Mel Gillman

please share to help out a dear dear friend 💖🌸

Noticed this morning there’s a harry potter audiobook nominated for the goodreads choice awards, in case you’d like to go over there and vote for literally anything else. This is a small thing, but potentially a tangible way you can help divert a little money away from JKR’s pocket.

no joke Seattle: check your fucking ballots to make sure they were counted!! there are a Bunch of incomplete or invalid ballots in our age range right now, and it's a quick check to see if yours went through okay. it's not too late to fix it!

info.kingcounty.gov/kcelections/...

Five smiling cartoonists inside a library — Sean Chiki, Kiara Brinkman, Laura Gao, Maia Kobabe, Briana Loewinsohn — with Mel Gillman’s head in the front, holding the selfie camera.

Had a great time at @berkeleypubliclibrary.org moderating a Coming of Age Comics panel at this year’s Berkeley Public Library Comic Con! Thanks for being such great panelists, @brianabreaks.bsky.social, @redgoldsparks.bsky.social, Laura Gao, Kiara Brinkman, and Sean Chiki!

Seattle folks: check to make sure your vote was counted! There’s a link in the thread here.

[pulling up to the drive-through] hey can I get uhhhhhhh one of those terrible socialist mayors in my city too

Zohran was polling at six percent in January. Nothing is impossible

Announcing the Agent Cupcake release party at 1400 Bar & Grill in Alameda, my local hangout!!! Come join us on Nov 4th 6-9pm at the back patio to celebrate. We’ll have copies of the book for sale, fun spy activities, and more! It’s a family friendly spot so feel free to bring the kiddos. 🦄🔎

Squidward watching through the window meme, but poorly edited so Squidward is smiling and giving a thumbs up

non-new-yorkers today

poster for the Berkeley Public Library Comic Con on November 8, 2025, from 10:30-4:30pm at 2090 Kittredge St, Berkeley, CA

Schedule for the Berkeley Public Library Con, available at: https://berkeleypubliclibrary.libnet.info/event/14727151

I'm speaking on a panel at the Berkeley Public Library this Sat Nov 8 from 1:30-2:30 with Laura Gao, Kiara Brinkman, Sean Chiki, & Briana Loewinsohn moderated by @mgillman.bsky.social. Catch us in the 2nd floor Mystery Room! More info here: berkeleypubliclibrary.libnet.info/event/14727151

It’s a beautiful day in California to vote yes on prop 50

Oh wow, I’d forgotten about this playlist! Cool to see it back from the dead this Halloween 🎃

one of my students took one look at this tonight and said “that is……SO stupid” with an almost three second pause in the middle. my job here is done u_u

Happy Halloween! This year I’m going as Professor Gillman :)

It’s wool! Nothing fancy, just undyed wool yarn from a craft store.

Three small skeins of yarn — two yellow, and one yellow-green

Some nice results from dyers polypore! The yellow is just straight-up mushroom dye, and the light green had a dilute iron solution added

TIME WILL DEVOUR HIS CHILDREN: CHAPTER TWO is out now! This on-going dark fantasy comic about your past coming back to haunt you continues in its second 110-page installment, which you can buy here: claystorks.itch.io/time-will-de... 🍂

Most of my finds weren’t wormy, thankfully! But the ones I didn’t cook & eat immediately went straight into the dehydrator as soon as I got home for that exact reason, haha

Mel holding three small porcinis, and holding three fingers up

Two beautiful porcini mushrooms on a log

I found my first porcinis today!

you nerds GOTTA read this book

These comics are so delightful! Very worth signing up for Mel's patreon to read about their foraging adventures :D

A three panel black and white comic titled "10/11/25 -- Residency Work Sharing". Panel 1: Mel addresses a crowd, pointing at a jar in the back of the room. Mel says "Before I read my comics -- I made citrus-ale with trifoliate oranges, Bunny Mellon's "bitter" ornamentals, which now are growing invasively in the woods." Panel 2: Mel continues, "While drinking it, we can think about how most edible wild plants were at some point shaped by indigenous agricultural science somewhere. So even "ornamentals" can have good uses, if we learn to meet them where they are." Panel 3, labeled "Afterward" -- a man in a baseball cap tells Mel "I liked it! It tastes like Tang."

A final week's worth of diary comics are up on my patreon! patreon.com/mgillman
And for anybody with a trifoliate orange growing in their hedge: 1:4 ratio of juice to water (this'll use up a lot of fruit), sweetened with honey to taste, and optionally with a small pinch of salt if you're into that

Feed Us With Trees: Nuts and the Future of Food by Elspeth Hay

I just started this book and two pages in I already KNOW this is gonna be all I talk about for months

A three panel black and white comic titled "9/23/25". Panel 1: A woman bends over to look at a wooly bear caterpillar crossing the road. Text reads: "All over the farm, wooly bears are crossing the road." The woman says "Where're you going, little one?" Panel 2: A drawing of a large moth on a white sheet at night. Text reads: "One night, I set up a moth light on the lawn and spot its adult form -- the Isabella tiger moth." Panel 3: two figures in silhouette talking near the moth light set up. Text reads: "and the moth listens to me & Ayda talkin' gay stuff." Mel is saying "Every time I go to a SF lesbian bar, an older dyke tells me about her illegal gold mining rig..." The moth thinks "Sigh..."

Another week's worth of artist residency diary comics are up on my Patreon! This week: many bugs. patreon.com/mgillman

this felt too informative not to share

Ooooh, thank you — this might work for what I need!

I do have a genuine reason for asking, but it is a Top Secret 🤐

I have a very weird question I'm hoping a smart Photoshop person can answer for me: in an image like the one below, is there a way to ask PS (or another similar program) to tell me exactly how many pixels, or exactly how much surface area in the image, is blue?

Trump threatens to shut down US government unless all trans health care is banned The US government's looming shutdown hinges on anti-trans measures after Donald Trump refused to speak to Democrats unless they were passed.

Ok. So there's A LOT of misinformation about the government shutdown, the continuing resolution and gender-affirming care. There was one article in PinkNews that was VERY shoddy about what Trump said. So let's breakdown what's true and what's BS. 1/
www.thepinknews.com/2025/09/29/t...

A four panel black and white comic called "9/17/25". Panel 1 shows a basket filled with chestnut acorns. Text reads: "Rea brought me a basket of chestnut acorns to process." Panel 2 shows Mel and Rea weeding in a garden. Rea: "Sorry to say I gathered them on September 14th." Mel: "??" Rea: "You know, the Devil's Nutting Day?" Mel: "?????" Panel 3 shows a very cartoony devil picking up an acorn. Text reads: "That's the day the devil gathers his nuts!" Panel 4 shows Mel and Rea talking. Mel: "You gave me DEVIL NUTS?" Rea: "Yeah, sorry. Can't wait to taste the acorn bread..."

new holiday alert?? (another week of diary comics from my artist residency went up on my patreon! patreon.com/mgillman )