Category: challenges


lunchtime can have so many memories attached as food often does – it is seldom just about the food – usually the story or the company or the occasion…

so these three stood out for me…

firstly the one time it was about the food was this occasion of me sampling what must be the world’s biggest donut [which i got to sample when hanging out with my family in Texas two years ago] as kind of a lunchtime alternative:

the world's biggest donut

then secondly it was the occasion, which was on our honeymoon and tbV still claims this was the best sandwich she has ever eaten [with bacon, avo and feta as the chief ingredients it would be hard to go wrong]:

world's best sandwich

and lastly is was this beautifully cooked plate of breakfast food [altho eaten at lunchtime] slash bacon-and-friends that tbV cooked for me on honeymoon and so a combo of the food, the occasion and the company… good times, good food, but more importantly a great story, amazing memories and the start of an exciting adventure that continues on:

tbV supreme breakfast

Mmm…

[For the previous Photo Challenge on the theme of ‘Lost in the Details’ click here]

i attended a formula 1 grand prix last year in Austen, Texas, which was basically a dream-i-never-would-have-realistically-had come true as i had been watching the sport since i was in primary school… and in the midst of this international event, sitting flanked by people of all nationalities from all around the world, i had the joy of seeing this South African flag draped casually over someone’s chair near me… great reminder of home in the midst of all the foreign…

Proudly South African

this picture, which was taken on my honeymoon with tbV is a beautiful nature scene, but for me it is the wall that stands out – i absolutely LOVE stone walls [made with different types and sizes of stones joined together] – as someone who doesn’t get excited about all that much in the way of architecture and design this is one thing that jumps out for me everywhere i see it and so it was great spotting this gem in the midst of the surrounding beauty and life…

Stones of Wall

and then talking of lost in the details i found this picture of the stunningly beautiful Val on our wedding day – what i like about it is the range of leaves from blurry and up close to very much in focus and detailed and then trailing off to blurry again… and there in the background the hint of my beautiful bride – the suggestion of a greater story than what is seen in front of you… and a greater story to follow…

valleaveswedding

 

[For the previous Photo Challenge on the theme of ‘Forward’ click here]

this was our wedding day and as one does, we had an original authentic replica of the Aragorn sword from the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy that our friend who ran our drum circle [as one does] brought with him for the occasion… the question ‘do you want me to bring my authentic Aragon sword replica?’ has only one correct answer and you figure out the details later…

so we took this picture:

swordweddingsho

and i really find it such a powerful image. the theme of FORWARD fits in nicely both as a visual image of the three dimensional sword reaching almost out of the picture as well as the idea of the wedding day which is the continuation of a journey as the new couple steps forward into a new journey that they will be embarking on together.

i like the idea that we are not entirely in good focus as the road ahead contains many elements of mystery and figuring it out as we go along, but we will do that together and so that is the element which is in focus – our Love and commitment and readiness for the task…

[plus it was a photo with an authentic Lord of the Rings movie trilogy Aragorn sword in it!]

[For the previous Photo Challenge with the theme of ‘Kiss’ click here]

Latest challenge on WordPress: Many of us think of our lives as boringly normal, while others live the high life. Take a step back, and take a look at your life as an outsider might. Now, tell us at least six unique, exciting, or just plain odd things about yourself.

# i like to drink Top Deck chocolate from the bag – second best option is breaking chunks into smaller pieces and microwaving, but a far higher and i honestly believe tastier method is to leave the slab on the dashboard of your car in the sun or on a window sill til it melts and then make a hole in one end and drink to your heart’s content – INCREDIBLE!

# i like to bend the english language to my will as i posted about here. i spell some words differently on purpose like ‘thankx’ and ‘thort’ and use a minimum of capitalisation and promote some nouns into adjectives which i promote to verbs which i promote to nouns and so on. i think i came up with the saying ‘vibing a vibe.’

# as a hobby i occasionally put together short video clips for a made up you tube show titled ‘Dangerous Things You Can Least Expect’ – while the majority of people who watch them seem to think they’re pretty funny, they have not come close to going viral yet and sit more hesitantly at a spot i would assume they call ‘virus’ rather. my favourite one at the moment is probably the latest one i did on sax and violins but i guess other people didn’t think so as much cos at the time of going to press it has only had around 218 views.

