iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 10h

Depends if they're travelling with bassoons.

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 12h

I appear to be heading home in an only slightly bigger sister of Gerty.

The interior of a narrow-bodied aircraft, with just four seats across the width and a slim aisle. There are multiple rows ahead but it feels neater in size than the usual 737-type used for UK-Europe jaunts.

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 14h

Why can you (seemingly) only get Aranciata Amara (bitter orange fizzy) in Italy? It's wonderful stuff.

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 18h

Dear small flappy buzzy bitey things, I am wearing tropical strength bug repellent. There are 10 other people within two metres of me, with exactly the same flowers on their tables. Get the bloody message.

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 21h

Woman behind counter smiles, whips out taster tray. "Take them!" she says as we pick one each. I shall be living off cantucci today.

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 21h

Pop into the cantucci place around the corner for post-holiday supplies. German couple ahead of me ordering "two of everything small". "We've been here every day," she beams. "Looks like you have as well," he says as I beeline for the pre-mixed bags.

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Today my irreverent-by-default brain is reading all the captions and explainers for the Great Art I'm seeing in the voice of John Lloyd's Quotebot doing Sister Wendy.

bbc.co.uk

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Hannah Gadsby: Arts Clown, 1. Edouard Manet's Olympia

Hannah explains what makes Manet's Olympia a cornerstone of modern art.

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

And it's given me another chance to count the "uncountable" bees.

A bronze statue base with a series of concentric circles of bees in place of the usual name and details of the subject / artist / donors

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

The queue for free entry to L'Accademia (first Sunday each month, available for most museums here) is three times longer, but so much more chill, than the timed entry queue I've walked past each day.

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

(a) is this the first time I can claim to be taking part in #ConfinedCocktails? @melindahaunton.bsky.social (b) I need crisps urgently.

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Yes, you're right. Best have the negroni I promised myself for climbing the bell tower and the hill to the Bardini Garden instead.

A low-ball tumbler filled with sunset-coloured alcohol, ice, and a slice of orange

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

How many doppio espressos is it safe / advisable to have in a day? Asking for my stomach lining.

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Pharmacy nan: "You need antihistamines?" Me: *laughs in allergic to life in general*

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Bless the pharmacy nans who have seen everything and find the best post-insect bite stuff within seconds of seeing your legs.

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Basic fact I have to remind myself of roughly every hour while in Florence: the Medicis WERE NOT the Borgias. Goodness knows why it doesn't stick.

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Reposted by Sam Smith. Not That One.

Riley Black 🏳️‍⚧️ 🦕 @restingdinoface.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Goo morning, monsters. She’s such a good dog. You can already see eager ears in the window. Maybe she’s been there the whole time. A flip of the lock, inside, and her muzzle is immediately angled down at your face, snuffling, sniffing, asking what did you bring me? what did you bring me to eat?

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

My room in Munich seemed to be designed around the principle that 5'6" is giant. My room in Florence is designed as though 6'4" is on the short side.

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Heute spreche ich beide Deutsch und Nederlands... aber ich wachte in Italien auf *shrug*

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

There was also some serious discussion about how to get from one end of the compartment to the other, and how often it would be acceptable to traverse the Sam if he woke up and wanted to see where we were.

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Always carry a towel. I've a lovely Greek cotton beach throw/towel thing that's v useful in such situations. I didn't tell him that for a while, kept him on his toes 😉

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Yep. The Elafos Hotel. There's a ruin of a villa in the same clearing, which was supposed to be Mussolini's holiday home. Technically Italian fascist than German, but...

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

It was Rhodes where the minibus driver decided we'd love nothing better as a group than to head to a former Nazi holiday resort. "People love that there's this Alpine-looking place *here*!" I think they get confused (or know far too much) about us once you're outside the towns.

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Note to future self: pack flight pillow if getting Nightjet in future. Those poor baby pillows were taken from their mums way before they'd had the chance to work out what they are.

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

*Entirely unrelated* question: why, after a leisurely 0,5L of Helles Bier, am I now craving ice cream in a bun so much harder than every other warm day this summer?

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Questions I sort of know the answer to but need to vocalise anyway: why is it easier for me to sit and do nothing in a busy beer garden than it is by a lovely quiet riverside?

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Le Creuset Star Trek collection seen in the flesh (so to speak). Vulcan salute for scale.

A hand doing the Vulcan salute, next to a ceramic casserole shaped and decorated to look like the Galileo shuttlecraft, NCC-1701/7, from Star Trek TOS. The casserole is easily the size of a 2lb loaf tin.

