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<p>JZ -</p>
<p>I'm glad you asked, though I doubt I can do much to relight the
flame myself... </p>
<p>I've been noticing this as well. I happen to (also) be in the
midst of doing lots of Springtime refresh (cleaning chimney,
blacking stove, restarting Kombucha jar, re-starting a
yogurt-batch method, pruning fruit trees, pre-preparing garden
beds, etc. This is not (just) virtue signalling for all my DIY
projects, it is also to reflect the tone of engaging in lots of
things as "living batches"... and FriAM (+ the constellation)
does feel like a living batch that has weakened and drifted (as
did my Kombucha and Yogurt cultures). </p>
<p>I will admit to preferring (not exclusively) the company of LLMs
over various social engagements, and especially those with more
technical spine than not. FriAM has been from time to time such
for me. I still appreciate the meso-tech discussions that arise
here from time to time... </p>
<p>I assume some of our more active posters/innoculators here
(yourself included) DO have greener forums for many/some
purposes. I do not. I do *read* a lot to feed some of the same
thirst.</p>
<p>I'm definitely distracted by "current events" and/but avoid
thrashing those dead horses here very often.</p>
<p>I've never been an active in-person member of FriAM proper
(though I made an effort 20 years ago to attend every month or
three) nor of the vFriAM version... really not my mode. I am
sad if/that there is not still a core in-person group, I have been
assuming (e.g. my recent introduction of a new potential
participant). I've moslty been more available for WedTech or
SimTable-adjacent activities or as you know Salon's at Jenny's
when she is in town.</p>
<p>I don't find myself particularly adept at seeding interesting
conversations here. I think Glen has been the most effective at
this. I'm assuming he is suffering/enjoying his own weighted
vector in your 1-N basis space of possible reasons for
suppressed/depressed activity. </p>
<p>I've been feeling a general sense of decoherence across many
aspects of my life which I will blame on A) MAGA 2.0; B) AI
tech-topic acceleration; C) my own aging brain and body (69 next
week).</p>
<p>I've pinged a couple of (semi)regulars here offList "recently"
and got no response, so maybe that is another data point? </p>
<p><br>
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<p><br>
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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 2/3/26 5:45 pm, Jon Zingale wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAH5Jek2LMAd5u0BpJ8MMEyzDJineoOhJsVMGeev0rxLWcyQBQA@mail.gmail.com">
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<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#333333">I
know I came to this group in what appears to be its twilight.
The in-person meetups are weirdly sad. I feel pressed to ask
if it is the case that everyone is either:</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#333333"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#333333">1.
on vacation/ too busy</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#333333">2.
too depressed / failing to find inspiration</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#333333">3.
moved on to greener forums</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#333333">4.
preferring the company of LLMs</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#333333">...</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#333333">N.
waiting for someone frail to post</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#333333"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#333333">Sometimes
I trawl reddit or whatever discord, but I cannot help but feel
like beacons of inspiration are becoming fewer and further
between. This group has managed to inspire me, keep my
interest, for over a decade. In that time, I pushed myself to
understand perspectives that I would never have dreamed
existed. I hope there is still something to talk about.</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#333333"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#333333"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#333333"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#333333"><br>
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