![](/artifacts.png) # Town Hall #15: Artifacts [^note]: [Subscribe to Taylor's Town Hall via email](https://newsletter.taylor.town). Most of my essay/project ideas are stored in a file called `ideas.txt`. It's 897KB of [plain-text](/long-live-plain-text). 101,721 words of cryptic nonsense like this: water under the fridge "todo bankrupty" finishing list of favorite things extremely low-effort children's books pocket gods common ways to waste your life "microwaves are for cowards" death requires no prep; there's nothing you can do "the view from inside my skull" “stuff that happens to other people": death, theft, pain, addiction, victory "metaphysics was invented by papyrus manufacturerers to sell more scrolls" a guide to giving trinkets to strangers exploring the word warriors underused word lists moon's haunted rootin' tootin' pollutants Each concept makes complete sense to me. I see _microwaves are for cowards_ and think "Oh yeah, [Tyler Cowen](https://marginalrevolution.com) and my cousin Brooke both oppose microwave ovens for different reasons. Are their reasons sound? Are there other people like this? That reminds me of people who brag about not owning televisions. Do I act like one of those people, even though I own a televison? How did stereotypes of television and microwave owners evolve over time?" And so starts a search for [secret artifacts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artifact_%28archaeology%29). Hunt. Dig for truth. Filter noise. Appraise opinions. Label, organize, and collect dust. My brain feels like 31 seasons of [_Hoarders_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoarders_%28TV_series%29). Thousands of jars of fermenting thoughts line my skull's walls. Some ideas spoiled long ago, but it's hard to tell kimchi from poison until I pop a lid. To clear mountains of [curios](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bric-à-brac) from my mind, I mix them into essays, stories, software, songs, dolls, carvings, etc. Distillation is difficult. My compression process is [lossy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lossy_compression) and full of [artifacts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compression_artifact). Sometimes I'm ashamed of the artifacts; sometimes it's the whole point. [Fermentation funk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCOBY) is weird. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm happy doing lots of it. --- ## New Writings Design: - ☆ [Digital Desire Paths](/digital-desire-paths) - [what are authors even trying to do?](/what-is-the-author-trying-to-do) Life: - ☆ [Living with Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS)](/sads) - [if it talks like a therapist…](/talk-like-a-therapist) - [How I Do Things: Chronic Fatigue Edition](/how-i-do-things-cf) - [Taming Your Infinite Queues](/infinite-queues) Software: - ☆ [Compressing Codebase Collocates](/code-collocates) - [Russian Woman Achieves 9x “Mythical” Man Month](/woman-month) Other: - [My Podcast Subscriptions](/podcasts) - [How to opt-out of ChatGPT training without clearing conversation history](/chatgpt-opt-out) ## Recommendations [^note]: You can also scour my entire history of [book reviews](/books), [album ratings](/music), and [active podcasts](/podcasts). You may also want to [read about my rating system](/2-stars). ### Books {books} | | | | | --------------------------------------: | ----- | ----------------------------------------------------------- | | [review](/books#strange) | ★★★☆☆ | _Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell_ :: Susanna Clarke | | [review](/books#piranesi) | ★★★★☆ | _Piranesi_ :: Susanna Clarke | | [review](/books#all-the-birds) | ★★★★☆ | _All The Birds In The Sky_ :: Charlie Jane Anders | | [review](/books#about-this) | ★★★★☆ | _No One Is Talking About This_ :: Patricia Lockwood | | [review](/books#east-of-eden) | ★★★★★ | _East of Eden_ :: John Steinbeck | | [review](/books#scientific-revolutions) | ★★★☆☆ | _The Structure of Scientific Revolutions_ :: Thomas S. Kuhn | | [review](/books#the-body) | ★★☆☆☆ | _The Body_ :: Bill Bryson | ### Music {music} | | | | ----- | :------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | ★★★★★ | Björk :: _Selmasongs (Music from the Motion Picture "Dancer in the Dark")_ | | ★★★★☆ | August Burns Red :: _Messengers_ | | ★★★★☆ | I See Stars :: _3-D_ | | ★★★★☆ | Marvin Gaye :: _What's Going On_ | | ★★★★☆ | Purity Ring :: _Another Eternity_ | | ★★★★☆ | Tigran Hamasyan :: _Mockroot_ | | ★★★★☆ | death's dynamic shroud :: _Faith In Persona_ | | ★★★☆☆ | Burden of a Day :: _Blessed Be Our Ever After_ | | ★★★☆☆ | DJ Kuroneko :: _The End - EP_ | | ★★★☆☆ | Hannah Diamond :: _Perfect Picture_ | | ★★★☆☆ | The Beach Boys :: _All Summer Long_ | | ★★★☆☆ | Wayne Shorter :: _Native Dancer_ | | ★★★☆☆ | umru :: _Search Result - EP_ | | ★★☆☆☆ | (T-T)b :: _Good Talk_ | | ★★☆☆☆ | A Rocket to the Moon :: _On Your Side_ | | ★★☆☆☆ | Anthony Braxton :: _Town Hall 1972 - EP_ | | ★★☆☆☆ | Helen Love :: _Love and Glitter, Hot Days and Musik_ | | ★★☆☆☆ | Kara's Walk Home :: _I Don't Want to Look at the Stars_ | | ★★☆☆☆ | Nicolas Jaar :: _Space Is Only Noise_ | | ★★☆☆☆ | Porches :: _Pool_ | | ★★☆☆☆ | Sexy-Synthesizer :: _Sexy-Synthesizer Presents Funky-Bit_ | | ★★☆☆☆ | TEMPLIME & Hoshimiya Toto :: _Escapism - EP_ | | ★★☆☆☆ | The Fiery Furnaces :: _EP_ | | ★★☆☆☆ | The Soft Machine :: _The Soft Machine_ | | ★★☆☆☆ | Tom Carter :: _Long Time Underground_ | | ★★☆☆☆ | Underoath :: _Cries of the Past_ | | ★★☆☆☆ | Various Artists :: _Hohokum (Original Game Soundtrack)_ | | ★★☆☆☆ | WagakkiBand :: _四季彩-shikisai-_ | | ★★☆☆☆ | Weyes Blood :: _And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow_ | | ★★☆☆☆ | bôa :: _Twilight_ | | ★★☆☆☆ | tide/edit :: _Lightfoot_ | | ★☆☆☆☆ | Bossfight :: _Next Wave_ | | ★☆☆☆☆ | Coheed and Cambria :: _Year Of The Black Rainbow_ | | ★☆☆☆☆ | gum.mp3 :: _Neurogenesis_ | ### Videos {videos} If you're into surrealist devlogs about cellular automata, you'll love binging [TodePond videos](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taNguu5T22g&list=ULcxqQ59vzyTk&index=1) from my friend, [Lu Wilson](https://www.todepond.com)! - [RIBA House of the Year 2023: Green House](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1BNHSWITlo) - [guy screaming for help while holding a chick fil a drink](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITo-WbpANi0) - [Life Could be a Dream - Horizontally Spinning Rat](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGpLljWfoYI) - [The Lord of the Rings - Welcome to Rivendell (ft. LEGO)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4g0egUS2O8) - [It took me 3 years to build... LEGO City Timelapse](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji7JLWwmZ1g) - [WHAT ARE YOU DOING ON COMPUTER](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNmCm4oyrkY) - [Understanding Typical Woodburning Mistakes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsJ1VMKGvMU) - [Is Fake London Really That Bad? (A Reply to NJB)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQEHQjGBCPQ) - [Japan travel guide#32 - Akita(1) Chokaisan Wooden Toy Museum](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwaNHGYDOIk) - [when your family is musically competent](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83jvnTyuq9s) - [Chewy Milk Mochi in 5 minutes \[Only 3 ingredients\]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3L0zU4U_Fc) - [take that back leorio but it’s dubbed by me and my 8 year old brother](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXqbpNH7jSU) - [4 Months of Game Programming With My Own Engine](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyhrqbfEgfA) - [Introducing Mathematica, Stephen Wolfram](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeuCAT5HDh0) - [From the moment I understood the weakness of my flesh, it disgusted me](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n7eNFj_9Vk) - [The Hills Are Alive With ...The Sound of Machine Gun Fire (WITH AUDIO)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmFgAMTEg0E) - [Eastern & Western Design: How Culture Rewires The Brain](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UAsN9wvePE) - [autistic playlist for when they lock you in a rubber room with rats](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIqy2Q0PvgE) - [Lil Fire Alarm - Wednesday Grease Fire](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c8m6JfwHWQ) - [Do Hot Girls Like Chords?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ois3gfcwKSA) - [NPCs in Video Games](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0djdUypilBs) - [Hitler uses Docker](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PivpCKEiQOQ) - [what parts don't you like?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGVE2bJCL-Y) - [This Train Station Has No Business Being This Good](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HACaRm2KP6Q) - [Trying to beat my personal record 11:591](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax92_WtOTlE) - [hey this is Phil from the Small Weiner Club](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9WNkH3v_lo) - [Caroline Polachek - So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings (Official Video)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sn3cHUtNZKo)