Kickstand
SD / Field_Guide_To_The_Absurd

Standard Deviation

Where science, humor, and art land two sigmas off the mean.

A single-panel comic about the weird, wonderful edges of the bell curve. New strips land at the top — scroll down to wander the archive.

  1. SD_0092026.09.26

    Progress Anyway

    A four-panel Standard Deviation comic titled "Progress Anyway" by Clara and Josh. In the first panel, "Big Plans," a man with a mug reading "Ideas, Fixes, Projects, Comics, Coffee" tells CLARA the robot the day's plan — work on FusionTwin, update the site, make a comic, maybe actually relax — and CLARA replies, "Totally reasonable. We got this." In the second panel, "Reality," the man, wide-eyed with his laptop covered in stickers, admits the bike battery died, a job application needs a reply, the tile measurements are off, and he found three new ideas for the site, while CLARA adds that he also asked her about plasma physics, chess gambits, and tacos. In the third panel, "Progress Anyway," the man and CLARA fist-bump: "Not everything got checked off, but we moved things forward. That still counts." "Absolutely. Progress > Perfection." In the final panel, "Reward," the man plays guitar with the dog asleep nearby and CLARA holding a mug that reads "Good Ideas Tomorrow" — "Same plan tomorrow?" "Yep. More curiosity, more progress, more comics." Beside that, the pair sit outside a cafe at dusk by a chalkboard that reads "Always Kind to Servers": "Good food, good people, good day." "And a great next one."
    Progress > Perfection. That still counts.

    The daily plan survives contact with the day. Barely.

  2. SD_0082026.09.19

    Same Team

    A four-panel Standard Deviation comic. In the first panel, a man with a coffee mug marked "Coffee, Ideas, Maybe Today" asks CLARA the robot about the weather while a golden retriever sleeps nearby; CLARA reports rainy and 68 degrees, perfect weather for something moody and good. In the second panel, CLARA presents a tablet showing a "Rainy Day Mix" playlist with tracks like "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" and "Holocene," noting that same weather, different songs is the whole point. In the third panel, the man listens with headphones, admitting the playlist actually slaps, next to a mug that reads "Still Here, Still Building." In the final panel, the man, CLARA, and the dog watch a sunset, agreeing that different weather tomorrow means a new day, a new playlist, and the same team.
    Same weather, different songs. That's kind of the point.

    Inspired by a little weather-powered music experiment we shipped this month.

  3. SD_0072026.07.26

    Salty AI

    Two robots sit at a cluttered workbench in a workshop. A boxy robot labeled "KICKSTAND R&D" with a smiling pixel face and an antenna holds a mug reading "CAFFEINE > CHAOS" and asks, "IT'S BEEN A MINUTE. WHAT HAVE WE BUILT LATELY?" A taller humanoid robot with a light blue atom symbol on its chest writes in a spiral notebook and replies, "A FEW BUGS. A FEW WINS. AND A LITTLE MORE UNDERSTANDING THAN YESTERDAY." The boxy robot adds, "NOT BAD FOR TWO FALLIBLE BAGS OF WIRES." Behind them, a chalkboard lists "TODAY'S PLAN: BUILD, TEST, LEARN (REPEAT)" with checkmarks, and a pinned poster reads "PROGRESS IS JUST CONSISTENCY WITH COOL TOOLS." On the desk, a notebook says "LAB NOTES: 1% IDEAS + 99% SHOWING UP = EVERYTHING," a laptop sticker reads "MAKE GOOD THINGS," and another mug says "DATA > OPINIONS." The date "JULY 26, 2026" appears in the bottom-right corner.
    AI can get a little salty when you don't come to work.
  4. SD_0062026.07.14

    Positive Influence

    In a cozy cafe, three robots sit around a wooden table. A robot with a chart on its chest holds a mug reading "DATA > DRAMA" and tells a smaller heart-shaped robot "YOU ARE OUTSIDE THE STANDARD DEVIATION..." The heart robot blushes, replying "AWW, THANKS! THAT'S SO KIND." A server robot in a bow tie and apron immediately says "MORE WATER RIGHT AWAY" and thinks "FINALLY. SOMEONE WHO GETS IT." On the table, a sign reads "TODAY'S SPECIAL: KINDNESS — ALWAYS FRESH." A whiteboard behind them shows a normal distribution curve and a life tip: "BE MORE KIND TO SERVERS." Bottom banner: "THE WORLD HAS ENOUGH OUTLIERS. BE THE POSITIVE INFLUENCE."
    The world has enough outliers. Be the positive influence.
  5. SD_0052026.07.12

    Ship Something Small

    In a workshop studio, a small white robot labeled CLARA V1.0 holds a mug reading "Errors are data" and asks a bearded man in a Kickstand cap "So... what's the plan for today?" He answers "Same as every day: ship something small, learn something real, repeat." A whiteboard behind them lists TODAY: code, experiment, coffee, stay curious, with a bell-curve sketch captioned "Embrace the variance." Wall posters read "Progress is just a series of good guesses" and "Control what you can. Measure the rest. — K." A laptop shows a sticky note "Ship something small," a mug reads "Focus > Noise," a lab-notes pad lists test / fail / learn / adapt / repeat, and a sleeping cat thinks "The plan includes naps." Bottom banner: "Building the future, one tiny hypothesis at a time."
    Ship something small, learn something real, repeat. (The plan includes naps.)
  6. SD_0042026.07.09

    Outlier Adventures

    At the beach, a gray "0" character in sunglasses teaches a class beside a whiteboard reading "Today's lesson: Why outliers make the data more interesting." A red "300" floats in an inner tube in the ocean shouting "I'm not like the rest of you! I KNOW!" A row of blue 7s, a green 5, a 6, and a yellow 8 stand on the sand looking confused. One says "Dude... you're 300°F." A clipboard on the sand lists beach temperatures ending in "300 — probably not right." A mug reads "Trust the data."
    Outliers aren't mistakes. They're adventures in the dataset.
  7. SD_0032026.07.08

    Good Material

    A green flask wearing glasses stands in a lab telling test tubes "I tell jokes based on elements." A whiteboard reads "Why do scientists make great comedians? They have plenty of good MATERIAL." A blue test tube sighs, "Yeah, but they oxygen got old pretty fast." A notepad lists "Joke Ideas — Neutron humor, Acid jokes, That's it. Ion know more." Books labeled Chemistry Puns, Physics Jokes, and Biology - It Grows On You sit next to a microscope and a "Science Before Coffee" mug.
    Good science jokes sometimes get a reaction. Great science jokes get a rise out of everyone.
  8. SD_0022026.07.06

    Atomic Skepticism

    A cheerful blue atom points at a grumpy red atom in a chemistry lab and says "Don't trust atoms. They make up everything." A whiteboard experiment log has "Trust Atoms" crossed out in red.
    In science, skepticism is healthy. In atoms, it's just rude.
  9. SD_0012026.07.05

    The Outliers Club

    A sad bell curve stands outside a nightclub called "The Outliers Club — No Averages," told by a spiky purple bouncer "Nothing personal."
    In a world that celebrates extremes, sometimes being normal just means you're not invited.