iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Randall Jay @randyjay.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

My sports bookshelf is small compared to other subjects, but I acquire interesting ones sometimes. Sold these 3 in the last week. The Mantle book was signed his wife (the author) & son. #bookselling #booksky #sports #AncientGreece #AthleticFestivals #football #NotreDame #USC #baseball #MickeyMantle

A large folio from 1939 published by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. It is entitled "Greek Athletics & Festivals in the Firth Century". The front cover is black with with large red lettering

A copy of "Pigskin Review" from 1939. The dramatic cover painting shows a red-helmeted football player in a gold jersey running toward the end zone, ball cradled tightly in his left hand. An opponent in a darker uniform has just fallen on the ground behind him, trying to grab the player's left leg for a tackle. His face is a grimace. The ground surface appears white and the sky black, adding to the visual drama. All illumination appears to be from above as if this is a night game. This served as a cover for a football program, which is priced at 25 cents. The game featured Notre Dame University's team versus the University of Southern California.

A book entitled "A Hero All His Life", about legendary baseball player Mickey Mantle, who appears in the photo on the front cover. We are looking up at him, framed by a bright blue sky. His right knee is raised, perched on something below our view (presumably the pitcher's mound). He holds his New York baseball cap in both hands and his baseball glove is wedged under his right forearm. The title of the book is in a black band with white capital letters at about Mantle's belt level. A facsimile of his signature appears at lower right.

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Randall Jay @randyjay.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

For #caturday, the cat friends of my adult life. Jerome, a grey tabby mix who loved to groom me. Sid & Bella, a bonded pair who came to live with us in San Francisco. Bella appears here on my #Bluesky avatar. Finally, Andy, our current housemate. He's always eager to help me with my book biz.

A picture of my head and shoulders seen from behind, on a couch looking at a laptop. Jerome the cat sits on the back right edge, busy licking my grey hair on the back of my head.

Andy looks out and up at us from an open box of books on a tile floor. He's a solid blue-grey cat with yellow eyes. Another bagful of books can be partially seen in the background.

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Randall Jay @randyjay.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

It's 1966 and here's the large family Robert F. Kennedy Jr. grew up in. He's 12 years old. No smile from this sibling. (5th from the right in the big photo, wedged between brothers in the detail image) www.abebooks.com/servlet/Sear... #photography #Kennedy #RFKJr. #HealthSecretary

A black & white family portrait of Robert F. Kennedy, Ethel Kennedy and nine of their children, seated together near an outdoor fountain. The children are arranged in birth order, with the youngest on the left. Six boys and three girls. The parents are at the far right. The boys (except for 2 toddlers) wear jackets, white shirts and narrow ties like their father. The girls are wearing dresses. We are seeing them from above; the family is looking back up at the photographer. Some reflections are visible in the shallow water of the pool at their feet. The two visible corners of the pool are decorated with stone cherubs. It appears to be a beautiful summer day in a park-like setting.

A detail image of the five oldest Kennedy children. RFK Jr. is the only one without a smile.

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John Fugelsang @johnfugelsang.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Imagine looking at a monument to a slain president and announcing: "You know what this needs? My first and last name, in enormous letters, before the slain president it was named for. My name comes first."

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Cats of Yore @catsofyore.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Garden photo shoot. From a glass plate negative in my collection, no date/info.

black and white photo of a young light skinned woman with her hair up in a neat bun. She's wearing a striped blouse with puffy sleeves and long skirt. I am not an expert but her style seems Edwardian to me. She is sitting on a grass lawn holding a shorthaired ginger tuxedo tabby cat in her lap. She is also looking down at a black cat sitting in what appears to be a cat bed made of rags beside her. Like a rag rug but small and round and cat-sized.

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Diedrich Bader @diedrichbader.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Republicans bringing back the Red Scare reminds of those oldies concerts where the song’s the same but the group’s original members have all died

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Seth Rudy @sethrudy.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

How about we have two separate tracks in college, an AI-allowed track and an AI-not-allowed track and we put the one you choose on your transcript and see what shakes out

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Karl Schamotta @karl-schamotta.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

God-level badassery: Canadian Constable Sukhvinder “Suki” Singh Sunger, Drum Major of the Vancouver Police Pipe Band making history at the Edinburgh Military Tattoo: timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-o...

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Saganism @sagan.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

"We are privileged to influence and perhaps control our future. I believe we have an obligation to fight for life on Earth—not just for ourselves” — Carl Sagan

A black and white portrait of Carl Sagan, wearing glasses and a textured blazer, resting his chin on his hand in a thoughtful expression.

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Rabih Alameddine @rabihalameddine.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

George Clooney by Yayoi Kusama

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Randall Jay @randyjay.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

I'm currently reading 👇 "Midnight's Children", by Salman Rushdie #books #booksky #novel #fiction #india #partition

A softcover edition of "Midnight's Children" by Salman Rushdie. Titles are in black against a white background. A red banner at the top reads "Winner of the Booker Prize". A red banner below reads "40th Anniversary Edition". The cover illustration is in red and gold. We are looking down on a patterned snake (with its forked tongue visible). The snake is coiled partly around a woven basket which has two human babies sleeping inside it.

