Category: pondering

#1402 theoldmortuary ponders

On By Juliet CornellIn art, autumn, Paintings, pondering, Procrastination, Scrag End of Summer1 Comment

I have had a surprisingly arty week. This should not have come as a surprise because 2 days were set aside to fill in an on-line application for an arts grant, that included a budget proposal. I was always going to find other things to do rather than knuckle down to admin of that sort.

Betond normal life my procrastination of choice was two pieces of preparatiry work for known future projects. A huge and colourful watercolour with fantasy fruits and flowers and a coven of laughing, giggling women. Neither of which have anything to do with the Ocean based, arts grant, I was filling in.

One so colourful and the other monotone.

In other painting news, I bought some nice fat figs to pose on a favourite plate.

Which in turn took me down, or up a very tight aperure in a fig and to the tragic story of Fig Wasps. Another known procrastination technique

:https://theoldmortuary.design/2026/09/12/1401-theoldmortuary-ponders-3/

Mentally entering a Syconium via an Oristole. Two words new to me yesterday which led me to a third new word, the utterly delightful ‘Foundress’ meaning female founder.

I suppose I am the foundress of theoldmortuary ponders and it is illustrated with my mistresspieces.

We should reclaim these lovely female- centric words.

Looking at these particular mistress pieces I sense that although my heart is hanging on to the scrag end of summer my head is definitely turning towards autumn. If I look at a few images created this week there is a definite autumnisation to my colour choices.

One last piece of arty news for Sunday. We went to a play about the Artist Beryl Cook. The actress Kara Wilson delivered a one woman show/monologue while painting a man in a turquoise thong. All in the fruity colours of autumn.

#1286 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn art, pondering1 Comment
Photograph of an original watercolour of a Mackerel. Artistic Interpretation.

What’s the weirdest coincidence you’ve ever experienced?

No weird coincidences to report. Some strange ones and some lovely ones throughout life but I can’t think of a weird one.

But my pondering head has been pondering the good and bad of witches and wizards recently and how witches are seen as malign and worrisome creatures and wizards  as benign and benevolent, in general.

Language shapes my unscholarly thinking. When a witch bucks the accepted trend she is labeled as a ‘good ‘or ‘white’ witch. When a wizard goes rogue he is considered ‘ wicked’

But it seems to me the default is female witch=bad, male wizard= good.

While creating art I use sketching, painting, collage photography etc to produce an image. Artistic Interpretation if you want a definition. I also use digital manipulation and computer generated imagery. Artificial Intelligence

A.I and A.I

For many years in the production of Medical Images I used skill and radiation or ultrasound. Technology and computers vastly improved what could be discovered and diagnosed during my career. There is a definition very frequently,but only recently commonly used for such innovation. Artificial Intelligence.

A.I.

Now that’s a weird coincidence.

I suspect that A.I is the witch when it is Artificial Intelligence and A.I is a wizard when thinking about Artistic Intelligence.

Also weird.

Digital Photograph of the same painting, tidied up, using art and photography programmes on a computer,
ready for prints to be made. Artificial Intelligence

The original painting looks much better in real life. Artistic Interpretation.

The prints will be as good as technology allows. Artificial Intelligence.

A.I a weird coincidence.

#1261 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn pondering, Serendipity1 Comment

Blog #1259 was a prompted subject.

#1259 theoldmortuary ponders.

But one tiny paragraph got me pondering.

The prompt asked for a favourite quote. Mine was one about tolerance and indifference.

Suppose I had lived my life with less tolerance and more confrontation. I am an avoider of confrontation. Preferring the less damaging tools of diplomacy and compromise. I am really not very good at confrontation when I am not on firm ground or people might be hurt by my change of character, I am much better at diplomacy and compromise.

But let’s be honest some people are just so entrenched in their nastiness that they wouldn’t recognise diplomacy or compromise. So should I have been pulling on the big girl pants and getting some more confrontation experience along the way.

It is not that I never do confrontation, I just don’t do it if there is a lot to lose for me and other people that I respect or care for.

I can quietly ponder about relationships that have not gone to plan. The ones that are easiest to think about are the ones that have some finality. Estrangement or death allows the pondering free reign and are are the most fascinating because they are over. I can ponder almost clinically if I could have made any improvements in our interactions that would have made things better.

