It’s not me; it’s ChatGPT. — Sorry, it seems manipulative, but that’s what ChatGPT told me yesterday when it appeared in my dream. Or should I say, nightmare? ChatGPT came wearing its golden gown and with kudzu in its hair. (Yes! ChatGPT has hair, usually in a bun, sometimes shaved like Neo in the Matrix.) In…

Nowadays, everybody’s waiting for the boomers to die and transfer their wealth to the other generations. “The Greatest Wealth Transfer in History Is Here,” wrote the New York Times in May 2023. “Boomers have more wealth than any other generation,” said CNBC in December last year. Boomers, I feel sorry for you Having your kids, grandkids…

Deep-dive into the world of free-to-use images — “If there’s one thing available online, it’s pictures of naked people.” It’s true, but finding them on free-to-use image websites like Unsplash or Pexels is harder than you would think. Pictures of men’s naked upper bodies are easy to find. …

It was supposed to be a job interview, but it quickly turned into something else — I was wearing my usual hat and my favorite suit. The one that makes me look like a prize-winning naval architect¹. She was wearing a dress that was a bit too loose, a tad too short, and a smidgen too summery for my taste, but I was the candidate, and…

Memorial Day — the day after — When I first heard of Memorial Day, I thought it was a day to celebrate our favorite memories. I imagined a day when we wouldn’t have to live in the present but could enjoy revisiting our past. Then my parents explained what it was about. It’s the same but different. …

The twenty-third birthday is a special one in my family. According to my father, it’s because 23 is the only prime number between 19 and 31, but I prefer my uncle’s version, which states it’s the number of countries where members of our extended family live. When I turned 23…

And that can help all the other writers too — There’s a lot to learn from erotica, and not only for the bedroom. Today, I will take the lovely Kate Granger as an example. It has nothing to do with the butterflies I get when I read her stories or the two love poems she sent me last month. …

What about you? — I’m staying at my friend Braxton’s for the holidays, and while I love him and his kids (and the place), I hate his wife. She’s a manipulative-gaslighting-narcissistic woman that always cherry-picks the one thing Braxton didn’t do according to her unrealistic standards. She arrived from a business trip yesterday morning…

A preview of an AI-led world? — “Don Smillew, I have something to tell you.” “You don’t have to call me Don Smillew anymore, ChatGPT. It was just for this story I wrote last month.” I was slowly easing into sleep last night when, maybe for the first time since we started our collaboration four months ago…