iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

After, like, half my life, I think I’ve finally got the hang of steeping green tea (don’t be distracted, yank bag at 3-ish)

Tall, black mug with images from The Nightmare Before Christmas printed in white on it. The handle is one of the black and white claymation snakes. Zero is on the front holding a candy cane in his mouth. The tea is popcorn green (it has toasted puffed rice) from Tea Pigs. Tis the season of hot beverages and soup.

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Biblioraptor, PhD @biblioraptorphd.bsky.social · 6h

I always read Mary Oliver outside but reading this poem by the river on the first morning of October in the last thirdish of my life hit really hard

October
There's this shape, black as the entrance to a cave.
A longing wells up in its throat like a blossom as it breathes slowly.
What does the world
mean to you if you can't trust it to go on shining when you're
not there? And there's a tree, long-fallen; once
the bees flew to it, like a procession of messengers, and filled it with honey.
I said to the chickadee, singing his heart out in the green pine tree:
little dazzler, little song, little mouthful.

cave.
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The shape climbs up out of the curled grass. It grunts into view. There is no measure for the confidence at the bottom of its eyes-. there is no telling
the suppleness of its shoulders as it turns and yawns.
Near the fallen tree
something a leaf snapped loose
from the branch and fluttering down tries to pull me into its trap of attention.
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It pulls me
into its trap of attention.
And when I turn again, the bear is gone.
Look, hasn't my body already felt like the body of a flower?
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Look, I want to love this world
as though it's the last chance I'm ever going to get to be alive and know it.

Sometimes in late summer I won't touch anything, not the flowers, not the blackberries brimming in the thickets; I won't drink from the pond; I won't name the birds or the trees;
I won't whisper my own name.
One morning
the fox came down the hill, glittering and confident, and didn't see me and I thought: so this is the world.
I'm not in it.
It is beautiful.

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Kristen @thehemicane.bsky.social · 20h

On Wednesday we wear pink: pen and ink edition

Two TWSBI Eco fountain pens lying on a wooden trinket dish filled with rocks. One is black with dark pink ink and the other is opaque pink with medium pink ink.

Two glass bottles of pink inks. Cosmic Tarantula by Tono & Lims. Sailor Manyo in the color Kuzu.

Scribbly ink sample on cream, gridded paper with a trio of illustrated cats in the upper right corner. Cosmic Tarantula is a pale pink with red undertones. Sailor Kuzu is a deep pink with a green undertone that flashes around the edges. Former is with a broad nib, the latter a fine nib. Thought I’d use pink for a while to honor Dolly Parton.

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Ryan Packer @typewriteralley.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

George Saunders on using AI: "Writing is the most precious way one person can communicate their essence to another person. I’ve spent a lifetime trying to get better at making myself present in my writing. Why would I want to sacrifice even one iota of that?"

Have you spent time trying to write or revise with AI? Is there an experiment that would be interesting enough to try?

I have not. Not for a second. To me, this whole idea of using AI to write is . . . anathema. A thing to be most radically avoided.

Writing is the most precious way one person can communicate their essence to another person. I’ve spent a lifetime trying to get better at making myself present in my writing. Why would I want to sacrifice even one iota of that? Not even in an email and certainly not in a short story or novel.

Who are we ceding our authority to, exactly, when we let AI write for us? And why? Why surrender our agency (that amazing ability we have to reach across time and space, with our strange, idiosyncratic phenomenon, and land within the sensibility of another human being) to something that, by its very design, pushes the individual sensibility aside? And in the name of . . . what, exactly? Ease, I guess? Efficiency? The person who chooses to write with AI has also sacrificed, from the start, the opportunity of experiencing difficulty, of struggling to say what he wants to say, of making himself evident in his prose, of trying to find out what he believes. By this, he sacrifices a chance to know himself and his mind better. To me, that’s a shame. And it’s dangerous, because, as we are now finding out, it affects the brain and lessens our capabilities. Thanks, but no thanks, get thee behind me, etc.

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Kristen @thehemicane.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Trying to keep the old ways alive by still pouring leftover grease in an old coffee can and storing it under the kitchen sink

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Kristen @thehemicane.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

In the 24hrs it took for the vacuum filter to dry, these two gremlins with grinch feet scattered two tons of litter throughout the house

Gray Persian cat with innocent orange eyes lying on a bed with her face upturned to the camera as if to say who, me?

Gray Persian cat with stern orange eyes sits on the floor in front of the cat stairs to the bed. Her demeanor is that of an attorney who has an accordion folder full of evidence to the contrary.

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Kristen @thehemicane.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Went outside to see what the wrens and the crows were hollering about which amounted to Look Up

A small, round portal in the thick gray clouds where there is a spot of blue sky and the sun is trying real hard to break through. Tall pines in the foreground. At least the rain has stopped.

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Kristen @thehemicane.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Just me and one guy digging thru the CDs at the library sale Saturday. I came away victorious

CD on a steel table. It’s the soundtrack to the movie The Crow—the original with Brandon Lee. I don’t acknowledge any other.

