P.S

"P.S I'm going to the beach on Monday."

Found this line written in an old greeting card sandwiched between used books at tonight's Red Cross Bookfair.

It was a faded, spotted with age Mother's Day card signed 'Love Antony'. Must have been a bookmark displaced from its final resting place.

I wondered what the significance of the post script was, maybe a bach at the beach or old family home?

It made me sad that maybe this was all the communication between mother and son in a year.

Strange to catch glimpses of other people's lives in a greeting card at a bookfair of all places.

After shuffling around tables perusing book spines and walking around others fixed to their spot rather than give way, I stopped by the 'Children/Young Adults' section.

Several years ago, I gave away my large (150) collection of a particular young adults paperback series. I had written my name rather largely in the first page of each book.

I spied some of these titles on this table and couldn't help checking if they were mine. Instead each was printed with 'Corrine Brunt '84' inside.

Wonder if they'll ever resurface? Reminds me of how 'Love in the Time of Cholera' was used in the rather corny movie "Serendipity'.

My final haul from this year's bookfair included paperbacks: 'Valley of the Dolls', 'Once in a House on Fire' and 'Dreams of Leaving', couple of 'Your Home and Garden' magazines and a 'Pretty In Pink' movie soundtrack.

Hopefully will actually get around to reading them rather than becoming my latest decorative dust collectors before the next book fair.

Photo Blog

While drinking coffee last Friday, I caught this shot of the drink fridge with my mobile. The bottle is actually leaning against the glass.
We left the bottle like that, wondering whether it could be saved by the next door opener or if it was past the point of no return.
Next time we went it was gone and the fridge's stock had shrunk considerably.

Lately I've been capturing particularly random shots of life with this camera, only trick is to keep it still enough. I've come across random signs, pacifiers in toilets and daisies so have snapped a shot.

My friend and I already share a film review blog, why not a photo blog?
Its still in the planning stage, e.g. name/design but I can't wait to get it up and running.

In the meantime, I'll illustrate some posts with my random shots!

Alleyways and Tunnels

Change is as good as a rest, so they say.

I feel like I've been revamping my blog for a while, but just starting to see changes.
Behind the scenes, I've been adding more photos to older posts, designing a new header and generally pottering about. I should have been adding new blog posts at the same time, but there is always a price for creativity!

Anyway welcome any new readers I've picked up, thanks for visiting!
My blog is about being a city dweller- things that I've seen and my random experiences. I always find myself in alleyways and tunnels, hence the name.

My new header was shot when exploring an underground World War 2 gun emplacement above Karori in Wellington, N.Z. If I'm without my camera, I try remember the atmosphere and small details, it could end up as a collaged perspective!

I can draw with a ruler, so rely on collage to fill in the details. Any snippets I use I try to disguise their origins with colouring pencils, ink or by photocopying to fade the details.
For my efforts, I have many blunt coloured pencils and several overflowing shoe boxes of cuttings. Photoshop is the icing on the cake as it makes the image cleaner and stronger in contrast.

When I'm not being creative, I write articles, do fact research, bit of retail, blog and study lighting. What a crazy year 2009 has been so far!

Weebly Update

I mentioned Weebly, a free website host a while ago and have been meaning to post an update.
I'd nearly given up on it because it wasn't sitting right but today it finally came together, strange how these things happen.

Wintec's Spark International Arts Festival was on in Hamilton last week so I went to a few talks and events.
I loved working there as a PR intern last year as there was a never-ending buffet of goodies on offer, so to speak.

This year was no different but restricted myself to three events, which is a feat in itself.
I saw Helen Baxter- who writes the MsBehaviour files on The Big Idea website - all about utilising new media tools. Not surprising that her talk was about 'How-to-become-a-new-media-mogul'.
It was great, we know there is a world of possibilities out there, but its still inspiring to hear all about it.

A key point was the creation and maintenance of an online identity. I think the difficulty is keeping that identity cohesive. I've been alternating between citydweller1 and my full name for some time, but I'm trying to pull them together on all these social networking sites.

That's what is quite good about Weebly, you can start to pool your flickr pics, youtube videos and twitter in one place at least. My options are limited on a free account, but its still an actual site not just a blog.

Back to my progress report- still not published but oh so close!

Disco Underworld

The latest issue of Disco Underworld is out! For those of you who haven't checked out this creative online monthly magazine, it is definitely worth a look! Don't blame me if you soon need your monthly fix.

I started writing for Disco in April and have become a regular contributor. The video that I previously posted on this site was an illustration of an idea I had for reader contributions.
We interview people from all world with such unique viewpoints, its great to make an article out of their words.

In the August issue, I wrote about Amanda Ratcliffe, a Hamilton music photographer/album reviewer/radio DJ. It was really fun to do, her photos are fantastic and she loved the article!
She has also promoted it left, right and centre on her Myspace page, which has been an experience in itself! Hope it helps her profile.

Next issue here we come!