Ending Bad Bats

Officially Pitched Out due to the bad bat

As I said in the last post, AI will not replace humans. But even as it can't replace us, with perseverance we can prevail. Patience is a virtue we all struggle with at times. But perseverance does not mean it eases my task.

That picture with the Bad Bat Flower? It's been replaced officially. It took nine prompts to get one to work with for an attempt.

Then twenty more to get the signs adjusted in the middle to be correct for a mere three plants.

Then another one to get a landscape with three additional plants as a picture with three is pretty but not enough, especially when it is a square that would only be suitable for a single page spread.

I do double page spreads because that is magic for us when we read a picture book. Falling into the world is part of the magic of picture books.

Crunch Time! Will it make it

PERSEVERANCE IS A SKILL

And perseverance is something we need in many tasks.

Like the quest my new character is doing in Runescape over the next day or two. I did it with another character several times as it is one to redo in order to get bonus skill chests as you advance. The quest "Broken Home" is my current one and never among my favorites. In fact, it is one I hate doing. Hate it so much. But I want to complete all the quests and it came up on the list the wiki said was the efficient way of accomplishing that goal.

And kids, that is important.

A basketball player practices free throws over and over again. It might not be a task he enjoys, but it's a needed skill.

Oh, a game is not a needed thing, and I would never play a game that overall I didn't enjoy. And I could avoid the quest. I'm not a basketball player with a team on the line, nor am I making a picture for children to enjoy. But then, I wouldn't get the achievement of doing all the quests, and most everything comes with some aspects we don't like.

DOING SOMETHING FOR A GOAL MAKES HARD THINGS EASIER

I worked for McDonald's for a spell. I didn't hate the job—no, it's all on perspective at times. I listed each hour what that hour would achieve for me.

So when doing a quest I dislike, I focus on the goal I want. But that doesn't mean it's not a struggle, but a positive attitude really helps in pushing us to do the harder things. Why we do it? Like math, right? Some are really good at math, and I was, but I am dyslexic—it takes me effort. Reading—gosh, how I struggled there, and it took me a long time to find the love of it. Kids, sometimes we work through the hard parts, and that is what gets us to the good part.

I studied piano for a short bit, and boy was it a love, but scales... ugh... so annoying but as important as free throws to a basketball player.

Getting to the Fun Part means doing the Hard Part

LABOR OF LOVE

Could doing all those prompts be difficult on me? Yes.

Can it frustrate me? Yep.

But this was easy to do because making magic for kids is a labor of love.

Just like when that winning free throw goes in—for all that practice when the pressure was on—it makes the player say yeah, the work was worth it.

I could have accepted the Bad Bat Picture.

But now look at the final image. The picture below is what you want to see in a book, far more than a bad bat. But I do miss some of the plants that were in the last one a lot. These are mostly different, and I really liked the ghost plant. But when working with an AI, there is only so much it will do. AI will never replace humans, but when we work with a creative collaborator—even a human sometimes—we don't get everything we want.

Sometimes a classical artist would rather play Bach, but the conductor decides on Handel. Do they quit the concert? No, they play what is instructed. It is okay to be flexible.

Hey, Lazy Daisy, Final Image. It might have taken a lot of attempts, but we got there.