iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 12/10/2026

Leonardo sees La Signora del Giacondo, paints the money Lisa. I see your tweet, make this meme. We are the same, no? Both artistes.

190

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 21/09/2026

Goes to show, Mel Brooks knows of what he writes

030

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 21/09/2026

Good morning. And now, let us pledge allegiance to the flag.

A picture of my hand holding up the flag from my child’s Astronaut Barbie set. In hot pink letters it says “Barbie on the moon!”

272

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 15/09/2026

The other day, talking with my dad about my late grandma’s often renewed cigarette-scent in her bathroom despite her constant declaration of how glad and proud she was that she quit DECADES ago, I said the below. Feels related?

Text speech bubble says: It may be true that our values make us who we are, but it is the small hypocrisies in them that endear us to each other

020

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 05/09/2026

Why is this cover of Machiavelli’s the Prince just that screenshot/gif of Darcy’s hand after he helps Elizabeth into the carriage in Pride And Prejudice (2005)? Weird direction to take this, Penguin Classics

The penguin classics cover of Nicole Machiavelli’s the Prince, featuring a close up detail of a renaissance portrait of some sort of aristocrat. The detail only shows the rich brocade of the aristocrat’s outfit and his hand resting on the bejeweled and ornate pommel of a sword

000

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 03/09/2026

Made a meme from the funniest and most wonderful thing my kid did this morning

4 panel Galaxy brain meme

First panel, Small Dull Brain, text reads: Books are just books, a household object of no real importance. What's the big deal?

Second panel, Brain with sparkly lights beginning to activate through out it, text reads: Books are vital storehouses of knowledge of historical value. They should be preserved as closely to their original condition as possible, and even minimally restored over time.

Third panel, a bust of a human with the brain outlined in shining neon blue and radiating neon blue beams of light, text reads:The book as an object has just as much information as the words on the page, but it is a collaborative and even creative effort by all hands. The work of restoration is equal to the work of the original makers of the book. It is all one text, with a long lifespan full of changes.

Fourth and final panel, an upper torso outlined in light emanating from the skull and which spreads out to create an enormous interconnected galaxy, text reads: My 3 year old, lovingly stroking the scotch tape I used to jury-rig the cover back onto his favorite boardbook: Byootiful . . . Dis tape is byootiful . . .

010

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 14/06/2026

my daily tarot pull casts a pall over the Knicks

A stylized tarot card from my tarot app, the V of Swords. The card explanation reads “Victory has been achieved though it comes with a subtle consequence. By taking from your opponents their ability to fight back in some form or fashion, you might have also created resentment. Your actions have isolated you from those who could be helpful later on.”

010

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 14/06/2026

BALL IS LIFE AND BEYOND!!!! KNICKS IN 5!!!!

An emojikitchen.dev generated emoji of a skeleton playing basketball, made by crossing the basketball emoji with the skull emoji

030

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 27/05/2026

Today I am having a good time being angry on the computer AT the computer.

A google information box asks "what was the primary reason you decided to turn off ad personalization?" to which I responded, "Hate you, hate your collecting information on me, hope to one day be free of you."

190

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 21/05/2026

Reminder! This event with @cavar.bsky.social and me and Topaz Winters is coming up in New York's one and only Bushwick at Hivemind Books! Come on throooooooooough RSVP here: hivemindbooks.com/events/51719...

A flyer for a reading I’m in, at Hive Mind Books at 219 Irving Ave, Bushwick, Brooklyn NY, Wednesday June 3rd, 7 PM. The reading is to celebrate a collection of poems, Differential Diagnosis by Cavar. You can rsvp at the website in the link

032

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 21/05/2026

Mainstream superhero comics are once again being such silly self indulgent masturbatory fan service bullshit that I am no longer annoyed and exasperated by them but honestly impressed and enthralled, yes, absolutely, let's do this

031

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 17/05/2026

Post a meme made by you This is my meme. There are many like it and this one is mine

010

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 16/05/2026

The swag of this cartoon duck on my kid’s bubble wand is undeniable. Imagine me wearing a hoodie and a matching hat that just says “HUMAN”

My kid’s bubble wand, topped by a cutesy cartoon duck holding a skateboard. He’s wearing a grey hoodie and a grey hat that says “DUCK” in all capital letters.

040

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 07/05/2026

Just checking in with the homies. All good here, how are you?

A text exchange with my friend. She says “Omg are you dealing with complicated feelings around Jewish community and antisemitism these days like I am?”

I respond in three texts “Oh no, I’m fine. Why do you ask?” “JK JK JK ITS ALL ON FIRE” “NO ONE KNOWS HOW TO BE NORMAL ABOUT JEWS LEAST OF ALL JEWS”

040

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 26/04/2026

This is gonna be a good time, I feel it in my bones. Come through, Bushwick and adjacent territories! hivemindbooks.com/events/51719...

