The Portland frogs are multiplying. I’m watching the livestream at katu.com/watch

Just realised I arrived for lunch with my parents wearing a Suede t-shirt, socks, belt and carrying a Suede tote bag, I possibly need to reach further into my wardrobe when dressing...

If I had time, energy and an overly high value of my own pastiche, I'd really enjoy reviewing, say, the new Ash album in the style of every major news outlet's Taylor Swift reviews.

It does at least feel like it's a bit more fashionable to prioritise at least trying to get a decent night's sleep than it's ever been in my lifetime, I think this is probably the only cultural "health" move of which I am an unequivocal fan.

How are pubs doing with their current opening hours? Are people really clamouring to come more often and stay longer and buy enough things to fund enough staff to cover these hours?

I say this with zero pride and a continuing fury that I didn't learn, at BA, how to do anything *but* start my coursework at 2am the day it was due: I still got a robust 2:1 so the last minuteism is not what's going to do for academic integrity, it's students believing GenAI is better than them.

Reading some "How can we use AI well?" articles, it feels a lot like "How can we use cocaine well?" There's definitely ways you could improve functional use, but a) seriously do you really want to b) do people who want to use it really want to c) long term, is this something you want to have said?

Two glorious Ash gigs in two hours, a wonderful evening in the pub with my oldest friend, and now in bed watching Gogglebox with M&S Christmas Chocolate and Cinnamon Tortilla Rolls what an utterly perfect night.

high on the list of things I want to tell little us will happen in life youtube.com/shorts/ruYmL...

Made an uncountable number of friends, founded PatC, built community, hugely developed my professional community and networks, facilitated my MA research, created and shared an archive of 600+ gig videos, released the pressure of needing to shout into the void...yeah, so many great things.

pigwitch by Rupkatha "the old sow in the back pen has teeth like splintered moonlight. She ate a man once, i think. or maybe a god." Link ⬇️ strangehorizons.com/wordpress/po... #poetry #speculativepoetry #specpo #sff

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

I absolutely understand the need to ensure degrees' outcomes that support students into jobs, I do, but increasingly having to state that in Arts & Humanities it is not just okay, but wonderful, when students simply want to take a course to further cultural knowledge and thought *for its own sake*.

I cannot understand what these people think the purpose of human life is? It is *not* "pursue joy, deal justly, love well, try to understand as much and see as much of this beautiful world and of the deepness, richness and variety of human culture and experience as you can before you die"?

I think I've read every possible take on the Taylor album, which is quite the feat for just one album. Most interested in the takes that dislike everything about it which, to me, make it feel like an accurate depiction of place and time. I maintain if you're prolific it's fine to have a mid period.

Listening to a podcast about an ultra-fancy bespoke car manufacturer who boasts no robotics in their factory and the "unrivalled attention to detail of the human eye in every aspect of our work", amazing how you can already flog robots as the future but humans as the diamond standard.

SITTIN IN MIME BREMFAST

Whoever is writing Pip and Stella in The Archers is doing such an excellent job, love it.

a foot high sculpted tart #bakeoff WHAT are you on

Devastating: this truly is one of the best museums, so very much part of the fabric of the place.

Damn. This is amazing. £325 per week, paid monthly, for 3 years - and the result was a profit for the Irish economy: www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employmen...

🚨 It's launched! you have until midnight on Hallowe'en / Noson Calan Gaeaf / Samhain to pledge! very grateful for any sharing x🎃 Check out Queer Crow Death Magic Tarot by Frank Duffy on @kickstarter.com www.kickstarter.com/projects/fra... #tarot #tarotsky

Thank you 6music for some fresh Brett Anderson content to round out a delightful day

My favourite Jilly Cooper story is recounted in Graham Hoyland's 2013 book Last Hours on Everest. What a trooper.

Also Ben's Cookies are the best cookies, we wisely brought some home to eat now and they are unrivalled, I only have them like every other year when one is in front of my face.

Excellent day out in Bath, pub lunch, cinema, Michael Palin giving a lecture on his travels in Venezuela in the evening.

