Planet Iron Blogger SF

October 27, 2025

Certainly Strange

Hexed

Continuing the busy Halloween festivities, we went to Peaches Christ’s event at the Mint. This year was witches’ coven themed, so I did a sort of witchy / sorcerer outfit Me in my warlock outfit, outside the Mint Me with a plastic witch inside the event space

by Steen at October 27, 2025 02:36 AM

October 26, 2025

I before E except Gleitzman

Spooky Messages from the Unknown

Spooky Messages from the Unknown

Toil and trouble

October 26, 2025 04:25 PM

October 25, 2025

Doctor Popular

Upcoming Bay Area Events

A few cool events coming up that I thought y’all might like.

If you know of others, share them here. There are also some neat sounding events at the York Street Collective (the old Lucca Ravioli spot on Valencia) https://luma.com/ysc

The post Upcoming Bay Area Events appeared first on Doc Pop's Weblog.

by doc at October 25, 2025 06:32 PM

I Like Turtles

Halloween decorations

/2025/10/25/halloween-decorations.html

October 25, 2025 07:00 AM

October 22, 2025

Doctor Popular

Don’t Support Businesses That Use Generative AI

Hear the audio version, read by the author

There’s been a huge rise in AI-generated posters in our neighborhood lately, and I hate it. Comedy shows, house painters, community events… all rendered in the same generic AI slop style. Even the fonts seem generated, with weird artifacts around the edges and inconsistent letters.

A flier for A flier for A black and white flyer on a post that is advertising for a mechanic's business. It shows an AI-generated cartoon like image of a man with a wrench. Text says A close up of an AI generated poster. The letters have this weird inconsistency to them, for example all of the

They should check out what other local businesses like Walls, Only and Red Apple Comics are doing to see how it’s done. Perfect design skills are not necessary, and a little creativity can go a long way.

A flier that says Walls, Only Graffiti drawings of two alien women on a white wall. There is also text that says Live Art Show

I’m even seeing big local events use generative AI for their official art. For example, Fiesta on the Hill, which claims 20,000 attendees each year, plastered AI slop across its banners and social media. Bernal Heights is filled with amazing artists, many of whom are vendors at this event. Why was AI used when there were so many local artists to choose from?

A large banner for the Fiesta On the Hill. Spotted on Cortland street, the banner is light blue with art on one side and all the info on the other. The art is very colorful and cartoon style. From a distance it looks nice, but when you look closely, you see the AI artifacts. A close up of the banner, showing children dancing, one child's hand merges into the ear of the child next to him. His other hand looks like a flipper or some other mis-shaped creature. In other parts of the image, feet appear out of nowhere and other hands are messed up. Another close up of the Fiesta on the Hill poster, which showcases several generated AI image errors. People with odd numbers of fingers on their hands, or fingers that merge into instruments that they are playing.

Thankfully, some venues are pushing back. The Stork Club in Oakland, for instance, has a new rule: all fliers must be human-made.

“We don’t care if it’s a screenshot of the Notes app with the show info or a picture of a hand with band names written in Sharpie.” – The Stork Club

Jamie Zawinski says the DNA Lounge added a similar policy to their booking contracts six months ago:

“Use of ‘AI’ imagery in advertising and promotional material is prohibited. Everyone can tell and everyone hates it. We will get complaints.” – DNA Lounge

I LOVE this energy and hope these policies spread to other venues soon.

While it’s great seeing businesses fight this trend, I think it’s important for consumers to be active too. I’m doing my best not to fund businesses that use generative AI in their marketing or final products, and I encourage you to do the same.

  • AI cover on a book? Don’t buy it.
  • AI poster for a show? Find something better to do that day.
  • AI music being used in a podcast you used to love? Unsubscribe.

I made some stickers to help spread the word. They’re not for sale, but you are totally free to print them out and distribute them however you like.

A design that says Creative Commons art by Doctor Popular (CC-BY)

And if you choose not to spend your money with a company because they’re using AI, let them know why. Keep it friendly, but be clear: generative AI isn’t a good way to keep customers. Or as JWZ put it, “Everyone can tell and everyone hates it.”

posters and Other Art

Here are some other images you can print out to use however you wish. These work great on standard sheets of paper:

A black and white poster that says A black and white poster that says A black and white poster that says

The post Don’t Support Businesses That Use Generative AI appeared first on Doc Pop's Weblog.

by doc at October 22, 2025 04:53 PM

Fighting AI-generated Spam with Punk Rock Turtles

listen to an audio version of this post, read by the author

After a 15-year hiatus, I started our local cell of the Cartoonist Conspiracy back up earlier this year. We meet on the second Tuesday of each month to draw comics and chat at Finjan Qahwa coffee shop. We mostly use fliers and a WordPress site to promote the group, and an email list to keep our members connected.

