Thomas G. Atkinson

@darthmarmalade

Is there any tea on this spacecraft?

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Thomas G. Atkinson@darthmarmalade· 19d

What’s your sign?

A photo of a long haired white dude (me) with a short white beard, wearing a towel and a frown, next to a sign that reads “No nudity beyond this point.”

Thomas G. Atkinson@darthmarmalade· 19d

What’s your sign?

A yellow sign with black letters and an arrow pointing up, reads “Caution: Fan”.

Thomas G. Atkinson@darthmarmalade· 20d

White text on a black background:
“ If I've offended you with my posts, I humbly
apologize. I honestly didn't think you could
read.”

Thomas G. Atkinson@darthmarmalade· 25d

Did I show you my Ruby?

Thomas G. Atkinson@darthmarmalade· 26d

A tangram cat. 7 simple geometric shapes, all derived from right isosceles triangles, arranged to form a silhouette of a reclining cat. I love tangrams because they seem so unsuited to making delicate pictures like this, but somehow they do it very well.

Thomas G. Atkinson@darthmarmalade· 28d

What am I making?

Seven one-yard pieces of shiny metallic fabric in bright colors; red, silver, light blue, fuschia, royal blue, green, and purple, on my weathered wood picnic table.

Thomas G. Atkinson@darthmarmalade· 29d

A cartoon of a slightly anthropomorphized knife and fork talking to a pair of chopsticks. The knife asks the chopsticks, “So… which one of you is the fork?”

Thomas G. Atkinson@darthmarmalade· Jul 13

Saw this driving home. “god with us.” The van belongs to some kind of church, I think, and they think they’re slick, but this is a nazi thing (“gott mit uns”). I see you.

A white van riding down the road with a bumper sticker, “god with us”, prominently displayed.

Thomas G. Atkinson@darthmarmalade· Jul 9

This one struck me at Baltimore’s Artscape, 2014. I was there to display my Star Wars car, and these folks were across the street. I waited a day after I saw it, but had to being it home while I had the chance. I can make this a #ThingThursday thing too, why not?

A reverse silhouette painting on a piece of scrap iron sheet. The silhouette is the silver and rust of the iron, and the background is much darker blues and browns, probably spray paint out of cans. It depicts a person of indeterminate gender facing the viewer’s left, and there’s a sense of loneliness, longing, pensiveness, sadness in the body language, the colors, the medium. I was transfixed.

The artist signed it on the back for me. “This is the shadow of my son Luther Hollifield. May he watch over you and keep you safe! Artscape 2014 John Hollifield”. I should hang this up in a more prominent location than where it is now.

Thomas G. Atkinson@darthmarmalade· Jul 4

Skeet a random picture or else everything will go tits up in July

An arrangement of trapezoids (I-triamonds for you puzzle nerds) that form an optical illusion of a cube-shaped structure in red, white, and tan. Along with some random clutter on a desk at my work.

Thomas G. Atkinson@darthmarmalade· Jul 3

J3-T74-A, my robot co-pilot. I haven’t had a Star Wars car for a while, so he’s been chilling in low-power mode. #ThingThursday

Apparently, iPhone “live” photos appear here as still photos, and not little videos. But here’s a selfie with me and my robot friend, all lit up last night. He’s one of R2-D2’s many cousins, and looks a lot like him, but instead of being silver with blue panels, he’s clear red with clear-clear stripes and silver panels. He’s just a robot head, like 790, he ain’t got no body. He’s the designated driver because he likes having a clear head.

A portrait of J3-T74-A from before he had battle damage, and before his eye faded in the sun. It was originally a deep blue, but that didn’t last logn at all.

Thomas G. Atkinson@darthmarmalade· Jul 2

What’s up with this? I’ve seen this sort of thing before, but twice recently. When you have a directional graphic on your car, you want it facing the front of the car. Why have a horse or an eagle or coyote or whatever flying down the road backwards?

A drawing of an eagle or some sort of raptor, as if it’s peeking out through a jagged hole, on the side of a car. It’s facing the back of the car. I didn’t see if there was a similar one on the other side of the car.

A photo or realistic painting of a horse, applied as a graphic decal on the side of a car. It’s facing the rear of the car. There is a mirror-image decal on the other side of the car (not shown), so also facing the rear.

