Dr. Alexis Turner
@surliertexan.bsky.social
Taking the scenic route through life. Formerly: Harvard PhD in the history of science. Currently: beekeeping in Wales Tarot, historical research, writing & editing, tutoring & consulting at drturners.com
Personal peeve: when writers in English use Latin titles for Greek works. Like come ON, a Greek writing in Greek did not use the title "De Mirabilibus Auscultationibis," ffs. Tell us the English title or tell us the Greek title, unless you are using a Latin intermediary translation for a reason
I am almost 50 years old and still get filled with rage thinking about being made to read Lord of the Flies, Crime and Punishment, and Catcher in the Rye over 30 years ago. Absolutely loathsome books. I will die at age 93 still pissed off I was forced to read them.
Nick Harkaway@nickharkaway.com · yesterdayHaving ranted about school curriculum books, I’ve just seen my son’s summer reading list, and all I can say is “I was right”. A more depressing collection would be tricky to assemble. Are we actively trying to convey to kids the idea that reading is dismal and arduous?
I know birria tacos and birria ramen and quesabirria are all having a moment, but I just want to remind the world that birria begins its life as soup.
My brain really thought this said MILFageddon because I am a bad person
Out of nowhere I just remembered that I had a dream last night where my Papou was strutting around in heels and he had LEGS and now I am questioning all of the life choices that led me to pick mugwort under the full moon and hang it over my bed.
For anyone who needs a little chaos in the timeline for the day
Capricorn Iscariot@deaconblues1979.bsky.social · 3w agoPlease take a moment to focus on this sigil! It’s for a friend.
Hello. As a trans person, could I please request that you not withdraw your support of people in need of amnesty in my fucking name?! What the shit is wrong with y'all??
Lee Hurley@hleehurley.com · 5d agoAmnesty have issued an apology to JK Rowling and the rest. Adjust your expectations, and donations, accordingly www.amnesty.org.uk/latest/an-ap...
I understand why women are creeped out by dudes following them on the street, but I feel like if you were matching my pace, sped up a bit to get right in front of me, and then fell back down to exactly matching my pace, you don't get to turn around and act like I'm being creepy for being behind you.
Drinking myself to death on prison hooch, running a sketchy import business at the shipyards, medical secretarial work, or housewifery.
Revan@revan.eurosky.social · 7d agoEnough “what would you do on the commune questions” If you got sent back 100 years and were given your grandparent’s job, what are you doing?
One thing I don't think I'll ever get used to is how the English use fancy words like "nobility" or "aristocrats" to refer to historical figures who were just your basic bitch plain ol' warlords.
*shrug* The working class kids I grew up with who did not go to college did, by and large, manage to get themselves mortgages and start families mostly debt free while the majority of us who got degrees are still drowning in six figures of student debt, but go off I guess.
Emma Jacobs@emmavj.bsky.social · last wk.Every commentator saying too many kids go to university has to tell their own kid to not do a degree
I see John Cheese has once again opened his mouth publicly and Brits are once again confused how one of their beloved "anti-establishment" figures who got famous making a bunch of racist, sexist, anti-immigrant art back in the 80s became an old person who is still racist, sexist, & anti-immigrant
Profoundly envious of the clever ladies on this train next to me who had the foresight to bring a train picnic of Prosecco, prawn crisps, and Twix.
Some of us are not friends with people who do antisocial shit like this.
Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 2w agoDefinitionally, these are not “friends.”
I still remember when evangelicals and fundamentalists in the 1980s thought technology was the mark of the beast, but here we are 40 years later with half of them kneeling at its titanium feet.
Mallory Moore@sexabolition.blog · 2w agoThe risk isn't that a machine god will punish us for not having done enough to bring it into existence. The risk is that crazy idolaters with lots of money will give a stochastic parrot the tools to blow us all up for no reason at all.
This is an ongoing offer! Tarot! Magic! Blessings! Drop a tip and let me know what will fix you.
Dr. Alexis Turner@surliertexan.bsky.social · 2w agoIt's been far too long since I've done witchy stuff on here! For the next few hours, I'll be offering cards, blessings, and magic for those who request it. Drop a tip in USD$ to Paypal or Venmo (@surliertexan) or in £GBP to revolut.me/drturners and let me know what you'd like me to send your way.
Any time I think maybe I'm not competent to do ____, I simply remind myself of the least dumb shit things the most successful people in our society do and I instantly feel capable again
worm@rfksbrainworm.bsky.social · 2w agoextremely normal guy voice: I cloned myself so I can become my own blood boy.
Weird accomplishments: Certified underwater criminal investigator Gave a bestselling author the idea for their most recent book Failed up into a Harvard PhD Lived in an ambulance for a year Rendered Bob Gooding-Williams speechless Largely fixed my relationship with my father Became a dude
Gail Simone@gailsimone.bsky.social · 2w agoWeird accomplishments; I have an official My Little Pony based on me Deadpool uses my name in the first two movies and spoke at length about Women In Refrigerators I turned down Gene Simmons, Paris Hilton and Bacardi. My name was officially made into Babs Gordon’s middle name. More to come!
Why has Laurie Anderson been making a comeback on Reels? Like I'm not complaining, but also I can't say I would have anticipated this
It's been far too long since I've done witchy stuff on here! For the next few hours, I'll be offering cards, blessings, and magic for those who request it. Drop a tip in USD$ to Paypal or Venmo (@surliertexan) or in £GBP to revolut.me/drturners and let me know what you'd like me to send your way.
Nightmare fuel. OTOH, I was a little disappointed I never accidentally stumbled across blotter paper letters while doing my last project. Just imagine how amazing that would have been *sigh*
Ada Palmer@adapalmer.bsky.social · 2w agoHistorian friend was reading a civil war era letter in an archive, the letter said “In this envelope I include my smallpox scabs” and sure enough there they were. Had to call CDC for a hazmat team.
I think I'll send these doctor bills Airmail Special
Secret Drug Addict@scrtdrugaddict.bsky.social · 2w ago
Starting out on a history of beekeeping for the express reason of focusing on the non-human, worldly effects of human choices makes the limitations of the archive -- even broadly conceived -- so sharply felt.
I have decided that laverbread is a good food Britain has given the world.
That moment when a popular account you follow jumps the shark by repeatedly leaning way too hard into a bunch of cosplaying masculinist nonsense.
I'm so much less concerned with how feminine Andrew Tate's outfit is than with how atrociously it fits. (Signed, a dude currently wearing women's linen slacks, because this is summer and British men's trousers are horrendous crimes against fashion)
Once I got a job by giving a teaching demo on lockpicking. The German in the room was incensed that it worked because the tolerance between each pin is not identical, allowing friction to catch and hold them as you lift them one by one. "This is a problem that can simply be solved," he lamented
Miles Klee 🦉@milesklee.bsky.social · 3w agoSomewhere in Germany, a mysterious man has spent months perfecting his bread-cutting technique, aiming to produce a perfectly even slice (as measured by digital caliper). He spoke to WIRED about why he embarked on this mission and the passionate breadhead community cheering him on:
