Monday, December 18, 2023

Making Myself Relevant for 2024

I have been on a career break for almost 2 years.  My mindset then when I resigned was dead set on early retirement but maybe I might teach as a side hustle.  It's heartbreaking but honestly, I am not yet financially capable to chill and hence my job hunting begins.  First off,  a couple of months ago I made a mind map with "I want to be an Educator" as the root thought branching to push forward and also some alternative paths.  Time to review prioritize paths and put some timeline to get things rolling.  

Drafted this like seven days ago and how's my progress so far...  (10/17)

* * *

And now it's 12/18.. wow..

Looking forward to starting my class in Feb.  I was able to start Section 1 of in Leaders of Learning and found the topic on four quadrants of Modes of Learning enlightening as true enough, I am gravitated more under Distributed Individual Quadrant by 84.13%.  Barely at 10% of the course, hopefully I can make more progress from here.

Monday, November 13, 2023

Blimey, Compose AI my foot!

So I tried to get inspired by an output from a prompt I can no longer recall and failed to copy prior to hitting that enter button.  I do vaguely remember for the tool to create a blog entry and use a voice similar to Hamnet by Maggie O' Farrel' using the text "Last night, as the sun bids goodbye and the dusk starts to settle in, I saw flicker of lights from fireflies nonchalantly strolling along the creek."  

Behold the AI response:

Title: A Serenade in the Twilight: Fireflies Dancing by the Creek

Introduction:
In the magical embrace of a fading sunlight, when the stillness of dusk begins to weave its enchantment, nature unveils a mesmerizing spectacle. Nestled on the edge of a tranquil creek, I witnessed a remarkable sight that transported me to an ethereal world of awe and wonder. In the quietude of the late afternoon, as the sun bid its farewell, a spirited ballet commenced: tiny fireflies, adorned in their luminescent cloaks, embarked on a nonchalant stroll along the echoing creek.

An Invitation to Marvel:
Nature, every so often, reveals its most breathtaking beauty in the simplest of ways. With sparkling anticipation, I eagerly observed as these enigmatic creatures emerged, casting their soft glow upon the surrounding foliage. Their presence felt enchanting, as if they were emissaries of a higher realm, urging us to partake in their nocturnal symphony.

A Sonnet Unfolded:
In the twilight's embrace, a delicate dance played out before my eyes. Tiny specks of light, seemingly suspended in mid-air, bobbed and weaved amidst the reeds and long grass, creating a scintillating tapestry of luminescence. Their flickering lights, like celestial Morse code, evoked a sense of mystery and mysticism, silently recounting tales written in forgotten tongues.

The Symphony of Silence:
As I stood mesmerized, it was not only the radiance of the fireflies that captured my attention but the profound silence they emitted. In this sublime moment, the symphony of stillness enveloped every crevice of the surrounding landscape, allowing the harmonious melody of the creek's gentle murmur to take center stage. The serenity was tangible; a pause in time, beckoning introspection and contemplation.

A Dance through Time:
In this fleeting instant, my mind wandered to the literary annals of old, to a tale shrouded in both brilliance and tragedy. The tale of Hamnet, son of William Shakespeare, a story masterfully recounted by Maggie O'Farrell. For just as these fireflies embarked on their nonchalant journey, Hamnet's tale weaves between reality and fiction, casting a poignant light on love, loss, and the enduring power of the human spirit.

Concluding Thoughts:
In the twilight hours, as the sun dips below the horizon and darkness paints the world, the performance of the fireflies enriches our souls. They paint nature's canvas

* * *
Ok, that's a lot of words for a short prompt.  My immediate feedback:  Truly impressive.  Would I read it?  Well it has prose that definitely pulled me in.  It had me at "quietude" ^^.  Doesn't it feel like dragging for the first two paragraphs and I think it misunderstood my intention to mimic the author's writing style but instead mentioned her novel as if I was musing about it during this scene.  Or maybe it even took a step further by including it, I don't know :p  It must've been my prompt then, I wasn't clear enough probably.  Also I might have hit the word count response limit as the last sentence seemed incomplete.  How do I feel about "my writing"... It definitely is not me as I've yet to acquire that level of vocabulary.  

