Planet Iron Blogger SF

We have a couch and fiber internet now. Big accomplishments.

After living in San Francisco’s Mission District for 20 years, I’m excited to say that my partner and I have bought our first place! It’s the second floor condo in a 120 year old building on 16th Street near Valencia.

The post We bought A Place In The Mission! appeared first on Doc Pop's Weblog.

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Doc and I have been packing and sorting through our things into “keep” vs “donate” vs “throw away” piles. I look over at Doc’s “donate” pile, and I see Picard socks and a Chewbacca shirt. This just struck me as incredibly whimsical.

I’m hosting two fun events in San Francisco this April. Both are free, in the Mission District, and open to everyone.

Then the SF Yo-Yo Club is happening on Saturday April 11th at 826 Valencia from 2-5pm. This is also a recurring event that happens on the second Saturday of each month at that same time and location.

The Cartoonist Conspiracy of San Francisco is our monthly comic jam. It’s an event for artists to come and collaborate on a jam comic together, so bring a pen and be ready to draw with strangers. We meet on the second Tuesday of each month at Finjan Qahwa Cafe from 7-9pm. That’s April 14th.

The post More Nerdy Events in San Francisco In April appeared first on Doc Pop's Weblog.

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Ever since I got Doc mutton for his birthday last time, he has wanted it again! And so, this year, more mutton! I also made him medovik for his cake Admittedly I made it because it is my favorite cake. But he liked it too, so it worked out!

Of course, you can’t spell Matt Spitz without AI.

I did some Cloudfront, Route 53, and ACM gymnastics, and now the default domain name for this website is mttsptz.ai. All of the links from mattspitz.me that my millions of followers have bookmarked still work – they’ll just redirect here.

Welcome to the new revolution, where domain names cost $80/year for a dad joke. It’s worth every penny.

I’m back from a short vacation in West Marin where we kayaked across Tomales Bay and camped in a mellow site along the beach. Along the way we spotted tule elk, elephant seals, otters, deer, bioluminescent sea-creatures, and a juvenile gray whale.

I brought a fine-point Sharpie and a small sketchbook and kept a tiny travel journal to capture the trip.

and here’s a pdf version

The post Sketches from Tomales Bay appeared first on Doc Pop's Weblog.

This weekend I went to a route setting workshop at the gym, which was a lot of fun! We talked about how to think about setting routes and how to get people to do the beta you want on your climb. Then at the end we all collaboratively set a beginner-friendly traverse and talked about … Continue reading "Route Setting Workshop"

I always love watching Rei Iwakura’s yo-yo videos. They’re full of creativity and constantly push the boundaries of what’s possible with a yo-yo. His newest video, an experiment combining helium balloons with yo-yoing, is no exception.

I was so inspired by this piece, that I even made some art about it.

The post Rei’s Yo-Yo Balloon Experiment appeared first on Doc Pop's Weblog.

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Due to stress in life generally, and also due to not having taken a vacation in quite some time, we went to West Marin to go kayaking and camping around Tomales Bay. We arrived a couple days early, however, to just relax at a hotel on the bay so we didn’t have to jump right … Continue reading "Mini Vacation"

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New posters have appeared on Mission Street calling out Google and OpenAI over their business with the Department of War and ICE.

The group behind these posters, We Will Not Be Divided, claim to be current employees who are concerned their work will be used “for domestic mass surveillance and autonomously killing people without human oversight”.

Last week I wrote about a series of posters going up in these same spaces that criticized Elon Musk’s Grok AI for generating sexual images, revenge porn, and CSAM. I still don’t know who posted those, but I don’t think it’s the same group.

The post Posters From Tech Workers Criticize Google and OpenAI’s Work With the Military and ICE appeared first on Doc Pop's Weblog.

I’m hosting two fun events in San Francisco next week. Both are free, in the Mission District, and open to everyone.

The Cartoonist Conspiracy of San Francisco is our monthly comic jam. It’s an event for artists to come and collaborate on a jam comic together, so bring a pen and be ready to draw with strangers. We meet on the second Tuesday of each month at Finjan Qahwa Cafe from 7-9pm. That’s March 10th.

Then the SF Yo-Yo Club is happening on Saturday March 14th at 826 Valencia from 2-5pm. This is also a recurring event that happens on the second Saturday of each month at that same time and location.

The post Nerdy Events in San Francisco Next Week appeared first on Doc Pop's Weblog.

