier when I did finish. Mostly because it helped my to shut down that busy brain of mine. And it felt rather relieving to take a step back from everything and “centre” yourself as people tend to say.

While I do not know if the full extent of meditation’s benefits had any effect on me, I did enjoy what the experience gave me. As well as what I took out of it.

That being, that it is not wrong to take a step back from things, should it get too overwhelming. And that a moment of silence can do wonders.

So, Imagine my surprise when by some kind of miracle, I was one of the few student chosen to attend a soft of academic filed trip to the Nan Hua temple. This thanks to the apparent high marks that I have obtained in my motion design class. When I heard the news I though I was dreaming. Not only was my hard work being recognized, but I got to visit the largest Buddhist temple in the continent of Africa. A temple that I had not been to since I was five, maybe even four.

Back then, all I could remember of the experience was lots and lots of people, endless walking ad being unbelievably hungry. When I think back to it now, the whole thing seemed like a dream.

Which was why I had to visit, to experience it again. That and I didn’t know when I’d have this experience again. Not to mention the amount of inspiration it could give me for personal projects.

 After managing to somehow fix our bus that broke down, with some kind of magical key thingie. We, five students and three lecturers, arrived at the temple.

We were all given a few hours to explore the temple as we pleased. The places were were allowed to visit anyway. Apparently there was one temple which we weren’t allowed to visit, so naturally I tried everything in my power to find it. No such luck.

Not that it mattered, the time I spent walking was probably the best time I spent walking... as in ever. I can’t even explain how it feels to be surrounded by the silence out in the courtyard. The occasional, soft chime of the bells handing from the roof. Or what it’s like to admire every little detail of the temple’s interior, all while being wrapped with the smell of inessence.

 It honestly felt like I was in China or Japan or just another planet completely.

And I know I have said this but the silence. That wonderful silence. To be honest, I wouldn’t mind giving up meat if it meant that I could spend my weekend in such a quiet place. It felt like my mind was being cleansed of all thoughts ...not that makes any sense.

Maybe I was just high on all of the inessence...

 The experience taught me to appreciate those rare moments of quiet. To take a step back from the chaos of our lives. How knows... maybe I’ll apply it in my final term of first year in college.

The only regret I did have besides not being able to discover the forbidden temple (I think Shadow of the Tomb Raider is being a bad influence on me), was that I didn’t order some dumplings or noodles to go with my High Mountain tea. And that, was completely the fault of minimum debit card purchases.

I did however, buy a fortune cookie and I can tell you for sure that the message on it was from the Divine.

 “Where there is ambition, there is success.”

Now, I think that I should start off this blog entry by saying that I didn’t plan to do this activity as a prompt. It happened and everything just fell into place. So let me first explain what I did.

One of my friends asked me to go to a concert/ music festival where a bunch of metal bands would perform. Now, metal isn’t a genre that I typically enjoy, save for the occasional AC/DC. But I didn’t want to let him go alone, and despite having my musical preferences, I am also open to new ideas and trying new things. So with that I made up my mind.

I would go experience metal bands with my old high school friend from Secunda.

 Now, the only thing that I kind of knew about the metal genre was guttural vocals lots of head banging, gruff guys and mosh-pits.

Perhaps a bit stereotypical, but it was all I had to go off of.

 Aandklas had its fair share of gruff, buff looking guys. But also regular looking guys and surprisingly quite a few women who was giving the men a run for their money when it came to bobbing your head and swinging your hair around.

The mosh-pit, an improvised circle of people in front of the stage, is where guys would rough house and bump into each other like...well... like bumper cars. It is a concept that I still don’t fully understand. And one that I stayed clear off as most of the guys there were at least two times bigger than me.

The first band, which name I can’t even remember, was nothing too special. I mean to me they were just the stereotypical metal heads.

It was worth noting however, that even after the songs stopped, the noise would still stay in your brain. It was a rather strange experience.

So up until then. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, until the second band went upstage. And I could not believe it, when the announcer said that they were from Secunda where I had went to high school before college. Nor could I believe my eyes to see that the lead singer had been in the same high school as me, that we actually had classes together. Not that we talked much.

Personally I didn’t think he’d do well after school was finished. Perhaps because at that time I measured a person’s probability of success to the grades they got. Its only in this year that I realise, it is not always true. To be completely honest, I felt embarrassed and perhaps even a bit guilty, for judging someone’s probability of success based on my own views.

