man riding a horse in the grass valley

Putting the “Car” Before the Horse

My recent blog post about – not quite embracing, but – giving AI a loose bro hug attracted some interesting comments and dredged up some feelings about the way the world is headed. AI is a tool, not a competitor – so far. But I wondered: Did horse riders refuse to ride in the new invention, the car, because they were so comfortable on the back of their trusty steed? Did they think the automobile was a fad they could crush by refusing to purchase one?

Cover of Scrappy Cooking. Carleigh is tossing an apple into the air, wearing a green jacket in front of a lighter green background with all sorts of fresh food in front of her.

Discovering True Scrappiness in a Best-Selling Book

Have you ever known someone who became famous? I mean, really famous. Ten million social media followers and appearances on major TV shows like Good Morning America famous? Having their face on a New York city billboard famous? While I’m stretching the definition of the verb “know”, I recently discovered someone’s a self-made sensation.

cactus

The Secret Life – and Death – of Plants in my Care

When we lived in London (Byron, specifically) we had a huge pear tree in the back yard. One year, we noticed a Kijiji ad asking for pears. A lovely older couple came and harvested them all. We weren’t pear people and in previous years we struggled with fallen fruit and wasps. So many wasps.

Tyler Perry in a tux posing in front of a Time Magazine red backdrop

Sounding an $800-Million Alarm on AI

Movie mogul Tyler Perry halted an $800-million expansion to his Atlanta movie studio lands last week. The former army base is already one of the biggest film studios in America. Plans called for a dozen new soundstages and more to be built on the 330-acre lot. But after testing a new text-to-video AI program, Perry pulled the plug.