Month: July 2026

  • New bed

    Well, I am now the ashamed owner of a Tempur-Pedic adjustable bed. I really don’t like the idea at all. I suppose Gary has decided I need to start behaving like the elderly person he is. (Pauses to make a mildly vulgar sexual gesture.) The night before it arrived I was catastrophising about how it…

  • Thursday Paint Progress: 7/30/2026

    Here’s the previous: Here’s the progress: When it was originally this: Jut trying to get the values right, hence all the grey. There will be color later.

  • Stars and the lack thereof

    I’m planning a vacation – actually three vacations. I haven’t been on vacation since 2018 so I need to make up for lost time. Now that Gary’s feeling better, I thought he might come along, but he recently admitted he wasn’t feeling that much better. So that means 50% off of air, food, entertainments. Ergo…

  • Gary says “nom”

  • Arguing again with AI

    I was trying to figure out how old I was when I went to Chicago and saw the King Tut exhibit and shared a moment with the death mask. (Death mask sharing a moment with someone else detailed below.) I didn’t know the date, so I asked ChatGPT. First off, ChattyG was in the mood…

  • TWIL: How to spot AI prose

    Per The Atlantic on July 12, 2026, AI has a very recognizable writing style. Per everyone who reads AI content agrees. “Yes. It does. It’s obnoxious.” If I’d had to describe it, I’d say it’s hyper-dramatic. Lots of declarative sentences. Brief ones — usually including a dash. There’s a tell; a style you cannot avoid.…

  • Starship 13

    The video for the last successful Starship launch I posted came from AP, CNN, and or SpaceX. Screw those guys. Somehow the NASA streaming station pointed me to the NASA Spaceflight broadcast. Here is the difference,only slightly exaggerated: Official SpaceX Livestream: “The vehicle has splashed down, and … it seems it has not exploded, which,…

  • Alexa Glitch/Stroke

    I had an exchange with Alexa this morning in which I asked for details on today’s rocket launch. She followed her answer with: “Hey, I realized I don’t know your name. Can you tell me who you are?” Aghast, I said, “No, I’m Ellen. You know my name.” She replied with, I swear, receipts below:…

  • Thursday Paint Progress: 7/23/2026

    Here’s the previous: Here’s the progress: When it was originally this: How the pedestal still be wrong? And I put turpentine on the red ball, so that needs to be done again. And the dark background will be dark again, just browner. I think every inch of this might end up with new paint.

  • Review: Trying

    Trying is a series on Apple TV which is the very antithesis of Cape Fear. That’s all I needed to be roped in. Got me at “not Cape Fear.” Plus, it has Imelda Staunton and she is marvelous, of course. I should not be all in on this show, because I am not the demographic.…