iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

The student leader of the neurodiversity affinity space told me my pride flag cross stitch sampler needs the neurodiversity flag. So I went and got one to hang next to it.

Selfie of a middle aged man with short blond/gray hair and a beard, wearing a ehite shirt and navy bow tie. He is standing in front of a banner that says, "Everyone is safe here," above a variety of LGBTQ+ pride flags. He's holding a small black flag with a rainbow-colored infinity symbol.

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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Um … I may have made slightly too much Bolognese. Recipe said it made about 3 cups, so I doubled it to have leftover sauce in the freezer, and this is a lot more than 6 cups of Bolognese.

A large Dutch oven filled almost to the top with Bolognese meat ragu. A preposterous amount of pasta sauce.

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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

I made a new friend last night. I think he may only like me for my glasses, but I'll take it.

A middle aged man with short blond/gray hair wearing a pink shirt. In his shoulder is a small cockatoo, chewing on the side of his gold wire-rimmed glasses.

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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

A friend gave me this for my birthday, and had to explain what it is. A crocheted Miffy glasses holder, complete with my trademark bow tie. I love it so much.

A crocheted Miffy rabbit with white face, blue ears, and orange bowtie, sitting on a dark brown wooden end table.

The same crocheted Miffy rabbit eyeglass holder, with a pair of glasses sitting in it, as if being worn by Miffy.

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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Dress code is "glam cocktail." I think I nailed it.

A middle aged man (holy crap do you always have to lead with that?!?) with blond-gray short hair and a beard, sitting in a room that contains a preposterous number of CDs and vinyl records on the shelves behind him, as well as knit dolls of himself and his late husband hanging in Xmas stockings. He's wearing a blue pinstripe shirt, blue-gray knit sweater vest (which he did not knit himself do not be ridiculous!), and a bow tie with geometric shapes in yellow, pink, and blue-gray. He's heading to the wedding of two dear friends. It's a special and incredibly poignant day.

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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Welcome to Bluesky. Please familiarize yourself with the following accounts to understand the range of opinions it is acceptable to express

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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

I don't know the difference between "visited" and "stayed a while." When I was a kid, my dad had a convention every summer and we drove, so I saw most of the lower 48 before I was 16. Could be wrong on MI and MT, but can't recall being in either one.

A map of the US color coded to show the states I have never visited in yellow, those I have passed through, visited, or stayed a while in successively darker teals, and those where I have lived (only IL and CA) in dark blue.

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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Happy birthday, Croz. Missing you & Steve a little extra today.

David Crosby and Steve Silberman kissing each other. Men, what’s stopping you from showing affection to your buddies like this?

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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Wearing my English Settlement t-shirt on the night Phish plays Melt the Guns for the first time since 1987. #Phish

Selfie of a man with blond-gray hair and a beard, wearing a green t-shirt with artwork from the cover of the XTC album English Settlement, showing Oxfordshire's Uffington White Horse monument. Tonight Phish played one of the songs on the album, completely blowing the mind of this man.

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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Was it this one? This is the one I remember them listening to the most, and I have it myself.

"Tonight: In Person, The Limeliters" album cover. The three group members are singing and playing their instruments sound a microphone.

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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

There were a preposterous number of Limeliters and Glenn Yarbrough solo albums in the thrift store today.

The Limeliters album "Our Men in San Francisco," showing the three members of the group in matching suits carrying their instruments while they walk across the Golden Gate Bridge.

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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

For those unclear about the reason for arresting the librarians over this book, a handy illustration:

Two pairs of stick figures holding hands. The loving couple on the left is a man and a woman (as shown by a triangle dress and long hair). This couple is labeled “Pornography.” The loving couple on the right is two men (just lines, no dress or long hair). This couple is labeled “Pornography.”

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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

BLT? I thought it was called a "California cheeseburger."

Simpsons screenshot from the episode "The Secret War of Lisa Simpson" showing an animatronic hippie woman eating a submarine sandwich made with an infant in between two big pieces of bread. Text on the screen says "Produced by David Silverman."

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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

I feel like I could pinpoint the exact year they had to make these signs and attach them to all the cables in all the rooms of this hotel. When was the last time you needed an Ethernet cable?

An ethernet cable in a hotel drawer with a sign that reads "feel free to use this cable during your stay but please do not take it home. If you take it home you will be charged $15."

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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Ready for another show. Tonight's t-shirt by the amazing @moxiest.art

Selfie of a man wearing a mask and a black t-shirt with an illustration of a guillotine rendered in symbols from a typewriter. Not visible, the saying on the sleeve: "reject modernity, embrace tradition."

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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Love that I have an opportunity to post this again:

Cartoon drawing of Christopher Robin nailing Eeyore's tail back on, with the heading "You get your ass handed to you every day." It’s a quote from the Phish song Ass Handed. In fact it’s the only lyric.

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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

This is just an accident waiting to happen.

A tube of toothpaste and a tube of BenGay ointment sitting on a bathroom counter next to the sink. They are powerlessly close to each other, as if daring the groggy, barely awake traveler to grab the wrong one and put it on his toothbrush.

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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Just did today’s Anthropeum quiz, and ….. that’s a bong, right?

Ceramic figurine of a seated person with a handle on the back that absolutely makes it look like a bong. According to the description in the quiz, it’s a bottle.

