Golden hour at Pershing Square (photography).

 I was out at the library, doing some remote work on the computer consoles, for a gig that I had just started, recently, and the daylight was ideal for photography at the time I left the library, for dinner. On my way home, I captured some endearing moments of the pigeons at Pershing Square, in bright and vivid colors of Springtime. 

I love how the bright florets of bougainvillea frame this pigeon’s disposition, at Pershing Square Metro Stztion. 

A family of rats munches on some mud, to get a drink of water, after maintenance hosed the place down. 

The return of Snooker (again).

 I hadn’t mentioned it, previously, since the last time I posted about Snooker leaving the Library Flock, to go on hiatus, for some reason. It’s a subject which becomes troubling for me, because, historically, Snooker has been a daily regular at the library, and he’s perhaps a few years old. I see him as one of the behavioral leaders of the flock, and he’s raised babies, undoubtedly, some of whom perhaps show up with Snooker on their daily basis of roosting at the library, during the daytime. I figure as much, since there is a breeding strain, mostly characterized by Snooker, as the parent of the other white-colored pigeons, a feature which is uncommon, but more so represented locally, in the library flock, with white birds being higher in number and concentration. I’d witnessed Snooker copulating with another pigeon, so I confirmed that he is both paired, and a male.

Snooker, the white Pakistani High Flyer pigeon, pictured here, showed up for a late afternoon treat, which was a surprise, for me, since it had been several weeks, perhaps, since I’d last seen him.

What could be the cause of Snooker going missing, for such a long interval? Was he taking care of his young, somewhere else, and unknown? Perhaps he had taken fancy with some other new birds to the library flock, and had gone astray, hoping for better pastures, since some of these birds would have different nightly roosts where they sleep. In any case, it’s reassuring to see Snooker, back with the flock that I’d known him to frequent, ever since he was a young bird, which was a few years ago, or so. Some of these birds other pigeons of this flock have also gone missing, namely, the ones who were perching on my arm, to get faster access to the food I was feeding them. None of the birds perch on me, anymore, currently, so I’m eager to know that those birds are okay, and hopefully they’ll be back, someday. They had visited, for one day, a couple of weeks ago. 

New, for Spring 2025: Yuzu Delight, A Citrus Elixir Fragrance

 

As I’ve been working on refining the bottled version of Eau Pigeonoid, a newer fragrance, which I detail, here, on this blog (the fragrance smells great “neat,” or, applied directly to the skin, although translating that olfactory experience in to a bottled spray product proves challenging), I’m noticing some nice fragrance notes that are coming out of the woodwork, as I work to simplify the formula. Notes like “orange delight,” one of my favorite childhood treats, which I now encounter as a citron/lemon variant (it’s essentially a thickened, sweet jelly of citrus in a bite size, chocolate-covered bar).

It reminded me of a former, although recent attempt at composing a fragrance, one which took on a rich theme: a citrus elixir, with a bouquet of citrus ingredients, headed by yuzu essential oil, following with grapefruit and mandarin, with light floral effects of magnolia, over a base of Tonka bean and cocoa, with some black pepper, for spice, and blackcurrant bud, to enliven and freshen the scent’s mood and profile.

The original conception of iPigeon.institute’s “citrus elixir.”

In my latest purchase, I revisit the citrus elixir theme, as a reconstitution, and, as a refinement. For example, this time around, I have a much more well-resourced set of ingredients. I’m using yellow champaca absolute instead of magnolia, so I’m excited to see how this take on a citrus elixir “Yuzu Delight” will turn out, with much of the skeleton of the fragrance, otherwise, remaining the same.

Pigeon-watching hotspots to see in town - # 1: The 7th at Metro Station Pigeon Family.

Here in Los Angeles, pigeons that frequent Metro rail stations are generally nothing new, but don't these novel and sometimes adventuresome pigeons make the stations something out of a storybook? They get to live in the stations, at all times, even in the off-hours. It's a trade off - of convenience, for being housed, so to speak, for security and warmth, essentially. 

2024's 7th at Metro baby pigeon, out at night, looking for a bite to eat. 

His parents roost nearby, overseeing his safety and progress in development. 

