iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 16/09/2026

Tomato alert! Tried some pickled (lacto-fermented, I think?) tomatoes from Ukraine in this week’s bean soup and wow! They’re awesome!

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Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 03/09/2026

That time of year when the sunrise and my alarm line up for a bit.

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Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 28/08/2026

Nice to see the old Archeworks ship still sailing.

A squat building among high rises, the corner facing us looks like the prow of a ship, and a line of windows close to the roofline reinforces the effect.

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Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 19/08/2026

Today’s thrift store score.

Today’s Gourmet I and II, cookbooks by Jacque Pepin

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Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 23/07/2026

Should be working, found some good rocks.

Four rocks, held in a hand. One is grayish fossilized coral, one is finely speckled red and black, one is an orangey granite and the other is a kind of lumpy two-tone brown.

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Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 16/07/2026

The air tastes even worse than the map suggests.

Screenshot of an air quality map. Chicago is on the southern edge of a particularly nasty area.

Lake Michigan and a beach, seen from above. The Chicago skyline is usually visible in the distance, but is completely obscured by haze.

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Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 15/07/2026

I’ve never been a same-breakfast-everyday person, but labaneh might change me.

Labeneh, a thick, white, yogurt-like spread, smeared in an oval on a plate, topped with a lot of olive oil and za’atar, with a handful of olives and a torn pita bread on the side.

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Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 11/07/2026

Saw some things on the way home!

A railroad bridge next to an intersection. A liquor store is at the corner.

A plate of red flannel hash with eggs and hollandaise sauce, and two slices of beautiful marble rye bread.

Two men reflected in a pink and green gazing ball, mounted atop a jumble of colorful rocks all mortared together. There is a similarly jumbly structure visible in the background of the reflection.

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Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 01/07/2026

Turns out that a ~10 year supply of coffee pot descaler and cleaner costs the same as ~6 months of the little paper packets.

Two plastic bottles. The left is 500g biocaf, a detergent for cleaning coffee makers. The right is 900g DEZCAL, a descaler.

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Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 19/06/2026

Stopped for smelt on the way home

A paper tray full of fried smelt and French fries

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Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 18/06/2026

Busy day visiting family.

Two doors from a Jeep, hung on the wall and shaped like a butterfly, in a tidy, well-lit garage.

A blue ceramic bowl filled with white bean, sausage and escarole soup.

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Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 12/06/2026

Beans and greens hash, DiAnoia’s, Pittsburgh. Highly recommended.

A broad, shallow bowl full of white beans, escarole, Italian sausage and potatoes with two runny eggs. Glorious.

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Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 07/06/2026

Pei and Weese, across-the-street neighbors in SW DC.

A concrete apartment building, mostly windows, reflecting the blue sky

A concrete, windowless theatre building, enclosed within a newer, wooden atrium that looks kinda nautical

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Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 07/06/2026

First try making salmorejo with beans (instead of bread, for my GF friends) and pleased to say it works! Summertime in a cup. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmorejo

A plastic cup filled with creamy orange soup, topped with finely diced cucumber.

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Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 02/06/2026

Nice day to get outta the house

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Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 29/05/2026

Dearborn and Schiller. Lived nearby and watched over the years as they perverted a perfectly nice fancy old house.

A red brick mansion, seen via a screenshot of a map street view. It's covered with old-timey, but newly-applied, frippery. Anything that looks weird is new, including structural stuff like much of the brickwork. It's like a botched plastic surgery.

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Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 28/05/2026

And to close this week’s bean saga, a quick soup made from the leftover broth and some reserved beans. Love to get multiple meals from the same pot!

A bowl of bean soup with diced onions and carrots, and pasta. There’s also tomato paste and tarragon in there but you wouldn’t know from the photo.

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Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 26/05/2026

(Sung to the tune of Girls On Film)

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Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 25/05/2026

Damn tasty if you ask me. Will be better after a couple hours in the fridge. Didn’t use the orange juice — just the zest. Added smoked paprika, salt and pepper, plus a little sugar to balance the lemon juice.

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Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 25/05/2026

Guess who’s making bean salad for the potluck?

Bottles of dijon mustard and olive oil, a tub of radishes, sprigs of fresh tarragon, an orange and lemon, a hunk of white onion, a jar of roasted red peppers, and a can of tuna.

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Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 23/05/2026

Aaand sometimes ya gotta punt. Beans freeze great in their broth!

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Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 23/05/2026

Small bean soup with leftover barbacoa.

A bowl of bean soup with onions and cilantro

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Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 21/05/2026

Balcony roses bloomed last night. Woot!

A fuchsia rose blossom, with the city in the background.

A white rose blossom, lime green milkweed leaves, and beach grass.

A fuchsia rose blossom and the Chicago skyline.

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Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 19/05/2026

Rice pilaf, cooked in bean broth, with small beans.

A red ceramic serving bowl full of rice with Santa Maria beans and diced carrots

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Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 18/05/2026

There are many beautiful buildings on Kenmore Avenue in Edgewater, but the Church of Atonement’s rectory is my favorite. The brickwork is so lovely.

A rectilinear three story apartment building with subtle, but intricate, brickwork.

The entryway of the same building, offset to the south and looking slender, with more wonderful brick details.

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Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 15/05/2026

And to wrap up big bean week, minestrone-ish soup, using the remaining beans and broth

A pot of soup with tomatoes, other vegetables, a lot of dried herbs, and some very large beans

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Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 13/05/2026

Big bean salad with tinned octopus, vinaigrette (use the oil from the tin!) and a bit of chili crisp

A bowl of very large beans, with bits of octopus and chopped veg

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Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 13/05/2026

Tomato soup with big beans

Creamy tomato soup, including very large beans, in a bowl with a spoonful of chili crisp and a corn tortilla

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Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 10/05/2026

✅ Mother’s Day lunch prep

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Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 08/05/2026

Barely a recipe but tempted to write it up. The short version: Leftover beans, leftover carnitas, roasted tomatillos, a little water, fish sauce, and Mexican oregano. Damn tasty.

A bowl of carnitas and bean stew with tomatillos

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Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 05/05/2026

This feels like a prank.

Eggs stacked in a supermarket cooler, priced at 1.09 per dozen

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Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 03/05/2026

Buuut nobody’s gonna recognize the box.

A screen grab from the game Rocky’s Boots. There’s a little anthropomorphic raccoon and a set of logic gates. You know, stuff that kids like.

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Brian Boyer @brianboyer.net · 02/05/2026

Nice day for a beaver fest!

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