Robert Tompkins
@r4tompkins.bsky.social
Board game night is fun! I love Spock, Sam Vimes, public servants, libraries, my wife and kids (not in that order). #LFGM
Kid: Dad, I’m going to have this big apple for dessert.
Me: Oh, in honor of Mayor Mamdani?
Kid: …
Kid: yeah! Sure!
—
Happy New Year!
Me: Oh, in honor of Mayor Mamdani?
Kid: …
Kid: yeah! Sure!
—
Happy New Year!
January 1, 2026 at 11:39 PM
Kid: Dad, I’m going to have this big apple for dessert.
Me: Oh, in honor of Mayor Mamdani?
Kid: …
Kid: yeah! Sure!
—
Happy New Year!
Me: Oh, in honor of Mayor Mamdani?
Kid: …
Kid: yeah! Sure!
—
Happy New Year!
Reposted by Robert Tompkins
Open up this picture fully.
Then look at the surface of Mars.
Then look up to the top right.
Spot Mars' moon Phobos high in the sky.
Then notice the bright spot beside Phobos.
That's Earth.
Then look at the surface of Mars.
Then look up to the top right.
Spot Mars' moon Phobos high in the sky.
Then notice the bright spot beside Phobos.
That's Earth.
December 30, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Open up this picture fully.
Then look at the surface of Mars.
Then look up to the top right.
Spot Mars' moon Phobos high in the sky.
Then notice the bright spot beside Phobos.
That's Earth.
Then look at the surface of Mars.
Then look up to the top right.
Spot Mars' moon Phobos high in the sky.
Then notice the bright spot beside Phobos.
That's Earth.
Reposted by Robert Tompkins
Reposted by Robert Tompkins
Io beauty shot.
Taken by the Juno spacecraft on 3 February 2024.
The right-hand hemisphere is illuminated by the Sun.
On the left, the night side isn't totally dark because of Jupitershine.
Image credit: NASA/SwRI/MSSS
Taken by the Juno spacecraft on 3 February 2024.
The right-hand hemisphere is illuminated by the Sun.
On the left, the night side isn't totally dark because of Jupitershine.
Image credit: NASA/SwRI/MSSS
November 27, 2025 at 3:54 AM
Io beauty shot.
Taken by the Juno spacecraft on 3 February 2024.
The right-hand hemisphere is illuminated by the Sun.
On the left, the night side isn't totally dark because of Jupitershine.
Image credit: NASA/SwRI/MSSS
Taken by the Juno spacecraft on 3 February 2024.
The right-hand hemisphere is illuminated by the Sun.
On the left, the night side isn't totally dark because of Jupitershine.
Image credit: NASA/SwRI/MSSS
Reposted by Robert Tompkins
This is one of my favourite space photos.
It's Pluto, backlit by the Sun, imaged by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft in 2015.
Look carefully and you can see the planet's irregular topography and the layering in its atmosphere.
Credit: NASA/JHU APL/SwRI
It's Pluto, backlit by the Sun, imaged by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft in 2015.
Look carefully and you can see the planet's irregular topography and the layering in its atmosphere.
Credit: NASA/JHU APL/SwRI
November 17, 2025 at 2:05 AM
This is one of my favourite space photos.
It's Pluto, backlit by the Sun, imaged by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft in 2015.
Look carefully and you can see the planet's irregular topography and the layering in its atmosphere.
Credit: NASA/JHU APL/SwRI
It's Pluto, backlit by the Sun, imaged by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft in 2015.
Look carefully and you can see the planet's irregular topography and the layering in its atmosphere.
Credit: NASA/JHU APL/SwRI
Reposted by Robert Tompkins
It was great being back in Norfolk to help get out the vote for @abigailspanberger.com for Governor.
Virginia – Abigail Spanberger cares about your freedoms, she will fight for your rights, and she will work every day to make your life a little bit better.
Virginia – Abigail Spanberger cares about your freedoms, she will fight for your rights, and she will work every day to make your life a little bit better.
November 1, 2025 at 10:00 PM
It was great being back in Norfolk to help get out the vote for @abigailspanberger.com for Governor.
Virginia – Abigail Spanberger cares about your freedoms, she will fight for your rights, and she will work every day to make your life a little bit better.
Virginia – Abigail Spanberger cares about your freedoms, she will fight for your rights, and she will work every day to make your life a little bit better.
Reposted by Robert Tompkins
A very offline cousin sent this to fam group chat. This story is breaking containment.
October 24, 2025 at 11:36 PM
A very offline cousin sent this to fam group chat. This story is breaking containment.
Reposted by Robert Tompkins
BILL, BILL, BILL, BILL, BILL!!!
September 24, 2025 at 8:22 PM
BILL, BILL, BILL, BILL, BILL!!!
