BL#3 I have redesigned myself!
Thats a slightly younger and slimmer me, I just wish I had made myself look happier as I have a jolly personality.
Hello newsletter friends,
How are you? Well I hope.
Below is the latest news from life on the beach.
Then two became a team!
You’ve probably already heard me mention Teddy, our new white kitten. He’s probably three quarters grown already but can be an absolute pain to Slinky, our two-and-a-half-year-old black cat. A true love hate relationship exists between them, and one minute Teddy is being reminded of cat etiquette by Slinky, and being nipped and having his ears boxed. The next moment they’re grooming each other’s ears or playing and chasing round the garden together. They’re really fun to watch.
Although I haven’t seen him for a whole year, yesterday a HUGE black and white mugger tom cat, who is as big as a badger, entered the garden. This is a true troublemaker and not a nice cat. He’s all claws and teeth, and quick to use them. He likes a good scrap and to bully the quieter moggies of the area. I think of him as the local feline Mafia. Yesterday, he turned up and probably because he is still a kitten, immediately attacked Teddy. It amazed me to see this fun kitten’s ears go flat and him have a go with this cat which probably weighs three times as much as him. He wasn’t going to be pushed around without a fight.
Then, like a black streak of lightning, Slinky attacked this old bruiser with venom. Now there were two of them in the fight against this interloper and had stopped his advance. I heard one of those familiar cat screams, and suddenly, Stripes, the neighbouring tabby, flew over the fence and joined in the defence of their territory. Three young cats were too much with this old warrior and so he turned tail and ran. The funniest bit was watching them after he’d gone, checking each other to see they were all right, licking and congratulating each other. I suppose this was the feline equivalent of back smacking. Together, they were a formidable team!
Al Artificial Intelligence!
You may already know, but I started creating my own book illustrations using a superb piece of AI software called mid-journey. You literally write your images prompts and a minute or so later the images appear on screen. Even with simple prompts, you can get some quite spectacular results! Just click here to see them for yourself.
It’s not difficult to get started, but if like me your writing stories, then image consistency become of vital importance, and that’s where I am right now. That and putting multiple consistent protagonists on the same page wearing the right facial expression. Then it starts to get difficult. Just recently there have been many upgrades and advancements in the software which I have spent the past 6 hours updating myself with them. While experimenting, and for or no particular reason, I managed to create a younger and slimmer version of myself. Its the first photo on the page. I am sure I am not as serious as that though?
UPDATE
As you can see, I have just finished writing a new book. What a surprise! It wasn’t meant to be a book; I initially wrote it as a blog article, click here to see it, and it grew and grew. Then I decided it needed illustration, and, simply because I can, I should create my own.
So, I began by creating a suitable blog post image that also then became the cover of the book. I started by creating a style which is a touch on the dark side because it is a book on unhappiness, and how to avoid it, and the style seem to suit the topic well. Then, typically, I decided I should create an image for each chapter of which there are twelve.
I am the world’s worst at over engineering things. It took me almost all the day, but at the end of it, I was happy with what I have produced and felt it was very congruent with the book and its topic. It was only at that point did I decide to also make it into a book. Click here to see and read it online…
Dull, gloomy and grey!
Every morning my aunt, who lives in Shropshire, which is a couple of hours north of here, and I exchange comments so we know each other is still alive. As I now live in the tropics for eight months of the year, email is a great way of staying connected. Although it’s usually just a couple of lines, my email drones on about the poor quality of this summer, which doesn’t seem to be improving. It seems every morning as I write my short text it’s grey and wet, and of course me, being a bit of a moaner, I mention it. Today, our cats must know something I don’t because usually they can’t get out of the house quickly enough, they however, are both having a lie in and elected to stay in the house?
World Masters tournament
As this email is being sent out, my lovely daughter Lele will be competing in the World Masters judo tournament in Croatia. How time flies, she is going to be twenty-six years old next month, but it only seems like yesterday she was representing the England team as a cadet, that was eleven years ago.
As usual, I will be sitting at the computer watching her complete, which for dad is an extremely stressful experience. First of all I have to find what time she is fighting and on which mat. Then I sit patiently waiting watching the contests that come before. It’s amazing how often I have to visit the toilet and such occasions. I am her greatest computer screen supporter, and when she comes on to fight my heart rate increases dramatically. This is the career which she, and my son chose for themselves. I am so proud of them both, but at the end of the contest I’m sure the stress of watching has made me more tired than her competing. I’ll let you know how she got on in the next issue.
Have a great weekend!
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