Liz Bourke

The aurora last night in Beaver, Alaska was just incredible. This is a real-time video (not sped up) of the crazy motion I saw. Also, look how BRIGHT it is, wow!

Aiee.

The boundaries around what postgrad students think is healthy are already pretty blurry when it comes to work-life balance.

I feel relationships with present students are inappropriate full stop. Postgrad students... wait until you are no longer teaching them or marking their work! Patience!

(Postgraduate students by research is a little different, but supervisors should never start relationships with supervisees.)

This story should be retitled. The US is actually funding pro-Putin think tanks, ones that want to end European democracy.

Lets be honest about this.

(I mean one of them was Nigel Biggar and the inappropriate behaviour was bigotry.)

What is it the young people say today? "But the vibes are rancid."

There's a big difference, legally, between inappropriate behaviour and *criminal* behaviour, of course. Or even behaviour that sees the perpetrator subject to any workplace discipline - sure, you can't discipline a Respected Professional for being quote-unquote "friendly but creepy about it".

Now I am starving and physically tired but I did the thing and it made me happy.

I mean after the age of thirty preventative physio becomes really important.

Unfortunately. Between the start of my undergrad and the end of my PhD I heard about inappropriate behaviour towards undergraduate students by three academic men then in both my city and my general area of study. No further away than third hand, mind you. And I wasn't exactly the most clued in.

Trust me, the woman of academia are not at all surprised by the number of academic men orbiting Epstein.

I get to the gym once a week and honestly most of the dumbbell exercises are preventative physio, tbh.

- 3x10 overhead press with 5kg dumbbells
- 3x10 lat raise with 7.5kg dumbbells
- 5x5 bicep curl with 7.5kg dumbbells
- 3 different physio exercises
- Rowing machine for in excess of 15 minutes (today 17 minutes for 3200m)

My workout (not including the bike ride up and back) involves
- 5x5 squats
(this week 1 set at 90kg, 4 at 95)
- 5x5 deadlift at 50kg
- 5x5 dumbbell benchpres
(this week 2x 20kg, 3x22.5 kg dumbbell weights, so max lift 45kg)
- 3x10 45° incline row with 10kg dumbbells (max lift 20kg)

In the spirit of celebrating my achievements, this is to note I went to the gym this morning.

135. Gruszczyński et al, Viking-Age Trade: Silver, Slaves and Gotland

The traffic in people led to large amounts of wealth in the Viking Age, it seems. The vast majority of my writing here is free to read and will remain so, but if you enjoy these sorts of posts, your support on Patreon or as a…

135. Gruszczyński et al, Viking-Age Trade: Silver, Slaves and Gotland

The traffic in people led to large amounts of wealth in the Viking Age, it seems. The vast majority of my writing here is free to read and will remain so, but if you enjoy these sorts of posts, your support on Patreon or as a…

The USA is Europe's adversary now.

This is probably a very foolish thing to say for reasons I have no doubt someone will point out, but if you want me to pay for journalism (reasonable) then let me pay a small amount for the specific article I want to read, don't make me sign up for the entire damn paper.

“Flood ahead“ sign

It is time once again for me to Put Out The Sign for the benefit of any stray townies who (a) may not be in tractors and (b) may not quite realise what they’re driving into.

Good luck!

gooooood morning! I have rents between $1018 and $2030 available for adoption today. Let's keep on keeping people out of eviction court!

You can dm me on signal asiniiwiikwe.72 if you would like to pay someone's rent.

As the years pass, the sea rises and nothing is built, some begin to doubt the council can defend Clontarf and Sandymount from the tides - Dublin Inquirer “The current state structures cannot deliver,” said Labour Councillor Dermot Lacey. A council manager disagreed: “We can deliver and we will deliver,” he said.

As the years pass, the sea rises and nothing is built, some begin to doubt the council can defend Clontarf and Sandymount from the tides. “The current state structures cannot deliver,” said Labour Councillor Dermot Lacey. A council manager disagreed: “We can deliver and we will deliver." (2023)

"How can he have $717 billion and be that miserable?"

Easy, he thinks more like a cancer cell than a person.

Normal people keep going "man if I had a billion dollars I'd be doing this and this and that, I'd get incredible kicks doing this"

But it's impossible to become a billionaire if you are able to have those thoughts. The whole idea is as alien to a billionaire as art is to a cancer cell.

Spells of heavy and persistent rainfall will continue through the week beginning 02nd February, particularly in southern and eastern counties. Flooding is likely due to a combination of already saturated ground, high river levels and high tides. Close monitoring of local weather conditions is strongly advised via www.met.ie and river gauge data www.waterlevel.ie

Yellow Weather warning issued by met.ie
🟡 ℹ️
Weather Advisory for Ireland
From 05/02/2026 15:01 to 09/02/2026 00:00

If you like Piña Coladas and getting caught in the rain you should move to Ireland. It rains all the time here and you can just buy a premixed bottle of Piña Colada at Tesco and walk around by the canal taking a swig between showers. Idk why anyone would wanna do that, but I didn't write the song.

BTW, in an Irish context, the "harassment" consists of @cnam-ie.bsky.social hosting DSA-mandated meetings with platforms ahead of the elections and the audacity to ask follow-up questions about Meta's Media Literacy programs.

He makes it so natural.