Last May, I finally walked the arroyo in the neighborhood. The gravel gully led to this very concrete channel where plants insist on taking root in every available crack. I now regularly stroll thorough this arroyo, feeling the microseasons. It’s my path of centering.
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
This afternoon we walked a couple loops around the local elementary school. The second time, boy decided to ride his bike. He swept circles through the parking lot, his teal jacket basking in the golden haze of an almost setting sun.
This is a time of utter chaos that will eventually reach us 2,400 miles out from its epicenter.
But today was a perfect day.
As I’ve matured, I’ve realized that we never get to live our dreams (life is much too mundane for our wild imaginations). That’s OK, this dour realization has freed me to savor such fleeting moments.
With the recent talk about AI, I threw Wednesday’s post into ChatGPT to see what it would suggest. I had tried to craft a decent newsletter, but still felt there was room for improvement on this one.
,
I spent the month of April 2021 reading and listening to all the books in the library about the Bhagavad Gita. I thought about doing a series of separate posts, but I’m not sure I have that much to say, so listicle time!
In April 2021, I dedicated the month to reading and listening to every book in the library about the Bhagavad Gita. I thought about writing a series of separate posts, but I wasn’t sure I had enough to say, so here’s a listicle instead!
I’m toying with a cheeky tone. AI made it blandly cheery.
,
Let’s start with a free copy, translated by Sir Edwin Arnold. As with all public domain books, the language is dated, but nothing beyond the King James Version of the Bible. It doesn’t come with commentaries, which are essential for understanding what’s going on—especially for us from the West where Hinduism is an exotic oriental religion, but the price is right for a decent introduction to the Gita.
Let’s start with a free version, translated by Sir Edwin Arnold. Like all public domain books, the language is somewhat dated, but it’s no more difficult than the King James Bible. This version doesn’t include commentaries, which are essential for understanding the Gita—especially for those of us from the West, where Hinduism often feels like an exotic, mysterious tradition. Still, for a decent introduction, the price (free) can’t be beat.
Interesting that AI replaced “oriental” with “mysterious”—PC-ness run amok. The use of this inflammatory term was specifically chosen for contrast.
Also, adding “(free)” to the last sentence was just blunt force trauma on the point.
,
I listened to Jack Hawley’s Bhagavad Gita, A Walkthrough for Westerners which is a translation where the commentary is mixed into the writing, resulting in a version that is three times as long as the original poem. It’s an interesting concept that reminds me of the Living Bible paraphrase of the Bible published in the 1970’s. But I was reading the original at the same time as listening to this book, so it felt strange to have Hawley’s parentheticals inserted into the flow of the text. And it was unsettling to never be sure what was textual and what was explanatory. I don’t think it’s a horrible idea, but I prefer the streamlined punch of the original.
I also listened to Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners by Jack Hawley. This translation includes commentary woven directly into the text, making it three times as long as the original. While it’s an interesting approach, it reminded me of the Living Bible paraphrase from the 1970s. I read the original at the same time, so it felt strange to have Hawley’s parenthetical explanations inserted into the flow of the text. It was often unclear which parts were textual and which were commentary. While I don’t think this format is terrible, I prefer the streamlined power of the original Gita.
I’ll give it to AI, “woven” is better than “mixed”. I’ll also respect its valiant attempts to avoid starting sentences with conjunctions. I don’t like it myself, but ridding the conjunctions requires structural renovations, not mere massaging. This is not a great paragraph, but AI didn’t make it better.
,
I also listened to Ram Dass’s book Paths to God which takes the opposite tack from Jack Hawley. This is a series of lectures nominally around the Gita, but really about Hinduism and spirituality in general. I first came across Ram Dass in the documentary Fierce Grace (as part of a double header with Winged Migration in a movie theater that was about to be demolished). I’ve always been skeptical about white dudes who are into eastern spirituality, but I could sense a good spirit in the film. One interesting aspect of this book is that Ram Dass effortlessly utilizes the language of the 60’s (freak, trip, etc) in a way that makes one understand how that vocabulary came about. Of course it has become a caricature through the intervening decades, but the body of language met a need that was lacking in standard English. In all, I really liked this book.
Next, I listened to Paths to God by Ram Dass, which takes the opposite approach from Hawley. Rather than focusing directly on the Gita, it’s a series of lectures about Hinduism and spirituality in general. I first encountered Ram Dass in the documentary Fierce Grace, which I saw as part of a double feature with Winged Migration in a theater set to be demolished. I’ve always been skeptical of white people exploring Eastern spirituality, but I could sense a genuine spirit in his teachings. One notable aspect of Paths to God is how effortlessly Ram Dass uses 1960s vernacular (terms like “freak” and “trip”), giving insight into how that language came about. While these terms have become caricatures over time, they filled a linguistic gap in standard English. I really enjoyed the book overall.
Another mediocre paragraph that wasn’t vastly improved by AI. I find it annoying that they polish away the personality by smoothing out the language, such as “dudes” into “people”.
