diff --git a/core/src/processing/core/PApplet.java b/core/src/processing/core/PApplet.java
index 776b9c62a..4ea853767 100644
--- a/core/src/processing/core/PApplet.java
+++ b/core/src/processing/core/PApplet.java
@@ -1884,8 +1884,6 @@ public class PApplet implements PConstants {
       }
       insideDraw = false;
 
-      surface.blit();
-
       if (frameCount != 0) {
         handleMethods("post");
       }
diff --git a/core/src/processing/core/PSurface.java b/core/src/processing/core/PSurface.java
index 7c97ae214..57a48bb28 100644
--- a/core/src/processing/core/PSurface.java
+++ b/core/src/processing/core/PSurface.java
@@ -111,8 +111,8 @@ public interface PSurface {
   // receive key and mouse events
   public void requestFocus();
 
-  // finish rendering to the screen (called by PApplet)
-  public void blit();
+//  // finish rendering to the screen (called by PApplet)
+//  public void blit();
 
   //
 
diff --git a/core/src/processing/core/PSurfaceAWT.java b/core/src/processing/core/PSurfaceAWT.java
index 7aec94c86..592c6a993 100644
--- a/core/src/processing/core/PSurfaceAWT.java
+++ b/core/src/processing/core/PSurfaceAWT.java
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ import processing.event.KeyEvent;
 import processing.event.MouseEvent;
 
 
-public class PSurfaceAWT extends PSurfaceBasic {
+public class PSurfaceAWT extends PSurfaceNone {
   GraphicsDevice displayDevice;
 
   // used for canvas to determine whether resizable or not
@@ -316,7 +316,7 @@ public class PSurfaceAWT extends PSurfaceBasic {
   BufferedImage onscreen;
 //  Graphics off;
 
-  @Override
+
   public void blit() {
     // Other folks that call render() (i.e. paint()) are already on the EDT.
     // We need to be using the EDT since we're messing with the Canvas
@@ -1380,6 +1380,18 @@ public class PSurfaceAWT extends PSurfaceBasic {
   }
 
 
+  @Override
+  public Thread createThread() {
+    return new AnimationThread() {
+      @Override
+      public void render() {
+        super.render();
+        blit();
+      }
+    };
+  }
+
+
   void debug(String format, Object ... args) {
     System.out.format(format + "%n", args);
   }
diff --git a/core/src/processing/core/PSurfaceBasic.java b/core/src/processing/core/PSurfaceNone.java
similarity index 93%
rename from core/src/processing/core/PSurfaceBasic.java
rename to core/src/processing/core/PSurfaceNone.java
index 720d55567..a7d830394 100644
--- a/core/src/processing/core/PSurfaceBasic.java
+++ b/core/src/processing/core/PSurfaceNone.java
@@ -27,7 +27,11 @@ import java.awt.Component;
 import java.awt.Frame;
 
 
-public class PSurfaceBasic implements PSurface {
+/**
+ * Surface that's not really visible. Used for PDF and friends, or as a base
+ * class for other drawing surfaces. It includes the standard rendering loop.
+ */
+public class PSurfaceNone implements PSurface {
   PApplet sketch;
 
   Thread thread;
@@ -38,7 +42,7 @@ public class PSurfaceBasic implements PSurface {
   protected long frameRatePeriod = 1000000000L / 60L;
 
 
-  public PSurfaceBasic() { }
+  public PSurfaceNone() { }
 
 
   public void initOffscreen(PApplet sketch) {
@@ -94,9 +98,9 @@ public class PSurfaceBasic implements PSurface {
 
   }
 
-  public void blit() {
-    // TODO Auto-generated method stub
-  }
+//  public void blit() {
+//    // TODO Auto-generated method stub
+//  }
 
   public void setCursor(int kind) { }
 
@@ -110,9 +114,14 @@ public class PSurfaceBasic implements PSurface {
   //
 
 
+  public Thread createThread() {
+    return new AnimationThread();
+  }
+
+
   public void startThread() {
     if (thread == null) {
-      thread = new AnimationThread();
+      thread = createThread();
       thread.start();
     } else {
       throw new IllegalStateException("Thread already started in " +
@@ -172,12 +181,17 @@ public class PSurfaceBasic implements PSurface {
     //g.setFrameRate(fps);
   }
 
