Ray Bradbury

“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.”
Ray Bradbury

Cat Story - Part Five

(The previous parts of this Cat Story can be found here:
https://afarinrava.blogspot.com/2024/10/cat-story-part-four.html)

Finally, she hands me the manuscript and says, "I'm done correcting your edits. You're allowed to proofread this... and don't take too long because I plan to publish this by the end of the year."

(The story will continue...
and Part Six will be posted next Tuesday.)

A B C ...

Yesterday, I was playing around on ChatGPT, going through tips for writers, and I came across this tip: “Start Each Sentence with a New Letter of the Alphabet.” So I challenged myself to write a story with twenty-six sentences, each beginning with a different letter of the alphabet. It started as a fun exercise but the challenge forced me to dig for unexpected word choices and fresh sentence structures — a playful way to jumpstart creativity. 

I was thinking about my neighbor's dog, Paco, who died on November 3, 2023. I wrote about him in the chapter "Alarm" in My Guest Book: à la Rumi. He and my Hoppoo were friends and always played together. Anyway... This is about my dogs and Paco:

A ll the dogs in the neighborhood got together.

B arks filled the air as they gathered in the woods.

C hasing tails and jumping high, they were ready for play.

D iscovering a patch of mud, the bravest pup dove in face-first.

E ager noses sniffed every inch of the mud patch and the area around it.

F eet flying, they sprinted in circles.

G rowls of playful competition broke out.

H owls of laughter erupted.

I mpromptu races broke out, with tails wagging.

J umps and flips added flair as they chased each other.

K ibble treats appeared here and there.

L icking their chops, they snatched up every crumb.

M ud-covered but thrilled, they barked in agreement: this was the life.

N oses to the ground, they sniffed out every single blade of grass.

O ne by one, they shook off the dirt.

P aws thumped against the earth in an endless rhythm of joy.

Q uick dashes and sudden stops, they played like there was no tomorrow.

R olling around, they enjoyed the coolness of the grass on their backs.

S unshine warmed their fur.

T ails wagged nonstop, each dog as happy as could be.

U nbothered by mud or mess, they embraced the chaos completely.

V oices calling their names brought wagging tails and eager barks.

W ith their big, goofy smiles, they looked exhausted but content.

X enial greetings were exchanged.

Y awns signaled the end of the adventure.

Z ipping home, they dreamed of the next time they'd all meet again.

ChatGPT

Many people use ChatGPT without knowing what its letters stand for. "ChatGPT" stands for Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer.

"Chat" indicates it's designed for conversational interactions, and GPT refers to "Generative Pre-trained Transformer," the type of model.
It's "generative" because it generates text based on prompts, creating responses dynamically.
It's "pre-trained" because the model is trained on large datasets before being fine-tuned for specific tasks, so it already has a broad understanding of language.
The word "transformer" refers to the model architecture used, which is highly effective for understanding and generating natural language.

"ChatGPT" is a model designed for generating natural-sounding text in a conversational format.

Look for Circles!

November 2 is “Look for Circles Day.” This lesser-known holiday invites us to notice circles in everyday life — from the obvious, like wheels and clocks, to the subtle and abstract, like circular routines or patterns in nature.

This can actually be an exercise in mindfulness, helping us observe our surroundings in a new way. It's a fun excuse to pause and discover hidden shapes and symmetries all around us.

I don't have to look far: I have fresh cookies on a round plate and am enjoying coffee in my cylinder-shaped cup, on its round wooden coaster, as my two dogs are curled up in a semi-circle next to me. 

Happy Look for Circles Day!

November