I’ve mentioned Griffin’s interest in musical composition in a previous post, but I haven’t shared many examples of his other creative outlet: art. He spends much of his free time creating pixel art and composing music for various video game projects. (Indeed, he has just confirmed his first paid commission!) Here’s a sampling of some things he has been working on recently.
And here are a few of his recent compositions:
As I was prepping Maggie’s graduation posts for publication, I noticed a new WordPress sidebar called the “AI Assistant.” (It actually comes with Jetpack, a set of add-on tools that help optimize WordPress. Basic tools are free; more advanced usage comes with subscription fees.)
It looks like I initially got 20 “requests” for free. Improving the title or getting feedback on the post take one request each. Generating a featured image costs 10 requests. The feedback is pretty basic, but not entirely useless. It’s a bit like an advanced Grammarly analysis where it checks spelling and grammar but also gives tips on tone and style.
The featured image tool seems like it will be a direct threat to stock art companies. I ran it on my previous post about Maggie’s graduation slideshow. I thought it might create a collage or something from the gallery of images on the page. Nope. Instead, it appears to have generated an image based on an analysis of the title and text. Here’s what it came up with:
Definitely not going to use it. Far too corporate for my style. But I could see someone else using it and could easily see it as a generic graphic on an article about graduation in a print magazine or on-line zine. I can’t imagine how this sort of thing won’t cost real people their jobs.
AI art is controversial. Some would say the phrase is an oxymoron. Or it’s more like AI Art Theft. I follow these discussions with interest and think that there is a lot to be concerned about. With that said, I also have a MidJourney account that I’ve been using for the past six months to play with the technology. I mostly use it for role-playing game material, particularly for illustrations of the fictional characters that inhabit the milieu.
While preparing for a birthday game session for Griffin and some of his friends, I needed to whip up a bunch of modern-day characters for the adventure (wherein a mundane plane flight would go horribly awry). Here’s the cast, giving you a sense of what MidJourney can produce these days.
Note that for each image, I gave a very simple prompt. Whiskey Sour’s prompt, for example, was “middle-aged drag queen.” I never specified an art style, so it’s interesting that four of them are photo-realistic while Cindi and Duke are stylized. (Ms. Bankemper’s prompt was “science teacher middle-aged red-head glasses.”)
In a comical turn, on my first attempt at Greg Stamour, I typed in this prompt, “hot surfer dude paramedic.” MidJourney always produces four possibilities for each prompt. You can then choose one, add variations, or modify your prompt. One of the first four pics for Greg was this one:
Note the three pairs of sunglasses! Apparently MidJourney’s algorithm associates copious sunglasses with hot surfer dudes. If you zoom in, you can also see that the logo on his shirt is nonsense squiggles. Text-like artifacts are a common issue with generative AI.
I don’t know how all the ethical considerations will shake out in the coming years, but from a tech-geek standpoint, it is fun technology to play with.
We spent a fabulous day exploring the Hirshhorn Museum on the National Mall. We were wowed by sculptures by Simone Leigh, Yayoi Kusama, and Rodin. We also explored other worlds through an exhibit of contemporary Chinese photography, Laurie Anderson’s “Four Talks,” Mark Bradford’s 400-foot long “Picket’s Charge,” and John Akomfrah’s “Purple.” And food trucks. Obviously.
Piece by a former student—now a junior—hanging in the art gallery at school. It gives me chills.
(The weird angle of my photo was to reduce glass reflections; sorry for the distraction.)
One of my favorite places in the DC area is the National Cathedral. Despite my irreligiousness, I have always found places of worship (of any religion) to be compelling. In boarding school I used to sneak into the chapel and sit on a pew to read. At Oberlin I enjoyed Finney Chapel in the same way. Overseas, I’ve spent a fair amount of time at Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, and Jewish shrines, mosques, and temples. Most such places create a sense of awe and peace, calming my thoughts and providing space for contemplation.
The National Cathedral certainly has heaping portions of awe. I discovered it in late high school when the west towers were still under construction. I think my friend and D&D buddy, Dan Williamson, (“Toby,” back then) was the first to introduce me to it. It was free to visit, so I used to swing by fairly regularly to wander around or find a comfortable nook to read in (or to scribble notes for my next D&D adventure).
Ever since being damaged by an unusual earthquake in 2011, it has an entrance fee to help cover repair expenses. (Repairs are ongoing, hopefully to be completed in 2025.) Between that and getting out to DC infrequently, I have only visited a handful of times in the past few decades. It remains as magnificent as ever.
One thing that I appreciate about the cathedral is the history and culture that is woven into its art. There’s a grotesque (like a gargoyle) of Darth Vader. There are busts and statues of presidents and historic civil rights leaders. There are stained glass windows commemorating Native Americans and the moon landing. On our latest visit, we learned that the cathedral recently decided to replace two windows portraying Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson with designs by Kerry James Marshall.
We visited as a family on the Tuesday after Christmas. Here’s a haphazard selection of photos from our visit.
Finally got some of the kids’ artwork hung in our basement work space. The kids are calling it the Hallway Museum 
Many of these pieces were done with @createveryday the past couple of years. They really make the space bright and cheerful 
The kids took the opportunity of a snowy afternoon to paint these three watercolors. They sent the originals to their Auntie Alli for her birthday.
We recently replaced the medicine cabinet in our bathroom (while cursing manufacturers of cheap fiberboard accessories that begin disintegrating after your first shower). The kids decided to hang some artwork in the wall cavity behind the new cabinet, hoping that someone will find them in “three hundred years.”
