iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 16/09/2026

Renata: You lured me into my prison. Homer: Yes. I Did. Any scene from The OA where the characters live up to what they are and make a hard choice for compassion just kills me.

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 15/09/2026

At my local dump slash recycling center there are like a hundred salvaged toy dump trucks and trash trucks lining the interior of the trash warehouse. They're displayed high up like friendly guardian spirits supervising the trash.

A photograph of the interior of an industrial warehouse. There are signs telling people in their cars to go slow. On a ledge high above where a human could reach is a row of toy trash trucks. About fifteen are visible in the photo of different makes and models.

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 06/09/2026

Little green nub proof of life. Two of four cuttings showing green at nodes.

A photograph of a node of a fig tree cutting. The node shows a little green protrusion as the cutting begins to develop a new leaf.

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 21/08/2026

Bottom feeders in their moss caves after eating a previously-boiled grocery store shrimp:

A photograph of a musk turtle's head wreathed by aquatic moss. The turtle has a pig like nose with two forward facing nostrils and his beak resembles a smile. He has wideset eyes which face in different directions. Most of his body is hidden by his moss.

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 21/08/2026

The inaugural dog plum of the year! Same day Oy are her first plum of the year our neighbors sweetly asked to have some plums and of course we said yes. When you have plums everyone is your friend.

A photograph of a plum pit on cement. The pit is very well cleaned of fruit residue.

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 19/08/2026

Dropping Oy off at the vet for a follow up appointment and a woman at the counter has a badge attached to her ID card lanyard of this cat.

A photoshopped meme image of a white cat. The image is composed of an adult white cat's head with a kitten's face on it. The cat's eyes appear unusually large and wet as if crying. The angles of the face and head are slightly different, making the cat seem more distraught. This is a famous meme image often used to represent crushed spirits.

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 19/08/2026

Yeah I actually spent like two weeks looking for this one myself.

A meme of a painting of a scene from the film Predator where actors Carl Weathers and Arnold Schwarzenegger grip arms and display their biceps. Weathers' arm is labeled "Harry DuBois" and Schwarzenegger's arm is labeled "Cheradenine Zakalwe." Their clasped hands are labeled "This chair is fucking killing me."

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 14/08/2026

Improving still! She's been initiating play with her toys and even playing alone. Here she is being my little worm on a string.

A photograph of an elderly corgi lying on a dog bed. Her feet are tucked close to her and hidden by her body and she has a long snout, making her resemble the worm on a string toys.

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 10/08/2026

People who owned this house previously planted a fig tree, which can be lethally poisonous to dogs, so I've had to start cutting it up and taking it down just in case. However, I feel guilty, so I took cuttings from it to propagate. If it works I'll give them to people who don't have pets.

A photograph of a plant pot seen from above. It is full of dirt and six cut twigs from a fig tree.

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 08/08/2026

Fiiinally caught Zippy in the act of lifting her floppy ear up into a straight ear. I'd seen her in both positions before but wasn't entirely sure how she did the transition. Turns out she can just flick it into an upright position when she wants to.

A photograph of a dog lying on a bed in front of a shelf of books. The dog has lifted her head up and is looking over her shoulder. One of her ears is floppy but the other is in an upright position and is angled to show that she is listening to something.

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 06/08/2026

Good-bye, University of Wisconsin R. J. Schanel Chemistry Building Crate that has always been in my house. Your relationship to my family baffles us still and we are pretty sure you were used for explosives once upon a time. Thank you for your service.

A photograph of the interior of the wooden lid of a crate. It appears to have been assembled out of scrap wood, but nevertheless sturdy boards from an era before particle board. On one piece of wood is large stenciled text that reads, "UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN R. J. SCHANEL CHEMISTRY BLDG." Two other boards say "HIGH EXPLOSIVES DANGEROUS" in a different stenciled font.

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 04/08/2026

I was selfish and wanted to keep my thimbleberry when we moved even though it had been in the ground a while. I bought it some very nice soil for its genus and even though it is very upset from the move it is sending up new shoots and showing lots of signs of life. Whew!

