No, not that kind of branding — The ever-brilliant writer Sam Horn wrote a thought-provoking post about ChatGPT and the dangers it poses for those who create written work. She has decided to brand all her work with “H.I.” meaning Human Intelligence. It communicates that the work is her creation, except for attributed quotations. I’m not sure how effective it will be, but at the least, it’s a way of letting our followers and readers know that this is our work. These are our words. I’m going to start ending my articles and posts with “P-H.I.” If nothing else, it might upset Grammarly.

We just have to listen to what we are saying to ourselves — About a week ago, I read a post by the brilliantly insightful, South African psychologist and speaker Naomi Holdt. She was taking some downtime because of “load shedding*.” The word struck a nerve with me since I had just selected my word for 2023: “unburden,” meaning to remove anything and…

A haibun that might trigger some people — Heart-broken, stone-faced Stoic in the midst of pain My brave little girl My mother demanded complete obedience and expected me to be an adult, act like an adult, and suffer in silence like an adult. When I was in physical pain, her infamous phrase was, “Offer it up.” You have…

Compliments of The Gathering Table — My pal and damn-good writer Ravyne Hawke made me aware of this intriguing challenge from Brett Jenae Tomlin. Not one to pass up an opportunity to push the creativity envelope, here’s my attempt. This or that? Resolutions or No Resolutions? No. I used to be a rock-solid, yes. but over the years, the…

It takes faith, hope, and love — not the bible kind — A new restaurant opened across the street. The previous tenant went out of business during Covid, and the location was empty for almost 2 years. Then a few months ago, the old contents were moved out, and brand-new restaurant materials were moved in. Imagine all the decisions that need to…

Trolls are like cockroaches — nasty, obnoxious, stinky, and everywhere — Everyone who posts anywhere on social media has been trashed or thrashed by a troll. You know who I mean — people who make hurtful, nasty, rude, hurtful comments. Recently, I came across an entire multi-person trolling session over — get ready — a spoon. Seriously. A spoon offended some…