rosco's recent activity

  1. Comment on How to build real peace in ~humanities

    rosco
    Link Parent
    I don't think it's necessary. The term terrorist is a way of delegitimizing organizations, demonizing the violence of those without statehood, and justifying violence against them. It's been used...

    I don't think it's necessary. The term terrorist is a way of delegitimizing organizations, demonizing the violence of those without statehood, and justifying violence against them. It's been used against any group that has fought for sovereignty or against colonial powers. Looking at Kurdish history, I'm not sure what their alternative option to violence is. So rather than derail and delegitimize in the eyes of common folks a unique in depth look at alternative methods of peace building, he just stated who was involved, their political affiliation.

    I know many people are uncomfortable with groups like the PKK or with the IRA or with ETA or whatever group is labelled a terrorist organization. But when you have little to no means to representation or self determination, violence is often the only option left. This is different than organizations that strictly exist to terrorize marginalized classes, like the KKK. But on the geopolitical stage, they are most often local or indigenous groups pushing back against the oppression of a nation state.

    8 votes

  2. Comment on ‘Picasso of Pumpkin Carvers’ brings artistry to a Halloween tradition in ~life

    rosco
    Link
    That's lovely! I grew up going to that pumpkin festival every year but I had no idea about Mike!

    That's lovely! I grew up going to that pumpkin festival every year but I had no idea about Mike!

    3 votes

  3. Comment on Timasomo 2026: Week 3 Updates in ~creative.timasomo

    rosco
    Link
    Well, I ended up coming down with the flu but as we're in the late stage of the month, the show must go on!!! I ended up fully designing the font, carving it out, printing each letter, scanning...

    Well, I ended up coming down with the flu but as we're in the late stage of the month, the show must go on!!!

    I ended up fully designing the font, carving it out, printing each letter, scanning them all, creating the actual font in font forge, aligning everything in Adobe InDesign; and then decided it looked crazy. Here is one with stock Cooper BLK and one using my font. It's crazy. So I decided not to use it for the text, maybe just the title. Compounding that was actually getting the text onto the paper. I realize I'm using A3 size paper for my spreads and being in the US no one uses that size for easy access printers like Fedex Office. In the end, I decided if I actually want my draft version created by the end of the month I was just going to hand write in the text.

    Lots of learnings here. In many of the spreads I did not leave adequate space for the text. So I got a little creative about where I put it and I'm pretty happy with it. I also decided that trying to copy font styles - like Cooper BLK - was also stupid as they come out weird. I ended up going with my own handwriting and was quite pleased with the results. There are 2 spreads I'm unhappy with (maybe 3) but overall I'm stoked.

    So I finally have everything together and will be binding it tomorrow night with the help of a friend. As this is a draft version, not on nice paper, using the spreads I'd like to change, and with the handwritten text; I'll also be using some borrowed and gifted materials for putting it together. I found this great cover fabric that is close to the color of one of my main characters and when I block print the front it'll look like the black mass surrounding him, colored in correctly! (If it turns out I can block print onto the cover fabric with their coatings - tbd. It also gives me a really cool idea for what I want to do for the final version once I have all the kinks out with this one.

    For now, I'm also foregoing the knitted dust jacket and the marbled paper. Those will both be v2 additions. All of it was just too much to learn for one month.

    Anyway, really excited about where things are at. I bit off much more than I should have, but hopefully by tomorrow I'll have a fully formed book! In any case, I'm walking away with a whole lot of new knowledge on everything including fonts, page layout, narrative structure, color palettes, book binding, and book layout.

    2 votes

  4. Comment on Ten remote cabins with artist residency programs in ~travel

    rosco
    Link
    Man, I'd love to do one of these programs. The Scottish ones and the one in the Japanese Northern Alps looked amazing. It was cool to see the Cold Paradise one offered artists to bring their...

    Man, I'd love to do one of these programs. The Scottish ones and the one in the Japanese Northern Alps looked amazing. It was cool to see the Cold Paradise one offered artists to bring their families. We have a young baby, so I can't imagine I could just up and leave for 2 weeks but that one might be a real option.

