The Hungry Imagination
Effective date: March 24, 2025
We collect only what we need to run memberships and deliver content. Notes are encrypted in your browser; we store only ciphertext.
1. Introduction
The Hungry Imagination is a membership-based learning platform created by Armando Lucero. We respect your privacy and collect only the information necessary to operate the site, deliver content, and support member features.
This notice explains what information we collect, how it is used, and how it is protected.
2. Information we collect
Account & membership information
When you create an account or subscription, we may collect:
- Name
- Email address
- Membership status and plan
- WordPress user ID (used internally to associate your access)
We use this information to manage member access and provide site features.
Payments
Payments and billing are handled by trusted third-party providers (Memberful and Stripe). We do not store full payment card numbers on our servers, and we do not have access to your payment credentials.
Access & content delivery
To deliver content you are entitled to access, we may store information such as:
- Which Works or downloads are available to your account
- Whether access has been granted or revoked
- Subscription state (active, paused, expired)
3. Notes & encrypted content
The Hungry Imagination includes a private notes feature that allows members to create personal notes associated with Works.
- Notes are encrypted in your browser.
- Only encrypted data (ciphertext) is stored.
- Your passphrase is never sent to us and is never stored.
- If a passphrase is lost, notes cannot be recovered.
Optional Sync can store an encrypted copy on the server so you can retrieve notes across devices (the notes remain encrypted and private).
See also: Notes Sync — Privacy & Security ↗
4. Cookies & sessions
We use cookies and session storage to keep you signed in, maintain account state, and support member features.
We do not sell personal data. We do not use advertising trackers to follow you across other sites.
Basic technical data (such as IP address, browser type, or request timestamps) may be logged for security, fraud prevention, and site reliability.
5. Communications
We may send emails related to:
- Account activity
- Subscription status
- Important site or service updates
We do not sell or share email addresses for marketing purposes.
6. Data sharing
We do not sell personal information. We may share information only when necessary to operate the site—such as with hosting, security, infrastructure, and payment providers.
7. Data retention
- Account information is retained while your account remains active.
- Encrypted notes are retained according to your usage and Sync settings.
- You may request deletion of your account and associated data, subject to legal or operational requirements.
8. Your choices
- You can access or update your account information.
- You can request deletion of your account.
- You can choose whether to enable Notes Sync.
Manage your subscription
Cancel or Manage Subscriptions ↗
If you have more than one subscription, you’ll be asked to choose which one to manage.
For privacy-related questions or requests, please contact us via the site’s contact page: Contact ↗. We may need to verify your account email before fulfilling a request.
Children
This site is intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.
9. Changes to this notice
This Privacy Notice may be updated as the site evolves. The effective date will be revised when changes are made.
On why this work exists →
Shibumi, at least for me: doing what I want when I want without those burdensome tension thoughts pulling me down. Just hanging in that sweet spot of precarious balance between too much and too little—an intersection of blissful fluctuation while sitting with cards, coins, and coffee.
On Shibumi →
The term shibumi is Japanese and is explored at length in the novel Shibumi by Trevanian. You can read more about the book here: ABOUT Shibumi (Wikipedia)
The short reflection above is my own adaptation, inspired by Trevanian’s use of the word and the sensibility he describes. What follows is an excerpt from the novel, quoted here to preserve the original context and language:
“He sounds as though I shall like him, sir.”
“I am sure you will. He is a man who has all my respect. He possesses a quality of . . . how to express it? . . . of shibumi.”
“Shibumi, sir?” Nicholai knew the word, but only as it applied to gardens or architecture, where it connoted an understated beauty. “How are you using the term, sir?”
“Oh, vaguely. And incorrectly, I suspect. A blundering attempt to describe an ineffable quality. As you know, shibumi has to do with great refinement underlying commonplace appearances. It is a statement so correct that it does not have to be bold, so poignant it does not have to be pretty, so true it does not have to be real. Shibumi is understanding, rather than knowledge. Eloquent silence. In demeanor, it is modesty without pudency. In art, where the spirit of shibumi takes the form of sabi, it is elegant simplicity, articulate brevity. In philosophy, where shibumi emerges as wabi, it is spiritual tranquility that is not passive; it is being without the angst of becoming. And in the personality of a man, it is . . . how does one say it? Authority without domination? Something like that.”
Nicholai’s imagination was galvanized by the concept of shibumi. No other ideal had ever touched him so.
“How does one achieve this shibumi, sir?”
“One does not achieve it, one . . . discovers it. And only a few men of infinite refinement ever do that. Men like my friend Otake-san.”
“Meaning that one must learn a great deal to arrive at shibumi?”
“Meaning, rather, that one must pass through knowledge and arrive at simplicity.”