Creativity - Buried Secrets Podcast

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Creativity

A collection of 29 posts

a digital sketch of asters

Learning Things

A quick Monday update (Learning Things: June 26, 2023)

A super short version of my weekly update on my research and projects.

a green and blue halftone photograph of a churhc with the words "In the present we are always memory -Trish Keenan"

Making digital art feel analog

Yesterday, I wrote about the vintage, halftone-speckled aesthetic of the Ghost Box record label, which got me thinking about a larger art trend that's been on my mind: after the soulless minimalism of the 2010, the 2020s have so far been defined by lush, maximalist imagery. Puffy (sometimes barely legible)

a halftone photograph of a liminal space-style corridor

A fictional town evoked by music: Belbury and Ghost Box records

This weekend, I took a bit of time to listen to some albums put out by the hauntology-heavy Ghost Box record label. I especially enjoyed The Owl's Map and The Belbury Tales by Belbury Poly. The latter is a sort of . . . nostalgic, prog rock-y supernatural concept album that feels equal

a yellow and orange halftone photograph of a raven with the words "lost futures, liminal music"

Musical hauntology

I wouldn't say that I'm "knowledgeable" about "music"

a sketchy digital drawing of a crested owl

Learning Things

Randonauting, synchronicity, and lost batteries (Learning Things: June 19, 2023)

The New Blood Kickstarter campaign is still going strong this week! (It'll be running until July 9 at 8:08 am EST.) Last week, I appeared on a livestream with the rest of the cast and crew of New Blood and Inhuman Beings, two brand-new paranormal shows that we're currently

a halftone illustration of a UFO and the NYC skyline with the words "anemoia in NYC, feels bad, man"

Midcentury UFO literature, anemoia, and bitterness: Part 2

Check out part one of this post. One of my favorite terms is anemoia, or "nostalgia for a time or place that one has never known." It was coined in John Koenig's Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, which I own but haven't read cover-to-cover yet. I wonder, is there a term

a halftone illustration of a UFO and the NYC skyline with the words "anemoia in NYC, feels bad, man"

Midcentury UFO literature, anemoia, and bitterness: Part 1

A quick heads up: I’ll be on a livestream tonight at 8:30 pm along with the rest of the cast and crew of the two new queer paranormal shows we’re currently funding on Kickstarter, so tune into the New Blood TV YouTube channel to watch that! (In

a halftone illustration of a walled garden with the text "trapped in walled gardens"

A plea to fellow paranormal researchers: break free of walled gardens and build your own digital gardens

Earlier this year, one of my favorite thinkers, sci-fi author Cory Doctorow coined the term "enshittification." Enshittification is the process of a platform destroying itself. It often goes like this: the platform initially seems great, so users sign up, then it shafts its users in favor of attracting business users,

a sketch of a tree from the Cloisters garden in NYC

How to set up your own digital garden

Yesterday, I wrote about why I set up a digital garden. Today, I wanted to share a bit more about exactly how I set it up, as well as my current workflow for sharing notes. I'm only a couple weeks into tending my digital garden, so I wouldn't be surprised

mint green and white pixel art of a mushroom and some sparkles

Tending the garden: digital gardening goals

I recently set up a digital garden to share some of my in-progress research notes. Yesterday, I wrote about what a digital garden is. Today, I want to delve into my goals for the garden. My notetaking methods As a paranormal researcher, I use the zettlekasten method of taking notes.

yellow and purple pixel art of a rosebush with the word "digital gardens"

Digital gardens, zettlekasten, and paranormal research

How and why I'm sharing my in-progress research notes

A pixel drawing of a cranesbill plant

Digital gardens and fungi research (Learning Things: May 15, 2023)

It's really feeling like spring here in NYC (or summer, really—it's been toasty). My wife and I went to Central Park this week, which is in bloom and full of birds (we saw a black-crowned night heron, which is always exciting). The cranesbill bloom pixel art that accompanies this

a yellow UFO with a purple background with a graph of notes

Vintage zines and research woes (Learning Things: May 8, 2023)

Here's a rundown of what I've been up to this week: Paranormal research Over the weekend, I spent a while looking through old UFO newsletters and zines. I love the aesthetic of the typewritten, xeroxed 1950s-1980s publications (I definitely have a bit of anemoia when it comes to 'em.) I

a halftone photograph of blue mylar balloons with the words "use your imagination"

On mylar balloons and forgotten futures

Some thoughts about mylar balloons, what they represent in the paranormal, and what else they might mean in terms of our world and our future.

White tree branches with grainy pink shading and a mint green background.

Tree talkin' and train tracks (Learning Things: April 24, 2023)

I wish I could say that I made a ton of progress on all of my goals this week, unlike last time. But that'd be a lie. I was a bit under the weather this week and moved very, very slowly, so it's kinda a wonder I got anything done

a black and white digital drawing of an owl with blank white eyes

Magnolia trees and frustration (Learning Things: April 17, 2023)

A lot of my efforts (in all areas of my life) this week have felt like trudging slowly through mud. While writing this, I paused and looked up whether a Mercury Retrograde is approaching, and sure enough, it looks like we've been in the shadow period since the April 6.

A black and white drawing of a snake plant with the repeated words "love to talk to plants" in the background.

Starting the biodata sonification build (Learning Things: April 10, 2023)

Biodata sonification supplies and Erik Satie-inspired automatic drawings.

A digital drawing of a SB-7 spirit box with a swirly pattern

I asked ChatGPT to create and code paranormal investigation gear for me

I wouldn't say that it went "well."

A digital drawing of fly agaric mushrooms, with the crescent moon and stars in the background.

Bibliomancy-inspired thoughts about perception and meaning

How do our own expectations shape what we perceive as reality? How do we give meaning to the things we're presented with? As usual, I don't know, but I'm ready to speculate wildly.

A graphite-style digital drawing of a tradescantia zebrina plant.

Screaming plants (Learning Things: April 3, 2023)

Thoughts on plant communication and an attempt at automatic drawing.

How a notetaking method has helped me with paranormal research.

We write to think

How a notetaking method has helped me with paranormal research.

a black and white graphite-style digital sketch of a dead mall

On humanity, writing, and digital dead malls

Are our errors what make us human?

a grayscale digital drawing of a (not DIY) REM pod with the words "did you find the ghost?"

Notes for a DIY REM pod build

Some thoughts on a future DIY REM pod project.

graphite-style digital sketch of the full moon with the words "is this real?"

Accidentally overriding reality: untrustworthy and automatically faked photos

If smartphone cameras are increasingly depicting "idealized" images of the world, smoothing out anomalies and removing variations from what an computer might consider "normal," what does that mean for paranormal photography?

a Polaroid SX-70 camera drawn digitally in a watercolor style with the words "feeling nostalgic"

Why do we feel so nostalgic about Polaroids?

The Polaroid Corporation's history gives some clues to why we feel so nostalgic about instant photography.