    Also, I love the concept of the New Mexico one where you participate in an exhibition after. 10/10 would want to participate.

    5 votes

  5. Comment on Israel frees dozens of Americans, including US Congress nominee, after West Bank arrest in ~society

    rosco
    Link Parent
    Yeah, sorry the comment wasn't at you, just media framing in general. It actually inspired me to write another letter to NPR. I love a number of their weeklies and podcasts but it's getting harder...

    Yeah, sorry the comment wasn't at you, just media framing in general. It actually inspired me to write another letter to NPR. I love a number of their weeklies and podcasts but it's getting harder and harder to support them with the heavily biased pieces they've been putting out. Misleading titles, passive language, or plain omissions have been the norm for years at this point.

    8 votes

  6. Comment on Israel frees dozens of Americans, including US Congress nominee, after West Bank arrest in ~society

    rosco
    Link
    This is such a weird way to say "Israel detains dozens of Americans, including U.S. Congress nominee, after West Bank arrest"

    This is such a weird way to say "Israel detains dozens of Americans, including U.S. Congress nominee, after West Bank arrest"

    36 votes

  7. Comment on Non-queer men of Tildes: PLEASE consider before commenting on ~life.women and ~lgbt without careful consideration. We are losing members over this issue. in ~tildes

    rosco
    Link Parent
    Aw man, that's sad.

    Aw man, that's sad.

    4 votes

  8. Comment on #YesAllMen #NotAllMen #MaybeSomeMen How to be better? in ~life.men

    rosco
    Link
    I decided to make a top level comment because I don't want this to come across as a response to anyone. Maybe just more food for thought. A friend of mine I hadn't talked to in like 5 years called...

    I decided to make a top level comment because I don't want this to come across as a response to anyone. Maybe just more food for thought.

    A friend of mine I hadn't talked to in like 5 years called me out of the blue because she was feeling nostalgic. We had both gotten busy and were bad at keeping up, but in that call we had an awesome like 2 hour life catch up. After I was feeling nostalgic myself and went back to read some of our old facebook chats. I was pretty diassapointed with home much I just normalized weird behavior of the men she dated. This is like one excerpt, but there was dozens of these.

    Her: "...and we like made out, a lot. A LOT"
    Me: "well you went for it homie"
    Her: "and he tried to put his hand up my dress but I didn't let him"
    Me: "....well thats why you made out forever"
    Her: "and then I felt bad...you know...like a tease."
    Me: "naw, do you girl"
    Her: "But he was really nice and told me not worry about it. Anyway, we're having early morning coffee tomorrow and I am kinda scared."
    Me: "hahahaha, noice. Honestly sounds good for you. Both awkward but there was some chemistry"

    I mean that's pretty light in comparison to other things from my past, but I wouldn't have even stopped to think about what I was doing. I think I understand the sentiment of #yesallmen because I spent a very healthy part of my late teens and early twenties being problematic. I have friends who I consider great guys that have been and sometimes still are problematic even nearing 40. I think I'm about as supportive as I could be now (all personal biases ignored ;) but I would throw myself in the "all men" bucket because of things I've done in the past. I'm kind of confused about all the folks getting up in arms about the video. Have people really not sat on the sidelines of a pretty problematic group chat thread? I mean I'd say if you managed to grow up without doing even that, kudos, but also there may be some memory editing going on. I think the sentiment is true. It doesn't have to be you right this instance, but I would wager that, yes, all men at some point have been at best problematic and at worst - well pretty fucking awful.

    9 votes

  9. Comment on #YesAllMen #NotAllMen #MaybeSomeMen How to be better? in ~life.men

    rosco
    Link Parent
    I think there is a distinction to be made here. All of us can have friends and stand up for women. There are plenty of men that wouldn't balk at those statements or sentiments. If you're choosing...

    So often men have to choose between having friends or standing up for women.

    I think there is a distinction to be made here. All of us can have friends and stand up for women. There are plenty of men that wouldn't balk at those statements or sentiments. If you're choosing to surround yourself with men who would balk at it, that's a choice. It's possible to talk about attraction or women without being objectifying and you can nip conversation in the bud without making it awkward.