021

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 19/03/2026

Your last saved meme is your moral philosophy

3100

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 11/03/2026

Posting my business card and pinning that.

A black and white business card, centered around a woodblock illustration of a bearded cartoonish figure holding a chicken under his arm. The business card reads in a variety of complimentary fonta “Mordecai Martin, writer, NYC and Mexico City, Translator, Yiddish and Hebrew Poetry and Prose, www.mordecaimartin.net”

0184

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 11/02/2026

The toilet in this restaurant has a full length mirror!

Me, a large bearded man in red sneakers, blue jeans, and a purple and green horizontally striped t shirt.

030

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 10/02/2026

She was visibly upset when I attached the brooch she had just bought me to “the hot dog hat.” She asked if I was provoking her intentionally.

010

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 10/02/2026

Stack of the day Vs Fit of the day. Stack theme: Re-entry. (All books I’ve started before and didn’t finish because of lack of attention span. Time to try again.) Outfit theme: Desde Westchester para el mundo. Vote for your favorite

A sunny outdoor photo of a stack of books on a wooden table, a yellow small notebook on top. The stack of book contains: MESSSIAH IN AMERICA Moyshe Nadir, trans. Michael Shapiro BLESSED DAYS OF MY YOUTH Gyula Krúdy trans. Jon Batki VIOLENT PHENOMENA: 21 ESSAYS ON TRANSLATION various from Tilted Axis Press, IN MEMORY OF MEMORY Maria Stepanova trans. Sasha Dugdale from Fitzcarraldo Editions

150

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 09/02/2026

For those of you into Heated Rivalry, might I suggest THIS sizzling slow burn?

The cover or Frog and Toad Are Friends: an I CAN READ book by Arnold Lobel

515521

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 03/02/2026

39. Flirty, and Fine. Happy my birthday to all you fine people

A smiling picture of me, a large bearded man in an orange shirt and a blue jacket

8200

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 27/01/2026

An icy little poem from the second Battle of Artois, hill 675, where the anarchist poet and future assassin Sholem Shvartsbord can’t catch a break. Not sure about all my choices in this translation. But so be it.

A white background with black text that reads “Sentinel

1.
Twice over now it’s changed,
One watch ends, another begins,
But I’m always here, alone,
At my post, standing.

2.
Cold winds blow from afar,
Leaves fall, completely without number
Oh! When will I be finished?
Will the time ever end?

3.
Frost and snow come to visit.
They bring despair with them.
Previous hope is dashed,
And the dreams of night. . .

4.
Standing, shuddering
Cold, frozen to the bone!
Death in this corner of barbed wire
Who lasts longer?

4.
My gun is stiff, frozen.
Stuck to my right hand.
Who should I protect like this?
My country?!”

150

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 21/01/2026

Translation is neat, because instead of having an anxiety attack about whether I'll ever get a book published for the collapse of traditional publishing/society, I'm wondering whether I can get a grant to travel to the exact hill Sholem Shvartsbord wrote this poem on.

120

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 18/01/2026

This is the poster for the fifth salon of the rose and cross group of symbolists. It shows the hero Perseus holding the severed head of the naturalist Emile Zola. Never be afraid to name your aesthetic enemies. Define yourself in opposition! I don’t agree with the symbolists, but I admire the verve!

100

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 11/01/2026

I’m in the middle of George Perec’s LIFE: A USER MANUAL translated by David Bellos, and oddly, it’s easier to see what the mundane elements are doing versus the extraordinary ones.

A hand holds up an edition of LIFE: A USER’S MANUAL by George Perec, translated by David Bellos

120

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 19/12/2025

From my family to yours, a freilikhn khanike!

A Hannukah menorah with five candles lit, and a small toy menorah next to it with five wooden toy candles

0160

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 20/11/2025

Working on frontmatter of Dreams and Reality by Bessarabian anarchist-assassin-poet Sholem Shvartsbard/Baal Khaloymes (the Dreamer) When I am silent, then the heart festers. When I speak, then anger burns. When I think, then I feel pain. And when I dream, then I am corpse-pale. #translationthurs

The title page of Troymen un Virklikhkeyt, the Yiddish book described in the post. Beneath the title, a short poem which I have translated in the post is written in Yiddish

040

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 17/11/2025

You can just make a salad lyonnaise, that’s something you can do

030

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 02/11/2025

A friend in Gaza needs urgent financial assistance. I am offering some rewards for sending money to my Venmo @mo-martin-1. Receipts will be available. Rewards are in the picture (with alt text):

$10+ unpublished translated from the Yiddish poem/editorial cartoon/ humorous story or joke
$25+ sneak peek of a hybrid translated-original prose project I am working on
$50+ feedback on a work of yours, under 10 pages
$100+ feedback on a work of yours, manuscript length.

