<![CDATA[Balderdash! - A Weekly Sketchbook]]>

<![CDATA[Balderdash! - A Weekly Sketchbook]]>https://stephendudasphd.substack.comhttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!GcKo!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffab32253-b7f6-4cd8-aeae-90ea6b5f35f8_918x918.pngBalderdash! - A Weekly Sketchbookhttps://stephendudasphd.substack.comSubstackWed, 04 Nov 2026 20:25:18 GMT<![CDATA[Balderdash! Presents...Watercolor Wednesdays!]]>https://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/balderdash-presentswatercolor-wednesdays-c1bhttps://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/balderdash-presentswatercolor-wednesdays-c1bWed, 04 Nov 2026 14:02:15 GMT

In recent history, my election night tradition has included getting a bottle of brandy, watching coverage as the polls close and numbers roll in, and painting for as long as I can stomach the anxiety, madness, and voices of commentators. Brandy, brushes, and brutality. But this year felt a little different. By the time I went to bed, things were looking bright. Just a few notes from the evening…

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]]><![CDATA[The Week in Which We Do Our Big Duty to Democracy]]>https://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/the-week-in-which-we-do-our-big-dutyhttps://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/the-week-in-which-we-do-our-big-dutySun, 01 Nov 2026 14:02:58 GMT

Sadly, Halloween is over. Now comes the SCARIEST part of the year—Election Day. Everyone on staff here at Balderdash! has a lethal allergy to making important decisions in public places. So we always vote absentee. We handed in our ballots weeks ago. Unfortunately, no sticker. But no heart attack at the local polling place either.

On Tuesday, we’ll be partaking in our usual Election Night tradition: drinking brandy, doodling, and watching coverage as the numbers come in. But, if YOU haven’t gotten around to doing YOUR civic duty yet, we wanted to make sure to give you a few final words of encouragement:

Yeah. Please get off your butt and go vote. You can always go back to watching Bake Off and eating cheese puffs when you get home. Geez.

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]]><![CDATA[Balderdash! Presents...Watercolor Wednesdays!]]>https://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/balderdash-presentswatercolor-wednesdays-fdahttps://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/balderdash-presentswatercolor-wednesdays-fdaWed, 28 Oct 2026 13:04:00 GMT

I suffer no delusions about my skills as a watercolorist. I paint like a raccoon that got into the espresso grounds. But I love watercoloring anyway. And, over the weekend, I was realizing how much Halloween is tied to my affection for the medium. Two of my earliest instances of sitting in awe of masterful watercolor work were (1) the backgrounds on the 1966 classic It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and (2) Stephen Gammell’s illustrations in the original editions of Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series.

]]><![CDATA[The Week in Which We Had a Loose Tooth]]>https://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/the-week-in-which-we-had-a-loosehttps://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/the-week-in-which-we-had-a-looseSun, 25 Oct 2026 13:00:50 GMT

My daughter (age 6) has a loose tooth. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem. She gets very excited about the arrival of the Tooth Fairy. But obviously, because we’re so close to Halloween, she’s nervous about getting a visit from Timmy Toothtaker instead.

As you know, on Halloween, the veil between the realms of the living and the dead is at its thinnest. And all manner of phantoms walk the earth. This is when Timmy Toothtaker is at the height of his powers, and any teeth lost ON Halloween go to him.

We’re hoping my daughter’s tooth falls out before Halloween. But if not, it will be important to have a plan for how to talk about what will happen. These are the details I think she’s old enough to learn about:

(1) WHAT HAPPENS TO THE TOOTH FAIRY?

In my opinion, the best thing to do is to remind a kid that the Tooth Fairy is immortal. When Timmy Toothtaker defeats her in single combat each year, she doesn’t die. She’s just forced to watch old episodes of Flava Flav’s early 2000s reality TV show, Flavor of Love.

(2) WHY DON’T WE GET MONEY?

