iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

First day of classes 26-27, which marks my 27th year in libraries, and my 27th academic year 🎉 I usually take a first-day-of-school picture every year. First set of pictures are my first day of classes (1st pic is day before) here in Maine, and today (2019–2026). 2026 Max has seen some things!

Me, taking a selfie in a bathroom mirror, the day before classes begin. I’m wearing a blue button up shirt, blue jeans, and a gray cardigan. I am wearing dark glasses, and I am smiling real wide.

First day of classes 2019 selfie in my new office. I’m wearing another gray cardigan, a plaid shirt, and dark glasses. I am smiling-ish.

2026 selfie on the first day of classes, in a full length mirror I’m wearing blue jeans, a belt, a navy sweatshirt, and a mustard yellow bandana.

2026 Max, first day of classes selfie in my office. I am wearing a blue sweatshirt, and a mustard bandana.

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Displaced Appalachian here 🙋‍♂️ I miss home every day, nothing compares.

Green grass, cows in the distance, and the Appalachian mountains just beyond.

Fog on the Appalachian mountains during fall. The road bends, and there is a tree off to the right with golden leaves.

Fog in the Appalachian highlands. Fall trees to the right, gold and some green.

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

I’m a librarian and was able to purchase the card catalog that I used daily during my first library job. And my second library job, I got to take all of the stampers with me when I left because we received much less print.

Image of a card catalog on top of a small wooden stand. The card catalog sits in a small green room, on top are vintage library stamps, several books and other ephemera. The wall has cork board tiles, and there are post cards attached.

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

I love to write. I write often. I’ve even published a few very niche works. I never refer to myself as a writer. AI might change my stance on this, simply as a middle finger. I’m so weary of all the suggestions to let AI ‘help’. I may be an imperfect writer, a bad writer even, but I’ll take it.

Wilbur, a golden potato chihuahua, in the background. A keyboard and a BYOK writer deck in the foreground, sitting on a table.

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Relax on a cool morning with this yard potato 🥔

A small Chihuahua sits in an outcropping of ivy. He is looking at the camera.

A small Chihuahua sits in an outcropping of ivy, looking off into the distance.

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

Without downloading new pics what is it like to date (and/or be married to) you? Edit, mine: I contain multitudes.

A sticker with a smiling cowgirl and the text around it says: I’m the only hell my mama ever raised.

Image of a t-shirt with the text: chicken tendies, and picture of delicious chicken tenders, with a small sauce cup in the center.

Meme with the text:

My overstimulated ass
Someone making an annoying noise

Is this a crime
deserving the death sentence?

Two images of a contemplative David Lynch - the text reads:

One day, the sadness will end.
But I don't think today's the day.

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

In case you are curious about the graphic on my pencil bag. Inspiration ✨

Pencil bag with a graphic of Edward Cullen, in a thong, dropping it low, low, low, with the text: this is the ass of a killer Bella.

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

For #1000wordsofsummer I have gone the way of the writerdeck, using the BYOK. Game changing. I missed a couple of days of 1000 words, and without meaning to I got through about 3,500 words. Distraction free writing! 🏆 This is my second year doing 1000 words; I love the emails we receive each day!

A view of my writing set up at a local cafe; keyboard in the front, e-reader propped up in back, with the book Wild Dark Shore on the screen. My water bottle off to the right, with a gender affirming care sticker peeking out, and my BYOK writing deck on top of the bar, with flowers off to the right.

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Took Mae (poodle) to the groomer and they always embellish her with tiny bows and a bandana. Mae doesn’t do well without her buds so when she gets home she clings to either Zoe or Wilbur. I grabbed a photo or two bc the bows/bandanas dont last long, and they look like Sears/Penney’s portraits 😭

Two small dogs in a large gray and tan dog bed. Mae, small apricot poodle with a lavender bandana and white bow, sits next to Zoe, a black and white Shih Tzu. They are staring directly at the camera.

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

It’s graduation day at Colby; I am reflecting on having witnessed 26 years of graduations, thinking of all the students I’ve seen come and go, all the students I’ll miss seeing each day, I woke up this morning thinking of this student in particular — I hope your cap/gown made their way back to you!

Whoever took the cap and gown from Davis Science 101, please return them
ASAP.
I need them for graduation.
Thanks.

