On the computer at home today for the first time in a long while. I was hoping to make a new Windows 7 x64 boot disk, but the only working laptop I have is windows 7 x32. I'm going to have to use my wife's laptop. But since I have this PC open already, I can check more things off my list.
This is a poem I wrote for my mom for her Christmas gift. I have been meaning to post it here for posterity.
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The Lord is in the Heavens,
He does all that He pleases.
He gives and takes away;
He grinds the grain to pieces.
And what can good Job say?
From his home he clears all leaven.
Man prepares a sacrifice,
Precious Jesus to observe.
Greeting his savior in this way
A mystery he learns.
By pain, contentment suffering stays.
Prays he God to make him wise.
The rich man and the lowly,
God is maker of them both.
Each depends on every word
God's messengers have wrote.
"Light has come into the world"
To make believers holy.
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The abcbca rhyme scheme is intended to mirror the thematic structure of the poem. The line, "by pain contentment suffering stays" has an intentionally awkward sentence structure; the next line is also awkward and is intended as a clue to how we should read it. Contentment is the subject, suffering the object, and "by pain" a prepositional phrase. The missing comma leaves it open to a more pessimistic interpretation, which I hoped would cause the reader to consider the difference between Christian and non-Christian interpretations of the theme; Jesus's sacrificial pain, and the way he was content to give himself for us, diminishes our suffering and gives way to our mutual contentment with him.
I'm pleased to report that the latest version of the ChatGPT website has made me able to access it on this old Win7x32 laptop.
Considering the current trend in AI, where people train the AI on their own biographies, has me considering the option to eliminate this blog -- maybe to buy a bound, print version of it and then delete the online version. I don't really want anyone training an AI to imitate me (although given the time scale for this blog, the AI training will likely average out to a much less mature version of myself; and then again, maybe since these are all essays, it won't be noticeable). At any rate, I've not put very much actual autobiographical information here, and most of what I've written here has been intended to vent stress, an AI trained on this data would probably be a real drag to communicate with.... but he at least would have my writing style, I suppose. Too many commas; run-on-sentences; excessive use of self-qualifying clauses (perhaps, I suppose, I guess, I think, etc etc etc)..
Anyhow, I have a lot to do today, so I'd better get off the blog.
"Are you intentionally misinterpreting our position?"
