iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 16h

The Suitcase, Mad Men. I watched it live and remember wishing it wouldn't end.

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

That was a delightful series. Highly recommend.

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

A child(s) shall lead them. Woo-woo!

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

K is for Karen, but I really hope its primary use tonight is for Schlittler doing his thing.

A card with a letter K on it to wave around for strikeouts, an open journal and Yankee Stadium field in the background.

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Today I sent a professional email that looked fine formatting-wise while I was composing it, but somehow got all weird line-breaky after I sent it. Just gonna scream internally for a little bit 😑

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Update: Currently helping my dad shop-vac out his saturated basement, the most water that's gotten in there since Sandy, so the "tHiS SToRm wUz ovErHYped" folks can miss me today. (I'll probably be too busy drying out my shoes to hear them, anyway).

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I am very online and know exactly two lines of this song and it's only because it's Trent Grisham's walkup music. That said, my Tik Tok algo has made sure I know all about the Stella Lefty/Noah Kahan possible plagiarism stuff, so I'm not entirely out of the How Do You Do, Fellow Kids music loop.

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I've seen a few "they overhyped this storm and made it seem like Sandy" comments and 1) the only "they" doing that I saw were gross clickbaiters on Tik Tok, not pros 2) Pre-Sandy coverage/prep was ~actually~ ominous, which was how I knew to worry. This coverage has been like every other nor'easter 🤷‍♀️

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

"Eddie and the Cruisers are characters. Eddie sings the song in the movie. He is not the real singer, though. I know, the 80s were very confusing." - today in Explaining Old School American Top 40* to My Cat *On the Dark Side, John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band, #32 this wk in 1984 #caturday

Clarence, an orange striped cat, sits on top of an armchair waiting to pounce on unsuspecting passersby, though he also needs to process the information he has been given about cult 80s classics and thus looks slightly pensive.

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Pink sky at night, Yankees delight, possibly, just not in Game 1 of that doubleheader or something.

A pinky, pre-nor'easter sunset sky over Yankee Stadium

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I've watched at least 1 season of 49 of these shows, so I can't comment on all BUT: Deadwood is criminally low, The Crown too high, Gilmore Girls should be a bit higher & I wish What We Do in the Shadows got some love here. Pleased FNL is as high as it is and that Enlightened and Pen15 got menchies.

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Happy Gotcha Day to my fine girl, Brandy. She's filled the last five years with woo-woos, sniff-sniffs and lots of love.

Brandy, a tan floppy earred mutt with black snout, is around 7 months old here, the day after I adopted her. Had to keep the leash on her back then because she liked to show her friendship to Clarence by chasing him. She respects his boundaries now!

Brandy, a tan floppy earred mutt with black snout sits patiently wondering what the hell a Gotcha Day is and does it include walkies and treats because that is the most important thing here.

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Reposted by Karen Bischer

The Authors Guild @authorsguild.org · 21/09/2026

The evidence our lawyers have uncovered shows these companies knew they were breaching copyright, knew it would put authors out of work, knew it would degrade American culture. And they simply didn’t care. (2/7)

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Now it's "nostalgia accounts that talk about how great the old times were...using hallucinated pictures that look nothing like the thing they're getting nostalgic about." (That ain't Bradlees, and when my local Caldor updated from the 70s orange/yellow/brown sign it still did not look like this.)

A Tik Tok post asking "who remembers shopping here?" about Bradlees and Caldor, using seemingly AI-generated images of both stores with signs that look nothing like they did back in the day.

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

I'm pretty sure the Authors Guild suit got consolidated into this one and I'm going to need an explainer for how this impacts that because this is about to make my head pop off and spin into another orbit.

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

I keep seeing these "Let's invoke the nostalgia of old times with AI-generated fake nostalgia and also take a swipe at the thing you are viewing said fake nostalgia on" posts. (I blame all those "not an iphone in sight!" comments on legit old videos for that part.) Actual media from the 90s exists!

A screen shot of an AI-generated video of a man hanging Christmas lights on a house with the title "An evening in December 1995 before smartphones"

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

"You have to call it 'hook and loop fastener.' I worked at 2 mags where the manufacturers called to yell at us for using 'v-lcro' in print. Not sure how the band got around this." - today in Explaining Old School American Top 40* to My Cat *V-lcro Fly, ZZ Top #39 this week in 1986 #caturday

Clarence, an orange striped cat, stares sleepily at the camera while curled up in front of a window.

