Words + Projects + Stuff I Like
1. More hating on AI? Don’t mind if I do!
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2. “But Karen,” you may be asking, “What about hating on American politics?” We have that, too!
3. Please enjoy “the 74 most incredible lines in Moby-Dick.” I thought this one was fantastic: “I looked around me tranquilly and contentedly, like a quiet ghost with a clean conscience sitting inside the bars of a snug family vault.”
I saw a news piece today on the internal memes that Google employees are sharing about how much AI sucks, and realized that I too have been sharing stuff at work. Why not share it everywhere?
From my comrades at Google: 
I’ve been seeing AI in more and more job postings–in the copy of the actual job description, in the job requirements, and even in the applications. This isn’t my answer; I saved it because it’s so great but now I don’t remember where I saw it.
Maybe I need to try this at work? (The internet was full of Bulterian Jihad and Orange Catholic Bible references after that encyclical dropped, we love to see it.)
We all need to try this.
(Remember, the Luddites weren’t scared of technology; they protested it “due to concerns relating to worker pay, child labor, working conditions and output quality.“
So work is really going all-in on AI “tools” at the moment, including paying for a training that lets you feed your job role into it and then get ideas on using AI in your job, all powered by AI. Then there was an AI-written presentation in a meeting Monday that said a department’s role was to “hold the context” and listed part of their jobs as “invisible thinking–what’s happening mentally.” As opposed to visible thinking, I guess? And the kind of thing thinking doesn’t happen mentally?? What is this slop?!
That’s why I read this essay by Sam Kriss with particular glee: If you let AI do your writing, I will come to your house and kill you.
Kriss and I have the same reaction when we see AI writing:
…the main thing the incipient superintelligence seems to be doing is replacing all meaningful language with reams and reams of genuinely meaningless drivel. I hate it. I find it viscerally disgusting; a cold shudder like someone’s poured jelly down the back of my neck.
And while I might not go as far as hunting down people using AI to write, I too can always tell. Always.
However bad a writer you think you are, you are not worse than AI. But you still keep letting it do your writing for you, as if I won’t be able to tell. Listen: I can tell. I can always tell. You think I won’t notice, but I will. There’s no hiding from me. If you let AI do your writing I will find out, and I will kill you.
Did I buy this fabric for Doc solely because he’d be able to make the above pun if anyone said, “I like your shirt?” Yes, yes I did.
This was a gift of fabric for our 12th anniversary back in March, but I got it sewn up a few weeks ago so really, that’s not too late for me. The base is an organic cotton lawn and it’s really nice–soft, doesn’t wrinkle after washing, not sheer. I used New Look 6197 as per usual for softer fabrics/a cool summery Cuban shirt look.
I didn’t have enough fabric to match the pocket but Doc wanted a Catagonia label so I just slapped a pocket on. I think the print is busy enough it doesn’t matter.
I watched this reel because I knew the author but after about 30 seconds I would have watched anyone talk about it.
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This is the dog she mentions, so it works with both species:
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Yes this is a cool party trick, but Elsie the cat can ask for pain meds when she needs it. That alone is worth trying to train a creature on these buttons.
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1. One of my current interests (cough hyperfixations cough) is finding fabric in weird camo patterns. Except I almost bought some fabric in a Waffen SS pattern (“Platanenmuster“) before I googled it and realized it was Nazi, so now Camopedia is my best friend. Currently on the hunt for emerald Guyana tiger stripe!
2. Another encyclopedia for a long-running interest: the Japanese Woodblock Print Search. Search 223,000 images or upload an image to get a match.
3. Something to think about if you’re headed to the pool in the near future:
I’ve been going to the same gym class time for quite a few years now, which means I’ve made some friends just from seeing them three times a week at 10 a.m. One gym friend lifts just about the same maxes as me–which is humbling, because she’s in her 70s–and she’s been my rack partner/spotter for the last few years.
She and her husband just got back from a cycling trip to Portugal and she brought me yarn as a souvenir!
An entire sweater’s worth of yarn, that she made a special trip to the yarn store for, and used Google Translate to make sure was made in Portugal and merino wool because when we were talking about her upcoming trip, I told her my fact that the Merino sheep originated in the Iberian Peninsula. 🥹
I spent a very fun afternoon browsing patterns and think I’m going to do a cabled vest–the Vest No. 8 from My Favorite Things Knitwear looks like an easy to memorize pattern and someone on Ravelry has already made it in the same color: 
Then I can use the leftover yarn to make my gym friend a cabled hat and mittens set, as a thank you for the gift of yarn.
We had a family reunion/vacation with Doc’s family planned in April but then his mom fell. (She’s home now and on the mend.) We didn’t end up going but of course I’d already made a new swimsuit for it.
So I broke it out at the sauna/onsen (saunsen?) and it looked wildly tropical in the alpine setting:
The fabric had been “marinating” in my stash for a few years, as it does, but I always planned on a vaguely retro-style bikini. I used a pattern from my beloved and dependable Greenstyle, the Surfside Wrap Top and the Waimea Bottoms (this time without the pocket and high waist, but I might be regretting that) (it’s less retro without it).
I love not having to find commercial swimwear that 1) meets my style criteria; 2) fits how I want it to; and 3) isn’t $200 for tiny pieces of fabric. Hooray for sewing!
I was so excited for a four-day weekend that I forgot to post on Friday. I guess it’s been a while since I had a stretch of vacation–but we made the most out of it. There was an evening picnic in Millcreek, a visit to Soho Saunas in Midway (delightful!), a used record sale and ice cream, a full day of sewing, and even the first trip to the pool (not pictured, because it was impossible to get a photo without 100 other people in it).
I like this not-working life!
Extremely long-term readers of the blog will know I was thinking about a dog before I ended up with Toby. Now that Toby’s gone, I just don’t think another cat can compare with him, so I’m back to dog thoughts.
I’m currently in the phase where I try to list out all the cons of dog ownership to see if this is something I really want to do. I hadn’t really considered eating random stuff? This is a thread from 2019 that I found again, and wow is it vivid:
Of course, cats can be gross too: 