#but i like really bright colours in art its so awesome sauce

[welloes]

is the song ironic? possibly

[simping-on-the-daily]

Credit to @Luxet for her great prompts!

We’re going to be Chelsea, since she was my first Sander Sides gal. <->

Spotify, SoundCloud, or Pandora? “Oh, definitely Spotify! The community is lovely, and it’s free!” is your room messy or clean? “My bedroom is clean, but that little corner of my mind room? Yeah, that’s a mess. :p” what color are your eyes? “Pink! A bright magenta, if we’re being exact!” do you like your name? why? “Oh, that’s a question I haven’t heard! ........Yeah, I like it!” what is your relationship status? “Taken by an emo baby. Well, it’s more like I’ve taken him.” describe your personality in 3 words or less “Hmmm......optimistic, bubbly, caring! I prefer listing the good stuff rather then the bad.” what color hair do you have? “Another pink colour! This time it’s more like a salmonish? Light reddish pink? Something like that.” what kind of car do you drive? color? “The day I drive a car is the day Thomas isn’t showing basic human decency. In other words, never. But, I do like those silver SUVs!” where do you shop? “You can’t really shop in the mindscape, considering that we can just summon things, but I do enjoy those nice little comfort shops! Like, those candle places!” how would you describe your style? “Pretty comfy :D!” favorite social media account “Oh, I do enjoy Tumblr and DeviantArt! Get rid of the bad people and not for kids art and it’s awesome!” what size bed do you have? “An Olympic Queen.” any siblings? “I’m not Roman or Remus! Nah, I’m an only child. But a sibling would be really nice!” if you can live anywhere in the world where would it be? why? “Put me next to a beach house and I’m set.” favorite snapchat filter? “I don’t use Snapchat, but I like seeing those glittery and soft aesthetic ones.” favorite makeup brand(s) “Oh, oh, oh! Wet N Wild cosmetics are so nice!” how many times a week do you shower? “God, why are you making me do maths? I mean, we don’t have to shower or do any bathroom business, but I do shower when I wake up and when I get to bed.” favorite tv show? ”We’re gonna be here all day I discuss them. But, does My Hero Academia count?” shoe size? “Somewhere in the 10s, I think.” how tall are you? “6′1. I’m pretty tall, but I’m short then Logan. He’s a giant.” sandals or sneakers? “Sandals are much more comfy!” do you go to the gym? “Don’t need to, don’t want to.” describe your dream date “A dream date is one when we’re both enjoying each other’s presence doing something we love. To me, that’s a dream date.” how much money do you have in your wallet at the moment? “Right now, there’s.......$65?” what color socks are you wearing? “Black and white striped socks!” how many pillows do you sleep with? “In my own bed, I have a unicorn pillow pet and two giant pillows on each side. It’s so comfy in there!” do you have a job? what do you do? “My job is giving out free hugs!” how many friends do you have? “All of the sides, I’m guessing? And any friend of Thomas is a friend of mine!” whats the worst thing you have ever done? “Can we please skip the question? I don’t want to talk about it.....” whats your favorite candle scent? “I’m going to go with Parrafin!” 3 favorite boy names “For children? I like Connor, Aiden and Jacob.” 3 favorite girl names “Faith, Hope and Harmony!” favorite actor? “Thomas Sanders! Duh.” favorite actress? “Emma Watson.” who is your celebrity crush? “Chris Hemsworth. He’s hot, okay?” favorite movie? “The BNHA Movies!” do you read a lot? whats your favorite book? “Not a fan of reading a lot, but I do enjoy a good Harry Potter story.” money or brains? “The brains make money.” do you have a nickname? what is it? “Ask Roman. He has plenty of them for me.” how many times have you been to the hospital? “We don’t have a hospital in the mindscape, but Remus makes you cross that limit of healing a lot.” top 10 favorite songs ”I think some of them were in my character bio from Amino?” do you take any medications daily? “Nah.” what is your skin type? (oily, dry, etc) “Smooth.” what is your biggest fear? “That’s pretty personal! :C But, probably not being able to help others....” how many kids do you want? “Two, maybe? I don’t want that much, you know. So much responsibility!” whats your go to hair style? "My hair's usually curly and in a ponytail!" What type of house do you live in? (big, small, etc) “The Mind Palace is always changing (most because of Roman), but right now we’ve got a beach house setting!” who is your role model? “Thomas is always being a great person to everyone he meets even when he’s not doing his videos', but Clifford Chapin has lost his voice due to playing Bakugou so much! That’s real dedication right there!” what was the last compliment you received? “It was from Virgil! He said I have a really nice comforting smile. :)” what was the last text you sent? “Roman asked me if I could give him back his hairdryer.” how old were you when you found out santa wasn’t real? “I think I was nine? What