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Reposted by Karen Bischer

The Authors Guild @authorsguild.org · 11/09/2026

The Authors Guild has filed a motion asking the court to rule that OpenAI and Microsoft infringed on the authors’ copyrights by pirating their works, copying them to train their AI, and trading the books between them as currency. Here’s everything you need to know:

authorsguild.org

Authors Guild and Co-Plaintiffs File Motion for Summary Judgment v. OpenAI and Microsoft

On Friday, September 4, 2026, the Authors Guild and its co-plaintiffs (the class plaintiffs) filed a motion for summary judgment and supporting brief in their copyright litigation against OpenAI and M...

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

I was in midtown Manhattan on 9/11. I wrote up my memories of that day in 2011, so I've screen shot that here. It was the first time I ever experienced *actual* fear and uncertainty for my safety due to the fluidity of the situation, and then you had no choice but to just...move through it?

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I was a sophomore in high school the last time the Yanks finished under .500. I didn't know what the internet was and wouldn't get my first email address for another three years. After that 1992 season, I'm not sure I could imagine 34 seasons straight over .500. 15 yr old me would be gobsmacked.

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

I've been out of full-time work for almost a year (same with the three other editors cut when I was) due to AI. And they flat-out told us it would lead to a reduction in headcount when it rolled out. Are creative/editorial workers maybe being hit by this stuff more than other fields?

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Hi, I'm Karen, author/copyeditor/copywriter/paralegal student in NJ with a dog and cat. The key change toward the end of Mr. Mister's Kyrie is life-affirming. I also like that Keep Your Hands to Yourself by the Georgia Satellites is totally act-outable (restrained myself in Trader Joe's today tho)

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

You can't do the last dance of the season (aka Labor Day Weekend) without it.

The Ultimate Dirty Dancing record spinning oj a record player with the album cover next to it

The album cover when it's folded open, featuring a paper pop-up Baby and Johnny practicing The Lift in the water

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

"A lot of youngins use this on posts now to evoke a moody, retro feeling and you know what, they're not wrong! OK, you can go back to stalking whatever bug is in the fireplace." - today in Explaining Old School American Top 40* to My Cat *Who's Crying Now, Journey #7 this week in 1981 #caturday

Clarence, an orange striped cat, sits in front of a fireplace while serving a look of "just how important is this thing you're interrupting me about?"

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

I guess because it's feeling my need for fall vibes, Tik Tok has been serving me Anne of Green Gables/Anne of Avonlea clips (always welcome!) recently but today tried to give me one from the 2000 Continuing Story and I've never swiped away so quickly. Whew.

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

These three Qs are exactly what lead to this quiz figuring me out mydialect.us/quiz-standar...

A My Dialect US map that shows my answers being heavily New Jersey-coded.

Q What do you call the night before Halloween, with mischief night selected

Q How do you pronounce
Mary/merry/marry?

A all three are different

Q What do you call a traffic situation in which several roads meet in a circle and
you have to get off at a certain point?

A circle

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Even in the "little bubble" we were aware of this 🤷‍♀️. My Cleveland fan coworker waited roughly a few hours after Game 7 before nyeah-nyeaha-nyeah-nyeah-nyeahing TF out of my fellow Yankee fan coworkers and me. This was in midtown Manhattan.

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Reposted by Karen Bischer

₩;££ ₹ū§§ø @willrusso.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Any Chicago poets interested in editing book reviews? Lmk…

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Post something random or you’ll have an awful September.

Marty, the Stop & Shop mess-finding robot

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

27 years of commuting ensured I was swift enough to survive the NJ Transit Hunger Games (aka Yankee game/Mets game/Giants + Jets game/Harry Styles Concert) and get a seat on the train. Forget a salary, my career has all led to this.

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

OK, she's not wrong to be concerned. This is a wild one.

A lightning strike map from blitzortung.org showing my part of New Jersey absolutely awash in strikes.

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

I know it's a bad storm when Brandy actually seems wary of it. To quote a Scandanavian tourist I was once in a Starbucks with during a bad storm, "It is hammer TIME out there." (Clarence noped out of this one an hour ago and is hiding somewhere.)

Brandy, a tan-floppy earred mutt, sits far enough away from a rain-soaked sliding class door so the storm can't reach in and grab her, but she can keep a close eye on it.

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

My (reply) guy, I legit hear Emotions and/or Always Be My Baby every time I'm in the car (I have several "hits of yesterday & today" stations programmed because that is where I am in life). You'd have to go past the classic rawk station to know this, I guess. (I also think the list might be fake 🤷‍♀️)

A TikTok post showing a graphic of what might be an AI-generated image of "Rolling Stone's 30 greatest albums of the 1990s" (it does not match what they have on their website of the Top 100 of the 1990s) with a comment saying Mariah Carey's Emotions or Daydream should be on the list with a very condscending reply of "Does anything from either of those albums get any kind of play today? Most of the records on this list have multiple songs that are still in rotation, because that's how rock works. Pop music doesn't, it's fleeting, huge today and completely irrelevant tomorrow."

