My 2025 in Review

This is my 2025 in review. I couldn't figure out what to say, really, because I have a terrible memory and I am sure I'd forget a lot of things. So I asked AI to come up with some questions for me about my 2025 so I can remember. 

Reflection & Growth

• 1. The "One Word" Summary: If you had to describe this past year with just one word, what would it be? Why does that word capture the essence of your experience? Productive. Because this year we finished painting and wallpapering the office/focus room, and painted the liquarium, and the bathroom downstairs. 
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• 2. The Hardest Lesson: What was the most difficult lesson you learned this year? How did that challenge change your perspective or the way you handle things now? 
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• 3. The "Biggest Regret" Reframed: What is your biggest regret from the year, and if you could go back, what specific piece of advice would you give your past self to navigate it differently? I think my biggest regret is not being festive or really having fun/celebrating holidays. We usually decorate and eat food for Mardi Gras, Chinese New Year, birthdays, Spring holidays, Halloween, winter holidays, etc but last year we didn't, really. I didn't even have a Christmas tree. I want to be festive this year. I don't know what happened, but things just got in the way of the holidays.

Achievements & Highlights

• 4. The "Unsung Hero" Moment: Beyond the big milestones everyone saw on social media, what was a small, quiet victory you achieved that you are deeply proud of? I am proud of the fact that I got over my Mid-Life-Crisis thing, where I was scared to grow old and it was freaking me out. I don't feel that way anymore. I suddenly decided that my body may be 46, but my attitude doesn't have to be old. I can still be a youthful 46. I am not as scared of growing old now. Because there's nothing I can do about it. So, just have fun while you can!
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• 5. The Surprise Twist: What happened this year that you never could have predicted last January? How did you adapt to this unexpected change? I had no idea painting the rooms in the house would be so fruitful. We did 3 rooms this past year. And had a lot of fun doing it. Especially the liquarium (library with a marine theme). 
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• 6. Your Best Creative Work: What is one project, idea, or creation you worked on this year that felt the most "you"? What made that process so fulfilling? And speak of the devil: The Liquarium. Happy painting mistakes turned into the coolest design on a wall. Let me show you a picture: 

Connections & Influence

• 7. The Game-Changer Person: Who is one person who entered your life (or became more prominent in it) this year who significantly influenced your growth or happiness? I can't say enough about my mate, L. She and I grow closer and closer each and every year we've been together. It's been 16 years now and I love her so very much. She and I had a couple fights this year but we want to work on that. The big fights usually ensue due to me being in a mixed bipolar episode or a dysphoric mania. 

• 8. Discovery of the Year: What was your favorite "find" this year? This could be a new book, a hobby, a specific place, or even a new way of thinking that you now swear by. I'll take a NOUN for $800: I finally got a new laptop in April. I needed it badly and I love it. I can actually work on music and art and use it a lot more efficiently than the last piece of shit that I had. 

Looking Forward

• 9. What You’re Leaving Behind: What habit, mindset, or resentment are you intentionally choosing to leave in the past year as you move into the new one? I want to leave pessimistic thinking behind. I also don't want to be toxically positive, but I just want to keep an even balance with how I think and interact and treat people.

• 10. The "North Star" for Next Year: Based on everything that happened this year, what is the single most important thing you want to prioritize in the coming 12 months? I want to find the private garden where we want to do our "warranty" ring exchange (not getting married). And I want to travel/explore Indiana and maybe the surrounding areas a little more. This means working some overtime for extra $ but it's worth it because I think making memories and having fun is very important.

Here's some pictures from 2025:

Indigo Girls and Melissa Etheridge concert

Everclear concert (free) in Kokomo 

My favorite wall in the house

L and her mom at the zoo

L painting the Liquarium

Dave Matthews Band concert @Ruoff in Noblesville IN

Indiana Fever WNBA game

Top 10 Downtempo/Chillout/Psychill&Psybient Albums of 2025

The title is a mouthful. I apologize. The reason for this, is because not all of the following albums have a psychedelic flair to them. But they all have one thing in common: They are in the Top 10 list because they put out beautiful downtempo electronic music this year.