In this case, a (literal) small family of pigeons roosts at what could be considered some of the most illustrious of locales in Downtown Los Angeles, CA, with beautifully crafted skyscrapers and trendy malls, all within a block, or so. It's a great place to start out, as a Downtown visitor, and these pigeons serve as (sometimes) nightly ambassadors. Take, for example, baby pigeon, standing there, on his own, in the middle of the sidewalk. He's waiting to see some breadcrumbs tossed at him, or perhaps, some pieces of sweet pastries, or seeds. Baby pigeon is currently in the "sweet baby" stage, where the baby has not yet been abused, and hopefully that will last. 

The pigeon family, here at the 7th and Metro Station, has the tradition, and tourist attraction feature of being night owls. This feature about this small and peculiar family of birds makes for a great nighttime stop, to check and see if the birds are out on the sidewalk, or perching nearby the escalators, where they roost at night. A night owl showing of pigeons is always an exciting sort of bird to observe, since they'd become comfortable in socializing amongst their human caretakers, at odd hours. Being that this street intersection is such a well-known metropolitan foot traffic hotspot, this pigeon's roost serves as a testament to urban avian wildlife's potential; as ambassadors: for nature and for recreation, both. 

Update: April 4th, 2025

A new member of the flock is here! See baby pigeon up close with the rest of his family at 7th at Metro Station! He’s a bit ruffly, because he hasn’t learned to preen himself yet, but he takes part in sharing food with the others.

Product Review: Wegovy (Semaglutide injection, weekly) for weight loss.

 Recently, I had put on up to over 20 pounds, for having moved in to temporary housing, and for being offered 3 square meals a day, whereas my mealtime was previously more sparse and erratic, and whereas I was previously living a more active lifestyle. I had tried out Metformin, which is another diabetic drug that is also given to patients who have been experiencing weight gain, but I was interested in Ozempic (alternately known as Wegovy, by another maker, which I’ve currently been prescribed), which had been trending recently, in news articles. 

My experience with Metformin was short-lived; since it was prescribed to me as a twice-daily pill, I found that I’d regularly forget to take doses, and so I would sometimes double my dose when I did remember to take it, but I was still missing days of taking the pills, on a regular basis. The backdrop to my interests in maintaining my weight, recently, were mostly of that I was concerned about how quickly I had put on the weight, and I’d been suffering from bouts of feeling nauseous, for going out, which I’d somewhat associated with starting to donate blood plasma, at a donation center, which I’d begun doing regularly, since I moved in to the new home, where I’m still staying. The weight gain happened over about 2-3 months, and, being that it was 20 pounds, and I’d gotten up to weighing 210 pounds, being a 5’8” guy, in height, it was starting to measure strongly in to the obese category. I’d been more used to being around 185, which I’d maintained for a few years, at least, consistently. I was worried that the weight gain would continue, uncontrollably, perhaps due to the changes in lifestyle that I’d taken on, and, coupled with the nausea I was feeling, it had become a prominent concern.

I was excited to hear from my primary care physician, on my Medi-Cal subsidized health plan, that I could receive weekly shots of weight loss medications such as Wegovy, or Ozempic, as it’s otherwise known (it’s called semaglutide, as a generic; all the same), since I’d been reading about people’s experiences with the drug, such as in topics like “Ozempic Face,” which is in reference to a drooping of the face, associated with fast weight loss, over a short period of time, apparently. The reality of the situation, as it seems to work out, at least, in my case, is that patients might feel more full, on a consistent basis, throughout the day, thus requiring less of a feeling of even a need to eat meals on as regular a basis as three meals a day. GLP-1 agonists, which help manage blood sugar levels in Type-2 diabetes patients, are the class of drugs that medications like semaglutide (Wegovy, Ozempic) belong to, and they’ve even been purported to show promise in treating a variety of conditions, such as alcoholism. Even though I don’t drink alcohol, myself, I found these reports to be intriguing. 

I mostly have the impression that a person’s appetite is reduced, with less discomforting side effects of actually skipping meals, as a result. Here and there, I get some effects resembling indigestion, heartburn (burping feelings coming up, from my stomach), etc., but I’ve actually started to have less nausea, and fewer substance use cravings, perhaps akin to the reports on alcohol intake that have been showing up in news headlines. It’s a small price to pay for comfortably being able to skip meals, in order to take the weight back off, and I don’t mind, much, if some parts of me start sagging, due to sagging skin. I’m getting older, regardless. Getting a comfortable pass, from my body’s take on things, coupled with an associated feel of cooperation, in my mindset, that lends itself to weight loss (I’ve already gotten down to 200.8 pounds, after 2 weeks, or so, of using Wegovy). The results seem promising and fast-acting, and I’m optimistic about future quick gains, in losing weight.