022

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 29/10/2025

I am trying to raise 200 US dollars for an elderly Palestinian woman in Cairo to afford a wheelchair. Venmo me @Mo-Martin-1 and I’ll pass the money on. Venmo me an amount of 25 dollars or more and I’ll translate this poem by Sholem Shvartsbard for you!

143

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 13/10/2025

My coworking space got the memo about spoopy season, considered the propositions therein seriously, and made action items

the coffee station at my co-working space, where the spoon rest for the coffee stirrer has been replaced with a spider shaped bowl, and there are three skeleton statues next to the cups

the water cooler at my co-working space, where a mexican style sugar skull sculpture is flanked by two candle holders in the shapes of skeleton hands

010

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 20/09/2025

This what I mean when I talk about art collectives as the future

A Richard Scarry drawing showing a single building with a poet, an artist painting a picture, a story writer, a photographer, and a book printer, among other anthropomorphic animal workers

4426

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 08/08/2025

I took this picture of these small purple flowers on my street yesterday. Their lives of beauty, constricted by concrete and wire, reminds me of the beautiful souls of Gaza, denied food and medicine and safety, yet still they bloom. Please consider donating to help www.gofundme.com/f/help-karam...

Small purple flowers in dense greenery, framed by wire constraints

001

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 06/08/2025

I don’t know if the same sinister lessons can be drawn out of Lucha Libre here in Mexico, where I’ve immigrated. In reading this book, I feel I am being given a key to something gentler and more beautiful about the national culture than just how politicians twist the truth.

A colorful book cover showing two bare chested masked men, the one depicted from the front in red tights and mask, leaping to punch the one depicted from the back in blue tights and mask and cape. The title reads “olvidemos el circo, maroma, y teatro: 10 crónicas, gladiadores, leyendas” and the author is Salvador Rodriguez

110

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 25/04/2025

I’m enjoying the challenge of doing street photography while attempting not to capture people without their permission or knowledge

A light purple house with dark purple trim, next to a red and yellow house

A close up of a lamp post with two overlapping posters that say “tarde de cine”

An upside down yellow handicap sign on a grey cracked curb

A facade of a yellow house and a house painted white, both of them cracked and weathered. The white wall has a dark blue sign that says “Calle Asturias.” In the sky above there is a tree branch visible

071

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 23/04/2025

Going to try and make a routine of these walks. Really delightful to just see the world through the camera. Here’s some of my favorite compositions. Did a lot of thinking about frames.

A small yellow cart in front of a crosswalk with a hand lettered sign on the side that says “helado verano”

Two motor scooters and a small pendant shaped sign that says “LIMITE”

Some playground equipment framing a piece of graffiti behind them

010

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 22/04/2025

First steps. The flowers in the tree outside my window. Nikon D5600. Honestly, just grateful to take a pic not on my phone. Not unpleased with these.

A bright orange spiky flower surrounded by foliage, framed by a bar of grating that is not in focus

More spiky orange flowers in foliage, an apartment building behind them

050

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 07/04/2025

Some highlights of the collection

110

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 03/03/2025

Excited to read with this amazing roster to support @translifeline.bsky.social and @translatinacoalition.org ! Contact me for registration info!

092

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 14/02/2025

I think I'm prepared to be insufferable about this. YOU SHOULD COME

073

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 07/02/2025

This is an illustration of a little pro-labor Yiddish novella I’m translating. It depicts a sweatshop owner who crossed a picket line to eat some noodles getting the shit beat out of him by the striking dishwasher. Get fucked, Mr. Getzlberg!

A black and white cartoon of two men. The small man has a black eye and is being held in a headlock by the larger mustached man, whose fist is drawn back to hit him again. Around them other arms and hands are also shown in fists, with knives and clubs.

0124

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 06/02/2025

Passed this bougainvillea on the way to the park to do something for myself. Felt encouraged. Don’t give up, okay? This bougainvillea wouldn’t

Some bright fuchsia bougainvillea blossoms on a tree

131

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 21/01/2025

The story this cartoon illustrates is ready for submission! Who's taking translated weird little Yiddish finds?

A cartoon of three men, two of them dressed as religious Jews, examining a diamond. One of the religious Jews is so tall that his beard hangs down over the eyes of the shorter religious Jew, who has an eye glass on the diamond. The caption reads in Yiddish, "he sees a hair in the diamond because he doesn't see the beard which stands above him"

032

Mordecai Martin @mordecaimartin.net · 09/01/2025

I’m reentering the world after a restorative week of celebrating myself and my community of writers at Randolph College, where I graduated with an MFA. Hard to hold all the private joy and public pain at once.

I, a large bearded white man kneel in a black graduate’s cap and gown. My advisor, the poet and memoirist Chet’la Sebree, a Black woman in a stylish patterned blazer with her hair up puts a master’s hood over my shoulders

4300