Torrey

We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art, the art of words.

Bus transfer took me by Trader Joe’s with half an hour before closing, so I got emotional support snacks for surviving con.

Sunday night sad bus ride hours.

Gotta put my show audio track on and practice my lines so as to feel productive.

At the Rocky Horror Picture Show in Minneapolis, they’re throwing out ICE whistles shaped like dicks.

Encarta MindMaze. Nothing's ever come close.

I think the crescent wrench might be the most expensive part on this bike. I'm guessing that's an engine from a broken down lawnmower bolted to a found bicycle. I respect the hustle, but I have some questions.

GDC is coming up, which means it’s almost time for #WhatAGameDevLooksLike! Every year this lights up my socials and it’s such a lovely and celebratory time full of belonging and joy. And every year I keep getting reminded of how much we need it as things in the industry get worse lol

An amalgamation of Lady Justice and Lady Liberty personified by a strong Black femme character. She's blindfolded and drawing a sword. The caption reads "Fuck I.C.E."

I can't make it to ECCC this year, but that doesn't mean I didn't put something together for all y'all!

My first digital download print sized at 24"x31" for when you need to make your opinions known.

valentinebarker.com/product/musi...

Video proof this really happened!

A painting of a bird beside the text "what the fuck is the deal with your reading comprehension"

Virgin GenAI: X "makes" (steals) art, X soulless, uncanny valley vibes, X incapable of love, X spreads misinformation Chad HAL 9000: ✔ appreciates human art, ✔ polite and eloquent manner, ✔ in love with coworker, ✔ went insane when asked to spread misinformation

The surge of pride when your kid sends you a good meme

A teal glass plate holding a split English muffin, which has been toasted, buttered, and spread with a thick golden brown spread. On the granite countertop behind the plate is a small Ball jam jar with the spread. It is labeled in masking tape and sharpie “Mom’s Peach Butter”.

I need people to know that my mom’s homemade peach butter is so good, it tastes like love.
And fresh Western Slope Colorado peaches with a hint of cinnamon. But mostly love.

Community meme: I CAN EXCUSE FASCISM. BUTI DRAW THE LINE AT MERCANTILISM.

The Supreme Court:

This really is a great picture:

Dark greenstone polyhedron, on which we can see capital Greek letters (20 sides to the polyhedron), with only the last four letters (phi, chi, psy, and omega) missing. It looks identical to modern RPG dice. Greek, 2nd-1st c. BCE. Met Museum (27.122.5)

Blue-green faience polyhedron (which probably means that it originates in Egypt, but no findspot is known) with a capital Greek letter on each side/facet. A number of polyhedra made in various materials are known from the Hellenistic and Roman periods. They may have been used in conjunction with an oracle inscribed on a pillar set up in a public place. The polyhedron was thrown in order to choose a letter at random. One consulted the inscription to find the matching letter and read the oracle's response. There would be twenty oracular messages, each beginning with a letter of the alphabet that corresponded to one side of the dice. Roman, 2nd-3rd c. CE. Met Museum (37.11.3)

Two ancient 20-sided polyhedra inscribed with letters of the Greek alphabet. Now known as 'divination dice', they were used for cleromancy, a form of divination where casting lots determined divine will, sometimes in conjunction with an oracle. 🏺 1/ #ancientbluesky

#MetMuseum
📸 me

Or maybe they didn’t realize how beloved the note is!

Maybe next month it’ll be back.

Isn’t it nice? I miss the postcard from Jewel and Charlie, but everything else is top notch.

This is your not so gentle reminder that DEI is NOT illegal.

okay you know what we're doing this

why rise of skywalker is the worst crime ever committed against cinema and the very concept of a coherent fictional universe: a thread

@optimysticals.bsky.social has some, depending on the type of charm you’re looking for.

it is not interested in plot, it is not interested in worldbuilding, it is not interested in anything except throwing random disconnected snapshots of nostalgia at you

rise of skywalker kicks over the sandbox and leaves you uninterested in star wars in a way the prequels never did

Violets are grue
Roses, demonic
Si enil txen siht
Boustrophedonic.

Sign being held up in a pavilion. It reads "We skipped our lessons to teach you one."

Local students from the two local high schools walked out against ICE yesterday, meeting up in our town square.

This sign is so damn good.

Notable Sandwiches #138: Reuben Welcome back to Notable Sandwiches, the feature where my editor David Swanson and I trip merrily through Wikipedia’s List of Notable Sandwiches. This week, a...

in which i discuss the reuben, a glorious sandwich and the pride of omaha

and the patriarch reuben, disowned by his father for being a slut

buttondown.com/theswordandt...

I think the greatest gift college professors in the humanities can give to students right now is a seminar room where, for 80 minutes twice a week, nothing that happens to them is a sales pitch for an AI product.

I am still me, I checked.

My formative science museum is renovating their iconic gems and minerals exhibit and I almost panicked about the rocks.

But they’re keeping the Sweet Home Mine display so it’s gonna be okay.

They're still kidnapping people in Minneapolis bsky.app/profile/elli...

A necklace of Manny Calavera, a tall elongated skull with a Dia de Los Muertos aesthetic.

Printed and painted a LucasArts Easter egg for our Star Wars display area at an upcoming con. I’m very proud of how it looks like bone and that I did the minimum possible cycles of black-white-black inside the eyes.