Dr Naomi Jacobs

@ladylark

Lecturer in Design Policy and Futures Thinking at Lancaster University, researching technology and society, and sometimes fandom. Co-Director of @Imaginationlanc.bsky.social. Wrote for @blackarchive.co.uk. She/her.

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Dr Naomi Jacobs@ladylark· 1d

Finally left #DWCon when the hotel was starting to look empty, and of course there's now a big incident on the M6 with delays of over an hour showing. But at least it was a good excuse to stop at the services and have an ice cream by the lake while it hopefully clears.

A view of green trees and picnic benches on the edge of a small lake, taken from a shady spot

Dr Naomi Jacobs@ladylark· 5d

It's #DWCon time again! As Terry used to say, Discworld Convention time is it's own bubble so we all just restart our conversations where we left off last time. 30 years ago seems just like last week...

Mounted behind a bar, next to cabinets of bottled beer, is a Triumph motorcycle. Astride it, looking like he is having a great time, is a grinning skeleton wearing a black cape and a leather jacket.

A metal pin badge, in a plastic packet. The backing card says 'Terry Pratchett's Discworld' at the top, and 'Discworld Convention 30th Anniversary' at the bottom. The badge itself is a tricornered shield surrounding a circle, surrounding a turtle in the centre. The circle has text reading 'Discworld Convention' and two ribbons, 1996 - 2026. The turtle has 30 written on its back. In the corners of the shield are three small icons: a book, a beer tankard, and a duck. (what duck?)

Dr Naomi Jacobs@ladylark· 13d

Heh. I suppose I should have included some idea of the books I'm already thinking of including...

A pile of reference books on fan studies. Top of the pile is Fake Geek Girls by Suzanne Scott.
Others are:
Fan Cultures, Matt Hills
Exploiting Fandom, Mel Stanfill
Remix, Lawrence Lessig
Textual Poachers, Henry Jenkins
Fandom (edited by Gray, Sandvoss and Harrington)
Rogue Archives, Abigail de Kosnik
The Routledge Companion to Media Fandom
A Fan Studies Primer
The Fan Fiction Studies Reader
By Any Media Necessary
Convergence Culture, Henry Jenkins

Dr Naomi Jacobs@ladylark· 15d

My parents came for a brief visit and brought me even *more* cherries, and I had ricotta in the fridge, so fancy pie happened. (It would have looked even prettier if I hadn't dropped it taking it out of the tin, but it still tastes great)

A pie-in-progress. A layer of cherry compote has been spread inside a pastry shell in a pie dish. The edges of the home-made pastry splay out unevenly around the sides. Some blobs of white whipped ricotta have been laid on top of the cherries on one side, more will soon follow

A baked pie. Well, about two thirds of it. The pastry shell on top is golden brown. The filling is visible from where slices have been cut - a layer of dark red cherries covered by a layer of white ricotta. The sides of the pie are somewhat shattered and uneven, as if the pie has been dropped. Which it has.

Dr Naomi Jacobs@ladylark· 23d

Pie achieved!

A pie, on a spotted plate. The top crust is lumpy and it is rather darker brown on the stretched out edges than the middle, but it looks delicious regardless. In the very centre, a small hole reveals the purple blackberry filling.

Dr Naomi Jacobs@ladylark· Jul 2

Here's the cover of my upcoming edited book, since it didn't show up on the preview in my last post... #FanStudies #DesignResearch

Dr Naomi Jacobs@ladylark· May 25

Time to get out the lilac. #Glorious25th #GNUTerryPratchett

An enamel pin of a lilac coloured ribbon with a sprig of lilac. Across the top of the ribbon it says Terry Pratchett.

Dr Naomi Jacobs@ladylark· Apr 24

I went for an evening walk, and found that the community orchard round the corner from my house is in full bloom! Going to be a good year for apples I think...

An orchard in the sunshine. There are many small apple trees covered in white blossoms, and a path leading down between them.

The same orchard, from the opposite direction. More blossom-laden trees in dappled sunshine, including some with pink blossoms along with the white ones. In the distance, a couple are walking a dog down the path away from the camera.

Dr Naomi Jacobs@ladylark· Apr 11

Not so weird but this cow says happy birthday (and so do I!)