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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

This entry from today’s Anthropeum quiz is delightful. Owning this would fix me.

A silver metal figurine of a man playing a pan flute. He has green gemstones for eyes and adorable hands and feet.

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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

“There’s nothing wrong with being masculine.”

A middle-aged man with short blond/gray hair and a beard showing off his newly-painted fingernails, done in a very shiny dark blue with just a hint of teal and a bit of sparkle.

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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

When you care enough to block a scarf. 🧶

Multi-colored scarf knit in a herringbone pattern, pinned down to a blocking board, which is lying diagonally on a wooden dining room table.

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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Supreme Court offers new interpretation of the Constitution:

Etch-a-Sketch toy, which can be used to create temporary images then shaken upside down to erase it and make something completely different. A completely reversible, ephemeral piece of art.

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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Watch found!! Sometimes my love of little boxes and stashing things inside other things gets the better of me. It was in a cloth bag inside a box inside another box, hidden under a table. Phew. Estimated year of manufacture, based on serial no: 1916.

Pocket watch made by the Illinois Watch Co. Picture shows a time of 10:27.

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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

My air plant is really starting to bloom. Beautiful purple flower emerging.

Photo of an air plant on a wooden table. It has curly leaves that look like tentacles, and a flower bract opening up to reveal a purple flower on the upper right.

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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

I do not know how I am supposed to feel about this.

My results of this political issues quiz:

"Your closest match: Ed Zitron, podcaster and pundit."

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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Thank you for your attention to this matter:

A colorful yet slightly out-of-date Periodic Table of the Elements, courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.

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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Advertise your Bluesky account with a Simpsons image

Bart and Milhous holding flashlights and crawling into a tunnel or cave of some sort. Milhous explains, "this is where I come to cry."

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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

This comic has been on our fridge for decades. I have no idea where it came from, but I still giggle whenever I see it.

A black and white illustration of a man and a woman. In the foreground, the man is looking at a piece of paper with a satisfied, smug smirk. In the background, the woman holds a phone with her hand over the mouthpiece. She is saying to the man, "STOP GLOATING OVER THAT POEM AND COME TO THE PHONE!"

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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

32 years ago tonight, Phish at the Warfield. Mike's Song segues into a strange new riff while the band sings about skyscrapers. A woman belts out an aria. The band starts handing out boxes of Mac & Cheese, which we shake like maracas for "Possum." Still a highlight all these years later.

Setlist from phish.net for the show on Friday, May 27, 1994. Warfield Theatre, San Francisco, CA

Set 1: Wilson > Runaway Jim, Foam, Bouncing Around the Room > David Bowie, If I Could, Punch You in the Eye > Harry Hood, Golgi Apparatus

Set 2: Suzy Greenberg > Peaches en Regalia > My Friend My Friend > Reba[1], The Lizards, Julius, Nellie Kane[2], My Mind's Got a Mind of Its Own, Mike's Song > Simple[3] > Mike's Song > Simple > O Mio Babbino Caro[4], Possum[5]

Encore: Fire

[1] No whistling.
[2] Morgan Fichter on fiddle. Acoustic and without microphones.
[3] Debut.
[4] Phish debut; Andrea Baker singing unmiced.
[5] Audience shaking boxes of macaroni and cheese.

This show marked the debut of Simple and the Phish debut of O Mio Babbino Caro. Suzy and Possum contained Flintstones theme teases. Reba did not have the whistling ending. Nellie Kane and My Mind’s Got a Mind of its Own were performed acoustic with guest fiddler Morgan Fichter. O Mio Babbino Caro, a Puccini aria, featured opera singer Andrea Baker singing unmiced. Before Possum, the band handed out boxes of Flintstones macaroni and cheese for the audience to shake along with Possum and Fire.

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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

I can't put it any better than Steve did, about a year before his death. (I'm trying, Punkin. I'm trying.)

Screenshot of a tweet from Steve Silberman, dated Aug 13, 2023

When I die, please don't say that I've crossed over into the spirit realm, gone to the Other Side, moved on to a better place, rejoined my ancestors, or any other of those comforting fables. Just selfishly or selflessly use my own impermanence to WAKE UP to your own.

Below, a stylized Buddhist Enso, where the inside and outside of the circular paint stroke shows the silhouettes of plants, trees, and flying birds.

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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

The 70s turned into the 80s very, very quickly in my family.

The same family less than 10 years later. Dad is still in a suit, but his tie is now a solid color. The kids are all now in short sleeve shirts of solid colors with either Polo or Izod logos. The hair is noticeably shorter on all of the sons, although the youngest is still committed to the bowl cut. His teeth have grown in since the last picture, at least.

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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

My air plant is starting to bloom and has split off two "pups." Sent a pic to my bio teacher buddy and she said, "that's means it's so happy!" She also said that it will die when it's done, once the "pups" can survive on their own. New ones comin' as the old ones go, and all that.

An air plant sitting on a gray couch cushion. It is a mass of squiggly green leaves that look like tentacles and purple & green bulb that has another, smaller bulb growing off of it. On the left is a flower bract.

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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

There will also be cookies and home made ice cream for Easter dessert. Buddy is making ham and an actual salad.

A batch of chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven and cooling on their baking sheet.

Cauliflower casserole with toasted breadcrumb topping.

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