iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Vanessa Christman @veeelcee.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

My brother and his shithead friends never truly answered for altering my relationship with spiders, forever. (Arachnophobia, 1990)

Still from the 1990 Horror-Comedy movie Arachnophobia. Depicting the deceased, desiccated husk of a Caucasian male laying on a bag of Kingsford charcoal. The corpse is covered in spider webs with four small hairy dark brown spiders crawling on lifeless his body, admiring their work.

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Vanessa Christman @veeelcee.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

When you round the corner at the Met, see some unmistakable pottery shapes, and shout Moche!! excitedly, you end up annoying and startling quite a few people. 🏺

Moche stirrup-spout bottle from the north coast of Peru, 200–500 CE, modeled as a squat toad. Reddish-brown ceramic slip defines its large eyes, limbs, and back against a lighter body; the stirrup spout rises behind its head.

Moche ceramic vessel from the north coast of Peru depicting three stylized human figures seated closely together, with two larger figures embracing and a smaller figure beside them. Cream and reddish-brown slip, with modeled faces and incised details.

Moche ceramic bottle from the north coast of Peru with a tall narrow neck and rounded body, painted in reddish-brown slip. A narrative scene wraps around the vessel, showing elaborately dressed figures facing one another and holding weapons or ceremonial objects.

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Vanessa Christman @veeelcee.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

The Ziggurat. The most ridiculous government building ever. I love it sm. 🏺

The Ziggurat building in Sacramento, California. It’s a large stepped tan office building with horizontal bands of windows. It glows in low evening sunlight beneath a blue sky, with trees, landscaping, and a circular drive in the foreground.

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Vanessa Christman @veeelcee.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Today in wannabe-archaeologist-who-works-in-a-huge-special-library news: I found a cache of archaeological quartos (big books, folded that way since forever). Mid-1800s through the 1950s, lots of regions, Mediterranean well represented, and a deeply distracting thing to have near my office. 🏺

Two shelves of old archaeology books in a library stack. Above: leather volumes of Herculaneum et Pompei with gilt spines, then cloth-bound twentieth-century titles including Blake’s Roman Construction in Italy, a blue Gell’s Pompeii, and Glimpses of Roman Culture, most hand-lettered Q913.37. A shelf label reads FIVE SHELVING OPENINGS MAXIMUM THIS SECTION. Below: three tall gilt-tooled Denkmäler des Klassischen Altertums with fraying covers, Excavations at Phylakopi in Melos, and Dinsmoor’s The Archons of Athens.

Close-up of a shelf of Egypt Exploration Fund volumes. Three tan cloth-bound spines dominate, reading EGYPT EXPLORATION FUND, ARCHAEOLOGICAL REPORTS, dated 1896–1901, 1901–1906, and 1906 onward. The third has an orange leather label with worn gilt lettering and a frayed head. All are stamped q913.32 E3r near the base. Flanking them are a grey Graeco-Roman Memoirs volume, a blue-grey Egypt Exploration Fund special report, and two red cloth bindings.

Looking down into an open portfolio case on a library cart. Inside is a large facsimile plate of the Códice en Cruz, a Nahua annals manuscript laid out as a cross: ruled year bands running horizontally and vertically, each cell marked with dot-numerals and small glyphs of people, plants, temples, and bundles. Printed below in spaced capitals: CODICE EN CRUZ, with LAMINA I at left and 1402–1453 at right. An orange cord tie hangs from the case. The photographer’s shoes are visible at the bottom.

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Vanessa Christman @veeelcee.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

What perfect album came out the year you turned 16? *mine is lower on a lot of “best of”lists but it was in heavy rotation in my discman

Album cover pictured featuring three Caucasian males in business casual type attire in the center of the shot, appearing to be in a doorway. Their details are stylistically blurred to being almost outlines without distinguishable features. The background is a pinky off white with a warm heavenly glow. The text on the front reads: “everclear so much for the afterglow”. The year is 1997.