I did know was that Remus committed a bit crime that day.” what is your dream car? “An SUV!” opinion on smoking? “Oh.........you want my advice on it? Don't abuse it, please. It’s okay if you do it on occasion, but your health is extremely important. There are lines out there if you are a heavy smoker or just want to talk about it. I’m here for you.” do you go to college? “We’re back on the basic questions! I personally didn’t, but Thomas might’ve.”  what is your dream job? “I really just want to help people and be there for them. You don’t need a job to do that.” would you rather live in rural areas or the suburbs? “Suburbs!” do you take shampoo and conditioner bottles from hotels? “I prefer using my own shampoo and conditioner! Besides, I don’t even need to use them.” do you have freckles? “Nah.” do you smile for pictures? “I always do! Roman says he’s never seen me frown in pictures, and he’s my creator!” how many pictures do you have on your phone? “In my gallery, there’s five thousand and six hundred right now. We don’t have a storage limit to how much stuff we can post.” have you ever peed in the woods? “Bold of you to assume I even go in the woods.” do you still watch cartoons? “Cartoons are still shows! They still have deep meanings to them. I mean, look at Steven Universe! That’s a cartoon and WOW, it taught me more about life then some live action show could!” do you prefer chicken nuggets from Wendy’s or McDonalds? “I’ve never had Wendy’s before, so I’ll go with McDonalds! I prefer KFC chips, though.” Favorite dipping sauce? “Its a tie between Sweet N Sour and Tomato.” what do you wear to bed? “I wear nighties.” have you ever won a spelling bee? “You’re acting like I’ve participated in one. ;p” what are your hobbies? “Once again, I think they’re in a bio of mine.” can you draw? “With a lot of referencing, yeah!” do you play an instrument? “I play a ukulele sometimes, but that’s out of sheer fun. And my ukulele skills suck.” what was the last concert you saw? “Depends on what was the last concert Thomas went to.” tea or coffee? “Coffee. It keeps me alert. Also makes me my happy peppy self!” (If you get where the reference is from, I love you.) Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts? “Donuts rule! Remy can go to Starbucks all he wants, but I’m gonna stick with my donuts.” do you want to get married? “Absolutely! I don’t want to rush into it, though. Don’t want to make Virgil uncomfortable.” what is your crush’s first and last initial? “Is it a crush if you’re already together? ….the initials are V.S.” are you going to change your last name when you get married? “I don’t even have a last name. :p Chelsea Sanders.......feels nice on the tongue, but I’ll think about that later!” what color looks best on you? “Black and pink! I have really pale skin, so the black works. Pink naturally looks good on me.” do you miss anyone right now? ”Not really. But that’s right now!” do you sleep with your door open or closed? “Closed. Mostly because Virgil likes it closed.” do you believe in ghosts? “Trust me, I believe in everything, That Santa question? He exists in the Mind Palace. Ghosts are something you get used to.” what is your biggest pet peeve? “Lemme think........smacking gum, watching TV and then some loud appliance turns on, and saying ‘no offense’, but then saying something offensive.” last person you called “On the phone, it was Aisha. In real life, I had to scream out for Roman for a while.” favorite ice cream flavor? “Strawberry! Rainbow’s a close second.” regular oreos or golden oreos? “Normal Oreos!” chocolate or rainbow sprinkles? “Rainbow! :D” what shirt are you wearing? “Right now I’m wearing a Trolls: World Tour shirt.” what is your phone background? “Virgil and I with a Snapchat filter! Roman helped with that.” are you outgoing or shy? “Defiantly outgoing.” do you like it when people play with your hair? “Absolutely! It’s calming and I play with my hair myself sometimes.” do you like your neighbors? “My neighbors? Well, the dark sides live next to us, so.......they’re visiting, though! They’re staying here for the day.” do you wash your face? at night? in the morning? “Right after I take a shower.” have you ever been high? “I’m always very thrilled and overjoyed!” have you ever been drunk? “.........REMUS, CAN WE GET DRUNK?” last thing you ate? “Patton’s cookies.” favorite lyrics right now “It’s tied between these two. They’re both from Trolls: World Tour, It’s All Love!” Nobody's born hatin' Nobody's born fake Why we fightin' over something we can all make? That's stingy love I'm just givin' love Ain't no givin' up If you alive, only thing to do is live it up Along with that, there’s: Hate is just lost love So they hidin' summer or winter? “Summer, but Spring is my favourite season!” day or night? “Day!” dark, milk, or white chocolate? “Milk chocolate. Dark is too bitter, and white is too milky.” favorite month? “December! It’s Christmas and man, I love Christmas!” what is your zodiac sign “I’m a Gemini!” who was the last person you cried in front of? “Virgil.”

