Well, not really.My fascination with AI is growing right along with my abject fear of it.  Yet, I am slowly learning of the depth of this tool.   Rather than draft my own prompt, the other day I asked Claude to suggest a prompt for me.  It was way better than my own.I was interested in the background of a potential client.  Claude shared detailed information within 5 seconds and cited its sources.

My husband and I were discussing whether to get rid of our landline phone. We barely, if ever, use it.  Do people even still have a landline phone these days, or has it gone the way of the eight-track tape? For my kids, the cell phone has taken over completely, none of them have a landline phone. My husband and I decided to  keep the landline for reliability during storms. But is it just out of habit?  Whether it’s nostalgia or practicality, our landline hangs on—just quietly.  Do you still have a landline?

As Thanksgiving approaches, so does Black Friday the following day.  While folks think about shopping, there’s also a football game.  My Pythian lodge runs a Big Screen Black Friday Football & Dinner Watch Party (thank you Eric Diamond for this our other event flyers linked on our events page.).

Scroll through Instagram and you’ll see a world where everyone is having the time of their lives. Sunsets, brunches, rooftop selfies. Every moment looks effortless, joyful, and perfect. But the uncomfortable truth is that most of those “candid” moments last about 1/100th of a second… just long enough for the shutter to close.The other day, I watched a group of girls take photos for Instagram. They struck the poses. They tilted their heads. They gave each other the exaggerated, influencer-like smiles. Click. 

I'm not a great singer, but I do like to vocalize and I was in the University Chorus one summer during college at Syracuse.  For instance, I always bellow our National Anthem (which I always end by exclaiming "Play Ball!").  I must admit, I admire and try to sing the Canadian National Anthem, Oh Canada, which is more inspirational and beautiful, but I don't know all the words. I also love singing Happy Birthday (on the phone or in person) to friends and family, punctuated by long drawn out, breath testing, bursts.  

There’s a server at one of our favorite and frequently-visited restaurants. She is in her early twenties and she is our preferred server.We started up conversation beyond the menu and specials, learning that she was studying nursing during the day. With Flo’s background in education, and my interest in healthcare, we took to following her studies — sharing the challenges of anatomy, labs and tests.“So how was last week’s test?”we would ask.

One of my neighbors has elaborate holiday decorations– lights, blow ups, etc.  His display for Halloween was epic.  Today it’s all about Christmas, skipping right over Thanksgiving.  I’m not quite ready for December. 

Tilly Norwood! Do you know her?  Have you seen her most recent film?A few weeks back, I read about Tilly as a fresh, new actress on the Hollywood scene.  More importantly, I saw a clip of her most recent work.  It was really pretty good. The catch here is that Tilly is not a real person but instead is an AI generated character. Creepy, and more than just a little scary.I still don’t think that AI generated characters can replace human emotion – but is more to come?Again, creepy and more than just a little scary.