iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Sarah Jane @saradipity.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Ursa wonders why I’m trying to make beds instead of fussing her. Housework is unimportant in the face of floof cats.

A blue tabby point ragdoll cat (grey and white longhair) lies on her side on a bare mattress. A wood headboard with Lego Movie stickers stuck over it is in the background. The sheets are just in frame in the foreground, waiting to be put on the bed. The cat is looking at the camera, wondering why I would try to make the bed just at the moment she decided she needed to lie there.

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Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

"The world is violent & mercurial—it will have its way with you. We are saved only by love—love for each other & the love we pour into the art we feel compelled to share.... We live in a perpetually burning building, & what we must save from it, all the time, is love." -Tennessee Williams

Detail of a 1988 painting by the artist Martin Wong, which shows two male firefighters kissing in front of dilapidated brick buildings in an urban setting

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Emily Brand @emilybrand.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

Many thanks to autocorrect, which has decreed that the heir to the French throne was not in fact handed over 'aux hommes' – i.e. to the care & education of men rather than women – in 1787 No, he was handed over to 'his homies' If you find this wild misprint in my book, please blame Microsoft Word

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Bouba's Delivery Service @fernmonkey.bsky.social · 11/10/2025

My friend Sascha is a professional musician and he's lost a viola bow on the way to Heathrow. Please signal boost to help him get it back.

Lost viola bow on the way from Honor Oak Station to Heathrow Terminal 2. The bow slid from its bow case somewhere along the way, possibly on the train. TFL contacted already.
It weighs 68.2 grams and has got a stamped DODD next to the frog. If any info on this, please pm me.

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Sarah Jane @saradipity.bsky.social · 12/10/2025

Well, thanks to @jonathanlhoward.bsky.social , I have now had to look up what people of note I share my birthday with… 🙂 Apparently Richard III, Mahatma Gandhi and Tiffany Dawlish are all in there 🤷‍♀️

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Sarah Jane @saradipity.bsky.social · 12/10/2025

That’s got to be an interesting horoscope. I shall try to remember for next year… I have also updated my calendar 🙂

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Sarah Jane @saradipity.bsky.social · 12/10/2025

Was it yesterday? I have it in my phone as today… I’m also getting Deja vu, so presumably I’ve made this mistake more than once. Anyway… Happy Birthday! Sounds like you’re doing birthday weekend very well :) Hope it’s been an enjoyable one 🥳🍾

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Sarah Jane @saradipity.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

Well, I did not have a great birthday. On the positive side; I mostly did it to myself.

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Movies Silently @moviessilently.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

Insomniac Californian accidentally stumbles into British Bluesky: Cardamom Smeep, a terribly posh bird, has apparently done a racist. Again. The ministers are At It Once More There's doings in Pithy-Plup-Upon-Blempton Heath (and good for them)

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Sarah Jane @saradipity.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

Looks like an interesting mix ☺️ I thought you gave up on Nightbitch?

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The Abominable Jonathan L. Howard @jonathanlhoward.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

The first Cabal short "Johannes Cabal and the Blustery Day" was published sometime in 2004, but I can't be more exact than to a month. To me, however, the first publication of the novel in 2009 is his "proper" birthday, and that's today! Happy Birthday, Johannes, you irascible bastard ❤️

Original Headline hardback cover for JOHANNES CABAL THE NECROMANCER (2009).

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Kat Howard @katwithsword.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

Freelance life is very exciting! And by exciting, I mean I have last minute space in my editing calendar that I would really like to fill. Here is what I do: www.kathowardbooks.com/editing Please feel free to ask any questions. And any help getting the word out would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

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Minovsky @minovskyarticle.bsky.social · 25/05/2025

This is a good story to remember Peter David by.

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Steve Chung @freestevechung.bsky.social · 25/05/2025

R.I.P. Writer Peter David.

