iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

It is. I am tired, and absolutely cried, because it's hard to close out grief when you're still required to hold on to stuff for the estate, you know?

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I have been discharged as Executor of the Estate, five and a half years after his death. If anyone needs me, I'll be on the tractor, mowing some of the overgrown parts of The Tabula Rasa Farm.

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I don't have enough of those lol

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Cost of gas means I leave the house for choir rehearsal and that's it. I write a lot, privately. Not painting much, and miss having the headspace for it. Hydroponics system is working, much to my astonishment.

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Giving me advice or trying to convince me I should be impressed by you is not how I want to spend any of my free time. Which is in painfully short supply anyway. Because, lot of work, and, oh, we finally got the tractor fixed.

Not because they are terrible, but truthfully, if I have to explain to another adult that if you want something from someone, it's in your best interest to give them enough incentive to want to give it to you... Y'all, I don't want that kind of relationship again. Ever.

Still single. Dating apps remain uninstalled. Occasionally someone seems like they are attempting. My general feeling about their methods is best summarized as: Why are you talking to me and how do I make it stop?

Victoria's Secret Amber Romance body spray does in fact appear to repel mosquitos, gnats, and dignity. I got the glitter version because if I have to smell like a Vegas Hourly Hotel, I am going to look the part.

Liposomal Vit C before bed helps me sleep through the night more often. Heme iron with it really helps. VitC helps with cortisol, go figure.

Random other tidbits: Made a tasty enough gluten-free shortcrust for quiche and also made a quiche. Argan oil continues to work better than any retinol on my face. My kids and their adult friends have decided I don't age. See also: argan oil.

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Relic Fountain Pen, not yet done, but body mostly is.

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Some of the other half. Bebe Fountain Pens, plus one Relic.

Fountain pens in progress on steel peg board

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About -half- of what I'm working on right now.

Row of blue resin rods on well used workbench next to wood lathe

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Sexy, sexy step drilling. Fountain Pen cap, in progress

Step drilled fountain pen cap in blue resin before being lined

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Legitimately trying not to sob. Thank you, my friend. I don't know how I got so lucky to have a friend like you.

Yes! There's no way I could be doing what I'm doing this quarter last year. It would have broken me.

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EEEHEHEHEHEHE OMG WTF HOW.

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😭😭😭🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶 Thank you for believing in me. Seriously.

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Hah! Thank you, my friend. The shop ones will be, just because demand is killing me right now, and I don't have time for the art pens like I want to.

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I'm surprised it happened at all - there were people who didn't think it'd work at all!

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That was the point I picked - doable without killing me and still leaving time for design, development, play, and art!

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MMOC @solarfish.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I can only imagine why we both have so passionately rejected the capitalistic optimization of creative work.

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Reposted by A. Markov

One of the most frequent questions I get, especially after people find out I went to Rice, is, "but how did you get where you are today," or, "I didn't know Rice had a culinary program." Folks, they don't. I took a long road to get where I am. The journey is below. bsky.app/profile/sola...

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Reposted by A. Markov

MMOC @solarfish.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

A little bit. Most of my family are lawyers, bankers, engineers, doctors, etc. I enrolled in the engineering school at Rice University, promptly discovered it wasn't for me, switched to Econ/Poli Sci which I found far more interesting, but as my work at that time moved from banking to investment...

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My goal isn't to do The Thing so well that I can quit doing it and then go do something else. My goal is to do The Thing so well people trust me so much that I get to do whatever I want with it, and still get paid for it until I die.

We get taught that we have to optimize and stratagize and focus on growth, and I think that's due in part to the prevailing powers that be doing The Thing because they have to do Something to make money, not because they love doing the thing.

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See, I see so many people do exactly this across fields, you know? I won't do it because it'd ruin it for me. Same reason I quit showing my paintings. A big company can do a collaboration with me and use my name and creative for something like that, but my work? No. It stays mine.

MMOC @solarfish.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Reposted by A. Markov

I think it's true in most creative industries. Once you get big enough you don't get to practice your craft anymore, you manage the people practicing your craft.

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Reposted by A. Markov

MMOC @solarfish.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Back in the photo studio / test kitchen today. We're at ~2 hours to shoot a plate of fish and chips. 😂🫠

A photographer adjusting lighting and filters kn the background. Two monitors displaying photos of food in the foreground.

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A. Markov @abigailmarkov.com · 20/09/2026

Nah, we're looking at something that can haul at least a single horse trailer if we get a truck, but that was adorkable.

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A. Markov @abigailmarkov.com · 20/09/2026

"He seems like the kind of person who would need and ask for help finding the family-sized ketchup bottle on the fridge door." - me, trying to describe someone politely to a friend

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A. Markov @abigailmarkov.com · 19/09/2026

I've tried everything else to revive my love life, and it appears it has finally come down to Necromancy. It's that or Being Nice to People, and I like my odds with Necromancy better.

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A. Markov @abigailmarkov.com · 19/09/2026

Oh man, I forgot how pretty that cast was. 😍