"Absence, like death..."

                                      it is thrilling to watch these birds maneuver so adroitly in high winds...

           after months surrounded by dry sand and creosote bush being around water opens ones horizons

                     this guy probably will be satisfied even if he does not catch any fish

                          these boat-tailed grackles are common but have a beautiful vocalization

 these small flying insects added to the ambiance of the place...never saw them in the desert

actually this spot is called Mittry lake and is smack in the middle of the desert which makes it all the more beautiful...i fear that i am becoming too settled in my ways and need to travel to a place somewhat less familiar to me...but "comfort zone" has its appeals also...

watched some mind expanding youtube recently...there is a fellow named GIULIO TONONI who is a scientist of some flavor i forget but who thinks about consciousness and what INFORMATION is and has a talk about INTEGRATED INFORMATION...pretty deep stuff and when i hear some of the things smart people say about these subjects it sometimes seems like standing with your eyeball half an inch from the MONA LISA painting and saying you think you understand it...it misses the point...

with all the concern about Artificial intelligence being a menace to humanity (humanity is a menace to humanity!) there is some spectacular work being done with AI...google deep mind has an application sort of thingy which graphs networks for materials exploration...and they have managed to use AI with this GNOME app and figured out how to predict how to make millions of new crystals...some of which will be of great value to humans...there are other scientists who are doing similar things to greatly enhance the speed at which research is being done..i think we need to come to the obvious conclusion that our lives would be better not worse if AI was used more in government  beause...as i have said before ...artificial intelligence sure beat genuine stupidity...

i was beginning to panic somewhat from my truck sort of having problems but i watch youtube videos about all kinds of mechanical stuff and once a little knowledge is pounded into my brain it is a lot less like ghosts or monsters menacing me...just practical things that happen to mechanical apparatus..."FORD TECH MAKULOCO does a good job of explaining things and he is very thorough...

"Absence, like death, sets a seal on the image of those we love; we cannot realize the intervening changes which time may have effected."  Goldsmith