iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

I found an old school version of Macbeth and gave it a go. It’s full of classroom activities for (probably) high school students, which were always amusing and often helpful. Usual text with more fun. Followed it with Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth with the book by my side. #booksky 💙📚

A school edition of Macbeth that’s probably from the 90s.

Inside the book, exercises and discussion ideas are on the left page and the play’s text is on the right.

Kathryn Hunter played the witches to creepy perfection.

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

About to take a trip around the world thanks to an afternoon’s browse at a Denver Public Library. 📚💙 #booksky

Five books from an afternoon’s browse at the library:
Three Novels by Yuri Herrera (Mexico)
Madonna in a Fur Coat by Sabahattin Ali (Turkey)
The Island by Antigone Kefala (Romania, refugee camps in Greece, New Zealand, Australia)
The Rainbow by Yasunari Kawabata (Japan)
So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan (Ireland)

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

I immersed myself in the Pride and Prejudice world for a bit. This annotated edition is fantastic: if you like history, certainly, but it explains cultural/social/class nuances that reveal so much of Austen’s depth. Left page is text, right page is annotations and illustrations. Excellent. 💙📚🖋️

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

Library appreciation post! Probably half this pile is from the Staff Recommendations shelf. I never leave without checking as they always have something on my list, or by an author I love, or just something irresistible (hence the large pile). So I gotta focus: book, blanket, cat. 💙📚🖋️

A stack of a dozen library books on a table being snuggled by a tuxedo cat named Poppy.

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

August reads. Standouts: First Virginia Woolf! First modernist novel. I want a whole class on this. Foster and The Summer Book: beautiful adult/child relationships. I want to read everything the above ever wrote. (Well not all the Moomins.) Three graphic novels, all heavy hitters… 🧵 💙📚🖋️

- This is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar 🇨🇦
- The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters 🇨🇦
- The Summer Book by Tove Jansson 🇫🇮
- Foster by Claire Keegan 🇮🇪
- Ducks by Kate Beaton 🇨🇦
- Orlando by Virginia Woolf
- Fun House by Alison Bechdel (of the Bechdel test! Graphic novel)
- The Apartment in Bab El-Louk by Donia Maher with illustrators Ganzeer and Ahmed Nady 🇪🇬
- Evenings & Weekends by Oisin McKenna 🇮🇪

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

I like Stanley Tucci. I like the way he tells a story. I like his voice. I like how he writes scrips for his memories. He mentions his 1996 movie Big Night, so I watched it. Ebert said “It is about food not as a subject but as a language…by which one can speak to gods”. Good stuff. 💙📚🖋️ #booksky

The cover for the audiobook Taste by Stanley Tucci. A great one to listen to, although it contains recipes that I want to make and the book version probably has pictures. All well; worth it for how the man reads a story.

A scene from Big Night, starring Stanley Tucci and Tony Shaloub (so good), with Marc Anthony on the right in a supporting role. They’re working away in a small restaurant kitchen full of food. The last five minutes of this movie are PERFECT (not pictured).

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

Creepy and brilliant: a story of obsession and “immortality” that’s maybe just desire stuck on repeat. There were a couple of chilling moments that felt very Stephen King (hell, the whole premise does). And it’s only 100 pages. #booksky 💙📚🖋️

The cover of The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares lies in a wooden table. On the cover is a photo of the silent film star Louise Brooks.

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

Well damn. I listened to this book and I’m sorry I did; my brain just isn’t set up to listen this well. Actually I’m not sure there is a « this sort of book », is there? It’s a murder mystery that isn’t a mystery: the book is not at all about discovering who committed the crime… 🧵 #booksky 📚💙🖋️

The audio version of Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez. I think the cover has an exposed human heart, but I’m not totally sure. 😬

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

I’m not sure what I just read, tbh, but I’m glad I read it. Rear Window in reverse, kinda? It’s described as a noir poem, and it’s very short—one sitting. There are two different illustrators, which is put to brilliant use. Most is written in second person. 🧵 💙📚🖋️

The book The Apartment in Bab El-Louk by Donia Maher. There are two illustrators: Ganzeer and Ahmad Nady. The book cover is entirely filled with the illustration of the front doors to an apartment building. Old wooden French doors, turquoise, with panels of diamond-shaped glass topped with circles like suns.

This book is not in comic book style; some pages are regular paragraphs will illustrations while on this page, the words take the shape of a cat. The image shows the cat page in front of my own pernicious cat, who is loafed at the end of a bed.

