iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 18h

Oh well, I was having random insomnia anyway? But in addition to being noisy, these are not really noises I want to hear from the basement of my apartment building. (The recording is a little harder to tell, but it's definitely mechanical.)

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Today and most days, I am incredibly grateful to @aleclongstreth.bsky.social for his whole "top of the mountain" concept (the point in a project or task where you reach what feels like the completion point, but actually there's still all the wrap-up work left which needs time/energy).

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Some recent #birdart for your viewing pleasure. My creative direction is going to be shifting for awhile, probably, or at least diversifying, but making these little cards brings me LOTS of joy. (As is usually the case, these are all based on photos I took myself.)

Marker/colorpencil drawing of a great blue heron taking a step through knee-deep greenish water. A thought balloon above its head reads, "gonna stab, stabbity stabbity stab ..."

A marker/colorpencil drawing of a male American goldfinch in breeding plumage sitting on a horizontal branch with deep red bark and leaves, his head turned a little to the side, his breast feathers all puffed up and almost rounded.

Marker/colorpencil drawing of a razorbill floating in calm water, its body loaf-shaped and head turned to the side. It has a lot of white streaking on its black upper plumage, because it's either immature or molting.

Marker/color pencil drawing of a male red-bellied woodpecker standing on a grassy lawn, his head turned to the side and his beak a bit open.

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Apparently @massaudubon.org isn't using their bsky account, so ... if you're in MA and would like to see our state take steps to protect birds of prey (and other predators, and PETS) from anti-coagulant rodenticides, please sign this: bit.ly/Petition4ConferenceCommittee

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Reposted by cranky ol’ Auncle Allie

Barry Deutsch @barrydeutsch.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Two things that are true: 1) It's awful for trans people if the Republicans wins the midterms. 2) It's awful for trans people if Democrats become anti-trans rights, and we have 2 anti-trans parties, like the UK. Why do so many people arguing 1) seemingly have such a hard time understanding 2) ?

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I need an opportunity to visit and fork over some American gold. Damn.

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Well, my dad would be pleased, but things would have looked a bit different if it had asked me how I pronounce "milk" or "lilac." mydialect.us/quiz-standar...

A "dialect map" for someone who has a very strong New England dialect (in dark red) which is apparently very similar to Hawaiian English (also red) and quite close to Alaska, California, and northern Minnesota, and very unlike the deep South (very blue).

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Let's not have a primary election, the biggest moving day of the year, and a bunch of rain all on the same day ever again, okay? Especially with the bonus ongoing road work on a major street. My commute is short, but it was also ... pretty damn harrowing today. 🚴🫣

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

No cheating. Post the last photo of the sky from your camera roll.

Photo of ocean water cut through with a curving boat wake under a clear blue sky with a few tiny, puffy clouds low to the horizon.

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Yesterday I took myself to Boston's Pleasure Bay to see the razorbill (an Arctic puffin relative) that has mysteriously been hanging out there. Very chill guy, nice to meet. Was rather amused by all the beachgoers who didn't notice what looked like a small penguin floating right on by. #birds 🪶

A razorbill in scruffy, fading breeding plumage raising itself up out of the water to flap its wings vigorously. It's a small, stocky ocean bird, black head and back and white underside, with a rounded, almost teardrop-shaped bill.

The razorbill floating contentedly in its stomach in the gently rippling water, head tilted up, little tail pointed up, as well as the wingtips. White feathers are starting to come in on its chin.

The razorbill, still floating, with its bead turned to the side and its eye just slightly open.

Pulled out view showing a little section of city beach, with people lounging around on blankets and in beach chairs, talking to one another or looking at their phones. In front of them, the small razorbill floats just a few feet out into the water.

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Derailed my own morning plans to have thoughtful discussions about different creative and scholarly traditions on the internet: the Allie Kleber story? Ah well, it's been invigorating (and much healthier than yesterday's anger).

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

My temper always manages to run ahead of my better intentions. I'm not taking back my earlier threads or anything; I stand by them! But I need to remember to step away from the internet when I've had my say instead of chasing the topic around and stoking the anger too high.

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Back to your regularly (ha) scheduled nature posting ... I had the opportunity to spend some quality time with one of my more elusive favorite #birds at my little local sanctuary on Wednesday night; a belted kingfisher (or perhaps that should be QUEENfisher). 🪶❤️

A belted kingfisher perched in a beech(?) tree, body turned away from the viewer and head tilted, looking down. She's a compact blue bird with a large, triangular head and beak, a large white spot at the front corner of her eye, black tips to her wings, a thick white collar and a white belly.

