Posts

Posted on

Sometimes…

Sometimes it takes several dozens of iterations, giving up, and then eventually coming back to it a month later.

One of the earliest uses I found for GPT was taking my paintings and sketches and making them more photorealistic; y’know, finally bringing my visions to life.

One sketch in particular…

…gave me fits. Try as i might, I could not get the AI to properly render the direction of light and the resulting shadows.

The first try was—amusing—in how far off the original it was.

I mean, this isn’t even the same picture, right? Might as well be another street in the same city, but no. This wasn’t what I submitted in the least. And where it came up with R2D2 in the corner is anyone’s guess.

I don’t recall if this was the second—or the seventh—try: c

The light is still coming from the wrong direction, and it’s making continued unwanted changes to the original.

The light direction is better here, but none of the shadows make any sense.

I thought I’d try something totally different, so I asked it to position the sun at the viewer’s back. A nice picture, but not my original vision:

Next, I asked for the light source to be moved slightly to the left behind the viewer:

Next, I asked for the light source to be moved slightly to the left behind the viewer,

I finally resorted to using cardinal directions to locate the sun. “If north is directly ahead of the viewer, west is to the left. Move the sun to the left at the same elevation it is in the sky as it was in the previous picture:

Again, issues with the shadow. The nice thing about GPT is it’s now “smart” enough to see the errors of the image generator by itself, point them out, and ask if I wanted to effect its suggested fixes.

One very important command (there’s a more precise, more long-winded one to use, but this one generally gets the job done: IMPORTANT! Do not make any other changes to the image beyond which is neceaary to [whatever you’re changing]

Still not 100% but good enough:

One final tweak, changing the colors of the equiment:

FINALLY!

Like pulling teeth!

0 comments

Posted on

When The Treatment Is Worse Than What’s Being Treated

I swear every day brings something new and unwelcome—and it’s not just the latest offense to decency perpetuated by the orange felon.

I’ve been on multiple titrated rounds of prednisone since the end of June and the pemphigoid blisters that covered my torso and thighs have finally stopped forming and are on average about 98% healed. Yeah, I now have big red splotches were they were, but those are better than open bisters. And I know those will eventually fade. Even though my oncologist has recommended a continual low dose of the drug for the duration until my immune system settles down, my dermatologist has been reluctant to continue because of all the side effects associated with extended use (crazy high blood sugar, lower leg swelling, random bruising to name just a few).

To be on the safe side, she ordered a slew of blood tests last week. She called me yesterday on her day off because the liver tests came back abnormally high. Like exceptionally abnormally high. Like, you-need-to-go-to-the-hospital-for-immediate-treatment-right-now high.

The reason she was so concerned is because—in addition to all my other medical issues—I have been Hep B positive since I was first diagnosed in 1985. In other words, antigens but no antibodies. For the last forty years the virus has been sitting there, minding its own business and they say, “not causing anyone no trouble.”

Well apparently since the prednisone has been used to suppress my hyper-active immune system caused by the fucking Keytruda infusions earlier this year, this has rousted the long dormant Hepatitis.

Fuck me.

At our last visit—before we knew anything about my elevated levels—she wanted me to reach out to my endocrinologist, as well as my infectious disease specialist, just to bring them into the loop so they know what’s going on and can monitor on their own if necessary.. Since that time I’ve made appointments to see both of them in a few weeks.

She asked when I was meeting with infectious disease. I told her it was the week of Thanksgiving. “See if you can get in sooner,” she said. “And I’ll reach out to him and your oncologist as well.”

About an hour later, I received a call from the ID office and asked if I could come in two weeks earlier. I said yes, so now I’m seeing him in about ten days.

Jenna (my dermatologist) called me about ten minutes later. She said she’d been able to speak with ID and he agreed the numbers were high, but not so high to warrant a visit to the ER. He told her that he and his team would work on a treatment plan to be implemented in advance of our appointment. The panic disappeared from her voice—and I was finally able to exhale.

