We don't get to stop the world, especially not to observe it.

—Rich Hickey

A branch of a tree that seems to branch indefinitely.

A branch of a tree that seems to branch indefinitely.

Answer is the dead stop.

—William Fifield

These build on themselves. You notice that anything you are aware of is in the process of changing as you notice it.

—R.S.

My dog in the passenger seat politely requesting attention.

My dog in the passenger seat politely requesting attention.

Pink flower petals gravitating toward a concrete sidewalk.

Pink flower petals gravitating toward a concrete sidewalk.

Heavy clouds and green foothills.

Heavy clouds and green foothills.

Stay awhile, and listen.

—Deckard Cain

Admiring my shoes on a narrow bridge above a rapid creek.

Admiring my shoes on a narrow bridge above a rapid creek.

A large poster on an empty wall that reads 'PERSEVERE' in painted lettering.

A large poster on an empty wall that reads 'PERSEVERE' in painted lettering.

Me in grayscale

Me in grayscale

Two brothers walking through a small mountain town with fresh coffee; one peace sign, one cheers.

Two brothers walking through a small mountain town with fresh coffee; one peace sign, one cheers.

We think in generalities, but we live in details.

—Alfred North Whitehead

There can be no fixed method for this; it’s inherently improvisational.

—David Chapman

My parents interacting extremely typically.

My parents interacting extremely typically.

I'm nolan.

The wholeness is made of parts, the parts are created by the wholeness.

—Christopher Alexander

My sister across the table taking a picture of me taking a picture of her, which is this picture.

My sister across the table taking a picture of me taking a picture of her, which is this picture.

Unpredictability is not randomness, but in some circumstances looks very much like it.

—Wikipedia; Logistic Map

My sister's partner-of-significant-duration (my brother-in-vibe?) flaunting nothing on the way back from a rickety vantage overlooking a suburb of Los Angeles.

My sister's partner-of-significant-duration (my brother-in-vibe?) flaunting nothing on the way back from a rickety vantage overlooking a suburb of Los Angeles.

Black sand washing into cloudy Pacific infinity; a familiar bummer in the foreground utterly ruining the shot.

Black sand washing into cloudy Pacific infinity; a familiar bummer in the foreground utterly ruining the shot.

A lonely closed-circuit camera surveilling an empty parking lot labeled Lot P.

A lonely closed-circuit camera surveilling an empty parking lot labeled Lot P.

A science that hesitates to forget its founders is lost.

—Alfred North Whitehead

One main factor in the upward trend of animal life has been the power of wandering.

—Alfred North Whitehead

My greatest concern was what to call it.

—Claude Shannon

Unlimited possibility and abstract creativity can procure nothing.

—Alfred North Whitehead

Close-up of an etching press registration grid, brought to you by Takach Press®.

Close-up of an etching press registration grid, brought to you by Takach Press®.

A pristine dyneema fanny pack for use in the distant future when my current fanny pack falls irreparable.

A pristine dyneema fanny pack for use in the distant future when my current fanny pack falls irreparable.

A three dimensional @ printed in white, black, and mint green PLA.

A three dimensional @ printed in white, black, and mint green PLA.

A rough graphite sketch of a detached plot of land floating in space, populated by tree-sized lollipops.

A rough graphite sketch of a detached plot of land floating in space, populated by tree-sized lollipops.

Galvanized steel plumbing pipes and fittings sorted into orange buckets, brought to you by Home Depot®.

Galvanized steel plumbing pipes and fittings sorted into orange buckets, brought to you by Home Depot®.

A robot with a 2x4 soul, visibly dissatisfied with its output.

A robot with a 2x4 soul, visibly dissatisfied with its output.

Green rug, white couch, wood table, gray blanket.

Green rug, white couch, wood table, gray blanket.

Stackable cubic skulls printed in Martha Stewart®-brand PLA. The second greatest gift I've ever received: Martha's memento mori.

Stackable cubic skulls printed in Martha Stewart®-brand PLA. The second greatest gift I've ever received: Martha's memento mori.

Unpainted tabletop miniature. Sentient bipedal robot, specifically T'au.

Unpainted tabletop miniature. Sentient bipedal robot, specifically T'au.

I build sketchy websites and primitive furniture. They're beautiful in the same way my sister's dog is beautiful. I promise they're beautiful.

An X-ACTO® knife. Fresh blade.

An X-ACTO® knife. Fresh blade.

Everything worth saying, and everything else as well, can be said with two characters.

—Quine

The greatest mother to have ever done it hauling her offspring's garbage through a hardware store.

The greatest mother to have ever done it hauling her offspring's garbage through a hardware store.

A rainbow-chromatic striped frame sample sitting on construction paper.

A rainbow-chromatic striped frame sample sitting on construction paper.

A black ballpoint pen drawing on white graph paper. A vaguely humanoid assemblage of shapes with screw-like rod arms, a stacked box torso, smooth pipe legs, and a plastic floret head. It's worshipping a biblically accurate screw of enormous proportion. In this world, even the most basic fasteners are much larger than people.

A black ballpoint pen drawing on white graph paper. A vaguely humanoid assemblage of shapes with screw-like rod arms, a stacked box torso, smooth pipe legs, and a plastic floret head. It's worshipping a biblically accurate screw of enormous proportion. In this world, even the most basic fasteners are much larger than people.

A diagram of a table on graph paper. A potential table.

A diagram of a table on graph paper. A potential table.

A pile of candidate frame samples in front of an entire wall of more frame samples.

A pile of candidate frame samples in front of an entire wall of more frame samples.

A blue Werner® ladder waiting for the subway at 4th Avenue.

A blue Werner® ladder waiting for the subway at 4th Avenue.