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

How did I not know about Hark! A Vagrant? I’m even from Nova Scotia, dammit. This one in particular is in the middle of a personal Venn diagram: my favorite literature meets my favorite bit of history 💙 #anneofgreengables #anneofcleves #puffedsleeves

harkavagrant.com

Hark, a vagrant: 348

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

A dip into the memoir Ducks by Kate Beaton turned into an evening of nothing else—read in one sitting. My goodness this is powerful. Graphic novels, right? A young woman from Nova Scotia, a recent university graduate, needs work. She heads to the oil sands of Northern Alberta. 🧵 #booksky 💙📚🖋️

The book Ducks by Kate Beaton sits on a wooden table. This is a graphic novel, and the cover shows a young woman standing on the stairs up to a gigantic work vehicle; the kind with tires taller than a person. The landscape is dire: there is a cliff in the background that looks like it was bitten out of the earth.

Good pay comes with a high price. The book addresses the pain of having to leave home (in her case, Nova Scotia) to find good work, but also there are families torn by 12-on, 2-off work schedules where woman must raise children alone (but with good pay).

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

Still knitting away on The Super Basic Tee by ohwhataknit Interesting way to approach a hemmed finish: the pattern has you step down needle size as you approach the turning row, and the step the sizes back up again. Can you see it? This is intended to reduce flaring. Has anyone tried it? 🧶

A close up of a segment of knitting, still on the needles. Off-white yarn (knitting for olive merino) all in stockinette save one row of purls. That’s the turning row that will be the bottom of them hem. On either side of the purl row, for about eight rows, the stitches are smaller than the main body of the sweater.

I thought I had all the needles I’d even need, but this project had me back in the store for 2.00mm and 2.5mm. 😳

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 10/08/2025

My first Virginia Woolf and daaamn I don’t know when I last enjoyed swooning over sentences this much. It’s a library copy or I would be highlighting the hell out of it. Here’s one bit: No passion is stronger in the breast of man than the desire to make others believe as he believes… #booksky 💙📚🖋️

The book Orlando by Virginia Woolf lies on a wooden table. This copy is from the Denver Public Library and has a beautiful cover: it’s a very close up image of painted pink water lilies.

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 09/08/2025

I’m still haunted by the lovely Foster by Claire Keegan, so I gave the film a go; The Quiet Girl captured the book’s quiet, child-focused spirit. I was hoping for a less ambiguous ending, but it actually had me thinking the opposite to the book, so I’ll go on thinking what I want. 😁 #booksky 💙📚🖋️

The book Foster by Claire Keegan, which shows a bright white welcoming farmhouse nestled into a hillside by the sea.

The main character, a young girl who goes unnamed in the book. This shot is from early in the film: she’s not used to much tenderness or care.

The child arrives at the home of distant relatives she does not know.

The child walking with Mr Kinsella, after they’ve spent most of the summer together and have forged a lovely relationship.

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

Oh my: this little book is close to perfection. From the jacket: “A child is taken by her father to live with relatives on a farm, not knowing when or if she will be brought home again. [There] she finds an affection and warmth she has not known and slowly, in their care, begins to blossom.” 🧵

A hardcover copy from Denver Public Library of Foster, by Claire Keegan. The cover is a landscape almost all in blue, like in nightfall, of a hill by the sea; a welcoming white farmhouse sits ahead.

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

Denver Public Library appreciation! 💙 I went on a YouTube recommendation binge with my hold list in front of me. Less than 48 hours later this pile is mine. The top two are Staff Picks. After I finish The Summer Book (so absolutely lovely), any thoughts on what I should read next? #booksky 💙📚🖋️

A stack of library books on a wooden table. From top to bottom:

Foster by Clare Keegan (who also wrote Small Things Like These), The Vegetarian by Han Kang, Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck, Orlando by Virgina Woolf, and Last Summer in the City by Gianfranco Calligarich.

The first two have rather large Staff Picks bookmarks sticking out the tops of them.

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

Couldn’t put this one down. Narration style and pacing are excellent. Includes little love notes to Nova Scotia. 💙 This seems a good book club book if you’d like to gently introduce important discussion topics; it left me wanting a deeper understanding of the complex social issues. #booksky

A worn copy of The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters sits on a wooden table. The cover is a blueberry bush close up—lovely.