Because Timmy Toothtaker leaves Hall’s Cough Drops (and just the menthol kind) instead of money, I think it makes sense to remind kiddos that cold season is coming up. Maybe he’s actually secretly trying to help prepare us for when we get sick. That’s kind of sweet, right?

(3) WILL THE ELDRITCH CATERPILLAR DRAG ME TO PURGATORY?

No, of course not. Timmy’s steed, the Eldritch Caterpillar, can only smell children who can’t do advanced trigonometry. So long as you remember sine and cosine, he won’t find you. I think that Jason Gibson does some GREAT VIDEOS on the topic if kids need a refresher.

(4) WHAT HAPPENS TO MY TEETH?

This can be the trickiest and most upsetting part to talk about. Because Timmy lives in a bungalow instead of a tooth castle like the Tooth Fairy, he doesn’t need the teeth for building supplies. He just feeds them to his neighbor, Curtis. I think trying to reframe this by suggesting that Timmy really likes cooking for his friends might help.

As we discussed last week, Halloween can be a stressful time for some people. But for kids with loose teeth, I think we can make things a little easier. Feel free to borrow any of these talking points if you’ve got a dentally anxious kiddo in your life this season.

]]><![CDATA[Balderdash! Presents...Wine Stain Wednesdays]]>https://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/balderdash-presentswine-stain-wednesdays-2f2https://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/balderdash-presentswine-stain-wednesdays-2f2Wed, 21 Oct 2026 13:03:56 GMT

How do you do? Balderdash! feels it would be a little crappy to present this doodle without just a friendly word of warning: We are about to unfold the story of Vintner Frankenwine, the mad sommelier who sought to create the perfect red blend by stitching together a bunch of other wines without reckoning upon Binny's Beverage Depot of the greater Chicago area. It is one of the strangest tales ever told. It deals with the two great mysteries of creation: booze and arbitrary scribbling. I think it will confuse you. It may annoy you. It might even make you a little tipsy, and then you'll have to collapse on the couch and watch Bake Off until you pass out. So, if any of you feel that you do not care to subject yourselves to such drivel, now's your chance to...uh, well--we warned you!

]]><![CDATA[The Week in Which We Practiced a Little Spooky Empathy]]>https://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/the-week-in-which-we-27fhttps://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/the-week-in-which-we-27fSun, 18 Oct 2026 13:04:09 GMT

Y’know, I think we overlook how stressful Halloween can be. Thanksgiving? Sure, lots of stress about cooking and political arguments around the dinner table. The winter gift-giving holidays? Obviously stressful. You’re inevitably going to give your wife a scented candle she doesn’t like the smell or taste or color of, a candle that you didn’t even get in her size, you big stupid idiot. Those agonies are old news.

But Halloween can be a really hard time for folks. Especially for members of our Monster-American communities. There’s a lot of pressure to perform, deform, and conform to the expectations a human-centric has for them. We insist that goblins cackle like Willem Dafoe. We tell zombies that they need to shamble fast but not too fast but also not so slow that they couldn’t conceivably catch us and devour our brains. And we make werewolves go outside to use the restroom when their anatomy clearly indicates that they are fully capable of using a toilet. Who can after-live under such conditions?!

This week’s Balderdash! is for all of the Monsters for whom Halloween is an especially difficult time. This year, let’s break the cycle and tell the system that enough is enough.

PROMPT:

Your turn! What do you think monsters get stressed out about?

(1) Pick a traditional (or invent a new) creature of the night.

(2) Draw them.

(3) Give this supernatural being a very natural thing to be overwhelmed by. Money, romance, gout. How would they talk about this stress/anxiety/frustration? Write it down.

(4) Show your friends!

