077-No Ghetto

077-No Ghetto, originally uploaded by gingerpig2000.

Today's group was set up by an English couple who emigrated to Australia, and then decided they did not want to lose their 'Englishness' - and decided to take pictures of themselves drinking tea in different places.

This desire to retain one's nationality-ness is the worst thing imagineable to me - it reduces you to an icon, you are no longer a real person. As an icon you are prime target material for those people who create stereotypes, making life hell for anyone who just wants to get on with their life in a country different from the one they were born in. I mean, if you want to retain your nationality-ness, why bother moving elsewhere?

Having lived in my present country for eleven years, people still cannot accept me as being a valid member of the community - any discussion about anything important and you notice that people start associating you with your 'nationality', and the real 'you' no longer exists. So, everyone around you can complain about the state of the nation, you cannot - wot the fuck? I am married to a national of this country, so either I get treated as an icon here, or she gets treated as an icon of this nation there.

So, our view is - drink your tea because you enjoy it, but don't do it to maintain your nationality-ness because you are just reinforcing the difficulties of other, innocent people.

074: A Calmer Sultry Night

A Calmer Sultry Night, originally uploaded by gingerpig2000.

We found a manual to help us with our time in bed, but we haven't got a torch so its hard to know if we are looking at a big end or a tired rocker. It is kind of cosy, though, and we might need a soapy bath afterwards, so things are looking up!

I took one look at today's group and it seemed full of the usual 'beautiful people' shots, you know the type of image taken by someone youthful who mistakes the youthfulness they capture on camera as being their art, and who are rewarded by a large number of views by people who really want to look at unclad youth. Some of the best, most innovative work I see are by the people who's bodies are roundy or aged and who, partly as a consequence, have to work on their art to achieve a modicum of success.

No 'here's my bust, please ogle it and comment on how you wish I had undone my bra' shots here. Instead i dug back into my past when I trained as a car mechanic and spent a lot of time on my back under it. Beds are also something I used to hide under to have a sulk when I was a kid. Here then, Ania and I are together, working on our marital bed, equal, and spending time together out of view of the people we spend our days working or socialising with. We are doing our own thing because we believe it is important, not because we think it will make us more popular.

059: Travels in a Suitcase

Travels in a Suitcase, originally uploaded by gingerpig2000.

Half Dressed Tuesdays

The suitcase exists to help take us on our travels, but for most of the time it simply gathers dust and stores things that we probably do not really need. I like to relive past journeys and plan new ones, and what better companion on these memory and dream trips!

Dreams are something that most of us have, often having the same or very similar ones throughout our lives. Daydreams, though, are an important way of accessing our mind's treasures, but too many people either believe daydreaming is a waste of time, or know not how they can make them a reality.

Oh, and half dressed tuesday? Don't you remember that sixties series "Man in a Suitcase"? Perhaps not :)

24: Silly Walks

Freedom with the Hiber Nation!, originally uploaded by gingerpig2000.

Today the group really managed to confuse things, I think some of them have spent too much time in the sun. Luckily, my image happened to fit the finally chosen theme.

Religion is here again, and government, both organisations that have massive problems with public nudity and very little concern with violence on the roads and in social situations, especially here in Poland where religion is measured in how many arrive at church each week rather than the quality of belief.

Sleep is a place I can escape from the bigots.