A hand holding an Original Series Star Trek communicator. The bottom half is the size of a modern smartphone and black plastic with a few buttons and a grey grill for the speaker, the flip part is silver and a little smaller. But as this is from Le Creuset, the flip part is actually a micro-grater, released for Trek's 60th anniversary.

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

"You sound Dutch," she says thoughtfully a few sentences later.

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

"How long have you lived here?" asks the woman serving. "Me? No! I'm just visiting!" "But you're trying-" Good grief, Anglophones, we really have to to better.

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

It seems only right that while my language centre is thoroughly muddled, my lunch should be too (not seen: the last of the Dutch kasebroodje).

A side plate with two small pieces of baklava in the middle, and to the side a small cup and saucer with my (new) holiday staple, a doppio espresso macchiato.

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

There are two groups of middle-aged British men at breakfast who are alternately chatting and joshing each other, then wincing and saying mebbe they'll go back to bed.

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Es tut mir leid, Kellnerin, aber ich habe für die letzte Tage Nederlands (schlimm) gesprochen. Und vor dem Tee braucht, mein Kopf sehr langsam ist. Sprechen Sie langsamer und ich komme mit. Eventuell.

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I suspect this may be A Thing. I know a few mathematicians who have to use their fingers to add and subtract.

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

...which in my case means they were both crap. You know what worked? Medication. (And finding out I'm autistic. But for being able to get out of bed to do the reading to find that out? Medication.)

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I mean, I'd ace that bit. Asks sciencey questions, puts people at ease enough (when not grilling about mission parameters) that they go Special Interest level of excited detail in reply, can pick up and save for later *multiple* goodies.

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Also today I saw *a lot* of people, many fully grown, who seemed OK with just plonking stickers wherever they have free / can reach at that time. I thought saving them to keep for the ideal spot was a sign of maturity?

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Reposted by Sam Smith. Not That One.

Wangle-BOO-ry @wangleberry.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Is there some German word for the fact that the kindest and most selfless people are always the heavily-tattooed, the metalheads, the weirdos; those who've been to hell and back; the ones who were bullied and shamed and still found it in themselves to keep giving, even when they have nothing left

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I did, however, get enough stuff that I'm going to have to expand the big bag. And was extremely enthusiastic at the head of the Plato mission...

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Realising I didn't get enough of each sticker to avoid fights among the niblings. I am a terrible auntie.

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Reposted by Sam Smith. Not That One.

CN Lester 🏳️‍⚧️ @cnlester.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Does anyone have any good tea house recommendations for South West/South Central London with a similar kind of vibe to the original Angel Katsute 100? Craving somewhere to curl up with a book, but I'm rarely in that part of town and I miss it! www.katsute100.com/angel

katsute100.com

Angel | katsute100

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

That's when I whooped! Poor Thomas was one of the team I collared about it - perks of being determined. And yep, I'm here for Hera. *warm pink middle-aged woman waves from midway along rut she's worn between Escape and Erasmus*

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I think I'm developing a career as your primary whooper, btw. I was the first one in to see Plato this morning, terrifying them with questions about her.

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

For @drcarpineti.bsky.social, over an illustration of the hydrogen line: "Invisible light gives us a new perspective on the universe."

A door into a brick tower. Above it is a blue painted sine wave, with some Dutch written above it ("Onzichtbaar licht geeft ons een nieuwe kijk op het heelal" which translates as "Invisible light gives us a new view of the universe")

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Or: (d) in touch with your inner child? Who doesn't love a bit of interesting [de]construction?

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

There's a Very Good Boy at breakfast, who is immaculately behaved but quite clearly STARVING and has NEVER BEEN FED EVER, while his hooms heaetlessly tuck into their kasebrood and eggs.

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Reposted by Sam Smith. Not That One.

ascalaphid @ascalaphid.com · 26/09/2026

brother ignatz where the hell did you get those sausages from

this bittern's got way too many snausages

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Sam Smith. Not That One. @scsmith4.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Look, it's not my fault that Leiden was such a hotbed of scientific enquiry. Of course I'm going to visit an Olde Observatorye. If I could go and accidentally knock over some priceless early microscopes in Leeuwenhoek's old lab, I'd be trying to fit that in too.

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Reposted by Sam Smith. Not That One.

Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

The fact that the two best shows in the world — TASKMASTER and BLUEY — didn’t make the list is utterly baffling to me

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