iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Hey #MedievalSky, does anyone have something to answer this question from the medieval period? Now I’m personally curious if anyone has ever seen a medieval author writing about having an “earworm” (to use a recent term) like this. (Link to full reddit post below.) www.reddit.com/r/AskHistori...

Screenshot of Reddit question on r/AskHistorians, with the title, “Do we have any historical record of someone describing having a song stuck in their head prior to the advent of audio recording and playback?” (For full text of the post & comments, follow the link in the skeet.)

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

#MedievalSky folks, where are some good places for publishing note-length articles these days? The most obvious are Notes & Queries & Medium Ævum, but what other journals accept shorter pieces on medieval topics?

To feed the algorithm & catch attention: photo of Vatican, Reg. lat. 49, folio 49v (part of the so-called Catechesis Celtica, about which I have something to say)

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Working on proofs for a forthcoming article long in coming out that I'm super excited to see out in the world! #apocrypha

Screenshot of proofs of the first page of a forthcoming article, "The Medieval Social Network of the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew"

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

I recently took up drawing—which I did when younger but haven’t really done in 20+ years—& I’m enjoying it quite a bit. I took a perspective drawing handbook out of the local library to work through & a previous reader left a few graphite fingerprints in it. It’s a nice detail of the book’s history.

Page from Perspective Drawing Handbook by Joseph D’Amelio, featuring the concept of the “vanishing point,” with a previous reader’s fingerprint smudge left from using the book with graphite on their fingers.

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

A little Godzilla doodle for fun, inspired by James Stokoe’s art in The Half-Century War, which I just read for the first time the other day & absolutely loved.

Pen ink drawing of Godzilla on lined notebook paper

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

I dream of the day when this could be real.... #apocrypha

Mock-up of press release (it's fake, unfortunately), reading:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NETFLIX

NETFLIX ANNOUNCES NEW ANTHOLOGY SERIES,
APOCRYPHICITY

Get ready for the sensational stories that never made it into the Bible! Based on literature written over the centuries, Apocryphicity will feature little before featured tales about wise ancient patriarchs, wild women warriors, Jesus’s sordid childhood, the apostles’ amazing journeys, and supernatural visions of heaven and hell.

Apocryphicity directors and cast will feature all-stars as well as newcomers, who will be aided by academic experts in the fields of biblical and apocrypha studies as show consultants.

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Just saw this recent, very kind & generous review of my book Apocrypha for Beginners. Thanks, MaggieA!

Review on Amazon by MaggieA:
5 stars
To Understand What Was Ignored Is to Understand History

I am very happy with this purchase. It is basic. It is simple. But, it is also informative and provides me with just the right amount of information on a topic that is generally reserved for more intellectual pursuits. I have always been intrigued by the Apocryphal stories that were deleted from the biblical texts. This book gives me just right I need to know and understand. Then, if I want to pursue any of the books discussed I have a basic understanding and can delive deeper. It is for beginners and it does its job well.

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

IKEA keeping up a medieval tradition: a manicule in the wild! #MedievalSky

Photo of IKEA instructions with manicule pointing to the correct item.

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

You’ll be amused to know how your posts showed up on my TL & that I read the post just below yours as “Collations are not just an ideal; they are a necessity for all our safety.”

Screenshot of posts on Bluesky in succession.

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

Hot on the heels of the new weird manuscript I'm working on, do folks who know 15th-century script better than I do (feeling so out of my depth) want to help me with deciphering the last line here? #MedievalSky I have: ...ita ut per quinquae menses Anna uxor sua ignorauisset? quo loco in? ...?

Digitized photo of Koblenz, Landeshauptarchiv, Bestland 701 Nr. 138, fol. 95ra.

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

Here are the descriptions for those folios in the catalogue! Full catalogue record can be found here: bilder.manuscripta-mediaevalia.de/hs/katalogse...

Catalogue description for items in Koblenz, Landeshauptarchiv, Bestland 701 Nr. 138, fols. 75r–77r

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

I mean, I guess some of the pages were laid out sort of normally. But then, others are just... not...?

Digital photo of Koblenz, Landeshauptarchiv, Bestland 701 Nr. 138, fols. 94v–95r

Digital photo of Koblenz, Landeshauptarchiv, Bestland 701 Nr. 138, fols. 101v–102r

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Who was in charge of ruling & layout for this manuscript?! (Koblenz, Landeshauptarchiv, Bestland 701 Nr. 138; early 15th century) #MedievalSky

Digital photo of Koblenz, Landeshauptarchiv, Bestland 701 Nr. 138, fols. 96v–97r

Digital photo of Koblenz, Landeshauptarchiv, Bestland 701 Nr. 138, fols. 98v–99r

Digital photo of Koblenz, Landeshauptarchiv, Bestland 701 Nr. 138, fols. 100v–101r

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Here's the beginning of his section on "Le texte," where he discusses the manuscripts, but I don't see anything on the scribes.

