Six word Saturday: trying to fight off a cold

A couple of weeks ago I arranged to meet my son in town for dinner. I’ve written about the drama of travelling the one kilometre to our meeting point, and how stressful I found being in gridlocked traffic for around an hour. However, on the bright side, I did manage to snap a few photos along the way.

St Patrick’s Cathedral, Auckland. Opened in 1908 this is the Cathedral of the Catholic Bishop of Auckland. Photo: Su Leslie, 2014. Shot with iPhone 4.

I spent about 20 minutes travelling along Wyndham Street and couldn’t help noticing how peaceful and welcoming the church appeared; lit in white and gold against an inky sky.

St. Patrick’ Cathedral, Auckland. Warm and welcoming on a cold, wet night. Photo: Su Leslie, 2014. Shot with iPhone4.

Once the most prominent buildings on the landscape were religious or civic structures. Now we celebrate capitalism with ever-taller towers and apartment blocks. I do like the way the Sky Tower changes its colour scheme though. The purple felt very reassuring as my car crawled up Hobson Street.

Auckland’s SkyTower. The tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere according to Wikipedia. Photo: Su Leslie, 2014. Shot with iPhone4.

This week is Challenger’s Choice at Sally’s Phoneography and Non-SLR Digital Devices Photo Challenge. I’m not sure quite how to categorise my contribution; it is architecture, shot at night, from the street . They could have been travel photos, but I wasn’t travelling too much, so maybe still life would be a better description?

Here are some other’ bloggers contributions that I liked:

http://allkindsaeverything.wordpress.com/2014/05/28/phoneography-and-non-slr-challenge-travel/

Phoneography and Non-SLR Digital Devices Photo Challenge: Objects

http://artifactsandfictions.wordpress.com/2014/05/26/travel-and-ansel-adams/

http://angelinem.wordpress.com/2014/05/26/phoneography-challenge-at-days-end/

http://pictograf.wordpress.com/2014/05/26/phoneography-and-non-slr-digital-devices-photo-challenge-memorial-still-life/

http://sustainabilitea.wordpress.com/2014/05/26/phoneography-and-non-slr-digital-devices-photo-challenge-challengers-choice-scent-ual/

http://completelydisappear.wordpress.com/2014/05/26/watching-you/

http://streetsofsfphotos.wordpress.com/2014/05/26/entryways-8-photos/

iPhoneography Monday: 5-26-14

http://firebonnet.com/2014/05/26/phoneography-flash-our-turbo-comes-home/

Here are some other bloggers contributions that

Wordless Wednesday: keeping reality at bay

May 28, 2014May 28, 2014 / Su Leslie / 8 Comments

Playing with the "toy camera" function on the point-and-shoot. Kaipara Sculpture Park, Auckland. Photo: Su Leslie, 2014

Seeing the world through a different lens (playing with the “toy camera” function). Autumn at the Kaipara Sculpture Park, Auckland. Photo: Su Leslie, 2014

“Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality.”― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Here are some other Wordless Wednesday’s I’ve enjoyed:

http://edprescott.wordpress.com/2014/05/28/wordless-wednesday-237/

http://grahy.fr/2014/05/28/wordless-wednesday-day-dreaming/

http://lucidgypsy.wordpress.com/2014/05/28/wordless-wednesday-103/

http://sreejithpnair.wordpress.com/2014/05/28/wordless-wednesday-the-old-man-and-the-sea/

Wordless Wednesday: Hello London!

http://booksmusicandmovies.wordpress.com/2014/05/28/wordless-wednesday-34/

http://katpegimana.wordpress.com/2014/05/28/wordless-wednesday-royal-swing/

Wordless Wednesday: Sunset on the Lake

Wordless Wednesday #21

http://diannesphotojournal.wordpress.com/2014/05/28/wordless-wednesday-munted/

http://mypeopleinhistory.wordpress.com/2014/05/22/wordless-wednesday-a-bit-late/

wordless wednesday

Wordless Wednesday: flowers and art

Six word Saturday: farewell to autumn; it’s been nice

May 24, 2014May 24, 2014 / Su Leslie / 13 Comments

: The last leaves. Photo: Su Leslie, 2014.

