Tim Watson
@timwatson.bsky.social
English professor in Miami. British-American. London > Bishop's Stortford > Brighton > Brooklyn > Miami. Subtropical gardener. Florida Mangos: A Cultural History, forthcoming from U of Florida Press. Posts are my own and do not represent my employer.
Popping in here, a year later, to report that after 60+ years, I, a scholar of 19th-century British literature named Tim, have finally read A Christmas Carol.
once again I, a scholar of nineteenth-century British literature, approach the end of the holiday season without ever having read A Christmas Carol
#BadVictorianistBahHumbug
#BadVictorianistBahHumbug
December 24, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Popping in here, a year later, to report that after 60+ years, I, a scholar of 19th-century British literature named Tim, have finally read A Christmas Carol.
Reposted by Tim Watson
If you were wondering where all the sensitive eagles went, they’re here.
December 23, 2025 at 6:39 PM
If you were wondering where all the sensitive eagles went, they’re here.
Reposted by Tim Watson
New pictures near the exit of immigration/customs at O’Hare make very f——g clear that you are passing from federal jurisdiction and into the city of Chicago
December 21, 2025 at 2:46 PM
New pictures near the exit of immigration/customs at O’Hare make very f——g clear that you are passing from federal jurisdiction and into the city of Chicago
please enjoy the brutalist concrete section of the East Coast Greenway bike and walking trail as it passes under the parking garage of Dadeland North Metrorail station in Miami
December 20, 2025 at 10:57 PM
please enjoy the brutalist concrete section of the East Coast Greenway bike and walking trail as it passes under the parking garage of Dadeland North Metrorail station in Miami
Reposted by Tim Watson
Is anyone trying to get in touch with their dad?
urgent news: man at Stansted wearing a t-shirt with a picture of Keir Starmer in the style of that famous Obama poster (??)
December 20, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Is anyone trying to get in touch with their dad?
Reposted by Tim Watson
this is the greatest feeling, when the cord box proves its utility to a family member
December 20, 2025 at 6:35 AM
this is the greatest feeling, when the cord box proves its utility to a family member
Reposted by Tim Watson
Reposted by Tim Watson
The British Academy International Fellowship scheme opens 15 January (final deadline 11 March). If you are an international early career researcher interested in applying through the Centre for American Studies or Centre for the Study of Sexual Dissidence, please get in touch asap.
International Fellowships 2026
The International Fellowships Programme enables researchers to work for two years at a UK institution with the aim of building a globally connected, mobile research and innovation workforce.
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk
December 18, 2025 at 2:40 PM
The British Academy International Fellowship scheme opens 15 January (final deadline 11 March). If you are an international early career researcher interested in applying through the Centre for American Studies or Centre for the Study of Sexual Dissidence, please get in touch asap.
"It was the Queen's English ... a tool of power, and we were taught to wield it with precision. Mastering its formal cadences, its slightly archaic vocabulary, its rigid grammatical structures ... was proof that ... you were civilised, that you were ready to take your place in the order of things."
I'm Kenyan. I Don't Write Like ChatGPT. ChatGPT Writes Like Me.
I'm calm. I'm calm. I promise.
marcusolang.substack.com
December 18, 2025 at 3:33 AM
"It was the Queen's English ... a tool of power, and we were taught to wield it with precision. Mastering its formal cadences, its slightly archaic vocabulary, its rigid grammatical structures ... was proof that ... you were civilised, that you were ready to take your place in the order of things."
"Students, faculty, staff and alumni need to create a subversive alternative university lurking within the shadows of the university itself. This shadow university is essential because trustees, administrators and wealthy donors ultimately control the structure of universities."—John K. Wilson
It goes without saying that we all should be following Chris Newfield’s newsletter. We are all Critical University Studies scholars now & Chris is the OG. But even by his standards, this one blows my hair back.
Liner Note 44. The 2025 Crisis in University Management: Towards a Parallel University
Selling The Catalyst, UCSB on April 12, 2014 2025 saw a shift in the hard right’s measure for the success of its decades-long attacks on ...
utotherescue.blogspot.com
December 18, 2025 at 2:27 AM
"Students, faculty, staff and alumni need to create a subversive alternative university lurking within the shadows of the university itself. This shadow university is essential because trustees, administrators and wealthy donors ultimately control the structure of universities."—John K. Wilson
I do miss England sometimes
Man answering his phone on the train: Yes? Correct, I’m not at work (pause) I’m not going to answer that because I am not at work today. No, you’re going to have to ask someone who is. Goodbye.
