iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

Greetings from the Imperial Core Did you know that, similarly to viruses like HIV and Hepatitis C, the severity of the initial phase of COVID infection is not indicative of how serious the long-term consequences can be?

Jen, a European-American woman wearing a top with blue and black flowers against a white background, a blue head wrap, a 3M Aura 9210+ respirator adorned with a mask chain reading "Super Gay" between a rainbow array of star beads, mushroom earrings, slightly cat-eye glasses, and pins of a watermelon and a powr-style fist in the colors of the Palestinian flag, smiles for the camera from within the giant petri dish where she works.

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

Did you know the severity of the acute phase of COVID infection is not indicative of the long-term damage it can cause? Much like HIV, the damage is cumulative and happens over time, with symptoms sometimes showing up months after the initial infection.

Jen, a European-American woman in a light blue head wrap with a teal flower headband, wearing a 3M Aura 9210+ respirator with a mask chain spelling out "Y'all ableist" decorated in blue and yellow, and googly eye earrings, smiles from the place she has been commanded to appear, despite no effort having been taken to make the environment safe for people to gather in.

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 05/07/2025

Anyone else have some great summer reads? Forget the 4th. Why celebrate independence in a land where no one is free?

Jen, a European-American woman in slightly cat-eye glasses with a purple satin scarf taming her hair into submission, peers over a library copy of The End of Policing by Alex S Vitale. The quote on the cover reads: "The problem is not police training, police diversity, or police methods. The problem is the dramatic and unprecedented expansion and intensity of policing in the last forty years, a fundamental shift in the role of police in society. The problem is policing itself."

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

No matter when you stopped or why, it's always a good time to start masking again. Did you know that, in only 5 years, long-COVID has surpassed asthma to become the most prevalent cause of chronic illness in children?

Jen, a European-American woman wearing a layered green headwrap, watermelon earrings, a heart-shaped pin painted with the colors of the Palestinian flag, slightly cat-eye glasses, and a 3M Aura 9210+ respirator with a mask chain reading "Y'all ableist", smiles for the camera.

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

Just a periodic reminder that masking isn't "living in fear". It's living in reality. Y'all ableist. Props to @kitten.cowboy (insta) for the bangin' mask chain.

Alt text: Jen, a European-American woman wearing a 3M Aura 9210+ respirator decorated with a white and yellow mask chain with beads spelling out "Y'all ableist", slightly cat-eye glasses, blue mushroom earrings, a blue top, and a blue head wrap smiles from within a flourescent hell.

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

I finally realized the reason I was having a hard time concentrating on reading is that I was trying to read the WRONG BOOKS. Thanks so much to @simkern.bsky.social and the folks at @interlinkbooks.bsky.social .

(Alt text: Jen, a European-American woman in slightly cat-eye glasses and a rainbow hair wrap smiles as she peers over the top of an open copy of Genocide Bad by Sim Kern (they/them). She is totally digging the vibes of collective liberation.)

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

Your favorite soap kweers are at CT Gamer Con this weekend! Come smell our soaps!

On the left, Sage, the soap maker, smiling behind a 3M Aura 9210+ respirator adorned with a gaming themed mask chain from @kitten.cowboy in green. On the left, Jen, resident manual labor expert, also wearing a 9210+ respirator, adorned with a "super gay" mask chain with a rainbow of beads.

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

Come smell our soap! We're at the Boston Hassle-Free Market in the Cambridge Community Center today until 5 pm! 5 Callender St, Cambridge.

Two masked humans in glasses and Aura 9210+ respirators smile from within the gym where the Boston Hassle Market is being held.

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 01/03/2025

It's a great day to come check out our soaps, shampoo bars, candles, lotion bars, and coffee scrub! @theknittingfaun.bsky.social

A European-American woman with floppy ash blond hair, glasses, and a 3M Aura 9210+ respirator with dangly earrings poses in front of crates of soaps and body care products from the Knitting Faun!

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

I love that no one is in the office on Friday so I can wear a more comfortable mask and actually be able to think and work.

