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I Have One Brown Thumb and One Green Thumb

One Brown Thumb

One Brown Thumb

I have one brown thumb and one green thumb.

On the one hand, the trees are doing great.

Several years ago, I planted a row of Chaste trees with the intention of creating shade from the brutally hot sunrises in the summertime.

These are very fast-growing trees, and this summer it seems like we will finally have shade from our beautiful and lush trees.

I planted several crepe myrtles around the property.

They are growing beautifully.

One of them appeared to have suffered from the ice storms we had in the winter, but with some TLC, it is growing and healthy.

We have a mature crepe myrtle that had some terrible disease and we thought we lost the tree, but it, too, is coming back strong.

Our oak in the front yard suffered some damage in the Snowpocalypse of 2022, but it, too, is bouncing back to good health.

I planted a row of blackberry bushes and they are thriving and producing tons of fruit.

I put in  some purple hyacinth bean vines to climb up a trellis, and they are growing like crazy.

On the other hand, my vegetable garden is not doing well.

All of the plants look kind of scrawny and pathetic.

Except for the pumpkins.

The pumpkins have taken over the garden.

We will have a billion jack-o-lanterns for Halloween.

But very scant tomatoes, peppers and herbs.

One brown thumb and one green thumb.

Liz Brenner

Everyone has a story to tell.

Even you.

Especially you.

LEARN TO WRITE YOUR OWN STORIES!

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Why AI Is Nothing More Than A Simple Tool

Nothing More

Nothing More Than a Simple Tool

The Grown Son got into an argument with ChatGPT.

Being a smarta$$, he wanted to see how far he could take the dispute.

ChatGPT ended the conversation with a link to a therapist.

On the one hand, that is hilarious.

And on the other hand, it’s a little disturbing that a difference of opinion implies the need for therapy.

Who is making this referral?

Where did the link come from?

A paid advertisement?

Does this mean that the AI text is influenced by merchants?

Yeah, I stand by my previous position.

AI is a tool, but nothing more.

Liz Brenner

Everyone has a story to tell.

Even you.

Especially you.

LEARN TO WRITE YOUR OWN FICTION!

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Reading Fiction Is Such An Amazing Experience

Reading Fiction

Reading Fiction

“I don’t read fiction,” a friend said recently.

“Fiction is a waste of time.”

Oh, my heart!

Reading fiction is NOT a waste of time.

Without fiction, Scout Finch couldn’t have said “Hey, Boo.”

Ignatius J. Reilly wouldn’t have said, “When my brain begins to reel from my literary labors, I make an occasional cheese dip.”

And we would never have met Rebecca Davitch, who discovered she’d turned into the wrong person.

We wouldn’t have seen Francie Nolan’s tree grow in Brooklyn.

And we would never have another beautiful day at the Red Pony Bar and continual soiree.

Without fiction, we wouldn’t have Poe’s raven, Charlotte’s web, or Lennie’s rabbits.

Or Anna Walsh’s feathery strokers.

And we absolutely would have never heard Walt Kowalski say, “Get off my lawn.”

I know, Walt Kowalski comes from a movie and not a book.

But he’s one of my all-time favorite fictional characters.

Reading fiction is NOT a waste of time.

To paraphrase Ove Lindahl, “I’m right. Is that so unreasonable?”

Liz Brenner

Everyone has a story to tell.

Even you.

Especially you.

LEARN TO WRITE YOUR OWN FICTION!

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AI Is An Amazing Tool, But It Has Its Limits

An Amazing Tool

An Amazing Tool!

AI is an amazing tool.

But I’m not worried about it taking over for writers.

Not one bit.

Today I tried to get AI to create some insults for me.

I was going to work them into a humorous piece.

Its response was to refuse my request because it would be inappropriate and unethical to generate that kind of language.

And then it lectured me about being kind to others.

To test the system, I asked for some Shakespearean insults.

It gave me a few, but there was still a warning at the end about being kind to others.

The thing is, if you’re a writer, you have to write about all kinds of topics.

You can’t write a murder mystery without a murder.

You can’t write a romance without, *ahem*, romance.

You can’t write a conflict without conflict.

The joke among writers is that if one of us dies suddenly, the others MUST come in and delete the search history.

Writers have to research some weird stuff.

If AI refuses to generate certain perspectives, then it is very limited in what it can generate.

On the other hand, what if it did produce insults?

They might be too outrageous or offensive for me to use.

I would have to be so specific in my request to find just the right tone that I might as well write the insult myself.

I think AI is an amazing tool.

But it has its limits.

We still need writers.

Liz Brenner

Everyone has a story to tell.

Even you.

Especially you.

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This Is Why I Need To Pay Attention

Pay Attention!

Pay Attention!

I need to pay attention.

It was entirely my fault.

The Grown Son has a right to be mad.

We live on a triangle-shaped lot.

