iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ruth @ruthbushi.com · 24/09/2026

Anti-migrant "activist" is the kind of headline they teach you at the Ed Sheeran School of Journalism.

Image of a man slashing a dinghy with a knife. Headline reads "Anti-migrant activist arrested over video of dinghy slashing."

Ruth @ruthbushi.com · 12/08/2026

Behold the mighty eclipse!!! (Also how awesome to exist at a time when we understand what eclipses are and how to see them. Hurrah!)

Almost entirely black image with tiny silver sliver of crescent sun.

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Ruth @ruthbushi.com · 12/08/2026

An update from the Commonwealth Short Story Prize. Fallout from AI allegations continues and the opening of the 2027 prize is now delayed. Can't help but wonder if the main "winner" or beneficiary from all this has been those with AI tools or interests. #Writers #WritingCommunity

Screenshot of text. It reads: "This year, allegations were made that artificial intelligence (AI) was used to write the prize’s winning stories. We responded by conducting a month-long review of the creative process behind each story before finally deciding to uphold the decision made by the 2026 judging panel. While we stand by the outcome of the review process, we also acknowledge the need to evolve our approach and ensure all participants—including staff, entrants, readers and judges—are more prepared to meet the challenge posed by AI in future competitions.

In view of this, we are postponing the opening of the 2027 Commonwealth Short Story Prize until January 2027 to conduct a comprehensive review of the prize's processes, entry rules and submission guidelines."

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Ruth @ruthbushi.com · 01/08/2026

My god, this book - this book ... ! It's astonishing and incredible, and you must read it. Small Things Like These, by Claire Keegan.

Front over of Small Things Like These, by Claire Keegan.

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Ruth @ruthbushi.com · 31/07/2026

What a strangely passive aggressive addendum to a diversity statement though, to be honest, that phrase has always irritated me because it involves no actual change or effort at all. But why include the disclaimer? Who is it meant to soothe?

Screenshot reads "UK-based writers from all backgrounds - underrepresented talent encouraged. Quality over box ticking."

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Ruth @ruthbushi.com · 02/07/2026

Via @ scouserofscouse on TikTok: a letter to The Guardian web.archive.org/web/20250305...

No woman in a burqa (or a hijab or a burkini) has ever done me any harm. But I was sacked (without explanation) by a man in a suit. Men in suits missold me pensions and endowments, costing me thousands of pounds. A man in a suit led us on a disastrous and illegal war. Men in suits led the banks and crashed the world economy. Other men in suits then increased the misery to millions through austerity. If we are to start telling people what to wear, maybe we should ban suits.
Henry Stewart
London

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Ruth @ruthbushi.com · 12/05/2026

I've been highly commended in The Bridge Awards Emerging Writer Award for my novel-in-progress (speculative horror, for the curious). It's a lovely thing; thank you Moniack Mhor & TBA. Writers, it's free to enter! Bookmark & submit later this year ✒️ www.moniackmhor.org.uk/writers/awar...

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Ruth @ruthbushi.com · 19/03/2026

Good news; it'll still only cost you £540,000 to travel by train from Leeds to London if you book six weeks in advance during a new moon and on a Friday.* *Train may be a replacement bus.

Screenshot of an ad shows a blue background and white text which reads Rail fares have been frozen across England until March 2027

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Ruth @ruthbushi.com · 06/03/2026

I am the degenerate who doesn't do star ratings. Also, I've regressed to a teenage boy, apparently. #LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched

Movie posters: The Untouchables, Point Break, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Firm.

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Ruth @ruthbushi.com · 14/02/2026

Having a "clear out," i.e., looking in boxes and drifting away, and found some signed books. One by Roger McGough - who was lovely! - and the other, which reads "Try to get further than this page. Good luck." Reader, I didn't, but I've prized it nonetheless :)

Title page of Selected Poems by Roger McGough, signed with the author's name.

Black handwriting reads: Try and get further than this page. Best of luck.

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Ruth @ruthbushi.com · 07/12/2025

Found the Penguin Book of Modern Women's Short Stories on the Marie Curie secondhand shelf in the supermarket so RAN home to get some change, then RAN back to the supermarket. Putting the book in my bag, I found my coin purse! But I don't mind; "es ist für mich," as the good man said. #BookSky

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Ruth @ruthbushi.com · 29/11/2025

... The Godfather is better than The Godfather Part II, but the latter has set-ups like this, and in fact, countless others where the centre of the shot is absent, and the action happens at the edges. Here, Al watches Michael greet Fredo ... and waits for Mike's nod to kill his his brother.

Funeral scene from The Godfather Part II, with Michael and brother Fredo on the far right of the scene. On the far left - and watching the brothers - is a well built man in a black suit and tie.

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Ruth @ruthbushi.com · 27/10/2025

Still laughing at this review for John Carpenter's The Thing

Review by Brian Collins on Letterboxd. Text reads "For almost 40 years people have been asking if it's Macready or Childs when the answer is neither. The credits clearly say that John Carpenter's The Thing."

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Ruth @ruthbushi.com · 18/10/2025

STOP what you're doing and listen to the angels sing. "Here the Deities Approve," Henry Purcell, via Brandon Acker and Reginald Mobley. Utterly magical. (You don't need Tiktok to view the link.) seetiktok.com/ZNd7q89w7/

One man plays an exaggerated lure while another man in a flowery shirt sings into a microphone.

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Ruth @ruthbushi.com · 02/10/2025

Me changing the bed by myself

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Ruth @ruthbushi.com · 23/01/2025

This just nearly gave me a heart attack! A UK government emergency broadcast popped up on my phone with a red alert warning for the weather, though from the sound of it we thought it was about an imminent nuclear strike... #StormEowyn #Scotland

Text reads: "Severe alert issued by the UK and Scottish Governments: A RED warning for wind has been issued." The message is in relation to Storm Eowyn, and warns of damage to infrastructure and danger to life. Stay indoors if you're in the area.

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Ruth @ruthbushi.com · 09/01/2025

Guys, we've been reading Little Women ALL wrong - #booksky

Book cover with title "7 best short stories by Louisa May Alcott". Image is a retro-style cartoon featuring three young women in their underwear getting ready in a bedroom.

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Ruth @ruthbushi.com · 28/10/2024

Captain Kirk said this on last night's episode of Star Trek and it made me gasp; it's just so elegantly beautiful. "Who Mourns for Adonais", #StarTrek 2.2, by Gilbert Ralston.

Silhouetted figure looking up at the star-filled night sky. Quote: "That's how you do it ... by remembering who and what you are: a bit of flesh and blood floating in a universe without end, and the only thing that's yours is the rest of humanity."

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Ruth @ruthbushi.com · 16/06/2024

Went to log one of the Mission: Impossible movies on Letterboxd and you get a retro easter egg "cut screen" before your review goes live. Love it, but forgot to screenshot it until it was over 😂

Neon green number 5 on a black computer screen - very stylized, high-tech image.

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Ruth @ruthbushi.com · 11/08/2023

The MPs' register of interests stories have me thinking about the time Lee Anderson wrote a story for The Sun in 1 (one) hour and was paid £750. I guess when people imagine freelance writing, that's what they imagine. "Lol" publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cm…

Screenshot: "Payment of £750 expected from News UK & Ireland Limited, 1 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9GF, for an article written for the Sun on 25 February 2023. Hours: 1 hr. This fee will be donated to charity. (Registered 02 March 2023; updated 21 March 2023)"

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