But maybe they could just have tried harder to be nicer, kinder people. Which, of course, is where I flounce off and toss my indifference to them into the air. Not as obvious as the big girl pants of confrontation but every bit as deadly.

#1350 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn pondering, Words1 Comment
A marvellous place to muse or mull. Or even ponder

Yesterday was a musing or mulling kind of day. Nothing serious, just a delicate or sensitive situation, tennis club based that needed good handling. I was extremely lucky to get a favourite swimming spot to myself so I could mull or muse uninterrupted.

A good overnight brought me some clarity for that problem. But then trivial ponderings made me wonder why I had not called my blog ‘theoldmortuary muses’ or ‘theoldmortuary mulls’

theoldmortuary ponders follows on from Pandemic Pondering. That title obviously had a time limit but on a writing course I was advised to leave the pandemic behind, before it left me behind. It was also suggested that I make my blog more personal. theoldmortuary is my creative space and although a pseudonym that feels pretty personal, not for a moment did I consider dropping the word pondering. Mull would never have been chosen but muses might have done.

I do wonder if I have rather devalued the essence of a ponder by pondering such trivial, benign, repetitive or quite frankly flimsy thoughts on a daily basis.

Muse does seem slightly more appropriate but for now, pondering will be the thought process. Leaving musing and mulling for more serious thought processes.

Back to to the swim where I mulled or mused a tricksy tennis problem. From my ridiculously elite swimming spot I swam to the very popular beach.

And then I swam back. This is a truly trivial,benign,repetitive and flimsy ponder.

But musing and mulling also occured.

#1411 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn pondering, SerendipityLeave a comment
Calm reflection in a flower pot

What’s a mystery from your own life that you’ve never solved?

Now this is a question with a million answers. I am fairly certain the resolution of many of my mysteries will always be just out of reach. I have been the oldest family member in my known family for more than 30 years. Giving me a big bag of family mysteries. Then there are the workplace mysteries. Why did certain things go the way they did? Then there are the domestic mysteries, those are often the least interesting and yet the most pressing.

As an avid ponderer I think mysteries are either a superpower or the essential fuel of the craft of pondering.

If I eradicated all my mysteries what would I do all day?

I prefer the latin word for ponder.

Somehow it gives pondering, or indeed mystery solving more importance.

Mystery is infinite and all the better for it.

#1410 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn ponderingLeave a comment
Steps at Ocean Studios ©theoldmortuary

What a difference 24 hours make, yesterday I was writing about a sublime experience at a ballet  performance. Today I may need to comment that unknown to me I was a little under the weather at the theatre. Unknown to me a 40 year old root canal was quietly and painlessly giving up the will to live in a tooth. What became very obvious later in the night was that not only was he in terminal decline but he had unfortunately affected and infected his neighbour. A tooth with a fully functioning nerve system!

Some emergency dental treatment is a wonderful thing. Ultimately I will have to lose both the teeth but for now they are at peace. Painkillers and antibiotics are wonderful things.

I have been very fortunate, 40 years ago I had my first experience of toothache and 24 hours ago was my second.

Despite being warned that root canal work might only provide a short term fix my little tooth hung in there, only changing colour very slightly recently. He endured through two pregnancies and orthodontic teeth straightening. All things that might have affected his longevity. He has endured periods of a busy life and an irrational  fear of dentists, that stopped me attending once my adorable dentist retired.

Curiously my little tooth is a marker of time. 40 years ago I had two parents, and no children. Now I have two children, no parents.  A wealth of life experience and changes.

Toothache and ballet. They make you think.

Sunset at Tinside ©theoldmortuary

The two pictures illustrating this blog have nothing to do with teeth. But they do both have colour sensations that are not too dissimilar with my experience of toothache. Especially when displayed in a tile format.

#1405 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn ponderingLeave a comment

November and December in Asia and Australia tricked my skin that winter had not arrived. Late January and the truth has started to hurt. Skin soothed by an early Southern Hemisphere Summer is now calling out for richer moisturiser and at the same time as rejecting it by breaking out under the pressure of heavier creams. Rain and constant storms and a small dog requiring a walk are not good friends with my face.