We use Google Groups for the email list because it’s simple, low-maintenance, and fits the old-school vibe of our group. We have a link to the group on our website, and that’s been running fairly smoothly since 2006, until a new wave of spambots started joining this year.

A screenshot from an email that says

It wasn’t a sudden wave, it’s only about 5-10 per week, with seemingly authentic Gmail handles and very descriptive reasons for why they wanted to join the group. Each message was different and fairly well written.

Of course, internet spam has been around forever, but this new wave of spam was far more convincing due to their use of generative-AI to write compelling messages that were specific to our group and not just cut-and-paste like previous attempts.

Two examples of group requests in Google Groups. The emails are from ednakeshier@gmail.com and bradleyjanice22@gmail.com. Both request has the message

The Spam Problem

There was no easy way to weed out the real requests from the spam ones. Many of the spammer’s emails were using structures like “firstnamelastname1234@gmail“, but half of our real members use the same structure for their email handles. The written messages varied drastically, too. Some short, some long, but they all looked similar to the real requests we were getting. Sometimes there would be a giveaway, like messages that had quotation marks in them, but most were really believable. Even with my guard up, I still approved a few requests that turned out to be spam.

I’ve been organizing meetups and groups for most my life, and have been using Google Groups for at least 20 years, but this new wave of AI written bots were far more annoying than anything I’d previously encountered. I thought about shutting down the email list all together.

The Punk Rock Turtle Test

After pausing all sign-ups for a month, I saw a suggestion from Matthew Newell about implementing a “DIY captcha” for artists and decided to give it a try. Whenever someone requested to join the CCSF group, I’d ask them to verify their humanity by either:

  1. Sharing a social media profile.
  2. Drawing a quick black-and-white picture of a punk rock turtle.
An email message that says

It felt silly at first, but I think it actually worked!

A few folks did send back real art, the rest were probably spammers. One of my favorite turtle drawings, shown below, came from Luis. They’ve been an active participant in our comic jams, and I’m really glad I didn’t prevent them from joining the group because their firstnamelastnameNUMBERS email account sounded suspicious at first.

“The internet is chock-full of bots.” they wrote. “Here’s my punk rock turtle cuz I don’t use social media! Thanks.”

A black and white drawing of a turtle playing guitar. They are standing beside a stack of guitar amps and punk rock turtle by Luis Booth

A solution for Now

The group has been spam free for a few months, so the “punk rock turtle” seems to be working for now, though I do worry that a few of the requests that I rejected were from real people who wanted to join our art group, but felt turned off by my email request (or maybe didn’t understand it).

At some point, the person sending this spam will probably reply with AI-generated art, which means I’ll have to be second guessing everything again.

I often talk about how the rise of generative AI has made things harder for artists and organizers like myself. This is yet another example.

I run these meetups as a way for artists to meet and interact with each other, but dealing with AI-generated spam makes me feel like just shutting down the email list altogether.

And that’s just on my end… I’m sure it sucks to be a local artist asking to join an art group, then getting asked to make free art or share personal social media information.

Fediverse Reaction

I have to give props to Matthew Newell on Mastodon for suggesting a “DIY catpcha” as a means of sussing out the spammers.

@docpop look very suspicious. I would do a DIY captcha. You're a cartoonist; draw a highly stylised object (like those amazing walkie-talkies you posted – I think that was you if not apologies) and ask what they are and how the applicant would do their own version . You can be quite open and say that lots of groups are getting bulk scam applications and this is your version of I am not a robot.

August 5, 2025, 9:24 pm 0 boosts 0 favorites

And to all the Fediverse users who shared their punk rock turtle drawings:

A quick sketch of a punk rock turtle ... giving the viewer the middle 'finger', with the slogan https://mastodon.social/@MichelPatrice/114978907129196851 A quick sketch of a punk rock turtle ... giving the viewer the middle 'finger', with the slogan @yojimbo A punk rock turtle. Kinda.https://mastodon.social/@jgilbert/114979107526285114 A crudely drawn cartoon turtle pumps his fist while holding a red electric guitar in his other “hand” on a badly lit stage. https://mastodon.social/@dan_kn/114978943424457739

The post Fighting AI-generated Spam with Punk Rock Turtles appeared first on Doc Pop's Weblog.

by doc at October 22, 2025 04:53 PM

Monoprinciples

Power is a dance, not a throne

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.
–Kurt Vonnegut

You order the bartender to make you a drink,
She controls what goes in your mouth.
So who has the power?
It belongs to you both.

