Roger Hyam – Page 3

2018/11/19 by Roger Hyam

Christening the dark box with a session of paper negs

I really must stop posting things on Facebook without posting them here first. I’ve reverted back to my “nothing on Facebook or Twitter that isn’t already somewhere else” policy. Feeling a bit post viral a couple of weekend back I stayed indoors and had some fun with paper negatives and using my dark box for…

2018/11/03 by Roger Hyam 0 comments

On Scottish Independence

Scotland is a country. Countries choose their own governments. No countries are truly independent but choose to pool some sovereignty for mutual benefit. or Scotland is a region. Regions choose local representatives to a central government. Regions are delegated powers by a central government which may choose to revoke them. Pick one option. To coin a…

2018/11/01 by Roger Hyam 0 comments

Marathon Monk: October 2018 – 233 days & 1,398 mindful miles

Another month already! Towards the end of the month I’ve been finding joy again in walking and in mundane things – the true test of happiness. The extra energy has allowed me to cut back on my media consumption so I’m not looking at Twitter, Facebook or news websites just at the moment. It doesn’t…

2018/10/15 by Roger Hyam 0 comments

Marathon Monk: September 2018 – 217 days & 1,302 mindful miles

A quiet month again. Lost a few days to my sinuses playing up. Had to get the bus back or work at home. There is a general feeling of embeddedness. I feel the period of being really low has past. Perhaps 2018 will just be a year I remember for dipping my toe in more…

2018/10/13 by Roger Hyam 0 comments

Bath Climate Mews

Twelve years ago we moved into our flat in Edinburgh with our two daughters who were six and a four years old. We aren’t fussy about decor but the fibreglass bath looked like it was about to crack and would have to be changed really soon. This week, just after one of those daughters has…

2018/09/07 by Roger Hyam 0 comments

I’m an Artist

I had a interesting exchange on the way to work. I was taking this picture of a window – just interested in the symmetry and tone – and when I took my camera down a guy said “I wonder what you were finding interesting in that?” to which I spontaneously replied “I’m an artist”. He…

2018/09/03 by Roger Hyam 0 comments

Marathon Monk: August 2018 – 199 days & 1,194 mindful miles

Not sure what to say this month. Not quite to 200 days – although I am on the 200th as I type. Here are two photos.

2018/08/01 by Roger Hyam

Marathon Monk: July 2018 – 182 days & 1,092 mindful miles

Much more upbeat in July. Walks have been really regular and been feeling good again. First time back at yoga on 31st. I weigh 1lb more than last month @ 14st 4lb (90.7kg). I’ve noticed that I have nearly exactly the same attitude to a tub of ice-cream or packet of biscuits that I used…

2018/07/11 by Roger Hyam

Marathon Monk: June 2018 – 166 days & 996 mindful miles

A year on the road. Not the road in the picture. That is the A383 in the Highlands. It has been a time of reflection. The summer solstice on the 21st June marked the first year of this Marathon Monk project and I was hoping to have completed 200 days and over a thousand miles…

2018/06/03 by Roger Hyam 0 comments

Afghan Box Camera a.k.a. Cuban Polaroid a.k.a Camera Minutera

I don’t feel I really understand something until I have had a go at it so, having watched some YouTube videos on Afghan Box Cameras, I had the urge to “waste” a couple of weekends building one. Now it is more or less working and I’ve learnt my lessons I can move on to something…

2018/06/02 by Roger Hyam

Marathon Monk: May 2018 – 152 days & 912 mindful miles

May is the month that I lead the Two Feet, One Mind walking workshops in the Botanics so, strangely, I do a few less marathon monk days. The workshops are for two hours, 6-8pm, and it is just too much to walk there and back as well as a days work so I go on…

2018/05/07 by Roger Hyam 0 comments

Marathon Monk: April 2018 – 137 days & 822 mindful miles

Five years ago I made a commitment to do a 20 minute mindfulness walk ever day during my lunch hour at the Botanics. I put a blog post on the Wild Geese website inviting people to join me and occasionally they have. I’ve managed to stick with it through all weathers although I don’t always…

2018/05/05 by Roger Hyam 0 comments

Pre-flashing Multigrade Paper Negs

I don’t have access to a darkroom at home so pre-flashing paper negatives to reduce contrast is difficult. I wondered whether using a piece of opal perspex and flashing in camera would help. These are notes on the tests I’ve done. I’m using The Anticipation Camera. I have an Intrepid 4×5 camera on order but the…

2018/04/21 by Roger Hyam

Sometimes you should bark yourself

Why bark if you have a dog? We need to be reminded to let someone else take over and do a job rather than doing everything ourselves. But sometimes it isn’t the right thing to do and we should get our hands dirty. I like making images and it has become so easy today that…

2018/04/10 by Roger Hyam

Marathon Monk: March 2018 – 125 days & 750 mindful miles

Finally coming to the end of taking excess holiday allowance. Married Gustaf and Ainsley on Saturday 31st at St Marks Marathon Monk Posts by Date

2018/03/19 by Roger Hyam 0 comments

Does the BBC broadcast propaganda?