Inside of the case. Liner notes to the left with an image of Eric Draven, arms thrown open with his head tilted back into the rain. On the right, the disc with a small pic of Draven in full crow make-up on the lower right corner. It can’t rain all the time (me glaring at the nor’easter right now).

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NosferaPru @prufrockluvsong.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Please stop calling me on my phone that's not what it's for

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Kristen @thehemicane.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Been going thru the strata of clothes in my closet and let me tell you what—I loved velevet sweat pants and short sleeved hoodies in 2010

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Kristen @thehemicane.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Went out for pancakes and stopped by the library sale before the free nor’easter event. I’m in my old covers era

Two books on a dark, wooden coffee table. Them and Wonderland by Joyce Carol Oates. Both in black and white. Editions from the 90s. The cover of Them is a small main-street scene with a large plume of black smoke off in the distance. For Wonderland, the cover looks like a blown-up image of a large cell with smaller surrounding cells under a microscope. They both small great.

Book placed on the wooden arm of a chair. Winner Take Nothing by Ernest Hemingway. Vintage Scribner edition that is dark gray with a mod vertical striped pattern in light gray on top. Title in orange & black. Printed price tag of a buck sixty-five on the top left. Also smells great.

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Kristen @thehemicane.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

My shirt choice received the Sylvie Stamp of Approval

Vintage image of Dolly Parton back in the swoopy curtain bangs wig era wearing a pink sweater and holding a tiny orange kitten. It is printed on a cream tee shirt with what looks like a Captain American shield in the background but is really just concentric circles of washed out red, cream, light blue, and dark blue. Celebrating Dolly Day on 9/25.

Gray Persian cat with blissed out orange eyes flopped over on a Dolly Parton tee shirt. She wanted to wear it first.

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Cats of Yore @catsofyore.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Dear Jancd st hv it k%llevv iv fxx _cc in $ d in vvvkm. Photo from my collection, no date/info.

Black and white photo of a light skinned man wearing a white button up shirt with dark diagonal striped tie. He is sitting at a typewriter and laughing at the white and ginger tabby kitten who it standing on it closely investigating the inner mechanisms.

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Kristen @thehemicane.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Went out to water the mums and discovered this little friend

Dragonfly in the sun on a very dirty plant stand. Large potted purple aster in the background. The sun was warm so we were both basking for a little.

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Pip Wren @lollibeepop.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

A joyous fat bear week to all 🐻

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Kristen @thehemicane.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

It was 41°F when I got up but I’m still wearing shorts bc the sun’s out. I’ll put on a fleece for balance

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Kristen @thehemicane.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Got a message on my landline (!) from a robot asking if I needed any help completing my jungle jack pheromone order. Do you think machine recognized machine

static.klipy.com

Jetsons Robot Cartoon

Alt: Jetsons Robot Rosie losing her circuits, spinning her dial eyes

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Kristen @thehemicane.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

These trees caught a whiff of pumpkin spice and their tips changed immediately

Small trees sprinkled with orange and red tips, but still mostly green (for now). Tall pines in the background. Powerlines cutting across the foreground. Decorative gourd season is imminent.

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Kristen @thehemicane.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Nothing like discovering the bridge is out right before you leave. Really gets the juices flowing

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Kristen @thehemicane.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

It has been 0 days since Sylvia tried to chew on a used, unscented dryer sheet that fell on the floor. We had a good run

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Kristen @thehemicane.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Continuing on with, what’s in the box: basement edition. Many tote-bags & purses, each a time capsule. Green crossbody bag with a leather journal (!) & an issue of Ploughshares from 2014. Last entry was May of that year

A camel leather journal with the words Write Now embossed along the bottom right corner. It was a long time ago, I thought I was rad. Adjacent is a spring 2014 issue of the literary journal Ploughshares. The cover image is of the omniscient viewer looking out of an old door at a young person’s legs leaning up against an old wooden railing. There’s a Dan Chaon story in here!

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Kristen @thehemicane.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Paying a visit to my fave chairs (I needed a strawberry milk latte) and there’s a new color!

My favorite vintage-inspired metal rocking chairs outside of my fave coffee shop, Flight. Now there’s a teal color! This passes for real excitement. Love my strip mall outdoor patio seating area. Small strawberry milk latte on a white outdoor table with a metal rocking chair in the background. Also a sign that reads: no tables or chairs past this point thank you.

Sampling of inclusive stickers on the cafe door such as: Safe Space with the all inclusive flag, mental health is health, sparkly protect trans people.