Definitely, I find my first time writing with AI an amusingly interesting experience indeed.

Wednesday, November 01, 2023

Abundant Reading Materials, Not Enough Proofreaders

I get mildly disappointed when I read a pretty good article about a certain topic of interest only later to find misspelled words a couple of pages later.



Might be a clue that this was still crafted by a human, assuming most likely AI can spell better.  I truly appreciate entities who value quality more over quantity.  I pray, there will be more of them and stay true to their values.  As a future educator, manifesting, I hope not to succumb into the trap of working faster but rather be better with the aid of AI and tech :)

Wednesday, September 27, 2023

Good Reads: Guards! Guards! Terry Pratchett Review

Guards! Guards! (Discworld, #8; City Watch, #1)Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I will surely miss Captain Vimes and his minions. I loved the book but not enough to get me invested on the rest of the Discworld series. Having read Good Omens, I have an inkling Pratchett's writing style doesn't change much so best to get to know more authors for my next reading challenge.

View all my reviews

 

Friday, July 21, 2023

Such a geek, Fenugreek

Being true to my promise to cook and eat healthier, I've been trying to use new ingredients to my dishes such as nutritonal yeast flakes and fenugreek.  Sadly, skiped the nyf as I've already added chicken in my Breakfast Fritata thereby forgetting to add fenugreek as well.

Presently, I'm coping with my busy morning but not quite sure how I'd handle preparing lunch boxes for two. I still have a month to be more efficient in the kitchen.  Goodluck to me!

Friday, May 19, 2023

Parked in 2023

Parked

Title for impact, maybe applicable to my corporate career. I feel like I still have a career.. wait let me google that.. yeah, I feel like I still have a job tho I do not get monetary gains but pays off way way more than enough compared to my previous job. I still try to skill up and gather experience day by day. I get feedback from clients or read their satisfaction of my output (cooking: doing good if no leftovers, etc.)

My headspace is filled with lots lately, hence this post.  Let me try to put more structure on my how I spent my hours so I can be closer to my reaching my goals.  Hang on, what are my goals again for this year? :D

Let me just share where I am at.  I barely play my piano.  I have just finished a skinny book, yay for my reading list: 1 out of 13 books for the year.  I have plants thriving and dying.  My cross stitch project is taking a back seat.  I plan to go back on my technical trainings maybe next week.  We'll see.

Sunday, May 07, 2023

Felt like our first beach trip ever

 

Finally, our first beach trip post-pandemic.  We spent a night in Costa Blanca Island Resort somewhere in Batangas.  I was holding out and didn't really prepared much for this trip as we only tagged along with friends.  

As expected, it was a bit tiring as most trips are even when it was just a 2hr drive.  Not surprisingly, it made me miss having moments like these.  The sound of the waves (albeit sometimes disrupted by co-vacationers belting their hearts out with their late night videoke sessions), the feel of the soft sand on my feet as I walk alongside my loved ones.  Just sitting there, seeking refuge under the shade of a tree with the heat of the sun on my skin, I catch a glimpse of a small fishing boat and hear kids laughing as they waddled in the water.

A beach in Calayo Batangas

Taking in the landscape and attempting to capture the scenery, I missed it for sure.

Thursday, January 12, 2023

Itch to Stitch

 

Netflix is eating a huge chunk of my time lately.  Bff O shared her old unfinished cross stitch projects and got me wondering if kits are available in our favorite online shopping platform.  Lo and behold, I have already added to cart several projects waiting to be funded for checkout :D  I had to choose wisely as wall space is limited.  So, for the kitchen wall it is.  Will share soon once done and framed :)

Wake Up, it's 2023 already!

Had enough of toasted bread for these past days, so I made simplified omurice for D. I've been meaning to do air fried smashed potatoes and thought it'd be a perfect sidedish.

Meanwhile, blended a power drink for me.