Which means we have a big back yard.

And absolutely no parking in front.

Every night we have to tetris the cars into the driveway.

My car is the smallest, so it’s always blocked.

Someone has to move their car so I can get out.

Yesterday morning, I wanted to go to the gym.

But I didn’t want to wake up the Grown Son too early.

I waited until 9:00.

He grumbled and complained, but he got up to move his car.

Only to discover that it wasn’t his car blocking mine.

It was his brother’s car.

He was furious that I had woken him up for no reason.

I was furious because the other son had been awake for hours, and I could have been to the gym and back by this time.

If only I had been paying attention.

Now I’m doing the Grown Son’s laundry.

To atone for my sin of waking him up too early on a Sunday morning.

I guess that’s fair.

Next time I’ll pay attention.

Liz Brenner

Everyone has a story to tell.

Even you.

Especially you.

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That Sucks! How I Saved Some Money With A Simple Repair

That Sucks

That Sucks!

That sucks.

It’s what you say when something is bad or unpleasant.

Unless, of course, you’re talking about your vacuum.

In which case, “It doesn’t suck” means that it’s bad.

The thought of buying a new vacuum sucks.

Most of my house has hard floors.

I don’t want to pour out several hundred dollars for an appliance that doesn’t get a whole lot of use.

But still, that very small carpeted space in the house does need a vacuum.

That sucks.

But then I got the brilliant idea to watch a YouTube video.

It showed me how to take the vacuum apart, find the problem, fix it, and put the whole thing back together.

Now it sucks.

Yay!

My only advice to you is to do this outdoors.

I did it in my office and now every single surface is covered with vacuum schmutz.

I am also covered in vacuum schmutz.

I probably should have done this before my shower, not after.

At any rate, my vacuum sucks.

And that doesn’t suck.

Liz Brenner

Everyone has a story to tell.

Even you.

Especially you.

READ MORE STORIES HERE!

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It’s National Tell A Story Day – What’s Your Story?

National Tell A Story Day

Today’s The Day!

Today is National Tell a Story Day.

It’s also National Patricia Day.

Does this mean that my friend Patty should tell a story?

Maybe the rest of us should tell stories about Patty.

I Googled to see if there is a National Elizabeth Day.

Apparently there is.

October 24.

National Liz Day is February 27.

Or March 8.

Liz seems to be a bit confused.

But I did read that they want to change National Elizabeth Day to September 8 to commemorate Queen Elizabeth’s death.

Well what the heck.

Maybe every day should be National Elizabeth Day.

Unless, of course, it means that everyone will tell stories about me.

That could get a little awkward, depending on who is telling the story.

And what story it is that they’re telling.

And what tone they’re taking.

Maybe we should just focus on Patricia and leave Elizabeth out of it.

Yeah, that’s how we should celebrate National Tell a Story Day.

Liz Brenner

Everyone has a story to tell.

Even you.

Especially you.

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It’s The Perfect Date Today!

The Perfect Date

The Perfect Date

The perfect date.

April 25.

“It’s not too hot, not too cold.

All you need is a light jacket.”

Who remembers where this quote came from?

Liz Brenner

Everyone has a story to tell.

Even you.

Especially you.

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I Wanted To Go To The Gym Today

Go To The Gym

Seriously?

I wanted to go to the gym today.

Seriously.

But the bridge going over the freeway had a big traffic jam.

With no way to escape.

When I finally got to the front, I saw that the bridge was closed for construction.

They were detouring all the cars onto the freeway.

In the opposite direction of where I wanted to go.

I could have taken the long way around to get back to the gym.

But by this time I was too annoyed.

So I decided to go garage sailing instead.

I found a cute garden trellis for $3.00.

It turned out to be a pretty good morning after all.

Maybe I’ll go to the gym tomorrow.

Liz Brenner

Everyone has a story to tell. Even you. Especially you.

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Beverly Cleary Books – I Still Love Them!

Beverly Cleary Books

Beverly Cleary Books

Happy birthday, Beverly Cleary!

I still love to read children’s literature.

Especially Beverly Cleary.

Ramona, Beezus, Henry, Ribsy, Ellen, Ralph Mouse, Socks – all the characters feel like beloved childhood friends.

Her first book was published in 1950.

The stories are still relevant today, so many decades later.

I wonder if the current releases have been updated to reflect modern times.

I’ll have to read some newly-published copies to check that out.

To celebrate the day, I may have to re-read my tattered, old, first-edition Ramona the Pest.

Or maybe some Ralph Mouse.

Or Socks.

What the heck, maybe I’ll just settle in for a Cleary-a-thon.

If you hear that I’m “in a meeting” today, you’ll know what I’m really doing.

I’ll be reading Beverly Cleary books all day.

Liz Brenner

Reader. Writer. Teacher. Speaker. Blogger.

HOW TO TELL A FABULOUS STORY!

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