Every picture, a brush with love
Britni Pepper, Leica slung, a wanderer in the sun,
Snapping shots on every corner, where the tale’s begun.
From Tokyo streets to Mayan ruins, she’s sought the light and dust,
Captured faces, fleeting moments, of a lifetime’s storied lust.
(Chorus) But the click of the shutter hides a hollow within,
The shadows of goodbye whisper, where love could never win.
An album full of memories, a list of smiles and tears,
The price of wanderlust: a bill of loss and cheers.
Parisian twirls in moonlit squares, a tango’s fiery swirl,
Lost in laughter by a Tuscan vineyard, boy meets and loses girl.
From Marrakech souks to Bali beaches, each sunset a refrain,
Love blooms like desert flowers, to crumple in the rain.
Now Melbourne whispers stories, the ocean’s lullaby,
A cruise ship parts the harbour, where lovers say goodbye.
She watches life embark and voyage on, a bittersweet ballet,
Her Leica rests beside her, silent witness to the play.
Britni Pepper, camera in hand, a wanderer with a sigh,
Hears a poignant symphony, where love and longing lie.
For in the welcome of farewells, a scene she holds so dear,
The world is hers, a lover’s touch, though fleeting, ever near.
A joint effort by Bard, myself, and Jim the AI Whisperer
The lead illustration is from Jim’s Book Cover Illustrator custom GPT.
He gives full instructions here, including how to steer the final design to what you like and what works:
My requested image went through three iterations, each a stunning design, but none of them quite right. I gave up on giving my central figure a long blonde ponytail but at least the Route 66 shield is reasonable in my final version.
Here’s my initial prompt, describing my fictional version of myself:
Title: Good Travel, Bad Sex
Synopsis: Carrielle Watson is a travel photographer who takes assignments to interesting places around the world: Iran, California, Normandy, Route 66, Gallipoli, among many others. She often has romantic interludes in these adventures, sometimes good, sometimes frustrating and teasing. Carrie is mid-thirties, blonde hair in a ponytail, dressed for practicality, with a camera in her hands and another slung over her shoulder. Big Australian slouch hat, sturdy hiking boots, a trim and attractive figure in between.
As for the ballad, I simply asked Bard for a song:
I’d like a song, a top ten song, about the adventures of Britni Pepper, travel photographer, lover, romantic. She roams the world and records it with her Leica but is always forced to leave the people she loves. She sits under a tree in Melbourne, watching a cruise ship come in, and dreams of her years of travel, glad for what she has seen and experienced, wistful that she has had to leave so much behind.
I received three drafts, some with intriguing phrases.
From Marrakesh markets to Tokyo lights,
Her heart a suitcase, taking endless flights.
But every kiss, a bittersweet goodbye,
A whispered promise lost beneath the sky.
The shadow of love, a nomad’s lonely cost,
Britni Pepper wanders, forever almost lost.
And from a second draft:
From tango steps in Buenos Aires to laughter by the Nile
She’s kissed a thousand languages, each one a fleeting smile
She’s danced in temples draped in dawn, climbed mountains to the sky
But every sunset whispers sadly, a tear in her goodbye.
The third one is given above, rather heavily tweaked by me.
And, something new, a video.
We may thank Jim the AI Whisperer for this one as well, his suggestions about completely AI-generated videos sparking a quest and a test. You can make a video with a few words:
I’d like a video about the Medium writing platform, please
and it delivers.
Read Jim’s article here.
I was struck by the haunting words and music of “Moon River”:
Two drifters, oft to see the world …
I can share with you the little-known final verse of the song;
True lovers, drifting through the day,
We’re mooning hours away, so fast.
We’re finding our own seas and skies
In each other’s eyes
With each new sunrise;
Together, at last.
Thank you for reading. This story is now several months old and doubtless the AI components have been updated. I guess now I could just about ask an AI bot to “make a song, a couple of videos, and some background information about me and my travels” - in so many words - and have it deliver.
Britni, hopeless romantic
This story was first published on Medium on 24 January 2024.
I read your article and followed the instructions, and it build two nice videos for me. Thanks! That was my first experience with using AI to do that. Your article was very informative and useful.