iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 13/09/2026

I can only assume this “sandwich” was created by an entity that is familiar with the concept but has never actually eaten one.

Toasted sliced white bread with vegan mayonnaise applied.

A separate container of sandwich fillings, including vegan bacon, shredded lettuce, sliced tomato, and sliced avocado. Sort of a DIY sandwich kit, really.

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 13/09/2026

I ordered a vegan BLT with jalapeños and a side of fries, as I have on previous occasions. I assume AI fulfilled my order this time because here is how it arrived.

A container of french fries topped with jalapeños. What’s up with that?

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 26/03/2026

I didn’t even realize it, but a week ago I set a personal record for a Thursday crossword. @nytimes.com @nytgames.bsky.social

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 09/12/2025

Another favorite photo from when we lived in Inwood. Even Mister Softee needs to stay cool. August 2021.

On a city street, a bright red fire hydrant sprays water directly onto the back doors of a Mister Softee ice cream truck.

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 07/12/2025

Going through my photo roll, I found this shot from my old neighborhood of Inwood in 2020. Eerie the mix of emotions it brings up. Those were hopeful days. I hope we’ll have them again.

Two young people work on a half completed YOUR VOTE MATTERS mural on a tan brick wall. A small Dominican flag hangs from a painting scaffold near them.

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 12/09/2025

Sure, let’s never forget 9/11. But can we also never forget that women are dying in this country for lack of abortion care, and that a murderous mob tried to attack Congress, and that climate disasters are worsening and causing ever more destruction and death…

Manhattan skyline seen from uptown, with World Trade Center spotlights piercing the night sky.

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 24/07/2025

RIP, Chuck Mangione. You made my teenage years in a house where I couldn’t listen to rock music much more endurable.

Chuck Mangione in an aqua sweater and felt fedora playing flugelhorn in concert in the 1970s.

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 22/07/2025

This is the third come-on I’ve received in the past week from folks using generative AI to try to sell me PR services. What is most offensive is that the technology used to generate this praise was built on the theft of the very text under discussion. Writers, are you getting emails like this too?

Email screenshot

Subject: Your Masterpiece Deserves a Bigger Stage - Let's Share The Accidental Terrorist With Thousands of Eager Readers

Dear William,

Let me begin with deep appreciation for what you've accomplished in The Accidental Terrorist. Rarely does a memoir strike such a delicate balance—humor with heartbreak, rebellion with reverence, insight with irresistible storytelling. Your book doesn't just reveal an unforgettable personal journey—it lifts the veil on institutional faith, identity, and the complex roads to freedom with a narrative so compelling it demands to be read and discussed.

This is why l'm reaching out.

I partner with over 1,000 highly engaged book clubs—both in-person and online—that seek out stories just like yours: daring, honest, and…

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 22/06/2025

We’re somehow at war with Iran and yet the cactus on the balcony is blooming extravagantly.

Looking through an apartment window onto a balcony where, among several other plants, a cactus with long floppy sawtoothed leaves in a white pot on a wooden stand is displaying a dozen or more large pink flowers. Also visible is part of an outdoor lounger with an orange cushion, while past the railing is a south-facing view of green lawn and a cityscape that is uptown Manhattan.

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 06/05/2025

Our new floor lamp comes with a rather remarkable remote control.

A detail from the instruction booklet for a fancy floor lamp. Of the remote control, we are told, “12Keys IR remote is portable and magnetic. Put on the pole and it could be sucked on it tightly.”

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 29/04/2025

Just a reminder that I will be participating this evening in an online protest reading with some terrific (and angry) (and hopeful) poets. It’s on Zoom tonight at 6 pm Pacific, 9 pm Eastern US time. Hope you’ll tune in! www.tinyurl.com/100-days-of-...

Cartoon arms of different colors hold a sign reading 100 DAYS OF PROTEST

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 09/04/2025

Save the date and join us April 29th on Zoom for an evening of protest readings organized by Jose Oseguera! Stay tuned for more info. _____ It starts with one voice. One hand. One refusal to stay silent.

Drawing of hands off different colors together holding a sign that reads, "100 DAYS OF PROTEST," against a red background with a white cartoon starburst. Other test: LIVE ON ZOON, TUESDAY APRIL 29 2025, 6PM PST

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 06/04/2025

This is where I was yesterday afternoon. #handsoff

A view south along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, near 34th Street, with streets filled with protesters as far as the eye can see, holding signs like FIRE DOGE and marching peacefully downtown.

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 31/03/2025

Score today from the laundry room! I know it’s four editions and 32 years out of date, but I’m still pretty excited.

Hardcover copy of The Chicago Manual of Style, 14th edition, sitting on a wood surface next to a stack of cork coasters featuring the red six-pointed Chicago star.

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 13/03/2025

This was the best season of Star Trek

Promotional photo with the cast of The Poseidon Adventure, Gene Hackman at the center.

