Sign in

iiinova is part of the Atmosphere — an open, public network where you own your identity.

Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist

@RMiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy
23 followers 1 following 945 posts

Hi I'm: • abstractionist • colorist • queer • aspiring author • unwilling subject of the tyrannical United States • dreaming of life in #Puebla #Mexico […] 🌉 bridged from mastodon.art/@RMiddleton on the fediverse by fed.brid.gy

PostsRepliesMedia
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 17/10/2025
#nature #ocean #shhhhhh
000 0
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 01/10/2025
There's international fame & then there's...
img. 60
Jane Goodall (1934 - 2025) CHIMPS AND SCIENTISTS Jane Goodall lives forever in the images included in Voyagers' golden records
010 1
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 01/10/2025
Found all the cables needed to use the projector, watching Superman.
Foreground is the foot of the bed and part of a bedroom leading to curtains and a window shade on which a projected image of Superman on the ground is seen.
110 1
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 24/09/2025
always a lot to do some things are harder than others some things can be eased with money, if any can be spared how i feel about it is a choice there is no performance review scratching a mosquito bite is a bad idea that sometimes feels good don't tire […] [Original post on mastodon.art]
detail of abstract painting titled Painting B with a variety of marks in red, blue, green, black, in mixed media
010 1
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 21/09/2025
[High pitched noise] Warning: Do not play. It's awful. I went to a website to approximate my tinnitus tone. It's been bothering me more than usual lately, but I hear this in my head 24/7/52 for the past 30ish years. 😭
000 0
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 21/09/2025
During the sunrise stream I caught a space rocket launch. www.twitch.tv/videos/2571994453
Humanissome Twitch stream screenshot. Early morning view of sky with a rocket trail in white. Blue sky, gradient to orange-yellow on the horizon just before sunrise. Low clouds near horizon. Wide body of water at bottom reflecting the sky above.
100 1
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 21/09/2025
humanissome.org
Screenshot of sunrise stream, facing east. Bright yellow sun in center of horizon across water from a balcony railing corner pointing due east.
100 1
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 21/09/2025
I searched a famous poem, using Quant. I share the top result here. Sign of our totally healthy & normal world: ...compare prices on famous poets at Amazon.com
(a) amazon.com

amazon.com Kindle > Store + Ad
Low prices famous poets - Amazon.com Official Site
Browse & discover thousands of unique brands. Read customer reviews & best sellers. Find deals and compare prices on famous poets at Amazon.com
100 1
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 17/09/2025
Currently streaming at humanissome.org
000 0
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 13/09/2025
Letting go of being right co-evolves with letting go of wanting to convince others. Deprecated: shame of being wrong, defensiveness, fear of mistakes, ranking human worth New features: confidence, vulnerability, forgiveness, honesty, accountability, respect #Rartsy
Abstract expressionist painting on clear plexiglass hanging on a red-maroon wall. The painting contains a cacophony of colors in a mix of intentional and accidental shapes, including drips, circles, rectangles, blobs, and a handprint.
000 0
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 08/09/2025
YMMV | what an expression! I just looked it up & there's a frozen in amber YMMV dot-com — glad to see it. I'm a recovering objectivist learning to love subjectivity. I looked at what was making me unhappy, prescriptivism, & embarked on an intense campaign to […] [Original post on mastodon.art]
Abstract painting titled Key to Unlock the Door. Foreground contains bursts of dark blue and white mixed with light blue. Background colors include red, yellow, orange, and more.
021 2
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 06/09/2025
This offended me #iphone #apple #ungrateful
My iPhone screen composing a toot. At the top part of the text input field displays a partially visible line: "Threads that way? That is not what I want." On the next line I've typed "3. Tim Berners", with the cursor blinking after "Berners" highlighted Below the auto correction is showing that "Berners" will change into " Berber's " if I hit space. I have to confirm "Berners" by selecting it on the left button. Below that a bit of my keyboard
001 1
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 06/09/2025
To turn the above post from social media snark to public service the 3 posts I didn't share: 1. I don't remember which photo but it's happened so many times. 2. The Greenpeace post below. I liked the quote. It's attributed. But that userid goes to Threads! WTF […] [Original post on mastodon.art]
Greenpeace International @ 22h "If you feel it, the machine failed. If you ever feel heavy because you care deeply about injustice, suffering & ecological destruction, remember that a trillion dollar propaganda machine was built to make you numb & it didn't work on you." via @earthlyeducation #hope #climatehope #climateaction #selfcare earthlyeducation © © 25-08-13 please don't feel ashamed of your outrage and despair, they are honest signs that your heart is still awake. the system wants to turn those feelings into apathy, but they can be fuel. when grief burns, it can light the path to resistance. when rage rises, it can be a river that moves mountains. the point isn't to stop feeling, but to use that energy to protect the living world we still have.