Single-use weekly Wegovy injection pens that I was prescribed, to start out my treatment, using semaglutide. Injections are easy; they’re pain free and not difficult.

Neuronify is Back, on iPadOS! Analyzing and Comparing the Efficacy of Two Common Learning Methods - Immersion Versus Self-Quizzing.

 Originally published: 09/21/2021

Every now and then, I get quizzed on knowledge base, perceptual acuity , memory tasks of contexts pertaining to occurrences and developments in my life, and of “seemingly” random tidbits of learning, taxonomy, culture, or lore (otherwise), in my remote-sensing environments which happen upon me.

This sort of thing happens on a regular basis. The remote-sensing quorums are attended by various classes and types of individuals, yet commonly, the topic basis is one of a civil complaint against me, and I find myself chronically stressed out, in life, of various sorts of consequences. The pursuit of an ever more leisurely outlook and disposition, in life, is an obvious lure for me, and unfortunately, I find myself deprecating in to former and legacy modes of behaviors, such as seeking novel or imprudent sorts of entertainment online, for example, rather than using my strengths, and building upon gainful and productive aspirations in life. 

 The app I have in mind, in this instance, is a simplistic one, although I would strongly presume that the merits are founded, and sure. 

Why an app? 

Mobile development is an industry that had a significant heyday leading up to the time of the Pandemic, and by all means, it’s an industry that will see growth, to come, as various demographics see a rise and fall in their social and class status underpinnings; I’d suppose that would happen, based on much of the “conjectural” (perceptual?) confessionals and Freudian Slips that I’d been privy to, as we’re all under interrogation by the higher authority, until we become the highest authority, when it comes to a remote sensing tech and lifestyle sort of, uh, lifestyle. 

Within the gold rush timespan, leading up to the era of high-powered mobile device hardware, we saw many shining stars emerge in app development, which fulfilled many of the needed purposes to be seen through in app development in an ever-increasingly more compact, more large if need be; more graphics, higher data throughput and storage capability expectation and demand, on our devices. Activities and pursuits of merit, once confined, largely, to the classroom environment and to libraries, were suitably accommodated and made much more accessible to the layperson of an aspirational creed, who would shrug off the influence of pirating goods (and jailbreaking,, etc.), and go with the program, as far as discovering what was available and being offered through mainstream big tech app stores, offered by Google, Apple, and now Amazon (does Microsoft do an App Store for their mobile devices? I don’t know, off-hand, but I’d assume so). 

The point is,

is that many developers and programmers had staked their worth and product offerings, early on, and they’d established themselves, app-wise, as the go-to solution that people would come to discover, and support, for menial scrum pay - that many App Store offerings were given to people as, with archetypes such as the iTunes Store’s $0.99 offerings of parted-out pieces of what could, would, or had been full albums, previously; many of such apps, themselves, offering a similarly compartmentalized concept of what productivity and development, or “work,” on mobile devices could, and ought be, as it was envisioned and carried out. 

My go-to app, for learning about neural networks, all learning and literature (mostly) aside, came to be Neuronify. Was it free? Did I pay for it? I don’t quite remember, but if it cost anything, it was a couple, or several dollars, or so. It seemed to do the job, as imaginable as it might be, for a dilettante entry in to app-attainment goals, for my arrays, choices, and learning-basis inclusions on to my mobile devices, and for that matter, SSD hard drive space, on an iPad, even more so than on a mobile phone device - it goes a lot further than on a desktop environment (as well as better than phones can offer). I’ve currently (September 2021) got 569 apps, 6020 photos, 346 videos, 168 songs, on my device, which features 256 GB of SSD storage, and I’m only down to about 161 GB remaining. I do anywhere from a 4+ hour to 8-hour screen time daily average, given a week, on my iPad Pro device, particularly now that I’d lost my Google Android Pixel 4a 5G, which is part of a great series of mobile phones, for the cost, by the way. For that matter, the Google Store also features the Neuronify DIY neural networks mapping (doing) app, as well. 

