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May 1st, 2009
03:30 pm - Oh yes
I have to take a moment to plug an incredible thing. 
Unsatisfied with the already-impressive history of Ada Lovelace, particularly her early death, Sydney Padua creates an alternate-history comic where Lovelace and Babbage solve mysteries, fight crime, and have adventures! It's only just beginning, so you don't have hours of archives to comb through. Read it! Read it now.
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10:30 am - I don't do this often
 This little robot is specially dedicated to Kate, a graduating senior at Reed College who's finishing her thesis come hell or high fever. Soon she will get her advisor's signature and throw herself into the heat and noise of Renn Fayre, a three-day bacchanal to honor all seniors like her. She is the last (paying) member of Reed that I know, and when she puts the plastic laurels on her head, my link to the Reed student body will be effectively broken. That's not so bad. A little poignant, though.
Also this weekend, I'm helping Jes move. A long time ago, he lived in a pink house with broken stairs and graffiti stenciled on the walls. Very picturesque, lots of character, no heat. Now he'll be in a respectable duplex made of beige, with a stellar housemate and the entire Alberta arts scene just a block away. And best of all, he's easy walking distance from my place, which means the robots will have more field trips.
Speaking of Alberta arts, if you live in Portland and haven't visited Last Thursday, I strongly endorse it! (And so does this person, but with better words and pictures.) April's Last Thursday was yesterday, and it was best I've seen. There were parades, tallbikes, mobile espresso, and ambient synth music. One guitarist outside the crepes shop had a sign language interpreter. This is Portland at its best, in my opinion. Don't miss it.
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April 24th, 2009
01:51 pm - So, how was Stumptown?
 One thing you need to understand about Jes and me: we take a distinct pleasure in pushing things to the edge of disaster. It's easy and natural to overclock ourselves, and far less easy to keep a far-seeing, disciplined schedule. So the night before Stumptown, I managed 2.5 hours of sleep; Jes got even less.
Our tablemate this year was Ben Bittner of surlyben fame, who laid out a beautiful array of etched brass plates from his Cooking with Anne series. A recipe set in a poetic, post-apocalyptic wasteland?* It just doesn't get much better than this.
* His website is sadly broken, but you can catch the prologue here.
One thing we weren't prepared for was the crush of humanity that wanted the Stumptown Experience. I remember taking notes on journal articles the year before, and having time to talk with Jes for hours -- in a normal voice. This time around, the whole room rang with the noise of the crowd; to be relaxed and open was a constant exercise. By the end of the first day, everything hurt: back, throat, face, soul. (The same chaos and ruinous stress was captured succinctly by others in the room.)
 The second day, by contrast, was fun and relaxed again. There was no giant, snaking line at 10am. Exhibitors had the freedom to step out and say hello to one another. The explorers who had carefully browsed now came back and made purchases. We ran out of glue a half-hour before closing, which meant we could finally relax and let our merchandise risk selling out. It was glorious.
Resolutions for next year:
1. Never again will I eat Burgerville for breakfast
2. OhNoRobot will get his picture taken with the giant library card
3. I will be independently wealthy
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April 18th, 2009
11:24 pm - Hello world!
This is the first day of our new web design at helper-robots.com.
It is also the first day of the Stumptown Comics Festival, thereby breaking all of Jes's rules of website-launching. ("One, don't launch on a Friday. Two, don't launch before a spike in traffic...") It may be rather spare at the moment, but once Stumptown is over, I will finally put down the scissors and glue and begin a flurry of content.
Speaking of content, I'm in a bit of a predicament: there's me, you see, and then there's Monica the Roboticist, who has writings of her own. So who does this blog represent? I've decided that it represents the artist, whom I know a little better. If I start to include the alternate-Monica writings, I can put them in a quote box or something.
Because this is a first post, here is a quick overview of where I can be found online. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have; it'll help fill out the FAQ, for one thing.
Website: helper-robots.com
Twitter: helperbots
Flickr: helper-robots
Livejournal: right here
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m_roboticist's journal