Can confirm this is the crockery in my grandparents' kitchen!

I'm another philosopher missing what twitter once was, would be happy to be added!

I watched Past Lives for the second time and realised that part of why I love it is that it has one of the best on-screen relationships I've seen - and it's not even the relationship the story is about.

This photo I took at a graveyard has the same vibe: while we stand in awe of humanity and reflect on our destiny as mortals, we also still need to know where the toilet is.

Oh no! Well I liked it's vibe from the start, but also realised that might be specific to me, so I won't say that it gets worth it if you stick it out.

It made me laugh that the big career achievement everyone is aiming for is going from part time to full time professor - like they'd heard about the precarity and competititon and stuff but didn't *quite* get how academic careers work. I loved the film though!

The Dutch government wants to allow universities of applied science to award doctorates too, with the new title of 'Professional Doctor'. Not loving what that name implies about current PhDs

LinkedIn presented me with a post of an "academic ghost-writer" who complains that the students she writes papers for no longer like her human writing style, they want it to seem more AI-written.

Won't someone think of the real victims of AI!

Thanks, You Shouldn’t Have On the meaning of a gift and the nature of manners.

We may think that the point of giving gifts is showing thoughtfulness. This point is lost when we buy from wish lists - yet this is often the social expectation. So do good manners require following the practice, or acting on the underlying value?

Blogpost: elinegerritsen.com/2026/02/23/t...

Oof, that sounds more important than my stupid itch

Same in Germany (or Hamburg at least) - was very glad that when I was stupidly out of allergy medication on a Sunday, I could still cycle to a pharmacy that was open.

Congrats!

Hamburgers don't usually talk to strangers in public - *unless* you carry a cake. I had multiple conversations sparked by the jealousy of other people on the subway, and then the dönerman even tried to get my cake as payment

Thanks, You Shouldn’t Have On the meaning of a gift and the nature of manners.

I've published my first new blogpost in a while: elinegerritsen.com/2026/02/23/t...

I look at etiquette advice about gifts to reveal the complex relations between social norms, good manners, and the underlying point of our practices.

This post is connected to a WIP paper on the normative role of social norms that I recently presented at a workshop in Frankfurt. I was quite pleased to get a room of metaethicists (in a business school!) discussing Miss Manners and wedding registries.

Thanks, You Shouldn’t Have On the meaning of a gift and the nature of manners.

I've published my first new blogpost in a while: elinegerritsen.com/2026/02/23/t...

I look at etiquette advice about gifts to reveal the complex relations between social norms, good manners, and the underlying point of our practices.

Wel interessant dat de boodschap van het verhaal lijkt te zijn dat het juist beleefd is om met 'de onwetende vreemde' mee te bewegen en hem in zijn waarde te laten, in plaats van demonstratief vast te houden aan de etiquetteregels.

I have to give duolingo some credit. When I started years ago, my aim was that language wouldn't be an obstacle if I ever ended up wanting a job in Germany. This week I had my first job interview where German is a requirement and could confidently say that my level is good enough.

Thank you! I'm glad my students pushed me through my reluctance. I had already managed to stop caring about the points, but that streak...

Screenshot from duolingo: a flame with under it '1777 day streak'

A notification image from Duolingo: Duo the owl crying while holding a melting flame, under the text 'ELINE NOOOO!)

RIP streak 😢

(I am actually doing better language exercises now that I've quit. Duo isn't taking it as well as me.)

Unexpected outcome of teaching a session on gamification (reading @add-hawk.bsky.social of course): when I asked the students in the final digital ethics class what practical changes they planned to make, they ended up making *me* promise *them* I would quit Duolingo.

I can't believe how often the German government sends me documents that are not only incomprehensible to me (advanced German learner), but also nearly incomprehensible to my native German person with a PhD. What public do they think they're writing for?!

As someone who loves the book and disliked Saltburn... should I make use of my free ticket to see Wuthering Heights tomorrow?

On Saturday, I gave a talk on social norms where some international audience members were surprised to hear my example that Germans must not cross a street when the light is red. On Sunday I was in a city centre completely blocked off from traffic for carnaval and still saw people waiting for green.

A picture of a sea covered in ice and snow, a dark grey sky above.

Nice! This was the German side last weekend. No skating, but I did walk on the sea for a while without realising I had left the beach.

@rachelahandley.com

Have you all seen the oscar-winning short film about this yet? www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VrL...

I saw that before and considered sending it to the chat group but that seemed too cruel

This bot showing random restaurants all over the world is definitely my favourite thing on bluesky

Excellent title from @drjoeslater.bsky.social