Dream: V Wing AirPods

In a dream that felt particularly real, a kind and good looking stranger arranged my Apple AirPods into a V Wing…

I had no idea this was even possible! I was in a diner in a busy and dark megalopolis, minding my own business, when this guy eyes me, leaves his young companion at adjacent table, sets himself in front of me and deftly handled my Apple AirPods and case. His fingers and hands were like those of Rubik’s cubes players. The next moment he set on the table what looked like a small V Wing Star Wars spaceship. He said, “there, now you have your own portable loudspeakers” and left.

I looked at the beautiful object in front of me, and thought I needed a second pair to use in-ear, because I would never be able to arrange them this way again.

I also tried to think of what to tell the stranger to hold on to him longer, but nothing came to mind and I was disappointed. That’s it.

I woke up wondering just how loud the small device would be 🙂

The good things about my Mastodon clients

For a few years I was a happy and fulfilled user of the iPhone app Metatext, a client for the federated social network Mastodon. When Metatext stopped being developed, I spent days reading comparisons, trying other clients, and settled on two which eventually matched all of my criteria:

  1. Ice Cubes for Mastodon (free), an open source, collaborative, SwiftUI Mastodon client made by @dimillian
  2. Ivory for Mastodon by Tapbots (subscription), a Mastodon Client for iOS & Mac.

I donate 0,99€ per month to the developer of Ice Cubes for Mastodon, and I pay the yearly subscription for Ivory (which costs 1,50€ per month.)

There are a 8 features specific to #IceCubesApp and 7 features specific to #ivory that I am really keen about. Since neither implemented them all, I continue to use both.

Ice CubesIvory
Quote post transforms the quoted post into a card with embedded contentBoost/favorite from/as a different account
Featured hashtags surfaced on our own profile + clicking them filters only our own posts using that hashtag (Ivory’s implementation in v. 1.7)Label in the timeline to denote posts displayed as a result of following a hashtag (Ice Cubes implements it as of 2023-12-04)
Add/edit filters via our own profileApp-integrated statistics for the rolling week, with bar graphs, directly in the tray
Private messages button in the trayUngrouped notifications
Filtering notifications in the notifications paneDate format choice between relative & absolute (I’m a sucker for the latter)
Collapse long postsOption to get a missing Alt text reminder
Auto-detect language when postingCan send iPhone “stickers”
Displays all posts for a given followed hashtag (whereas Ivory apparently displays only a portion)
comparison table of features I love that are specific to each application

Art: inktober2023

I drew again in my small sketchbook Canson art book universal (14×21 cm / 4×6 in), using individually or together a black Pentel brushpen, a grey Pentel Brushpen, Sakura Pigma Micron 003 black fine liner, Kuretake light grey Brush Writer, and a Staedtler 0.3-2.0 black pigment liner.

6 drawings are tributes to Moebius, 4 were Japan-inspired. I had fun doing all of them. It was a bit tough the last week, and for the first time I think, I was counting the days until the end.

inktober2023 prompt list
inktober2023 prompt list

#Inktober2023 week 4-5

inktober2023 prompt list

It’s the 8th year in a row I’m participating in Inktober. The rules are simple: A different prompt every day. Use ink. Enjoy. Learn new techniques, or not.

Some choose to not use the prompt list, or create their own, or follow a different list. I prefer to stick to those proposed by Inktober creator Jake Parker, because I find it easier, even though some prompts are less inspiring than others!

Day 22: “scratchy”

Grey ink drawing of a cat with closed eyes being scratch under the head

A tabby cat being scratched under the chin, basking in the moment. I used a light grey Kuretake BrushWriter, a Sakura micron 003 black pen and Pentel black ink and grey ink Brushpens.

Day 23: “celestial”

Black and grey ink drawing of a cosmonaut seen from behind next to a flag with a peace sign, on a small planet, waving at the dark space and a distant planet or moon.

A tribute to Tom Haugomat. This represents an astronaut on the moon next to a peace flag, waving at a planet. I used the Sakura Micron 003 black fineliner, the Kuretake light grey BrushWriter, and the Pentel black ink and grey ink Brushpens.

Day 24: “shallow”

Black and grey ink drawing of a Japanese crane standing in shallow water next to a branch laden with snow

My second least favourite in the series. This is a crane in shallow water next to a branch laden with snow and some reed. I used the Pentel black ink and grey ink Brushpens and the Kuretake light grey ink Brushwriter. And I touched up the feathers with white acrylic.

Day 25: “dangerous”

Grey and black ink drawing of a tiger crawling forward

A very graphic tiger. I used the micron 003 black fineliner, Kuretake light grey BrushWriter, and the Staedtler black ink 0.3-2.0 pigment liner.

Day 26: “remove”

Black and grey ink drawing of the top of a marble sculpture by Bernini, of Pluto abducting Proserpina. The woman is being held at the waist and thigh and her arms are raised in protestation.

This is the top of a marble sculpture by Bernini, of Pluto abducting Proserpina. I used again the same light grey Kuretake BrushWriter, a Sakura micron 003 black fineliner, and Pentel grey ink Brushpen.

Day 27: “beast”

Grey and black ink drawing of the top of the body and head of Toothless, a silly-looking dragon, with tongue sticking out a bit.

This is Toothless from the movie “How to train your dragon”. I used the Sakura Micron 003 black fineliner, and the Pentel black ink and grey ink Brushpens.

Day 28: “sparkle”

Black ink drawing of a night scene of the Statue of Liberty seen from underneath. The torch is shining like a star.

The Statue of Liberty at night seen from underneath it. I used the Pentel black ink and grey ink Brushpens and the Kuretake light grey ink Brushwriter.

Day 29: “massive”

Grey ink drawing of a character in military costume and helmet, with a hand in his pocket, standing in front of the fallen head of a very large statue.

Another tribute to Moebius. I used the Sakura Micron 003 black ink fineliner and layers of the Kuretake light grey ink Brushwriter. Contrary to the theme, the size of the character is really small (as tall as the last knuckle of my little finger.)

Day 30: “rush”

Black and grey ink drawing of a young woman surfing. She has long black hair flowing after her and wears a white bikini.

I had a lot of fun drawing this surfer girl. I used as a reference a travel poster advertising Ceylon, Sri Lanka – Ceylon ‘A Wave of Your Own, Talpe Beach 1970s. I used the Pentel black ink and grey ink Brushpens and the Kuretake light grey ink Brushwriter.

Day 31: “fire”

Grey ink drawing of a slithering dragon

A graphic dragon. I used the Pentel black ink and grey ink Brushpens and the Kuretake light grey ink Brushwriter.


(See the posts for week 1, week 2, week 3)