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Vanessa Christman @veeelcee.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

Yes to all cookies but I also think you need to see this video from Jordan Keyes on TikTok

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Vanessa Christman @veeelcee.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

New tablet main character just dropped à la Ea Nassir: Lamassi’s Useless Husband. #archaeology 🏺

A cuneiform tablet, from around 4000 years ago, inscribed by an Assyrian woman named Lamassi, responding to her useless husband after her criticized her weaving by saying that he didn’t love the fabric she used. She responded in this tablet by saying “who is this man who lives in your house and who is criticizing the textiles when they get to him”. I feel like he got off easy.

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Vanessa Christman @veeelcee.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

Aww, when I was cleaning my office I found a gift from @alexvassar.bsky.social - a copy of the CA Public Records Act autographed by Assemblyman Bill Bagley. A gloriously niche present for a Gov Publications librarian.

Text of the 1968 California Public Records Act, autographed by one of its authors, Assemblyman Bill Bagley of Marin.

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Vanessa Christman @veeelcee.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

Etruscan vie cave near Pitigliano: carved procession roads cut deep into volcanic rock. Sacred, mysterious, dramatic as hell. I love them. Back in the day I’d 100% be that girl doing parkour down the path and some dude named Larth would be like, “come on, knock it off already” #archaeology 🏺

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Vanessa Christman @veeelcee.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

Etruscan #TombTuesday (Necropolis of San Germano) on the grounds of a winery (Rocca di Frassinello). My favorite kind of two-for-one special! #archaeology #toscana 🏺

Rows of grapevines stretch across golden-brown hills at Rocca di Frassinello in Maremma, Tuscany. The vineyard lies under a wide blue sky, with scattered olive trees and wooded hills rising in the distance.

Bronze vessel with tall, curved handles ending in stylized human hands, displayed in a glass case at the Rocca di Frassinello Etruscan Museum. The bowl rests on a pedestal base, surrounded by smaller blackware cups.

A dramatic, amphitheater-style wine barrel room at Rocca di Frassinello, with rows of oak barrels stacked in symmetrical tiers under soft lighting.

Instructional panel showing both an aerial photograph and detailed plan of Tomb 9 at the Etruscan Necropolis of San Germano, including a numbered list describing funerary artifacts like bronze razors, alabaster urns, bucchero oil flasks, and decorative appliqués such as crouching lions.

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Vanessa Christman @veeelcee.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

I feel like *I’m good at State Library merch. *Which includes hiring talented artists and having no shame being like: “I feel like this golden trout illustration needs a cowboy hat, right?”

A picture of “merch” from the California State Library. Picture is a side view of a teal holographic pencil with the text: California State Library Getting Shh! Done Since 1850

More merch from the state library. In the front of the picture are three state symbol stickers, illustrations by Megan Porch. To the left is a golden trout wearing a cowboy hat. To the right is a grizzly bear rearing a book to three quails (including one on top of their head). Above that is a sticker featuring a pallid bat in an opened book with golden poppies behind them.

Poster of an original block print by Patricia Wakida. Featuring the text “California State Library”. In the left center of the print is the front facade of the Historic Library and Courts building in Sacramento that houses some sections of the State Library. The building is set in a field of oak trees and has an artistic frame with poppies. There is also a California grizzly bear, eating grapes in the bottom right corner of the print, which represents a very unique depiction of the state animal available for viewing only in the historic library building.

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Vanessa Christman @veeelcee.bsky.social · 30/12/2024

If you see this post, post a pic from your device without explanation.

Picture of a rock that’s also a relic located in Galatina, Italy (Puglia). The rock is located in a circular niche with protective grates in Chirch of Saints Peter and Paul The Apostles. Why is it a relic you ask? Because apparently St. Peter once laid his blessed dump truck upon it on his way to someplace else officially making it: Saint Peter’s Butt Rock.

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Vanessa Christman @veeelcee.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

Without downloading any new pics what’s your energy going into 2025?

Meme image featuring the former Governor of California shirtless portraying the actor Arnold Schwarzenegger portraying Conan the Barbarian gripping a sword. The humorous ish text reads: Live (to crush your enemies), Laugh (as they are driven before you), Love (the lamentations of their women). Interestingly enough this was also his Republican political platform as the Governor of California.

