Danica Swanson

@danicaswanson

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I wrote about why I think system conditions matter more than individual performance in producing quality writing, and why CLPs (conversational liquidity providers) on FC are underserved. Inspired by "Quality is Systemic," a great blog post by Jacob Kaplan-Moss, and by the members of the Return On Attention group chat. https://paragraph.xyz/@danicaswanson/quality-writing-is-systemic

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My first exposure to the story of Bartleby was in a middle-school English class. I didn't really get the whole "I would prefer not to" thing, but still, it made an impression. Once I started working for "a living," though, it made much more sense, and I started saying it too.

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LFG. More of this, please. I can't help but feel that a whole lot of intelligent people are so enamored with AI that they're losing sight of why human professional editing still matters. Those who love reading will ultimately pay the price for the unmet need.

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On a related note: I’ve always believed it is fundamentally wrong that humans who’ve achieved professional-level skills in an art form are structurally coerced into selling the best hours of their day to “earn a living” instead of using that time for their own creative work. That's a huge collective loss to everyone who appreciates art, writing, music, etc.

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On a whim, I watched this 18-minute TED talk this morning, based on the recommendation of my friend @foxwizard. Wasn't expecting to be so quickly moved to tears by her courage. The world needs more humans like this one. Why? Well, I'll just quote the eloquent @foxwizard (see the comments for a link to his Museletter): "This is an act of infinite play; Carol is in service to the infinite game—no matter the cost to herself. She has all of my respect." Mine, too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZOoT8AbkNE

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I've been thinking about this stubborn how-to-get-writers-sustainably-funded problem for a long time, since it pre-dates crypto. It's actually become one of my main intellectual interests over the years. Without getting too far into the weeds, here are a few thoughts: What if Paragraph were to zoom out and focus more on the social layer from a systems perspective -- i.e., think of context, curation, and conversation as the primary paths to value creation, rather than individual writers? Could Paragraph help writers collectively build thriving creative scenes with network effects accruing to the contributors -- writers, editors, curators, preservers, and readers? One of the things that drew me to Paragraph in the first place was the quote-highlight feature, for example. Could Paragraph give contributors places to preserve quotes and respond to them in ways that might help draw others into an ongoing conversation around the work? Maybe in a mini-app?

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Public domain art of the day: "Egyptian Dancer" by Percy Anderson (book illustration from "Costume: Fanciful, Historical, and Theatrical" by Eliza Davis Aria, 1906)

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Public domain art of the day: "Psyche on the Cliff" by Max Klinger (book illustration, 1880s)

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I love living in the state of Oregon for a long list of reasons. Here's another one for my list. Corvallis has just become a sanctuary city, with a resolution passed unanimously by the City Council: "Corvallis is now a sanctuary city for transgender, intersex, and gender-diverse people -- seemingly the first of its kind in the state of Oregon, and one of only a handful like it in the United States." https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2025/04/corvallis-becomes-sanctuary-city-for-transgender-intersex-and-gender-diverse-people.html

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Art of the day: Anna Pavlova by John Lavery (1911, public domain in the US) Seemed like a fitting choice for today, since I have just FINISHED my taxes -- crypto, federal, state, and local. Thanks to /awaken, the entire process only took me a few days this year, instead of two weeks like it used to. Woohoo!

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Canonical evergreen Farcaster lore right here. 👇 Always, always recast. Great (re-)read for newbies and seasoned casters alike.

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"...the way to find your place on FC is to serve the village--to do something that helps the good of what's happening here. " ~ @bradq Great analogy, and I appreciate the emphasis on service for the greater good. Fill a need in the village by doing something you like and are good at. Thanks for the shout-out, too! I've got something in the works behind the scenes, taking shape slowly but surely... :)

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Whenever I get lovely comments like this from slowcasters who like the ambient + drone music I recommend (thanks, Phil!), I think about re-starting my playlist curation service. I once had an IRL side gig creating custom themed playlists for small gatherings -- meditation retreats, yoga classes, etc. Maybe I could spin this idea into a mini-app somehow...? Drone Day is coming up in late May, and I've been planning to make a new playlist this year to mark the occasion anyway. Hmmm... I'll keep thinking about it! 🤔 🎶 🎧

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This 8-hour ambient music loop is keeping me sane while working on my taxes today, so I thought I'd share in case anyone else is in need of some brain-soothing. cc @trishd - think you might enjoy this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRczyxhuljw

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Art of the day: Fumée d'Ambre Gris (Smoke of Ambergris) by John Singer Sargent (1880) (The primarily-art-casts will continue until I have more brain-cycles freed up for deep-dive word-slinging once again. For now, it's back to working on my taxes).

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Pattern 78: House for One Person "Conceive a house for one person as a place of the utmost simplicity: essentially a one-room cottage or studio, with large and small alcoves around it. When it is most intense, the entire house may be no more than 300 to 400 square feet." This is something I've wanted for decades: a small, simple cottage of my own with a small yard -- ideally as part of a cottage cluster in a quiet area where I don't need to own a car to get around. But I live in the US, where the norm is still giant "single-family" houses and vehicle-centric design. There are some forward-thinking initiatives for "missing middle" housing in some parts of the US (e.g., the Portland Residential Infill Project) but it's still not easy to find a place to live this way.

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Mood. Art: Woman at the Window by Caspar David Friedrich (1822, public domain in the US)

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"...feedless, gallery focused view..." "...noa’s most intentional feature: it will display each artwork for 10s before moving on to the next. immerse yourself." Slowcasters and /slowcore-hq appreciators, take note. Big step in the right direction with this new app focused on art appreciation. (Thanks to @tomatoxyz for pointing this out!)

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If you're in the US and looking for a good last-minute option to get your crypto taxes done, I highly recommend /awaken by @duca. If you search my cast history you'll see this is the third year I've recommended Awaken on Farcaster, both publicly and privately. (See the screenshot for a convo from my DCs today).

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Please build. Yes. I've long wished for a good "platonic friend-finder" or "situations wanted" app. I'm single, but I wouldn't use a dating app. I'm much more interested in finding potential errand friends, occasional IRL hobby project collaborators, house-sitting arrangements, etc. Farcaster would be a great place for this. I've made IRL friendships here already.

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