Tag: dogs

Tuesday Tinkering…

Wiwohka4 Comments

Yes, Osrig. Today is gonna be all about you, my sweet boy!

It’s high time we do some serious work on our favorite flying canine. From the very beginning of his creation, I struggled with making him look realistic instead of resembling a Claymation character. It’s always been a bit of a challenge to give the dog realistic traits, while also making his imaginary ones look adorable and endearing. If I can make an avatar of myself look real, then so to shall I embark this editing journey for Osrig. He’s worth it, I think.

I already went ahead and took the plunge last week, by upgrading his character images into the advanced avatar that we’ll be using today. I must say that as much as I loath to admit it, Norbert (resident openart ai) actually did me proud this morning, for the most part. There were a few moments that I wanted to say something snarky, but I refrained, for your sake!

Surprisingly, this was the very first image given this morning, and in all honesty, it seems perfect! I even made you a short video of it, so as to reflect the improvements they’ve made on their video creation section. I know it’s not much, and I am far from a videographer, film maker, or tv producer, in any real sense of the words. But it’s still cute, so I’m using it…

The reason I have to give so much credit to Norbert today, is because I only had one image that we didn’t see eye to eye on, literally, because the ai never could correct the problem. Here, I’ll show you…

This image would’ve been perfect, aside from the demon glowy eyes… sheesh!

I asked the ai to change the dog’s eye color to a gentle green, but ended up with a radioactive dog…

As I’m not one to give up on a thing so easily, I had a rather short but meaningful chat with Norbert…

“I’ve never met a dog with glowing green eyes. Please look up images of what a canine’s eyes should be, and then color them a gentle soft green please.”

It took several more tries, but we finally got a compromise out of the deal…

The image is alright, I guess. It’s certainly nothing to write home about, but definitely far better than the alien shots we started out with, in my opinion. I will say that the ai is doing a fantastic job of textures and realism, both in the scenery and also the dogs fur. But, unfortunately, I can’t really use the image because his wings are missing.

I pressed on, wanting to get a real handle on the realism of the dog’s fur, expressions, and body posture. You should feel as if you could reach out and touch him, you know? I put Norbert through his paces, and got a solid handful of really decent images. Take a look…

Aside from the image with the strange looking arrow head on the end of his tail, these images took no editing at all. But I’ll certainly be fixing that tail… ugh!

I did make another little video, but the first one is still my favorite, over all…

So, that’s it for today’s tinkering session. All in all, it was a very successful day, and I hope it wasn’t too boring for you.

As a sign of good will, and also my willingness to share with others, I’ve made you some homemade virtual oatmeal. It’s got a little brown sugar and some blueberries, too…

Breakfast is really the most important meal of the day, or so I’ve heard. They also say that it’s good for your heart.

You’re welcome!

(2024) Hoomans Don’t Make No Sense At All…

Wiwohka3 Comments
Bloganuary writing prompt
If you could make your pet understand one thing, what would it be?
View all responses

I suppose if we were able to make our pets understand us, we’d have results landing on both sides of the proverbial coin! In one way it would be great if we could help our pets understand why we do some of the things we do, while on the other hand it might backfire, leading to animal world domination!

I personally don’t think it would be the best idea for us to give our pets any more information about us, as I’m not so sure that it would cause them to love us more than they already do… in fact, it might give them cause to rise up and put us in cages, just because WE pooped on the floor.

With that being said, if I could make animals understand deeper about anything humans have done, are doing, or will be doing sometime in the future… it would be to tell them we’re sorry!

Last year I had to rehome my pug of 4 years, as well as my two cats that I found under a shed when they were tiny. I waited for 3 years to get my pug, loving her ever so much… she was my baby! My sister-in-law found a batch of kittens under her porch, keeping one and handing the other two my way… I hand raised both boys from about 10 days old and I adored them! I had to make the most painful decision, last year, of rehoming all of them due to our situation… it was awful!

I guess that if it were possible, I would want to try to explain my actions, and say how sorry I am!

I pray that my choice was for the animals betterment, but it is still difficult to hold the last memories of letting go. Sometimes, doing the right thing does NOT feel good, yet it is still right! I cannot say for sure what they were feeling throughout the painful process, but if I could communicate with them, this would obviously be the conversation on the forefront of our discussion. What would they say… would they forgive me if they understood… maybe.

The best information to give our pets, in the effort of better understanding about us hoomans, would be the knowledge that we often behave in ways that don’t align with our feelings. Often times, we do the right thing for the wrong reason, while at other times, we do the wrong things for the right reasons… it’s what we do!