You say, “Make it again!”
She says, “Get the hell out of my bar.”
Power is a dance, not a throne.
Sometimes you swing, sometimes you’re swung.

Power is woven of alternating acts of service.
A co-created construct,
Like a hug or a handshake.
There’s no one-sided version.

You may resist the idea that anyone should lead,
But someone has to decide.
To lead is to know what you want.
To lead is to evangelize the impossible.

You may resist the idea that anyone should follow,
But to follow is to live your curiosity.
To be led isn’t weakness; it is being receptive.
It requires presence, and a belief in your worth.

There is a phenomenon called “force”
But that’s not what power is.
Force can seize the moment.
Power endures across time.

Dune Desert Power GIF - Dune Desert Power Cultivate Desert Power - Discover & Share GIFs

Should you choose to lead, you must become a servant.
Like a conductor serves an orchestra.
You keep the score, set aside your agenda,
So others can revel in flow.

Should you choose to follow, you must become a teacher.
Because you show the next person how to trust.
Without your assent, there is no truth.
Without your follow, there is no dance.

The bartender pours you a cocktail.
You sip with full trust.
Sante.
Neither wield the power alone.

Microprinciples is dancing with you.

by V Sri at October 22, 2025 02:27 PM

October 20, 2025

Certainly Strange

En Garde!

I had a lot of fun with friends at the Fae Wild Hunt Ball at the Hibernia bank building! Many chaotic shenanigans were had.

by Steen at October 20, 2025 03:04 AM

October 19, 2025

I before E except Gleitzman

Remembering the Commodore in Coconut Grove

Remembering the Commodore in Coconut Grove

October 19, 2025 11:32 PM

October 17, 2025

I Like Turtles

Broken arm

/2025/10/17/broken-arm.html

October 17, 2025 07:00 AM

October 15, 2025

Monoprinciples

You are the same as everyone else

Once upon a time, people were born into communities and had to find their individuality. Today, people are born as individuals and have to find their communities.
–Youth Mode

You have fallen out of love with the ordinary.
To be ordinary is a failure.
To be extraordinary is the norm.
Revel in how weird this is. Now scroll.

No one is awkward anymore.
Unless it’s deliberate affectation or “cringe.”
A child on camera knows their marks like an actor.
Everyone knows their good side.

You are awash in hyphenates and bullshit job titles.
Everyone has main character energy
And says shit like “main character energy,”
Like you’re interning at Bravo.

The robot vomits slop: “When everyone is unique, no one is.”
More like: when everyone is unique it’s damnedable.
You can’t have ordinary shared experiences.
Like enjoying Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

This is not a paean to a swirling plastic bag in a parking lot.
This is not nostalgia or sonder with a hopecore soundtrack.
It is a boombox raised high in the air
For a six from homeroom called Ordinary.

“I couldn’t possibly give up all this novelty.”
What was the last thing you read on the internet?
Who wrote it? Did you savor it? Did you actually feel it??
Or did you taste a leaf in your mouth during a hurricane?

Just about everyone who read Youth Mode got it dead wrong:
Normcore is not performing normalcy in an aspirational way
The promise of normcore is post-aspirational.
It is less about standing out and more about being together.

“Do you mean I can’t be special?”
You don’t need a brand.
A brand is what they used to tell cows apart.
You have a voice, you have a community, you have you.

You’re are the same as everyone else.
Can you imagine? Maybe it’s OK to just be
A human person in an ordinary world.
You will learn to survive.

by V Sri at October 15, 2025 03:30 PM

October 10, 2025

Doctor Popular

San Francisco Yo-Yo Club and Cartoonist Conspiracy

I’m hosting two upcoming events in the Mission District of San Francisco:

San Francisco Yo-Yo Club

Saturday October 11th from 2-5pm at 826 Valencia. This might be the last yo-yo meetup I run this year.