Gone this morning; the tree’s bare

Six Word Saturday is a blogging prompt from Cate at Show my Face. Here are some other Six Word Saturdays I’ve enjoyed:

http://whenwordsescape.wordpress.com/2014/05/24/six-word-saturday-52414/

http://joanfrankham.wordpress.com/2014/05/24/it-is-all-downhill-from-here/

http://drieskewrites.wordpress.com/2014/05/24/half-a-century-plus-one-year-minus-one-day/

http://agadiranimalsandattitude.com/2014/05/24/six-word-saturday-2/

http://restlessjo.wordpress.com/2014/05/24/six-word-saturday-113/

http://rainbowbakery.wordpress.com/2014/05/24/six-word-saturday-not-winter/

Art for art’s sake; money for Women’s Refuge (with apologies to 10cc)

May 23, 2014 / Su Leslie / 19 Comments

Sally Tagg, Pollen Hybrid, 2008. Exhibited at NZ Sculpture OnShore in 2008. Photographed in its new home in a private collection. Photo: Tom Gray: 2013.

The Oxford Dictionary online defines art as:

The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.

While it’s true that we can experience art anywhere, in anything we find beautiful or moving, I have a particular love of the fine arts. I am most passionate about sculpture and film, and am incredibly lucky to work with an arts organisation. I help organise NZ Sculpture OnShore, a biennial sculpture exhibition which raises funds for New Zealand Women’s Refuge. This stroke of luck means I am able to experience wonderful “expressions and applications of human creative skill” on an almost daily basis.

Ocean Swell by Rod Davies, photographed at Kaipara Coast Sculpture Gardens. Exhibited at NZ Sculpture OnShore, 2012.Photo: Su Leslie 2013

Rod Davies, Ocean Swell, 2012. Exhibited at NZ Sculpture OnShore, 2012.Photographed at Kaipara Coast Sculpture Gardens, 2013. Photo: Su Leslie 2013

My role within the organization is to market the event; to bring as many people as possible through the gates to view and enjoy some of the best contemporary New Zealand sculpture. The equation is simple: more visitors = more money. More money means more that Women’s Refuge can do to help women and their children escape from abusive relationships and build new, better lives.

So far, we have donated $1.34 million dollars to the cause. We have funded a respite house, educational materials, special packs for children entering refuges – sometimes in the middle of the night with only the clothes on their backs – Continue reading →

Six word Saturday: if I could show you depression …

May 18, 2014 / Su Leslie / 29 Comments

Feeling a bit like a swing in a storm; buffeted, out of control and ultimately pointless. Photo: Su Leslie, 2014

Feeling a bit like a swing in a storm; out of control and ultimately pointless. Photo: Su Leslie, 2014

The black cloud has been hovering for a while and none of my usual fixes are working. I guess I’ll just be riding this one out.

Luckily, other bloggers have much more cheerful Six Word Saturdays to share. Here are some that I liked:

Six Word Saturday

http://elainemcnulty.wordpress.com/2014/05/17/six-word-saturday-what-else-but-the-weather/

http://whenwordsescape.wordpress.com/2014/05/17/six-word-saturday-51714/

http://lingeringvisions.wordpress.com/2014/05/17/six-word-saturday-dream-more-while-you-are-awake/

http://restlessjo.wordpress.com/2014/05/17/six-word-saturday-112/

http://magicalmysticalteacher.wordpress.com/2014/05/11/roxaboxen/

http://magicalmysticalteacher.wordpress.com/2014/05/17/sombrero/

http://ccchampagne.wordpress.com/2014/05/17/short-and-sweet-2-six-word-saturday/

http://vivinfrance.wordpress.com/2014/05/17/6-word-saturday-79/

http://rlavalette.wordpress.com/2014/05/17/six-word-saturday-145/

http://mcguffysreader.blogspot.co.nz/2014/05/home-work.html

http://allisonsbookbag.wordpress.com/2014/05/17/six-word-saturday-meme-41/

http://retired-not-tired.blogspot.ca/2014/05/six-word-saturday_17.html

Wordless (or maybe speechless) Wednesday: a hour in my car to travel a kilometre

May 15, 2014October 13, 2021 / Su Leslie / 11 Comments

Ten phases of the traffic lights to move six car lengths. Traffic was gridlocked in this part of Auckland last night. Photo: Su Leslie 2014

I got in my car at 5.50pm to meet the boy-child — 1.1 km away. I got to him at 7.05pm.

