iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 19h

This is from last year, but it's a great example, for comparison, of a northern walkingstick insect.

One stick isn't like the others A stick insect on a tree. Its body is nearly the same colour as the tree bark, but its bright green legs and olive green antenna give it away.

Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 19h

I learned about the true identity of an insect I'd always thought was a stck insect. Until my spouse saw one eating another insect & was like "aren't stick insects herbivores?" Meet a thread-legged assassin bug.

A thread-legged assassin bug on a person's hand. It looks like a small stick with very skinny legs.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Someone needs to create a bot account to carry out @dubsak.bsky.social 's idea.

Canadian politician Stockwell Day on a jet ski. This was shortly before voting day in the 2000 election. He rode this jet ski up to a press conference where he made a joke about how the Liberals' "holiday" was at an end. He did not become Prime Minister of Canada.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

My dad, bless him, was a terrible judge of what was appropriate for children. This isn't exactly the first piece of media, but was definitely one of the defining scares of my childhood. I was 8 when my dad got this at the library for me & my sister.

Cover of The Wedding Ghost by Leon Garfield/Charles Keeping. The cover is a pencil drawing by Keeping of a young woman with curly hair that's difficult to tell from the waves of her veil and dress.

The titular ghost. Two page spread of pencil illustrations. A young woman with curly hair that blends into her veil and a film that envelops her. She is nude. Her gaze and smile intensify from one image to the next.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I got far away from Columbus too. And far from the British Empire, which as someone whose ancestors are mostly from Scotland & Wales, I'm like hell yeah.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

A bit hard to find, but this is a great book about the friendship between Carrington, Varo and Horna.

Cover of Surreal Friends by Stefan Van Raay, Joanna Moorhead and Teresa Arcq. Surrealist artwork of 3 female figures around a cauldron.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I always like Leonora Carrington's work.

Giantess by Leonora Carrington. A surrealist painting. A tall woman in an orange dress and white cape towers over a landscape. She has golden hair. Birds emerge from under her cape.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Every day, this post is more relevant.

Tweet by @Merman_Melville from January 25, 2019.

Being a billionaire must be insane. You can buy new teeth, new skin. All your chairs cost 20,000 dollars and weigh 2,000 pounds. Your life is just a series of your own preferences. In terms of cognitive impairment it's probably like kicked in the head by a horse every day.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Oh my god. I can't believe this is 10 years old. The AI Cosplayers section, for example, is exactly what we're seeing right now with all the AI bros claiming only they can save us from the murderous AI while sounding extremely excited about the potential for violence.

Screenshot from article linked to in the post I'm quote posting.

"These AI cosplayers are like nine year olds camped out in the backyard, playing with flashlights in their tent. They project their own shadows on the sides of the tent and get scared that it’s a monster.

There's a feedback loop between how intelligent people imagine a God-like intelligence would behave, and how they choose to behave themselves."

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I'm currently tidying up the manuscript of my first novel so I can republish it myself. I haven't read it in years and was pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying it.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

So Schitt's Creek's Rose Apothecary was inspired by Practical Magic's Verbena Botanicals, right?

Still from Practical Magic of Sandra Bullock's Sally Owen in her shop. The shop is painted white and is full of glass bottles.

Photo of interior of Rose Apothecary. The walls are white. Tables and shelves are full of glass bottles, tins and paper bags.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

I hope you had as much fun today as my dog had while jumping into a mucky pond while on a hike this afternoon.

A tan coloured dog sitting on a grassy bank beside a pond. Her legs are coated with black muf.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

I got nothing on my to do list done today because my dog insisted we had to be outside even after our morning hike. How can I deny her on a beautiful September afternoon? Who could say no this face?

A white-faced tan coloured dog looks up at the camera, appearing to smile. She's in a gravel parking lot with a bowl of water in front of her.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Started my own writing & editing business. No clients yet, but I remain hopeful. Got a seasonal pass so I can take my dog to a local provincial park most mornings.

