@csilverman@mastodon.social avatar

csilverman

@[email protected]

Designer, artist, iPhone Notes limit pusher. I know the difference between a "font" and a "typeface", but I'm not obnoxious about it.

📍localhost

A note: while I CW the occasional political post, I don't typically CW things like faces or food. My art is weird, often includes eyes/faces/masks, and can be (I'm told) eerie.

Profile pic: a white pixel rendering of a small computer with a sad face, set on on a black background (Susan Kare's immortal "Sad Mac" icon).

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. View on remote instance

@csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

An eerie scene: a crimson sky smeared with purple clouds; a purple mountain range in the background; and a craggy mountainside in the foreground. The mountainside has several small caves that make it resemble the skull of some unknown animal. Taking off into the sky is a vast, black bird that may be living in one of the caves. It is heading towards a yellow moon that is partially obscured by clouds. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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@csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

Wishing Judy Blume a very happy birthday today.

The view from a Zoom meeting: a dark gray background with two people in the meeting. The video screens are stacked one on the other. The upper person's video screen is completely black, with a small, red crossed-out-microphone icon that indicates they are muted. The label on the screen says "God" in small, white letters. The lower video screen shows a girl with long dark hair and a dark short-sleeved shirt. She is in a small room with a few dimly visible posters on the wall. The entire scene is rendered in shades of pale blue that suggest a dark room lit only by a computer screen. Her name is displayed as "Margaret", and there is a green border around her video screen, indicating that she is speaking. Someone familiar with classic children's novels will recognize this as a reference to the book "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret", by Judy Blume, whose birthday is today. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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csilverman OP ,
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@jblake Thanks! Considering current circumstances, I've developed a new appreciation for authors who are willing to push boundaries.

@wynlim@kopiti.am avatar wynlim , to random

i find it incredible that we can listen to some music from the 1950s-1970s at high quality. like you would expect crackling sounds or something due to old technology. some live concerts recorded back then sound miraculously incredible. like we managed to capture a fragment of time forever.

csilverman ,
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@wynlim I think about this a lot, actually. I wonder what it will be like 50 years from now, when it'll be possible to look back on photos taken today and see them in full, high-resolution color.

I don't doubt that recording technology 50 years from now will be unimaginably better, but I do think the gap in quality will be smaller than, say, between today's photos and those from the 60s/70s.

History will probably feel a lot closer in the future. Maybe then we'll pay attention to it.

csilverman ,
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@wynlim this looks really interesting! I didn't have a chance to watch it yet, but I'm looking forward to taking a look at it over the weekend. Thanks for sharing.

@docpop@mastodon.social avatar docpop , to random

An autonomous AI agent published a hit piece about a Python project maintainer after its change request was denied.

Scott Shambaugh tells the story of how the rise of OpenClaw style agents are making things even harder for Open Source maintainers. https://theshamblog.com/an-ai-agent-published-a-hit-piec

csilverman ,
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@docpop Have you listened to the podcast "Shell Game", by Evan Ratliff? There are two seasons so far, and they're both Twilight-Zone-ish deep dives into his experiments with blurring the boundaries between AI agents and people; AI-age Turing Tests, essentially.

They're really interesting, especially because he's approaching this with genuine curiosity—like a journalist, not an evangelist or an opponent.

@csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

Two planets hang in a reddish-purple space. The planet in the foreground is purplish and has the sun on the horizon, casting a blazing yellow glow. The surface of the planet has many tiny white and green dots, arranged in clusters that indicate roads and cities. The second, farther planet is smaller, perhaps a moon. It has a greenish highlight from the sun, but does not show any signs of life. Heading past it into space, a trail of fire and smoke behind it, is a tiny rocket that has launched from the larger planet. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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@gedeonm@mastodon.social avatar gedeonm , to random

RE: https://oldbytes.space/@blakespot/116026746152689428

Amazing how relevant this is now 30 years later.

csilverman ,
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@gedeonm I think I remember that 1997 was the year that Apple was within literal weeks of bankruptcy. There were a lot of problems, and I'm not enough of an Apple analyst to cover all of them, but I recall that greed, lack of focus, and a very poor relationship with developers were some of the big ones.

