Liz, I appreciate you web tips. I hardly do any web surfing on my own, so it’s nice t get your whimsical pointers. I was really amazed what has been accomplished in colorizing old black and white films with AI. There used to be a cottage industry in colorizing black and white photographs by hand. The mom of one of my grade school friends had a studio in their home and specialized in large portrait photographs. There’s a scene in my novel, A Tale of Two Times, in which the travelers guidebook recommends taking note’s on the colors of a popular scene so the colorized version is authentic. Keep up the good work!
Awhile back we had an exchange about GM Hopkins’s idea of inscape. I’ve found a book on the whole subject (cheap on Thriftbooks) which I’ve started to read. It’s pretty dense but rewarding, so I give it a ten or fifteen minute wack on most days. The book is “Inscape” by James Finn Cotter. A good book is so much bigger than most web sites! JBSP
I'm so glad to hear you're enjoying the links! I don't read quickly enough to have a book review up every time, so I'm heartened to know that the in-between issues are also enjoyable. I'm hoping I'll finally have my review of "Ulysses" up for the next issue. With regards to colorized photographs, it is indeed the case that AI often chooses the wrong colors to our detriment –– it has been shown that it often represents the past with much duller colors than were really present at the time, for instance by making everyone's clothes a dusky blue-gray color even when we know that people were wearing vibrant pinks, greens, and yellows.
I'm especially glad to hear that you have pursued more on inscape; Hopkins is such a fascinating poet and I'm too happy to have gotten someone else hooked! I looked up the book you mentioned, it seems very interesting. Let me know if it helps you come to any new insights!
I’ve got two things for you, the first is a recommendation for your book reviews: Shirley Hazzard, The Great Fire. It’s a pretty profound love story which happens in a brief era which most don’t know about and during which the author came of age: The few doldrums years after World War Two ended. It’s cheap on Thrift books.com, and there’s a heavy weight literary bio of Shirley Hazzard just out this year by Brigitta Olubas, so maybe Shirley is making a comeback. The bio is pricey, so I’m still thinking about reading it.
The second thing is to reiterate my appreciation for you pointing me to Hopkins. Thank you! Hopkin’s idea of inscape and instress fits very well into my current big writing project, big, not in size, like my novel, but in meaning—at least to me. It’s a complex idea that I’ve been married to most of my life. It’s dense, but if you’re interested, the first part of the project is a chapbook of thought verse; the ebook UBL is:
Since publishing that book, I’ve been developing the idea, which I call qualitude, on my ello website. But you pretty much have to join ello (free) to read anyone on ello. Members are mostly writers and visual artists. [ ello.co (@jbspalmer) ] Note, it’s “.co” not “.com”
It's in the fifth Qualitude post that I explain where Hopkins fits in. Thanks again for the tip!
Thanks for the recommendations, JB! I’ll have to add them into my never ending to read pile. I’m so glad Hopkins has been such a useful literary discovery for you — I admire very much anyone who manages not just to dream of writing, but to conquer the tyranny of the blank page. I hope your ideas continue to evolve in satisfying directions through your writing.
Liz, I appreciate you web tips. I hardly do any web surfing on my own, so it’s nice t get your whimsical pointers. I was really amazed what has been accomplished in colorizing old black and white films with AI. There used to be a cottage industry in colorizing black and white photographs by hand. The mom of one of my grade school friends had a studio in their home and specialized in large portrait photographs. There’s a scene in my novel, A Tale of Two Times, in which the travelers guidebook recommends taking note’s on the colors of a popular scene so the colorized version is authentic. Keep up the good work!
Awhile back we had an exchange about GM Hopkins’s idea of inscape. I’ve found a book on the whole subject (cheap on Thriftbooks) which I’ve started to read. It’s pretty dense but rewarding, so I give it a ten or fifteen minute wack on most days. The book is “Inscape” by James Finn Cotter. A good book is so much bigger than most web sites! JBSP
I'm so glad to hear you're enjoying the links! I don't read quickly enough to have a book review up every time, so I'm heartened to know that the in-between issues are also enjoyable. I'm hoping I'll finally have my review of "Ulysses" up for the next issue. With regards to colorized photographs, it is indeed the case that AI often chooses the wrong colors to our detriment –– it has been shown that it often represents the past with much duller colors than were really present at the time, for instance by making everyone's clothes a dusky blue-gray color even when we know that people were wearing vibrant pinks, greens, and yellows.
I'm especially glad to hear that you have pursued more on inscape; Hopkins is such a fascinating poet and I'm too happy to have gotten someone else hooked! I looked up the book you mentioned, it seems very interesting. Let me know if it helps you come to any new insights!
I’ve got two things for you, the first is a recommendation for your book reviews: Shirley Hazzard, The Great Fire. It’s a pretty profound love story which happens in a brief era which most don’t know about and during which the author came of age: The few doldrums years after World War Two ended. It’s cheap on Thrift books.com, and there’s a heavy weight literary bio of Shirley Hazzard just out this year by Brigitta Olubas, so maybe Shirley is making a comeback. The bio is pricey, so I’m still thinking about reading it.
The second thing is to reiterate my appreciation for you pointing me to Hopkins. Thank you! Hopkin’s idea of inscape and instress fits very well into my current big writing project, big, not in size, like my novel, but in meaning—at least to me. It’s a complex idea that I’ve been married to most of my life. It’s dense, but if you’re interested, the first part of the project is a chapbook of thought verse; the ebook UBL is:
https://books2read.com/u/3JprqP
Since publishing that book, I’ve been developing the idea, which I call qualitude, on my ello website. But you pretty much have to join ello (free) to read anyone on ello. Members are mostly writers and visual artists. [ ello.co (@jbspalmer) ] Note, it’s “.co” not “.com”
It's in the fifth Qualitude post that I explain where Hopkins fits in. Thanks again for the tip!
Thanks for the recommendations, JB! I’ll have to add them into my never ending to read pile. I’m so glad Hopkins has been such a useful literary discovery for you — I admire very much anyone who manages not just to dream of writing, but to conquer the tyranny of the blank page. I hope your ideas continue to evolve in satisfying directions through your writing.