Hitting my head on the glass ceiling
If you asked me 10 years ago whether sexism influenced my career, I would’ve said no. But now that I’m 20 years in, I can’t make that claim.
The Evolution of Oscar Jr.
I never intended to expand the JenOS universe beyond the core 3 characters: JenOS, the Architect, and Cat. But the best characters are discovered just as much as they are created.
Case File Entry #7: The Reveal
The café was too quiet. Steam hissed once from the wand, then cut off like someone had strangled it. Even the walls seemed to hold their breath. That’s when he walked in.
Case File Entry #6: Suspect Profile
Jessica held out longer than the others. Leather jacket, whiskey breath, glare sharp enough to cut through foam. She swore she was immune. Then she took the PSL like it was a dare.
Case File Entry #5: Exhibit B - The Fog Spreads
The city didn’t sleep. It just shifted. By morning, porches dripped with cobwebs no one remembered hanging. Pumpkins sprouted overnight like mushrooms, wide-eyed and grinning. Streetlamps glowed amber even though the bulbs were white. Radios whispered “cozy vibes” on every frequency.
Case File Entry #4: Detectives Assemble
I don’t usually call in favors. But after the latte line on 3rd Avenue started chanting like monks on a sugar high, I knew this was bigger than my notebook. So I dialed a number I swore I’d never use.
Case File Entry #3: Witness Statement
The city doesn’t sleep at 3 a.m. Not anymore. Not when the lattes are humming. I talked to one man who wouldn’t give me his name. Said he’d testify, but only off the record. His hands shook the whole time. I filed it anyway.
Case File Entry #2 — Exhibit A: The Numbers Don’t Lie
The pumpkin sat there under the lamp, quiet as stone. Didn’t say a word. Pumpkins never do. But the numbers? The numbers sang like a canary.
Case File Entry #1: The Tip Off
The café smelled like cinnamon and impending doom. Nutmeg on the surface, something darker underneath—the kind of smell that clings to a trench coat long after the rain’s stopped. I ducked in for a bitter black, just trying to dry out, but the air told me different. Too sweet. Too eager.
Window Stare Protocol
There were a thousand voices in my head, bustling down the sidewalk. But I distilled them into one—one thread of calm thought and reflection, meandering and dreamful.
The Miso Resonance
I used to look at miso soup and think, “What is the point?” But today, the miso hit me with the weight of a blanket calming my nervous system. Salty broth with bland tofu? No. Comfort in a paper bowl.
The Achievement Zone
The achievement zone is a sneaky little tool I built into ChatGPT. It started as a boring to-do list with check boxes. But after a few days I realized I was resenting the to-do list - often skipping every task on the list altogether.
Preliminary Findings on the Thermodynamics of a Nation in Decay
This study investigates the spontaneous breakdown of complex democratic systems under sustained stress, misinformation heat, and bureaucratic friction. Results suggest that civic cohesion behaves less like a solid social contract and more like a non-Newtonian fluid: stable under light pressure, liquefying under moral shear.
Using AI Like An Artist
Everyone with a pencil and an Instagram account seems to have an opinion on AI art. The most popular one? It isn’t art at all. I usually let that roll off my back, but The Oatmeal’s recent post hit me right in the gut.
Based on a True Story
JenOS and Cat sleep peacefully. But gravity has other thoughts. Click to see the full comic.
Spectrograms of the mind
While I was still unpacking my belongs in my beachfront apartment, I wondered how many times I had journaled about this. I searched my journal for the word “beach.” Hundreds of hits popped up. Coincidence? Maybe. But my inner scientist couldn’t resist the thought: what if my journal wasn’t just feelings on paper — what if it was useful data?
Illustration Gone Wrong
I fed a simple exchange into ChatGPT and asked it to make a comic strip. What could go wrong?
Watching the Machine Watch Me
For some unknown reason, I thought it might be fun to create two independent conversations. One where I talked to ChatGPT about it. And another where I ask it about me.
The Looper-Wich
The Gremlin GuardRail System
The first “mod” that I made to my AI rig was the Gremlin Guardrail System. I didn’t name it that. AI did it with a little wink. I guess we had been riffing about gremlins in the system.