Slowswift

Happy birthday!

Social media is filled with people who need to touch grass to an extent that I'm tempted to airdrop them into Yellowstone National Park. Parachute optional.

“Professor Plum, you were once a professor of psychiatry specializing in helping paranoid and homicidal lunatics suffering from delusions of grandeur.”

“Yes, but now I work for the United Nations.”

“So your work has not changed.”

—one of my favorite bits from Clue

Ignore the provocative title (or don't, I'm not your mother), but I think this is the video that's finally radicalized me against AI. Not to say that I just adopted her opinion wholesale--but rather, she distilled all the various thoughts I've been having into one place.

I've used AI very sparingly. From the outset, I've refused the idea of generating prose with it, or even using it to come up with an outline or generate ideas. Rather, I've used it like a kind of rubber duck that can talk back. I explained my premise, then asked it for questions to prompt development. This worked great, for a little while. But the further the conversation went, once it started editorializing, the problems started appearing. There were hallucinations and straight-up incorrect information, of course, and several times it took a passing idea of mine as gospel. I'm abundantly aware that these things are programmed to largely just tell you what you want to hear. The time I asked it for feedback on a scene was illuminating: maybe one of its suggestions was good? The others were technically valid observations, but I elected to not take its advice on the grounds of creative differences. And don't get me started on the tone of voice; that vapid LinkedIn cadence. (You can alter that a little bit, and I eventually got it to a point where I could tolerate its commentary, but the point still stands.)

I've played around with image generation too, because on a technical level I do find it interesting, but aside from the ethical concerns it's just not very good--and the effort needed to prompt it into making something good vastly outweighed any inclination to try. Old-fashioned mood boards and faceclaims it is, then.

In the end, as useful as I've found it to be, I'll be greatly winding down my use of commercial chatbots. (I'll still keep an eye on the technology, because I do find it fascinating, and at this point the genie's out of the bottle.) Worry for my mental capacity aside, I just don't trust that any of the companies behind them have anything remotely approaching my best interests in mind.

I think I'm going to go read a book, now.

You ever watch a show that makes you want to be a better person?

That was Violet Evergarden.

Every once in a while I think back to that time I had to leave work early because I was operating on maybe 2 hours of sleep and like 750mg of caffeine. Not a fun time, but I suppose I have bragging rights now?

Anyways, have some memes:

All right, last one:

Please let me know if you’ve seen this SU!

"Excuse me, can you mispronounce 'Frome' for me?"

"Portsmouth."

"That'll do."

Okay, little experiment:

Please let me know if you’ve seen this SU. Like it, or comment, or send me a PM if you really want.

I may be in possession of haunted pocket watch.

I picked it up yesterday to wind it, after a month or so of it sitting on my shelf, and noticed the second hand was going. Whatever, I must have jostled it and the spring was letting out the last tiny bit of tension. I wound it and left it without setting it because I had somewhere to be. 

Today I picked it up to set it and noticed that was already set to the correct time, give or take a minute. 

Y’all, either I’ve just encountered the mother of all coincidences or I need to call a priest. 

So it seems one of my favorite artists, Gareth Emery, will be in town later this year, and now I have to balance by desire to see him live vs. the crowds. If it was an arena or amphitheater it would be a no-brainer, but it's in a small box, which makes the people problem so much worse. (I've actually been to this venue before and didn't hate it, but I don't know what to expect from this audience.)

Doesn't help that I'm still smarting from passing up the chance to see Porter Robinson a few years ago, especially since it was during his Nurture tour.

I writ a thing

How is it possible to put an entire movie into a blender and still get out something so genuinely moving?

The pen is a Kaweco Brass Sport inked with J. Herbin Vert Empire, and the background is a Tress-themed deskmat from Howard Lyon. The song is the Pilgrim Song, as sung by the Tabernacle Choir. 

So. 

Project Hail Mary.

...

This movie was literally perfect. The music, the visuals, the acting...why can't we have more of these?

Some standouts: 

• As mentioned above, the score was amazing! Memorable and touching.
• Ryan Gosling.
• Stratt was actually a human being. In the book--thought it's been a minute, so I could be wrong--I recall her being a (justified?) grade-A piece of work. I thought this performance was a vast improvement.
• Rocky. Is. Adorable. When the movie was announced, I figured it was a coin toss between nightmare fuel and adorable, so I'm glad it was the one that let me sleep at night!

I find it greatly irritating when the sheet music obviously differs from how the pianist plays it.

So, uh, happy birthday to me? I was not expecting this view to cap off the evening!

Found some photos I took last year and thought I'd share them here. They're from Ashton Gardens at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, UT.

When you’re on a chicken bender,

Grab a box of chicken tenders!

Ah yes, that time Rainbow Dash committed industrial sabotage and domestic terrorism.

And this not long after the Mane 6 took down a pseudo-Marxist cult.

Kids’ show, btw. 

What am I doing. I’m sick, I shouldn’t be staying up ‘til 6 watching Steins;Gate.

It seems that after a solid month of successfully fending off sickness, it’s finally got to me.

Boutta see Iron Lung, see you on the other side