RIP JILLY COOPER! A queen who wrote THE most readable books in existence. People saw my thread of epic Jilly quotes and decided I was saying the books are shite. You COULDN'T be more wrong. Go and watch Rivals today.

Realised that I’m now treating funny viral videos in the same way footballers celebrate goals — 1) initial joy, 2 sudden panic it might be AI/offside 3) lengthy investigation as joy saps away 4) conclusion, joy modulated through fatigue if proven legit/onside, but angry and gutted if AI/offside

This! Authors and artists really shouldn't have to do things on their own, there's Real Life Admin we all have to suck up, but navigating the whirling landscapes of promotion is a full job for a full staff...advertising is SO complex, for so little impact, when nobody has much disposable income.

Today it is our actual wedding anniversary, and wisely I have booked the day off work! A different Monday :)

P pointing out this Strictly singer is dressed as a peeled banana

I've never seen Toy Story 1-3 which always makes people make sounds, but I'm afraid I'm FAR too attached to childhood toys to watch their fictional adventures, much worse things that might also have children having opinions on them in them (I was rubbish at being a child partially for this reason).

(this was a very formative element in the creation of @prudenceandthecrow.bsky.social which I had to illustrate in my book subscription box guest lecture for MA Publishing, bc it has to be seen to be appreciated)

just discussing, as we do at least once or twice a year, how brilliant it was that one time Select magazine came in a box with snacks and how weird it is, esp now, that that hasn't really happened since

Couple of teenage rabbits have bounded into view, chasing each other around the lawn and nibbling at the grass. These activities are encouraged, they are adorable and helpful. Digging holes in the lawn is not allowed though, please listen, young ones, don't make me yell at you.

I think my "I've had a dozen coffees" posting is much worse than my "I've had a bottle of wine" posting

What is it that makes a country popular, valued, interesting, attractive to tourists/investors whilst also being wholesome and not requiring terrible financial malpractice? CULTURE, art and music and film and theatre and pop music and yes also sports, fund it all, just make making things pay again.

Watching Tramps! (documentary about the New Romantics) and it is absolute London elders bingo (we got paid to go to art school, bomb sites in the '80s, I remember the smogs, soot slick, Blitz club, King's Road), so delightful. Soho nostalgia in abundance...

One of my favourite things about living in Glastonbury is that we don't just have one local magic shop, in manner of Buffy, we have about twelve, and it's nice to just pop to the magic shop to buy gifts and house bits and stuff.

Finally, an article that at least touches on teaching quality and staff workload issues. Not that it suggests any viable alternatives to the current state of play. (And for 'colleges' in the headline, read 'universities', a telling choice of nomenclature.

This morning's NYC YouTuber: "Today I'm going to stay home and make some fun food, and have fun with my cat. All day long." Me: quite literally cheering them on to have a nice quiet day...

One of the greatest inventions is the decaf double espress: tastes like delicious rocket fuel, makes precious little difference to the actual state of being.

i don't want to know about any more anniversaries of movies or music or books from my childhood, the passage of time is already too fraught 😭 😭

This could be a long and rambling thread. Be patient with me. I bought an old mahogany bureau on Ebay. I didn't really want a bureau as we're meant to be downsizing, but it was a beautiful piece & obviously very old. Google lens suggests the brass chased handles are Queen Anne. That's 1702-1714 😯

Ridley Scott, introducing Blade Runner at the BFI: "How many people have seen Blade Runner?" {most hands go up} "How many of you haven't seen it?" {a few hands are raised} "Morons! What have you been watching?" 😂

Those tedious and mysteriously funded transphobes want to limit access to the Ponds so I’ve had a pleasant 10 mins filling this out on why seeing a variety of women is magic and judging by what people look like or can do is very slippery territory hampstead-heath-bathing-ponds.commonplace.isn

Ellie has such beautifully expressive hands, that was lovely. Think the height difference makes that posture quite difficult as well. #strictly

Nobody would ever want to watch me dance too La Bamba but I would have such a great time trying XD #strictly

Gosh Karen and Carlos are great to watch, I do enjoy this #scd #strictly

Our neighbour is trying to put a fence up IN a storm? It has been shown since the last storm and he picks today to put it back?