The Magdalen Writing

My father passed away earlier this month, so I've been able to do very little about the current big issues in the US. But here's a signal boost for an org I support that does good work, the Pennsylvania Immigrant Coalition.

🎨 #MaryMoser, English painter, one of only two female founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768, was #BOTD 27 October 1744. #Art #Painting

Flowers, Still Life / Jardiniere of Flowers, c. 1780, by #MaryMoser (British, 1744-1819), who was born #otd, Oct 27. Held at the @brooklynmuseum.org, www.brooklynmuseum.org/objects/84150 #womenartists #artherstory

No Arabic LITERATURE?! Seriously?!?! #racistignoramus

A reference probably only understood by 3 people in academia, but I think I’ve figured out a way to put my finger on LLM-speech’s ineffable badness: AI can’t smell. @tkingfisher.com

"This could have been an email." Aragorn whispers. "He ALWAYS pulls this shit in 'Any Other Business" Boromir replies, quietly. "It's why Faramir marked himself as busy when the invite went out."

Extras in every edition of our #Murderbot graphic novel that we haven't mentioned in a while: a new and exclusive Murderbot short story by @marthawells.com and an introduction by David Dastmalchian! www.kickstarter.com/projects/cos...

Feed the man dying of hunger, because if you have not fed him, you have killed him. (quoting the Fathers) —Gaudium et Spes §69

Poppy Field, Argenteuil - 1875 https://botfrens.com/collections/41/contents/8627

This split between the faith which many profess and their daily lives deserves to be counted among the more serious errors of our age. —Gaudium et Spes §43

Thoughts, prayers and good vibes appreciated: my house may not actually have a proper foundation. I thought it was on a slab but it appears that there is some kind of void down there. Contractor will be putting a camera down there this weekend. Eek.

eBay users! Don't ignore today's email, even though it looks like a boring standard update to the User Privacy Notice. They want to use your data to train AI models. If you click the link over the words "the right to object", it takes you to a page with a toggle button letting you opt out.

I backed this. It looks fantastic!

Two things. 1) Somebody in this room thought he was starring in 1 Samuel 17 when he was actually the antagonist in Matthew 22. 2) Too bad he’s probably not a member of one of the Christian denominations whose lectionary has Matthew 22 on the docket today. Like, frex, JFK’s.

A retired Penn professor has been blocking Uber Eats robots for months in protest. This week, she was arrested for disorderly conduct

These candles came with dead batteries so I didn’t realize they’d be this bright. Jane Austen is pretty satisfied with them. #miniaturelibrary

Add “for Tax Purposes” to a movie: Dead Again for Tax Purposes

More books for the tiny library!

Why am I suddenly tripping over news sites with minimal, mostly bot account followers all pushing the same article about James Talarico? Ooh, let me guess. And block.

Not a bad baseball stance. From the 14th-century Le Roman de la Rose.

Today one student asked me if they could major in the humanities and another told me "my primary source was actually so interesting, I legit started reading it for fun." I'm going to take today as a small win.

Anglo-Saxon coins found near the Vatican point to a thriving English community in early medieval Rome Twenty Anglo-Saxon coins found near the Vatican offer new evidence of a permanent English community in early medieval Rome. The finds... More information: archaeologymag.com/2026/10/angl...

Ruin a book by adding a word Puritan’s Pride and Prejudice

Cat and kitten door knocker, Clun, England

There's never enough Classics content here so let's talk about a couple of (as I tell my students) 'load-bearing culture words' in Latin and some of their cultural significance: beneficium: a favor, kindness, service officium: a duty, kindness, service & munus: a service, favor, obligation, gift.

Census at Bethlehem occurring in a Flemish village in winter, as painted by my colleague Pieter Brueghel the Younger (d. OTD 1632) after his famous father's design.

Cobra chicken!

Happy St John Henry Newman Day!

If this is an actual plan and not simply a theatrical announcement designed to “bait the libs,” I am deeply appalled and ashamed of my government. As a Catholic I oppose the death penalty; as a human I find public executions utterly despicable.

My new Substack post discusses the lives and careers of Elen and Margaret More, two Black ladies-in-waiting to Lady Margaret and Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scotland. You can read it here: sophiebacchuswaterman.substack.com/p/elen-and-m...

Drums. Drums in the deep.

facies pikachus mirati, "the face of a surprised Pikachu" I'm taking Pikachu's name as a 4th declension neuter (Pikachu, Pikachus) because that's where you get a -u in the nominative.

This one, hands down.

Landscape with a White Horse in a Meadow, L'Hermitage #camillepissarro #pissarro

Everybodye yn thys café sholde be singing "La Marseillaise" more loudlye.