Everything is sentimental [516]

Greetings from the shed...

I’m Christian Payne, photographer and writer. In this weekly dispatch I seek out novelty, explore the relations between things, how we share, what we share and consume, plus where we might be going.

Thanks for joining in.

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#TheAction

Preparations for the house move are coming to the boil. We’re at the simmering stage. I’ve booked a storage unit on the Scottish Borders and made the first 560 mile round trip.

I filled the van with things we can temporarily do without and quite enjoyed the trip there and back. Thanks to an unseen pothole, there was a little shifting in the load. But I wasn’t buried under an avalanche of cardboard boxes and after an overnight stop at a friend’s house outside Newcastle, I finished the journey the following morning, unloaded, enjoyed a leisurely lunch in Berwick and was back to feed the kids.

Now it’s back to packing, packing and more packing. There’s nothing like moving your worldly goods from one place to another to realise how many things you have acquired on the way. The functional are guaranteed their place. The beautiful also great to have around. But then there’s the sentimental.

For me, everything is sentimental and nothing is insignificant. Yes there is still a chance I can reassess what I truly value and let go of what no longer serves me — but everything is a symbol of experience or a reflection of fleeting desire.

I’m enjoying the catharsis of finding and sorting. But putting our life into boxes is such a strange thing. Because our life doesn’t really need these things. It exists all around them. Perhaps reflected in these things, or inspired by these things, but they are just things.

So it’s good to lock them up and get some distance from them. Even if just to remember that most of what we need — safety, security, love and belonging …are not found in a box.

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#ThePictures

I went freelance as a photographer 23 years ago and traded as ‘Christian Payne’. Back then I had a few URLs and build very basic HTML websites with Dreamweaver. Last night I managed to get FTP access to an old server and could see a folder with loads of old web pages still live. This about page brought back memories.

Another folder contains a bunch of photos I took in 2004 when I was on the way home from Glastonbury and spotted the local school on fire.

Finally 20 years ago I was in Iraq with a friend. Here is a web snapshot of our time there.

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Love this Gary Oldman interview.

Watch to the end.

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BBC6 Music reminded me it was World Poetry Day and played ‘Letter from God to Man’ by - Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip

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#TheWords

Bodleian Libraries on Bluesky shared a photo and asked people to write a poem about it. Scroll down and you might find mine in the mix.

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The Poetry Foundation has a poem about Tacos as their poem of the day. Apparently Taco Bell was founded on this day in 1962.

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Most of our ancestors avoided conflict. But this made them vulnerable to a few psychopaths.

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I don't write code or know how to, but I asked chatGPT to make me a links page in the style of a green screen monitor, with a bio, my four most used sites, and then add my email address in a way it won't get scraped… This is the page it made…Christianpayne.com/links

Not bad for 30 seconds ‘work’.

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#TheSound

Today is the day I learned what an Electro-Medievalist is. Kate Arnold is one. Love this…

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If you ride a bike you may be interested in this fascinating exploration into organised bike theft.

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While in Berwick Upon Tweed I spotted a tired looking music shop. Inside they had a lot of sheet music and very little stock.

There were some second hand guitars, and amp, some cheap percussion, plectrums and three harmonicas. Two toy ones and a ‘proper’ one.

I would like to have recorded a chat with Margret, the elderly woman behind the counter. She bought the shop from her brother in 1976. He only had it three years before he got bored. She told me that she’d bought some wooden owls in the hope she might sell something to tourists. No idea if they were musical. But she also said she was lucky to not have to pay rates as the small street was exempt.

I felt a little sorry for her so bought some plectrums and a harmonica.

This what the harp sounded like when I got it home.

After I left the shop I popped into a wool shop over the road. While chatting I mentioned I had made a purchase after feeling sorry for the empty shop and the lady behind the counter harrumphed and said. “No need to feel sorry for her.”

I feel there may be a story between those two.

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#TheConsumed

On leaving Berwick I popped into a cafe called ‘The Corner House’ and grabbed a coffee and a cheese and chilli scone. Wow. It might be the best scone ever.

I’ll ask them what their recipe is, but in the meantime, I will try to make my own with this one.

• 250g (80z) self-raising flour

• 1 tsp baking powder

• ½ tsp cayenne pepper

• 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

• 75g (30z) chilled butter, diced

• 125g (4oz) mature Cheddar, grated

• 175ml (6fl oz) buttermilk

• 1 tbsp milk

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#TheThings

Packing all these boxes had me wondering what we really need.

Physically I guess the basics are, food, water, security, decent health, shelter, clothing, plus a little money and sleep. Socially …love, meaningful relationships, emotional support, respect and a sense of self worth.

Outside of all of this I feel self fulfilment would come from a sense of meaning and purpose. Something even those who have ‘everything’ can struggle to find.

With all that in mind, I’m not sure where another harmonica and more plectrums for my collection fit in. But I bought them anyway. [shrug emoji]

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#TheThanks

When it comes to money in that list of needs. I owe a debt of gratitude to the paying subscribers who continue to support this dispatch. You know who you are. ♥️

You might also be the only ones privy to my chitchat, audio and updates in the coming weeks, as I don’t think I can commit to the normal format with the move on the horizon.

So… if you value these updates and would like to get all of them, please consider upgrading your subscription…

Or if you prefer a random hat tip you can do that via PayPal

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#TheWeb

• Apple innovation and execution.

• And to follow that an innovative phone design.

• If you live on the A1 between Leeds and Berwick drop your name on the Documentally community map

• Claude can now search the web.

• Some of my other places include my audio RSS feed, Mastodon for decentralised social, a ham radio newsletter and foto for random photos, Supporting subscribers also get access to a Discord server. Email for a link. 👍🏽

• Fascinating advice for writers.

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#TheEnd

Thanks for reading.

As I said above, posts will be sporadic for the next few weeks. I promise to look after the supporting subscribers (email me to be added to the discord) and in the meantime, thank you for your patience.

Have a great weekend!

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“When I was a kid my parents moved a lot, but I always found them.”
― Rodney Dangerfield

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Pack.

See you out there.

Over…

A ❤️ is a high-five, a comment is a hug. A supporting subscription earns my undying love.