A photograph of a large planter containing a twiggy plant that resembles a raspberry plant. Most shoots and leaves are dead and brown, but one is alive and there are more live shoots emerging with green leaves.

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 01/08/2026

Oy is home and resting! We've got pills for her bronchopneumonia. We visited her in the hospital every chance we got and it was nice to see her steadily improving there. Look at her boots.

A photograph of a Pembroke Welsh corgi taken head on. The focal length of the camera used makes her head appear large and only her front feet are visible. Her wrists have been shaved so she could take medicine by IV in the dog hospital, which gives the appearance that her upper legs have pants and her feet have boots with just her pink ankles exposed.

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 24/07/2026

I keep catching sight of it out there out of the corner of my eye and going What the fuck are you doing out there? Get back inside! You're not allowed to leave the bathroom!

A photograph taken from within an empty house undergoing repairs. A back door is open revealing a toilet sitting on the back deck where it appears to be enjoying the sunlight.

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 23/07/2026

Revisiting this every simple diorama base about ten years after I made it. I used Eric Carl's collage methods to make the grass and dirt path. Normally there is a shrine (painted wood birdcage) on the dirt quadrant. The walls are marbled paper I bought from an artist to look like stone.

A photograph of the base of a diorama. There is a floor and two walls. The two walls are low, about six inches tall, and wrapped in white and grey marbled paper that can look like sedimentary rock. The ground is a collage of angular, painted pieces of tissue paper in the colors of grass.

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 22/07/2026

This poor kid. I'm sure the hate is much less now than it was when the show was airing, thankfully.

A screenshot of the character Terra from the TV show Teen Titans (2003). The episode is the season 2 episode "Terra" which introduces the character. The audience sees a very thin blonde girl with enormous worried eyes. Behind her is a wall made of soil or rock. Around her neck are a pair of goggles with their lenses broken.

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 21/07/2026

And sent. Here is what I sent.

Hello!

Earlier today I was saddened and alarmed to see that Booklist's blue sky account made a post about a list of books which it labeled as "ethical romantasy." I have attached a screenshot of it.

Could you please clarify for me whether Booklist and The ALA have taken a stance on the ethical status of books? In this day and age when censorship is crashing down on many authors and artists, I had hoped that this was exactly the kind of thing that The ALA would never want to do. Being able to get books at the library without being judged is important to me as an individual and I've always loved it as policy.

Many thanks from a big reader of unethical books,
Alison Robin

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 21/07/2026

@ala-booklist.bsky.social shut off replies and quotes on their post about "ethical" romantasy. I'm going to email the info email listed on their website politely to ask what their official stance here is and I recommend that other people politely do too.

A screenshot of an ALA Booklist post talking about a genre they call ethical romantasy with replies disabled.

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 19/07/2026

Finally opened all my mail and got my cute loon postcards I ordered from @pailbn.bsky.social ! I love these loons so much...

A photograph showing some mail. There are three postcards stacked up, all seeming to have the same illustration of a loon parent with its two babies riding on its back. The postcard is reminiscent of the minnesota state flag, as there is an eight pointed star positioned behind the loon family. Part of the back of an envelope is visible, with a return address for the artist BREE PAIL and a stamp with illustrations of owls. There is also a receipt card with links to Pail's social media, but I don't think I can embed them in alt text. You may have to type in ko-fi.com/pailbn to your web browser. The symbol used on Pail's return address sticker and business card is a unicorn with a long tail.

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 08/07/2026

My dad doesn't know what a reaction image is but he still replies to things this way sometimes

A screenshot of a text message received. It says, "Montgomery Burns steepling his fingers, "Excellent."

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 05/07/2026

Probably due to her Welsh constitution, Oy enjoys the sun whenever she can get a chance to bask in it, but she always looks like it's attacking her.

A photograph of a corgi sitting on cement steps outside of a brick house. The sun is shining on her but is also in her eyes, so she is squinting as if in pain. There is no indication from her body language that she intended to get up or look away from the sun.

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 05/07/2026

I could not find the right photo to suit my vision and had to create it myself

A digital drawing that says "Listen to boonta vista" and depicts four cartoony balloons sharing a small space together in reference to Boonta Vista episode 449. In nearly invisible text it says, "love, Alison" at the bottom.

