Isaac Cates
@drisaac.bsky.social
“Senior Lecturer” (UVM English) in poetry, comics, writing, etc.; sometime drawer of comics, sometime writer of poems; trying to return to the world
Some projects here:
#DailyKrazyDetail
#FourActorFactor
#OrwellVsChatGPT
#WILtVG
Some projects here:
#DailyKrazyDetail
#FourActorFactor
#OrwellVsChatGPT
#WILtVG
Pinned
Isaac Cates
@drisaac.bsky.social
· Nov 15
If you’d like to read my essay about George Orwell, writing by machines, and our current nihilism about meaning, I offer you the entire zine in this thread.
I will finish the thread with instructions on how to print your own copies of the zine.
#OrwellvsChatGPT
I will finish the thread with instructions on how to print your own copies of the zine.
#OrwellvsChatGPT
Reposted by Isaac Cates
I'm starting a YouTube channel of "xyz ending explained" where every video is just me saying "Actually watch it without looking at your phone and then you won't need the ending explained"
November 29, 2025 at 6:52 AM
I'm starting a YouTube channel of "xyz ending explained" where every video is just me saying "Actually watch it without looking at your phone and then you won't need the ending explained"
Reposted by Isaac Cates
Worth watching this whole clip. Indistinguishable from Nazi leaders talking about Jews in the 1930s.
TRUMP: If you look at Somalia, they are taking over Minnesota.
REPORTER: What do the Somalians have to do with this Afghan guy who shot the National Guard members?
TRUMP: Ah, nothing. But Somalians have caused a lot of trouble. They're ripping us off.
REPORTER: What do the Somalians have to do with this Afghan guy who shot the National Guard members?
TRUMP: Ah, nothing. But Somalians have caused a lot of trouble. They're ripping us off.
November 28, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Worth watching this whole clip. Indistinguishable from Nazi leaders talking about Jews in the 1930s.
Reposted by Isaac Cates
Hey, if your library has Kanopy (we just accessed it last night for the first time, holy molee, it's like the Criterion Collection in there, SO many excellent and classic films), they've got James Goldman's Christmas classic THE LION IN WINTER, which is essentially SUCCESSION, at Christmas, in 1187
November 28, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Hey, if your library has Kanopy (we just accessed it last night for the first time, holy molee, it's like the Criterion Collection in there, SO many excellent and classic films), they've got James Goldman's Christmas classic THE LION IN WINTER, which is essentially SUCCESSION, at Christmas, in 1187
Reposted by Isaac Cates
iiit's the shopping weekend, and also my birthday weekend bc it ends on my birthday, so it's time for NEW HOLIDAY WARES!! cards! ornaments! zines! and MORE!
shop.sierrabravoart.com/product-tag/...
shop.sierrabravoart.com/product-tag/...
November 28, 2025 at 3:33 PM
iiit's the shopping weekend, and also my birthday weekend bc it ends on my birthday, so it's time for NEW HOLIDAY WARES!! cards! ornaments! zines! and MORE!
shop.sierrabravoart.com/product-tag/...
shop.sierrabravoart.com/product-tag/...
Reposted by Isaac Cates
I don’t get it, why does making art become unsatisfying when you remove the part where your brain works and is rewarded with a sense of accomplishment
November 28, 2025 at 3:27 PM
I don’t get it, why does making art become unsatisfying when you remove the part where your brain works and is rewarded with a sense of accomplishment
Reposted by Isaac Cates
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
I see some book piracy discourse, and, to make a positive argument in favor of buying books, your marginal ability to influence what books get published and support the careers of writers you like is massive compared to most other forms of media.
November 25, 2025 at 11:07 PM
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
Reposted by Isaac Cates
I’m sure you guys all know this, but the number of *white European* migrants (the least likely to be affected by it) I know in the US who have high paying tech jobs and full lives here who are considering leaving is *huge*. This rhetoric is full scary Nazi shit. Straight down the line.
Trump: “I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries … denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility, and deport any Foreign National who is a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization.“
November 28, 2025 at 3:38 PM
I’m sure you guys all know this, but the number of *white European* migrants (the least likely to be affected by it) I know in the US who have high paying tech jobs and full lives here who are considering leaving is *huge*. This rhetoric is full scary Nazi shit. Straight down the line.