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

The Ramona Quimby series made me a reader, because I totally related to the inner workings of Ramona's brain, like in this scene here from Ramona the Brave (justice for Ramona!). And reading Sweet Valley Twins when I was 10 made me know I wanted to be a writer.

One day the reading workbook showed a picture of a chair with a wrinkled slipcover.
Beneath the picture were two sentences.
"This is for Pal." "This is not for Pal." Ramona circled "This is for Pal," because she decided. Tom and Becky's mother had put a slipcover on the chair so that Pal could lie on it without getting the chair dirty. Mrs. Griggs came along and put a big red check mark over her answer.

"Read every word, Ramona," she said, which Ramona thought was unfair. She had read every word.

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

"She came from a little and amounted to a heck of a lot. We should all be so lucky to have as good a run." - today in Explaining Dolly Parton* to My Cat (as we listen to Jolene) *Rest in peace, kind lady.

Clarence, an orange striped cat (who, much like Jolene, also has flaming locks of auburn hair but would never steal anybody's man, let alone a talented AF sweetheart like Dolly) squints as he basks his face in sunlight

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Just realized Florida should be "stayed a while" since my job temporarily relocated us there after our office building flooded during Sandy (long story), but you get the gist.

A color-coded map of the United States showing the states I've never been, passed through, visited, stayed awhile and lived

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

"Much like Billie Jean, you also have a rebellious spirit. You'd like the movie! OK, you can go back to working on your best Bellinger face." - today in Explaining Old School American Top 40* to My Cat *Invincible (Theme from The Legend of Billie Jean), Pat Benatar #15 this week in 1985 #caturday

Clarence, an orange striped cat, sits on a kitchen stool, seemingly emulating the expression of Cody Bellinger, pictured on a bobblehead box next to Clarence.

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

OMG, HGTV is airing a 1999 episode of House Hunters and just the old theme song and seeing Suzanne Whang again has made my week 🤩

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

- Doctor De Soto - The Ramona Quimby series (Beverly Cleary truly *got* kids) - Just as Long as We're Together #kidlitchat

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

I bought my first two at the same time at The Wiz (RIP): The Les Mis soundtrack and Billy Joel's Greatest Hits Volume I & II.

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Got gifted Field level seats the other night. Definitely loud (my watch noise alert went off!), but not *nearly* as bad as our usual Grandstand seats. The players definitely aren't getting the, uh, full experience those of us in the cheap seats get. The pregame organ tootling isn't so bad buuut...

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

They've filmed various things in my nabe since I moved in, which is cool, and my house has been scouted as a possible location for a few things the last few years, which is cooler (they ultimately went with other houses). Clarence and Brandy are patiently waiting for their time to shine, y'all.

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Three youths ran onto the field/got tackled by security/fought and wriggled but I was more interested in the players' reactions, because I am NEVER this close to see their faces. (Thanks to my friend for the good tix, a thank-you for watching her dogs in January.)

Fans, Yankees and Mariners players watch something out of frame (the aforementioned tackled youths) while on the field at Yankee Stadium.

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

"It's a biopic about Ritchie Valens. Many young Gen Xers' pop culture trauma includes the scene where Ritchie's mom and brother find out he died in a plane crash. Ask me how I know." - today in Explaining Old School American Top 40* to My Cat *La Bamba, Los Lobos, #11 this week in 1987 #caturday

Clarence, an orange striped cat, looks sleepy while curled up on a blanket-covered chair

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Something wicked this way comes, Yankee Stadium edition

Dark storm clouds roll in past the open Yankee Stadium windows

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Lonesome Dove. I wish I could read it again for the first time.

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

This is infuriating. I loathe genAI, but I think I hate non-writers (especially nepo babies) being smug about em dashes (excuse me, "big dashes" 🙄) being proof of AI just as much. It's such a hallmark of talking out of one's a**.

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Karen Bischer @kbischer.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

"It's about how hoomans can find comfort in songs about similar circumstances in their lives. It can also be about designer jeans. You kinda had to be there." - today in Explaining Old School American Top 40* to My Cat *Sad Songs (Say So Much), Elton John, #7 this week in 1984 #caturday

Clarence, an orange striped cat, looks as if he is thinking, "Why are you interrupting my nice nap with this (extremely useful) information?" while curled up on a couch in front of a window.

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