]]><![CDATA[Balderdash! Presents...Watercolor Wednesdays!]]>https://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/balderdash-presentswatercolor-wednesdays-a6dhttps://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/balderdash-presentswatercolor-wednesdays-a6dWed, 14 Oct 2026 13:03:50 GMT

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It’s that time of year again! As devout practitioners of Great Pumpkinism, we here at Balderdash! spend October scouring the land for “the most sincere” pumpkin patch in which to await the arrival of our Lord and master. As always, we found the perfect spot. And, as always, the pumpkins’ blunt sincerity has taken a toll on our mental health…

]]><![CDATA[The Week In Which We Ordered a Side of Enlightenment]]>https://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/the-week-in-which-we-ordered-a-sidehttps://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/the-week-in-which-we-ordered-a-sideSun, 11 Oct 2026 13:02:47 GMT

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For my book reviewing job, I’ve been reading a lot of advance-reader manuscripts of spiritual guidance-type books. A marketing manager’s memoir of his pilgrimage to Tibet. A CEO’s guidebook for using Buddhism’s Four Noble Truths to climb the corporate ladder. A collection of sage aphorisms by a twenty-year-old tech bro who just, like, really gets it.

All gems. Five stars.

Lately, I think that all of this profound wisdom has been influencing both my creative work and my consumerism. I can feel my mind opening and energies aligning every time I order more pens on Amazon or buy watercolor paints at Walmart. This week, my consciousness has been relaunched through the cosmic planes of being every time a fast food commercial interrupts the YouTube trailers for Grand Theft Auto VI and Avengers: Doomsday I can’t stop watching.

]]><![CDATA[Balderdash! Presents...Wine Stain Wednesdays]]>https://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/balderdash-presentswine-stain-wednesdays-f62https://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/balderdash-presentswine-stain-wednesdays-f62Wed, 07 Oct 2026 13:01:04 GMT

[Before Watercolor Wednesdays, your friends at Balderdash! had a bit of a drinking problem. We would turn the week’s inevitably wine-stained sketchbook pages into a mid-week supplemental called Wine Stain Wednesdays. We still have a bit of a drinking problem (his name is Curtis), but it’s the charming, poetic whimsy variety. For Spooky Season, let’s take a look back at one of the boozy classics from the archive. Some verses with curses: “The Wine Stain.”]

]]><![CDATA[The Week in Which We Started a Haunting Hobby]]>https://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/the-week-in-which-we-started-a-haunting-76bhttps://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/the-week-in-which-we-started-a-haunting-76bSun, 04 Oct 2026 13:04:44 GMT

[Spooky Season is upon us! Here’s a haunting memory from the Balderdash! archives.]

Parenthood is stressful. Some days can be more stressful than others. When the kids have a bunch of energy—jumping off the furniture, screaming at each other, squirting the entire mustard bottle on the kitchen floor—you might find yourself overwhelmed and on the brink of an aneurysm. You might even find yourself tempted to do something stupid and extroverted like taking them to run off some steam at the playground where you’ll inevitably bump into that Debra lady who keeps trying to get you to join her Scientology book club.

Instead of being a house-leaving moron, you should pick up an indoor hobby that lets you ignore your kids for a few hours. That’s why I’ve started listening to the ghosts that haunt my apartment by practicing the famous Estes Method of paranormal communication. It’s perfect! Essentially, you put on a blindfold and headphones and listen to static until the ghosts decide to speak through the signals. My kids seem to take the hint and leave me alone while I’ve got the equipment running. And even though my headphones are kind of broken, I’ve been getting a lot of results. So much spirit-activity! I’ve been logging what I hear in my sketchbook:

]]><![CDATA[Balderdash! Presents...Watercolor Wednesdays!]]>https://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/balderdash-presentswatercolor-wednesdays-f22https://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/balderdash-presentswatercolor-wednesdays-f22Wed, 30 Sep 2026 13:01:13 GMT

On Monday morning, the kids and I were leaving the house for the day. All at once, we noticed, "Ugh. What a terrible smell." It was that chemically, roasted-peanut smell of garbage burning...or electrical wiring getting too hot in its coating. It was heavy and thick and felt like it might be nearby. I looked around our house to make sure it wasn't us. But that's when I noticed the neighbors' garage.