Because there I was. There he was, lead singer of the first metal band that I could actually remember the name of. Fenrir’sWulf. The first metal band that I actually enjoyed. That got me bobbing my head and standing just a little bit closer to the mosh-pit.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1idMBmm6QL6T2MViqyxoXaH6FevI5lItY/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1WpAe1ctbFQNFEVlEFHQGtEqfRBY6tSqy

Enjoying a Secunda metal band with one of my best friends from Secunda. My home before I left the house.

 And that’s when if fell into place. All by coincidence.

This week’s prompt of going to a music festival and staying sober. (Which was not very hard since getting drunk has never been an appealing concept for me.) And the last prompt’s extracted concept: No Place Like Home.

Because no matter where I go, Secunda always seems to be following. And like my old high school town, the sound of metal just wont leave a my head.

I think most people today, if they had to choose a film to watch they would pick the newest Avengers. But this week, my prompt: Go Watch The Oldest Film You Can Find and concept of Randomness, lead to watch the oldest film I could find of the fantasy genre. Both of which were give to me my a genre and movie generator  online.

So what did the Internet give me to watch in the end?

The Wizard of Oz. Yes, the original 1939s film that starts out in the sepia Kansas before exploding into all the colours of the rainbow and a very catchy song.

I am one of the few students in my Film Theory class, who as not seen this classic film, so I was kind of happy to see that I had an excuse to go and watch it.

I started the film one night, not expecting much.

The acting shifted from overly dramatic to almost monotonous. Realism was brought by old an almost amateurish editing techniques and costumes. But strangely enough, I found myself very much enjoying the film, surprisingly more so than when I watched Infinity War.

Old films like The Wizard of Oz, (As well as had drawn animation films)  have a certain kind of charm that you just don’t see with modern films. It is something that I’ve really started to enjoy and led me to appreciate these sometimes “cringey” films, a lot more.

The experience reminded me that there is nothing wrong with enjoying something that might be considered as bad or sub-par, now. A film, or rather any other creative project doesn’t always have to be an intense experience, riddled with meaning and complexity. Sometimes its enough for us, creatives, to just do something for the fun and joy of creating.

And that is what I hope to do in the future, to take a step back, and just have fun.

Well, it’s in the middle of the term and I still haven’t posted a prompt...that’s not too good. But it is why I am posting this now so lets get this thing done!

For this week’s prompt I kept a dream journal!

Now I don’t know how many times I have said this for a previous post, but this one was super random. Before I get into that, let me first explain how I incorporated the previous post’s extracted concept.

That concept being: Blank

So, naturally you would start this prompt with something in your head, that being the dream. I did it the other way around and started the prompt with nothing at all. In fact, I first wrote down what I predicted my dream would be that night, and then wrote my actual dream, down the next morning.

A kind of expectation vs reality thing.

This...this was a totally random experience. As in there was no structure or logic behind any of it, since that is essentially what dreams are, but still... I expected my predictions to be at least somewhat on point. I made my predictions were based on the things I did or saw that day, but my predictions never even came close. It was like my brain wanted to be as random as possible in generating my dreams.

My predictions of dark and depressing dreams turned out to be happy, fluffy ones and how the happy crazy ones, turned out to be low key creepy. I’m sure its not a sudden thing, only that it is the first time that I am taking note of it. Which makes me curious of how a whole year’s worth of predictions would look like.

As for what I learned out of this experience...

If you want to come up with two concepts that make no sense together...then do exactly this prompt. I’m not going into what each dream might ahve meant, it’s not what made this experience valuable for me. What did however, is that not everything has to mae sense for us to enjoy ad apreciate it. As well as how our minds are overflowing with potential and that we shouldn’t be too afraid of crazy or unexpected ideas.

They might just take us somewhere we never would have thought.

You know… now that I think of it, I could have done nothing all day as an attempt to waste time as part of this prompt as it is something I really don’t want to, or rather, something I cannot afford to do. Not in the last two weeks of the term anyway. Nevertheless, I am happy with what I chose to do…even if I didn’t really intend to do it at first.

But let me elaborate on what this is.

So a friend of mine asked me to help her out with a photography project by being her model. Now for those who know me, know that there’s only one person I would normally do this for, but I really wanted to help her out so I agreed to it. I suppose that another reason other than helping her out, is that if fit into the concept of time that I had to incorporate. I see photographs and photography as freezing time for one second to capture that except moment, so why not? It was the perfect opportunity really, even when I was kind of internally dreading and being all nervous about it.