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Randall Jay @randyjay.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

It’s not supposed to be humid in the desert. It’s not supposed to be humid in the desert for three weeks straight. 🌵🥵🌵

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Randall Jay @randyjay.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

I'm currently reading 👇 "Satin Island" by Tom McCarthy, Alfred Knopf, 2015. #novel #fiction #booksky

This book has a somewhat enigmatic design with a white dust jacket overlaid with a thin grid of squares on which different colored ink or paint splotches appear (in person they are iridescent). The words "a novel" are written in small black script at the top. But in similar type the words "a treatise", "an essay", "a report", "a manifesto" and "a confession" appear among the splotches, but each has a black line running through them, as if to cancel them out.

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Randall Jay @randyjay.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

"part of a nostalgic return to owning tangible items". Hoarding: vindicated! #approve

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Randall Jay @randyjay.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Ever think about following someone here so you check out their timeline? I always do. Just backed away from someone for too much baseball.

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Randall Jay @randyjay.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

A perfect headline is a thing of beauty. #mediamatters

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pistachiOoOoOo 👻👻👻 @streetlightlily.horntforgood.com · 31/01/2026

You don’t want hands free driving, you want trains. You want trains you want trains you want TRAINS

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Randall Jay @randyjay.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

A book I'm shipping today by Grammy-winning bluegrass folksinger/composer John Hartford ("Gentle On My Mind"). A history for young people of an actual event which occurred in West Virginia in 1910. He also wrote a song about it. #booksky #bookselling #steamboat #history #JohnHartford

Cover of a book entitled "Steamboat in a Cornfield", by John Hartford. The image on the front is of a large paddle-wheel steamship resting on dry land, surrounded by dozens of people who've come to gawk. It looks to be a gently colorized postcard photo. Title and the author's name are in red letters against the light blue sky.

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Michael Warburton @michaelwarburton.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Is it just me, or is the White House starting to look like a Thai restaurant?

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Randall Jay @randyjay.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Currently reading 👇 "The Philosopher's Pupil" by #IrisMurdoch A large part of the story is relayed by an unnamed narrator; "N". Since I've seen the movie "Iris" about this author, I immediately started to hear it in Judy Dench's voice! Enjoyable. A brain-created audiobook. #booksky #novel #england

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Randall Jay @randyjay.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

I usually reject damaged books but the confident, large #Roundhand signature of this one's first owner made me covet it. Back in art school #calligraphy classes I became reasonably adept at gothic, italic, uncials & Roman lettering but this was always the holy grail. #books #booksky

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Randall Jay @randyjay.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

I was going through piles of collage materials last night when a skirmish erupted.

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Hari Kunzru @harikunzru.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

The $400m flying bribe has shelves of fake books, some titled “Library”.

Karoline Leavitt inthe $400m flying bribe slash natsec nightmare

A shelf of fake books, some titled “Library”

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Randall Jay @randyjay.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Apart from sheet music I also recently acquired a number of books & exhibition catalogs on #Aboriginal art from Australia. Enjoying all the colorful covers. Now appearing on #AbeBooks #books #booksky #BookSelling #Australia #ArtBooks #IndigenousArt

A book entitled "Colour Power: Aboriginal Art post 1984". The abstract cover is a detail of a painting with two sets of brightly colored horizontal stripes converging on a thin diagonal with a circular emblem at the base. Colors in orange, gold, yellow, two shades of blue, and pink.

A book from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, entitled "Tradition Today: Indigenous Art In Australia". Cover is a detail of a painting of repeated bands of crown-like shapes in shades of brown and red. They are larger at the top of the book. Inside one of them the titles are overlaid in white letters.

A book cover with a meandering design of amorphous, multicolored bulls-eye shapes and meandering lines, over a background mostly in bright yellow and medium blue Other colors include green, cream, red, white, black and orange. The title does not appear on the cover. It is "Yiwarra Kuju: The Canning Stock Route" It's about the life art of the indigenous Australians who live in an area near an historic cattle drive road in Western Australia.

Book jacket showing a set of vertical tubular sculptures in reddish-brown with large white dots painted upon them. Title does not appear on the front cover. It is "Story Place: indigenous Art of Cape York and the Rainforest", from an exhibition at the Queensland Art Gallery in Brisbane, Australia

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Randall Jay @randyjay.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

And now for something completely different. A British novelty song from 1934. I posted this piece of sheet music today about kippers (who knew?). "Bloaters" are herring cured with the head and guts intact, "known for their pungent aroma". Hungry? #sheetmusic #bookselling #food #kippers #noveltysong

A piece of sheet music from 1934 entitled "I Do Love A Lovely Bloater". Words and Music by Will E. Haines. Cover is in black and white, showing a puffy kippered herring (head included) on a plate near a knife and fork. This illustration is in an explosive cartouche of sorts, with puffs of steam are arising from the fish, all to illustrate the smelliness of the food. Titles are in white against a black background.