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Premee Mohamed @premeemohamed.com · 23/05/2025

Anyway my favourite thing today is museums being friends with other museums :)

Fishbourne Roman Palace: quoting a post reading "Just licked our computer screen" from Merchant Adventurers' Hall: We've been licking our computer screen all day and it still hasn't turned into a handsome prince :(
Merchant Adventurers' Hall replying: Out of context it does look like we just lick computer screens for fun.
Royston Museum replying: Whatever gets you through the day, right?

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Big Green Books @biggreenbooks.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

BOOK NEWS! Susie Dent @susiedent.com has a new book coming out in September. "Words for Life". Offering year's supply of verbal vitamin shots guaranteed to entertain and enlighten! And Susie will be doing SIGNED & DEDICATED copies exclusively for us! Order HERE. tinyurl.com/3b2rtkc4

Front cover of Susie Dent's new book "Words For Life"

The blurb for Susie's new book.

"Did you know that the Scots have over 400 words for snow or what a binfluencer is? What about the medieval invention of Lubberland as a place for lazy teenagers or how Mayday became a request for help? Lexicographer extraordinaire and Queen of Dictionary Corner, Susie Dent does. From wabbit to dust bunnies, from the strange history of arse to the best ways to describe moonlight, WORDS FOR LIFE offers a full year's supply of verbal vitamin shots guaranteed to entertain and enlighten, to brighten and boost every single day. From a Mother-in-Law's Dream to a Yuleshard, in Susie Dent's hands these amazing expressions can fix (or at least nail) the problems of modern life, whether it's dealing with unrequited love or an unsatisfactory politician, eating a whole packet of biscuits or forgetting someone's name.

From starting January 1 with your best foot forward (qualtagh) to leaping happily into the unknown (with a drink in your hand) on 31 December, every year is a journey and now you have the perfect guide all the way through. And 365 words you'll want to keep for life."

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James @43081j.com · 20/05/2025

i had some really stressful interactions on github yesterday and today. lets just remember many of us are doing this OSS work for free and to do good, kindness is appreciated

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Terri Windling @terriwindling.bsky.social · 11/05/2025

Kate Shannon Jenkins has published a good essay on writing and motherhood, which is making me think about the portrayal of motherhood in fantasy fiction. It's nice to see @julie-phillips.com's fine book The Baby on the Fire Escape cited here. pioneerworks.org/broadcast/ma...

pioneerworks.org

Toward a Maternal Gaze | Broadcast

We’ve heard the warnings: children will drain your time, your money, and your focus. But what might a writer gain from motherhood?

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Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

I wrote this bonus, alt-text version but then I forgot to put it in ☹️ Here it is anyway William Carlos Williams voice I have tested the samples that were in the lab and which you were probably planning to analyse Forgive me they were intriguing so significant and so quantifiable

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Sarah Jane @saradipity.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

When you find a webcomic criticising dependence on AI… that’s clearly been created using AI tools. Why, world?

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Stephanie Allen @stephallen.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

I briefly taught elementary school, which included teaching second graders how to read. There are differing schools of thought on how to teach kids how to read (lol) but one super important thing is the same no matter what: LET KIDS READ WHAT THEY WANT.

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G. Willow Wilson @gwillow.me · 09/04/2025

One of the most clarifying things I've seen in the past few weeks is "de-escalate all conflict that is not with the enemy."

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RSPB @rspb.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

It's the Spring Equinox - the first astronomical day of spring! ☀️ Longer days. Lighter evenings. Sunshine warm on your skin, birds singing, blossom in the branches.

Golden sunlight bursts through a tangle of budding trees, casting long beams of light across a mossy woodland floor. New green shoots push up through leaf litter and patches of moss, catching the glow of the morning sun. A soft haze fills the air, with a hint of warmth and life returning to the woods.

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Erin Biba @erinbiba.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

So far all of the bird flu incidents that have killed cats have come from raw food. PLEASE stop feeding your cats raw food (and that includes freeze dried food and treats)!

