Thursday Brunch

Seriously, AI, who unrolls a Map like that. A portly wizard in a High Hat takes a pause that refreshes. A Hilltop fortress from an old engraving. A man is confounded to see a vision of Himself as a child pass him on the staircase.

Dropping My H's

There is a gathering of hags in Hag Gathering. Hagatha exults in her power. The town of Ham in the evening. Harpist Calls and Harpist Conjures are from the same picture; it's odd how the AI can interpret stuff. The Harpist in the Leaves was from a picture I lost for over a year in my high school locker; I only recovered it on the last day of school. A knight on his deathbed cries Have At Thee to the devils who have gathered to take his soul. He Knocks is a Cornish mining spirit called a Knocker. He Waits to emerge from his underground lair. Nathaniel Horsehair rallies his minions.

G Whiz

The other half of the "G" animations that were buffering this morning. Giants, Give In, Gone Awry, Grammy, and Green Dragon.

G Willikers

Bits and Pieces

I Wasn't Going To, And Then I Did

A batch of AI enhancements that were in origin either sketchy, primitive, or otherwise problematic. Thelva Prynne's House was sketchy; it was the AI that put it on an upthrust of land. Robut and Notebook Dragon are both from very primitive drawings in the middle school era Old Green Mill Notebook; you can probably guess Robut's inspiration. The New Year Beetle was a last drawing of 2011. The Elfland Map has a pretty good effort at labelling; but 'Rafine' for 'Ravine', 'Magswood' for 'Hagswood', and 'Sonsrest' for 'Sunsrest.'

Guest Post by My Brother John

I posted this poem before, but John has prepared this page with the original photo that inspired it all those years ago. "A good post bears repeating."

 

2021 Diary: Recovery

2021 Diary

 

5/15/2021: A quiet day. Exactly 3 things happened all day: I finally made a bowel movement [none since the operation] at 3 PM; It rained for about 2 hours afterward; and Kameron called me at about 9 PM to say good night and see how I was. “Touch of Evil” on TCM. Keeping BS down under 400. Meals: malt-o-meal, chicken with broccoli, grapes.

 

5/16/2021: Read the service for today and prayed the prayer of those who cannot take communion. The rest of the day spent drifting and trying to keep things together. Bored and a little anxious. In the evening I took my last metformin. When I did take my insulin needle out it was bent and dripping; probably hit the muscle and not the fattest part of my stomach. After dozing all day it’s past 1 AM and I’m wide awake.

 

5/17/2021: Went in too early for my appointment with my surgeon but got the paperwork to fill out. John came back later, and we went again. Things look good.

 

5/18/2021: So went to my appointment with Dr Sangha (about my diabetes) about 12:30 and filled out almost exactly the same forms. Then had to wait as he was called away to a procedure. When he came back, the result was to double my insulin and a check-up in 2 weeks. Also refilled my medicine. Came home and it was rainy much of the afternoon. Made sausage and cabbage fry. Tis now almost 1 AM and I think it’s settled down.

 

5/19/2021: The unusual coldness in the weather continued, but by the afternoon the sun finally came out. New schedule: blood sugar check at 6, then insulin at 8 (morning and evenings). Results were in the lower 200’s. No appointments but waiting on the pharmacy. Dozed, minor cleaning, prayers. Some DQ8 in the evening; simple enough to engage the mind w/o requiring concentration. The worst thing about hospital and recuperation is BOREDOM.

 

5/20/2021: Up at 5 AM. Took a shower, dressed. BS at 6 AM was 202. Cartoons. Prayers and Bible. Insulin at 8 AM. Made a small load of shirts and shorts. Called Dr. Sangha’s office and got them moving on prescriptions. At 6 PM, BS was 262. Andy came out about 6:45 PM and took me to the pharmacy; only some of my medicine ready. Home and washed dishes at 7:30 PM.

 

5/21/2021: What a long and uncomfortable day! Delivery from HEB. Frying potatoes was a painful process, but after Susan came home things seem to have finally settled down. I was finally able to sleep after I had washed up. It was divine, and I thank God. 

 

Notes

I was going through a great deal of intestinal distress after my gall bladder operation; I have edited most of it out. My blood sugar has been running a little high again, 160 -170; to remember that it was over 400 once upon a time is strangely encouraging. Still trying to wrangle it lower.

 

 

F Troop

Friar John bids his companion to Fear Not as they walk down among demons; two views of the Ogre Ferrus; a skeleton asks a girl to Find My Head (the AI refused to animate a headless skeleton); Fir Castle; a boy starts to Fly Away from a witch; a Flying Ship from a Russian fairy tale; Flyting is from another very old drawing of mine; a Forest Stream; the stone structure in the foreground was originally the Fountain.

The Celebrity on My Father's Side of the Family

Eee!

The Easter Bunny, from an old school textbook; two views of the disturbing Eekus in toy form; Eighty-Three carries its own date on the calendar and tapestry on the table (at least you can read it on the runes on the original); Emelius Brown in his study is visited by three children from the future (which the AI multiplied to four); a wizard has an Emergence from a cave; an Enchanter reads his book; Eostre is the supposed goddess of Easter (on no firm evidence); Errki confronts the devil's cat; and a couple spend an Evening In.

Update: And here is Error being fought by St. George. I'm not entirely happy with this elaboration. Here is the original Pauline Baynes picture:

Morgs on the March

Dragons and Dunwolf

Of course we couldn't get through D without a plethora of dragons. Dragon Early and Dragon date from middle school, and Dragon Fly from my junior year in high school (I was pleased that it replicated the tint of the map colors that I used). Dragonlord was my attempt at an illustration from Earthsea. There are a couple of Dudleys from my second grade favorite, Thaddeus Jones and the Dragon. There are a couple of Dunwolfs, the main wizard from Goldfire. That one staff was drawn years before Jackson's LOTR. Dusty Attic is also from one of my primeval attempts.

