The image above is sort of an act of treachery on my part. Since I am (and must be) one who identifies as an enemy of Artificial Intelligence, I’ve made little use of it as a tool in any way. But today I saw where somebody had gotten one of the apps to turn his photo into a Renaissance portrait. I was intrigued. So I went over to Grok and got it to transmogrify my photo into the picture above – “in the style of N. C. Wyeth.”

I don’t know that it looks a lot like Wyeth, but it’s not a bad picture. Nevertheless, I find that I rather resent it. Not merely the fact that it’s a younger version of me – it’s also handsomer, and looks physically stronger. I wouldn’t want to face that guy down; I don’t think I could take him.

I well remember when the original photo was taken. It was at a Viking event in Missouri, where a fellow I knew had built himself a Viking farm, where he hosted a couple events a year. That was my last year there. I introduced a young man and woman, who later married. This pleased me greatly. Until they broke up. I’m tempted to blame the failure of their relationship on myself, because I’m like that.

I never went back to that Viking farm again. The owner said something to which I took offense – not about me, but about someone else. So I implemented my usual revenge strategy of backing away from him, for that third person’s sake.

This strategy would be more effective if anybody ever noticed my absence.

I heard the farm owner died a while back. In retrospect, I wish I’d stayed in touch. Not that we were close friends, but I ought to be more open and aboveboard in my dealings with people.

I’m pretty sure the guy in the picture would be.