A European-American woman with greying blond hair and faintly cat-eye shaped glasses wears a 3M Aura 9210+ respirator, blue vulva earrings, and a patterned orange shirt with a watermelon pin on the collar.

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Reporting to the office to join everyone else in the slow genocide of the working class.

A European-American woman with light colored hair (and a growing streak of grey right in front) smiles from behind a 3M P100 respirator in an office setting. She is wearing faintly cat-eye shaped glasses and a shirt with a mottled pattern.

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

Masking is so cool! Come smell our soaps, shampoos, and candles! We're at the Warwick Mall until 1:30 pm and then headed to Farm Fresh for the Anti-Robot Club market from 4-8pm!

A European-American woman and her non-binary partner smile while wearing masks in a mall setting.

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

Masking is community care. Every day. In every setting.

Jen, a European-American woman wearing a black beanie with a watermelon patterned Palestine emblem, a keffiyeh decorated with black and red Tatreez, a black jacket, and a P100 respirator, smiles from behind her mask while riding the bus.

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Back to work. This is what our ruling class has deemed will be necessary for those of us who don't wish to be (further) disabled or dead because of COVID.

Me, a femme person with shaggy blond hair and glasses, wearing my 3M P100 mask. Not pictured, the HEPA air purifier running behind me.

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

Apparently nextdoor doesn't allow local authors to share what we write.

The title image from my essay, "Learning to have Faith in America Again," showing that the post is under review for not being a "local topic".

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

New essay on Substack searching for my faith in America open.substack.com/pub/expertle...

On a background of golden clouds against a blue sky, a topographical map of the Continental US. In the middle, a pair of pink bandaids crossed in an x with a pink heart in the middle.
Above, the text:
Learning to have Faith in America Again

Below, the text:
Learning to have faith in ourselves

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 30/01/2025

My essay on the American empathy tax is up! As always, I'll even read it to you, if that's your jam. open.substack.com/pub/expertle...

A background of a mountaintop shrouded in clouds with a rainbow emanating up from the top, the following text:
In the US Empire, There's a Tax on Empathy
And we pay it every day

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

open.substack.com/pub/expertle... I wrote a little essay about how the Alt-Right was weaponized against American families.

On a background of dark clouds, the text:

The Alt-Right is a Weapon
Created by US Empire

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

For your consideration, a new installment in my modern imperial horror series. Thank you for your interest! open.substack.com/pub/expertle...

On a lighter brown background, a clip art image of a blue, triangle shaped tent.

Above it, the title:
A child of America (Part 1)

Below or, the subtitle:
A modern imperial horror story

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

Our attention is the most valuable resource. It is literally the only thing they cannot take by force. They have to convince us to give it to them. It's time to take our attention and energy back for our communities. We keep us safe. Stay focused.

On a blue background with gold stars and embers, the following text:
Our attention is the most valuable resource.

It is literally the only thing they cannot take by force.

They have to convince us to give it to them.

It's time to take our attention and energy back for our communities. We keep us safe. Stay focused.

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

I don't care what our government does. All I know is that I am aligned with the cause of liberation for ALL. Free Palestine until it's backwards. Liberal friends, please check out of the media outrage circus and check in with local organizers. It is literally all hands on deck in 2025.#自由巴勒斯坦[话题]#

Jen, a fat, queer femme wearing glasses and a keffiyeh, flashing the V peace sign with a smile for the world.

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Updated my spooky little story from yesterday to make sure all the captions are actually visible on the screen. Please consider my short imperial horror. open.substack.com/pub/expertle...

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

Check out my new scary story on Substack, Instagram, or XHS! open.substack.com/pub/expertle...

On a black background, clip art of a generic cell phone. Above it, in white text, the title:
I think my device is haunted

Text on the screen of the phone:
A modern imperial horror story

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

Yes, I take it personally when you won't mask in public. Why? Because COVID has stolen part of my life from me. I can't afford to get sick again, which also means I can't afford to physically be in spaces that aren't mitigating COVID risks.

