Yep. And I agree - I prefer the green one too. I'm obviously young, hip and trendy...

One sent to me, my one to my 19 year old son. Different list of priorities, which isn't particularly surprising, but is rather fascinating. Can you guess which is which?

Spent 20 minutes this morning trying to usher a mouse out from behind a chest of doors and out of the house.

Cats are supposed to keep the mice out, not bring them home to play with... 🐈🐀

Trying to explain St Augustine to the pope, the former head of the Augustinian order, who wrote his doctoral thesis on Augustine, on his way back from celebrating mass at the Basilica of St Augustine in Annaba, Algeria, overlooking the site where Augustine lived is peak Adult Catholic Convert.

"By placing Europe at the top centre of the map and vastly exaggerating its size, Mercator created probably the most enduring visual propaganda ever conceived. It's no coincidence that he was fixated on the myth of Europa. The bull, he wrote, 'aptly represents the natural disposition of Europeans'."

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

Voters in Wales failed by inaccurate UK media reports on devolved issues, study finds Reports on English policies seen in Wales as relating to whole of UK contribute to widespread confusion, researchers say UK media is failing to report properly on devolved issues in Wales, leaving voters ill-informed about May’s Senedd elections, a report has found. A Cardiff University study of more than 3,000 news items found repeated patterns in coverage across different broadcasters and platforms, including not signposting whether an issue was relevant to England or England and Wales only, widespread references to “the government” rather than “the UK government”, and the use of “you” and “your” in contexts that apply only to people living in England. Continue reading...

Voters in Wales failed by inaccurate UK media reports on devolved issues, study finds

Thought I had nearly finished crocheting a cardigan, but the sizing on the back was wrong, so just spent an hour frogging it and starting again (just the back, the sleeves and front panels are still intact, thankfully). Slightly frustrating.

Just bought tickets to see Jonathan Groff in an all-male cast of As You Like It at the RSC in the Autumn. Couldn't pass up the opportunity to see Shakespeare as it was originally cast, with blokes playing the women's parts. Plus Jonathan freaking Groff for goodness sake.

Anyway, that's the rabbit-hole I've been down today - looking into the psychology behind all of this...

Not that conviction is wrong, but it’s striking how quickly interpretation can harden into confidence. Maybe a bit more space for “this is how I currently understand it” would change the tone of a lot of conversations.

We talk about what God or Jesus “would clearly think” with a level of certainty that might actually come from our own interpretation, our own instincts, our own need to resolve ambiguity. What would Jesus do? To be honest we don't always know - he had a habit of doing and saying surprising things!

There’s something about not having the full picture that makes people fill in the gaps… and then those guesses turn into pretty strong opinions. Also noticing how easily “I care about this person” becomes “I’m pretty sure I know what they think”, which isn’t always the same thing.

Been watching something play out and it’s wild how quickly people jump in to be offended on someone else’s behalf — often without actually knowing much of what’s going on.

Went to see 'Punch' at the Nottingham Playhouse. Seriously brilliant piece of art. The script, acting, staging, sound, lighting, everything were incredible. So, so moving. Worth the three hour drive. Highly recommend.

I went bell ringing tonight for the first time in about 32 years (new bells just put in the local church's tower). It's been a while, but just about remembered how.

The bloke in the one at a start of a relationship sounds like the worst kind of person to go on a night out with. Woman: I'm going to move in with my boyfriend
Knob: Thanks for letting us know - have you updated your universal credit claim?'

Ugh

love how we killed the old, frail anti-nuke ayatollah just to have him replaced with his young, healthy son who wants nukes and who just had his father, mother, wife, and child murdered on the same day by his mortal enemy. surely this will bring peace to the region

Dispensational theology (a relatively recent idea) frames Armageddon as ushering in the return of Jesus, so war in the Middle East is desired. It stems from a complete misunderstanding of a few key Bible passages. In my opinion it is completely at odds with Jesus' actual message.

The Iran War Is God’s Plan, Say U.S. Military Leaders (Who Believe Trump Was Anointed by Jesus) Didn’t the Bible tell us to beware false prophets?

I've heard lots of commentary on the potential reasons Trump is engaged in Iran, but I think many are missing the Christian Nationalist angle. Not that Trump is any kind of Christian, but plenty in his ear ascribe to this nonsense.

www.esquire.com/news-politic...

Nigel Farage lied multiple times at his press conference today - including saying no-one who voted Green in Gorton and Denton has a job and he's "certain" Reform won most British born voters in the by-election, based on zero evidence, and yet not a single journalist there pushed back on them

Reform UK suspends by-election campaign activist over ‘antisemitic and misogynistic’ posts EXCLUSIVE: Adam Mitula, Reform UK’s interim campaign manager in Tameside, has been assisting Matt Goodwin's Gorton and Denton by-election campaign

So it turns out Matt Goodwin's Reform campaign manager was a holocaust-denying Nazi who said he would "never touch a Jewish woman.”

When do we start seeing all the coverage of the antisemitism crisis in Reform UK?

www.jewishnews.co.uk/reform-uk-su...

Had a lovely weekend at a songwriting retreat - caught up with friends, made new friends, ate amazing food, dug into theology and wrote a song. Doesn't get much better than that

Really hope Google translate was correct and I haven't just written completely the wrong thing in Greek...

Happy Birthday / χρόνια πολλά @sturdyalex.bsky.social!

A multicoloured crocheted granny square blanket draped over an armchair.

Successfully busted my yarn stash. Now I can justify buying new yarn...

This morning not-my-cat was halfway through the flap, noticed me in the living room, stopped and then backed out slowly, so resident tabby might be starting the message across.

Light orange cat behind a blue play tunnel with a tabby in the background preparing to pounce

Here he is getting ready to pounce playfully

A light orange cat standing underneath a wood and leather chaid

Orange-not-my-cat has been pretty bold - coming through the flap and exploring. Resident tabby has been gently jumping on him and hinting that he would rather he didn't come round. Which is unusual because usually any other cat within 100m of the house makes him growl, hiss and fluff up his tail.

45 large squares have busted most of my yarn - just a load of black, grey and brown left. All ends woven in. Next to purchase some white for borders and joining. #crochet