12 Sep 2024

Weeknotes 19

Table of Contents

    Reading

    • The Canary by Michael Lewis for The Washington Post. h/t to Geoffrey Adams on mastodon, who introduced it so nicely and incited me to read it:

      This is a remarkable piece of long-form journalism from the Washington Post about a US federal government employee who has used his position to transform the way mining operates, saving thousands of lives. The public has this idea that federal employees are just pencil-pushers who love wrapping things in red tape. But I know from personal experience that many of them are just like Chris Mark: people with a strong sense of service who want to solve problems for their country, and don’t care much about wealth, fame, or credit.

      — @biogeo@mefi.social

    • A drawing a day · Agosto 2024 by Erica Fustero — wonderful! inspiring! delightful!
    • How to Monetize a Blog and Scrollbars by modem.io – these posts are so beautiful. Put them in the MoMA.

      Another interesting angle to figuring out ad placements on your website are the potential for combo moves — you can earn bonus points if you can load two separate correlating advertisements for the same advertiser. These bonus points apply to your limit break meter, and if that meter fills up you get a wicked sick nasty bonus payout.

    • The secret inside One Million Checkboxes by eieio – this is such a delightful story about teenagers botting One Million Checkboxes. The internet is so cool.
    • Why A.I. Isn’t Going to Make Art by Ted Chiang for The New Yorker

      The companies promoting generative-A.I. programs claim that they will unleash creativity. In essence, they are saying that art can be all inspiration and no perspiration—but these things cannot be easily separated. I’m not saying that art has to involve tedium. What I’m saying is that art requires making choices at every scale; the countless small-scale choices made during implementation are just as important to the final product as the few large-scale choices made during the conception. It is a mistake to equate “large-scale” with “important” when it comes to the choices made when creating art; the interrelationship between the large scale and the small scale is where the artistry lies.

    Working on

    • Writing my XOXO / Portland post…I feel suffocated by my grand ambitions for it (I wanted to make a new custom design for it) and I think I might throw in the towel with that and dump photos / not write much, instead of anguishing for weeks lol.
    • Thinking about halloween
    • Thinking about drawing more…

    Here is a sketch of Chappell Roan, based on her look at the VMAs:

    Ink sketch of Chappell Roan

    James Jean

    I went to see James Jean’s solo exhibition Meadowlark. It was so beautiful! Art is so cool.

    A reflective, metallic sculpture of a boy aiming a slingshot with one golden eyeball.
    Slingshot
    A large canvas painting of a figure holding a large vase, which is adorned with a dragon. Around her are sculptures and flowers. The foreground is full of green shades and the background is a striking red.
    Dragon II, perhaps my favourite piece here
    An intricate coloured sketch of a bear, surrounded by waves, flowers, bunnies, and other details. Each section is labeled with a number, which corresponds to the dozens of numbered paint swatches around the paper.
    Colour test for Bear. Love seeing this process!!
    Close up of a water droplet painted on what looks like a bird wing. The droplet reflects the soft purple and pink shades around it.
    just one of many water drops on many paintings

    Media

    Final Fantasy screenshot that just says 'Heavensward' in huge letters across the screen.
    I DID IT
    • FFXIV: I finally finished A Realm Reborn!!! FOR REAL THIS TIME. The ending cutscene was wild, I’ve never been more engaged in the storyline.
      • In October 2022 I similarly wrote “It took almost a year, but I finally finished A Realm Reborn!!!” not realizing that there was a whole post-ARR storyline to do, which would take me two more years. Lmao.
    • Destiny 2: unlimited sword ammo week was funny and using One Thousand Voices, which is definitely a sword, for ad clear was extremely funny. Big Season of the Lost vibes.
    • Stardew Valley: I started a new co-op farm with some friends! I haven’t played Stardew on co-op before, and it’s been a lot of fun.