What’s the likelihood of a camel successfully living in a Tiny Home?
Eustace seems to think he can make it work, though I’ve some serious doubts. Let’s just hope he doesn’t try to make it a multi-level house… that is, unless he wants a lot of open sky lights!
Well, if anybody can make it happen, I’m putting my vote toward team Eustace…
While I think I ‘d rather enjoy a really cozy cabin, aboard Amtrak, I couldn’t help but think of that Steve Martin and John Candy movie Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. It’s one of my favorite holiday movies to watch, and most everyone loved both of those comedic actors?
My favorite part of the whole movie was the airport scene with Edie McClurg, where they were trying to get their rental car, and she was busy making turkey sounds on the phone.
Then again, the snuggly hotel scene…
Specifically, the Chatty Cathy doll reference had me nearly pulling a stomach muscle from too much laughing.
While I love all of that movie, I would prefer that I stay on a train… with room service!
Have a cookie for the road…
I’m going with Forest Gump on this one!
Just look at all the valuable lessons he’s taught, thus far. Why the title of today’s prompt response, in and of itself, was great wisdom.
Look how fast they roll off the tongue…
A confident person is like a box of chocolates… you never know what you’re gonna get!
I might not be confident, Jenny, but I know what love is.
… from that point on, whenever I was going anywhere, I was confident!
… and I met the confident president… aaaagiiinnn!
Me and confidence, we go together like peas and carrots!
See what I mean? What a guy! Oh, wait! I just realized that the person has to be someone I know, and I never actually met the man.
This is hard because I only know about a half dozen people, up close enough to gage their confidence level.
I’m going with my husband, as the man keeps movin whether it rains or shines. No has never stopped him, but only rerouted his path! Yes, I know I’m being partial. But, as this prompt fully intends us to answer with partiality, I’ve full license to proceed!
My husband! My best friend! My partner in crime! My lover! The other half of myself!
Wait! If all that is to be true, then what did I just say? Don’t think I walked you into me being the confident one, because that would be entirely self-gratifying and I’m in no way calling myself the most confident person in the room.
Doggone it! I went and did it again. I AM the only one in the room!
Well, whatever you choose to believe, here, I simply meant that my husband is truly the most confident person I know. We’re in this car together… til the wheels fall off!
Cookies for your time?
Whatever shall I do?
Oh Oh! I know!
Can you guess?
Happy Friday, everyone… hugs
Obviously, my first thought was of the tortoise, which I often write about when it comes to my steady forward march in life.
But then again, there is the Loud Mouth Frog…
or Chatty Cathy, but she is more of a doll than an animal…
In the past I was akin to a Wolverine, all growly and snarly, with an aggressive attitude…
Of late, however, I’ve begun to see myself surfacing in some creatures you may be familiar with… let’s see…
There’s a mouse I can sometimes relate to…
While at other times I feel a bit Squirrelly…
Anywhere in between, you may find me looking a bit more creative…
Last but not least, there are those days where I just feel more bossy and fussy…
How could I ever forget to remind you of my ability to fling commas, and the like, all, over, everything………,,,, ,,,,,””””: … Just saying! I know she is not an animal, but she is an imaginary creature of sorts… and this is my blog, so I get to put whatever I want in here!
As there are simply too many different animals for me to choose from, I am unable to pick just one. I have mentioned on multiple occasions that I am a maelstrom of emotions, so it stands to reason that I should be able to pick all of the above, just to cover all my bases. Wouldn’t you agree?
Here, have a Wookie cookie to go with my crazy answer…
I made the goggles out of Oreos, so I know it’ll taste delish!
Well, I think last weeks tinkering session was a total success!
Not that I’ll be winning any academy awards, or anything. I just mean that I challenged myself to do a thing (creating a new character on Tuesday, and then writing a story about it by Friday), and it worked out.
So, it got me to thinking (I know, dangerous pastime)… what if I sought to write a whole series of children’s character books, only employing my tinkering sessions and a two day rest before kicking out a little story, song, or poem to accompany the images. I don’t see why I couldn’t, what with todays insta book mentality flooding across the web.
While I get my jabs in at all the ai created mumbo jumbo being printed out there, currently, I’m not being snarky when I say that I believe it’s possible to actually write imaginative content without my computer telling me how… or worse, doing the writing for me. Not on my watch!
Anyway, getting back to the tinkering plans I’ve set for us, I plan on making a habit of mixing up writing styles, as well as, continuing to expand my illustration skills. My hands on learning is all that can be afforded, at this present moment, so if I wish to become a better writer, more brain stretching work is involved.
I know your probably saying, “Great, now she’s gonna start wearing even bigger hats on her noggin.” Maybe I will, maybe I won’t, but if I do then that means my cookies will need to be bigger, as well.
Go big or go home, right?!
