Lighthaven: The Nooks

On Cozy Work

The best part of Inkhaven for me (besides the people) was the surfeit of comfy nooks sprinkled around the Lighthaven campus. I changed where (and consequently, how) I worked every 2-3 days.

I stayed on campus for a day after Inkhaven to take photos.

This balcony overlooks a beautiful palm. It shields some Angel trumpets, which hummingbirds attend to.

The campus is carpeted with artificial turf.

And its spaces are decorated with artificial plants.

I particularly like these moss hexagons.

Angadh Nanjangud hated all of this:

When I think of California, I think of lush greenery. Just go on any Berkeley hike, in any direction. Man, this fake junk is so depressing. What a waste…

He said that the fake plants should all be replaced with succulents, which seems tractable to me. But this struck me as a bit too strident. I told Angadh he was turning the perfect into the enemy of the good. He just shook his head sadly at me.

Monitors are set up everywhere. One of the contractors built this shed himself. Something about being cold while working in here made me want to write Brazilian Jiujitsu Stories #1.

I enjoyed working at the following desk in the “Feynman Farmhouse”. It overlooks the Drethelin Gardens, and is bathed in the North light.

Upstairs in one of the buildings is this hall of monitors.

In the corner, you can see there is a discreet room, secured with two doors.

Working here at 4AM, blanketed, I felt unbothered.

The other residents secured their spots early. When I look at these nooks now that the campus is empty, I still see the outlines of people.

Sasha Putilin is still sunk into this beanbag.

Aella is still leaning on Nate Soares’s shoulder on this couch.

Tomás Bjartur is still drinking a disgusting can of Zevia here. Young Neil is throwing chocolate at him to stop him from dozing off.

Linch Zhang and Ozy are still discussing the mechanics of slash fic here. Eukaryote is nearby playing Minecraft.

I was told that Lydia Nottingham holed up in this office for hours to talk out loud to LLMs.

Aaron Silverbook worked in this lounge every day, which he called his “office”.

Abram Demski (legs folded, monk-like) pondered decision theory here. His girlfriend sat next to him, writing.

Not my photo. This is from Lighthaven.space.

During the last week, once everyone learned how to relax, Vasco and the Boys sat around these fires. Figuring it out. Becoming primal.

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I like making my body write in different postures.

Here, sunk and buried, I refuse to do research, and only can navel-gaze. I write Unambitious.

I brought my desktop to my room. I drove it up from Los Angeles for some reason (I ended up having my car sit idle in a rental garage for 30 days). I edit videos and train models here. I read research papers. Serious, serious.

Different sit, different wit.

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Some comedy:

By 4PM on December 1st, most of the residents had left campus. Lighthaven had quietly reverted to being a coworking space, and an assortment of new faces settled in to work on their laptops. A certain man sat in Tomás’s place. This person’s glasses, and the way he crossed his legs, made him look exactly like Tomás at first glance. The sight of this caused in me a pang of misery so acute and unexpected that I started laughing. I went back to the kitchen to pace while smiling. Margarita noticed me from across the room, and asked me what I was so happy about. I babbled something odd, but somehow she understood.

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Time to move on.

I’ll drive back to Los Angeles now. I want to add more nooks to my home. I have the space for it. My roommate got a job and moved out while I was at Inkhaven, so my home will be upsettingly empty. Life will be quiet, solitary, and open.

At last the horizon seems open once more, granting even that it is not bright; our ships can at last put out to sea in face of every danger; every hazard is again permitted to the discerner; the sea, our sea, again lies open before us; perhaps never before did such an “open sea” exist.