iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 23/10/2026

Cassie's new thing is being a shoulder cat while I'm sitting on the couch. It's similar to web she sits on one step with her front feet on the lower one. But she gets to feel me up.

Photo of a brown tabby cat laying over the shoulder of a white woman in a grey and white Washington Capitals shirt. Her front paws (the only paws visible) rest on the woman's breasts.

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 17/10/2026

Space under his bookshelf which is, we suspect, how she hurt herself (there's usually a toolbox and 6ers of beer in front of it but not right up against it, so she goes over to squish under) Cassie is a little spooked by Zelda's carrier but is normal otherwise. Bats has started winter nesting

Close up photo of one of Cassie's hind feet, showing how her toe floof is so abundant it is squashed out from under her feet when she's standing.

Photo of Zelda a toasted marshmallow-looking fluffball cat, laying on her side looking up on a pink, white, and blue quilt in front of some brown cabinets. You can see a power cord stretching up out of frame for the heated bed beneath the blanket.

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 11/10/2026

Does bongos. Last night, he was in the post-game phase, then stood up to leave and she firmly smacked the toe of his slipper. "You are not done yet!" Naturally, he returned to spanking her.

Photo of Zelda in her most favorite place, the pantry. It's very importantto climb in there right away! She will come running is she hears you open it.

A flame point cat wedged in the back of the pantry behind some snacks, salts, and broth. Her rear end is supported by a unseen plastic tub full of rarely needed pantry staples that I should probably pull out and go through.

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 10/10/2026

apparently today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #waders and while I don't usually post, I did take some pics yesterday of these two beauties

Immature great blue heron standing in a very shallow marsh, head turned to its left, large yellow eye looking at some tasty morsel swimming by.

Photo of an adult great blue heron perched on a dead tree, its left wing held partially open. It was grooming itself, but looked up at something suspicious.

Silhouette of a great blue heron in flight, the backdrop blow water with golden highlights.

Photo of a great blue heron standing in a marsh, neck snaked as it pulls out of the water, the remains of a large splash falling. (It did not get what it was hoping to eat).

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 08/10/2026

Corn is classified as meat in our household, thanks to these two

Photo of the (late) Fitz, an orange tabby tuxedo cat standing on his hind legs looking hopefully towards the kitchen, his front paws resting on the beige couch in front of him.

Photo of Cassie, doing a meerkat stance in almost the same exact place, staring hopefully into the kitchen.

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 05/10/2026

This lass. No idea why she decided to climb the screen door. @artologica.net

Photo of the underside of a squirrel, it's hind legs spread, as it clings to a screen.

Same photo but the squirrel is inverted, climbing down the screen instead of up.

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 05/10/2026

Cassie: I am but an innocent baby seeking a tiny drop of water to slake my dire thirst! How dare you accuse me of such crimes as covetousness and attempted theft of Zelda's wet food!

Photo of a long haired brown tabby cat loafed next to a stainless steel water bowl. The edges of 2 food bowls are in the foreground. I have been pushing her away from them repeatedly.

The innocence act is somewhat marred by the smirk/sneer on her little kitty face, caused by her lack of one front fang.

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 05/10/2026

David was sitting at one end of the sectional with Cassie on his chest and she suddenly freaked out, bit him (no penetration) and scratched him as she jumped away. About 25 minutes later, I'm getting ready for bed and get this text:

A photo of our fluffy criminal, a brown tabby cat, laying on the seat at the end of the sectional, enjoying the warmth of a recently vacated cushion. Underneath its the text "crime does pay."

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 04/10/2026

Hazing a great evening and I want to go right back to Pisco y Nazca after the show because OMG yum

A "Pisco punch" - orange colored cocktail in a huge balloon style wine glass, with an orange slice and a mint leaf for garnish.

I can't remember what this dish was called but it's scallops and it's delicious.

The marquee sign outside the Warner Theater in DC advertising tonight's show: Maria Bamford!

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 03/10/2026

Wee Carolina mantis from the job site today

A light brown preying mantis perched on a white person's dirty hand. It's about 2 inches long and very slender. Sitting somewhat upright, nervous about being handled.

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 01/10/2026

The water was very cold and the sun was delightfully hot and I should have brought my swim suit so I could do more than just wade. Maybe kayak and definitely swim.

Photo of a river with a couple piers jutting into it, with a lawn, a privet, and a mulberry tree in the foreground. They sky is extremely blue.

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 30/09/2026

I dint know what the deal is with the weirdness of this photo, but I assume it was due to this queen bumble bee's motion. I let her warm up on me and then she flew off just as I took the pic

Photo of a large bumble bee queen hovering over a slender white arm. Both the wing blur and the shadow of the wings appear to include detached wings, but she flew off easily and straight.