A heritage breed cow standing in a green field staring deep into the camera. It is white with black feet, ears and nose, and has small horns. More cows are in the background.

Dr Naomi Jacobs@ladylark· Apr 7

Ahhh, it's today! If you've never read 17776 (or even if you have), today is the perfect day to read one of my favourite pieces of storytelling ever. No, it's not about football. www.sbnation.com/a/17776-foot...

A screenshot from 17776. Green text on a black background:

.On April 7th, 2026, people stopped being born. On the same day, people stopped dying, and people stopped aging.

Dr Naomi Jacobs@ladylark· Mar 30

Dr Naomi Jacobs@ladylark· Feb 12

Worth the wait, though.

Dr Naomi Jacobs@ladylark· Feb 1

Went out to plant some trees this morning (with permission, in a community-owned wood) for Tu B'shvat! (new year for trees)

Three people wearing boots/wellies, their faces not visible, standing around a small newly-planted sapling. One of them is patting down the soil with a spade.

Dr Naomi Jacobs@ladylark· Jan 6

Fortuitous timeline arrangement. @lancasteruni.bsky.social #InternationalUnsolicitedDuckPicDay

A screenshot of a bluesky timeline. The top post is from The Museum of English Rural Life asking for duck pics. The one directly below it is a repost from Lancaster University sharing a happy new year post from their media relations team. One of the images in the quoted post is of a duck in the snow.

Dr Naomi Jacobs@ladylark· Dec 21

Happy Chanukah everyone! Nice that the final night lines up with the solstice this year, we're ushering the light back in.

A table with eight fully lit chanukiahs, each with eight-plus-one candles in flame.

Dr Naomi Jacobs@ladylark· Dec 14

It's time for another batch of 'books i've particularly enjoyed reading recently', and this lot all happen to be folks I follow here! @jonnelledge.bsky.social @annaleen.bsky.social @oliverklangmead.bsky.social @eddierobson.bsky.social @tkingfisher.com

A History of the World in 47 Borders by Jonn Elledge, Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz, Calypso by Oliver Langmead, The Heist of Hollow London by Eddie Robson, Swordheart by T. Kingfisher.

Dr Naomi Jacobs@ladylark· Nov 29

Went to a lovely thanksgiving thing this evening, organised by an American friend, where everyone was given responsibility for bringing different dishes. I think it went quite well.

A large plate piled with an enormous quantity and variety of thanksgiving foods. Visible items include (tofu) turkey and gravy, sprouts and chestnuts, roast squash, edamame and cucumber salad, macaroni cheese, mashed potato, peas, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, cornbread, regular bread, bread stuffing. Not pictured, the dessert selection which included multiple types of pumpkin, apple and pecan pies, sticky ginger cake, cream and ice cream.

Dr Naomi Jacobs@ladylark· Nov 26

Look at this beautiful thing which has arrived from @skeuomorphpress.org! I have used this Ursula K. Le Guin essay in my teaching for several years now and I love creative things done with books and craft so it delights me on multiple levels.

The view of the front cover of a letterpress/linoprinted edition of 'A Rant About Technology', an essay by Ursula K. Le Guin. It's very pretty indeed.

The fold-out internal poster at the centre of the book. Over an orange on white background of matches and flame, it says: '"Technology is the active human interface with the material world. - Ursula K. Le Guin.

Dr Naomi Jacobs@ladylark· Nov 10

I saw your mention of it before getting dressed, then completely forgot, but despite that ended up as a leek regardless.

A selfie taken in a mirror, showing a person wearing a green jumper and white trousers. Only very conceptually resembling a leek.

Dr Naomi Jacobs@ladylark· Oct 12

What to do on lazy Sunday morning when you have leftover creme fraiche and lots of mushrooms in the fridge? Make fresh pasta from scratch, of course. Not bad for only my second go with this pasta machine!

A bowl of handmade egg taglietelle with a mushroom sauce, topped with grated parmesan.

Dr Naomi Jacobs@ladylark· Sep 16

Feels like timeline synchrony

A screenshot of two bluesky posts together in the feed. The top one is by Madeline, with two images of Taf looking blissful while being petted. The second one is by WHAT A FUCKING RECORD and is two images from Kate Bush's Hounds of Love album, with Kate and some dogs looking equally blissful.

