Made in Spare Time

Where the Wild Things Are

May the Fourth be with you, always. Happy Star Wars Day! ✨🚀

The sweet and gentle lullaby of a corgi’s soft snore is the most sublime soundtrack for a lazy weekend morning. It is the perfect moment to forget the worries of the week and bask in the unadulterated love and warmth that comes with the presence of a beloved pet. In my case, it is the presence of my dear corgi, Tilly, that turns an ordinary weekend morning into a moment to treasure.

Tilly, our endearing and charming corgi, shares our king-sized bed, snuggling between my wife and me as we revel in the luxury of sleeping in. It is these weekend mornings when the world slows down that we can truly enjoy the simple pleasure of each other’s company. Tilly’s presence, nestled cozily between us, serves as a reminder to live in the present and cherish the joy of togetherness.

As the first light of morning gently graces our bedroom, Tilly’s rhythmic snores become the melody that orchestrates our daybreak. Her soft breaths, the occasional tufts of air from her little exhales, fill the room with a sense of serenity. It’s as if she’s giving us permission to forget the hustle and bustle of life and simply be in the moment.

Corgis are known for their adorable, stumpy legs, and intelligent, expressive faces. But it is Tilly’s snores that hold a special place in my heart. They are the embodiment of contentment that only a loving home can provide. As Tilly’s snores drift through the room, it’s impossible not to smile and feel a sense of gratitude for the love and companionship she brings to our lives.

In these quiet moments, I am faced with the sullen reminder of Tilly’s age. She is no longer the sprightly young corgi that I never got to know since we adopted her at a later point in her life. Time has left in its wake a wise and seasoned corgi who has shared many of late life’s ups and downs with us.

With age comes the inevitable truth that Tilly’s days with us are numbered. The thought weighs heavily on my heart, a bittersweet reminder of the fleeting nature of life. But as I lie in bed, with my wife by my side and Tilly’s comforting snores filling the room, I realize that it’s precisely this impermanence that makes these moments so precious.

So we let the world pass us by, just for a little while, as we lie in our cozy cocoon of blankets and pillows. We breathe in the soothing rhythm of Tilly’s snores, letting them lull us into a state of peaceful relaxation. A state in which we find ourselves more connected than ever – to each other, to Tilly, and to the simple joy of being present in the moment.

It is in these tranquil mornings that I find the strength and inspiration to face the week ahead. Tilly’s presence, and her soft snores, serve as a gentle reminder to me that, at its core, life is about the connections we share, the moments we treasure, and the love we give and receive.

As the sun continues to rise and the world outside our window begins to stir, I hold on to these moments just a little bit longer. Tilly’s soothing snores to wash over my wife and I, enveloping us in a blanket of love, connection, and presence. With each soft breath, we are reminded once again that it is the simple moments, shared with those we love, that make life truly worth living.

Introduction

In my spare time, I love to explore my creative side. Lately, I’ve been having a blast working with GPT-4, ChatGPT, and other AI language tools. They’ve helped me create everything from funny poems to collaborating on code projects that once seemed out of reach.

A Spark of Inspiration

My journey began with a fascination for Jackson Pollock’s drip paintings. I wondered if I could create digital versions of these mesmerizing works. With Python coding and another person’s web app, I produced a series of digital drip paintings and minted them as NFTs. Check out my previous NFT project, Dripping with Emotion.

Yet, I wanted more. I dreamed of dynamic, animated digital paintings, but my limited JavaScript skills held me back.

AI to the Rescue

With ChatGPT, I experimented and generated a web page that takes any input word and uses it as a seed for a random drip art generator. I published this fun little web app at https://dripart.io. It uses JavaScript and HTML to create random ‘paint drips’ and generates them over time. The seed system makes the pages shareable, adding to the excitement!

