Victoria Ling 🌱 🎓 🪐📚

A book of miscellaneous literature from 1796.

📚💙 If anyone is interested in folklore (specifically Spanish) I have a wonderful account of the fish-man of Liérganes in a book from 1796. I’d be happy to scan the pages for you (the account is four pages in length).
#Historian #Folklore #Spain #AcademicChatter

Every year summer goes by in one big uncomfortable heat-avoiding blur to me so I know the feeling 🤓

Yes, I've got some. I've always thought of "blackberry time" as being July-September (depending how quick the blackbirds gobble them up I don't always notice them!) but no doubt there's local variation.

It’s also a 10/10 on the vintage sniffability scale.

I’m re-reading The War of The Worlds, enhanced by my newly acquired vintage Penguin edition 🤓

“An orchid in my belly button” by my fellow Elsewhen author @sylphsea.bsky.social is ideal. It’s a collection of surreal short stories. They’re like modern fables not entirely unlike Aesop but more relatable ☺️📚

My favourite part is when, exasperated, you drop the property agent accent/character altogether and launch into flaying capitalism.

YouTube video by ABF Pictures Ltd Debbie McGee - A New Kitchen Magic Advert

My dislike of this advert (and modern advertising in general) is the contempt it shows for its target audience. The "after" kitchen is improved largely by removing personal clutter (post-its, counter junk) and tidying up: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFVm...

We don't have to push children into poverty.

We don't have to make life harder for the sick and disabled.

We don't have to aid and abet genocide.

For too long, people have been denied a real political choice. Not anymore.

Join us at yourparty.uk

Every time I see this advert I imagine you doing a “why not take the post-its off the doors for an instant refresh” version. So I’d like to put in a request for an advert special. 😁

A review of the 📖

Publicity for An Orchid in my belly button a magical realism absurdism and environmental book

Fancy supporting small presses?
Quick plug for my short story collection from @elsewhen.press An Orchid in My Belly Button. Magical realism eco fiction.

books2read.com/AnOrchidInMy...

#booksky #amwriting

If you respond with info about your newest book, I will RT it

Whenever I teach students about the Ugly Laws, I always see jaws drop open. Here is Chicago's 1881 ordinance, for example:

This is a great read and goes to show that if you're looking for an intelligent/meaningful read, small press publications are the place to look.

A great podcast for those who love classic ghost stories. Encrypted features tales from the likes of M.R James, H.G Wells, E.F Benson etc along with lesser known authors. All beautifully read with plenty of atmosphere by Jasper L'Estrange.
#Booksky #GhostStories

Satire holds power/injustice to account in a way that resonates with a wide audience. That's largely why the last 15 years or so have seen it reduced to anodyne quiz shows and back-slapping travel documentaries. Michael Spicer is an exception; genuine satire that's well observed & incredibly funny.

Show off 🤓

📚💙 Some 1950s gems. As pointed out in the intro by then British Museum director Gavin de Beer, the Piltdown hoax had an up side: "These latest investigations... make a successful repetition of a similar type of forgery virtually impossible but will be of further value in palaeontological research"

However, it’s possible that Raphael pertains to a series of editors who, starting with Cross, all used the pseudonym.

I believe “Raphael” was the astrologer Robert Thomas Cross (1795-1832) a key figure in the revival of astrology in the nineteenth century who was known to use it as a pen name. His style was popular & dramatic, writing of astrology as a learned practice despite linking to tales of the supernatural.

💙📚 An unusual one from the bookshelf: From ~1881, a humble exterior belies a stunning hand written copy of “Raphael’s Private Instructions in Genethliacal Astrology”.

homes under the horror

No doubt there are many films/books inspired by the great lady, D.H. Lawrence included 😅

Nobody puts Dora in the corner.

She'd have been phenomenal in that film 😂

Are you saying the heat is awful, or that it's awful what you made our beloved Dora say? I might need therapy.

A street sign in Upton, England reading "Play Area and Cholera Burial Ground"

Never change, England

Update: Today’s heatwave is being caused by my blushes. But Dora is such a great character I can forgive it.

For me, posting on social media is like screaming into the void but if there are any Cambridge alum who happen to see this: If you care about the future of academia then vote for the candidate who genuinely desires to uphold its core principles - Professor Wyn Evans. 🎓 🔭🧪

YouTube video by Space Telescope Science Institute Cosmic Caverns in the Cat's Paw Nebula

Explore a subset of toe bean-reminiscent structures within a section of the Cat’s Paw Nebula—a massive, local star-forming region located approximately 4,000 light-years away in the constellation Scorpius. #WebbAnniversary 🔭 🧪

Tremendous!