Something I forgot to mention yesterday, even though it occupied a very intense hour of computer work. The novel has two main characters, Ethan and Emma. Some time ago I searched online for stock photos of young people who look like my imagination. I found a couple of attractive and striking photos, but the problem is, they are pictures of real people. There’s no intent of putting the pictures in a published book, but they might be useful in a website supporting the book, and for such a use, it is not a good idea to have pictures of somebody who might claim a copyright violation or ask for modeling fees or something. So I need some fake people, and I know how to get them: from one of the AI image generators.
I tried both DALL-E and Midjourney and preferred the results from the latter. So here are two entirely imaginary people, Ethan and Emma.
The implications of this kind of thing are just a little bit profound, ya know? No modeling fees, no copyright issues, and no graphic artist or photographer to pay. And I could put one of these pictures back in and ask for “this person in combat fatigues” or “holding a saxophone” or whatever, and get it.
The pictures are really striking, yes? I am using them for motivation to keep writing. These imaginary kids need to have a story to live in.
Wednesday 05/24/2023
Took the standard walk, felt OK. At 11am I got the call from the desk; it was time to come down for my bivalent Covid booster.
At 3 it was time for the Country and Western committee. The committee that planned an executed a very successful 1950s Sock Hop now plans to have a C&W evening for 9/21. Not a barn dance, they decided early on there would be no hay bales. The main part of the committee has been working for weeks. They have finalized the list of songs and some other details. I only get involved because at some point, as before, I’ll be putting together the video sequence. (They have loose plans for a 1960s folk revival night, and a 1960s rock night later on.)
I went down at 5:30 and sat at one of the “community tables” more or less at random, ending up beside Susan. In the course of the conversation it turned out that she is in a group that have been taking a drama class from the artistic directory of the Pear Theater, Sinjin Jones. Susan told me that they had only today decided to have a public performance of some dramatic scenes in the auditorium “on the 15th”. I knew already but quickly verified that there was nothing in the A/V schedule for the 15th, and that the June events calendar was pretty well set in stone at this late date. So I and (ex-RA president) Carol kind of piled on poor Susan, wanting to know, have you filed an event planning form? Have you reserved the room? You need to call Betsy, who edits the calendar, right now. I apologized; poor Susan felt very besieged. But really. You want to have a public event in June and you decide that on May 24th? After supper I called up the people she named as actually organizing it, Prudence and then Peter.
Codgerville 