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

Oh my goodness I didn’t expect to be so swept up in this story (and turned upside down and inside out). Kinda want to start it all over again. A Romeo and Juliet story (Juliet and Juliet I suppose) with all the intensity. Also Steven Universe connections that my kids explained to me afterwards. 💙📚🖋️

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

Super Basic Tee by ohwhata knit And it really is: in light fingering (here, Knitting for Olive Merino), which is slow of course but also very wearable. Some mindless stretches for sure but also nice finishing details. A versatile basic I’ll (hopefully) be happy to wear for a long time. #knitsky

A half-knit sweater in cream plopped on a light wood table. The yarn ball (light fingering is attached. It’s a top-down knit with an unfinished crew neck and we are almost to the hem. No sleeves yet.

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 03/08/2025

A few books added to the shelves this summer from second-hand bookstores, thrift shops, and little free libraries. Small Things Like These is a second copy that I’ll gift to a friend. #literature

A dozen books in various stages of worn/used. They sit upright on a white shelf. The collection includes War and Peace; Cry, the Beloved Country; The Winter of our Discontent; Breakfast at Tiffany’s; The Summer Book; and Haroun and the Sea of Stories.

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

Tins full of sewing supplies are still a thing, right? This one was my grandmother’s. Over here we are rich in buttons; besides the inherited ones, we often thrift men’s shirts for the fabric, and we harvest the buttons for reuse. #slowfashion

A small rectangular tin box with lid that used to contain butter biscuits from France, but now overflows with buttons. All colors and shapes: some on cards, some on strings, some in little bags.

A small rectangular tin that used to contain French butter biscuits. They were long gone before my time though. On the lid is an image of a bay or inlet with boats, green hills beyond, and a little red and white lighthouse. In the foreground is a fishing boat sitting on the sand.

The side of the tin has some lovely floral designs. I love this thing.

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

In March I leaned more toward escapism and straightforward text. I recommend them all, if you’re tempted, except Before the Coffee Gets Cold (better idea than execution). I’m Glad My Mom Died stands out, as does Anne of Green Gables. Open Water and Orbital need their own posts. #books 🖋️📚💙 #booksky

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

1. I’m actually suspicious of a series, ever since I lost faith that GoT knew what it was doing. But LotR! These copies, bought with allowance money, my middle-school signature inside? They’re as real as the Velveteen Rabbit. Pick just one? Fellowship, but I hate to. #30daychallenge #books 🖋️📚💙

An old stack of Lord of the Rings in three volumes. The spines are broken, the pages yellowed. I’ve even read this whole set out loud to my son when he was about 8; we read The Hobbit and he wanted to keep going. These are probably my most precious books.

A 30 Day Book Challenge put together by a podcast called Professional Book Nerds. This is for day one: favorite book in a series.

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

Shipwrecks! Any suggestions? The Perfect Storm: just stay on land Curse of the Narrows: Halifax Explosion; land doesn’t help The Wager: shipwreck, mutiny, no limes Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea: treasure salvage, smart seagulls The Endurance: Arctic shipwreck, cat #books 📚💙 #booksky

A stack of books about shipwrecks and/or disasters at sea. We have:

The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger (more traumatizing than the film!)

Curse of the Narrows by Laura M MacDonald

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder by David Grant (great ship battle in there too)

Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea by Gary Kinder (salvage tech!)

The Endurance by Caroline Alexander (this edition has the images from the ship’s photographer)

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

Graphic novels can be intense experiences and this one is especially so. It’s a dark and dense story; the pages themselves are heavy, full, and intense. The monster theme is interesting, then turned over, examined. Excellent but I’ve had difficulty finding much hope in its world. #books 📚💙 #booksky

The graphic novel My Favorite Thing is Monsters by Emil Ferris. It shows a close up a woman’s face, drawn in a pen and ink, film noir style. She looks back at us, with a slightly-alarmed look on her face. She has dark hair, blue skin, and red lips. Behind her, a full moon in a night sky.

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

The cover put me off but I started this and can’t put it down. Funny fiery feminism is doing it for me right now apparently.

A library copy of Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. The cover is a bright salmon pink, with a simple illustration of a blond woman’s face, hair in a bun secured with a pencil. She is wearing sunglasses, pulled down her nose. They reflect chemistry equipment: beakers and such. She looks far off to one side.

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

I was obsessed with this book as a small child. I’m still sad I don’t live here now. I also loved Mr Roger’s neighborhood. #books 🖋️📚💙 #booksky

The cover of What do People Do All Day by Richard Scarry. The cover image shows a bustling walkable town—a 15-minute town, with public transportation and small local businesses. Oh, and all the residents are little animals dressed up like taxi drivers, butchers, grocery store sellers, etc.

