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explorations in iphone notes

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2024/01/24

January 24, 2024
A blue background, heavily textured, with brushstrokes of various blues and greens. Placed in the middle is a glowing red, "happy Mac" icon, framed by rough, yellow, white, and neon green brushstrokes.

2024/01/20

January 20, 2024
A tower of rock rises up from the desert floor. It's around dusk; the sky is still blue, but the sun is gone. The only remnant of it is a reddish glow on the right side of the tower, and a pink area on the horizon. A pale pink moon sits high in the sky. To the right of the tower, a futuristic triangular aircraft reminiscent of an F-117 Nighthawk cruises past, its underside reddish in the remaining sunlight.

2024/01/10

January 10, 2024
A simply rendered robot: a small box for the head, a larger box for the body, and two blocky legs with triangular feet. The robot is different shades of red, purple, and black. The face is two large, staring, round eyes and a simple mouth that looks like a tally mark. The head has two curved horns. The robot has one left hand on the end of a curvy, tubelike arm, which it is raising. It also has an electric plug for a tail. Centered on its body is a large television screen—the old-style, round-cornered kind, rendered in blue, phosphorescent, green, and white. There is a blurry figure wearing a suit speaking on the screen. The robot is standing on a yellow background.

2024/01/06

January 6, 2024
A humanoid figure facing to the right. The person, if that's what it is, has no hair; a long straight nose; a small, set mouth; and eyes narrowed to slits. This is not a pleasant face to look at. Especially because the one visible eye has an eerie green glow, as though the figure is not human. The right cheek is covered with small wrinkles and veins. Behind and above the figure are a glow of vertical yellow beams—not sunlight, but something technological, like the transporter "beam" effect from Star Trek.

2024/01/01

January 1, 2024
A gray, nearly black sky, heavy with clouds. The only hint of sunlight is a dull gray light around the horizon. Sitting on a flat, barren landscape are two objects: a barn-like building on the right, and a tall, black rocketship on the left. To the right of the barn is a spindly metal antenna with a red light on top. To the left of the rocket is a metal support structure. There is a glowing green window lit on the body of the rocket. There are two lit windows on the right side of the barn, also.

2023/12/21

December 21, 2023
A view over a vast, mountainous forest: hills covered with heavy woods. The hill closest to the viewer is dark brown, with a small cabin on top of it. There is a light on, and smoke drifting up from the chimney. On the hill beyond it looms a massive dish antenna; something the size of a football field or larger. The sky is heavy with wispy clouds, a weak sun filtering through. The whole scene is a brownish yellow, suggesting a hazy, muggy day. Above it all circles the small form of a hawk or eagle.

2023/12/16

December 16, 2023
A small hill on which is built a chaotically complex steel tower. It looks like a short radio mast, with many beams and crossbeams. At the top of the tower is a compact dish antenna. Extending off the left side of the tower is a network of horizontal beams that are supporting a small metal chamber with a door and a round portal window, in which is visible a dim figure. The effect is that of someone living in a treehouse made from a safe and an erector set. Below the chamber is a black mailbox. The sky has a few wispy suggestions of clouds. The drawing is black linework on a light gray background, with white used for the clouds and a few highlights.

2023/12/13

December 13, 2023
A giant, furry red creature with two pointy ears and round, shiny, insect-like eyes pilots a white two-wheeled vehicle. The vehicle looks like a bicycle, but instead of a seat and pedals, it has a tiny basket that looks like the lower half of an egg. There is no obvious engine or propulsion system. The creature is, impossibly, squeezed into the basket. A creature this size would presumably have very large legs, but no legs are visible. The overall effect is of a giant red bear riding a cartoonishly tiny bicycle. The background of the drawing is black.

2023/12/02

December 2, 2023
A tall, blocky object that looks like a spaceship or a machine built for traveling. The object is roughly the size and shape of a small tenement building. It has angular, irregular sides, and an overall alien shape and appearance. It has two mechanical legs that keep it upright. On the top and on the lower left side are placed two glowing red lights. The object has two glowing green slots in the top left and a glowing green window in the top right. White steam is pouring out of the object from the middle of the lower left. On the lower right of the object, a hatchway is opened, revealing internals. Someone is standing on a platform, looking into the hatchway and making repairs. The background is blue; the drawing is black; the lights and windows have white highlights, and are red and neon green.

2023/11/18

November 18, 2023
An intricate pattern of geometric shapes, lines, and textures that form a rough, robotic face. It looks like a blueprint for a mask or a microchip. The drawing is mostly white ink on a medium-blue background, with some shapes drawn in yellow, green, and a translucent highlighter pink.

