iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

For our wedding favours I wanted to make my own Birmingham collectible pin badge 😍 Celebrating another iconic Birmingham building ✨️ Designed by me, printed on acrylic by Sticker Mule. International Day of Birmingham

Acrylic pin badges of Fazeley Studios with the Library of Birmingham pattern as the sky

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

@joegrassby.bsky.social Happy Birthday! 🍻 Sorry not to see you at Chapter later, but hope you have a great holiday. Enjoy the whisky tasting with @onesharper.bsky.social ! Funny that 5 years ago we were also in that room in Cherry Reds, for yours and Matt's party!

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Aston Villa are *in* the neighbourhood! Not a football fan, but caught a glimpse of the buses between buildings from my balcony 😲 #B16

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

Another great day at the #GreatBirminghamRun New 10k PB achieved of 51:12 🥳 Convinced @onesharper.bsky.social to do it this year 💕 Also what a medal this year! A nod to Birmingham’s musical history 💜💿

A medal with a vinyl record pattern and the Library of Birmingham pattern, in Black Sabbath purple.

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

Stereolab - Instant Holograms on Metal Film New Eves - The New Eve Is Rising Mozart Estate - Tower Block In A Jam Jar [2/2]

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

Favourite albums of 2025 were ⭐Self Esteem - A Complicated Woman ⭐Melin Melyn - Mill on the Hill The rest of the Top 10 is presented in release date order: Mogwai - The Bad Fire Ex Void - In Love Again The Limiñanas - Faded The Tubs - Cotton Crown Sacred Paws - Jump Into Life [1/2]

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 11/10/2025

Personally I have no heating rituals as my apartment is warm enough not to need the heater on most of the year

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 11/10/2025

I always assumed it was to do with cost - even though it would only be a negligible amount, there's something about proving the electricity company wrong with their monthly bill. Or if you're a boomer just not wanting to pay for anything.

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

💡Name💡In💡Lights!💡 En route to Newcastle to talk about my little choose your own adventure games at the AGCAS Conference. Achievement unlocked ✅️ #EmployabilityForAll

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

@sjeffs.bsky.social Great to see you out en route again! It's always so good to see people I know down that end of the route! Hope it went well for Matt!

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

So pleased to have smashed my previous PB by 5 minutes at the Great Birmingham Run half marathon yesterday! 🎉 Perfect running conditions this year #GreatBirminghamRun

Person holding medal in front of Birmingham skyline showing Rotunda and Selfridges. Distance 13.2 miles, Pace 8:23/mile, Time 1:50:21

AJ Bell Great Birmingham Run certificate. Time 1:50:21. 28th by Age Category!

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Birmingham Light Festival is here ✨️ 11 artworks lighting up the city 19th-22nd Feb💡Great little after dark walking or running trail

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

It's sunny and I'm listening to I'm From Barcelona ☀️ - after Daniel Kitson reminded me of it on his Resonance FM show this morning 💫☺️

The album Let Me Introduce My Friends by I'm From Barcelona (2006)

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 16/01/2025

I had my period of unemployment at the start of my career, and so since then I have always felt that I haven't got enough free time 😦

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

Dummy - Free Energy The Cure - Songs of a Lost World Maxïmo Park - Stream Of Life The Bug Club - On the Intricate Inner Workings of the System LYR - An Unnatural History

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

Here we go then, my top 10 albums of the year, roughly in order: Ed Harcourt - El Magnifico The Umbrellas - Fairweather Friend Drahla - angeltape Chime School - The Boy Who Ran The Paisley Hotel Ex-Easter Island Head – Norther

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 28/12/2024

Strange, as mine has the proper headings 🤷‍♀️

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

I did like the big windows on the Voyagers though. The windows on the Pendolinos (and iirc these) are really poky

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

What a difference 9 years makes. Skyline at Edgbaston Reservoir this day 9 years ago on the left, vs a few weeks ago on the right. So many skyscrapers

Skyline of Birmingham City Centre viewed from Edgbaston Reservoir in 2015.

Skyline of Birmingham City Centre viewed from Edgbaston Reservoir in 2024. Many more skyscrapers on Broad Street can be seen

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Did some of the Berger at uni, along with various other big hitters Laura Mulvey, Foucault, Bourdieu - and this is why studying art history is important when we live in a visual world 🤦‍♀️

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 08/11/2024

Wow the new Cure album is dark 🖤

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 06/11/2024

A soothing Ed Harcourt balm -- @ Hare and Hounds. 90-minute set!

