Ronia got back from Brand New Day with a lot of questions about Jean Grey, and it seemed like I might have to make a Powerpoint deck or something to paper over the fact that I failed as a father - as a man. There's a lot of comic shit I haven't told her, I guess. There's a lot of it out there! I chose the path of curation; we did not come to rest on any of this quotidian mutant fare When those assholes at Marvel finally get around to Ryan North' and Erica Henderson's run on The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Ronia will know Goddamn near everything. The only comfort I have otherwise is that Gabriel failed in this task also. Worse probably! Way worse I bet, when you really think about it altogether.
I eventually got so disillusioned about AI horseshit - and there are new reasons to feel that way every day - that I decided to do the only thing that makes me feel better, which is to make stuff with my friends. I consider the conflict fundamentally aesthetic in nature, and wanted to maneuver the conflict toward that traditional bulwark of human strength. That's what the Luddites Union is.
The history of "Luddism" is a fascinating blend of history and folklore - Ned Ludd was said to have a hammer named Enoch that he used to destroy machinery. We liked the idea that this impulse has simmered just out of sight since its founding; the I Don't Talk To Robots shirt has a bunch of copy from an imaginary (?) BBS where that impulse lives and grows:
The local garment printer we work with got some new equipment, such that he was able to do these crazy high-res screens for the CAPTCHA tee:
People seemed to like the tote at Gen Con, which bears clear iconography and also my earnest, heart-sleeve creed:
Dabe took the lead on all this stuff and it was a lot of fun to work with him on it, and to get his read on the old lore. It was nice to have an opportunity to talk about Luddites to someone who couldn't readily escape. Let us know what you think.
(CW)TB out.
