iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 05/10/2026

I can't remember which I saw first, Hexus in Ferngully, or the Nightmare in Little Nemo.

120 2

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 03/10/2026

Just got mousefluenced.....hello new latte mouse

Promotional photo of a Logitech Pebble Mouse 2 with a. Brown and white coffee like swirl pattern. Light beige background and a bit of a white keyboard in upper left corner

010 1

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 10/09/2026

Bonus for those who follow me for Jimbook instead of mathematics: a sketch from 2009 of a previous iteration of Jim as a physicist-cum-forensic ballistician whose special interest was solving the N-S equations, haha

digital sketch of a man sitting on his desk and writing equations on a whiteboard, surrounded by the paraphernalia of a forensic ballistician

000 0

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 29/08/2026

Our fave Imagination Library book so far has been Tad and Dad by Ezra Stein!

Cover for Tad and Dad, words and pictures by David Ezra Stein, featuring a cartoon watercolor of a big bemused frog's head surfacing about the water and a tiny joyous tadpole leaping over him

100 1

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 02/08/2026

beautiful luna moth visitor this morning!

Luna moth (green wings, black circles, fuzzy white body, cute little antennae) perched on window frame, viewed from beneath and to its right

Luna moth (green wings, black circles, fuzzy white body, cute little antennae) perched on window frame, viewed from beneath and to its left

030 3

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 16/07/2026

missing physical media today...need to do more old magazine studies

Water soluble graphite drawing of a hip, androgenous 80s model from an old Vogue magazine

020 2

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 15/07/2026

i do appreciate one of my old Trek mug designs popping up in my Facebook memories right after seeing the previews for the #MtG Star Trek set (so excited), but y'all I do not like seeing "17 years ago"

screenshot of facebook "memory" from 17 years ago of a design for a coffee mug featuring a cartoon doctor mccoy from star trek with a thumbs up and the text DOCTOR MCCOY'S OLD SOUTH ROAST above him and below him, "It's brewed, Jim!" In a yellow star to the right, it says "Now with 100% genuine Tennessee whiskey"

020 2

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 27/06/2026

that one particular scene made me miss my ancient (c. 2009) webcomic, November Shift

monochrome painted coming panel of three men looking concerned, one looking out the window, another looking down at him, and the other looking out the window and holding a camcorder trained on the window. the first man's speech bubble says "...oh."

all black background comic page with the dialogue text
"Houston, Mintaka 19."
"Roger. Go ahead, 19."
"Roger. We've got a...an unknown vessel here, and it's big, Houston. REALLY big. Red's streaming video to you now."

at the bottom of the page is a camcorder style frame showing a background of deep space with part of a large grey spaceship visible.

010 1

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 20/06/2026

And now he's putting squishy dumplings into a strainer spoon and looking for "yeast" to sprinkle on...

Toddler hand in blue sleeve reaching to put squishy dumplings toys in a strainer spoon with bamboo handle sitting on pale carpet

010 1

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 07/06/2026

Today's garden friend: A bumble flower beetle! (I think)

Closeup of a pepper plant leaf with a fuzzy, brown and grey mottled beetle resting on it

010 1

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 06/06/2026

Was transplanting pepper plants into my raised beds when out of nowhere, this little frog made a flying leap directly onto this stem! Hello friend! Please eat all the cucumber beetles!!!

A green frog on a pepper plant stem looking at the camera.

181 8

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 25/05/2026

it's giving "surgeon general's warning"

Two alternators side by side, one pristine and one blackened with oil and grime

031 3

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 17/05/2026

The trumpet in question. Apparently the seller's son played it in band class in middle school. In 2020. During remote learning. Needless to say, the lad plays guitar now.

Picture of a closed black Yamaha trombone case sitting on a wooden floor against the end cap of a kitchen island painted white with a brown wicker basket on the shelf.

