iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

And check out my earlier conversations with Wallis: 2013 chimeraobscura.com/vm/podcast-e... 2017 chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-2... 2022 chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-4...

Selfie of middle-aged white man (left) in black T-shirt with YOKO ONO written on it, beside an older white woman (right) with red-framed glasses and a fiery red necklace on. They're both smiling and seem happy; her right arm is over his shoulder, and his left arm is behind her

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

And go get EMERGING FROM THE WINTER SEA from the publisher us.macmillan.com/books/978037... or your fave bookshop bookshop.org/a/4669/97803...

cover of EMERGING FROM THE WINTER SEA: Selected Poetry and Prose of Antonella Anedda, feat. a photo of drifting ice and a slate gray sky above, with a hint of of a very red sun at the top of the cover

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Finished the trade show in Milan, now in Parma overnight so I can record a podcast with a poet/translator, before making the trek back to US. Also, I'm staying in a 3-bedroom suite in a palazzo, and these are views outside my place.

photo of castle peak with rooftop and greenery in foreground

photo of Piazza Duomo in Parma, Italy, focusing on Battistero di Parma

Photo of ornate door of Battistero di Parma

Photo of Fabbriceria Della Basilica Cattedrale Di Parma in Piazza Duomo in Parma, Italy

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Get DIANA from the publisher www.abramsbooks.com/product/dian... or yer fave bookshop bookshop.org/a/4669/97814... & get the previous books: COME AGAIN www.abramsbooks.com/product/come... / bookshop.org/a/4669/97814... FALL THROUGH www.abramsbooks.com/product/fall... / bookshop.org/a/4669/97814...

Cover of Nate Powell's new graphic novel, DIANA, showing a witch with white hair and a purple-flowered background

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Morning walkies with BIRDY! turned into a mini-hike up The Cliff so we could check out the landscape before I leave for a week and all the leaves start changing. There was a lot for her to sniff, and it was a nice start to a travel day.

photo of gray aussiedoodle on an unpaved road that is lined with trees whose leaves are shifting from green to yellow, along with lots of fallen leaves scattered on both sides of the road

Photo of wooded hills and overcast sky; most of the trees are covered in green leaves, but some are beginning to change

photo of gray aussiedoodle looking away from camera, standing on rocky cliff, with trees behind her

selfie of white man with round glasses atop a cliff, with rolling tree-covered hills in the background, and occasional hints of a reservoir between some of the hills

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

**nudges you to the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme to visit the Boxer At Rest**

Photo of bronze sculpture known as The Boxer At Rest. The boxer is seated, hunched slightly, with his hands almost folder past his knees. His face is turned up and to the right, as though someone is speaking to him.

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

You should follow @karlckrumpholz.bsky.social & go check out his site karlchristiankrumpholz.com his Etsy shop (to buy his comics & prints) www.etsy.com/shop/karlckr... and his IG www.instagram.com/karlchristia... And go read IN THE CITY and IT'S OOLA!!, ferchrissakes!

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Just posting this to get @bcdreyer.social’s HR up first thing in the morning

Mini review of DARKNESS BECOMES NIGHT: THE HAUNTED LIFE (AND AFTERLIFE) OF EDGAR ALLAN POE, in which the review misspells “Allan” as “Allen”

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Got my COVID + flu vaccinations before the next bout of work-travel

photo of white man in black T-shirt with right sleeve rolled up and a CVS band-aid on his right shoulder

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

And go get the book from the publisher hnoc.org/publishing/b... or your fave bookshop bookshop.org/a/4669/97809...

cover of BUNNY MATTHEWS: HIS LIFE, ART, AND OBSESSIONS, feat. a b/w photo of the artist with a b/w chalk drawing of his famous characters, Vic and Nat'ly, behind him

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

If you can't sleep, run: 5:15am pre-tradeshow edition (incl. 2min. warmup, 1min cooldown)

photo of treadmills display after a run. It shows 33:02 elapsed, 3.44 mi. covered, for a pace of 9:36/mi.

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Go get THE NIGHTINGALES from @avidreaderpress.bsky.social www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Ni... or your fave bookshop bookshop.org/a/4669/97816... And check out Emil's art, comics, illustration, advertising & more at emilwilsonart.com

Cover of THE NIGHTINGALES, a graphic novel by Emil Wilson. It depicts a pen drawing of a suburban house, and a man walking toward it, with his back to us. He holds a Pomeranian dog in his left arm and is walking another with his right. Above the house are illustrations of characters from the book

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Last day of this 6-day trip, getting ready to speak at the #FDA GDUFA reauthorization public meeting! (I put a tie on after I got inside.)

