The phrase "plus maintenant" in French means "not anymore" rather than the literal translation "more now".  This seems like it was invented just to create a disastrous misunderstanding of a treaty.  Apparently you can specify the opposite meaning by pronouncing the "s".

Our dog trainer, Amanda, said that we need to put Symone "on a down" more often. This means that when I plan to sit and relax or work, I should put Symone's leash on her and step on the leash. This causes Symone to lie down and relax. 
So now every morning we sit on the front porch while I drink my coffee for about 15 minutes and Symone watches the world go by. If I don't do it right after Vince leaves for work, she runs back & forth to and from the door. 

I had to buy her a special bed for outside. Her favorite part is when the kids next door come outside to leave for school. 

She doesn't bark or anything, she just watches them.  She really likes kids, but she'd jump all over them if we let her. Their faces would be thoroughly licked. 

And now: The Virtual Husky Tug Simulator. 

Ever wanted to play tug with a Siberian Husky, but didn't have time? Or a Husky? No more! Now you can pretend to play tug with a husky for a whole ten seconds. Get a simulation of the excitement and danger of the likelihood of hitting yourself in the face with a stuffed moose wrapped around a knotted rope, without bruising!  Raise your heart rate without the possibility of having your fingers nipped! It's ten seconds of fun for the whole family! 

<< part of my continuing series recording memories to assure myself I've actually been to the places I think I've been to>>

Whew, California. I lived there for most of my 30's, so I could fill a book. But instead, this much shorter entry:

When I was a child I recall my father once musing about having met some people that "smiled a LOT". Like so much so you noticed and wondered if they were selling something. When asked, it turned out it was just that they were from California, and smiling a lot was normal for them. So for many years, my concept of California was that it was a place of Hollywood, hippies, and people who smiled a lot. And that it was far away - I could never quite remember the difference between Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego... all were interchangeable in my head.

When I was looking at grad schools, I did apply & get accepted to Stanford and USC. But again, California was far away so I opted for CMU in Pittsburgh instead. Slight regrets on that front. Kinda wish I would have made it to California in the early 90s. I wonder how my life would have been different.

In the mid/late 90s I first visited California and the city identities solidified. SF is the hippies up north, somewhat seasoned by Silicon valley tech. LA is  Hollywood and beaches. San Diego is smaller and warmer and the border town. I had an all expenses paid vacation in the San Diego area (some perk that came with my first husband's job) and got to experience the gas light district, Coronado island, and had an excellent massage from a woman who was the masseuse on staff for the Icelandic olympic team. Around 1995 I started working remotely for a San Francisco Bay Area software company. Though I continued to live in New Orleans, this meant occasional trips to SF. I distinctly recall walking around SF one early visit thinking to myself "I could live here" - which was a rare thought for me: living in New Orleans set my bar pretty high for other places I was willing to live.  I liked how SF was walkable, with good transit, nice climate, and flower vendors on the street.

In 2005, after Katrina devastated New Orleans, I took a job just north of SF in San Rafael. I moved to SF and lived there until 2011. In my years there I was a city girl - goth clubs and sidewalk happy hours, wine tastings and harbor cruises. I had yet to experience the joys of the great wild outdoors - no hiking or camping for me then - unless you count Burning Man. In 2006 I was talked into my first Burning Man by my then roommate. And while I wouldn't call Burning Man "life changing" for me, it certainly has influenced much of my activities in the years since.

SF has this ambient level of zaniness that I love. It was always nice to get home from a trip and to see something like a grown man in a tutu and viking helmet nonchalantly taking his chihuahua out for a walk. No one would even raise an eyebrow. Wish more places vibed like that. 

When I make it back to California these years, I typically go to Los Angeles. I have a good friend there who throws lovely events in his house. Plus a few times I've been to "The Labyrinth of Jareth" masquarade ball held in downtown LA. Two of my favorite things to do in LA is Kura conveyor belt sushi and the Wii Korean day-spa. 

