Maybe - A quieter more sheltered lifestyle might have suited me.

Routine, order, simple and secluded. No fashion or housing worries, no family arguments or money problems.

From my point of view not believing in God seemed like a problem, but the church didn't seem to thinks so.

(The Church of England engages in multicultural faith services

through an "intercultural" approach, where different cultural traditions within Christianity are welcomed and celebrated, and through "multi-faith" gatherings that acknowledge Britain's diverse society and can include dialogue with other faiths. This is supported by resources and initiatives focused on making the church more intentionally intercultural and by acknowledging the changing religious landscape through events like civic services and interfaith dialogues).

Original photograph taken with an Olympus E-PL3 and a Lumix 14mm lens. Contrast and brightness adjusted in Adobe Lightroom. Habit, cross and hood added using Google Gemini AI.

A male Rose ringed Parakeet arguing with an intruding female. Captured at Diyasaru Uyana, Thalawatugoda, Sri Lanka

… almost rescued the Roman world from the depredations of Commodus’s megalomania.

Unfortunately, state finances proved to be in an even worse state than expected by his co-conspirators.

Failed negotiations with the Pretorian Guard about the donative they were promised for support lead to guards murdering him and putting the Purple for auction !

This may or may not be him actually. There’s still a lot of scholarly argument going on over his representation.

Watch it properly @ Gallery Minimal

..

Here in Thailand, you can encounter these creatures, the macaques, in many regions.

That was also the case here in Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park. These little monkeys are very curious and not at all averse to stealing (so always be on your guard).

So, this friend spontaneously took advantage of my short break to take a closer look at my backpack (to check for weak spots, of course).

Fortunately, a camera backpack is quite sturdy, so it didn't sustain any damage.

However, it took a lot of persuasion (and the use of a stick) to get the backpack back. Every time I even approached, the monkey went into attack mode.

In the end, though, I had the better arguments.

Hier in Thailand kann man in vielen Regionen diesen Zeitgenossen begegnen, den Makaken.

So war es auch hier im Khao Sam Roi Yot Nationalpark. Und diese kleinen Affen sind sehr neugierig und dem Stehlen überhaupt nicht abgeneigt (also immer schön aufpassen).

So nutze dieser Kamerad eine kurze Pause meinseits spontan, um sich näher mit meinem Rucksack auseinander zu setzen (natürlich um ihn nach Schwachstellen zu untersuchen).

Zum Glück ist so ein Kamerarucksack jedoch recht robust, so dass er keinen Schaden genommen hat.

Es kostete mich jedoch einiges an Überredungskunst (und den Einsatz einen Stockes) um mir den Rucksack wieder zurück zu holen. Denn jedes Mal, wenn ich mich auch nur näherte, ging der Affe in Angriffsposition.

Am Ende hatte ich jedoch die besseren Argumente.

Hello Everyone, it is the day before Christmas Eve and the big day is almost here! I think most of us have been that child at some point in our childhood, not wanting to go to sleep on Christmas Eve, waiting for Santa to arrive with all His gifts and goodies for my siblings and myself. It was absolutely a happy time remembering yawning and trying to stay awake while my parents watch TV. After awhile barely remembering being picked up by my Father and carried upstairs, tucked away in bed.

The other evening in SL I was over at my best friends home with their little daughter, my niece Tikka, the one who steals quarters from my purse all the time. She and my bubsie were having a back and forth about her going to bed else Santa will not stop and bring her presents. The interaction brought back that memory, so listening more to their hilarious argument about reindeer eating cookies and candy canes. I had to quickly go to my inventory and find a fitting pose and take a photo of the adorable scene they were playing out, Daddy taking His little girl to bed. :)

I hope you enjoy and thank you for allowing me to share my photo with you and again, have a wonderful and safe Christmas and a blessing to all of you, :)

xoxo,

Christmas

You can't buy Peace like this. Just a thought whilst so-called leaders, billionaires and influencers argue about everything and have their photos taken in Davos, they overlook what authentic Peace is. For they will never find it in Ukraine, South America, or even indeed within the EU as a whole. The world is ending according to the Green Environmentalists, we are doomed to die under a blanket of CO2. Greenland is melting. The Chagos Islands are sinking under the raised ocean levels caused by melting Arctic ice. So they would have us believe. So why is anyone arguing over buying or selling land in a business deal? Wars cost so much in lost lives and destroyed weapons and materiale. Is it worth arguing about? You won't hear any arguments down in Kilmalieu.

My wife and I recently visited these caverns, formerly called Luray Cave, in Virginia, United States. The caverns have drawn increasing numbers of visitors since its discovery in 1878. The underground cavern system is generously adorned with speleothems such as columns, mud flows, stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone and mirrored pools. This view shows one of the gorgeous mirrored pools. Without argument, this is one of the most astonishingly beautiful cave systems I have been lucky to visit.