    But I will admit that there are communities that are difficult to participate in while being an advocate for women. I would throw those in the bro-y camp, like I've experienced the "ice out" with mountain biking groups, volleyball teams, etc... Places and people who encourage "locker room talk". But you can also opt out of those. I had a friend who recently invited a different friend and I to join his weekly MTB group as part of an upcoming race. He's normally a shy and a total sweet heart. But man, it took about 5 minutes of "the boyz" getting together for that kind of talk to take off. Both of us bowed out and later said the group wasn't our vibe. Even if it would have been great to have new friends to go with, it wasn't worth the awkward "aw, I don't think we need to go that far" or "I mean, this is why no women feel comfortable joining these rides". I have other people to ride with that aren't a constant drain and don't end the rides with "man, don't be such a fucking prude".

    I guess in a way I'm copping out too in not actively addressing it, but I still think you can have friends without having to give ground on that. But maybe that's what you're saying too.

    8 votes

  10. Comment on Metallica’s James Hetfield has a message for entertainers who bring their ‘bullshit‘ agenda to the stage in ~music

    rosco
    Link Parent
    I'm with you on that, I love a hot take. I think you should be able to pee in hot tubs, and I bring this up with friends and at parties much more than I should. If you don't pee in hot tubs (which...

    I'm with you on that, I love a hot take. I think you should be able to pee in hot tubs, and I bring this up with friends and at parties much more than I should. If you don't pee in hot tubs (which have ~800 gallons of water btw) you will inevitably tell me, maybe so dramatically as that I'm a monster for thinking that. And I'm happy to stand my ground and rebutt. Try it yourself Ask your friends if they would try human - not in a kill or maim someone way, but like a "hey do you want a pan fried shaving of my thigh friendo" kind of way. People can get heated about anything. Political hot takes are no different. If you want to state that you think what ICE is doing is a good thing, people will judge you for it in the same way people will likely avoid inviting me to a pool party ;). That's why I think so many of the "everything is political" comments are in bad faith and are acting as air cover for some pretty bad or just milquetoast takes.

    Our friend Samuel is Mexican and moved to the US after marrying his wife. When ICE started sweeping our area Sam stopped going out. He decided not to go for his citizenship for fear of getting grabbed even though he was fully above board. Our friend Cory has taken a hard turn into deeply conservative politics. So when Cory says "You know, it's about time we started taking immigration seriously. I'm all for everything they are doing and if Sam gets caught up in it that's just part of the system working." It's not surprising that Sam's wife stopped talking to him and it's awkward with a number of us now. He declared he peed in hot tubs and was surprised he didn't get invited to the pool party.

    That's why I think "let's leave politics at the door" has become a dog whistle and that's why it's getting called out the way it is. If I was hanging out with someone and they said "hey, can we not politics, I'm not feeling it" I can't imagine anyone who would balk at that. But James isn't sitting down for a slice of pizza and looking for a break. He's using his platform, the same as folks like Macklemore or Kneecap, to weigh in with his opinion and ducking behind the ever popular "let's leave politics at the door".

    6 votes

  11. Comment on Metallica’s James Hetfield has a message for entertainers who bring their ‘bullshit‘ agenda to the stage in ~music

    rosco
    Link Parent
    Yeah, but had he said nothing there wouldn't be a discussion. And high five agree. Team Ringo every day.

    Yeah, but had he said nothing there wouldn't be a discussion.

    And high five agree. Team Ringo every day.

  12. Comment on Metallica’s James Hetfield has a message for entertainers who bring their ‘bullshit‘ agenda to the stage in ~music

    rosco
    Link Parent
    I have also heard this opinion, but it comes from my cousins who constantly spout problematic political opinions. To me the statement "everything is political" boils down to "I want to say...

    I have also heard this opinion, but it comes from my cousins who constantly spout problematic political opinions. To me the statement "everything is political" boils down to "I want to say problematic things without consequence and air my political beliefs without pushback." Which, yeah fuck that.