We went to Irene Dairy Farms to take the pictures as it had to be with a white background. But after taking twenty or so photos the security guard told us that we were actually not allowed to and that we had to pay R2 for each photo taken of us, talk about exploiting your customers! Made me regret liking their coffee…

This one is my favorite.

So we decided to pack up and go to another place. To be honest, I have no idea where that was, I don’t think any of us knew, it was at a wood or wilderness kind of place that had a hiking trail nearby a river. Oh well…

We took the last couple of photos there with a white backdrop and that was it. Finished.

The experience turned out to be not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. I actually had a lot of fun.  I went from being completely unsure on what to do, to me just being my comfortable self. I guess if helps if you get along well with the photographer on a daily basis. But something that I will never get used to is people telling me I look pretty, although it is nice to hear it on occasions. My mom was ecstatic to see the photos and kept telling me to ask my friend to take our family photos.

Now I don’t know if I’ll be keen on another family photo session but if someone does ask me to model for them, I won’t be as reluctant to do it.

Who knows…maybe I’ll grow to enjoy it eventually.

Now, I will never go up to a random starter and start to talk to them, if they approach me? Sure, some of those conversations are actually very interesting. Now I had to do that, while incorporating the concept of alien from the previous prompt.

I considered talking to stray or random animals, but decided against it, since I don’t think approaching possible aggressive and/or rabid dogs is such a good idea. Not to mention social anxiety that made...well socializing hard and that it had to be a kind of alien, foreign or strange at least.

Luckily I remembered this one site called FutureMe.org where you can send your future self a letter!

Here’s the ink if you guys want to check it out: https://www.futureme.org/?utm_expid=.xfbSl_PQSt6vPqeI1K8Bug.0&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co.za%2F

It was perfect really. I mean. Writing a letter is technically a form of conversation and I have no possible way of telling what I will be like in the future. It’s like talking to a version of me that I have never met! I was starting to get really excited about this.

But oh boy, was it a wild ride.

 The letter addressed to my twenty eight year old self …shivers… stared with me just asking random questions. Stuff like if I remembered the class that this is for. If my favourite series ended and if my favourite character at least had an honourable death. Then it went to me telling myself to watch these old series again with my friends and siblings.

I won’t go into too much detail as I will admit that I got to some pretty heave stuff. Never the less. I then went to asking my future self if everyone was doing alright and how was I doing. If I accomplished some of my goals, if things were still going alright and if I came through some of the struggles that I am currently facing, like surviving the second term.

It got pretty emotional after a page of writing. The idea of coming over all of my obstacles and fulfilling my dreams really got to me and I stared tearing up at least three times.

The experience made me realize how fleeting time and actually everything is, that we have to make the most of what we have now. But also that it isn’t wrong to hope for a better tomorrow. I got super excited at the thought of just being completely happy with myself, but at the same time, I couldn’t help but dread should Future Me find this letter when if things didn’t work out as I hoped it would. If that does turn out to be the case, then I hope that the letter will help and inspire Future Me to make some caves. Perhaps I’ll make decisions that will lead to my own happiness rather than other’s, as I often do.

Even if things don’t necessarily turn out the way I want it to no,  I really am excited to receive the letter. To see how much I’ve gone through, and just to remember simpler times and these small things that I loved doing. This experience really gave me the time to reflect and see how many possibilities there are for me. How good I have it now, and that I have so many people that I really love and care for.

Writing to the future made me remember all of the good things that happened to my past self, how good (but challenging) it is for me now and finally…how great things can turn out for me in the future. That I needn’t worry too much about now. I just need to hold on to what I have and keep working for what I want…for a better me.

 Now…for concept extraction.

 Between all this reflection of the past, present and future, the concept I’m extracting from this profit is: Time

Wow. You know, for someone who is generally shy at first and quick to get embarrassed (In public anyway) I didn’t think that Prompt #6 was something I’d go through with. But I suppose I should first elaborate on what exactly I did this time.

As you all might have already forgotten for Prompt #5 I went scuba diving and extracted the concept of submerge.

For the 6th prompt on the list I picked: Go Somewhere you are not supposed to be. Now… as an 18 year old that concept already provides a challenge, since I couldn’t really think of a place where I am legally not allowed to be. But I suppose it is best that I stayed on the right side of the law…considering where that took me, to a few sex stores to be exact. It is completely legal, but not really a place where you want people to see you. And despite not wanting to be seen by others, I dragged a friend of mine along to help with the execution of the prompt…and for moral support.