2023/11/17

November 17, 2023
A large figure with two small legs, no arms, a bulky upper body, and a head that looks like a space helmet with horns. Where the face would be is a round glass window with nothing visible through it. On the creature's chest is a lightning-bolt symbol. Extending down from the upper side of the creature's chest is a cable attached to a small rectangular box, making it look like the creature is recharging or refueling. The drawing is bright leaf-green ink on a dark brown background.

2023/10/08

October 8, 2023
A giant head with two legs and no arms. The head looks like that of a robot: no hair, an oddly machinelike mouth, and a large eyesocket, which seems to be a computer screen displaying lines of glowing green text.

2023/09/27

September 27, 2023
A weird, rough, lopsided fragment of something that looks like it was once machinery. In the top left corner are a set of vertical slots that resemble a vent; there are boltholes in the lower left and right. Towards the upper-left center is a large, ragged hole. In it, as though it's a window, hangs a ceiling lamp casting a cone of white light, and a figure hunched in the lower-left corner of the hole, as though the figure is sitting desolately on the floor.

2023/09/21

September 21, 2023
A furry creature with a large head, an empty eyesocket, and a giant, toothy mouth pushes a small cart on which is placed a tall, thin tank that looks kind of like a fire extinguisher or something containing a compressed gas. Protruding from the creature's back are several pipes and tubes of varying size.

2023/08/10

August 10, 2023
A ludicrous, vaguely tree-shaped structure: a narrow, trunklike base supporting a large, misshapen object with circular crimson windows scattered about it. This is a building, if a building looked somewhere between an alien machine part and an asteroid. Dangling and protruding from various points on the structure are vinelike plants and twigs. In the one rectangular window on this thing stands the shadowy silhouette of a person. This building is planted on a grassy hill.

2023/08/03

August 3, 2023
A face in profile. The face is basically a head with two legs; there's no body to speak of. The face has odd, precise contours framing the open mouth and eye, as though it's carved from wood. The eye is a rectangular hole with rounded edges. In other circumstances, it might suggest a mask, but in this case, there is another, smaller figure—also viewed in profile—visible through the eyehole. That, and the shape of the eye, gives the sense of someone viewed through a vehicle's window, like the head is a vehicle and someone is driving it.

2023/08/02

August 2, 2023
A humanoid head in profile, wearing a miner's helmet. The head looks as if it is carved from wood or metal: craggy, angular, with harsh lines and overlapping shapes. The expression is somber. The light on the helmet is illuminated, casting a beam forwards. The figure's eye is illuminated, glowing white like the helmet light.

2023/07/28

July 28, 2023
A tall, rocky cliff with sparse trees on top. Behind it, faded as though it's in the far background, is a mountain. In the sky, approaching, is a helicopter. Further down the cliff stands a figure, as if it is waiting for the helicopter. The figure appears to be wearing a robe and is holding a staff in its hand.

2023/07/24

July 24, 2023
A strange, mask-like object. It has an arrangement of details that suggest a face, but a weird and mechanical one: a perfectly round eye in the top right, a semicircular indentation in the middle left, a nose that looks more like a metal spike or machine part. The right side of the face has several carved, curving indentations, like a wooden mask. There are a few tendrils of something hanging off the bottom of the mask, suggesting attempts at facial hair.

2023/07/23

July 23, 2023
A faceless white figure sits in front of a glowing computer terminal. The terminal sits on a desk, which is inset into a vast, bulky structure that dominates most of the drawing, and appears to be made of flimsy cardboard or metal. The structure is a huge, featureless thing that, if it was more detailed, might be furniture or a machine. As it is, it's not clear at all what this thing is. It looms over both the computer and the person sitting in front of it, serving no obvious purpose. On the wall next to the person hangs an analog clock.

2023/07/17

July 17, 2023
Someone who is either shirtless or wearing a skin-tight outfit, viewed from the waist up, their back to the viewer. The person has a shiny domed helmet with a black visor that looks like some sort of heads-up display or augmented-reality headpiece. There is a headphone visible in one ear. On their lower back are striations that imply cables. Under one arm is a small boxy device with a screen and buttons on it.