This year was difficult for me and new music. I just was having a difficult time finding new releases, and when I did, nothing stood out to me. Suddenly at the very end of the year a friend linked me to a website that listed a ton of new releases (shoutout to psyfeed.org). So picture me in December, frantically listening to all the new music of 2025 that had come out in that year. The fact remains, however, that I did find the new music, and I did find great new music. Here they are: I will let the music speak for itself here!

10. Emog - Temple of the Turning Sun

psychill

9. Lotus - Sounds of Snow

psybient, chilltrance (chillgressive)

8. Sundial Aeon - Nebulosis

psybient

7. Invisible Garden - Nautis

psychill

6. Brokenblender - Aether

psybass

5. Tales From The Path 2 - Kalya Scintilla

psybass

4. Psybur - Sporelight

psychill

3. Mattura - Rites of Passage

psybass

2. Magnetik - Renaissance

downtempo electronic

1. Geoglyph - Otherworldly

psychill

Congratulations to the Top 10 of 2025!

Introducing Bloodlight Horizon

My side project Obsydian Fox's new album just dropped to streaming! Check it out wherever you like to listen to music. 

Experimental ambient/electronic:

https://youtu.be/NqA4yLmmzyg?si=5nQIoW-mkRAR2TRI

https://open.spotify.com/album/7xiHw0CRVkx1efl8Gehrhe?si=rByJxz3vSXCQmKLDti3yqA

https://obsydianfox.bandcamp.com

Echoes of Light video

https://youtu.be/SgWVFDA5CXs

A video that I made for Echoes of Light, by Alien Navel Cord. Images were made by me using Midjourney, Dall-E, Leonardo.ai, and others.

Alien Navel Cord

About 12 years ago, I was unemployed. I often listened to music while laying on the floor, half-dreaming and half-paying attention to the soothing sounds of psychill and the energetic sounds of psytrance music. On a shelf nearby, was a lava lamp. The lava lamp had been on at a recent time, and the wax inside was grotesquely half twisted and contorted into what looked like an alien with an umbilical cord attached to the top. Instantly, the thought, "That looks like an alien navel cord" popped into my head. 

A picture of me from 2013 next to the lava lamp that displayed what appeared to be a baby alien attached with an umbilical cord. 

It wasn't until now, though, that I put that term to use, as Alien Navel Cord, a side music project of mine producing psychedelic electronic music. 

I have a Soundclick profile with 2 psybass tracks that I think are finished:

https://www.soundclick.com/AlienNavelCord

and I have a SoundCloud that has more than just the 2 tracks, but some psytrance and darker stuff:

https://soundcloud.com/aliennavelcord

Check them out, when you have time and leave some notes, I'd love to hear what you think!

DMB @ Ruoff 7.12.25

Went with my lovely lady to see Dave Matthews Band @ Ruoff Music Center in Noblesville, IN on the 12th. The band played on the 11th too but we aren't made of money.

Setlist:

It was a decent setlist. I've been spoiled by the Gorge. The setlists they play at the Gorge are really great. And Ruoff, since it is in the midwest, has a lot of rain so the stage and seating area has a roof which is weird to me, it isn't 100% open air. So me & my gal promised each other we would always gets seats -- the lawn looks terrible there.

The skies opened up about 2 hours before the show - I mean just poured cats & dogs. It was intense, and crazy rain. We stayed in the car mostly and didn't really have a big tailgate. 

We waited a half hour in line at the merch tent near the campground/parking area, and bought the 'weekend poster' and a t-shirt. The weekend poster features a red Bison. The tour poster for that particular night, shown here:       just wasn't as pleasing so we didn't buy it.

