Greys
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Total Tangent Times - Issue 2
🕑 Added 2025-04-27 16:46:24 +0000 UTCThis issue is actually on-schedule! Considering how much I tend to jam into these posts, I might pull back to a fortnightly schedule, but we shall see how it goes. Regardless, thank you so much for all the wonderful feedback and dialogue on the inaugural issue.
My goal with this really is to give you all a peek into my regular ongoings, but also to get a peek into YOURS. This is meant to start conversations, not just be a dump of my inner monologues (although there will be plenty of those too), so please continue to leave comments and discuss what's been piquing your interests! Maybe even in future issues, there'll be some more interactive segments if you'd like!
Week 5 of the Pictorial Composition course was mainly demos. But in the midst of it, actually got a really poignant quote that really speaks to a lot of the (anti-)AI art disputes nowadays. Normally take notes on a separate page, but there was this flower drawing I'd done on a mini-sketch group with a friend, and figured the rest of the page could be still used.
In case you can't read my chicken-scratch, the quote is:
Cutting edge technology is, by its nature, fleeting. It has a constant turnover, and a continuing obsolescence. But the ability to draw and paint endures.
-- Nathan Fowkes
This isn't meant to be a discussion of the ethics and morality of AI art, but readers will probably already know my stance on this. Regardless, this is a great reminder for all of us that what endures is what matters most, whether it's art or something else that's inherently human.
Current Reads
π Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway - Susan Jeffers
Still getting through this one. It's kept at the kitchen table and I only really read it while having lunch or something so progress is a bit slow, even though the book itself is relatively short. The last chapter I read was very reminiscent of one of the most significant therapy sessions I had years ago, around figuring out the values that make up our lives and how we tend to them like a garden.
π The Baby Dragon Cafe - A.T. Qureshi
Not actually started yet but will be starting it tonight. Got a proof copy from the local bookshop (hot tip: make friends with the bookshop employees) a while back and have been meaning to finish it but got caught up with the other library books. Looking forward to it but at the same time, really trying not to get hopes up too much. I may have been bamboozled by the title and adorable cover (even the proof copy).
Recently Finished
π Heavenly Tyrant - Xiran Jay Zhou 3.25/5
The book could have been much shorter, as the action all happened in the last 50 pages or so. My understanding is that the author had many struggles during the publishing phase though (amongst other injustices) so I'm giving it a bit more leeway on that regard. But it still feels very much a different book than the first in the series, and I'm likely only going to pick up the last one just because I am a completionist and want to know what happens. It did get me thinking a lot about idealism in politics, and how it applies to the current state of the world.
Articles, Blogs, & Papers
Why do all book covers look the same now? - Michael Sun, The Sydney Morning Herald
Happy 35th Birthday, Hubble Telescope! (Space.com) & 35 Years of Hubble Images (NASA)
Graphic novels are the ideal response to authoritarian regimes - Nilanjana Roy, The Financial Times
The anatomy of a large-scale hypertextual web search engine [PDF] - Brin, S., Page, L. (This is the paper describing PageRank, the original Google algorithm. Needless to say, these 20 pages changed the world.)
Podcasts
Ologies, of course. Salugenology (Why Humans Require Hobbies) pt. 1 was another inconspicuous topic that ended up being a lot more relevant than first meets the eye (ear). Tangentially, it also had a very interesting insight into the publishing world, and how sometimes book titles are actually not what the author chooses.
Still working through the back catalogue of Every Little Thing. Going along with the Hubble 35th birthday theme, the episode "Space Glam Shots: How Real Are They?" was a great listen, especially if you are also an amateur astrophotographer. On the quirkier side where the question really is something that is curious indeed but not something you'd have ever stopped to look into, "Why is Elvis Marrying People in Vegas?" is the king.
Another Gimlet podcast that is now on Spotify but thankfully not cancelled, Science Vs had an episode a few years ago called "Pssst! The Science of Gossip" which might give you some tea to sip on.
Videos
This is a video essay about video essays - David Achu
You've Been Strong for So Long, You Forgot How to Be Human - @pearlieee
Therapist Reacts to Meet the Robinsons (Fitting in vs Belonging) - Cinema Therapy
Why Do We Hoard Information We'll Never Use? - Lady of the Library (As I dump a bunch of stuff out of my hoards of information, the irony is not lost on me.)
If you've read through this far, thank you for being here. If you have any comments at all, or even better, recommendations of your own, please share them in comments! And of course, thank you once again. π
Comments
Greys
Hah, what a coincidence but I think I also read that one too! Really fascinating to see the trends for sure. I like how both articles used the same primary book cover as examples of that blob trend lol. Makes you wonder what will be the next big trend... I'm actually on the verge of starting a course on illustrations for books so this is especially of interest to me right now! Thank you for sharing and keep'em coming π
Shalafina
As soon as I saw the "Why do all book covers look the same now?" article, I immediately thought of this article I had read a few years ago: https://www.printmag.com/book-covers/the-book-cover-behold-the-book-blob/ It touches on similar things, with a stronger focus on the algorithmic approach of modern book covers. It was really nice to see a kind of update/evolution of that discussion.
Greys
Lol that's fair enough. The trigger warnings were indeed some big π¬π¬π¬
Shield Maiden
Great quote! Heavenly Tyrany gave me psychic damage. For sure very different than the first book. Iβll wait for your rating on the third when it comes out because I quit lol