The premise of a neural network is fairly basic, in essence. There aren’t all that many parameters and objects that would be featured in Neuronify, but the significant feature of having development and productivity, on mobile, playing out, at the speed of whatever measure of achievement that could be wrought out of the device and app, through the user’s input, as a moving visual image: interactive, and engaging that it is, playing out on the screen, is part of an attainment, in mobile device development, particularly on the iPad (Pro), which would have formerly only existed in richly-resourced study and research learning and development environments, and tracing even further back, in static image renders, of the calculations involved, and even further than that, in people’s imaginations. At some point, the technology falls back in time, in to philosophical codices, with the basis and need for the science of neurology being a pursuit, study, and investigation of what comprises the mind, itself, and it’s functioning, at the most critical points of investigation and discovery that could be had. What works? What doesn’t? What is the most effective cause and effect cycle and premise? Which types of decisions and behaviors are harmful, or wasteful? These sorts of questions could be proven, to as best the researcher could prove, to the scientific community, whom, in turn, would be capable of producing the same results, in a lab setting, thus validating the discovery. 

Within the app itself, as I’d mentioned earlier, there are only several parameter objects and icon type tools, or actions and feedback mechanisms, in other words, of the interface. The interface, in and of itself, is a node-based class of workflow environment.

The Neuronify app interface, on a 2020 model iPad Pro.

Here, then are the various user interface tools of the app:

Leaky excitatory neuron

Adaptive excitatory neuron

Leaky inhibitory neuron

Adaptive inhibitory neuron

Voltmeter

Spike detector

Firing rate plot

Loudspeaker

DC current source

AC current source

Irregular spike generator

Regular spike generator

Visual input 

Touch activator

Note

My hypotheses:

Premise 1: innovative skills arise out of need, as well as out of rote. 

Some findings and observations, upon that basis:

• Needful skills could only possibly attend to the problem which arises. In this case, I’m choosing productivity as the title of merit. Takin time to discern and decipher, as well as determine that the problem is resolved, and move forth, is hampered by products of neural activity that could rely on lesser or greater electrical pulses, at a more accommodating timing, if the problem at hand were capably handled by a more singular and fluid, unique mind, rather than a mind of more randomness. Electrical efficiency is the requisite object of attainment.
• My preference, for deciphering that engaged and interactive learning, for example, is the superior backdrop to a greater productivity, is that the problems are being resolved in an engaging, real-time environment. Calculations happen quicker through methods gained in using hand-eye coordination types of skill sets - gestural and procedural industriousness, of various other enterprises of life, which pertain to economics, could be translated over in to the argument for an active learning environment basis to a more capable and effective problem-solving style, compared to a “flash card” setting, of completely randomized data sets, this being the cards. 
• The goal of this hypothesis would be to employ certain scientific control environments of my own study, ask individuals for their input, and analyze their statements and claims, as well as their preferences, and discover, within the control environment, whether or not they find similarity, or comparability, in their input received, when calculated against my personal findings. On one hand, it takes a high Intelligence Quotient (IQ) to discern valid mathematical truths about a visual environment, of an insightful nature, yet - I would assert that we, as intelligent and rational creatures, would pursue and develop upon gainful, rational, formal structures, rather than something more founded upon chance, randomness, (even within a finite series of choices), memory - which would alter the resonant section, even, of the brain, itself - a costly transformation; I would say more so, than if the knowledge were understood by an actively engaged mind, of rote discipline, and familiarity, set about in a workflow and industrious setting and environment. 

I’ll pause here, in writing, because I’ve arrived at my destination, of where I’m going, for this part of the day.

Update: 02/09/2023

Hello, I apologize for the abandoned blog article, here - ha ha… a silly way for me to appear, in front of others in the scientific community, but I had abandoned this blog article, due to ongoing challenges in my personal life, which still persist. Aside from that, the app no longer loads on my device; I believe that the app is no longer available for iPadOS, for that matter.

Update: 03/25/2025

I’ve recently gotten a new iPad Pro, and, with my new desktop interface, I checked out my complete apps list, of former installations that I’ve had, and I got to look over all of the apps that I’ve ever had, on every iOS / iPadOS installation that I’ve done, so I checked back on Neuronify, as a download, after finding that I had to abandon this thread of my research, due to the app not working for me, temporarily, as the previous update I made on this article will state. This being the case, I can now work on speculative research projects of relevant subject matter, as for my neurological subject matter hypotheses. 

