iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 5h

The new Korea exhibition at the British Museum is good. Look at this cheeky critter

A mythical beast (it looks to me like a dragon but that's not what the caption said) made of celadon on the lid of an incense burner. It looks very cheeky and cute.

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 03/10/2026

I believe Masha was using this as a metaphor for songwriting, but it works as culinary advice too #福山雅治 #BROS1991

Screenshot of Fukuyama Masaharu saying, "I think it's possible to make tofu with complex flavours."

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 02/10/2026

Name a film with real "autumn" vibes, that ISN'T a horror movie. 🍂🍁🎃

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 01/10/2026

I bought a drink with a dill pickle in it & was surprised when it tasted like dill pickle. Be sure to turn on notifications for updates from me & other thought leaders

A yuzu dill pickle spritz from Farmer J in Westminster.

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 29/09/2026

Selling my honey again to raise money for @genderedintelligence.co.uk . I harvested over four times as much as last year, so should be a good sum. Orders coming in fast already! #beekeeping

A jar of Bee Yourself Honey (product of England).

A bee in the trans pride colours on the lid of the jar.

The tamperproof strip on the jar, reading "50% of proceeds from this jar will be donated to Gendered Intelligence to improve the lives of trans people."

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 26/09/2026

Also, if you're genuinely using this shampoo to treat dandruff, then its prevention of hair loss isn't a sin

Alpecin Double Effect shampoo. Law of double effect, get it?

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 26/09/2026

This should find almost as wide an audience as my "sycophant gel" joke

A bottle of fig shower gel. "Sycophant" literally means "fig shower," you see, as in "one who shows the fig." Yes, it's probably obscene.

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 26/09/2026

I haven't heard it used that way this century, but I've seen & heard it in older material, so that's probably why it's still in dictionaries. The example that comes to mind is Johnny Cash and June Carter's song Jackson: youtu.be/TpPzk-41RJI?...

A line from Johnny Cash and June Carter's song Jackson: "And I'll be waitin' in Jackson behind my Japan fan."

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 26/09/2026

Apparently on his radio show, Fukuyama Masaharu will be answering teenage listeners' requests for relationship advice based on his life experience. That's kind of him, but I'm not sure how many teens need to know how to fend off the girls who have surrounded their tour bus #福山雅治 #BROS1991

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 25/09/2026

I looked at the moon and ate some mooncake

The full moon seen through clouds & the branches of a tree.

The mooncake cut into wedges to show the red bean paste filling.

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 22/09/2026

(Masha starred in a series called Last Man, you see)

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 22/09/2026

If 5 UK-based followers felt able to sign this petition & help it go live, it would mean a lot 🙂 petition.parliament.uk/petitions/78...

Make the Uromune vaccine for recurrent UTIs available on the NHS

Nearly 2 million women, trans men & nonbinary people in the UK suffer from recurrent urinary tract infections. An effective vaccine exists, but the NHS only gives it to a tiny number of people in special circumstances. We ask the government to commit to making it available to all who might benefit.

Recurrent UTIs harm patients' quality of life, including their productivity. Prevention often consists of long-term antibiotics, risking resistance & serious side effects. The Uromune vaccine was developed in 2010, is safe with minimal side effects, reduces UTIs by ~70% & makes them less severe when they do occur. Yet on the NHS it remains available only on a "named patient" basis. This is a missed opportunity to ease millions of patients' suffering & reduce the economic impact of UTIs.

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 21/09/2026

Masha may have written a song called Ryu (Dragon), but Chii-Masha was glad to see his fellow Nagasaki native Hiradoumi beat Asasuiryu (Morning Green Dragon)* #SumoSpoilers #福山雅治 *This post is not endorsed by or affiliated with Fukuyama Masaharu, Amuse Inc or #BROS1991

Chii-Masha, a cuddly representation of Japanese pop star and actor Fukuyama Masaharu, with a badge advertising Fukuyama's single Ryu (Dragon).

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 20/09/2026

Also learned about Anita Pittoni thanks to this exhibition, all hail this goddess

Italian designer Anita Pittoni in a photograph from the early 1930s by Wanda Wulz. She is a large and powerful-looking woman who poses with great confidence. She wears a dress consisting of irregular geometric drapes, which probably has blocks of bright colour despite appearing in monochrome here.

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 20/09/2026

Thoroughly enjoyed the Estorick Collection's new exhibition. The portraits from the mid-1920s reminded me of what @andrewhickey.500songs.com recently said about "cultural acceleration." Although in black & white, they could have been taken today. ...

A copy of the catalogue from the Estorick Collection's current exhibition, Wanda & Marion Wulz: Avant-Garde Photography in 20th-Century Italy, next to a piece of torta della nonna from the gallery's cafe.

