Rachel J Kirkwood

@drkirky

Academic library manager-researcher, bi mum, singer, Quaker, European; #DH, languages & linguistics, #QuakerStudies #EarlyModern stuff #metaphor #GoodOmens #DoctorWho #SpeculativeLiterature #fanfic

264 Following448 Followers213 Posts

Bluesky

Is this your profile?Claim it and drkirky.dirty.social is yours.Claim profile

Rachel J Kirkwood@drkirky· Aug 1

If your research has been almost exclusively based on #distantReading of digital substitutes it’s goosebumpy when you encounter a 1656 #JamesNayler text close up @thejohnrylands #QuakerStudies #earlyModern

Title page of Love to the Lost by James Naylor, with book snake and request slip.

Rachel J Kirkwood@drkirky· Jul 14

It’s looking (and smelling) apocalyptic across greater Manchester. Since we can’t ban idiocy, could we at least ban fireworks? And disposable barbecues? #moorlandFire #Dovestone

Manchester’s skyscrapers against a yellow smog-filled sky.

Rachel J Kirkwood@drkirky· Jul 2

Not my favourite purveyor of coffee, but at least they have nutmeg. Curious for the Digital Trust & Society Forum today #CDTSforum26 @UoM_CDTS @DigitalUoM.bsky.social

Cappuccino with nutmeg, banana loaf, and a conference badge.

Rachel J Kirkwood@drkirky· Jan 16

Exciting launch of new #CosgraveHall #archive at Sale Library, Trafford yesterday. #Dangermouse #CountDuckula #Chorlton Worth a visit if you’re in the area.

Exhibition pop-up banner for Cosgrave Hall Archive

Rachel J Kirkwood@drkirky· Oct 10

@scribblesscript.bsky.social Google’s AI thinks you are Steven Moffat 😆 (only superficially funny)

Rachel J Kirkwood@drkirky· Jul 26

The tradition of the Library Cat being upheld by my #ModernCollections team @uomlibrary.bsky.social Manchester. “Last one out please turn off the cat” 🙀

Ginger and white ‘cat’ reclining on stool in front of an orderly desk.

Notices on door: “please keep this door closed” and “Last one out please turn off the cat”.

Rachel J Kirkwood@drkirky· Jul 17

How’s this for embodied theology? Tattoo highlights from the Genesis3 story as subverted by the Pratchett/Gaiman #GoodOmens story, where knowledge and asking questions is a good thing and angels are on the side of humans alongside demons.

Tattoo Snake reaches for red apple symbolic of knowledge of good and evil.

Tattoo of protective flaming sword of Aziraphale, guardian of the eastern gate of Eden, and angel wings.

Rachel J Kirkwood@drkirky· Jul 10

High summer is apparently the time to buy boots on sale. This brown box is giving me a Magritte vibe.

A stack of two brown boxes, one of which says ‘C’est boîte est verte’.

Rachel J Kirkwood@drkirky· Jun 4

Where does the @uomlibrary.bsky.social Collections Team go for a brilliant awayday? To the #FestivalOfLibraries workshop on dictionary-making and words @mancathedral.bsky.social with @uomcreativemcr.bsky.social and the Linguistic Diversity Collective.

Door labelled ‘The Bishop Wickham Library’.

In the foreground a large, colourful screen with the question ‘What’s in a word, and what’s in a dictionary?’; in the background a small portrait and a carved ‘Agnus dei’ illustration.

Rachel J Kirkwood@drkirky· Feb 22

Rediscovering 1983 #gender in this throwaway line at the end of William Gibson’s #Neuromancer Fans of #GoodOmensTV may smile at “a girl who called herself Michael” 😏

Last page of Neuromancer, with the sentence ‘He found himself a girl called Michael’ highlighted.

Rachel J Kirkwood@drkirky· Feb 17

Great to make new connections at @sacredsalford.bsky.social’s #OpenTable service last night, and enjoyed an absolute belter of a final hymn! 🎵

View from nave towards high table, set for Holy Communion, but before it is a smaller table covered with a rainbow flag and several tea lights lit as votive candles.

Rachel J Kirkwood@drkirky· Feb 15

Classic art meme. “What is your favourite part about your daily routine?”
“Going back to bed.”

Rachel J Kirkwood@drkirky· Feb 5

The hurly-burly’s done for today; time to meet a couple of witchy friends and go see #Macbeth (again). #DonmarWarehouseMacbeth

Two close-ups on monitor screens of David Tennant as Macbeth, face covered in stage blood.

