Elon Musk looks like he was drawn by Rob Liefeld

Like, why do you need ideas for this? Why does this information need to be crowd-sourced? Cosco chicken is one of the few things you could throw into a pot with random ingredients & successfully make something edible with very little forethought or prior knowledge.

I feel very mean when I see TikTok text posts that say “Need Dinner Ideas for a Cosco Rotisserie Chicken—Any Favorites?” And my immediate thoughts are to wonder if they’ve ever cooked or eaten chicken before. Because obviously one could just substitute the Cosco chicken in, well, anything…

It feels crazy that I have to point this out. Crazy & pointless, because I’m now posting about it on social media, knowing full well pointing out these things isn’t going to change anything.

The internet was a mistake.

I mean poseurs exist—they’ve existed longer than people have been reading in public. But if people just called them poseurs, it sounds mean & it invites questions like: how do you know this guy isn’t just, like, reading? Or, why is the assumption they’re reading with ulterior motives?

I suspect it’s because if they do it makes the whole criticism sound ridiculous if you think about it long enough. “Performative males,” for example, are just men who look a certain way & read books in public.

The correct response to this is “reading in public is a problem, now?”

…and part of the reason why it’s essentially meaningless.

Most of the time people don’t even bother to explain why they think (insert topic X) is “performative,” they just throw the word into a list of things they think make (topic X) problematic.

…because we all exist in an online surveillance hellscape that makes us profoundly insecure but we still reinforce through participation.

(Shit, I guess I did sort of unpack the “why” a little…)

It makes criticizing something for being “performative” unintentionally ironic…

I don’t really want to get into the why of it. That requires unpacking a lot of chronically online pathology whereby people become so obsessed with “authenticity” that a lot of people—specifically younger adults—can’t themselves be authentic…

I even know why things they claim are “performative” bother them.

But it doesn’t even work in the context people use the term.

I think there should be a moratorium on using the word “performative” in any online/social media criticism of, well, anything. I know what the word means. I know what the people using it think it means. I know why they want to use it the way they use it…

…& finally, d) the whole purpose of an “edit” is to create a relationship between the elements in it, whether or not these things were previously related or not.

*this is paraphrasing a real interaction, btw.

The immediate reply is something along the lines of “it’s an edit—things don’t have to be related in an edit.”

Never mind that the original comment is a) true, b) not even a criticism, c) the music is, in fact, from the same band in the footage

Say you come across an editor concert footage of a band paired with music from the same band six albums later. You say “I’m glad people like this band, it’s interesting that they put newer music over older footage.” Which is a true, descriptive observation of the content…

The weird things about memes & “edits” is how decontextualized they are the the point that if you point out the original contexts of their parts some people see it as provocation. Sometimes even to the point people seem OFFENDED at the idea that context even exists AT ALL…

I stare into the middle distance, not to take stock of my life decisions, but because it’s about as far as I can see clearly anymore

I randomly lost my ability to read fine print this year. Like, I knew it was going to happe, just not like this. Not with me, reminding my dad (who has ever worsening memory issues) that the reason we are at Costco is so that I can get a pair of progressive lens glasses on his membership.

3a/3…I wont engage in pseudo-intellectual back & forthw about it. Simply put: to be considered an artist, one’s craft must exceed their instrumement. Owning a skillet doesn’t make someone a chef. Generative AI isn’t even a skillet—it’s ordering DoorDash

2a/…ideas on their own. Of course they’re better [than the AI “artist”]—definitionally, that’s what it means to be better than someone else. There might not be that many original ideas anymore, but if everyone uses AI, that’s even LESS original…

Idk. I advocate for calling those creators mediocre when I encounter them.* If they push back, I lay out pretty much what I already commented. Everyone has “ideas,” & a large percentage of those ideas are exactly the same. Execution matters—especially if someone actually CAN execute most of…

3/3…like, it’s easy enough to disprove if it happens, & blaming AI skeptics for causing harm to real creatives by doing this is not going to convince AI skeptics to change their minds.

2/…the only way around that is to lie about it, & risk being found out. Either way, they can’t get mad if people call them out on it. It is what it is.

I also find the discourse about real artists being falsely accused of using generative AI disingenuous…

Like, on some level I understand that it sucks to be mediocre. But most people are, & in that respect it’s fine. Just accept it. On the other hand, one can’t resent being mediocre, use tools that—definitionally—expose one’s mediocrity & expect people’s respect & admiration…

"The current trajectory of generative AI reflects the priorities of firms seeking to lower costs, discipline workers, and consolidate profits — not any drive to enhance human flourishing."

4/4…Anyway, as Deftones first charting single, I partially credit it for the existence of their 3rd album, White Pony, without which I’m convinced that I would’ve had a lot less fun/success as an out bisexual in college.

3/…1st tinder date complaining about how all his exes were crazy. I can’t prove that this is true, but it FEELS true.

(Cue the career-long guy take that’s teenage girls ruined Deftones fandom)…

2/…Deftones deserve the win because when women hear “Be Quiet & Drive (Far Away,” they immediately think “I can fix him,” (in spite of Chino Moreno looking like a guy that sweats malt liquor), while I when I hear “Send the Pain Below,” I assume the singer would spend an entire…

I wish Song vs Song would do an episode comparing Deftones’ “Be Quiet & Drive (Far Away)” & “Send the Pain Below” by Chevelle. Some people might think it’s the same break-up song & give Deftones the win just for being first, but that’s not why they deserve the win…

I can’t take credit for this, but it’s too good:

Since Musk is here on an expired student visa & Trump is apparently in the Epstein files, it’s basically Alien vs Predator

2/…there isn’t any substance to their arguments because it’s not rooted in an authentic experience.

Like, they want AI to make an even more abstract version of a thing they only understand on the most abstract level.