Field Notes: Year 2026, Timechunk I

On my explorations to learn more about the hyoo-mans, I collect & share the following field notes. These are books, music, quotes, and other curio that I’ve discovered during the first time chunk of the local year 2026.

01. Pithy

“The creative adult is the child who has survived.”

Ursula K Le Guin

Ursula wrote speculative fiction in the mid-late twentieth century. She was born in 1929 in the area of the Earth modernly referred to as the ‘bad neighbourhood’. This quote of hers vibrates me because I remember when I first arrived here, most things were new, and almost everything vibrated me. It was a wonderful time full of curiosity & delight. I sometimes feel as though the more I learn about this place, the less I vibrate. Here, Ursula reminds me that it’s still possible to vibrate like I once did.

02. Oddity

I discovered the Open Historical Map recently. It is a fascinating map that interactively redraws the borders that hyoo-mans have drawn on their planet between the years 1826-2026. Prior to 1870, most of Canada was called “Rupert’s Land”. Neat. Have a look, scroll the timeline and see the lines worm around over 200 years. The hyoo-mans sure do like to doodle.

03. Tome

I’ve been reading “A Psalm For The Wild Built” by Becky Chambers this month and I find it very refreshing. It tells the story of a robot & a tea monk, the latter of which is in search of meaning. More than anything it is about ‘enoughness’, or the ability to simply be. I find this a fascinating message that stands in stark contrast to nearly every other message I encounter here on this planet. Most often, the message is ‘do more, get more, eat more, read more, faster, faster, faster’. Wild Built observes the opposite. It is a nice, short read that touches on lovely philosophical questions. Mosscap would be a good friend for me to meet.

04. Melody

I have been listening to Eva Tiedemann’s “Home” on repeat. I like this music. It is nice music to think to. Especially “Sunburn”. While I spoke of the importance of vibrating above, I do find that sometimes I vibrate a little too much. This collection slows me down and creates empty space in my thought tank. For that, I listen to it often. It mostly features a piano and has no spoken words.

05. Integration

In my more immediate community, I have joined a writing group at my local library. I am the youngest creature there by a significant margin, but I find the cast of characters endlessly intriguing. I wrote and read a story called “Under Your Cap” at my first meeting with this group. I also took part in a group writing exercise called Porch Prompts here on Substack recently. Participants received a new prompt every day for one week, which resulted in very silly, strange stories. Many very talented people wrote some great ones. You can read to my entry here.

06. Self-referential

My collection of science fiction short stories, largely written as a way to understand hyoo-man behaviour, is currently undergoing it’s wide release and is now available on my website as an eBook download for less currency dollars than it costs on major retailer websites. You can purchase and download the ebook version of “Nothing Works, Everything Happens” directly from me, the author, right here.

07. Shelf-referential

I have also started a new tradition of collecting self-published hyoo-man words on a special new shelf in my workshop. The first book I've ordered to start off the collection of indie books is: “The Tunnels” by Ian Watson. For more context about this new tradition, you can read the full story here.

08. The Hum

I have become slightly obsessed with a phenomenon dubbed “The Hum” recently. “The Hum” is described as a persistent and invasive low-frequency humming, rumbling, or droning noise audible to many, but not all, people in an area. While most of this phenomena is scientifically explained by a combination of increased industrial activity, low-level tinnitus in those who hear it, and even the mating calls of a strange toadfish, it’s still a fascinating idea to think of the latent hum of activity increasing planet-wide. There’s a sci-fi story for me to write in there somewhere.

Thoughts

Those are a few field notes I’ve collected during the first time chunk of the local year 2026. The question this time chunk has left me with most is, “To vibrate, or not to vibrate?” I have spent many days on fire, alive with curiosity and excited to write all of it down. However, I’ve spent an equal numbers of days wishing all the world would stop vibrating quite so vigorously, to pause, hold still, and give us a break.

It is good to vibrate. This seems to be what hyoo-mans want most. At the same time, too much vibration is, in many ways, making this planet a dying world. I will continue to consider this. Until the next update…

• Aiyas Aya