Motorcycle Road Trip To Monument Valley

Riding the American West to Monument Valley and Page Arizona on a motorcycle photography road trip, was on top of my bucket list for several years. These thoughts began brewing in my mind after graduating from Motorcycle Mechanics Institute (MMI) in 1986, as I was riding my Kawasaki KZ900 from Phoenix, AZ to Brooklyn, NY.

At the beginning of 2020, before the COVID pandemic shutdown and stay-at-home orders, I had already begun to plan the motorcycle trip to Monument Valley. Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park closed for approximately 17 months during the COVID pandemic. For almost an entire year I religiously monitored the park website looking for a park opening update. After a year, I gave up on that dream. If I wasn't such a chronic travel procrastinator, I could've probably waited a little longer and continue planning the trip.

It is amazing how thanks to Artificial Intelligence, I can make me feel like I was there, in the middle of a place I've never visited before.

Desde La Comodidad De Mi Hogar

El avion llamado Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, es un avion de combate que se utilizo durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial. En los ultimos años he querido visitar Massey Aerodrome Air Museum en Maryland o Mid Atlantic Air Museum en Reading, Pensilvania para tomar fotos del avion junto a mi Kawasaki Ninja ZX14. Por alguna razon u otra no se ha dado la oportunidad. Gracias a la tecnologia de Inteligencia Artificial, anoche logre hacerlo desde la comodidad de mi hogar. 

Ayer tambien logre hacer una foto de la 1974 Kawasaki Z1 900 con mis colores favoritos. Estos son los colores que voy a tratar de utilizar en mi 1978 Kawasaki LTD cuando este viviendo en Puerto Rico. En mi opinion, las dos fotos quedaron espectaculares!

The Rat Race in a Nutshell

This AI caricature image of myself, encapsulates the long hours and hectic schedule that surrounded my previous work life. 

Managing time between patient's home visits and completing documentation on time was very time consuming. In the meantime, they were days where you have to add education workshops, pre-post test HIV counseling and testing. Helping people with HIV with access to medical care and social services. Assisting with appointment adherence and to stay engaged with HIV treatment. Plus offering street sex workers outreach, and last but not least, visiting shooting galleries to promote our health center medical and mental health services. 

As is always the case, the documentation often falls behind due to high caseloads, and not enough staff to complete all the tasks. If the worker does not take care of him/herself and manage stress effectively, work burnout and employee turnover is usually the end result in most healthcare scenarios. 

It is a mystery to me how I did it for 26 years. Passion for one's work is a great motivator for success. In my opinion, when you have a genuine passion for what you do, it becomes easier to overcome challenges.

Fleetwood Mac Under the Museum Lights

The original "light-painted" image (shown at the end of this post) was taken on May 2, 2016, in front of the steps where the iconic Rocky statue is shown standing on the Philadelphia Museum of Art. 

To create or edit some of my photos, sometimes I use music. Music helps me relax and inspires my editing process. For this AI cartoon selfie, I listened to one of my favorite rock bands, Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac.

Throwback Thursday

This picture was taken in 2020 at the George Washington Bridge overlook in New York. That weekend I traveled to NYC specifically to take pictures of the GWB, the Statue of Liberty, Coney Island, the Brooklyn Bridge from the top of the Manhattan Bridge walkway, and a couple of sunset pictures from Top of the Rock at the Rockefeller Center.

It was a lot of fun to travel all over New York to photograph those locations. Just for fun, last night I created this AI caricature of the same picture. Enjoy !!!

A Nostalgic Reminder Of Great Times

It is being said that acknowledging the need for honesty with yourself is a courageous first step toward clarity and personal growth. For that reason, I have to be honest and confess that for reasons I won't get into it here, initially I wasn't open about using AI in photography, until now. 

First, let's go back 40 years. In 1986, a few months after graduating from MMI, I purchased a SuperFlow 110 flowbench. For my own selfish reasons and to save money in the process, my initial interest was to build my own Kawasaki drag racing cylinder head for a Kawasaki dragbike I was putting together at that time. The SuperFlow 110 flowbench was the best motorcycle tool to optimize performance I've ever owned. 

Unfortunately, taking selfie or casual photos was not a common trend back then. Throughout the years, I recall having maybe three images of my SuperFlow 110 flowbench. The selfie pic sitting next to the flowbench disappeared years ago during one of my many moves; only the two images shown here have endured the test of time. 

That is where AI comes in. For the past two weeks, I've been using AI to create motorcycle scenarios using old photos taken years ago during motorcycle events and gatherings I've attended. 

I made a decision last night, to try to recreate a SuperFlow 110 flowbench using one of the remaining flowbench old photos taken in my Brooklyn apartment. I gave AI a few prompts, and in less than 5 seconds the application created the amazing photo featured on this post. 

It even shows a Mitutoyo Micrometer, the Neway Valve Seat Cutters and a Mitutoyo Dial Indicator with a Magnetic Base Kit.  I know is not the real thing, but to me this AI caricature is better than nothing. It is also a nostalgic reminder of great times during the first part of my life as a motorcycle technician. 

My Personalized Motorcycle AI Cartoon

I have to confess that creating my first Al (Artificial Intelligence) personalized cartoon of my 2010 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14 and my 1978 Kawasaki KZ 1000 LTD, has been both a blessing and a curse. I love playing with the app. I am hooked, but who can blame me?

Enjoying Long Walks On The Beach