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 04/07/2026

"Piece of shit wuppyog" is my personal "doggo"/"pupper" after this picture cemented it in my brain. I say it to my dogs a lot.

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 03/07/2026

I'm moving so doing all the address changing stuff and I love that @theonion.com makes it so easy compared to other companies I have accounts with. I just emailed them to change address and busted out laughing at the autoreply:

A screenshot of an email from the onion. It says, "Your request, (371643), has been received and we are currently printing it out, translating it to French, and then back to English. We will respond to you as soon as possible. If you’d like to add more information, please reply to this email, but be aware we will translate that message to Cockney-rhyming slang. No one in the office is Cockney and thus may take some time to unravel the message's intention. Thank you for your patience."

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 27/06/2026

This absolutely did not happen in real life but you bet I told my friends about it as if it did happen

A screenshot of a discord messages that says, "last night I was working at a convention but I brought a rat and ferret breeding colony with me to the convention and they kept escaping"

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 26/06/2026

Another childhood story of mine which I dictated for my mother to write for me. Hard for me to pick a favorite part of this one. I see why my mother kept it.

A photograph of an open zine assembled by a child out of dot matrix printer paper. On the left page is a child's drawing and on the right page is handwritten text. The drawing depicts a person as drawn by a small child. He seems to have three eyes and a frown. Next to him is a black mass around the size of a person. The text reads, "Once upon a time there were two kids, Jill and Joe. They lived in a hospital so if they got hurt they could be in the hospital fast. In the basement of the hospital, Joe went down there and he saw something that a mummy would be in."

A photograph of an open zine made by a child out of dot matrix printer paper. On the left page is a child's drawing and on the right page is handwritten text transcribed by an adult. The drawing depicts a child lying down in a bed. The text says, "And then he knew that there could be such a thing as ghosts. He went and told his sister and his sister Jill said, "There is no such thing as ghosts!" And then she went down there when her brother was asleep. And then she saw someone she knew and she knew ghosts were real!"

A photo of an open zine made by a child out of dot matrix printer paper. The left page is blank. The right page has handwritten text by an adult and a drawing of a standing person with a smile. The text reads, "She went to sleep right away and wanted to dream about a musician that could tell her what was real and what was make-believe."

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 26/06/2026

I've been a Toronto Raptors fan for a very long time, here's a drawing from when I was very very small. I have never been to Toronto. Someday I will...

A photograph of a child's drawing on lined notebook paper. The paper has been ripped out of a small spiral bound notebook. The word RAPTOR has been written in large text by a child. Under that is a terrible quality near-stick-figure drawing of the mascot of the Toronto raptors, an anthropomorphic velociraptor, with a basketball.

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 23/06/2026

My mom went on vacation and is texting me like she's in a low-level RPG dungeon so I know she is having a great time

A cropped screenshot of a text message from a cell phone. The text message reads, "Also, they have Pallid Bats here that eat their neon green scorpions!"

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 22/06/2026

Something something the scene in Master and Commander (2003) with the little boats pulling the big boat in the fog but you can't see the big boat, and the scene in The Endless (2017) where humans play tug of war with the entity you can't see

A screenshot from the film Master and Commander. It depicts a dinghy on the sea in fog. The men in the dinghy are rowing away from the camera and they are tethered by a rope to something behind the camera. It feels like the rope is passing over the audience's left shoulder. The fog makes it difficult to see the men in the boat, and beyond them there is only fog.

A screenshot from the film The Endless. A group of people are gathered at night, lit only by a campfire. A man is playing tug of war while others watch. The man playing tug of war faces the camera, so the audience cannot see what he is pulling, but the rope is lifted up at approximately a 45 degree angle from the ground, when we would expect a normal tug of war game to have a rope parallel to the ground.

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 20/06/2026

When I was a pre-literate child, my parents would help me by writing down my stories for me as I dictated them, and then I would illustrate the stories. Here is one that my mother recorded from some day when I was apparently in a TERRIBLE mood. Note the ancient printer paper.

