How was your week?

It was one of those weeks where the days were short, but the hours were long. So, here I am writing another bloggy blog devlog.

This week was mostly spent chasing side quests and building infrastructure that may or may not even be used. You know, the kind where you start building one piece and think "but I'd like to..." and 3 accounts, 4 languages, and a couple of questionable dependencies later you're too deep to not finish it... So, typical me, right?

Anyway...

Experiment Update

The new experiment prototype items I spoke about last week arrived.

They passed the "fit" test. They were so good that I started Phase 2 Sprint -- which ended up putting me in a "new infrastructure" spiral.

Once that's completed, I'll be releasing/shipping it. I'm hoping to make it a closed-loop system so I can return my attention to other experiments.

As a result, the work intended for AI Ant Farm did not happen.

It is still very much in the pipeline, and v1 will get rolled out soon*. (*=sometime, idk, I'll get around to it)

Actually, a feature I was debating for AAF would require some of that new infrastructure -- so, I'm side questing right now but about to turn it in and get back to the main quest.

Why do I bring it upon myself to do this?

No, I'm asking seriously; if anyone has an idea, I'm all ears...

Inspiration

What inspires you?

I'm sure we've all been inspired by some one or some thing at some point in our lives.

We often point to people as the source of our inspiration. Inventors. Writers. Artists. Teachers.

But those people were shaped by something too—and if we trace back far enough, is there an original source?

What drove early humans to draw on cave walls when there was no other artwork?

What drove them to sing songs when there was no concept of music?

So, then, is inspiration a thing to be felt?

Or a thing that you encounter?

A chance moment visible to those who are ready for it.

For, I do not find myself inspired to paint.

But I do feel inspired to do what I do (and we can question that all we want, but...).

So at what point does the output of inspiration stop being an expression of my individuality—and start becoming a snapshot of time, place, and readiness to discover?

And if it is a thing to discover, can we individually discover the same thing?

We have examples of this—similar inventions arriving in different areas with no way either source copied the other directly.

Branches of math and science being discovered in cultures separated by vast distances and language barriers.

So if it is a thing that is discovered, can we decide to embark to find it?

Or is it, like time itself, something meant to unfold naturally?

As if everything in the cosmos must align for inspiration to achieve output.

It is not just the skills of one person, but also the readiness of the collective to receive (or reject) said artifact.

Something in that early being nudged them to think, "I'm going to take these colors and smear them on the wall in a shape that looks like that animal."

But the spark likely wouldn't have ignited had the cave people not been able to look at it and understand.

So the act of creating the painting was only half of the equation.

The audience's ability to perceive meaning in the painting was part of the equation too.

How much of the painting belongs to the creator, and how much belongs to the moment in time, place, and understanding in which it was created?

Closing Thought

I've had a number of interactions lately where people read my name as "Sleigh Terror".

For the record, it's "sleight error."

Hope this clears things up.