When I sat down to write this post during the last few days 2019 with the intention of pushing it out on the second, I had a moment to pause and think. Despite writing an entry only two times a week now, that’s still more often than with some other blogs. Some barely update twice a month. I’m aware that the quality and topics have been slipping for some time now, and I’ve pointed that out few times already. Old news, why am I repeating myself like this? Because that’s what the blog has become; an endless repetition of points I’ve made in the past, sometimes rectifying something, sometimes expanding. Other times it’s just the same point in a new guise. It’s about as subtle as using a sledgehammer to crush an ant. For the first time, properly, I’m asking myself What’s the point? The whole page about what this page is about is no longer relevant, and by the time you’re reading this post that section in the menu at the top has been removed.
The music wasn’t just chosen because I’ve been familiar with it for some twenty years. It’s hammy, but this particular theme was used during the opening and transformations scenes in Jubei-Chan; Secret of the Lovely Eye-Patch. I’ve rarely hummed the song, but it never left some seedy patch in my memory. The hammy part comes in that I’m throwing it as the year’s theme, as I see a need for the blog to change while keeping it true what it was to be about. Two contradictory things like this rarely can meet in harmony, but that end amalgamation should be something worth striving for.
First is that I’ll stick what I planned last year; I won’t be forcing myself to write a post if there’s no point and the quality would suffer from that. Instead, I’ll mull over topics before putting them on paper, so to speak. For example, I noticed how I neglected an element of AI in my Muv-Luv and artificial intelligence posts, but rather than hack one in hastily, I decided to sit back and consider the topic further. Hopefully this also means the effort will go into making something worthwhile. Additionally, I hope this will give me time to return to certain scanning projects that have been sitting in the ice for two to three years now, one of the being a retrospective on Tamiya’s model kit mascot, Moko-chan. Moko’s Plastic model building guides were a sort of sub-cultural phenomena that represent that rare kind of mindset of making stuff yourself, learning how to model and build and enjoying what you’re doing. Effectively, appreciating one’s own craftsmanship, something that has become more common nowadays, but in digital form. Huh, I guess there’s a topic for me to discuss at a later date.
All the above should prevent me from burning out like I felt I was last year. While blogging technically doesn’t (shouldn’t) take too much time, if there’s something else I’d rather dropped that few hours in, like another hobby or seeing friends, those take priority. A mind that is only consumed and worried about one thing is a tired and slack mind. It has to be renewed with other perspectives and other sources of inspiration rather than the same old again. (Is this accidental irony that I’m repeating the same old for the Nth time now?) Some of the results won’t be visible here, but some might, depending how different projects and plans go.
I’ve also decided to drastically change my stance on monetary support. While options like Patreon etc are not exactly for me, either because I’m not a fan of the platform or generally how they function, Ko-Fi seems to be a middle ground what sort of service I was looking for. You can check my page either via a new Widget on the right, at the top, or via this link. I sincerely expect zero support, zero amount of cash. This page is not that popular that anyone would be willing to drop any money, but certain British Youtuber talked me over last about this. You never know if you don’t have one set up, he said. I would almost bet he’d donate just to show he’s right. While I don’t have goals up on the page, I do have some in the back of my head. Depending if anything ever comes this way, the first thing would be to get a domain, so that the page could stand without WordPress at the top. Second aim would be to get a better visual theme; the current one is not exactly optimal and getting something that would serve both galleries and text better. The better themes cost around hundred bucks last time I checked, so there’s that. All the Ko-Fi donations would build towards this, and none of them would be used for personal profit or gain. If there’s something left after the initial goals, well maybe I’ll buy a pack of tea and think of something better. It’s nice to have pipe dreams like this.
Speaking of personal, the third change will be that there will be a another blog, independent of this one. Whether or not it’ll be linked at any point or somewhere else is still up in the air, but it won’t be about news or commentary. Rather, I’ve wanted to write prose for some time now, and I’m giving it a shot by writing short stories. This, of course, would take time away from writing the blog, but as said, other hobbies to renew the mind. I hope tackling two different sides of text gives me more reasons to explore multiple perspectives more than previously, but you never know. Much like with the blog, I doubt many would be interested in reading those stories, but again, you never know before you try it out. All I really want is them to be out of my head, maybe compile them into a book down the line if I get enough stories out. Aahh, pipe dreams.
I’ll also try add more pictures on the blog, just like previously. Just a dump of text doesn’t do much good. Let’s leave that for prose.
I would be amiss if I didn’t mention the death of one Syd Mead, 1933-2019. I do not want to try gain views or cash on his death, as Mead was, and still is, one of the inspirations for me. His works both in television, film, animation and everywhere were nothing short of master pieces. His design tongue and style were easily recognisable and stood out from the generic mass of the media landscape. Mead was a designer who didn’t just draw items, but settings, vistas and visages, the concepts of future and life. He considered science-fiction to be realism ahead of his time, and it shows in his works. He wasn’t just an artist, he was a master craftsman with only few matching his peer.
This blog was set up back in 2011. We’re closing in on our ninth anniversary soon. Funny to think that this blog started at the beginning of this decade, and will end just after a new one has kicked off. Even funnier, when you realise a decade is years spanning from 1 to 10, and most people celebrated the New Millennium a year early.
Aaltomies 