Arg

March Break

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Hello Friends, Family, and fans;

I had a nice March break. My body finally gave in to the kids’ cold. I was sick the whole week but I got lots of snuggles and lots of time with the kids. We watched almost an entire season of Leverage, read, played video games, and rested.

Do I feel more rested after? No! Do I feel better than before? Also no! Do I feel like I accomplished a lot? Hell no!

But I do feel grateful for my awesome family. I’m just hoping this cold leaves me soon. I hate being stuffy and having trouble thinking.

Stay safe and be kind,

Éric

Top 5 Reasons I’m Afraid of AI

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Hello Friends, Family, and Fans;

Despite everyone and their grandmother praising AI and how it will change the world for good… It’s scaring me. Is it Adam’s Law? Am I a luddite? Or is everyone else just wrong?

5. What if it works?

The goal of most of the big AI companies is to reach Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), where AI will match or surpass humans. Now that’s kinda cool and all, but at the moment AI is using so much electricity and water that we can barely keep up. What happens when we get to AGI or sapience?

There’s a weird, almost religious, mantra in the tech-bro world that says once AI hits AGI, it’ll be able to fix those problems. Even if they’re right, we will have done immeasurable damage to the environment by that time.

4. Cognitive Decline

The over-reliance on technology often leads to loss of skills and loss of specializations. Few people know how to cut film for movies anymore. Not many encyclopedia salesmen running around. Most people my age don’t remember more than a few phone numbers. I’m not sure that any of that is all that sad.

However, several studies have shown a loss of critical thinking skills. I’m hoping this is a trend that will slow down as the use of AI becomes more expensive. It’s still scary to think that people are letting AI do their information gathering and critical thinking.

On a similar note, the absolute deluge of slop is a huge misinformation problem. Not only are bad actors creating division and misinformation, but AI is hallucinating and pushing bad info everywhere.

3. Lowered Expectations

This one really worries me. In the same way that a factory can churn out cheap products; AI can produce staggering amounts of content.

As a society, we’ve slowly become used to cheaper goods that don’t last long but are inexpensive. (In some cases shoddy products that are ridiculously expensive simply because of a brand name.)

AI can create video, images, and even novels, and it costs almost no energy for the person putting in the prompt. It’s easy to dismiss it as a hobbyist’s tool, but then Coca-Cola makes some low quality ads. Is the ad bad? No. Some of the visuals are amazing but there are so many errors that if it had been made by humans, it would have never been released.

Beyond ads, Disney has talked about self-prompted videos of their huge catalogue. Why would they pay humans to write or animate if they can just use AI?

Writing a book or story is hard, unless you use AI. Multiple magazines have had to shut down because they couldn’t go through all the submissions.

As a reader, I’m disgusted at the big publishers charging $20+ for an ebook. With the death of the mass market paperback, it’s really expensive to buy new books. If an AI prompter can make 5 books a week and charge $1, that will entice people, even if they are middling or poorly made.

2. Cost and Bubble

All the AI companies are gobbling up RAM, VRAM, and hard drives like college students at a buffet. It means that all tech is going to get more expensive, and in the short term we’re going to see a stagnation in products. Phones, computers, etc are going to have lower specs and higher prices.

If AI continues on this course, it’ll be 5 to 10 years before production will stabilize. If AI can’t produce AGI and the money dries up, the bubble bursting will bankrupt multiple companies and manufacturing will take a longer time to ramp up again.

Either way, the consumer will end up paying more for everything. Don’t forget that computers are used in everything, including farming and manufacturing. Increases in their costs will be reflected in ours.

1. Capitalism

LLM’s, which is what we’re calling AI, are a fabulous tool with great use cases in medicine, science, accessibility, data entry, etc. Unfortunately it’s being controlled by people who want nothing more than to make money.

From dynamic pricing to personalized misinformation, it’s all about money. The cost to the environment, art, copyright, human consciousness, life, or truth isn’t as important as their bank accounts. They will use it to squeeze every last penny out of the consumer.

My worry is how many jobs in the arts, customer service, and teaching will be replaced by poor imitations in the name of cost efficiency.

I hope that all this is unfounded and the technology will prove to be wondrous and make the world a better place.

What are your opinions?

Stay safe and be kind,

Éric

I’m on vacation

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Hello Friends, Family, and Fans;

Last Saturday we had our book launches and birthday party. It was a lot of fun. I’d like to thank those that came: it really meant the world to see you at our first in-person launch since the pandemic started.

The launch was great, but with every event comes stress. I also made a mistake with my meds that meant I went without any of my migraine meds for the weekend. Between the two things, I’m really wiped out. Thankfully I’d taken this week off for my vacation.

I had BIG plans for my vacation but mostly I’ve rested and played some video games.