Dr. Dee and Other Dark D's

A Dark Elf beckons you to his cave. The Dark Mirror shows strange visions in the wilderness. The undead Deacon rises. Two views of the grave of Deag.  The Deathwalkers follow their master across the heath.  Two versions of Defending the Gate. Dr. Dee and Edward Kelly conjure up the ghost of a dead woman. And Dr. Vogel seems to have put the hexum on his picture; I tried the most revisions on him, including trying to add a little vanishing trail of pawprints to imply his invisible familiar. I think the AI has problems interpreting the rather impressionistic wood-blocky artwork Here is the original:

May I Present To You My Card?

John made these cool versions of the cards and a possible backing for them. I like them because they are made to resemble actual Tarot cards, while at the same time preserving more of my original drawings AND making it look like I could draw them better than I did.

Deal Another Hand

Color Cards

I was able to scare up the color version of the Sets deck and enhanced a few select cards. I'll probably animate them later.

C's and a Kwee

About 2 o'clock Grok finally was allowing me animations; I am only sorry that this batch of C's are such a mild clollection. It includes two variations of two different pictures: a castle in different modes, and two tries at what I called Crowded Room. The trouble with Crowded Room is that it originally had a sign that said 'Drink Coca Cola'; this had been 'corrected' into simply 'Drunk'. The picture labeled Cutout is the remnantof a little phase I was going through: I would save cutouts of single figure drawings or traces of characters, then put them in drawn settings in which were cut slits to accomodate and integrate them. Basically a system of paper dolls, but I would never have referred to them as such. I stll have them in a little folder labeled Cast of Characters. I also made an animation of Kwee that I think much better. It rounds out of batch that doesn't include any human figures.

Introducing Kwee

Lately I've introduced a new character into The Wizard, the Prince, the Warrior, and His Son, a young Ogre that the healer Ketta by necessity adopts from the moment of his hatching. By necessity, but she is also a very generous and loving person, so it fits right into her character. So I'm exploring the concept (as I did in my essay 'Good, Evil, and Free Will on Ortha,' published here on NOT) of whether a member of a 'mook' fantasy race can be habilitated into a good person. His full given name (rarely spoken) is Gurrankwee (not an Ogrish name), but his baby name is Kwee-kwee, often shortened to Kwee by those not inclined to be so twee. What his 'education' would mean to those who know Ogres only as ruthless murdering marauders, or what it would mean to Ogres who despise friendliness and to whom violence is a social way of life, makes for some interesting speculation. My brother John made a very good picture of Kwee, perhaps the best picture of an Ogre we've made so far. Out of interest I developed it, speculating that if he was three feet tall and the equivalent of  five years old, how would he look at thirty years old and six feet tall? I was only able to make these two animations, as Grok is running slow. Not exactly satisfied with the animation of the young version, but couldn't develop it any more. I set it at six feet, as Kwee is a Lesser Ogre; if he had developed into a Great Ogre, he'd be at least ten feet.

Bonus Animations

Sailing Through the C's

First we visit the Church Oak. Then we see Cinders from the Vera Back book happily on an errand in town. Circle City is definitely not Mina Tirith; it has a water feature. A wizard protects against a witch's fiery attack with a Circle of Power. The Elf-king and his counsellor ask you to Come Away. The young prophet has a Confrontation in the dungeon with the king and his druid. A man's Conjuration summons up a demon at a crossroads. A hag Conjures Up a spirit, much to her son's delight. A weary old king is Considering his life choices that have brought him to a tent on a battlefield.

ChatGPT Enhancements

I was sitting around gloomily contemplating the fact that I had filled my limits on Grok for the day, when it suddenly occurred to me that I had a subscription to ChatGPT that I hadn't been using to its full potential, and a plethora of unused pictures. So I gathered up a few and enhanced them. Eventually I will animate them, but I think they turned out quite well as they are. Ar-Pharazon and Annatar conspire again; there is a Blue Wizard (probably not one from Middle-earth); a Dragon Attacks from above; Gandalf vs. The Balrog; Merlin and Arthur; Odin One-Eye; an alien is Puzzled by an encounter with a human; and an elf sings of the Region of the Summer Stars (which poem see elsewhere in this blog).

Draw Three More

If I remember rightly, with the 'Man of Ice' this completes the 'Man Of' set. There were five Dwarves, including the Yellow Dwarf and the Green Dwarf, and Five Dragons of colors corresponding to the Dwarves' colors. Many other sets, including the Four Winds, etc. The cards were the size of an ordinary playing card, which explains why many were simplified in drawing.

Back to the ABC's

Uncle Analdas is from Robert Lawson's Rabbit Hill books. The AI insists on giving Mole in Badger and Mole a tail. A maiden hovers Between Worlds while brutes try to drag her in. I give Brockhouse another shot; Canis Rex celebrates Christmas with the help of his friend, Friar Pork. The dragons in Castle Dragon were a total artifact of the AI; I gave in and just changed the title. The devil plays a Cat Piano. Rosemary Brown attempts to free her friend Carbonel using the Cauldron. A wizard enters a Cave Mouth. A dark fortress looms over the Chasm (the boat is another artifact the AI insists making a star); Elf and Bear toast one another.

All For A Lark

I thought for a lark I'd turn some of Nanny's art into photorealitic images. In the last one the AI interpreted Nanny's seaplane as three old boats. I added a seaplane. "I had to give them a horn they could see!" It also interpreted some of her whiter mountains as clouds.