]]><![CDATA[The Week in Which We Got Our Game Faces On]]>https://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/the-week-in-which-we-got-our-game-f79https://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/the-week-in-which-we-got-our-game-f79Sun, 27 Sep 2026 13:01:25 GMT

My kids have really gotten into Animal Crossing. As far as video games go, it’s perhaps one of sweetest ones to become obsessed with. Charming characters in a supportive community with a gentle relationship to commerce. It’s nice.

As my wife and I still endeavor to make sure that screen time is limited each day, the children have found ways to remain in the Animal Crossing world after their Nintendo Switches turn off. They’ve been reading the books (Did you know there’s a Manga series? It’s funny and cute). And they’ve been drawing pictures of their favorite characters as a means of educating me about the lore of the game.

Here are my son’s drawings:

And here are some of my daughter’s:

As the week went on, the kids inspired me to draw some of my favorite characters. But I don’t really play video games. So I just drew characters from the games I DO play:

PROMPT:

Your turn! Who are your favorite characters from video/board/roleplaying games? This is a simple one:

(1) Draw those characters as best you can from memory.

(2) If you feel so moved, you might think about WHY these characters are your favorites. Record your reflections alongside your drawings.

(3) Show your friends!

]]><![CDATA[Balderdash! Presents...Watercolor Wednesdays!]]>https://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/balderdash-presentswatercolor-wednesdays-da9https://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/balderdash-presentswatercolor-wednesdays-da9Wed, 23 Sep 2026 13:01:45 GMT

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For my job as a book reviewer, I read a bunch of science fiction and dystopian novels. Lots of trippy speculative stuff. A horrific side-effect of this is that my head generally ends up spinning with more “What-If…?” questions than the Q&A portion of an all-staff meeting hosted by HR.

]]><![CDATA[The Week in Which We Revisited the 90s]]>https://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/the-week-in-which-we-revisited-thehttps://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/the-week-in-which-we-revisited-theSun, 20 Sep 2026 13:03:14 GMT

Y’know, we Millennials really did have one of the best eras for childhood. That window from 1990-2000 was bliss. We didn’t have all of those pre-technology and uphill-both-ways problems that previous generations were too stupid to figure out. And we didn’t have all of the hyper-technology, plummeting-into-the-illiterate-abyss-of-impending-extinction problems that kids have to deal with today. It was an era of simple cellphones, quality cartoons, Jerry Springer, Bosco Sticks, and Goosebumps. The peak of human civilization.

In an effort to preserve the last (only?) decent window of human existence before it fully disappears as Millennials age into senility, I have been writing a stage play that accurately captures the language, minor anxieties, and beauty of the time. I think it's Tony-winning material. I submit to you now this workshop version of my upcoming hit, Millennial Playground, presented by the Balderdash! Community Players. Enjoy.

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]]><![CDATA[Balderdash! Presents...Watercolor Wednesdays!]]>https://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/balderdash-presentswatercolor-wednesdays-f6dhttps://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/balderdash-presentswatercolor-wednesdays-f6dWed, 16 Sep 2026 13:01:22 GMT

When they were little, my kids and I would paint together. We still do art every day. But they’re marker people these days (it’s fine, whatever). I would typically make splotches of color and then draw arms and legs and frowns on them. My daughter dubbed them “sad plops.” The name stuck.

]]><![CDATA[The Week in Which It Was September or Whatever]]>https://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/the-week-in-which-it-was-septemberhttps://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/the-week-in-which-it-was-septemberSun, 13 Sep 2026 13:03:34 GMT

This week, I found myself doing a lot of absent-minded scribbling about the season. Historically, I don’t really like September. I spent over 30 years of my life in school. Student, teacher, tutor. September was always like a second January, a tedious month of starting anew and making new routines and learning new people. Yuck. In the stress of figuring out a fresh school year, my Septembers were just vaporous time in which busyness and schedules and headaches were happening.

While I don’t have to navigate those specifics anymore, September is still weird. These days, I mostly just feel that it’s a month of summer overstaying its welcome. I’m an autumn man. And I’m losing patience.

