No art. I’ve felt quite unmotivated to draw lately, which is a shame. I consider art one of my main passions, but after having to pump out work for finals, I really don’t want to draw. It isn’t even that I don’t want to draw or hate it, but more seeing other’s work, their technical skill, and comparing it with mine is discouraging. The horrific job market doesn’t help. Maybe I should have just studied medicine instead and sold people opiods.
I have been reading more manga lately (And some other books.) I always try to purchase physical/hard copies. This isn’t due to some moralfag concept of “supporting the author,” but more because I enjoy the sensation of holding something, the feeling of pages, and being able to use a dictionary alongside it for Japanese books. No screen can ever compare. I’ve felt this way since I was a child, I always was sent to the library after school since both my parents were extremely busy. I may spend an hour or two browsing forums, but most of my time was spent reading physical books. I could have gotten digital copies, in fact, our library supported that for books currently checked out. However, I would wait the weeks or months for the physical book to come in to read it.
Please support your local library if you can. Mine has been closed for several years and it’s very saddening.
Another main reason I dislike digital copies is the blue light emitted from the screens of devices. Blue Light tends to strain my eyes after looking at it for too long (which is worsened by the added work my eyes have to do on screens due to high contrast and clurrier screens), and disrupts my sleep schedule. Since I am a college student, my sleep schedule is already fucked, but I should protect what little of my eyes I have left.I do understand the appeal of digital copies, the portability is very convinient. I feel very happy when I lug books to the bus stop from my University’s Library, but I know many others do not feel the same way, and sometimes it does become too much.
I have people suggest I buy a kindle, which doesnt emit light and is portable but I will not because:
On the last point, I know that it’s possible to jailbreak your kindle, which has made it more of an appealing option. But I still don’t want to buy a Kindle, even used copies since I don’t think I truly need one. Hell, I was reluctant to replace my old 2012 macbook because it “still works.” And Amazon seems to still be trying to patch these jailbreaks, so until I am sure there’s a long-term, reliable jailbreak and I find a true need for one, I likely won’t be in the market for a Kindle anytime soon.
I do hope that a group like the FSF starts working on something like a “libre” kindle someday.