For today’s next challenge, I went with another water baby, but on an entirely different patch of sand…
This isn’t the finished character, by the way, but it was the first image offered by the ai. All I typed in was “a photorealistic image of an adorable baby walrus”.
While the little guy seems awful cute and chubby, we’re nowhere near satisfied. He’s got no nostrils, for one thing. So, I used the auto-enhance on the prompt…
“a photorealistic image of an adorable baby walrus, trying to learn to swim along the shore of a beautiful sandy beach”
Getting a better shot of his nose, but now his eyebrows look like they were individually stuck into his little forehead. It made him look too much like a plushie toy.
Again, I returned to the auto-enhance feature, asking it to expand the prompt even more…
“Imagine a photorealistic scene at a picturesque sandy beach where gentle waves lap against the shore. The sun casts a warm, golden glow across the landscape, illuminating the fine grains of sand and sparkling blue waters. In the foreground, an adorable baby walrus, with soft, wrinkled gray skin and big, curious eyes, awkwardly paddles in the shallow surf. Its flippers splash playfully, sending droplets gleaming in the sunlight, while a few sea gulls circle overhead, drawn by the joyous scene. The sandy beach is dotted with tufts of sea grass swaying in the light breeze, enhancing the serene atmosphere of this tender moment.”
At least he has more expression with his eyes, even if he lost his eyebrows. His facial expression seems far more realistic, though his fat rolls look rather like sweatshirt material than skin. I kept at it for nearly a half hour before, coming up with numerous images that were similar to this one, but with differing poses and expressions.
Now that we’ve come this far, let’s give the ai our best 10 images. From there, we’ll generate some possibilities for a solid Avatar.
I’ll be right back! Give me about 10 minutes, or so….
Everyone, meet our newest character…
I’ve decided to name him Booker, though I’ve ne earthly idea why! The ai decided to give him tusks, even with him only being a baby, but I think it makes him super cute.
Norbert gave me several differing shots, but I think he looks most realistic in this one…
… minus the grown up tusks, mind you.
I don’t think Booker took nearly as long to create, as it took me last week, during pumpkin’s creation.
Now that he’s here, I’ve only til Friday to create his story, so I best get moving!
See you Friday… hugs
… except after seas?
No, that’s not right. I believe the English language rule states that it’s i before e, except after c’s. What I’d like to know is why? If they both sound the same, why on earth are we throwing in a complicated if and or but with these words. Didn’t anybody ever hear of the adage, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” ? I’ve heard of it!
Before I get myself in an unnecessary bother, maybe we should first ask Mr. McGoogle to try and work out the problem.
Question #1 should be to establish what the actual rule states. No one should go on here say about a thing, but should instead seek the facts. Let’s do this…
According to the AI Overview,
In the English language, a common mnemonic spelling rule is: “I before E, except after C“.
However, the full, more accurate rhyme often includes: “…or when sounded as ‘ay’ as in neighbor or weigh”.
Key Details Regarding the Rule: “Cie” Words: Sometimes ie follows a c anyway, such as in science, glacier, ancient, and sufficient.
The “C” Exception: When the i and e combination follows a c, the order is usually ei (e.g., receive, ceiling, deceive, conceit).
The “Ay” Exception: When the ei combination makes a long “a” sound (like “ay”), e comes before i (e.g., neighbor, weigh, vein, sleigh).
Other Exceptions: There are many words that break this rule, such as weird, seize, leisure, protein, and foreign.
So, ok, I can agree with this ruling as long as it can be clearly determined by the pronunciation of the word. That part makes sense, but what screws everything up is the fact that there are so many varying accents from differing nationalities. What then? Unless one is prepared to pull up a voice modulator every single time one of these words come up, the margin for error is incredibly wide… in my humble antsy opinion.
I suppose if we only had a handful of words that utilized this particular linguistic merry-go-round, it wouldn’t cause me such aggravation. But guess what? The English language is smothered in the ie, ei, except after c, or ay rule. Not just that but we get to also separate words like weird, seize, leisure, protein, and foreign, as these words break all the rules. What’s an ant to do, here?
Well, figure things out is what I need to do, if I’m to make a top-notch journalist! If children can learn it, then so too can an ant… this ant, to be exact!
My name is Pumpkin, but don’t wear it out!
This is the story of how my name came about…
I think I was born in the water
but I’m not really sure
I simply recall waking up in a puddle
and the rest was all just a blur…
My family was gone
There was no one to be found
Just me and my little puddle
so I played and splashed around…
But the fun didn’t last very long
as the sun dried up my puddle
I’d nowhere safe to go
and no family there to cuddle…
I went to the river
and I tried to make friends
But the crocodiles only wanted to eat me
No water were they willing to lend…
So off I went to find another puddle
My tummy was growling so loud
But once I found a good resting place
All the other hungry animals crowded around…
Just as I thought I’d be somethings dinner
They all suddenly ran away
Along had come a bus filled with tourists
their noisy chatter had saved the day…
Sadly, they continued on their way
And the sun began getting hotter
But when I arrived at another puddle
The elephants stole all the water…
No water, no food, and no safe place to be
what was a hippo to do?