A screen print hanging on the wall above a large manual screen printing press. Super meaningful to whoever took the picture, at least I get that sense.

A screen print hanging on the wall above a large manual screen printing press. Super meaningful to whoever took the picture, at least I get that sense.

An Instagram®-worthy bedside table with 'SHIT IN MY MOUTH' lovingly expressed on the signboard.

An Instagram®-worthy bedside table with 'SHIT IN MY MOUTH' lovingly expressed on the signboard.

The word 'FACE' permanently etched into a concrete sidewalk.

The word 'FACE' permanently etched into a concrete sidewalk.

Sidewalk chalk portal to outer space.

Sidewalk chalk portal to outer space.

The sidewalk shadows of two people holding heart-shaped sunglasses up to sunlight.

The sidewalk shadows of two people holding heart-shaped sunglasses up to sunlight.

A purple Post-it® with 'ASS DRAG' written on it in caps lock. There's so much more where this came from.

A purple Post-it® with 'ASS DRAG' written on it in caps lock. There's so much more where this came from.

Soft concrete.

Soft concrete.

Shoegazing at an intersection in the sidewalk.

Shoegazing at an intersection in the sidewalk.

A quintessential United States Postal Service® mailbox with 'SEND NUDES' painted on the side, right above the logo.

A quintessential United States Postal Service® mailbox with 'SEND NUDES' painted on the side, right above the logo.

You play through that.

—2BFC

Spray paint blasted onto the sidewalk during construction.

Spray paint blasted onto the sidewalk during construction.

Two dumpsters in the middle of the woods. Unparalleled vibe.

Two dumpsters in the middle of the woods. Unparalleled vibe.

Maximum thrift store saturation.

Maximum thrift store saturation.

Scattered ink-encoded coral.

Scattered ink-encoded coral.

Purple night clouds hushing a busy street.

Purple night clouds hushing a busy street.

A strangely oriented concrete monolith opimitzed for resting up to four asscheeks.

A strangely oriented concrete monolith opimitzed for resting up to four asscheeks.

A hand-drawn sticker on a road sign that says 'FND UR WAY' under a skull with a staircase leading into the brain compartment.

A hand-drawn sticker on a road sign that says 'FND UR WAY' under a skull with a staircase leading into the brain compartment.

Prof. Hos.!!!

Prof. Hos.!!!

Still me, but in my favorite clothes.

Still me, but in my favorite clothes.

4 partially overlapping, heavily backlit bright pink Post-it® notes.

4 partially overlapping, heavily backlit bright pink Post-it® notes.

Closeup of a twig.

Closeup of a twig.

A closeup of Post-it® notes with more Post-it® notes in the background; not to brag but it's a fresh cabinet pack of Helsinki-themed Greener Notes.

A closeup of Post-it® notes with more Post-it® notes in the background; not to brag but it's a fresh cabinet pack of Helsinki-themed Greener Notes.

A classic mixup between the street lighting and television cable factions.

A classic mixup between the street lighting and television cable factions.

Lv. 70 arcane mage

I generate a lot of nonsense, acrylic, and handmade garbage. 🤢

Sketched amorphous manifold of blue, pink, and green ink.

Sketched amorphous manifold of blue, pink, and green ink.

Construction-filtered sunlight projecting a binary pattern on the sidewalk.

Construction-filtered sunlight projecting a binary pattern on the sidewalk.

Observing observation

Observing observation

A selectively randomized, poorly pixelized sapiens approximate peeking out of a previously sealed box.

A selectively randomized, poorly pixelized sapiens approximate peeking out of a previously sealed box.

Rule 170: 1D cellular automaton with range = 1, where cells are shaped like keyholes, but I think it's bugged. If you stare long enough it looks like a waterfall and starts to move.

Rule 170: 1D cellular automaton with range = 1, where cells are shaped like keyholes, but I think it's bugged. If you stare long enough it looks like a waterfall and starts to move.

Two bright perfectoids conversing in a noisy universe.

Two bright perfectoids conversing in a noisy universe.

A yellow haul truck on the beach.

A yellow haul truck on the beach.

A martini efficiently brokering photons.

A martini efficiently brokering photons.

A Universal Rectifiers, Inc.® Cathodic Protection Rectifier. A Hometown American Product.

A Universal Rectifiers, Inc.® Cathodic Protection Rectifier. A Hometown American Product.

Neon-stained sandstone.

Neon-stained sandstone.

Pink angles.

Pink angles.

Rule 150, I think.

Rule 150, I think.

A 3D CAD workspace populated with a repeating sinusoidal wave colorized according to coordinate.

A 3D CAD workspace populated with a repeating sinusoidal wave colorized according to coordinate.

I think a lot about language, logic, proof, etc.: real game of life hours, you know the one.

The softest, most gorgeous spill you've ever faced.

The softest, most gorgeous spill you've ever faced.

I think this is a poor approximation of rule 99; ultra blue background.

I think this is a poor approximation of rule 99; ultra blue background.

The ultraheterochromatic hallway of Midway International Airport.

The ultraheterochromatic hallway of Midway International Airport.

A grid of thin vertical lines with a unique fingerprint identified by empty grid coordinates; energetic green background.

A grid of thin vertical lines with a unique fingerprint identified by empty grid coordinates; energetic green background.

A grid of thin vertical lines with a unique fingerprint identified by empty grid coordinates; pale-hot pink background.

A grid of thin vertical lines with a unique fingerprint identified by empty grid coordinates; pale-hot pink background.

Two big gulps discussing Twilight Epiphany.

Two big gulps discussing Twilight Epiphany.

observe ∘ explicate

Imperfectly pixelated flowers falling out of high-contrast background noise.

Imperfectly pixelated flowers falling out of high-contrast background noise.

nolan@usernolan.net