I might add some more detailed memories in the future but for now I'm closing this entry. Yes, I've been to California. I lived California. And I sometime still miss California most desperately.

Good lord, it really has been almost a year since I posted here. Wow. I have 27 drafts here in OPW land, which is both amusing and pathetic. I'm slowly starting to think I have ADD. (I can hear you all saying, "Ya think?")

Lots to report, which is also to say hardly anything to report.  This is gonna be a boring post. 

I should be at Burning Man now, but I tested positive for Covid after Beatlefest (Beatlefest was August 9-13), and it kicked my ass... so much so that I couldn't do my usual pre-BurningMan prep. I was really disappointed to sell my Burning Man tickets, but it was the right thing to do. Anyone who says Omicron is mild can smooch my 'ttocks. It wasn't easy, and there was a day there where I thought it might be hospital time. The good news is that out of 40+ musicians involved in a week-long music festival, only two people got sick, and I was one of them. Oddly, Matt never got sick, and we shared a bed for pretty much the whole thing. 

I also had Delta in November 2021, and while that bout wasn't a treat by any means, Omicron was harder in many ways. I lost taste/smell with Delta and had a pretty high fever for several days, but Omicron was quite different: a low-grade fever that was on and off, and a headache that was so awful that I spent the better part of 5 days with a knee sock tied tightly around my head like a tourniquet to hold my skull together... and then I had a black t-shirt over my head for a few days because any and all light hurt my eyes and head (including my phone) I only ever had a migraine once in my life back in the 90s (it was a reaction to a prescription), and this felt like that. Ooooof. 

I tested positive on the 15th, and finally tested negative on the 23rd, but I waited until I had three negative tests under my belt before feeling like it was safe to emerge. 

Like my Delta experience, it feels oddly good to have a few weeks of immunity. 

I find that I'm sometimes having a hard time finding my words... moreso than usual. It's frustrating, and unnerving. I didn't have that experience with Delta. 

I also can't believe I've had covid twice; I feel like it's a moral failing or like I was careless. I tested every day leading up to BeatleFest, I tested before leaving the house for the theater each night, I ate well, I wasn't stupid, I masked up... I never shared a mic with anyone, I had my own platform on stage with plenty of room around me.... so I dunno. 

Anyway. 

This post is all doom and gloom, but things are otherwise good.  

Matt and I have been playing a lot of disc golf, which I suck at but also really enjoy. It's been cool noticing improvements. I got my first birdie (one under par) yesterday! Wheeeee! 

This time of year is always a bit bittersweet... I know we're going into the cooler months and I know winter is around the corner which I Do Not Like. But I bought I neat sweater that I'm excited to wear. (It's the little things.)

I wish I took advantage of fresh summer vegetables this season... I look at Annie Mollo's meal posts and I wanna drive up to Vermont and eat everything. :)

I miss my friends very much; I just haven't had a chance to see my peeps and I would like to do that. 

During my recent covid haze, I had an idea: Maybe the time is right to sell my house, get rid of all of the excess nouns in my possession, and go check out other cities. My house has been good to me, but I never really wanted a house and only bought it because everyone told me it was something I was supposed to do. I'm tired of doing things that other people tell me to do. I'm not getting any younger here, and Matt and I wanna live places that aren't Delaware.  We have no concrete plans or anything, but it's fun to think about. 

In other news, Dad is now 82 and he's doing great. He's found a groove and a routine that works for him. He misses Mom (we all do), but I think he's also enjoying being a bachelor. He never lived alone ever in his life, and I think it's good for him. 

Lastly: After Mom passed, I got myself a therapist and HOLY CRAP she's awesome. It's all self-pay, but it's pretty reasonable. I'm grateful. 

OK, this is a boring post. It'll be more interestin*

I love y'all. 

I'll be back*

--

* I didn't actually stop typing mid-sentence... my phone just randomly starts deleting words. Good times. 😁 It's all part of the, um, "charm" of using a 2017-ish phone. La la la!

