iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

My kid can always make me laugh. And that sign? 😵‍💫

Text between me and my kid. Starts with a photo of a bus shelter ad (bonus reflection of Gord Fynes in the glass). Ad reads: “Diamonds were once a girl’s best friend. Then BOTOX happened.”
From kid: “Real sign
On the danforth”
Me: Omg
Kid: Yup
Me: I mean... I also hate diamonds?
Kid: Well now you have an alternative (my laugh reaction shows on this comment).

Reposted by Laurel

Erin Kane @dianamonkey.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

"As things stand, students who commit infractions like plagiarism ... are often punished more harshly than the male students directly responsible for making the campus dangerous for female ones. Until there is zero tolerance for sexual assault on campus, women will not be protected here."

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Help Ashley, whose generosity and organizing efforts have helped so many other people. May she heal quickly and not worry about the medical bills.

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Given that I adore turkey vultures and chimney swifts who rarely come down below the treetops… this looks like a dream home to me.

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

A fascinating bee on fall asters, with the breeze and dappling of sunlight through the cottonwoods beside me making it tricky to focus.

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David Ramos @imagineterrain.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Never mind history students, engineers do history; writing about their stuff since 1850, founded the whole field of industrial archaeology. I work with an engineering team to produce historical research, and practitioners love it. www.npr.org/local/2021/0...

npr.org

70% Of D.C.'s Streams Have Disappeared. Where Did They Go?

There were once deep, clear swimming holes near what's now Union Station. As D.C. developed, creeks were paved over or piped.

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Lanrick Bennett @lanrickbennett.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

This is #TorontoDanforth “Today is World River Day and we're celebrating the power of rivers to shape our cities, communities, and ecosystems.“ - @tosoarch.bsky.social @waterfrontoronto.bsky.social h/t @juliedabrusin.bsky.social #TransformTO torontosocietyofarchitects.ca/events/#filt...

Explore Toronto's new waterfront destinations

Image of Biidaasige Park

Biidaasige Park Tour
mi Thursday, October 1 10:00 to 11:30 a.m.
Led by park designers Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates Inc, participants will get a behind the scenes look into the design of this 60 acre park and the transformed Don River.

Ookwemin Minising Tour
• Wednesday, October 14 • 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.
Led by Waterfront Toronto project team members, participants will explore Toronto's future island community, Ookwemin Minising, and hear about the planning and design shaping the future neighbourhood.

Waterfront Toronto O
•.. X
5h
Today is World River Day and we're celebrating the power of rivers to shape our cities, communities, and ecosystems. One of the most visible examples is right here on Toronto's waterfront, where the transformation of the Don River has helped create new parkland, restore habitat, and unlock the future community of Ookwemin Minising.
Next month, join us for a behind-the-scenes look at this transformation through two upcoming Toronto Society of Architects tours.
On October 1, explore Biidaasige Park alongside, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates Inc., the designers who helped bring it to life. Then, on October 14, learn about the vision for Ookwemin Minising, Toronto's future island neighbourhood, on a tour with Waterfront Toronto project leads Shannon Baker and Jed Kilbourne.
For tickets and further details, visit the link in bio.
https://bit.ly/46CYBr3
#Thankstoariver

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

“See You in Court host, Falen Johnson and journalist Clare Bonnyman detail the multi-year saga of R. vs. Jacob, a case that challenged and eventually changed how the law treats women who bare their breasts.” I can hardly believe it happened that long ago… podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/t...

podcasts.apple.com

Falen is back! A brand new season of See You in Court

Podcast Episode · The Secret Life of Canada · September 22 · 31m

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

To be fair, there are A LOT of current, popular songs I haven’t heard. I listen to a bunch of quiz shows, and I never get the musical clues. Not sure this is a genre thing.

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Anthony Moser @anthonymoser.com · 26/01/2026

"ai" is not a genie that can't be put back in a bottle, it's a pillar of smoke that dissipates unless you keep burning money

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Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Cornell University treating Gaza protestors more harshly than gang rapists is a real statement of values. It’s almost like violent domination by the powerful is the core belief of leadership.

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

3 Christopher Walken movies that show his range. Dead Zone Pennies From Heaven Catch Me If You Can

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Big moon over the lake, with a chorus of crickets and a few of my favourite “castanet katydids” clicking away in the trees overhead. I love the park in the dark. Nothing but lake to the south, and nice and dark at the bottom of the hill. Traffic sounds drowned out by the lapping waves.

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

There have been killdeer calling outside for well over an hour. I went for a walk, got back around 9:30. Moon was quite bright even when clouds passed over. Heard them all around the block. Now, outside my window… windy but you can definitely hear them.

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Kate Armstrong @brainchain.ca · 26/09/2026

Any excuse to play some NoMeansNo works for me: m.youtube.com/watch?v=Pmpk...

m.youtube.com

Two Lips, Two Lungs And One Tongue

YouTube video by Nomeansno - Topic

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Last weekend was fraught, with my poor kitty in pain and passing blood, squatting nonstop, beside herself with discomfort. Pain meds helped, but made her floppy. So I’m grateful to our vet and happy to share our girl, back to her usual charming self. She’s a social eater, likes to be walked to food.

