AI Thinks I’m a Dude

Recently, I was talking to one of my old friends about being mistaken for a man. It happens to her fairly often, depending on how she’s dressed, since she is not shaped like the stereotypical Barbie-doll person, has short hair, often dresses androgynously, and is blessed with a deep voice (one of my favorite former singing partners). It doesn’t happen to me very often, probably because I like shiny accessories so much. Neither my friend nor I are particularly bothered by being mis-gendered, though I know it can be really difficult for some of our other friends, especially those who are trans.

I’ve talked about this before, but I tend to see my father’s face when I look in a mirror; I don’t have especially “feminine” features. And, now that my hair is quite short, it’s more noticeable, even though we all probably know enough people with different lengths, styles, and colors of hair to realize that any hair stereotype out there is pretty outdated. So, I was prepared to see interesting results when I tried that new AI software that turns your photographs into cartoons or paintings. As you can see, one setting gave me blue eyes and made me look like a 12-year-old boy.

My lovely friend.

I’d seen a few that my female-identified friends had done, and they looked cute/pretty and like women. I admit my example here is extremely lovely, but you can see they gave her eyelashes, lipstick, and such. That makes me think that the software makes a guess about whether an image is of a male or a female. I’d love to see more images from people who don’t identify one way or the other or who provide few cues to what they are trying to tell the world about themselves.

Adding glasses made me look more like a woman, but increased bye crossed-eyes.

Another thing that I notice about this software is that it’s very literal. I appear to have a “lazy eye” in most of the AI renderings, though at least in some of the photos I used I had appropriately brown eyes. The thing is, these things look nothing at all like me, whereas the ones I’ve seen of other people at least resemble them enough that you can say, “Ah, that’s so and so.” Well, it’s no big secret that AI is not perfect and that it is worse with women and people of color than men. Of note: none of my friends with darker complexions posted their little cartoon heads, unless I just didn’t see it in my feed, which is a possibility.

The bottom line for me is that the images are just plain…plain. Dare I say unattractive? I don’t imagine myself as some raving beauty, but I hope I am not as aesthetically displeasing as these images came out. The ambiguous, gender-fluid aspect is fine, even fun, but I’d like to be an attractive guy!

  • It did a great job on the wrinkles and blew up my eyes.
  • I look like someone’s Uncle Ernie
  • This one is just plain spooky.
  • I don’t know who this sneering person is, but it isn’t me.

Oh, vanity, thy name turns out to be Suna, and THAT is not pretty, at all. Let’s change the topic, so you can enjoy Alfred and Goldie getting along well, and a nice photo of Goldie. I wish they hadn’t cropped her ears, but she’s still got a sweet, yet noble face. Like me!

Things are good in the dog department.

Have you tried playing with the AI toy? Do you find it fun? I guess it appeals to fans of the selfie. Sometimes I am one of those, just because observing and recording the aging process is pretty fascinating.

Penney Succumbs to Goldie’s Charms

I must share this good news. All the other dogs are getting along with Goldie the Great Dane. But Penney has been snarly and snappy since Goldie arrived. Until tonight.

Even Gracie is shocked.

As the day went on, she was nicer and nicer when they passed each other. Alfred is the same. No mote gruff barks. This is great. But when both Carlton AND Penney joined in the puppy playtime, my heart just melted.

Goldie isn’t graceful, but she’s enthusiastic.

I guess we will get to keep her! Kathleen has been enjoying feeding the dogs and hanging out with them. I’m glad she has her dream dog. Life is good.

Fun that makes your heart swell with love.

Angles, Poles, and Alignment

Wow, the fence posts/poles are all up for the horse stalls, and I have to say I am amazed at how straight and aligned they are. There are 5 poles behind the one in this picture, but so perfectly lined up that you can’t see them.

This is very perpendicular, too.

And they are all absolutely straight in the ground, too. I’ve seen the level as proof! It is hard to believe that one person was able to dig the holes, put in the poles, and fill them in with such accuracy.

It looks like one of those zig zag courses for dogs to run through.

The project of putting up the horizontal poles is next. Then rods will drop down from those poles. Those of you as fascinated by this project as me may wonder why some of the poles are taller than others. Well, looking closer, you can see they each have a line on them. Those are all 6 feet high, I think. They’re taller than me, in any case.

I think these will hold a horse or a cow.

There would be a lot more done, but the backhoe has decided it doesn’t want to start. That makes for more doggie playtime, or did until Harvey zapped his poor nose on the electric fence.

