Open Post

[portolan]

Comments

[grindset]

"yet" will never become an occasion for my work if i have anything to say about it
more people could use purely creative pastimes
and it would not hurt to be less secretive about them

[portolan]

Scientist, then?
Better man than the last one I knew.
He certainly needed purely creative past times.

[grindset]

when your work brings profit to the powerful it can be easy to lose your way
you must resist persuasive arguments, both external and internal -
but then, some people simply don't care who they hurt in the name of progress.

it is good you have an expressive outlet.

[portolan]

any of us lose our way the closer we get to the thing that tempts us
you have fortitude, I think, and a moral compass that will not be stifled
those are rare treasures

my mother taught me to draw. not to make things, but to meditate, to observe, to keep a record of things not well held by words. I am thankful for it.

[grindset]

i know someone with a similar habit
do you keep a journal?

as to the rest - i am simply doing the best i can.
most people are.

[portolan]

I do -- sketches and words. It's soothing.
You? Or some other centering hobby?

I think you overestimate others.

[grindset]

too busy for pastimes
if i am doing something else i am probably thinking about work -
so i work.
that is where i am most myself.

[portolan]

yes, well, be careful it doesn't consume you entirely
no good comes of that

[grindset]

"careful" is a tiresome word

[portolan]

[ He's been doing a good job keeping his past out of this, but something about that one gets under his skin. ]

My father put his work before everything
Brought down a city in the name of advancement
He thought careful was tiresome too

[grindset]

[Ah.]

prioritizing one's own ambitions over the lives of others is an unspeakably ugly thing - especially when those same people could just as easily be helped instead of harmed.
i'm sincerely sorry he did that.

[portolan]

[ A better reaction than he expected ]

Unspeakably ugly to say the least.

Thank you for saying that.

[grindset]

certainly.
i hope i didn't upset you - that was not my intent.

[portolan]

I'd be a fool if I took offense to conversational friction
You seem a man who operates on principals; I respect that

[grindset]

[It's more the memory than the conversation itself, he thinks, but... better to let that pass.]

yes, well
as a scientist i have no choice but to operate on principles
:)

[portolan]

We have very different definitions of scientists, but I will admit I prefer yours.
Has it always been science for you? Or did something tip you in?

[grindset]

i wasn't always a scientist, per se, but have always been interested in making things
as a child, i met someone who taught me to think as a scientist
he too thought less of life than of progress, so our relationship did not last, but those early teachings planted the seed -
morally as well as vocationally, i suppose.

now i build things to raise a city up.

[portolan]

built your own path from what you were given
I can respect that
some heroic daftness in there too, trying to do it yourself
I can relate to that too

[grindset]

i think both our partners might have something to say about that.

what is your definition of a scientist?

[portolan]

you know a little of my partner; how long have you been with yours?

a person who seeks to understand the world by empirical questioning, observation, and testing -- through physical tests, not artistic models

[grindset]

then our definitions are not so dissimilar.
curiosity, a hunger for knowledge, for discovery - these are the fundamentals.
those empirical methods are simply the means to exercise our passions - to direct them, to refine the results, to enable legitimate proof.
i would argue that a scientist may contribute to the greater pool of knowledge with models alone - someone, somewhere, somewhen, will find that knowledge interesting, inspiring, perhaps even useful -
unless you mean the other kind of artistic model.
anatomical study is valid science.

[Is he joking? Maybe.

After a delay,]

it has been roughly seven years since we met.

[portolan]

at their best the arts and sciences are nearly the same
just differing in their products
models are quite a contribution
anatomical study is an excellent example of the overlap

[ Balthier's done his share of figure study. It's soothing. ]

Little past a decade for us

[grindset]

yes, very true
therein lies great synergistic potential -
a partnership.

did you celebrate your ten year mark?

[portolan]

yes well leave it to humes to fight where they could work together
I'm impressed you've retained your optimism and strength of belief

[ He chuckles at the question. He'd attempted to mark it, but Fran hadn't cared much, and they'd done what they usually did: slayed monsters, robbed a tomb. ]

We're more the celebrate every day sort of partnership.

[grindset]

[how many compliments are you going to make him matrix-dodge, bro, jeez]

through your work?
i am very much in favour of that.

[And always forgetting anniversaries, which he is not about to volunteer.]