S.J. Pajonas's Blog, page 4
February 2, 2025
January 2025 Wrap-Up and What I’m Up To in February 2025
January always feels like the longest month EVER.
January meant that I turned 49 this year. I am in my last year of my 40s! That feels nuts, but I'm trying to just accept the years are flying by.
I cut the majority of my alcohol and sugar this month. I had a feeling I was always in pain because of one or both of them, and it was time for some experimenting. It turns out that any high sugar will give me inflammation and pain. And alcohol that's high in sugar is especially bad for me. So if I want to have a drink, I drink gin or something low in sugar like prosecco. Anyway, I'm hoping this lack of sugar and alcohol will help me lose a few pounds, but I'm just glad for the lack of pain.
We went and saw Aida for my birthday at the Metropolitan Opera in NYC. It's nice that we get into the city at least once a month now. I got a lot of work done and managed to get pretty far into my knitting this month, too.
What I'm Up To in February 2025I'm no longer setting monthly goals because the last year has proven that anything and everything can happen or change on a whim. So instead, I'll give you a general idea of what I'll be up to each month.
This month, I'll be:
teaching most Fridays as part of the Future Fiction Academy.hoping to update my Patreon at least once with some of the cool AI stuff I'm doing.update my new Substack with some of my Gemini conversations that are also going here.traveling to Jamaica for a little vacation.getting a new dishwasher at home because the old one is busted after only 2 years!working on publishing more chapters of The Blender's Bargain to YouTube.working on my next Kimura Sisters book.See you all around the internet soon!
The post January 2025 Wrap-Up and What I’m Up To in February 2025 appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.
January 31, 2025
The Blender’s Bargain Chapter 4 Is Up on YouTube!
Chapter 4 means it's time for the syzygy!
I had never even heard the word ‘syzygy' before I started writing this book. But I knew what I wanted for this scene, and I think I nailed it.
I use tools like Midjourney, OpenAI's Text-to-Speech, Suno, Canva, Topaz Photo AI, and Kling to produce the images, audio, music, and videos that you see here.
It does take a lot of work to bring you something as simple-looking as this. You can find out more on my Patreon. http://patreon.com/spajonas
Once I manage to monetize my YouTube channel, Patreon will be the only place to get my work ad-free. I'll also post about how I made these videos and the tools I'm using on Patreon, so please come support me and my work there too, if you can.
You can watch this episode right here or head on over to YouTube to watch! Don't forget to like and subscribe to my YouTube channel to find out whenever I publish there, too.
The post The Blender’s Bargain Chapter 4 Is Up on YouTube! appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.
January 26, 2025
Audiobook Sundays
Somedays, this dog just does not want to walk, and I have to carry her down the hill before she gets the idea. Really, she's just protesting because she'd rather walk with my husband than with me.
Anyway, I decided recently to devote my Sunday walks to audiobooks, and I look forward to it all week! It's nice to leave my podcasts and news behind on Sundays and listen to a good story instead. Usually, after my walk, I come home and continue listening through lunch and with some knitting too. It's a great way to wind down my week.
Are you an audiobooks listener? What have you been listening to lately?
My current listen: Variation by Rebecca Yarros
The post Audiobook Sundays appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.
January 24, 2025
The Blender’s Bargain Chapter 3 Is Up on YouTube!
Chapter 3 has some bad news for poor Archie.
For this chapter, I had to consider everything about the Italian restaurant. What you don't realize is that AI is capable of putting a lot of details in the background that you have to pay attention to! Take for example, the art on the walls. There's an Easter Egg in this episode. Let's see if you can find it!
I use tools like Midjourney, OpenAI's Text-to-Speech, Suno, Canva, Topaz Photo AI, and Kling to produce the images, audio, music, and videos that you see here.
It does take a lot of work to bring you something as simple-looking as this. You can find out more on my Patreon. http://patreon.com/spajonas
Speaking of Patreon, once I manage to monetize my YouTube channel, Patreon will be the only place to get my work ad-free. I'll also post about how I made these videos and the tools I'm using on Patreon, so please come support me and my work there too, if you can.
You can watch the third episode right here or head on over to YouTube to watch! Don't forget to like and subscribe to my YouTube channel to find out whenever I publish there, too.
The post The Blender’s Bargain Chapter 3 Is Up on YouTube! appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.
January 21, 2025
Moving on from Elementor
I've been building websites for some time now. I built my very first website in 1997, and I got paid in 1998 to build them as a job. Ah, the days of the Dot Com Boom. They were something. I eventually moved on to build websites in corporate America and then for fun as well before really committing to WordPress and building sites as a freelancer.
Over the years, I really came to love a lot of the tools that were developed for WordPress, and I came to rely on them. But with the advent of AI, and the ability to supercharge my coding skills to do whatever the heck I want, I don't see the need for page-builder plugins anymore. Namely, Elementor. Elementor used to be a great tool. Now it's bloated, uses a ton of server memory, and slows down every site it touches.
I recently built a whole site without Elementor, and man, is it fast. I'm really pleased with how the site came together just using PHP, HTML, and CSS built on the basic WordPress theme, Neve. It proved to me that I can do without Elementor, and that my sites are better off for it.
So this year, I'll be reducing my dependency on Elementor on all of my websites including this one and the ones I have built as a freelancer. My Elementor Pro licenses will renew next January, and I'd like to be able to cancel that.
