cesarandreu's recent activity
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Comment on What have you been eating, drinking, and cooking? in ~food
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Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative
cesarandreu LinkI finished this acrylic painting last week. I've been painting very casually for about a year now, just finding my style and whatever feels good to me. If anyone has constructive feedback for how...I finished this acrylic painting last week. I've been painting very casually for about a year now, just finding my style and whatever feels good to me. If anyone has constructive feedback for how I might improve I'm very receptive.
I'd like to get better at blending colors and adding gradients within segments, but there's always a bit of worry about messing up the painting. I've only started playing around with line work very recently, so I know that's another area where I have a lot of room to grow.
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Comment on Tildes Book Club - Nominations thread in ~books
cesarandreu LinkHere are two books with interesting and non-standard magic systems: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (272 pages) Vita Nostra by Marina Dyachenko and Sergey Dyachenko (408 pages) I think reading what...Here are two books with interesting and non-standard magic systems:
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (272 pages)
Vita Nostra by Marina Dyachenko and Sergey Dyachenko (408 pages)
I think reading what these stories are about detracts from them, so it's better to just go in blind. If I had to pick one, I think Piranesi is a must-read just for how delightfully weird it is, and it has the benefit of being very short which makes it accessible to more readers.
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Comment on What are your AI-generated guilty pleasures? in ~tech
cesarandreu LinkI've had a lot of fun generating songs with Suno, so far this song about the Mandate of Heaven has been my favorite. I would actually love it if a real band made an improved fully human version....I've had a lot of fun generating songs with Suno, so far this song about the Mandate of Heaven has been my favorite. I would actually love it if a real band made an improved fully human version. In general, it feels like there's a lot of topical niches that are underexplored by current musical artists, so I enjoy getting to scratch my own itch.
I think most Suno generate songs still fall short in various ways, but I'm hopeful that in the long term these tools will keep getting better and it'll be easier for people to make songs that are closer to what they have in their head. I've been trying to relearn music composition with a traditional textbook approach as well, but I don't think I'd be able to afford a bunch of artists to bring my ideas to life so AI gives me an avenue to make it real, even if it's imperfect.
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Comment on Which challenging book was worth the effort for you? in ~books
cesarandreu LinkTigana, by Guy Gavriel Kay. It's not a particularly challenging read, but it takes a while for the key themes to really hit. This is my default example of a book that initially felt like a bit of...Tigana, by Guy Gavriel Kay. It's not a particularly challenging read, but it takes a while for the key themes to really hit. This is my default example of a book that initially felt like a bit of a chore to get through, but which I'm really glad to have read.
I've been experimenting with this idea of "microdosing spicy" a bit and I'd love it if others would try it out and tell me about their experience; I think it has a minor but noticeable impact so I'm interested in discussing it.
The core idea is simple: mixing in a very small amount of spicy (in my case I'm using cayenne pepper) to certain dishes when plating. The key is to find a quantity where it doesn't register as overtly spicy while still engaging your senses. I feel like if you can find the right amount, it boosts the depth of the dish without registering as an explicitly spicy experience.
The dish I've mostly been trying this out with has been spaghetti with pesto. I just give the spice bottle 1.5 taps, but I think the ideal amount will vary per person. It's not a particularly revolutionary idea and I don't want to oversell it, but it feels like a nice little culinary hack.