000 0

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 11/05/2026

I've been scrobbling over at last.fm for 21 years now (since late 2005). Some chunks of listening history aren't captured, of course (anything I listened to via YouTube video, and I never did upload my last iPod chunk...) but it's pretty insane being able to see this kind of data!

bar plot of last.fm scrobbles per year from 2005 to 2026. The heights of the bars are fairly variable, some years with less than 5000 scrobbles and some with 27000+

130 3

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 10/05/2026

husband did a remarkable job on my Mother's Day card of capturing what momhood sounds like at this particular and special time 🥹🫠🥰

Hand holding a red envelope, addressed by hand to "MAMA, MAAAAMAAAAAHHHH *DEVOLVES INTO SCRIBBLE*"
Below that is drawn a speech bubble containing "I want popsicle!! New food!", a thought bubble containing "I wonder if I should leave another empty glass on the counter" and then a speech bubble reading "::milk belch, howl:: ::clicking noise::"

160 6

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 08/05/2026

Oh there's no harm in it (and I assume they're pretty good when deep fried etc!) This comment is mostly a joke with myself given a particular passage in my book from someone very particular about his shrimp (:

“They look very…crunchy.” He tilted his head to peer up at Bash.
Bash’s arm swung like that of a crane to lightly cuff the back of Jim’s head. “You do not eat the shells!” he cried, his indignation textured with a laugh that wiggled out at the end, as if through a catflap. “How can someone so smart be so very dumb?”

020 2

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 05/05/2026

holy crap is it already the 60th anniversary year of Star Trek?! it feels like just yesterday I was working on this spread for a 50th anniversary zine! the zine sadly never came together but I still love this "what if the November Shift 7 were cadets at Starfleet Academy instead" piece!

digital drawing of seven students, standing sitting stretching and talking in a mix of red starfleet academy uniforms and grey jumpsuits. Two hold PADDs, one is describing a launch arc to another, and another something unclear but geometric. one is speaking klingon into a wrist communicator.

131 3

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 02/05/2026

Here he is (or one of his brethren) slurping the forbidden spaghetti three years ago (before I had a phone with 5x zoom lol) #nature

010 1

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 02/05/2026

Our friend the red-shouldered hawk (I think?) is back! He likes to hang out along our fence and snipe the forbidden spaghetti from the woods.

Red shouldered hawk sitting on a wooden and wire fence against a wooded background, looking right at the camera

Red shouldered hawk sitting on a wooden and wire fence against a wooded background, turned to the viewer's left

160 6

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 01/05/2026

so i guess we know what school Jim and Bash would be in at Hexhaven-- #mtg #jimbook

screenshot of a green campus bridge with the forest and plains magic mana symbols and the text VIGORBLOOM: School of Invasive Healing

010 1

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 22/04/2026

Jim and Bash dancing in the smithy - Rapturous Moment #mtg #jimbook (12/?)

blue red magic the gathering card called Rapturous Moment, depicting two people dancing in a giant statue's hand with fireworks in the background. flavour text reads "Fireworks of all kinds fill the skies of Summitfest."

030 3

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 22/04/2026

Jim lost in thought at the diner - Daydream #mtg #jimbook (11/?)

white magic the gathering card called Daydream, showing a red headed woman with glasses sitting at a desk and staring off into space pensively.

130 3

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 22/04/2026

Bash dancing the waters in Beherrschung - Orysa, Tide Choreographer #mtg #jimbook (10/?)

blue magic the gathering card called Orysa Tide Choreographer. depicts a purple woman with a hoop choreographing water formed creatures (turtles) to jump through a hoop. Flavour text reads "Orysa and her troupe of turtles are a staple of Summitfest's daytime celebrations"

010 1

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 22/04/2026

Six performing Sothy's dare - Impractical Joke #mtg #jimbook (9/?)

red magic the gathering card called Impractical Joke. Depicts a red spirit slicing at a student stealing an urn from which the spirit wispily emerges. flavour text says "Strixhaven students have asense of humour. The spirits of the Blood Age do not."

220 2

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 22/04/2026

Certain people deciding to leverage Jim's work with or without him - Borrowed Knowledge #mtg #jimbook (8/?)

white red magic the gathering card called borrowed knowledge, depicting a student in an auditorium magically cheating off the student in front of them. flavour text reads "Professor, we study history and my neighbour wrote his answer first. I was learning from the past."

120 2

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 22/04/2026

Jim goes overboard with his Shape Pillar project - Applied Geometry #mtg #jimbook (7/?)

$green blue magic the gathering card called Applied Geometry depicting a student casting greenblue fractally swirling magic with an outstretched hand. Flavour text reads "I know the prompt was to replicate a scurrid, but I took some creative liberties with my version."$

120 2

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 22/04/2026

The boys fleeing the grocery - Shopkeeper's Bane #mtg #jimbook (6/?)

green magic the gathering card called shopkeeper's band featuring a pest with sharp teeth fleeing from a shop.