000 0
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 04/09/2025
It's no wonder that place is called Meta, I can't post there without adding meta commentary. Why? Because I know that links are suppressed there. Instagram is the only site where I have any hope of my sister & friends happening to see what I share & that […] [Original post on mastodon.art]
Post label: working on the sites that I prefer, my past work isn't lost as it is on corpo sites 
Blog archive excerpts: 
Do You Believe in Good & Bad? I sorta don't. October 15, 2024 If I believe in Right and Wrong then pain is wrong. Accomplishment is right. Busyness & business are right. Indolence, a word that means "not hurting" in its derivation, is wrong, because it has come to mean lazy. Why is lazy wrong? Lying down, lazing about, is deemed immoral. It's no wonder that US Americans burn out and have to be reminded to rest. 

the peace of God which surpasseth all understanding October 10, 2024 Excerpt of a Bible passage, cutting the religious indoctrination, leaves little.Text boxes over an abstract painting background: 
The problem with work focused on others, SEO, sales, & algorithms is that the purpose can be lost. Human efforts driven by number$ endanger our joy & our very survival. By choosing venues outside the attention industry I affirm my belief in my creative future. Short-term cycles are destructive.
000 0
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 03/09/2025
Thought exercise
There is no understanding / nothing to be understood / only experienced 
[Text in white on 3 rows with black background. Below text is a bright abstract expressionist painting. I make this work to challenge my mind to look beyond definite meaning.]
112 2
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 03/09/2025
...if you feel like it! I mean, I'm not trying to tell anyone what to do, just myself. 💗
On top of a multicolor abstract painting the words CHANGE
001 1
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 03/09/2025
#ScribesAndMakers 2 September: What creative activities are you hoping to work on this month? • Web stuff Rartsy.com humanissome.org & getting a handle on whether, what topics, & in what frequency I'm producing a newsletter blog. The idea came […] [Original post on mastodon.art]
Altered text logo of the Weekly World News American tabloid newspaper that trafficked in conspiracy theories and unsourced outlandish claims. The logo that appeared on the cover of the tabloid consists of black and white bold sans serif, italicized text. Mine reads: WEEKLY WORLD NEWS The World's Only R-World News. The "R" in the first WORLD has been replaced by an orange painted "R" that I use as a logo. The original copy read: WEEKLY WORLD NEWS The World's Only Reliable News.
000 0
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 02/09/2025
I just produced a contrarian multi-panel post on Instagram. I ask myself why I'm so often griping, especially there & why/if I'm excessively contrary. Pithy statements presented as deep & powerful excite rejection from me. Social media encourages such […] [Original post on mastodon.art]
Black text on white background floats over a colorful abstract painting: Short attention span media exacerbates the flaw of wanting easy answers,aphorisms,instant meaning. The meaning is in doing, in being. There's no effort required to "earn" meaning but to be present. An abstract painting in every color with a few words floating on top, black text on white background: Stop trying Just be 
 
[Of course trying is important, demonstrating the flaw of aphorisms. "Significance can't be forced" is my point. By being we are significant. Every moment is significant & trivial, inherently.]
000 0
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 02/09/2025
#ScribesAndMakers Sep 1: Tell us something about yourself & your creativity. Creative practice keeps me alive, sane, & growing. Abstract Expressionism has given me a safe emotional release for 33 years consistently (& in prior moments during childhood before I […] [Original post on mastodon.art]
How is everyone not a painter, I exclaimed when greeted with this sky while driving yesterday near sunset. Above a mostly grey road and muted brick & grey buildings loom dark silhouettes of trees against a multicolored sky. In the sky are pink, orange, yellow, white, light blue, lavender, grey, in a soft mix. How is everyone not a painter, I exclaimed when greeted with this sky while driving yesterday near sunset. Here the sky fills the top two thirds of the image and is mostly grey clouds with blue showing in places. Near the horizon bursts a thin band of bright pink, with orange, rose, purple, and yellow. In the foreground is  a mostly grey road, muted yellow brick buildings, and some dark silhouettes of trees. Over the top of a car steering wheel in beige, out the windshield lies a grey road at dusk, a few buildings beside the road, and in the distance the sky in pink, blue, gray, and other hues.
