Wednesday Hodgepodge

It's time for Wednesday Hodgepodge with Joyce, who blogs at From This Side of The Pond.  Each week she'll pose some questions for us to answer. What a great way to journal life.

1. "Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability." Sam Keen

Do you feel less guilty relaxing in July than you do in January? No Elaborate. Sometimes I feel like I need to do more in summer than in January. January is wet and cold and we're stuck inside more. It's easier to feel okay about being lazy or "relaxing" when the weather isn't cooperating. In the summer when it's nicer, I feel like I should be out doing things (when I'm not working), not necessarily chores, though we know there's plenty of those to be done. But it's also, feeling like I should be outside enjoying the weather by going on walks, or hikes, or just out and about. I will say that I do tend to feel like any time I just want to relax I need to justify it (which I shouldn't need to, but I do). Like saying "I just sat and read all day, or worked on a puzzle", isn't okay, I have to level it with, but I also washed the car, etc. Might be the people pleaser, don't want to let people down in me. 

2. What's a telltale sign you're upset? I guess it might depend. If I'm upset with someone else I might go silent, internalize things (unfortunately I don't like conflict so tend to stuff things), I might get a bit short with them. If I'm upset with myself, I sometimes resort to negative self talk (which I know isn't healthy), but also it does take quite a bit to get me upset. I'm pretty easy going.

3. July 16th is National AI Day. What are your general thoughts and/or experiences with AI? I think I would say I have a love/hate relationship with it. Have you purposely used it? I have used it. I've used it to create a fun image from a photo. I did use it to help me write a review for my doctor, but then I went in and changed things so it reflected me. I was struggling with writing it and just needed a bit of a boost.  Does it excite you, scare you, or worry you? A little of all three, but mostly excite/worry me. What do you see as a benefit? I think if it's used as a tool, it can be a benefit. If people up front say that something was AI generated, then fine, I guess. My daughters and even my husband use it more. They've used it to create a workout plan, my hubby used it when planning a trip.   How about something relating to AI you see as a negative? I see it as a negative when it starts taking peoples jobs, or when people are using it solely to create documents, videos, photos, etc, that cause people to think it, in fact real. Photos and videos drive me crazy. Not long ago I read an e-book for a bookclub and we all agreed, we think it was ai generated...Even if someone put in what they wanted, they didn't take the time to actually read through and edit it because there were a lot of inconsistencies, wrong characters named, things out of order etc...and they came out with a lot in the series in a short span of time. 

The two images below I used Google Photos AI create. I had a photo from my grandsons birthday party that was just kind of meh, but it was so fun because his friends were all playing a baseball game that reminded us of farm boys or Sandlot.

4. You're invited to a summer pot luck and are asked to bring an appetizer, salad/side, or dessert. Which category do you go for and what are you bringing? Probably salad/side. I have a few dishes that always seem to be favorites.  This Paula Deen Corn Salad is so good (I need to update that post..lol), or I'll bring this BBQ beans with sausage. 

5. It wouldn't be summer without___________________. Sun, iced coffee, hikes, long walks, blue skies, watching the grandkids play outside, fires in the fire pit.

6. Insert your own random thought here. Well, I had a random thought earlier this week, but it must've been so random I already forgot what it was. I'm typing this on Wednesday morning. I'm normally off but I'm going in to work today since one of the gals who just got back from a 3 week trip came down with some type of bug the day after they got home. We've been off the last week so I don't mind going in...well, kind of, I did have a list of things to do. 

We did a "staycation" and did things locally. Thursday we chose to drive up towards Mt. St. Helens. We walked through lava canyon, found a great viewpoint and enjoyed lunch afterwards at a local diner that has been around for 37 years. 

Mt. St. Helens from the Lahar Viewpoint. This is a gorgeous view. My hubby hiked this mountain last September. 

According to the WTA website: During eruptive activity some 1,900 years ago, fluid lava flowed through a stand of trees, burning them but leaving impressions where they stood or lay. This lava was quite different from the sticky type of lava that forms the dome in the crater of St. Helens today.

With Joy Unquenchable,

Kirstin