iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jake Wildstrom @dwildstr.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Stick a fork in this trend; it's done. I predict that in about three years legacy newspaper cartoons will discover the "6-7" trend and incorporate it into strips to the befuddlement of their three remaining readers (@jfruh.bsky.social and two other poor souls, presumably).

A freezer case at Aldi full of bags of Soules Kitchen "67" chicken nuggets. The front of the bag features a cartoon of a happy tow-headed moppet and an image of hands holding six- and seven-shaped chicken nuggets, with arrows suggesting the juggling motion associated with the whole "6-7" thing.

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Jake Wildstrom @dwildstr.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Over four months later, the university having scheduled classes into NS212C, facilities finally looked into the fallen projector and figured, "huh, maybe we should do something about this before the class scheduled next Monday in this room."

View through a classroom door of two workers, one on a stepladder and the other seated. There's still a hole in the ceiling like there was four months ago.

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Jake Wildstrom @dwildstr.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

But there's one I keep stumbling upon which I _think_ is New English Library, but it's definitely trying very hard not to be fun. Murder is a big deal, y'all, and the NEL wants you to know these are Serious Books for Serious People.

A book cover for _Have His Carcase_, in blue-grey and black, with narrow, sans-serif white lettering. The upper half of the cover is dominated by a black-and-white photograph of a woman in a hat reading a newspaper.

A book cover for _Murder Must Advertise_, in grey and black, with narrow, sans-serif white lettering. The upper half of the cover is dominated by a black-and-white photograph of a woman at a typewriter

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Jake Wildstrom @dwildstr.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Harper's design seems very American, and very mid-90s. I feel like if I had a brain injury where I couldn't decipher text and I saw these, I'd reckon the author was Carl Hiaasen or Elmore Leonard or something: still crime stories and funny, but a bit more gonzo and a bit less British.

Harper Paperback trade dress for _Have His Carcase_, featuring thin, abstract letters in bold colors, with Dorothy Sayers's name in red with a blue minimalist drop shadow. Central on the cover is a somewhat impressionistic picture of a woman in a hat on the seashore near a bleding corpse.

Harper Paperback trade dress for _Murder Must Advertise_, featuring thin, abstract letters in bold colors, with Dorothy Sayers's name in blue with a grey minimalist drop shadow. Central on the cover is a somewhat impressionistic picture of a bleding corpse at the foot of a wriught-iron spiral staircase.

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Jake Wildstrom @dwildstr.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Hachette also keeps things lighthearted, except that they include a little spray of blood to remind you these are murder stories. They have a very consistent style. Notice how they _also_ have a monocle, albeit a stylized one.

Hachette book cover for _Have His Carcase_. Text is in sans-serif outlined capitals, and green is the dominant color, with white and gray borders. A stylized monocle sits at the upper center, and a straight-razor with blood spattered around the blade sits in the center.

Hachette book cover for _Murder Must Advertise_. Text is in sans-serif outlined capitals, except for "must", which is in cursive, and grey is the dominant color, with white and yellow borders. A stylized monocle sits at the upper center, and a typewriter with blood spattered above it sits in the center.

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Jake Wildstrom @dwildstr.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Open Road Media definitely leans towards "silly and fun", but their trade dress is weirdly inconsistent, with a complete changeover in style from _Have His Carcase_ to _Murder Must Advertise. Both are basically lighthearted though; the "empty suit" design particularly seems to fit the style.

Open Road Media book cover for _Unnatural Death_, featuring the upper torso of an empty black pinstripe suit over a grey vest, white shirt, and red tie. A monocle hangs suspended where the wearer's right eye would be.

Open Road Media book cover for _Have His Carcase_, featuring the upper torso of an empty oatmeal-colored sport coat over an off-white vest, white shirt, and black-and-white striped tie. A monocle hangs suspended where the wearer's right eye would be.

Open Road Media book cover for _Murder Must Advertise_, featuring chunky text in blue and yellow, a silhouette image of a wrought-iron spiral staircase. Blue, black, yellow, and white polka dots are scattered on the art.

Open Road Media book cover for _Gaudy Night_, featuring chunky text in purple and black, with a fountain pen replacing the letter "I" in "night", and a silhouette image of a human figure. Purple, yellow, and white polka dots are scattered on the art.

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Jake Wildstrom @dwildstr.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

(Reposting because image upload failed the first time for some reason) Today I was nearly brained by falling hardware while teaching! OK, I exaggerate. I was a good 10 feet away, but on any given day, I quite reasonably could have been near or under the projector screen as it fell.

A photograph of a classroom at the University of Louisville, specifically NS 212C, with a thumb drive and key ring sitting on a desk in the near foreground. In the background the closest ceiling panels to the white board have fallen in, with conduits and support structures hanging loosely on the ceiling. An automated projector screen , a speaker, and miscellaneous mounting hardware are strewn under and in front of the fallen ceiling.

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Jake Wildstrom @dwildstr.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

The College of Arts and Sciences gave mugs away to us with Sharpies to complete them at some event a few years back. I still have mine. Maybe there's a reason I don't get invited to A&S social functions anymore.

Photograph of a white mug, with the text "I think therefore I" followed by a blank space with an underline. All text is in black except the word "think" in red. In the provided blank space, I have written, in black Sharpie, the completion "am thad I don't know how to thwim."

