BΔRBΔRΔ

Me on a bike: it's freezing? Let's goooo. Should have worn thinner gloves. Fill my lung with your perfect chill air.

Me in the office: huddled over a desktop space heater like an ancient hag, trying to warm her withered bones.

I saw like 5 people in shorts.

It was over 35° so I biked 8 miles.

I've got a drawing to work on and an arthritis flare up in my dominant hand.

Thoughts and prayers.

🧵

The style of community and labor in creating is often dismissed, and it's value under-aknowledged. My mother would be in a much worse position if she didn't find a crafting group. A lot of these groups end up providing mutual aid, organizing skills, and yes, hats.

The point of the AI project is to provoke despair in creative people. They haven’t produced profits or anything anyone wants, just a steady stream of articles about how us artistic types can’t do the thing we’re already doing, making art. Jokes on them, we’re even better at despair than they are.

Realistically, if I can't come up with a maximum 4 page comic by the end of the weekend, this pitch is turning into a single illustration.

Loot that drops after defeating me:

- antique bicycle key
- a glass nail file
- a bundle of pens
- MT GO card
- over ear headphones, with wire
- a wool hood

random:
- hairpin carved from wood (common)
- hairpin carved from bone (rare)
- hairpin made of iron (legendary)

Meet the Minneapolis Punks Fighting ICE People in the DIY music scene are using the community organizing tactics they learned by putting on shows to battle ICE.

In the greater story of Minneapolis’ resistance to ICE, one chapter absolutely belongs to the punks organizing at every level. They’re observing, fundraising, running supplies, opening their spaces, coordinating, etc.

A story for @rollingstone.com. Thanks to everyone who spoke on the record.

But you FEEL the care that went into it, because they took the time to make those decisions.

They made choices within their means. Now they have an aesthetic.

Have that kind of respect for yourself, your creations, and the people who enjoy your work.

There's an ethos amongst some creators, where everything is thought about. The paper they wrap their product in, the twine they tie it with, the stamp they made with their name.

None of these things look perfect, many of them are inexpensive. Scrap fabric and twine? Super cheap.

If you don't want stock images, that's ok. Take your own pictures, use your own hands, build your own resources.

But do the work.

If you're not willing to do this, I will think less of your brand. I will think you cut corners because I see you cutting corners. I will think you are cheap. And lazy.

Was recommended a YouTube essay, enjoyed it, flipped through their content. Nothing but AI thumbnails. Blocked the channel.

Solidarity means across the board. These are not hard asks. There are entire artistic movements built out of having to compromise to the level of your ability.

At least 10 states complicit in helping the federal government commit election crimes.

Two exes secretly pine for each other.

Repeated Rivalry.

My recommendation for buying a car is to have a dad who's a car guy, then they'll do literally all the work for you. You will not be able to stop them. Nothing will stop them. You will move to another state and they will drive over anyway, just for this.

Turning over ideas trying to decide if I'm pitching a single illustration (attainable) or a short comic (impossible, foolish, therefore likely).

The Cheez-its of the home.

This is the first time since high school I have been explicitly specified to use Times New Roman as a font.

👀

“Imagine [if] I would have died, what the government would have said.”

Like Renee Good, in Oct Marimar Martinez was shot by DHS after following their convoy in her car. Like Pretti & Good, DHS called her a terrorist.

Unlike them Marimar survived to fight DHS in court, and speak to us today.

How ICE is watching you • Minnesota Reformer Once delivered via text message — no link required — Paragon’s spyware gains broad access to a phone’s contents, including encrypted messages.

Facial recognition cameras, AI-powered social media analyzers, license plate readers, fake cell towers, cell phone spyware—ICE has broadened its arsenal of surveillance tech, alarming privacy advocates, lawmakers, and ordinary community members. minnesotareformer.com/2026/02/03/h...

People sleep on them because they look weird and you generally have to buy them online, but we buy /everything/ online these days. Consider it even if your wrist feels better, next time you need a new mouse.

A black vertical computer mouse.

Have you ever tried a vertical mouse? It was a complete change for me. I got a cheap one for less than $20 and I can't go back.

YouTube video by EndVertex For-Profit (Creative) Software

I feel it's a good time to share this essay again. I like CSP, but moving from PS to that was a long painful process, and I still need PS because it's industry standard.

How many times can creatives be expected to restart and relearn their entire process?
youtu.be/I4mdMMu-3fc?...

A 12 key macro pad with a spin wheel and a dial, by Work Louder.

I use an old Work Louder Creator Micro v1, purely because it's the only macro pad I've seen with a dial and a spin wheel. I use the dial for page rotation, and the wheel for zoom. They swapped the spin wheel for a lil joystick on v2. You can only pick up the original on the secondary market.

People: "you'll never need all those cables, they're obsolete, you should throw them out."

Wrong again, society!

She works! But I definitely need to find a longer USB micro cable.

A 20 x 30 cm LED tracing panel, covered in grime on a much sliced up work table.

I scored an LED tracing panel at a studio sale this weekend, I'm hoping all it needs is a good cleaning and a new cable.

Darren Aronofsky, Google DeepMind, and Salesforce proudly present an AI-merican Revolution Darren Aronofsky, Google DeepMind, and Salesforce proudly present an AI-merican Revolution

The end goal of the attention economy was always to make it so corporations could extrude any watery slop from the machine and stick it in front of you for profit.

You will die someday. Do you want to have wasted any of your finite time on this fetid pablum?

www.avclub.com/american-rev...