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

I’m wearing long johns, but I’m at the beach. Maine, your coastline never disappoints.

ON THE BEACH - Mary Oliver

On the beach, at dawn: four small stones clearly hugging each other.
How many kinds of love
might there be in the world,
and how many formations might they make
and who am I ever to imagine I could know such a marvelous business?
When the sun broke it poured willingly its light over the stones
that did not move, not at all, just as, to its always generous term, it shed its light on me,
my own body that loves, equally, to hug another

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

And I say: clementine bramble you don’t have the sense the good lord gave you!

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

At a faculty writing retreat for the next couple of days— we write our goals on poster before getting started. I get anxious when I write anything while being PERCEIVED so I had to look up how to spell ‘sabbatical’ which is how things are going on this fine Tuesday morning 🫡

A large white post-it note sheet hangs on a wall, the lower half pictured, I’ve written: sabbatical proposal; conference presentation.

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

My dad is in Reno visiting his cousin- he hasn’t seen her since 1997, and he’s so excited that he’s forgotten to check in to let me know how’s he’s doing. I finally heard from him, first time since Friday; text about the front door is how you know we’re raised proper (southern, appalachian, etc.).

Me: I can see that you read that; just text me to let me know you're alive and having a good time.

Daddy: Max, I made it. I'm at Judith's house now and boy. Is it beautiful she let me even come in the front door.
Hev Max

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

HAPPY TRANS DAY OF VISIBILITY BUDS 🏳️‍⚧️ xoxo, a middle aged butch #transdayofvisibility

A selfie of me, Max, in a pink polka dotted satin scarf, blue sweatshirt, and a semi smile.

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

I texted my little sister because I used to bring her with me on these night raids to my pick up truck and she remembers this:

Henny, this is my fav sociologist - I love her, read all her books, share all her videos, etc. Do you remember when I would do this? lol
Sister:
I absolutely remember that!
Me: A whole mess.
Sister:

And then mom and daddy would come outside thinking something was wrong

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

If I never achieve any other writing accolades in my entire life, I’d be okay with that.

Tressie McMillan Cottom • @tress... • 20h Busted down a killer muffuletta on the way to be fitted for a dress. My sister is aghast.
I'm of the opinion that if the dress doesn't fit after a sandwich, then the dress *did not fit*.
I'm so happy to be old.

maxbowman @maxgbowman.bsk... • 16h
Long ago I got married to a man (mistakes were made and my mama wouldn't allow me to eat ice cream ahead of the wedding, so l bought dry ice and stored it in the bed of my truck. I should've known then that I was queer.

Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social
This is one of the best micro stories that I have read. 10/10 would read again.

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

Desk decorations: so many cough drops.

View from my desk of the lower portion of my monitor, which has a fall foliage background. Sitting on the bottom of the monitor is a small digital cat clock, post its and a ceramic whale that has an open mouth and is full of cough drops.

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

The juxtaposition of these is kind of amazing.

Text from a post that appeared right above this one:

George Pearkes
@peark.es@bsky.brid.gy
My wife made the magic chocoflan for dessert tonight and reader? I had three servings

Mitch Rose
@mrose@universeodon.com
@peark.es
How many servings did you give to the hungry

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

Nothing to see here, just a regular icicle that definitely doesn’t look like an ice dong. Nope. No ice dongs here.

An icicle laying on the snowy ground. The icicle has a phallic shape.

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

This has been on my door for the past couple of years. Sometimes I need to read it again and again. In case it’s something you need too.

Excerpted from an Essence Magazine article by Octavia Butler
"So do you really believe that in the future we're going to have the kind of trouble you write about in your books?" a student asked me as I was signing books after a talk. The young man was referring to the troubles I'd described in Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents, novels that take place in a near future of increasing drug addiction and illiteracy, marked by the popularity of prisons and the unpopularity of public schools, the vast and growing gap between the rich and everyone else, and the whole nasty family of problems brought on by global warming.
"I didn't make up the problems," I pointed out. 'All I did was look around at the problems we're neglecting now and give them about 30 years to grow into full-fledged disasters.'
"Okay," the young man challenged. "So what's the answer?"
"There isn't one," I told him.
"No answer? You mean we're just doomed?" He smiled as though he thought this might be a joke.
"No," I said. "I mean there's no single answer that will solve all of our future problems. There's no magic bullet. Instead there are thousands of answers-at least. You can be one of them if you choose to be."
- Octavia Butler, Brave New Worlds. Essence. 2000;31(1): 164.

