Monday Morning Melting
The sidewalks are clear of snow here in North Central Texas this Monday Morning and I am thawing out as well – from a weekend indoors, sedentary and Texas snow slow. The roar of the highways died during the first snowfall that came early Thursday morning, and kept coming all day here at Fish Camp North – to the tune of 4.5-inches of fluffy stuff by the end of the day.
Of course we were not prepared for that much snow, and had to rush around dropping our sun shades that were bowing their posts under the gargantuan weight, and certainly weighed in the hundreds of pounds – before noon. Why were we not prepared? Because this is Texas, and I’m a Texan. It really is that simple.
The coffee was good though, and I continued to drink it all day long … my acidity levels must be off the charts, but I always follow up a quarter-gallon morning coffee routine with a sugar-free sports drink to try and restore civility to my system.
NOTE: The YouTube Monday Sidewalks will be off the rest of January, and it may shift to a live show Monday mornings THERE. We shall see. What do you think? Go live on Monday Sidewalks?
WRAPPING RODS
I have a video coming out SOON – about wrapping rods and what an education that has been for me, courtesy Sawgrass Fishing Rod Company in Dallas, Texas. By the time you read this I will almost be in their warehouse-manufacturing location, in North Dallas, with my latest small batch of wrappings and hope for the best for those (to pass QC).
DEFINING STYLES
As I work to define my new video style, topics and trends for your Texas Fly Caster YouTube Channel, I am working to find the right balance of reality and reality with creativity. That last one, “creativity” is always subjective just as those who call themselves, “artists,” is a subjective label as well. Since the heady days of my “higher” education, I have never placed the burden of calling myself an “artist” on my back. I always thought that would be too heavy a lift for my ability.
But this year, when I handed myself the freedom to create videos doing whatever I wanted to do in behalf of fly fishing and you the viewers? it has given me a small puff of wind in my creative sails. Rare was the time when you escaped me talking to you on camera. Now I can take time to NOT talk to the camera, go back to Camp and look at what’s there and – I HOPE – create an interesting audio track that ADDS TO the video, rather than the old style.
That doesn’t mean the Channel will be abandoning shared reality as it happens, as fearful as I am of sharing reality, but it does mean I will be paying a little more respect to creativity while bringing the reality home for you to watch in 2025 and beyond.
There’s a long way to go in this adventure, here in writing and out there in the Tube. AI has made a deep and lasting imprint on this website, on the TUBE, and on just about everything I do related to fly fishing – whether I, or you, like it or not. AI is as undeniable as the internet itself, and the things coming from AI to fly fishing, to the world at large? I believe they are beyond our wildest imaginations, and “wildest” is probably an understatement. Humans are heading toward the stuff of science fiction now, and why not?
The great thing about AI today? It is very recognizable in writing. And if you have been reading along with me here all these years? I don’t even have to tell you an article is ChatGPT generated, but I ALWAYS will. That is because NEW READERS can be unfamiliar with something that used to be called, “writing style,” and as the AI wheel continues to turn? it’s going to take a while for AI to learn “writing style.” When I say a while, I mean like a few seconds … and … done. NO, really — it will never replace my writing, or any creative writer’s ability to write. (I just love being wrong, throwing it in at the end to see if you are still reading!)
Category: Backcasting, Body-Mind-Soul, Fly Art, Fly Fishing AI ChatGPT, Life Observed