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 19/09/2026

I know it's unlikely since it hasn't had a physical release in the UK, but it would be extremely funny if Masha's new album sold more copies here than the Proclaimers'

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 17/09/2026

Screenshotting the important bit so other #Harrow residents don't have to deal with a pop-up-ridden, non-PECR-compliant website that thinks its job here is to advertise a closing-down sale #PostOfficeClosures #LocalJournalismIsDead

Office spokesperson added: "We fully recognise the challenging trading conditions that TG Jones and many other High Street retailers are facing at the TG Jones had its Restructuring Plan approved by the High Court Consequently, TG Jones is to close their Harrow store. Regrettably, Harrow Post Office is due to close in early 2027. The date is being finalised.

"We know how important our products and services are to the local community. The vacancy has been advertised and we have heard from interested retailers and we are looking more closely at the expressions of interest. We want to open a replacement branch as soon as possible, but this can take around six months, In the interim alternative branches will be Wealdstone, Kenton, Moreton Hall and Watford Road."

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 16/09/2026

Got this today, hoping to get some good quick meals out of it

A copy of Zena Kamgaing's cookbook Dinner Time.

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 16/09/2026

The new members' room at the British Museum is rather nice

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 15/09/2026

Finally got my special editions of 超新星 & they came with special folders & postcards, which were either a surprise or which I didn't notice in the description. For some reason this made me laugh & also go misty-eyed. What shall I put in the folders? Some of my kanji artwork, maybe. #福山雅治 #BROS1991

Two special CD editions of Fukuyama Masaharu's album 超新星 (Chōshinsei / Supernova), both with bonus CDs of rerecordings of old songs and DVDs of music videos and live performances, plus two clear folders featuring pictures of him from the album art, and postcards with his Chii-Masha character celebrating the 35th anniversary of his fanclub. There's also a cuddly Chii-Masha that I already owned.

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 09/09/2026

The woman in the health food shop complimented my nails today (pic from yesterday) 💅 🍂

My fingernails painted in orange and dark and light brown. My hand is resting on my dress, which has an autumnal print, and I'm wearing a bead bracelet in similar colours.

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 09/09/2026

Phew! @extremerice.bsky.social & iTunes came to the rescue. Will have to wait till tomorrow to listen, though

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 06/09/2026

I eventually decided not to include any mention of allyship in questions like this. Terfs will assume I'm trans no matter what I say, and normal people will understand if they bother to read

A comment I left on Instagram:
I only join women's activities if they also welcome trans women. Can you confirm if that's the case with you?

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 02/09/2026

I made it to this and it was nice, I bought three books & got a free tote & the lovely young people working there embossed the books for reasons that weren't clear to me, but why not? On all week at 6 Monmouth Street, London

Copies of Murder at the Black Cat Cafe by Yokomizo Seishi, The Black Swan Mystery by Ayukawa Tetsuya and The Master Key by Togawa Masako next to a Pushkin Press tote bag.

Embossing (look closely) on the title page of Murder at the Black Cat Cafe. My eyesight is too poor to make out what it says.

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 02/09/2026

I'm guessing these are all AI-generated, but I will be *slightly* disappointed if they aren't also scamming lonely men

Bio of an alleged songwriter & nude model associated with "Katt Frish."

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 31/08/2026

Chilli plants sacrificed to the drought at Chelsea Physic Garden

Wizened chillies of various colours hanging from dead brown stems.

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 30/08/2026

Listening to my other vinyl purchase from today, which is rather splendid

Vinyl copy of Sawada Kenji's 1985 album Opera en l'Air.

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 30/08/2026

Artist no 242 in #365DaysOfJPop is Noguchi Gorō, thanks to another trip to The LP Café in Watford. This is a very enjoyable disc of early '70s pop (Japanese originals on one side, translated covers on the other). The title track, 青いリンゴ, means "green apple." It could mean "blue apple," but doesn't

A vinyl copy of Noguchi Gorō's album 青いリンゴが好きなんだけど (Aoi ringo ga sukinandakedo / I like green apples, though).

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 30/08/2026

This is heartbreaking www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Guanco's church has invited people to come to the Sovereign Harbour Community Centre in Eastbourne on Sunday to commemorate the pastor's life and to celebrate his daughter's birthday.

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 28/08/2026

Somehow my crappy phone camera made this common carder bee look like an angel

Smartphone photo of a common carder bumblebee on a marigold (I think) in the Fulham Palace walled garden. The picture really brings out the iridescence and vein pattern of its wings.