A photograph of a child's zine. The zine is made out of dot matrix printer paper. One one page there is handwritten text and on the other page there is a small child's drawing of a person. The text reads, "Once upon a time there was a family. And in that family they had 2 pets, a cat and a dog, and 3 humans, a mommy, a daddy, and a child. The child was named Alison. She was very smart."

A photograph of the same child's zine turned to the next page. There is one page of text and one page of a drawing of a person having a realization. The text says, "And one day, Alison was looking through her toys to see if she could find something that would be good to use. And Alison said to herself, "Maybe I could get them back for doing no good to me."

A photograph of the next page of the zine. Three quarters of this spread has handwritten text and there is a drawing of two frowning parents with their child. The text reads, "Her parents are angry at her because they're always angry at her. "No more miss nice girl," thought Alison. Then Alison remembered she knew how to do karate. She jumped up and punched them in their noses. And then Alison said, "That's what you get for doing no good for me." And then she dusted her knees off."

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 19/06/2026

Okay sff art fans, what is your favorite illustration (cover or interior) for any Edgar Rice Burroughs book? I'm packing my father's antique and vintage ERB collection and I think my favorite might be this cover for Moon Men by Mahlon Blaine.

A photograph of a vintage book. The book is a hardcover with its paper jacket still on, and the jacket has been wrapped in plastic to protect it so the book looks very smooth to the touch. The cover says Edgar Rice Burroughs in smaller text and then MOON MEN in huge block letters with waves in them. The art is almost entirely lineart in ink and shows a human-shaped entity riding a horse-like beast. The rider holds a harpoon as if it means to throw it at a distant spacecraft. The rider appears to have backwards feet, a face on its chest, and wears a headdress like an aztec eagle warrior. In essence, there is a humanoid head inside of a helmet and the helmet is shaped like a big animal head. The horse-like mount has clawed feet and a head like a dragon with long teeth and forward pointing horns.

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 16/06/2026

Power is out at my house due to some guys digging gone wrong so I am drawing people from Earthsworld while using grocery store power outlet to stay sane. I'm too annoyed to work on work.

A digital sketch in full color of a man wearing sunglasses. The man has a fair complexion but has been in the sun a lot and features burns around his forehead. He has long wavy hair that's been tossed around. He has a dark tshirt and a silver necklace with complicated chain links. The bright pink color on his lips is intense enough to suggests that he has maybe been drinking some colorful juice or soda or eating a candy.

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 05/06/2026

My mom drew this when she was a little girl... Armed clown pilgrim would be a great slasher movie villain.

A photograph of a drawing by a small child. It appears the intended drawing was of a pilgrim with a gun smiling, but the red of the pilgrim's mouth looks like clown makeup

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 04/06/2026

Oy knows this flower pot is where I drop off snacks for "my" crows.

A photograph of a yard with grass, a tree, miscellaneous background plants, a corgi dog, and an elevated flowerpot. The corgi is on her hind legs to make herself tall enough to investigate the flower pot. She bears an expression suggesting slight frustration and disappointment, as if she did not find what she expected.

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 23/05/2026

They have only one absolutely gorgeous set and I looked it up and it's either a copy of or filmed inside the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town, which has GORGEOUS architecture made out of former grain silos.

A photograph of the interior of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa. The room is several stories high and shaped irregularly and organically and appears to be carved out of a matrix of concrete cylinders.

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 20/05/2026

"Ingredience" is so much a part of my vocabulary that I brought this up in The Chat the other day and it was approved by The Committee (friends).

A screenshot of a post in discord. Nine days ago, user alison posted, "just imagined I got a new kitchen and in the live laugh love cursive font I got a framed picture that just says "ingredience" to hang in the kitchen."

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 19/05/2026

Tony DiTerlizzi's cover for an edition of "Dragonflight" is one of my favorites because it puts the alienness of the "dragons" in the forefront and this is one of the things that makes the books compelling enough for new editions with new covers decades after the original run.

The cover to a book. The book is Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey. It depicts a slender young woman with long hair riding a flying creature, presumably a dragon. The creature has bulbous eyes like a fly, a skull shaped somewhat like a horse's, and a long neck. Its forelegs are clawed like bird feet and it has broad fleshy wings. In the background, there are other, smaller dragons visible.