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Peoria Bummer @peoriabummer.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Weird how the Center for Pretending that Household Electronics Are Sentient gets hundreds of millions of dollars from Texas Instruments every year.

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Film you've watched more than six times with a gif. Hard mode: no Star Trek, Star Wars, LOTR, Marvel, Disney, or Ghibli. Rough to learn the only gif of the movie has been memed… there’s so many iconic images.

static.klipy.com

Gwoemul Gwoemul The Host

Alt: Park Nam-Joo walking away from the fire she started, in 2006 Bong Joon Ho movie The Host. Sadly, type over image reads “Me being done with the bullshit” as it’s the only gif I could find from this brilliant movie.

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Ligus @greyauk.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I finished my little bee \o/ . Art of a bee and by a bee 🐝🌿 It's now available on my Ko-fi. (End of the month and next month is vet month, so I will try to put other art up too. Commissions for small paintings are open 🙏) ko-fi.com/s/4515f07e50 #sciart #traditionalart #bee

2 passepartous with round cutouts.
One is showing a leaf cutter bee gripping a green stem on turquoise background.
the other is showing a glued down leaf which was symmetrical cut out by a bee. The background is red with little dots of gold.

watercolour of a leaf cutter bee gripping a green stem on turquoise background with a little golden signature underneath

a glued down leaf which was symmetrical cut out by a bee. The background is red with little dots of gold.

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Premee Mohamed @premeemohamed.com · 25/09/2026

Anyway HAPPY FRIDAY I hope you are enjoying your day more than Special Agent Vycol "Everything Is Terrible" Ferec (not his real name) Today is a good day to buy WICKHILLS and get you some fantaspionage in a very safe (nice, safe) weird city! us.macmillan.com/books/978125...

us.macmillan.com

Wickhills

In the dangerous magical city of Wickhills, a streetwise secret agent is tasked with protecting a foreign defector from his pursuers... even at the threat of...

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Katie Martin @katie0martin.ft.com · 25/09/2026

I have blamed The agents That hacked Your website And which You probably Reasonably thought I controlled Forgive me I am rich And unaccustomed To taking responsibility

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I love that I saw this today, after I took a bunch of students to examine one of the flowering crabapple trees along the edge of the schoolyard. The tree had mostly pink blossoms like the other trees, but also a cluster of white. Now, in fall? Big red apples on top. Tiny crabapples on the bottom.

Strange apple tree with full-size apples on larger leafed branches at the top, tiny red crabapples on the rest of the branches which have smaller, darker leaves.

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Chuck Wendig @chuckwendig.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Listen, I'm just saying: a) @marynmck.bsky.social is a treasure b) if you like this kinda thing, I really really hope you'll read BLACK RIVER ORCHARD, because it literally features apple detectives hunting rare apples

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Vultures are kettling again today… Big black beauties soaring in circles in the bluest skies of the year. Glorious.

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Our window feeder isn’t up yet at school, but the squirrel buster is finally attracting attention today. Chickadees, downy woodpeckers and house sparrows have been here. No nuthatches yet, though they’re in the trees nearby. I think a hawk flew over, judging by the sudden pause by the woodpeckers…

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Yesterday’s moonrise came a while before sunset, making for a glorious view over the lake.

A tunnel of trees line the edges of a dirt path leading down a small breakwater spit jutting out into Lake Ontario. The dusk sky is pink over the lake, marking the horizon in the gap between trees at the far end.

View looking out between trees on the spit towards the eastern side of the park, another curve of land jutting out into the peach and pink sky along the horizon. The rising moon, nearing full, glows pale and small where the peachy gold fades into blue sky. Waves roll up the the beach below me, tree branches loom over at right.

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Found elsewhere, sharing here: “Calling all current Ontario Kindergarten educators (OCTs and ECEs) We want to hear about your perspectives on The Right to Read, the new kindergarten curriculum, and play-based learning. You are invited to participate in a research study conducted by Ruxandra Filip…”

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Erika Hall @erikahall.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I have bad news for the speculators. We've run out of future, so we need to start living in the present.

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Today was our neighbourhood tree fest. Yes, you read that right, Long Branch is industrial and commercial among the mixed housing types, but we’re also a remarkably well-treed area. It helps when the community celebrates the arboreal neighbours. As always, trees for free & loads of booths to visit.

Street sign on a lawn has an illustration of a tree with a round crown of branches. Text reads: “LONG BRANCH
Long Branch Tree Fest
Marie Curtis Park
THIS SUNDAY
TREE FEST
12:00 pm to 4:00 pm
www.longbranchtreefest.ca”

The stage at tree fest, on the lawn near the road with houses behind parked cars. People stand or dance in front of the band playing on the stage, with a “LONG BRANCH TREE FEST” banner on the top.