101 1
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 28/08/2025
Art with the lights on, Art with the lights off #abstractPainting #Rartsy
010 1
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 27/08/2025
Too much talk about have to & obligations Not enough talk about want to & love, growth, universal improvement The oppressors always on attack put us on counterattack & defense When do we get to share the vision for a better world for all We have to make time for that Always #Rartsy
Abstract expressionist painting in many colors, notably shades of blue, beige, red, grey, white & more on a canvas leaning against a carmine red wall on a parquet pattern wood floor
000 0
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 26/08/2025
A vintage silver-colored hairbrush with an ornate handle and frame, decorated with roses and scrollwork, lies vertically on the left. To its right, a decorative silver metal belt buckle featuring a central oval turquoise stone and two smaller round red stones, surrounded by intricate scrollwork, is connected to a segmented, scale-like silver metal belt. Both items are placed on a textured background splattered with blue, white, and green paint.
000 0
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 26/08/2025
000 0
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 23/08/2025
As I face the sad fact that my home is worth far less than I think it should be (and was a few years ago) I have to remind myself that Trump killing liberty & the economy is a big motivation for me leaving. I'm getting out while I can in hope for a better future […] [Original post on mastodon.art]
Current view out of my living room corner. Glass doors at right show a wide river, blue sky and clouds. Glass door at left reveal green tree tops and a city a few kilometers away.
000 0
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 21/08/2025
Respectful Restroom
Toilet paper rolls side by side in underhand & overhand hanging positions
000 0
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 19/08/2025
Aforementioned puppet
Me holding a grey squirrel hand puppet
000 0
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 19/08/2025
Benefits of moving: finding things long lost | 100+ yr old gold coin cuff links, squirrel hand puppet childhood plaything, back massager cord, an antique pocket watch, my first ever paycheck (pictured; I was 3.5 years old onstage in an opera!)
Left half of a folded check: OPERA REPERTORY gROUP, 1492 BIRMINGHAM RD., S. INC. JACKSONVILLE, FLA. 32207 PAY TO THE ORDER OF ROBBIE MIDDLETON 
FIFTEEN and - - -  
FLORIDA FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF JACKSONVILLE JACKSONVILLE. FLORIDA FOR Fee Right half of check: No. 821 November 22, 1975 63-5|630 
$15.00 
Bruce F. Macrae (Signed in pen)
100 1
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 18/08/2025
A friend came by for me to bequeath some things to as I prepare to move out. He bought a painting with his sister's house in mind. He wrote later to say that his young niece claimed it & now his young nephew wants one. I love when kids enjoy my art!! And the […] [Original post on mastodon.art]
On black background an abstract expressionist painting in pastels, heavily blue, yellow, rose, and white. Label: Unstoppable 24 by 20 inches (61 by 50 cm)Text conversation excerpt: Friend —Penelope claimed that painting for her new bedroom and now Niko wants one, "Robbie is a good painter." Me — Aw that feels good There's a gallery link here [link preview shows RARTSY .com in white over an abstract painting detail] Link label: Rob Middleton's Rartsy.com rartsy.com
001 1
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 17/08/2025
Online availability is part of moving for me. I'm directing everyone to Rartsy.com with plans to keep the URL "forever." But until a few days ago I didn't like where the address pointed. It took a minimal amount of time to make an acceptable landing page […] [Original post on mastodon.art]
Screenshot of my site Rartsy dot com as it appears on a phone in dark mode. White lettering labels over images: Rob Middleton's RARTSY.com [header banner over abstract painting detail in pastels mostly pink][dark gray background]
ABOUT ROB [square photo button showing my head with frizzy gray & brown hair, peach skin, bug eyed rose lenses sunglasses, and my lips closed in a "what now?" expression] ABSTRACTS [square photo button of abstract painting detail from a different painting to the banner header but also I'm mostly pastel pink with grey, yellow, white, and lines in purple and red].