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 16/05/2026

I never leave home without stuff to draw or write on. This is my most pared down set of things I carry for my smallest outings, normally I have an arsenal of art supplies and journal.

A photograph of the contents of a small bag. There is a small leather folio with a flip open sketchbook, a flipper zero, an external battery for a cell phone, Dramamine, a bandana with slime mold patterns, and a minimalist wallet with keys and clips attached.

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 14/05/2026

This is the faces my dogs make when they are spending a few hours in an outdoor run built for hunting dogs. The concrete is freshly washed, they have water and toys and a great doghouse with room for both of them. It's a nightmare.

A photograph of two dogs behind a metal fence. One dog is a geriatric corgi and one is a middle aged mutt with achondroplasia and floppy ears. Both dogs are wearing harnesses, and behind them there is a water bowl full of water and the corner of a doghouse.

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 09/05/2026

My qualifications: I check a lot of these boxes and have for decades. The entire middle of this graph is my kingdom.

A diagram of nerd hierarchies, the same as the one quoted in the first post of this thread. Several categories have been highlighted by Alison to indicate their specialties. These are: Science Fiction Literature fans, Anime Fans who Insist on subtitles, video gamers, science fiction television fans, amateur science fiction writers, roleplaying gamers, fanfic writers, erotic fanfic writers, pokemon fans over the age of six, and furries.

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 06/05/2026

I'm known for asking important questions

A screenshot of a discord conversation. On July 30th 2023, user alison asks, "Would you still love me if I had a tragic accident on the couch while eating anchovies right out of the tin?"

A screenshot of a discord conversation. On June 3rd, 2024, user alison asks, "Would you still love me if I bought the Darth Maul denim shirt?" Attached is a photo of a black denim shirt. It is embroidered with red thorny vines, and the combined effect bears a passing resemblance to the star wars character Darth Maul.

A screenshot of a discord conversation. On February 24th, 2026, user Alison asks, "Would you still love me if I picked you up like this?" Attached is a photo of a very small shrew being held by the loose skin at the back of its neck. The animal is scarcely the side of the thumb of the human holding it. The shrew has a long nose and a tiny little eye and a plethora of bristly whiskers and clearly does not belong suspended in the air.

A screenshot of a discord conversation. On may second 2026, user Alison asks, "Would you still love me if you found out I was a super picky eater and the thing I was picky about was that I wanted all my food to be served on uranium glass plates and I insisted that it tasted better?" Attached is a photograph of a piece of uranium glassware. It has a textured pattern with lumps and bumps and a flower in the middle. The glass is mostly see-through but faintly green. The specific kind of green is identifiable to sighted people as being unique to uranium glass.

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 30/04/2026

Washington State! Patches' Pals! You can get J.P. Patches license plates and the money goes to Seattle Children's Hospital. Tell the Washingtonian boomers in your life, they will want to know they can have their favorite clown on their car license plates. It really hasn't been advertised much.

A mock up of a sample license plate for Washington State. It has a picture of JP Patches, famous Washingtonian clown, and his sidekick Gertrude.

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 29/04/2026

Like this is kind of how it is every time someone tries to really figure out why the hell priest keeps doing evil stuff and I do absolutely love it

A four panel comic of Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson. In the first panel, Calvin hammers nails messily into the coffee table in his house. He has a serene but attentive smile. In panel 2, his mom comes running in, yelling "Calvin what are you doing to the coffee table?!?" And in panel 3 Calvin looks at the many nails sticking out of the table, mostly at odd angles. In panel 4 he asks his mother, "Is this some kind of trick question or what?"

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Alison Robin @alisonrobin.com · 22/04/2026

I often see this cute moped when I am out and about and I love it because it has a bug "face" and is a type of insect to me

A photograph of a parked moped viewed from the front. It has two forward-facing headlamps that resemble the bulbous eyes of cartoon bugs, and its rearview mirror (only one visible in the photo) sticks out like an antenna. The front wheel is at an angle because it is parked and resembles a butterfly's curled proboscis

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