Categories
AI

An AI Thanksgiving

I asked my new friend GPT-3 to help with tell a memorable Thanksgiving story – and complemented it with a painting of a family Thanksgiving dinner generated by DALL-E.

Here was the request I made to my AI friend:

write a long story about a memorable family thanksgiving with an odd uncle on a snowy stormy day and his wife my aunt sally

Here’s the story:

Uncle Bob’s Thanksgiving

It was Thanksgiving day and the snow was falling gently outside. The family was gathered around the table, enjoying a delicious Thanksgiving feast. Uncle Bob was there, as always, with his wife Aunt Sally. But there was something different about Uncle Bob this year. He seemed odd, almost like he was in a trance. His eyes were glassy and he barely said a word.

Aunt Sally was chatty as always, but even she seemed a bit off. The family tried to make conversation with Uncle Bob, but it was like talking to a wall. Finally, after an awkward silence, Uncle Bob spoke.

“I had a dream last night,” he said, “a dream about a turkey.”

Everyone stared at Uncle Bob, not knowing what to say.

“In my dream, the turkey was alive and it was talking to me. It said, ‘Uncle Bob, you have to save me. The farmer is going to kill me and turn me into Thanksgiving dinner.'”

Uncle Bob paused and looked around the table. Everyone was still staring at him, not knowing what to say.

“So, I went to the farmer’s house and I begged him to spare the turkey’s life. He laughed at me and said, ‘No one is going to eat a talking turkey. I’m going to kill it and sell it to the grocery store.'”

Uncle Bob paused again and looked around the table. No one said a word.

“So, I went to the grocery store and I begged the manager to spare the turkey’s life. He laughed at me and said, ‘No one is going to eat a talking turkey. We’re going to kill it and sell it to the customers.'”

Uncle Bob paused again and looked around the table. Everyone was still staring at him, not knowing what to say.

“So, I went to the customers’ houses and I begged them to spare the turkey’s life. But they all just laughed at me and said, ‘No one is going to eat a talking turkey. We’re going to kill it and eat it for Thanksgiving dinner.'”

Uncle Bob paused one last time and looked around the table. Everyone was still staring at him, not knowing what to say.

“And that’s when I woke up,” Uncle Bob said.

There was a long silence around the table. Finally, Aunt Sally spoke up.

“That was a very strange dream, Bob,” she said. “Are you sure you’re feeling all right?”

Uncle Bob just stared at her and didn’t say a word.

The family finished their Thanksgiving feast in silence. Uncle Bob never said another word and Aunt Sally just seemed to be in a daze. It was a very strange and memorable Thanksgiving for everyone.


I hope you and your family have a lovely Thanksgiving – and share lots of good stories too!

Categories
Living

Happy Thanksgiving 2015!

Happy Thanksgiving

Lots to be thankful for – including this blog and the serendipity it has fostered. This blog was 14 years old yesterday.

Categories
Living

Happy Thanksgiving 2014!

Thanksgiving 2014

Best wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family today. So much to be thankful for – and this is the best holiday of the year for remembering all of the reasons why!

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Fujifilm X100S Photography Photography - Fujifilm X100S

Thanksgiving Sunset

Thanksgiving Sunset - Morgan Hill

Shot with my Fujifilm X100S as we were heading home after a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends…

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holiday iPhone 5 Living Photography

Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving 2012

As we head into Thanksgiving week for 2012, I’m thinking about the many reasons for me to be thankful this year – especially for my great family and friends, business colleagues, and my health.

My joy from photography continues to expand – and this harvest scene from Menlo Park’s Cafe Borrone provides just a simple example.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! It’s the best holiday of all!

Categories
Living

Thanksgiving 2011

IMG_0036-Edit.jpg

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving today celebrating with our family across four generations – I hope you did too.

Thanksgiving really is the best holiday. A simple time to get together, share a wonderful meal – catch up as best we can although there’s never really enough time. And, grab a family portrait or two.

I’ve got much to be thankful for in 2011 – family, work, a good year it’s been. A close call or two – isn’t that to be expected? More importantly, lots of new learnings to keep me going. Working and learning from friends about photography has been a great joy. Continuing to write and trying to do more. But, I need to get back into fitness again – on my list.

Thinking about past Thanksgivings provides comfort. Remembering the travels to try to get home. Getting home – isn’t that the point of Thanksgiving?

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Lightroom Living Photography

Recovering from Stupidity

So, yesterday we went off to our family’s Thanksgiving celebration. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday – it’s just about getting together, sharing, and enjoying our company. No obligations, no gifts, just us.

Anyway, with my right (camera!) arm still in a sling, I headed off without my trusty Canon 5D Mark II and glass. No way was I ever going to be able to shoot any pictures of Thanksgiving with the big DSLR!

Anticipating this, last week I picked up a new Canon PowerShot S90 – and headed off to Thanksgiving dinner with this delightful new (think left hand!) point and shoot camera! We had a wonderful dinner with family – and I took lots of shots along the way.

Some 150 shots later, I came home and began uploading the photos from the S90 to Lightroom. Somewhere along the way I decided the upload had completed (it hadn’t) and I pulled out the USB cable to the camera and – then – proceeded to format the SD card in the S90. Oh my goodness – why did I do that? Beats me – but I did.