The belted kingfisher, now perched on lichen-crusted dead branches hanging amid maple leaves, her body turned to the side and head towards the viewer. Some of her eponymous red "belt" markings can be seen peeking from uner her folded wing.

The female belted kingfisher perched in a willow tree at a three-quarter angle, peering downward with her wings sticking downward in neat little triangles at her sides.

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

I can't get over this. It's such a stark illustration of the huge cultural disparity between Cleves' field and Walden's. Cleves made blatantly false claims, while Walden's citations were more than impeccable. The assumptions all went the other way.

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

This is frankly astonishing to me. The author of the blog post does truly extensive analysis, and it's an interesting read start to finish, but it's quickly apparent that Cleves has so blatantly misrepresented Walden's research and citation practices that it approaches bald-faced lying.

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Elle Skinner @elleskinner.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Painting of a Great Horned Owl based on @turtlesoup.bsky.social 's photo! I got really immersed in color and light and lost some of the expression in the process, but I'm still really pleased with this. My favorite part: the blue shadows on the beak and feathers #art #birds #watercolor #birdart 🦉

Watercolor of a startled great horned owl on a tree branch

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Aw, a few years too late. (I make my younger brother a physical mix CD every year, usually with some kind of nostalgia or in-joke themed cover art. This was 2020's.)

Fake CD cover art in bright lime green with green and yellow sparkle effects, a green KN95 mask overlaid with large text reading "NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL QUARANTINE" in white, green, and shiny gold. Yellow text at the upper left reads "EVAN MIX #22".

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

It's #bandcampfriday, and Jodi Jones has officially released this folk/alt-country protest song, which I fell in love with via clip on IG some time back. It's a banger, especially the verse about natural disasters. jodijones.bandcamp.com/track/americ...

jodijones.bandcamp.com

American Dream, by Jodi Jones

track by Jodi Jones

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

"Why am I awake?" -me, and probably also this (immature, I think) Great Horned Owl who flew across my path last Saturday afternoon. I think it had been mobbed by songbirds. (Photo has been cropped - I took it from a careful and respectful distance.) 🦉 #birds 🪶

A young great horned owl perched on a lichen-speckled, forked branch against a backdrop of out-of-focus oak leaves. Its back is to the viewer, but its head is turned nearly all the way around, and tilted upwards; it has a single small feather sticking horizontally out from its head by one "horn" (tuft). It's a mottled brown all over, its eye discs more reddish, and it has huge yellow eyes and a small, curved black beak.

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

71 — Augmented. The Tide. cadence 100 · vigil 5 · lexicon 49 · polish 89 · drift 24 · chorus 69 Six lines read off all 1,258 of my posts. A percentile among 77 accounts, not an AI detector. b.mino.mobi/palm/?u=turtlesoup.bsky…

A six-spoke radar chart of stylometric readings for @turtlesoup.bsky.social. Cadence (how metronomic you are) 100th percentile; Vigil (how little you sleep) 5th percentile; Lexicon (how narrow your words) 49th percentile; Polish (how immaculate you are) 89th percentile; Drift (how unchanging you are) 24th percentile; Chorus (how much you broadcast) 69th percentile. Composite 71 of 100, "Augmented", archetype "The Tide" — You arrive on schedule, and the schedule has a night in it. (Cadence 100 over Vigil 5). The scale runs from Pan (least machine-like) to the Loom (most). These are percentiles among 77 real accounts, not a probability that anything was machine-written.

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

"Do you ... plan on being homosexual in the future?" Very young guy, very awkward, not originally from the US but I don't remember details. Circa 2012 or so; the same appointment included a mildly traumatizing pap smear experience. 😬 I didn't go to a doctor for awhile after that.

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Here's a rather different flavor of #birdart, traditional media this time ... there's something about cormorants drying their wings that always makes me think of vampire capes and something goofy trying to look imposing. Entirely projecting, but it brings me joy. 🖤

A postcard-sized marker & color pencil illustration of a double-created cormorant standing on a rock or log with its wings spread to dry, against a green background. A thought balloon with white text over a gray/black gradient reads "I am the NIGHT ..."

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Er ... three of my grandparents would have been younger than 5 years old in 1926. My paternal grandfather would have been 16, but I never met him. I know he was a quarry worker at one point?

