July 10th, 2025
vivdunstan: Part of own photo taken in local university botanic gardens. Tree trunks rise atmospherically, throwing shadows from the sun on the ground. (Default)
posted by [personal profile] vivdunstan at 11:12pm on 10/07/2025 under , , ,
Two lots for me tonight.

Firstly, for dinner dessert, fresh strawberries grown here in Monifieth. Served with a very generous serving of extra thick Scottish cream.



And for supper a little clutch of fresh cherries, bought at the Monifieth berry farm, and grown a bit further north here in Angus.



Yum.
vivdunstan: Sidney Paget drawing of Holmes and Watson in a railway carriage (sherlock holmes)
Onto the last in the Memoirs collection, and going to discuss this pivotal story with big spoilers. spoiler cut ... )
andrewducker: (Default)
July 8th, 2025
vivdunstan: Part of own photo taken in local university botanic gardens. Tree trunks rise atmospherically, throwing shadows from the sun on the ground. (Default)
posted by [personal profile] vivdunstan at 07:38pm on 08/07/2025 under , , ,
I never get to see much of Wimbledon now. I am asleep far too much, including most of the day. But I like watching doubles on the red button over dinner, and above all the fun invitational matches with old players that started today. We are currently enjoying a mixed doubles match including Todd Woodbridge and the wacky Mansour Bahrami. So much fun. I played tennis a lot as a teenager, including at inter club level.
andrewducker: (Default)
July 7th, 2025
vivdunstan: Photo of some of my books (books)
Getting near to the end of my catchup watch for the Cymera 2025 festival of scifi, fantasy and horror writing in Edinburgh. I had a digital weekend ticket, so had access until this coming weekend to the digital recordings. Didn't get through as many as in some years. But happy with what I've managed to see, considering. And found many new to me authors whose work I want to follow up.

vivdunstan: (tarot)
posted by [personal profile] vivdunstan at 03:11pm on 07/07/2025 under , , , , ,
Doing another quick reading, drawing 4 cards at random, and arranging them from top to bottom in order of how much I connect with them. With the option to ignore or reduce in applicability the card I place at the bottom. Then some personal reflections on the topics raised by the cards drawn tonight, and how I feel about them.

I'm using my new in hand Venetian Tarot deck this time. Not only is the art gorgeous - Renaissance Venice inspired - but it's also fantastic to hold in the hand, great to shuffle, and gold gilded edges. Just lovely.

My first reaction was "Aarrgghh! I've drawn the Hanged Man!" But thinking more, it's the card in today's random draw that resonates with me the most. I'm currently in a state of transition, in more ways than one. I recently got some big work-related things finished, and am moving on to focus on other things. And I'm also seemingly starting to slowly come out of my latest 3-month neurological flare. And want to have fun. Meanings associated with this card can include all of sacrifice, release and new perspective. And I honestly feel that's on point.

Alongside that the Seven of Cups and Knight of Wands both fit in with this state of transition and where I'm moving to. The Cups card is often associated with romance, but also with new ideas, adventures, passions more generally. And I'm very much feeling that I want to pursue things I'm passionate about. Likewise the Knight of Wands brings up ideas like impulsivity, action and determination. And again ties in so strongly with how I'm currently feeling.

I placed the Ten of Swords at the bottom in my arrangement today. This is one of the more bleak cards in the Tarot deck, associated with despair, trauma and feeling rock bottom. I just don't feel that, though I do feel the hope this card can conversely be associated with. But yup, not really the card for how I'm feeling today.

That was so much fun. And wow, these cards are just stunning.

andrewducker: (Default)
July 6th, 2025
vivdunstan: Photo of me from Melrose Grammar School plus NHS thanks (nhs)
Still early days, but encouraging signs ...
andrewducker: (Default)
a_cubed: caricature (Default)
One of my discussion/assignment topics for students on Information Science at Meiji University has long been "Personalised Recommendations: Useful or Creepy". Lots of the academic publishers track what you read and try to recommend things. Due to my teaching at University of Tokyo being for students on Japan and East Asian studies, and on Environmental Science, I have been pulling up at least the abstracts and often the
full paper (via U=Tokyo subscription where Meiji doesn't have it) for lots of papers relevant to those topics. Particularly Environmental Science this semester because in teaching academic presentation and writing to the Env Sci students I've got them basing a presentation and a grant proposal on an existing paper, so of course i need to skim the paper to check the validity of their work. Not my field, but I can blag it well enough for the level needed. So, of course Science Direct, who track what I look at, have now started recommending Env Sci instead of Information Ethics papers to me.
Mood:: 'amused' amused
July 5th, 2025
vivdunstan: Portion of a 1687 testament of ancestor James Greenfield in East Lothian (historical research)
Just blogged about this on my academic musings blog.
vivdunstan: Photo by me of St Andrews Cathedral (st andrews)
Had another dream about my long ago lost PhD this afternoon. This time a viva dream. Though I think it was going well! Anyway it prompted me to blog about the protracted mourning for my lost Computer Science PhD ...
andrewducker: (Default)
July 4th, 2025
andrewducker: (Default)
andrewducker: (Default)
posted by [personal profile] andrewducker at 02:49am on 04/07/2025 under ,


Got halfway to the bus stop to go to the pool and realised I didn't have my shoulder bag. Sprinted home, got it, and made it to the bus.

Got off the bus at the other end, realised Sophia's bag didn't have her swimming costume in it. Got a bus home, grabbed it, now in a taxi.

Fingers crossed that nothing else comes between me and drop-off and work!
Original is here on Pixelfed.scot.

July 3rd, 2025
andrewducker: (Default)
July 2nd, 2025
vivdunstan: (tarot)
posted by [personal profile] vivdunstan at 09:45pm on 02/07/2025 under , , ,
The Venetian Tarot deck by Swiss-based artist Eugene Vinitski. This is stunning. With art inspired by Renaissance Venice. I also picked up a copy of his Golden Venetian Lenormand deck - different system from Tarot, but with similarly inspired stunning artwork.

A set of colourful artistic Tarot cards spread across a red cloth. All have atmospheric Renaissance Venice art, including a gondola for the Chariot card, and the Campanile San Marco being hit by lightning for the Tower card. Beside them is a sturdy box, as well as a signed certificate of authenticity from the artist.

andrewducker: (Default)
andrewducker: (Default)
posted by [personal profile] andrewducker at 10:20am on 02/07/2025 under
As of this morning (2nd of July), we are now closer to 2050 than 2000.

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