2023/07/09

July 9, 2023
A smartphone rises up from a layer of dense fog. The base of the phone and the ground can't be seen; just an amorphous carpet of clouds. The screen of the phone is very blurry, as though obscured by a layer of vapor. The screen shows glowing colored squares, arranged haphazardly, not in the usual grid of app icons. Silhouettes are visible in the squares, like people looking out of windows. Above the phone, a blurry moon is in the sky. The moonlight reflects off the top of the phone.

2023/07/03

July 3, 2023
A very tall, complex facility stands in the middle of a grassy space. It's about as tall as a narrow tenement building—maybe three to four stories high—but it isn't a building; it's a collection of pipes, wires, and metal scaffolding. It looks like a cross between an electrical substation and some sort of pump. There's a box with a high-voltage symbol on it, and a small set of steps leading up to the concrete base. It looks like something related to energy or infrastructure. On the ground, a person is walking away from it. In the sky, the sun shines.

2023/07/01

July 1, 2023
A rectangular shape that looks like a boxy human head without ears, similar to a mask. The face has tired eyes with bags under them, craggy features, and a prominent nose. Set into the person's forehead is a small, roundish cathode ray tube display, like something you would have seen on an early personal computer (to be specific, any Mac made between 1984 and 1986). Nothing is being displayed on the screen, however. The person's mouth is a disk drive: the kind designed for those 3.5-inch Sony diskettes, to be specific. The steam engine that powered these very early computing devices is not shown.

2023/06/20

June 20, 2023
A tall, narrow, houselike building made of brick and concrete. The roof has various antennas. The house has a large circular window, right under the roof, and a smaller, arched window to the lower right. There is an arched overhang directly under the house; sort of an open porch. A person paces on the porch, staring at a phone. On a platform in front of it—an extension that looks like a large front porch—stands a small rocket ship.

2023/06/19

June 19, 2023
A two legged creature with horns and/or pointed ears stands in the grass. It seems as though the interior of the creature is visible, perhaps a cutaway view, like a biological diagram. This cutaway view obscures the creatures face. Inside the creature are various beakers and tubes containing glowing green liquid, connected by piping. The creature holds a test tube with the same glowing liquid in one of its hands. The overall effect is of a furry, walking chemistry set.

2023/06/17

June 17, 2023
Imagine a mountain-shaped boulder mixed with a house: a rough chunk of rock with arched windows and roof-points sticking out of it. At the top is a small cupola with a bell; atop the cupola is a vaguely cross-shaped lightning rod. Now imagine that this entire thing has four wheels and a large, spacious windshield up front, like a cargo van. The effect is of a mobile home that's also a mountain, with various architectural enhancements. Visible in the windshield is a driver, shadowy, and indeterminate.

2023/06/11

June 11, 2023
A face in profile, with a blur of short, dark hair. The face is sterile, minimalist, and expressionless, like that of a mannequin. It appears to be a mask, but other lines and seams make it look as though the entire head is assembled of multiple parts, as if the entire figure in the drawing is a machine or robot of some sort.

2023/05/30

May 30, 2023
On the left of the drawing, a stark, perfectly vertical cliff wall, interrupted only by a doorway set in the wall, a small deck with a railing jutting out from it. It's night; stars on a slate gray sky. Above the doorway is a glowing spherical lamp, similar to a streetlamp. Next to the doorway is a red train signal. Pulled up to the deck is what looks like a subway car, except it is floating in space and doesn't have wheels.

2023/05/27

May 27, 2023
A giant pair of what roughly resemble legs and a torso. It looks like a cross between something carved from stone and a giant machine: craggy, cracked, with strange contours and bolts and pipes sticking out of it. On top of this sits a person playing a tuba-like musical instrument. This is placed in the middle of nowhere, with weeds around and on it, and the vague suggestion of clouds above.

2023/05/20

May 20, 2023
A large, high-ceilinged room with an old-style mainframe computer in it. The room is somewhat dismal, containing a wall clock, bucket, and mop. The computer has a data cassette on the front, and a steel-framed door and window below it. The computer has many large pipes coming out of it, as though it is a furnace. Below the computer room, in a basement area, the base of the computer extends into a large concrete fireplace with a fire burning brightly inside. The basement is dark; there's no light except for that cast by the fire. A figure stands next to the fireplace holding a shovel. The effect is of a large computer with a door that opens into a coal burning furnace below.

2023/05/18

May 18, 2023
A person sitting in a car seat and holding a steering wheel. Both the seat and the steering column are fused into the earth, not part of any vehicle. Above the person is a traffic light dangling down from the sky, not fixed to any visible source. The light is green, but nobody seems to be going anywhere.

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    All work © Chris Silverman