Have I mentioned how sick I am of all this bullshit?

Not so long ago I said that if I knew back in August what I know now, I would have never gone through any of it, preferring instead to just take my chances with that tiny tumor. I’d like to amend that now, saying instead, “If I knew then what I know now, I would never have agreed to additional treatment post surgery. As traumatic as the surgery was, I’d probably be willing to endure it again if I absolutely had to. I had swallowing issues prior to having my jaw split like the carcass of a roast chicken, and there’s no guarantee that further swallowing issues wouldn’t have developed on their own even without the surgery. But the followup, the immunotherapy or chemo? Absolutely not. All my issues over the past six months have—in one way or another—been directly related to Keytruda.

Sadly I can’t turn back time, so I will continue to put one foot in front of the other and move forward, remembering that I do still enjoy life (even if I can’t savor so much as a piece of Boston Cream Pie), my retirement, the fact that I still have things that keep me engaged and learning, and that I have a wonderful man and two big, black doggos who love me unconditionally. As much as I might want to trade in this hobbled old body for a new model, I’m not ready to do that just yet. I mean, new body means new family, having to go through high school again (can you imagine). having to relearn all the skills I now take for granted, and having to search for—or possibly wait half a lifetime for again—Ben—in whatever guise he may assume.

Nah, we’ll make this one last as long as possible.

6 comments

Posted on

I Am Still Cautiously Optimistic

I’ve made peace with the fact that we are never going to get a screen adaptation of DUNE that is 00F Denis Villeneuve has altered DUNE to reflect his own ideas about how the story should be presented. The final trailer that was just released has fans clutching their pearls because it would appear that Villeneuve’s DUNE is going to deviate significantly from Frank Herbert’s novels.

And surprisingly, I’m okay with that. Some characters are missing from Messiah aka DUNE 3. Others—who fans were hoping to finally see realized on screen (cough, Edric, cough) in a way only Villeneuve can do—may remain enigmas And still others are seeimgly doing things or behaving in ways that directly contradict the books. But will it be great cinema? Of course it will. Of that I am certain.

In any case, we have only about six weeks to wait until we find out for sure

0 comments

Posted on

Saturday Jokes

Did you know on the Canary Islands there is not one canary? 

And on the Virgin Isles?

Same thing – not one canary there either!

The next time you shop, ask your cashier what kind of candy bar they like and buy them one.

I did this today, it was self checkout, but still, it’s a nice thing to do!

Your body has always told you when it’s tired. 

At 80, you’ve finally stopped arguing with it.

One day Steve’s mom was cleaning his room. In the closet, she found a bondage S&M magazine.

This was highly upsetting to her.

She hid the magazine until his father got home.

When Steve’s father walked in the door, she irately handed the magazine to him, and said, “THIS is what I found in your son’s closet.”

He looked at it and handed it back to her without a word.

After an uncomfortable minute of silence she finally asked him, “Well, what should we do about this?”

Dad looked at her and said, “Well I DON’T think you should spank him.” (Kathy)

If you want to look tall, hang out with short people.

If you want to look young, hang out with old people.

If you want to look smart, hang out with Trump supporters.

One day, you’ll hear cell phones going off.

Then shouting and cheering.

In the distance, car horns will begin to honk.

A stranger might buy everyone a round at the bar where you’re sitting.

And without anyone saying a word, you’ll know…

As the stranger enters a country store, he spots a sign: “Danger! Beware of Dog!” Inside, he sees a harmless old hound asleep in the middle of the floor.

Is that the dog we’re supposed to beware of?” he asks the owner.

“That’s him,” comes the reply.

“He doesn’t look dangerous to me. Why would you post that sign?”

“‘Cause before I posted that sign, people kept tripping over him.” (Kathy)

I’m not getting older. I’m becoming a limited edition. (Bilbo)

[source]

1 comments