Our son married his sweetie, who wore a dress made by my sweetie.

In "Odd Thomas" (2013), Anton Yelchin (1989-2016) says "I'm sorry your life was so short" but it might have been said by anyone, and about anyone. 

I did a little experimental thread over on my Twitter stream. I wanted to encourage a couple of things - namely audience interaction and I wanted to provide them an actual reason to share the thread.

Simply put: I provided a series of polls for folks to vote on to determine how I constructed a monster.

Here's a link to the thread in case you're curious.

The results to the first poll (bipedal or quadrapedal) was:

The second poll was what kind of terrain the creature spends its time in. The audience chose subterranean so I added digging claws and narrowed the torso to make the creature more wedge shaped.

The third poll was how many heads the creature has. Crowd said 2.

And the fourth and final poll was what kind of tail to give it (or to give it none). The crowd picked a long straight tail with a club end.

After the final poll, I finished the tail and posted it and then felt like I should go ahead and paint it. Since I was already in an experimental mode, I took the sketch, blurred it a bit, and then mixed the sketch lines in with the digital paint layers. The final results are at the top of the post.

Here's the process video if you enjoy that.

I really need to get back to the work for my Patreon page, but this was an excellent little experiment and I plan to do it again in the near future.

This is the character I'm currently working on for Patreon:

I am not particularly a tea snob. 

In fact, for my morning jolt I prefer Stok cold-brew coffee.  But, I do like an afternoon tea on occasion--a big cup that I can slowly sip over a period of hours.  So, I have certain tea requirements.  It can't go bitter; it has to have that muscatel taste; it has to be forgiving to varying preparation techniques; it must be loose leaf.  It must stand up without milk or sugar.  Today, I ran out of my secondary backup tea and had to switch over to my tertiary backup tea.  Ugh.  Some cheap and nasty Assam blend. About half way through, I had already ordered $75 of tea, which seems like a lot but it's probably four years worth of tea.  But still, this cup is that bad.

Maybe I am a tea snob. 

If you offer me a cuppa Earl Grey, you *will* get a tea lecture.

Midjourney created this image, given the prompt "white cat named Spike in the style of Marvel." If you've seen my cat, and if you haven't you must be new here, this is pretty amazing. I picked my favorite of the four initial images and upscaled it. I didn't do any further refinement.

Not a real photograph. Dall-E created this image, given the prompt "a big white cat named Spike with stripes like a raccoon and spots like a cow photorealistic."

My privacy-minded partner thought at first this was a photo of our cat.

So Dall-E is just better, right? It depends. The above was Dall-E's best effort on the same Marvel Spike genre prompt Midjourney nailed so well. I attempted to refine this with the words "Marvel cinematic universe" and so on, but it didn't get any closer to the concept.

Midjourney created these images from the prompt "Midjourney's mother." I didn't pick a winner or do any further refinement.

It is difficult not to read into this. But is it just telling me what I want to hear? And if it is, so what?

Midjourney created this image from the prompt "the true purpose of Midjourney." Three of these can be understood simply as riffing on the word "journey." The one at upper right is perhaps just riffing on images frequently associated with the words "true purpose." So as lovely as they are, they don't make me go "hmm" as much as the previous set.

"Dall-E's mother photorealistic" yielded this image, and other images of animal mothers. One was a chimpanzee. If they were all chimpanzees, it could be considered a little cheeky. But emphasizing one chimpanzee out of four images would just be cherry-picking on my part.

Dall-E generated these images for the prompt "the true purpose of Dall-E." There's a theme, at least for three of them, but if there's a message here this monkey isn't clever enough to figure it out.

A Google employee who claims their text-generating AI is a sentient being has been fired. On the whole, I tend to agree with those who say that particular AI (not Dall-E or Midjourney) is probably not a sentient being. And yet, I also agree with those who have serious questions about our ability to judge that. This will be more of an issue as the line gets fuzzier. And it's getting fuzzy pretty fast.