When I did my Gloomscapes series two years ago, I never imagined we would soon be in the midst of our own dystopia. I expected some things, of course, with Brexit and Trump and the wave of right-wingery on one side and climate change on the other, but I never expected a pandemic. And now here we are.
Following the advice of staying at home and social distancing is for me, pretty much, just living my life as I do. I stay indoors and don’t go anywhere anyway, unless I take a trip for my photography and I don’t socialise. So I thought I would post some currently appropriate shots of my home. I put no quality in these, I basically just snapped them and uploaded to my computer.
I’m very much about Kindle books, as I blogged about before, so these physical books are from the time before eBooks started or titles that are not available in digital format. I’ve got some Game of Thrones characters figures, funko pops of Captain Marvel and Black Widow, a tiny model space shuttle and cats!
This is an older photo, as you can see more effort was put in it. This pile represents so many of my interests: Anne of Green Gables, Agatha Christie, history, maps, Star Trek, A Song of Ice and Fire and Sherlock Holmes!
Jaime Lannister with a catapult pencil sharpener from Chester and a tiny globe. The doll with the red braids is, of course, Anne Shirley.
The dog is called Snoopy and I’ve had him since 2003. Obviously I’m a cat person but Snoppy is special.
I’ve posted some of my Polaroids before, here they are again.
Above – the pasta shelf. Below – the toilet roll shelf.
I personally am not doing any stockpiling, because I live on my own and have no space anyway. I went to Tesco to do my usual weekly shopping. On the way, I saw a man in a balaclava riding a scooter, backpack on his back, with a shopping bag hanging in front of him. Well ain’t you a badass, I thought. James Bond could never!
I tried to imitate the Rosie the Riveter poster using my Captain Marvel doll and a yellow card paper.
TV Quotes
Chrisjen Avasarala from The Expanse, responding to mansplainers:
Or you can have the pure female rage from the Game of Thrones:
What of my wrath, Lord Stark?
Cersei Lannister
The Book
It’s really a short story: The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.
Based on author’s real life experience, it’s a tale of a woman, who is after the birth of her baby taken by her husband to a countryside mansion for a prescribed “rest cure”. He doesn’t let her do anything, as she must only rest and she is slowly driven insane by the yellow wallpaper on the walls of her room. I call it the Madwoman in the Attic Origin Story and it’s available for free on Gutenberg here.
I meant to post this last week but I forgot, so I’m doing it now before the month is out.
I took this picture in February 2010 (exact date was 19/02/2010) on my way to work in the morning. I don’t remember what brand smartphone it was.
Happy 10th anniversary, picture!
It’s foggy and frosty and I think I would prefer that to what we have now. (Another storm is on the way and I’m slowly forgetting what the world was like before them. I don’t remember the last time we had dry weather at a weekend.)
Just for fun, I have tinted versions:
As always, shame about the cars, without them the image would look much better.
Every weekend a new storm. Every day, constant rain. If it’s not raining, it’s windy. It’s cold. It’s bleak. You doubt if spring and summer really exist, if they’re not just a product of your imagination.
So you stay at home. The only thing you have is a bunch of half faded roses you bought yourself for Valentine’s. At this rate, you’re soon fade too.
Apologies for the terrible purple prose but I’m so over this atrocious weather!
I have been nominated for a Sunshine Blogger Award by The Wee Writing Lassie–please do check out her blog!–thank you so much for this opportunity! I’ve really had fun with it.
I promise myself, again and again, to connect with other bloggers but I never do. It seems I have social anxiety both online and in real life. *shrug*
What is the Sunshine Blogger Award?
The Sunshine Blogger Award is an award given to creative, positive and cheerful bloggers by their peers as a token of appreciation and admiration. (Wait, someone appreciates my blog? Someone actually reads it?)
The Rules:
• Thank the person who nominated you and provide a link back to him/her.
• Answer the 11 questions provided by the blogger who nominated you.
• Nominate 11 other bloggers and ask them 11 new questions.
• Notify the nominees by commenting on one of their blog posts.
• List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo on your post.
Questions for me:
(Note: I have added pictures to some of my answers because it’s the nature of this blog but this is NOT required)
If you could rule one of these five fictional/mythical lands: the Galaxy of Star Wars, King Arthur’s Britain, Westeros, Middle-Earth or Discworld – which one would it be and why?
Out of those, I think the Star Wars Galaxy is the most me-friendly, but I have no interest in ruling. So I think the best choice is Discworld, because it sounds like that wouldn’t be too much work, lol.
If you had the powers of a god, what would you do with them?
Either stop climate change or eliminate the right-wing from existence. Or both.
Which famous historical figure would you have round to dinner?
Oh, Mary Magdalene, she’s fascinating.
You’ve been abducted by aliens, and they demand that you take them to your leader – who do you take them to?
Probably the leader of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. She seems like a competent person.
If there was a film made of your life story, which famous actor would you want to play you?
Honestly I think Kristen Stewart is the most appropriate one, but my life is not interesting enough for a movie.
If you were trapped in a historical time (presumably your time machine has malfunctioned) what period would you be most likely to survive in?
I would say the Communist Czechoslovakia is the only one I could survive in, basically my life but decades earlier, it’s just the most familiar so I’d know what to expect. Still, I’d rather not. I’d prefer to go to the future.
What is your favorite kind of weather and why?
Dry, sunny, 20 degrees Celsius. Warm and not too hot, good for photography.
Chocolate or Caramel?
Chocolate.
If you could turn into any mythical creature, which one would it be?
I need to beat myself with a stick because I still haven’t read enough on mythical creatures. Anything that is a cat–werecat, maybe? Or I’d just be a witch, if that counts.
Who are you most grateful to in your life?
It’s got to be my mum.
Questions for my nominees:
Which fictional romantic pairing is your favourite (can be non-canon)?
Which movie can you never get tired of, no matter how many times you watch it?
What is your favourite hot drink?
If you could wake up tomorrow being fluent in one language, which language would you choose?
Have you ever felt like you could never forgive someone? (Reveal as much as you are comfortable with).
What was your favourite music artist or band in your teenage years?
What stupid question or comment are you tired of hearing from people?
Who is your celebrity crush?
What is the one really unpopular opinion you have?
What was your favourite subject at school?
What are you most grateful for from the past 12 months?
I nominate:
Susan Rushton
Tom from Spirit in Politics
Inkdrop
Twobrownfeet
Wednesday’s Child
Narendra Nayak at A Sliver of Life
It’s only six but I’m too chicken to nominate more. Have fun!
As I say every year, Valentine’s Day is nothing to me. I chose singledom. But it can’t be denied that it offers very aesthetically pleasing opportunities for photography. Or art in general. And stories and poems and songs and important essays about relationships–it’s certainly good for creativity. For better or worse.
You can always be your own valentine if there’s no one else. At least then you don’t have to share any chocolate.
