I hate when people ask me, “How was your weekend?” or “What did you do over the weekend?” I immediately feel stressed cause they are waiting for an answer, and I can’t remember how I felt or what I did on Sunday, much less Saturday.

From now on, my answer will be, “None of your business.” That’s quick and easy to remember. Oooh, or maybe something random and gruesome,

“Oh, um… Let’s see, I bought an atlatl and went around the city judging people. If I didn’t approve, this bullseye would appear, and then, inexplicably, they’d receive the sharp end of a spear.” (and I’ll make the sound of the spear flying through the air). “You can join me next weekend if you like?”

When I grow up,

I’m gonna be a Developing Country as “unofficially” defined by the Bretton Woods Conference of 1944, which also created the IMF and World Bank.

While they were defining me, they forgot to ask me how I define myself.

Or better still, when I grow up,
I will be Economic Sovereignty.

🎶 I like to think, and I cannot lie! 🎶

---

Ugh! My uterus is acting up again. Hopefully it’s nothing serious. I’ll get the results next week.

Dear Uterus: 

Even though you're useless now, you're mine, and I love you, if only  because I still need to carry you arround! 

Can you love me back? Please!

Till the end,
sam

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Sooo, since I’m done with dating apps and I believe you can never really know a person, and I haven’t been socializing and probably never will, I’m patiently waiting for my AI companion to be created.

BTW, I lost five pounds. I can’t get my head over the bar yet, but I can hang from it for about 17 seconds and do what I call shoulder shrugs – five of them. I’m getting there.

I learned that a pull-up is when your palms face away, and a chin-up is when your palms face towards you. And there is the neutral grip if you’re using rings, and the palms face each other. Cool right! I had no idea! Woohoo!!!

I can do 10 dumbbell rows with my 20-lb kettlebell, 5 with the 40-lb one, and I can hold a plank for 45 seconds, working my way up to 2 minutes. I feel I quit too soon, so maybe I could do a minute or 50 seconds now. I’ll keep ya posted! 🙂

Whenever I start working out again, I always surprise myself, “Hm! You’re not as weak as you thought!”

Dre might start running as part of his boxing training, maybe I will go with him. Remember when I wanted to do an ultramarathon? I don’t think that’s in my dream list anymore.

Now I just want to save enough extra cash to hire an illustrator for my second children’s book, which I haven’t yet named.

But I feel, by the time I can save that money, I will be sitting on the book for at least a year, and I love releasing things as I write them, so I do see myself going back to ChatGPT for illustrations.

Creativity has always involved tools, collaboration, technology, influence, adaptation, reference, and assistance.

Steal Like an Artist.

Remember how cameras changed painting. Or how synthesizers changed music. Or how digital editing changed film.

I just don’t get it. Maybe those aren’t the same but for me AI is just a tool. My ideas, writing and voice, are my own.

sam

This week, I found out that if AI assists you with any part of your book, you’re not allowed to join certain associations.

I thought it was just writing, but it’s Illustrations too. DallE did all my illustrations for The Troll and The Ballerina. I wrote the first chapter of that book in 2023, and I wasn’t going to continue, but for the encouragement of my Dad’s girlfriend. I’ve since marked the initial post I published back on August 4, 2023, as private.

It’s crazy when I think back on it because I never thought of it as a book for children initially, It was just something to share from my rando imaginings.

Now I’m waiting for my Library and Archives Canada account to be created so I can get an ISBN. When I first signed up at the end of March, they said it took 30 days; my 30 days passed three weeks ago.

I contacted them, and they said they’re behind and currently working on Feb submissions. So why the fuck is your initial email still saying 30 days?! And why do I have to contact you first to find out!? Such things annoy me.

Then I started thinking, suppose they don’t give me an account because AI drew my pictures, and I can never publish my book?

Because I learned that Amazon ISBNs are only valid for Amazon, and I want to publish my book on IngramSpark to make it available to libraries and schools, since they don’t usually buy books from Amazon.

It’s been a journey, but I’ve learned lots since I released my poetry book back in March of 2024. I love writing for kids; it’s so much fun to imagine crazy shit.

When I get rich, I promise to hire a Human illustrator.

Promise!

Oh, and one more surprising thing I almost forgot to mention: I submitted a piece to McSweeney’s. I’ll have to wait a few more weeks to see if they accept it, but this is the second time I’ve intentionally written something that didn’t go to my blog first. If they don’t take it, I’ll publish it here, but the waiting doesn’t feel right at all.

How’s life?

Thu May 21

Photo by Ümit Bulut on Unsplash

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