Even though some of the suggested revisions are decent, the ultimate weakness of this paragraph is its blandness, and AI only pushes towards further blandness. For example, I should have leaned into the 60’s terminology by closing with “I really dug this book”, not turned “liked” into “enjoyed”.
Many times, it seems that AI is paid by the syllable.
,
The library has a straight audiobook reading of the Gita translated by Barbara Stoler-Miller. The reader, Jacob Needleman, has a copy of the audio posted on his own website. The free version online is of inferior audio quality to the version on Overdrive, but it is free.
The library also has an audiobook of the Gita, translated by Barbara Stoler-Miller, read by Jacob Needleman. Needleman also has a version available on his website. The free online version has inferior audio quality compared to the Overdrive version, but it’s still free.
Eknath Easwaran has a popular translation, but he relies a bit too much on sanskrit terms which makes it hard to follow at times.
Eknath Easwaran’s popular translation is another option, though I found it hard to follow at times due to his heavy reliance on Sanskrit terms.
I could take or leave the edits on these two short paragraphs.
,
When Love Comes to Light, by Richard Freeman & Mary Taylor is a two part book, with an extended ten chapter commentary of the Gita followed by a translation of the book in the second part. Having read and listened to a few books about the Gita, I’m at that point where I’m no longer a complete stranger to the work, but I am still such a novice I can’t really judge the quality of the commentary. Nothing seems out of line with what other people say about the Gita. One nice feature about this commentary is that it generally follows the flow of the Gita. While the essays don’t shy from pulling quotes from the entire book, the flow of the ten chapters covers the themes in the order that they were presented in the original. As such, it may be a good introduction to the Gita.
When Love Comes to Light by Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor is a two-part book, with a lengthy ten-chapter commentary on the Gita followed by a translation of the text. Having read and listened to several books on the Gita, I now feel like I’m not a complete stranger to it. But I’m still a novice, so I can’t really judge the quality of the commentary. It generally seems in line with what others say about the Gita. One nice feature of this commentary is that it follows the flow of the original text, covering the themes in the same order. As such, it might be a good introduction to the Gita for beginners.
I needed to take a chainsaw to the original paragraph. AI didn’t go far enough in condensing the text, but it did better than me.
,
The Great Work of Your Life: A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling, by Stephen Cope is a self help book based around the Gita. Like any self help book it is digested in to four digestible “pillars”:
Look to your Dharma
Do it Full Out!
Let Go of the Fruits
Turn it Over to God.
I enjoyed being introduced to the biographies of the great individuals who were discussed in the book, but the criticism on Amazon that the author never dealt with the the conundrum of familial obligations is absolutely on point. The Gita is all about following your duty, which is an easy concept if one has only one single overarching dharma. But what if you have multiple obligations? This book falls short for us normies. I understand why Cope streamlined the biographies to focus on their pursuits of their dharma, but this reduced applicability of these stories for our messy lives. I get that the greats are great because they are different, but if the author doesn’t draw a connection between their lives and our reality, then their biographies become irrelevant. As such, the book is simultaneously too long and too short.
The Great Work of Your Life: A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling by Stephen Cope is a self-help book based on the Gita. Like any self-help book, it’s broken down into four digestible “pillars”:
Look to your Dharma
Do it Full Out!
Let Go of the Fruits
Turn it Over to God
I enjoyed the biographies of the great individuals discussed in the book. However, an Amazon review’s criticism about Cope’s failure to address the conundrum of familial obligations is spot on. The Gita is all about following your duty, which is an easy concept if you have a single, clear dharma. But what if you have multiple obligations? This book falls short for people who don’t have a singular calling. While I understand why Cope focused on the great figures’ pursuit of their dharma, he doesn’t draw meaningful connections to our more complex, everyday lives. As a result, the book feels both too long and too short.
Another long paragraph that AI slightly tightened when it needed drastic cuts. I’m gonna call this a draw because it misread one of my points. Then again, that’s my fault cause it wasn’t written clearly.
,
I read the Stephen Mitchell translation, which is in Modern English. Unfortunately I can’t remember anything about this translation. Stephen Mitchell has translated so many different texts, I’m always a little worried about whether he has the expertise to do it right whenever it comes to a specific book.
I also read Stephen Mitchell’s modern English translation, though I can’t remember much about it. Mitchell has translated so many texts that I sometimes question whether he has the depth of expertise required for specific works like the Gita.
AI was straight up better, but I noticed that my voice is missing. If keeping my voice is important, then I need to tighten up my writing myself.
,
I’ve ultimately settled on Laurie Patton’s translation. I enjoy her tight structure, capturing a poetic pithiness of the original that the other translations don’t. I read this after my initial explorations, so having some of the concepts telegraphed is not a problem.
Ultimately, I’ve settled on Laurie Patton’s translation. I appreciate how she captures the original’s poetic essence with tight, concise language that other translations lack. By the time I read this version, I had already explored the Gita’s concepts, so the occasional telegraphing of ideas didn’t bother me.