In the low afternoon light. There seem to be a minor argument going on...

From Sis' archives

WICCA'S ORGINALS

Tonya Outfit @ Black Fair // July 4 - 18

Maitreya, Hourglass, Freya, HUD: 10 Colors & 6 Metals It is sold as outfit (top & skirt) and as well the top can be purchased single.

ZIBSKA

Trix @ The Liaison Collaborative

Trix Eyemakeup in 15 Colours

Trix Lips in 21 Colours and 2 fits

Hat and Eyepatch from *Gothic Officer* outfit by L'Emporio,

Maitreya Body, Catwa Kimberly Head, Skin by Essences, Eyes by Core

Blog for links to Mainstores and Events

rachelswallows.blogspot.com/2020/07/no-arguments.html

Gentoo penguins. A very active colony, youngsters hungry and vocal.

A rather heated argument at the feeder.

Sigma 150-500 f5-6.3 lens on a Canon EOS 5D Mark II. Cropped in Lightroom Classic and resized for Flickr.

Thank you for visiting my little space here on Flickr.

For my Flickr friends:-)

Take your pick:-) No arguments;-)

I had sawn several photos of this city. I was impressed because of the mistery atmosphere they showed. Always lonely streets with men giving us the back, as they were going far... Now, I know that there are no mistery in the photos. Simply, the only way you can take a photo to morocco people is when they don´t see you. If they see, you will have a serious argument.

Yo había visto fotografías de esta ciudad y me parecía que siempre tenían un aura de misterio, con la gente fotografiada como si estuvieran en una permanente actitud de recogimiento.

Lo cierto es que no hay ningún misterio. Simplemente es la única manera de fotografiar a alguien si no quieres tener una disputa. Es increíble cómo en una ciudad que vive del turismo los habitantes tengan esa reserva a ser incluidos en una fotografía.

Teaching is not about information, it is about transformation. Whether we focus on Irenaeus’s visions or Thomas’s arguments, they shared the same goal: to help their readers be ever more transformed in the Spirit by the cruciform love of God.

--Scott Moringiello

The most recent 'argument' between Steve Balcombe and myself is over the naming of these birds. The more he calls them Goosanders the more I refer to them as Common Mergansers... It's amazing that we ever get any photography done...

You never win with a Starling but this Woody stood his ground and started yelling that he was working out and did not want to be bothered, but to no avail, the Starling stood fast. A comical image for sure.

Thanks for visiting and for all the kind words always appreciated very much.

the world is a vast, complicated case.

full of loud arguments and grand proceedings.

but each of us walks a separate path through it all.

a narrow corridor of light between two great shadows.

we are the lone defendant in our own small trial.

the only evidence is the path we walk.

and the only verdict that matters

is whether we keep moving forward.

A calf and a duckling in a heated argument. Why not? :)

I wish you all a happy, safe, beautiful and healthy Easter!

Taken at Author's Point in Second Life.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-BnGk2Q6sg

Hooded Crow (Corvus cornix) (also called hoodie)

Oban Bay Argyll - Scotland

Many thanks to all those who take the time to comment on my photos. It is truly appreciated.

DSC_6282

Close-up images of the Milky Way core always remind me of Olbers' paradox. Olbers' paradox, named after the German astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers (1758–1840), is the argument that the darkness of the night sky conflicts with the assumption of an infinite and eternal static universe.

If the universe was static, homogeneous at a large scale, and populated by an infinite number of stars, any line of sight from Earth should end at the surface of a star and hence the night sky would be completely illuminated and very bright.

This contradicts the observed darkness and non-uniformity of the night. The darkness of the night sky is, therefore, evidence for a dynamic universe, as postulated by the Big Bang model.

In a photograph of the galactic core, however, the stars are so densely packed that there indeed is nothing but stars if the line of sight isn't blocked by interstellar dust.

For me, a foreground with a solid wall of stars as a backdrop is one of the most stunning scenes in landscape astrophotography. I hope you like it as much as I do.

EXIF

Canon EOS 6D

Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM ll @ 88mm

iOptron SkyTracker Pro

Sky:

Stack of 6x 60s @ ISO3200

Foreground:

Stack of 3 x 60s @ ISO3200

Painted by the Window – Blue and Gold

🇬🇧 Here, colour isn't a choice. It's the whole argument.

Light crosses a cloister window and paints the wall — the projection becomes a picture, the surface a canvas. Cold blue receives warm gold, and the two hold a quiet argument.

At the foot of the frame, a checkerboard of tiles anchors the abstraction in stone — geometry keeping the organic in place, without explaining it.

