Houman Sadri

1. First, there is darkness.

So, I launched a Substack for my non-academic writing - sketches and works in progress, essentially. Please do have a look, and let me know what you think.

If I ever get anything finished, this is how it starts

open.substack.com/pub/houmans/...

Thank goodness for that.

Just putting my head above the parapet with a shameless plug for my wife's new Etsy store (for the sewing and knitting afficionados out there) www.etsy.com/se-en/shop/G...

#patterns #sewing #crafts #dressmaking

Trans rights and trans liberation now. Anyone with a heart or a soul is sick of this evil shit and how it's taken over the UK - not to mention it's the tip of the spear, as we've been warned by our trans siblings so many times.

No forgiveness or pity for transphobes, in government or outside of it.

Feeling a bit proud just now.

Something, something, Reality Bum.

Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad

This is something very special indeed. A rumination on family, identity, belonging, the power of art - particularly theatre - to both unite and protest, and, above all, the realities of life for Palestinians. I think this ought to be compulsory reading. #booksky

The bells of Oslo Cathedral are chiming Brubeck's 'Take Five.' I think this is going to be a good day.

James Coxall spent eight months swerving to avoid this massive axle buster pothole in Cambridgeshire so he made it look like somebody had fallen in headfirst. The council fixed it FOUR DAYS later! Bravo for creative thinking. Full story: www.instagram.com/share/_9fvgA... #GoodNews #EddysGoodNews

It's definitely situational. But FWIW, I teach Norwegians and don't speak the language myself. That being said, they are teacher trainees.

It does in Norway, or at least in theory. It's part of the curriculum, and I know that we - and several others - hit it hard. English starts in the second year of teacher training and they're going to be getting Multiculturalism and Representation from me in a couple of weeks.

That's infuriating. 😐

'kind of see'

Stupid phone.

I guess that as a University teacher in the Humanities I have something of a home crowd. But my students are teacher trainees, so there is always a bit of a risk of recidivist behaviour. I kind respect F see part of my job b as nipping that in the bud.

Agreed. But I also think that some allies are too worried to speak up.

When I meet a group of students for the first time, I warn them. I tell them that all speech is political, and teaching doubly so. I explain that they're entitled to disagree with me, but that they have to do it constructively and with proof. Nobody has tried yet

Absolutely this. Nobody ever gained anything by keeping schtum.

I worked in ELT once and I remember I made a little his/her typo that made the couple in the grammar exercise Gay. I was about to correct the typo and then said "what am I doing?".

The students noticed it and the whole class was delighted. They'd all noticed how straight the books are more than me

It is so important for young people to be seen. Sometimes it's life or death.

I wish it astonished me. Academics are often very cowardly, especially if they're worried about career prospects. But life is too short to keep your head down.

Goodness, of course. This, to me, is one of the most urgent issues we have.

Open letter to the ELT industry - I am not a taboo The English Language Teaching (ELT, EFL, ESOL) industry is failing the 2SLGBTQIA+ (hereafter referred to as LGBTQ+ for brevity) community.

An open letter to the ELT industry about LGBTQI+ representation. Worth reading and signing.

iamnotataboo.com/open-letter/

I can't stand bullies. President Zelensky is now trying to stand up against two of them. We should have his back. #SlavaUkraïni

Zelensky told to leave White House after clashing with Trump and Vance- follow live The US president calls his Ukrainian counterpart

The shameful scene of a hero who has defended his country against foreign aggression being scolded like a child by these cowardly, treacherous scum that we have in the executive branch is going to go down in infamy with Chamberlain's betrayal of Czechoslovakia.

www.bbc.com/news/live/c6...

Age yourself with a movie you saw in the theatre.

Well exactly. And as you say, I don't think I'd have gotten to this point if I'd had cheat codes anyway.

I'm very happy and proud of where and who I am, but my 18-year-old self would have been fucking horrified.

Stupid writer's block!

Goodness. The ongoing Neil Gaiman nightmare has been breaking my heart in small increments for months now, and I think this may be the final hammer blow. It's a long read, but an important one. And is probably the most incisive criticism of Gaiman I've read.