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

This trombone fights facists no matter how cold! #portlandme

Trombone in the snow, balanced on my boot.

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

If you’re living in frozen conditions right now, post the most summery picture in your photo library (if you feel like it).

Dingle dangling my feet just above a dark blue lake.

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

These ding dongs have heads full of bumblebees, but they love all of you.

A small apricot poodle sitting next to a Shih Tzu in a tiny bed.

A black and white Shih Tzu standing in leaves. Her tongue is sticking out just slightly.

A small apricot poodle sits pretty beside a small chihuahua. They’re on a bed that has a brightly colored floral bedspread.

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

Hi Quartz! This is Iris, she’s also deaf, and I also continuously call her name. She too has a very interesting meow.

A solid white cat resting face down on a window perch.

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

I don’t know how many folks have a fav scholar, or fav sociologist, but Dr. Tressie McMillan Cottom is mine. I’ve had this quote by her taped to my cabinet for many, many years. Contractors, take heed! (If you aren’t sure what I’m referring to, pls take a look at her feed today)

A white cabinet with a printed tweet of Dr. Tressie McMillan Cottom from 2020:

Tressie McMillan Cottom
tressiemcphd
Unless you're the person who keeps all the keys or knows how to make the cornbread most knowledge isn't nearly as valuable as one's ability to know what they don't know.
8:53 PM - Jan 14, 2020 - Twitter for iPhone

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

Right?? I showed my wife and said: am I missing something? And then he said this, and I understood completely - my wife is named Lizzy:

it would be easier to tell Lizzy to stop making so much noise
Have you considered a roll of duct tape?

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

YES! I emailed a person that we’ve worked with before to ask for a cat door to be installed. It’s a yes/no question. Instead, he said this, after a lot of back and forth. At this point is has to be oppositional behavior because how does it make sense to put a whole in a wall, as opposed to a door?

Me: I like the cats to be able to come in my office when im in there, but I need my door closed. And then I want to be able to locked them out the rest of the time.

Contractor: I put a cat door at my house, but l didn't put it on the door. I put it in the wall. That way you don't destroy your door.

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

It is my birthday and I got to go to a bookstore and pick out a few things as my gift. I need y’all to know about this book that had me laugh-crying.

Disappointing Affirmations
Unfollow your dreams!
by Dave Tarnowski

Don't be sad.
You're making everyone uncomfortable.

Things didn't work out for a reason.
The reason is you make terrible decisions.

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

It is my birthday and I need everyone to know about this book that had be laugh-crying in the bookstore —

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

Oh Maine, you have such good light.

A frozen river at sunset in northern Maine.

Frozen River covered in snow in northern Maine.

A frozen river in northern Maine just before sunset.

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

I was searching for something and came across this photograph of Christmas, probably from around 1987. It’s always struck me that Christmas gifts for me never adhered to any kind of gender norms— all trucks, GI Joe, He-Man, etc. I was expected to adhere to norms outside of the house (I didn’t ),

A photo I’ve taken on my phone of a vintage photograph, likely from around 87 or 88: I’m pictured from the back, kneeling down, wearing a nightgown and examining my Christmas gifts.

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

Mae loves Sunday cooking days— she’s very eager to know more about meal prep!

A small apricot poodle in a teddy bear sweater leans out of her bed to get closer to my hands. In the background her dog friends sit patiently.

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

Until I lived in a snowy climate, I don’t think I realized how varied the snowfall could be. Every single snow produces a different kind of effect; sparkly with flakes so small they blend together, and as with today, some snow flakes are large, and form a kind of mesh, almost. I am delighted!

Snow fall on a truck; the snow flakes can be seen individually.

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

Tiniest cornflake! It’s real cold in Maine, so Mae has a tiny sweater and it’s so cute that I can hardly stand it!

Mae, the mini apricot poodle, in a tiny sweater with ears.

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maxgbowman @maxgbowman.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

Today in Waterville, ME it is Small Business Saturday, so I’ve bought a book, stickers, and postcards from Oliver & Friends Bookstore, and we’re grabbing food from Cushnoc Cantina ✨