120 2

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 22/04/2026

Jim in the chem lab mixing up lube - Last Gasp #mtg #jimbook (5/?)

black magic the gathering card called Last Gasp featuring a bespectacled character pouring something gaseous into a purple glowing cauldron and coughing into their hand. the flavour text reads "A reminder, students, that those of you unlucky enough to have lungs must mask up for this assignment." - Moseo, dean of the vein

220 2

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 22/04/2026

Bash bringing Jim to the greenhouse to introduce his "research" - Arnyn, Deathbloom Botanist #mtg #jimbook (4/?)

black magic the gathering card called Arnyn, Deathbloom Botanist. Depicts a gothy femme character holding a creepy plant and touching another one, amidst a lot of what look like pitcher plants. Flavour text reads "My lovelies need meat, just like any other carnivore."

120 2

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 22/04/2026

Tanner throwing up the barrier on the train - Mana Sculpt #mtg #jimbook (3/?)

Blue magic the gathering card featuring a knight or paladin casting a translucent umbrella shaped barrier to protect against a fiery blast. Flavour text at bottom reads "The harder a foe strikes, the stronger a Dragonsguard's defenses become."

130 3

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 22/04/2026

Six practicing his investor pitch in his room ad nauseum - Rehearsed Debater #mtg #jimbook (2/?)

magic the gathering card called rehearsed debater, white mana tyle, featuring a purple skinned elf with an undercut speaking with two floating mirrors reflecting his face. The flavour text at the bottom says "Of course I talk to myself. Who wouldn't want to hear me speak?"

Creature type is Djinn Bard, cost is 2 mana.

130 3

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 21/04/2026

Sometime overnight or this morning, a mama bunny had some baby bunnies in my raised bed planter!

The brown nose of a baby bunny emerging from a grey/white bunny fur nest amidst mulch

150 5

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 21/04/2026

and yes it was exactly as good in our poke bowls as it looked 🤤

two ceramic bowls aligned in slanted perspective on a black counter, with salmon, lotus root, and avocado visible in each. a pair of chopsticks on a chopstick rest sits in front of each bowl. there is a set of nested goose ceramic measuring cups behind the bowls, observing threateningly. don't take your eyes off them. don't blink.

100 1

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 21/04/2026

One of the prouder moments of my life has to be cooking a braised lotus root so good that my husband had a "Ratatouille moment" back to his childhood. 🥹

A closeup photo of lotus root slices in a glossy brown sauce in a copper saute pan

280 8

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 30/03/2026

This will always be my fave image representing this

Chart of skill ar making art and skill at seeing it evaluating art on axes of time and ability....they weave back and forth which is one is flat and which is one is increasing such that they alternate which is higher, but both are monotonically increasing. The phases are perceived skill when your art ability outpaces your ability to see, and "art low" when it's the other way around.

120 2

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 04/02/2026

Happened upon some of my old convention programs and let me just say that everything and everyone felt a lot more fun and approachable 22-23 years ago than they do now! I miss groups of nerds meeting and nerd rotting together. RIP Trinoc*coN and free artist's alley tables at Animazement....

Programs for Animazement 2003 and Trinoc*coN 2004 (July 23-25 Durham NC) with a greyscale dragon depicted on a galactic background.

020 2

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 02/02/2026

Treated myself to a fun animation of Jim in the smithy -- by the amazing @vetaprats! #jimbook #writingcommunity

010 1

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 30/01/2026

Character sketches for my retired paladin for the next season of our play-by-post D&D game!

Two sketches on a grey background of a stern, older purple-skinned elf man (dungeons and dragons character) with grey hair. It's shaved on the sides and pulled back on top into a series of hanging braids on the back of his head. He wears three turquoise pin-like earrings through the outer shell of his ear and the lobe. His ear has a nick in it.

051 5

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 25/01/2026

14: Bubble Bobble ft. Rainbow Islands (yes I'm cheating by combining these into one game but they were one collection...) My brother and I played the crap out of the BB games. Something about the gems and the letter bubbles in particular just scratched a platforming itch for me.

