Whoever introduces American style queso to a Wetherspoons would have my loyalty and (if wished for) my eternal love and affection forevermore — Britons, pls stop melting cheddar cheese over chips and calling it a day. There is another way! Join your North American friends and see the cheese light!!!

Who’s seeing the guy she dated on her undergrad exchange this weekend for the first time in six years??? This girl 🥹😄

Having visited Canterbury Cathedral today, I think some of the less virulent Trump supporting GOP members could learn a lot from Thomas Becket. That is: you don’t owe him shit! And to ‘rest’ in good conscience is better than to do the bidding of a tyrant. Don’t think Trump will be lobbing off heads!

Realizing I’m not much of a repeat customer… can only really think of: William Shakespeare Christopher Marlowe Suzanne Collins Rick Riordan Stephanie Meyer Stephen Greenblatt (lmao) One short to add Toni Morrison to the list; two short to add Austen, Dickens, and John Lyly…

Taking a break from the book dust to visit Canterbury today! Think I’ll be able to buy a Wife of Bath magnet?

More and more volumes with boards almost entirely separated from the spine — terrifying and not fun to call up!!

Day 1 with some old, dusty Restoration plays put my book handling skills on blast; but so excited to be here and get back into shape.

If you do well in high school, you're now getting into Illinois' public universities automatically. Seeking a higher education is more affordable and accessible than ever before, thanks to our FY26 balanced budget.

Why oh why must I do battle with British Airways (check-in at the desk at O’Hare) rather than have a functioning website to check-in on????

Talking to strangers on tumblr has to be better for you than this

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker plans to sign an executive order preventing state agencies from obtaining or disclosing data that personally identifies people with autism, unless required for medical care or legal matters. “Every Illinoisan deserves ... the freedom to live without fear of surveillance.”

Three weeks from tomorrow I’ll be in the air headed to the UK! 🥹

PhD committee fully formed! Paperwork awaits.

MMR vaccine doesn’t just prevent measles, mumps, and rubella. It also prevents RFK Jr. from showing up at your child’s funeral to exploit your grief at your most vulnerable moment.

Kinda wish the Associated Press’s live stream had an hour counter on Booker’s speech… just past 18 now, no?

Survived my first #Shax2025 — oh, how I wish spring break were two weeks long, however!

Happy “Explaining to Relatives that We are NOT proud to be Scots-Irish today” Day to all who celebrate 🫠

If anyone is in the mood for a grand gesture (towards me)…

Alternatively: Me in January, booking my Oxford trip: hahahah… time to play “42 day fiance” hehehehe (aka Tinder tour guide) Me currently: ok but actually—

Me a week ago: so this is all very bad but I will come back from summer break and happily teach Intro to Brit Lit! Me currently: ok so… um…

Apparently this is an unpopular opinion on the clock app but I LOVED Mozart’s Lacrimosa over the In Memoriam???? Also it was the 40th Anniversary of AMADEUS’ Best Picture win this year… idk. Give me the drama

Thoughts from anyone: my passport is eligible to be renewed online now. However, my driver’s license has never been updated to a Real ID (shoutout Illinois for using this requirement as a way to make $$$). I’m flying all through this spring and into July. Like, every month. 1/2

FOUND IT IN MY GMAIL

I… seem to have deleted the conference-length version of an older paper that could’ve been made into a special issue submission. Ohhhhh lord.

Bean salad and Phoebe break

It’s been a busy spring and it will stay busy: - Dickens Project conference this past weekend - HS bestie coming to Austin next weekend - SAA/RSA over spring break - Lucy Dacus in Nashville (April) - Newberry workshop in May - leave for the UK June 3

Sometimes the nicest part of being an only child is knowing that being alone hurts but doesn’t kill

Teaching a Brit lit survey for the first time next year!!! Drop those deep cut B-sides so I can sneak them in 😮‍💨 (Are we starting with Dream of the Rood instead of Chaucer?? ABSOLUTELY)

I’ll be super fun without my adhd meds but I guess my apartment is going to end up on an episode of hoarders

A few pesky page numbers aside, SAA paper ✨content✨ is done with time to spare! Happy Valentine’s Day to me, indeed.

TIMON’ing for the first time (I know, I know), and… um… what the actual godforsaken hell is going on in this play

Phoebe is not always thrilled for the emotional support she’s unwittingly signed up to give, but she gives it (very grumpily, but still).

Also a sentimental family reason (which is matriarchal) plays into this love of being a Spencer — Spencer never should have been my great-grandpa Cullen’s surname, had his father done right by his mother, Altha Spencer. She eventually married a man surnamed Tucker, but Cullen kept her name.

Skipped that finicky last body paragraph to try and write a conclusion—god, we are almost there! Tomorrow is page number day for slides and papers alike… blergh.

I was already pretty sold on keeping my maiden name because of the PhD, but now they can pry it out of my cold, dead hands

Me: yaaaay all my non-UT/non-dissertation obligations will be submitted by this Saturday! Also me: totally rehash that old Edward II paper for a special issue in two weeks

Fly Eagles fly! (Yes that’s my TTPD hat; I hope Taylor has a nice evening.)

Fair and reasonable to treat myself to a Blizzard if I hit 2k words for this SAA paper, right?

1000 words of SAA paper down, 1500(ish) to go… should this feel so ramble-y?

Someone feed the AI info that will make it recommend forgiving student loans lmao

Same, Phoebe. Same.

Andrea Stevens reviews Shakespeare Theatre Company’s 2024 production of Macbeth, dir. Simon Godwin. 🎭: www.shakespearetheatre.org/events/macbe... 📰: muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl... 📷: Marc Brenner

Who do I need to bother to get the Julie Taymor TITUS on streaming?

Re: the current Elon discourse. He’s both a troll AND knows exactly what that gesture means. There’s a reason we associate trolling with right-wing beliefs (or at least I do) — they’re trolling BECAUSE they hate you 9 times out of 10

Tfw the semester you said you’d start writing the dissertation arrives

Ok yes — Trader Joe’s is “the grocery store for 20-somethings who can’t cook” but also their canned goods are solid and sometimes ~10c cheaper than store brand/generic staples at HEB, so… I will defend my grocery playground with my life

Periodic reminder that if you want to chuck EEBO into the sea, Internet Archive scanned the STC's original high-res films using 2024 tech and they're all available here (and link to Wing in the next post).

Loved loved loved Eggers’s NOSFERATU though I did find it sad that “old books” don’t play as much of an explicit role in storytelling until we get to Dafoe’s character. Ellen/Lily-Rose Depp’s backstory is captivating but removes the received/literary knowledge in the original silent film

Eternally jealous of the families enjoying prime rib or a whole turkey/other fowl as I go to Christmas supper for… ham. 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮

Course evals much better than expected 🥲 going to miss this first group!