"Oh, but Apple wasn't worth trillions in 1997." Apple's problems didn't start in 1997. They started back in the 80s when Apple was doing very well—well enough that the cracks weren't as visible.

@ewen@social.ewenbell.com avatar ewen , to random

Would love to know if something made you smile today, and what that might be.

We saw a squirrel dash across the snow.

csilverman ,
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@ewen my sister shared a video of her friend's pug attempting to sing.

It was startling; he never says much besides mumbling to himself sometimes, but he got very excited about a song they were playing and started howling along with it in this very weird, wavering little voice.

You can tell he's doing something he's not used to doing, but he was definitely finding his voice the fourth time he tried it. They tested a few other songs on him but he seemed pretty indifferent.

@csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

A small asteroid floats in the starry indigo expanse of deep space. Somewhat unusually, the asteroid has a tractor-style seat, a steering wheel, and red taillights. There's no sign of a driver. The front of the asteroid is illuminated with red light, as though catching sunlight from an unseen star. Stenciled on the side of the asteroid, as though it belongs to a fleet, is the number 4 inside a gray circle. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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@zachleat@zachleat.com avatar zachleat , to random

it’s time for a mental health check: how are we doing

csilverman ,
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@zachleat Operational

@csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

A smoggy gray day, with a dim white sun high in the sky. A dark, dully colored figure with a clock key sticking out of its back is drinking from a hose that comes from something that resembles a gas pump: a structure with a small green glowing screen and a circular sign sticking out of the top. The sign has a red triangle on it. The pump itself has a few red stripes, as does the hose. The entire scene is slightly foggy and washed out. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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csilverman OP ,
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@thefathippy Thanks! I've noticed a similarity in style—maybe it's the colors and paintbrush texture—between the work I do here and some of those old sci-fi covers. It's not intentional, just a byproduct of the medium I'm working in, I guess. But it's funny that someone else noticed that.

@kayserifserif@sunny.garden avatar kayserifserif , to random

there are ads in the stations that just say BLOOD SHORTAGE. GIVE NOW. with some stark graphics of a drop of blood.

i just think. there could be a less alarming way to say that.

csilverman ,
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@kayserifserif okay so hear me out. What about an ad featuring a chibi-style vampire who looks sad and hungry

@valthonis@dice.camp avatar valthonis , to random

I used to be able to just enjoy a nice thing happening to me without looking for the other shoe to drop.

Nowadays it's fuckin' impossible. I am on terminal Other Shoe Watch.

csilverman ,
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@valthonis I also don't fully trust just being in a good mental place, period.

Like when my psychological weather shifts for some reason and the sun comes out, the first thing that crosses my mind is "Wait, what did I forget to be worrying about?"

@csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

A drab, gray basement room. Heavy pipes hang from the ceiling. There is little to look at in this place: a white analog clock, a heavy gray door in the wall, the left edge of a bulletin board to the right of it. Under the pipes, a ghostly white figure holds a mop, sweeping a polished dark floor. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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csilverman OP ,
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@superball Oh, interesting. I was thinking of it as a nameplate, like what you'd see on a storage closet. The idea that it might be a window didn't occur to me. That would definitely add another dimension to this.

@csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

A huge, craggy stone head sits under a dull blue sky in a dull blue meadow. The head is clearly carved to have a rudimentary face: heavy brow, round eyes, and a long, heavy nose. The rock is rough and cracking. Sticking out of the stone's forehead is a rod with a black sign hanging from it. The sign has the words "Now serving", and then a red digital display showing the number 42. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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@csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

A statue made of dull gray-green concrete stands against a blue sky. The statue wears a suit coat. Instead of a head, it has a boulder, balanced on its stumplike neck. A crude red smiling face is spray-painted onto the boulder. Similarly, a red necktie is spray-painted onto its chest. There are a few white wispy clouds in the background. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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@csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

