iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 07/10/2026

I often think of things like this when people talk about how harmless new technologies are. Perhaps it's useful, but how do you know whether it's safe? #gammarays #starmarket #stonehammma

Radioactive Rays to Open New Stoneham Star Market (newspaper clipping: All those who wish to see a first-hand exhibition of radioactivity should plan to attend the opening of the new Stoneham Star Market on Route 28 near the junction of 128, on Wednesday, March 14. This huge new store will be opened at 10:00 am when a radioactive star touches a ribbon across the doors. High-energy gamma rays released by the star will be sufficient to cut the ribbon. Just before the opening, one lucky woman will be chosen from the audience to act as Mistress of Ceremonies. She will hold the lucite star in which radioactive rays are embedded and touch the ribbon suspended across the doorway of the supermarket. The silk will disintegrate with a flash of light and a cloud of smoke. Needless to say, the gamma rays unleashed will be entirely harmless to humans. Energy is sufficient for ribbon-cutting only.

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 07/10/2026

51: Brain Energy. This has some good insights and ideas, but honestly being an amazing researcher and clinician are not the same thing as being a compelling writer. A bit of a slog to get to some useful nuggets. #bookaweek

The book "Brain Energy" by Christopher M Palmer MD

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 04/10/2026

Someone still has a key. The fine bust is draped in a green scarf. The floor has pumpkins and flowers. There are four candles, and one still flickers with an LED light under the shattered and bricked in stained glass window. And somehow my phone camera could not capture it. #melrosema #spiritualism

A lattice of metal grating over a glass window. Dimly seen through it are a green scarf, a statue, a flickering candle, and white decorative pumkins.

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 04/10/2026

The amazing spiritualist mausoleum holds the mortal remains of Anna Eva Fay Pingree - a noted spiritualist and medium of the late 19th century. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Ev... The sign on the door of her tomb is for a performance by her descendents nearly 100 years after her death.

A marble edifice with verdigris on showing wreaths and fountains. A modern yellow sign is slid behind the bars of the door.

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 04/10/2026

In my ongoing quest to find the burying place of Sophronia Butler Spear, I spent a pleasant morning at Pine Banks cemetery in Melrose. It was built 3 years after she was buried, but I'm really not sure where else they would have interred her. ANWAY I found an amazing spiritualist tomb while there

A vibrantly orange and yellow maple shedding leaves on gravestones

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 03/10/2026

Book 50: I haven't played all the way through Baldurs Gate 3, and probably won't, but while I suspect this book is more fun if you constantly recognize people, it's not required. It's a lot of fun. #bookaweek @tkingfisher.com

The book "Astarion: Baldur's Gate" by T Kingfisher against a red cushion. Unintended in the background are pale legs and black socks

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 30/09/2026

Throwback to Patagonia - the wide and deep Futaleafu. Waterfalls and glaciers on either side. I was so busy battling the wind, it was hard to appreciate in the moment. (Despite being headed downstream, if I stopped paddling I moved backwards.) We did pretty much every possible kind of kayak.

A huge river with two kayaks ahead. A steep mountain wall is to the left, and a glimpse between two mountains ahead shows glaciers. The sky is dark and moody.

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 27/09/2026

The ground was spongy and littered with leaves and branches. A big one from one of the great oaks narrowly missed the marker for Daniel Green. And a vast wave of fungi swept in front of the grave whose name was hidden behind lichen and rain and centuries. #stonehamma #oldburyingground

Piles of mushrooms in front of an illegible grave, with rain falling

A huge branch hovering above a copper capped tombstone for Daniel Green who died in 1725

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 26/09/2026

Book 48: this is not a book of traditional tales. This is a book of the reservation, and man's inhumanity to man. It's rich with history, but uncomfortable in how it's set in now instead of a comfortably distant then. #bookaweek "Never Whistle at Night: an Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology"

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 25/09/2026

Book 47: a delightful romantasy with rather more world building and plot than comes standard with the genre. Definitely a slow burn. Gotta go get the next book... #bookaweek

The book "The Irresistible Urge to Fall for your Enemy"

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 20/09/2026

Ok, I was NOT expecting the oak gall ink to be both this dark and also pretty darn waterproof. Magic.