The two of us visited two sex shops in Brooklyn Pretoria (luckily far enough from where I live) ,but getting into them proved to be harder than I thought. Not because we were carded either, but because at our first stop we were try trying to convince the other to go in first. Behaving more like 12 year olds daring each other than young adults on an…insightful endeavour, if you ask me. Eventually I gave in and because I was the one to drag my friend along, I went in…or tried to. I think at that stage my nerves were so shot that I couldn’t even open the door. Luckily after almost a minute of trying, the guy inside yelled that I was supposed to pull the door, not push it. Not even halfway in yet and I felt embarrassed.

After mentioning that we were just looking, the two of us awkwardly walked around the shop. Now this is where the implementing of submerge comes in. Another challenge as connecting scuba diving and…procreating with concept wasn’t an easy task. But I decided to, like with scuba diving, submerge myself in my environment. What that entails was me and my friend talking about all the fancy and some horrifying tools and toys we saw.

Our conversations went from the rope sales that increased in the US to almost 40% after 50 Shades of Grey came out, to whether that contraption was made for humans or horses and finally to what toys our favourite fictional character pairing would use. Our ‘OTP’ in millennial terms. Which, as weird as it might sound, wasn’t as hard since I read fanfiction smut almost on a daily basis. Although now that I think of it, our interest in what toys our favourite fictional characters would use, most likely led the clerk to thinking that we were into BDSM. Oh well…

I think the most surprising this about this endeavour, was that our second visit, wasn’t really that difficult or embarrassing. The shock value had worn of and with our questionable sense of humour we ended up enjoying ourselves. Well…as much as you could when walking down aisles and making fun of the spikey and rubbery things that came from Japan, as well as the inflatable, noise making donkey that I don’t even want to know who would buy.

The experience, although not as creatively enlightening as the others, did have its upsides now that I think of it.  I learned that one shouldn’t be too afraid of experiences, that you think you won’t like,  and that undesirable experiences can get better over time as you get used to things. Much like other activities really. Well…without the whole surrounded-by-pornos part anyway…

Now…onto the extraction of a concept part.

Since everything that I saw around me was essentially things I have never seen and some very strange, out of my world, I decided to extract a concept that reflected how foreign the whole experience was for me.

I can’t believe that my vacation ended almost a week ago.

Now I’m back in the grind and ready for the term! But let me tell you guys a bit about my vacation. Or rather the prompt I chose to do that week. Scuba Diving.

It’s not on the prompt list but I thought I’d be fun to document and elaborate about my experience. I went diving with some friends and family at Ponta Do Ouro in Mozambique, where we regularly stay. Even if the reefs there are nothing compared to something like the Great Barrier, Ponta, for many divers that I’ve spoken to think of it as one of the most beautiful to them.

Now. I told you guys that I was going to do diving, not how I was going to incorporate the concept that I’ve extracted from the previous prompt into this one. The concept for my last prompt was the colours green, yellow, pink, red and brown. What I did was try to photograph things, such as fish, I see under water. Of course, at least one of the colours that I’ve mentioned had to be that of the fish.

Brownish coloured lion fish.

Moorish idol with its splash of yellow.

The closest thing you’ll get to red that deep under water. I...don’t exactly know what that is but I’m leaning towards frog fish.

Getting the shots wasn’t all that difficult. Mostly because the fish swim right in front and next to you. They’re so tame. I remember the first time I went diving, I couldn’t believe myself. We have strict rules on not touching the underwater life or the coral when we dive, and I think that its those rules that kept them so tame. They haven’t learned to fear humans, unlike most mammals on the surface. Something that Is both sad and astonishing to me.

This one, surprisingly, has all the colours I need.

Yellow and greenish colours. I think that is a wrasse but don’t quote me on that.

Me and my brother because we’re pink and green...and my mask is fogged up so bad.

When looking at the picture’s I’m sure that you think it must be the reason why divers well…dive, to see new fish and sorts. And while I love seeing new things, there is another aspect of diving that I might just enjoy even more.

When you submerge yourself twenty metres under the water your mind becomes blank. And I don’t mean like you suddenly don’t know what you’re supposed to do, because if that’s the case…you’re basically dead. No, what I mean is that suddenly. In a world that is so fast paced, where everything happens all at one, everything stops.

Twenty metres below the surface, your mind is silent.

More often than not I use that silence to just float in nothingness and simply be. Astronauts spend decades trying to escape the earth’ weight on their shoulders, when all you need to do is sink under the surface and you’re free.

