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comment by veen
veen  ·  2011 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: September 26, 2018

This week is a Done week. Bunch of projects? Done.

Reading list? Mostly done.

New bed because the old one was broken years ago and I wanted a bigger one? Done.

D&D character drawing that is the best thing ever, legit, forreals? Done.

Dream setup after years of slowly acquiring awesome stuff?

Done. My materialist self should stfu for the next, like, year at least.





user-inactivated  ·  2010 days ago  ·  link  ·  
This comment has been deleted.
swedishbadgergirl  ·  2009 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Clutter can be really aesthetically pleasing in my opinion.

johnnyFive  ·  2011 days ago  ·  link  ·  

That's a great drawing!

Art is something that makes me crazy but that I can't stop wanting to do, which I think is telling me something.

Any thoughts on where I might be able to find a tutor? Just aimless practicing is a bad way for me to learn, both practically and in terms of keeping me disciplined.

veen  ·  2011 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Very important sidenote: I did not draw that, I found an amazing artist to commission. If I'd have only 1% of that skill I'd be a better drawer than I am today.

Aimless practice is good for creativity, not for skill. There is a plethora of studies that show that deliberate practice is what you need to do to actually get better. You need to define what's good and then do what Cal Newport calls "stretch and destroy": stretch your abilities to an uncomfortable level, and embrace honest feedback even if it destroys what you think is good. You should judge tutors by their ability to help in those two regards, if you'd ask me.

johnnyFive  ·  2011 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I like that way of looking at it a lot.

blackbootz  ·  2010 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I joined an art club in Korea for precisely this reason. My art skills are potato-level. We're doing still lives with ink pens tonight, and getting feedback. After a few months I might upgrade from potato to rhubarb.

blackbootz  ·  2010 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Dude, that's a great write up. What a week. As Tyler Cowen would observe, you have an excellent production function. What qualifies as a "project" for you?

veen  ·  2010 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Projects used to be 'things I want to do with a clear goal in mind'. But in recent months I've realized that goals are dumb, and that I am better off (both in terms of happiness and in terms of results) by thinking of projects as things I'm working systematically on to improve, explore and to learn. Paraphrasing Scott Adams:

    Goals are for losers. Literally - if you have a goal, you are a loser until you may or may not succeed. Goal oriented people are fighting discouragement at every turn, while systems people are winning every time they successfully apply their system: every time they succeed at what they set out to do. Losing pounds is a goal, but eating right is a system. "A system is something you do on a regular basis to increase your odds of happiness in the long run." It is only a system if it works more often than not - buying lottery tickets is not a system.
galen  ·  2011 days ago  ·  link  ·  

That's a nice fucking battlestation, man.

So what's the next project? :)

veen  ·  2011 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Oh man, I have a bunch of ideas.

Writing is high on my priority list. I really need to work much harder on my academic paper. If all goes well I'll have a good v1.0 this weekend. Then there's a book review I want to write for George Gilder's book, and I'm thinking of writing a book proposal after that for the autonomous vehicle book that's been floating in the back of my mind for the past, say, four years or so.

I like the tranquility of clean, white walls in my room but I also really like lasercut maps, so I'm thinking of getting a map of Rotterdam Central Station I made recently lasercut on nine 40x20cm oak panels:

Part of me wants to pick up playing the guitar again, or to make more music. One of the things I want to do some day is to make an album. But the gap between what I have in my head and my actual skill level is more like an abyss in that regard.

galen  ·  2011 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    I like the tranquility of clean, white walls in my room

So underrated. When my sister came to visit here she said my room was sad because there's no color :(

    Part of me wants to pick up playing the guitar again, or to make more music. One of the things I want to do some day is to make an album. But the gap between what I have in my head and my actual skill level is more like an abyss in that regard.

Hahaha, I feel that. I've also been thinking about picking up guitar-- drums are great, but I've been singing more, and it's a little frustrating not being able to just accompany myself at open mics.

Someday I want a suitcase kick drum.