AI polished too much again. There are slight awkwardness in some of my wording, but nothing I would change in favor of AI. In a shorter paragraph, a little awkwardness is fine.
,
Given that I’ve read more about this text than any other text from the last twenty years you could say I dig the book. Its appeal to duty resonates with the cultural Confucianism of my upbringing and my intellect is tickled by the exotic foreign spirituality in the rest of the book.
Given that I’ve studied this text more than any other over the past twenty years, you could say I’m a big fan. The Gita’s emphasis on duty resonates deeply with the Confucian values of my upbringing, while its spiritual insights continue to intrigue my intellect.
AI nuked “exotic” and “foreign“. It really hates toying with otherness.
,
Naturally, the Gita has ended up in the top tier of wisdom literature that I would like to revisit for the rest of my life, along with the Daodejing, Analects, Havamal, Zhuangzi, and the book of Ecclesiastes.
Naturally, the Gita has become one of the top texts I’d like to revisit throughout my life, alongside the Daodejing, Analects, Hávamál, Zhuangzi, and the Book of Ecclesiastes.
Hey, AI got the accents for the Havamal!
,
In 2023, I briefly messed with ChatGPT. I was underwhelmed. The hallucinations made it useless for research and it short circuited my process when I used it for synonyms (as opposed to using an online thesaurus).
Two years later, I have been stunned at its search improvements (or Google SEO’d blog posts have become that much worse). But this exercise shows that AI isn’t ready as a writing assistant (unless you’re just pushing bland-ass corporate bullshit).
Revisiting ChatGPT after a few years, I was amazed at how much it has improved for research—though I can’t help but wonder if Google SEO-optimized blog posts have just gotten that much worse. However, this exercise demonstrates that AI still isn’t quite ready to be a go-to writing assistant—unless, of course, you’re aiming to produce generic corporate content.
Editing isn’t always fun. Especially on the Nth pass through a piece that you desperately need to get out of your life. But hard editing forges a piece that is uniquely yours. AI is no shortcut. Indeed, it’s a detriment, fostering complacency that will further drown your voice in the hurricane of content.
In a couple of years, FOMO will grab me again and I’ll check it out. Until then, the shortcut to better editing remains just taking a damn nap.
Catching up with old Inktober52 challenges from 2024.
,
1/20 Inktober 52 (2024), week 22
duck paddling into murky secrets
ducks paddle over dark secrets
I uploaded the one on top, but was not happy with how it looked. I messed around a little in GIMP, adding a duo-tone background and then changing the opacity to multiply. Now I’m really happy with both versions!
,
1/23 Inktober 52 (2024), week 27
free to pluck the stars
This was inspired by Ann Collin’s post with collage artist Duane Toops, a beautiful pairing of poetry and collage. Check it out!
Their collaboration was bouncing in my head as I tried to fall back asleep while also mentally imaging the Inktober52 prompt “free”. This line slid into my half asleep mind and I snapped awake.
The original graph was black ink on white paper. In the computer, I inverted the color, pulled “stars” way up into the sky, and added a little brown to emphasize the earthiness of the starting line.
Even though I don’t prefer relying upon the computer, I do it when it makes sense. At the very least, rightsizing the white space around conventional pieces. And sometimes it’s nice to envision a piece and hit it out of the box.
,
1/28 Inktober 52 (2023), week 42
plump witches prefer organic children
This one turned out to be wicked hard. Even though I envisioned both of these concepts fairly easily, they both took multiple attempts and I’m not happy with any of them.
Sometimes you just throw your hands up and say “this is all I got with today’s skillz!” And move on.
,
1/29 Inktober 52 (2023), week 51
the elf sang soft slow
I’m still figuring out how to use that music nib. This was inspired by a glorious piece by totemspoems on Instagram.
,
2/3 Inktober 52 (2021), week 30
ink more black than bile
A lot of times I’m using greys, washes, or watercolor. It was fun to just use a pure black india ink.
,
At the start of February, I showed my wife some awesome calligraphraphers on Instagram. She was reasonably nice about my work too =).
But we agreed that the borders was limiting the punch on the 5WPs.
So they’re gone.
As an architect, there are some perks to being married to another architect.
Cya next time!
,
PS-Bhagavad Gita
I spent the month of April 2021 reading and listening to all the books in the library about the Bhagavad Gita. I thought about doing a series of separate posts, but I’m not sure I have that much to say, so listicle time!
Let’s start with a free copy, translated by Sir Edwin Arnold. As with all public domain books, the language is dated, but nothing beyond the King James Version of the Bible. It doesn’t come with commentaries, which are essential for understanding what’s going on—especially for us from the West where Hinduism is an exotic oriental religion, but the price is right for a decent introduction to the Gita.
