iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 10h

About to disappear into my closet to devise an outfit for a wedding celebration w/these factors: Temps in the 60s “no dress code. Wear something fun and comfortable . . . growing consensus [that] a Hawaiian shirt under a dark sports blazer is the way to go [for men].” Pray for me.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 17h

Good morning, Bluesky. Today my daughter has an activity that means driving RIGHT PAST the store where I found Cheez-it Pizza three weeks ago. What will happen? Will I stop? Will the store still have it? Now THIS is a suspenseful story, says the teacher. Photo from Thursday. (Rain at sunrise.)

The Domino Sugar neon sign framed by the branches of trees.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I once again find myself without a FatBoy Junior on an evening when I really need a FatBoy Junior. No shortage of sugar on the premises. No shortage of ice cream. But I NEED a FatBoy Junior.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Was in a very high-minded Zoom where the loveliest, sweetest woman from Australia mentioned that the San Francisco “69’ers” were in Melbourne and I regret to tell you that I broke down in hysterics.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

“She’s old, isn’t she?” (Usually about myself.)

Cary Grant and Ralph Bellamy in His Girl Friday.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Good morning, Bluesky. Today would have been my 20th anniversary, or maybe it would be tomorrow; we were confused about the date for years and all I can remember now is that it was either Oct. 2 or Oct. 3 and we seldom celebrated it, can’t believe those 2 crazy kids didn’t make it. (I believe it.)

Sunrise over an empty marina; the Domino Sugar plant visible in the background.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I get up at 5, it has been a very long day, I made dinner, assisted with homework and had a unit or 2 of alcohol and came so close to sharing a photo of my legs in my cute PJs, you’ll just have to trust me they are uncanny.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Occurs to me . . . although I’m nowhere near as prolific as JCO (She has written 58 novels to my 27, but she had a 30-year head start), I hear a lot about my output: “You sure crank them out.” Or: “You’re a machine.” I’m a fast writer. Please just let me be that. It’s my only innate talent.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Good morning, Bluesky. First words I said: Rabbit, rabbit. First words I wrote: “Someone stole my porch goose.” ‘Come again?’ Tess Monaghan asked. Her office was in a former dry cleaners and she was worried that there were still traces of cleaning solvents, wreaking havoc . . .” Here we go!

Domino Sugar plant just before sunrise and, yes, I am 250 words into the novel.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

This is why I chose to be a plaintiff in one of the AI lawsuits, alongside several literary writers, because I saw this bullshit coming for genre writers from the jump.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Is it possible to have such high self-esteem that you end up acting like a person with very low self-esteem because you think so well of yourself that you can’t imagine others not doing the same and are then blindsided when they are shitty? Asking for a friend. An AMAZING, EXCEPTIONAL friend.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Update: the morning has gone as planned. One the one hand, fiction is so much easier than nonfiction, with all those pesky facts. But when you make stuff up for a living, continuity is a bitch. Going to rest my bleary eyes, then review my notes for the @robertkolker.com interview tonight.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Good morning, Bluesky. If the morning goes as planned — always a big assumption — I’ll finish final checks on the copyedit of my 26th novel (30th book). Tomorrow I’ll start my 27th. A good day to remember Ezra Pound’s watchcry: Make it new. Highfalutin for a genre writer? Nope. Essential.

A scooter in front of a fence. Behind it, an empty marina and the Domino Sugar plant, its image reflected in the water.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Drivers making right turns in Baltimore (or any city): please, please, please look to the right as well as the left because sometimes there are these people called pedestrians in the crosswalk. Respectfully, Woman who almost got killed by a UPS driver 5 minutes ago and he didn’t even seem upset.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

“Important” update: Today, using a tip from my friend Andrew, I was able to hoist two 25-pound dumbbells for loaded squats. Again, the squats aren’t the problem, just getting the weights to my shoulders. (He recommended a two-handed technique in which I grabbed both and flipped simultaneously.)

