Jam's Blog

So this week, I went to one of my favorite shops in the Twin Cities as an Artist’s Date: Ax-Man Surplus. This store literally has all the little gadgets and doodads one would need. I was there to pick up other things in prep for a trip as well, but my main goal was to feed my whimsy. See, whimsy is what powers my inner creative, which was the focus of this week.

The goal was three objects that spoke to me, but both involved my artistic creative side, then my technical creative side. Ax-Man is great for this because they have supplies for both, and on the cheap. I ended up with a good haul of creative things: Stickers, a Pack of Colored Permanent Sharpie knockoffs, and three small circuit boards I’m hoping to turn into jewelry.

I think all three of those things lend themselves to whimsy, as well as power. The stickers are full of empowering messages that I’ll need as I finish this journey. The sharpies are for bringing to light colorful ideas and art. And the circuit boards are also an empowering reminder that I can wear tech as a creative outlet as well as I do the rest.

Which brings me to my last reveal: I’ve been writing a lot on tech this week and my feelings on it, both doing dives into AI: One looking building a machine for locally hosted AI; and then a more fiery essay on why capitalism is ruining AI and technology as we know it. I hope you enjoy them both, and I’ll see you next week.