The event plus the pills really showed me how much the accommodations plus medication have been helping me. It’s frustrating that a little slip and something I was excited for can make me feel so out of it and sad. It’s a form of Con-drop. Basically, the adrenaline plus happy chemicals are so elevated that your brain can’t keep up and actually has a deficit for a little while. For those of us with brains that don’t like producing those chemicals (like people with ADHD) it can really be hard to bounce back.

So don’t worry about me. I’ll be okay, I just need time.

Now, I’m off to enjoy the last day of my vacation.

Image borrowed from Sean Celaya.

Stay safe and be kind,

Éric

Editing… Arg

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Hello Readers,

I received the edits for The Copper Tarnish and it reminded me how much I loathe editing.

Footage of me editing.

It’s not the editor’s fault. They’re fantastic and doing their best to make my book even better. I’m just very emotional about the story.

While editing, I go through 4 phases (To be clear this is just me talking to myself. I don’t harass my editors):

1. NO!

At first I alternate between hubris, “How dare someone want to change my perfect words. They just don’t understand my genius.” and despair, “This is such a mess how can I possibly fix all the horribleness in this typo ridden mess.”

2. Why?

Then comes the confused indignant questions of, “Why is this important? You obviously don’t understand.” and, “Why the hell did I forget this or write it this way?”

3. Fine

I finally get to acceptance where I realize that it’s fixable and agree to change it. I don’t always use their suggestions but I try to fix what they’ve pointed out as a problem.

One of the most useful pieces of writing advice I ever got was that if an editor points out that something is wrong, they’re probably right; if they tell you how to fix it they’re probably wrong. (It’s a generalization but gives you permission to fix it your way.)

4. Okay, that’s better

In the end, in my experience, a good editor will be right the majority of the time. Again, an editors goal is to make the book better.

So the last stage is to recheck the edits and go, “Damn this is good.”

I should go back to editing. The faster I finish, the faster I can get back to writing The Hounds of Bakerville.

The Copper Tarnish by Éric Desmarais available June 3rd, 2025.
eBook
Paperback

Be kind and stay safe,

Éric

Health Update April 2024

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Hello Friends, Family, and Fans;

I haven’t written an update since January because I’m still waiting on some results. However, there are some things I can tell you.

How’s my body doing

Heart

I wore a heart monitor for three days and despite what the RSV did while I was sick, my heart is back to normal. My heart rate is still a little high but within normal ranges.

Arms

My arms still hurt, pretty much all the time, but it’s manageable with exercise and stretching. I’ve only needed to put muscle cream on my arms once this year.

Face and left eye

Still numb and still having vision issues. It gets worse if I spend a lot of time concentrating or sitting in a computer chair.

Tests

MRI

I did an MRI of my head, neck, and back. I have an appointment with the neuro-etymologist in June. He might talk to me about it or I might have to wait for the MS doctor in July.

I saw the results but it’s in Medical-jargon and I’m not sure. It seems that there’s a UBO (Unidentified bright object) behind my left eye but according to the internet that could be a bug in the test.

It also say that I have no sign of, “demyelinating disease”.

Lastly it says that I have, “Multilevel degenerative changes within the cervical spine causing various degrees of spinal canal foraminal stenosis, worse at the c5-c6.” Which the internet tells me is a “narrowing that happens in certain places around the nerves that come out of your spinal cord”.

But again, this is my quick googling and not anything official from a doctor.

Vision Tests

I have a few repeat tests for eyes in June and a few to test for MS (unscheduled – doctor wanted to see MRI first).

Allergies

I have bad allergies. In 2007 I woke up feeling super weak and forced myself out of bed. The exertion burst the veins in my eyes. I got an appointment with an allergist and was tested and put on shots. They really helped.

After 5 years, I was told that they wouldn’t help me more and that if my symptoms worsened after 5 years to come see the allergist again.

In 2019, my allergies got really bad and I started getting what I call Allergy Attacks. My bowels cramp, and I get weak, and it takes about a week to recover. I didn’t realize it was allergies that caused it until last year.

I really felt it in 2020 but pushed it off.

I finally broke two weeks ago and contacted my allergist. Unfortunately after 10 years you need a new referral.

Long story short, I have an appointment with my family doctor on Wednesday to talk about allergies.

Colds

Last, and certainly most frustrating, are head colds. I’ve now had 4 since January and I’m pretty tired of blowing my nose and coughing.

I feel better today then I have in a while but I’m still sniffling and coughing. The whole thing is made worse combined with allergies. (And no, going outside and eating dirt will not help strengthen my immune system.)

Conclusion

I’m doing okay and I have leads to what might be wrong with me. Hopefully the doctors can narrow it down and I can start treating whatever it is to make sure it doesn’t get worse.

Stay safe and be kind,

Éric

Health Non-Update

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Hello,

Not much has changed since my last update. Actually, nothing has changed. I’m still waiting on WSIB to make a decision on if they’re sending me to their clinic or if they’re cutting me loose. After a lot of hubbub about an old injury, they requested to talk to my doctor and physiotherapist. I then contacted both and had them call. I don’t know if the doctor did it, but I know they talked to my physio.