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Happy pub date to Bob, one of the best/nicest journalists working today. I’m the lucky person who gets to interview Bob on the Baltimore leg of his tour, you can attend live or virtually. This is a rare chance to see TWO GRADUATES OF WILDE LAKE HIGH SCHOOL. calendar.prattlibrary.org/event/robert...

calendar.prattlibrary.org

Robert Kolker: "The Vanishing Family"

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Good morning, Bluesky. “Does man love Art? Man visits Art, but squirms. Art hurts. Art urges voyages — and it is easier to stay at home, the nice beer ready In commonrooms we belch, or sniff, or scratch. Are raw.” Gwendolyn Brooks, The Chicago Picasso, full poem in alt, am OBSESSED with it.

Domino Sugar plant just before sunrise.

The Chicago Picasso (1967)
by Gwendoyln Brooks

August 15, 1967

“Mayor Daley tugged a white ribbon, loosing the blue percale wrap. A hearty cheer went up as the covering slipped off the big steel sculpture that looks at once like a bird and a woman."--Chicago Sun-Times
(Seiji Ozawa leads the Symphony. The Mayor smiles.And 50,000 See.)

Does man love Art? Man visits Art, but squirms.
Art hurts. Art urges voyages--and it is easier to stay at home, the nice beer ready.
In commonrooms
we belch, or sniff, or scratch.
Are raw.

But we must cook ourselves and style ourselves for Art,
who is a requiring courtesan.
We squirm.
We do not hug the Mona Lisa.
We
may touch or tolerate
an astounding fountain, or a horse-and-rider.
At most, another Lion.

Observe the tall cold of a Flower
which is as innocent and as guilty,
as meaningful and as meaningless as any other flower in the western field.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I sincerely believe I could write a book called How to Make Friends at Any Age.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Me, trying to print out daughter’s homework 30 minutes before we leave for the school bus — and the printer runs out of ink.

static.klipy.com

Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt Cable Drop

Alt: Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt Cable Drop

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Good morning, Bluesky. My assistant was away last week, dealing with NOLA issues (sigh)*. Can’t wait to tell her I picked up the packages at UPS all by myself, just like a big girl. However, when a light on my dashboard illuminated, I had to text her a photo and say: “Is this bad?” alt text day

Domino Sugar plant at sunrise, just after a light rain has ended.

I don’t think a week goes by that I’m not grateful for the serendipity that brought Molli into my life. I was looking for part-time childcare, she was looking for a full-time job. After a mutual acquaintance buttonholed me to sing Molli’s praises, I thought, “Well maybe I need an assistant part-time.” That was 12 years ago. If I show up on time, where I’m supposed to be, Molli is a big part of that. She is so perfect that on the rare occasion when she makes a mistake, I’m kind of delighted. Everyone loves her. People do things for her that they won’t do for anyone else (that’s how my Peloton got to the 4th floor). Part of the reason I’m committed to working for a while longer is that Molli, who’s 15 years younger than I am, deserves to have a job as long as possible.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

OK, but TBF, I came back to Baltimore 20 years before Elias arrived and I’m technically .000.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

The rain has sort of stopped, Bellini’s is open, show them some love. Baltimore.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Damn, I make a great quesadilla. 10,000-hour rule (yeah, I know it’s bullshit, but practice does make perfect) and six (very happy) years in San Antonio.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Good morning, Bluesky. “Wasn’t she vulnerable enough as a woman—a fat woman, an old woman—moving through this world, where so much indignity awaited her in the most ordinary daily activities?” Mrs. Blossom, C’est moi. (Feeling very Flaubertian this morning. Photo from ‘25 because — nor’easter.)

A pink sunrise over an empty marina. The Domino Sugar plant is in the background.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I am coming close to perfecting roasted chickpeas, if anyone cares. (I can’t imagine anyone cares, but it’s a really good cocktail hour snack.)

A bowl with roasted chickpeas next to a martini.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I make an amazing quesadilla that delivers 40+ grams of protein (grilled chicken, cheese, the wrap itself) and a lot of vegetables (today was onion, yellow pepper, jalapeños, mushrooms), but, man, it wrecks my kitchen. Before and after.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

My butt apparently had something to say while I was walking with my BFF.