Sitting in stationary traffic, watching the lights phase and no-one move because the intersections were already full and all the surrounding roads were blocked, I actually started to have a panic attack.

To make it worse, I was only in my car because a) there isn’t a bus service to the city from my home during the day, and b) I can’t get parking at the bus station.

Note to transport planners: public transport only works if people have access to it.

And actually, the buses weren’t moving either.

Here are some other bloggers’ Wordless Wednesdays:

wordless wednesday

http://livingoutloud4.wordpress.com/2014/05/14/wordless-wednesday-9/

http://susanfriedlandsmith.com/2014/05/14/wordless-wednesday-school-open-house-selfie-before-the-madness-ensues-edition-aka-do-i-look-like-a-teacher-edition/

http://realisticcookingideas.com/2014/05/14/wordless-wednesday-greek-chicken-salad/

http://thatmontrealgirl.wordpress.com/2014/05/14/wordless-wednesday-evening-edition-9/

http://heatherlcoxart.com/2014/05/14/worldless-wednesday-kolob-zion-canyon-natl-park-this-week-2/

http://sourcererblog.wordpress.com/2014/05/14/wordless-wednesday-4/

http://myothermoreexcitingself.wordpress.com/2014/05/14/wordless-wednesday-im-ready-for-gardening/

http://leftbraincraftbrain.com/2014/05/14/wordless-wednesday-craft-fail/

http://carrieonblog.com/2014/05/14/wordless-wednesday-date-night/

wordless wednesday

05-14-14 Wordless Wednesday

http://smithsnaps.wordpress.com/2014/05/14/wordless-wednesday/

Wordless Wednesday: 5-14-15

Wordless Wednesday | thepupdiary.com

Wordless Wednesday: Some things are made eternal

http://oneofthosememories.com/2014/05/14/wordless-wednesday-137/

http://elleturner4.wordpress.com/2014/05/14/wordless-wednesday-26/

Six word Saturday: clever, funny – the art of conversation

May 10, 2014 / Su Leslie / 8 Comments

Anah Dunsheath, ‘The Art of Conversation’. Photo: Su Leslie, 2014.

The Big T and I took a detour out to the Wallace Arts Centre yesterday and saw this in the garden. Anah Dunsheath is an Auckland-based artist (and antiquarian book dealer) whose painting and sculptures play with perspective and paradox. She says of her work:

Visual transformation and optical illusion are the key elements of Anah Dunsheath’s practice. Her works feature pronounced perspective and an often paradoxical relationship between 3-dimensional space and 2-dimensional surface.

I’d seen this piece before, but never with the light in exactly the right place to create the perfect shadow.

Six word Saturday is a blogging prompt from Cate at Show my Face. Here are some other Six Word Saturday’s I’ve enjoyed:

http://moonlightandmadness.wordpress.com/2014/05/10/6ws-51014/

http://lingeringvisions.wordpress.com/2014/05/10/six-word-saturday-is-500-pictures-over-doing-it/

http://elainemcnulty.wordpress.com/2014/05/10/six-word-saturday-eurovision/

http://restlessjo.wordpress.com/2014/05/10/six-word-saturday-111/

Sun is Splitting the Fence Posts

Six Word Saturday

http://vivinfrance.wordpress.com/2014/05/10/6-word-saturday-78/

http://rainbowbakery.wordpress.com/2014/05/10/six-word-saturday-magical-party/

http://rlavalette.wordpress.com/2014/05/10/six-word-saturday-144/

http://suzyspics.blogspot.co.nz/2014/05/an-interesting-week.html