Thomas G. Atkinson@darthmarmalade· Jun 29

I have a precious little baby hamster, for not quite a month now.

Ruby, a Syrian golden hamster with short red-brown fur, sits on her porch and gets petted by Uncle Thomas. She’s a sweet little love.

Thomas G. Atkinson@darthmarmalade· Jun 26

I’m reminded of this.

Thomas G. Atkinson@darthmarmalade· Jun 26

Many years ago, a friend made a “Jedi Puzzle Master” pin for me. Some time more recently, I accidentally left it on some garb and put it in the washing machine. So I decided to make a new one.

A vaguely oval-shaped, pewter colored pin made of polymer clay or similar, stamped with the words “jedi puzzle master.” A Renaissance Festival friend made it for me. I wore it for many years, but it did not survive an encounter with the washing machine.

Two laser-engraved wooden pins, both vaguely oval. One reads “jedi puzzle master,” and the other reads “jedi puzzle hamster”. It amuses me. I’ll be swapping these out at the Renaissance Festival this year. And if I accidentally put one in the washing machine, well, I can make more.

Thomas G. Atkinson@darthmarmalade· Jun 25

Also, you’ve chowdered your last clam. 😢

The cover of Clam Chowder’s “For Here, or To Go,” dated 1981. Clam Chowder were a wonderful folk/filk/sea chantey group who performed in the greater Batimore-Washington DC area for many years, at science-fiction conventions and places. Many of them performed at the Maryland Renaissance Festival, but I don’t know if they ever performed there as Clam Chowder. The album cover is an elaborate black-and-white line drawing by Vicki Wyman, depicting the members of the group as characters from Alice in Wonderland: Don as the Gryphon, Bob as the Mad Hatter, Kathy as sexy Alice, Sam as the Walrus, and John as the Mock Turtle. They’re crowded around the counter of a diner, and a number of Jonny Hart-inspired clams with legs are running around underfoot. Clam Chowder are my favorite band, and I’m planning to skeet about that later.

Thomas G. Atkinson@darthmarmalade· Jun 22

Aren’t they nice? I had actually been looking for some binoculars, but these might also become a sci-fi costume accessory. (Also, I got home, took them out of my luggage, set them down and then completely forgot that I had even done that, resulting in a couple days of searching for them).

A pair of opera glasses (small binoculars). They’re silvery with black parts, more high-tech than high-fashion, but very nifty for it.

A shadowy corner inside the door to my home. A little key house hangs on the wall, and a plushie guard meerkat stands on a pile of mail, next to the opera glasses where I set them when I got home and plumb forgot I had even done that. I spent the next couple of days searching through my luggage for them.

The opera glasses in my hand, showing the marks “6x18 coated” and “Ofuna no. 1823”. I looked for some on eBay to see how great a deal I got on these at a garage sale. I did get a good deal, but not so good that I’d want to try to re-sell them. They’re a nice pair of little binoculars that I’ll use.

Thomas G. Atkinson@darthmarmalade· Jun 21

Skeet one photo of a painting that you took with your very own hands.

A panel of graffiti in an alley that’s a public art space in Douglas Park, Ann Arbor, Michigan. It’s a list of proverbs:

THIS OLD ANVIL LAUGHS AT MANY BROKEN
HAMMERS.
THERE ARE MEN WHO CAN'T BE BOUGHT.
THE FIREBORN ARE AT HOME IN FIRE.
THE STARS MAKE NO NOISE.
YOU CAN'T HINDER THE WIND FROM BLOWING.
TIME IS A GREAT TEACHER.
WHO CAN LIVE WITHOUT HOPE ?

Thomas G. Atkinson@darthmarmalade· Jun 20

I got one of these last month at a garage sale!

An old calculator, a really nice pair of opera glasses (but more tech-looking than ornate), a broken R2-D2 pendant, and a pinky-purple Loch Ness Monster ladle, all on a park bench.