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Randall Jay @randyjay.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Books shipping to new homes today. "Ile Grecques", "John Singer Sargent: The Male Nudes", "Fellini on Fellini", & "Street Art: The Punk Posters of San Francisco 1977-1981". #bookselling #booksky #PhotographyBooks #Greece #ArtBook #movies #FedericoFellini #posters #StreetArt #PunkEra #SanFrancisco

A Swiss photography book from 1956. The French title is "Iles Grecques" (Greek Islands). Cover is a black & white photo of a whitewashed town in the middle distance, along a bay. It is seen throughout the billowing white sails of a ship. Titles are at the foot of the image, in turquoise blue.

A watercolor by John Singer Sargent of a mostly nude man, eyes closed, one arm tucked behind his head, lying on a bed draped with green and red fabric. The titles appear across the image in white letters.

Book cover with a photo of Italian film director Fellini. He is dressed in black. He is turned slightly away from the camera and seems to making a gesture with his hands together. His eyes are half closed his mouth partially open. First impression is he's conducting an orchestra, but there's no baton present. Titles in gold and yellow are just below his hands in a flowery roundhand script, with flourishes.

A gritty, raw black & white, high contrast close-up photo of an open mouth with teeth closed. Titles are in bright red at the top.

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Zoomer Antimillenarian @surcomplicated.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

I have to say, removing a usurper king's name from a building really is a great way to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our founding.

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Randall Jay @randyjay.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Going through a stack of vintage sheet music. This one's from 1925. I'm not so sure that "Mother" would approve of these flapper girls who call themselves the Five Locust Sisters. "Locusts, you say? Oh dear." #SheetMusic #1920s #Mother

A close-up shot of the Five Locust Sisters.

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Randall Jay @randyjay.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

I'm currently reading 👇 "Kiss Myself Goodbye: The Many Lives of Aunt Munca", by Ferdinand Mount. It's a surprising page turner. 'Grimly funny' is spot-on. #books #booksky #memoir #families #England

Book cover is a sepia-toned photo of a man and woman crossing a London street on their way to attend a wedding. He holds her hand to help her to the sidewalk. It appears to be in the 1930s or 40s. She is in a dark dress and a fur stole, with two very large orchids pinned on it. He is in formal attire, a long tail coat with pocket scarf and striped trousers. He's wearing a carnation. Titles are overlaid in white text. A small blurb at the top is by Hilary Mantel, and reads, "Grimly funny and superbly written, with a twist on every page."

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Randall Jay @randyjay.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

'Mount Ida from Phre' (Crete), 1864. Watercolor by Edward Lear #art #landscape

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Randall Jay @randyjay.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

I'm currently reading 👇 "Mr. Lear: A Life of Art and Nonsense", by Jenny Uglow (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2017). #books #booksky #artists #authors #EdwardLear #biography #England #ornithology #birds #nonsense #poetry #19thcentury

A book entitled "Mr. Lear: A Life of Art and Nonsense". The cover art is one of the artist's watercolor sketches: a side-view of a green parrot with a red beak and a red collar. It is perched on a tree branch and is looking down. The artist has made a few notes in longhand, one of which names the bird as "Leila", and states that the artwork was "drawn February 1831". Smaller notes and multicolored swatches of paint appear around image of the bird.

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Brandon Friedman @brandonfriedman.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

No one who actually reads or buys books wants this. Perfect example of how high-paid CEOs of major companies simultaneously embubbled themselves over the past decade and cooked their own brains.

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Barnes & Noble CEO backs selling AI-written books in stores

The retail bookseller plans to open 60 more stores in the US this year

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Randall Jay @randyjay.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

Among the books I'm shipping today, this one written by a 20th century essayist who was a proponent of skepticism. Love the cover.

A paperback book from 1954 entitled "The Natural History of Nonsense", written by Bergen Evans. The cover drawing shows an egg in a blue egg cup. Cracks in the middle of the egg reveal a human face wearing glasses. It is peering straight at us.

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Randall Jay @randyjay.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Took no pics but on our walk this morning we encountered 2 hawks 5 Snowy Egrets (circling above) 1 Roadrunner 1 Jackrabbit, being chased by 1 mother coyote 2 small coyotes (waiting behind, watching Mama hunt breakfast. I'm happy to report that the Jackrabbit was to fast for her. Sorry, kids. 🐇🌵

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A-boo-etha: Large Haunted Parsnip Split-Level @abbaetha.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

I still think barn owls are the best evidence we have that the fae are real and they are here. Those faces are just …

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Randall Jay @randyjay.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

Andy: "If it falls on the floor it's mine." #Caturday

Looking down at my grey cat seated on a large reddish-brown envelope on the tile floor.

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