A series of M’s and K’s on an unposted Substack message.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Good morning, Bluesky. No more bland TV dinners No ten-car collisions No showbiz beginners Making global decisions No daycare Fellinis No fast food assassins No billboard bikinis Just truth and compassion Somewhere in America There’s a street named after my dad —Don Was and David Was—

The docks of a deserted marina, the Domino Sugar plant visible in the background, its red neon sign reflected in the water.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I just assume everyone wants to see this ranking: 8. We Own This City 7. The Plot Against America 6. The Deuce 5. The Corner 4. Show Me a Hero 3. Treme 2. Generation Kill 1. The Wire

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

The Orioles win 10-2, skies over NYC turning blood red also: Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... MASS HYSTERIA! And yet also utterly meaningless.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

The year is 2026. A Nor’easter has changed the MLB schedule. The Orioles, eliminated the day before, suddenly seem to be another team, a team traveling back in time, maybe all the way to 1986. And then — LAUNCH ANGLE: In theaters next summer. Or maybe a summer four decades ago.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Turned off the game to write (doing the mini #1000WordsofSummer, turned it back on just in time for Alonso . . .

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Meanwhile, the Orioles are cracking me up.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

(To be sung to the tune of Wichita Lineman) I hear you talkin’ ‘bout The Wire You say it ain’t no Breaking Bad But better than that Hamm show And now Matt Weiner’s mad. (2 Baltimoreans in the top 3 FWIW)

A list of the top 100 television shows the 20th century’s first 25 years as compiled by the New York Times.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Had no intention of posting a selfie today but . . . I just got sir’ed and this is what I was wearing.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

F’leg day, sigh. All these years, I never thought a day would come when I would dread leg day, yet here we are. So excited for my rest day tomorrow. (Wait, am I channeling the swole reports from @sprawlhater.bsky.social? Consider it an homage to a lovely account now on hiatus.)

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Good morning, Bluesky. “Couples always look so cozy from the outside, like houses at night with a few low lights on. One imagines a perfect existence inside, warm and secure. But who knows what’s beneath the floorboards, in the pipes?” Mrs. Blossom is feeling contemplative, summer 2027.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I am working out harder than I ever have in my life and I now have no desire to eat after 6 p.m. and even less desire to cook anything after 6 p.m. although the latter may be just that I don’t want to once again clean the kitchen that I’ve cleaned after lunch.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Good morning, Bluesky. 51 degrees at dawn, with a “feels like” of 46, had to go back inside and grab a light coat. NO COMPLAINTS. But I did worry I was going to be busted for corporate espionage while taking this photo.

A line of trucks in front of the Domino Sugar plant at sunrise.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Oriole fans tonight. Glass half full. Glass half empty. Need to piss in the glass. Need to drink from the glass. Need to add a discreet amount of gin to the glass.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

A little more than a year go, I attended an utterly meaningless meh game at Camden Yards on, IIRC, Sept. 9 — and I was happy. Today, I went to 2 games and saw the O’s sweep the Jays and remain (mathematically) in the Wild Card race and I am abuzz with joy. A challenging season, but I love them.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Wait, do I have to stay in these clothes through the weekend? Just put them on during the games? Anyway, O’S WIN!

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I WILL NOT BE CHANGING MY OUTFIT! O’S WIN! Also just an utter delight to meet @alainnfocail.bsky.social who will verify that Cowser made significant eye contact with us.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

This weather required a lot of improvisation but I’m pleased with this outfit and hope I won’t be changing between games.

Woman in a black coat, saddle shoes and an orange shit.

Woman in an orange sweater, black pants, and saddle shoes.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Good morning, Bluesky. Let’s play two! Let’s go home between the first and second game and change outfits! (I really might do this. Depends on when the first one ends. I live very close to the ballpark.) Photo from a year ago because it’s still drizzling — but not for much longer!

Domino Sugar plant at sunrise, its neon sign reflected in the water.

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Laura Lippman @lauralippman.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Because of weather, tomorrow will be baby’s first doubleheader*. Afternoon game with (sing it to the tune of The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi), one of the sweethearts of Oriole Bluesky. Evening game with two of my all-time favorite fans. Couldn’t be happier. *I’m baby. No jokes, please.

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