001 1
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 16/08/2025
Keroppi Sanrio cuteness
Keroppi, the really cute Sanrio frog character, on top of a retractable ball point pen.  Pressing down on the top of Keroppi reveals and hides the pen & xir plastic arms move. Keroppi wears a red and white vertical striped shirt and a black bow tie. Xe has a fixed smile and blushing red cheeks (or rouge makeup). In the background is my favorite painting I've made, abstract in a world of colors.
020 2
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 16/08/2025
The stuff I post on Insta (cont'd) It always feels petty to criticize a small interaction from a corporation. Nonstop trivial affronts are how we get worn down, I feel. Living under the assault of constant cloying desperation and insincere emotional maximalism […] [Original post on mastodon.art]
Screenshot from Instagram. I've written "Gross" with a purple arrow (over rainbow gradient background) to a screenshot within the screenshot. The Instagram app interface informs me that my latest post uploaded: "Posted! High-five." That's what I'm commenting is "gross." I'm anti-fun like that. I disabled Siri because it kept trying to be my casual friend. I loathe insincerity (except for humor & satire). A portion of my latest post completes the screenshot—account: rmiddleton.art | Music (because if you don't add music they say they won't show your post!): Crowded House • Don't Dream It's Over | post image: I simplified the link preview image for rartsy.com [detail of abstract painting with RARTSY .com superimposed in white text with thin black border.]
022 2
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 15/08/2025
Bumper sticker on light blue car: HONK IF YOU WANT TO SOUND LIKE SOME KIND OF STUPID GOOSE
001 1
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 12/08/2025
I redid my profile, adding the first unverified link in a while. It goes to a corporate hellsite so of course it's not verified. It's to a video I sort of rediscovered yesterday. 3 years ago I edited a #video meant to introduce my YouTube channel & my […] [Original post on mastodon.art]
Screenshot of part of my Mastodon profile. 
Rob [pride flag emoji] RMiddleton.Art @RMiddleton 13,849 Toots • Joined 10/28/22 
4 Links: 
Streaming & Diaries, humanissome.org/ 
Paintings, rartsy.com
Meet Me, youtu.be/ BI29ad601Kw
Support Me,  liberapay.com/ RMiddleton.art 
Hi l'm: • artist • humanist • queer • aspiring author • unwilling subject of the tyrannical United States • dreams of living in #Puebla #Mexico • chronic pain sufferer
002 2
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 12/08/2025
The stuff I post on Insta (Part X of Y); or, I'm so grateful for the fediverse (Part N of ♾️) #SocialMedia #fediverse
rmiddleton.art 3 days ago Some of my favorite things about the apps I use instead of this one are that they don't intentionally break basic computer and internet functions for profit. I just started a post and left the app because I don't have the focus to write what I started to say. I can leave that draft open forever and it will be there. It doesn't reset. Also links work. Cut & paste. Search. Shake to undo. Everything that a computer or phone was designed to do works because, why wouldn't it? We are only used to intentional tech dysfunction because it makes money for assholes.rmiddleton.art music ID: Lana Del Rey • Summertime Sadness (Yes I like this song & it fits but I only added it because Instagram warns users not to post without music! It says that posts without music won't be shown to anyone! Of course I also know that they read my posts & very likely suppress them for anti-Meta content.) I've been processing on my good social media: shame, sadness, rage, humor. And I get support there, reaffirming my belief in human community. I have no idea why y'all are here.
212 2
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 06/08/2025
I'm cheating. Today's prompt, #ScribesAndMakers 6Aug, asks us to create a poll of 2 games we like and 1 we do not. As I prepare to move I share this photo of my games shelves. Truth be told I am not keeping *any* of them, but there is ONE I considered keeping […] [Original post on mastodon.art]
An eye-level shot captures 2 shelves packed with a variety of board games and jigsaw puzzles. The games are stacked horizontally, filling the white shelves from top to bottom. On the upper shelf, prominent titles include "Hoopla," "Scrabble," a "Hummingbird Haven 500 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle," and "Trivial Pursuit." Next to these, 2 colorful boxes for 2 varieties of the game "Azul" stand out with intricate patterns. Other games like "Apples to Apples" and "Life" are also visible.The lower shelf feature more classic and modern games such as "Original Rummikub," "Othello," "Scattergories," "Taboo," and "Mancala." A "Texas Hold'em Poker Set" is also visible on one of the lower shelves. The boxes vary in age and condition, some appearing well-used.