I listened to Jack Hawley’s Bhagavad Gita, A Walkthrough for Westerners which is a translation where the commentary is mixed into the writing, resulting in a version that is three times as long as the original poem. It’s an interesting concept that reminds me of the Living Bible paraphrase of the Bible published in the 1970’s. But I was reading the original at the same time as listening to this book, so it felt strange to have Hawley’s parentheticals inserted into the flow of the text. And it was unsettling to never be sure what was textual and what was explanatory. I don’t think it’s a horrible idea, but I prefer the streamlined punch of the original.
I also listened to Ram Dass’s book Paths to God which takes the opposite tack from Jack Hawley. This is a series of lectures nominally around the Gita, but really about Hinduism and spirituality in general. I first came across Ram Dass in the documentary Fierce Grace (as part of a double header with Winged Migration in a movie theater that was about to be demolished). I’ve always been skeptical about white dudes who are into eastern spirituality, but I could sense a good spirit in the film. One interesting aspect of this book is that Ram Dass effortlessly utilizes the language of the 60’s (freak, trip, etc) in a way that makes one understand how that vocabulary came about. Of course it has become a caricature through the intervening decades, but the body of language met a need that was lacking in standard English. In all, I really liked this book.
The library has a straight audiobook reading of the Gita translated by Barbara Stoler-Miller. The reader, Jacob Needleman, has a copy of the audio posted on his own website. The free version online is of inferior audio quality to the version on Overdrive, but it is free.
Eknath Easwaran has a popular translation, but he relies a bit too much on sanskrit terms which makes it hard to follow at times.
When Love Comes to Light, by Richard Freeman & Mary Taylor is a two part book, with an extended ten chapter commentary of the Gita followed by a translation of the book in the second part. Having read and listened to a few books about the Gita, I’m at that point where I’m no longer a complete stranger to the work, but I am still such a novice I can’t really judge the quality of the commentary. Nothing seems out of line with what other people say about the Gita. One nice feature about this commentary is that it generally follows the flow of the Gita. While the essays don’t shy from pulling quotes from the entire book, the flow of the ten chapters covers the themes in the order that they were presented in the original. As such, it may be a good introduction to the Gita.
The Great Work of Your Life: A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling, by Stephen Cope is a self help book based around the Gita. Like any self help book it is digested in to four digestible “pillars”:
Look to your Dharma
Do it Full Out!
Let Go of the Fruits
Turn it Over to God.
I enjoyed being introduced to the biographies of the great individuals who were discussed in the book, but the criticism on Amazon that the author never dealt with the the conundrum of familial obligations is absolutely on point. The Gita is all about following your duty, which is an easy concept if one has only one single overarching dharma. But what if you have multiple obligations? This book falls short for us normies. I understand why Cope streamlined the biographies to focus on their pursuits of their dharma, but this reduced applicability of these stories for our messy lives. I get that the greats are great because they are different, but if the author doesn’t draw a connection between their lives and our reality, then their biographies become irrelevant. As such, the book is simultaneously too long and too short.
I read the Stephen Mitchell translation, which is in Modern English. Unfortunately I can’t remember anything about this translation. Stephen Mitchell has translated so many different texts, I’m always a little worried about whether he has the expertise to do it right whenever it comes to a specific book.
I’ve ultimately settled on Laurie Patton’s translation. I enjoy her tight structure, capturing a poetic pithiness of the original that the other translations don’t. I read this after my initial explorations, so having some of the concepts telegraphed is not a problem.
Given that I’ve read more about this text than any other text from the last twenty years you could say I dig the book. Its appeal to duty resonates with the cultural Confucianism of my upbringing and my intellect is tickled by the exotic foreign spirituality in the rest of the book.
Naturally, the Gita has ended up in the top tier of wisdom literature that I would like to revisit for the rest of my life, along with the Daodejing, Analects, Havamal, Zhuangzi, and the book of Ecclesiastes.
Here are the last couple of Inktober 52’s from 2024 and the first three for the new year.
,
12/23 Inktober 52, week 51
realities wrapped in the enigma
I tried going with a square for this is play on “enigma wrapped in a riddle”. The corners felt awkward so I went to the old standby—a big circle.
,
12/30 Inktober 52, week 52
zombies cross the finish line
Always a little scary to give up control, letting gravity have a say.
I’m not sure if outlining was better or worse. It makes it a bit cartoonish, less bloody.
,
1/4 Inktober 52, week 1
quiet sunrise quells murky shades
The pointed brush and copperplate cursive came together in “sunrise”. I’m unhappy with my dip pen copperplate—it needs a ton more practice to look good for these 5WP’s. But all that December work set me up for pretty good cursive with the pointed brush.
So it worked out after all. Shouldn’t plan too much for these these creative meanderings. Just peek far enough to keep doing.
,
1/12 Inktober 52, week 2
perky shrimp pound pearly xylophones
After finding the big concept, one must still wrestle with a bunch of little decisions. It turned out the last slant was best.
,
1/18 Inktober 52, week 3
tick tock yesterday transforms tomorrow
I finally learned how to properly spell “tomorrow”.
,
I can’t believe we’re 8% through the year!
Cya next time!
