Clare M. Dowding

@claredowding

Welshwoman in London. University administrator. Independent researcher (medieval anchorites). Anglican Reader (lay minister). Warden of Readers Diocese of Southwark.

536 Siguiendo1552 Seguidores2022 Publicaciones

Bluesky

¿Es tu perfil?Reclámalo y claredowding.dirty.social es tuyo.Reclamar perfil

Clare M. Dowding@claredowding· 7d

No cheating, post your lock screen.

A photo of a volcanic lagoon in Nicaragua at sunset, with the surrounding hills in the background, the orange light of the setting sun reflecting off the water, and a portion of wooden railing in the foreground. Taken by me in November 2013.

Clare M. Dowding@claredowding· 24d

Stop scrolling and post two characters who bring you happiness:

David Marciano as Detective Ray Vecchio and Paul Gross as Constable Benton Fraser in the 'Due South' episode "Red, White or Blue".
They are both looking at someone out of shot, and just visible is the bomb which is attached to both of them.

Clare M. Dowding@claredowding· Jun 5

This 👇

Dialogue from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" episode 1.08, 'I, Robot ... You, Jane', written by Ashley Gable & Thomas A Swyden:

Jenny Calendar: Honestly, what is it about them that bothers you so much?
Rupert Giles: The smell.
Jenny: Computers don't smell, Rupert.
Giles: I know. Smell is the most powerful trigger to the memory there is. A certain flower, or a whiff of smoke can bring up experiences long forgotten. Books smell musty and - and - and rich. The knowledge gained from a computer is a - it, uh, it has no, no texture, no - no context. It's - it's there and then it's gone. If it's to last, then - then the getting of knowledge should be, uh, tangible, it should be, um, smelly.

Clare M. Dowding@claredowding· Jun 5

Ouch ...

Screenshot of a paragraph from the article:

In my favourite defence of an AI submission, I was told that "the original thoughts and opinions of the piece" were the writer's, but "the support of AI was used to help structure and organise his original thoughts into a draft format". Tell us if we're wrong, but at City AM we call that process writing. And we're actually rather keen on it.

Clare M. Dowding@claredowding· Jun 4

*needle scratch* Ea-Nasir: Now, you may be wondering how we got here ...

A post on an internal Teams chat:
A photo of a padded envelope, a delivery note, and two copper ingots of different sizes.
The message accompanying it reads "Hi All - A message here for the attention of our colleagues in Physics, Engineering and Geography. We have had a delivery with no name or dept, and it contains two ingots of copper. Can you each ask around in your teams to see if anyone ordered these?"

Clare M. Dowding@claredowding· Jun 2

Post a poster you used to have on your wall. As a teenager, I had this (I think it stayed in my room for years, then went the way of all flesh when my parents moved). (Screenshot taken from a slightly shonky image online, sorry about that.)

Poster showing the four main characters in Red Dwarf: Kryten, Lister, Cat (as Dwayne Dibley), and Rimmer (as 'Ace' Rimmer), with the slogan above
"In Space No-One Can Hear You Smeg"

Clare M. Dowding@claredowding· May 28

Ooh, this is fun!

Fifth Doctor-style title page, with a black background dotted with stars/constellations, and the title 'Same Quarry, Different Planet - Part One' centred, in a font which outlines each letter in white.

Clare M. Dowding@claredowding· May 1

Post your warning sign (despite the very clear instruction to the contrary, in one of the houses we lived in when I was a child, this ended up in the corridor):

An enamelled metal sign which reads "Il est absolument interdit de déposer quoi que ce soit dans le couloir" (translated: 'It is absolutely forbidden to leave anything in the corridor').

Clare M. Dowding@claredowding· Mar 22

'Errata' listing from 1066 And All That, by Sellar and Yeatman:

For Middletoe read Mistletoe.
For looked 4th read looked forth.
For sausage read hostage.
For Pheasant read Peasant, throughout.

Clare M. Dowding@claredowding· Mar 1

I'm sure I'm not the only person finding resonances in the readings for Morning Prayer today: the psalm asking God to do something about injustice in the world, and Jeremiah reminding us that God has always told humanity how we should live. One day we'll listen to God; sadly it appears not today.

