iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 13h

current mood: reflecting on getting a switch 7 years ago and wishing I could play "breath of the wild" for the first time again.

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

when you die and go to heaven, you're just put on an elevated CTA train in autumn

a glimpse of chicago's hancock tower in the distance above autumnal trees.

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

#chicago if you lost your Nintendo Switch at Humboldt and North Ave, I found it. it has been raining and I will test it at home.

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

it feels a bit antithetical to list vice city but it was legitimately how i discovered daryl hall & john oates, the human league, etc. anyway i wish my list was more original but i have always been someone just skimming cream from the top of video game culture.

my 9 most impactful video games: starfox 64, age of empires II, final fantasy x, zelda breath of the wild, metal gear solid v, ghost of tsushima, gta vice city, zelda ocarina of time, cities skylines

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

ok do I need see Godzilla Minus One before seeing Minus Zero

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

why is Dunkin using the Star Wars font

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

let’s make a compromise: if you can rotate and print a PDF, then you can set the terms of what beverages are permissible to bring to an interview. otherwise it’s carte blanche.

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

the western Massachusetts lesbian bar story has me reflecting on the time I was roughly in that same area, and walking out of a cemetery, visibly having cried, a lady complained that I had parked in front of her house.

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

the perfect place to be fighting with regex syntax

A laptop on a table overlooking a lakeside boat dock

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

as someone who really thought he was gonna live his entire life in texas, it's fucking insane i'm coming up on almost three-quarters of a decade living in chicago.

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

i'm gonna start a running list of artists in the "maybe you actually can't produce a cover better than the original" - entry #1 is sade

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

folks, a jacket i really wanted was bought off ebay before i could grab it myself. do y'all have any tools on searching for similar/replica items?

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

this is less germane to the overall situation but i also always rolled my eyes when i remembered that ol' ed's cameo in game of thrones put him in front and center, when other people's cameos were just as background extras because they wanted to just be on set

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

it's more complicated than i can summarize in a post but i really am starting to wonder if all but maybe 1-2% of online instructors are worth the air they breathe. i know teaching is hard, developing curriculum is hard, algorithms rule us all, but gd i'm just burning out on how useless it all is.

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

apropos of nothing else, i visited the 09/11 memorial in nyc in 2023 and i found it was a very moving expression of grief. i'm not sure if it was the artist's original intention but i found the idea of water cascading into a void a very succinct, poignant depiction of leaving life.

the 09/11 memorial in downtown manhattan. a large, square pool takes up the same area as one of the missing towers. in the middle is a smaller square that acts as a drain. water cascades off the sides of the walls of the bigger square and flows towards the center, falling into the smaller square.

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

at some point i think i'm gonna start writing to youtube instructors i follow to say "your use of shitty a/i art in turn damages the credibility of your information"

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

it’s hard listening to someone giving legitimately good advice until they start spouting hustle culture language and my eyes immediately roll back into my head

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big bleat from badsville @djepelgesh.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

thank you The New York Post for what may be the funniest image of all time

a picture from the NY Post titled " today’s leftists are possessed by the spirit of France’s 18th-century guillotine-loving revolutionaries" (way too long) that shows Mamdani (the specter haunting Europe) smiling in the sky as a bunch of French people goof around

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

it is so crazy how often I listened to this song/album in high school and now the cover is something I see almost every single day.

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USER WAS BLOCKED FOR THIS POST @blockedforthispost.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Ah, my apologies, I didn’t have enough space for the adverb. That should read “insufferably twee.”

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

i'm not quite sure how it's possible i am going to spend as much on my 3 hotel nights in austin as i did for an entire week across london suburbs and liverpool

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

this is the longest of long shots but a month or so back i saw an image of a ruined castle, somewhere in east asia, that was "recreated" from the ruins by having viewers stand at a particular angle and seeing the lines/dimensions of the castle recreated via some kind of wire art.

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

it’s partially jet lag recovery but also quite unfortunate how good it felt going to bed at 7pm

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

starting this month, i'm going to give a few weeks before i review any creative work so that i can give myself more distance before assessing its quality. nevertheless, here are early photos from liverpool.

two chimneys and a blue sky are symmetrically reflected in a mirror

four bouquets hang on a wall in the back of a patio. a prism filter is applied, doubling the appearance of some flowers and patio tables.

looking out from a pizza shop onto a street. the sign on the window reads "romance is a pizza place", although it's reversed because i'm looking out from the window.

the liver building glows at night. a prism filter has been applied to the photo.

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

@badbisque.bsky.social @acat.bsky.social (talking to a French guy visiting Chicago) Guy: what should I do here? Me: il faut voir le grand haricot! Guy: oh! What is it? Me: …c’est un grand haricot…

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

I am headed home. I know the UK is not perfect but it does do so many things right and I am always a bit sad to leave.

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

guess who won £150 at pub trivia tonight 💅💅💅

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

this is not a complaint so much as acknowledging a lesson learned but good lord hotels are one of the biggest expenses on a trip. justified, given various Airbnbs I have sampled, but even the budget options are agressive.

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Boner Vivant @dougtilley.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Rest in peace to one of the best to ever do it.

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

I love the Beatles as much as the next person but if I had to work in a shop that looped ~213 songs, I too would probably blow my mind out in a car.

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Not even one full day in and I'd unreservedly recommend visiting Liverpool to every single person I know.

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

of all the times to have my face skin in poor condition

Selfie in front of the shankly gates at anfield

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

30 seconds in Liverpool and I have already met a person with the strongest Scouse accent I have ever heard

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

fair play to the UK, Greggs is pretty good

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

if we still had classic Twitter and novelty accounts had any traction i might start one for sinister pub toilets but for now I’ll post this cursed gem

A toilet with artificial grass on the lid and commode

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Sainsbury clerk hit the “visibly over 25” button when I bought wine ;_;

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

The UK is not a country without its problems but the vibes are impeccable when you’re enjoying a fish and chips at the local with some geezers watching the horse racing

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

i already live in the death stranding world, so w/e

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

i'm trying out a prism filter and trying to determine if it's a gimmick or if maybe there is some potential. what do you think

$a prism-refracted photo of the sears tower$ $a prism-refracted photo of a chicago street scene, including a person riding a divvy bike just in front of the lens$

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

this is about nothing and no one in particular, but damn, maybe this country is not worth saving!

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

new slide film from the lab. look at those colors! the only note for next time is recognizing that it can get overexposed quite easily.

on loyola's campus, looking out towards the lake through an arch, a speedboat whips along the water

the sears tower far in the distance behind a field of yellow flowers

on loyola's campus, looking out towards the lake through an arch

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shmuel operator @amorygatsby.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

more work from yesterday. i tip buskers whenever i can, but especially when i'm going to photograph them. i also snuck up behind the street photog in #2 and took a photo of him working since he was pointing his camera at random people and i thought i would turn the tables.

a man plays guitar through an amplifier on michigan avenue. behind him, a motorbike speeds by in a blur.

a man with two cameras on his body takes a break, leaning a leg on a nearby curb.

from a distance, a man takes a smoke break. he's wearing a chef jacket.

the undulating curves of an entrance to a subway station.

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Grant Tanaka @granttanaka.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

still think daily about the time I was at Arby's and the person in front of me asked what the "healthy option" was, and the cashier responded "leaving"

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