Many of my fellow Michiganders cling to summer like a pair of sweat-soaked underpants. I mean, it’s after Labor Day. Why are people still taking their jet skis and Coors Balls out on the lake?

Don’t they know that beaches are supposed to be empty? That our state’s lakes were made for quiet, hopeless brooding?

Also, I’ve been in Halloween-mode since February. I can’t take it anymore! I’m one horror movie away from running through a Spirit Halloween and rolling in a pile of monster masks with a face full of candy corn.

I don’t want to be one of those annoying people who starts spooky season too early. But, in a truer sense, I DO want to be one of those annoying people who starts spooky season too early.

It’s hard to find anything redeeming about September. But I’ll keep trying. I suppose it is the last hurrah for the little, local ice cream shops before they close down for the season. One should try to enjoy that while one can.

Sorry for complaining. It’s the heat. I think I’m just grumpy because my groceries keep melting in the trunk before I can get them home.

PROMPT:

Your turn! How do YOU feel about September?

(1) Go stand outside. Feel September’s unrelenting purgatory all around you. It’s gross, but you’re strong. I know you can do it!

(2) Go back inside and fill a page with an accurate translation of your thoughts and feelings about September into words and images.

(3) Show your friends!

]]><![CDATA[Balderdash! presents...Watercolor Wednesdays!]]>https://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/balderdash-presentswatercolor-wednesdays-c67https://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/balderdash-presentswatercolor-wednesdays-c67Wed, 09 Sep 2026 13:03:18 GMT

Happy Wednesday! I’ve been thinking a lot about kaiju lately. Since I was a little kid, I’ve been a fan of those big, beautiful metropolis-pummeling monsters.

]]><![CDATA[The Week In Which We Uncover Ancient Anxieties ]]>https://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/the-week-in-which-we-uncover-ancienthttps://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/the-week-in-which-we-uncover-ancientSun, 06 Sep 2026 13:03:11 GMT

It looks like everybody’s a mess of mental health issues these days. Not you and me, obviously--we’re totally fine. But other people seem to be having a rough go of it. And the demographic with the highest rate of mental health crises in 2026 is Mythological Creatures.

Maybe it’s because they don’t exist. That’s probably pretty stressful. Or maybe it has something to do with capitalism. That’s always a safe bet. Regardless, I think the Mythological Creatures in your life could use some empathy and support. You should check in on them this week.

Before you go, consider upgrading to a paid subscription to catch the return of “Watercolor Wednesdays” from your friends here at Balderdash!. It’s looking more and more that this week’s installment will involve the monsters of our modern mythology: kaiju!

]]><![CDATA[Balderdash! presents...Watercolor Wednesdays!]]>https://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/balderdash-presentswatercolor-wednesdays-613https://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/balderdash-presentswatercolor-wednesdays-613Wed, 02 Sep 2026 13:00:38 GMT

Hello! And thank you for joining the revival of Watercolor Wednesdays! The folks here at Balderdash! are very excited to get this going again. The premise is pretty simple: on Wednesdays, I’m going to share watercolor stuff!

]]><![CDATA[The Week in Which We Dropped Further Eaves]]>https://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/the-week-in-which-we-dropped-furtherhttps://stephendudasphd.substack.com/p/the-week-in-which-we-dropped-furtherSun, 30 Aug 2026 13:03:10 GMT

As I’ve mentioned before, I live in a very silly place. This town is full of weirdos of every description. Listening to their conversations at the park, library, grocery store, post office, goat-fighting arena, and ice cream parlor brings no shortage of material for doodles, cartoons, and poems. Here are a few of the things I overheard this week…

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

We’re bringing back WATERCOLOR WEDNESDAYS! Starting this week, for paid subscribers (don’t worry—the Sunday Balderdash! remains free), we’re bringing back our midweek segment dedicated to the profound wisdom only attainable through watercolor. Thanks to all of you beautiful paid subscribers—you help keep the lights on here at Balderdash!. And to any and all soon-to-be paid subscribers, thanks in advance for being part of that essential community of enablers my therapist keeps warning me about! Smooches.

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