iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

September .... counting LOTR as three books not 1. My list, my rules. #26-30 of 2026. 10 more to go to hit my goal for this year!!! #booksky

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Reposted by Zoe Darme

Melvin Peña @melvinpena.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

internet video chat painting night with zoe. she saw the big duck, a ferrocement roadside attraction in flanders, ny, out on long island, and we both painted that. @zoedarme.bsky.social's on the left, mine on the right

zoe's painting of a large fiberglass duct

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

slow book month (total now: 25). eeeek, time to bookmaxx in order to hit 40 by 12/31/2026. dreaming now of a Lin Manuel Miranda musical about the Linotype. how can we make that happen? #booksky

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Melvin Peña @melvinpena.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

video chat painting with @zoedarme.bsky.social. i saw some incredible birds today at sylvan heights bird park in scotland neck, nc. zoe and i both tried painting the superb starling! photo in next post!

it is an acrylic painting of a small, brightly colored bird that looks more like an owl than a starling

it is an acrylic painting of a small, brightly colored bird that looks like a crow than a starling

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Thank goodness there's a bird image in this post otherwise I'd be violating my self-imposed rule of only using bsky for birds and books. Thanks, @niemanlab.org for covering Backstory and also for not using all my ums, likes, and other annoying verbal fillers that I can't untrain out of myself.

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Some east coast, some west coast birbs I took off the camera last nite. Semipalmated plover, green heron, belted kingfisher (Peconic River, NY) Spotted sandpiper, Canada Jay, wood pewee (Kachess Lake, WA) #birdsky

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Another fun painting nite with @melvinpena.bsky.social who did not flinch when I said I was going to try painting a rooster in an Elizabethan ruff. May I present Henri, Vicomte LeCoq de la Bresse #artsky

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Reposted by Zoe Darme

New-Cleckit Dominie @ncdominie.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

This is just to say I have OCRed the text thet was in tne arch:ve and whicb yov were prabaldy seamhing for "breahtast" Fargme ms fheg mem debo:w5 sb ?mccf mmb 5c oc1b

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

I'm late to this party, I know, but I did really enjoy this one! Haven't read a Stephen King since I was a kid and read The Stand (.... do not ask my what my parents were thinking when they let me read that ....) #21 of 2026 #booksky

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

This weekend, I saw some older gentlemen with some GIANT cameras pulled over on the side of the road by our town ponds. So obviously I pulled over to bird with them. Got to watch a green heron fish and eat a bullfrog for 20 minutes. It was amazing! Had to paint him. #birdsky #artsky

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

Pretty decent book month. So glad to have heard of Stoner from @melvinpena.bsky.social, as it is a phenomenal book. No big plot. No high concepts. It stands tall through perfect prose and radical empathy for people who live deep interior lives. That's it. #booksky

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Some shots from birding in Montauk / Amangansett Glossy Ibis and Willet #birdsky

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

Charming little book about a stay in Italy. A nice, comforting counterpoint to the yikes that happens in Up at the Villa or Where Angels Fear to Tread -- but without the saccharine aftertaste of Eat Pray Love. #booksky

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

@techconnectify.bsky.social because of you, we have switched to powder. It's considerably cheaper but cascade no longer advertises how many loads on the box and tries to push pods (which come in plastic, not cardboard).

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

FED UP with subway riders who scroll their TikTok feed with NO HEADPHONES. Compiling alternative playlist to subject them to; I am petty. Seeking a playlist that is extremely loud and/or atonal right on bar 1. 2nd mvmt rite of spring. Die walkurie. Last mvmt Shostakovich 5. What else?

static.klipy.com

Wütende Dirigentin

ALT: Wütende Dirigentin

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

#17 of 2026. Finished this one in a 2.5-day binge Dostoevsky ATE mid-19th c petersburg and LEFT NO CRUMBS. How many of us dated a Raskolnikov in grad school? Hot but troubled, never had any $$, always drinking natty bohs, kinda needed a shower. Maybe smoked cloves... #booksky

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

Inspired by monterey aquarium jellies

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

#16 of 2026 Another "just for fun" book for all the ladies out there who have that one reaaaaallly baaaaaaad ex you still hold a candle for, even though you absolutely know better. #booksky

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

Great worldbuilding as usual ... and, in this environment, I gobble up any violent rage against authoritarianism. But as our opposition leadership irl seems so feckless & impotent, the collective action that forms this novel's resolution really seems like nothing but a revenge fantasy. #booksky

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

I'm here for the subplots, fam. Burying live babies, cross-dressing lesbian runaways, insider trading! I mean, aside from character development and any semblance of believability, what DOESN'T this book have? #booksky #thecountofmontecristo #dumas

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Got this shot of an Oriole on my hike today. Also saw chipping sparrows, ospreys, fish crows, downy woodpeckers, red winged blackbirds, and some other fun fellows. I use a Nikon Coolpix bridge camera as recommended to me by @melvinpena.bsky.social for casual birding. #birdsky #oriole

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Not my best but I'd had two glasses of wine. The wine shop had an AMAZE AMAZE AMAZE sale on North Fork wines today -- and, well, I don't have access to Ilyukhina's vodka stash. #booksky #artsky #projecthailmary (Pls don't DMCA me, Amazon/MGM/Andy Weir!)