These hand blown baubles were reflecting the weak sun of a rainy day on the Mornington Peninsular, Victoria. They look like tiny apothecary jars. I wish my bathroom cabinet looked as pretty as I search for balm to nurture my sore skin. But they remind me of a moment not so long ago when rain did not wreak havoc with my complexion. Mornington has an extreme heatwave warning today. So absolutely no point  wishing I was there right now, my skin would still be sore, but for different reasons. The baubles would be more vivid in harsh unforgiving sunlight.

Studio & Co. https://share.google/RjfcMofOEqUTTGyxO

#1403 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn pondering2 Comments

I love a soundbite. A tiny little statement or sentence that sums something up.

Nostalgia is not a Strategy – Mark Carney at Davos yesterday.

Headline grabbing from the Canadian Prime Minister at Davos when most headlines are grabbed by the Pussy Grabber.

Far be it from me to disagree with a Prime Minster with integrity but how can anyone possibly strategise without nostalgia.

Strategies are built using current information and past experience.

People are usually only sentimental or wistful about things in the past that were successful, pleasurable or effective.

All things that would be admirable in a strategy.

You might wonder why my humble blog is pondering the lofty soundbites of a World Leader. Well, when Mr Carney was running the Bank of England our thighs briefly touched whilst sitting on the underground in London. In truth the only famous thigh I have ever briefly touched in a non professional situation.

I don’t imagine he remembers that moment so I will not be firing off a quick email to him to help him with his next speech.

But if you are reading this Mark.

It is impossible to Strategise effectively without Nostalgia.

Learning from past mistakes etc.

#1398 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn pondering, Serendipity1 Comment

My post-Christmas tidy up brought me some joy with the rediscovery of my old portable typewriter’s history.

My Olympus SM was manufactured in Germany in 1939 and sold to its first owner W.H Butterworth while he lived at 28, Chiltern Drive, Braddell Heights, Singapore. The original sales document is still in the ginger coloured carrying case, resting on my sofa.

I was in Singapore in November, had I remembered this fact I would almost certainly have taken myself off on a wild goose chase to see my typewriters first home.

Somewhere in this photo from the Marina Bay swimming pool is Braddell Heights. Very far distant but there nevertheless.

Why such a wild goose chase?

I quite like a wild goose chase. Sometimes a seemingly pointless task brings unexpected experiences. So I regret not chasing that particular goose but Singapore had other wildlife.

But we did not meet Otters in the Botanic Gardens, which was a dissapointment

So perhaps we should have chased the odd wild goose.

Or maybe we did.

#1380 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn pondering, Serendipity1 Comment
Winter Sunshine, Fowey.

One outing, two blogs. Sometimes a day can be experienced on several levels.

#1378 theoldmortuary ponders.

Blog #1378 wallowed in nostalgia and some dog extra sensory perception. I am comforted by nostalgia and a little sadness is easily softened by the reliving of many happy moments in the same place. But familiar places are never dull. Especially on a day when the sunshine quota was high.

Early visits to Fowey in the 70’s and 80’s, were to a seaside town still functioning as a place where normal people lived, and tourism and locals co-existed. Butchers, Bakers, a Fishmongers and Pharmacy all filled Fore Street  The physical buildings remain more or less the same but their form and function have changed to service the hoardes of wealthy Airbnbers and luxury hotel visitors who flock to Cornwall every year.

As a visitor myself I am as much a part of the problem as anyone who has travelled further to enjoy the beauty and texture of the place.

In this old Fishing and Pirating Port , tourists have become the catch of the day and buccaneers treasure chest all rolled into one.

Shops and businesses change hands and function almost overnight. We have become loyal customers to specific buildings not so much the business operating within it.

Hot Chocolate @SaltSociety
Fowey.

Three generations of family and friends have shared the joy of Fowey on day trips and weekend breaks. The Boom years of tourism. But what comes next.

The tin merchants of 4,000 years ago could not have imagined the Piracy of 400 years ago. Just as I struggle with the changes of 40 years of tourism. Casting forward 40, 400 or even 4,000 years what will be the niche business of Fowey?

Pondering the future during Twixtmas.  Round and round , mind meandering at its best.

P.S  A glorious shop window viewed from inside. Giant Quality Street Sweets.

This picture is a good representation of how my mind feels pondering all that future Fowey…