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

A new version of the classic ❤️🇨🇦❤️ We are Canadian.

youtu.be

We are Canadian.

YouTube video by Average Joes

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

Your job is to stay calm. Your job is to watch and take notes, to go on looking. Your job is to not be turned into stone. (From Gorgon) #books 🖋️📚💙

The cover of Turn Up the Ocean by Tony Hoagland. It’s a book of poems. Im not one generally to quote from poems (or even to read them much, but here we are). The cover is entirely an image of a large ocean wave, crashing, with another in the background just tipped with white. It’s a woodblock print by Japanese artist Konen Uehara. From 1910, it’s called Hatō zu 1, which means wave.

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

🥕 Delightful 🥕 I needed an escape tonight. Anne of Green Gables: A Graphic Novel gets the spirit of the novels exactly right. “I thought of my lovely puffed sleeves and took courage.” Adapted by Mariah Marsden and illustrated by Brenna Thummler. SO well done. 🖋️📚💙 #books #booksky

One square of a graphic novel. Anne lies on her back on on the ground after falling off the ridgepole of a roof. Her friends are gathered around her. She says, “I’m not dead—but I think I am unconscious.”

One square of a graphic novel. A dark-haired, slightly-tipsy girl in a pink dress—Diana—leans waaaay too far over, concentrating hard, to pour a pink beverage into a glass.

A beautiful forest scene. Tall trees and some undergrowth in the foreground, while in the middle ground, Anne, in a yellow dress, stomps through the woods, head thrust forward in determination or anger. (It’s about Gibert.)

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

Library haul. 🖋️📚💙 #books #booksky

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 01/03/2025

I read some books last month that I won’t forget soon. 🖋️📚💙 And Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin needs a higher category. “Somebody, your father or mine, should have told us that not many people have ever died of love. But multitudes have perished, and are perishing every hour…for the lack of it.”

My StoryGraph Summary for February. I read eight books total, six of which were worth mentioning here. Three 5.0 books are shown on this illustration:

Human Acts by Han Kang
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante.

Three more books I highly recommend:

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
Schoolgirl by Osamu Dasani
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

I’m going to the library shortly to pick this up! I hear it’s very much in the spirit of the original (and I’m very picky about my Anne of Green Gables). Also my branch of the Denver Library has a librarian appreciation box, so I’ll be leaving a note there. 🖋️📚💙 #books

The cover of Anne of Green Gables: a Graphic Novel. It was adapted by Mariah Marsden and illustrated by Brenna Thummler. It’s a cartoon-style drawing. A red-headed girl, with her hair down her back in two messy braids, has her back to us in a green field of knee-high grass and flowers. She wears a yellow dress, perhaps a pinafore, with white sleeves.

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

More lovely things to do today without spending a cent 💪 It’s a beautiful day for a walk in the neighborhood today, I’ll also prep for tomorrow’s early hike on the DOT. #denverorbitaltrail That means I’ll have my favorite socks (and water and a snack), because 8+ mile hikes need happy feet.

A gray gravel trail leads off into the distance though some trees with bare branches. Tiny yellow and brown leaves are scattered on either side of the trail. In the foreground is a very happy black and white Australian Shepherd; she’s on a mission but is also looking back over her shoulder to smile at the photographer.

This picture was taken on Colorado’s Highline Canal Trail.

A panaramic view of snow-capped Rockies Mountains—this the front range from a spot on the Denver Orbital Trail just south of Denver (Highlands Ranch area). A huge sky with wispy clouds in layers of white and blue takes up most of the photo. Across the bottom of the picture, in the far distance, is a stretch of blue mountains; behind them another stretch that is snow capped. In the foreground is a scrubby landscape of brown brush and one beautifully-placed park bench, to take in the view.

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

Some lovely things to do today without spending a dime. A friend loves the Dune series, which I have never read, so we are trying a Buddy Read on StoryGraph. I’m trying to improve my French by reading Le Petit Prince. I’m enjoying it a lot (but it is going VERY slowly) 🖋️📚💙 #storygraph #books

A softcover copy of Dune by Frank Herbert sitting on a light wood table. This was my favorite cover: the image is a very flat illustration of waving dunes—layers and layers of them—in shades of orange, burnt red, and dark yellow. They cover almost all of the image; just the smallest bit of a black night sky, with two bright moons and many stars, shows at the top. A single person, wrapped in a cloak, has crossed deep into the dunes, leaving a trail of footprints behind them.

