iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

Hiking the Levada, the water system of Madeira Island, high up in its mountain source. Everywhere, clusters of white wild garlic.

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

On a Monday, let’s make it a long weekend with the mighty sweet Peggy Sage!

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

Today, a miracle of social media & literature. 8 years ago in Prague, we met a smart Shanghai HS grad, seeking Kafka sites. We were tourists together & then virtual friends. Today at lunch— in Funchal, Madeira— she & her Parisian bf, at the next table. They’re into Murakami. Gelato for everyone!

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

Okay, Meta— according to the LibGen search site in @theatlantic.com, you’ve mined my stuff thoroughly for your AI confabulations: whole books (one of them twice?), plus individual stories, essays, book reviews, more. Phew. Good luck to anyone trying to somehow yank that into coherent shape.

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

“The real wound ran deeper: the quiet, creeping sense that something larger — the very idea of the university as a place of free inquiry — was slipping away.” @meghanor.bsky.social in the NYTimes, extended & essential reading on higher education under DT: www.nytimes.com/2025/03/16/o...

nytimes.com

Opinion | The End of the University as We Know It

The Trump administration’s attacks on universities will lead to the permanent diminishment of vital American institutions.

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 16/03/2025

“He was wounded three times while leading the defense of a base.” For this the man won a Medal of Honor— but the current administration has scrubbed his website & labeled him a “DEI medal.” Shame on their shriveled racist souls. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

theguardian.com

Black Medal of Honor recipient removed from US Department of Defense website

Page honoring Charles C Rogers for his Vietnam war service is now defunct with letters ‘DEI’ added to website address

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

For your Saturday: Peggy Sage, happy & jumping!

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

One of the greatest research institutions in the world— also my alma mater— gutted by a pinheaded disgrace who claimed it “was run by ‘radical left lunatics’ and that is was riddled with ‘tremendous fraud.’” www.nytimes.com/2025/03/13/u...

nytimes.com

Federal Cuts Prompt Johns Hopkins to Cut More Than 2,000 Workers

The university, a leader in scientific research, has been hard hit by the Trump administration’s cuts, which will slash at least $800 million from its budget.

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

Throwback, thinking of my friends attending AWP in LA next week-- I won't be joining you, alas-- but here’s AWP-LA in 2016, with great folks like @readandbreathe.bsky.social & more— plus one of my books.

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

The uplift of a long walk around the neighborhood.

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

“…effectively gutting the agency that manages federal loans for college, tracks student achievement and enforces civil rights laws in schools.” This administration is destroying what’s best about America. Call, write, resist. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/11/u...

nytimes.com

Education Department Fires 1,300 Workers, Gutting Its Staff

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

Over in Naples, they have the last painting of #Caravaggio, "Martyrdom off St. Orsola." A haunting piece, never quite finished, currently on loan in Rome-- & preparing the painting for the move, experts discovered three faces below the surface, early drafts. Great works remain endless.

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

Oh, man! The weekend got by me without sharing som sweet Peggy Sage!

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

For #InternationalWomen’sDay, I could’ve selected a good 50 worth celebrating— but here’s just five.

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

“Clearcutting national forests will pollute the air & water, endanger wildlife & exacerbate climate change. ‘This will unleash the chainsaws & bulldozers on our beautiful, irreplaceable federal forests.’” The latest destructive idiocy out of our orange toxin. Resist! www.cnn.com/2025/03/06/c...

cnn.com

Trump’s Canadian tariffs include lumber. He is pushing to cut down American trees instead. | CNN

President Donald Trump is promising to unleash the US timber industry by allowing companies to raze swaths of federally protected national forests.

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

Throwback-back-back: the bookmark from my hometown library. The term “treasured keepsake” doesn’t even come close…

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

"In the hands of an author so gifted..., a prism reveals both a magnificent portrait of Africa and a fresh, particolored celebration of storytelling." Now out: The Brooklyn Rail, March, w/ my work on Rèmy Ngamije. He’s brilliant— & my thanks to editor Joe Salvatore. brooklynrail.org/2025/03/book...

brooklynrail.org

Rémy Ngamije’s Only Stars Know the Meaning of Space: A Literary Mixtape | The Brooklyn Rail

The family in Only Stars Know tends to be accepting of its new home, if in no way blind to its downsides. Play-spaces are measly and any decent school demands a wheelbarrow of tuition, yet in nearly e...

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

Some sort of talk or something, tonight? Sorry. Busy.

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

In just four weeks, our orange virus of a “chief executive” has taken the world’s most powerful economy & driven it off a cliff.

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

#Oscars in Archeology: over in Pompeii, they’ve unearthed an entire new series of frescoes.

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

For your Saturday night— it’s a party with sweet Peggy Sage! (Note happy grandpa, upper R.)

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

This seems in the spirit of No-Buy Friday. I hop it’ll do some good— in particular for brave Ukraine.

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

When it comes to good government, Idiot Elon has no idea.

