A Valentine to Wonkette and the Vile, Snarky Mob

It's a post full of loooooove!

I’m heading into my fifth year doing Wonkette Tabs gifs. My, how time flies! Some years, I do a “pack” of Valentine’s Day cards for you, my Wonkette loves. This year’s gif is above. Previous years’ are below. Last year I created a 3D computer-generated paper heart drop, which was fun and an instructive exercise in learning rigid body physics, object interaction with forces and collision surfaces. However, this year I’ve gone back to the cards because they are cute and I like doing them.

Wonkette Valentine’s Day cards from 2021

Wonkette Valentine’s Day cards from 2022

As I work with “repurposing” old Valentine’s Day cards, I am delighted by the care and skill that went into creating them. The little pun-filled school cards were clever and filled with beautiful design and delicate coloration. As a product that was mass produced and largely targeted to children, I had until recently overlooked their artistic merit. I wish I had held on to all of those cards that I received in grade school—it would have been a riot to revisit them as an adult.

Google Arts & Culture has a more thorough look at the history of Valentine’s cards, including the “vinegar cards” that one might give as a joke or to someone unliked. Google Arts & Culture: The Heart of the Matter: A History of Valentine Cards The history is interesting and the card art is quite lovely. Worth a click, I think.

Thank you all for reading. I appreciate all of you and your thoughtful, humorous comments. You inspire me to explore and create new work daily. And a special, super-giant thanks to

Rebecca Schoenkopf

, who one fine February day in 2020 said she would make the Tabs gifs a part of her morning posts: I’ve been honored and thrilled to create them ever since. She is, no exaggeration, the world’s best boss and deserves all the Valentines. It means a lot that you support her (and me) by donating and buying Wonkette subscriptions when you can. Gratitude to you all!