The cover is so beautifully simple—and then they stuck a “Now a major motion picture” blob on top. Grrr

A cope of Le Petit Prince, in French, lies open on a table (with my fingers visible holding it open that way). It’s the French version and quite a few words are underlined in pencil with the English translation written underneath. There has clearly been heavy use of a French-English dictionary for this read. On the right-hand page is an illustration of a very small prince, dressed in green, standing in a very tiny planet. The sky is full of stars.

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

I have some lovely things to do today. None involve spending money. 💪 I just finished the second ball of Purl Soho Quill on my Tee No. 1. Next will sew down the neck and test to ensure it fits over my giant head (not in that order). 🧶 Or I might turn a heel on this sock. (More details in alt.)

A cream colored hand-knit sweater hanging on a wooden hanger against a navy blue wall. The body is complete, with sewn down bottom hem, and one sleeve is almost done. It has short sleeves, so the end is in sight! The neck is picked up from the inside of the body, knit for a few centimeters, and then sewn down on the outside. Hopefully it’s big enough, and I’m able to do it neatly.

This sock yarn is Primrose Yarn Co. Ultimate Sock in the color Fun House, which is overall quite light in shades of mint and medium green, a bit of pale pink and lavender, and a spot or two of dark green. The sock is a plain old sock. Comfort knitting.

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

The best thing about shopping local is getting to know the folks behind the counter as you become a regular. My rescue dog is pretty nervous around almost all people, but the folks at our tiny pet food store notice all her progress and bravery and offer her treats when we visit. #shoplocal

An adorable dog. She’s a black and white Australian Shepherd (maybe mixed with Border Collie? Who knows?) with stickie-up ears and a big smile. The picture is looking down on her from above, and she’s looking straight at the camera. She looks pretty happy. 💙

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Found while thrifting and I couldn’t resist. The chances I’ll be sewing a costume for a preschooler anytime soon are pretty low, so I’ll enjoy it for a bit before releasing it back into the wild. The details are killing me! 🪡

A McCall’s sewing pattern from 1982. It’s ET! With a red heart and one red finger. McCalls 8311

It’s a great costume too: a full ET head with subtle eyeholes on either side of his nose, a wrinkly body, feet and gloves, all in a soft brown fabric. The eyes are vividly blue on white; paint seems to be involved. The thrift shop taped the pattern sleeve shut and I haven’t pried it open yet to see the instructions. Fantastic.

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Hey, good news! Go Denver!

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

I just finished my first book by Han Kang (I have The Vegetarian waiting). The first chapter was captivating, but the second took my breath away. After finishing the tears flowed a while. “It happened in Gwangju just as it did on Jeju island, in Kwantung and Nanjing, in Bosnia… (1/3) #books 🖋️📚💙

The cover of Human Acts by Han Kang. On a pale yellow background is pictured a human rib cage. Gently perched on top, with one foot on each side, is a black, white, and blue bird—a magpie I think. Floating softly down the page are yellow ginkgo leaves.

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

If you are a fan of Pride and Prejudice ’95, please be aware of this delightfully ridiculous one-man-show version. His face is excellent, the costumes are something (wet shirt scene in to come in subsequent video), and it’s the all comfort + silly I want right now. #booksky 💙📚

youtu.be

Budget '95 Pride and Prejudice (1-17)

YouTube video by Ben Fensome

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

I have no interest in supporting the NFL (or all those dammed commercials) but I definitely have a half time show to watch

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

Finally made it to the hem of my Tee No. 1. With the sleeve holes on stitch markers I didn’t bother trying to try it on sooo 🤞 #knitting 🧶

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Kat @kat-m.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

I ate toast; everyone noticed. #catsky #dogsky

A living room scene. I know I shouldn’t eat in there but I thought I’d cozy up for a few minutes. In the foreground, just the edge of a blue floral plate is visible. The room has a worn Persian rug on the floor. To the right is a large square low wooden coffee table; on it is a laptop and a pile of books. There is also a large tuxedo cat, who sits and stares intently at the holder of the plate. Next to the coffee table is a low wooden stool, on which sits a smaller tuxedo cat; she also is staring directly at the plate holder. Finally, to the left, a black and white Australian Shepherd stands and stares intently at the toast.

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