+
   class AnimationThread extends Thread {
 
     public AnimationThread() {
       super("Animation Thread");
     }
 
+    public void render() {
+      sketch.handleDraw();
+    }
+
     /**
      * Main method for the primary animation thread.
      * <A HREF="http://java.sun.com/products/jfc/tsc/articles/painting/">Painting in AWT and Swing</A>
@@ -229,7 +243,7 @@ public class PSurfaceBasic implements PSurface {
 //        try {
 //          EventQueue.invokeAndWait(new Runnable() {
 //            public void run() {
-        sketch.handleDraw();
+        render();
 
 //        EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
 //          public void run() {
diff --git a/core/src/processing/opengl/PSurfaceLWJGL.java b/core/src/processing/opengl/PSurfaceLWJGL.java
index 33583192d..9524225f7 100644
--- a/core/src/processing/opengl/PSurfaceLWJGL.java
+++ b/core/src/processing/opengl/PSurfaceLWJGL.java
@@ -453,10 +453,10 @@ public class PSurfaceLWJGL implements PSurface {
   }
 
 
-  @Override
-  public void blit() {
-    // Nothing to do here
-  }
+//  @Override
+//  public void blit() {
+//    // Nothing to do here
+//  }
 
 
   @Override
diff --git a/core/todo.txt b/core/todo.txt
index 5d4163504..273c3ed40 100644
--- a/core/todo.txt
+++ b/core/todo.txt
@@ -20,12 +20,19 @@ o   downside: breaks compatibility big time
 X   would have to use ALIGN_CENTER eta al, so no
 X noSmooth() not sticking, has to be called again inside draw()
 X   https://github.com/processing/processing/issues/3113
+X performance issues on OS X (might be threading due to Applet)
+X   https://github.com/processing/processing/issues/2423
+X   can't fix, it's all Oracle stuff
 
 showstoppers
 _ static mode - no setup() / draw() - broken in OpenGL
 _   https://github.com/processing/processing/issues/3163
+
+high priority
 _ sketch window is not placed at correct location when running a second time
 _   https://github.com/processing/processing/issues/3125
+_ present mode is 30-40% slower than windowed
+_   w/ this example: https://github.com/processing/processing/issues/2423
 
 head
 X Sketch window dimensions off in Java2D
@@ -120,9 +127,11 @@ X     https://github.com/processing/processing/wiki/Window-Size-and-Full-Screen
 X Linux throwing IllegalStateException: Buffers have not been created
 X   in render() (called from blit) PSurfaceAWT:301
 
+
 _ remove setTitle() etc methods from PSurface, just use the ones from Frame?
 _   and with that, encourage the use of the dummy frame object in renderers
-_ destroy() removed, but bring back? is that better than dispose()?
+o destroy() removed, but bring back? is that better than dispose()?
+_   destroy() only called dispose(), so no difference
 _   Python Mode has a hook for when it's called
 _ move checkRetina()/highResDisplay() to PApplet
 _   and out of Toolkit and PSurfaceAWT
@@ -135,6 +144,15 @@ _   or split them when sketchWidth/Height are implemented?
 _ check on performance of the new EDT setup
 
 
+rendering performance
+_ can't do version that draws to BufferStrategy directly
+_   pixel operations (get/set/loadPixels/saveFrame) might be fixable
+_   but can't re-run draw() to re-blit the screen
+_     because we don't split calc() and draw()
+_   even with the split, handleDraw() might need to live in PSurface
+_ add calc() option? this could ease transition
+
+
 opengl misc
 _ sketchQuality() vs sketchSmooth()?
 _ move glsl entries to their own subdirectory?
@@ -145,8 +163,6 @@ _   right now it has a bunch of JOGL-specific code
 
 
 applet/sketch
-_ performance issues on OS X (might be threading due to Applet)
-_   https://github.com/processing/processing/issues/2423
 _ clean up requestFocus() stuff
 _   make sure it works with retina/canvas/strategy as well
 _   requestFocus() method probably needs to be added to PApplet
diff --git a/java/libraries/pdf/src/processing/pdf/PGraphicsPDF.java b/java/libraries/pdf/src/processing/pdf/PGraphicsPDF.java
index e9dac07f0..68298d18d 100644
--- a/java/libraries/pdf/src/processing/pdf/PGraphicsPDF.java
+++ b/java/libraries/pdf/src/processing/pdf/PGraphicsPDF.java
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ public class PGraphicsPDF extends PGraphicsJava2D {
 
   @Override
   public PSurface createSurface() {
-    return surface = new PSurfaceBasic();
+    return surface = new PSurfaceNone();
   }