iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 12h

TC 10 Mile is done! Woo, that was fun. Cheering for the other runners was almost as good as running

A vast crowd of runners approaches the starting line of the 10 mile race, inbetween two buildings, with the dawn sky lightening behind them

A map showing Lia’s trajectory along the race route

The small carton of delicious chocolate milk I had at the end

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Lake Superior! Live! @lake-superior.live · 20h

Current* conditions near Bayfield, WI:

View looking SSE from Port Superior Marina overlooking Pikes Bay in Lake Superior. // Image captured at (local time): 2026-10-04 04:43:08 CDT (about 5 min. prior to this post) // Image sourced from: windy.com // Current Temp in Bayfield: 50 F | 10 C // Precip: clear sky // Wind: WSW at 6 mph | 9 kph // Humidity: 91%

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Interesting and well written book about dogs and how they experience the world. Made me tear up when the author talked about her own dog, as things related to elderly dogs always do. Jolie would approve but she’s off at a slumber party.

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

it appears that someone has been feasting on orzo while tucked cozily into a half-empty case of beer, crapping all the while sir, your comeuppance awaits

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Jolie reports that Fall colors are at about 30% for marathon weekend. Back to you Bob

a beautiful dog with alert ears sits on a ledge with the Mississippi River in the background, framed by some nice red maple color, but the trees are still mostly green

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Jeff VanderMeer @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

They quoted me in this New Yorker piece about AI today. www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

“Let’s say there’s a world or time line I exist in where A.I. has been subject to regulation. It is ethical. It has no footprint environmentally,” the novelist Jeff VanderMeer, a prominent critic of A.I., told me over the phone. “With those guardrails in place, would I read an A.I. book? All I can say is no. And the reason is, in part, because I want to read something coming from a particular mind.” Using A.I., he said, “feels like a betrayal of the whole point of why you’re a writer.”

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Ugh, I don't suppose anyone on here has a box of old Minnesota Monthly back issues sitting around, do they? I'm looking for the November 1991 issue.

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I mean, it already sounds kind of alarming

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

6:55 a.m.! Who in their right mind would sign up for a 10 mile race that starts at such an ungodly hour?! The sun won't even be up! it's an outrage! oh yes that would be me, I signed up for it I paid actual money for this indignity

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Hey everyone, I'm excited to share with you all this chapter from Antoine Volodine's forthcoming novel Living in Fire. It's titled "Aunt Yoanna" and it's my favorite. With intro by @brianevenson.bsky.social @electricliterature.com @uminnpress.bsky.social electricliterature.com/aunt-yoanna-...

electricliterature.com

My Aunt's Collection of Miniature Men Is Probably Not Harmless - Electric Literature

“Aunt Yoanna” from LIVING IN FIRE by Antoine Volodine, recommended by Brian Evenson

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Christopher Hale @christopherjhale.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

“When our government laid siege to the city of Minneapolis with wanton violence and the killing of those who had spoken up in resistance, we were outraged.” “We could not believe that the mask had become the new symbol of American justice.” — Cardinal Robert McElroy

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

This book is super interesting, basically the premise is that focusing on cooperation in the natural world (vs competition) could show the way to not fucking up the planet. Nice to read something hopeful.

Sweet in Tooth and Claw by Kristin Ohlson

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I suppose I’m showing my age but I am still a bit taken aback when I see swear words in the newspaper (though Yvette Hoffman is 100% justified in uttering them)

screenshot from the Minnesota Star Tribune in which Yvette Hoffman says of her shooter Vance Boelter, "He’s not a patriot… he’s a piece of shit."

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I’ve read this before but picked it up just randomly and the next thing I knew it was four hours later and I was almost to the end. Worth revisiting. Just a couple Minnesota guys trying to negotiate the awful world of wealthy East Coast assholes

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I have gone on thinking about this and actually the final season of The Americans is kind of a stinker, too. Some good parts, some really dull and pointless. Oh well. Still my favorite

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

No point arguing with these lists, but I do think some of these shows are being judged by their fine early seasons without consideration of their piss-poor later seasons (cough cough Game of Thrones, The Office, Girls cough) Anyway, the Americans is my favorite show, so far

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I was just drinking some water and thinking how cool it is that the City of Lakes Half Marathon gives finishers a pint glass rather than a medal. It’s great to get something that’s actually useful! Race directors of Bluesky, take note

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Finished reading this essay collection this morning. Emergency service work in small town Wisconsin is not for the faint of heart. Between this and Beckett things are looking bleak. Good book though

Population:485 by Michael Perry, subtitled Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

saw Waiting for Godot at the Guthrie last night, AMA, I will have no answers

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the lakeshore undead @thecorlew.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

friendly reminder that if you’re worried about cultural decline you can just pick up a book published by a small press and feel way better

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

I don't know why this week has felt so long and stupid but it really truly has and I'm glad I'm not alone in this unfortunately I have all these great things to do all weekend so I can't just lie here

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

This cookbook has the most AI-ass looking cover, and yet it was published in 2021. Is this the secret model source for all those shitty posters?

The Campfire Cast Iron Cookbook, with very AI looking fonts and that certain je ne sais quoi that makes you think no humans were involved

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

OH NO Bayfield has been attacked by a giant spider!

