You cannot buy the revolution. You cannot make the revolution. You can only be the revolution. It is in your spirit, or it is nowhere.

It would be great if the drivers of murder machines learned the road rules regarding indicating and right of way at roundabouts 😡

First mango of the season!

If you get to a trillion dollars you should have to start the game over from the beginning at a higher difficulty like your parents not owning a bunch of emerald mines or whatever idk that’s just a random example

Well, well, well, if it’s not all my library holds coming home to roost 🫠

Imagine writing a policy that required you to be explicit that you would not forcibly confiscate refugees’ wedding rings

Whenever I tell people I specialise in Caribbean slavery, there will always be someone who says “but it’s such an uncomfortable and heavy topic!” Personally, the fact that thousands of UK adults are unaware of Britain’s role in the slave trade makes me feel uncomfortable. How disappointing.

If there is one thing I want for my daughter, it’s for her to live in a world where a dirty old man hitting on her in her place of employment (particularly, but also anywhere) is unthinkable instead of universal

A good piece from @theguardian.com — and here is the thing: ARTISTS and PHOTOGRAPHERS are right here, willing to help aid agencies with images. And they won’t suck up the world’s water supply while doing it. And they can help stop the BS stereotyping and poverty porn.

"Libraries are nothing less than our secret weapon in the war against ignorance and isolation." Australia's libraries are treasures. Protect them. theconversation.com/australias-p...

The weekend plus WFH means I didn’t ride for five days and the wasps think this is acceptable behaviour. Rude.

My favourite year for oppressed literary masculinity was 2023 when the number of women on the Booker shortlist was smaller than the number of men named Paul

People are not taking the danger that One Nation poses in Australia seriously enough. We could very quickly live in a world where they’re the shadow cabinet.

This is brilliant.

Once upon a time I had a paparazzo with a fake six pack for mayor.

“Why are men afraid of women?” “If your strength is only the other's weakness, you live in fear,” Ged said. “Yes; but women seem to fear their own strength, to be afraid of themselves.” “Are they ever taught to trust themselves?” Ged asked “No,” she said.

It says it all

Oh wow @reuters.com got the photo here:

Mayoral by-election night is so boring.

Hold up

When people say that Wuthering Heights doesn't have anything to do with race or that no film has engaged with race, what they mean is that for them Romani people do not count and they also haven't been paying attention. I'm going to share a little material from a recent talk. Content note: racism 1/

Not everything has to be literary fiction. Not everything has to have deep meanings and profound themes. Let genre fiction be genre fiction. theconversation.com/why-jane-har...

As all this disgusting Epstein shit starts surfacing more and more, I hope we don't lose sight of the fact that apparently every major media outlet knew everything and instead spent their time money and energy attacking the trans community.

xkcd nails car bloat xkcd: Car Size xkcd.com/3167/

To all the doubters, AI is so close to being perfect Look my iphone helpfully transcribed a voice message left by my French mechanic

Can we get another Aurora in a few weeks when I'm down, please?

I can claim this on my PhD, yeah? Wonder if they'll accept my Minimum Resources Grant... www.realcommercial.com.au/news/austral...

In 1992, the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina went up in flames. Braving a hail of sniper fire, many Bosnians attempted to save the burning pages. @mirelacufurovic.bsky.social unpacks why people risked, and lost, their lives for books www.griffithreview.com/articles/why...

“That means courts will treat these children like adults” is a sentence the premier actually used. Proposing life sentences for 14-16 year olds is evil. Meanwhile the federal government is banning kids the same age from social media. Too young to post online but not to serve life in prison.

"There is no blueprint for how to live in a body that is not easily definable as male or female". It really is time that society stopped trying to pretend that intersex people don't exist. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

"They were rich people who went there for fun and personal satisfaction." This isn't a pleasant read. But it's an important one. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

The problem with missing lots of class due to work means also losing my pointe shoe calluses and needing to re-harden them 😫

Just a little reminder that you can travel the world with Romancing the Gothic! Explore the supernatural, the Gothic, and the horrible in countries around the world with our talks map! padlet.com/hollyhirst84...

"The political-military class has drawn no lessons – beyond the strategic and tactical – from the millions who’ve died as combatants and civilians since the Great War ended on this day in 1918." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

In passport line in Prague remembering my best experience in US: Agent: why are you here? I’m a Professor, giving a talk. What’s you subject? Political Philosophy. My favourite!! Really?? No. I say that to all the Professors.

The bike shed has guards now.

In 1992, the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina went up in flames. Braving a hail of sniper fire, many Bosnians attempted to save the burning pages. @mirelacufurovic.bsky.social unpacks why people risked, and lost, their lives for books www.griffithreview.com/articles/why...

Do med students have a dress code for exams? Because I haven’t seen anyone this well dressed for exams since Oaks Day c.2007

Bed at 1am Alarm at 5am Flight at 6:40am Home at 9am (time zone change) Sleep until 12:30pm. I have my PhD supervisor’s 80th tonight and I’ll be the grumpy old lady in the corner 😅

Are you more likely to reach Inbox Zero or more likely to finish using up those hotel lotions and shampoos you compulsively hoard?

Lots of very tired people in Oasis shirts and/or bucket hats at the airport this morning. I am wearing neither but I may still be too old for this shit.

Australian democracy "proved robust in the end – thanks in large part to the creativity of ordinary Australians who agitated for their country’s democratic culture, system and institutions." Great explainer by @frankbongiorno.bsky.social and James Watson: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I’ve never seen so many bucket hats in one place, and I was alive in the 90s (and owned a bucket hat)

On the train to Oasis. I haven’t taken the train to a concert since the Big Day Out in 2023. The experience starts here, that’s for sure.

If you enjoy watching talks by experts in Gothic and horror that are free to access and made internationally available... why not support the project so I can keep running it and keep paying people to participate. www.patreon.com/c/romancingt...

My dad sold some more artwork 🥳 I write, and study, gothic stories. He makes gothic artwork. We’re keeping it in the family.

Strong endorse.

The internet isn't threatening the dictionary. Apathy from the money-holders is. As @alaugesen.bsky.social says, “most Australians still feel a strong sense of ‘linguistic nationalism’ – we don’t want our language taken over by British or American English.” www.smh.com.au/culture/book...

Wednesday night is gym night but omg have you seen my latest library haul?

Thought things were getting a bit loud