Beggarman

the apocalypse remembered, our dear, beloved apocalypse—it drifted slowly from the trees all around us, so loud we stopped hearing it.’ - Franny Choi #PoetsSayWakeUp www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazi...

I missed this when it came out last month, but this is a really lovely single from songwriter Seamus Fogarty - I gather it's about a friend of his who died and where they grew up together in County Mayo

My paper on break-up chatbots came out today, just in time for you to bring it up as a debate topic at the Christmas dinner table. A podcast on this will come out after the holidays too. Article free to read below ⬇️

Publication day! It’s been a long journey to get to this point, and I’m grateful to everyone who’s supported that, and to @routledgebooks.bsky.social for publishing it.

'Misty Morning, River Thurne, Norfolk,' (c1960) is a striking example of Edward Seago's mastery of watercolour, a work in which you can sense the magic of being on the river just after the break of dawn - a sense of timelessness.

'The Blizzard.' (1910) This is an archetypal work by Joseph Farquharson whose depictions of the Deeside landscape in various weathers are central to the tradition of Scottish Art. He painted snow-scapes, forests, stretches of water, sometimes with a figure or two, sometimes more.

Still sounds unreal even after 30 years

Publication day! It’s been a long journey to get to this point, and I’m grateful to everyone who’s supported that, and to @routledgebooks.bsky.social for publishing it.

Boulevard des Italians #edouardcortes #cortes

Quote with your favorite picture of you from 2025

I wasn’t able to do this last year, but it’s time to find a spot for George on the tree

Merry Christ mash

Niche, but

The phrase "there's just you, forever, except with fewer working joints" has now haunted me for a full calendar year

Beinn a'Bheithir 'Mountain of the thunderbolt' #Scotland #Glenachulish #Highlands www.damianshields.com

Mountain light, Ben Inverveigh #Scotland #LochTulla #Argyll www.damianshields.com

Landscape near Valenciennes, 1875 #morisot #berthemorisot

I sure did

I'm not in marketing but an angry guy shrieking "Guess what asshole...AI isn't going away so you might as well accept it!" doesn't strike me as the way you'd pitch an ostensibly useful product

Trapped in a room with people who have been trying to decide what to watch for the past 50 minutes

Another that makes it seem almost worth spending another 8 years on another handbook. Almost.

Still sounds unreal even after 30 years

Winter calm over Loch Affric #Scotland #GlenAffric #Cannich #Highlands www.damianshields.com

Facebook reminded me of this, my favourite record of 2023. I still absolutely love it - there's something really incongruous about the vocal refrain together with the really deep, dubby, aquatic sound that the rest of the record has, and that made it really distinctive.

'Dusk in Browning Street.' (c1954) Edward Seago painted many views of London throughout his career. His streetscapes from the 1950s are some of his most accomplished, showing to best effect his mastery of light and reflection.

A year ago, I was finishing the first draft of Vivre avec les hommes - one day after the verdict, following the rule I had set for myself. It both feels like yesterday and like a lifetime ago. Thank you to all of you who have read it and who have talked about it this year!

I didn’t use AI in even the most minor capacity to write my book—I just fucking love em-dashes.

Slept for 10 hours, and now my brain is made of silly-putty - one sharp tap and it will shatter like porcelain

The Avenue de L'Opera, Paris, Sunlight, Winter Morning #pissarro #impressionism

A customer called Clare has just ordered a print of this rainbow over the Queensferry Crossing. Clever Clare

Art

It's come as something of a shock to discover I have virtually no memories of this time last year. Several weeks that my brain just decided to swallow almost in their entirety. It's probably for the best, but it's disconcerting nonetheless - I didn't know that was a thing, for me at least.

One of the most gorgeous house records of the past few years (and available for free from the record label on their bandcamp if you know where to look). Glorious stuff, Jiminy Hop worked wonders here.

The Art Deco brilliance of the former Beresford Hotel on Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow. Built in 1937, it was designed by William Beresford Inglis, who later went on to manage and own it. Cont./ #glasgow #architecture #architecturephotography #sauchiehallstreet #jfk

'Epistemic Injustice: An Introduction' is a Christmas movie

The Dr Who episode 'Blink', but every time you close your eyes another hour of the day has gone by without you having made any progress on work, life, or relaxing from the demands of work and life

NEW ARTICLE: "Experiences of Derealization: A Naive Realist Account" I explore how derealization - where one's perceived environment feels unreal - challenges naive realism. A mix of philosophy of mental health and philosophy of perception. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... Open access.

That time of year when I feel like everyone is shutting down for the break much faster than I can manage

New Element in the Linguistics series on speech act theory - unsurprisingly, looks of plenty of relevance to philosophers too

Reminder that the deadline for this is next month (actually, I'm going to double-check this is still when it is, but in the meantime let's just go with what's on the website):

Place de la Republique #postimpressionism #cortes

Powerful Rest And Fluids Industry Influencing Doctors' Treatment Of Colds https://theonion.com/powerful-rest-and-fluids-industry-influencing-doctors-t-1819570463/

Made around 1953, 'Gondolas by the Salute, Venice,' reflects Edward Seago's subtle and nuanced eye; he's painted this Sargent-like work by balancing light and dark and reconciling a multiplicity of shapes, to create a feeling of depth and atmosphere.

Even by my low expectations for Kemi Badenoch ‘violence against women and girls is something done by immigrants and nobody else’ has shocked me.

Matthew Goodwin objects to prosecuting this: ‘I think it’s time for the British to gang together, hit the streets and start the slaughter. Violence and murder is the only way now. Start off burning every migrant hotel then head off to MPs’ houses and Parliament, we need to take over by FORCE.’

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