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

Nothing like a good bookshelf ladder:

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

You remember the big conservative-GOP whoop-de-doo in DC last week? CPAC? I’ve got a friend in the city, longtime resident, awfully smart & long out of the closet, & he offers special insight into the hypocrisy:

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

Sunday brings us some sweet Peggy Sage, beautiful no matter how drippy she is.

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

God, does it feel good to see a box score again— especially with a Sox rally in the 9th.

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

Oh sure, we’re all going to get a check. “But the math that could back up those checks is marred with accounting errors, incorrect assumptions, outdated data & other mistakes.” The creep’s appointees, besides being racist & venal, are woefully incompetent. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/21/u...

nytimes.com

DOGE’s Only Public Ledger Is Riddled With Mistakes

The figures from Elon Musk’s team of outsiders represent billions in government cuts. They are also full of accounting errors, outdated data and other miscalculations.

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

Throwback, 2015: a great night @prairielights.com with the gifted @bonniejo.bsky.social — fellow despiser of Felon47— & a special friend— who would’ve swiftly consigned that fraud to the abyss.

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

This gets most of it, at least.

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

Polar vortex outside-- Iowa's notorious "Alberta clipper"-- & my wife & I are set up around the fireplace, with our computers. As the keyboards get going, it's a gentle indoor rainfall.

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

Travel day yesterday, two flights BOS—DSM, & the plane landed right side up each time. That’s it— that’s the post.

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 16/02/2025

Spending a weekend in Cambridge with my sweet old Mom, 98– but who she really wants to talk with is her namesake great-granddaughter, Margaret Sage!

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

Great to see how this country used to honor & value its libraries — in this case Cambridge Public. Also great to find my books inside.

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

A response from Senator Grassley, oblivious to the destruction done by Musk & DOGE, acknowledging only that he’s “keeping a close eye on developments.” I’ll be calling & writing more, but meanwhile, I’ll have to clear my head…

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

Throwback, 10 years: flogging my then-new Selected Criticism, Dzanc Books, at Printers Row, Chicago & AWP, Minneapolis. Great times. (I believe I've got a fresh selection now; anyone care for a loook?)

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

Our country’s great center for arts & culture has fallen into the filthy hands of a man who knows nothing about either. Tragic day. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/a...

nytimes.com

Trump Made Chair of Kennedy Center as Its President Is Fired

The president solidified his grip on the performing arts complex as the center’s longtime president, Deborah F. Rutter, was fired.

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

An excellent hack for the spineless Google. Enjoy & repeat.

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

Of course, I’m just a weary Boomer, but for me #KendrickLamar was the best part of the game. Of course I didn’t get it— & yet I did, I felt it. This morning I found some smart writing on the show, but I’ll just say it was #Dylan goes electric, Newport ‘65, all over again.

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

No Super Bowl to surpass sweet Peggy Sage!

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

Take 5 minutes for BENT, 1997, with #MickJagger at his swish & worldly best, as the Nazis’ “Night of the Long Knives” came down. “So, queers out, queers dead.” That’s how quick it can happen. Resist, resist. youtu.be/odlI-vouv2g?...

youtu.be

Bent (1997)- Night of the Long Knives

YouTube video by Olivia Namkoong

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

Throwback, 7 years, going on 8: over in Napoli, a rare & wonderful visit & talk with the Words in Journey organization, with the gifted mover & shaker Angelo Cannavacciuolo.

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

“You need to feel in your bones the fact that… powerful people want to destroy the American library system so you can be ready to work at least as hard… to save it. Whatever the coming fight will be, it will be easier with libraries.” Josh Cook, @literaryhub.bsky.social. lithub.com/what-publish...

lithub.com

What Publishing Can Do About Trump: Preserve the Independence of Our Bookstores and Libraries

Too many people in the book world have been acting as though nothing has changed since the election. They are launching a conservative imprint (as if we don’t already have enough of them) hea…

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

For Sunday, let’s set aside everything else for Peggy Sage, starting with her celebration of the avocado.

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

This certainly clarifies things.

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

Throwback: my teenage copy of #JamesBaldwin, while in search of any comfort on a day when our Felon-in-Chief blames all minorities— in particular African-Americans— for the DC plane crash.

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John Domini @giovannid.bsky.social · 30/01/2025

“All my life I’ve hated myself for being a Palestinian, …a beaten people, unable to avenge ourselves on the sons of bitches who robbed us & destroyed our lives." THE SAND-CATCHER, Omar Khalifah, Coffee House P. Rich & fascinating, & my review is up at Brooklyn Rail. brooklynrail.org/2025/02/book...

brooklynrail.org

Omar Khalifah’s Sand-Catcher | The Brooklyn Rail

Sand-Catcher is a novel of the Palestinian diaspora, yet it dwells remarkably little⎯ fascinatingly little⎯on the grief and loss. On rare occasions, someone mentions a refugee camp, and just once, ove...

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