Bob Wertz

There’s a lot to like about Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. Some interesting characters and the show looks amazing. Holly Hunter’s Chancellor Ake is delightfully quirky for a Starfleet captain. I look forward to seeing where the season goes.

During the outage yesterday, Verizon only shared updates on X. Brands and corporations need to start diversifying their messaging strategy. They have a Threads account that has never posted.

I enjoyed this article in the NY Times about the sadness that you feel when your favorite restaurant closes.

Every restaurant is a portal — a way to remember who you were and how things felt when you were, say, 19, or 27, or 35, but also to remember the particulars of a city, a neighborhood, a block.

I started to think about the restaurants that I’ve loved that are no longer open. I started with a longer list¹, but here are three that I really miss:

The West Side Bowery
Aiken, South Carolina
Closed in 2013 after a 32-year run

There weren’t many nice restaurants in Aiken when I lived there. The Bowery wasn’t exactly upscale, but the food was great. We didn’t go often when I was in high school, but I did go there for dinner before my junior and senior prom. My connection to the...

Saw this hawk out on the Horseshoe today. I didn’t get a shot of it flying, but it had a massive wingspan.

The warning signs were there. Ten years ago, I wrote my first Twitterless article, followed by part 2 in 2017, part 3 in 2022, a “final” chapter in 2023 and an epilogue in 2024.¹ My initial concerns were about Twitter’s financial shape, but after Musk took over, I quickly realized the new service wasn’t going to be for me, closed my accounts, and moved on.

With the latest news about X, the service formerly known as Twitter, I don’t understand how anyone still has an account. People are using Grok to generate non-consensual sexualized deepfakes of women and children and share them on X. This goes beyond politics — it’s really about human decency.

For people and brands, if you continue to stay on X, it tells me you care more about your so-called audience than your so-called values. The time to...

I was initially skeptical, but the more I play around with Canva Affinity, the more I like it.

I love how quickly I can prototype a typeface idea in Fontstruct.

Even though it rained earlier, we got out to Gather Columbia late this afternoon. Lots of great food options. Fun atmosphere. Another cool addition to Columbia.

As I move into working on my dissertation, it feels strange to not have a “class” this semester. It’s been a long time since I wasn’t reviewing syllabi at the start of a semester…

Each year, I set a theme for the year. Last year was incremental progress. I did write a lot during the year, and I released some new typefaces, but I wasn’t able to reach my health goals and organization is still something I want to continue to work on.

For this year, I’m excited about a fresh start. I start an exciting new job (that’s really a completely different career). I’ve finished all of my Ph.D. classwork, so I’m just focused on my dissertation now. With those two clean slates, I’m going to focus on building a healthy routine and organizational plan to support it. I’m optimistic about the year ahead.

Bob Wertz is a type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina. He’s been blogging since 2008.