[30-days-of-exciting-stuff-blog]

Day 5: Humans Need Not Apply [Exhibition]

I put this project on hold while in Dublin, because as much as I love writing about awesomeness living it to the fullest feels even better and I felt that in that particular case it involved me spending my evenings with my brother rather than with my computer, and pub crawling rather than Tumblring. I could probably write an enthusiastic post about every single thing I saw there, including well-known highlights such as Kilmainham Gaol and St-Patrick Cathedral (see that terribly caricatured tourist who takes pictures of absolutely everything while bouncing with excitement and seems to genuinely believe that Guinness tastes better in Ireland and that rain makes Dublin look even nicer? That’s me). But as there is probably quite a lot of reading material available about them, instead I’ll focus on an exhibition we basically walked into while visiting Trinity College. It’s called Humans Need Not Apply and it’s on display until May 14th at the Trinity College Science Gallery.

To sum it up, it’s about robots. Lots of them. Useless robots. Artistic robots. Pet robots. Masseur robots. Talkative robots. My brother and I fucking love robots (and the multiverse and weird science, but that’s another topic…). It would probably take ages (and break the magic) to describe everything, but here are a few of my favourite AIs:

The Mindfulness Machine is a drawing robot which artistic decisions are based on its mood. The robot’s mood stems from a complex algorithm taking into account the number of people watching, the date, the weather, the ambient noise, and various obscure variables. When the robot feels happy and stimulated, it uses bright colours, whereas a depressed mood will lead it to draw in black and brown shades. Should it be stressed because of an overcrowded gallery watching it, it may even add shaky, stressed dark lines everywhere before adding colours. Unfortunately, my phone was slowly joining my camera in death when we got to that point, but I still managed to take a few pictures of the Mindfulness Machine and its art.

61% stimulated, 99% happy VS 50% stimulated, 20% happy, stressed. The Mindfulness Machine displays more variety in its artistic creations than I do. As far as I’m concerned, when I’m happy I draw monsters. And when I’m sad, I draw monsters.

Another interesting attempt to create an artistic AI is a software playing duets with humans on an electric piano. You play a few notes, the software takes over, and so on. Its algorithm supposedly enables it to recognize the chords and rhythms and improvise harmoniously. We had the opportunity to try it and, as musicians, we were both sceptical about its actual abilities: When you play only a few notes, and with a single hand, the improvisation is usually good (although always conventional… is musical audacity an exclusively human trait?), but the AI gets totally lost if you play something complex. Nevertheless, I really liked the idea, and look forward to hear an improved version of it!

I first wanted to post a video of me trying it, but my phone decided otherwise. Rebellious machines who hate humans are already a thing.

Machines seem to be more successful at painting, as the exhibition also introduces us to a project called The Next Rembrandt, which aimed at creating a painting that Rembrandt may have made, had he lived longer, using artificial intelligence. This resulted in a pretty convincing 3D painting, although it is unclear how much of the work was actually done by human designers giving precise instructions to the AI. Nevertheless, the ability of AIs to generate Rembrandt-looking creations is definitely food for thought when it comes to the meaning of art.

The AI-generated Rembrandt painting. These are expressive eyes you’ve got here, Sir.

A few creations seem to be aimed at depicting absurd aspects of human societies, such as the Humans Need Not to Count robotic arm that counts visitors with a clicker, or the Minimum Wage Machine that yields one cent every few seconds – the equivalent of Ireland’s minimum wage – when you turn the crank (which basically allows you to work for minimum wage if you have solid wrists and forearms, and are willing to pay for everything in the form of coins… don’t forget your wheelbarrow next time you want to pay your rent).

The exhibit also includes a dystopian history of combots (robot-computer hybrids) taking over the world, doing all the tasks and seeing human as annoying, imperfect, useless beings consuming bandwidth with their obsession for cat videos. We’re not here yet, but the number of cute pet robots at the exhibition makes me think that combots could actually take advantage of that permanent quest for cuteness, break the Internet and make the best of the existence of us damn dumb humans.

I mean, look at that cutie. We also met at the exhibition, and he took my heart forever.

If you have the opportunity to go to Dublin before May 14th, I strongly advise that you take a look at the Humans Need Not Apply exhibition. It doesn’t take long, it’s fascinating, it gives you an excuse to take a nice walk in Trinity College (and wish you were a student there), and you’ll have interesting stories to tell later on at the pub – if people hint that you may be too drunk and nicely suggest you to go home when you tell them about robots making art, they probably don’t deserve you. Oh, and it’s free (just like the Natural History Museum, but you’ll get to see robots rather than overly stuffed animals looking weird).

I mean, look at that hedgehog. It looks like a damn helium balloon.

By the way: The exhibition was named after a pretty interesting short documentary film released in 2014, describing a future where human labour will no longer be required and robots will be doing all the jobs. That makes me wonder why the exhibition included antisocial robots whose only job is avoiding each other. If there is a job based on doing U-turns when unexpectedly walking into people, just let me know so I can apply!

And also: If you happen to go to Dublin and like Japanese food, you probably should give Yamamori Noodles a try. A bit expensive, but worth it. I had marinated, crispy fried tofu with a mango and roast sesame sauce and stir fried vegetables (and there are loads of other vegetarian options), and my brother had teppan beef teriyaki. Now I feel like topping everything with mango sauce, and annoy everyone by telling them how good tofu can actually taste.