á↗︎ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ "and now for ░░ ░░ something ░░ ▒▒ completely ▒▒ ▒▒ different..." ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒ ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ 3.5.2026 just had my first radio interview about The Library of Death, and i think it went well! most importantly, i felt really comfortable with the interviewer, and we were able to meet at Little Fernwood. of course, as it goes, afterwards i thought of a bunch of shoulda woulda coulda things that i didn't say, but it flowed naturally 90% of the way and felt pretty well-rounded, i think! i was quite anxious leading up to this opportunity not because of the spotlight itself so much, but because i've been so deep in softer computing projects lately and haven't been wearing my death librarian hat as much recently... anyway, i'm gradually feeling the relief of adrenaline and anticipation winding down, but will be headed over to Softer Drink shortly for a spot of tea to help level things out. and hopefully a good sleep tonight z_z i can't even begin to write about the other surreal convergences and juxtapositions lately, so i'll end here... 2.22.2026 i recently mediated my first formal dialogue between someone and their computer (not 'AI™️', just ~*cpu*~) to great effect, and had the surreal sensation that certain slices of my life have become scenes from a Spike Jonze (e: or Michel Gondry?) film. do you ever have that feeling? "today, now, directed by _" oh wow, i just had a flashback to a mysterious online acquaintance from many (20+!?) years ago who went by "TodayNow". i never learned anything directly personal about them, but they curated the most amazing videos from the wilds of the web, and we sometimes crossed paths in the comments commons to chat for a bit before heading back out to continue foraging. i was also mildly obsessed with their ~name(s) & general aesthetic. i remember that they also had a shape association - <> maybe? or a diamond and a circle... hmm... hang on... *returns from the Wayback time machine* ah yes, it was "◊●", and i made this homage (each box was a link) - one of my earliest ascii arts, i think: □□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□◊□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ □□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□◊□◊□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ □□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□◊□□□◊□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ □□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□◊□□□□□◊□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ □□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□◊□□□□□□□◊□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ □□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□◊□□□□□□□□□◊□□□□□□□□●●●●●□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ □□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□◊□□□□□□□□□□□◊□□□□●●●●●●●●●●●□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ □□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□◊□□□□□□□□□◊□□□□●●●●●●●●●●●●●□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ □□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□◊□□□□□□□◊□□□□□●●●●●●●●●●●●●□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ □□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□◊□□□□□◊□□□□□□□●●●●●●●●●●●□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ □□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□◊□□□◊□□□□□□□□□□□●●●●●□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ □□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□◊□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ surprisingly & unsurprisingly, i posted that on Feb 20, 2010, of all days (on spacecollective). posted again today, now. yesterday of yesterday, then. TodayNow also went by "InReverse", "smallscreen", "circulate", and "M". maybe they are now here, somewhere in the special.fish sea... grief/melancholy about people who you only met as online aliases & then lose touch with, or they vanish is very particular... i wonder who maybe feels this about my old aliases... *etymology research* just had a moment of self-doubt, wondering whether or not i've been misusing the term 'alias' after all of these years, and was pleased to read that the Latin etymology carries the root meanings: "otherwise called", "at another time", "in another way, under other circumstances" feels right ◊● - - - - - - - - - - - - - archive: https://www.leaflitter.ca/special.fish - - - - - - - - - - - - - ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ _______________________________________________________________ |[+]o°o°o°o°o°o°o°o°o°o°o°o°o° [ chat.bubbles] °o°o°o°o°o°o°o°o°o[v1.2]| |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| | o ° o ° o ° o ° o ° o ° o ° o ° o ° o ° o ° o ° o ° o ° o° | | o [3.5 '26 ]. o | | ° o° ° | | o @leaf oh what! i'll pass the message along o | | o for sure - they're so sweet & cool :^) o | | ° ° o° | | ° we're actually working on a tiny mail service °° | | o for softer computing - would be cute to print o | | ° & deliver special.fish mail °o° | | o o | | °o ° o ° o ° o ° o ° o ° o ° o ° o ° o ° o ° o ° o ° o ° | | | | ___________________________________________________ | | | [3.5 '26 ] | | | | | | | ! | @leaf message delivered! jonathan was intrigued | | | }<,☉> < to hear about this special.fish connection :^) | | | | | | | | also, @wingy is pretty sure that she stayed at | | | | your house in oaxaca in like 2017? her brother | | | | is kevin romain | | | | | | | | & cool! let's try out special.fish.mail! | | | | i actually printed an ascii postcard to send to | | | | @elliott some years back, & have been wanting to | | | | do something else like that | | | | | | | | maybe just write a message to @softercomputing | | | | and add some sort of ascii art if you'd like. | | | | we'll be setting up a little mailbox at softer | | | | drink soon, where people can send/receive small | | | | printed messages | | | |___________________________________________________| | |_______________________________________________________________| ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ also known as ~ https://www.special.fish/island ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~