Today I made a somewhat experimental (for me) dessert – I made cashew cream, and used that to make a very rich chia seed pudding (instead of using milk, etc). I also made a mousse with chocolate and coconut milk. I then layered these and added some crumbles (I had leftover from making medovik) and … Continue reading "Nutty Dessert"

/2026/02/25/lets-go-skiing.html

Listen to an audio version, read by the author

Inkbox Tattoos shut down today. They offered high-quality temporary tattoos that looked great and lasted for weeks. I was a huge fan of their service, but I had a feeling the end was near when they started pushing “NFT tattoos.”

Aside from the NFT tattoos, *sigh*, Inkbox had three main product options (Wayback link here):

• Tattoo Pens – Pens filled with special ink that let you draw custom designs directly on your skin.
• Signature Tattoos – A curated selection of ready-to-print designs submitted by artists from around the world.
• Custom Tattoos – Users could choose a size and submit their own artwork to be turned into temporary tattoos.

The custom option was my favorite and I’ve ordered dozens of custom tattoos over the years:

How it worked

Once you picked a size and submitted your black-and-white design, Inkbox would ship you a sticker to apply to your body. You’d leave it on for about 40 minutes, peel it off, and see light blue lines in its place. After 24 hours, those lines would darken nicely and stay on your skin for a few weeks.

Inkbox sticker applying to skin the final tattoo (a day later)

Inkbox’s “special sauce” was jagua, a natural dye extracted from the fruit of a South American tree. Like henna, jagua absorbs into the outermost layer of skin, creating a dark blue stain that looks remarkably close to actual tattoo ink and doesn’t wipe off easily.

So long and thanks for all the Tatts

I’ve been on Inkbox’s mailing list for years and their closure came as a huge surprise to me. Up until February 21st, 2026, there was no mention of the site’s closure. Here’s the very first mention that came via email:

All Inkbox operations will be shutting down indefinitely on Monday, February 23^rd, with the final day to purchase being Sunday, February 22^nd, 2026.  All orders placed before the 23^rd will be honored as usual. 

I tried ordering tattoos that same day, but the checkout screen was busted and no orders went through. 48 hours after announcing their closure, Inkbox’s site was fully shut down.

I recently learned that Inkbox was acquired by BIC in 2022. Best known for their plastic lighters and pens, BIC folded Inkbox into their “Skin Creative” division alongside Tattly and BodyMark. In December 2025, BIC quietly announced they were shutting down the entire Skin Creative division, including Inkbox. What’s surprising is that this was never communicated through their own newsletter, website, or social media until just two days before the site went dark.

That’s rough for anyone who got a gift card for Christmas. But hey, things happen. I’m going to miss my silly Inkbox tattoos. I wish I could have placed one more massive order before they closed.

The post RIP Inkbox Tattoos appeared first on Doc Pop's Weblog.

We took the Muni to Hayes Valley and had dinner there before heading over to the Opera House There were three Balanchine choreographies; the first two to Tchaikovsky and the last to Sousa. Yes, Sousaphone-fame Sousa!

Posters stating “Grok creates AI child porn” and “Elon empowers pedos” are appearing all around the Mission District in San Francisco. There’s no information on who is behind these posters, but there is a link to this recent Wired.com story about the huge amount of child sexual abuse material that Grok is making on a daily basis.

spotted on Mission Street near 29th st in San Francisco.

Although the posters are clearly targeting X / Twitter / Grok, the poster design is clearly referencing Facebook’s classic “Move fast and break things” era typography. These new posters are using a darker shade of orange, probably for higher contrast, but it sure has that same feel to it.

CC-BY photo by Mark Deerkoski

I used that same exact color/font combo when designing my “Move purposefully and fix things” stickers in 2018.

The post “Elon empowers Pedos” appeared first on Doc Pop's Weblog.

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Here’s the story of how curling, an obscure Winter Olympics sport, inspired me to create the yo-yo emoji.

This video was fun to make and can be watched on Youtube, PeerTube, Loops, or Instagram. Currently, it’s getting the most attention on IG, which is cool because I hope that leads Aidan Oldenburg into watching it himself.

I’ve made a few longer videos about the yo-yo emoji, which you can watch here:

The post How an Obscure Winter Sport Inspired The Yo-Yo Emoji 🥌 🪀 appeared first on Doc Pop's Weblog.