A flier for the San Francisco Yo-Yo Club. It shows a drawing of a pirate playing with a yo-yo. He has a hook at the end of his right arm. The SF Yo-Yo Club will be at 826 Valencia on Saturday October 11th from 2pm to 5pm.

Cartoonist Conspiracy of San Francisco

Tuesday October 14th from 7-9pm at Finjan Qawha Cafe on Mission Street. This is a montly event.

Flier for The Cartoonist Conspiracy of San Francisco that shows a robot sitting at a table with a cup of coffee and some jam, while the robot draws on a sheet of paper. The robot is thinking

The post San Francisco Yo-Yo Club and Cartoonist Conspiracy appeared first on Doc Pop's Weblog.

by doc at October 10, 2025 08:55 PM

October 08, 2025

Monoprinciples

Let it be ordinary

These are the mathematics of attention:
If everyone performs, nobody watches.
If everyone speaks, nobody listens.
You can’t all be the main character.

Because then the story doesn’t work.

You’ve fallen out of love with the ordinary among you.
You mistake your friends’ online presence for their value.
Your platforms reward mind-viruses and assholes
There is no room in your world for the supporting roles.

But any story struggles when everyone’s the protagonist,
You can’t all be shouting catchphrases and kicking dragons.
Life is as much about texture as it is forward motion
Too many chefs, spoil the plot.

There are other archetypes: makers, magicians, alchemists,
Muses, lovers, caretakers, connectors,
Questioners, contrarians, innocents, and jokers.
They make the story too.

A main character needs a crusade and a crusade is crazy-making;
Those in supporting roles can keep their identity fluid.
For their efforts, you deride them as NPCs
But they are the infrastructure that make human connection possible.

God bless the supporters who whole communities together
Who value the group more than the spotlight.
Who are more interested than “interesting.”
Who have become the ones not talking.

You all have multiple roles in life to play
Which is why people must make new people.
To grow is to enable new main characters
And surrender your role in the franchise.

by V Sri at October 08, 2025 03:41 PM

October 07, 2025

I Like Turtles

New amplifier!

/2025/10/07/new-amplifier.html

October 07, 2025 07:00 AM

October 06, 2025

Certainly Strange

Climbing Comp and Castro Street Fair

Had a big weekend, went to the climbing competition at Dogpatch Boulders And went to the 51st annual Castro Street Fair, which was good vibes and fun

by Steen at October 06, 2025 04:18 AM

October 05, 2025

Doctor Popular

Some Free Sticker Designs and Where to Print Them

I’ve shared a bunch of my sticker designs on this blog before, but I thought I’d round up some of my favorites here. These stickers are all CC-BY licensed, meaning you can print them and sell them if you like, but please remember to credit Doc Pop as the artist.

A square design that says Move Purposefully and Fix Things A drawing of a man in a pink polo with a white baseball cap and shorts, throwing a sandwich angrily. Text near the sandwich says D.C. Hero Black text on an aged paper background: A design that says Boy generative AI A white car with a giant traffic cone on it's hood. The car is a Waymo autonomous vehicle, with no driver in the seat. The car appears to be stuck because of the giant traffic cone on its hood. There are several menacing security cameras mounted around the Waymo's exterior.Coned Waymo A sticker design that says Everyone’s Welcome Here

The “Everyone’s Welcome Here” design is the newest design in the bunch. I’ve been seeing a bunch of racist, misogynistic, and homophobic stickers in SF lately, so I wanted to design a sticker that I could use to cover up hate.

Where to Print

Folks frequently ask who I recommend for sticker printing. The truth is that I have a bunch of businesses that I really like. These places all do sales pretty frequently, so I’d suggest signing up for their mailing lists and waiting for a good deal to come around.

All of these companies are great, but I have to give massive props to Sticker Ninja for being really awesome folks (read their about page).

Sticker Guy is an excellent option if you are looking for cheap two color (ie black and white) stickers. I find that limitation kind of inspiring, so I might design some more stickers just to print out at Sticker Guy.

Sticker Giant currently has a 25% off discount with code “CHEERS25VIP” and StickerBros currently has a 15% off deal with code “FINALDAYS”.

Where Not To Print

I don’t recommend StickerMule at all. They sent a bunch of pro-Trump emails through their marketing materials a few years back and they still send emails even after you’ve unsubscribed.

