Marseille scenes

Summer adventures begin! First stop, Marseille

Packing for a conference, a wedding, a furry con, and a wilderness backpacking trip all at the same time... feels rather disorienting! (The events aren't all at the same time, just the packing - I'm doing all of these things one after another in sequence over the next few weeks.)

This place really seems like it's a lot more fun if you're a duck

Finally back home! Where it is nice and c--- oh FFS

"Dear customers, due to today's hot weather we are preemptively cancelling half our trains to make sure you have to wait even longer in the heat to get home and ensure the remaining trains are extra crowded."

PhD examination time! Let's see if this student knows his stuff >:3

I am in Surrey. It is 35°C. Hotel has no air conditioning x(

The hottest day of the year is, of course, the day I end up travelling south...

Had a nice day in Frankfurt seeing relatives... time to fly home! And then I get something of a break in travel before my next, much bigger trip in July.

German trains are an absolute mess today x3

Morning view :3

Sunset above Bavaria

Mountaintop observatory visit #3 this month!

Munich is looking very colorful this month

Back in Liverpool! For... *checks calendar* one day...

Last night of observing...

Had some time today to explore the flank of the Teide volcano. (Next time I'll go all the way to the top!)

Explorations around the caldera today...

Lots of telescopes!

Quite the view to wake up to...

Time to travel once again! Going somewhere a little bit different this time... ⛰️🌋🌴🔭

Back in Liverpool! For... *checks calendar* five days...

Beautiful view on approach to Denver, with a storm line in the foreground and the sunlit Rockies seen through the rain behind

When I arrived in Albuquerque a week ago, I passed an airport art display with a piece showing a raccoon surrounded by Southwestern pottery and it was really good! I was going to get a picture but was being picked up and figured I'd do it when I left. Today I went to the same place and IT WAS GONE

Mountaintop science, which is of course my favorite type of science (but I was just a hike group leader this time)

Visited some dishes today...

Made it to New Mexico after a long day of travel! And it is, somehow, 15 degrees colder here than it was in Birmingham when I left...

Bye Confuzzled! I feel like I only just arrived but it's already time to leave for my next work trip. It was great to see so many wonderful critters, even if I didn't manage to catch everybody this time. Looking forward to next year!!

If you’re at #Furlandia, check out my story ‘The Iron Horse’ in the conbook

Hello Confuzzled! My room has a slightly better view this year than last year...

Finland was nice (and I had way way too many drinks and shots on the boat last night after my talk) but there is an ANIMAL PARTY going on elsewhere so it's time to jet off! Confuzzled here I (finally) come!

Made a friend on the boat :3

Hello (briefly) Stockholm! (Talk went well: returning to Finland next, then - hopefully - Birmingham and CFz!)

More boat!!!

Not at Confuzzled yet because instead I am on a BOAT (on which I will be giving a scientific talk later this afternoon) - will be arriving tomorrow evening though!

The conference hotel I'm staying at is a former prison, and the decor is... uh... interesting

Made it to Helsinki! Unfortunately I will not get to see the city due to the flight cancellation, but Turku (where I'll be attending a conference this week) should also be nice

Okay, let's try again to fly to Finland

One day I will actually be able to vote for a Eurovision entry

Well I was supposed to be flying to Finland now but my flight was cancelled - anyone have Eurovision plans this evening? xP

Today I learned that there was a 1990s mail order computer accessories company that commissioned dozens of extremely detailed adorable raccoon art scenes for their advertisements spanning the better part of a decade: technologizer.com/home/2025/04...

*has been thinking mostly about Star Fox for the past 24 hours*

NEW STAR FOX GAME YESSS

... what in the holy heck is going on with the California governor's race this year

[Friday night lonely raccoon noises]

In Berlin for another weekend! Here is a river and a TV tower

Apparently they do make graduation clothes for quadrupeds! Someone should have told me earlier...

Nice ceremony! I got to walk in the procession, shake lots of hands, and clap a lot. And my silly robes were very popular :3