But when I am busy writing another short story or fanfiction, as I often do, I find it to be the perfect place to brainstorm ideas or run chapter scenarios through your head. My mind is silent when I go down, so when I do think of something, I will focus only on that. You’d be surprised with the results it gives me. If I could somehow replicate that space in my daily life, I can’t imagine how much it will help when I really need to sit down and work on ideas.

For my fourth prompt and with it being Human Rights Day, a day off classes, I decided to change up my work scene while still being productive.

Of course, that means the prompt I chose was to work in a different environment. I chose Cappuccinos because…well…because I was hungry. It was also relatively quiet, and it fit in with the limitations that the concept camouflage gave me.

Although a difficult concept, it gave me some interesting experiences.

Since the concept was camouflage I decided that I was only allowed to visit places that stared with the letter ‘C’.  The colour scheme that I wore also had to tie into this. Unfortunately, the only decent image I took of my outfit was horribly out of focus, so that bit is mostly left to your imagination.

Camouflage also reminds me of nature, so I added this to the food and drinks I was planning on ordering as well. The drink had to be made from ingredients that you can find in nature. Meaning no alcohol or cool drinks. While still being easy to execute since I ordered an iced coffee. Beans, water, ice, and milk.

My main dish had to include a food that was green, such as spinach for example. This doesn’t include things like rocket or basil since they are garnishes. The ingredient had to be physically listed in the menu. I decided on a salmon breakfast for my dish. Which included: salmon, tomato, scrambled eggs, toast and avocado.

But including this was only one limitation or aspect that I had to include in finishing my prompt. The reason the dish had to have a green element is because I wanted to camouflage my food.

To be honest I was very glad that there wasn’t enough avo to cover my entire dish. Avo on salmon and eggs are well…terrible. The eggs I could live with, but I felt so sorry for those pieces of salmon that I had to defile in avocado. The mixture of textures I got with the scrambled eggs wasn’t very good either. But when put on toast…it was not that bad. At least I got a new food experience out of this as well.

Now that I’ve talked about the environment aspect of the prompt lets go on to the work aspect of the prompt.

Since I have already compiled a list of ideas that I wanted to use as the pilot episode for my first future anime, I decided to expand on that idea and write a more detailed synopsis on how the episode will play out. What was interesting about this experience is that ideas that I have never consider before seemed to either fall out of nowhere or I was able to connect ideas that I didn’t think would work together.

It made me wonder whether gaining insight into an idea was urged on or stimulated by different surroundings…at east for me. And is something that I would like test in the future.

My ideas also flowed easily from my imagination to page and my mind felt quiet for some reason. It got me thinking if this openness was caused the rather large space around me (compared to my very cramped apartment room) or just how calm the surroundings were. It is another thing that I need to test to gain further insight into my creative process.

In the end, what was supposed to be a simple outing turned into something much more meaningful.

I discovered food combinations that I hated….and sort of liked, made progress in one of my projects and gained further insight and understanding of my creative process.

The concept that I will be extracting from this prompt, inspired by my half amazing, half avocado -mutilated breakfast is colour. But not the just any colour. The colour of my breakfast.

Since I was visiting my parents for the weekend, who were planning to go to the Kruger National Park. I decided to do that for my 3rd prompt…Basically Go To A Zoo on the list but I decided to take step it up…get it? Step up, as in…barefoot last wee- never mind.

Since the concept I extracted from the last prompt of going barefoot for a week, was awareness. I decided to list all the animals, mammals, birds, replies etc. that we see on the trip. We that includes me, my dad, brother and French exchange student.

As for the trip… IT WAS AMAZING!!!

I mean look…look at that list. 

18 Rhinos in two days, no one can make stuff like that up. 

And just after seeing so many spectacular things it made me realize how wonderful South Africa really is. Well the nature part of South Africa anyway…not the politics part.

Later I even started to feel sad and sorry for all the kinds and adults who will never get to see any of the Big 5 in real life...or even visit a nature reserve for that matter. One of the thing I liked seeing on the trip was how the French exchange student, reacted.

She was ecstatic. And it was at things that me and me and my family had gotten used to. Not that we ever took those sightings for granted. But it was a nice little reminder of how lucky I am.

But other than making me feel grateful, sad and excited I was also starting to feel super nostalgic on the second day. Driving on a searing hot day, looking for animals while all your eyes want to do is fall to a close. And stopping to get some ice cream (the same kind that we get every time that were there) reminded me of my 3rd to 5th grade years. When I lived in Phalaborwa and would visit the Kruger almost every weekend.

