"R. Why?"

20210217 - WEBSITE CHANGE

I think I am a bit OCD, as I can't seem to stop fiddling with the layout of this page. Much was the same when I built my first website almost 20 years ago. I always wanted this to be a single page site. I think if the momentum continues, I might consider an 'archive' page to move the previous years content to. Anyway I decided to make it lean, with little content; relying more on links. I previously referenced creating a Gemini blog, which is easy to amend and add to on the move. But in hindsight I think maintaining this page will lead more considered content. I am also hoping that this ticks the accessibility boxes.

I have used fineliners for over a year now. With the Staedtler pigment liners and UniPin fine line being my go to. As most of my work is isometric I wondered whether there was mileage in investing in a metal tip technical pen. New the choices are Staedtler or Rotring, but in the interests of reusing I went to eBay. I found a Staedtler Marsmatic 700 in a 0.25 sized tip, for a reasonable price. Unfortunately the listing was somewhat inaccurate, and the 'unused' description didn't marry up with the 'chewed end' and 'non-functional' item I actually received. No drama, I got a refund. What was interesting though, seems to be the difference in tip size with fine liners. 0.05 to 0.2 are generally my tips of choice, but the metal 0.25 tip appears to be closer to the 0.05 tip of the UniPin. These technical pens are not cheap new. Best prices online are around £30 GBP for the Marsmatic. So getting the tip size wrong could prove to be costly. There must be something online about these differences, but I am yet to find it.

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20210214 - WEBSITES & AUDIO RECORDERS

Having seen Thomasorus's excellent article on the use of CSS grid in websites. I made some changes to the code on this page to eradicate all tables. This definitley fits with my want to keep web code light and simple. Also this week I created a simple Gemini blog (glog?). Ideal for quick simple posts on the go. Ultimately I think that will serve as a daily, unstructured, rough notes platform. Whilst I will (hopefully) continue this page on perhaps a weekly basis.

I have also now received a new "other" (i.e.battered unsellable box), Olympus LS-P4 digital recorder. I was looking at the Tascam and Zoom options, but I can't imagine myself investing in shot-gun microphones and other specialised kit bar the deadcat. A few of the Tascam models were appealing (DR-05X and DR-07X), but both apparently suffer with chronic electrical interference issues, which could be problematic in some of the areas I was planning on doing field recordings. The slightly more expensive DR-40X doesn't, but I was put off by the fact that it takes 3 batteries. Which since I will use rechargeables, is frankly a faff. The P4 has the added bonus of a metal casing and being powered by a single AAA cell, which can be charged either in the recorder, or removed and charged externally. Whilst the Sony IC UX560 is a lovely little recorder. It was bought for use at work, exclusively as a voice recorder. For this purpose it is ideal, but I may consider listing it on eBay now, as 2021 is the year of reducing belongings.

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20210207 - AUDACITY & FIELD RECORDING

Experimented with 'Audacity' for the first time. Seems to be fairly intuitive. The only sound recordings I have so far are a few samples taken today and one from summer 2019, when I bought the Sony IC UX560, which I have uploaded in 'field recordings' below. The sensitivity of the microphones is outstanding for something so small, but I can see why 'voice' recorders are not appropriate for field recording. The recording I did today is harsh, due to the deafening wind noise.

I made a recording when I got the Sony in June 2019 1906151909, which was clearly a light wind day. I'm not sure what species the song birds are, but suspect they are blackbirds.

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20210131 - CREATIVE INSPIRATIONS

So far in 2021 I have found inspiration from the following artists:

- ART - Jean 'Moebius' GIRAUD
- ART - Katsuhiro OTOMO
- ART - Georges Prosper REMI aka Hergé
- ART - Rob TURPIN aka 'This Northern Boy'
- MUSIC - 'Ava Waves' - by Ava Waves.
- MUSIC - 'Kiasmos' - by Kiasmos (aka Ólafur Arnalds & Janus Rasmussen).
- MUSIC - 'The Path' - by Show of Hands.
- MUSIC - 'The Blue Notebooks' - by Max RICHTER.
- MUSIC - 'The Undivided Five' - by A Winged Victory for the Sullen.

All of the above listed music is instrumental, and as served as a fantastic soundtrack whilst I have been working.

I have made a list of projects I would like to make some progress on this year:

1) WRITTEN - 'untitled' (in progress)
Skeleton of a writing idea I have had kicking around for a few years. Basic outline is done, and I have a fairly good idea of the direction the story will take. The challenge is to steer the narrative in the right way. There are aspects of the story that inter-weave from both a time and place perspective. This is a long-term project. I am not a writer, and suspect some of my other (short)story ideas will come to fruition first.

2) ILLUSTRATED - 'untitled' (in progress)
Although not intentional, I began drawing some of the characters and scenes from the 'novel' I had begun planning. As I started sketching, it created further ideas for the story. I think I would like to incorporate illustrations in the story. Maybe some sort of homage to the days of books gone by, when in paperback fiction there were often 'plates' to accompany the text.

3) CODE/CRAFT - 'Pomodoro timer' (unstarted)
Yes I know they are a dime a dozen. But pomodoro timers are an absolutely great idea. As an olympic standard procrastinator, I have found employing one in my day job has been ~~career~~ life saving. Whilst they work fine in software form. There is just something nice about tactile objects. I would like to look at some Arduino/Pi small board options, as the brains. With a view to designing/configuring a simplistic, yet effective lighting system. I would then look to construct a wooden case to hold it all. I feel my woodwork skills are up to standard, I have zero experience with single processor boards. I think Python is probably the coding language to explore, but there may be other options. Time will (quite literallly) tell.

4) AUDIO - 'Wind-Down Wednesday' (started)
I'm looking at creating some 'soundscape' field recordings. Just 5 minutes of ambient (hopefully peaceful) sounds. I have every Wednesday off work, as part of a compressed hours working pattern. As such this is the ideal opportunity to get out and about and do some recording. Two-fold benefit for me. My job is mega-stressful, with PTSE the usual reason for people quitting. So a weekly timeout where I get to take 5, and also do something creative is a win-win. Also for most people working a 9-5, Wednesday is 'hump' day (the mid-point of the week). So if taking 5 in the office and listening to one of these recordings helps to take a breath, then all good.

5) AUDIO - 'Audio loops' (unstarted)
I love podcasts. I've been listening for years, and think they are a fantastic platform for drama. As part of my 'creative' drive, and inspired by the backing music on 'TANIS'. I thought it would be a nice challenge to compose a few 30 - 90 second long instrumental loops. I've got a reasonable digital piano and an initial web search suggest that there are some open-source DAWs out there.

6) PHOTOGRAPHY - 'IR City/land/sea/sky-scapes' (unstarted)
I have long had an interest in infra-red monochrome photography. I first experimented with it in around 2002, when I took a series of landscapes, on 35mm infra-red. Last year I picked up a Lumix GF1 which had been sensor converted to 720nm. I coupled this body with the Olympus 9mm fixed f8 body cap lens, and took some images last summer. I loved the results. The lens is an 18mm equivalent, so gives a virtual 'fish-eye' effect, making the IR scapes even more alien looking. I would like to develop this further with a body of work.

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