Selfie of middle-aged white man in dark gray suit and white dress shirt, standing in front of entryway for Building 1 of FDA headquarters

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

#Podcast recordings with a couple of #comics folks at @smallpressexpo.bsky.social today: #NatePowell @natepowell.bsky.social & @karlckrumpholz.bsky.social #karlchristiankrumpholz! Episodes coming soonish. (There would’ve been more, but circumstances.) (But I DID add a bunch of prospects, so yay.)

Selfie of two middle-aged white men in T-shirts, arm in arm, smiling at the camera

Selfie of two middle-aged white men — on in a T-shirt, the other in a fedora, knit sport coat, and T-shirt — arm in arm, smiling at the camera

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Cake to celebrate @fantagraphics.bsky.social’s 50th (!!!) anniversary, at @smallpressexpo.bsky.social tonight. I really miss #TomSpurgeon tonight.

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

She is making her incredulous face (but thanks for getting everything back up & running!)

photo of gray Aussiedoodle sitting and about to roll out her tongue, and the face just looks like she's saying MEH

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Yoga-Hulk or Johnny Eck’s stunt double? YOU MAKE THE CALL

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Looking forward to @smallpressexpo.bsky.social this weekend! I've got some pod-guests lined up, but I welcome suggestions for folks I should talk to. (Don't tag them, as it could make things weird)

photo of microphones on a small hotel room table, on tripod-stands, with XLR cables leading to a digital audio recorder

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

And go listen to our talks from 2018 chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-2... 2022 chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-5... and 2025 chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-6...

photo of two middle-aged white men in a house: the one on the left has long hair tied up, and a trim mostly white beard; the one of the right is wearing a green shirt, a straw hat, and brown sunglasses

photo of cutest dog in the world, asleep, with his head on the arm of a chair

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Go buy A PAST WITHOUT PICTURES from the publisher www.simonandschuster.com/books/A-Past... or your fave bookshop bookshop.org/a/4669/97816...

Cover of the novel A PAST WITHOUT PICTURES, by Jonathan Ames, showing a photo of a '70s car in front of a house

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

And go listen to our conversations from 2021 chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-4... and 2024 chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-6...

photo of artist Dash Shaw in some sort of cave with various old cartoon sculptures behind him

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

And go get LIKE SWIMMERS from the publisher www.nyrb.com/products/lik... or your fave bookshop bookshop.org/a/4669/97988...

Cover of Dash Shaw's graphic novel, LIKE SWIMMERS, feat. a painting of COVID-era downtown Richmond, VA, with a skeleton riding a bicycle down the street

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

From this morning's walk with The Guys on Potash Lake Trail in Oakland, NJ

Photo of lake symmetrically reflecting deep blue sky and wisps of cloud, with trees and hills in the distance

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Fuller Mountain hike today with old friends, in Warwick, NY: Fuller Mountain Trial up, Creek Trail back. Pic 2: Hadn’t seen the guy in the middle in ~25 years.

Photo of grassy mountain/valley landscape of farms & homes

Photo of 3 middle-aged white men side-by-side at an observation point on a trail, with a mountain/valley landscape behind them; the sunlight is on their faces but some of it is dappled by trees

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Thanks; I’ll check with him & see if he’s up for a pod-return! Been stymied trying to write the page of The Book based on the Instax pic I took at his home in 2024, but may have made a breakthrough this week

Digital Instax photo of a wood violoncello case, in a study with light-painted walls

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

“Dave McKean’s Thalamus is so big I had to rearrange a bookshelf,” is not something I thought I’d ever say, but here we are.

Bookshelf with oversized hardcover books by Mike Mignola, Joe Coleman, Dave McKean, Jim Woodring, Lorenzo Mattotti, Jerry Moriarty, and Chris Ware

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Did the rain stop or did I stop hearing it or did I fall asleep or did I miss the clouds parting and sun coming out Did the rain stop or did I #trance

photo of rose of sharon, pink leaves with deep red bases, covered in droplets of rain

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Sunrise in Dearborn, MI, sunset in Haskell, NJ

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

I did such a great job with my presentation at this client event in MI that they just asked me if I can speak at their event in Toronto in 3 weeks, which is the day before I have to be in DC for Hill meetings, which is the day before I have a presentation to give at an FDA public meeting. . . .

selfie of white man tilting his ace and grimacing at the camera, with a bar with shelves of tequila behind him, and a red-black Mexican art skull mounted above him

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

You also oughtta listen to my previous talks with Phillip, as he's one of my all-time fave guests (and GO BUY HIS BOOKS): 2013 - chimeraobscura.com/vm/podcast-s... 2017 - chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-2... 2020 - chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-4... 2023 - chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-5...

