Lifestyle
‘A WORLD THAT IS NOT REALLY A WORLD,’ a poem by Elaine Kahn
This story is a part of Picture situation 8, “Abandoned,” a supercharged expertise of turning into and religious renewal. Benefit from the journey! (Wink, wink.) See the complete package deal right here.
the heavens stretch
the apple
of a sky that sucks
at peace and finitude —
the pure lies
the dwelling alters
what’s alive about it
is offensive
in a manner that’s paradise
a type of gravity
to ruining what ruins
magnificence
after I was gone
my breast relaxed
I advised the desert
what it price
Elaine Kahn is the creator of “Romance or The Finish” (Comfortable Cranium, 2020) and “Girls in Public” (Metropolis Lights, 2015). She lives in L.A. and teaches at Poetry Discipline College.
Willem Verbeeck is a Belgian photographer based mostly in Los Angeles, primarily focusing his work on the on a regular basis landscapes round him.
Extra tales from Picture
Lifestyle
The antithesis of the Olympics: Using AI to write a fan letter
On Fresh Air in 1986, Maurice Sendak told Terry Gross a story about a little boy who sent him a card and a drawing. Sendak wrote back, including a drawing of his own. Later, the boy’s mother wrote Sendak again, explaining that her son loved the response so much that he ate it. To Sendak, this was the ultimate compliment. “He saw it, he loved it, he ate it,” he chuckled.
Their correspondence stands in contrast to another fan letter many Olympics fans have seen in recent days. During the games, a number of AI ads have been in rotation, but none has raised as many eyebrows as one for Gemini, Google’s AI assistant. In the commercial, a father’s voiceover explains that his daughter, like him, is a runner. And she’s a huge fan of Olympic hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. He says he’s “pretty good with words,” but he wants her fan letter to Sydney to be “just right.”
Does he help her? Does he encourage her? Does she enter into the process at all? No. He just asks Gemini to write the letter. The prompt: “Help my daughter write a letter telling Sydney how inspiring she is. And be sure to mention that my daughter plans on breaking her world record. She says sorry, not sorry.”
Where to begin. Where! To! Begin!
Let us address quality first
I do not like generative AI, but for the sake of research, I fed this prompt – this very prompt! – into Gemini. I am not going to post the result here in full, but I can assure you that if you ranked all the middle managers of your bank from most to least inspiring, went to the one at the bottom, and asked them to write a draft of this letter for you, this is what you would get. The result is obligatory, desultory, boring and obviously machine-made. It contains sentences like, “You’ve shown the world that with determination, anything is achievable,” a toothless flop of a sentence that is, for the record, false.
The only – the only! – spark of personality comes in the machine’s dutiful inclusion of “sorry not sorry,” which Ad Dad put in the prompt. That is not artificial intelligence, it is a program taking the one piece of yourself that you included and spitting it back out, unchanged.
YouTube
The problem with an AI approach to admiration
Generative AI advocates have sometimes claimed an interest in helping people with disabilities or people with limited English. Their internal business plans may reveal what role those considerations actually play in their planning, and AI could indeed have some of those applications. The bigger issue is that in many cases, including this one, the marketing of generative AI is a broadside against singularity in favor of digestibility, against creativity in favor of drudgery. It’s perfect for anyone who watched the video for Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” and rooted for the meat grinder.
What Google is selling in this ad is not an assistive device; it is the promised replacement of your flawed humanity with the immaculate verbiage of Google. Immaculate verbiage like, “Watching you compete is like witnessing magic unfold.” So if you like your letters awkwardly structured and with all the emotion of a birthday card from your eye doctor, Gemini can help.
What a fan letter could be
Ad Dad is going about this all wrong. He says Gemini can get the letter “just right.” But there is no need for a fan letter to be “just right.” There is perhaps no truer example on Earth of “it’s the thought that counts” than a letter to someone you admire, telling them how much their work or their example means to you. Ad Dad’s daughter could have done anything from writing a short note in her own words to drawing a picture, and it would have been fine.
If you do want to help your kid write a fan letter as an exercise, don’t give her a tool designed to extrude the average of all the other letters that have come before it. Sit down with her and help her be specific. When did you first see Sydney compete? What does it look like to you when she goes over a hurdle? How do you feel when you see her perform? Do you like her stance? The way she hits a finish line? Her smile when she wins? What do you love about running? And sure, go over spelling with her if you want, too, or help her with her grammar. It’s a perfect opportunity.