Thomas G. Atkinson@darthmarmalade· Jun 20

Quoted for alt text:

Saw yooou gurl - m4w - 20 (right here )
Date: 2011-09-04, 8:15PM EDT
Reply to:
Reply To This Post

Saw you gurl... eating them french fires at McDonalds. You was dipping em in so much catchup I couldn't even beleive it. You saw me sawing you too, and you had catchup on your face like whoa. I looked away and spilled some of that new Sweet Chili sauce on my Jincos. That sweet chili sauce is so good. And so is you. Will you be the sweet chili suace of my life. Meet me in the hardware section
of Wallmart tomorrow night at 8. I'll be there becuaes I need some medium grit sandpaper.
• Location: right here
• it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

Thomas G. Atkinson@darthmarmalade· Jun 20

A Star Trek: The Next Generation title screen. The starship Enterprise orbits a blue planet in a black sky. The title text reads “Surely You Can’t Be Serious”.

Thomas G. Atkinson@darthmarmalade· Jun 18

For #ThingThursday, this solid brass belt buckle. If I didn’t have it right in front of me, and know it was manufactured in the 1970s or so, I’d think it was an ai image. It’s a mess. And I love it.

A solid brass belt buckle depicting the Zodiac sign Gemini. It’s got a bas-relief sculpture of two naked guys floating in space. They’ve got some blankets or sheets artistically draped around them, and might be wearing laurel leaves in their hair. The one on the left is reclining with his legs out towards the right, but his right hand and left arm are hidden behind the other guy. His right leg is partly visible, and what might be his left knee, but it looks weirdly skinny. His right foot has four or five toes. Nobody’s arms or legs quite line up correctly. The guy on the right is reclining across the other guy, and more of him is visible. His right arm disappears behind, or perhaps into, the other guy’s torso. His left arm reaches out and holds a five-pointed star with what appears to be a right hand. His right hip appears dislocated, as does his left knee. There’s a sheet or blanket wrapped around his right side, that goes in front to hide his bits and trails off to his left. So we can’t see how his legs connect to his body, and it’s possible that they don’t, given their positions. The musculature of his torso is distorted; his abs are asymmetrical, and his pecs are shifted to his right in relation to his abs. His left foot also has a vague number of toes. Two more five-pointed stars float near them.

The same buckle before I polished it. It doesn’t look much different. The guys’ faces are indistinct, and the word “GEMINI” is below them in sans-serif block capitals that have that same sort of slightly asymmetrical, variable line weight letters that you see in ai pictures. Each letter is distinct and identifiable, however. I don’t think this design was generated by ai in 2025 and then fell through a time hole to 1970, but I can’t be 100% sure that it didn’t.

The back of the buckle. The bail to attach to a belt is held on by a bracket with three rivets. The words “May 21 - June 20, Taiwan, Solid Brass” are near the top, and “676” is near the bottom. I think that last is a catalog number.

Thomas G. Atkinson@darthmarmalade· Jun 17

skeet the best picture you have ever taken of your pet (if you feel like it): “Best ever” is really hard to nail down, especially as hamsters are so photogenic. But I’ve only had Ruby for 18 days, and she’s disinclined to sit still for a photo, so there’s a smaller set to choose from.

Ruby, a Syrian golden hamster with short red-brown fur, sits on my reclining chair and pauses washing her face to look directly at my phone camera. She has alert perked-up hamster ears, bright black intelligent hamster eyes, a little pink hamster nose, and a little bit of white fur around her muzzle and hamster hands. Her proportions are maybe a little distorted by perspective. The chair is covered with a bedsheet printed with bold earth-tone spiral patterns which go with Ruby’s fur.

Thomas G. Atkinson@darthmarmalade· Jun 17

Screen capture of a post by one “homonculus-argument:”
A circus is a carefully curated illusion of outlandish chaos, a finely- tuned masterpiece of performance art, constructed of the team effort of a crew of highly trained professional artists who work together like a clockwork, driven by their passion for their craft and mutual trust for each others' skill and performance. In this retrospect, sir, I believe I will take back my words. It was wrong of me to describe your establishment as "a fucking circus". As a matter of fact, I should say that what you're running here is the opposite of a circus.
A barely functioning haphazard illusion of order and productivity, cobbled together and kept running by a motley crew of untrained amateurs and checked-out professionals who have given up any attempt to improve the situation, having had all their previous attempts either inadvertedly obstructed, or actively prohibited by yourself. Surely a well-trained team of professional clowns could run this place more efficiently than you do.