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 25/09/2026

*retaining wall There was, unfortunately, a shrub with a dead branch that scraped me up

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 23/09/2026

Oh, ableism. Perpetual ableism. (This is in a thread about the Mass. lesbian bar that used to require masking and had recently stopped)

User 1: Please explain how "masking to prevent COVID is alienating...."?

User 2: The severity and lethality of COVID has been significantly diminished and the public at large does not view it as a concern. There's a lot of social trauma and stigma around "masking" for COVID. However, cold & flu season is a regularly occurring event and many cultures mask up as a result.

Mels @maimysantiago99.norths... 4h Not masking is certainly alienating for immunocompromised people.

User 3: I think the bar owners clearly knew that and were okay with taking that risk lol

Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky... now Yeah, pretty much everyone is. Which is not a good thing, actually.

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 22/09/2026

Cassie is broken. This was after she had been digging post-poop for like 5 minutes

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 17/09/2026

Bees are loving the extra boneset hotel out front this year

A backlit bumble bee hanging from a cluster of white flowers, sleeping. Shortly after sunrise.

A brightly lit bumble bee hanging from a cluster of white flowers, sleeping. Shortly after sunrise.

A bumble bee hanging from a cluster of white flowers, sleeping. Shortly after sunrise.

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 16/09/2026

Yeah, any of the cat toys that have strings or feathers or ribbons all get put in a box after our orange made a habit of biting through the strings. He never managed to eat the strings, but he just HAD to bite through them. RIP Fitzy, you dingus

Photo of an orange cat with white muzzle, chin/neck, and paw laying flat on a grey pant-clad lap, one leg dangling. The cat looks like he is smiling contentedly, his eyes closed.

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 13/09/2026

From my Tumblr, because it's too long for here and I am tired

Screenshot from my Tumblr, username cut off.

Things I, a perimenopausal woman, a have tried in order to to get Zelda, an elderly cat with heart disease, to take her pills.

1. Pill pocket

2. Cover pill pocket with fish flakes

2a. Tell her I am going to cry and ask her why she wants me to cry

3. Cover pill with churu

4. Cover pill pocket with churu

5. Put churu inside pill pocket with pill

5a. Tell Zelda she is going to make me cry, and ask her why she hates me

6. Put churu inside pill pocket with pill then cover pill pocket with churu

7. Explain, calmly and reasonably, that the pills are why she feels less shitty and she needs to keep taking them to avoid feeling shitty again

8. Beg

8a. Beg her not to make me cry

9. Angrily demand she take them

10. Cry

11. Repeatedly use pill shooter, because it only shoots the pill about a third of the time, and she struggles and bites and scratches

Then I cry some more.

The last one is the only way it ever works.

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 11/09/2026

It COULD BE for one of several completely normal reasons, buuuuuuuut

Photo of Mike Trapp on Dropout.tv show Smartypants holding a PowerPoint remote and looking offscreen. It is captioned with what he was saying during this point in the episode: "I have ignored that because it's convenient for my argument."

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 11/09/2026

Regal beagle*, goofy boy, and 40 second blep for your not talking about an old tragedy pleasure *not actually a beagle

Photo of a very handsome tuxedo cat laying on a blue and white wool blanketon a black sofa (pink blanket next to him) his mouth slightly ajar.

Photo of a mostly white somewhat fluffy cat sitting on a tile floor, looking down. Her tongue is sticking out just a bit.

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 05/09/2026

Zelda's doing well enough that she's coming out to hang out in the great room with me. We just had a brush session and now she's napping. If I get up, she'll get up and follow me, so I guess I have no choice but to stay on the couch.

A mostly white medium hair cat is laying on her side curved like a comma. She has a shaved spot on her front leg, which is pressed up againsta pet hair brush.

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 04/09/2026

This makes sense since I spent my life in CT, MD, VA, and NC. Though for a bunch of the questions I could have used check boxes vs radio buttons because there were a lot of vocabulary questions I was like "I use these 5 terms interchangeably"

Screenshot of an internet test results page featuring a map of the United States in thestyle of a heat map in red and blue. The text reads, "Your dialect map. Redder areas talk more like you; bluer areas least. You talk most like someone from Delaware. About 50% of your answers match a typical resident" with the url MyDialect.us

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 30/08/2026

The ladies were working overtime at the cute mines today

Photo of medium haired brown tabby sitting in a doorway, her pupils wide and her head tilted curiously.

Photo of a white medium hair cat with golden brown markings on her face and one partially shaved leg standing on a linoleum tile floor with her tongue sticking out.

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 30/08/2026

So, I dunno if anyone who follows me is a climber, but.... Qbit.ly/BoycottFreezePledge

Screenshot of an Instagram post by ClimbingWorkersUnited. The image is a light blue background with frosty edges and a grayscale fist held up in the center. Red text imposed over it reads "Pledge to freeze your membership in solidarity with Movement workers" in all caps. The caption asks, "Are you ready to sign the pledge to either boycott or freeze your Movement Gyms membership"

Screenshot of an Instagram post by ClimbingWorkersUnited. The image is a light blue background with snow and a smaller grayscale fist held up in the bottom right corner. It says "Pledge to Freeze!" in red text at the top, then, in black text on a very rectangular ice cube says, "Workers have been fighting for years for a union contract that would make Movement gyms safer, cleaner, and better-run for everyone.