Reposted by Isaac Cates
Trump calls Tim Walz “seriously retarded”
November 28, 2025 at 4:35 AM
Trump calls Tim Walz “seriously retarded”
Reposted by Isaac Cates
I am in the Midwest and I’m about to experience something for the first time ever. I am from New Mexico. This is exotic and it is thrilling
November 28, 2025 at 12:11 AM
I am in the Midwest and I’m about to experience something for the first time ever. I am from New Mexico. This is exotic and it is thrilling
Reposted by Isaac Cates
I am sitting here thumbs poised over the keyboard, trying to compose words about how utterly wrong this is.
Happy big meal propaganda day where we feast on a myth of harmony between the first peoples of this land and the European settlers… but, well, white violent usurpers pretty well sums it up.
Happy big meal propaganda day where we feast on a myth of harmony between the first peoples of this land and the European settlers… but, well, white violent usurpers pretty well sums it up.
ICE DETAINED MARILYN. Fuck these people. www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
‘Northern Exposure’ actor gave ICE agents in Redmond her tribal ID. They called it ‘fake,’ she says
Indigenous actor Elaine Miles of "Northern Exposure" was detained by ICE at a Redmond bus stop. When she showed them her Tribal ID, they told her it was fake.
www.seattletimes.com
November 27, 2025 at 9:46 PM
I am sitting here thumbs poised over the keyboard, trying to compose words about how utterly wrong this is.
Happy big meal propaganda day where we feast on a myth of harmony between the first peoples of this land and the European settlers… but, well, white violent usurpers pretty well sums it up.
Happy big meal propaganda day where we feast on a myth of harmony between the first peoples of this land and the European settlers… but, well, white violent usurpers pretty well sums it up.
Reposted by Isaac Cates
It will never cease to amaze me that so many tech bros read Lord of the Rings, decided the hobbits were the bad guys and Sauron and his forces were the good guys, and have built their entire personalities around being corporate ring wraiths.
My rule of thumb is if the company is named after something in Lord of the Rings, it’s almost certainly evil.
Since its founding in 2017, Anduril Industries has become one of the hottest companies in a crowded field of defense-tech startup.
Its fast-moving approach comes with its share of setbacks.
Its fast-moving approach comes with its share of setbacks.
November 27, 2025 at 9:56 PM
It will never cease to amaze me that so many tech bros read Lord of the Rings, decided the hobbits were the bad guys and Sauron and his forces were the good guys, and have built their entire personalities around being corporate ring wraiths.
Reposted by Isaac Cates
This is my yearly reminder that
A) The Pilgrims never turned on the Wampanoags. The Puritans who did were a whole different group of people.
B) Thanksgiving became a holiday to celebrate whooping the Confederates.
Sometimes we can just enjoy traditions without guilt!
A) The Pilgrims never turned on the Wampanoags. The Puritans who did were a whole different group of people.
B) Thanksgiving became a holiday to celebrate whooping the Confederates.
Sometimes we can just enjoy traditions without guilt!
Thanksgiving is problematic. Giving thanks is not. As someone who wants to remember the attempted genocide of indigenous people but also likes a reminder to practice gratitude, I like to use Indigenous People's Month to support (and be grateful for) indigenous creators. A partial list! /1
November 27, 2025 at 5:39 PM
This is my yearly reminder that
A) The Pilgrims never turned on the Wampanoags. The Puritans who did were a whole different group of people.
B) Thanksgiving became a holiday to celebrate whooping the Confederates.
Sometimes we can just enjoy traditions without guilt!
A) The Pilgrims never turned on the Wampanoags. The Puritans who did were a whole different group of people.
B) Thanksgiving became a holiday to celebrate whooping the Confederates.
Sometimes we can just enjoy traditions without guilt!
Reposted by Isaac Cates
Vance loves to deploy fabricated racist fearmongering. First Haitians are eating the pets, now Indigenous people sacrificed children?! Sheesh.
November 27, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Vance loves to deploy fabricated racist fearmongering. First Haitians are eating the pets, now Indigenous people sacrificed children?! Sheesh.