Dr Naomi Jacobs@ladylark· Aug 19

Hah! Maybe more like...

A picture of the Mammalians Nurturable office in Severence. Inside a large warehouse type space with a white ceiling studded with halogen lights, is an undulating grass-covered field full of goats, and in the middle, a small office desk and workstation and three people.

Dr Naomi Jacobs@ladylark· Aug 2

Just for the record, this came out *really* well...

Dr Naomi Jacobs@ladylark· Jul 26

I'm not conscientious enough to post/review every book I read, but here are some I've particularly enjoyed over the past few months (as I clear out my 'recently read' shelf to the main bookcases). (Deleted and reposted because I made a typo *and* missed one of the books in the alt text)

A stack of books, from top to bottom:
The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison
Nemesis by Lindsey Davis (actually standing in for the whole Didius Falco series)
Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells
Prince Ivan by Peter Morwood (#GNUPeterMorwood)
The Hymn to Dionysus by Natasha Pulley
Far From the Light of Heaven by Tade Thompson
Agrippina by Emma Southon
City of All Seasons by Oliver Langmead and Aliya Whiteley
Perilous Times by Thomas D Lee
The Martian Contingency by Mary Robinette Kowal

Dr Naomi Jacobs@ladylark· Jul 21

With alt text and source: www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/dat...

It took a team of seven builders six months, 150 tonnes of sandstone bricks, 15 tonnes of lime mortar and 26 tonnes of plaster – all mixed by hand – 1,500 hand-cut timber joints and 2,600 hand-cut roof tiles to create the house, based on a real building excavated at Wroxeter, which was once the fourth largest city in Roman Britain and is now an archaeology visitor attraction in the care of English Heritage.

The workers, more used to plasterboard and plastic windows, had no experience of traditional techniques. A Channel 4 series, Rome Wasn’t Built In A Day, tracked their steep learning curve – and the running battle of the wheelbarrow.

The builders were incredulous when Evans insisted that, however advanced their plumbing and road-building, the Romans had no wheelbarrows, so everything had to be carried on to the site by hand. The builders kept smuggling in wheelbarrows; he kept throwing them out. When the roof boards were on, they wrote in giant letters “Romans had wheelbarrows” – now covered by the shingles.

“They absolutely did not have wheelbarrows,” Evans said. “I’ve done a lot of work on this now. They had wheelbarrows in China, but there is no record, drawing or evidence for a wheelbarrow anywhere in the Roman empire. The first reference I can find is Isidore of Seville, and that’s in the seventh century – centuries after our house.”

Dr Naomi Jacobs@ladylark· Jul 13

Lovely evening for a walk.

A view over a green field with a small pond. In the midground, some white cattle are grazing. On the horizon, rising above the treeline, can be seen the Cathedral spire, and the dome of the Ashton Memorial. The sky is full of gently swirling clouds coloured slightly by the approaching sunset.

Dr Naomi Jacobs@ladylark· Jun 18

Really great afternoon meeting with the brilliant design professionals on the new Advisory Board for our Design courses, and now getting to enjoy all the fantastic student work at the LICA Festival!

Dr Naomi Jacobs@ladylark· Jun 18

Sharing on behalf of colleagues: Lancaster University Library is looking to commission an artist to create a mural to promote its new Graphic Novels Collection. Deadline for applications this Friday (20th June), details here: tr.ee/JKSl7cv-Ei

Dr Naomi Jacobs@ladylark· May 25

Today's reading on this Glorious 25th of May. #GNUTerryPratchett

A copy of the new Penguin Classics edition of Terry Pratchett's Night Watch, with a greyscale cover on a grey background. Next to the book is a metal pin badge, a stylised lilac coloured ribbon loop with a sprig of lilac that has a bright green stalk. 'Terry Pratchett' is written across the top of the ribbon

Dr Naomi Jacobs@ladylark· Apr 30

Colleagues of mine are seeking to commission a graphic novel that captures their research project's findings. Commission value £24,000, application deadline 7th May To apply: Send CV and portfolio to reimagining@lancaster.ac.uk Further details here: www.linkedin.com/posts/nuri-k...