Gabriel Bodeen @gabe@qoto.org

"Do 100 of something. Then figure out what to do next."

It stuck in my head. It feels like an ideal midpoint between trying new things and committing to a long term habit. I instantly felt it had to be my New Year's #resolution. So many tasks need a certain investment of time & effort to pay off -- but not a lifetime or even a year.

First on my list: fold 100 origami pieces. I loved origami as a child but haven't returned to it since. After that I'll pick a new "something" for the next 100!

#ChatGPT prompt: "Write a Lovecraftian love poem." The result had me crumpling in fits of laughter 🤣!

-

In the dark of night, when the moon is full
And the stars are bright in the sky above
I think of you, my dearest love
And the madness that consumes my soul.

Your eyes, like the depths of the ocean
Hold a darkness that draws me in
I am lost in their depths, forever more
Bound to you by the ties of sin.

Your touch, like the caress of death
Brings shivers to my spine
I am yours, body and mind
Bound to you until my dying breath.

In the cold embrace of the night
I long for your touch, oh so sweet
For in your arms, I am complete
And the madness that consumes me is a delight.

So come to me, my love, and take me
For I am yours, now and forever
Together, we shall face the darkness and never
Tremble in the face of the horrors that await us.

It's a short poem but god I love its lines and I wish I could find a way to use them in conversation! e.g.:

> I love the way you wear your
> face, how you ride this life.
...
> Forgive my word-churn, my
> drift, the ways this text message
> has gotten all frothy.

Text: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/56098/sea-foam-palace

Audio: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/play/76714

Thrash no more 'gainst the storm in your skull
though drops splash, pool and spill unheedful
they culture a crop of facts and lies.
Farm your mind. Grow where you memorize.
Cut neat, plumb canals new 'cross the plain.
Place outlets for fateful floods to drain.
Dig cisterns to outlast the dry spells.
Level the obstinate sundry hills.
Bury old quagmires in barren earth.
Dredge or dam old beds by plan and worth.
Thus make swift the thought-stream's coursing tao,
effortless to flow from "How?" to how.

Be most mistrustful of a man unjust till
by tears or time or toil
he proves robustly that truly he must be
loving and lasting and loyal.