Lately we’ve had a family of Cooper Hawks on our property. I’ve heard and seen them flying between our pine trees. The juveniles have been complaining a lot the last two days, I think because their mama has abandoned them to feed themselves.
We had both of them this morning sitting by the container we put out with water for the smaller birds and the squirrels, and the bravest one even jumped in and took a bath.
After lunch we were sitting here with our noses in our laptop and phone and noticed one had returned and was sitting on the edge of the oil drip pan we call the spa. I could not get a picture because the window blurs photos, and I know it would have flown, if I went outside the front door. It sat there looking gloomy for about 20 minutes while its sibling flew around moaning and peeping. Finally it took a drink and flew away, hopefully to snag a vole, which we have in plenty. Poor things to be new at hunting and so hungry.
It’s been forever since I’ve posted something, and now I see AI all over the place here at WordPress, but that seems to be the plight of the internet and the world in general. Authors, artists, and probably musicians are bitching and moaning about their stolen (scraped) creations and how different AI platforms are stealing their work.
Not that I am criticizing creators who depend on book sales and other forms of original works, because I know I would be furious too. My art is offered free to all, whether they are human or artificial; I am a confirmed Discordian who believes in chaos and the will to observe, borrow and bellow sarcasm.
Chaos of another kind is the disturbing behavior that seems to be on the increase: attack and harm others through random violence. The horrific news we view daily seems to generate more and more outrageous and violent acts against our fellow humans. Violence in the USA has always been prevalent; our country was formed and founded that way, but these days, random and inexplicable behavior seems to be a contagion. Is it fear or a warped collective unconscious? Are the sick brainwaves from our billionaire bosses a new form of disease?
I’ve been listening to the song by Ten Years After titled the same as this blog post. Nowadays it would be considered politically incorrect due to a few of the words in its lyrics, but the overall message of this late 20th Century recording is a perfect comment on our current place in the universe. “I’d love to save the world, but I don’t know what to do, so I leave it up to you” sums up most of our personal outlooks on our tortured planet; rely on others to deal with an impossible situation. We are losing our freedom of speech, our ability to assemble in peace, our innate right to disagree.
I hate what is happening in Gaza and the West Bank and the Ukraine, but my own country, which I was taught to feel pride and love for and pledge my allegiance to, is responsible for much of the discord in our world. Until the powers quit saber rattling and ignoring the truth, it will get worse for us all.
Here are a few that I’ve recovered. They were lost somewhere in an alternative “Pictures” universe on my laptop. I am finding the new and improved WordPress very confusing, but I am thankful to locate and upload these lost images.
Having read much about the cons against Artificial Intelligence and its potential for stealing work from living human artists and authors, I realized something while listening to a collection of electronic music last night. Synthesizers and work stations have hijacked jobs from countless musicians since their introduction in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Remember Switched On Bach? I recall hearing that album blasting out of dormitory windows while I attended university, and the deluge of electronic rock, jazz and even classical just continued to boom.
I suppose the first truly synthesizer heavy album I ever owned was by Emerson, Lake and Palmer, but many others were appearing on the Rock scene. While listening last night to a CD called “Arabic Beats”, I contemplated how many musicians would have been involved in playing all the parts of these hypnotic tunes, but all parts were played by a Roland workstation. Yet I never heard of any musicians, other than die-hard metal heads, complaining about the new technology. Musicians seemed to embrace the tool rather than decrying its theft of business.
Technology of the 20th Century has grown and surpassed much predicted in my favorite science fiction plots, but is it all bad? Of course it’s not. Although I will continue to resist AI art and fiction, I do believe AI has its place. There is little point in denying that it’s here to stay.
Oh, and by the way: compact discs are forever superior to “vinyl”, no matter what the current popular opinion. Anyone who grew up listening first to 78 rpm and later 33-1/3 LPs with their hisses, scratches and skips must admit this is so. Opinions? Nah, I thought so.
Each morning while drinking our green tea, my husband relates all the bad news he reads on sott.net and other websites. The stories are so upsetting, we had to quit drinking coffee and switch to tea, which is probably better for us anyway.
Stabbings, boiled babies, brutal riots and flash mobs that smash and grab; all these violent and strange tidings of great horror are a daily occurrence, mostly in the USA. Our Commander in Chief keeps sending more and more weapons and billions of dollars to the Ukraine, yet the victims of the Maui fires will receive only $700 in Federal aid. Jim read today that the influx of aliens (no longer called illegals) are causing untold damage and hostility in the receiving cities. Purportedly, each immigrant will receive over $2,000 per month in welfare. Social Security may be tapped in order to fund these payments. I worked and paid SSA tax for over 30 years, and that is more than my monthly benefit.
I truly fear that our destiny as native or naturalized citizens of the USA is in peril. The rampant violence, greed, and hatred seems a mass hysteria that has become more contagious than Covid-19. George Orwell was decades off when he penned 1984. The eve of destruction is yesterday, but we are living and dying as if tomorrow never comes.
I am not a racist or a psychopath or even a Republican or Democrat. I love our land but abhor what our government has become.
Shortly after I wrote “The World Is Difficult”, one of the hawks crashed in to our picture window while its sibling flew behind. Neither window or bird were damaged but hope a lesson was learned.
Yesterday, there were four of them at the spa, which my husband informed me is called an oil reclamation pan as opposed to a drip pan. At one point all four were sitting on the rim as if discussing the weather. They have been making regular morning and afternoon visits to the “water feature”, probably since it’s so dang hot and even hotter to come in the next few days. There was another collision with the invisible force field last evening, but no harm done.
Are we all mad here? The face of US Navy recruiting is an active sailor who is also a transvestite. My father and father-in-law must be flipping out in their graves.
In writing and in dispensing my (very dubious, probably shady) writing advice, I am often keen to note that ideas are bullshit. Most writers treat them like precious gems when really, ideas are like costume jewelry: it’s all about how you wear them. 1,629 more words
2022 has almost fled. I say “goodbye and good riddance” to a year that has left me filled with despair and dread.
Since I last posted, I have noticed my profile says “almost 4 decades” with my wonderful spouse, but as of yesterday, make that a full 50 years of wedded bliss. Find your bliss, the serpent says with a hiss. I have a painting for that somewhere.
At this depressing point in my life, I am still thankful for all the blessings and small victories I’ve experienced. I’ve discovered many new authors, artists and musicians in the 21st Century, but I guess I must claim the 20th as my century, since I spent 50 years living that dream. If I make it to 100 years old, then I can say I’m a 50-50 bar. Yum! Used to love the vanilla and orange ice cream on a stick. Do they even make those anymore?
The snow seems to be letting up outside, finally. We’ve gotten more so far this fall than we usually get in an entire winter. Hope our roof doesn’t collapse. Hope our economy doesn’t collapse.
In the year 2022 we were forced to buy a “smartphone”, which I call the Beast. I hate that device, and it feels the same about me. Technology is leaving me in the dust of my dotage. Do I dote? Do I vote? (Not anymore)
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