iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 24/09/2026

Lumpy was looking an awful lot like Regency dandy Beau Brummell today. Curious what @dieworkwear.bsky.social would think of his cravat and general style

A large beautiful fluffy gray and white cat with green eyes. His floofy chest ruff is parted down the middle and looks like a Regency gentleman’s cravat, or maybe glorious Victorian facial hair

An illustration of famous Regency gent and OG menswear influencer Beau Brummell, also wearing a cravat

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 31/08/2026

I’m sure most of you aren’t watching the US Open right now which means you missed this instantly iconic moment, now available in gif form

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 29/07/2026

For you www.instagram.com/p/DCV21o0T98Y/

an illustration of a Kat-onigiri - a cat shaped like an onigiri

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 27/07/2026

Please admire his shape thank you

A photograph of a large gray and white fluffy cat sitting on a grey and white rug next to a brown cardboard scratcher bed. His shape is sort of like a Shmoo crossed with a Hershey's Kiss, like a fluffy bowling pin dressed in a gray overcoat with a giant fluffy white cravat, and two enormous paws at the end of two sturdy little legs. He is perfect.

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 26/07/2026

Hey fellow Gen X friends, here’s something fun for you. Who remembers those cheap black torchiere lamps everyone had? Did you know they’re now a hot item on eBay priced from $150-225 for uncanny valley 90s nostalgia reenactments that look nothing like the 90s?

A screenshot of an eBay listing for a once-inexpensive black 90s torchiere lamp priced at a whopping $224.99. The screenshot image shows a faux-90s tableau that looks like someone’s idea of the ‘90s, with a big TV and ugly armchair and plants. On the wall are three posters: Nirvana, MTV, and an image of the Twin Towers which you will hopefully remember did not fall until after the ‘90s

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 24/07/2026

Etsy suggested I might like this "abstract" metal sculpture which of course I clicked on and which of course I am sharing with all of you. I'm helpfully providing the link because I'm 100% sure one of you is going to buy it. Additional details provided in the alt text. www.etsy.com/listing/4342...

A screenshot of an Etsy listing of a hand holding a silver-colored metal sculpture that's on sale for $72.20 and has a description that reads "Handcrafted Polished Metal Sculpture – Abstract Animal-Inspired Art Piece, Unique Desk or Shelf D... The sculpture is clearly a dick and balls. But that's not the best part!

The best part is that it's a dick and balls walking stick. This is a screenshot of a hand holding the same silver-colored metal sculpture showing the three pieces of wood that screw together so you can also use the sculpture as a cane or walking stick

This is another screenshot of the hand holding the sculpture, with the sculpture facing forward, perhaps to show off how anatomically correct the dick is and how wrinkly the balls are

This is another screenshot of the hand holding the sculpture, with the stick screwed in

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 23/07/2026

This text I just sent a friend kinda sums up the national mood lately

A screenshot of a WhatsApp convo that reads

white bubble from friend: "How are you" (with a typo, please no one point out the typo)

green bubble from me: Kind of in a shit mood and trying to avoid my own doom spiral but otherwise fine

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 22/07/2026

Hi everyone! I hope you're having a great Wednesday. Just wanted to make sure everyone knows what a baby heron looks like. Ok bye see you later www.instagram.com/p/DateeyJCE3Y/

This is a screenshot of an Instagram post from a rescue organization featuring a bearded animal protection officer with a tiny rescued heron baby on his hand

This is a close up of the heron baby and it's like if you stuck a novelty beak and some regular bird-sized feet on a wad of cat hair

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 16/07/2026

Thank you, here he is in all his glory

A glorious fluffy gray and white cat lit by a rosy sunset

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 16/07/2026

From my collection. Somewhat more recent

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 15/07/2026

Monty Python and the Goalie Fail (I'm truly sorry for this)

three despondent England fans in the stadium, all men in their 60s, two wearing knight costumes

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 11/07/2026

Sorry for taking a photo of my TV like an elderly person but holy shit the crew in this one box, including my forever fav

A photo of spectators at a football match and it’s all legends including R9 and Kaká

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 10/07/2026

My mom, forever a mom and forever more on the hustle than I am, texted with this when I said you helped share it. (Santa Caleb was a photo of Caleb the cat [RIP] with a Santa hat) a.co/d/0hbzbHvG

Darth! He would probably prefer Grab the Groom.
I loved that Santa Caleb!

