K Lars Lohn / is on Nostr

I'm an artist living in a yurt on a defunct organic farm. I am exploring creativity in a manner that was not outwardly expressed by my life’s work in software. I may have been artistic or even poetic in programming languages, but it was only ever seen by a few other programmers in passing and, clearly, the computers just didn't care.

I'm old. I'm queer. I'm unwillingly tumbling to disability.

Since 1998, I've been living with my partner. We married in 2015.

Last Notes

2024-08-26 22:56:14

I had my first radiation treatment for prostate cancer today. No symptoms of radiation poisoning yet. I did not make any Therac-25 jokes.
The procedure is weird in its nothingness - just lying still while a big beige multi-head machine made five circles around my body - no sensations at all.
Worst part of the day was the lower digestive system purge followed by the four hours in the car to Portland and back.
One down, Four to go - next session is Wednesday afternoon.
I did not sleep much last night so I am totally exhausted right now. I'm going to lie down---

2024-08-26 22:56:14

2024-08-05 16:03:40

The mastodon server hosting my account is shutting down. Yet again, I need to find a new place to go. Suggestions welcomed.
Meanwhile, I'm assessing the role of social media in my life. I may drop it all as I'm not sure it enhances my life.
I just withdrew from the Python Developer Community on Linked-in because it is just all useless memes that try to make people uncomfortable with their skill and knowledge level. I see very little helpful content.

2024-07-01 14:24:14

AI assisted programming boils away the joy of writing code leaving only the tedious obligation to debug the work of a precocious psychotic novice.
#AI #programming

2024-05-29 14:13:18

An unknown rose growing in the blackberry bramble. I spotted it while strolling though the derelict rose garden. I was about to start pawing through the weeds at the base to see if I could find a tag, but the canes of this rose were tangled with poison oak. It's identity will remain a mystery for now.
#roses #rose #flower #bloomingtoday #garden
https://assets.octodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/524/769/248/615/130/original/a10926ab701f614e.jpg

2024-05-27 21:08:53

When a rose is said to have a sumptuous red color, I suspect this is what they meant. This is Dakota Redwing, progeny of the roses Midnight Blue by and Brown Velvet. From a distance in dappled shade, they look too dark to actually be flowers. Only when caught by a spotlight of sunlight does the color flair.
#rose #roses #bloomingtoday #flower #garden
https://assets.octodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/515/077/581/679/567/original/0ab6ce1e95af65b5.jpg

2024-05-23 14:21:00

Roses are inescapable around here. This is the entryway into the old farm house.
#rose #roses #garden #pathway #flowers #bloomingtoday
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https://assets.octodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/490/839/439/596/254/original/22cb85edfb677b29.jpg

2024-05-08 14:59:56

This is the rose "Pam's Choice" bred by my husband, Paul Barden, in 2002 and introduced into commerce in 2010.
Even though our weather has been cool and rainy, it gets wonderfully warm in Greenhouse 5. In the weeks before the beginning of my cancer treatment, this greenhouse has been my refuge.
#bloomingtoday
#bloomscrolling
#roses #rose
#flowers
https://assets.octodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/406/023/165/886/876/original/2873c975e715d9dc.jpg

2024-05-03 15:03:29

Cancer sucks.
Cancer treatment sucks.
My medical insurance sucks.
My mind has become foggy and that sucks.
I'm sitting in a greenhouse where the first roses of the season are starting. This doesn't suck.
https://assets.octodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/377/750/607/808/434/original/cffe08fb11351b38.jpg
https://assets.octodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/377/756/401/027/271/original/e7d37c45109a592f.jpg

2024-03-11 18:16:23

For the first time ever, I heard Day Light Savings Time start.
I was awakened by a loud roar, as if there were railroad tracks going through my yard. Suddenly the wind roared through the forest and slammed against my yurt, bowing in the southwest side for a moment. I glanced at the clock: 1:58am. I laid there wide awake listening to the forest. The roar was deafening. I wondered if I should flee. Trees started failing - bone jarring cracks and crashes as entire trees slammed to the ground. I looked at the clock again, it was 3:02am.
Abruptly, the wind died down and in just a few moments the air was still again. Did we just have a tornado?
When light came in the morning, there were smashed trees all over the property, but no clear track of a tornado.
#DST
https://assets.octodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/078/386/054/686/074/original/944dcbd82891a9b6.jpg
https://assets.octodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/078/387/942/991/198/original/e7a479dccd3714f1.jpg

2024-03-09 16:06:13

Given the right conditions, rose shrubs can grow for centuries. With such a life expectancy, you'd think they'd take their time in their youth to grow vigorous before beginning to flower.
Roses are precocious. This six week old seedling of Rosa roulettii, is already starting to bloom. While not the case here, sometimes rose seedlings put so much energy into blooming that they overreach their root/leaf capacity and die.
When we were running our rose nursery, we'd often sprout thousands of seedling per year. Now we grow just a few for our own pleasure.
Long after we're gone, this property will be a treasure trove for some future rose collector. There will be hundreds of old varieties thought to be long lost mixed in with mysteries that no one has ever seen.
Facing my own life's horizon, I find this a comforting thought.
#roses #flowers #horticulture
https://assets.octodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/066/545/954/851/641/original/82142555a0bf49db.jpg

2024-02-16 19:32:19

&#*(‽⋮$% !!! This morning while turning my truck around to load the mower, I managed to get the front wheels over the edge of the driveway asphalt and was promptly stuck. When it suddenly got traction, the truck lurched backward and I hit the corner of Greenhouse 0. No damage to the greenhouse, but since the tailgate was down, it crumpled. The truck is 12 years old and this is its first character building modification.
It still works, but hell, I'm pissed.
https://assets.octodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/942/801/315/541/210/original/b0372fc870312a3d.jpg