When we went to get in line to get inside the amphitheater, we waited in line for about an hour. Apparently they were trying to make sure it didn't rain again or delay the show. FINALLY we got in and got to our seats, ate some nachos, and then the band came out and performed. I am happy they played JTR (why wouldn't they, I mean, it rained a lot!) and Joyride was fun, I hadn't seen that one live yet.

Overall I give it a 3.5 stars out of 5. Decent, but not like going to the Gorge.

Fun times, though. 

The next weekend, we went and saw Kesha perform, which she put on a very good show as well. 

Psytrance! - Introducing AlienNavelCord

So my whole time 'making music' since 2000 was mostly just me messing around with samples and loops, and not being serious about it that much. But lately I've been taking it more seriously, trying to make awesome music that people will love.

ManiK Fox is kind of a non-serious project of mine. The music is kind of 'light' . I love psychill and downtempo music but my tracks always end up as mid-tempo. I can never feel patient enough with the tempo I guess.

So I started Obsydian Fox as a side project to allow that patience to sink in, with some experimental ambient music. Still not the best in terms of mixing and sound design.

But I am here to learn now, to be patient with myself as I do so. 

A few weeks ago, I took a pause from creating downtempo/chillout (that ends up being more mid-tempo) and decided to fuck around with 4 on the floor. Breakbeats is usually my style so I wasn't sure what it would end up as, but that is when I realized I am enjoying making psytrance.

It isn't perfect, and I've been rather frustrated trying to get my psytrance music the way I want it, but it is a good frustration. It's an excitement. It is fresh, new, and fun. 

I've been getting some really good advice and feedback, and I feel this may be where I belong. Maybe If I can get good at this style, I may be able to do chillout/psychill better in the future. I'd like to produce some psybass!

Check out my music here!

https://on.soundcloud.com/yZAvecoBfxqL8PaDrv

Obsydian Fox - Moonwaves!

Moonwaves out now on Spotify! And perhaps other streaming services already!

Check out my new experimental ambient album on Spotify!

https://open.spotify.com/album/54mmOIwz5A6JH0ccWcl9nB?si=YVraJfdER0mb895YmemkqA

Introducing Obsydian Fox

Back in 2013 I was listening to a lot of ambient music. Steve Roach, Rapoon, AUN, Robert Rich, and the like. I wanted to experiment with ambient so I came up with 4 tracks under the name Ohi, that I eventually compiled into an EP this past year. It isn't very good.

So I wanted to create something better in ambient, something that was still experimental with my own unique sound, but that was more serious and delicate.

I changed my ambient music project from Ohi to Obsydian Fox. And I am now working on material that I am more proud of than anything before, I think it is good and hope everyone likes it. I'm calling it "Moonwaves."

Top 10 Psychill/Psybient Albums of 2024

Get ready to dive deep into the psychedelic abyss! Our annual Top 10 Psychedelic Chill Albums of 2024 is here. Remember, everyone's trip is unique, so what's trippy to one might be mellow to another.

This year, we've been completely captivated by the mind-bending sounds of psydub. While I'm not not usually into psydub as much as the other styles, 2024 has delivered some truly groundbreaking artists who've redefined the genre.

We'll start with #10:

10. Squazoid - Electronic Heart

Squazoid's 'Electronic Heart' plunges deep into the psychedelic abyss with a sonic tapestry woven from shimmering reverb, echoing delays, and filters that warp reality. Pulsating beats intertwine with tantalizing hints of ethnic flavors, creating a mesmerizing soundscape that demands your undivided attention. (Did you know 'Electronic Heart' was recorded entirely live in a single session, capturing the raw energy and spontaneity of Squazoid's performance?)

9. Kick Bong - Elevation

Kick Bong's 'Elevation' crafts a deeply emotional psychill experience, a sonic journey through ethereal soundscapes. Delicious basslines pulse beneath layers of mesmerizing synth textures, creating a sense of soaring elevation and satisfying the inner adventurer's craving for sonic exploration. The album features flute by Mylene Coubronne on the tracks "Escape Time" and "The Wave". This adds an interesting element to those specific tracks.