Tents amid trees at the festival under blue and white skies. The closest tent has trees in buckets at the side, and the festival banner draped across the back.

People and colourful tents in the park at tree fest.

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Yes, do grow asters and other fall bloomers by the north shore of the lake if you want to see monarchs gathering in advance of crossing over Lake Ontario on their big migration to Mexico. You’ll be greeted with this sort of treat when the weather is good.

A black and orange monarch butterfly and a bright yellow sulphur butterfly perched among many bees and wasps on rich pink fall asters growing in a grassy area of a sunny park.

Three monarch butterflies clinging to bright pink asters.

A strangely folded monarch butterfly in flight, wings nearly together as it lifts up from pink flowers, the green grass below ending in a blur at a wide expanse of lake under streaky clouds and blue sky.

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Andrew Baker 🇨🇦 @abakern7.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

I go back to Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed statement on transgender rights. This should be the standard response.

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Musicology Duck @musicologyduck.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

I have not responded to the email that you sent me and which you probably spent awhile writing Forgive me it was so long and my executive functioning is completely shot

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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Goooood morning! The 2026 Snail Facts Calendars are OUT! We've got 24 days of scratchable snail fact goodness, designed by Philly artist Kelly Nichols! Advent calendars are cute as hell, a delightful tradition, and keep @skypeascientist.bsky.social funded! Get one at SquidFacts.net Pls repost ❤️

An 11x14 inch poster featuring snails, slugs, nudibranchs, and other snails! There are 24 yellow-green snail shells that you can scratch off. There's a leaf sheep and sea bunny and sea angel and fire snail and banana slug and mystery snail and ramshorn snail and candy cane snail

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Alice has been sick for days and it’s been exhausting for all of us, but beneath her pain and confusion, she’s still her sweet, gentle self. Still yells for food, appreciates catnip. Plus, more wet food than usual to get meds in, so she’s happy about that.

A fluffy tortoiseshell lying on her side on beige carpet with a rainbow catnip pillow under her head, smooching her cheek along the bottom of a drum stand.

The fluffy tortoiseshell seen from in front this time, her colourful belly exposed and her face half hidden by the long ruff. Her feet are captured in motion as she kneads the air while leaning on her catnip pillow. Records are in shelves behind her.

The same kitty with her face visible this time, one eye half-open and the other squished closed by her pillow.

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Like our newest insect singers in town, the “castanet katydid” or greater anglewing (tic tic tic tsssst) lets us know summer is drawing to a close in Toronto, the cicada on the pink box below does the same in Japan. I ❤️ ツクツクボウシ (Tsuku-tsuku-bōshi) song. I think it’s the pink box… I watched closely.

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Cheryl Rofer @cherylrofer.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

And this goes for their claims that AI has "escaped."

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Claire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

every day of my life I think about the people using “she” to describe this computer program who still need to be convinced to use it for trans women

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PressProgress @pressprogress.ca · 15/09/2026

Union Alleges Targeting After Ontario Science Centre Fires Entire Science Unit Nearly half of all people laid off last week were elected officials in OPSEU Local 549 pressprogress.ca/union-allege...

pressprogress.ca

Union Alleges Targeting After Ontario Science Centre Fires Entire Science Unit

Nearly half of all people laid off last week were elected officials in OPSEU Local 549

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Nadia Halim @nadiahalim.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

The struggle is real

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Patrick Wyman @patrickwyman.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Riley Grunch, I apologize, I was not familiar with your grasp of geopolitical vibes

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Niko Stratis @nikostratis.com · 14/09/2026

"AI makes my workflow more productive" you're not saving lives, you make YouTube videos about cell phones, take a nap

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Monday morning view, before work.

Morning sunlight glows at the far end of a tunnel of leafy trees lining a breakwater spit. Up close, a dirt path leads down to the lake in shadow. At the far end, bright blue water and sky show in the gaps between the branches.

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

I’m sitting outside for lunch and just heard a sound I haven’t heard since May… that distinctive sneaker-squeak (basketball shoes when you pivot). I only hear them a few weeks of the year. So, I pulled out Merlin since I couldn’t see any red, black or white behind me. Hiding in the bushes… RBGR!

Screenshot from Merlin app shows a spectrogram and identifies the closest (accurate) match with a photo of a beautiful songbird with a red breast, white belly, black head and back and white wing bars. Text reads:
“Best suggestions
September 14 - Mississauga, ON
Rose-breasted Grosbeak”

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

A wonderful day to celebrate water in my city. Started out leading a @lostriversto.bsky.social walk down a beloved stretch of Etobicoke Creek, now off to see the Rheostatics for a 2nd time performing the Great Lakes Suite (Alex Lifeson busy, not here this time) paradiseonbloor.com/special_even...

paradiseonbloor.com

Rheostatics Perform Great Lake Suite

Rheostatics bring their critically acclaimed double album “The Great Lakes Suite” to life at the Paradise Theatre on September...

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Ah, another lightswitch rave. I wondered why the skeet threads weren’t, uh… unspooling? Opening.

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