I’m teaching myself to make podcasts. Like many things this is harder than I thought but I like learning stuff and the way I force myself to get on with it is to share what I’m doing. This morning I put together a podcast that chops up a BBC news bulletin. This is a cunning…

2018/03/01 by Roger Hyam

Marathon Monk: February 2018 – 112 days & 672 mindful miles

On Tuesday 6th February I passed the 100 walks mark when, if I was a real Japanese Marathon Monk, I would have asked formal permission to continue. I thought about marking the day in some special day but in the end it was just a normal walk. Perhaps I’ll do more of a celebration when…

2018/02/17 by Roger Hyam 0 comments

Four Nutriments Sharing

This is a quick recording of my thoughts on the Four Nutriments discourse of the Buddha. I had written some notes and couldn’t face typing the whole thing up so thought I’d try a recording. Thich Nhat Hanh Audio has a whole section on talks where Thay has mentioned the Four Nutriments so if you…

2018/01/31 by Roger Hyam

Marathon Monk: January 2018 – 97 days & 582 mindful miles

Another short month as far as marathon monking is concerned. After the Christmas and New Year break took a chunk off the start of the month I got the call to go into the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and have my inguinal hernias fixed. This had been looming for nine months. It was an elective surgery…

2018/01/01 by Roger Hyam

Marathon Monk: December 2017 – 89 days & 534 mindful miles

I was really losing it at work in the run up to Christmas. No motivation, just staring at the screen or surfing the web. I have a load of leave to use up and a colleague said “Just go now” so I jacked in 2017 on Wednesday 18th December and will go back to work…

2017/12/06 by Roger Hyam

First Binaural recording attempt – Christmas Market

I’m having fun with a couple of mics making some binaural recordings. Here is the first one that is even worth sharing. You need to wear headphones to get the effect. Close your eyes and you are almost there.

2017/12/01 by Roger Hyam

Marathon Monk: November 2017 – 78 days & 468 mindful miles

Not quite 500 miles. I had a slow week near the beginning with the virus still coming back occasionally but am now back to 100%. The stopping at shines seems to be taking a new form. I pause for longer waiting for the orange juice to clear as Thay would say. I don’t count as…

2017/11/03 by Roger Hyam

Marathon Monk: October 2017 – 62 days & 372 mindful miles

A bit of a wipeout month. The first few weeks I went down with a virus that made me very weak. I had my left parotid gland swell up like I had mumps. I had dreams of being a child again that I guess were linked to when I had mumps in the 1970s. …

2017/10/06 by Roger Hyam

Marathon Monk: September 2017 – 47 days & 282 mindful miles

September has been a busy busy month with many distractions around running the Project Soothe Exhibition. Rewarding but tiring. As I reached the end of the month the walking is getting to my physically an I miss a few days by jumping on the bus to get home. Marathon Monk Posts by Date…

2017/09/03 by Roger Hyam

Marathon Monk: August 2017 – 33 days & 198 mindful miles

Quite a month for distractions both good and bad so I’ve only increased my total to 33 days or about 198 miles since starting on the summer solstice. The month was always going to have the good distraction of a week in Stourbridge at the Nourishing Happiness retreat. Here I got to walk and practice each…

2017/08/01 by Roger Hyam 0 comments

Marathon Monk: July 2017 – 22 days & 132 mindful miles

I’ve completed the first full calendar month of walking with a break for a week in the English Lake district. I’ve walked 22 days since I started which is around 132 miles. It feels like they are taking the town apart around me which increases my sense of solidity in a weird way. The Three…

2017/07/16 by Roger Hyam 2 comments

Why we shouldn’t advocate “people” have fewer kids

I often hear people say that there are too many people in the world or even that responsible “people” should have fewer children. There is never the opportunity to explain fully why this is such an inappropriate thing to say but now I’ve had a rainy day with no distractions I can share my explanation.…

2017/07/05 by Roger Hyam 1 comment

Marathon Monk and the Pointless Pole

How does meditation work? I’m sure there are loads of scientific papers and sutra commentaries on the subject but I have one mundane theory I’d like to share. We all self-talk all the time. I find it hard to believe the occasional person I meet who claims they don’t. The problem with this is two…

2017/07/01 by Roger Hyam 0 comments

Marathon Monk: June 2017 – 8 days & 48 mindful miles

Having started on the Summer Solstice I’m going to blog each month to keep track of the progress. Sometimes this might just be posting a total of the days I’ve walked other times I’ll reflect on how it is going. I started by using Google Fit on my phone to deliberately measure the distance. I…

2017/07/01 by Roger Hyam

Marathon Monk Index

Just to reiterate I’m not a monk and I’m not running 26.219 mile marathons – which makes the title a bit of lie. I’m walking to work as a Buddhist training exercise inspired by the Tendai Buddhist Marathon Monks of Mt Hiei in Japan. This is the Marathon Monk Index page so the associated posts…