It was a hard week. The toxicity of what is happening to my country as well as the industry I work in caught up with me. I drove the vehicle into the ditch—which means I stepped back from technology and took a moment to tend to myself, putting some deep thought into how to respond to everything around with me with more intention and care. I found it impossible to move forward making decisions from my heart while on social media this week.
This last Tuesday and Wednesday I made sure to go on walks with Poppy in the morning and afternoon. Monday through Wednesday I managed to keep going to the gym and riding the Peloton, continuing to inject some healthy change into my afternoon. However, by Thursday, Poppy and I cranked things up a notch by taking the bike and sidecar for a trip around Central Park—something we continued Friday and Saturday.
As part of stepping away from being online this week I managed to finish reading Resisting AI by Dan McQuillan. The book is a must read for anyone looking to understand this AI moment we live, but more importantly are looking for meaningful ways to resist. Dan’s guidance aligns with the care-centric approach I’ve been exploring in the last couple weeks after reading The Disposed by Ursula Le Guin, but layers on so much more.
I was also able to finish The Poppy Wars by R.F. Kuang. I absolutely loved being lost in this world this week, even if it was a pretty dark place to be some times. The storytelling around opium was moving and emotional for me with everything we’ve been through in the last couple of years (and thoughout my life). However, it was me doing the work to let Rin the female lead of the book into my head that comforted me the most—it is a pleasant change from the regular cast of characters in my head—I like her.
I pulled the car out of the ditch on Friday, but I’d say I’ve just been driving along at about 5 or 10 MPG on the shoulder. I will likely get back to business this week, but slowly, and not entirely to the same levels. I suspect this week will be very light on APIs, and heavy on my personal and creative writing. I have a couple of stories I’d like to tell. I need to do more processing of how we got here to this moment, while also exploring the the possible outcomes as a result of this messed up timeline.
The machines don’t interest me as much as the people do right now, and this is where my stories will focus in coming weeks. This morning I am working to blend Fang Runin (Rin) from the Poppy Wars with a young lady I met in Seattle a few years back into a character for one of the stories leaking out of my brain in this moment.
I absolutely love that every newsletter from previous weeks has had the year 2024 on it until my mother-in-law pointed it out to me last week—it has been corrected. I guess, as of March 31st, we are now officially in 2025. ;-)
