Robin Bird

I'm glad you understand

My cycle into uni was ill advised.
Atmospheric writing conditions though.

The attack on a synagogue in the US is a great example of how antisemitic rhetoric from any and all quarters eventually manifests in bloody violence.

It's hugely important - ESPECIALLY as leftists - to combat antisemitism as fiercely as any other bigotry.

Do you ever finish a book so marvellous you just have to sit quietly with it for a little while.
Maybe gently patting the cover?

#booksky

A paperback copy of Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor on a grey blanket. The cover features a central medallion showing a black woman in silhouette. Around this central disk spiral the title and author name on black background and bands of orange, magenta and gold patterns.

Day 23 small joy

I finished a very good book. (I'm just sitting with it for a bit now)

Ahh yes. That will do it. I suppose it's good to have an upper limit now. If i see winds of this speed in the forecast, I'm getting the bus.

Thank you for the intel @metoffice.gov.uk

I was trying to print off a script for an audio recording. Gave up and decided to read from the screen. Half way through the recording the printer starts it's racket.

The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischvili (narrated by Tavia Gilbert, translated by Ruth Martin)

I finished the audiobook that i started at the beginning of February!

(This is a post about self care and self awareness, disguised as a post about cycling)

Really had to get over that feeling of "i should just suck it up" and "i can tough it out and cycle in anything".
Nope. Sometimes safety comes first. The bike is in the lockup and will (probably) still be there tomorrow. Crucially I'm home in one piece.

Today is one of the few times i've bailed on the cycle commute because of the weather.
The wind was so strong on the way in i was almost blown into traffic and it gave me a fright.
Decided cycling home in the wind, rain and dark whilst tired was just not safe. got a taxi home instead.

Assignment 2.5* submitted!

Is it good? No!
Will it do? Absolutely!

*one assignment is completed in two parts.

Submissions as an audio recording, fully referenced, with transcript are nonsense. It's neither presentation nor essay. It's just awkward.

Sometimes when i can't sleep the thoughts in my head keeping me awake aren't stress or rumination. They're "how would i explain the Transcontinental Race to a non cycling nerd?"

One of my favourite authors

This is encouraging!

I recommend The Eighth Life for your next long listen then.

I just finished a 42hr book and thought that was a tough one! Oddly enough my first thought for the next book was Count of Monte Christo until i saw the run time! I went for a novella instead. Maybe CoMC next month.

A fluffy black cat rolling on her side in a grey rug. Her face is looking up at the camera and she has alarmingly large bright yellow eyes. She looks soft and meybe a bit daft.

Day 22 small joy

A conversation with my 8 (9?) yr old neighbours including what type of insect we'd be and where we would visit as that insect, climate change, geopolitics and war, and how fun clouds are.

(Cat picture stunt double)

Thank you so much for this. It's a beautiful way of honouring your mum and your own grief.

TW: abuse

Lovely #Booksky, what books are there out there either fiction or memoir, examining domestic abuse, especially emotional/coercive, that you know about/admire?

Thanks 🙏

How are printers still so bad? Why are they so unreliable? Why do they just sometimes, not print?

Why the fuck are they pushing AI apps as the future when it's been 40yrs and we still can't get a home printer that doesn't induce rage?

Ah usually that's a detail i leave out for a vague sense of privacy, but that's because i am usually posting "daily life" things rather than trips out and about.

Even on my short commute i get moments of glee: cruising down a hill, weaving throgh the park (safely), even blasting through the wind and rain! It's one of the reasons i do it. Rarely get those moments on the bus.

My Bad NetGalley helps publishers and authors promote digital review copies to book advocates and industry professionals. Publishers make digital review copies and audiobooks available for the NetGalley comm...

MY BAD: A PERSONAL HISTORY OF THE QUEER 90S AND BEYOND is available for pre-release download on @netgalley.bsky.social. Do you write reviews? Need to interview someone about the '90s, or queer history, or making IRL community in a digital world? Check it out! www.netgalley.com/catalog/book...

People visiting my neigbours recognise and know my cat by name.
He's such a tart.

Reaching net zero by 2050 ‘cheaper for UK than one fossil fuel crisis’ Climate change committee finds move to renewable energy would also bring health, economic and security benefits

Our dependency on fossil fuels makes us vulnerable. Wars across the world are pushing up prices for households in the UK.

Why keep waiting for the next crisis? We need to transition to clean power as fast as we can to protect people and our economy.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

This is very important and a major pet peeve of mine. If you don’t know what you’re doing- and if you learned on the internet, then sorry, you don’t know what you’re doing- please leave old gravestones well enough alone.

If it wasn't so horrific it would be fabulous

I don't know if anybody ever reads my alt text on pictures, but i enjoy writing them and finding ways to describe things.

View over an urban garden surrounded by a crescent of houses. It's night time and the garden path is lit up with small pillar lights. There's a variety of paving, a vegetable patch, trees and shrubs. Some of the houses have lights visible in their windows and in the background is a suggestion of a bright urban street.

Day 21 small joy

Getting home after dark, seeing the lights on in my neigbour's, saying hello to those out walking their dogs or just getting home.