,
PS—Books that Matter: The Analects of Confucius, Robert Andre LaFleur, Great Courses, 2018
This excellent audio course covered the Analects and its outgrowth in Chinese history. It provides a conceptual framework for reading the text as a series of conversations between the teacher and his students. LaFleur then covers key themes, such as filial piety and remonstrance, and finally closes with a discussion of Confucius’s long legacy in China and East Asia.
After four years, it might be time to revisit this course. Like most Westerners, I have an affinity with quirky individualism of Daoism as a reaction against fundamentalist Christianity. However the ideas centering social relationships and mutual bonds as discussed in this lecture series are attractive, especially as our nation continues to rattle itself apart with irresponsible leaders and citizens.
Beyond these lectures, just finding this course is a reminder of how much info is just out there. Here’s a free 12 hour lecture series! what else is hiding on Overdrive? And the library’s physical stacks? Add Kanopy.com and the publisher’s own streaming service? Finally podcasts and YouTube!
I wonder what Confucius would say about drowning ourselves with information.
,
PPS-Confucius: And the World He Created, Dan Schulman, 2015
This book was a good rejoinder to the Great Courses lecture series, which had taken a positive spin on the philosophy. This book focused on the real-world history of Confucianism, which was quite detrimental by the end of China’s imperial age.
Such is the fate of any philosophy that becomes calcified. American Christianity’s obsession with being right has created an political religion that has forsaken Jesus’ true core of love. The ineffable concept of the dao became a collection of wild superstitions in religious Taoism. And the vision of a well ordered society metastasized into a harsh top-down hierarchy that perpetuated stagnation and cruelty.
These loose philosophies started out kindly enough but lost their heart as they became systematized. Certainty killed the animating force that gave them life.
An organized religion builds a magnificent intellectual edifice by losing the point. One must always be free to pick what works today and ignores that which is irrelevant to the moment.
For that reason, I suspect Confucianism is making a comeback. With the destruction of the formal, governing, imperial ideology, the writings of Confucius and Mencius are available for a fresh rereading. It took two centuries of chaos in Asia to exorcise the old ghost of Confucianism. Master Kong is free to ascend again.
Schulman notes in his epilogue that we are at a crossroads where Confucius can be used to help form an orderly rich society. Or maybe it becomes the bedrock for a new authoritarianism. Let’s just hope we don’t screw it up as badly as last time.
After the initial post, I thought it might be better with the gingerbread home inverted. But it just looks like a piece of toast.
In the past few months, I’ve gone native with GIMP. Its UI is not as intuitive as what I remember from Photoshop, but I’m able to produce quickly on the program, at least for the limited work that I do with it. I presume going back to Adobe would now involve an uncomfortable learning curve.
And yes, this piece is a reference to Baba Yega’s lovely home.
,
12/18 Inktober 52, week 32
fang sour rain eerie sea
This was partly inspired by the Fender logo, but it took a bit of finagling to get something that felt properly fangy. Even then, I had to add a bit of splatter to lock in the effect.
,
12/20 Inktober 52, week 30
O blessed and cursed mutation
There is a slight color shift in the four words because I was playing with the gradient effect by touching two Pilot Pens. Maybe I’ll spend a month really playing with that effect. Or maybe I just use watercolors.
,
12/21 Inktober 52, week 29
summoned Hellboy to wash dishes
Tried a couple versions of this poem but went with the mental image of Hellboy carefully soaping porcelain teacups. It was fun to learn how to draw an ellipse!
,
12/22 Inktober 52, week 25
little folk abduct farm animals
After the time cutting out a pile of A B U D C and T’s from mailers and brochures, I had to show off all five attempts.
,
I’m trying to write these in advance, but it’s hard to keep up with the calendar. Time marches inexorably forward.
And commitments invariably multiply.
The doc just prescribed a half hour of aerobics, 5 days a week. It’s going to take every self-help hack I’ve collected over forty-five years to develop a positive mindset about this new 150 minute weekly time suck.
But I’ve been warned that heart drugs mean no more eating grapefruits.
So I must run and jump.
Cya next time!
,
PS—Analects of Confucius, translated by Robert Eno, 2015
The internet is a wonderful place.
When the pandemic hit, I finally started reading eastern philosophy. I can’t remember why I started with the Analects, but Robert Eno of the University of Indiana made it easy by freely sharing his translation of Confucius.
The Analects are a mix of history and proverbs, and Eno greatly aids the reader with a two column format that runs the commentary directly adjacent to the text It’s a brilliant layout to insert to add historical context and explain pithy sayings without interrupting the flow of the original.
I also enjoyed that Eno chose not to translate key words, such as ren, junzi, li, and dao. The transliteration allows these words to accrete their own meaning, separate from imperfect English analogues. Over time, these sounds become “real words” as you internalize this technical vocabulary.
In terms of thought, I’m temperamentally conservative so I naturally get along with this book even if the philosophy eventually calcified into an oppressive ideology of empire.