8. Sundial Aeon - Aquamorphosis:

Sundial Aeon's 'Aquamorphosis' invites you on a tranquil voyage through sonic landscapes, a departure from their more intensely psychedelic past. While the journey may be smoother, you're still floating on a cloud of pure bliss, surrendering to the music's gentle currents as it carries you to uncharted sonic shores.

7. Moon Tripper - Echoes of Freedom:

With 'Echoes of Freedom,' Moon Tripper weaves a tapestry of sound, where psychedelic textures intertwine with soothing melodies, creating an atmosphere of pure enchantment. It's a journey into the heart of magic and wonder, a sonic escape that resonates deep within.

6. Psyrius - Return to Sol: 

Prepare for liftoff with Psyrius' 'Return to Sol,' a reimagining of their 2015 release, 'Sorry Pluto.' This album is a cosmic tapestry woven from shimmering psychill textures, creating an out-of-this-world atmosphere. While the inclusion of vocals (a full song and vocalizations elsewhere) didn't fully resonate with me, the instrumental sections are pure sonic bliss.

5. Globular - Lifts The Curse of the Grey Goo Assimilators : 

Globular unleashes a sonic antidote to monotony with 'Lifts The Curse of the Grey Goo Assimilators,' a funky, dub-infused explosion of bubbly, bass-driven goodness. This album is pure sonic joy, a guaranteed mood booster that will have you grooving from start to finish.

4. Ott - Hiraeth: 

Ott's 'Hiraeth' is a mind-bending journey into a kaleidoscopic soundscape, a jumbly, jittery, and utterly funky explosion of sonic textures. Prepare for a wild ride through distorted basslines, glitchy rhythms, and otherworldly melodies that will leave you feeling simultaneously exhilarated and delightfully disoriented.

3. Zymosis - Memento: 

Zymosis showcases their mastery of sound design with 'Memento,' a dynamic exploration of up-tempo and midtempo grooves. This album is a showcase of slick instrumentation and intricate production, delivering fast-paced mind-benders that will impress even the most discerning listener.

2. Auratech - Shambala: 

Auratech's 'Shambala' is a sonic pilgrimage to a mythical realm. Imagine swirling textures, pulsating rhythms, and soaring melodies, all underpinned by a truly badass bass that resonates deep within. This album is a feast for the senses, a journey through trippy beats and mind-bending FX that will leave you spellbound.

And #1 goes to...

1. Cabeiri - Beyond Time: 

With 'Beyond Time,' Cabeiri crafts a sonic world that transcends the ordinary. Haunting mysticism intertwines with supreme electronic vibes, creating a captivating atmosphere. Excellent synth lines dance across brilliant beats, while smooth pads provide a lush backdrop for the involving story that unfolds across the tracks. This is upbeat and midtempo electronic music elevated to an art form.

2024 proved to be a veritable treasure trove for psychill and psybient enthusiasts. The sheer volume of releases made the task of curation a challenging but ultimately rewarding endeavor. After countless hours of listening, these ten albums emerged as true gems, each offering a unique and captivating sonic journey. I'm confident that these selections represent some of the finest offerings the genre had to offer this year.

Have a listen to these YouTube clips of each album and tell  me which one is YOUR favorite!

Wednesday, November 10, 1993

Wednesday, Nov 10, 1993

Ever have “one of those days” that could be considered your most terrible day you’ve ever had an in your entire life? Yeah. For me, that was Wednesday, November 10, in 1993. I was 14, living with my mom and evil step-dad in Entiat, WA which is a town of about 900 people in the mountains. The nearest city was Wenatchee, which was a 45 minute drive away.