Thomas G. Atkinson@darthmarmalade· Jun 17

My friend found this amazing hamster wheel at the thrift store. In 30+ years of having hamsters, I’ve never seen one this well-made. I can’t find any logo, copyright date, or country of origin on it. It’s got a really nice ball-bearing and spins quietly and freely. Does anyone know its origin?

A clear plastic hamster wheel with a price sticker from the thrift store. It’s sturdy, injection-molded rigid plastic, most likely polystyrene but possibly polycarbonate? It’s got a sort-of “C” shaped base with an upright piece snapped into it. A metal bolt holds the wheel to the upright, through a very smooth metal ball-bearing assembly. Most manufactured hamster wheels are too small, but this one is big enough. The wheel is maybe 10 inches in diameter.

Another angle of the same wheel. The base has little black rubber feet. The wheel has eight ribs radiating out from the hub for rigidity, and twelve ribs on the inside running surface. My friend wasn’t sure if it would provide enough traction for a running hamster, but it absolutely will.

Ruby, a Syrian golden hamster with short soft red-brown fur, sits on her porch and judges her Uncle Thomas. She hasn’t had the chance to run on this particular wheel yet, but she will just as soon as I get her new enclosure set up. More about that later.

Thomas G. Atkinson@darthmarmalade· Jun 16

Image of Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump, sitting on a park bench. Meme text reads: “Police are like a box of chocolates. They’ll kill your dog.”

Thomas G. Atkinson@darthmarmalade· Jun 13

Bug furries are a thing? I guess… of course they are. I just wasn’t aware. Here’s me:

Xix Crandor, my insectoid alien character, just chilling in an orange stripey polo shirt. He’s got black skin and hair, and big multicolored, multifaceted eyes. This was a detail photo before I re-built his mask a few years ago.

Xix Crandor dressed as a Jedi knight in a big convention hall.

Xix Crandor, dressed as a Jedi knight, sits in a Starfleet captain’s chair in a smaller convention hall. He doesn’t always dress as a Jedi, he wears other stuff, too.

Thomas G. Atkinson@darthmarmalade· Jun 12

I came home late last night (about 3:30a) to discover a disconnected tunnel and a missing hamster. So I spent a sleepless night and morning listening for hamster noises. I tried to pull off a piece of baseboard, and got it far enough that Ruby got free. She’s safe in her Castle now.

Ruby, a Syrian Golden hamster with short, red-brown fur, sits amid a bunch of white paper fluff in her Sky House and gets petted by Uncle Thomas, who needs to shore up all the hamster tunnel junctions and ponder more safety measures.

Ruby on her porch, investigating Uncle Thomas’ phone camera. I heard scratching, scrabbling noises in a bit of wall under the stairs, intermittently for a few hours. I don’t know if Ruby was trapped, or if she just found something interesting there. But eventually I got a claw hammer and started pulling trim away. Whoever built this house could have done a better job on the roof, but that baseboard is on there good. But I managed to pull it away from the rest of the wall to see behind it a little, and there was Ruby looking back at me. I don’t know if she actually needed the extra room, but she came out under the stairs, and got treats and pets — and put back in her Castle. She didn’t rush to her water bottle, but she did get a drink before going back to her nest. Near as I can tell, she was out adventuring for about 11 hours.

Ruby on her porch, about to go back in her Sky House. People talk about hamsters being escape artists, but in my experience, that’s just when they don’t have enough room and enrichment in their enclosure. Our hamsters have a big habitat complex in three rooms on two floors of the house. This morning’s adventure was entirely my fault for not better securing a dodgy tunnel junction.

Thomas G. Atkinson@darthmarmalade· Jun 8

Ruby discovered her High Hall while I was napping!

A low-res, greyscale security camera photo of a wire cage on top of a bookshelf. A plastic tunnel rises from below and attaches to the left side. A pair of bright eyes reflect the infrared night-vision light of the camera. Ruby the hamster has discovered a new part of her castle, after steadfastly ignoring it for a few days.

Ruby explores the lower level of her High Hall.

Ruby climbs a hamster-sized ladder to the upper level of her High Hall.

Ruby, a Syrian golden hamster with short red-brown fur, pauses in her Great Hall amid a bunch of white paper fluff. From a few days ago, when I brought her home. I’ve been adding tunnels and habitat modules to her Castle, most of which she explored right away.

Thomas G. Atkinson@darthmarmalade· Jun 7