Hello!

It’s been a minute since I last wrote a newsletter, so here are some updates!

In the last issue, I was still job searching, and I’m happy to report that in the meantime, I found and started a new role as a studio assistant for an artist couple who make cool moiré pattern paintings.

So far it’s been an interesting gig, and I’ve learned some new things in both physical and digital media to support their work. I am also doing some carpentry and helping build out/maintain their studio, which has inspired me to get back into doing more woodworking projects. (If you’ve been following this newsletter for a while, you may recall my shed project from last year!) I have wood shop access at work, but it’s ended up being more convenient to use the wood shop at MakeHaven, the local makerspace, since they sell sheets of high quality plywood there and have a wider array of saws.

I’ve also been doing some 3D modeling and CAD in Rhino at my new job, which led to me trying it out for designing objects I’m making outside work as well. So far, I have enjoyed using Rhino a lot more than other 3D modeling programs I’ve tried, and it has some powerful scripting/automation capabilities that I would like to try using for “art” in addition to these more practical objects.

Also, the people I work for recently got a puppy, so my job has expanded slightly to include helping care for him. His name is Thor, and he is currently four months old and learning about the world.

In more tech-related updates, I had been meaning to get back into journaling more regularly, so I ended up building a simple web app in Python/Flask, and started hosting it on a Raspberry Pi (a small linux computer) located in a corner of my office/studio. It’s cool to host my own little website and know that every time I use it, I’m connecting directly to a physical device in my home. Even though it’s mostly just for my own use (the UI is ideal for casually writing on my phone), anyone can view my public posts at https://journal.palomakop.tv/. The code is also public so theoretically other people can use it to run their own journals as well, if they share my niche desire for a web-based journaling system.

I am continually having new ideas for website improvements and other custom things that I want to build for myself and my friends. Since coding is not the primary focus of my current job (though I have snuck in some Adobe and Rhino automations to streamline processes there), and I’m usually not already sitting at the computer for most of my day, I think that gives me more mental bandwidth to work on computer-based personal projects during my time off.

Since my last newsletter went out, Andrei and I have performed two live audiovisual sets as REALITY ORP, one at Light & Sound Design in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and one just this past Saturday at ChaNorth Residency Space in Pine Plains, NY. I shared a bit more about both shows on my blog, and below is a short edit of some of the sounds and visuals from our most recent show:

Both shows were really fun and nice opportunities for friends to gather around for strange rituals. I usually try to share more info about events I’m doing before they happen, but I dropped the ball on that for the most recent one. Hopefully I will do better going forward! To that end, our next show will be Weird Music Night on September 11, at the Ely Art Center in New Haven, CT, 7pm. Our friend Kit is also playing so it should be a great time! Too early for a flyer to exist, but mark your calendar if you’re one of the approximately 2 people on this list who live in the New Haven area :) It will also be the last Weird Music Night until Ely Center is settled from their upcoming location transition.

Well, that’s probably enough “news” for this edition of the newsletter. Be well, and stay in touch.