I used to recommend the Sticker Brand too, but they’ve started using generative AI in their marketing materials, which is a huge red flag. I don’t support companies which use AI to market themselves, so I’m no longer suggesting SB to any artists or small businesses who are looking for a good sticker option. Since the comments on Sticker Brand’s AI slop videos are very negative, I’m hoping they re-evaluate who they are marketing to (see screenshot below for the comments).

Comments on an Instagram post from Sticker Brand. The comments are mostly criticizing the brand for using AI. One comment says

Other Suggestions?

There are tons of great sticker companies out there, so let me know who I missed. As long as they aren’t using AI in their advertising or flat out endorsing Trump in their marketing emails, I’d be glad to give them a try.

The post Some Free Sticker Designs and Where to Print Them appeared first on Doc Pop's Weblog.

by doc at October 05, 2025 10:40 PM

I before E except Gleitzman

Give Me a Ring: Classic Phones Exhibition at SFO

Stumbled upon a delightful exhibit at SFO Terminal 2: “Give Me a Ring: A Telephone Retrospective.” The collection, generously loaned from the JKL Museum of Telephony, traces the evolution of the telephone from the late 19th century through the 1990s.

The exhibit showcases everything from classic Art Deco designs to the iconic rotary phones that once graced every American home. Highlights for me were the Snoopy and Garfield phones (did anyone have that red Lips phone??), the flip phones, and a phone that is also a leather bag.

October 05, 2025 04:25 PM

October 04, 2025

I Like Turtles

Person of the week: Fiona

/2025/10/04/person-of-the-week-fiona.html

October 04, 2025 07:00 AM

October 01, 2025

Monoprinciples

Never reveal the magic

Magicians do not reveal how the trick is done
Not to protect their secrets, which are cheap.
But to preserve your wonder, which is invaluable
Every magician is an artist and the reverse is just as true.

Never reveal the magic, do not explain it away.
Despite the insistence of the curly-haired rats,
The waste is what works.
You are pulled by the mystery, not the reveal.

Yeah, sunlight is the best disinfectant,
Sure, your podcast “tells it like it is,”
But not everything is solved with a Vox explainer.
Neither your Craft, nor this universe.

“Where do you get your ideas?”
“Is your last song about me?”
“What’s going to happen to the world?”
These questions are not unexpected.

But don’t waste a second trying to answer
You’re better off explaining the shape of a sneeze.
The mortals want to know “Why am I so moved by Chaos?”
When that, of course, was the intended effect.

Besides, you have neither the ability nor the right to explain.
You are not you; you are a conduit.
The artist weaves from Collective Dream
On everyone’s behalf.

You can know your eternal questions.
That’s all a storyteller gets to know.
The listener must know her questions too,
Two shards of curiosity meeting in the prism of Craft.

Ask not about the magic.
Read a book more than once if you want answers
But you’ll mostly learn about yourself.
Which is the “point” were there such a thing.

To craft is to insistently rush into the unknown.
An endless collision of Chaos and knowledge
Producing as byproduct both failure and artifact
And the gorgeous illusion:

That the universe needs to make a lick of sense.


by V Sri at October 01, 2025 03:06 PM

September 29, 2025

Certainly Strange

LA Comic Con!

This weekend I went down to LA for my friend’s birthday, and she wanted to go to LA Comic Con as part of the celebration. We dressed up like tieflings and had a blast. And I was on the 33rd floor of my hotel And I got a haul of STICKERS!!! And I met a … Continue reading "LA Comic Con!"

by Steen at September 29, 2025 06:13 AM

September 28, 2025

I before E except Gleitzman

Summer Forum 2025

The Summer Forum was willed into existence by our ringleader and European ambassador Zeke. Bringing together now dear friends, it was the first year of the gathering but I doubt it will be the last.

This year’s theme was “Blackout.” Good people, good food, and good fun in a fantastic location.

I can’t wait for the next turn of the wheel.

September 28, 2025 06:16 PM

September 24, 2025

Monoprinciples

Change the plane of conception

Never solve a problem in the plane of its original conception.
–George Saunders (after Albert Einstein)

Humans suffered from heartbreak, hunger, and pain.
The reason was God’s will.
The “answer” was Human Science.

The most human of Human Science is known as biology. With a strong enough loupe, biology reveals itself to be chemistry, the study of molecular reactions. Chemistry is addressed with physics, the motion of particles. Physics is math. The deepest maths are philosophy in disguise. And philosophy is best understood by walking in a human body and suffering God’s will.

Never solve a problem where you found it. You must change the plane of conception.