Reposted by Robert Tompkins
once again, if tylenol caused autism, america would have a better rail system
September 22, 2025 at 11:16 PM
once again, if tylenol caused autism, america would have a better rail system
Reposted by Robert Tompkins
shoutout to tumblr user kleinergeist for this post which is going straight into my powerpoint for Grendel day in my monster class this week
September 14, 2025 at 2:41 PM
shoutout to tumblr user kleinergeist for this post which is going straight into my powerpoint for Grendel day in my monster class this week
Reposted by Robert Tompkins
Discworld QOTD, from Guards! Guards!
September 6, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Discworld QOTD, from Guards! Guards!
Reposted by Robert Tompkins
Reposted by Robert Tompkins
guess I’m just posting our state flag on the daily now huh
August 26, 2025 at 7:48 PM
guess I’m just posting our state flag on the daily now huh
Reposted by Robert Tompkins
This video from Fairmount Bagels in Montreal from their Instagram is the most impressive thing I've ever seen
August 15, 2025 at 7:00 PM
This video from Fairmount Bagels in Montreal from their Instagram is the most impressive thing I've ever seen
Reposted by Robert Tompkins
Keep the two distinct in your head.
August 3, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Keep the two distinct in your head.
Reposted by Robert Tompkins
Please no, not New Horizons.
An Iconic NASA Probe Is at Threat of Being Shut Down Due to Trump Cuts https://gizmodo.com/an-iconic-nasa-probe-is-at-threat-of-being-shut-down-due-to-trump-cuts-2000629429
An Iconic NASA Probe Is at Threat of Being Shut Down Due to Trump Cuts
If it weren't for the new budget, New Horizons could keep exploring the outer reaches of the solar system into the 2030s.
gizmodo.com
July 15, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Please no, not New Horizons.
Reposted by Robert Tompkins
Patrick O'Brian's Stephen Maturin is an unbelievable character, in the most literal sense. Yet he compels us to suspend our disbelief, and he sticks in our mind long after we're finished with the series. A post from my dad:
evanmwilson.substack.com/p/really
#navalhistory
evanmwilson.substack.com/p/really
#navalhistory
Really?
The Unbelievable Stephen Maturin
evanmwilson.substack.com
July 7, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Patrick O'Brian's Stephen Maturin is an unbelievable character, in the most literal sense. Yet he compels us to suspend our disbelief, and he sticks in our mind long after we're finished with the series. A post from my dad:
evanmwilson.substack.com/p/really
#navalhistory
evanmwilson.substack.com/p/really
#navalhistory
Reposted by Robert Tompkins
This is worth reading/watching:
Video: Speaking to a Packed, Fired-Up House at the Opening Night of the 2025 VA Women’s Summit, Sen. Tim Kaine Rips Youngkin – “If you won’t stand up for [UVA], will you stand up for ANYTHING?!?”
Sen. Tim Kaine was *really* on fire tonight, speaking to HUNDREDS of pumped-up people at the 2025 Women's Summit opening night. See below for video and highlights...including Sen. Kaine telling a VERY
bluevirginia.us
June 28, 2025 at 9:47 PM
This is worth reading/watching:
Reposted by Robert Tompkins
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."
-Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953
-Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953
June 22, 2025 at 10:00 PM
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."
-Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953
-Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953
Reposted by Robert Tompkins
#PPOD: NASA’s Curiosity rover appears as a dark speck in this contrast-enhanced view captured on Feb. 28, 2025, by the HiRISE camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona 🧪 🔭
April 28, 2025 at 8:00 PM
#PPOD: NASA’s Curiosity rover appears as a dark speck in this contrast-enhanced view captured on Feb. 28, 2025, by the HiRISE camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona 🧪 🔭
Reposted by Robert Tompkins
Reposted by Robert Tompkins
Ambassador Spock modeling the proper “fuck you, make me” response to intimidation tactics. Our current-day institutions could learn a lot from him.
April 10, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Ambassador Spock modeling the proper “fuck you, make me” response to intimidation tactics. Our current-day institutions could learn a lot from him.
Reposted by Robert Tompkins
I am obsessed with the penguin Gadsden flag
April 5, 2025 at 8:12 PM
I am obsessed with the penguin Gadsden flag
Reposted by Robert Tompkins
About fifty years ago, NASA strapped a message in a bottle to a rocket and flung it into the deep dark
It wasn’t supposed to go this far, but it did. Long past its mission, it’s still out there so far away now that a simple hello takes a day to reach it, and another day to hear if it says hello back
It wasn’t supposed to go this far, but it did. Long past its mission, it’s still out there so far away now that a simple hello takes a day to reach it, and another day to hear if it says hello back
March 12, 2025 at 5:04 AM
About fifty years ago, NASA strapped a message in a bottle to a rocket and flung it into the deep dark
It wasn’t supposed to go this far, but it did. Long past its mission, it’s still out there so far away now that a simple hello takes a day to reach it, and another day to hear if it says hello back
It wasn’t supposed to go this far, but it did. Long past its mission, it’s still out there so far away now that a simple hello takes a day to reach it, and another day to hear if it says hello back