Psalm 74.19-20:
Look upon your creation, for the earth is full of darkness, full of the haunts of violence.
Let not the oppressed turn away ashamed, but let the poor and needy praise your name.

Jeremiah 22.3:
Thus says the Lord: Act with justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor anyone who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the alien, the orphan, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.

Clare M. Dowding@claredowding· Feb 26

I mean, it's a decade since I finished my doctorate so the memories may have faded a bit, but I don't quite remember the whole process being *that* bad ...

Generated headline as if on a piece by Allister Heath:
"We are witnessing the final, agonising death of Britain at the hands of anchorites"

Clare M. Dowding@claredowding· Feb 23

My timeline this evening; guess how unsurprised I am at how society has (not) changed since Le Guin was writing 🙄.

Post from Dana Goldberg @dgcomedy.bsky.social:
The president, who drones on about protecting women's sports, publicly mocked the women's gold-medal hockey team. A reminder this was never about protecting women's sports and it was always about transphobia and misogyny.

Followed by a post from Ursula K Le Guin Bot @leguinbot.bsky.social:
"Why are men afraid of women?"
"If your strength is only the other's weakness, you live in fear," Ged said.
"Yes; but women seem t fear their own strength, to be afraid of themselves."
"Are they ever taught to trust themselves?" Ged asked.
"No," she said.

Clare M. Dowding@claredowding· Feb 21

John Inverdale, Clive Woodward, Jeremy Guscott, and Jonathan Davies standing in a line after England lost to Wales in the 2013 Six Nations. Inverdale is talking into a hand-held mic, Woodward and Guscott look like they've been slapped in the face with a wet fish, and Jiffy's grinning from ear to ear.

Clare M. Dowding@claredowding· Feb 14

My timeline:

Screenshot of three posts in sequence:

Linebreak Rugby @linebreakrugby.bsky.social
Every point scored by this Wales U20s team is a nice two fingers to every bastard who claims there's not enough talent coming through.

Squidge Rugby @squidgerugby.bsky.social
Wales u20s 17-7 up against France, having been 16-0 up against England at HT last week. So glad we're cutting a team to give these lads less opportunity at the top level. That's such a good idea.

Endless Screaming @infinitescream.bsky.social
AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Clare M. Dowding@claredowding· Jan 6

It's snowing in central London, at the same time that the BBC Weather app is predicting 0% chance of preciptation for the next three hours. One of these things is therefore incorrect ...

Photo of various connected brick-built buildings, with snow lying lightly on ledges (you may be able to see snowflakes as well, but the window is rather dirty).

Screenshot of BBC Weather app forecast for Covent Garden, showing cloud but 0% rain (or snow) until around 5pm this afternoon.

Clare M. Dowding@claredowding· Nov 21

In a similar vein, the other day I saw a poster advertising "The Last Days of Pompeii: The Immersive Exhibition". Could be a life-changing experience, I guess ...

Photo of the poster mentioned; the image on the poster is of a volcano erupting *very* enthusiastically.

Clare M. Dowding@claredowding· Nov 5

Really not the point of the Guardian piece on Joe Marler, but my estimation of Adam Jones (which was already fairly high) has just gone up:

Screenshot from the Guardian article on Joe Marler:
"Still, his scrum coach at Quins, the Wales legend Adam Jones, described him as 'misunderstood', saying he was a lovely bloke, protective of his friends, who just needed reminding every now and then to keep it all in check. Jones's method was to play a video of Wales defeating England in the 2013 grand slam match in which Marler played."

Clare M. Dowding@claredowding· Nov 2

It's the small things which make a big difference:

Screenshot from the Sport section of the Guardian website, 2 November at 19.16:
Headline 'India rejoice in first Women's World Cup triumph as South Africa chase falls short' - categorised as "Cricket".
A few lines below it, a separate piece with headline 'India make light work of Australia attack to level T20 series' - categorised as "Men's cricket".

Clare M. Dowding@claredowding· Oct 21

I just love the Welsh propensity for either deep pessimism or unwarranted optimism: at the time of writing, the poll on the BBC Sport website asking how many of the four men's rugby union Tests we might win this autumn demonstrates both positions: (1/2)

Screenshot of results of poll on BBC Sport website, asking people how many Tests they think Wales' men's rugby union team will win this autumn.

