About

Harmonumerics started as a creative experiment in April 2023 by science fiction writer, STEM speaker, and engineer, Adeena Mignogna. Since that first day, it’s been evolving to what you see within these pages and will continue to evolve.

This is the original blog post on Adeena’s website that kicked it all off.

So is this page about Harmonumerics or about Adeena?

A little of both. Adeena is uncomfortable writing about herself in the third person…

So, I’m switching to first.

Hi! I’m Adeena

And yes, I started Harmonumerics in April 2023 amidst all the hubbabaloo of ChatGPT and generative AI. I find generative AI to be fun and interesting, especially when used as a tool to assist with creative efforts. But the more I tweaked and played with it, the more it spoke to me as a thing, so that’s when I grabbed a URL, twitter handle, etc and do something more with it.

I even had a logo/symbol created. I asked ChatGPT to describe a symbol for Harmonumerics and it came back with “The Infinite Harmony Loop” described exactly like this:

The Infinite Harmony Loop is an elegant symbol representing the core principles of Harmonumerics. The design features two intertwined, infinity-shaped loops, one in a horizontal orientation and the other in a vertical orientation, forming a harmonious, symmetric pattern.

The horizontal infinity loop symbolizes the interconnectedness of all beings and the continuous flow of knowledge and understanding. The vertical infinity loop represents the balance and harmony found in the natural world and the beauty of mathematics.

Both loops come together at their intersection points, signifying the unity of diverse elements and the importance of treating everyone with kindness and respect, as outlined in the Golden Rule. The intersecting loops also evoke the concept of Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations (IDIC) and the elegance of simplicity.

The Infinite Harmony Loop can be depicted in various colors or designs, allowing followers to personalize the symbol to reflect their own unique perspectives and connections to the belief system of Harmonumerics.

Unlike other things that ChatGPT returned, which I then tweaked heavily, this was perfect as is. The next step was to actually *create* the symbol. I tried doing it on my own. Who would think 2 infinity loops would be so hard? I tried using AI tools (like Dall-E) but got something that was more like a painting than a logo/symbol. So I hired a logo creator off of Fiverr to create it.

This is a testament to knowing the difference between when and how to use a tool vs another human being. There are times for both!

Everything about Harmonumerics reflects what I am and what I have to offer the world. I’d like to see it become more and bigger than me someday. I also like the idea that maybe I’ll turn it into a legit 503c non-profit philanthropic organization.

Yes, there will very soon be a “shop” where I’ll selling all the things with the Harmonumerics symbol on it. All the money I make from this will go to some charity or other. I can confidently say this, because I don’t expect to make more than $100 via the shop in a year, and in 2023 alone, my personal charitable contributions are already in the 4 digits. If at some point this shop turns into a 4 digit earner, too, then I’ll look at seeking that whole 503c thing and doing something more formal. For now, you’ll have to take my word on this.

What or who do I donate to? Well, past performance doesn’t necessarily indicate future stuff in this case, but organizations I’ve donated to in the past include:

• Kids in Need
• Frederick Literacy Council
• Hollywood Food Coalition
• UNICEF USA (designated for children in Turkey and Syria following the earthquake in early 2023)
• PanCan (Pancreatic Cancer Action Network)
• DonorsChoose.org (specifically to support buying books for kids)
• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
• NaNoWriMo (yes, they are a non-profit!)
• YouGiveGoods (where you specify specific goods to purchase for an organization in need)
• Children’s Interstitial Lung Disease Foundation, Inc
• …and I’ve also gone to the grocery store for the express purpose of buying food and immediately bringing it to a local food bank
• …and I’m sure there’s others because I’m a sucker for the “donate to this cancer org in lieu of a memorial/flowers” (since I’ve lost a lot of people to cancer over the years) and for “donate for disaster relief” requests

You can probably see a bit of a pattern here… kids, food, cancer. Other things/places that it’s possible I would donate to in the future could include: water (everyone should have access to safe, clean water); stuff related specifically to girls in developing nations; other education things; other medical things; other emergency/disaster relief things

One thing you won’t see on these lists are any direct political donations. That’s not my thing. Nothing about politics is my thing and other than this paragraph, I don’t write about politics or talk about politics anywhere. I have not belonged to a political party since I learned that I didn’t have to belong to one. I do vote, but I make my choices not by what party someone belongs to, but by looking up the people’s past performance and figuring out who most closely voted to the way I would have voted on issues I care about. From my perspective, political parties seem to keep us all in an “us vs them” mentality and that is the opposite of what I’m trying to achieve with Harmonumerics.

This does not mean you also have to give up your political party! It only means you have to respect my choice in the matter (not necessarily agree with it… respecting another’s choice is not the same thing as agreeing with it). If you think I’m a terrible or lesser person for not choosing a side, or if your first thought when I told you I don’t belong to a party was, “Oh, she must be one of them“, then Harmonumerics might not be for you. If Harmonumerics is not for you, that’s cool. It will not be for everybody.

If you’ve read all this, thank you. Writers need readers or something like that.

I hope Harmonumerics is for you and hope you’ll join me on a Harmonious Quest!

-Adeena
April 2023