I tried calling my caseworker and basically she’s waiting to make sure this isn’t an old injury that was made worse and wants to know why my doctor wants to send me to a neurologist instead of another specialist.

This is infuriating and painful.

Hopefully we’ll get some movement before I lose my patience…

Éric

Hotel Transylvania 4: Transformania – JenEric Movie Review

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How This Works – Read Other Reviews

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2022 film Hotel Transylvania: Transformania.

Story

The story follows traditional comedy pratfalls. It’s all about ego and misunderstanding. As usual, Dracula means well, but screws everything up. The second half is better, but still dependant on the characters reverting to their pre-development stages.

Score: 0

Characters

Dracula is a controlling, narcissistic, and childish character. I did feel bad for him in the jungle though. He learns his lesson, but its a similar one to the last three movies.

As usual, Mavis needs to save the day. The characters were consistent with the previous movies and did grow, but weren’t that interesting this go-around.

I will say that I didn’t really miss Adam Sandler and thought the new guy was fantastic.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

Where this movie shines is in the one liners and quips. They’re often silly, but there are a few laugh out loud ones.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The visuals are good. They didn’t try to change or improve the style, but they did some interesting thing with the crystal cave.

I barely remember the music which means it did what was needed and that’s okay.

Score: 0.5

Fun

Once you get over the stupidity of the main character and that he literally causes all the problems, it’s a fun fluffy movie. Not much here other than the moral of speaking to your spouse before doing something stupid.

The kids loved it and the rest of us had a relaxing movie.

Score: 1

Overall

A possibly superfluous sequel with a lot of the same feel and jokes of the others. It’s fun, but doesn’t break new ground.

Final Score: 3 stars out of 5

Éric’s Top 5 Convention Etiquette Pet Peeves

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Hello My Imaginary Friends,

Apparently I’ve never written this, although I swear I have.

Conventions are a hectic and exhausting event for those of us that sell. These are my pet peeves that clients do quite often. Most of it boils down to respect. Here they are:

5. Haggling

Conventions are a lot of work and most artists don’t do it to get rich. The money is used to go back into the art and to let us go to these events.

Most artists underprice their stuff by not including their time in the calculation of cost and profit. Be it art, hand crafts, food, etc; the artist has worked hard to figure out their price.

You can ask if they have deals, but this isn’t a flea market; don’t try to haggle down the price.

4. Blocking a table

I understand you want to chat and hang out. That’s great, but if you’re done buying or are just chatting then move to the side and let others look. You can still chat and hang out without blocking a table.

Same goes for those who want to hang out with friends, do it somewhere else. Be aware that if you’re blocking a table, others can’t get to it.

3. Selling to vendors

When someone is working on selling their own stuff there is nothing more rude or insulting than you going around trying to sell them something.

The obvious exception is food, I’m okay with that. But I don’t want your cheap ass flyers for life coaching, hotel rooms, or other bullshit. I’m there to sell coffee and crochet, not hear about how you can help me become a corporation.

2. Touching

If your hands are dirty or you’re holding food/drink, don’t touch. For the rest of the time when it comes to my coffee bags I don’t care. I have a set up the encourages you to touch and look.

For everyone else. ASK! If we had a dollar for every person who played with the crocheted items we’d pay for our table twice-over.

Not everyone has displays that are fixable or products that can handle touching. Be respectful and ask first.

1. Photos

Don’t. Just don’t take pictures unless you ask first. For those that make print art it’s the number one way to pirate their stuff. For those that make products, it’s a great way to steal designs or patterns.

If you must send someone the cutest thing you’ve ever seen, ask first. If you post it online ask first and give the artist credit.

This is the artist’s creation, don’t be a jerk. Most will be okay as long as you ask and are respectful.

In the end it just comes down to realizing that artists are there to sell and talk about their products. Respect them and their art.

Anything I missed? Let me know in the comments.

Éric

Is it autumn yet?

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Hello My Imaginary Friends,

I have a secret to tell you… Come closer… Closer… Ok that’s good… I HATE HEAT!!!

This past month has been torture for me. Like alternating between a sauna and an oven. As much as walking in snow is a pain, it’s much more comfortable than walking in the rain. As much as I hate shoveling, I’d rather do that than mow the lawn (I’m literally allergic to mowing the lawn).

There’s only one thing that I like about summer and that’s when it’s not too hot… I love the cool evenings were it dips below 20 degrees Celsius. That I can stand, but this… arg.

Added onto that, Baby Dragon has been sick since mid month and I’ve caught the cold. For her it was a sore throat, cough, and fever. For me it’s a head cold. I feel like someone is trying to inflate a balloon inside my nasal cavities.

Being sick sucks. Being sick and overheating sucks X1000.

I should be writing, beta-reading, or writing, or editing… sigh.

Is is Autumn yet? I want hoodies, pumpkin pie, cool nights, and Halloween movies.

 

How’s your summer going?

Éric