The most profound breakthroughs are betrayals of common sense. To solve disease you need to invent disgusting critters called germs. To grok alternating current you need numbers that don’t exist. You, yourself, are a country nothing like its citizens: the cells of your body. These aren’t contradictions.

Synthesis accretes in dimensions that don’t currently exist. (So Don’t leave out the impossible.) Expect to be confused. All novel dimensions are like the internet to a dog: inconceivable!

Best quotes from 'The Princess Bride': LIST - Business Insider

Transcending conceptual planes doesn’t eliminate your problems, of course. They just change shape. Once you feared bears. Then you feared the bomb. Now you fear upward scrolling text on illuminated glass.

Each new plane of conception is a step through an infinity mirror—more perspective, more terror. It gets worse before it gets better.

It’s worth slowing down.

Fast-moving eyes must latch to the sticks and stems of the trail; you become stuck to the current plane of reality. When you move as slow as possible, you are able to see more. You might even pause at the base of a tree and climb. A new plane. A different vantage point.

You learn the true shape of the path: it’s a spiral.
You learn the truth about the forest: it’s ablaze.
You notice a beetle on a leaf, and it stares back at you.

The beetle asks you a question, but you can’t understand it.

The reason is God’s will.

by V Sri at September 24, 2025 01:13 PM

I Like Turtles

Double crossed

/2025/09/24/double-crossed.html

September 24, 2025 07:00 AM

September 22, 2025

Certainly Strange

Castro Night Market

Completely by chance we wandered over to the Castro last Friday, just in time for the Castro Night Market! It was super lively and fun, with drinks and music and food and outdoor tables. Apparently they’re having the next one on Halloween day, which, feels like they’re playing with fire there. I don’t know. I’m … Continue reading "Castro Night Market"

by Steen at September 22, 2025 04:03 AM

September 19, 2025

Doctor Popular

One Night Only: Art Fundraiser for Adobe Books

Adobe Books is a volunteer-run used bookstore in the Mission District that’s been going strong for 45 years. More than just a bookstore, it’s a community hub for zinesters, poets, and artists… and now they’re raising funds to help keep the doors open for another 45 years.

A handdrawn poster by Joey Provolone that says

Tonight (6–9pm), Adobe is hosting a one-night-only Art Fundraiser, featuring work from some of my favorite local artists. Pieces will be sold right off the walls throughout the evening, so if you want to see everything, show up early.

A drawing of a Waymo on fire. It is also covered in graffiti like

I’m also contributing a piece called Waymo Burning. It’s inspired by the ICE protests in Los Angeles earlier this year, created with pink and blue ink on vintage paper, layered with coffee stains and whiteout. It’s framed, priced at $150 (a steal), and 100% of the sale goes straight to support this nonprofit bookstore on 24th Street.

Come by, support Adobe, and take home some rad local art!.

The post One Night Only: Art Fundraiser for Adobe Books appeared first on Doc Pop's Weblog.

by doc at September 19, 2025 04:54 PM

I Like Turtles

Bache St block party

/2025/09/19/bache-st-block-party.html

September 19, 2025 07:00 AM

September 17, 2025

Monoprinciples

Keep your first drafts

“How do I know what I think until I see what I say?”
—E.M. Forster

If you’re making, you’re making a mess. You’ll never get it right the first time. Anne Lamott calls these “shitty first drafts.” They’re part of the process, so resist the temptation to erase these attempts, unusable as they might be.

Instead, let them become the soil. Creation is easier when you think of it as revision—everything is a remix, anyway. Your first attempts are the map. The mess is part of the method.

Don’t hide these drafts in the basement, neither. You can be fancy and curate them, as though you needed to present them at trial to prove you suffered for your craft. Or, if the courtroom metaphor invokes anxiety, imagine you’re leaving fodder for future historians trying to make sense of your work.

But be warned. Trying to convince future historians that you’re enlightened is pointless, manipulative, and impossible:

It’s not the point of art to age well, because no one can predict the future. The truth is what you believe for now, and art is a reflection of “what you believe for nows” across the infinite smear of nows we call time. The word “Shaboozey” could be a slur in 2928. It’s not the point of art to age well, because no one can predict the future.
Don't be so hard on the past

You keep your drafts to see how you work. Wading into failure is prickly curriculum, but your first attempts are the purest map of a mind. It’s forensic evidence of your thinking. A place to learn your patterns, your stuck points, your breakthroughs. Maybe you’ll become an enthusiast of your own weird process. Embrace the clunk.