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 28/08/2026

Just remembering what I wrote in the Bad Shodo Diaries entry on 女, "woman." lauradelcolbrown.com/Woman/

"Woman” is a loaded word now. Perhaps for me it's always been. I was assigned female at birth and have never objected to being female, but my gender, in and of itself, has never been central to my identity. If I were told the world would perceive me as a man from tomorrow, it would be jarring and inconvenient, but I wouldn't feel that anything inside me was threatened.

So I can't quite imagine what gender dysphoria feels like. But I remember reading The Frog Prince as a child. I didn't think being a frog sounded so bad myself, but I still knew how the prince felt: perpetually unrecognised, misunderstood and rejected. It wouldn't have surprised me to learn that there were little girls in a similar predicament, doomed by an evil spell to be seen as something they weren't. But I would have been surprised to learn that when the spell was broken and they assumed their true form as women, the rejection would continue.

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 26/08/2026

Today I was heartbroken to learn that @zslofficial.bsky.social allowed filming for the new Harry Potter series at London Zoo. 💔😿🙈 I'm a fellow of ZSL, so have sent them this feedback. I also spoke to someone in person before this, but I got choked up when describing what I have observed 😢

As mentioned, I do just want to let the relevant people know how disappointed I was to learn that ZSL allowed filming for the new Harry Potter series at London Zoo. I have many transgender friends and have observed firsthand the very real pain and anxiety that JK Rowling's activities have caused. I know the zoos need to maximise revenue, but Rowling has made clear that she will use her income from new Harry Potter projects to finance transphobic initiatives and court cases, so I don't think the franchise can be considered an ethical source of funds for ZSL.

I know ZSL has a long history of engagement with and inclusion of LGBTQ people, so I hope they will consider how support for JK Rowling affects transgender people and those who care about them.

Thanks very much again for hearing my views.

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 25/08/2026

Also, the pregnant wife needs to be rescued urgently

- A white man allegedly refused to let a sonographer scan his pregnant wife, telling the staff: "I don't want anyone from any ethnic background touching my woman."

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 23/08/2026

Final #BBCProms of the season for me tonight. It won't top Fukuyama Masaharu's livestreamed concert from earlier today unless Brahms turns up to hug Dvořák, but it should be good

Me at South Harrow Station with my BE NICE OR GO AWAY badge, which I wear to all "cultural" events in London due to ... past experience.

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 21/08/2026

Apparently Hodge the Southwark Cathedral cat has been sulking under the piano since they took him to the vet

Hodge, a black and white cat, sulking under a piano in Southwark Cathedral.

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Laura Del Col Brown (she/they) @lauradelcolbrown.com · 21/08/2026

Glad the Society of Friends' leadership is taking the right stance on trans inclusion, but as I discovered, the attitude among Quakers on the ground can be different ....

For years I said I'd join the Quakers if only they weren't opposed to just war. When the appeal of just war wore thin, I said I'd join if only they weren't teetotal. After I lost a friend to alcoholism, I said I'd join if only they had music. Then I came out as bisexual to my church and the choir master's wife tried to have me thrown off a committee. After that I decided I might as well try my local Friends meeting.

At my first meeting I wept. The silence was like nothing else I'd experienced; it was a silence I could feel. And then I heard the Holy Spirit say, “Welcome home.”

After my second meeting, we rearranged the benches for group's regular discussion session. Someone suggested that as a newcomer, I should go first. “Just talk about anything that's been on your mind.”

I said I was signed off from work with depression caused by witnessing transphobia and being harassed for my trans allyship.

A man responded by telling me his thoughts on the “trans issue.” It was important for me to remember, he said, that women's safety and women's spaces were important too.

“Trans women have never been a threat to me,” I said, “and I don't care about women's spaces. Women's spaces were created because it was easier to segregate women than get men to behave themselves. I want to be safe in all spaces.”

“Well, my wife feels differently,” he said.

During my third meeting, a woman stood up to speak. She worked for an Anglican church, she said tearfully, and they'd been broken into earlier that week. Could we pray for their staff?

At the end of the hour we were invited to contribute any final thoughts. I stood up and said, “Of course I prayed for you and everyone affected by that awful situation. But I also felt called to pray for the people who broke in. I don't know what's happening in their lives or why they've ended up breaking into churches to steal petty cash, but they also need to be held in the light.”

There was a silence rather different from what had gone before, then someone said hurriedly to the woman, “But just to say again, we do really feel for you.”

When we were having tea afterward someone said to me, “I suppose you're right that we should see the other side too.”

“I don't think there are sides,” I said.

Another silence.

A few days later, someone broke into the meeting house. I didn't go back after that. They might have thought I was a spy in their camp.

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