I’m not sure returning to social media is a good idea, but it can’t be as bad as my worst idea (attempting to succeed in academia).

Today I was rejected for an entry-level internship in an area of scholarship in which I’ve done post-doctoral work. Fuck academia.

This is a great thread on how to “do” conferences if you’re an introvert. There’s good practical advice in here!

Here is a statement by my colleague Katherine Franke about the end of her time teaching at Columbia. Please read it. drive.google.com/file/d/1i4cO...

We expect that some 50 Auschwitz Survivors will come to the Memorial for the 80th anniversary of the liberation. The eyes and ears of the world should rest upon them. We must safeguard their voices from silence, distortion, or being overshadowed. (Photo: https://buff.ly/4jd1BiU)

Have you seen that we're hiring a part-time Development and Outreach Officer for Northern Ireland? This role will be essential to the Network's role across the nation & is ideal for someone experienced in community development and outreach work. Find out more & apply: https://buff.ly/4haGmwk

For those keeping track, current fee for a naturalisation application in UK is £1630. I am reluctant to add up total amount paid since 2016 on various applications.

Let me explain to all of you nerds why My Nostalgia for the text based roleplaying world is otherworldly and cannot be beaten by anything on offer in the world of Graphical MMORPGS.

OK, we're gonna get on Flickr. We're gonna start blogs. We're gonna share our bookmark lists and start doing meetups.

Maybe the dumbest thing about Zuckerberg binning fact checkers on Facebook is that he looked at Musk handling Twitter and said, “yes, be more like that.”

🥁 Announcing the Public Domain Image Archive! 🥁 We are v excited to share our new sister-project, the Public Domain Image Archive (PDIA), a curated collection of 10k+ out-of-copyright historical images, all free to explore and reuse: pdimagearchive.org @pdimagearchive

Woke up to #uksnow in YO21 - it’s currently 5/10.

C-SPAN Becomes Ungovernable

RumC-SPANger.

Love it when C-SPAN gets let off the leash. Always Be Broadcasting.

Guys, C-SPAN is momentarily in a state of lawless anarchy.

Obligatory read. #Decolonialstudies #gamedev #gamestudies #colonialism

Nine years ago a very nervous me flew to the UK to begin an #archaeogaming PhD. (One of the first.) I knew two people in York - my supervisor, Sara Perry, and a student I’d met at a conference, Tara Copplestone. Neither was in York when I arrived. I was terrified I’d made a huge mistake. …I didn’t.

Is there anyone my age who isn’t in at least one insane group chat with a few friends they haven’t seen in person in years? Today, while driving through Northumberland, mine had an impromptu video chat - and none of us is sure who initiated it. We were last all together at my wedding in 2019.

I’m sat in a cafe drinking good coffee, dogs asleep under the table, The Cure playing, having been to #BarterBooks, where I bought a beautiful copy of the Rubaiyat with illustrations by Dulac. In a bit, I’m going to the beach. This year I am reclaiming my joy from academia. Happy New Year!

I’m…having trouble keeping up with new followers. If you follow me, we’ve met in person, and I don’t follow you back right away, let me know! The signal-to-noise is overwhelming. As an apology, here is a picture of my puppy wearing a Santa hat. He is also overwhelmed.

I first saw The Nightmare Before Christmas in 1993. My 13 year old-self would be blown away to see me 31 years later, watching it in my home in England, surrounded by my spouse and dogs… (My 23 year old-self would be pretty amazed too, as she lived in Texas with cats and a different spouse!)

Because of weather I can’t go see Grace Petrie. Because of weather I can’t go to Bridge Command for the treaty event. Y’all, I actually want to go out and do things for the first time in months and England in December is stymying me. I am trying to be less depressed and agoraphobic, ENGLAND.

Now that we know that Elon spent a quarter billion dollars to get Trump elected, any dive into Why Harris Lost needs to start with "Because the richest man on earth bought the election and our shitty campaign finance laws just let him."

I’m kicking off a live environment game event tonight that’s taken a year of planning and scheduling. To say I’m nervous would be an understatement. I have written my little heart out for this one - it’s going to tackle repatriation, colonialism, diaspora, and cultural change. #narrativedesign

Does anyone have recommendations for pedagogy specific to older folks? Do we have different approaches to teaching as learners get older? I ask because typically heritage volunteers are older, and I wonder if work has been done on teaching and learning with that group

We're sad to inform you that management at the University of Sheffield has asked us to discontinue our very popular #zooarchaeology shortcourses. Unfortunately one of our most enlightening piece of community engagement, which also brought funds to manage our labs, has gone @sheffielducu.bsky.social

I had a great interaction last week with a volunteer at the British Museum. David really knew his Iron Age Britain! He had just been in a training the day before that highlighted the chariot burial my spouse excavated, and we had a wide-ranging conversation. Good volunteers are gold - treasure them!

Are you in Oregon? Do you like art? My former student Han has a show starting and is giving a talk this weekend. Han was in my first cohort of students when I first started teaching, and I adore them. Please show your support in person if you can!

I’m on a train to London to retrieve something important I lost over the weekend. It’s literally train in, car over, pick up item, car back to the station, train back to York. Total ache of an afternoon, all because of capitalism.

Please support the strike!

For me as a game designer, it’s super important to remember this: the player base of a game is WAY bigger (and way less aware of fandom/industry drama) than social media leads one to think.

It's easy to get lulled into a false perception if you're at all keyed into online fan discussion. They just don't resemble the larger player base, like even a little.

Preach!

I’m headed to London later this week to see friends and do as much immersive theater as I can. Anyone have suggestions on smaller, more under the radar experiences?

I’m still functionally unemployed, but now allowed to stay in the UK indefinitely. There’s a wry commentary to be had in there somewhere, right?

Right, the work starts now. If you care about LGBTQIA+ rights, in particular trans rights, disabled people, refugees and immigrants, any minority and vulnerable groups, write your (new) MP and let them know you want a government that represents you and your belief that *all human rights are equal*.

Today marks one year of being on the academic/archaeology/CRM/digital humanities/heritage/whatever job market. One year, well over 100 tailored applications, and in all that time, one interview request, no offers. I’m so tired.

Give me good legal structure and unions that protect workers over stories of “good bosses” any day. I’m kind of tired of people lionising individuals rather than collective action and labour laws

Archaeologists Digging Eurovision just got a shout-out from Graham! My archaeologist spouse and I met at a Eurovision party 8 years ago, so this feels very full circle.

Proving once again that Yorkshire is the most beautiful place to live. This is all naked eye visible.

This is sad, and the parade route was already lined with spectators. They’re also decimating Pride. Maybe it’s time to take these parades back to their protest roots.

Happy Tories get fucked day to all who celebrate.

today is of course local elections in the uk don't forget to bring a photo id also, don't vote tory