This one does contain all humanity youtu.be/tgQ1PtkZvGU

Wow - gone through my cards to reflect on what needs improving, and I’ve done 30 different stories over these two last evenings. It was a steady stream of people, and quite a few wanted more than one story, but I hadn’t realised how many I’d performed!

But then you wouldn’t get your name on something

When every university follows the same bad advice from the same consultants with agendas separate from their institutional mission ... they lose their identity as well as their independence. They lose the ability to play to their own strengths when the consultants' agenda causes systemic failure.

Wow all my reading and thinking about this Homeric storytelling gig has made a big difference. Went back to the first ones I wrote and they were rambling tonally incoherent and lacking telling details and clear stakes. Doing much better now. Also admiration for Euripides.

Keep putting your grain of sand in the right pile Be aware of bad actors actively pushing back, and don’t give up Perception of change is always ‘nothing is happening’ until it is ‘everything has changed!’

Time to memorise the beats of my stories. Borrowed my daughter’s index cards. Love a memorisation task!

Managed to get into town and get my hair cut. Only a bit wet!

The bananas might be a joke? But it’s hard to try and be Nabokov and pull it off.

‘The IOC said athletes who failed the test would "continue to be included in all other classifications for which they qualify. For example, they are eligible for any male category, […] and any open category, or in sports and events that do not classify athletes by sex." www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympi...

Everything is very stupid, Thucydides edition, peer-reviewed version. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Thinking about the up and down adrenaline fuelled performance nature of teaching/presenting and how to manage the move from intense to quieter periods better. This advice helps for immediate decompression, but any suggestions for longer term balance? www.charlottetomlinson.com/post/managin...

On my way to Sheffield to talk about my power of sadness project. Put Homer aside and engage Virgil mode!

Between a spiralling war with no end in sight, and the big green section of the donut, it's hard to see how the govt doesn't move to partially decouple energy prices. Already having this renewables infra makes this summer a real opportunity to conserve supplies for winter (and the global south).

I’m in this! It’s going to be amazing! Next week. Bring your friends and relatives

Very excited for this! Only a few days to go until Apple of Discord première! I’m doing Homeric storytelling, Monday to Friday. Script and venue are awesome, levels of interaction v much at your choice and price very reasonable! Hope to see Nottingham folk there! www.universe.com/events/apple...

The more tired I am the more scattered I am the more social media distracts me the more wibbly I am and repeat. However, I’ve done some yoga and feel better for it. Here’s a daffodil to brighten the timeline.

Happy ALCS Day to any writers who publish in U.K. printed journals or who've published a book in the UK (i.e. anything with an ISSN or ISBN)! And if you fall into that category of writers but don't know what I mean, google ALCS and sign up for next year's payout. You're missing out on free cash...!

Also please share pictures of ducklings on social media

Join us this week on either 25 or 28 March to discover how 17th century bobbin lace is made in this hands-on workshop led by the Fenland Lace Makers. No experience necessary, over-16s only. Find out more and book your tickets here: eventbrite.co.uk/e/lacemaking...

Mood very up and down. Nearly the end of term!! So much catching up to do :-( Spring!! Death :-( Flowers!! Finitude :-(

Just beautiful elephants of the past, printed by (European) humans who likely have rarely seen an elephant before or were just bad printers. A short 🧵

So, about those Eid prayers in London... "What's the highest thing in Trafalgar Square?" "Nelson's column, innit?" "And the highest thing on the column?" "Nelson." "And on Nelson?" "His hat." "And the highest thing on his hat?" "That bit that sticks up." 1/8

Tactics for university managers: announce ‘right sizing’ exercise, increased workload and degraded conditions. Watch everyone who can get out and find yourself left with the people who can’t escape. That went well.

My mother named one particularly random bullock George the Third. Followed obviously by the fourth, fifth, sixth etc

Periodic "I am available for various freelance work" post/thread. Not that these tend to lead to much in my case but just in case this will change that pattern. Things I can do and have experience of doing listed below.

This is another reason why I try to get students to take ownership of their assessment as much as I can. Bibliography I provide for their essay/project/dissertation is only a starting point. I will help them and model ways of searching, but I’ve want them to learn to reattach for themselves.

I am proud to have supported the Longmuir family. What the coroner did to their son was a revolting and vindictive insult to his memory.

Some people were wondering, but yes, that’s a real dog and he is very soft. Seriously, this museum needs a World Fantasy award or a best related work Hugo.

One would really not have wanted to be seated next to him, at this point, in a bar.

I usually teach love elegy through a DV framework, although also interested in sex work. It connects well with students who know well how important the issue is.

Very interesting. In my discipline you rarely have grad students or research assistants, but so far I’ve not found AI very good at summarising things so they still actually make the same main point. If you’re happy with an AI summary, just read the abstract.

I am amazed that for a few years we had the ability to instantly access information through an almost perfect search engine and the makers of that search engine decided hundreds of billions wasn’t enough profit so they destroyed it

📰 Today’s Covid Inquiry Module 3 report on healthcare systems only does half the job. While it highlights failings during the pandemic response, it fails to provide real answers as to why disabled people were more likely to die as a result of Covid-19. (1/6)

New EDI concept to describe the differentiated experiences and effects of late career success, visibility and retirement strategies: the Leaky Drainpipe. Women and other marginalised groups get flushed down the toilet earlier, while men retain prominence and clout well beyond their cogent years.

In LLMs remain shit, I just tried several to see if they could do the mechanistic task of producing an updated list of publications for my CV. Copilot only looked at the university repository, Gemini just made stuff up. Maybe this sort of task requires an agent?

This perfectly describes the situation at my institution, though the vultures are PA Consulting. I challenge the claims at every board and committee meeting and never ever change a single mind.

'Roper said she was also drawn to the UK’s “fantastic universities”...“It was a wonderful environment to grow as a scholar, so to see this being harmed by cuts – with no clear sense of how this process might end, I’m very worried about this,”' www.timeshighereducation.com/news/lyndal-...

Do the things. Do the admin associated with the things. Record that you’ve done the things. Promote the things. *crashes*

Current mood. A bit better today on average. Sunshine helped.

@uonclassarch.bsky.social @uonhumanities.bsky.social We had so much fun discussing the script with Joe. It’s really exciting to see classical myth reception at the coal face.

Interview on Apple of Discord with Chronic Insanity! Coming soon. Buy your tickets now!! I’ll be performing in the first four days as Homer doing personalised storytelling and character interaction. Excited and also a bit terrified. www.immersiverumours.com/post/intervi...

OMG this is amazing

One reason we need to foreground art is so that people who would prefer not to engage in any self-reflection might understand that introspection has been central to the human experience for millennia. bsky.app/profile/dave...

Pisces: Use this week to catch up on personal projects, whether that's compiling a family tree or finally watching seasons 5-9 of Cake Boss.

Considerably recovered today. Must remember that if I push myself hard as I did to get my draft exam in for 12.30am on Tuesday, followed by a bunch of intense meetings on Wednesday, it will take me at least a day to recover. I always get really angry with myself for not being able to use the

I'm really glad to see that @eddavey.libdems.org.uk attended this and got up on stage. The Lib Dems are clear: Trans Rights are Human Rights

What a surprise.

The VC says days of low work load and comfortable lives are over. Laughs from end of fourth day of my three day week. Stuff will just not happen, I guess.

After a week of feeling groggy and winging it, now very scattered, and still loads of catching up to do. Please send things to help me focus!