Moar Memes

Last September I posted a bunch of meme images — mostly things I’d done for Substack Notes but a few just because I wanted a nicer version of something I’d seen. Other than occasional comments to interesting blog posts, I’m no longer active on Substack, but I do have some more memes…

Starting with this:

Which I made based on a passing comment that caught my fancy.

Schrödinger’s notorious cat, of course, is in a quantum superposition of being alive or, um, … sleeping soundly. I’ve never posted here specifically about that darned cat but have mentioned it numerous times.

(I did write a detailed post about it on Substack if you’re curious.)

Political commentator Charlie Sykes has a Substack blog I followed from when I started there two years ago until I got tired of what I began to see as pointless ranting. I don’t need to be told over and over again how bad things have gotten. (I stopped watching MSNBC years ago for the same reason.)

But he has an oft-repeated phrase that inspired this:

Which, yeah, indeed. (I assume I needn’t spell it out?)

Along the same lines, for a while another phrase was common on Substack Notes but now seems to have faded out:

Perhaps because, despite a whole lot of F’ing Around, there has been a disgusting dearth of anyone really Finding Out (a few here and there).

I wish I could say I have high hopes for the mid-term elections, but I’ve lost too much of my faith in humanity. My predicted forecast: more of the same. Humanity is just too stupid to save itself, and I’m reaching the point of thinking “good riddance” to an insufficiently evolved group of shit-flinging primates.

Yeah, I’m angry. Seems anyone should be.

While we’re on the topic:

For the uninitiated, tracing back to something called SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language) and seen in all HTML (as well as all XML variants), the code <something> means the beginning of (a block of) something.

The code </something> means the end of something.

For example, in HTML, to make the phrase “Hello, World!” render in italics, you’d write <em>Hello, World!</em> — the em being short for emphasis, the generic way to refer to italicized type.

Again, let’s hope the mid-terms have an effect on starting to make this true. Sadly, even if we do get our heads on straight and end this ridiculous shite, it’ll be at least a decade getting things back to any semblance of normal. It is a fundamental fact of reality that what takes a long time to build can be destroyed quickly.

Construction is hard (ask any adult). Destruction is easy (ask any child; or Republican — same thing).

Also related, something I read in a book some time ago:

I’m not thrilled how this one turned out. Too much space between the words, the margins are too small, and the colors don’t work for me. This one and the one just above; I seemed to have been on a blue and tan kick.

The phrase — which I glommed onto immediately upon reading it — comes from a very interesting novel, Between the Bridge and the River (2006), by comic and TV host Craig Ferguson. (See this again apposite post for some details.) He hosted one of the only late-night shows I could stand to watch consistently. It was wild and wooly and sometimes a bit much, but it was so off the norm that I mostly enjoyed it.

I’ve learned it’s usually not a good idea to meet your heroes — they rarely live up to whatever image you’ve built up in your mind. I’ve learned that through reading a smattering of autobiographies or personal accounts written by various celebrities I liked (or used to like until I read about them).

But I found my liking for Furguson rising after reading his memoir American on Purpose (2009). And I’ve very much enjoyed his standup specials. Seems like an interesting guy. He’s on my very small list of famous people I wish I knew (along with Steve Martin, Dave Chapelle, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Fry, and a few others — yeah, comedians all, the jesters and truth tellers of our society; my kinda people).

I’ve posted this one here before, but I’m including it in this collection:

In case you’ve ever wondered how the internet works. It really is all just a bunch of tubes (metaphorically speaking). This one is based on an image I saw somewhere long ago that was too small and nonideal, so I searched for a better image of the internet tubes and made my own.

Also from the past, this one:

Which I made for this ancient post. I can’t remember if the original I saw was just text or had an image. If the latter, I apparently thought I could do better. I’ve always wanted to redo this one to make the text stand out a bit better.

And as long as we’re tapping into the past, an oldie but a goodie:

It’s surprising how accurate and useful this actually is. Mostly because duct tape and WD-40 are extremely useful in many situations.

Speaking of cute flowcharts:

That one might be a bit dated.

Speaking of dated, something I made a long time ago (when ASCII emojis were still a thing):

One takeaway from social media for me is the wide range of reactions people have. I’ve posted what I thought were utterly innocuous things that got negative pushback that surprised me.

A sign I had for years in various work cubes:

I thought when I posted it to Notes it would get nothing but nods. Nope. At this point, I don’t recall what the pushback was, but it surprised me.

I got this bit from an old girlfriend (circa 1984):

It still makes me smile.

I’ll bring this one out of the archives, too:

Which (witch) I made for this post. All the images above are from received ideas — not original creations of mine (except for the image work) — but is one, including the pun, is all mine.

As long-time readers know, Samantha Stevens (Elizabeth Montgomery) is one of my oldest actor crushes. I’ve mentioned how I’m working through Bewitched on Hulu. Slowly, because I find the norms and mores of the day so culturally abrasive now. I can only stand to watch a few episodes at a time, so it’s gonna take a while.

There is also something of an ongoing reflection about what almost 100 years of American television have done to our collective minds. But that’s a whole other post and a topic I’m still chewing on.

Here are a couple of math jokes:

And:

Very clever limericks, actually. That last one went through a few iterations because the original version was mathematically incorrect. (This was back when I finally figured out integrals.)

What’s fun about both of these is that the math is correct.

Other than the Sam-Witch-Shop pun (and the </trump> sign), all the above memes are remakes of something I saw and liked. I’ll leave you today with two more originals (both of which I have posted here before if they look familiar).

Firstly, this:

Which tickles my fancy plenty (and I spent a fair amount of time making it), but which when twice posted to Substack Notes completely bombed. Too wordy, perhaps. I tried to make it look like a legit advertisement. I like the idea, though.

I actually did find an image online of a golden porta-potty. Didn’t have to do any color work there. The background is a local park.

And finally, a meta-meme:

Largely in response to how folks in Substack Notes love a stupid meme but shun the more substantial things. Which, to my mind, is a notable part of our social disease — we consume the trivial and shallow while ignoring so many things that matter. And in an age with unprecedented access to substantive information.

It’s really no wonder to me that we’re in the straits we’re in.

§ §

Stay substantial, my friends! Go forth and spread beauty and light.

∇