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Kieron Gillen @kierongillen.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

This morning I've been derailed by chewing over what would be a fun alternate fellowship for Lord of the Rings. Lobelia Sackville-Baggins (Ringbearer) Fatty Bolger Farmer Maggot (and Dogs) Rosie Cotton Radagast Arwen Gloin Elrond (or Glorfindel) Faramir Ghan-Buri-Ghan (Joining later)

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Shiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist @nameshiv.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

it's only doomscrolling if it's from the mount doom area of mordor, otherwise it's just sparkling panic

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Tarja Porkka-Kontturi @tarjapk.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

Common accessibility issues in games that are fairly easy to fix? A thread 🧵 There are some basic accessibility barriers that could be easily addressed with thoughtful design. Here are a few of the most common issues:

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Failbetter Games | Wishlist Mandrake on Steam! @failbettergames.com · 26/02/2025

We're looking to hire a mid-level or senior Writer and Narrative Designer to work on Fallen London. Full time, permanent, remote! Full spec and details of how to apply: www.failbettergames.com/jobs/writer-...

failbettergames.com

Writer and Narrative Designer (Senior/Mid-Level)

Failbetter are an independent games studio, creating games and stories mostly set in the Fallen London Universe.

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Sarah Jane @saradipity.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

You’re welcome! I’m interested in what else is suggested.

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Sarah Jane @saradipity.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

Friendliest kitten. She literally walked into the cafe, trotted straight up to me and jumped onto my lap. I adore her.

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Sarah Jane @saradipity.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

Ok, so trying to focus on the best parts of even a bad day; I made a new friend!

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Sarah Jane @saradipity.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

Depends what you’re into. I like something familiar during a commute so as not to distract me. Wizard of Oz read by Anne Hathaway and Pride and Predjudice read by Rosamund Pike are great reads of ‘classics’. For more recent stuff I like Naomi Novik’s (author) Scholomance trilogy.

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Sarah Jane @saradipity.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

I just found this in the Libby library app. Dammit, libraries are great.

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Sarah Jane @saradipity.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

Update: Three episodes into Ted Lasso and we’re enjoying it. It’s good to have something to watch that’s just… nice.

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Sarah Jane @saradipity.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

Got a free trial of Apple TV and so far Severance is amazing… and nothing else has grabbed me (and some of what I’ve watched has been really pretty poor). Seems a shame that they charge people for this?

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Sarah Jane @saradipity.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

lol, reminds me of; brianbilston.com/2024/01/31/m... Mnemonic Thirty days hath September, April, June and November. Unless a leap year is its fate, February hath twenty-eight. All the rest hath three days more, excepting January, which hath six thousand, one hundred and eighty-four.

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Movies Silently @moviessilently.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

This is something I have always admired about Lynch. Sergei Eisenstein explained everything. Every gesture, every symbol, every cut, all accounted for and documented. It's a wonderful glimpse into his process but it kills discussion dead.

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Mara Lynn Johnstone @marlynnofmany.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

Aw boo, you can't put more than one gif in a single post. Pity. Here, have this one for no particular reason. #WriterLife

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Sean Eric Fagan @kithrup.bsky.social · 09/01/2025

Because of @alwayscoffee.bsky.social, 5 UK/IE Kindle copies of Mira Grant's INTO THE DROWNING DEEP, which is, I think, @seananmcguire.bsky.social's *favorite* mermaid book. I could be wrong. It's a great book. #KindleBookGiveaway #UKKindleBookGiveaway

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Dr Owen Emmerson @drowenemmerson.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

It’s time for my annual search for this C16th miniature portrait of #ThomasCromwell, after #Holbein, stolen from Hever Castle in 2003. I’d love to see it returned to Hever. Have you seen it? Pls consider sharing! www.arthistorynews.com/articles/562... #Tudor #WolfHall #arthistory #miniatureportrait

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Sarah Jane @saradipity.bsky.social · 25/12/2024

Hi, Jonathan! Merry Christmas, happy Yule and all that 🥰

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Sarah Jane @saradipity.bsky.social · 25/12/2024

And to you and yours from me and mine

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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 21/12/2024

Permanence, as a promise, is monstrously untrustworthy: a thread for Trads architectural and social, and any filio-pietistic fuckwit claiming to deny change or stop time.