Confucius was merely trying to restore order in a dissolving society. These Analects are a collection of lively sayings, not a systematic philosophy. The flow is accessible, almost haphazard. This was a practical school, exploring the role of ritual, morality, and power in governance. As a bureaucrat, I feel an odd camaraderie with his students, through two and a half millennia from bamboo slats onto a printed PDF.
Even if you’re not a government drone, it’s worth a read. Daoism is more popular in the West, but one’s appreciation of Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu will be enriched by better having a conversation with their stuffier sibling, Master Kong.
,
PPS—I doubt Confucius was into flow charts, but I think he’d dig this, courtesy of Miep, who shared a flowchart which I loved. I tweaked my version to utilize the shapes that are used at my government job.
Some 5WP’s from that came from here and out there.
,
12/15
floor slug clapping his feet
When we eat, the boy wanders around the house. I wrote this after watching him mop the floor with his back and clapping his feet in the middle of dinner. The girl has always been well behaved at meals so I’m gonna chalk it up to genetics.
,
12/13
dreamland dusk seeking the girl
An early morning poem after waking up from a dream.
,
12/16
metal tail chubby sky shark
Next to the airport is a big shopping center. I’m always tickled by the tail fins gliding in the background by as jets prepare for takeoff while I’m parking the car to pick up oranges.
,
12/31/2024
poetry pokes thru imperfect precision
It started with the phrase “poetry is precision” but it felt too pat and wasn’t five words.
I have no business making pronouncements on the nature of poetry. If I keep this up maybe this will feel prescient. Or just cringe. Tomorrow’s problem!
,
1/2/2025
do dreams teach you stuff?
A couple of weeks ago, the boy walked up as I was typing on the computer and asked an innocent question.
Unfortunately my first attempt had a mistake. But it’s prettier.
,
I’ve been focusing on using a straight brush for this month.
I’m not using a “real” standalone brush, but Pentel refillable brush pen. The price fluctuates wildly, but I’ve gotten them at around $8 for a pen (with two black cartridges). I refill the empty cartridges with whatever color I want. I’ve got three at home and one at the office.
We also picked up a straight brush from Blick for Christmas. Maybe I’ll pull it out and have something deep to say about straight brush calligraphy by the end of the month. Ha!
Cya next time!
,
PS–Magic Puzzle Company
In spite of my fatherly brainwashing, my kids just aren’t into boardgames.
But they did go through a jigsaw puzzle phase. A couple of years ago I found a puzzle at Goodwill priced at $12.99, when I’ve never seen a puzzle go for more than $2.99.
That price sparked my curiosity so I looked it up on Amazon. It had good reviews, the box felt sturdy, and the art was undeniably cute. I bought it for the girl’s birthday.
Bingo!
I bought another one for my son’s birthday (this time new).
Bingo, again!
These offerings by Magic Puzzle Company are spectacular. Thick pieces, intricate art, creative cuts, damn near magical. Heads and tails better than Ravensburger puzzles (which are already significantly better than other brands normally found in thrift shops).
So I’m giving it the highest possible recommendation. In a world where I can keep buying used puzzles at the library and thrift stores for two bucks a pop, I’ve purchased the entire Magic Puzzle Company catalog at $23 a piece.
To add a slight literary valence (and to avoid being a complete shill) I’ll also recommend that y’all check out George Perec’s Life a User’s Manual. I often think about the puzzle maker in that novel while playing these puzzles. It’s high time that I revisit that epic.
,
PPS—Heal
1/3
are you going to heal the sink? yes, we need to fix it next week. I like to say heal—it’s like a person.
From a conversation last year with the boy soon after we moved into this house.
With the holidays, I’ve fallen behind on these compilations. We’ll see if I catch up or if life will keep me busy so that production just falls off in this new year. It’s gonna be a busy year at work, without adding any burdens from a self-imposed hobby schedule.
,
12/7 Inktober 52, week 49
krampus tracks you year round
I tried to create claustrophobia with Krampus spying through the caps in the words. Turns out that half-hiding the four words along the top was more effective.
,
12/11 Inktober 52, week 35
loft nest of cruel fairies
Made a loft out of “loft”. Unfortunately, I’ve totally forgotten how I created that creepy effect with “fairies”, maybe with a ruling pen?
,
12/12 Inktober 52, week 34
ride clouds with 72 transformations
Another homage to the Great Sage Equal to Heaven. I used to believe that I didn’t have a favorite didn’t have a superhero. When the boy was old enough to get into the Sun Wukong cartoons, I realized I did had one all along, decades after my mom read these stories to me as a boy. Soon after, I read the Journey to the West and fell in love with that crazy monkey even more.
,
12/14 Inktober 52, week 33
pink dreams in a stormtrooper
pink stormtrooper in a dream
Stormtrooper was the word, but it played out in two different ways.
,
12/19 Inktober 52, week 31
It’s just one tiny bean
“Stormtrooper” and “Bean” are both unapologetically inspired by this essay by Michele Banks about the work of Christopher Wool. It’s is well worth a read.
