Had a lovely day in Oxford exploring the hot spots, praying in the same church Tolkien worshipped in and Cardinal Newman preached in, and trying out a local beverage, followed by a very funny panto this evening back in my hometown! What a Christmas treat!

“Monday this, Thursday that.” It’s No Man’s Time right now. If you want me to have any idea of when you’re talking about, give me dates, not days.

If you think Wensleydale cheese isn’t significantly improved by the addition of cranberries, I don’t need or want you in my life

Don’t worry meeces, I’ve got your cheeses for you!

Reform in England long imagined that they were enthusiastic about monarchy, the church, and the beauties of the old English Constitution, until the day of danger wrung from them the confession that they are enthusiastic only about pure, unadulterated racism

Merry Christmas from me and this incredibly festive little chap!

All ready for Father Christmas to pop by tonight - here’s hoping he decides to show up!

Merry Christmas! “‘I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord.’” ‭‭— Luke‬ ‭2‬:‭10‬-‭11‬

The classic Christmas Eve baking has taken place: more gingerbread biscuits (because why not?), my favourite knotted bread Nußzopf, and a Yule stump (a Yule log but standing). Can’t wait to tuck into these tomorrow!

Marked Christmas Adam yesterday by going to a German Christmas market (in Oberhausen) - the festivities are well under way!

Happy Fourth Sunday of Advent! “‘For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived… She will bear a son & you are to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet.” — Matthew 1:20b-22

And that’s a wrap for 2025: emails/invoices sent, finals pieces of work marked, and the last lesson taught (both of us festively attired). This evening has been spent getting my hair cut, baking/decorating gingerbread, and finally settling down with a cocktail. Let the Christmas holiday begin!

Yeah, none of this surprises me in the slightest 😌

Scored 98% in my annual performance review - a lesson observation - so I’ve been walking on cloud nine all day (and it’s even helped dull the imposter’s syndrome a smidge too) 🥳

Happy Third Sunday of Advent! “The blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.” — Matthew 11:5

Started a new job today assessing interpreters (so that was fun!), but it’s in a place I’ve never been to, so I decided to also take a little bit of a stroll around after to familiarise myself. Pretty place!

It’s that time of the year again: Christmas card writing time!

“For the first time, Ukraine presents a peace proposal in which it gives up territory” The article later states that this is partly due to pressure by the Americans. A reminder that the US is meant to be a guarantor of Ukrainian territorial sovereignty according to the 1994 Budapest Memorandum.

De blokkadepolitiek van de VVD wordt beloond. Mensen die voor verandering hebben gestemd worden belazerd met wéér een riskant experiment. Wij blijven knokken voor iedereen die een groener, socialer en progressiever Nederland wil.

D66 en CDA gaan verder met de VVD die in 2023 hun vorige samenwerking nog opblies. Vanwege een leugen over nareis op nareis. Daarna plaveide de VVD de weg voor het meest instabiele kabinet ooit. Hoezo kan met de VVD nu opeens een stabiel kabinet gevormd worden? nos.nl/liveblog/259...

My favourite thing about driving to work today was how I just so happened to find myself on the road at the same time as people who had never used an accelerator pedal before… or seen a traffic light/speed sign before… or presumably ever even stepped into a motorised vehicle.

Happy Second Sunday of Advent! ‘“I baptise you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry His sandals. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”’ ‭‭— Matthew‬ ‭3‬:‭11‬

Happy St. Nicholas’ Day! I’m pleased to say that he came by last night - George was especially elated by that fact (and the paper… and the carrot… never mind the presents)!

Nothing says the Pax Americana is over more than the Dutch government providing every household with a “What To Do In An Emergency Situation” booklet: “The chance of an emergency situation/war grows greater. There are threats to our safety. At the moment, there’s no war in NL, but also no peace.” 🙂

Happy First Sunday of Advent! “Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come… So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” — Matthew 24:42, 44

I’m pleased to say I’ve retained my gay card… but also, I don’t get the negative reviews I’ve read - I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Just spent my evening getting my teeth stuck into and geeking out over the theology, sociology, and linguistics of the pope’s letter on the Nicene Creed. The hope and call for unity are especially inspiring - I’d highly recommend giving it a read! www.vatican.va/content/leo-...

