Monday 24th February
3216 steps (bad), 6 hrs 44 screen time (also, bad)
Started journey to self-improvement by widening mind with new knowledge. First piece? “María Mencía’s e-Poetry: A Conversation Exploring Her Work,” an interview between Mencía (e-poet, scholar) and Yolanda De Gregorio Robledo (also scholar). Discovered so much about Mencía’s journey and practice, the importance of showcasing women’s work, and technology’s influence on literary evolution.
Wednesday 26th February
3458 steps (bad), 8 hrs 10 screen time (v. bad), minutes spent considering free fall of democracy and rise of AI 245 (v. v. b. but understandable)
9 p.m. Just read a v. v. good article by Tuuli Hongisto, titled “Advertising with AI – On the presentation of authorship of ChatGPT-generated books”. A nuanced deep dive into the prevalence, positioning, and reception of books, published to Amazon, with ChatGPT identified as an author. Fascinating speculation over impact of such activity on future of authorship.
11 p.m. Can’t sleep. Keep thinking about whether I will ever achieve ‘presumed prestige’ of book authorship. Mind wanders and creates visions of me as Liam Gallagher of publishing world… or real-life iteration of Alan Wake.
11:30 p.m. Really must improve reference points to be more literary.
Friday 28th February
Am such an utter stochastic parrot! Talked to H. about epistle creed do re
4.30 p.m. Fell very suddenly. Phone cracked (typical). For propriety, have preserved above autocorrect nonsense. Also, will be honest, have totally forgotten what complaint was about.
No idea where I am, only that I’m not where I was.
6 p.m. Have tried finding way out. Found nothing. Reminded of superb article by Mez Breeze, “Lost in The Backrooms [or How I Learned to Love the Liminal]”. Breeze discusses the ways Kane Pixels’ found footage web series acts as an artistic reflection of late-stage capitalism, illustrating its prey-predator dynamics and ability to erode individual/communal identity.
8 p.m. Definitely in some sort of liminal space. Not sure what kind, exactly. Intuition is saying it’s whatever lies between creative writing and informational newsletter, fiction and fact, human and cyborg, past and future. This is, as you might expect, hard to visually describe. Mainly seems to be comprised of electrical signals, absence, and signs (semiotic variety, not road).
Saturday 1st March
29492 steps, 34 min screen time
10 a.m. Thought I saw something. May have been specter of the wreader?
11 a.m. Attempts to find exit mean step count v. v. good, even if monotony of environs v. v. bad.
2 p.m. Listened to excellent podcast, then realized may be best to preserve phone battery. Luckily, found transcript of episode: “Off Center Episode 16: Alternate Reality Games with Patrick Jagoda”. Patrick (scholar and game designer, in title) and Scott Rettberg (also scholar, podcaster) talk about changes to storytelling transmediality brings, alternate reality game design, and collaborating with teachers to create immersive educational experiences.
10 p.m. Tired. Calves aching. Also, hungry. If this is A.R.G. I would like to stop playing now, please.
Sunday 2nd March
9 a.m. Ability to imitate Helen Fielding as nostalgic reference point slipping due to bizarreness of situation. After much thought, am also worried stylistic choice may be construed as sexist or dated or lowbrow.
Wonder if ChatGPT would be concerned about such things, if sentience gained.
11 a.m. Still no exit. Phone battery low. Trying not to think about what ebr editorial team will do. We’re shifting back to quarterly publication (next issue due end of June), so they will have plenty of time to figure things out, maybe find new barker.
Must try to find way out.
11.30 a.m. Not sure when best to write customary sign off as phone running out of batte