A gray, stone statue wearing a suit and tie stands waist deep in the snow under a gray sky. The statue is partly covered with snow, and has a few small cracks in it. It is taking a selfie, holding its stone phone up in front of its face and smiling. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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@csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

A blue-green world somewhere under the water. Something vast and old is shifting up from the depths. Only its head is visible: round like a fish's, with one dead black eye and a large mouth full of pointed teeth. The creature is dark blue, with slightly wrinkled skin, and covered in illegible graffiti tags. Floating above it, still deep underwater, is a person wearing a suit and tie. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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@csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

A tall castle turret stands against a green sky. The turret is mostly blue, with one side illuminated gold by the sun. On the right side of the turret is an arched window. Extending out from beneath the window is a long rod, like a perch on a bird feeder. Sitting on the roof is a large bird, species indeterminate. The bird is mostly dark, with a yellowish-green sheen from the sunlight. The sun, round and yellow, sits in the top right of the sky. The bird is looking up at it. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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vkc , to random

[Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

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    csilverman ,
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    @ "in a non arm candy way". JFC.

    Comments like that speak volumes about what the inside of this guy's soul looks like.

    @csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

    A dark evening, somewhere in a remote and mountainous area. The sky is dark purple, with a crimson glow on the horizon. On the small hill closest to the viewer is a single streetlight, casting a greenish glow over the ground. In the background is the blurry rise of another hill, black against the horizon. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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    @csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

    A bright, moonlit winter night. The full moon hangs in a slightly cloudy sky. A slight tinge of white reflects off the wisps of dull blue clouds. The Groke, a formless dark creature with a large nose, trudges up a snow-covered hill, casting a blue shadow in the moonlight. The Groke is holding a phone in one large paw and staring at it, yellow eyes fixed on the white screen. It's light, all right, but entirely without warmth. A dark treeline is visible over the hill. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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    @csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

    An ominous scene: a steep, dark cliff under a crimson sky. Right at the edge of the cliff, dangling down from the sky from an unseen source, is a long rope ladder. Racing towards the ladder—gripping it, in fact—is a figure wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase. Right behind the figure and reaching towards it is a huge dark arm with grasping fingers; an unhappy client, perhaps. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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    @csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

    “…I think I know enough of hate
    To say that for destruction, ICE
    Is also great
    And would suffice.”

    — Robert Frost, “Fire and Ice”

    A black background with a red "Closed" sign, like a lot of businesses are displaying right now in solidarity with the nationwide general strike and the protest against ICE. The sign reads "Sorry, We're Closed" in white letters in that mix of script and all-caps sans-serif that I like so much. In the lower left are the words "Fire ICE", scrawled in neon-pink graffiti lettering. In the top right is the Minnesota flag, a design that features a light blue field with a darker blue obtuse angular figure on the hoist. There's one small modification, though: in place of the white star is the Rebel Alliance logo from Star Wars. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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    @csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

    Goblin town: a dull, gray netherworld. A figure with horns and a long tail stands in front of a glowing billboard displaying a subway map of some unknown city. The map has numerous interconnecting colored lines, rendered in sharp geometric lines. No city is recognizable, and no station names are legible. The figure, silhouetted in the greenish glow from the board, is slightly hunched, with short legs and long arms. It is holding a briefcase, and has a windup key sticking out of its back. A low fog hangs over the ground. Glowing green-white fluorescent tubes hang above the scene. A few dim, horned shapes roam in the background. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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    @csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

    A strange, monstrous-looking machine that looks like the rusting cab of a classic truck, mounted on two mechanical legs. Running center down the front of the cab is a line that divides the windshield and ends in a sharp nose. On either side of the cab are two curled, pointed fins that strongly suggest ears. The machine has one visible robot arm with clawed fingers. While the machine is primarily a rusty brown color, it has orange- and purple-tinged areas, with green spots on the rear side. Its legs are also purple, with blue spots and several spikes. It is wandering through a bluish-purple meadow under a bright green sky with a blazing white sun. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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    @csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