Ed Harcourt playing a guitar amongst blue and pink lights

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 22/10/2024

Same with 35 suddenly becoming the new discounted age cut off a year or two after I passed it 🙄

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 06/09/2024

Taking the coast train to Tenby 🏖 So much for that heatwave you promised

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 12/08/2024

O...kay.. so now we're having thunder when it's sunny and not raining

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 12/07/2024

When you hear your MP on the radio doing Big News Things now 👀

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 05/07/2024

Now we're talking 😍 -- @ Mikkeller Paris 🔆

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 05/07/2024

Oh wow, no more Fabricant!

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 09/05/2024

I shall go to the Ocean Colour Scene ball after all thanks to that Concert Week £25 ticket offer 🎉 A much more reasonable price. Sadly The Corrs' arena shows were not included 🙃😅 click.mailing.ticketmaster.com?qs=ee79fda9d...

click.mailing.ticketmaster.com

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 05/05/2024

Challenging run in the blazing sun at #GreatBirminghamRun half marathon today, so only managed to scrape a PB by 5 seconds! Great atmosphere again along the route 🏃‍♀️ 🎉

Person with a medal in front of the Birmingham skyline.

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 21/04/2024

Oh wow, I grew up in Lichfield. Didn't realise cool stuff was going on now! Also, think I've found a case study of yours on our careers website! Just a heads up that we're archiving a lot of the case studies imminently, due to a web move - in case you wanted to save a copy of the webpage!

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 21/04/2024

What a treat to see Simon Armitage and LYR performing their Blossomise EP at Charterhouse in Coventry 🌸☀️

Simon Armitage and LYR performing on an outdoor stage

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 28/03/2024

New bookshop in the neighbourhood ✨️ The Bookshop on the Green in Bournville is relocating to Edgbaston Village - and they have a Crowdfunder to support with costs: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/green-hear...

crowdfunder.co.uk

Green Heart Books – Help Us Start a New Story

Green Heart Books (the team behind The Bookshop on the Green) are fundraising to help cover the costs of relocating to Edgbaston Village.

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 06/03/2024

Great to see The Umbrellas at @justdroppedin.bsky.social Coventry tonight for a bit of jangle pop - thanks @joesors.bsky.social One of my albums of the year so far 🎶

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 20/01/2024

Why are you archiving them?!

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 02/01/2024

Josie Long - Because I Don’t Know What You Mean And What You Don’t. Now hoping to come to see you both discuss it in Wolverhampton 🙌

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 30/12/2023

Mid Tier Explosions in the Sky - End Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan - The Nation's Most Central Location Teeth Of The Sea - Hive Lanterns On The Lake - Versions Of Us Belbury Poly - The Path Land of OOO - Land of OOO En Attendant Ana - Principia Matt Berry - Simplicity

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 30/12/2023

Top Tier The Bug Club - Rare Birds: Hour of Song Mozart Estate - Pop-Up! Ker-Ching! And The Possibilities Of Modern Shopping Sparklehorse - Bird Machine Slowdive - Everything Is Alive Lewsberg - Out and About

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 30/12/2023

God Tier Belle & Sebastian - Late Developers Bas Jan - Back To The Swamp Emily Breeze - Rapture The Tubs - Dead Meat New Pornographers - Continue as a Guest Reds, Pinks & Purples- The Town That Cursed Your... Baxter Dury- I Thought I Was Better... David Holmes & Raven Violet- Blind On A Galloping...

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 30/12/2023

The Mid Tier are ones that I really like and could possibly go higher if I listened to them more and spent more time overthinking it

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 30/12/2023

Found it hard to narrow down my Top Albums this year, so not overthinking it and going with the "tiers" approach. The God Tier is probably roughly in order, but I would refer to them all as Top 5. The Top Tier I found I kept going back to these albums, which I think there is something to be said for

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 25/11/2023

So true - I love it when I tell people I've worked at the uni for 12 years 🤭

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 24/11/2023

We risked west coast as it was cheaper! Only just made the connecting Newcastle train even with a half hour connection time 🙄 🥲

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 24/11/2023

Keeping it #TShirtDay en route to Boundaries festival in Sunderland, wearing my "The Bug Club played 1000 gigs and I was there" tshirt – bought just after t-shirt day last year at their Birmingham gig 🪲

Person wearing a The Bug Club t-shirt on a Northern train

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steph @stephthorpe.bsky.social · 08/10/2023

Introduce yourself using three books you love: - The Invoice by Jonas Karlsson - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll - Paris Peasant by Louis Aragon

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