Here’s an example of some art that it generates:

A Look Behind the Curtain: GPT-4’s Collaboration

Interestingly, I barely touched any of the code behind this project. Most of it was written by GPT-4, and I just kept guiding it along to make the features I wanted. It’s incredible how AI has helped me achieve something that would have been much more difficult on my own. Let’s dive into some of the key aspects of the code:

Seed System

The seed system is the core of the web app. It uses the input word as a seed for generating random drip art. To achieve this, GPT created the following JavaScript functions:

1. getSeedFromURL(): This function extracts the seed word from the URL’s query parameters.
2. hashStringToSeed(s): This function takes a string as input and returns a hash value to seed the random number generators in the p5.js sketch.

Drip Generation

Drips are generated using the createDrips() function, which takes a p5.js instance and a number of drips to create as arguments. It uses the LineDrip and DotDrip classes to create randomly positioned and sized drips in different colors.

Animation and Interaction

The p5.js library handles animation and rendering, while JavaScript handles user interactions. The hideWarningAndOverlay() function is triggered when the user submits their seed word, which then calls the regenerateDripsWithSeed() function to create a new set of drips based on the input seed.

Responsive Design

The web app is also designed to be responsive, with CSS media queries adjusting font sizes and element widths for smaller devices. This ensures that the app looks great on all screen sizes.

It’s fascinating to see how GPT-4 played a significant role in creating this web app. With just a little guidance, it generated the code, and I was able to bring my vision to life.

It’s been a fantastic project, and I did it all in a weekend! I can’t wait to see what more I can accomplish.

Fall-ing in love with nature, one waterfall at a time!

Escaping to a cabin with my wife for a much needed vacation, we woke up to a stunning view of a mountain covered in wispy fog. Sipping coffee together, we felt grateful for the beauty of nature and each other’s company. Excited for the adventures ahead! ☕️🏔️

Today my wife and I decided to take a spontaneous road trip with our beloved corgi, Tilly. We decided to drive out to the Lake Apopka Wilderness Trail and take in the fresh air and wildlife.

The drive was beautiful, as we drove through lush greenery and marshes. We arrived at the trailhead and began our journey. The path is a driveable wilderness trail that takes about an hour and a half to get through, as you cruise through at 10 mph.

We saw a ton of different birds, from red-beaked moorhen to egrets and herons. We even spotted a few alligators on the banks of the lake and canals. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any turtles on our journey, but the abundance of wildlife we saw more than made up for it.

The air was fresh and the scenery was breathtaking. We stopped often to take pictures and take it all in. The whole time, Tilly bounced from one window in the back seat to the other, taking in all the sights and sound!

Overall, it was a great day and a great adventure. We can’t wait to go back again soon!

Life can be full of stress and pressure, making it hard to enjoy the little things in life. But it’s important to remember that these moments are often the most precious, and taking time to appreciate them can make all the difference. This weekend, I had the opportunity to do just that. My wife and I had a homemade pizza night, and then went to Epcot for a date night at the Festival of the Arts. Both experiences were amazing, and reminded me of why it’s important to slow down and enjoy life’s simple pleasures.

Pizza night was a great way to start the weekend. We used store bought pizza dough and created our own custom pizzas with a variety of Italian spices, olive oil on the crust, different cheeses and toppings. We laughed and joked as we created these masterpieces, enjoying the process of cooking together. And when the pizzas were done, we sat down and enjoyed them while kicking our feet up and enjoying a movie at home, savoring every bite of our delicious creations.

Date night at Epcot’s Festival of the Arts was the perfect way to get out a little too. We walked around the event, admiring the art pieces, taking in the music and watching the performances. We even stopped to sample some of the delicious food and drinks available. It was a great way to reconnect and enjoy each other’s company.

Overall, it was a great weekend full of simple pleasures. From our homemade pizzas to the Festival of the Arts, we were reminded of how much can be gained from slowing down and enjoying life’s little moments. These experiences also reminded me of the importance of taking time out of our busy lives to connect with our loved ones, and to appreciate the beauty of the world around us.