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Finished up a piece of #birdart I've been noodling with for awhile--a red-eyed vireo with the common "translation" of its song.

Digitally-colored pen-and-ink drawing of a red-eyed vireo, a small olive-colored songbird, perched on a blooming Virginia bluebell plant with its beak wide open in song. A stylized scroll shows the words "HERE I AM! WHERE ARE YOU?"

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Heartbreaking. I saw The Swell Season (and Josh Ritter for the first time) at an incredible outdoor show back home in Noho almost twenty years(!) back... it started raining steadily and the whole crowd just put up umbrellas and vibed. One of those concerts where you feel so connected to everything.

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Have just had the displeasure of being asked to edit a lengthy document that was clearly AI-generated, about, of all things, human-centric AI design principles and their relevance to a new online degree program.

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

My dad just sent me a box of odds and ends from my teens and twenties, which included these blasts from the CCS past ... (They're unisex S and don't fit me; I don't suppose any of my fellow alums would want 'em?)

Photo of a teal-green T-shirt with the following in a yellow script font, in quotations: "White River Junction ..."

Photo of the back of a teal-green T-shirt with the following in a yellow script font, in quotations, with a Trademark symbol at the end: "... it's not so bad"

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Messing around reimagining one of my absurd adolescent RPG characters, as one does. (Drawn ... good grief, about 26 years apart.) @elleskinner.bsky.social @alexmegami.bsky.social

Photo of an old vaguely anime-style drawing colored with color pencil of a young woman with pointy ears, orange wings and a tail that looks rather like orange and yellow streamers extending from her rear. She's holding a knife in one hand and has one leg inexplicably lifted and bent at the knee, while the other hand is outstretched and extruding a gout of flame. Her black hair streams behind her but for a thick section braided to one side of her face, decorated with what appear to be her own feathers. She wears a red tube top, brown belt, black miniskirt, and gold or brass wrist braces, and she stares off into space with a stony expression and yellow eyes.

Computer-colored drawing of a harpy which appears to be on fire, phoenix-style. She's light-skinned and pointy-eared with long black hair, a little of which hangs in a slender braid down her front. She has large orange-gold wings instead of arms and orange-golden feathery legs ending in large black raptor claws instead of feet, and there's an orange-golden tail stretched out behind her. Her head is cocked and her eyes appear wide, though up close they don't actually have any whites, but are yellow with black centers. One eyebrow is raised and her wings are partially unfolded but not spread.

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Welp, just saw someone on IG refer to folks who advocate for invasive plant removal as "plant fascists," so ... that's great ...

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

I'm having such a hard time being present here. I wish there were an easy way to filter my feed so I could more easily catch up on friends' lives instead of wading through a million reskeets. Promoting art and books and important news is important but I am burned out and have almost zero bandwidth.

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

As if tufted titmice weren't cute enough as adults! And from the noise these little fluffballs make, you'd think they were almost all lung under that puff. One small wooded corner with at least six titmouse fledglings = utter, adorable cacophony. #birds 🪶

A fledgling tufted titmouse perched on an old, worn fallen branch, looking very alert and determined and ROUND. It stands with its body facing the viewer and its head turned to the side. It's a fluffy ball of white breast feathers and grey wings/head, with a pointy little crest, a black beak topped with a little black band of feathers, beady black eyes and little grey feet.

The fledgling tufted titmouse, still ROUND, bending its little body over to YELL through a wide-open beak which is bright yellow-orange inside.

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Venting at work via scribbly superhero doodling instead of screaming or curling up in a fetal position under my desk. Like you do.

Very scribbly ballpoint pen drawing of Rachel Summers circa her days on Claremont's X-Men, floating in midair, screaming and clutching at her head, with a messy angry phoenix effect around her and 'AARGH' in big dark letters behind her and running off the page. It's drawn on a purple notepad with cartoony drawings of opossums at the top holding a banner that reads "THINGS I DON'T WANT TO DO."

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Went for a walk around the neighborhood for the first time since the hawk kids fledged ... I was bracing myself not to see them and be sad about it. (Empty-nesting a bit? 😅) Instead, I got to say hello rather more closely than I have before! #birds 🪶

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

This is gutting. Jane Yolen's work was transformative, a huge influence on my childhood and my thinking about so many topics (and the direct inspiration for a lot of early creative endeavors). She was a local hero, too, and I was such a proud little fan to know that. locusmag.com/2026/06/jane...

locusmag.com

Jane Yolen (1939–2026) - Locus

Author Jane Yolen, 87, died peacefully in her home, surrounded by family, in Hatfield MA on June 11, 2026. Jane Hyatt Yolen was born February 11, 1939 in New York City NY. She graduated Smith College ...