100 1
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 06/08/2025
20 minutes pre-dawn stream www.twitch.tv/videos/2532519064 facing the coming sunrise over water viewed through my cluttered apartment as I prepare to move out
000 0
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 05/08/2025
[Morbid] I don't expect sympathy or agreement; nor do I want argument. If you don't like this talk please move along. I desire to say morose things bluntly. My mother's caretaker died recently. I'm only tangentially involved in my mom's care; we've had only a […] [Original post on mastodon.art]
August 2, 2025 at 12:30 PM 
[2 blank lines]
People die 
& I say, why not me?
People's parents die
& I say, why not mine?
[several blank lines]
When will I be free
000 0
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 03/08/2025
Once I had planned to break this out for an 80s party, or any party. My days of throwing parties are over, at least in this phase of life. My friendships with the demographic that get this reference are mostly over too. Except perhaps online? Since I'm moving […] [Original post on mastodon.art]
Drakkar Noir Guy Laroche Paris written in white lettering on a black plastic case shaped like a circle with top and bottom squared off.
000 0
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 01/08/2025
This Patrick Boyle video on tech bro disruption of the brain is my kind of humor. I'll attach an edited snippet in which he shares a review of a $1500 teapot controlled by an app. The whole 25-minute video is delightfully witty. youtu.be/3jhTnk3TCtc #video #humor #enshittification
000 0
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 31/07/2025
Oh no! I don't want this. My least favorite modern terms are monetization & demonetize. To me it's ruining contemporary creativity. I didn't receive any word from spectra video peer tube that I applied to over a week ago. I can try maker tube. (At the same time […] [Original post on mastodon.art]
< Mailboxes All Inboxes 
Twitch 6:30 PM > You've unlocked access to our monetizati... My Account humanissome
000 0
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 28/07/2025
At the bottom of humanissome.org (the slowly developing site for writing and videos relating to my humanist philosophy) I include an explanation of the fediverse.
WHAT IS THE FEDIVERSE? The Fediverse is a collection of free open source platforms that do not track and do not subject users to algorithms or ads. I am on Mastodon, analagous to Twitter. There are fedi photo & video sharing apps & all communicate with each other. (It would be like seeing YouTube & Instagram & TikTok while scrolling your Twitter feed.) More info on the Fediverse. I think one of the most important things to consider about the fediverse is that its potential increases as the user base increases. Currently you can look at Fedi options and say they don't measure up to all the various corporate counterparts. That's true to some extent. I think that's why the first to grow the fastest has been Mastodon. A microblog seems easier to get right compared to video platforms or Facebook replacements. What's important to remember is that all fedi accounts can interact with each other. You absolutely should try out the best fit for you & you still get the option of seeing everything else. You can follow me and ask me anything. [You can view my posts without joining using that URL or follow my feed on RSS.] Fedi users in general are helpful on the hashtag fedihelp.The stregth of the fediverse depends on users. Join and you become part of a community vs. a customer (or data revenue source). For everything that currently exists that abuses users for profit there is a fediverse version in development. Three of the simplest to join are Linkstack instead of Linktree; Write Freely for distraction-free blogging; and Liberapay for donation processing. These apps do the job without constantly harassing you & your followers to jump through hoops designed to boost their enagement & valuation. If you can afford to donate that's how the fedi platforms stay afloat. I myself do not have income from which to budget monthly pledges so I try to give $10-25 once a year when I have it to the various platforms I use. Some of my favorite things about the Fediverse are the little things: links work, cut & paste works, search works. The apps do not break the standard functionality of computing & the internet to hold audiences hostage. It is a tool, not a trap. If you join the fediverse you will help build the future of human communication.
000 0
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 28/07/2025
No art on the walls of my bathroom now reminds me throughout the day that Yes, I am moving!
Empty tan colored walls meet in a corner, a chrome towel bar on the right wall holds one white hand towel. The walls are empty except for hooks and brads.
000 0
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 27/07/2025
When this came on my tv on Saturday nights in the US my excitement was high for the exciting show about to begin.