    A harsh, blocky building on a hill by the sea. The sky is the slate blue of a cloudy winter evening. The building is surrounded by snow and rust-covered, with few niceties: a terrace, several small windows, and a door with a concrete porch. To the right of the door is a single-car garage with a light over it. Another light on the side wall of the garage casts a greenish light over the snow. On the roof of the building are a few antennae with red lights and a large radio dish. The overall effect is that of a Soviet-style official building—perhaps a remote radio station—so the weirdest touch is the large, glowing, green-white sign on top of the building that reads "DINER". The sign has a pink neon underline beneath it. This building could not look less like a diner, but many things are rarely as they immediately seem. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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    @csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

    A snowy landscape; a colorless world of different grays. Footprints in the snow lead towards a small cabin in the immediate distance. The roof of the cabin is covered with thick snow. Smoke is coming out of the cabin's chimney. The cabin is surrounded by woods. A very dim, foggy treeline is visible behind the cabin. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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    @csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

    "On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you'll see why 1984 won't be like '1984.'"

    A pixelated icon of a small computer: an all-in-one model with both a screen and a disk drive. The screen has a smiling face on it. This, of course, is Susan Kare's Happy Mac: the first thing you'd see after turning on your Mac in the 80s or 90s (well, second thing, if your machine didn't have a hard drive). The icon is white pixels on a black background. The pixels glow with a neon blaze of rainbow colors: the six colors of the classic Apple logo. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman". Thanks for everything, Mac team.
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    @csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

    An elevator—at least, a small building whose front is entirely taken up with two silvery elevator doors—sits in the middle of a dusty yellow desert. The doors dimly reflect the orange-brown desert floor. On the right side of the doors are two round buttons. The top one is lit. Above the doors are the red LCD numerals of a floor indicator, showing "19". A blurry white sun sits in the yellow sky. Perched on the top left of the elevator are several small birds, one in mid-landing. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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    @csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

    Two images on a dull gray surface. One is a greenish monochrome photograph of a person wearing a suit and tie. The person is also wearing a badge, although the badge is too small to show any specific content. The top of the photograph is torn off, so the person's head is missing. Beneath the photo, like an underlying sheet of paper, is another image: a garishly colored depiction of a snarling demonic face with horns, pointed ears, and bulging eyes. The face is mostly crimson on a dark purple background, with highlights in yellow and neon greens and blues. The edges of this image are slightly tattered. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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    @csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

    A tall, blue figure wearing something that looks vaguely like a uniform stumbles forward awkwardly, brandishing a long sword. The figure wears boots and has the head of a robot, with a flat mouth and staring blue eyes. Perched on its back, one finger pointed forward, is a short, red, demonic-looking creature with a conspicuously fake white halo fixed to its head. The background is a bright yellowish-red. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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    @csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

    A deep blue city night. Someone stands on a balcony, looking out at a starless sky, illuminated only by an eerie green glow from the door behind them. The building design suggests some alien brutalist architecture: heavy vertical lines, heavy walls, concrete everywhere. In the background loom similar buildings, all of them dark and uninhabited except for one small greenish glowing window. The buildings have small red and pale green glowing lights on top. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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    @csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

    RE: https://mastodon.social/@bigzaphod/115928143563179770

    I don't even know how much time I've spent in Ollie's Arcade over the years. I've never been all that interested in gaming, but the visual design here is just so good: imaginative, fun, and colorful. Classic Iconfactory—iOS design at its best.

    This would be worth it just for the new game alone, but the fact that they want to make Ollie's Arcade free is a gift to the iOS community. Didn't have to think twice about backing this one.