Game screenshot of Rainbow Islands featuring a redheaded sprinte jumping on a series of rainbows to reach new grassy platforms against a blue sky with oval clouds.

000 0

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 25/01/2026

13: MacMoria (or just Moria, but I knew it as the former). A fun little roguelike that tickled the budding young D&D player in me as I wiped out C-shaped gelatinous cubes... You can play it online here! umoria.org/play/

Old Mac window showign the game Moria, a dungeon roguelike depicted in ASCII characters

120 2

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 25/01/2026

11: Emperor: Battle for Dune. I was big into RTS games at the turn of the century (lol) and while Emperor felt like Red Alert 2, I loved RA2 so I had no complaints haha. The sandworm mechanic was super fun & I even ran an Emperor themed guild on Neopets (circa when I met @quietsnooze.bsky.social )

A screenshot of the game Emperor: Battle for Dune showing buildings and units and a GUI for building new units. Backdrop is a red sandy planet.

110 1

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 25/01/2026

10: Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller. Speaking of point and clicks, this is a modern one set in Boston that I really enjoyed - it's got a fun postcognition mechanic and does a good job with the Boston setting!

Game screenshot of Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller. A redhaired woman hides behind a pew in a darkened church.

100 1

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 25/01/2026

#9 Lighthouse: The Dark Being. We were really into point and click games as a family and this is the other game that sent me into engineering (a third being the Incredible Machine, probably). Fun fact: the Jimseries contains some homages to Lighthouse!

Game screenshot of Lighthouse the Dark Being looking out of the keyhole shaped window of a round, tan walled workshop at a mechanical bird man flying in for a landing. A desk is on the left, shelves on the right, and a number of objects are shown in the inventory in greyscale at the bottom of the screen (a bag, a bulb, a spring, some strange mechanical components)

100 1

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 25/01/2026

#8 Gizmos and Gadgets. This game low-key contributed to my studying mechanical engineering. (I feel like the 90s were a golden age of educational computer games, before graphics got too flashy and the internet got involved and microtransactions and touchscreens proliferated...)

A gears puzzle in the game Gizmos and Gadgets. Text reads "push all of the red buttons at the same time by turning the crank."

a blueprint of a Helicopter that can be built in the game Gizmos and Gadgets. Cursor is hovering over the transmission, which is labeled as such.

130 3

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 22/01/2026

#7: Dirt Bike. So many fond memories of playing with the cousins and trying not to wipe out on insane courses. www.macintoshrepository.org/4166-dirt-bike

Two dirt bikes flying off of jumps on a bumpy black silhouette side scroller course in Dirt Bike

100 1

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 22/01/2026

#6: LOOM. This holds the honours for the first game I ever played and finished completely on my own. I had the great privilege of going to a talk while in grad school at MIT by Brian Moriarty who led its creation. I only wish I'd played it with a proper sound system back in the day...

Image of an old video game, Loom, featuring the grey cloaked protagonist Bobbin holding up a staff in front of a massive loom filled with multicoloured thread. at the bottom of the page is an image of the staff with the notes c d e f g a b C shown along it, and to the right of the staff is a white egg labeled "egg."

230 3

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 22/01/2026

#5: Glider Pro. Countless hours spent playing and making houses (one was a Hitchhiker's Guide homage). I also adored the Little Nemo movie at the time & loved the Slumberland refs in the base house. The title music is one of my most nostalgic songs. Play it here: classicreload.com/macex-glider...

Title screen for Glider Pro, shown with an old Mac menu at the top (Game and Options and Apple menu). Background is sun setting with a black horizon, and paper airplanes flying towards the viewer, who is behind a woman wearing a nightgown and a flower crown holding an analog clock on a chain, who is half tucked into a bed with a heart in the headboard.

110 1

Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.academics.blue · 22/01/2026

#4: Logical Journey of the Zoombinis. It's lived rent-free in my brain for thirty years. The iconic music. The strange pizza trolls. The glittering gems and oppressive atmosphere. The constant danger. If you die as a Zoombini, you die in the real world... There you go, you got it!

Image from Logical Journey of the Zoombinis inside the mine puzzle. A big four sided green gem hangs in the center, and Zoombinis are on the left side of the screen waiting to be set on a minecart behind a flat green gem. On the other side are Green reflections waiting to be set on the green flat gem on the right side, matched to the real Zoombinis.

230 3