Articles in “Random Photographs”

And not a proper update, either:

The moon rising over the neighbour’s garden.

Right now, I’m trying to simultaneously finalise my first years’ grades and deal with some of the bills/housekeeping from the last fortnight.

Once I’m done with that, though, I’m sure I’ll be able to find something weird on my bookshelves.

Today’s random weirdnesses (if that’s a legitimate plural) all come from a book called The Girls’ Biggest Book. I’m not sure where I found this one—though it was originally given to someone called “Bubbles,” whose mother and father didn’t date their gifts.

It contains a school story by May Wynne, though, who wrote (according to this page) 211 books between 1899 and 1954.

(Of course, that page also says she was born in 1985, but I suspect that’s a typo, although even 1885 would be rather early, if she started publishing in 1899.)

But even if this book is from what we tend to call, ironically, a “more innocent time,” these illustrations are still hilarious.

I love this one for two reasons: people falling on their faces are hilarious (except when it’s me), and they look to be playing some odd variant of hopscotch.

Or how about Prudence’s adventures?

Lucky Prudence.

This one isn’t captioned. But judging from the look on the face of the girl on the left and the fact that the girl on the right is trying to pull her friend away by the elbow . . .

. . . I think we can label it “Peer pressure in action.”

Now, I don’t mean to question the sympathetic instincts of the woman in the fetching driving cap in this next image . . .

But surely his primary concern is that both his legs seem to have disappeared? Covering the place where they used to be with a coat doesn’t really seem like sufficient first aid to me.

It’s the expression on the teacher’s face that I love in this one:

Does it look to anyone else as though she’s deliberately opened the door on those two girls? They probably sit up the back of the classroom together and talk all the way through geography, and this is her revenge.

And now, holiday advice from fifty years ago:

I’m certain that the Great Barrier Reef Preservation Society would like to point out that riding on turtles is neither fun nor legal.

I love the world-weary expression on the turtle on the left, though. How many times do you think ill-advised tourists have knelt on him, for him to greet the behaviour in such a fashion?

And, finally, a history lesson from the 1950s:

Would you be inclined to trust either of these men?

Since I’m still marking, have in place of an update a photograph of a frangipani bud in this afternoon’s rain:

Nothing to do with books or television, of course.

But pretty.

The frangipani in the back garden—the yellowy-white one—is finally beginning to flower more heavily.

I took a series of photographs at about 10.30 p.m. from the back verandah with the zoom—because all the flowers are still quite high on the plant—and with the flash enabled.

I’d love to try and take some photographs that show the softness of the flowers in low light, but I’d need a proper tripod; my hands are too unsteady to take photographs in low-light conditions, when the shutter needs to remain open for longer, without having some way to steady the camera.

Have I mentioned recently that I love the zoom function on this camera?

Although I suppose this is more “world weary” than “arrogant.”

I also love this one:

From this angle, he seems to be wearing chain mail.

Just because.

We have two frangipani trees, a pink one out the front:

And the more conventional yellowy-white one out the back:

Unfortunately, the only flowers on the second tree haven’t quite opened yet and are high on the plant.

But they have their own unique charm for all that:

Brisbane really is the city of jacarandas. This time of year, this suburb, at least, is entirely purple.

And, not having done my undergraduate degree at The University of Queensland, I’m spared the sense of creeping horror that they evoke in those who have, to whom jacarandas mean exams and final assessment.

I just love the colour.

He looks a little thinner or younger than the last one.

But he’s equally cute.

Of course, he’s also further away than the last one, so the photo isn’t as clear. But that’s kookaburras for you: selfish things.

I am going to update properly, but, in the interim, I’m so impressed with how pretty my bougainvillea is looking this spring (well, what passes for spring in Brisbane) that I felt it deserved its own degree of Internet celebrity.

(I call it “my” bougainvillea, but the only reason it’s flourishing is because I never do anything to it, ever. If I did, it would die.)

Three interesting points about these pictures:

1. All three were taken from the same location, on various degrees of zoom. The camera was positioned about two metres from the actual plant, but the zoom function is fabulous.

2. I completely stuffed my ankle (or re-stuffed, really, by aggravating whatever damage I caused falling down the stairs on Sunday morning) taking these pictures: firstly, by assuming that, despite the swelling, it was healed enough for me to trot down the garden in the high-heeled wedges that were lying around rather than bothering to put sensible shoes on and, secondly, by kneeling on it to get a better angle on the plant. Now it really hurts again and I think the swelling’s gone up.

3. Nobody tell Nick that I had to take the batteries out of his camera to get these pictures off my own camera, because mine had gone flat. Okay? I’m sure he’ll never find out about it.

I’ve not received an official letter, as yet.

But the thesis is uploaded to the library site/digital theses project (and remind me to tell you about that debacle some day). Apparently, since it was uploaded yesterday, that should be the official date of award.

It’s printed and bound (and, yes, there was a debacle there, too, but not the printery’s fault: they’ve been awesome).

And it’s sitting on the shelf at home, next to the M.Phil.

This is the most self-aggrandising blog post I’ve ever written. And that’s saying something.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to put my education to good use (having a drink), by spending my evening in quiet, scholarly pursuits (having another drink), thus contributing to the overall state of knowledge in the world (maybe even having a third drink).

But they’re all so cute! At least this one’s not a lizard:

He was a little shy, though, and flew away every time I moved off the verandah to try and get a closer shot.

Hurray for the zoom function and for convenient verandah railings that can double as makeshift tripods.

It’s been a lovely, cold, rainy weekend, so I nipped out to take some pictures in the garden.

Morning glory photographs so beautifully; it must be those big, smooth blossoms.

When I came to photograph the bougainvillea, though, the camera insisted that I needed to raise the flash, which led to some odd effects.

So we have bougainvillea without the flash:

And exactly the same flowers with the flash, which makes it look as though they were photographed at night.

I rather like the effect, though.

But I have to ask people’s opinions.

Is it my imagination, or is this lizard actually eyeing me with contempt?

I know lizards are enigmatic creatures, but there’s just something in this one’s eye that says, “You? You are so not worth moving for.”

I suppose spending your days lying around in the sun pretending to be a dragon would generate a certain arrogance.