    It's so easy to be a-political. I have no idea what 95% of my local acquaintances think. I know they like to swim, that they have dogs, that they work in restaurants, that they have hypertension, that they just got engaged, that they are thinking of getting a new bike, but fuck all about their political beliefs. Most people don't talk about it day to day IRL. If I'm there for volleyball it doesn't come up. Until someone lobs a crazy opinion at you. That immigrants need to leave and if (names of 2 of the people on the court) then that's just a necessary part of the process.

    I'm over people spouting unprompted hot takes and getting upset when they get told to fuck off.

    And a special fuck Metallica and Lars Ulrich in-particular for closing off very popular public access trail in his back yard. The Metallica guys are about as establishment as you can get.

    4 votes

  13. Comment on Timasomo 2026: Week 1 Updates in ~creative.timasomo

    rosco
    Link Parent
    Yeah, for sure! I used to work in heritage preservation so I used to bounce all over. Pakistan was super interesting, particularly considering the Muslim/Buddist dynamics. We were working in an...

    Yeah, for sure! I used to work in heritage preservation so I used to bounce all over. Pakistan was super interesting, particularly considering the Muslim/Buddist dynamics. We were working in an area in the north at sites that were seeing increased looting, or I guess more like harvesting, as people were cutting the buddist heads off the sites we were documenting. Conversely, the buddist pilgrims who would visit the site would get bussed in, pack their own lunches, and leave all their trash; so muslim locals didn't really see a benefit and were pretty sore about the mess left behind. All in all a really interesting dive into inter-religion dynamics. And of course gorgeous architecture!

    For Taiwan I was working at Longshan Temple to create a virtual experience. It was gorgeous and a very fun local team, but much more of a standard project. The woodwork was wild though!

    The last fun buddist project was working in the Bagan Valley after the earthquake in 2016. That was another wild ride but this time into internal faith politics. Local monks were harvesting bricks (pre and post earthquake as it turned out) from pagodas across the valley. I also got to fly a drone in one of the temples over the heads of young monks (ages 5-13) who were reciting scripture.

    And that's a cool angle on the dynamics between groups of monks. It's so interesting weaving the through-line of a narrative between events that are often chaotic or at least messy.

    So I am stuck discovering new material by literally knocking on temple doors or trying to dig up useful information from the philosophical texts, which again are not helpful.

    I'm sure it's a pain, but boy does that sound awesome! I love some good ground truthing! How has the process been and are folks generally receptive to your work?

  14. Comment on Timasomo 2026: Week 2 Updates in ~creative.timasomo

    rosco
    Link
    The book's coming along! I spent the first week working on the text and narrative u/ocean-hai has been really helpful refining the of the book with me (thanks again!). I spent the this week...

    The book's coming along! I spent the first week working on the text and narrative u/ocean-hai has been really helpful refining the of the book with me (thanks again!).

    I spent the this week finishing up the prints and got the first drafts all finished up last night. There are a few changes to make and a couple additional pieces but otherwise I'm feeling good! I'll upload some shots tomorrow. It's funny how some of the original ones now feel like they could be redone... but if I'm going to finish it this month I'm moving on! I've ordered the paper for the final edition and walked through the process with on how to figure out paper grain direction, how much extra room to leave around the prints, and how to rip the sheets.

    This week I'm going to be working on the font, making the marbled paper for the internal sheets of the cover (front/back), and probably the most complex part: how I'm actually going to print the font onto the sheets. Because it's a physical book I'm trying to figure out how to print the text on and the prospect of drawing out and cutting each of the nearly 2000 letters is... unappealing. I'm going to to try to either make large cutouts of each letter, upload them online and size them for consistency, figure out kerning, so that I can either 3D print them, order a professional set, or (most likely) print them as a template to create my own set.

    So far I'm like 8 letters in and feeling good! My also friend has a marbling paper making set and we'll try it out next monday! So it's moving slowly but progressing!!!

    If anyone has any thoughts on anything that would be great!

    6 votes

  15. Comment on Keeping up a blogging habit while being a dad in ~life.men

    rosco
    Link
    How old is your baby? My wife and I are at 7 months and we're feeling the personal time pinch. It's really hard to feel like you're just working, seeing your kid for like 1-2 hours, and then...