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 10/03/2025

Post a photo you took with no context to bring some zen to the timeline.

Looking south across Manhattan as dusk falls

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 09/03/2025

When Gotham needs a hero, it looks to … the Cockatiel!

A cockatiel sits on a perch looking down on New York City from a high apartment window. Photo taken from behind and a little below the cockatiel.

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 03/03/2025

Surprise, surprise. Look who owns one of the few Swastitrucks I’ve seen in NYC. (This lot is next to 259 W 134th St and the gate is wide open. I sure hope no one tags it!)

A gray Tesla Cybertruck parked inside a small parking lot. A sign on the open chain-link gate says “NYPD PROPERTY, NO TRESPASSING”

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 19/02/2025

I guess it’s a milestone. I’m just not sure what kind.

Stats screen from NYTimes crossword app, showing 5,000 puzzles solved, 100% solved, 100-day streak, longest streak 1,013 days.

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 13/02/2025

Here’s the headline: Senate Confirms Contempt for Medical Science and Human Life

NY Times screenshot:

Senate Confirms Kennedy, a Prominent Vaccine Skeptic, as Health Secretary

The vote capped a remarkable rise for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was confirmed by a Republican Senate in a chamber where his father and uncles once served as Democrats.

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 04/02/2025

In shutting down USAID, President Musk is effectively attempting to commit mass murder against some of the world’s most poverty-stricken populations. We have to stop him.

Screen shot of Robert Reich post:
Let me emphasize: Elon Musk has not been confirmed by Congress. His "department" was never actually enacted. No one other than Trump has given him any authority.
Democrats and any Republicans with a spine need to step in and stop this madness.
Call your rep now (202) 224-3121

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 23/01/2025

Nothing like fighting emergencies on two fronts on a Thursday morning.

A dark gray tile bathroom floor mostly flooded with water from under the sink.

Two men working on a long radiator unit behind a long open panel in a New York City apartment, with the cityscape spread outside the windows behind them.

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 23/01/2025

Our bunny Jerry is molting, and with all that wild ragged fur I keep thinking he’s going to start rocking a Zuckerberg chain any minute now.

A small Dutch rabbit with crazy, spiky brown fur.

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 19/01/2025

It’s always surreal when your friends are in the New York Times crossword.

Screenshot of crossword puzzle app with clue “Hugo-winning sci-fi author Bacigalupi.”

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 11/01/2025

On what planet can you consider an unconditional discharge too harsh a sentence? www.nytimes.com/2025/01/10/u...

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 15/11/2024

Trump’s pick for Surgeon General.

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 31/10/2024

Vote BOO! This Harlem Halloween voter has completed the assignment. 🔵👻

A smug bearded man stands on a Harlem street holding up a “Halloween Voter 2024” sticker.

The Halloween sticker is now on a laptop, above an AccidentalTerrorist.com sticker. (How on earth does he get that laptop through airport security?)

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 13/10/2024

And Voldemort’s avatar would surely know.

Screenshot of New Yorker column by Jelani Cobb. Highlighted: “Stephen Miller, Trump's erstwhile immigration czar, recently advised young men that proudly displaying their MAGA sympathies is the best way to impress women.”

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 07/10/2024

Move aside and let the mango through, let the mango through.

A human-sized mango walks through the crowd at an apparent movie premiere. AI-generated.

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 07/10/2024

That one time on Law & Order when Samuel L. Jackson was Philip Seymour Hoffman‘s defense attorney.

On a widescreen TV, three young white men sit at the defense table in a courtroom with an older Black man.

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 01/10/2024

For some reason they picked li’l old me to speak at the 40-year high school class reunion. Maybe I’ll post the text on Substack at some point soon. (I was also the one who traveled farthest to be there.)

A devastatingly handsome older gentleman at a podium labeled OAKRIDGE COUNTRY CLUB. Damn.

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 22/08/2024

Yesterday I had to clean up the piles of brick dust that had come in through the air-conditioners. Today there are chunks falling onto the sills. We hear it could go into November.

A hunched figure seen through a sheer orange curtain outside a ninth-floor window, looking like a refugee from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 22/08/2024

After months and months, this noisy, intrusive facade repair project at our apartment complex has gotten a little old. Tuesday we were getting it from the west and south windows simultaneously, and our poor cockatiel wouldn’t stop shaking. ->

A city view out a ninth-story window, with a pair of legs atop a lift platform visible outside the top of the window. Christ, that’s unnerving.

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 15/07/2024

Really, if you’ve never seen “Bob Roberts,” this is an appropriate (and chilling) time to watch it.

Movie poster for “Bob Roberts,” showing a naked Tim Robbins wrapped in an American flag with a guitar leaning against the flagpole. Tag line: “Vote first. Ask questions later.”

