---
title: "Dispatch #37 (March 2026)"
date: 2026-02-07T13:11:30-05:00
draft: false
tags:
- dispatch
references:
- title: "The Point of Pointless Corp. in the AI Age | Viget"
  url: https://www.viget.com/articles/the-point-of-pointless-corp-in-the-ai-age
  date: 2026-03-04T04:31:17Z
  file: www-viget-com-7crcce.txt
- title: "Everything is awesome (why I'm an optimist)"
  url: https://www.joanwestenberg.com/everything-is-awesome-why-im-an-optimist/
  date: 2026-03-10T19:48:59Z
  file: www-joanwestenberg-com-3uezea.txt
- title: "The Productive Afterward"
  url: https://www.chrbutler.com/the-productive-afterward
  date: 2026-03-10T19:49:00Z
  file: www-chrbutler-com-avdt2j.txt
- title: "Dan Simmons Is Dead, So It's Time To Read 'Hyperion' | Defector"
  url: https://defector.com/dan-simmons-is-dead-so-its-time-to-read-hyperion
  date: 2026-03-10T19:48:53Z
  file: defector-com-mj4bn2.txt
- title: "How AI Wreaked Havoc on the Lo-Fi Beat Scene | Pitchfork"
  url: https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/how-ai-wreaked-havoc-on-the-lo-fi-beat-scene/
  date: 2026-03-10T19:48:49Z
  file: pitchfork-com-30jzgl.txt
- title: "Musical Beings Tembo: this magnetic drum machine turns the whole family into beatmakers - SYNTH ANATOMY"
  url: https://synthanatomy.com/2026/02/musical-beings-tembo-magnetic-this-magnetic-drum-machine-turns-the-whole-family-into-beatmakers.html
  date: 2026-03-10T19:48:57Z
  file: synthanatomy-com-xthm71.txt
---

- New (to us) RAV4 Prime
  - Went an entire month before it needed gas
  - On my deathbed perhaps I'll regret the amount of time I spent hunting down the perfect right-angle quarter-inch TRS-to-XLR audio cable
  - My life is keeping things charged
  - My wife calls me "the charging fairy," flitting around the house, plugging things in
- [Pointless][1]
- 3D printing
  - Valentines
- Friend visit
- Fam visit
- Tree work
- Deck project

{{<dither IMG_9858.jpeg "782x600">}}Four kids, one couch, absolute chaos.{{</dither>}}
{{<dither IMG_9914.jpeg "782x600">}}A child clings to their grandmother on a swing at the playground.{{</dither>}}

[1]: https://www.viget.com/articles/the-point-of-pointless-corp-in-the-ai-age

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### This Month

* Adventure: Baltimore; Vegas
* Project:
* Skill:

### Reading & Listening

* Fiction: [_The Strength of the Few_][2], James Islington (the [first book][3] in this series was a bit of a slog -- I've read too many books about magic high schools for one lifetime -- but the ending got me pretty good, and this one's a pretty big departure)
* Non-fiction: [_Title_][4], Author
* Music: [_Polymood_][5], L'Eclair

[2]: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Strength-of-the-Few/James-Islington/Hierarchy/9781982141233
[3]: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Will-of-the-Many/James-Islington/Hierarchy/9781982141189
[4]: https://bookshop.org/
[5]: https://leclairband.bandcamp.com/album/polymood

### Links

* [Everything is awesome (why I'm an optimist)][6] ([via][7])

  > I'm going to argue that the pessimists have the best narratives and the worst track record. The doom scenarios require assumptions that don't survive contact with economic history, and the psychological posture you bring to this moment actually matters for how it turns out.

* [Dan Simmons Is Dead So It's Time To Read 'Hyperion' | Defector][8]

  > All that stuff (besides The Terror, which I truly love) might be an acquired taste for non-genre fans. Which brings us to the entire purpose of this blog: me telling you to read Hyperion, and then you coming back later and saying thank you.

* [How AI Wreaked Havoc on the Lo-Fi Beat Scene | Pitchfork][9]

  > It’s likely that as AI advances and makes reasonable facsimiles of even more genres, there’ll be a reverse push for realness—akin to listeners obsessing over vinyl or obscure formats, the human touch could become a boutique feature, like raw milk at the farmer’s market. Lo-AI hasn’t won the battle yet; it means too much to these people. “When things get so bleak with lo-fi or just the world, right, it’s very easy to enter a state of nihilism. Like, why should I do any of it, when it’s all so fruitless?” Reade said. “You do it for yourself. That’s the core thing with art and music for me.”

* [Musical Beings Tembo: this magnetic drum machine turns the whole family into beatmakers][10]

  > Musical Beings Tembo is a new family-friendly drum machine with real-time sampling capabilities, programmed with magnets.

[6]: https://www.joanwestenberg.com/everything-is-awesome-why-im-an-optimist/
[7]: https://www.chrbutler.com/the-productive-afterward
[8]: https://defector.com/dan-simmons-is-dead-so-its-time-to-read-hyperion
[9]: https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/how-ai-wreaked-havoc-on-the-lo-fi-beat-scene/
[10]: https://synthanatomy.com/2026/02/musical-beings-tembo-magnetic-this-magnetic-drum-machine-turns-the-whole-family-into-beatmakers.html