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Vanessa Christman @veeelcee.bsky.social · 24/12/2024

The Great American Music Hall is already so pretty but all gussied up for Hipmas it’s gorgeous. Anyway, enjoy this song about late stage capitalism.

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Vanessa Christman @veeelcee.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

No cheating. Your last saved pic of a celebrity is your therapist. If we’re not cheating my new therapist is this haunted Vanilla Ice Doll. Honestly it might be an upgrade as my last therapist ended up using our sessions to ask me for help with their grant applications.

Picture of vintage doll of American rapper Vanilla Ice, in box. Box is displayed as part of an exhibit entitled “Is this Vanilla Ice Doll Haunted by an Evil Entity?” at The Freaky But True Peculiarium and Museum in Portland, Oregon.

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Vanessa Christman @veeelcee.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

So my friend’s MIL regularly sends me pics of sketches she inherited (from early 20th C?) and asks me the location and I’m usually like: “idk how you got the impression I can figure this out based solely on the fact I’m a techy librarian who enjoys travel” but this is Bruges, right?

A detailed sketch of a historical European building, location unknown, with intricate architectural features, including a tall tower, ornate gables, and multiple levels with many windows. In the foreground, there is a fountain or statue surrounded by a low wall, with small figures of people walking near the structure. The sketch is signed at the bottom, suggesting it is an artist’s work from an earlier era.

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Vanessa Christman @veeelcee.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

Fortress Friday! May I submit the Castelo de Almourol in Portugal? Perched on a Rio Tejo inlet close to the gorgeous castle town of Tomar. Billed as a 12th C. Templar castle, it has roots in Lusitanian, Roman, Visigoth & Arab rule, playing a crucial role in Portugal's Reconquista. #MedievalSky 🏺

View from the Almourol castle battlements overlooking the Rio Tejo, showing the crenelated stone walls in the foreground and the winding river with sandy banks and wooded hills in the background.

Castelo de Almourol at golden hour, rising dramatically from rocky foundations on its river inlet. The castle's multiple towers and crenelated walls are illuminated by warm sunlight.

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Vanessa Christman @veeelcee.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

No one to me: “Vanessa, what was your favorite site on your recent trip to in Guatemala?” Me: “So glad you asked! Tikal was stunning but Ceibal captured my heart with its smaller scale and FASCINATING hybrid artistic styles showing Central Mexican influence and did you know that.." #archaeology 🏺

A tall limestone stelae under a wooden protective roof at the Maya site of Ceibal. The carved monument shows a standing figure wearing elaborate regalia, including a large headdress, with Maya hieroglyphic text running along the sides and a hybrid artistic style attributed to the influence of rulers from Central Mexico. The stelae is set against a backdrop of stone steps, with wooden railings protecting it. The carved surface shows weathering but the details of the figure and glyphs are still visible.

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Vanessa Christman @veeelcee.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

I mean Bluesky is nice and all but if you’re going to ramble.. 🏺

A vintage hardcover book titled Rambles of an Archaeologist: Among Old Books and in Old Places by Frederick William Fairholt, published in 1871. The green cover features ornate black detailing and gold lettering, with an illustration of a medieval figure on horseback, wearing a hat and holding a staff, embossed in gold. Intricate decorative elements enhance its antique appearance, and the edges of the cover show slight wear.

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Vanessa Christman @veeelcee.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

I think he deserves to be in the Top 5 of iconic Libra musicians. ♎️

A scene from the 1983 documentary “Heartbreakers Beach Party” showing musician Tom Petty. He is seated in front of a microphone, wearing dark sunglasses, a black leather jacket, and a red bandana around his neck. Petty is holding a cigarette and smiling slightly, with headphones on his head, appearing relaxed and casual against a backdrop of plants and wooden blinds.

A dark theater screen with large white text that reads “starring TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS.” The background is black, with the text standing out in a bold, simple font, giving it a classic film introduction feel.

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Vanessa Christman @veeelcee.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

I miss the person I was a week+ ago when the the only thing I had the energy to worry about was whether I packed enough bug spray.

View of the jungle canopy and the tops of temples at the site of Tikal taken from the top of Tikal’s Temple IV

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