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 15/07/2024

I probably shouldn’t argue with relatives, especially on Instagram, but I have an allegedly adult nephew who posted that godawful photo of bloody Trump with the American flag behind him, without comment. Before he deletes my replies, I wanted to preserve what I said. I’ve only redacted his Insta ID.

shunn789 9h
Isn't it strange how violent rhetoric tends to result in violence.

[nephew] 2h • Author
@shunn789 Considering the media called him 'Hitler' for 7 years straight, it seems inevitable that such extreme and continuous vilification might provoke extreme reactions.

[nephew] 2h Author
this attempt just makes him look more like the victim than ever, and will only turn more people to him as they watch it all unfold. His adversaries keep putting cards in his deck.

shunn789 35s
Extreme reactions, sure. Like the kind of rhetoric that sent a hammer-wielding maniac to Nancy Pelosi's house. Like the kind of rhetoric that sent a gun-toting maniac to an FBI office in Cincinnati. Like the kind of rhetoric that sent a rifle-wielding vigilante to the non-existent basement of a pizzeria in Washington DC. Like the kind of rhetoric that sent a white nationalist's car into a crowd of people in Charlottesville. Like the kind of rhetoric that sent hundreds of people online, by phone, and in person to terrorize two Black election workers in Georgia. Like the kind of rhetoric that sent an angry mob into the Capitol to attack police, hang Mike Pence, and do God only knows what else.

The fact is, the rhetoric from your man and his cronies over the last eight years has done infinitely more damage to countless more people than a bloodied ear could ever balance out. It's funny how l've never heard you say a word or post an image in support of any of those victims, but as soon as that serial sexual predator and criminal fraud gets a little blood on his face you start crying about what "vilification" leads to. Take a step back and take a long, hard look at what all of Trump's vilification has led to. Real consequences for real people. Real lives ruined. Where was all your concern before a little bit of it splashed back on the man who started it all?

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 14/07/2024

A bit of stress in the atmosphere today, so I went for a long hike through some hilly parks. #forttryonpark #inwoodhillpark

iPhone screenshot of hiking workout details.

Hiking
Open Goal
11:37 AM-1:35 PM
New York
Workout Details
Workout Time
1:57:46
Active Calories
711CAL
Elevation Gain
528FT
Avg. Heart Rate
133BPM
Distance
4.95MI
Total Calories
935CAL
Avg. Pace
23'47"/MI

Map of upper Manhattan from 175th Street all the way north, with a line wandering from 181st St north through Fort Tryon Park and then twisting back and forth and around through the arduous hills of Inwood Hill Park, then all the way to the 1 train at Dyckman which was not running so all the way back along Thayer St to the A train at Dyckman. Whew!

A semi-secret path down the side of a hill in Inwood Hill Park, lined with an old stone wall. Visible through the trees in the distance is a blue apartment tower which is actually in Marble Hill on the north (far) side of Spuyten Duyvil Creek.

A rare chipmunk sighting in Inwood Hill Park.

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 14/07/2024

Republican NRA member? I can’t help but think of Grunthos the Flatulent’s large intestine.

Quote from Hitchhiker’s Guide:

Vogon poetry is of course, the third worst in the universe.

The second worst is that of the Azgoths of Kria. During a recitation by their poet master Grunthos the Flatulent of his poem "Ode to a Small Lump of Green Putty I Found in My Armpit One Midsummer Morning" four of his audience died of internal haemorrhaging and the president of the Mid-Galactic Arts Nobbling Council survived by gnawing one of his own legs off. Grunthos was reported to have been "disappointed" by the poem's reception, and was about to embark on a reading of his 12-book epic entitled "My Favourite Bathtime Gurgles" when his own major intestine, in a desperate attempt to save humanity, leapt straight up through his neck and throttled his brain.

The very worst poetry of all perished along with its creator, Paul Neil Milne Johnstone of Redbridge, in the destruction of the planet Earth. Vogon poetry is mild by comparison.

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 13/07/2024

The upside of worsening eyesight is, every updated glasses prescription is an excuse for new shades!

A baldy white beardo wearing sunglasses that are way too cool for him.

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 13/07/2024

If you see this, post or quote post with a tree or tree-lined path. Fort Tryon Park in upper Manhattan.

Tall trees and vegetation line a paved hillside path leading to a polygonal stone overlook.

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 11/07/2024

My handsome workmate here is also rather messy. He is 19, which is well past his life expectancy in the wild.

Photograph of a male cockatiel standing on a shelf in a cage littered with seeds and straw detritus. A poster for the movie HARVEY hangs on a wall beyond the cage, a sign that the human tenants are pretentious yahoos.

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 11/07/2024

New Yorker cartoon by Adam D. Thompson.

Drawing of a single road snaking into a dense forest. Caption: “A road hasn’t diverged in a yellow wood, but we are extremely worried about this road we are on, so should we try to hack through the forest in some other direction? God, this is stressful!”

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William "My Gray" Shunn @shunn.net · 07/07/2024

I spend little time on Shitter these days, but this post seems to have struck a nerve.

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