A fan letter is not the beginning of a transaction, or even necessarily an exchange (though it can be that). It is an offering, a gift given in appreciation. Its purpose is not to impress, but to express. That it contains your wild and beautiful self – however imperfect, misspelled, and simple as it may be — is what makes it valuable.
A kid doesn’t need a comms strategy or a marketing department. There is all kinds of time for her to learn how to write a proper business letter, or a complaint letter, or a letter to Congress, or a legal brief or business plan. A kid needs to develop confidence that her voice is valuable and should be used. And over time, of course her writing can improve — but only if she’s given a chance to build skills. If you tell her to hit up Gemini when she wants to produce a letter, how will she ever live without it? Choosing a message of “don’t practice, just hit this button” is strange anywhere, but it feels downright perverse during the Olympics.
All an admirer needs to be is her best self. And who knows? If she genuinely makes a gesture on paper from the bottom of her heart, somebody might become overwhelmed and eat it. It’s been known to happen.
Lifestyle
Nicola Peltz Sues Dog Groomer After Death of Chihuahua Nala
Nicola Peltz-Beckham is officially taking legal action against the groomer who treated her beloved dog before she died … and she’s come out swinging in a new lawsuit.
In a new filing obtained by TMZ … Nicola claims HoundSpa caused the untimely death of her chihuahua Nala — specifically pointing the finger at a groomer, named Jony Ceballos.
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Nicola claims Jony has a history of “intentional and malicious abuse of dogs,” further alleging Nala was left injured and in severe physical distress after being treated for a routine grooming in HoundSpa’s mobile van.
Nicola is also taking to task HoundSpa and its owner, Deborah “Deb” Gittleman, for keeping Jony on the staff — even though she says there were past complaints against JC about his mistreatment toward animals.
Per Nicola, she’s been left emotionally distressed by the whole ordeal, especially since she witnessed Nala die after rushing her to the vet following the grooming — and says she treated the pet “like her own child.” Nicola claims her other dog, Angel, is also suffering in the aftermath of the grooming, noting the dog shakes/screams from terror when left alone now.
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The actress’ lawsuit isn’t necessarily surprising — as we reported, Brooklyn Beckham‘s wife had lawyered up after the loss of Nala — which she first announced back in June. From the get-go, Nicola pointed the finger at the groomers … with the events of the tragedy never sitting right with her.
She says she originally posted about Nala’s death to raise awareness, but chose to take action when she learned how many other pet owners faced similar experiences at different groomers.
She adds … “I’ve dedicated most of my life to saving dogs and I can’t in good conscience let this horrifying act happen to more families. I will work for changes and laws to help make sure no one else ever has to experience this heartbreak.”
TMZ Studios
Nicola is seeking compensatory damages, as well as punitive damages, over her dog’s death … though she states that she plans to donate all the money she may receive to a dog rescue organization. We’ve reached out to HoundSpa for comment … no word back yet.
Lifestyle
This year’s longlist for the Booker Prize is here
This year’s class of Booker Prize nominees has just been announced. The prestigious prize awards the best English-language fiction published in the UK and/or Ireland. While this is when we’d usually talk about common stylistic threads that bind the longlisted novels, the 13 books each have their unique voice.
“There is no single register here,” wrote Edmund de Waal, the chair of judges, in a statement announcing the list. “We need fiction to do different things – to renew us, give solace, to take us away from ourselves and give us back to ourselves in an expanded and reconnected way. And, of course, to entertain us.”
Among the list are a handful of names familiar to American readers – Pulitzer Prize winner Hisham Matar, Rachel Kushner, Tommy Orange, and more. But three authors made the cut with their debut novel: Colin Barrett, Yael van der Wouden, and Rita Bullwinkel – whose novel, Headshot, follows eight women competing in a boxing competition in Nevada. In the announcement, prize judges said Bullwinkel “elevates the gritty, physical realities of sport to a profound examination of identity, destiny and family dynamics.”
The shortlist will be announced in September. The winner of the prize will be announced in November. The winner will receive 50,000 British pounds (about $64,000), a trophy, and a likely bump in book sales.
Here’s the full list:
- Colin Barrett, Wild Houses
- Rita Bullwinkel, Headshot
- Percival Everett, James
- Samantha Harvey, Orbital
- Rachel Kushner, Creation Lake
- Hisham Matar, My Friends
- Claire Messud, This Strange Eventful History
- Anne Michaels, Held
- Tommy Orange, Wandering Stars
- Sarah Perry, Enlightenment
- Richard Powers, Playground
- Yael van der Wouden, The Safekeep
- Charlotte Wood, Stone Yard Devotional
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