adetorrent; photography, lifestyle.

So I've been home-and-away for over a week now and I'm having a blast.  I hear London has been basking in some good sunshine in my absence.  That's good to know. I'll be back soon enough. In the mean time, I've managed to lose one of the cameras I brought - the digital one I was shooting video with.  My Olympus 35RD is safe and sound, for now.

The post-Easter spring cleaning is almost complete.  All the chocolates have been 'cleaned' out, and, er, 'disposed' of.  All that is left is this exquisite hand made real goose egg - blown and hand decorated in Moravia.

I had been following  +Helen Briggs  for a while and am particularly fond of her double exposure work.  I was hence delighted when she agreed to swap films with me late last year. Film photography is exciting enough on its own - the anticipation, the uncertainty and so on, but with film swapping thrown in, both the uncertainty and anticipation are doubled - if you would excuse the pun. It was my first ever film swap so I am a bit of a novice,  unlike our Helen, but some delightful things still managed to happen.  'Twas the most wonderful time of the year afterall. I can't wait to do this again, especially now that I have a better idea of what to do in terms of exposure and framing.

..when you return to the big city from the countryside.  

This is what happens when you accidentally open the back of your camera in broad daylight.  Aliens immediately invade your city.

Light leaks are in, right?  To be honest, I secretly enjoy them too, especially when they're unexpected and somewhat artsy.  However, my BX20 was leaking EVERY shot in the same place - that becomes monotonous and annoying very quickly. I'm spoilt for choice, as a camera collector.  I also have the BCA which is really similar to the BX20 but with limited manual function.  Without a battery you can only use it at shutter speed 1/60.  Apart from that, they are the same camera to me. Really missing the full manual function of the BX20, I decided to stop being lazy and fix the light seals with self adhesive felt .  Really easy to do surprisingly.  I had to remove the existing seal[which didn't look that bad] with a tweezer, cut strips from the sheet of felt, and stick along the same lines I removed the old one from.  Done. BX20 is now back in action.  Coffee anyone?

With summer in full swing, I considered it perfectly sensible to pop into  Snog in Covent Garden for a quick one.  Not only because it let me indulge in some sickeningly delicious desserts while pretending to be healthy, it also reminded me of a similar place I found while visiting Spain last year.  It was a haven from the blazing sunshine of the Andalusian coast. The interior is a wonder to behold.  A bizarre mix of fresh and psychedelic.  Despite their insistence on asking you about your first snog, I found the place very strangely pleasant.  You are served up some mouth watering frozen desserts of your choosing by a distinctly beautiful staff.  No seriously, they're all extremely good looking.  In fact, the whole thing was a bit too perfect - the kind of perfect that makes you think surely there's something wrong somewhere.

Never mind the flowers.  The thing I liked the most about Columbia road, was the plethora of possibilities for lunch.  Cafes, restaurants, pubs, food trucks, stalls, kiosks and so on.   Humour won out on the day.  The Lili Vanilli Bakery and Flour Market made me laugh.  And I wasn't disappointed to be fair - it was alluringly vintage in there, and the food was delicious.  The bakery is nicely tucked away in the Courtyard, which itself had a nice aura to it.

One of those parts of London that have always been there, known to everyone, but me.  Columbia Road is 'the other Brick Lane'.  That's how I see it anyway.  On Sundays, when it hosts the world famous flower market , it rivals Brick Lane in rowdiness.  For some reason, a disproportionate number of French people go there, which is awesome I guess.    But of course, 'flower' also includes all manner of wonderful things.  I spotted a fascinating mini pineapple life form, amongst all sorts of miniature botanic wonders.  For some reason , most of the men there wore tight shorts and had long beards.  The women looked normal. In a shop there I saw the most exquisite plaster and stone ornaments and sculpture.  In the same week many hostile pieces of legislation were passed across African nations, I found ironic the figure of two African men facing each other as if engaging in something that would get them in a lot of t...

I know they are not so popular at the moment, following this event here , besides I'm not a dog guy myself, but you can't argue with cute.  You know that ugly cuteness, sort of the one babies have when they're first born [send hate mail to ..].  And what's better than a cute dog? [yes, a cute cat, but no], two cute dogs!

Yes folks, it's the weekend.  Gracias a Dios.

Need to be hyper focused on the immediate task at hand and not on the long game for the rest of the week.  Many important things to get done but haven't recovered from Easter.

Not quite the image of London you've got in your head eh?  This goat here, is a zone 2 resident.

And the light leak saga continues.  Shall one put aside the offending kit or embrace the fault?

Wiping the slate clean, rubbing the carte blanche, turning a new leaf.  This month one will be staying young and foolish.  Rest in peace Steve Jobs.

Happy birthday my dear friend.  I know how you're into your healthy, ethical eating, so here is a portion-controlled slice of a birthday cake for you.  There is also some fairtrade green tea in a recycled and re-recyclable cup for you to wash it down with.  Ah, but with all things, a little balance is essential. A little guilty pleasure, a little vice - so here is a lollypop.

That Monday morning, when you wake up suddenly after not having had enough sleep and the sun rays come blazing in through the window and every sound is amplified a hundred fold.  Feels like a light leak in your brain and everything looks like the devil's trident. Coffee. 

Bit of gentrification going on in the poultry farm got me thinking of the Joe Raposo classic. One of these things is not like the others,  One of these things just doesn't belong,  Can you tell which thing is not like the others  By the time I finish my song?  Did you guess which thing was not like the others?  Did you guess which thing just doesn't belong?  If you guessed this one is not like the others,  Then you're absolutely...right! Have a peaceful Sunday all.