000 0
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 27/07/2025
Video version of first title card above. A couple years ago I saw an explainer video on YouTube on the creation of this ident. I never realized, though it's very clear to me now after watching the explainer, that these sounds are percussion excerpted from the […] [Original post on mastodon.art]
100 1
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 26/07/2025
I'm this old: The excitement I still feel at these 2 logos identifies me as an American who grew up in late 70s/early 80s. Because the sound is a big part of my Pavlovian response & because 2 videos cannot fit in 1 post I'll include those videos as replies. Do […] [Original post on mastodon.art]
A CBS SPECIAL PRESENTATION [CC logo] lettering in white except the word special & CC in magenta. SPECIAL is glowing. This is the end of a short animated intro, see next post. From ITC Entertainment identification card (actually an animation still). Im background that's a night sky or space are floating 3 interlocking or superimposed diamonds outlined in red, green, and blue, with other colors, notably pink, showing where they overlap. The top most layer in white shows 3 diamonds outlining the letters I, T, and C, stacked in a column that's angled such that the I appears smaller and farther away than the T & C. Between T & C, to the left is the word FROM and to the right is ENTERTAINMENT. This still is from a video with sound that tan alongside productions by this company. See 2 posts down for the video.
100 1
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 25/07/2025
[Sexual terms] Sex & Mastodon go together like words I have to teach my iPhone to recognize. How often do I use the word masturbate? Not often, I swear it. 😇 I was surprised to see it in the "Keyboard Settings... Text Replacement" list. But then again […] [Original post on mastodon.art]
Search bar: Mas[cursor]
Results: hmasr [shortcut for] https://mastodon.art/@RMiddle.. @middleton@mastodon.art @rmiddle.. masturbation masturbate masturbating  masturbation masturbate masturbating masd [shortcut for] Mastodon 
[keyboard at bottom of screen] 

The terms without shortcuts are those entered by me just to get the iPhone to recognize these as words & not change them to something else like "masticate"!
000 0
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 17/07/2025
After an awful day yesterday I am happy that today was the best in a long time. Don't wanna get ahead of myself but maybe tomorrow will build on today's small steps forward. I would ordinarily specify what made today better but I don't have energy. I'll share […] [Original post on mastodon.art]
Black & white film Titles read Chapter Five: MURDER CAR superimposed over a still photo of lab equipment. At bottom of screen are silhouettes or theater seats with 3 figures in seats at right: gumball machine robot puppet Tom Servo, human male Joel, and vaguely bird shaped robot puppet Crow.
000 0
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 10/07/2025
2/special purpose.] Cognitive dissonance is the opposite of peace of mind. I believe that cognitive dissonance is existentially painful; reduction of or distraction from cognitive dissonance is essential. The notion of white supremacy was invented to legitimize […] [Original post on mastodon.art]
Highlighted portion of podcast conversation, spoken by Dr. Chenjerai Kumanyika to John Biewen on Scene on Radio S2 (Seeing White) E2: How Race Was Made, March 1, 2017: "they enslaved people and then they later sort of deployed the science and all these other cultural forms to match and support the idea that they could exploit these people because they were inferior."

The above is from the transcript linked in this post, page 14 of 15. Longer excerpt: and they enslaved people and then they later sort of deployed the science and all these other cultural forms to match and support the idea that they could exploit these people because they were inferior. So, it really to me, even though you know once you really look at that the idea that exploitation comes first is just, you know, it's just a more rational explanation. John Biewen: Right. And even some of this history that we heard about, you know, all kinds of people enslaved all kinds of people, including and in many cases people enslaved people who look like them. Chenjerai Kumanyika: That's right.
001 1
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 06/07/2025
I'm not necessarily speaking with clarity here. 500 characters demands omissions. Concision is what enables ease of communication here yet prevents thorough accuracy. At least for me. The only arena in which I'm fully comfortable expressing is abstract expressionism. #Rartsy
Close detail from my latest abstract drawing & painting session. Shades of green, blue, red, yellow, orange, brown, and cream are visible, primarily in bands of color stretching horizontally in a slight arc. This image is zoomed in close enough to see the texture of the canvas showing through as  raised bumps, mostly retaining the light color of the under painting.
000 0
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist @rmiddleton.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 05/07/2025
White supremacists are not heroes. America suffers an identity problem rooted in its founding. Trump, ICE, authoritarianism (against disfavored groups), and lawlessness are more in keeping with US values than equality. I believe this essential dissonance […] [Original post on mastodon.art]
THESE 2 ARE NOT THE SAME! 
Cartoon of George Washington with word balloon: IT'S LIKE THEY DIDN'T LISTEN AT ALL; next to cartoon of Jesus with word balloon: BRO, SAME. I added the following word balloon coming from Washington: IT'S LIKE THEY LEARNED MORE FROM MY ACTIONS
010 1