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 10/07/2026

@darthbluesky.bsky.social darth if u are still online can u do your thing pls, I will share this Lumpy video with his new pineapple in thanks

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 30/06/2026

Texted some World Cup thoughts to @brianphillips.lol earlier

Text convo:

“I'm rooting for Paraguay just because their coach is wearing a suit (it's sports fashion feeling night at my house)”

“I’m rooting for Paraguay because they’re not Germany “

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 26/06/2026

Also I could have sat for 100 years staring at this painting. Ok enough bombarding a stranger now!

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 26/06/2026

The woman in the reddish jacket here was my favorite. Not only was she slowly taking photos up close, she also had a large magnifying glass. Member hours at the Met are the funniest

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 26/06/2026

That portrait on the left was my favorite of the paintings, and I loved the drawing on the right. These as well, for various reasons – the folds of fabric in the first two??? Wow. (Pardon the terrible photography, I was trying to be unobtrusive, unlike some of the other patrons I saw)

A drawing of a woman and child, I believe the Madonna and Jesus, as done by Raphael

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 22/06/2026

How does this man just keep getting better, I love him so much

An image of Ronaldo O Fenômeno telling the world he likes tennis more than football now

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 19/06/2026

Did I buy these sheets because they match Lumpy’s eyes? Yes I absolutely did

Photo of a beautiful giant fluffy gray and white cat with green eyes on a green sheet

Photo of a beautiful giant fluffy gray and white cat with green eyes on a green sheet doing yoga

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 28/05/2026

We moved into our new apartment yesterday and already someone is such a brave boy

A photo of a very long boi named Lumpy who is grey and white and fluffy, standing with back feet on a small table and front feet on a credenza, surveying his domain

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 27/05/2026

I asked this question because all these years without my LPs and CDs (sob sob sob, I miss you all and I regret everything) has me forgetting my faves. But ya'll helped me remember, so here's one of my cannon no-skips

the album cover for The B-52s Wild Planet, with all five members looking FABULOUS

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 25/05/2026

That's what his foster called him in the Craigslist post with this photo

BABY LUMPY!!!!!! a little fluffy gray and white kitten with a too short bottlebrush tail and the biggest butt you've ever seen on a cat

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 25/05/2026

For reference, this is how large his paws are

absolutely ginormous white paws on a Mac keyboard. They look like squashed marshmallows at the base of very furry sturdy tree trunks. I call them his stompers.

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 25/05/2026

Lumpy’s fur does too when he cleans it!

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 11/05/2026

Imagine knowing your neighbor lives alone but you still sometimes hear her yell, in an extremely high-pitched voice, "CHEEEEEEESE! CHEEEEESE! I GOT OUR FAVORITE CHEESE!"

A photo of a giant fluffy grey and white cat standing on his hind legs with his mega front paws gripping my hand so he can eat some of the white cheese I am holding (his favorite is Dietz & Watson white American but only the kind they slice fresh behind the deli counter, not the prepackaged stuff which tastes like plastic)

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 29/04/2026

Here's a bonus photo of Lumpy if you need to be bribed

a photo of a large gray and white cat asleep in a sunny bed by a window

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 13/04/2026

This is an actual image of Real Zuck meeting AI Zuck

The Spiderman meme with two Spidermen pointing at each other

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 08/04/2026

@darthbluesky.bsky.social guess who turned 11 on Sunday, the cheese lover himself

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 08/04/2026

Well! I got this comment on last week's newsletter. Y'all I have not talked to this person in probably 12 years, and they remember this experience SO WELL. I have never felt more appreciated in my career as a UX Researcher, nor more validated than by the kicker www.leahreich.com/i-promise-im...

A comment that reads:

Leah — we worked together a long time ago at that little connected car startup in SF (Automatic Labs). Your dad's observation about spec documents hit me hard because that's essentially what I do every day now, except the audience is an LLM instead of a human engineer.

I build the data infrastructure that sits behind AI products — pipelines, schemas, the invisible plumbing. And here's what nobody in the AI hype cycle talks about: the single biggest factor in whether an AI agent gives you something useful or gives you garbage is how well a human being described the data to it beforehand. Not the prompt. The metadata. Column names, table descriptions, documentation. The boring stuff.