It smells good here in the dirt.

I am able to sit in the shade pretty comfortably, which bodes well for giving horses some relief in the summer. The way we are going to arrange the other shipping container will help keep winter bearable, too.

Ahh. Relief.

Today I’m very grateful for my family, who are helping make the ranch so much more fun (and profitable, eventually). And I’m grateful for coworkers who help keep me going and positive, even in weird times.

Now if only that backhoe would start.

Yeah, Maybe Goldie Is Happy

Perhaps I’m posting too many dog blogs, but who cares? It appears that the dogs have come to truces and are enjoying each other. There are still occasional growls and snaps (Penney and Harvey), but we all had such a fun and funny day that I had to share. Goldie had breakfast in my office, for privacy.

    I just want to eat in peace.

    Then she and Harvey joined Lee for some couch chatting time while he ate his breakfast. It was, I guess, cozy. Good thing she is gentle with furniture.

    Couch time!

    Much of today she stayed with me, but she did figure out the dog door at last, so she could go out. Carlton and Penney and Harvey made it mighty snug in my office, but they were pretty quiet!

    Ahh, the cool floor.

    After work (and a fantastic conversation with my wonderful dear friend formerly known as Nancy Jo), we all went out to play. At least it wasn’t as hot as yesterday! After running around, they had to cool off.

    There was much water frolicking.

    Alfred and Goldie looked like luxury liners out in the big pond. After explaining to the two guardian dogs that they did NOT need to bark at one of the cows, we all ran back. Well, Alfred and I walked.

    Let’s race!

    I sat on the porch for a while to enjoy the breeze. Since the dogs were cooler, they could play. Carlton and Goldie looked like they were dancing.

    Alfred was referee

    That tired them out, so they got on the ground to rest. Then they rolled.

    Whew

    And, as I knew it would happen, even Alfred rolled. He looks so happy.

    See, I can roll, too!

    I missed getting Harvey rolling, but there was quite a lot of it. The grass is so beautiful right now; who could blame them?

    Were you worried that Penney didn’t get to play? Not to worry. She stayed upstairs with Lee, but Harvey went up and wrestled with her when we came back in.

    Upstairs playtime

    Now we are all cooling off again. I think Goldie is settled in.

    These humans have nice houses.

    Geez. She is a big dog.

    Who, me?

    Gracie, the littlest Hermits’ Rest dog, spent the afternoon on the porch in her favorite chair. But she did get exercise. She moved to her favorite INDOOR chair. Cutie.

    This is MY chair.

    A Tiny Win for Me (Radio Edition)

    Sometimes the little things really mean a lot. You see, quite a while ago I bought a radio, yes, an actual radio, which has a weather band in addition to AM and FM. It has a stronger antenna than most, so my hope was to be able to listen to the Austin NPR station, KUT, from here north of Cameron, two counties away.

    I was very excited, but when I turned the radio on, I barely could hear my station. So, I only used it to listen to the local station, KMIL, for the rural news and Tejano/Czech Polka music. I’m weird. I really like that oom-pa stuff.

    Every so often, I’d try KUT, hoping maybe they had boosted their signal or something. But, no, until TODAY! I tried again, and there was Morning Edition, clear as a bell. I was thrilled, and way more excited than, say, new dog Goldie was yesterday afternoon when she came in from the heat.

    I’m really going to enjoy the radio when I’m not in meetings and just chilling with the dogs in the home office. One thing I was concerned about when we made plans for me to move out of the Austin house sooner rather than later was that I would miss my news source, which is not the same as the rest of the household prefers. I don’t like sensationalism, and the format of Lee’s television news drives me nuts. Too many teasers.

    Photos of dogs are just because they are so cute. At one point I had four in here snoozing yesterday.

    Anyway, that’s my happy morning news.

    Book Report: Finding the Mother Tree

    Rating: 4 out of 5.

    My excuse for not finishing this one sooner is that I was trying to catch up on magazines, thanks to all the “subtle” hints that I have too many piles of them. I did at least get all the horse and decorating magazines finished, so last night I got myself to the end of Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest, by Suzanne Simard (2021). What a journey this book is!

    If this doesn’t make you go hug a tree, nothing will.

    I got the book the minute it came out, which is no surprise given how many books on trees, how trees talk to each other, and forest ecology I’ve read in the past couple of years! Simard wrote it in an interesting way, where autobiographical sections are interspersed with some pretty hard-core science content. If you just like stories, you can skim the science; if you just want to know exactly how trees communicate with and support one another, you can bypass the story of her life (but you’d be missing out on an interesting life!).

