I'm an AI developer at the intersection of immersive and emergent storytelling. I help novelists, game designers, and filmmakers vividly imagine their worlds through a set of custom tools I've developed.
revisiting life (and death)
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Over the weekend I did my annual graveyard walk, this time stopping by to visit my friend who recently passed, instead of walking it with him. A sad time, certainly, but not without its bittersweet moments. In fact, I noticed that there's an open slot in the bookshelf above his book of ashes in the mausoleum library. I've never made any plans for my body after I die, so maybe I'll buy that slot and have it all taken care of so my kids don't have to. I'll think about it. I feel like I'm moving into my lifestyle design era right now, figuring out exactly what I want to do for my next (good) 30 years before I become truly old. I'm 46 right now and my youngest child just started college, so going forward I'll be able to focus on the work I want to do, rather than the work I have to do. Speaking of work, this AI pivot has been really good for me. It provides a creative outlet that had been missing in my life, while simultaneously earning income from client contracts. In just over two months of hanging my shingle as a custom AI toolmaker, I already have 20 clients in my pipeline and enough work booked out for the next six months (and probably full year) of living at a very nice salary. In addition to the gig work, I have upcoming large projects in a few categories: intelligence, entertainment, and creative agencies. The intelligence is super interesting but a little speculative, the entertainment shows great promise and lots of money but is not a place I really want to live, and the creative agencies are probably my exit strategy, selling them a business for a few million dollars in a couple years, letting me walk off into the sunset, happily eating sandwiches and playing Slay the Spire. My business and philanthropy partner J. Money and I have always believed in building a lifestyle that we can be happy with and proud of, even if that means turning down a lot of money along the way. What good is the money if you're not enjoying your life? I've worked too hard for too long in too many high-stress situations, and now that I don't have to do it that way anymore, I think I just . . . won't. I hope you follow your heart as well, friends. Enjoy your week, and enjoy the good years of your life while you have them! Nate (If you ever stop loving these emails, just unsubscribe here - no hard feelings!) |
Nate St. Pierre
I'm an AI developer at the intersection of immersive and emergent storytelling. I help novelists, game designers, and filmmakers vividly imagine their worlds through a set of custom tools I've developed.
Every October for nearly 20 years, my buddy Chris Damico and I would do our annual graveyard walk. We’d choose a cemetery somewhere in Milwaukee, get breakfast nearby, and then spend a couple hours slowly winding our way through the grounds. Both of us professional writers and amateur photographers, we enjoyed taking pictures and telling stories about all the lives we came across. Usually the days were sunny and brisk, with beautiful fall colors exploding all around, but winter comes early in...
This is my grandpa. I love him a lot. He's gone now, but he helped me become who I am today. I can close my eyes and be back in this room anytime I was meeting with a client this week - a sound technician and film composer from LA, an older gentleman. When the topic of early sound equipment came up, I mentioned my grandpa (who was one of the foremost authorities and largest collectors of antique radios, microphones, and sound equipment), and it turned out this man knew of him. I got to spend...
Get your mind out of the gutter - the only d**k pic I'm talking about is a "desk" pic! I can't take you people anywhere, GAWD So the other day I was looking for my tape measure, and I finally found it in the back room where I had last used it literally months ago when I was putting something together. That's how seldom I use physical tools. Compare that to my brother, who has an entire work van filled floor to ceiling with proper construction tools that he uses every day. But when it comes to...