On a pink-people gradient background with people, bold text:

Yes, I take it personally when you won't mask in public.

Why?

Because COVID has stolen part of my life from me. I can't afford to get sick again, which also means I can't afford to physically be in spaces that aren't mitigating COVID risks.

So yeah. I'm off to create community for us. We deserve to have friends who care whether we are healthy and alive. We deserve to have community that protects the well-being of the people comprising it. Everyone deserves this basic respect for their continued alive-ness.

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

New essay up on Substack! Check out the link in my stories for the full essay with sources. #freeusall #handknit #makedoandmend #usfood #usfoodsystemrevolution Divesting from American industrial food systems is lifesaving work. open.substack.com/pub/expertle...

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

A condensed history that will tell you everything you need to know about exactly what is happening. Exactly what has always been happening.

A tweet from user @ecomarxi, displaying the name Tiberius. It has a blue verified checkmark, and the icon is an individual wearing a full face gas mask reading a book that (I think) had the title Everything Is Fucked. (It's partly cut off and difficult to see.)
This is the first of four slides.
This is the text of the tweet:

For centuries: *Palestinian Arabs and Jews live together peacefully, respecting each other's religions and cooperating; Jews account for 5-10% of the Palestinian population*

1914-1916: *Ottoman Empire collapses, Britain

and France carve up Middle East, Britain occupies Palestine with absolutely no right to do So*

1917: *Balfour Declaration signed, promising Zionists a home in Palestine, also with no right to do so*

1919: *Zionists begin immigrating to Palestine in massive numbers to make Palestine "as Jewish as England is English" (Weizmann) - looking to replace the existing population with this <10% minority group*

1922-1935: *Immigration takes Jewish

population in Palestine from 9% to almost 27%; Incoming Zionists rename towns and cities, ignoring existing practices and customs*

1936: *In an attempt to protect their homeland, Palestinian Arabs mount revolt against British and Zionist colonists; British violently suppress revolt, killing, injuring, imprisoning or deporting 10% of Palestinian males by 1939*

1944-1946: *Zionist colonists declare war on British colonists - eventually bombing King David Hotel in 1946 killing 91, including Jews, Arabs and Brits as they wanted to take over Palestine faster than Brits would allow*

1947: *Brits hand over Palestine to the UN; due to relentless immigration, 1/3 of population are now Jewish, but only 6% of land is Jewish-owned, however the UN partitions the land giving Zionists 55% of the land including key Arab- populated areas*

1948: *Nakba happens: Zionists ethnically cleanse Palestinian Arab homes and lands by force*

For the next 77 years: *ethnic cleansing, apartheid, massacres, rapes, oppression of the worst kind against Palestinians*

Every day, right up to Oct 6th, 2023, where a 19- year-old was shot dead in the West Bank by a Zionist settler: *Palestinians endure kidnapping/ rape/torture/murder/dehumanisation of the worst kind*

Oct 7th, 2023: *Hamas attacks Israel, taking hostages to trade for some of the thousands Israel holds*

Oct 8th - ongoing: *Israel unequivocally commits genocide on Palestinians, refusing to agree hostage release deal, creating the worst live- streamed collection of war crimes in the history of mankind*

Some drooling little man sitting behind a keyboard who can't even fathom the totality of suffering that exists within a single point on this list: hAmAs StArTeD THIS wAr

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 18/01/2025

New article up on Substack. I'll even read it to you, if that's your jam. open.substack.com/pub/expertle...

On an orange background with a Substack watermark, this text:
How US Empire Weaponizes Identity Politics
And why we have to stop letting them

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

We are all indigenous to the earth. We just need to start acting like it.

On a calming gradient background of blue-green-yellow, a frame of illustrated fall foliage around the words:

We are all indigenous to the earth.

We just need to start acting like it.

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 12/01/2025

Opt out This system only exists because we participate in it. Opt out. Let's put our energy into people.

On a red and gold gradient background, which made me think of how California is on fire because of capitalism, the following text:

Opt out

This system only exists because we participate in it. Opt out. Let's put our energy into people.

