claredowding.bsky.social
Welshwoman in London. University administrator. Independent researcher (medieval anchorites). Anglican Reader (lay minister). Warden of Readers Diocese of Southwark.
714 posts
898 followers
412 following
Getting Started
Active Commenter
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With all due respect to the great metropolis of Barry (currently home to my parents), if this chap is in the top 1% of earners why are they still living there?! Surely they could afford somewhere in St Hilary by now ...
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Not that I can remember.
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3. Yes, but not yet.
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It sounded vaguely familiar, and I thought "if in doubt, search the Discworld Wiki"!
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Have you ever read 'Hogfather' by Terry Pratchett?
wiki.lspace.org/Eater_of_Socks
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Should the current world situation end up in all-out nuclear war, I suspect that when the dust settles, the only life left on Earth will be cockroaches and Clive Woodward - and he'll be writing a column about how the cockroaches are surviving all wrong.
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Oh wow!
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Hope you feel better soon.
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The entire global system we live in exists to keep us afraid. Joy is revolutionary
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Indeed - my mother's only surviving (I think) uncle is 87, while her aunt Fanny (she couldn't help it ...) was born in 1897.
(She was actually named Fanny, it wasn't short for Frances.)
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My maternal grandmother was four years older than my grandfather; she was the youngest of 13 children, he was the second oldest of 8.
If all my mother's aunts and uncles across both sides of her family were still alive, they'd range in age from 128 to 87.
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I'm fairly sure we use the 'Related' option, but I'm probably going to have to double-check that yet again (I really should know by now ... !).
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Terry Pratchett
Jodi Taylor
JRR Tolkien
John Wyndham
Crime/detection fiction, and general fiction (including romance), would be separate lists - and I can't be bothered to move.
2/2
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Given that I'm currently in the living room, where the SF and fantasy books are, I can offer the following:
Ben Aaronovitch
Douglas Adams
Kelley Armstrong
Isaac Asimov
Arthur C Clarke
Simon R Green
Jasper Fforde
Deborah Harkness
Charlaine Harris
Robin Hobb
Ursula Le Guin
China Miéville
1/2
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😲
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Although he doesn't look entirely impressed with all this birthday malarkey!
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Well, I hope one of them works out - and if you end up having to choose between two offers, so much the better!
Having a very relaxed time so far this week, which is not great in that there are things I need to do, and I could get far too used to not getting up until 10am ...
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Happy birthday! From my experience so far (8 months), 50's not so bad, once you get used to it.
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Depends on the job, as you never know, they might appreciate your honesty. Have you heard back yet?
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Ah yes, I'd forgotten about the Leicester connection. And I agree about having commentators who actually know what they're talking about, even if they're not the 'big names'.
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I mean, Norcross, Moeran, Nawaz etc are wonderful, and I really enjoy listening to them, but sometimes it feels like they're viewed as the 2nd XI by the higher-ups, and so the 'proper' commentators come in for the games that really matter (from the higher-ups' perspective).
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I wonder if it says more about me, or about the Beeb, that I was genuinely surprised to hear Agnew commentating on one (but only one, mind you) of the recent women's T20s. Of the 12 matches against the WIndies (6 each), I think he did 11 of the men's games and just that 1 of the women's. 1/2
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Ours? If so, sorry ...
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Sometimes - but usually when I was looking for something else entirely, which (of course) then remained unlocated.
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I've read only one of the more recent ones, with new authors, illustrators, and translators (Asterix & the White Iris), but I was greatly amused that when our heroes arrive in Lutetia by the fast chariot service, an announcement encourages passengers to 'Vidit, Dixit, Fixit'.
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I last gave blood in early April, so it's a bit too soon for me to do so again, but I thought I'd check the website just in case. It appears I'm not the only one - there's an automated queue just to be able to log in! Which is encouraging, I think.
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Congratulations!
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But 100% protected from vampires, at least.
(By way of explanation of my thought process, I'm almost at the end of season 2 of what is intended to be a full rewatch of Buffy.)
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Oh yes! Although I don't think I realised (or remembered) that it was Drunk Cooking.
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The ridiculous thing is that thanks to various school visits to Big Pit, I think I may have been down a mine more often than my grandfather did in his working career!
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My grandfather worked in a colliery for nearly 50 years (albeit in the lamp-room, not underground), and I remember my dad once saying that he was fairly sure his mother would have happily committed murder if it meant it kept him (Dad) from following his father to a job at the pit.
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I have to ask - are you OK?
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The second of the two May bank holidays in the UK used to be the Monday after Pentecost (and is still referred to as the Whit Monday holiday by some people), but instead got fixed to the last Monday in May years ago.
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Don't go giving him ideas ...
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I thought I'd allowed plenty of time! I should have known better ...
I hope all goes well for you when the day comes.
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Congratulations! I hope the move goes smoothly.
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Ah - I couldn't remember which Diocese you're in, but I did know that Chelmsford has September ordinations, so that makes sense.
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I was trying to remember the other day if you were due to be finishing this year - I hope the last bits go smoothly.
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📌