I woke up that morning, late for school. Normally my alarm went off an hour before I had to be at the bus stop, but this time, it magically didn’t go off. I woke up scrambling around trying to get ready, only to find I’d missed the bus. Shit. Thank god my mom had a day off and could take me to school. But the car wouldn’t start. Are you kidding me?! She had to try Evil Step-dad’s Scout. It wouldn’t start. So she tried the old yellow pickup. It wouldn’t start. She’d been having issues with her car’s alternator, so she resorted to charging the battery for an hour before we could go to my school. So, I was late.

I walked in and immediately sat down in my seat, next to my best friend Meagan. Since I was late, I didn’t say anything, I didn’t want to disrupt the class. I found out after class that because I didn’t greet her, she was upset with me. She wouldn’t talk to me. 

I learned that I was failing in Washington State History class, and my mom had to have a parent teacher meeting about it after school. The rest of my school day was uneventful. Then my mom drove up to have the parent teacher meeting - in a brand new car. I asked who’s car it was, and she said it was ours. It was a fancy dark emerald green Nissan. Her car was a rose colored Nissan Maxima. I asked where her old car was and she said, “gone.”

I hung around in the gym with my friend Robert after school while I waited for my mom. After the meeting, she came by to get me, seeming jovial. She told me she was also taking Robert and I was going to get a shampoo in Wenatchee, and she’d get him a haircut. Here is where shit goes sideways. We hop in the green car where my mom is silent for a little while. I’m sitting in the back seat, Robert it up front. My mom says, out of nowhere, “Your grandma died today, she had a heart attack. Jer (my Evil Step-dad) also died of a heart attack.” I was shocked, and flabberghasted. Why did she seem ok? In fact, why did she seem giddy?

The rest of the car ride was awkward and strange. Next, she said, “We’re starting new so I burned all our things.” WHAT?! I started asking questions. I wasn’t sure if I believed her or not. She didn’t say anything, just kept driving. “We need to make a stop first before your shampooo.” I didn’t even need a shampoo.

We pulled up to a Nissan car dealership in Wenatchee. She rolls down the window, and tells the salesman who comes up, that she’d like to buy the car. He says, “great! Let’s go inside and sign the paperwork!” and she says, “No, I’d like to just stay in here please.” He gives her a strange look and says, “No, sorry, we need to go inside.” She argues with him for a minute, then she takes off her gold watch and gives it to him, as a bribe. He still refuses, of course, and looks at us kids. We shrug and he urges her to get out of the car. Finally she gets out and goes inside. Robert turns to me and says, “Is your mom alright?” and I said, “I don’t know.”

While my mom is inside assumingly filling out paperwork, the salesman comes to the window of the car we’re sitting in, and hands me her gold watch and asks if she’s ok. “I don’t know — apparently her mother and husband both died of heart attacks today” I said. He gave me a sympathy look and told me he was sorry to hear that, and seemed like he understood now why she was acting strange.

Then he left, and my mom came back. She said we were taking our old car, and so we got out of the green one and back into her old car. We then drove to JC Penney, a clothing store in the mall where she was a manager. She forced me to get a goddamn shampoo, and Robert got a haircut. While I was getting shampoo’d, the stylist asked if my mom was ok. I told her, just as I’d told the car salesman, that family had died so she was probably acting strange because of that. 

When my mom came to get us, she was in all brand new clothes. I asked why she was in New clothes, and she told me her old clothes she burned. I was very weirded out at this point. 

She said we were now going to meet a group of her friends at a restaurant in Leavenworth, a 20 minute drive from Wenatchee. So we drive to Leavenworth, to find that the restaurant she was meeting them at was closed. She said, “that's fine, we'll just go to this other one (called the Katzenjammer Kids... It was a German Alps tourist town).” I said, “mom. If we were supposed to meet your friends at the other place, how will they know we'll be at this one?” and she said to me, “my friends are all psychic like me, they'll know where to find us.” 

We get inside this dimly lit steakhouse restaurant, where my mom asks for a table for 12. They said that's a big request so it will take some time. After a few minutes, my mom went in the bar to wait. Finally the table was ready, and Robert and I went to sit down. We ordered salads because we were hungry. 

After a while a waitress came up and kneeled down so no one could hear her. She said my mom was very drunk and could one of us drive? Robert said he would. He was 16, and had his license. 

My mom came back from the bar and said we had to leave (I don’t know if they kicked her out or not), but that she had to use the bathroom first. When she came out of the bathroom, she left her purse in the stall. I asked where her purse was, and she said, “It’s ok, I’ll get a new one.” And I said, “but mom your wallet and keys and stuff, are inside it.” So I went and got her purse. Robert and I waited in the car for her. It was cold, and she told us we could sit and get warm but not to take the car around the block like we’d asked. We did it anyway, but the car stalled a block away and we had to get a jump from a nice man who saw us in trouble. 

When we finally pulled back up to the restauraunt, my mom was ready. I don’t know if or how she settled the bill, but she seemed in good spirits.

She sat in the backseat, and I was up front with Robert driving. Because he was a teenage boy, we went very fast, especially alont Route 97-Alt which was right up against the Columbia river, with just a meager guard rail. 

I looked in the back seat and saw my mom passed out. As Robert went around curves, she lurchaed forward and backward like her body was limp. I was very concerned, scared, curious, and confused. 

When we got to my house, Robert slept on the couch. It was a holiday the next day, so there was no school (Veteran’s Day).  I put mom to bed. In her new clothes, new jewelry and all. I gave her back her gold watch. She seemed angry with me, and said it was for the car salesman. I told her he gave it back, and she seemed to accept it. 

While Robert slept on the couch, I was in the other room calling my Step-dad’s workplace. They said he was fine, and he was working right now (night stocker at a grocery store). I called my Aunt then, who lived with my Grandmother. She said Grandma was fine, and that I needed to call my Dad. I thought that was strange, my aunt didnt like my dad. But I called him, and that’s when he told my mom had Bipolar Disorder, and was apparently having a manic episode with psychosis. 

I was shocked. Why hadn’t anyone told me? 

After that day shit got out of control and we ended up leaving that town. That in itself is another story. About how my mother pissed off the mafia, was raped, and then we got kicked out of the house by the Evil Step-dad. Like I said, a whole ‘nother story. 

I will always hate whenever November 10 falls on a Wednesday. 

Cold Creatures: Revisited. Or... Midjourney Again!

So lately my friends in the Vibe Nexus Discord server were raving about how great Midjourney is, and how fun it was to play with personalization, character references, and style references. Well, I used to use Midjourney but gave up on it when it stopped working for me really well. Version 6 just didn't know what I wanted, and Dalle seemed to fill the gap.

But I thought why not pick back up on Midjourney and see what everyone is liking. I decided to experiment with some Cold Creatures, which as you know from this eariler post, was one of the image themes I had the most fun making. Also, please see the banner image, it is also of a Cold Creature.

I tried experimenting with personalization codes, (mine and others) as well as character reference and style reference. Here are the fruits of this labor:

I will say this, so far Midjourney v6.1 and NijiJourney 6 are fun to play with, but when I want a serious image that I have more control over, I will use mage.space's Flux, or LimeWire's Imagen 3.

When The World Ends

There seems to be a new GenZ trend made popular on TikTok (of course) called, "Silent Walking" where one simply.. walks. No earbuds or headphones, no phone, nothing. Just walks, quietly. 

I rolled my eyes of course, being a GenX. "Silent Walking" to me was 1982 walking to a payphone with a quarter in your pocket. It's just walking. But what I realized about what this GenZ trend is trying to tell us, is that we're too dependent on technology in our lives. They are making apps that sound an alarm when you've been on your phone too long. Some TVs have the ability to shut themselves off at certain programmable times. GenZ people are trying to now distance themselves from their screens.

It got me thinking. What would happen if one of these cyber attacks took out the internet? Well, I got a slice of that life the other day.

Wednesday started out like any other day. Woke up, took my pills, drank some coffee, logged on to work. My S.O. works in my department but for a different team doing a different thing. Our office is under construction right now, so we are seated at a card table in our library. Sitting immediately next to each other. And our systems were both slow and laggy. Now, this is nothing new. Our company cut a lot of IT departments and money a few years ago, so the systems don't run very well. But this seemed a little too much. Our internet started disconnecting. Uh oh. I reset the Wifi, but that didn't help. We have T-Mobile 5G Home Internet, so it relies on T-Mobile cell towers for internet access. Then suddenly...*poof* it went out. And I couldn't get it back. In the beginning of a work day! We were incredibly stressed out. I called T-Mobile, (which was a miracle in itself, since our MVNO we subscribe to uses T-Mobile as one of their offerings which we just happened to have on our phones) who advised that two towers went down in my town - more specifically, fiber optic transfer lines. The ETA was 11:AM Central time (I'm in Eastern Time). It was 9am at that time. We had some ways to go. We just sat at our work laptops trying and trying and trying to connect. 

12 Noon (11am CST) came and went with no uptick in service. I called again. I was fortunate that their Voice services were fine, so I text my supervisor with updates and call for support. T-Mobile told me there was now no ETA but there was a technician out there attempting to repair the issue. 

The rest of the work day went by with us just sitting there attempting to connect over and over and over again, stressed out. When my time to clock out came, I got up, put the laptop to sleep and sat on the couch. I realized that everything we watch on TV is available via streaming only, so we wouldn't be able to watch anything. That's when we got on a ladder and hung the little antenna on the wall and scanned for air channels. We found 8. We watched Married With Children (yuck) and Roseanne (yay) for a while before bed. I would've picked up a book and read for a while, but it was too dark and I didn't want to hold my phone flashlight above a book for an hour. I think we used to have booklights, but I don't know where those went. Anyway...

I woke up in the middle of the night nearly (11pm) and the Wifi was back. I was so relieved. Another day of worrying about how to connect to work was going to be upsetting. 

What would we all do? I can't go back to the 80's or 90's. I refuse. Life is so much easier now. Everything is at your fingertips, information is flowing. Knowledge is a click away. Why would we ever go back to silence?

But if the internet went down... what then? What about those people who have kitchen appliances that rely on Wifi to be used? What if we need to do banking, with a company that has no brick and mortar stores? (before you say "phone call" you should know something about me: I. Do. Not. Make. Calls.). I feel like we are SO dependent on technology that if something were to happen to it, we'd all be lost. We are no longer built for the 80's. Our infrastructure, our society, is no longer that of the 1990's neanderthal. We couldn't do it.

Which is why I am so pissed that I kept trying to get into the cybersecurity scene, but it keeps kicking me out. If you don't have a bachelor's degree and at least one certification, sorry not sorry, you can't help.

I want to help! Because as I said.. silence is deafening, and we couldn't do it.

LimeWire: Yes, You Heard Me!

LimeWire!

Do you remember LimeWire, the file sharing program that everyone downloaded music from in the early 00's? It's back. But not in the way you'd think...

The new LimeWire AI art generator is not from the same company as the old file-sharing LimeWire. The original LimeWire, a popular peer-to-peer file-sharing service, was shut down in 2010 due to legal issues. The LimeWire brand was later acquired by a different company, which is now using the name to launch new products, including the AI art generator. This new company has no direct connection to the original developers of the file-sharing service.

That's right, I said AI art generator. It also has an AI assistant (much like ChatGPT, Gemini, or CoPilot), and text-to-music. You can edit your images as well as upscale and inpaint/outpaint. So, with all these features, how does it compare? I will be focusing here on the AI Art generating aspect since that's my specialty, but later at some point, we will go through the text-to-music and the soon-to-come image-to-music feature.

Upon entering the site, you get several options. If you click "Create Image" it takes you to the screen where you enter your prompt. Once you hit "generate" it takes literally 1 to 2 seconds for your image to appear, depending on the options you choose. I'm used to others like Midjourney and DALL-E, which can take upwards of a minute or two if not even more, to generate an image. So this was a welcome surprise.

You can also use negative prompts to provide a nuance to the images you'd like to generate. Each image costs 2.40 credits if you use certain Stable Diffusion Models, 3.00 credits for Google's Imagen, and about 4.50 for Stable Diffusion Ultra, out of 10 free credits given, but there are packages you can purchase for a subscription fee.

For $9.99 a month you get 2000 images and 400 audios. You get access to all models, and no ads, plus more. From there it goes to $29.00 a month for even more features. This first tier is comparable to the paid amount for the basic Midjourney which provides a limited amount of hours for you to generate at $10.00. It is also cheaper than DALL-E which is $20 with ChatGPT pro.  So, I would say this $9.99 is a good deal. Here's why:

The images generate quickly but are fantastic in quality. The prompt adherence is not as good unless using DALL-E 3, (which uses 6.00 credits), but better when you use the prompt adherence slider on some models, and also much better than Midjourney and others. It hardly matters though because you have the ability to tweak your image using some of their features that are available.  You can switch aspect ratios or dimensions, and on some models, you can select your prompt adherence values, as mentioned above. 

LimeWire's Discord server features daily and weekly contests, with the ability to win LMWR currency, which I have a note pinned to look into more for further details. 

I have been testing LimeWire's models, and I will share some of the images below.

All in all, LimeWire is a pleasant surprise. I will be using it a lot more, and hopefully soon will post a review for their audio features, as well! Try it out, I hope you enjoy it. 

http://limewire.com

I Am The Fox: Two Poems

"I am The Fox" 

In the moonlit woods where shadows play, I am the fox, with wily charm to sway, With a sparkle in my eye, a mischievous gleam, I dance through life like a whimsical dream.

My fur, a cloak of rust and gold, Stories of cunning and fun unfold, I’m silly, I’m spry, with a heart so pure, In the world of the wild, I am nature's allure.

Adorable I stand, with a playful grin, In the forest’s embrace, I feel akin, Loyal to kin, to friends so dear, My jovial spirit spreads warmth and cheer.

With every leap and bound, I’m free, A master of tricks, yet true to thee, In the whispering winds, my laughter sings, A fox’s tale of joy it brings.

So here I am, the fox, both sly and sweet, In the woodland’s heart, life’s rhythms beat, With cunning and joy, a harmonious blend, I am the fox, your eternal friend.

-- ChatGPT

"I Too, Am The Fox" 

I am the fox, just like the lore, cunning and more

I bounce and I play in the meadows and in the glade

I frolic in fun and I'm never done

Wily and free, I am the fox as silly as can be

Loyal with a mischievous streak, my yips aren't weak

I cry out for love, I cry out for fun

I cry out for nature, I cry out for sun

I am the fox, wily and free, just as carefree as anyone could be

- Me.

I wrote the 2nd one by myself. I know, it's crummier than that ChatGPT one. But I'm not a poet or a masterful AI chatbot, either.

Independence Day

Happy Birthday America!

We. Are. Doomed. 

Taylor Swift's muse timeline!

My mate just spent a lot of time and research on this blog about Taylor Swift's complete muse timeline. If you're interested, here is the link!

https://kit10phish-explains-it-all-45637244.hubspotpagebuilder.com/raw-my-uncensored-thoughts-and-opinions/combo-masters-taylor-swift-timeline

and a random image:

Cold Creatures

So today I went a little nuts making these creatures on Dalle that started as creepy little creatures holding glowing hearts in a ruined, smoking city. The gist was "cold creatures, warm heart". In other words don't judge a book by its cover; these creatures were offering warm hearts, despite their visual representation. I kept making these images though, one after another, using a prompt that I pieced together from other older prompts of mine. So the creatures evolved over time and it was no longer a heart they were holding, so I just call this series "Cold Creatures". 

I'm attempting to post some of the images here.