Year in Photos

Tag: octopus

  • November 21

    November 21

    The drama today has been the discontinuation of access to Character.AI for kids under 18. Robin has been devastated. In looking for alternatives, I’ve learned just how bad AI chat bots are for kids. Billy and I reluctantly allowed her to try another one – until this one blocks kids too – as long as we have access to her chats. It reminds me of when AOL invented the internet (ok I know I know but still) and all the 13-year-olds (myself included) went into the chat rooms and we learned how easy they’d made it for pedophiles to find victims. Now there aren’t chat rooms for kids anymore, but look what it has blossomed into! I have to imagine that AI chat bots will eventually develop into something both safer and more fulfilling than how it has started. I tried to explain that to Robin, but how do you explain AOL chat rooms to teenagers who have no possible way to conceptualize a life without internet? She’s not a fan of the new app we allowed her to have, but oh well. It’s better than the little kid ones I was originally going to give her. And so goes the growth of parents and teens and AI everywhere.

  • October 16

    October 16

    I’m back to making these guys. I volunteered to make at least 50 of them by December 2 for the Kindermarket at school. I started last night and have so far completed 10. I was a little obsessive about it today, though. I really didn’t do anything EXCEPT crochet octopuses. But I’m having fun with it, and honestly, it’s nice to have a goal again. The last month or two has been so bland and boring, I needed something to do that has some kind of purpose. This isn’t all that exciting, really, but it has purpose. I’ll take it.

  • February 9

    February 9

    I never bite off more than I can chew. I made 13 of these octopus keychains this weekend for Christina’s class on Valentine’s Day. I still have seven more to make to have enough for everyone in her class. I had the idea to do this months ago. So why did I wait until now to start them? Who doesn’t love a challenge? If there was no last minute, nothing would ever get done.