Twitter screen cap of a known neo-reactionary cheesedick quoting John Ruskin’s Seven Lamps of Architecture: “When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone. Let it be such work as our descendants will thank us for; and let us think, as we lay stone on stone, that a time is to come when those stones will be held sacred because our hands have touched them, and that men will say, as they look upon the labor and wrought substance of them, ‘See! This our fathers did for us.”

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David Allen Lambert @dlgenealogist.bsky.social · 21/12/2024

Destroy this myth. Please share if you have visited and researched in a library this past year! RT And give a shout out to your favorite library you have ever visited.

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The Abominable Jonathan L. Howard @jonathanlhoward.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

MALENGINE'S ADVENT ADVENTURE Being a Seasonal Tale of Victorian Villainy in Twenty-Four Acts by Jonathan L. Howard (not a gentleman) (©Jonathan L. Howard 2013-24)

1.
Richard Malengine was being taunted by a turkey.
The turkey was profoundly dead at the time – slaughtered, plucked and hanging from a hook outside Burley the Butcher's shop in Magdalene Court. Thus, its taunting was a very passive thing, but nevertheless, taunt it did.
Malengine, a former actor turned master criminal in a series of events too unlikely to recount here, looked up at the turkey and scowled. He was a tall man, with a thin aesthetic face, and if he looked disreputable in his worn winter coat and crooked top hat, that is because he was. He stamped his feet in the snow in an effort to keep them warm.
"I thought," said the man by his side, "bein' a master criminal and all meant you'd never be skint, guv."
This was Harris, Malengine's sidekick and general skivvy, wrapped in his overcoat and scarf, steaming gently beneath a stained bowler hat.
"I am temporarily monetarily embarrassed," said Malengine, his gaze never leaving the turkey. "The business with the forged Vermeer did not work out quite as well as expected."
"You got chased up Charing Cross road by an auction room full of dealers," said Harris, "'oo all wanted to kill you."
"Yes. Not quite as well as expected." Malengine sighed. "It's going to be a thin sort of Christmas, I fear, Harris. Two days to go and we barely have two farthings to rub together."
"Fear not, my darlings," said a voice behind them, causing Malengine to jump and Harris to lurch very slightly.

2.
The newcomer was a young lady, pretty, fashionably attired, and reeking of money. That all of that money came from the proceeds of crime was not lost upon Malengine.
"Miss Vesperine. How delightful to see you," he said, plainly not delighted at all.
"Hullo, Miss," said Harris, smirking at her with the unrealistic optimism of a troll making eyes at a princess.
"Good morning, Mr Malengine, Mr Harris. The season's blessings upon you." She glanced up at the turkey. "Buying in provisions for Christmas day?"
Malengine was just preparing a clever lie to hide their current poverty when Harris said, "No, Miss. We're skint. Utterly b’rassic. Not a penny to our names." He noticed Malengine glaring at him. "What?"
"Ah," said Miss Vesperine sweetly. "The rumour was that your Vermeer coup did not entirely go to plan."
"He almost got run through by an auctioneer with a fifteenth century Damascened steel scimitar." Harris nodded appreciatively. "Very classy."
"Don't exaggerate," snapped Malengine. "Nobody tried to run me through with a scimitar. The very thought!" Then, in an undertone to himself, "A scimitar is more of a slashing weapon."
"As I said," continued Miss Vesperine over him, "never fear. I thought you might be open to suggestions for a quick bit of work to see you through."
"Good oh," said Harris, rubbing his hands together in their fingerless gloves.
"Work?" said Malengine. "For whom, exactly?"
Miss Vesperine's coquettish smile grew slightly malicious. "Why, the Black Council, of course."

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Sarah Jane @saradipity.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

- Frying pan - Cat - Globe - Plane - Crab Thank my insomnia 🙂

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Sarah Jane @saradipity.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

Just drove past Oliver Cromwell’s house in Ely. Covered in Christmas lights. He’s really changed his tune.

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