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Jake Wildstrom @dwildstr.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

Our memorial candle for Alex was still burning this morning, despite snow and wind. There are always lights in the darkness, and eventually dawn.

A view from the porch of a house towards a snowy street in early dawn. The snow is undisturbed and there is a car parked on the far side of the street. In the foreground, at the middle edge of the top step to the porch, a candle is burning inside an octagonal glass enclosure.

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Jake Wildstrom @dwildstr.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

Kokopelli (orange), Wisakedjak (black) and Baba Yaga (torbie) are old friends and cuddly. Hecate (tabby) is a newcomer and not yet integrated into the cuddle pile but she keeps them company.

Four cats viewed from above, over the edge of a stairway. All four are slightly curled up and apparently sleeping. The three leftmost of the cats are facing to the left and snuggled close together; from left to right they are a very large orange cat, a moderately large black cat, and a small tortoiseshell tabby. The rightmost cat is slightly separated from the other three, facing rightwards, and is a small tabby.

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Jake Wildstrom @dwildstr.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

Had a wonderful time at Bridges #MathArt! It's great every year, but it was especially exciting to be exhibiting.

My art project "pug862", a cross-stitch design worked on a Möbius band, here seen among other pieces at the Bridges 2025 art show.

Me on the runway at the Bridges 2025 Fashion Show, wearing my pentomino cape.

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Jake Wildstrom @dwildstr.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

Riding with ICE today. No, the good kind of ICE.

Display on a monitor mounted to the ceiling of an Intercity Express train. The monitor reports the train number (ICE 942), the carriage number (23) and the current time (10:00) across the top. The rest of the display shows the train's position on a map, with a route from Berlin to Düsseldorf.

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Jake Wildstrom @dwildstr.bsky.social · 21/06/2025

I saw this a few days ago near my workplace and it lifted my heart. To those who are hurting: stay resilient, and stay beautiful.

A shallow off-white set of stair steps made of speckled conglomerate in front of a red brick wall. A single dark pink petunia is growing out of the crack between the steps and the wall.

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Jake Wildstrom @dwildstr.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

I am both happy to see Ollie North reduced to shilling windows and siding, and dismayed that windows-and-siding installers see an endorsement by Ollie North to have any value whatsoever.

An advertisement for Window World, featuring a photograph of unconvicted felon Oliver North and the quote "Window World supports our great American veterans, and especially so during their Veteran's event!" -Lt. Col. Oliver North.

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Jake Wildstrom @dwildstr.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

The cat in question! Hecate loves her bowl! She also loves lying on the glassware cabinet. As you can see, she is not 100% integrated into the other cats' snuggle-time but she is getting along with them pretty well.

A beautiful small grey tabby cat, sitting in a bowl and staring intently at the camera.

Four cats all curled up on pillows on top of a glassware cabinet. On the left three-quarters of the cabinet, all curled up facing to the left and nestled with each other, a large orange cat, a medium-large black cat, and a small torbie. On the right, somewhat apart and curled up facing right, a tiny grey tabby.

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Jake Wildstrom @dwildstr.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

I disagreed with @rhodithas.bsky.social about ESC25 rankings, so I'm putting up my own. More detailed comments are at bishopsreviews.wordpress.com/2025/04/09/e... .

My Eurovision rankings: Malta, Sweden, Finland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Latvia, Czechia, Ireland, Norway, Albania, Estonia, Croatia, Germany, Armenia, Spain, Azerbaijan, Austria, Belgium, San Marino, Iceland, UK, Cyprus, Ukraine, Italy, Montenegro, Georgia, Switzerland, Lithuania, Slovenia, Australia, Denmark, Greece, Israel, France, Serbia, Portugal, Poland.

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Jake Wildstrom @dwildstr.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

"When the government violates the rights of the people, insurrection is for the people and for each portion of the people the most sacred of rights and the most indispensable of duties." Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (1793)

A photograph of a monument in Reykjavik, Iceland, consisting of a large gray boulder with a vertical crack through it. A small black cone is wedged into the fissure at the top. A metal plaque on the right side of the boulder has the following text:

SVARTA KEILAN, MINNISVARÐI UM BORGARALEGA ÓHLYÐNI
"Þegar rikisstjórn brýtur á retti þegnanna, þá er uppreisn helgasti réttur og ófrávíkjanlegasta skylda þegnanna sem og hvers hluta þjoðarinnar."
Yfirlýsing um réttindi manna og borgara (1793)

THE BLACK CONE, MONUMENT TO CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
"When the government violates the rights of the people, insurrection is for the people and for each portion of the people the most sacred of rights and the most indispensable of duties."
Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (1793)

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Jake Wildstrom @dwildstr.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

I was nattering earlier about how the Eurasian regions using different fundamental etymologies for describing the reddish-yellow sweet citrus fruit are nearly contiguous, and here's the map for that. Armenia is a real outlier, using a "naranj" variant near the "Chinese-apple"/"Portugal" border.

A map of Eurasia and Northern Africa, using four colors to depict zones in which the word for orange is akin to "naranj" (most of Western and Southern Europe), "Chinese apple" (Scandinavia and northern Slavic nations), "Portugal" (southeastern Europe and northern Africa), or something else entirely (southeeastern Asia, including China).

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