Selfie of two white men from November 2023, smiling at the camera, looking pretty spry despite their age

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

And go get A WASHINGTON IRVING SKETCH BOOK from the publisher, @princetonupress.bsky.social, at press.princeton.edu/books/hardco... or from your fave bookshop, at bookshop.org/a/4669/97806...

Cover of Phillip Lopate's book, A WASHINGTON IRVING SKETCH BOOK: REFLECTIONS ON AN AMERICAN WRITER, showing a portrait of Irving overlaid with rectangular slices of a painting of his home in Tarrytown/Irvington, NY, Sunnyside

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

pre-drive-out-to-Brooklyn-for-a-Sunday-morning-podcast face

Portrait-mode selfie of white man in purple gingham dress shirt, and not-quite-long curly hair, semi-smirking at camera in natural light.

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Otis B. Driftwood Roth hopes the Force is with you

photo of brindle greyhound wearing a Princess Leia costume, replete with brunette wig with ear-buns

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Sunday morning bear meandering through the yard

Photo of black bear walking among trees & leaves, with a house in the background

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Recorded a #podcast this weekend with someone I last recorded with 10 years ago, so I hunted in my closet for the shirt I was wearing for 2016's session; it still fit. I shot 2026's selfie at the opposite angle (by accident), so the sun was in my eyes, but I think 55 looks pretty good.

two selfies, one above the other, of the same white man in a blue gingham dress shirt in a wooded area; the top one is from 2016, the bottom from 2026; the the top is in the shade, while the bottom has direct sunlight, so the man is squinting.

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

11 years since we lost our sexysexy but very dumb #greyhound, Otis B. Driftwood Roth

Photo of brindle greyhound with his front half on a bed, rear legs standing, showing off his haunches; he’s looking back at the camera and his tongue is wrapped around his snout

Photo of two greyhounds standing by a door, waiting to go out for a hike; the brindle one is leaping in the air with a big smile on his face

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

It's no Manhattanhenge, but at 9am today the sun was at angle that made our table lamp's shade look like a demonic jack-o-lantern gleefully consuming a sorrowful piece of toast. Take that, @scottmccloud.bsky.social!

photo of lampshade illuminated by sunlight from behind such that it looks like it has two slit eyes and a gaping mouth, in the middle of which the fluorescent bulb looks like a sad piece of toast about to be consumed

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

RIP #JohnCrowley. Go read LITTLE, BIG, the AEGYPT cycle, KA, ENGINE SUMMER, and more. One of the most amazing, inventive writer I ever recorded with. Our talks: 2013 - chimeraobscura.com/vm/podcast-r... 2017 - chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-2... 2022 - chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-4...

photo of author John Crowley in 2013, sitting at a table in a hotel room beside copies of his novel LITTLE, BIG, with a microphone on the right side of the show. He's wearing a white sport coat and green button-down shirt

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Back before I realized it's okay to make each talk its own episode; I was a pod-baby back then. (Also, now that I look at the pix, it was a small table. . . .)

Photo from 2013 of author Scott Edelman sitting at a table in a hotel room, beside a microphone and a copy of his zombie-story collection, WHAT WILL COME AFTER. He's wearing a black fleece zip-up over a black/gray plaid shirt

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

It’s so sad. I was in Amherst last weekend and saw a signed copy of Engine Summer (as well as the Chinese version of Little, Big, below). I thought about the good Readercon talks we had.

Shrink-wrapped Chinese edition of the novel LITTLE, BIG by John Crowley

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

sweaty af 5k #run this morning in the neighborhood hills, as I try to get back into some sorta running shape

portrait-mode selfie of white man in blue running shirt with white diagonal stripe. He's wearing a black running hat and is very sweaty; there's a brick wall in the background

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Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show @vmspod.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

First #run since late May; intended to go 5k, but between heat/humidity, hills, and lunchtime cheesesteak, I packed it in by the CVS, picked up some Gatorade and walked the last 0.75 back. I started with the big-ol' Buena Vista hill, & did okay for that first mile out and back past my house.

Screen cap of Apple Fitness running workout, a 2.38-mi. run over 22:51, with 248' of elevation, a pace of 9:36/mi., and a heart rate you do NOT want to see

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