A dog sitting in the grass beside a trail. She's looking over her shoulder at the camera. Her tongue hangs out of her mouth.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

When I say many of the AI boosters believe in a kind of techno-Calvinism, this is it. It's not inevitable. It can be stopped. Through robust regulation & people simply not using it & making it unprofitable. They want it to seem inevitable & like they're the only ones who can control it.

Excerpt from the article linked in the original post: If you're not familiar with it, Roko's Basilisk, in broad terms, supposes that at some point in the future a sentient and omnipotent artificial intelligence could arise, and that this intelligence could then decide to punish all those who had anticipated its possible arrival and either worked to prevent it or refused to participate in its development. In that case, the wise course of action for people now, who are aware of even the theoretical possibility of this scenario, would be to work in good faith to bring this A.I. into existence, lest they put themselves or their descendants in its future crosshairs.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

John A was so racist that even at the time people thought he was too racist. In 2020 in response to the presence of unmarked graves of Indigenous children at residential schools across the country, people toppled statues of McDonald. We had a national discussion about it.

In Montreal, a bronze statue of John A. McDonald lays on the grass. It's been tipped over and its severed head lays at some distance from its body. Image from CBC, summer 2020.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

People do grieve in different ways, but this essay doesn't strike me as genuine. I did read it -- very boilerplate observations on grief, nothing specific or personal. No sense of the person or relationship she's mourning. I've read far more moving and poignant personal essays on grieving.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Happy Labour Day! Make sure you know where to get reliable information about the employment legislation that applies to you. And then tell your coworkers. Remember, your job will never love you back.

Still from Homestar Runner. A banner above Homestar Runner and The Cheat reads "Todaybor Day is Labor Day!"

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

And a selection of some old favourites.

A baby picture of my cars. They're about 4 weeks old. Kit is the gray tabby and Dottie is the calico.

A gray tabby cat snuggles with a tan and white dog.

A shepherd-boxer mix wearing a floral cat ear headband

An angry gray tabby cat wearing a doll-sized purple sombrero

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Also, my dog yelling at me on our daily walk to stop looking at cranes and get going.

A boxer-shepherd mix holds her head back and appears to be howling.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

I had a Labrador mix who liked to model balaclavas and bunny ears. The photo of her in the pink balaclava is my go-to for cheering me up.

A Labrador-akita mix wearing a rainbow-striped balaclava.

A labrador-akita mix wearing a headband with attached bunny ears.

A Labrador-akita mix wearing a bright pink balaclava.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

A couple weeks ago, I spent the day at my parents. I heard my dad talking in the livingroom, but my mom and I were in the kitchen. He was discussing the Jays game with my dog after he wrapped her up in his baseball-themed blanket. For a former stray from northern Manitoba, she's doing OK.

A whote-faced brown boxer-shepherd mix dog leans on a throw pillow on a couch. She's wrapped in a fleece blanket, so only her face and feet show. She's asleep.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

He's gorgeous! Kit's record says she's spicy. But new vets never believe it because she's so dainty. She fits a lot of fight into her little frame.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Please send your thoughts and prayers to a small gray cat who spent 15 minutes at the vet's today. She suffered great indignities today like getting a rabies vaccine and a nail trim.

A gray tabby cat with green eyes laying on a blue towel. She's on an exam table/scale at a veterinary office. She appears to be glaring at the photographer, but she always looks grumpy

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

No one is gatekeeping art. AI marketers say that to make you think you need it. The arts need more funding in general and for the public to be willing to pay artists. AI isn't the path to that. But anyone can make art.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I took a ride in a 1920s passenger car pulled by a 1920s steam engine. At one point, an Amish couple drove their buggy alongside the train. It was like briefly inhabiting another world.

A black buggy pulled by a prancing black horse across a green field.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I was laid off from my corporate gig earlier this year and after a much needed sabbatical, I'm hanging up my shingle. Need writing or editing services? Especially Canadian and/or AI-free? Get in touch. More info & rates here at www.bhwordsmith.ca

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Catherine and Susanna (Moodie) marry officers who take up the British government's offer of free land in Canada. Remember, they're not farmer's daughters. They're educated women who grew up in this house. They turned to writing to keep the family afloat after their father's death. 3/

Reading Hall in Suffolk, England. A large brown brick house.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

This commercial baffles me. So this gorgeous woman can't comfortably button up these hideous pants? Perhaps a different pair that hits her actual waist and not her rib cage?