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 05/01/2025

People are frightened, and rightfully so. The world is a frightening place, and we know worse is likely on its way. We want to shut out the world, to hibernate and hide away. 1/6

Alt text: A white background of drippy blue and sky blue hearts styled to look like paint with a couple random splotches of green.

Centered on that a text box in a red-gold gradient with these words in Otomanopee One font:

The treatment for your despair is community.
The mandate of community is collective action.
Be the weeds of a better world growing in the cracks of empire.

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 24/12/2024

There are a lot of ways to make a revolution. open.substack.com/pub/bejenero...

A screen shot from an Instagram story of a Substack article titled: Figuring out how to See Humanity. Written by Jen. Pronouns she/her. Published today at 23:14

The first paragraph can be seen:
Watching everything happening around Luigi Mangione, I've realized the way to get away with murder in this country—it's to make sure those murders aren't meaningful. Or, even better, make sure the meaning is approved by the State.

An image of a meme can be seen:
A meme made from a screenshot of Helluva Boss Season 2, Episode 12 in which the characters are dressed in cozy Sinsmas attire. They are all in a group hug, genuine smiles, eyes closed. There's a sense of relief. From left to right: Octavia, Stolas, Blitzø, and Loona. The text reads: I am gonna humanize you so aggressively I begin to see you as the miraculous, flawed being you are and see my humanity reflected in your own.

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 23/12/2024

Hazel had to have an injection for her arthritis this morning, so now she gets an apology treat.

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 22/12/2024

Please be safe. Please build community spaces that are safe for ALL of our comrades.

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

And sometimes, even when we work with care and intention, we make mistakes. But fixing is the same process. Working with care. Working with intention.

Picture of an in progress embroidery project of a moth from Kiriki Press. The outlines are done. One of the wing spots is filled in with black. The body is currently a mess of loops all waiting to be trimmed and fluffed. A pair of embroidery scissors with blue handles rests at the top of the hoop.

Text above: And sometimes, even when we work with care and intention, we make mistakes.

Text below: But fixing is the same process. Working with care. Working with intention.

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

We have control over so little in this world, but if I take my time and work with intention, I can control exactly where this and that stitch go. And we can make beautiful things with time and intention. And this is exactly how we must repair the world—with time, with intention.

A piece of white cloth imprinted with the pattern of a moth. It is an embroidery kit from Kiriki Press. It is just starting to be embroidered. The antennae are done, and the wings are outlined.

In text around the image:

We have control over so little in this world, but if I take my time and work with intention, I can control exactly where this and that stitch go.

And we can make beautiful things with time and intention.

And this is exactly how we must repair the world—with time, with intention.

And above all else
With. Each Other (in large font)

No stitch stands alone. Solidarity with humanity is the warp of our tapestry.

Woven together with the weft of every individual human life, precious and unique.

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 11/12/2024

One man "protected" subway riders from a hungry person who was being inconveniently loud in public by murdering him. One man stepped up for the working class to say that our lives have value, and we will no longer casually accept the violence of the wealthy.

A tweet reading "It's rare you get such a clear illustration of whose lives have value in America and whose don't."

Below that, an image of the New York Post Late City Final Page Six dated Tuesday, December 10th, 2024.

In the smaller column on the left, the smiling face of Luigi Mangione above the headline "Target: CEOs; Revealed: chilling manifesto of health insurance boss "killer""

On the right, the main article on the page shows a picture of Daniel Penny after his trail, shirt collar unbuttoned, and smiling after being acquitted of the public lynching of Jordan Neely on a NYC subway train. At the top: "Daniel Penny: NOT GUILTY". At the bottom: "Enough is enough: Jury rejects DA Bragg's indictment of a man who protected subway riders."

Context: Apparently a homeless man being loud on the subway is more of a threat to society than the people profiting off the suffering of the working class.

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Expert Level Bummer @expertlevelbummer.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

Seeing this desecration of the holiest day on our calendar, therapy isn't enough. Nothing less than a global revolution of the working class will do.

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