Oh, what’s this? Microsoft Bing AI now includes a free “artificial-intelligence” image creator powered by DALL-E? “Sorry, mate, couldn’t resist”, to quote Jack Sparrow from “The Curse of the Black Pearl”. Hehe. Anyway, for the first time I’ve really sunk my teeth into playing around … Continue readingArtista ex Machina?
I know it’s a silly thing, especially for a path in life as freelance-y and side-hustle-y as being a ballroom dance instructor, but after I’m certified I’m really looking forward to getting all the accouterments of being a business. I’ll list them in this caprice … Continue readingMe, a Spendy Start-Up? Oh No!
Dream dance studio vibes: real teak floors, big real wood fireplace, flowers dangling down from the trellised ceiling, bar in back with all-copper utensils and wine racks galore clad in rich dark woods, doors and windows all open to let in fresh air from the … Continue readingCalifornia Dreaming
I’m a secular irreligious person who wants a big family, at least six kids or so. That makes me something of an anomaly…or does it? Might we be greatly underestimating the long-term demographic heft of secular “breeders”? Sure, highly religious people do have more children … Continue readingThe Secular Shall Inherit the Earth?
Having started with ChatGPT this week, I must say I’m having a blast; I suspect it’ll come to enjoy a place in my life as a supremely useful tool. Sure, it has its limitations, but so does every other kind of software. Anyway, I asked … Continue readingBallroom and Business with ChatGPT
Well, well, well, now that the Federal Reserve’s rate hike program has finally broken something (Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and possibly now First Republic Bank too…) they might be forced to back off. The winds of prevailing opinion have suddenly shifted: the tightening cycle … Continue readingHousing Crisis: Is the End in Sight?
Sometimes I question why I follow so many aesthetic mood-board type accounts on Twitter, why I spend so much time on there, but then I get some real inspiration, often from rather unlikely vectors. Such as this pair of posts yesterday from two different users … Continue readingTaking Earth into the 23rd Century
It seems in my space-opera universe the world might be all but godless but ghosts are abundant; indeed, proof of the omnipresent ghost cult can be found in quite a few of my stories. But in every case so far the spirits of the dead … Continue readingTo Love a Ghost
The next year I’ll mark something of a milestone in my life, and a rather grim one at that: I’ll be as old as my parents were when I was born, as old as my father was in September 2023 and as old as my … Continue readingDelayed Childbearing: I Too Succumb
Recently I’ve been bouncing around several story concepts, but none have lit a fire under me that tells me “I wanna write this now! Ooh…yay!”; it’s been more like “eeeh…maybe someday”. But then I started listening to “Earthbound”, a wonderful ambient piece by Dreamstate Logic, … Continue readingA Far-Future Duology?