A still from a MyRocky weight loss commercial. A woman with long dark hair is looking dejected at her reflection in a full length mirror. She isn't obese by any measure. She's wearing a white, fitted tank top and a pair of pleated baggy legged tan pants. The waist of the pants isn't fastened up. But other than being too high-waisted for her, the pants appear like they'd fit her.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Old? Would an old dog flush several wild turkeys out of the understory on her morning trail walk? (No turkeys were harmed, just startled. For starters, my dog is missing roughly 75% of her teeth. I also keep her leashed and under control.)

A white-faced senior boxer mix sits on a trail. She's panting and her ears are back. She's reddish-brown and has a liver-coloured nose. She's wearing a black harness.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

We don't have to celebrate Doug Ford. Him & Trump going at each other is the Spider-Man meme but with two corrupt buffoons.

Two people in Spider-Man outfits pointing at each other.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

I'm currently taking a drawing class. Am I good at drawing? Hell no. Am I having fun? 100% Why would I use AI when I can spend 2 hours every week with a dozen other adults being iffy at art together?

Pencil drawing. Exercise on one-point perspective.

Drawing exercise. Pencil. Using shading to create 3D shapes

Pencil drawing of a stuffed toy that vaguely resembles a cat.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

No one is gatekeeping art. Artists hate AI because its theft. Unimaginative, regurgitative theft that profits off their stolen work. Want to make art? Then fucking do it. Accept you'll probably suck. Keep doing it. Using GenAI will never make you an artist. Crying about it won't change that.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

This bit in particular got me. Excusing how male players treat women is waved away beginning with when they're kids. What are we doing? We do boys and men a huge disservice when we act like they're unable to control their behaviour. 2/2

Armstrong and Emara said that about a dozen Cyclones players were in various stages of undress following a March 1 game when the door to their locker room opened repeatedly, each time accompanied by laughter.

“After the third time, I made eye contact with the boys who entered and I got dressed and went out to ask where their coach was,” Emara said.

“It was not an accident. They came into the room three or four times. When I was looking for their coaches or parents, a man walked over and told me, ‘It’s okay. They’re 12 years old. They don’t know any better.’ I said that was unacceptable. The kids are standing there just giggling and laughing and by that time, some of their parents were also there saying, ‘This is okay. Boys will be boys.’ That’s what they said, literally word for word: boys will be boys. That just baffled me.”

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Post a meme made by you. (Not my best work. But I do like to make niche Canadian politics memes).

Doug Ford's face superimposed over Diana Riggs' face in a Game of Thrones meme. "Tell Pierre. I want her to know it was me."

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

I think about this tweet so often.

Tweet from Jan. 25, 2019, by @Merman_Melville.

Bring a billionaire must be insane. You can buy new teeth, new skin. All your chairs cost 20,000 dollars and weigh 2,000 pounds. Your life is just a series of your own preferences. In terms of cognitive impairment it's probably like being in the head by a horse ever day

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

How I feel about my tiny battery-powered chainsaw. Does it feel like a toy? Yes. Does it cut big stuff? Absolutely not. Can I still make a mess with it? Yes.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

I vividly remember putting my glasses on, going outside and saying "That's why they drew the trees that way in Flight of Dragons!" Trees had looked like blobs to me before that. It's been over 30 years & I still resent needing glasses. Without them though I can't see my feet.

Still from the animated film The Flight of Dragons

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

I vaguely knew His Girl Friday was based on an earlier film, The Front Page. The biggest difference is in the first film, Hildy is a man. Changing Hildy to be a woman who's both Walter's star reporter & his ex-wife was the right choice. In both, Walter sabotages Hildy's engagement. 1/2

Criterion collection cover art for His Girl Friday.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

The Sheep Detectives was a lot smarter than I was expecting with some genuinely moving scenes about grief, dealing with trauma and the perils of toxic positivity. Also, sheep are very strange looking animals. Especially in CGI. Some of them tip towards the lamb of the Ghent Altarpiece.