    Simard was born, full of curiosity, into a western Canadian family full of loggers and tough woodland pioneers. It’s no wonder she ended up as a biologist. And she, too, is a pioneer. She had a very hard time getting anyone to listen to her as she explained the effects of clear cutting and re-planting as it was practiced at the end of the 20th century. I really came to admire her tenacity and conviction that she was right.

    Mother tree I saw at the horse competition.

    Of course, it helped that all her data backed her up, and that eventually she got enough grad students and fellow researchers to make it clear that trees help each other and need each other to survive. I’m glad she did, because her findings are fascinating. Different types of trees are connected, and certain ones use different kinds of fungi help different kinds of trees in their connections, too. It’s all complicated, as one would expect, but fascinating.

    The highlight of the book is when Simard talks about “mother trees,” which appear in healthy forests. They are very old, and very well connected. They give their energy to new seedlings and distressed neighbors. It kept making me sad to read about them getting cut down, but I have to credit Simard for acknowledging that we need wood; we just need to be careful with managing forests so they can keep giving us wood!

    I know the tree I have pictures of here is or was a mother tree. Just look at her beautiful roots.

    Forests that are managed and have all the trees the same age, planted in rows, don’t get the advantages of having mother trees, nor of the diversity of companion trees and understory plants necessary for optimal health, resistance to pests, and protection from diseases.

    I’m so glad scientists, and now foresters, are listening to Simard, and that she has passed her work on to her daughter. This woman is an amazing role model for us all.

    How Are the New Dog and Chickens Doing?

    I have already been asked this today, so I may as well write a quick update for you. I’m happy to report it’s all good news!

    Goldie is very happy and eating a lot, which she needs to do. She is also sleeping much better since her mommy Kathleen went out and got her a new and gigantic crate to sleep in. Ah, how I have missed having crate trained dogs. I’m told she slept like a log last night. She also got a fine and festive new collar!

    This morning on my chicken-feeding break, I looked over to the horse fencing construction area and saw Goldie and Carlton, happily in the shade, supervising the drilling of more holes.

    We like the shade.

    Goldie went out to inspect the auger when it stopped moving for a bit, but she got the heck out of there once it went back to scattering dirt everywhere.

    Yikes!

    It’s nice to see at least some of the dogs getting along together. Goldie is very persistent, and repeatedly asks Penney to play with her, but she gets nothing back but growls and snaps. That one may take a while. Harvey has gotten to where they have smelled butts, but he still growls at her (but less ferociously than before). Goldie and Alfred just stay out of each other’s way. Slowly but surely, everyone is adjusting.

    I like it here.

    As for the new pullets, they also seem to be acclimating well. They have their roosting spots and their resting spots, and are going through chick food like crazy. The two who had seemed to be having trouble are both looking a LOT better. Blanca was up and foraging around with the others this morning.

    And little Billy Idyl has no more blood on her, and seems perky and chipper. I’m glad. She is so darned cute. She runs around like a roadrunner, too. In the photo, I was TRYING to get a picture with her whole head in it!

    Of course, I DO have other chickens, and I haven’t forgotten them! We got a watermelon in the house yesterday, and it all got cut up for snacking (and a fine watermelon it is, too). Of course Bruce and his ladies got to enjoy the rind this morning.

    It will be fun to see how long it takes them to reduce the melon halves to nothing but the very edge of the rind like they did last time.

    Since all I’d given them yesterday was a green tomato that had fallen off the vine at the cabin, I feel better in the treat department. If they are lucky they may well get to peck at some ends of zucchini and cucumber that we were given yesterday!

    Ain’t life grand, if you are a dog or a chicken? Especially at the Hermits’ Rest?

    A Social Event

    Now that there is no COVID here, things have started to happen. So, a bunch of Cameron Chamber of Commerce members joined family and friends of the owners for an open house at a beautiful new event venue, Reed’s Simply Local.

    View from the back patio.

    It’s out by Marlow, which is a place like Walker’s Creek, which everyone knows about but isn’t incorporated. In fact, it is under the water tower. Anyway, the place is beautiful.

    Stained glass in the upstairs bedroom.

    It’s very simply done, but with quality. The owner has done a fine job supervising the construction and making choices. Their Facebook page has lots of pictures.

    Great door!

    I had a good time tasting wine, bourbon, hard soda and food. They had all the new local vendors that are cropping up. It felt so good to see such upscale stuff here!

