July | 2022 | J.R. Johnson

Archive for July, 2022

Cat In The Style Of

Posted in Other, Science!, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, #craiyon, computer-aided fun, creativity, design, inspiration, Thoughts on July 11, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Welcome to Monday, brought to you by an AI’s idea of a “cat in the style of Vincent van Gogh.”

Not bad, actually.

Running through different versions using the same root prompt (“cat in the style of”) made the artistic differences (and any deficiencies) clear. A lot of the images produced by the DALL-E mini system are a bit odd, particularly when faces are involved. (The site even has a FAQ on “Why are faces so weird?”)

Even so, it was interesting to see what an AI considers the essential style of an artist or technique, and there were a number of attempts I found fun.

Rather than upload all images I made a slideshow. It’s lower-resolution (I shrunk it down to 16MB instead of 80MB+) but you should still get the picture.

Cat in the Style of

(Did I leave out the truly disturbing results? Yes. I don’t know what this AI has against Vermeer but I want no part of it!)

Thanks, Craiyon!

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Baked Milk, the Moo-ening After

Posted in Food and..., tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, food, recipes, Thoughts on July 10, 2022| Leave a Comment »

I recently had a request for an update on the baked milk situation so here we go.

Short answer: The first version was pretty good.

Longer answer, one that will surprise no one who knows me: I made a few tweaks.

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Here’s my previous post with the original recipe link: Baked What Now?

I kept the proportions but used 2% milk and kefir because that’s what I had. It worked fine, but:

the final result wasn’t as caramel colored or flavored as the store-bought version
it wasn’t quite as thick as I’d hoped
with summer on the horizon, I wasn’t enthusiastic about keeping the oven on for six hours at a time.

Over several iterations, I now have a version that addresses these issues and works for me. Between this, biweekly yogurt, and air-quality concerns, we may have used it as an excuse to pick up a portable induction burner (on sale, totally reasonable!).

The new alternative uses whole milk, kefir plus sour cream, and skips the oven in favor of the induction burner. We have a remote thermometer for yogurt so we use that, but keeping it at temperature can be a bit of a hassle. If you have a slow cooker that will maintain a steady ~210F, try that. (I’ll try that next time if I can find my slow cooker.)

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Baked Milk

4L whole milk

heat milk to a simmer, then maintain temperature at ~210F for 6 hours
let cool to 115F, add:

7 T. kefir

1 T. sour cream

mix well, jar and close with vented lid (cheesecloth, fermentation caps, heck, paper towels would work, whatever you’ve got)
let sit on the counter at room temperature for 36 hours or until set; I put mine in an insulated grocery bag but it’s not required.

Is it good? Yes. Keeping the milk around 210F using a burner gave me a better depth of caramelization than 225F in the oven. The process is a bit more of a hassle than I’d like so I’ll continue to look for improvements.

Is it even better when mixed with guava juice and lemonade? Yes, it is.

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Finding the Path

Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, inspiration, Thoughts, writing on July 9, 2022| Leave a Comment »

“There is something in every one of you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself. It is the only true guide you will ever have.”
― Howard Thurman

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*Photo by Huper by Joshua Earle on Unsplash*

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Yesterday’s News

Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, home, technology, Thoughts on July 9, 2022| Leave a Comment »

(written 07/08/22)

Today I’m dealing with a new kind of challenge.

We have power, which I no longer take for granted. The microwave works, the computers work, the TV and stove and washing machine and lights all work, and for that I’m grateful.

Our components are all functioning. What isn’t working? The network that connects those components, and us, to the wider world.

We woke up, started the laundry and coffee and breakfast and booted up the work computers. Then? Nothing. No signal. I can work in my design program, for example, but I can’t deliver my project. I can’t check my email, log in at work or make calls (sorry Mom!).

Somebody at internet central did something and somehow it all went wrong. (The part of this equation that interests me the most is that apparently no one thought to ask, “What happens if this thing we’re about to do doesn’t work?”).

So today has been business as unusual. On the plus side? Another opportunity to appreciate all the technology, infrastructure, and other amenities that we typically take for granted.