Today, I experimented in the kitchen with the sous vide circulator to make edible cookie dough! I have always been a fan of homemade cookie dough, but the fear of consuming raw eggs always held me back. With the sous vide method, I was able to safely pasteurize the eggs and enjoy the cookie dough without any risk.

To start, I set my sous vide machine to 135 degrees and placed the whole eggs in a water bath. I let them sit for 75 minutes, which ensured that the raw eggs were pasteurized and safe to eat. After the time was up, I removed the eggs from the water, gave them a dunk in an ice bath, and then let them come to room temperature again before cracking them open and using them in my homemade chocolate chip cookie dough recipe.

Making the cookie dough was a breeze with the pasteurized eggs. I simply mixed together butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and the pasteurized eggs until the mixture was smooth and creamy. Then, I added in the flour and chocolate chips and mixed everything together until it was well combined.

The end result was a batch of delicious, soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies that were safe to eat without any worry of consuming raw eggs. The sous vide method was quick and easy, and I was thrilled to be able to enjoy homemade cookie dough without any risk.

Doing even more research, I think next time I’m going to try and mitigate any risk of illness by also heating up my flour to around 165 to kill off any E coli or salmonella.

For now though, pasteurizing eggs with a sous vide machine was a great experience and I will definitely be doing it again in the future. If you’re a fan of homemade cookie dough but have been hesitant to try it due to the raw eggs, give the sous vide method a try. You’ll be able to enjoy all the deliciousness of cookie dough without any of the risk!

The baby got her shots and a good checkup! Looks like we’re doing good on health!! Got her weight down to where the vet is happy! If only I could do the same 😂😂😂

Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park

Testing out our new harness before we go camping next weekend!!

The face of “I’m about to get a French Fry!!”

My board game buddies while the power is out post-Hurricane Ian (Scratch that. Power was just restored while I was typing this! Still finishing this game haha)

📷 Can’t get enough of my girls 😍

Found my new favorite use for using GPT-3: Generating plot outlines for Hallmark Christmas Movies

📷The Queen of the king sized bed

I’ve really been enjoying my new Ricoh GR III camera for beautiful shots of adventures around town with my wife and capturing peaceful moments at home with our corgi. It’s a great camera that captures incredible sharp images while looking like an inconspicuous point-and-shoot camera that doesn’t attract much attention.

While reading up on the GR III when I was making the decision to buy one, I read that this camera is susceptible to dust getting in the lens and sensor assembly. A big concern of mine was making sure I could keep my camera in pristine condition, so I decided to do some research on the best ways to keep it clean.

I found some lens caps that I could throw on the camera but I felt like they cost way too much for what I was getting. So I set out to make my own with my 3D printer. I designed and printed a custom lens cap that has a nice tight fit and helps to keep my camera clean and free of debris.

But the plain black 3D printed plastic was just a little too boring for my tastes. So I decided to add a little pizzazz!

I tapped into using my new Cricut with some white vinyl and made a custom design that I think looks pretty sharp. With the help of a nice, chunky font I get to express what I plan on using this camera for the most: Snapshots! And with a little bit of clear coating, this design should last for a long while.

What do you think?

So excited to finally see the first images come out of the James Webb Space Telescope!

I’ve been waiting so long for this day! It was absolutely worth the wait and I can’t wait to see what more comes out of this technological marvel.

📷 Peaceful day downtown with the missus

“War… War never changes…”

Testing out some new tools that were gifted to me and paying homage to one of my favorite video game series of all time!

Did my first vinyl cut with my new Cricut Maker, used some Armor Etch glass etching cream, and I’m super satisfied with the result!

Getting ready to say “I do” in just over a month by making a custom Funko Pop cake topper of me and my bride-to-be!!

What it looked like to create the generative art for my NFTs

She’s a 1965 Sears Forecast 12.

I’m hoping to combine this with the press that I’ve been working on and someday print designs and combine that with typewritten text.

Might also take another whack at writing short stories again or revisiting some long abandoned ideas.

Either way, it feels good to have a new machine that looks good, works great, and sounds so satisfying!