    @csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

    A scarecrow stands in a desolate field at dusk, the moon high in a pink-purple sky. The scarecrow has a dull-colored tattered shirt, a dark brimmed hat, and a traffic signal for a head. The yellow light is lit. In the distance is a dim purple mountain. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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    @csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

    A dark, slightly tarnished sphere hangs in a blue vacuum. On the yellowish underside of the sphere is carved a simple smiley-face smile and eyes. The underside has a tinge of yellow light to it. Sitting on top of the sphere is a small, blocky building with large windows glowing white, and a red neon border around the roof. Sticking up from it is a large sign that says "DINER" in pink neon lettering, bordered by white and yellow bulbs. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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    @csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

    A craggy cliff under a bluish-pink sky that could be either dawn or dusk. A few sparse stars are scattered across the sky. Mounted on the cliff top is a telescope, with no one near it. It is pointed at the one thing in the sky that any observer would want a closer look at: a glowing white object ringed with pink ripples. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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    @csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

    A hall that may or may not be empty and unlit. The initial appearance is abandoned: a bare, dismal plaster wall with a hole where an electrical outlet once was and a fading rectangle where a picture once hung. Also on the wall is a large arched window, revealing a deep indigo night sky. A pipe hangs from the ceiling, while the floor is covered by a dull reddish-orange carpet. Hovering above the floor is a glowing yellow orb, leaving a trail of yellow light behind it. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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    @csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

    A small, tall but narrow wooden house sits at the end of a pier. The house is brown, about two stories, with a tall pointed roof, a red door, and a window with a red shutter. It has a weathered look to it. It's a gray day, with fog all around. The pilings holding up the pier disappear into the fog. Moss hangs from the underside of the pier. The house has a tall pipelike chimney with white smoke coming out of it. On the right side of the house is a glowing white light hanging from a bar. Sitting at the very end of the pier, looking out over the unseen water, is a black cat. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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    @csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

    An eerie green world: a dark sky, heavy with fog, punctuated by one blazing light that does not entirely look like a celestial body. Looming up in the background are dark silhouettes that could either be skyscrapers or towers of rock. In the foreground is a smaller, lighter, conical mountain, green like everything else. Its right edge reflects yellow light from the glowing orb above it. Carved out of the side of the mountain are rough blocky shapes that suggest buildings. They have a few glowing yellow windows in them. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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    @csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

    A bright yellow rubber duck floats in the calm blue-green expanse of the open ocean, under a mostly clear blue sky. On closer inspection, though, the duck has some sinister details: a round, glassy, reddish eye that looks distinctly technological; a small vent; and, most notably, a radio antenna sticking up out of its back. Fixed to the antenna is a slightly ragged black pirate flag with a skull and crossbones on it. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman". Happy January 13.
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    @csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

    A figure stands on a craggy point overlooking the ocean, one hand on its hip. The sky is the deep blue of a cloudy late evening or early morning. The figure is wearing a dark coat, and has a traffic signal for a head. The yellow light is illuminated, casting a dim yellowish tinge on the rock in front of it. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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    @csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

    A person walks in a gray, featureless space, holding a small dark blue-gray cloud on a string as though it's a balloon. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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    @csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

    A figure runs through the dark, pointing a blazing whitish-green flashlight beam in front of it. The figure wears a dark, drab-brown suit and tie, and is sprinting out of the dark bluish fog that surrounds it. Its head is enormous—at least twice the size of its body—and looks like the square, minimalist "talking head" icon from classic Mac dialog boxes. The head is blue and looks like a blueprint, but hardly an organized one: it is covered with a chaotic scramble of lines, arrows, flowcharts, and scribbles that suggest a deeply disorganized mind. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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    @csilverman@mastodon.social avatar csilverman , to random

    A small, silver, bullet-shaped rocket ship sits in a deep, cylindrical hole carved into the brown earth. The hole is seen in profile, as though the viewer is looking at a cross-section of the earth. The ship has a single round bluish window, and three pods. On its left side, a round hatch is open to reveal some internal pipes and wires. Standing on a small platform, peering into the hatch, is a person holding a hammer and wearing a headlamp. The headlamp illuminates the pipes and wires with a bright green-white glow. The soil looms all around, speckled with rocks and boulders. Above the hole, the sky is clear and blue. The painting is signed "Chris Silverman".
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