Lily, one of the eponymous sheep detectives.

The unsettlingly human-eyed lamb in the Ghent Altarpiece

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

If you see this, IMPLORE you to post a picture from whatever device you are using without explanation.

Photo from 2013 of a group of Lakota and Dakota elders displaying the flag they seized from neo-Nazis in Leith, ND.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Many excellent choices in the replies and quotes of the original. I've got two to throw into the ring. Phoebe Waller-Bridge in the famous jumpsuit from Fleabag. Ewan McGregor and his most flattering hairstyle in Moulin Rouge.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge in a still from Fleabag. She looks very chic in a black jumpsuit with a keyhole opening over her sternum. She's leaning against a brick wall with a cigarette in hand while looking tragic.

Ewan McGregor in a still from Moulin Rouge. He is smiling. His hair is in a somewhat-floppy-in-the-front, long in the back style.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Post a poster you used to have in your room, apartment or house.

Art nouveau era advertisement for Bières de la Meuse by Alphonse Mucha. Depicts a woman wearing a headdress of poppies, wheat, daisies and hops holding a foamy mug of beer. She has long reddish-gold hair and is wearing a burgundy dress. Inset below her is an image of a Greek goddess-style woman in grayscale and below that a grayscale depiction of the brewery.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

An age appropriate love interest! She's an aviator! She doesn't have Instagram face! She's very compelling whenever she shows up and I really enjoyed that she's one of the people who pushes Perry out of his inertia. Yet, she does that by serving her own interests & not centering him at all. 2/

Verónica Falcón as Lupe in Perry Mason. She's wearing 1930s aviator gear. A brown leather jacket and gloves over a white shirt with a beige scarf. Her long hair is untied.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Want to help a community affected by wildfires in Northern Ontario? The Anishinabek Nation 7th Generation Charity is currently taking donations to help Namaygoosisagagun First Nation (aka Collins First Nation). an7gc.ca/donate/ They especially need help as explained in the next post. 1/2

Statement from the Anishinabek Nation.

The Anishinabek Nation stands in solidarity with Namaygoosisagagun First Nation, whose community has been devastated by wildfires, displacing all citizens from their homes and community.

In the spirit of Ngo Dwe Waangazid Anishinaabe (One Anishinaabe Family), the Anishinabek Nation is accepting donations on behalf of Namaygoosisagagun First Nation to help the community navigated through this crisis. If you are able to, please donate via e-transfer to an7gc@anishinabek.ca

We are calling on all First Nations across the country, corporate and government partners, allies, and supporters to lend a helping hand. Financial contributions will assist with emergency supplies, temporary shelter, and essential resource while clothing donations will support those who have lost their belongings.

Every donation, big or small, makes a difference. Your kindness and generosity will help restore hope, rebuild lives, and demonstrate the strength of our collective spirit.

Donations may be made by credit card through PayPal or Canada Helps with further information at https://an7gc.ca/donate

100% of donations are dedicated to supporting Namaygoosisagagun emergency response and community recovery efforts.

Other ways to help:
-Share this post to spread this message
-Offers thoughts and prayers of healing for those affected by wildfires
-Reach out to surrounding food banks and inquire what support they require (i.e. feminine products, essential supplies, clothing, shelter etc.)

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

It's now worse out. Father-in-law is still outside hauling logs around despite his age and heart condition.

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Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

My 77-year-old father-in-law is doing heavy yard work in this. He has a pacemaker. Maybe it's the anxiety disorder talking, but I fully expect to get a call to take him or my MIL to the ER. Why do boomers especially think its virtuous to push on no matter what?

View of my yard with smoke obscuring the horizon.

Air quality for my area. US AQI level of 217 which is unhealthy.

The AQI chart. See www.airnow.gov/aqi/aqi-basics for full details

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