iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Shh but I’ve always secretly kind of liked them.They’re pretty. Like a stinkbug in a prom dress.

Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

13th century prayer books had the weirdest little zodiac guys. Here are the ones I’ve painted so far. Top two are from the Lewis psalter, bottom two from the Huth psalter. Both fully digitized at the British library if you want to see what else is in there.

Four painted cards, each with a round circle containing a weirdly drawn medieval animal.

Top left: cancer. Looks like a crayfish minus claws. Seems sad.

Top right: Scorpio. Looks like a dog with six legs and a long coily tail. Angry.

Bottom left: Capricorn. It’s a goat that is also a mermaid. Frolicking happily.

Bottom right: cancer again (different one). It looks like a pug in a harness, with a smirk and a giant butthole.

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Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Calligraphy break! This is my 4th or 5th day in a row of practicing this early Gothic hand. I intend to keep copying out psalms, in Latin, all month, because if it worked for the nuns back then, it might just work for me.

The first 5 verses of Psalm 3, in Latin, calligraphed by hand by me in a composition notebook. One decorated initial letter on the page for funsies.

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Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Sadly the calendars I'm finding have very boring/normal sagittariuses. Almost like they knew what horses and people looked like.

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Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

The Capricorn is drawn with ink I made myself from black walnut husks and iron nails. It’s black walnut season, so if you live in the eastern US, I highly recommend boiling and straining some husks. Easiest cheapest art supply there is.

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Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

If a crab is like a crayfish, what is a scorpion? A dog with too many legs, of course.

Three small paintings amongst art supplies on my desk. The same Cancer as yesterday, plus a Scorpius (dog face, six legs, long curly tail) and a Capricornus (goat but mermaid) not yet colored in.

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Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

This Inktober I am practicing my gothic calligraphy and drawing the most unhinged zodiac symbols I can find in medieval manuscripts. They will get weirder from here.

Two small cards among art supplies, each with a creature in a circle with a calligraphed label beneath. One, colored in, is cancer and looks a bit like a crayfish. The other is Scorpio and looks like a dog with too many legs and a long coiled tail.

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Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Athena in the Odyssey: woohoo let's kill some guys! This is gonna be good Athena in the Thebaid: oh god NOT LIKE THAT (*runs away, washes eyes*)

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Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

My hottest Odyssey take is that if you want to make an epic movie set in ancient Greece about regretting your war crimes, it should be the Thebaid

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Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

What do you sew it together with? Is the thread edible or are you supposed to pick it out of your teeth?

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Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Considering Homer used a mishmash of Greek dialects and anachronistic/implausible armor and weapons, I’d say putting vibes over consistency is 100% authentic

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Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

I was going to see the Odyssey movie so that I could form my own opinions for the Discourse, but then I saw that it’s 3 hours so nevermind.

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Reposted by Beth Skwarecki

ElieNYC @elienyc.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

See, people always want to make this just about "sports," but the real upshot here is that, 6-3, trans women can't make a claim under the Equal Protection Clause. And if they can't do that, it's hard to see how they have constitutional rights.

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Reposted by Beth Skwarecki

Bethany Brookshire @beebrookshire.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

This. It's just a chance to be hateful to a small group of people who want to play sports, to deny people the chance to feel part of a team.

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Reposted by Beth Skwarecki

Dorit Reiss @doritreiss.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

"The Food and Drug Administration's top vaccine advisory committee voted unanimously today to recommend Moderna's mRNA influenza vaccine, mFlusiva, for adults 50 and over. This was its first time reviewing a new vaccine application since 2023." www.npr.org/2026/06/18/n...

npr.org

Key FDA committee unanimously recommends its first vaccine since 2023

All nine members of the committee unanimously voted to recommend Moderna's new mRNA influenza vaccine for adults 50 and over.

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Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

(And if you must have my take: Shitty reps can still build fitness. Everyone who’s commenting about “no rep” or “injury waiting to happen” should calm tf down please. Injuries don’t even work that way.)