Cloister of La Cambre Abbey, Brussels, Belgium, 2025.

🇫🇷 Ici, la couleur n'est pas un choix. C'est tout l'argument de l'image.

La lumière traverse une fenêtre du cloître et peint le mur — la projection devient tableau, la surface devient toile. Le bleu froid reçoit le doré chaud, et les deux tiennent une dispute silencieuse.

Au bas du cadre, un damier de dalles ancre l'abstraction dans la pierre — la géométrie qui retient l'organique, sans l'expliquer.

Cloître de l'Abbaye de La Cambre, Bruxelles, Belgique, 2025.

Meerkats having an argument

An adaptation of the famous Norman Rockwell painting "Election Day" which features the US presidential race between Truman and Dewey in 1948. I thought about getting political... but decided against it. LOL. Went for a more common debate instead.

I know that is not so polite to overlook or overhear the conversation of some strangers... actually I was interested in shooting this beautiful small fountain near Via Babuino but “the laws of street photography” and very “speakable” poses of those men made me break the rules of politeness, especially it was “the time of closing arguments”...

Bit by bit freedom is being eroded.

BBC News 25 September 2025:

Sir Keir Starmer is expected to announce plans for a compulsory UK-wide digital ID scheme in a speech on Friday.

The prime minister believes it would help crack down on illegal working and modernise the state, according to senior figures in government.

The practicalities of the scheme will be subject to a consultation, which will also look at how to make it work for those without a smartphone or passport.

On the other hand:

Arguments against national ID cards in the UK primarily centre on concerns over privacy, civil liberties, and cost. Opponents argue that a mandatory national ID scheme would fundamentally alter the relationship between the individual and the state, shifting the perception of identity from something inherent to the person to something granted and controlled by the government.

There are significant doubts about the effectiveness of ID cards in achieving their stated goals, such as tackling illegal immigration or crime. Critics contend that people working "off the books" or involved in criminal activity would simply operate outside of the system.

A centralised database of personal information would be a prime target for hackers and could lead to mass surveillance, tracking, and profiling of citizens, (as if it didn't happen already). I mean - like most people I have a passport, a driving licence, a bank account, an NHS number and a mobile phone. - what more do they need to keep watch on me?

Fifth Avenue

its function is to make the worse appear better ;-)

George Santayan

HFF! Words Matter!

cosmos, sarah p duke gardens, duke university, durham, north carolina

Peoria, IL

and arguments. In other words, I want to get married :-)

― Jarod Kintz

HPPT!!

cercis, compact eastern redbud, 'Ace of Hearts', j c raulston arboretum, ncsu, Raleigh, north carolina

Waverley May 2024.

And they said it was going to last...Hummer argument in my back porch.

The water surface mirrors the world below, with constellations of bubbles bluring the line of reflection - each spherical envelope integrating a local horizon with assimilated blurred and groundless views of both sides of the argument.

These two anhingas splashed around at each other, Circle B Bar Reserve, Lakeland, Florida

Another from the archives - Lesser Black-backs having an argument

I may not be the pretty skinny girl who has her picture gawked at, but I am me. I am a human being, and I am happy with myself. I have curves, and I don't wear a size 2. Call me what you want, I know I truly am.

I believe the sun should never set upon an argument

I believe we place our happiness in other people's hands

I believe that junk food tastes so good because it's bad for you

I believe your parents did the best job they knew how to do

I believe that beauty magazines promote low self esteem

I believe I'm loved when I'm completely by myself alone

I believe in Karma what you give is what you get returned

I believe you can't appreciate real love 'til you've been burned

I believe the grass is no more greener on the other side

I believe you don't know what you've got until you say goodbye

I believe you can't control or choose your sexuality

I believe that trust is more important than monogamy

I believe your most attractive features are your heart and soul

I believe that family is worth more than money or gold

I believe the struggle for financial freedom is unfair

I believe the only ones who disagree are millionaires

I believe in Karma what you give is what you get returned

I believe you can't appreciate real love 'til you've been burned

I believe the grass is no more greener on the other side

I believe you don't know what you've got until you say goodbye

I believe forgiveness is the key to your own happiness

I believe that wedded bliss negates the need to be undressed

I believe that God does not endorse tv evangelists

I believe in love surviving death into eternity

I believe in Karma what you give is what you get returned

I believe you can't appreciate real love 'til you've been burned

I believe the grass is no more greener on the other side

I believe you don't know what you've got until you say goodbye

Until you say goodbye

-Savage Garden "Affirmation"

Some tea stains. So treated them and laundered. Stains all gone. But now there are different ones. Re treat and re wash. I wonder if there will be an improvement!

Woodpeckers having a little argument

Argument