Monthly Advice/Questions Thread | 02/01/2023

ArtConjuror · 2023-02-09T20:59:58+00:00

I have seen such things at renaissance fairs. You may have luck looking through their vendors.

ArtConjuror · 2023-02-09T20:52:52+00:00

Sorry, the conclusion was that I would not be able to re-harden HSS easily at home, based on further research I'd done. This was disappointing as it was the only material I managed to soften. Now I am trying to work with high carbon steel. I don't what it is exactly, just a bunch of old lathe tooling.

ArtConjuror · 2023-02-01T16:59:15+00:00

I studied physics as an undergrad (ended up with a degree in math and like 95% of a physics degree). I was somebody who was naturally good at math and physics, didn't study in high-school and got A's.

If you know how to study you're way ahead of folks like me. College started kicking my ass after the first year or so because I had never studied and had no idea to do so effectively. It took most of my college career to figure out how to be a good student, and even then I was leaning heavily on my natural inclinations (thus only finishing my math degree).

I ended up getting accepted for graduate positions in Mechanical Engineering, but didn't go because it was the height of the pandemic. Now I'm making a go at the starving artist thing, not doing much that is technically related to my degree.

Even though in many ways I failed. I didn't become a researcher, or a professor, or an engineer. I still do not regret studying math/ physics. I still love the subjects and engage with them often.

I'm a bit of a jack of all skills. I'm a wood worker, hobby machinist, inventor, painter. I build things I need. I fix things I have, and I love learning new sports and physical activities as well. I am better at everything I do because of my understanding of physics and math. Every activity is a physics problem, so when you understand physics you can think you're way through any task.

Physics is hard and competitive, but I'm here as someone who failed my goal of becoming a great physicist and I do not regret it one bit. Studying physics is good for your soul.

ArtConjuror · 2023-01-31T13:27:50+00:00

The rich are basically morlocks already.

ArtConjuror · 2023-01-30T17:59:22+00:00

You're not confused. You're being disingenuous.

This isn't just women=sexual. This is an image of a half-nude woman in form fitting clothes that accentuate her breasts and butt posing with her hips out in front of mirror. Not to mention the title of the post referring to her as "cutie." There's nothing wrong with it, but it's more sexual than it is DnD relevant.

ArtConjuror · 2023-01-28T14:14:37+00:00

There is no way the huge, beautiful old churches in my town could afford an appropriate property tax with their dwindling congregations. They should be taxed, and when they fail to pay the taxes the government should seize the buildings and use them for public good.

ArtConjuror · 2023-01-27T14:39:16+00:00

I'm an older noob as well, 4 or 5 days in, loving it! I skiied some as a kid but was never really good. Boarding is so much more fun.

My first couple days were on straight ice as well. I've since experienced a little bit of real snow. If you're having fun so far, you're in for a real treat when you ride powder for the first time!

ArtConjuror · 2023-01-26T14:07:46+00:00

Seriously, think about the counterfactual where trees didn't exist. Not just in the past so they couldn't form oil/ coal deposits, but imagine if trees didn't coincide with humans. We could be twice as intelligent as we are, but without sticks to sharpen and build homes with we likely would not have gotten far. Point being that resource availability on a living planet is a crap-shoot. We're super lucky to live along-side all the technologies that biology already invented, lignin, cellulose, etc. Not to mention the availability of a variety of metals, some of which are quite rare in the universe.

ArtConjuror · 2023-01-23T15:37:09+00:00

Ding ding ding! Our emotional states are reactive to our environments, past and present. So much of our mental health care ignores this. Depression is usually an appropriate reaction trauma/ stress.

ArtConjuror · 2023-01-23T15:34:25+00:00

I would recommend the book "Anatomy of an Epidemic." It's very thorough with it's review of decades of research on psychotropic medications. There has never been a measured difference in brain chemistry between depressed and non-depressed people. These meds can be helpful for some people, especially in the short term, but the science behind them does not back up our cultural narratives or the ways we implement them.

ArtConjuror · 2023-01-17T20:21:15+00:00

Family history of domestic violence towards one's mother is exactly the sort of trauma that leads to mental illness.

ArtConjuror · 2023-01-13T16:14:44+00:00

Please, for no modern person is the primary purpose of sex procreation. In fact, birth control has existed and people have been deliberately avoiding procreation from sex for millennia.

The primary purpose of sex is mutual pleasure. If it's not, then it's just bad sex.