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Nooo whyyy is the Digital Bodleian having technical difficulties?! I just wanna look at & read descriptions of #manuscripts! #RhetoricalQuestion #MedievalSky

Scereenshot of Digital Bodleians site, with banner reading, "Technical issues are affecting Digital Bodleian. Images may be slow to load, and some features may not work as expected. We are working on a resolution."

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

So, typologically speaking, at this point in the Holy Week narrative leading up to Easter, Jesus is busting down the gates of Hell & trampling all over the heads of Satan & his devils to rescue the just who died before him & take them to Heaven.

Jesus, Harrowing of Hell in the Tiberius Psalter: London, British Library, Cotton Tiberius C.VI, folio 14r

Jesus, Harrowing of Hell depicted on a relief sculpture in the South Transept of Bristol Cathedral

Jesus, Harrowing of Hell in the Harley Psalter: London, British Library, Harley 603, folio 8r

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

Ahhh, yes, the feel of Maundy Thursday.

Image of Phil Connors (Bill Murray) in the film Groundhog Day (1993, dir. Harold Ramis) with meme text:
It's Shroud of Turin Season
...
...
...
again

I blame @evandeneykel.bsky.social for this meme.

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

Since the abstract on the press's website seems to be incorrect (for another article in the same issue), here's what it's supposed to say.

Screenshot, reading:

Fragmens philosophiques: An Eighteenth-Century Clandestine Manuscript of Voltaire’s Apocrypha and Related Works

Brandon W. Hawk

This article presents an examination of a previously overlooked eighteenth-century manuscript codex containing handwritten copies of Voltaire’s translations of biblical apocrypha, now held in the J. Patrick Lee Voltaire Collection of McGill University Library, Rare Books and Special Collections, under the designation MS Voltaire 002 (Lee), bearing the title Fragmens philosophiques: de la Collection d’anciens évangiles, avec trois autres pièces. This manuscript is an exceptional witness to not only the influence of Voltaire’s translations of apocrypha but also more general widespread attention to apocryphal and biblical subjects in the early modern period, especially through anthologizing efforts by European scholars. I argue that Fragmens philosophiques is a clandestine manuscript of works seen to be dangerous for their controversial religious elements. In addition to Voltaire’s Collection, the manuscript includes other Voltairean and anonymous works related to apocrypha and religious skepticism. Early modern scholars often turned their attention to apocrypha in the contexts of intense arguments over religion that could result in dire consequences for those involved. This manuscript was, therefore, part of a wider movement that included print and handwritten media used in polemical debates that manifested as part of drastically changing cultural currents in early modern Europe, as scholars collected, categorized, and organized knowledge into new epistemological frameworks. The contents of the handwritten Fragmens philosophiques represent the continued, complex interactions between these media, and how biblical apocrypha were a part of that dynamic history in early modern Europe.

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

Ugh, it’s snowing again this morning!

Photo of snow walls with a small pathway between them, snow flurrying in the air.

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

Had a friend around at the cottage overnight.

Photo of a pathway between snow walls, with bunny footprints through the pathway.

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

View from a bathroom window, snowpocalypse 2026.

Photo of a window from the inside, with white casing, turquoise curtains, screen caked with snow & a dead plant vine creeping up one side.

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

We need more D.A.R.E: Doing AI Resistance Education.

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

Here's an object not unlike a super bowl: I present this 6th-century pyxis with scenes from the infancy of Christ, derived from biblical #apocrypha. More info at www.nasscal.com/materiae-apo...

Photo of pyxis with scenes from the infancy of Christ; Berlin, Staatliche Museen preussischer Kulturbestiz, Fruhchristlich-Byzantinische Sammlung, 585.

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

"Documentaries." You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. #Christmas #holidays

Screenshot of Amazon Prime videos under the label "Religious documentaries," including the animated movie Joseph: King of Dreams (2000) & the live-action drama The Nativity Story (2005).

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

I usually don’t really post about personal things much, but this seems like both a victory & something that I hope helps anyone else out there who is struggling with alcohol & sobriety.

Screenshot of app badge that reads:
You’ve Been Sober For:
30 days
“If you didn’t drink today, you were successful.”