The variations (among several more that aren’t published) show that there is a whole world of additional decisions that follow the initial concept. Details upon details, all the way down.
,
After all the decisions, there is the final execution. Which is always a thrill and terror.
Every time I get frustrated at a piece, I re-center by reminding myself that it’s a huge privilege to work on these drawings. I should savor these multiple bites at this apple. Is there any better use of time than making art?
Here’s to more 5WP’s in ’25.
Cya next time!
,
PS–Ties
Architects have a weird relationship with ties. We’re artsy professionals.
Look at the photos of any architecture website—we don’t wear ties. I never wore one in private practice. We’ll rock a sports coats for big meetings and some architects make a statement with a bow tie. But no ties.
But things were a bit more formal in the State. As the low guy on the totem pole, it’s best to be overdressed for government meetings. So I kept a coat in a car (with two ties, to match whatever shirt I might be wearing).
How about meetings where I’m not the low guy? In such a case, I like to signal west-coast casualness to keep folks at ease, but I’m still a government official. Last year, I finally solved the conundrum. I can just wear the tie, without the coat! With a tie, I’m taking the meeting seriously, but not I’m not full of myself.
A good example would be consultant selection interviews. I don’t want to outshine the interviewees, but I want to acknowledge that this is a big deal for them.
If I know I’m going to wear a tie that day, I’ll wear a long sleeved shirt, but in a pinch, a short sleeved shirt with a tie has a nice 50’s vibe to it. But wait! There’s more—the badge lanyard. At the State our employee ID card was functionally useless. So I never wore it except for meetings in other State buildings. In such a case I’m signaling that I’m “one of you” (versus the outside consultants or contractors).
,
PPS-Airport Dress Update
With airport security, the badge lanyard went from bonus to required. Even then, which lanyard? These things are all branded! Currently I’ve settled for a LAS lanyard that was passed out at an all-hands meeting. I’d prefer a thinner lighter lanyard, but until I splurge on a UC Berkeley lanyard, it’s best to rep for the employer.
More complicated is how to dress. For most folks that’s not a problem. Almost all of the airport dresses pretty much as we did at the State. But my boss comes from the East Coast. He’s always well dressed. Invariably better dressed than the top directors of this place! It’s a balancing act. As his subordinate, I don’t want to underdress my boss, but it feels weird to be overdressed to his bosses.
Currently my compromise is that while I’m in the office I dress as I’ve always done (button down and slacks). But whenever I hit the terminals I tuck the shirt in and wear a sports coat. If I’m in a big meeting, I’ll wear a tie. Definitely when I’m meeting the public or when elected officials, and I’m still figuring out how to play it out when it comes to our internal leadership.
So to that end, I finally bought a couple ties. First time in decades! I got tired of the old hand-me-downs with bland patterns and got a pair of simple navy blue ties (representing the color the new Harry Reid logo). With a sports coat in the car and another in the cubicle, I’m always ready to look formal.
Of course, I’m is totally overthinking things, nobody else is wasting brain space on such questions. But overthinking is what architects do. So Walmart is $20 richer, and I’m the proud owner of two blue strips of cloth.
,
PPS-Blick Paper Play
For Christmas we bought a ream of sulfite paper from Blick. I took a moment to compare it against an existing ream that we already have. The texture is the same so the only difference is a very subtle beige tint on the Blick paper that might have been washed out in the post processing.
Still, it’s always fun to play with all the tools on one sheet.
Prompted by this marker on the solar cycle—a few thoughts on the past year and looking into this fresh, shiny, new year.
Last year started hectic between moving into our new house and work piling up at my old job. That went from busy to crazy when the Administrator and Deputy Administrator were suddenly demoted adding a gray pall over the whole endeavor.
Soon after, I was contacted by a former consultant engineer about an opening at the Airport. I initially demurred, because I wanted to finish my current projects. On the last day the position was open, she called me back to just apply already!
Fine!
I applied, using an iPad in a San Diego garage apartment before heading out to the Zoo (copy-pasting from my LinkedIn profile!)
At my old job, the Spring during even-numbered years were always insane as we prepared for the upcoming State legislative session. Beyond normal duties, you’d be assigned a slew of projects to scope out and estimate.
Now add going to an interview, negotiating salary, accepting the gig, waiting for background checks to clear, and ultimately giving notice.
That was a long, fast three months.
Over that season, I realized that my old job was no longer recognizable. The place had changed and I was lucky to have been pushed into a new position.
Every new job comes with fresh jitters.
Especially joining a unique place like an airport. It’s a high security mini-city transportation complex that’s carefully regulated by the federal government. Plus learning the different politics of being part of a new agency.
I shouldn’t have worried. Each of my colleagues went through their own shock whenever of joining the airport and were all happy to help.
And it was nice to be spare working crazy hours…and not having to think about work when I wasn’t at the office. This freed me to cement my daily practices.