It’s not all bad, and I didn’t say ALL people, nor did I say ALL the time… it’s just that sometimes the numbers are stacked against us, that’s all!

There’s no way to know if I’ll ever have flurbies journeying with me again… perhaps, perhaps not! Just as our pets probably don’t plan ahead most of the time, thinking to build contingency plans for difficult situations… I would want them to know that often times, we hoomans don’t either! 

Issabella Pugalini
Ghost and Ash

Here, I need a cookie, so you better have one too…

Lost for a cause, not a lost cause…

Wiwohka6 Comments

Yes, we are still sailing through uncharted waters, but I suppose that one might say we’re not really ready to seek dry land, just yet!

You see, we have a new passenger aboard our vessel, a very hairy, rather confused, and terribly frightened one! While I realize that we should be in hot pursuit of a lonely little troll named Peanut, sometimes things happen that force us to shift plans, temporarily, of course.

Not to worry, though. Just now, it’s only early in summer and we’ve plenty of safe sailing weather left to us until the fall season begins. As soon as we are once more within sight of land, I’ve a good idea where to locate the little guy.

For now, we’ve a case of need that sits before us, right here on the deck of our ship!

First things first… calm the terrified creature, before he tries to jump ship on us!

While I am very well acquainted with dogs, which the creature sort of resembles, I’ve no idea what to think of the wings, nor the seashells that seem to be embedded within his chest. Canine fur… check! Seashells and wings… wait, what? Do I pet him or not? I’ve been trying to talk gently to him, but I don’t think he understands anything I’m saying, at all!

All we thought to do was quietly sit near him, hoping our presence would ease his fear. He’s not frightened of us, mind you, but something about a ship fills the creature with terror, possibly from bad memories of his beginnings. I’m not entirely certain. I’ve been quietly observing him, while the babes are busy trying to feed him cookies. They’ve decided that he’s merely a fluffy dog with wingy thingies, as they put it. I’m not so sure…

Yes, he does really resemble a dog if you focus on his face and body build, but I’ve never actually seen a dog with fur that’s the color of the sea, have you? The entirety of his chest and underbelly seems to be more hardened seashells, than fur. His wings and tail sort of remind me of a great bird, like something off of a Jurassic Park film. While he may have been on some sort of vessel, at one time or another, it’s almost as if he came right out of the sea, itself!

Whatever one might imagine of his origins, it doesn’t really matter at this very moment, does it? It’s not going to help us calm our newest family member, nor aid him in finding his sea legs, which is necessary if we’re to travel anywhere.

Not only do I need him to be calm and settled, but if we’re to keep him safely hidden until we get back to the barnyard, we really need to understand each other on some level. The first thing we need to do is give him a name, so that he can learn to recognize when we call to him… something better than “hey you” or “here doggy”, which seems rather misguided, as I don’t think he’s really a dog, at all!

Beings as he’s such a gentle creature, it seems that he should be given a name that reflects this nature. While I may be rather good at telling tales, one’s name should be taken far more seriously… so I googled it… don’t judge!

After some heartfelt searching, a name appeared on my computer screen that caught my eye…

Osric the Gentle

Meaning of the first name Osric

Origin English

Meaning God ruler

Variations Orrick, Doric, Godric

*Some content has been generated by an artificial intelligence language model, in combination with data sourced from Ancestry records and provided by BabyNames.com.

The name Osric finds its roots in the English language and carries the weighty meaning of God ruler. Its origin can be traced back to early medieval England, where it gained popularity as a given name. In those times, individuals often held a deep reverence for their spiritual beliefs, and the combination of God and ruler in one name sought to embody the power and authority attributed to individuals who were appointed by divine will. Throughout history, the name Osric has remained relatively uncommon, primarily appearing in English literature and royal pedigrees. In literary works such as William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, a character named Osric is introduced as a courtier, known for his grandiloquent speech and flamboyant personality. This portrayal reflects the name’s association with nobility, as befitting a courtier in medieval times. Despite its rich historical background, the name Osric is now rarely used in modern-day society. The changing cultural landscape and the preference for more contemporary names have contributed to its decline. While its regal connotations and divine allusions may still hold appeal for some, Osric has gradually become an obscure choice for parents seeking to name their children.

Somehow, it just seemed to fit… and honestly, I still don’t really understand why. Fortunately for us, we have plenty of summer left out in these waters to figure it out!

We’ve begun to simply call him Osrig for short, sort of like a combination of Osric and Gentle, if that makes any sense. Even if it doesn’t make sense, it still seems to make his eyes twinkle every time we call him by that name.

I’m truly hoping that somebody spots this message in a bottle… or else, this letter was for naught…

Oh well, you’ll find it eventually.