Clare M. Dowding@claredowding· Sep 18

It keeps reminding me of parts of Beyonce's 'Formation' video - only Queen Bey did it much, much better:

Screenshot from video of 'Formation' by Beyonce: she's standing on a porch in New Orleans (possibly?), flanked by four black men wearing black suits and white shirts, one of whom is wearing a red fez and one of whom is wearing a black top hat. Beyonce herself is wearing a black dress and a black hat with a very large brim; at the moment of the screenshot, she has her head down so you can't see her face, just the hat.

Clare M. Dowding@claredowding· Aug 15

When they call them baby potatoes, they're not wrong!

An open bag of Co-op British baby potatoes, with a tiny little potato resting on it. The potato is less than an inch long (yes, I measured it) - more of a spudling than a proper spud.

Clare M. Dowding@claredowding· Jul 19

Check it out now, the plant spray bottle!

A branded plastic bottle with a nozzle attachment, intended for spraying plants.
If you can hear the phrase "plant spray bottle" without the aforementioned musical accompaniment, either you're more strong-willed than I am, or you're too young (either way, lucky you!).

Clare M. Dowding@claredowding· Jul 14

My timeline:

A series of posts, all within a couple of minutes of each other:

Leonie V Hicks @lvhicks.bsky.social
"What a test match!"

Ben not in Spain @benhunt.bsky.social
"What an extraordinary way for the Test to end. Brilliant cricket all round. Hats off to Jadeja who batted brilliantly - but the sheer willpower of Stokes is something to behold.

Endless Screaming @infinitescream.bsky.social
AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Rosamundi @rosamundi.bsky.social
Never doubted them for a second, obviously #cricket #EnglandCricket #ENGvIND [cricket bat emoji]
One of those games that neither team deserved to lose.

Clare M. Dowding@claredowding· Jul 11

I'm aware that it's not unusual for cricket matches to be stopped for strange reasons (ladybirds at Lord's yesterday, for instance), but how, on one of the hottest and sunniest days of the year, certainly in the south-east, can bad light have stopped play at Canterbury?

Screenshot of score from BBC Sport website: Kent Spitfires 109-6 (16.0) vs Somerset (yet to bad) - delay due to bad light.

Clare M. Dowding@claredowding· Jul 3

See also: when your small car is still too big for a small parking space, maybe find somewhere else - not do what the driver of this vehicle did. Photo taken by me some years ago in Rome - ah, yes, OK, as you were ...

View along a street of a row of cars parked alongside a pavement as normal, except for a Mini which wouldn't fit in the available space long-wise, so is parked with its bonnet and front wheels on the pavement (at a slight angle). This was 2010, so it was back when Minis were actually smaller even than other small cars ...

Clare M. Dowding@claredowding· May 8

Like a number of universities, mine is part of the Warp-It scheme to reuse furniture and other things. This means we get emails offering items from other universities, and today's offering includes these - I'm sure there is or could be a story in there somewhere ...

Screenshot of part of email showing items listed which can be available if not claimed by anyone at the University of Cambridge first:

Cantab Gown x1

Cryogenic vessels x2

Height measure (with bag) x3

Clare M. Dowding@claredowding· May 6

My timeline:

@swilua.bsky.social's post about her reaction to the story of the exploding duck.

Immediately below it, a post from @infinitescream.bsky.social:
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Clare M. Dowding@claredowding· May 5

Thank you - there is a setting which gives a prompt every time an image is posted, to help with getting into the habit:

Screenshot of BlueSky's 'Accessibility' options, showing box which can be ticked as a reminder to require alt text before posting.

Clare M. Dowding@claredowding· May 3

My timeline:

Post by @lexluddy.xyz:
That was one of the best rugby matches ever played.
Quote posting a post by squidgerugby.bsky.social:
I can't believe what I've just seen.

Directly beneath the above, a post by @infinitescream.bsky.social:
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Clare M. Dowding@claredowding· Apr 25

For some reason, I'm reminded of the Important Note re the Scots, Irish, and Picts in '1066 and All That':