Spring ‘25 New Fragrance Releases: Announcing the “Eaux Caïnes” Line of products.

The Eaux Caïnes Spring 2025 re-release and upcoming product developments feature iPigeon.institute’s most deeply heartfelt, and aesthetically peculiar, as it were, offerings of fragrance products that lean heavily upon various scholarly research aspirations that have been brewing for years, now - here, coming to fruition with a bountiful assortment of novel, specialty, and rare aroma compositions, the so-called “Eaux,” collectively. 

The particular tendrils of etymology that underlie these new products, from my research and development arms of the company’s investments draw richly upon some of the youthful charm and aesthetic of the initial formative years in iPigeon.institute’s establishment, where illustrious and complex aptitudes of far reaches in to literary and cultural contexts drew up grand imagery of what our current reaches in scholarship, given technology, world literature, and language, in short, construe for us, at the ever-establishing new horizons in technology, and the power of transliteration, with its attempts to bridge those cultural gaps. 

I had become a figuratively faune sauvage scholarly pigeon-lover, intent on staking a speculative claim upon the world of high culture, with my niche in tow. As this blog’s archives of former years’ articles will show, it was a florid imaginative and speculative space, which documents the youthfulness I felt, for dedicating myself to feeding the birds, as a self-induced, dedicated task that I put myself up to, whereas I found myself in a hopelessly aught-else place and period of time, in life, of deep introspection, and an affinity for scholarship on my own time, making up for lost years of ineptitude and distractibility that I found myself in, as a former graduate school university dropout, in Music Composition. Back then, the demands of my studies curriculum were far beyond my years and capabilities to keep up with, and I found myself falling shamefully behind in showing up, appropriately, for class. Despite this, I was given some seeds of intellect and of discovery that would resurface, during the current organization’s establishing years, as a grand tapestry of inquisitive and far-reaching horizons of illumination, coming to light, now that many years of subconscious failures and lacking skills had tempered, within me. In short, I was shown many wise lessons of worldly cultural scholarship, through my academic years, in attending school, that would rise up, to the surface, to be requited by a more mature take on the topics and discussions of years past. 

Back then, I pondered over the matters of life that faced me, bleakly - could I, if I was given some other, alter-ego nurturing environment “concurrency” of upbringing and of comprehension, have averted so many disasters and failures that I faced, in life, for being a drug addict? I feel that this is where many individuals, of this place in time, colloquially, would care to consider, in life. This is where I find common ground with many other people, in life. 

In hindsight, I can chalk up my university years as shortcomings of a more esteemed purpose and path in life, whereas my skill sets and strengths would naturally take many more years to bear fruit, given the extents of my nurturing environment’s essential boundaries. A certain slice of scholarship would duly have been seen to outperform me, whereas the academic environment of graduate school, and, of college, itself, bore down on me, whereas I found myself often underprepared and at a loss for words, for class discussions and presentations. 

Now, the technology is far more accommodative, and I find myself, paced with less anxieties over performance in competitive learning environments, whereas I always take to enterprising ways, naturally, as a merely “somewhat” faithful dictaphone representationalist of music, as art, whereas the study materials opened new avenues in to deeper foundations of music, as communication, and as representative art, which I draw relevance upon, with my transliterative novelty enterprises, in my current workflow environment. 

Whereas, the internet, and our scholarly literature, given our place in life, and, in time, wherein we have the potential to inherit, or invent, novelty, still; I’d refer back to a notion I had come across, in my research, where novelty itself, as a term, would eventually see an ironic end of life extent, in its outcomes, as the procurement and development of intellect and of knowledge, whether organic, or artificial, or otherwise, at least, ex tempore, of natural, or of conceivable literature and knowledge base, in short, would see an exhaustive show of contributions, such that every ends and means of scholarship and etymology would someday see its full and human potential; things that we could attain, for ourselves, as denizens of the era of which we are provided, given accessibility and the internet; of technology and of scholarship. 