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

Happy new Taylor album release day to all who celebrate! 🔥 🔥🔥

Screenshot of music player, playing “The Fate of Ophelia” by Taylor Swift

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

Pretty weird & disturbing that here we are in the Year of Our Lord 2025, after yet another failed Rapture prophecy. What was it that was said about false prophet in Deuteronomy 13:5 & Deuteronomy 18:20-22?

Screenshot of an email from The Bible for Normal People with subject line “A Coupon for the Rapture Survivors Club”; & information about a class about “The Rapture” including satirical text, “Congrats on Surviving Another Predicted Rapture!”

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

This guy now lives in my office, & I couldn’t be prouder. A few weeks ago, on an impulse, I stopped by a yard sale, & there before me were 2 porcelain dolls of Pope John Paul II—so I snagged one for me, & one for my partner.

Selfie with porcelain doll of Pope John Paul II in my office

Photo of porcelain doll of Pope John Paul II in my office

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

There’s something amazing about a concert that’s not only great music but also fantastic spectacle. My Chemical Romance performing at Fenway last hit both marks perfectly.

Stage at Fenway with screens showing Ray Toro on guitar

Stage at Fenway with screens showing “The Dictator” on a throne

Stage at Fenway with screens showing Gerard Way in Black Parade outfit

Stage at Fenway with screens showing Lucy Joy Altus as Marianne the opera singer & Gerard Way in duet

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

I hate everything about the fact that the TIME100 AI 2025 list exists.

Screenshot of TIME100 AI 2025 home screen, with subheading that reads, "Meet the innovators, leaders, and thinkers reshaping our world through groundbreaking advances in artificial intelligence."

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

I have (because of the continued interest of the children & me) upgraded our hyperfixation with minerals: say hello to the newest toy, a double barrel (2x3lbs) rock tumbler.

Photo of Central Machine double barrel rock tumbler

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

Getting packed for a long weekend camping & rockhounding with my two little rock fiends. I think we’re ready.

Rockhounding resources, including a mineral identification guide; Rockhounding New York book; & Rocks & Minerals of North America book.

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 06/07/2025

Found this T-O map on the local beach. Which one of you needs did this? #MedievalSky

Circle with lines in the shape of a T inside drawn in the sand

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

Whoa, I was just reminded that 7 years ago today, I received copies of my first book. This is a striking reminder for me, especially because of how much younger I looked.

Selfie of me, 7 years ago, holding a physical copy of my first book, Preaching Apocrypha in Anglo-Saxon England.

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

Look what arrived! It’s such an honor to have my piece in this wonderful Catalogue edited by @themedievaldrk.bsky.social & Melek Karataş!

Cover of the book Medieval Manuscripts in Bristol Collections: A Descriptive Catalogue, edited by Kathleen E. Kennedy & Melek Karataş

First page of the contribution “Medieval Information Technologies in Bristol Manuscripts” by Brandon W. Hawk

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

A bit late for actual sunset at my pond, but still a pretty nice view. Plus, there are fireflies starting to come out.

Photo of multicolored post-sunset scene over a Nee England pond with beach in the foreground, islands & land in the background.

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 25/05/2025

These are the collections I usually recommend. For a standard collection, James is very good, as is the Elliott (basically an update of James's work). The Hennecke-Schneemelcher has more scholarly apparatus.

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

A day in the Brown Rockefeller Library researching #apocrypha feels so very good. Yes, all of those blue books are volumes of the Œuvres complètes de Voltaire.

Library carrel with laptop & piles of blue books in various states of use.

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

What a pleasant surprise: my book Apocrypha for Beginners is back up to #1 best seller in the Christian Bible Apocrypha & Pseudepigrapha category on Amazon! www.amazon.com/Apocrypha-Be...

Image of Amazon Best Sellers in the category of Christian Bible Apocrypha & Pseudepigrapha, including Apocrypha for Beginners by Brandon W. Hawk as #1

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

Congrats to @maklelan.bsky.social on release day for his book! Can’t wait to dig into this one!

Hand holding the book The Bible Says So by Dan McClellan

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

“Trump signs executive order to influence college accreditations” apple.news/A_iIyrWLXQ3y...

GIF of Lando Calrissian (in Empire Strikes Back) walking down the hall saying, “This deal is getting worse all the time.”

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Brandon W. Hawk @brandonwhawk.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

#Tarkir Dragonstorm pre-release day collector booster car pulls are pretty good. #MTG

Photo of Magic cards, including Sarkhan, Dragon Ascendant on top

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