iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 23h

Lazy Caturday? Better come prepared to rub the tummy!

A fluffy gray and white cat sprawls on his back, begging for tummy rubs.

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Well, I can't say I've ever had cookies that provided this kind of unique experience. I will remember it for the rest of my life. That is most definitely not an endorsement.

A package of Oreo Chicken & Waffles cookies.

000

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

This year has been, well, let's call it 'intense.' But it brings me joy to finally be taking the insect photography I always dreamed of taking. And I can't wait to keep honing this skill!

A yellow butterfly perched on a spring of Mesquite laying on the ground.

010

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Imagine melting a gummy worms down. Now punch up the mango and pineapple flavors. And carbonate it. 5/5, no notes, would recommend.

Two red, orange and yellow labeled bottles of Mountain Dew Trolli sit in the sunlight, glowing with their delicious orange soda.

000

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

There's something wonderfully ironic about finding a Blue Death Feigning Beetle, and little bro is trucking along so fast every picture I took of him looks like I was trying to capture photographic evidence of Bigfoot.

A Blue Death Feigning Beetle moving along so fast that the image is blurred.

000

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Darkling Beetle reminding us to keep hoping. Even without a cloud in the sky, this little guy thrusts that butt into the sky to collect the moisture that sustains it. Be like the Darkling Beetle. The radical hope part, I mean.

A Darkling Beetle thrusts its butt high into the sky to collect water. Its a large, black Beetle on a background of browns and grays, the desert floor.

131

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Terrible misunderstanding waiting to happen.

A tray in a clinic bathroom which states "Place Urine Here" without specifying the urine should be in a specimen cup.

000

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

The Void Babies are ready for Spooky Season!

A big fluffy black cat sits next to a petite black cat.

010

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

These were...a choice. The creme definitely tastes like banana pudding, but the cookie part added to that gives it an almost stale flavor. Not their best work, but definitely not worst, either.

A black cat poses with a bag of Banana Pudding Oeros. She looks dubious. She should look dubious.

100

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

On this day in 1993, the first episode of 'The X-Files' aired. Just wanted to take a moment to celebrate my all time favorite show. :)

Agents Mulder and Scully peer at ypu through the camera. Mulder believes, Scully is skeptical.

010

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I'd try, at least. We know they're gonna do it anyway.

Meme that says "The best part of getting older is aging out of the demographic that gets killed in horror movies. I am now the age of the kooky local at the gas station who warns the band of college kids not to go to Camp Murderblood."

001

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

I call this one "Put The Shelf On The Wall Before I Remembered My Wife Bought A Level."

A yellow level rests on a shelf, the bubble all the way to the right side. Oops.

110

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Cholla budding as autumn begins to creep into the Sonoran.

A cholla cactus buds in the foreground, with the blue sky and sand of the Sonoran Desert in the background.

000

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Ten years old, but still a kitten at heart! #Caturday

A gray and white fuzzy cat chews on the strap of a red Hanes bra.

080

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Just found out that Loki, our youngest kitty, has an immune disease causing massive inflammation in his mouth and the best treatment is going to be pulling most, if not all, of his teeth. On the plus side, he already looks like Toothless. But damn, 2026 has been a year, y'all.

A big, fluffy black cat sits next to a monster squishable.

000

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

The lunar eclipse (partial here in the Sonoran) last night was beautiful! My new phone is much better at taking lunar shots. Unfortunately, my skill level for moon photography has remained the same.

The partial lunar eclipse, though slightly blurry.

The partial lunar eclipse. All that can be seen in the darkness is the tiniest, bright sliver of light.

010

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

This is Jerry. He's a Sonoran Tiger Whiptail, and has decided our porch is his favorite hang out. Finally managed to get a few pictures of him! #desertlife

A Sonoran Tiger Whiptail lizard sits cement with his backside to the camera.

A Sonoran Tiger Whiptail lizard from the sideview, taken through a slightly dirty windows (the photographer has cats.)

