I thought this New York cartoon captures what we feel like in New York City right now. The snow and ice is overwhelming. I haven’t been outside for more than 15 minutes in a long time. Well I guess we went for brunch last weekend, and we were able to pull off one Central Park walk this week, but overall it’s sitting in my chair, laying on the couch, or sleeping in bed. I am getting lots of work done I guess, but Poppy, Audrey, and I need that regular walk to time our mornings and set the tone for our day.
A painting titled Ruby Loftus Screwing a Breech-ring caught my attention in an industrial art Facebook group this week. As I work to visualize the digital workspace and spaces of exploitation, propaganda, and control, these images from earlier periods always catch my eyes. The manufacturing, but also all of the women doing their patriotic duty. I like these images because it forces people to dig a little deeper and understand the story behind it’s existence.
Another story that caught my attention in this age of AI, was Typing for Love or Money - The Hidden Women’s Labor behind Modern Literary Masterpieces. There is always more to the story than what gets told. Behind every piece of technology that men create, there are usually one or more women filling in the cracks, making the magic happen, enabling the final output that can be showcased as a success.
I was watching different videos on how clear the bike paths in NYC are or aren’t and I came across videos talking about traffic patterns and snow and then about how the snow was dirtier when cars are present over walking and bikes. It is crazy how much nastier the snow is around cars than it is on the dedicated bike lanes and sidewalks. The dirt, but brake dust, exhaust, and also the salt is pretty overwhelming. The more I live in NYC the more I cringe at car culture and everything that comes with it.
I was reading a Black History Month clip about a Black Woman and Her Children Sentenced to Die for Defending Themselves and thinking about how these things haven’t changed all that much, and just how systemic things still are. Rosa, Wallie, and Sammie were just trying to live. These stories always leave me thinking just how many of these go unreported upon, and left buried in history. I am sorry Rosa, Wallie, and Sammie — I hope you found some peace after your release, and was happy to read that you did not get the death penalty.
The image of New York in the Charter for New Amsterdam: February 2, 1653 grabbed my imagination this week. I love old maps. I love the origin story of cities. I love that New York City has dutch roots. I spend a lot of time dreaming about New York City through the years from this view. Even before ever moving here. It is strange to say, but there is some early on connection between the city and my brain hat I don’t fully understand.
"Before I say thanks to God, I want to say ICE out. We're not savage, we're not animals, we're not aliens, we are humans, and we are Americans." - Bad Bunny
I wrote about how my stories are how people believe me. Telling stories are my preferred way of communicating with people, but I find it a shock to have to switch between different states. This is why I am always on the quest for new stories to tell that might influence people in ways that I can’t pull off in person. It isn’t an easily repeatable thing, but when I find a story that hits, I can usually ride on for a while. It gets hard when I go long periods between stories hitting, and I ain’t got no juice with the people I am trying to influence.
I finally got back to writing on Alternate Kin Lane this week, exploring the different ways in which Ai can be used to manipulate us. I love exploring what the shadows are when it comes to the technology we use, and as I was pasting the 3rd AI generated summary of the day along with a video conversation, I couldn’t help but share a story about how it wasn’t the AI generated summary that lied.
It is really impressive how good Poppy is at pooping on top of piles of snow. They are these treacherous ice mounds and very hard to get up on in the super cold. But she does. She only pees on the snowbanks and always shoots for the holes in the snow, so I have to reach in and pull her poop out with a bag. She seems pretty proud of her work.
After going to see Ken Burns last week I started training some new Tensorflow models on images of the Boston Massacre. There are three different versions of the image I like, and want to use to filter photos I take, to use in different stories I tell this year, our 250th anniversary of the signing of the declaration of Independence. I am curious what the smoke, edges, and other properties do to some of the photos I have of the Statue of Liberty and other landmarks—let’s see what relevant stories I can tell in this moment.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness".