How time flies.

But enough about that.

Let me tell you guys how the actual trip went...not the psychological journey.

So, the four of us got up at for to leave for a 3-hour drive to…I can’t remember where in the Kruger, but it was close to the Crocodile river. Between snacking on biltong, droëwors and various other South African food to give Frenchie the full experience, we were on the search for animals until about 14:00. By that time, we saw 4 of the Big 5…not including the lion…

Which we saw during a night drive (male and female in mating), when staying at the Beg-en-Dal camp for the night.

Earlier that day we visited the Rhone museum and coincidentally the longest recorded rhino horn was…I think 1.58 meters long…exactly as tall as missus Exchange Student. We also played a few games of dominoes while lazing around in the chalet.

The next day we went to Pretoriuskop on our way home. I had to drive and got a burnt arm and half burned neck, but other than that the day was pretty fun. Maybe a bit quieter where sighting is concerned. But hey, who am I to complain.

So, for my second prompt, I went for a week without shoes. And along with the concept of discover I extracted I encouraged myself tong to new places and find new routes of getting around. So I made a few rules for myself, I was not allowed to use an elevator, or visit the same place twice in one week (for getting food, groceries, stationery etc.)

I must say that this prompt turned out to be quite an enjoyable experience. Even if it didn’t start out like that. I was reluctant to leave my apartment without shoes on and going to new places in a city I just moved into. Not to mention the fact that my apartment is on the 3rd floor.

But as the week progressed I rather enjoyed walking barefoot, it was kind of nostalgic and made me think of when I was still a kid. When some friends asked me why I wasn’t wearing them I would usually just say something like me rebelling against shoes. (Although that might have been mildly true as my shoes did chafe my feet raw the previous week.) Most of the students or people I passed didn’t think much of my shoe-less-ness, although I’m pretty sire I became known as ‘The Girl Without Shoes’ on campus. But this was honestly an interesting experience, especially since I became increasingly aware of my surroundings. Like the cold tile and searing hot pavement.

By the middle of the week I didn’t think twice about leaving my apartment barefoot. I became much more confident and I discovered a few upsides to it, like the fact that I didn’t have to worry whether my shoes would math the rest of my clothes (which I usually did.)

So in the midst of y newfound comfort and normalcy I was actually very confused when the clerk at Golden Goose Artistry at Southdowns asked e where my shoes was…only for it to click a few seconds after. When all I could give him was a sheepish smile and shrug in reply because I honestly didn’t know how to…without sounding crazy at least.  

And when I was finally done with the week, and a bit reluctant to wear shoes again. In fact, so many of my friends asked me why I wasn’t barefoot anymore. They looked just as confused as I probably felt when I couldn’t understand why the pavement wasn’t burning my feet that day.

It’s strange really. How something so insignificant could have an impact on your lie and daily routine, how it could become a habit in only one week. A habit which I didn’t want to break. A habit which I am not going to break.

So…guess who’s staying barefoot?

Hello all you wonderful people. So firstly, I would like to give you a rundown of what Ill be posting. Basically, it will be me doing a bunch of new and possibly weird things that I choose from a prompt list and drawing a concept from whatever it is that I did and incorporate in the next thing that I do. Why am I doing this you might ask? Well it is hopefully to stimulate creativity and teach myself how to cross-pollinate ideas for when coming up with a concept or idea.

For my prompt I listened to an album that I would not usually listen to for at least 5 times. I stumbled on it on You Tube by accident and decided to give it a try. Now I can’t stop listening to it. The album is a 1 hour compilation of dark/magical /vampiric /orchestral music composed by Peter Gundry called The Edge Of Darkness. If you want to give it a listen the link is right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML0XFlWkEvk

While I was listening to it I was rather surprised at all the different kinds of emotions that it evoked within me despite having no lyrics. Even with some dark undertones I felt myself feeling at peace and rather mystified if that even makes sense. While I was listening to it my imagination ran wild and I couldn’t stop day dreaming about medieval villages, fancy balls where vampires danced through the night and old witches cooking all kinds of elixirs in an old cabin.

If I ever write a dark fantasy story that is definitely something I’d listen to. My favourite song of the album was without a doubt Salem’s Secret. (That would be at 04:58 if you click the link) It had such dark and ominous undertones, making me think of a child practicing forbidden magics that honestly gave me shivers. A reaction that I wouldn’t get from today’s mainstream music.