You and I both remember the OBD-II lesson — the technician wanted to dump raw codes into the app, and it took sitting real drivers in a car to show him that 'P0442 — Evaporative Emission System Leak Detected (small leak)' means nothing to a person who thinks their car is about to explode. I'm doing the same translation work now, just for a different kind of non-expert. The LLM is the driver who has no idea what the check engine light means.

Your dad is right that this is spec-writing from the '50s. And you're right that natural language skills matter. But I'd push it one step further: the people best positioned for this moment aren't just the ones who can write good prompts. They're the ones who can describe the world clearly enough that a machine — or a scared driver, or a confused user — can actually make sense of it. That was your whole thing at Automatic. Turns out it's the whole thing now too

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 19/03/2026

oh do I have a photo for you

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 18/03/2026

How is this both the worst and the best name I've ever heard

a screenshot of a bag of protein candy called "Hormbles Chormbles"

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 10/03/2026

I love living in a world in which the primary way to become obscenely wealthy or even financially secure is to produce advertising under the guise of "content" and/or be a self-promoting, self-centered sociopath. This is great! If anyone needs me I will be ejecting myself into the sun later

A screenshot about Zuckerberg and Alexandr Wang, who is now worth $14 billion

A screenshot about fashion substackers making nearly $300,000 a year

A screenshot about a company that helped plan January 6 and is now getting lots of government contracts

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 06/03/2026

It’s so great that so many major sports organizations have gotten in bed with spots betting!!! What could possibly go wrong!!!!! Tennis player receives threat: "Win and you won't have any hands left to play tennis with" www.reddit.com/r/tennis/s/K...

"Win and you won't have any hands left to play tennis with"

The extortionist was clearly aware of very specific personal information regarding Geerts' family members. "They sent the names of my parents, their address, and even my father's identification number. Everything was correct," Michael says. This was followed by a photo of a revolver.

The next day, just before his match against the Greek player Stefanos Sakellaridis, another message arrived. It emphasized once again that he had to lose the match. "They wrote that my parents' house was being watched and that they also had information about my girlfriend."

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The Antwerp native decided to inform the tournament organization about the situation. "As a result, the match was postponed by half an hour." Ultimately, he decided to play anyway. "I even had a lead in the first set, but then I started thinking about it again. I couldn't get it out of my head."

By sharing his story, Geerts wants to draw attention to the problem, as he is not alone. Geerts believes the intention of the threats is to throw players mentally off balance. "If these are fake threats, they probably do it to break me psychologically and give my opponent a better chance. Unfortunately, they partly succeeded in that (Geerts eventually lost the match)."

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 04/03/2026

Have you ever seen a cat whose facial expression better represents how all of us feel these days

A fluffy gray and white white cat staring pissily with his cheek smushed against a pillow

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 17/02/2026

May I introduce the drama king, aka the bravest boy who survived another day without getting dinner before 5pm

A large fluffy gray and white cat who has clearly fainted from hunger

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 11/02/2026

Happy 30th birthday to Daniil Medvedev, one of the great philosophers of our age. I’m sure @girinathan.bsky.social will agree with me here

A screenshot of a Medvedev quote: I think it’s actually easier to enjoy life when you have no brain. Because then you just scream - no matter if the guy is serving or not - you just scream and enjoy life. I wonder what that is, I want to see how it is inside because I have no idea.

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 09/02/2026

We are not. May I remind you of this photo

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 04/02/2026

Here he is thinking in the thinking box in case you wanted to see how good he is at it

A beautiful fluffy gray and white cat with green eyes sitting in a box, thinking

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 04/02/2026

Have you ever seen so many thoughts

A beautiful gray and white cat in a box, thinking

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 04/02/2026

Oh there’s a very impolite punchline I want to use here but I cannot in public, please here take this

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 04/02/2026

Guys I know everything is incredibly bad but please stop for a moment and enjoy this photo of my fucking amazing cat. Look at this shape. The box behind him is his thinking box, he sits in it and thinks

A photo of a very sturdy and very fluffy gray and white cat in front of a box

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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 20/01/2026

I don’t watch football in any form but I’ve been convinced to turn on this Indiana game while I am trapped on the sofa with my own personal football

A photo of a large gray and white cat curled up next to me on the sofa

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