A black scribble and hatchmarks on white paper. Some of the hashes are a little but blurry.

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 19/09/2026

I have successfully made oak gall ink. It's possibly a lifetime supply of ink for only several multiples of what it would cost me to buy the same thing. Deeply satisfying.

A bottle and tag that say : oak gall ink

A bottle and a sticker and a card that says "Oak gall ink"

An empty brown bottle, a bottle of gum Arabic,a bottle of oak gall tannins and a bottle of food grade rust

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 16/09/2026

Did I buy a mortar and pestle for this? Look. I'm sure it will come in handy again someday. Like when the strategic ink reserves run dry.

Dehydrated oak galls in a mortar with a hand for size

A canning jar draining tannins from galls

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 14/09/2026

This one comes from the stuff I brought back from Necronomicon. #collage #cthulu #cargooutofspace

A complicated collage with eldritch themes

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 14/09/2026

I had a sudden, urgent impulse to collage a card. I have a box where I slip pretty or interesting things in case of such urges. None of my stuff ever has a title, but this one is called "Let the Bright Seraphim". #collage

A strange collage notecard. The back layer is handwritten music. Stacked on it are washi tape with mushrooms, a painting of oak branches in a dark glass bottle, a yellow circle of watercolors with swirls, a card of a dark and menacing figure with a speech bubble that says "hello" and a card with an ink bottle that has been colored in with yellow ink

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 13/09/2026

Yesterday I visited Bell Rock graveyard in Malden, looking for the grave of Sophronia Spear Butler. I can't figure out where she's buried. Anyway, that graveyard goes almost a hundred years older than the Stoneham Old Burying Ground I'm responsible for. It has some awesome stones.

A mottled short gravestone with a deaths head. The text is hard to read.

A deaths head gravestone in high grass. On either side of the skull, which has a weird set of wings above it, are symbols: a coffin, a scythe, some tools

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 13/09/2026

It turns out I do actually have friends

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 13/09/2026

At this point, I've probably thrown at least 100 parties in my life - whether that seems like a small or a large number to you. I still have a backup plan in my mind for what I'll do if no one shows up.

A back yard with chairs, lit torches and lights

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 08/09/2026

I found a secret hideout - a fort. Forts, hideouts, tree-houses, secure places ... they played a huge role in the life of my child mind. How many places did I discover and dub as my secret refuge? (So many.) I may be old, but I'm not too old to relish a hideaway. Did you have one? Do you still?

A blue chair hidden between boulders in a green forest

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 29/08/2026

Book 44: Daggerbound. It's actually fascinating to see how much @tkingfisher.com has learned of their art between Clockwork Boys and this. Also, what does the "T" stand for? I'm hoping Francis (or perhaps the feminine Frances?) gets their own book. #bookaweek

The book Daggerbound on a dark porch with a candle lit to drive off the mosquitos

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 27/08/2026

Book 44: The Wonder Engine. Same cat, different chair. Time to move on to the new book in the series!! #bookaweek

The book the Wonder Engine with a cat curled up next to it

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 22/08/2026

Book 43: continuing my preparations for Daggerbound with a brief, cat-heavy review of Clockwork Boys. #bookaweek

The book Clockwork Boys held above a sleeping gray cat

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 22/08/2026

I reading with a cat on my lap when biology forced me to get up anyway. I managed to convince said cat to return to my lap when I sat back down. Henceforth this date will be known as the date of the Miracle of the Cat and the Lap.

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 21/08/2026

Book 42: reread of Swordheart, which remains the book with the fewest consequences for good natured murder of bad priests in the canon. Getting ready for Daggerbound next week! @tkingfisher.com @kbspangler.com

The book Swordheart by T Kingfisher in front of a dark window

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 19/08/2026

It's fun to dress up and be fancy.