In the interest of posting just ONE further #FourActorFactor question (its topical), I’m about to give this one away:
November 27, 2025 at 6:25 PM
In the interest of posting just ONE further #FourActorFactor question (its topical), I’m about to give this one away:
Reposted by Isaac Cates
Reminder: the first Raimi SPIDER-MAN is a Thanksgiving movie.
November 26, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Reminder: the first Raimi SPIDER-MAN is a Thanksgiving movie.
Reposted by Isaac Cates
Here is a video of two wild and angry turkeys attacking a car in West Marin. Weird dinosaurs.
November 27, 2025 at 4:57 AM
Here is a video of two wild and angry turkeys attacking a car in West Marin. Weird dinosaurs.
Reposted by Isaac Cates
Pretty shocking how AI consistently gets incredibly simple single-source facts wrong, and how tech companies still shove it down our throats anyway.
Quickly searching for reliable info is the #1 thing google is good for and they're like "eh why don't we ruin it"
Quickly searching for reliable info is the #1 thing google is good for and they're like "eh why don't we ruin it"
November 27, 2025 at 5:43 AM
Pretty shocking how AI consistently gets incredibly simple single-source facts wrong, and how tech companies still shove it down our throats anyway.
Quickly searching for reliable info is the #1 thing google is good for and they're like "eh why don't we ruin it"
Quickly searching for reliable info is the #1 thing google is good for and they're like "eh why don't we ruin it"
Reposted by Isaac Cates
It feels inescapable by design, and it does it by appealing to our most immature impulses. “I hate my chores, I hate my homework, and practicing at anything—trying at anything—is so difficult and boring.” And it works because Everyone Is Twelve.
November 27, 2025 at 6:30 AM
It feels inescapable by design, and it does it by appealing to our most immature impulses. “I hate my chores, I hate my homework, and practicing at anything—trying at anything—is so difficult and boring.” And it works because Everyone Is Twelve.
Reposted by Isaac Cates
Photos from a kinda abandoned still anchored by a few stores mall I visited with a friend last year
Forest fair mall
Forest fair mall
October 4, 2023 at 11:07 PM
Photos from a kinda abandoned still anchored by a few stores mall I visited with a friend last year
Forest fair mall
Forest fair mall
Reposted by Isaac Cates
Canada made weird tv shows because it was all being done with government funded art grant money so they fell in this wacky middle ground between “shoestring budget” and “no expectation to generate shareholder value” which is really the best way to make art
November 26, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Canada made weird tv shows because it was all being done with government funded art grant money so they fell in this wacky middle ground between “shoestring budget” and “no expectation to generate shareholder value” which is really the best way to make art
Reposted by Isaac Cates
Side-part Wolverine
November 27, 2025 at 2:56 AM
Side-part Wolverine
Reposted by Isaac Cates
who actually likes electricity? raise your hand. haha, i see a joker back there. but ask yourself: how many times do you turn on the light in morning, just for fun? what about the afternoon. never, right? and why are you staying up so late? our forefathers tucked themselves in at 6pm like god inten—
November 26, 2025 at 10:03 PM
who actually likes electricity? raise your hand. haha, i see a joker back there. but ask yourself: how many times do you turn on the light in morning, just for fun? what about the afternoon. never, right? and why are you staying up so late? our forefathers tucked themselves in at 6pm like god inten—
Reposted by Isaac Cates
November 26, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Reposted by Isaac Cates
one of the coolest things about ChatGPT is how you can actually just never use it. you can fill your whole entire life with simply not once using it. it's incredible.
November 25, 2025 at 4:15 PM
one of the coolest things about ChatGPT is how you can actually just never use it. you can fill your whole entire life with simply not once using it. it's incredible.
Reposted by Isaac Cates
“Device hoarding” un fucking real
Both major political parties agree we have one job and it’s to buy shit
Both major political parties agree we have one job and it’s to buy shit
stupid young people, stop buying a new phone every year if you don't want to be broke. wait no, not like that.
November 25, 2025 at 6:24 PM
“Device hoarding” un fucking real
Both major political parties agree we have one job and it’s to buy shit
Both major political parties agree we have one job and it’s to buy shit