Isaac Cates

OPERATION DON'T STICK YOUR DICK IN THE BEEHIVE IF YOU DON'T WANT A DICK COVERED IN BEES

If someone wrote this entire episode as a piece of fiction just 5 years ago, you would have been told it was too shitty for even a knock-off call of duty campaign.

Reader, I got better at it.

25 years later, I am still drawing (and lettering) totally amateur things that I fold and staple myself. Sometimes a zine or minicomic is the perfect vessel for a human idea.

Make and keep making.

Somehow a copy found its way into Will Eisner’s hands. (He was on campus and came to the graphic novel seminar I was teaching.)

He asked me why my lettering was so small. I had to admit that I didn’t know how small it would look after photocopy reducing the art — I’d never done it before!

True story:

My first minicomic (fall of 2001) was a short retelling of the “Stone Soup” folktale. I printed so few copies that I hand-drew every cover. Very clumsy drawing except for the vegetables going into the soup. (One cartoonist friend complimented those in an accidentally backhanded way.)

Me: “God, I’m so fucking busy. When will it slow d—?”

Interrupting Jenny Holzer:

The best way to learn to make comics is to make them. The best way to finish your first comic is to plan short and disposable strips (1 to 4 pages), not to begin your graphic-novel magnum opus.

Finish a minicomic, print and staple it for your friends. Now you’re a cartoonist; get better.

It would be hilarious if that were part of his powers.

Doctor: You lungs have expanded several more chambers, similar to a spider's "book lung"
Peter: What? Are you sure?
Doctor: Haven't you noticed how you can keep talking while doing all that climbing and fighting?

Creating comics is accessible to literally anyone. All you need to make them is a piece of paper and something that makes marks on it. All you need to publish something is access to a photocopier (and if you have the internet you might not even need a photocopier).

Making art is about effort — meaningful effort and decisions. These are the practices that move an idea into the reality we share with other people. It’s why AI is no substitute.

And why, as this thread points out, Chips Ahoy! is no substitute for cookies baked by you

"Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song,
A medley of extemporanea;
And love is a thing that can never go wrong;
And I am Marie of Roumania."

-Dorothy Parker

whoever said that Kash Patel’s tenure at DOJ has been like a Make-a-Wish list was spot on

The killing of schoolchildren should shock our conscience and cause us to recoil in horror. A nation whose leaders can so easily shrug off the death of children, no matter the cause, is in need of moral repair. There must be accountability and lessons learned from this tragedy. And we must never forget that Iranian children, too, are children of God. 7:08 PM · Mar 12, 2026 · 7,179 Views

Shouldn't be rare to see this said by a US senator

Does The New York Times Want to Eradicate Trans People? — Assigned An analysis of its coverage reveals a pattern of misrepresentations, deceptions, distortions, the exclusion of trans voices, and the endorsement of contempt.

Longtime NYT reporter says NYT low-key wants to eradicate trans ppl. She has receipts. Worth a read. I'm old enough to remember the 1980s NYT low-key campaign to ignore HIV/AIDS. @assignedmedia.org www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-new...

Germany’s Fascist Story YouTube video by Rick Steves' Europe

Watching the @ricksteves.bsky.social episode about fascism and Nazi Germany. It's frightening watching it now because so many of the things talked about in this episode are happening RIGHT NOW. I HIGHLY recommend you watch and get everyone you know to watch.

youtu.be/aLWWqUUm2uk?...

A woman in a mask Headline: Why Do Some People Still Wear Masks In 2026 And On A Completely Unrelated Note Why Is Everyone In The Office Sick Right Now Apart From The Guy In The Mask? Story from Jerk Wingley and Terramin Defishunsee Photo from Adobe

Why Do Some People Still Wear Masks In 2026 And On A Completely Unrelated Note Why Is Everyone In The Office Sick Right Now Apart From The Guy In The Mask?

Here’s a nice soccer photo to break up this shit-ass timeline. I like soccer and friends and Vermont and hanging out and singing. Alright, hope you’re all ok.

The promotional image for the linked post, which includes the title (The Official Retcon History of Retcons, Part Three: The First Genuinely Great Retcon) the link (stephenfrug.substack.com) over the background of a picture of Bilbo and Gollum during the riddle game as portrayed by John Howe.

I've been writing recently about the history of retcons. (As the author of an ongoing story series entitled Retcon, it seemed like a good thing to describe!). Today I have a new post up about the first artistically *great* retcon.
stephenfrug.substack.com/p/the-offici...

This is a genuinely interesting essay (and full of things I didn’t know about Tolkien), but I my candidate for the first great retcon is the one that insists the serpent in Genesis was Satan

Is it legal to film ICE agents? Yes. The First Amendment protects your right to film ICE in public, and you cannot be punished for that alone. If you are in a public place, you have the right to record ICE and other agents, as long as you don’t interfere with or obstruct their operations, or break another valid law while you’re filming. If you are on private property, owners can set their own rules about photography and filming.

Our rights aren't up to ICE agents to decide.

ICE agents did not detain their target in operation that led to chaotic standoff - VTDigger Federal authorities said Thursday that a person detained Wednesday after a standoff at a South Burlington home was not the person identified in a warrant they had obtained to make an arrest.

Federal authorities said Thursday that a person detained Wednesday after a standoff at a South Burlington home was not the person identified in a warrant they had obtained to make an arrest.

Been losing a bunch, so this feels appropriate.

All glory to the Hypnotoad.

Always wanted to paint one of these, so I finally did three years ago.

Here's Reflection of Kiki-Jiki hand painted after Norman Rockwell's 'Triple Self-Portrait'.

Trump Women's Month speech: "I didn't read-- I can't prepa-- if I prepare my speeches I won't time to get things done. You ever hear that? I cannot prepare. So I didn't know who the hell I was speaking to, but I walked in and I saw this beautiful woman with the blonde hair."

Your constituents, myself included, would surely rally behind a call not just to “rein in” ICE but to shut it down.

LIVESCIENCE TRENDING Health 'Rectal garlic insertion for immune support': Medical chatbots confidently give disastrously misguided advice, experts say

AI is out there telling people to put garlic in their buttholes. Just thought you'd want to know.

I want to know why there were semi-automatic guns in the hands of government agents down the street from our middle school, in the middle of a crowd of unarmed Vermonters

I need whoever writes headlines for @vermontpublic.org to think long and hard about what a “clash” implies.

www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/an-...