A woman in a blue ballgown at the top of a staircase with a golden background

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 17/08/2026

Book 41: The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, read mostly in Providence at Necronomicon. This is at the base of the hill so often cited in the rich geography of the book. #bookaweek #lovecraft #necronomicon

A book held in front of a canal with iron railings and big buildings behind

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 16/08/2026

I feel really bad for Charles Dexter Ward's mom.

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 15/08/2026

The Edtritch Ball at Necronomicon was absolutely amazing, as usual.

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 12/08/2026

So far I've had smoke obscure the mountains I was hiking, a fire not far enough away require me to evacuate my back county camp (hiking out in the dark after a day of hiking in made for a looong day), and watched the fires lay down a blanket of smoke on my flight out. This was not normal, once.

A blanket of smoke and some active fires beyond a plane wing

A sign on a camping site marker that says in all caps "Evacuate Immediately Wildfires in Area"

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 07/08/2026

I have about 300 flower photos. Weirdly all taken while going uphill.

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 05/08/2026

43 pounds fully loaded. Wish me luck for the next 4 days.

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 04/08/2026

Book 40: "Hench" was a terrific choice for a cross country flight. Super gripping and readable, and both sad and a lot of fun. Highly recommended beach type reading! #bookaweek

The book Hench in an airplane seat tray table

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 02/08/2026

Book 39: "In Defense of Sunlight". I've long thought that sunlight had to be pretty beneficial or we pasty Northerners wouldn't have evolved to absorb more of it. This book was a really excellent overview of the relationship between human bodies and minds, and our stars gift to us. #bookaweek

A book held in the shade of a tree in front of a green lawn and cabin

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 31/07/2026

It's a strange feeling to sit under a tree in the local graveyard and realize you're actually the Chair of the Historic Commission and it's your job to learn all these stories and pass them to the next generation. #stonehamma #lindenwood #cemetery

My favorite sculpture in Lindenwood. Civil war dead, and two wives (both 22) in two years. Possibly spiritualist, based on "passed on".

A tombstone with an early warning about gun safety. Based on the age this was almost certainly moved here from the decommissioned burying ground.

I just love the incredible fabric carving on this stone

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 26/07/2026

It's amazing how pleasurable reading for pleasure is. Especially in sunlight on a beautiful day.

A log cabin in the sun behind, a book on sunlight in the fore with a hand painted butterfly bookmark

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 25/07/2026

My paints are practically dried up with disuse. It's felt great to wet my brush again, even if I have a lot of rust to work through!

Three watercolor bookmarks of sunsets, still drying. The paints and brushes are behind

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 25/07/2026

Book 38: I've been reading this, one it two chapters at a time, for weeks. It's brilliantly written and researched, incredibly idea and linguistically dense. It's inspired a lot of thoughts, which maybe I'll get around to writing up. Reading hard books is rewarding. #bookaweek #spiritualist

"The Remarkable Life of John Murry Spear: Agitator for the Spirit Land" by John Benedict Buescher, in front of a log cabin surrounded by lush flowers

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 25/07/2026

Throwback to my first reading of @mariadahvana.bsky.social Beowulf

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 24/07/2026

Book 37: I read this all in one sitting, but it really isn't to my tastes. Gotta have some normal before we get weird or it's not as fun. #bookaweek

The book "The Library at Hellebore" by Cassandra Khaw

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 24/07/2026

Me cooking dinner right now

Two giant steaks on an ancient Magee Alliance drive with gas burners

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 22/07/2026

Book 36: at least I think. The World Cup was not good for my book a week goals, and I've been reading something dense. Red Dwarf, the novel, was very fun especially since I'm extremely familiar with the shockingly faithful BBC representation. #bookaweek #reddwarf #booksky

A paperback novel of "Red Dwarf" by Grant Naylor. A log cabin with colorful bunting and a lush garden sits a green lawn behind the book

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Brenda @mytruantpen.com · 22/07/2026

I keep finding prescient descriptions of AI. "You, Frank, are a simulation of Frank Saunders. You are the way the computer estimates Frank Saunders would probably have acted. You are a simulation of a possible Frank Saunders, or, rather more accurately, a probable Frank Saunders" #reddwarf