Dr Isabel Gilbert

a woman with red curly hair is crying while another woman holds her Alt: Penelope Bridgerton, a woman with red curly hair, is crying on the shoulder of another woman in a blue dress who holds her.

I keep missing the way the other app that’s now ruined used to be. Bluesky feels similar - but I had so many amazing contacts back in the day. I keep trying to make this home but it feels like a mammoth task to try to rebuild my network.

Museum display text that reads: "I hope others will take away from this exhibition an appreciation for the dedication, artistry, and cultural significance of HBCU bands. May they see the beauty in our differences and the power of music to unite and inspire while understanding the vital role these bands play in fostering community bonds and promoting cultural heritage." Kenneth H. Collins Assistant Director of Bands Southern University and A&M College

A wall hanging of a brass band player in yellow and red colours. The drum reads: ‘Tuskegee University’

A colourful wall hanging depicts a brass band player in green, red and yellow as they bend backwards and lift their leg.

Still thinking about the beauty and wild togetherness of Mardi Gras expressed through parades, civic pride, identity, costume, art and music. Truly an amazing thing to behold.

People who wear dry robes instead of coats look like they’re doing a really rubbish grim reaper cosplay.

This is a must-read. Tl;dr: finances are healthy; talk of crisis is likely opportunistic; the real scandal is financial mismanagement, including capital expenditure and notorious failed projects

Humans have always been into funny little guys.

These remarkable vessels are known as Roman face pots, and they’ve been found right here in Colchester, a city that was once a thriving Roman stronghold.

Feeling bleak that I’m seeing calls for papers on art and photography that use AI art for their flyer. Feels unethical and tone deaf at best. The art we laud, create and interpret is so fascinating because of its innate humanity, no?

Really sad to see this. I think the redundancies of 2020 were bad for the National Trust, and these will be bad for English Heritage. Organisations in this sector are nothing without their passionate and dedicated staff.

We seem to constantly forget that we’re just a bunch of animals who got too big for their boots.

If you need a distraction today-- check out my new piece for Aeon!

I say there's no universal definition of fiction b/c how "fiction" is understood depends on a culture's metaphysics. Philosophy of fiction has been taking Greek metaphysics for granted. I say we branch out.

aeon.co/essays/befor...

A close up of a frosty gravestone with stone foliage and real moss. There is a sunlit church wall in the background.

Frosty Ambleside gravestone. Distinctly Victorian and very beautiful. I read that you won’t find many very old graveyards and churches in the Lakes because the area was rather poor and the construction of specific places of worship was not long lasting. One record cites church services in a barn.

Misty forest path partially illuminated by sunlight.

Something of a salve to everything that’s happening ever.

Whatever it is, the media is largely wilfully enabling an ambiguous interpretation which is leading many to question their sanity when we all know exactly what it is.

I’d say the overt & public return to trad colonialism with the proposed renaming of the Gulf of Mexico & rescinding of a mountain’s indigenous name is also an act of deliberate forgetting. But I don’t think it’s forgetting at all. The president knows the violent white supremacist legacy he follows.

I was introduced to the word ‘sanewashing’ yesterday as a way of explaining media insistence on the ambiguity of an OBVIOUS fascist gesture at the inauguration. It’s not ‘sanewashing’, it’s complicity. Reluctance to call out hate when it is right in front of us is an act of deliberate forgetting.

‘I feel like Anne Boleyn would have been a brunch girlie.’
‘Anne Boleyn is brat is what I have learned.’
- Matt and I in the car

Matt just described Van Helsing starring Hugh Jackman as ‘silly’ and ‘weird’. Researching the cost of a divorce.

A man with glasses and a beard holds his hands over his mouth in shock. He is wearing a blue knitted jumper. A cat sits on the end of the sofa in the background.

Just finished Rivals and this is actual footage of Matt. Absolutely rampaged through this series, it is so good! Being set in our ends adds a touch of joy too.

An old and well-loved plush hedgehog wearing a blue fleece jacket sits on a bookshelf next to a wooden boat.

If anyone was wondering what happened to Trusty the Hedgehog after the National Trust attempted to assassinate him, he has sought refuge in my husband’s childhood bedroom. [Location undisclosed for security reasons.]

Christmas at Stonehenge by Rockwell Kent 🪨✨🪨✨

A grey sheep with a white face stands in a field and looks towards the camera.

Festive friend

Woman in a long brown coat stands with her hand against a standing stone in a grassy area. She has ginger hair and is wearing sunglasses. There are some old buildings in the background.

Happy Winter Solstice ❄️ 🌞 from our stones to yours.

Across the field to the stone circle Playlist · Stone Club · 17 items

A new playlist for stomping to stones over the next few months. See you all in the field!
open.spotify.com/playlist/6Xm...

This was handy at Avebury today.

Mood

Colourful Victorian Christmas card, showing a cartoon of two cats walking arm in arm through a field of wheat and poppies. The male cat is wearing a monocle and holding a parasol; the female cat is hoslding a fan. A little behind them walk two younger cats, also arm in arm and under a parasol.

Victorian #Christmas cards never cease to amaze: here's a lovely cat #family, going for a stroll on a gorgeous summer's day.

#ArchiveAdventCalendar #19thCentury #Victorian

Buzzing to be giving my talk ‘Living Museums: Anti-Colonial Scholarship in Botany' at the 2025 Bgen conference in Feb! 🌱 Can’t wait!

bgen.org.uk/bgen2025conf...

I read a review which described the process of conclave as ‘camp’ and Matt followed this up with ‘yes well, that mysterious smoke thing could be Eurovision results couldn’t it really?’

Though I feel the portrayal of the Catholic Church was flattering at times, particularly with reference to a willingness to address misconduct and abuse, Ralph Fiennes absolutely slayed his performance. Cinematography was divine.

Poster for a movie titled ‘conclave’ which features actor Ralph Fiennes dressed as a cardinal clutching his rosary.

Tonight’s watch: An interesting glimpse into papal politics that seems authentic to the point of feeling like illicit voyeurism. It presents the Vatican in a manner that reflects a complex system which is riddled with contradictions and scandal, but remains deeply influential and revered by many.