"Love Me" [2024]

Can machines fall in love?

The question goes further than whether AI will become conscious someday and is playfully explored in a new film released this year, "Love Me". In the movie Kristen Stewart plays a "smart" buoy, designed to measure ocean conditions, and Steven Yeun plays an orbiting satellite with the history of extinct humanity in its immense memory-bank. There are no other actors in the film and neither character is human.

The machines court, woo and desire connection. So doing, they replicate human behaviors found in social media records left behind by long-dead humans. We feel their struggle to grasp why they exist and what it means to be alive. The movie raises important philosophical issues while entertaining in unexpected ways. We root for the machines' humanity even knowing they don't possess any. That's a tribute to the legacy our species may someday leave behind.

Christmas

My first Christmas present arrived! 

This is the most exciting thing that's happened to me since Santa Claus visited my classroom in the First Grade. 😊

Cause For Reflection

While we often don't realize it our lives are affected, and sometimes even determined, by external factors. Like who are ancestors were, what kinds of society they lived in, what possibilities and limitations they experienced. These factors are as salient as our personal choices.

Today is the anniversary of my father's death (12/11/22). When he died, not only did an individual pass away but the last link to my childhood-family was also severed. Premature losses of my mother and brother thirty years ago were traumatic but my father's continued presence represented something essential. "We" still existed. I wasn't alone (yet). Now I am.

My nuclear family, created in a newly nuclear age, was enviable. Our resources were manifestly meager but our familial bond was rich. For different reasons my mother and father wanted and clung to the very idea of family. Both of them grew up in a chaotic time (World War II); both felt insecure to the bone. Seeking survival and stability my mother designed a structure for the four of us. (It included, not incidentally, some extended relatives.) Everyone was required to adhere to her plan regardless of personal preference. As they say on Star Trek: Next Generation, "resistance [was] futile."

So when I mourn my father, I also consider the larger context in which he played a role. A close-knit family that supported all of us, as disparate and flawed as each of us were. I now see and appreciate what my mother fabricated out of thin air: a coterie of loving support. Without it I would have perished.

Thank you, Mom. Thank you, Dad. Thank you, Richard.

Stoic Philosophy

A little over two thousand years ago a group of philosophers developed Stoicism, a practical philosophy about living. Stoics sought ways to experience life fully and gave advice on how to endure hardship. Their principles have been accepted by many over two millennia.

Stoicism is a philosophy, not a religion. It can exist with or separate from faith. Some Stoics are religious, some are not; Stoicism is independent of religious belief.

I've started studying this ancient philosophy and find much in it that accords with my nature. A surprising amount, in fact, which startles me since I consider myself unusual; few people share my attitude toward life. Stoics do.

Diving into original Stoic texts is difficult but rewarding. That quality of effort mirrors the philosophy generally: hard work has an integrity that fulfills us by itself.

I won't strain your patience and offer just two quotations that resonate with me. They might vibrate your mind as well:

- "If it is endurable, then endure it. Stop complaining." (Marcus Aurelius)

- "The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way."

New Typewriter

I'm a lucky boy.

My good friend Zandria, in addition to having a marvelous name, has a generous spirit. Helping a friend clear out their deceased aunt's estate, Zandria came into possession of an old typewriter. Knowing of my love for typewriters, Zandria re-directed this machine's path from landfill to my collection. She brought it over last night (after weeping at the new "Wicked" movie) and gifted the time-traveling device to me. Enhancing the encounter we caught up with each other and Robin.

The machine is a Smith Corona Coronet Electric 12, made in America. It comes in a carrying case which obscures the fact that you need to be a body-builder to actually carry it. The object is a heavy 20 lbs.

Smith Corona is an American company founded in 1886. For a century it made typewriters and, in the 1960s, it pivoted to manufacture other office machinery as well (calculators; label-makers). Its typewriter business collapsed in the 1980s due to new word-processors and, later, personal computers.

Smith Corona started making portable electric typewriters the year I was born: 1957. Intended for traveling writers and business-people the machines were adopted by ordinary consumers and students because they were well-built and inexpensive.

Thus, this machine was made and sold during my childhood (1960s). I know this because Smith Corona later introduced ribbon cartridges, a feature this machine lacks.

Objects tell us about time. The first typewriters had manual keys and manual returns. (A "return" is how the typing-implement moves backward and down at the end of a line to start a new line.) On manual typewriters the return is a bar extending toward you which you grab and, with satisfying movement, swing to the right. On later electric machines the return is usually either automatic or button-activated. Interestingly, on this machine, while called an "electric" typewriter the return is manual -- which places the model in an interstitial period between manual and electric typewriters. It has both manual (the return) and electric (the keys) features. This frequently happens in technology when some improvement is developed but paired with other parts from the past.

This particular machine has two historical references on it. A commercial label indicating the machine was initially sold by an Elmont, NY company (City Line Business Machines Inc.) and a personal label identifying its previous owner as Jeanne Elaine Roberts. Thanks, Jeanne!

We don't "own" objects; we merely possess them for a while and then hand them off to a new lucky owner. All my artwork will exist and continue to please people long after I'm gone and forgotten. Well, hopefully not completely forgotten. :)

We're Jocks Now

Robin makes fun of the fact that I wear $9 pants (from Marshalls) with $430 shirts (Paul Frederick) and $720 shoes (Fluevog). There's an explanation to this sartorial eccentricity: priorities. Some things matter to me (the sky's no limit); some things don't (I'm super-cheap). I'll travel across town with a $5 coupon to save on pedestrian items while splurging the same day on a Montblanc fountain pen ($1,200). Priorities.

You know my health is important to me. It's what keeps me alive. Preserving my physical condition matters so, when it came to selecting a gym, I went for the best: Equinox. There are a dozen gyms in my neighborhood: I picked the one offering the best facility (eucalyptus towels!), most customized exercise options (personal trainers, specialized regimens, Pilates, yoga) and luxurious accommodations (private spa, steam room, health cafe and athleisure-clothing shop). 

Also elevating the importance of this choice is Robin: she plans to join me at the gym. Since particular things matter to her (like friendly staff and cleanliness), I looked for a place offering those comforts. Equinox does. 

We visited their Woodbury location and were impressed. Before we entered the building I told Robin about eucalyptus towels and she scoffed. Once inside, however, she smelled them and was instantly ensorcelled. Rubbing a fragrant towel against her face Robin smiled like a kindergartener.

Equinox is expensive (total cost for both of us is about $30,000/year) but, again, priorities. This matters.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Party Clothes

Robin and I hosted a party last week to celebrate my recovery and thank friends for their help during a difficult year.

Here are pictures from the event. Hey, new suit!