Non-Fiction Art

Packed Trains

“Welcome to Melbourne trains,” he said in his most sarcastic American accent,
“I can’t believe how packed it is! In New York it’s never anywhere near this full!” She replied, also in an American accent.
“Clearly you’ve never been on a train in Israel”
The train stopped and the doors opened.
“The train’s full!” someone shouted from within. The people on the platform took no heed and they surged into what was already a fully packed train carriage. The man shielded her from the pressure of the people as the passengers tried to squeeze into the train. The doors beeped shut and half the people who had been waiting for the train gave up and moved back to the platform.
“At least everyone’s friendly about it,” she said
“Yeah, in Israel when it gets this full they don’t ask you to move further in they just start elbowing you until you make room,” he replied
“If it got this full in New York people would get stabbed” she said, “people aren’t this friendly in New York”
“What about LA?” he asked
“Oh, no one’s nice in LA! They don’t even care. They would just run you over! Even if you were crossing the street they would just run you down,” she said, “Everyone’s nice in Seattle though, I’ve noticed on the roads everyone’s polite”
He nodded, “That’s because in Seattle everyone’s scared that the other person’s got a gun!”

21 May 2012

We Live In A Broken World

We live in a broken world. A world of rape, violence, fear, selfishness and greed. What frightens me the most is that a small part inside me can actually comprehend the evil out there.

That men can happily rape women and children. That human beings are sold and owned like cattle. That we destroy the environment. That we can hear about the evil around us and do nothing. It’s going on right under your nose.

And I don’t know about you but I do virtually nothing to combat it. I don’t donate money to any causes despite being asked to do so quite frequently. I don’t read the labels of what I buy, I rarely buy fair trade. I walk past about a dozen homeless people a day and I rarely spare them a dollar.

This is not how the world becomes a better place.

Sure, I don’t do things that are intrinsically wrong. I don’t drink very often and when I do I don’t drink much, I don’t smoke, I don’t litter, I work hard at what I do, I’m polite, I’m practically celibate (not so much by choice), I read my bible and go to mass, and I care about the people close to me.

But I am not a good (enough) person. The way I live I try my hardest not to do bad things but it isn’t very often that I go out of my way to do good things for other people. The only way to make the world a better place is to start small, with the family, with the community, then the country, then the world. I’m not an advocate of a person that volunteers to help the starving in Africa but neglects the evil on their doorstep or more importantly the evil within them self. I for one admit there is a lot of darkness in myself that I need to sort out.

This is becoming more and more of a rant… The point is, it’s not enough to just avoid doing wrong, inaction is still an action, rather I (we) must actively make an effort to do better, to try harder and to really surprise others with good works.

20 May 2012

Osu tumblr,

A couple of gem’s I’ve learned from kyokushin:

If you can’t laugh you might as well be dead
Don’t be a fat slob
Sometimes a kick in the head is tough love
Money is unimportant
If you’re not enjoying something don’t waste your time on it
If you’re honest and hard working the rest will sort itself out
Don’t whinge, only complain in jest
Always seek perfection
Have patience
Above all; never give up

I just came back from a camp and my balls hurt and my muscles ache and I don’t think I’d bang a girl if she payed me cos my hip joints are that f**ked but I already feel the conditioning of heart, mind, body and soul and I am a very happy man.

5 May 2012

Vermeer Sketch 2.0

12 Apr 2012

A sketch of the famous Vermeer painting

6 Apr 2012

Soles

Bryan tapped Jason’s shoulder to get his attention, “you wanna see something pretty?” He asked. He directed Jason’s wary eyes to the sole of his foot. On the sole was a blister that covered the majority of his big toe and several smaller ones on the ball of his foot. The skin was tattered and black from dust but hard.
“Oh! That’s a good one!” Jason commented
“Yeah I guess it’s cos I haven’t trained for three weeks”
“Yeah that happens. The skin gets soft and you have to condition it all over again”
“It’s as fresh as a baby’s” Bryan gestured towards the blisters and Jason laughed, “You know,” began Bryan, “If we didn’t wear shoes our soles would be tough as. We could walk on rocks and not even give a shit. It’s just cos we wear shoes that our feet are so soft.”
Jason nodded and smiled, “People are all pussies,” he said knowingly.

4 Apr 2012

Dis’verse

B. Everyone has a hole inside them. And they go through life trying to fill that hole with things; faith, love, art, knowledge, sex, money, alcohol, drugs. But none of them really fill the hole completely.

K. What do you fill your hole with?

B. The worst of them all. Illusions and delusions.

K. I fill my hole by throwing sticks at you.

4 Apr 2012