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Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Friendly reminder that a person’s performance in a workout says nothing about whether they are fit to serve in political office! Even if Pete were the world’s best weightlifter he would still suck as a person.

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Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Skimmed a webpage or two about whipcording, made bobbins out of popsicle sticks, and after a long session of trial and error ended up with three lovely cords.

Red and white straight whipcord (made with 2 strands of red and 2 of white #10 crochet cotton)

Another piece of straight whipcord (made with 2 strands of white, 1 of red, and one of blue crochet cotton)

Spiral whipcord made with 2 strands each of white and blue

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Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

Finally some good odyssey takes on this site

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Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

Some of us even remember being taught to “write for the web” circa 2000 with boldface for important text, lots of bulleted lists, etc. It was understood as best practice for (human) writers and needed to be intentionally cultivated!

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Reposted by Beth Skwarecki

samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 04/06/2026

in case anybody is wondering how author advocates are handling AI in trade publishing, this is language my agency fought for and won

Publisher shall not
use or authorize the use of Al technologies or Al-powered tools:
1. To translate, produce or create the Work in any format
2. Narrate any audio edition of the Work, whether by use of any Al-generated voice,
sounds or vocal output otherwise
3. to use or license the Work in any manner for the purposes of developing, inputting or
training Al technologies, or to create or generate new works;
4. to alter Author's appearance for any reason, including to create promotional,
advertising, publicity or other content or materials that, but for the use of Al, would not have
been possible without participation from the Author.
Publisher will ensure any sublicense includes the foregoing limitations

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Reposted by Beth Skwarecki

Boston Tom Levenson @tomlevenson.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

This. A thousand times this. Libraries do not reduce a book’s sales. They increase its readership. If you want a book your library doesn’t have, ask! If you want others to be able to get their hands on a books you already love, ask! [Speaking as a writer with a new book coming next Tuesday…]

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Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

Here’s the pattern, based on a famous viking era archaeological find. 2 squares, 2 rectangles. Mine is scaled to a 50x60 inch blanket and you can even keep the original edge if you want. Almost no scraps!

25x25 inch squares for the gores, 45x15 inch rectangles for the sides. Hard to explain the whole thing here but search up skjoldehamn hood, all the nerds are making them. Mine is extra large compared to the original.

In progress: whipstitching the inside seams

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Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

Decided I want to sew a dress and wear it to the renaissance faire this fall. Haven’t made anything for myself yet but found a cheap fleece blanket while thrifting and made a hood/cape out of it for my husband

Me wearing a big green hooded cape thing tucked into a brown belt with a brown (modern) skirt

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Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

My emergency hot takes - Oreos are mid. - Knitters these days are too focused on patterns. Do some math and make stuff from scratch, you cowards! - Pineapple on pizza is good but Hawaiian is a waste of ham. Try it with sausage and peppers instead.

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Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

Red delicious are good anywhere if you get them fresh! My grandfather planted some trees decades ago and they make good snacking apples.

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Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

There was also a gap at each of the last 2 turns (of course) that I had to take care of by picking up an extra stitch. So the answer is: YES you can do these steps in the wrong order, with only minor inconvenience. I will be doing the second sock in the traditional manner.

The finished (Dutch) heel, ready to knit the rest of the sock.

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Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Seems to be working just fine, but I also think I figured out why we don’t normally do it in this order. The needles from picking up the stitches are really extra in the way.

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Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Had a brain fart knitting, and picked up stitches on this sock’s heel flap before turning the heel. Googled whether you can do it in that order. AI overview told me I had it backwards (i know dummy, that’s why I’m asking) and results are just heel turning 101 So fuck it. We’re gonna find out!

A lovely green sock on the needles. Heel flap is done. Heel has not been turned. Stitches are picked up around the flap anyway. Let’s go!