And while I’m not even sure if I’ll be able to post this today (spoiler alert: nope), my target was to write every day. Goal achieved.

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Note from the future: it wasn’t just us, here, it was every Rogers customer, everywhere.

Rogers outage shows need for Plan B when wireless, internet services fail, analysts say | CBC News

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I Need A Minute

Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, happiness, inspiration, Thoughts, yay on July 7, 2022| Leave a Comment »

The post I was working on for today is taking too long. I’ll get back to it later but for now, I give you (drum roll please) Chris Evans with puppies!

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You’re welcome, world.

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Also Magic

Posted in Likes, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, getting wild, inspiration, magic, nature, yay on July 6, 2022| Leave a Comment »

It’s firefly season* again, and I am there for it.

Billions of Fireflies Light Up an Indian Wildlife Reserve in Rare Footage Captured by Sriram Murali (The images are pretty astonishing.)
When Will The Fireflies Light Up Your Back Yard? – Farmers’ Almanac

Fireflies as a species are under pressure but there’s a lot we can do to help them. Short version: Turn off the lights and get (your yard) a little wild.

How You Can Help Fireflies | Firefly.org

Tonight, dim the lights. Find the darkest patch of green you see. If it has tall grass and lush, moist undergrowth, even better. Wait.

Do you see it? That yellow-green flash of light? Bioluminescence, they say.

Yes.

Also magic.

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* To be fair, June is actually prime time for firefly mating in most areas but given good weather and habitat they can be seen throughout the summer.

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Book Women

Posted in Likes, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, books, inspiration, learning@lunch, librarians, women, women in history on July 5, 2022| Leave a Comment »

I love a lot of things, including the Works Progress Administration, kick-ass ladies, secret histories, and libraries. This story combines all of the above and more. How cool is it that?

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Kentucky’s Horse-Riding Librarians | The Kid Should See This
Between 1935 and 1943, the initiative employed around 1,000 book women as mobile librarians. Paid less than a dollar a day, they traveled up to 120 miles a week on mule or horseback over rugged mountains and through fast-flowing creeks in all types of weather… In just one year they reached 50,000 families and 155 rural schools. But book women did more than just leave books on people’s porches…

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A Marvelous Victory

Posted in Holidays, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, Howard Zinn, Thoughts on July 4, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Happy birthday, America! Here’s to remembering our hopes and building our dreams.

“To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.
What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places—and there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”
― Howard Zinn

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A Walk in the Woods

Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, around the world, summer, Thailand, Writers, writing on July 3, 2022| Leave a Comment »

We had waffles, watched a race, went for a walk and generally enjoyed a beautiful, lazy summer’s day. Now somehow it’s time for dinner so I’ll leave you with a brief excerpt from a stroll in the woods, once upon a time in Thailand.

Chang Mai—Jungle Trek
A rutted dirt road led from the parking lot through a stand of tall trees. The road quickly narrowed to a track that led past a small facilities building, scattered picnic areas, and into denser woods. A huge centipede scurried past my sandals and exposed toes, making it clear that Thais eat such creatures for their size, not their beauty. After this apparition I had no trouble keeping my eyes open. An unexpected benefit of being alert was that I found an amulet someone had lost on the trail. The guidebook had mentioned that Thais always carry at least one amulet with them wherever they go, and I’d made a note to look for one in the market as a token of the visit. Presto, there it was. I hope it wasn’t the owner’s only protection.
Good luck charm in hand, we wound our way along the stream bed as the sound of crashing water grew louder. The little valley opened up, the sun broke through the tree tops, and a waterfall appeared. The impressive thing about it wasn’t so much its height, which was hard to gauge through the trees, but its power.
A pool carved out at the fall’s base and the mist all over my clothes and the trees attested to the water’s strength and the abundant runoff in this waterlogged part of the country. The trail around the pool had gone muddy from the mist and visitors’ feet, giving me what was to be the first of many intimate moments with Thai muck. I had no idea how familiar I was to become with that red earth over the next day and a half.

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