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This year I’m starting to run the SF Yo-Yo Club on a monthly basis at 826 Valencia in San Francisco. Our first meeting of the year was yesterday and we had a great turn. A mix of folks who had only been yo-yoing for a few weeks and folks who have been yo-yoing for over 20 years. One of our attendees was a three time winner of the European Yo-Yo Contest.

These yo-yo meet ups are open to anyone and totally free, but leaving a tip for 826 Valencia is greatly appreciated. We’ll be meeting on the second Saturday of every month from 2-5pm at 826 Valencia. Our next meeting will be on March 14th, 2026.

The post San Francisco Yo-Yo Club Was A Success appeared first on Doc Pop's Weblog.

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I have recently been letting my hair get out of control and just growing it and growing it with no real vision for it. My hair and nails grow really fast and I find it overwhelming, it seems like I am cutting them all the time. This weekend I finally got all that back on … Continue reading "Haircup"

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I like to keep an eye out for cool shapes during my walks and use them as inspiration for my #SidewalkFriends drawings. It’s like my version of hunting for Pokémon.

Today’s Sidewalk Friends sketch is a guy in a tuxedo peaking from around a corner. Inspired by some moss and cracks in the asphalt.

The post #SidewalkFriends: Friend or Foe appeared first on Doc Pop's Weblog.

Ballet season is starting up again, starting with Eugene Onegin. It was really captivating, it surprised me! In other news, my phone battery started swelling up, so now I have a death phone to contend with. I have to bring it in to a guy to take it out safely for me and dispose of … Continue reading "Ballet Season Again"

Thanks to the wonderful folks at 826 Valencia, the San Francisco Yo-Yo Club is back on a monthly basis!

Our next meetup is Saturday, February 7th from 2–5pm, and after that we’ll gather on the second Saturday of each month (March 14th, April 11th, and so on).

We’ll be meeting in the stylish back room at 826 Valencia, a nonprofit creative writing center that’s generously sharing their space with us. These meetups are free and open to everyone, but if you’re able, please consider making a donation to 826 as a thank-you for supporting our yo-yo shenanigans.

Again, all skill levels are welcome, so bring a yo-yo and come throw with us.

The post The San Francisco Yo-Yo Club Is Back appeared first on Doc Pop's Weblog.

/2026/01/25/ski-weekend.html

I gave blood for the first time in a long time. Years maybe. I got poked yesterday Anyhow, apparently I have been entered into a raffle for Superbowl tickets because of a promotion going on to get donors. I would go if I had tickets, I guess, though I confess I was unaware of the … Continue reading "Gave Blood"

While Dark Heresy is still infecting my brain, I started sculpting a rosette from apoxie sculpt clay, armature wire, and whatever else. Should be fun. I’m in the sanding and priming stage now. I plan to paint the inlays red, and then I think filling them with a clear or maybe red-ish resin would look … Continue reading "Brainrot"

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After dealing with a wave of spammers trying to sign up for our Cartoonist Conspiracy group, I created a human-powered captcha to weed out the spam.

I had previously posted a text version of this story, but decided to make a video for it too. BTW, our San Francisco Cartoonist Conspiracy meets on the second tuesday of every month from 7-9pm at Finjan Qahwa cafe. We have one happening next week.

The post The Punk Rock Turtles Test appeared first on Doc Pop's Weblog.

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I like to keep an eye out for cool shapes during my walks and use them as inspiration for my #SidewalkFriends drawings. It’s like my version of hunting for Pokémon.

Today’s Sidewalk Friends sketch is a laid back green guy, inspired by some dried soap bubbles from a nearby car wash.

While working on this piece, I tried refining a new style that was inspired by carving out linotype. Rather than using consistent lines, I tried to give the lines a more etched, or “hand cut”, look.

The post #SidewalkFriends: Cool Greg appeared first on Doc Pop's Weblog.

The Dark Heresy alpha is out and I am ready for it to completely reprogram my brain. I need to kiss the “Baron” on the mouth. He is a sweet boy who never did anything wrong in his life

Last night we stumbled upon this cool projection mapped art at the corner of 22nd and Valencia in San Francisco. It was part of a month long art project by a local VJ named Mark Johns. Here’s his site SlideAndSpin.com

The projector was set up against the old Lucca Delicatsen and projected across the street onto the old Social Security building.

The post Projection Mapping at 22nd and Valencia appeared first on Doc Pop's Weblog.