 Photos, my day, etc
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Jul. 6th, 2009 @ 04:44 pm 
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Went to see a doctor this morning. Have antibiotics, slogged home.
Had an odd experience on the way there. I was walking past a block of Homeswest flats, on the way to the bus stop. Homeswest accommodation is government housing, and these flats, from what I've seen, contain an odd mix of people - from very old people to very sick people to stereotypical young(ish) bludger types.
Some of the residents are noticably mentally ill.
Now, I hope you all know that I am not one who tends to be judgemental about disability. Please keep that in mind as we go into this little story.
As I was approaching, I noticed a forty, forty-fivish man standing on the footpath in front of the flats. He looked vaguely twitchy, maybe like he was in a bad mood, mostly preoccupied.
Then, as I got near, he looked at me, and I saw his face twitch...
... and I flashed to episodes of Lie to Me, and discourses on micro-expressions, and in particular, the ones that indicate imminent premeditated violence. Because that was the way his face had moved. So I sidestepped just as he launched himself towards me, moving hard and deliberately, almost charging at me, going past me with a gap of inches, straight through where I had been, would have been had I not dodged in anticipation.
I have a bad cold, I felt like hell, and I had my camera gear in my backpack - I didn't feel up to confrontation. But my first thought was that he was trying to force contact, start a fight or mug me. (I had eighty bucks in my pocket, which I could handle losing, but no way in hell was some lowlife getting my camera.) So I half-turned, enough to keep him in sight. He came to a stop a few feet away, turned and glared at me angrily. I met his eyes, stood a little straighter. He looked away and started pulling what looked like a phone out of his pocket.
I walked on.
Chas suggests that he was probably crazy1, not a mugger.
1: No calls of "ablist language", please. As a mentally ill person myself, I do draw a boundary between recognising "mental illness" and just calling people "crazy"; trying to body-ram me as I'm walking past, minding my own business, is on the "fuck you" side of the boundary.
While I was at uni, I bought a copy of 84 Charing Cross Road at the used bookshop. I haven't read it in years, but it's a delightful, wonderful book, and it was only $3 for paperback happy.
Meanwhile, today's photos. I got around to trying out my flashgun for "bounce flash" - off my bedroom ceiling, in this case - to take a picture of my guitar, resting on the gig stand.
In the background you can just see part of my amp. It's not the whole of the guitar, but if you want a general look at what a Gibson Les Paul Studio looks like, hey, google it. I don't have the energy to move to where I can get a better shot of the whole thing.
Second photo is one I took at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital while changing buses. Things which are slightly disconcerting: Fire trucks, lights ablaze, pulled up outside the Emergency Department... especially when, even though they're settled there and the sirens are off, a couple more trucks are pulling up while you're waiting for the bus.
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![[User Picture Icon]](https://v2.dreamwidth.org/16080982/8491) |
| From: | ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png) rainbow |
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July 6th, 2009 09:11 am (UTC) |
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ooh, your guitar is beautiful! i love the colour and the ways the curves flow.
eta: i'm so out of it, i thought i had two different potss by you open ::headdesk::
many healing vibes headed your way if you want them, and gah at the sort of attack! O.O i'm so very glad you were able todoget and he didn't escalate it.
Edited 2009-07-06 09:12 am (UTC)
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| From: | sami |
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July 6th, 2009 10:31 am (UTC) |
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Heh, the two halves of this post were pretty thoroughly different.
Thanks for the vibes, and the compliments to my guitar. Its beauty is part of why I'm so in love with it - it has such beautiful colour and shape as well as sound.
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| From: | rainbow |
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July 6th, 2009 08:26 pm (UTC) |
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They were! And I was avoiding sleep after horrid, triggery, flashbacky type dreams during my nap yesterday, so getting confused was not difficult at all -- I was falling over by that point.
You're welcome, and you're welcome! *g* It really does.
![[User Picture Icon]](https://v2.dreamwidth.org/204413/56053) |
| From: | sqbr |
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July 6th, 2009 10:21 am (UTC) |
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Eep! That's one of those stories which I imagine is much more pleasant to recount afterwards than experience.
(Though as someone who grew up in government housing I have a pretty strong knee-jerk reaction to the word "bludger", especially when applied to people based on their appearance alone :P)
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| From: | sami |
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July 6th, 2009 10:30 am (UTC) |
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Dude, not judging just by appearance - more by having walked past those dudes playing loud music all day every day for a week straight while they huffed paint and did beer bongs.
I do have standards for calling people bludgers.
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| From: | sqbr |
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July 7th, 2009 12:51 pm (UTC) |
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Hmm, fair enough. I'm still not 100% sure how I feel about it (I have Issues I need to work through about class), but I am sure that I was in a gob-smackingly bad mood last night, poor old Cam got snapped at a bit, and apologise for assuming you were going just off appearance.
So, um... your guitar is pretty :)
recomment walking down our street on the other side of the road from now on :(
also: lie to me now has an additional positive to its name, I feel this makes up for its earlier trauma in some way
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| From: | sami |
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July 6th, 2009 10:49 am (UTC) |
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I know right
Also, I will go on the other side of the street if I see that dude again, but I don't think I've seen him before, so.
Mmm, guitars.
I hope you won't see that dude again. Creepy.
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| From: | sami |
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July 8th, 2009 05:16 am (UTC) |
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/signed
But my guitar *is* really pretty, isn't it?
I'm in this weird position, though, where I'm discovering that I have an *amazingly* deep-set trust boundary that's all new: people I have trusted with my deepest personal fears, I will not trust to touch my guitar. Basically, unless you LIVE WITH ME, I would rather you not touch my guitar.
It's not just that it's expensive - it's that it is, in itself, precious to me. If someone broke my guitar, they could buy me another Gibson Les Paul Studio, sure, but it wouldn't be this Gibson Les Paul Studio, and I would be sad.
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