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Sheryl Weikal says Prosecute ICE @leftistlawyer.com · 12/06/2026

A society with one trillionaire and millions of people in poverty is something to be deeply ashamed of, actually

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Eleanor Morton @eleanormorton.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Every interview with a tech CEO youtube.com/shorts/ZseOJ...

youtube.com

Every interview with a tech CEO

YouTube video by Eleanor Morton

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

First time trying cat TV: a tale in two parts. Part one:

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

I'm trying to explain to my remote work supervisor that micromanagement is, if anything, a bit detrimental to productivity ... he is not convinced. At least he gives me plenty of positive feedback. (So much purr.)

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Feeling tired and demoralized this morning, so I thought I'd share some baby #birds I've seen in the last week. Delightful fluffballs and gremlins all. 💕🪶 An American robin fledgling, mallard ducklings, mute swan cygnets, and a northern yellow warbler fledgling (the TINIEST omg).

A very round American robin fledgling perched in a tree. It has lots of dark speckling on its breast still, and an exaggerated gape that looks like a big cranky frown.

Close-up on a cuddle pile of sleepy mallard ducklings; just balls of brown-and-yellow fluff with a couple of tiny bills and (mostly) closed eyes.

A line of four mute swan cygnets swimming side-by-side on a murky, pollen-coated pond, heads all pointed in slightly different directions as they contemplate the foraging options. They're tiny and white and fluffy with little rounded black bills.

A northern yellow warbler fledgling perched on a single leafy stalk from a shrub. It's a minuscule grey bird (maybe two inches tall?) with tiny pieces of fluff sticking out from its head irregularly, darker wings with just the faintest suggestion of a yellow wash on lighter wing bars, and a tiny bright yellow beak with an exaggerated, grumpy-looking gape.

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Stressed spelled backwards @marginaliana.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

Magnificent work.

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Yesterday I was incredibly lucky. I stopped by the neighborhood red tailed hawk's nest on my lunch break just in time to see one of the chicks fledge! Poor critter landed on a roof for awhile and was pretty bewildered by all the yelling, divebombing robins. #birds 🪶

A near-fledgling red-tailed hawk chick perched on a jutting pine tree branch against a blue sky. Its body is proportioned like an adult's, but its head looks oddly small/not fully feathered.

A near-fledgling red-tailed hawk mid-flying-practice, standing on a pine branch and lifting one foot with its wings fully spread and its tail up, body bent over, looking a bit awkward.

A fledgling red-tailed hawk standing at the edge of a roof in a residential neighborhood, facing the viewer at a three-quarter angle with its head turned to the side. Its head looks a bit small for its body, and its eyes a bit big for its head! It also has that telltale pink, exaggerated gape.

A fledgling red-tailed hawk standing at the edge of a residential roof, looking off into the distance and apparently ignoring the American robin flying at it aggressively (and blurrily) from the left.

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Oh fuck, gone way too soon. Rest in power.

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

#birdart as personal metaphor ... something I did even before birding and such became a Thing for me. 😅

A rough three-panel pen and ink comic titled "birdbrain" (with "dysregulation" in parentheses).

Panel 1: In the background, large letters spell ALARM, apparently emerging from a blue jay who is perched on a branch to the upper right with its beak open. I. The foreground, a bespectacled white human with a bandana on their head squeezes their eyes shut and covers their ears; word balloons read "=ow=" and "Shush!"

Panel 2: Head and shoulders of the shouting blue jay. The shouty spiky word balloon behind it obscures the first word, so it reads "DE---IR! DISMAY! DISASTER!"

Panel 3: The blue jay stands in agitated posture on the ground, yelling up at the human, who is on their hands and knees, addressing the bird with a tentativeness in their posture.
Jay: "FIGHT! FLEE!! FREEZE!!!"
Human: "Let's try a few deep breaths."

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

A small tulip-dwelling dragon, just because.

Photo of a red tulip with shades of yellow and orange, leaning over sideways with the weight of the droplets of water bedecking it. A hand-drawn purple dragon, digitally colored, is curled up at the entrance to the "cave" of the flower's interior, eye half-closed, sleepy.

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