    How old is your baby? My wife and I are at 7 months and we're feeling the personal time pinch. It's really hard to feel like you're just working, seeing your kid for like 1-2 hours, and then cleaning/making food and going to bed. I'm being a bit dramatic but I feel like I'm becoming a little husk of myself.

    Last week we started being really strict about ensuring we both got out of the house at a minimum of an hour every other day. I get in a swim, my wife goes to yoga, but mostly it's still the couch. I know everyone goes through this, but I'd be curious for the more neurodivergent among us, how did you handle the steep dropoff in exercise and endorphins? I was really good about managing my mood and ADHD symptoms with exercise and it's been a bit of a slog. Like everyone else here, I love my son, I want to show up and participate as much as possible, and I'd love to sure out how to do so without losing myself. Does it ease up at some point?

    Sorry for the rant but you're blog spoke to something in me and I just needed a little vent :)

    3 votes

  16. Comment on Timasomo 2026: Week 1 Updates in ~creative.timasomo

    rosco
    Link Parent
    That's really cool! It's so interesting how religion, politics, and culture really shift and fluctuate. I had the good fortune to spend some time working at Buddist sites in Pakistan and Taiwan in...

    That's really cool! It's so interesting how religion, politics, and culture really shift and fluctuate. I had the good fortune to spend some time working at Buddist sites in Pakistan and Taiwan in my early career and it's so wild to see how different they are based on the local culture!

    What about chapters four and five have you feeling stuck?

    1 vote

  17. Comment on Timasomo 2026: Week 1 Updates in ~creative.timasomo

    rosco
    Link Parent
    Man, this is awesome! I really appreciate all the support and brianstorming! I'm not sure if others feel the same, but this is exactly what I was hoping for from timasomo!!! I really like the new...

    Man, this is awesome! I really appreciate all the support and brianstorming! I'm not sure if others feel the same, but this is exactly what I was hoping for from timasomo!!!

    I really like the new addition and even just the idea of giving it more of a setup. I'm going to keep poke around on that! Thanks again!

    And absolutely! I wasn't going to share until I had refined all the prints and completed the finals but it's so fun getting to have a back and forth on this! The final spread

    1 vote

  18. Comment on Timasomo 2026: Week 1 Updates in ~creative.timasomo

    rosco
    Link Parent
    If you're comfortable sharing, what's the subject matter of your dissertation?

    If you're comfortable sharing, what's the subject matter of your dissertation?

    1 vote

  19. Comment on Timasomo 2026: Week 1 Updates in ~creative.timasomo

    rosco
    Link Parent
    I love it! As someone who is also bad a colors and values all I can say is "what are you talking about!?!?" You knocked it out the park with the colors and blending!

    I love it! As someone who is also bad a colors and values all I can say is "what are you talking about!?!?" You knocked it out the park with the colors and blending!

  20. Comment on Timasomo 2026: Week 1 Updates in ~creative.timasomo

    rosco
    Link Parent
    Great fix!!! It reads so much better with this change! I really appreciate it! I'll also definitely noodle the opening. It does just kind of jump in and to be honest I think this is where my lack...

    where the mice had taken over running wild and free!

    Great fix!!! It reads so much better with this change! I really appreciate it!

    I'll also definitely noodle the opening. It does just kind of jump in and to be honest I think this is where my lack of experience writing lets me down. The imagery is a sad hildi drinking tea with mice in everything and a full "frame" of mice around the image, so there isn't a ton of context as to where she is.

    I love the idea of one too few, I'm going to play with that. I read that and for some reason my head jumped to Klaus shaped box - a la Nirvana - which really makes no sense but I thought it was funny. It should definitely be a nod to the missing cat.

    And scary is kind of what I was going for. Every time I show my mom my art she always says "can't you make something a little nicer if you're making it for kids?" but growing up I loved dark ending. My favorite are Roald Dahl, the witches, the twits, honestly most of his books end with a pretty grim fate for the title characters. I was imagining an ending like that where Hildi is... consumed is the wrong word... you'll understand when you see the associated print ;)

    1 vote