010

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Friends support you during the writing process. Best friends send you things like this during the revision process. #WriteSky #Writing

A Twitter post detailing the struggle of revisions and the demise of the author's backspace key. Credit to Meredith Ireland for the original post.

020

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

The Second Ant War was short lived, but not a sight I'll ever get used to seeing.

Dozens of black and red ants fight to the death in tiny clusters on the sidewalk, mesquite pods scattered here and there, the cause for their conflict.

000

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

When my cup starts running dry, nature refills it.

A close up of the top of a cactus with budding flowers. In the background some cholla wood points up towards the blue sky.

000

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Summer thunderstorm in the Sonoran

A thunderhead towers into the sky, the last rays of the sun it is covering peeking through the top. Above the desert, long streaks of rain line the horizon.

010

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Happy #InternationalCatDay to Scully, Bastet, and Loki! They give me so much and all they ask in return is affection on demand no matter what I'm doing at that particular moment and breakfast at 5am even though that is definitely not breakfast time and never has been.

A large, majestic long haired black cat looks out the window.

A dainty black kitty loads on a desk in front of two monitors and next time a water glass.

A gray and white long haired cat gazes into the camera, hypnotizing the viewer with his powers of cute.

082

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

#tbt to this, um, interesting Savers find. No, we did not look inside.

000

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Five years in the southwest and it finally happened last night. Surprisingly, I survived. Still not hoping to see one in my house, but the anxiety has been neutralized.

A Desert Hairy Scorpion sits upon an unknown biological specimen covered in branches.

000

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Look, I don't like to yuck someone's yum, but...

A case of Waterloo sparkling water in the truly baffling flavor Apple Pie A' La Mode.

000

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

This cat looks incredibly smug for being the posterfeline for a food for kitties who have anxious pee problems.

A bag of Urinary Care, Multicare Stress diet cat food from Hills. The gray cat on the bag looks very smug.

110

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Of all the things to look up and see written on the back of the bathroom stall door, this might be the scariest.

The back of a bathroom stall door, large letters in a yellowish beige spell out a single cryptic yet terrifying message: "Oh Man"

000

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Just a beautiful girl doing a fancy sit.

A black cat sits on the bed, upright on her bottom with her front paws on either side of her and one back leg kicked forward in a fancy fashion.

000

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Scully says "If it fits, I sits is so last year.."

A fluffy gray cat is sticking out his entirely side through the hole in the hut in his cat tower.

000

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

And this is why we don't automatically trust AI generated answers on search engines. Yes, the text is correct. The picture is also very much not a Two-Tailed Swallowtail Butterfly.

A screenshot of the Google AI answering the question of what is Arizona's state insect with the text correctly identifying it as a Two-Tailed Swallowtail Butterfly, but the picture is a Gila Monster.

010

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Moving to a rural area has been quite an education. Yesterday's lesson: If you don't rake up the Mesquite pods quick enough, two different types of ants will launch a war over them on your front lawn and it will be nightmare fodder. The More You Know!

Dozens of ants battling on the cement, three or four ganging up on an ant from the other side of the battle.

The field of bodies left on a driveway after two ant species went to battle. Dozens of carcasses scatter the pavement.

The exposed root and lower part of a Mesquite tree covered in ants, battling for the pods scattered on the lawn.

Hundreds of ant bodies line the sidewalk in midframe, while the battle for the Mesquite pods continue in the foreground.

120

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

There's a Lord of the Rings quote that keeps me grounded in these difficult times. Because I do believe it's true. Fiction, after all, is seeing the greater truths of life and weaving them into fantasy.

000

Mica Lee Smith @micaleesmith.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

This book was a delightful read, a modern-inspired new entry in my favorite book series as a kid. I absolutely loved it. Don't let being an adult stop you from enjoying the things you loved as a kid. We all need comfort media and whimsy sometimes, a safe place to rest and recharge.