# i have a yellow and white stuffed dolphin called ‘No_bob’ [i was going to call him ‘Bob’ but he doesn’t] – in many places around South Africa he is more famous than me – i used to feature quite prominently on the local Christian speaking circuit for youth groups and on two occasions i was introduced and about ten people clapped and as i started speaking i introduced No_bob and when i took him out of my pocket a good third of the room [few hundred people] started cheering. people try to convince me that No_bob used to be blue but he wasn’t. people will probably swear he was but i have pictures from the time when i won him on the pier a Brighton. a Cape Town Christian punk band called Serving Suggestion performed ‘the No_bob song’ and it became one of their most popular songs…

# i hate raisins with a passion – no i mean REALLY, not just like you pretend not to like them but you will eat them only by themselves, or only in things. i mean i started the ‘i hate raisins’ group on facebook, i once went with a friend to a park at night and burnt a bag of them just to do the world a favour. i have recorded two songs so far titled ‘the Squishy Fruit Conspiracy’ and ‘Sultanas’ which was a parody of the old Snow ‘Informer’ song…

# the word is traffic circle. if you enter at one point and leave before doing a full 360 degrees then what you have taken part in is called a traffic semi-circle or a half-moon or something. if you are going to insist on calling it a ‘traffic circle’ then like me you must go THE WHOLE WAY ROUND and usually not just once cos you have to make sure… three or four times is fun with first timers while the record with a full combi and trailer at the big Free State circle is i think 13 times with petrol attendants standing cheering at the side of the road and overall it is the 53 we did in Stellenbosch after cell group one nite. like a record playing, right round round round.

honourable mentions must go to biting people [which i used to do the first time i met people as a sign of affection, but the older it gets the creepier it gets so i’ve largely stopped] and cycling the 109km Argus cycle tour in either pink tights or fish net stockings [best way to keep yourself cycling when going up Suikerbossie – no ways i’m getting off in front of those crowds wearing pink tights!]

just a regular normal guy, really.

with the theme of ‘Kiss’ there are certainly a lot of different interpretations i could have given to this week’s challenge, but the one that i have to share so obviously rises above all of those and that is a kiss between my wife Valerie [aka tbV – the beautiful Val] and myself on my wedding day… but as i searched for the picture i was wanting to use, namely this one which for me symbolises the start of a new journey of ongoing Love and affection:

nostopkiss

i couldn’t help but choose to include this one as such a powerful image captured by a combination of sweet accident and the alertness of a talented photographer absolutely ready for anything that presented itself:

observekiss

this one for me speaks of the kind of fairy-tale imagining you figure must be going on in the mind of the silent observer with a sense of ‘that might be me some day’ and so hope, Love and the greatest of expectation…

[For the previous Photo Challenge on the theme of ‘Unique’ click here]

this is one of my favourite pics ever and it comes from the days of cameras with actual removable film and this particular photo is clearly a mistake of double exposure, but one that works so powerfully.

so the people worshipping in a weekly church service appear to be standing beneath the heavens and it creates such a powerfully artistic expression:

worship and worshipped

…which to me screams of something that is completely Unique.

[For the previous Photo Challenge on the theme of ‘Love’ click here]

with the theme of Love, the first thing that springs to mind has to be God and the beautiful Val… and so the most natural pics to choose would be linked to both, so out of the thousands i chose these two from our wedding, the time of us celebrating and officialising our Love before God and friends… the first one i would title ‘catching the first glimpse’ as this was the moment that tbV walked into the chapel in all her stunningness and beauty and you can see this guy was captured…

Catching the first glimpse

then secondly there is a picture of us just enjoying the moment – another love, the mutual appreciation we have for the colour purple, is clearly displayed in this pic and just a sense of taking a moment in a life-transforming ceremony of significance to let the moment really sink in…

Purple Love

and finally one of the happy and muchly in Love couple as we set out on what has so far been a three and a half year journey of life, Love, challenges, commitment and adventure… this is my girl whom i much Love…

happily ever after

 

[For the previous Photo Challenge on the theme of ‘Illumination’ click here]

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