These complexities flourished through my mind, as I found myself, a young man, struck with the inescapable fate of having failed in former enterprises, requiring a paring down of expectations, and some time for reflection and accountability of what life had come to, as for myself. Essentially, it was a humbling time of dissociation from the loud and outspoken attributes of my character, and subsequent personality, which had failing associations weighing down upon my weightier soul of introspection, where I had smeared over some of the fragile and more humble aspects of living, and of life’s potential, that found themselves in untimely environments that sought recreation elsewhere, with similarly historically youthful expressions that presented themselves, given the weight of so many things that I had been shown precedence of priority, in considerations that time offered me, now that I found myself undoubtedly singular and solo, fraught with a dialectical of thoughts and suggestions of an abundant resource, in variety. 

Such backdrops are the fundamental intentions behind the “Eaux,” [oʊ] or “waters,” collectively, line of fragrances, drawing upon inspirations found in some studies that bear down on the French culture and traditions in aesthetic finery, and, with their contexts of cultural aesthetics, and of the stories we find, looking back, of the lives of the people, both renowned and undiscovered, whereas the world of literacy and imagination offered unique and untold dramas of the human condition, of which we would someday find subsued, in the eventual domination of intelligence acquisition, and what a rich resource to draw upon, should we be skilled in understanding. 

One of the mentors of my lost years, of soul-searching, and subsistence-seeking, fancied himself [oʊ] (short for O.G., American slang for a common sort of man, who had seen hard times and incarceration in life). I remember him for his gentle demeanor and handling of me, as a young inquisitive sort, in to gang life and culture, back around the years leading up to 2007, or so, when crack cocaine was a prized subculture feature of the part of L.A. that I had frequented. I draw upon my fondness for “O,” because he departed my life, unbeknownst, and into the void, suddenly, when I lost contact with him, during the proceedings of law enforcement interventions in to the crack cocaine subculture and gang affiliated behaviors that had taken over some streets, within some confined areas of Los Angeles, on many frequent nights, citing the dues to crime and addiction that would rack many people’s lives and finances, of that era in Los Angeles’ cultural history. “O,” as he referred to himself as, to me, had broken both of his fists, against a car’s windows, (this had happened in front of me, on some nights), where he had become frustrated with drug deals with passing vehicles - one of the characteristic and defining features of this gang culture’s aptitudes, in the neighborhood). Being that he departed from my life, before I saw him through, in hospitalization and recovery from his injuries, I felt a loss, for him, and I’d despaired over his wellness and outcomes in life, being that he didn’t make it, for some time, to a hospital, on his own, during the weeks subsequent to his self-injuries, and the transformative effect that the law enforcement intervention “crackdown” had had on the continued showings of crack cocaine sales, in the community. It was a stark transition in to a sobering era, whereas the streets were seen to be liberated from takeovers by drug-dealing gangs and associated cartel. 

The smell of “Eaux caines,” otherwise, a transliterary mash-up of happenstance and terminology, long story short (it will go untold, for the time being), essentially referring to the scent of the “Eaux:” or, “waters,” as is common French terminology, in fragrance, and in perfumery, as commonly seen in the prominence of eaux de colognes, which is industry nomenclature for a 2%, or more, dilution of fragrance concentrate in solution, typically alcohol, in men’s fragrance. Here, the eaux (“ohs”), in this instance, in linguistics usage, take on the lighthearted and bold nature of the men and women of that place in time, out on the streets, as the legacy of the composition and intrinsic nature of the fragrance line will construe; I’ll return to that subject some other time. 

It’s a topic much better left to a skilled speaker and distinguished scholar, perhaps, which I am not, currently; someone who could deliver the speech more profoundly, and with better composure than I have, for speaking, for the foreseeable years to come. Yet, despite this, I’ve made the investment of time, and some funds, recently, to have produced another, and, more sustainable, product development round of this speculative subject area in fragrance, and in ethnographic-anthropological exploits and discoveries in chemistry, and of associated pharmacology, based upon, well, speculative, and, amateur, caricatures, of fragrance-making scholarship and studies, that I could make out, which I find - are centered upon the fragrance of a crack pipe. “La Caine” is also a commune, in France, very sparsely populated, which features a nunnery and small Roman Catholic Church, attesting to the stark contrasts of religious devotion, which underlie so much of our narratives, here in America, as well - particularly when we find ourselves in times of hardship.

More to come, on this, at some point. I just wanted to inform the people, once again, in case folks were curious as to what I’m wearing, scent-wise, when I go out. 😏

- on the the heels of the emergence of the subject area of Proto-semiotics.