    So much to try! And they sell locally!

    The best bonus was seeing and hugging so many of my friends! Second best was the ribbon cutting, where Lee and Kathleen got to be in the picture.

    So many people!

    I’m glad to have hugged so many times, though Lee got peopled out. I know hugging was ok, because even Judge Young hugged me, and he was the biggest social distance role model in the county.

    I even hugged Lee.

    It was fun looking at the views, too. They chose the site well.

    We left there and then visited one of the vendors, 4C Brewery, which has a charming store/restaurant out of town…somewhere.

    The storefront

    Mainly we went there, because they make their own boudin, a thing our family likes. They also have fresh milk and yogurt. Of course, beer and wine, too. It was quite cute.

    That was a fine Sunday afternoon. Hope yours was fine, too.

    Chicken Butt Medicine

    All the new chickens are currently okay. Blanca, in particular, seems a bit traumatized by her new surroundings, as well as the heat. She and Babette stay in the cool shelter a lot. But, she seems better today.

    Blanca is hiding.

    The little hens have a lot of shade and fresh water, so they should be fine.

    We are fine and curious about everything.

    Billie Idyl is by far the smallest. I should probably have asked Gene to pick out the largest of the Brabanters. I noticed yesterday morning that the others had been pecking on her, as chickens naturally do (source of the term pecking order). Billie’s tail area was bloody, which worried me.

    I’m better now!

    I wondered if I should separate her in the original chicken house, like I did the chicks. But, clearly that wouldn’t fix the problem. Maybe a deterrent would be better.

    Barbara, at right doing major wing flappage, was the main pecker. She must be the Queen of this flock.

    So, the nephew looked up what could stop hens from pecking and found a recipe or two. We combined two of them and mixed this:

    • Honey
    • Lemon essential oil
    • Apple cider vinegar
    • Small amount of Dawn detergent (in lieu of blue food coloring, which we didn’t have)

    We think the blue was so you could tell where you applied it. But Dawn might help clean the wounds. We put it all in a cool old oil dispenser he’d found in an antique shop.

    Oil sprayer. Label says chicken butt medicine. Hee hee.

    The resulting product was just right for spraying. Now, cornering Billie to spray her butt was no easy task, so the stuff got in a few other spots, but did hit her injured areas. We were worried it would attract ants or bees, but apparently the lemon oil repelled them. Whew.

    Billie is at right. Barbara is pissed off that I made her target taste bad.

    Today, there is no sign of new pecking or injury. There are no ants on her, either. Billie is running around eating, drinking, and scratching most cheerfully. Hooray for the chicken butt medicine.

    Didn’t We Already Have Enough Dogs?

    Apparently not, but Kathleen had her reasons for wanting to adopt this one-year-old Great Dane in need of a home.

    I’m Goldie. I like couches.

    For one, Kathleen has owned them before and loves them. For another, the dog has had many homes and owners, and her latest owner had bought her to breed, but she doesn’t go into heat. Sounds like she needs a permanent home with space.

    She’s a little skinny, but healthy.

    We all went out to meet her, and she was so sweet, calm, and well mannered that we took her home to meet the other dogs. She was good in the car!

    She sat on my lap.

    When we got home, the dogs barked and barked, then settled into just sniffing.

    Meet and greet.

    Then, someone let Goldie into the back yard, and they started working things out. Penney and Alfred are taking their time, Carlton is meh, and Harvey is pretty friendly.

    • You can see her white chest
    • Checking her out
    • Goldie sticks her head down in the water up to her eyes when drinking

    I let her into the house and she made herself at home. I thought it was touching when she and Harvey shared the couch.

    • Twins
    • Testing out the dog bed.

    We later went on a walk, and everyone got along and had fun. Kathleen even let her off leash for free fun. Everyone got hot and had to swim, of course.

    Ahh. Nice pond.

    But the MOST fun came when Goldie met Vlassic.

    Your butt smells great. You are my friend.

    Once they decided they liked each other, off they went. Watching Goldie run freely was beautiful.

    I’ll get you!

    They went round and round but I only got this one image with both of them. Isn’t it great?

    Zoom!

    All that running wore her out!

    She appears happy.

    It will take some time for everyone to work out their relationships, but it’s looking good right now. Sure, we didn’t NEED Goldie, but I think she needed us. We sure are enjoying her gentle, kind spirit already.

    Buddies

    She still needs to get comfortable with the dog door, though! She is welcome here.