Today at Mass, we had the lyrics “I believe that someone in the great somewhere hears every word” in one of our hymns. Why are Boomer Christians like this? What in the vapidity is that?!

Christmas trees picked, harvested and taken home, ready to be decorated tomorrow 🎄

Of course it’s the over 65s who overwhelmingly support this while simultaneously not being affected by it and being the people who should actually be more rigorously (re-)tested.

The bizarre irony of centre-left parties trying to appeal to right-inclined/anti-immigrant voters is they just legitimise the far right and lose their base at the same time. And despite this being proved so many times, they all keep falling for it.

For anyone interested in linguistics/the development of the English language, this is a fascinating piece (& the examples helped me test my Middle English, which was fun). Despite being from southern England, I was actually taught at school to pronounce w and wh differently: a quirk, it would seem!

Wait, they voted to end the shutdown because of the *promise* of a *vote*? How fucking stupid do you have to be?!

A little timeline cleanse

One of the best parts of my job is that I often get to travel to obscure places in the country I wouldn’t normally see. Today took me to Ravenstein, a bustling “city” of just over 3,000 people.

“Live, Laugh, Oval Office”

Happy Guy Fawkes Day! May we continue to celebrate and honour the justice, law and order upheld by our strong democracy and protected by our constitutional monarchy. God save The King!

It’s so important not to fall into a false sense of security as we’ve seen in so many places in the West (think the US when Biden won). The seats that the PVV lost have just shifted to other Far Right parties (namely JA21 and FvD): they remain a real threat to justice, freedom and democracy.

I’ve not even had dinner yet, and it’s been pitch black for well over an hour. Petition to bring Summer Time back for good?

Happy Hallowe’en, everyone!

Not all the votes are in yet (one municipality’s town hall caught on fire, & we’re still waiting for overseas votes), but at 99.7% of votes being counted, this seems to be the make up of the new Dutch parliament. With only 1984 votes currently in, it’s a fight between D66 and the PVV as the largest.

Het politieke midden (GLPvdA, D66, CDA, VVD) moet nu samenwerken en verregaande maatregelen nemen tegen de online verspreiding van fascisme en de invloed van algoritmes. Het is de laatste kans de hondsdolheid te beteugelen.

Just for fun, I’ve come up with a little prediction as to what I think the results will be tonight (considering polls, turnout and strategic voting): PVV 26 GL-PvdA 24 D66 23 CDA 19 VVD 17 JA21 10 FvD 6 BBB 4 SP 4 DENK 3 PvdD 3 SGP 3 CU 3 Volt 3 50PLUS 2 NSC 0

Gestemd op een positieve, hoopvolle en verenigende visie voor Nederland waar de democratie, mensenrechten en de natuur beschermd zijn 💚❤️ Als je nog niet gestemd hebt, heb je nog wat tijd! Ga stemmen - en stem op een sociale, zorgzame en verantwoordelijke partij! (Niet PVV/BBB/JA21/FvD dus 😉)

Spooky Season is now in session! Everybody meet Geert, Thierry and Joost!

I’m pleased to say that my gay powers have been restored 💇🏻‍♂️💈✂️

Asylum seekers, housed in hotels in Manchester, are reaching out in their own words to address the concerns of the local community. Please take a minute to read their letter, & share it with the people in your life who need to hear the truth about the people they are protesting.

On this Reformation Sunday, this Catholic is marking the day in a way that the guy who kicked it all off definitely would’ve envisaged (though unironically probably would’ve loved): by drinking a beer bearing his likeness and his name out of a beer mug bearing his face and his name.

If you get the correct answer, you’re an honorary Brit 🇬🇧

Almost 500 years since the Reformation, and almost 200 years since Catholic Emancipation, today was a very joyful day for British Catholics like myself. My heart is full 🥹🇬🇧🇻🇦 Viva il papa! Long live the King!