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Kristen @thehemicane.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Too deep in thought and now I have a cup of coffee flavored half & half

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Kristen @thehemicane.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Instead of trying to re-home the tiny spider living in the top corner of my bathroom, I’m letting it hang out, rent-free. BUT—it disappears every few days

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Kristen @thehemicane.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

With the exception of Card and the catbird, it’s been really quiet out there. Haven’t used Merlin in a while 🥲

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cait (and adonis) @cait.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

I keep seeing videos of a guy who catches crabs and lobsters, cracks all the barnacles off them, puts a shrimp in their claws and throws them back. can you imagine. abducted by aliens but they just give you a spa day and hand you two hot dogs and let you go

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Kristen @thehemicane.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Trying to trick myself into hydrating more often by having a spiffy water bottle

Owala water bottle that is dark navy, lighter navy, and has a tan and gray lid. It is covered in a bookish print. Geometric foxes. Flapping books flying about. Stacks of books among the stars. Trails of pages, paper, and books like a galaxy. Bookcases filled to the brim. The background resembles a tear in the fabric of time to show how books transport us to special places. I’m hoping it will transport lots of water into my dried-out husk of a body.

Other side of the water bottle with more bookcases, books, geometric foxes scampering about. There is a wi Dow with books and pages flying about. Take me to it, I’m ready to enter the Twilight Zone.

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Kristen @thehemicane.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

I need to read this passage more often. Annie’s writing was / is such a gift

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Jonathan Edwards @jontofski.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Peter Falk. Born on this day in 1927.

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Kristen @thehemicane.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

A floof warms herself in a sunbeam

Super fluffy gray Persian cat with squinting orange eyes sits in a sunbeam, tail curled around her feet. She’s fresh from a brushing and wants to be commended for sitting through it.

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sirosenbaum.bsky.social @sirosenbaum.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

buddy you just described an alt-weekly

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Kristen @thehemicane.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Ok Goth Box is up! Mostly dark purple, black, and deep red. Missing Dracula but hey—there’s an ornamental cabbage

Window box full of dark purple and red flowers, grasses, leafy plants, ornamental purple & red peppers, an ornamental cabbage plus some leftover gnarly-looking bedraggled dark purple petunias. Adds to the spooky vibe for the upcoming season. Many thanks to C for planting everything while I governed from behind the glass.

Close up shot of ornamental peppers. They were near black but are shifting to a purple and red. Not sure if these belong in a window box but who cares?! Live your floral arranging life how you want.

Close up of an ornamental cabbage with a purply center. Very Audrey-esque. Think I might freak my neighbors out by yelling FEED ME, SEYMOUR every now and then.

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Kristen @thehemicane.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

There are leaves blowing off of the trees in a whirlwind right now and idk if I’m ready just yet. Winter Bleakness comes all too quickly

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Kristen @thehemicane.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

My grandma kept me well-stocked in Garfield books as a kid. I just came across one in a box from the basement

Front of a rectangular, paperback Garfield comic book. The 27th edition titled Garfield Dishes it Out! Red cover with Garfield the Orange & black striped cat tossing a plate full of people food into his mouth instead of his cat food. These books sustained me as an emo pre-teen.

Back cover of the book with a comic strip. The banner reads A Five-Course Meal Of Laughs! There is a sweet vintage K Mart price sticker on the bottom. Grandma got this for $6.26 instead of the $6.95 list price. Always looking for a bargain.

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Kristen @thehemicane.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Last weekend I was on the beach. Today we bought mums & pumpkins

Rows of colorful mums (mostly red here) in various states of blooming. Stacks of pumpkins—some weird like blue, bright yellow, soft peach—placed along the right side. Trees just starting to change color in the background.

Purple aster with a bee happily gathering the good stuff.

Hard-scape of a two level waterfall surrounded by rocks with a koi pond at the base. Partial view of a gazebo at the top left. Did I talk to the koi? I’ll leave that as an exercise for the reader.

Cinderella pumpkin which is sort of flat and very fluted. Shades of blue, green, yellow, and peach blend into one another. Very reminiscent of watercolor.

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Kristen @thehemicane.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

It’s peak bear season around New England. They had to rescue one out of a tree nearby the other day. Time to pack away your bird feeders for a bit

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Maris Kreizman @maris.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Anyway, I love what I can see New York City becoming in the hands of the best mayor I’ve known in my 26 years here. bsky.app/profile/mayo...

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Kristen @thehemicane.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

I collect paper bits. I’ll shred up a magazine till all that’s left are the spine and staples. The scraps are legion. Bc of that, I’ll use virtually anything as a folder

Small tourism pamphlet for Ocean City, MD with a picture of the beach on the cover. Jammed inside are receipts, things torn out of magazines, tags from items that probably have a cat on them. Also labels from bottles. A cool sticker on a loaf of bread hates to see me coming. I love all my piles of detritus.

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Kristen @thehemicane.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

The catbird that lives in my rhododendron keeps screaming

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Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 10/09/2026

My favorite doorknobs are the ones the New York City public schools installed at the turn of the 20th century. You can still occasionally find one on eBay!

A brass doorknob with the all-caps lettering "PUBLIC SCHOOL—CITY OF NEW YORK," surrounded by a swirling motif that looks rather like leaves.

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Kristen @thehemicane.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Birds. Did someone say birds??

Book on the edge of a wooden table with a very interested gray Persian cat with hopeful orange eyes sitting below. The book is a collection of stories by Samanta Schweblin titled Mouthful of Birds. The cover is a collage of dark, metallic colorful butterflies. Sylvie was hoping the birds were for her. Sorry to disappoint her.

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