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

Having so much fun with my new bird camera and (less new) watercolor set Really recommend the purchase of a bridge camera (as they were explained to me by @melvinpena.bsky.social) as it enhances the birding experience a great deal.

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

Have to admit, I had to laugh at the bit about getting sued for scraping all of the world's published books in human history. #projecthailmary #booksky

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

This book (and the one it was inspired by, Le Devoir du Violence) was written before the whole AI craze, and it centers around a question of copying in art. Only fools would think there are bright lines between plagiarism and pastiche, slop and sampling. #booksky

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Not sure what's going on but ABT, NYCB, Dance Theater of Harlem, AND the NYPhil are doing firebird this season. #stravinsky #firebird #artsky

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

PD James did my boy Col Fitzwilliam dirty Still, probably the best of the Austen fanfic #booksky

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

Every Sunday, 1 hr. Paint n' gossip w @melvinpena.bsky.social. This week's theme: Edinburgh #artsky

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

Tchaikovsky conceptualizes the relationship between sci-fi and high fantasy essentially as one of translation drift. Absolutely brilliant, esp when we consider that magic, alchemy, physics, and science all used to be one discipline, prior to the Enlightenment. #booksky #adriantchaikovsky

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

You know how the cool kid only hangs with the smart kid so that the latter will do his homework for him? That's this book. And I don't hate it. I marvel at the brilliance of China Miéville, who was able to take whatever crackpot ideas Keanu Reeves had and make it into a passable novel. #booksky

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

Very similar thematically to the Midnight Library but with superior execution. Looking forward to reading the quasi sequel. #lifeafterlife #booksky

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

One bit of old school Google is that you can edit a tagline for yourself in your work profile. Norm is that people put lots of quirky things there. Mine is: defending the internet from ten thousand duck bites So you can guess why I'm jazzed to have gotten this in the mail from @techdirt.com

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

During my 18 mo stint at the HQ of Performative Sociability (aka FB), I lived off of Willow Road, just down the street from the VA mental hospital Ken Kesey worked at. If there's ever a place that could inspire a tale of oppressive conformity, it's Menlo Park, CA. #booksky

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

Which is the most realistic? hadikarimi.com/portfolio/lu... #artsky

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

Book #5 of '26 What kinda book is this!? Could you imagine immigrating all the way across the sea, leaving everything behind, to end up with a guy who wants to move you to LONG ISLAND? Oh wait ... that's me. I did that. At least my guy isn't a plumber who still lives with his mother. #booksky

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

#4 of 2026. Slight, but cute. A perfectly serviceable book for a cold day under the electric blankie with a big cup of tea and some gâteau au yaourt. #booksky

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

This book made me appreciate Mary Todd. From a wealthy family, she stuck to her guns to marry Abe b/c she saw greatness in him. Her brothers served in the Confederacy, but her support for the Union never wavered. Yet all we know about her is her shopping?? Mary, we've done you wrong. #booksky

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

Another thrilling thrift store book haul. $17. Less than one movie ticket. Less than one month of netflix. Nothing like that dopamine hit as each book dropped into my basket at the Yaphank Savers.... #booksky

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

I feel like I should write a book where there's basically one white male character who has zero inner monologue and serves only as the object of female desire in a political allegory justice for phuong lol #thequietamerican #grahamgreene #booksky

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

Book #1 of 2026! A fun one. I hate reprints that serve as ads for some TV or movie adaptation, but this was $2 in the "fire sale" pile. Rare that an author can do so many things: non-fiction military history, police procedural, memoir. RIP Caleb Carr. #booksky

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Reposted by Zoe Darme

Melvin Peña @melvinpena.bsky.social · 03/01/2026

yesterday, @zoedarme.bsky.social and i took a whack at painting edvard munch's "soloppgang i åsgårdstrand" (1893). here are our results, zoe's first #artsky #edvardmunch

Zoe's acrylic painting of Edvard Munch sunrise in Asgardstrand

Melvin's acrylic painting of Edvard Munch sunrise in Asgardstrand

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

Annual book roundup! Loved, Liked, "It's Just Ok," and Hated ... See link below 👇 docs.google.com/document/d/1... #booksky #2025

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Zoe Darme @zoedarme.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

Last book of 2025, #38. What a way to end another fabulous book year! #booksky

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