I can't be the only one stuck in this loop... Oh god, do I want off the internet. The list of things I need a phone to do is so small that I am seriously considering going back to a 2013 Blackberry. My ability and desire to read, write, and communicate have been improved by... Continue Reading →
“What Are My Words Worth”: the role of academia’s ivory tower in cultural transmission
my talk given at the Creative Industries Festival 2026 “What is left, what is remembered and what is still fit for use in the heritage of classical bourgeois culture?” It is with these words that Eric Hobsbawm opens his 2012 essay ‘Heritage’. Hobsbawm, a historian in his 95th year when this was written, is concerned... Continue Reading →
How to be an It Girl
What, like it's hard? Everyone glamorous is pretending. For sure. It's easy to look good if everyone wants you to: when the designer fits the dress to you, when somebody is paid to make sure your shoes match your look, when the photographs of you will sell, then it becomes an industry to get you... Continue Reading →
I don’t care about canon.
Or: Fanfic in opposition to auteurship.
My Personal Canon
ie the books you should read to understand me, with film and music pairings
The Librarian’s Gift Guide
for panicking givers.
Pumpkin Spice Season
Who among us does not love the syrupy, seasonally bound gloop? Whether it's the messy crème egg, the cranberry sauce which belongs only on the Christmas table, or the much hyped, much maligned PSL. I am a great fan of the pumpkin spiced latte: I love pumpkin, I love spice, I love autumn-winter, I love... Continue Reading →
I Fell In Love With The Girl At The Pen Show
October 10th to 12th was the London (Autumn) Pen Show. This is like any trade show: you have vendors who like to sell you things, customers who want deals on those things, and a few onlookers trying to build brands, follow next year's marketing trends, make relationships with mutually beneficial businesses… or who just want to hold the bags of somebody they love, looking for a place to sit. I went for the Sunday as a customer.
Love Songs In Middle-Age
I am 31 and fully dead. Lloyd Cole says the first song he ever wrote about being middle-aged was Hey Rusty. Anybody listening to his 1987 album 'Mainstream' can tell he's having a bit of an identity crisis: songs like Sean Penn Blues and My Bag are sharp satires of a world Cole doesn't seem... Continue Reading →
Expand Your Sad Girl Autumn Horizons
The season of mist and mellow fruitfulness is upon us, and we must acknowledge that the mellowest of all fruits is the pumpkin. It it time, then, to grab a PSL and transition, as the leaves are, into new versions of ourselves with appropriate reading, listening, and pastimes. Here are some tips, fresh from the... Continue Reading →
Late Romantic 