Movement has repeatedly responded with stalling & union-busting. The company faces unfair labor practice charges over more than 30 alleged violations of federal labor law.

But YOU have the power to stop Movement's union- busting! Please sign our pledge to say you'll boycott or freeze your membership in solidarity with workers if/when they call for it. Show Movement, you won't tolerate the company using your dues to union-bust!" Beneath that block of text is, once againin red, "SOLIDARITY IS COOLER, SIGN THE PLEDGE: Qbit.ly/BoycottFreezePledge (url is case sensitive).

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 27/08/2026

She's napping on her favorite blanket (a baby blanket my mom's cousin made for me)

Photo of a cream colored cat with a toasty brown tail curled up on a pink, blue, and white blanket.

Same cat, almost the same pose, from a different angle. Her eyes are cracked open just a bit. Here face is also toasty brown.

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 23/08/2026

Fortunately, I came in before the guy on the jet ski decided to use the exact spot I was swimming (about 30 feet past the end of our pier)

Photo of a white woman in a cream colored bathing suit with a floral print, wearing sunglasses and a blue bandana, a striped towelaround her shoulders, sitting on a wooden bench with the river and a bit of shoreline behind her.

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 23/08/2026

Saved a friend from drowning on my way in from kayaking this morning. Just finished swimming and after lunch I'm going back in 🩷🩷🩷

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 22/08/2026

Check out these fab rings I got from @peculiarityshop.bsky.social (the wedding band was made by me, the other 2 are from The Peculiarity Shop)

White woman's hand with 3 rings on it. On the ring finger with a white gold wedding band is a ring with filligree on the band and 3 oval rose quartz stones. On the middle is a ring with a really cool striated stone that is blue but turns purple and then golden as the angle of the light changes. It is mostly blue and purple in this photo.

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 17/08/2026

What's a 9 letter word for white supremacy?

Screen cap of a crossword puzzle with a clue highlighted. The clue is "Key catalyst in America's westward expansion".

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 09/08/2026

She's been doing really well, regularity-wise, though not as well as is ideal, so if it IS the poop, I'm guessing it's a big plug that had been in thr middle of the intestines that now is in a bad spot lower down. She did poop this evening though, so who knows.

Photo of Zelda, a medium-hair whiteish cat with flame point markings- golden ears, tail, and face- laying on a pink, white, and blue blanket on a tile floor. In front of her, laying stretched out on her side, a brown tabby is reaching toward her, paws at the edge of the baby blanket. Cass wanted to play SO desperately, but knows Zelda doesn't ever want to play with her, and showed SO MUCH RESTRAINT and didn't try regardless of Zelda's feelings on the matter.

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 09/08/2026

Oh my god, they included 2 flies. Scully's lab WOULD NEVER

Photo of a small clear single stud piece black fly with white wings painted on it stuck to a grey plate next to a black 1 by 2 brick connecting 2 1 by 8 black bricks in a corner (though only 2 bumps visible on one and one bump on the other).

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 09/08/2026

8 months after my birthday, my husband finally gave me my 45th birthday present. It is impossible to do Lego with Cassie around. She keeps trying to eat the Legos, the Tupperware bin I put the first bag of pieces in, the instruction booklet, and, of course, the box.

Photo of a Lego kit box. The kit is Scully's autopsy lab that came as a bonus to the X-Files Mulder's Office kit.

Photo of my queen in Lego minifig form: Special Agent Fans Scully, medical doctor.

Photo of our brown tabby cat with herface wedged into the Lego box.

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 06/08/2026

I exchange this kitten photo of the tale of the frog union

Slightly blurry photo of a brown tabby cat, just a year old, with one front paw pushinginto the neck of a white woman with glasses and green hair. The other paw is on the woman's mouth.

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 05/08/2026

Batman wants to know why I'm giggling

Photo of a tuxedo cat sprawled on his belly. His tail, which is always curled, is looped over his back like a roller coaster loop. His hind legs are stretched out behind him.

Photo of the samecat taken from directly above. One ofhis hind legs is bent, the other totally straight.

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 01/08/2026

@bskysupport.bsky.social one of the lists I have pinned is not in the feeds. When I go to lists, it shows as pinned, but I can't find it up here when I'm browsing

Screenshot ofthe top ofthe bluesky app feed where it shows lists that are pinned.

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Mels @maimysantiago99.northsky.social · 01/08/2026

Dad dropped the fledgelings off at the pool to run errands (he was getting snacks) (don't worry, I'm cleaning the bird bath today)

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