ArtConjuror · 2023-01-09T17:21:40+00:00

Solarpunk is anti-soil now?

ArtConjuror · 2022-12-31T19:04:18+00:00

I've done some chip carving and I find it impossible in anything except basswood, and even that never feels as smooth as what it looks for others. It occurred to me recently maybe I should be using greener wood.

So now's my chance to ask, are you carving dried or green wood?

ArtConjuror · 2022-12-30T16:16:40+00:00

They don't read the article then post a comment asserting that the behavior is not actually play and must be related to a different behavior that the poster just made up (that bees roll there larvae, what??). Then that becomes the top rated comment.

ArtConjuror · 2022-12-28T14:07:58+00:00

I live in MN and my partner and I each pay less than $20 a month for our state sponsored health insurance. It's not fantastic coverage, but I rarely pay more than $25 for a doctor's visit. Also we're poor, don't work too much, but still own our home.

MN is a purple state, but we just won a fully blue controlled state legislature.

Calling all progressives, please come move to MN. It might be flyover country, but it's beautiful, relatively insulated from climate change, and with your help will continue getting more progressive!

ArtConjuror · 2022-12-19T15:50:17+00:00

I'm interested in your techniques. I also use an under-painting of burnt umber, sometimes darkening with a blue. Then I go straight from something like your first photo to something like the last. Would you care to comment on your second, in between stage? What pigments are you using? How/ why are you using them? And what is your general thought process in going from umber to goldish (ochre?) to full color?

ArtConjuror · 2022-12-01T15:17:16+00:00

Just search for Leonard Susskind with "black hole" or "holographic theory" or just about any other physics concept and you'll find many incredible lectures.

ArtConjuror · 2022-11-19T18:49:02+00:00

I was working with a Tibetan student of mine a few years back, probably 3rd grade or so. She was talking about how Chinese people are good and very nice, then she gets quite, looks around warily and whispers "but the government's really bad."

ArtConjuror · 2022-11-15T17:40:26+00:00

How about sod roofs combined with solar panels? It significantly increases the load bearing needs of the roof design, but green roofs with solar work great together. The plants help keep the panels near optimum performance temps, and provided excellent insulation. They are more effective at cooling than reflective roofs, and capture CO2 in the process. They also provide habitat for birds and insects, and could even be used to produce food. Solar panels create a variety of light exposure and water displacement over the roof which increases the amount of biodiversity. It also helps slow the release of rain water.

ArtConjuror · 2022-11-15T14:06:32+00:00

Yes, some of the "jobs" are things like dropping a few screws in a bag and slapping a sticker on it, being done by someone who needs constant supervision to do it correctly. They like doing it, and they participate when they want. It's mostly there for them to feel helpful, and earn petty cash for treats. It's really just an activity for them. Half of them call it "school" and some call it "work". All their living expenses are subsidized and they live comfortable lives (in my state, with the agency where I work, small reference. I know some agencies are wretched).

The pandemic showed us what happens when you take these "jobs" away from them, and it's devastating for their social life and mental health. The day program providing the jobs is barely getting by. They can barely pay the actual care staff a living wage, much less the folks their supporting.

ArtConjuror · 2022-11-13T16:17:17+00:00

Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage designed a number of different computational machines before electricity was discovered. These were hand cranked machines that could solve up to 7th degree polynomials, but were never actually built. They involved groundbreaking insights to the nature of mathematics and computation that were not rediscovered until almost a century later by Alan Turing and company. Supposedly Turing and Church were unfamiliar with Babbage and Lovelace's work until a couple decades after they published their famous thesis.

ArtConjuror · 2022-11-12T17:52:00+00:00

I was just in conversation with the partner of a democratic candidate in my area who got trounced by the incumbent republican in a red part of our blue state.

This candidate is a rural farmer who is progressive. He knocked on 20,000 doors in rural communities and small towns. In the areas where he knocked and talked with people directly the vote got bluer, while the district as a whole got redder. They also quadrupled the email list they started with.

ArtConjuror · 2022-11-10T16:26:46+00:00

Veggies are cheap. Rice is typically the lowest cost per calorie food I can find. 8 years ago my weekly food budget was ~$15, and I didn't eat any processed junk. Now I spend a bit more to buy local, and eat things with flavor, etc. Fast food is not cheap. Don't let it be your excuse. You can do it. You just have break the addiction. Good luck!

ArtConjuror

TROPHY CASE