I can't wait to whip this site into shape! Hopefully you won't notice many changes as they will mostly be under-the-hood. Time to get to work!
The post Moving on from Elementor appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.
January 19, 2025
The Great Sugar and Alcohol Experiment Is Now Over and Unfortunately…
Sugar and alcohol won this round. Oh my god, am I in pain today. Yesterday was my birthday. We went into Manhattan to see Aida at the Met and then decided to come home for dinner and more celebrations. So we ordered Japanese (my favorite) and I had some champagne and saké, then for dessert, I had a gluten free brownie from Modern Bread and Bagel (I buy their bagels online because they are soooooo good).
This was an experiment for me. I had been low sugar, no alcohol since New Year’s and I had been feeling really good except for some shoulder and neck pain. That particular pain was not the fault of sugar or alcohol but an outcome of sleeping “wrong.” (I’m 49 now. Sleeping wrong is a common occurrence.) Yeah. Anyway, I had been feeling pretty good.
The pain started in the night. It always manifests in my legs first. Just that aching, dull all-over level 3 pain that’ll keep you up but probably isn’t worth painkillers. Ugh. I hate it.
And I hate that I now have to really cut back on things I love just to feel normal. I miss sweets. I really do. I can have a small amount of sugar and that’s it. Alcohol? I’m going to see next weekend if I can have one drink and be okay.
But I need some time off from the pain. I need to accept this body I have now and not wish for the invincible one I had in my 30s. Those days are gone.
Welcome to the last year of my 40s!
The post The Great Sugar and Alcohol Experiment Is Now Over and Unfortunately… appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.
January 17, 2025
The Blender’s Bargain Chapter 2 Is Up on YouTube!
Chapter 2 introduces us to Garrick… and his ex.
For this chapter, I had to make a lot of new character images. I also have to learn to put two characters in one scene. That is not as easy as it looks either. I love that I am leveling up all of the AI skills with this project! I take the time to imagine my characters and their settings and bring you a fuller, multimedia experience. I use tools like Midjourney, OpenAI's Text-to-Speech, Suno, Canva, Topaz Photo AI, and Kling to produce the images, audio, music, and videos that you see here.
It does take a lot of work to bring you something as simple-looking as this. You can find out more on my Patreon. http://patreon.com/spajonas
Speaking of Patreon, once I manage to monetize my YouTube channel, Patreon will be the only place to get my work ad-free. I'll also post about how I made these videos and the tools I'm using on Patreon, so please come support me and my work there too, if you can.
You can watch the second episode right here or head on over to YouTube to watch! Don't forget to like and subscribe to my YouTube channel to find out whenever I publish there, too.
The post The Blender’s Bargain Chapter 2 Is Up on YouTube! appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.
January 16, 2025
Come Subscribe to the Blog… (you know you want to)
If you haven't noticed yet, I've started using my blog more again, especially for publishing new content. I'm glad to be back here a little more often now. My friend Elizabeth said that this was my “journal” when I told her that I don't journal. Yeah, she's right, of course. I've kept this online journal, a digital representation of my journey the last 10 year (20 if you count my previous blog), and I should keep it up.
So, while I have you here, you'll see that I've added back the feature to subscribe to my blog. Every time I have a new post, you'll get it via email. That's it. It's totally separate from my newsletter list, and I'm not going to combine those two, I don't think. It's probably better to have them separate.
If you'd like to sign-up, you can do so below. It's on every blog post now.
Photo above is of me watching more Madam Secretary. Because I cannot seem to stop.
The post Come Subscribe to the Blog… (you know you want to) appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.
January 10, 2025
The First Chapter of The Blender’s Bargain Is Up on YouTube!
Welcome to the world of Latara! Where ordinary humans are about to experience something truly magical, if a little absurd. I hope to have new chapters produced every Friday.
Yes, my audiobooks are more visual than others on YouTube. I take the time to imagine my characters and their settings and bring you a fuller, multimedia experience. I use tools like Midjourney, OpenAI's Text-to-Speech, Suno, Canva, Topaz Photo AI, and Kling to produce the images, audio, music, and videos that you see here.
No, it's not as easy as clicking a button. It does take a lot of work to bring you something as simple-looking as this. You can find out more on my Patreon. http://patreon.com/spajonas
Speaking of Patreon, once I manage to monetize this channel, Patreon will be the only place to get my work ad-free. I'll also post about how I made these videos and the tools I'm using on Patreon, so please come support me and my work there too, if you can.
You can watch the first episode right here or head on over to YouTube to watch!
The post The First Chapter of The Blender’s Bargain Is Up on YouTube! appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.
January 2, 2025
December 2024 Wrap-Up and What I’m Up To in January 2025
December was a lot of fun and went by way too fast.
I visited my parents in South Carolina, we hosted Christmas Day here at our house for husband's side of the family, and then we went to the beach house for a few days.
What I'm Up To in January 2024I'm no longer setting monthly goals because the last year has proven that anything and everything can happen or change on a whim. So instead, I'll give you a general idea of what I'll be up to each month.
This month, I'll be:
teaching most Fridays as part of the Future Fiction Academy.hoping to update my Patreon at least twice with some of the cool AI stuff I'm doing.setting up some social media posts.celebrating my 49th birthday on the 18th.working on publishing the first few chapters of The Blender's Bargain to YouTube.See you all around the internet soon!
The post December 2024 Wrap-Up and What I’m Up To in January 2025 appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.
