simondlr #8 - Cells As Firms & The Hope Runners of Gridlock

Hey all!

Welcome to the Substack version of the newsletter. Nr #8, but first one on here. I’ve been experimenting on and off with different ways of doing this newsletter. It still has one primary goal: e-mail on new content. This feels like a great next step as it means I don’t have to necessarily cross-post to Medium.

Been doing quite extensive writing recently. I finished up a blog post that has been brewing for a while, called ‘Cells As Firms’:

https://blog.simondlr.com/cells-as-firms

Whilst comparing invented systems to biological systems isn’t new, I couldn’t find comparisons about seeing a Cell as a Firm (or seeing Firms As Cells). The purpose of which is to help model and understand economic systems in a new light. Quite enjoyed doing the research on this, learning more and trying to see new patterns. Nature has modelled boundaries for centuries. The firm is only a few hundred years old. There’s a lot we could learn.

For the most part however, most of my time has been spent writing a novel. I’ve been quite happy with the progress even though it is going a bit slower than expected.

I’m about 30,000 words in, in 2 months of writing. And barring any surprises that my characters could throw at me, I’m confident that not much will change from here on out. I will likely finish the first draft around the end of this year.

The book is going to be called: “The Hope Runners of Gridlock”. The current blurb is:

“After a climate catastrophe, a failed exodus left a city cut off from the world in a multi-decade gridlock. After contact with the outside world disappeared, the city decided to tax the gridlock and fund a championship every 5 years to crown a Hope Runner to venture into the horizon in search of salvation and answers.

A new championship is prematurely called to find answers when a Hope Runner arrives back at the edge of the city, dead. Follow Flora Kaigo & a cast of characters as they get swept into the Hope Runner championships, the city of Gridlock’s underground Trunks & the intricacies of its Public Car Markets. Most of all, it’s a journey of finding hope & answers in a city that was left to die.”

With this project, I'm also commissioning some artwork, of which I’ve started. Excited to share some of it soon! I’ve got a lot more to share about additional sides to this creative project that will be its own blog post in the future (it will include, amongst others, some blockchain components).

In the interest of how the creative process works, I’ve been logging my writing since I started. It’s slowed down a bit because I went through a revision and rewriting some parts.

It’s definitely been an interesting process in itself. I also look forward to tackling the unknown parts of it in time.

I assume my writing will be slowing down as I will be in Japan for a month, travelling. If you are coming to Ethereum’s devcon5, I will be speaking there on “New Markets In The Arts”. Excited!

As always: remember to take time to see a sunset.

Cheers

Simon