At the very least, it’s a reminder that no one gets it right the first time. Every finished work is a granite mountain of failure called history, topped with a faint dusting of “done.”

by V Sri at September 17, 2025 03:52 PM

September 15, 2025

Certainly Strange

I thought I didn’t do anything worth blogging about but in fact I did many things

I saw a cool moth Cool red moth And I made some duck And I made chocolate chunk halva cookies And I played Gangs of Commorragh

by Steen at September 15, 2025 02:36 AM

September 14, 2025

I before E except Gleitzman

Doctor Popular

Club Ded – Live Art and Book Signing Tonight in SF

Some friends are hosting an art event at Dermafilia Gallery tonight, and I wanted to help spread the word. The event features a book signing by Nikhil Singh, with live art being made by Red Apple Comics, Dr. Humbert, and Lili .F.

At a time when many local posters are being made with AI-generated images (gross!), it’s refreshing to see the Club Ded show take the punk route: wheatpasted, hand-drawn posters. Each poster is large, one-of-a-kind, and created by the artists involved in the event. I love seeing these in the neighborhood, so I wanted to document as many as I could here:

Club Ded, live art and book signing, is September 13th, 2025 at Dermafilia Gallery (3182 21st SF, CA) from 7pm to midnight.

The post Club Ded – Live Art and Book Signing Tonight in SF appeared first on Doc Pop's Weblog.

by doc at September 14, 2025 03:38 PM

I Like Turtles

September 08, 2025

Certainly Strange

Impromptu Weekend

This weekend we biked over to Pier 70, ate at Breadbelly, went to the climbing gym, and randomly saw bands playing metal music at Warm Water Cove. It was one of those nice aimless weekends where everything just works out. Oh and then we played a game of Gangs of Commorragh afterward

by Steen at September 08, 2025 03:56 AM

September 06, 2025

I Like Turtles

Cousin visit

/2025/09/06/cousin-visit.html

September 06, 2025 07:00 AM

September 05, 2025

Doctor Popular

Battlestar Galactica and the Danger of Militarized Policing

I was rewatching Battlestar Galactica recently, and this Commander Adama quote from season 1, episode 2 (“Water”) jumped out at me:

“There’s a reason you separate the military and the police. One fights the enemies of the state, the other serves and protects the people. When the military becomes both, the enemies of the state tend to become the people.”

-William Adama, Battlestar Galactica (2004)

With Trump sending the military into more and more cities, the line feels more relevant than ever. So I turned it into a sticker. If you’d like the design, it’s free to use. As a subtle nod to Battlestar Galactica, I recommend clipping the corners.

Black text on an aged paper background:

Above image is CCBY Doc Pop. Feel free to use it for stickers or whatever.

The post Battlestar Galactica and the Danger of Militarized Policing appeared first on Doc Pop's Weblog.

by doc at September 05, 2025 11:02 PM

Sandwich Guy: A Modern Day Folk Hero

Last week, Trump federalized D.C.’s police department and sent federal officers and National Guard troops to patrol the city. The next day, a local man named Sean Charles Dunn shouted “Fuck you, fascists!” at a squad of overly militarized goons, then hurled a pastrami sandwich at them before making his getaway.

This guy, his Sandwich Guy, has quickly become a symbol of resistance in D.C. and across the U.S. Partly because his act reminds us that everyday people can and should resist fascism, but mostly because it’s fucking hilarious. A dude in a pink polo, armed with nothing but a Subway sandwich, standing up to goons in tactical gear? Instant icon.

I loved the imagery so much, I drew a couple of Sandwich Guy pieces in my cyan-and-magenta style on aged paper:

A drawing of a man happily holding a sandwich in front of a Subway sandwich shop. He is wearing a pink polo shirt, white shorts, and a backwards baseball cap. Three men in the foreground look scared and are running away from the man with a sandwich. The men are heavily armed federal agents of ICE.  The drawing is made entirely with pink and blue inks with a little bit of white paint on a light brown sheet of paper. A drawing of a man in a pink polo shirt throwing a subway sandwich. Text on the page says “Hero”. The drawing is made using pink and light blue inks with some whiteout.

And since folks on Mastodon and Threads asked for stickers, I also made a cleaned-up digital version. The image below is CC-BY, so you can print it, share it, or slap it on a sign, just give credit when possi.