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Reposted by Beth Skwarecki

Ben Welsh @palewi.re · 16/05/2026

ABC killed fivethirtyeight.com, pulling down thousands of stories and dashboards. I can bring them back, but I can offer you fivethirtyeightindex.com, my new index of everything captured by archive.org.

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Reposted by Beth Skwarecki

Bex is WEAK on crime @bextraordinary.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Doesn't feel too out there to say that every hour of work "saved" by AI just becomes someone else's hour of work.

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Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

@iwriteok.bsky.social you are working on an Anthony Comstock episode, right? (Please??)

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Reposted by Beth Skwarecki

Internet Archive @archive.org · 15/05/2026

Web history disappears when it can’t be preserved. Today, many publishers are blocking the Wayback Machine from archiving parts of the public web, putting decades of digital history at risk. Tell publishers: don’t block the #WaybackMachine. Sign the petition ➡️ www.savethearchive.com/newsleaders/

savethearchive.com

Tell New York Times, The Atlantic, and USA Today to keep the crucial work of journalists in the Wayback Machine!

The news isn’t getting preserved in the Wayback Machine anymore because major media outlets are blocking it.

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Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Aldi has certainly become a little more upscale, but I remember it from the early 2000s as the worst store in the worst part of town with the worst stuff, that even broke students avoided if they could. I’m not saying that’s a fair assessment (even at the time) but I do recall the stigma.

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Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

I hated the rubbery physics at the time, so it’s genuinely kind of refreshing to see it through their eyes as just being funny as hell

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Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

I showed my kids the Fellowship recently! They were riveted by the story and characters and setting, but they couldn’t help constantly giggling at the very dated CGI

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Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

My kid is obsessed with the very true fact that car names get funnier if you make them start with B. Our favorites so far (you need to say them out loud): 1. Bamborghini 2. Bubaru 3. Beep

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Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

I knew the ratio of wages to tuition was a lot more workable in the past, but I didn’t realize just HOW drastic the change has been. You could put yourself through school on a minimum wage job in 1970 (full time in the summer, part time during the school year) with no debt.

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Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Beat Calls by Scott & Brendo has a lyric "beat calls my name" and it is a male singer who sings about dancing. (No "who am i" though)

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Reposted by Beth Skwarecki

umbran.bsky.social @umbran.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

The notion that there is a separation between "canon" and "fanfic" is an artifact of the business of literature and media. It doesn't reflect how humans typically interact with stories.

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Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

The Odyssey itself draws on earlier myths/stories/beliefs that it remixes. That’s what I mean by fanfic all the way down. But also, the tradition of appreciating it is a tradition of drawing from it and adapting it into new stories. Aeschylus called his plays “slices from the banquet of Homer.”

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Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

The Iliad and Odyssey are both, famously, mishmashes of elements from different times and places. *When they were written*, they were fantasy stories set long long ago with anachronistic details, like the “wrong” weapons for their time period. www.thecollector.com/did-homer-de...

thecollector.com

Did Homer Really Describe the Bronze Age? Reinterpreting the Iliad | TheCollector

Homer’s poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, are some of our most important sources for the Bronze Age. But does he really describe the Bronze Age?

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Beth Skwarecki @bethskw.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

It’s not history AND it’s not some original pure literary tradition that others later corrupted. It’s fanfic all the way down.

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Reposted by Beth Skwarecki

Internet Archive @archive.org · 04/05/2026

Love the Wayback Machine? ❤️ Here’s your chance to stand up for it 📣 When news can't be archived, we all lose part of the public record 🕳️ Tell major publishers: keep journalism in the #WaybackMachine. ✍️ Sign here: www.savethearchive.com/NewsLeaders Campaign is a project of @fightforthefuture.org

Screenshot of a Fight for the Future petition page with the headline "Tell New York Times, The Atlantic, and USA Today to keep the crucial work of journalists in the Wayback Machine!" with the subtext that major media outlets are blocking news preservation and that the petition demands they stop.

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