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House move update: we're in! But what do you do when you don't have enough lamps and would rather die than put the big light on? GO TUDOR and bounce candlelight off shiny things. Thank you, George Cavendish, for your banquet descriptions.

Srsly NYT c'mon

Three of us built three beds today and my lower back has gone to the place where bones die.

Considering doctoring some 'fragile' labels to say 'fragile AND SPIKY'

A query that came out of choir rehearsal this evening: was there Protestant presence in C17 Italy? Was it large and me ignorant? Very secret?

That feeing when you're updating teaching sessions, you reach for a book thinking ah, perfect, this will have the latest stuff on X topic in the bibliography...and the bibliography is of primary sources only 😩 #HungryForHistoriography

The problem with packing is that everything that was once stored away is now in boxes and there's nowhere for the boxes to be

House looking gorgeous. Moving early Feb. Packing nightmares have begun. Am also floored by awful cramps- very upsetting the way we are punished for being women trying to be contraceptively responsible 😩

'Balls, I just found a ukulele.' Quote of the day from my housemate, who is packing.

Tfw you accidentally put your hair in a much higher, tighter bun than you intended and now you feel like Miss Hardbroom from The Worst Witch books

Back on my bullshit

Someone’s not looked at a single early modern history book before opening their mouth, clearly. By 1600, over 4,000 immigrants lived in England’s second largest city, Norwich - one in three people in the city had not been born in England.

Do I know anyone who knows about furniture restoration? There's a thing I want to bid on, but it needs some love and I don't know what's possible

Carpets chosen and booked, front door ordered, all bits for second electrical fix arriving today, moving day confirmed and movers booked. It's all happening! Oh yeah and I should probably also do some work?

Can’t wait for this!!

Friends fear she's browsing furniture again. House needs things. I want to buy secondhand/vintage/antique, because it's cost, environment, and aesthetically efficient and because I have a thing for arts and crafts era stuff. Other than eBay, where would you look?

At what point will a brave university simply tell its staff to stop applying for grants, and just fund their research or give them time to write instead. I'm sure it would cost less than all that wasted staff time.

My bestie wrote a book! It's beautiful and incredible and hilarious and profound and you should all go and get it immediately.

Today I am at least trying to organise the overwhelm train before I ride it over the next couple of months. - Finishing house renovation - House move - Pile of marking (lands right around house move obvs) - Semester 2, with 3 hour sessions instead of 2 - At least one public talk 🫠

I'm the nearest thing my department HAS to a medievalist 🫠

Betwixtmas is weird af every year. This year I'm finding myself working quite hard to keep the inevitable 'this time last year things were Bad' at a dull roar. The anniversary effect is real

Aaaaaaaahahaha. I have indeed got another cold. And now I must get rid of it in order to see vulnerable people over Christmas. As if the whole Christmas debacle wasn't stressful enough.

Very rarely does a post warrant all caps, but: SEARCHABLE INTERIM MANUSCRIPTS CATALOGUE. At long last! searcharchives.bl.uk

Oh god iCloud is yelling at me about backing up and saying it's full. Must I use it? I pay for Dropbox already.

IT NEVER WORKS. NEVER. EVER. NEVER WORKS. IT HAS NEVER WORKED. AUSTERITY LEADS TO ENROLLMENT COLLAPSE LEAVES TO UNIVERSITY CLOSURE. EVERY TIME. ALWAYS.

Ugh. My first ever bad review on Airbnb as a guest. I'm sorry I stripped the bed and couldn't find a tea towel to dry up and that you don't provide a draining board, I guess?

Good piece from Katie Normington at De Montfort University reminding us the post 92 universities have done excellent research for a long time and that this ought not be endangered by the White Paper call for specialisation wonkhe.com/blogs/labour...

I need a new knitting project. Nobody close to me seems to need anything knitted for them but I have so many jumpers already 😂

OMG. Was fishing for the button box and found another box I thought I'd lost. More things to frame for the new house 😁

The average waiting list time in West Wales for an ADHD dx is anecdotally estimated to be 55 years. But sure, Wes, any distraction from the fact doctors are about to go on strike again eh?

Keep up, NYT

Same same. Won't somebody think of the sensory issues 😂

We gots floor 😍

Anyone replaced their front door lately? Where's a good place to go? Based in south-west London if that makes a difference.

we could do with a few more vice-chancellors making this case in the UK

Today, still on voice rest, I think the second round of antibiotics is helping? I think? A good time for some peer review and a shoe clearout because things are getting ridiculous in the shoe cupboard.

Feeling festive! Happy advent 😊

Still tonsillitis. Improved but not gone, as I thought. Another week's antibiotics, another week's cancelled classes because I was warned if I use my voice too much it'll flare and all take longer. So bored of this.

Plague plague tonsillitis plague. You know it's not good when the doctor takes one look at your throat and says 'oo yeah'. I am the joyful recipient of a course of penicillin and under orders to rest yet more 🙄🙄🙄

What I've been noticing lately in convos with students is that they *despise* the AI-slopification of everything as much or even more than I do. And yet our universities & their admin seem to believe that students for some reason want it integrated into everything. THEY DON'T.

Ears ringing. Golf ball, apparently, in throat on right hand side. Hedgehog in lungs. Today gets a no from me.

Horribly full of cold AGAIN. Researching house stuff instead of working. Who knew there were so many kinds of curtain pole.

Managers cite concern for students in everything they do, but never actually prioritise student opinion or voices in any of their decision making. They do irreparable harm to student courses and turn around to staff and ask: ‘right: how can we improve student satisfaction and recruitment?’

Anyone happen to have a cool source on medieval prostitution to hand? I had meant to do some proper searching this week and then I had a flu-bug instead and now I'm playing catch-up with everything 🙃

Woke up at 5am and the room was going in *circles* which was more exciting than I was down for. This is an evil plague.

Ugh. Horrible cold. Can't sing in concert. Life cancelled this weekend. I crash.

I have got wildly professorial hair today

I want to listen to Lily Allen's new album but also I am very pre-menstrual and it might be unwise