I waited and waited, lost and afraid
Til this man came and offered me food…
He put me in a box
and we went for a ride
They gave me my own special puddle
with yummy pumpkins on every side…
What’s smooth and round on the outside
but squishy and sweet in the middle?
If you didn’t already know my name
I think this would have made a great riddle!
Eustace is so proud of his corn crop that he’s already set up a popcorn stand to sell his wares. I tried to tell him that the corn hasn’t been harvested yet, nor is it ready to be picked, but he was just too excited.
Now all my popcorn’s missing, and one of my good slippers is stuck to the kitchen floor, somehow.
Just out of curiosity, does anybody know how to get caramel out of camel fur?
Perhaps you’ve asked yourselves how I get from an idea, all the way to producing an actual story, here on WordPress. Well, I doubt you were actually wondering that exact thought, but for all intents and purposes, I’m going to act as if you asked. Humor me, if you would.
We will just call today’s tinkering, a tutorial on how to create a brand new story character from scratch. Did you know that I usually develop the character, or Avatar, if you will, before I even create the story that goes with them? While there are some stories that are born in my imagination first, most of the children’s stories are born upon the visual produced for the main character… that first few, rough around the edge images that are produced by Norbert, the OpenArt ai assistant.
So, today I want to create a brand new character, build up a supply of appropriate images, and then on Friday, I’ll hopefully have a cute little story to post. I’m by no means expecting you to anticipate an academy award winning performance, or anything.
I suppose that one could say, it’s an exercise in story development. Hopefully, I will learn a good many things about my own writing style, how accommodating Norbert can be, and how flexible I’m willing to be, when it comes to my own content. While I might need Norbert for producing the right images, I don’t need any assistance in the imagination process, nor in my ability to write a decent story.
For this particular act of literary science and exploration, I randomly selected a baby hippo, as our story subject.
My first query was simply asking for a photorealistic image of an adorable baby hippo, but before finishing the prompt, I selected the auto enhance option for a more complete description. This was my first full query…
A photorealistic image of a baby hippopotamus joyfully playing in a sun-drenched meadow, surrounded by vibrant wildflowers swaying gently in the breeze. The lush green grass glistens with dew drops, catching the soft, warm sunlight that filters through a few wispy clouds in the azure sky. The baby hippo, with its round, cherubic face and big, glistening eyes, frolics playfully, splashing water as it leaps into a small, shimmering puddle. Its skin glistens with a hint of mud, adding a touch of earthy charm to its playful antics. In the background, a gentle stream sparkles, reflecting the peaceful atmosphere of this idyllic setting. This photorealistic scene captures the essence of childhood joy in nature, filled with colors and a warmth that embodies happiness.
These were the first images offered…
So far, so good, though I notice that Norbert wasn’t willing to actually put the hippo in the water, for some odd reason.
Without overthinking it, which I have a tendency to do sometimes, I took the very first three images offered, and then I went straight to character creation.
After only a few moments, Norbert gave us our newest character, and I’ve named her Pumpkin…
She even has a little tuft of hair on her head, like little bangs. I think it will be so fun to put a bow in her hair, and I can even change the color of the ribbon, depending on the day. Don’t ask me why I opted to name her Pumpkin. It just sounded like a sweet term of endearment, I guess.
Anyway, throughout this whole creation process, Norbert did fairly well, and only had to remove an object from one of the images. For some reason, the ai thought a hippo should wear a crown on their head. I’ve no earthly idea where a crown was mentioned in my query…
I told Norbert to get rid of the crown, and he actually did it without changing too much else in the image…
Unfortunately, her bangs disappeared, which I really wanted to keep.
For that reason, I asked for a different image, all together. But, still not enough hair on her head…
I spent nearly fifteen minutes arguing with Norbert over the stack of ridiculous selections I was given…
I even tried putting bows in her hair, to see if that would improve things.
Nope!
Sometimes, you just have to go back to the drawing board, as they say. You simply have to query a new background, and/or positioning of the character, in order to produce a workable image…
See what I mean? Change the background and her hair returns, just as I hoped it would.
Now that we’ve a loveable image to work with, the task at hand is to gather a decent supply of differing images that will aid in the building of her story.
By Friday, I should hopefully have a wonderful tale to share with you about our newest guest, here in the Barnyard.
Yikes! Friday’s only a few days away, so I should probably get started.
Hugs
Journey With Me! 