Before I left the old gig, I had started posting a daily “Vegas Ordinary” photograph to maintain a minimal semblance of creative sanity. With the extra breathing room at the new job, I turned it into a wider tracking exercise—clearing out blog drafts, diet, physical exercise, and music practice . In August, I pivoted from photography towards calligraphy.
This endeavor was supercharged when we bought a printer-scanner and I pulled out an old light box. I was now composing on sheets, not just scribbles in notebook!
This new obsession survived it’s first big interruption—a week in September with COVID. I was still graphing at the end of that lovely time off, which made me confident enough to step into two months of daily insanity.
At first it was “just” Inktober. I planned on just doing a simple 5 Word Piece every morning. Nice and easy, but composition (and yeah a little competition) consumed the month.
Inktober lead into Callivember and sixty-one days had suddenly disappeared. I’d unknowingly signed up for an unpaid part-time internship. At least I progressed quite a bit by pushing my limits every day.
But no time for rest. By the end of November it was time to get into the holiday spirit, make cards, wrap presents, and boom we’re now in tax season!
So what to make of this new year?
I’m not serious about goals but I am fond of noting a yearly theme. The exercise helps me reflect on the past year and nudge my attention for the new trip around the sun.
At first, I toyed with the idea of a mass purge. Refinement. Crucible. Burn the dross. Much too aggressive.
Let’s go with a much gentler vibe of “letting go”. Admittedly I started 2024 hoping to work through this slew of old blog posts and unfinished digital projects. This time I’ll take a chill approach to clearing them out.
I don’t plan on changing jobs this year. So hopefully I’ll make a legit dent this time! Or maybe, I’ll end ’25 with the realization that I need to let go of that urge to clean out this digital house.
We’ll find out in 365 days. Hope you’ll hang around for the fun!
Here are five non-prompted 5WPs that popped up over the past few weeks. It’s a fun challenge to memorialize a moment using only five words and then make it pretty.
,
11/26
bumping gnx stopped at yellow
I had just hit 55mph on the highway when the light turned yellow. Even though I was vibing hard to the first track on Kendrick’s new album gnx, I slowed down and stopped.
,
12/5
hangin’ out d. w. at T3
On Thursday, my sister’s flight was delayed a couple of hours so I got a little extra time to hang out with them. That evening, my substack friendd.w. was flying out of town, so I hung out with him at the airport bar. It’s a big perk to join folks for their last few moments in Vegas.
,
palm of peach leaf flames
We visited the grandparents after Thanksgiving. This popped up while helping the kids collect leaves and twigs to make a nest on the patio.
12/6
,
12/9
I want the crispy chicken
(donut)
We had fried chicken for Thanksgiving. A week later I bought four donuts from Randy’s Donuts (a chain entering the Vegas market). This was his choice for the first day.
,
12/10
asleep we reach our souls
I have no idea how this line popped into my head, but it was a perfect 5WP.
On the first version, the boy typed the background text while testing a new ribbon for my typewriter. It doesn’t scan dark, but it’s a huge improvement over the twenty year-old ribbon.In undergrad, I didn’t use the computer for art or architecture work. When applying to grad school I bought a Remington Quiet-Riter so I scan in real typewritten text to emphasize my hand work. I got into almost all of the schools, so I guess they appreciated my devotion to this illusion.
,
A few weeks ago, I deleted all social media apps from my phone to detox from those random dopamine hits keep us constantly distracted. The only exception was YouTube, because it has become a second podcast player. In the void, YouTube started creeping up.
I found a solution in ZenScreen, a simple free app that delays how long it takes before YouTube opens. If it’s important, I can wait 60 seconds. If not, I’ll lose patience and slip over to the podcast or music app.
I don’t care about their tracking features, but the core delay feature works perfectly….though I’m not sure how long it will last. I find that most life-hacks are only effective for about six weeks before my monkey brain finds a workaround back to the juice.
Cya next time! Justus
,
PS–Reciprocal Paradox
As a Project Manager I try to cultivate a feeling of psychological safety with my design team. I hope this will draw out that “edge” from each individual on that team.
But if I don’t sense that “edge”, I will judge the heck out of you as a professional.
,
PPS-1901Modern Pen and Ink
As a dude with money to purchase (and the time to read) a 123 year old book on pen and ink printings, I have more in common with the socialites depicted on these pages than the exhausted workers toiling in their slums.
Privilege is a weird thing. In today’s chaos, it’s easy to feel that we’re the victims of our story, but every single person reading this has been gifted with a cornucopia of great things (such as a flat screen monitor/device integrated with an unimaginably cheap, powerful, and small supercomputer).
,
PPS-Reactionary Classics
Earlier this year, academia hosted a plagiarism kerfuffle which has driven me deeper into my preference for “great books”. If nothing is guaranteed (and now likely laundered by AI), at least the classics have stood the test of time.
Yes, these classics are plagiarized works themselves—bits and bobs accreted over decades until they were frozen for millennia. But the ones that have survived to the present were so damn good that generation after generation thought it was worthy to reproduce by hand.