A drawing of a man in a pink polo with a white baseball cap and shorts, throwing a sandwich angrily. Text near the sandwich says A sticker showing a drawing of a man in a pink polo shirt. He is dramatically throwing a subway sandwich. Text on the stickers says “Hero”.

The post Sandwich Guy: A Modern Day Folk Hero appeared first on Doc Pop's Weblog.

by doc at September 05, 2025 07:43 PM

September 03, 2025

Monoprinciples

Know when to fold 'em

Replace the fluorescent dawn of a maternity ward with the wash of an ink-blue sky. You start life in a soccer field. Bright bleacher lights, the crowd’s waterfall roar. You step to a line in cleats and give the ball one swift kick. That's the length of your life. There are no do-overs.

Everything comes to an end. You train for endings by trading linguistic simulations called stories. All stories have an end (except for your mother's), and you couldn’t want it any other way.

Even television used to close each night with the national anthem and a test pattern. Today, you thirst for firehose. You want your favorite stories to run forever, your relationships to never change, your routines to remain permanently satisfying. You ask “and then what happened?” and the algorithms deliver, forever. Permanence is the enemy of meaning. Never trust a story that promises “forever.”

Not all endings are the same.

They can be drama: the shouty you-can't-take-that-back pronouncements, punctuated by door slams. They can be delicate: the gradual transition of your friend group into parents while Hey Jude plays. They can be doom: when you are locked out of your country, by bureaucracy, never to return.

This isn't the last post, but it is the beginning of the end.

The reason is simple: I'm writing a book. These microprinciples are starting to feel different. They are no longer the rehydrated post-its that inspired this project. They long to become something else. I feel them changing under my fingers.

(If you're interested in providing feedback on early drafts, you should let me know.)

This might feel like a Midwest goodbye—the kind where you announce your departure but linger in the foyer for 45 minutes. I'll keep posting until I don't. The remaining notes might taste different, like your favorite donut shop changed the recipe. You won’t see it coming. Equal parts drama and fade away.

Not all endings are the same, but in a sense they all are. Endings are the acknowledgment of heartbreak. The force that turns every story into something you can hold.

by V Sri at September 03, 2025 04:38 PM

September 01, 2025

Doctor Popular

“I want to be a doctor”

Jonathan Lee makes silly short yo-yo videos for youtube and Instagram. His latest one is a funny little tribute to…. ME! So I thought I’d share it here.

The post “I want to be a doctor” appeared first on Doc Pop's Weblog.

by doc at September 01, 2025 03:33 AM

Certainly Strange

Creme Brulee

I honestly think creme brulee is the perfect dessert. The Platonic ideal of desserts. I have to limit myself and not make them all the time because that would be very bad for me. Unfortunately they are also very easy to make. So this therefore takes self-control. Laziness is not sufficient to keep me away … Continue reading "Creme Brulee"

by Steen at September 01, 2025 03:22 AM

August 29, 2025

I Like Turtles

Montecito Sequoia

/2025/08/29/montecito-sequoia.html

August 29, 2025 07:00 AM

August 27, 2025

Monoprinciples

You're not invited

The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.
–Joseph Campbell

You check your inbox for an invitation to your dream. An acceptance letter. A job offer. A shiny golden ticket. A “yes” that transforms everything.

No invitation is coming, because you’re not invited to fulfill your dreams. All manifestation is a form of trespassing over fence and unmarked trail. It’s messy. You will have to find your own way. Especially if you have interesting dreams; how could it be otherwise?

Dreams are nebulous. Vision concretizes. A plan connects a vision to a territory, but you cannot plan everything—you only see as far as your headlights. So you start to trek and along the way, unplanned opportunities appear. Are they distractions or are they shortcuts? Here’s how to choose:

  1. If the alternative between options is doing nothing, do the thing that’s not nothing.

  2. If the alternatives are both equally compelling, choose the path that’s harder in the short term1. (That’s your invitation.)

The harder path bends time because it confronts you with the inevitable before you are ready, which is the fastest way to learn. If you wait until you are ready, it’s too late.

Familiar paths endorse comfort, and you know how we feel about that. Even if all you discover is “I hate this,” now you know. Lessons travel in packs and opportunities beget opportunities.

You increase what is known by venturing into the unknown. You make your dreams real, literally, by making them. No one is coming to save you. No invitation is coming. You must write it all yourself. It’s usually the harder path.

by V Sri at August 27, 2025 03:03 PM