Rachel J Kirkwood@drkirky· Jan 25

Bizarrely hilarious name for a new café in my neighbourhood. Is this brazen promotion of heterosexuality? 😜#CompHet

Photo of new shopfront with title “Mr and Mrs cafe”

Rachel J Kirkwood@drkirky· Jan 24

Starting a campaign. #BuddeForArchbishop The Church of England needs leadership like hers.

Rachel J Kirkwood@drkirky· Jan 24

On the conjunction of My Birthday + #NationalPeanutButterDay (US) I gladly share my breakfast with you (feat. #WholeEarthFoods peanut butter). What’s your favourite brand, and why?

Rachel J Kirkwood@drkirky· Jan 18

This is me in the role of Mary Fox, singing to George of his #puritan heritage, in the cantata The Fire and the Anvil by @tonymus.bsky.social

Rachel J Kirkwood@drkirky· Jan 10

They knew about #PublicHealth and infectious diseases in 1907. Five library-related regs, threatened book destruction, and a penalty of up to 40 shillings! #skybrarians #PublicLibraries

The public health acts amendment act 1907 (section 59) provides that “if any person knows he is suffering from an infectious disease he shall not take any book … from any public it circulating library”.

Date label from a book withdrawn from Eccles Public Library, bearing return dates from 1938 to 1977.

Rachel J Kirkwood@drkirky· Jan 6

Just call me a library professional :-) #skybrarians

Snip of an email from an academic to a librarian, saying "You appear to have provided all the information I need. Clear and well anticipated. Thank you very much, great job!".

Rachel J Kirkwood@drkirky· Jan 1

We didn’t wanna walk that way anyhow #PennineWay #floods

Small black dog turns back from a path flooded by thigh-deep water.

Rachel J Kirkwood@drkirky· Dec 30

Hwaet!? Could this be 1960s lecture notes on #Beowulf ? Did this ‘Prof. Tolkien’ chap know anything about #OldEnglish or #AngloSaxon literature? And who can maintain such elegant handwriting in lectures?!!

Handwritten lecture notes on slightly browned foolscap paper, entitled “Professor Tolkien: Beowulf”.

Rachel J Kirkwood@drkirky· Dec 15

“the colour of a television, tuned to a dead channel” - my own tv’s contribution to the debate about William Gibson’s _Neuromancer_ opener. #cyberpunk #colourTheory

A ‘snowy’ TV screen during the process of auto tuning to new channels.

Rachel J Kirkwood@drkirky· Dec 15

D H Lawrence is another one that folk are desperate for me to read 😁

Books on a shelf including ‘Daughters of the Vicar’.

Rachel J Kirkwood@drkirky· Dec 1

Advent Sunday filled with musical anticipation! Morning #Quaker worship feat. reprise of @tonymus.bsky.social’s chorale ‘Wait in the Light’; evening #Taizé worship at Sacred Trinity Salford: thanks to @salfordrev.bsky.social & David Hillary for great combo of liturgy + music.

5 Advent candles in Sacred Trinity Church, Salford; the first has been lit.

Nativity scene in front of holy table at Sacred Trinity church + extra candles for Taizé service.

Rachel J Kirkwood@drkirky· Nov 10

Infinitely subtle expressions!

Book cover: The secret thoughts of cats, by Steven Appleby.

Rachel J Kirkwood@drkirky· Sep 18

So I might need to modify my previous assertion. Writing is more becoming rather challenging.

Photo shows a hand attempting to write with a pen whilst a dog rests her head and neck over the writer’s forearm.

Rachel J Kirkwood@drkirky· Sep 18

Never mind #SUAW what you need in order to write is a pen, a pint and a pooch.

Papers and a notebook next to a pint of superior Germanic lager on a pub table.

Rachel J Kirkwood@drkirky· Sep 17

Highlight was great keynote by @jackieeales.bsky.social on The invention of the #NaughtyVicar (who really deserves his own hashtag).

Rachel J Kirkwood@drkirky· Sep 17

Survived a FABULOUS 2-day #EarlyModern historians conf as a linguist interloper. #ClericalLives org @benltjackson.bsky.social Hannah Yip

Conference programme for ‘Clerical lives in Britain c.1600-1700’ at University of Manchester, 16-18 September 2024

Rachel J Kirkwood@drkirky· Sep 5

Beds, books, and ancient library cat flaps. A wonderful evening to celebrate Julianne Simpson taking over at Chetham’s Library. #skybrarians #Chethams