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Weak XVI

16 April 2026

No. 2,929 (cartoon)

What do you see in bourbon?

Forty-five percent alcohol.

You have excellent vision; numbers don’t lie.

17 April 2026

Art Bashed

I got an invitation to “one of San Francisco’s most anticipated celebrations of art and artists,” Art Bash at the San Francisco Museum of Modern [sic] Art. For five hundred bucks, I could enter the Premium Party Lounge, or wait until the rich people had gone home and come to the Late-Night Party at ten for a paltry C-note.

I was also encouraged to “Engage your company’s brand with our audiences through custom Art Bash sponsorships. Contact the Partnership Team!”

No mention of art or artists, just money and conspicuous consumption. That’s what passes for corporate modern art these days in Sans Frisco. I won’t be going to Art Bash, and I won’t be going to a comedy club either, since the San Francisco Museum of Modern [sic] Art has made them redundant.

18 April 2026

Never Learn Anything New

A decade or so ago I enjoyed a few casual conversations with Bob when I was artist in residence in residence at the Internet Archive. At least I think his name was Bob; he may have been Laurie Anderson’s stage manager long ago. When I met him, he ran a big music nonprofit in New York with hundreds of thousands of compact discs—remember those?—in its liberry. As I recall, I recall nothing with certainty.

Except this. He gave me great advice: never learn anything new. That’s why I’m still playing a video game on my computer that’s over thirty years old and using the same pirated version of Photoshop for the last fifteen years.

And that brings me to sinistral. I’d never heard the word before; it means left-handed. On the same page, I learned dextral means right-handed. Sinister and dexterous? I was tempted to open my pirated copy of the unabridged Oxford dictionary and find out more, but then I remembered Bob’s advice.

And so, I resumed playing Monopoly, and I’m on a thirteen-game winning streak. Gotta go!

19 April 2026

Depression and Grief

Mary and I had a nice chat, as we’ve been doing for fifty-some years. She has a nasty case of cancer—as opposed to one of the pleasant flavors—so the conversation naturally devolved into talking about depression.

I told her I’ve only suffered from situational depression, e.g., the death of someone I loved. She suggested that’s grief, not depression, so perhaps I’ve never been depressed. Or perhaps I’ve always been depressed to some degree, even though I’ve always been reasonably sanguine and satisfied.

I decided to do some scientific research by having a couple, or perhaps three strong cocktails. Even though alcohol is a known depressant, I enjoyed the drinks. I think that’s definitive proof that I’m not depressed.

20 April 2026

Enchanted Holy Loopy Hole

The title of my latest piece, Enchanted Holy Loopy Hole, saved the image from being tossed on the digital scrap heap. I made the photograph on Encantado (Enchanted) Loop in Santa Fe, where someone on the road crew had spray-painted a halo around a pothole.

I especially liked the similarity between “loopy hole” and “loophole.” And, for my final aside, this is the first time in over eleven thousand daily notebook entries that I’ve used the word “loopy.”

21 April 2026

Stupidity Rules

My only rule is to ignore all rules, so you can see how this puts me in a bit of a sticky conceptual pickle, as it were. I have a high school diploma, so I’m not worried since I can see that this is just the same ol’ déjà vu all over again. The very stupidity that got me into this predicament will get me out of it again.

22 April 2026

Your Best Investment

And this news flash just in from the Department of Unforeseen Consequences: Condom prices could rise thirty percent due to Iran war, says world’s top producer.

Before I go on, I’ll be the first to acknowledge that I lead a very charmed and privileged life, and can’t imagine what it’s like to be poor in the United States, let alone in a developing country. And with that disclaimer out of the way ...

What a ridiculous, alarmist story. Let’s see, who’s not going to spend two or three dimes more to avoid fathering a child that will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to raise?

Birth control really is your best investment in your financial future, and perhaps great entertainment value as well.

23 April 2026

Insomnia

Insomnia is the first film I’ve made in six years. I’d like to think that the cinematic muse finally returned after a very long absence, but that’s not what happened.

A friend asked me to document an event for her, so I needed to test how long the battery in the video camera I have hidden inside my phone would last. I pointed it at the ceiling in my bedroom, yelled “Roll ’em!” and went to sleep.

When I awoke, my camera was dead, as I expected. It must have been a quick demise; it failed to properly save the video file, which was corrupted beyond repair. The battery log revealed that the camera stopped recording after three hundred and twenty-three minutes.

Insomnia was recorded at thirty frames per second. Since they should all be identical, I could also have made the five-hour and twenty-three-minute film by reproducing a single still photograph five hundred and eighty-one thousand times. And that’s what I decided to do.

I decided to use the view of the vigas on my bedroom ceiling for the high-resolution still photograph in Insomnia; it will be the only frame in the film. And then I got to thinkin’ ... instead of duplicating the same image half a million times, why not a trillion times? Why not a duodecillion times? It wasn’t long before I reached the logical conclusion.

Insomnia comprises aleph null 8K frames.

All that cyphering gave me a throbby brainache, so it will take me a while to recombobulate and figger out how many eons it will run or how much storage I’ll need.

Sweet dreams!

Coming next weak: more of the same.

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©2026 David Glenn Rinehart