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

This is a pretty strange book, a memoir/essay by an anthropologist who has survived a violent bear encounter. Lots to think about, hard to summarize

In the Eye of the Wild by Nastassja Martin, translated by Sophie Lewis. In the background a beautiful dog is occupying Lia’s lap

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

City of Lakes Half Marathon, 2:04:13. I had really hoped to break two hours but alas, it was not to be. Next time maybe

a map showing a running route that begins on the west side of Lake Harriet in Minneapolis, loops around, then a loop around Bde Maka Ska, then you do that whole thing again, then the end point is at the north end of Lake Harriet

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ashley fairbanks @ziibiing.com · 12/09/2026

i am incredibly excited to share our research about how paying people’s rent through mutual aid made an impact on minnesota this year we accidentally collected more data than anyone ever has for an effort like this, and can very seriously say we prevented an eviction bubble that everyone expected

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

speaking of good reads, this is a great magazine. Always interesting, always cool photos. Look at these slime molds! I thought this was a sculpture from the Fine Arts building at first.

the September-October 2026 issue of minnesota Conservation Volunteer, my favorite and longest-running magazine subscription

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

yikes! dragon about to chomp on Albert Lea!

weather radar showing a green dragon-like shape making a menacing gesture toward Albert Lea in southern Minnesota, with a string of storms ahead of its « mouth »

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

On reviewing my recent skeets, I was startled to discover a striking resemblance between myself and a Blakiston's Fish Owl this happens to everybody, right?!

Two images posted one after the other, one of a Blakiston's fish owl, one of Lia, at the same angle, with similarly wide eyes and pointy nose/beak, the owl with pointy feathers atop its head and Lia's sunglasses at a similar angle. The fish owl is looking pretty cute, Lia not so much, as this picture was meant to show her post-fall nasal bruising and eye brow gash

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Jolie the day we brought her home. She peed in the car, tried to run away as soon as we opened the car door, and refused to come inside the house. Eventually I propped the door open and she ran inside to get away from me as I approached. It was a tough beginning.

A beautiful dog with an alarmed and distrustful expression, lying on a blanketed backseat with her only friend in the world, a green plush dinosaur

The beautiful dog and her stuffed dinosaur in a snowy, fenced backyard, staring into the middle distance, trying to cope with the fact of her abduction

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

On the flipside, I think everyone should do these things for fun! Tell stories! Draw pictures! Run slow races! Sing even if you sound like a territorial raccoon on a rampage! But do it yourself, because otherwise what is the point?

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Here’s the thing, not everyone gets to do everything. I like running but I’ll never be an elite runner. I love the idea of singing in a band but I haven’t got the chops for that. I accept this. Why do people think they should be able to write a book if they’re not willing or able to do the writing?

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

If you like to fantasize about buying a falling-down hovel in the woods and fixing it up, this is a fun read that will make your Zillow addiction worse

Cabin: Off the Grid Adventures with a Clueless Craftsman, by Patrick Hutchison

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

this book was somehow simultaneously tough, horrifying, and fun. Had to skim certain paragraphs that promised to be extra gruesome

Bad Call: A Summer Job on a New York Ambulance, by Mike Scardino

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

NYTimes Connections just trolling Minneapolis here. How is this not a right answer? WTF

Shot of a Connections board with Purple, Corvette, Doves, and Beret selected, as these are all featured in the titles of famous Prince songs

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Thank you to Walking Minnesota for this work of public service, showing all the crop art to those of us without the time or patience for that line www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHA-...

youtube.com

Crop Art Show at the Minnesota State Fair |August 30, 2026

YouTube video by Walking Minnesota

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Okay, so I was enjoying this Outlier game thing but seriously, I don't need 3-4 emails reminding me to "save my streak," wtf

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Mandalay Kitchen was really good! Excited to eat there again

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

I'm not sure what my past self was thinking, signing up for a race in September. It's not until the 13th so there is still hope for decent weather, but I am feeling pessimistic

An email from Run Minnesota informing the recipient about the logistics for the City of Lakes Half Marathon

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Last time I stepped outside the air both smelled and felt like chicken soup. Not making that mistake again. Stay hydrated, fairgoers, it's gonna be a nasty one.

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

About once a day, while I'm sitting on the couch, Jolie sits next to me and progressively occupies more of my lap, first with paws, then head and chest, and finally she rolls on her back for belly rubs. We call this the hour of love Pics taken with my laptop because I can't move to reach my phone

A beautiful dog lies belly up across the lap of a woman wearing a red zip up shirt, receiving a belly rub, as she should

The beautiful dog, softly lit, paws gently at the woman, whose hand has remained still for too long

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Helpful advice from UMN Extension on dealing with drought in the garden. I've been having fun finding ways to recycle some of the water we use indoors. Dehumidifier's full? Dump it on a tree! Rinsing some veggies? Catch water in a bucket and dump it on a tree! etc. extension.umn.edu/garden-and-h...

extension.umn.edu

Watering the yard and garden in extreme drought

Find out how to prioritize what to water, and how to reuse water safely to keep landscapes healthy during extreme drought conditions.

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Lia Swope Mitchell @liaswopemitchell.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

related: a little industry bird tells me that State Fair time tends to be hard for local restaurants. So if you can swing it, make sure to stop by your favorites old and new

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