2023 Recap
I’m not going to hedge, 2023 was a very difficult year for me. I don’t say that in a “bad” way or a ‘be sorry for me’ way, I’m simply stating a fact. It was tough. Physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually draining till there were no tears left to cry punctuated by moments of sheer joy and limitless potential…
It’s not an exaggeration to say that I failed far more times than I succeeded this year… but, if you are not failing, then you are either not trying to improve or you have set your sights far too low…! Failure is good!
So, as a bit of personal therapy, this is me reminding myself that 2023 was not ALL bad… 🙂
AI Art
I have spent a fair bit of time working with DALL-E and Midjourney to see what is possible and to explore the controversy. I now strongly believe that AI, while potentially problematic, opens far more doors than it closes!
As an experiment, I used excerpts from the Bathsheva MineField Dream original story that Xiad wrote in 1995, as prompts in Midjourney. “Somewhere Strange,” “Unexplained Anomaly,” “Subkarma,” “Dreaming,” (etc.) and for this video, especially “Our Jealous Antagonist.” Then I used a host of Photoshop and video editing tricks to combine all of this art into a video that could accompany the music. The result was far better than I had hoped and ultimately very Bathsheva in attitude as well.
Our Jealous Antagonist by Bathsheva (1995)
Also had great fun creating a few
Interactive AI Art “guessing games”
(Give one a go!)
TEACHING ART WITH A.I. ROCKETS
XR Murals
Last year, I created an augmented-reality business card. This year, I augmented a few of the murals around West Seattle that concurrently load as a secret bonus!!
LONDON CALLING!!
Laura and I managed to pop over to London this March.
It was our first time together so it was quite an adventure!
the Seattle Gems Arcade
Unity / Game Design: This year, my focus was to re-skin a gems game using AI to create Seattle-themed art and icons.
I used “Calling Me Home” as the background music and created a web build
that you can play right now!!
(Desktop preferred but works on phones too
Mount Si
In June, we took a sanity weekend to go explore and climb Mount Si!
the yARrrr Pirate Adventure!!
Over the summer, we also partnered with Alice Kuder and twenty local businesses to create and deploy the first ever mixed-reality pirate treasure hunt across West Seattle.
85 teams registered capturing 300+ pirates over four days!
Music @streamingkeys
I wrote three re-imagined soundtracks right at the end of the year and I love all three.
It is not an exaggeration to say this is some of the best work I’ve done!
Film: Devdas (2002)
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Film: One Week (1920)
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Film: Sex Maniac (1934)
Concerts!!
For the first time in many years, life felt like it was returning to normal post-COVID and we actually went to see two fantastic concerts! Tears for Fears in June and Depeche Mode in November. Both 10/10!
Space Related
I have been working all year on converting my two space history courses from UND and OSU into a modern functional on-demand (free for all) LMS.
Rather than try to build huge 120-hour college courses for the general public, I am instead dividing the courses into smaller digestible bits including videos, lesson plans, handouts, and links to scholarly publications built into the lessons. I plan to have both “The History of Outer Space” and “The Women’s History of Outer Space” re-developed and available by the end of 2024.
(You can read my old 451 and 452 syllabi to get some idea of what will be covered.)
For those who want to jump ahead, I have constructed three timelines
for the Women’s Space History Course that highlights individual contributions
and give some context to the wider world at the time.
Click below to check them out!
Also, Laura and I have been working all year on an elementary educational book series highlighting lesser-known women in various space-related fields throughout history that we hope to shop to publishers (or self-publish if needed) in 2024. Stay tuned!
Afternoon Tea in Victoria BC: For New Year’s Eve and Day, we decided to take a boat to Victoria and start 2024 with an adventure! Laura and I celebrated a major life milestone with an amazing afternoon tea from the Inn at Laurel Point. (HIGHLY recommended!)
There are BIG changes in store for 2024… I can’t tell you what they are yet, but I can’t wait!!