I Was Right (I Didn’t Want To Be Right Yet)

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Well, my suspicion that my agency was going to cut jobs as they start rolling out mandatory AI was correct: I got laid off yesterday.

The last time I was laid off was during the 2008 Great Recession and wow, is there a difference between being 28, renting, not having anyone to rely on, and having no savings and being 46, having a house and a partner who’ll put me on his insurance , and having enough savings that I’m really not panicking (yet).

I also go this very kind text from my manager which, upon reading, made me shout, “I’m the John Henry of AI!!”
Screenshot of a text that says, I'm shocked truly because you were honestly faster and better than Al on all of my projects. I wish I had an opportunity to fight for you because you were our top performing writer.

I mean, I hope it works out better for me than it did for John Henry but by god, I’ll beat those any of those writin’ machines and I have the work to prove it.

 

But the bad boss come up laughing at John Henry,
said, “You full of vinegar now, but you ’bout through–
we’re gonna get a steam drill to do your share of drivin,
then what’s all them muscles gonna do, huh John Henry?
Gonna take a little bit of vinegar out of you.”

John Henry said to his captain, “A man ain’t nothin but a man,
but if you bring that steam drill round, I’ll beat it fair and honest.
I’ll die with my hammer in my hand, but I’ll be laughing
’cause you can’t replace a steel drivin’ man.”

Tuesday Project Roundup: In My Giant Clothes Era

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I wore giant pants all through high school in the late 90s and lo, the wheel of time is turning back to not having any of my body discernible beneath swaths of fabric.

Seeking more giant pants, I sewed up the Awl Trousers from Alamain Studio as a wearable muslin in 7.5 ounce twill. I used soft elastic for the waistband and the combo of the heavy fabric and wimpy elastic makes the drawstring not optional, but–for a pant with 8 inches of ease at the hip–I think they’re kind of chic?

Mirror selfie of a woman in oversized olive drab drawstring pants and an oversized lapis blue t shirt.

I also whipped up a giant top to fully reject the male gaze. This is the free Jesse Tee from True Bias and my fourth attempt at an easy knit top in the last 6 weeks. (I made Top 1 too big, I didn’t like the style on Top 2 after I finished it, and Top 3 was just bad drafting so I didn’t finish and will repurpose for some undies in the future.) Thankfully this easy knit top worked out.

Happy Birthday (Tomorrow) To My Dad

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My dad will be 79 tomorrow! It’s hard to remember that that’s pretty old, because he just keeps going. Last weekend he was up on a ladder and bending conduit; he walks at least five miles a day; and he isn’t even all the way gray.

I hope I can still be that strong when I’m 79–literally but of course figuratively too. He’s still learning (cooking, gardening, model railroad computer programming, history). He’s sharing a lifetime of knowledge. He’s making the best of things, and that’s really admirable.

So happy birthday, Dad. I hope tomorrow is a great day! We love you.

A Writer On AI

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A friend pointed me to novelist Chuck Wendig’s newsletter a few weeks ago and I keep thinking of that last bit (you’ll see). He’s responding to a member of the Horror Writers Association board defending her use of AI for writing. His style can be chaotic but his points are flawless:

It’s very serious to us [writers]—a theoretically-existential threat!—to have our work taken without our permission and used to feed gluttonous software designed by techbros who literally say the quiet parts out loud when they talk about how it’ll destroy jobs, how we’re all gonna have to move to the fucking moon or instead live in a bunker beneath a data center somewhere, how if they actually had to pay creators for licensing rights they’d be bankrupt. They steal our work, they throw it into the machine like so much coal, and then use it to enrich themselves while simultaneously harming the environment and poisoning the fidelity of all our information systems. It is very clear that they want to treat information and knowledge as a resource to be mined—a utility to control, one that can be leveraged to extract payment from us. We and our work are all just material—Capital-C Content—to be melted down into slag.

So yeah! We’re kinda fucking mad about it! And when we see someone we like using it, we kinda want to kick some sand onto your shoes. You look like a sell-out. Like someone who just sold his buddy to the Cannibal Farm down the road.

 

Here’s the part that stuck with me:

If you wanna use AI, I can’t stop you.

But I can definitely give you a look like you just giddily shit your pants on a crowded train. That’s not me bullying you. That’s me acknowledging you shat yourself willfully and with joy and now we’re all having to deal with it.

You make your choices.

 

Wednesday Poem

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There’s the joke that poets only talk about spring but I think late summer is really the season they love best. The longing! The foreshadowing! “Always, this hunger for more.”

 

How the Trees on Summer Nights Turn into a Dark River
by Barbara Crooker

how you can never reach it, no matter how hard you try,
walking as fast as you can, but getting nowhere,
arms and legs pumping, sweat drizzling in rivulets;
each year, a little slower, more creaks and aches, less breath.
Ah, but these soft nights, air like a warm bath, the dusky wings
of bats careening crazily overhead, and you’d think the road
goes on forever. Apollinaire wrote, “What isn’t given to love
is so much wasted,” and I wonder what I haven’t given yet.
A thin comma moon rises orange, a skinny slice of melon,
so delicious I could drown in its sweetness. Or eat the whole
thing, down to the rind. Always, this hunger for more.

Tuesday Project Roundup: New River Shorts

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I finished my new active shorts in time to take them up to the river last weekend! Here they are doing what I love the most, Getting In The Water.

 

These are the Road Trip Pattern Co. Sierra Shorts. This is my second RTPC pattern and I’m a fan–professional instructions and drafting and I didn’t have to modify the fit. (However, I did go up a size based on the finished garment measurements, because I’m in my Giant Pants Era: I measured a 12 but as drafted that only had 1.5″ of ease, so I went up to a 14.)

The pattern has nice details, like the front cargo pockets that are big enough to hold a phone and instructions to use a mesh lining for the main pocket backing. I added a key loop to one front pocket and velcro to the back pocket so I don’t lose anything if I fall in the river.

The pattern would be a convincing Patagonia dupe if made in a solid color, but I found some print microfiber boardshort fabric from Fashion Fabrics Club to test the pattern with. I added a belt and belt loops because in my experience, wet elastic and cargo pockets means your shorts are going to fall off.

I put the belt and pocket lining to the test with a quick cold plunge and these were as comfy as cold wet shorts can be.

Learning From The Elders

Karen

I asked my dad to pass on his electrical knowledge and help me get another outlet in the garage and some better lights … and by “help” I mean “end up doing all of it while I watched.” I had planned to be more hands-on but there was a lot of knowledge to be imparted and Dad had all the experience (and all of the tools), so I ended up asking questions more than anything else.

I felt bad watching my father, who will be 79 in five days, run up and down a ladder, but I think I did learn some things and now there’s an outlet right by the toolbox. Plus he did the groundwork for the lights I installed after I sent him home–when I vacuum my car out next, I’ll actually be able to SEE it!

 

As always, Dad, thanks for your knowledge and tools and supplies and labor. Remember, passing your skills on by doing things for your daughter is a way of living forever. 😇😆

 

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A post shared by Arleta Kay Didier (@grannybibbins)