December 18, 2025 at 1:54 AM
I do miss England sometimes
not sure what made me think of this today but sometimes I find it comforting to know how insignificant human beings are in the scale of life on earth, at least in biomass terms—I for one welcome our plant overlords
plants!
so for every single 120 lb human on the planet, there are about 400 *tons* of plants
so for every single 120 lb human on the planet, there are about 400 *tons* of plants
This is one group's estimate of biomass by taxa, represented as a "Voronoi diagram" which is similar to a pie chart.
Take a minute to take it in, and I'd love to hear what aspect of this you find surprising. For example, amphibians and reptiles are negligible biomass on this scaling. 🧪
Take a minute to take it in, and I'd love to hear what aspect of this you find surprising. For example, amphibians and reptiles are negligible biomass on this scaling. 🧪
December 16, 2025 at 3:46 AM
not sure what made me think of this today but sometimes I find it comforting to know how insignificant human beings are in the scale of life on earth, at least in biomass terms—I for one welcome our plant overlords
We talk about the poor provision of public services in the US. I was amazed to read in a news article recently that the entire annual budget of the state of Pennsylvania (13 million people) is $50bn. For comparison, the annual budget of the University of Pennsylvania (24,000 students) is $5bn.
December 15, 2025 at 11:03 PM
We talk about the poor provision of public services in the US. I was amazed to read in a news article recently that the entire annual budget of the state of Pennsylvania (13 million people) is $50bn. For comparison, the annual budget of the University of Pennsylvania (24,000 students) is $5bn.
Reposted by Tim Watson
If I should die in a school shooting, I want you all to politicize the hell out of my death *immediately*, loudly, without reservation.
December 14, 2025 at 2:58 AM
If I should die in a school shooting, I want you all to politicize the hell out of my death *immediately*, loudly, without reservation.
I grow old ... I grow old ...
I shall write in 14-point Arial Bold.
I shall write in 14-point Arial Bold.
I have seen the battery of my laptop flicker,
And I have seen the eternal Help desk hold my login, and snicker,
And, in short, I was afraid.
And I have seen the eternal Help desk hold my login, and snicker,
And, in short, I was afraid.
on my feed women come and go
talking of Michelangelo
talking of Michelangelo
December 13, 2025 at 4:57 AM
I grow old ... I grow old ...
I shall write in 14-point Arial Bold.
I shall write in 14-point Arial Bold.
I have seen the battery of my laptop flicker,
And I have seen the eternal Help desk hold my login, and snicker,
And, in short, I was afraid.
And I have seen the eternal Help desk hold my login, and snicker,
And, in short, I was afraid.
on my feed women come and go
talking of Michelangelo
talking of Michelangelo
I have measured out my life with out-of-office messages
I know the emails deleted without being read
Beneath the notifications from a farther LMS
So how should I say yes?
I should have been a pair of SharePoint files
Syncing across the miles of campus IT.
I know the emails deleted without being read
Beneath the notifications from a farther LMS
So how should I say yes?
I should have been a pair of SharePoint files
Syncing across the miles of campus IT.
December 13, 2025 at 4:37 AM
I have seen the battery of my laptop flicker,
And I have seen the eternal Help desk hold my login, and snicker,
And, in short, I was afraid.
And I have seen the eternal Help desk hold my login, and snicker,
And, in short, I was afraid.
I have measured out my life with out-of-office messages
I know the emails deleted without being read
Beneath the notifications from a farther LMS
So how should I say yes?
I should have been a pair of SharePoint files
Syncing across the miles of campus IT.
I know the emails deleted without being read
Beneath the notifications from a farther LMS
So how should I say yes?
I should have been a pair of SharePoint files
Syncing across the miles of campus IT.
Do I dare
Disturb the universe?
In a minute there is time
For decisions and revisions which an admin can reverse.
For I have known the MF Authentications:
Have known the lockouts, resets, sign-ins...
Disturb the universe?
In a minute there is time
For decisions and revisions which an admin can reverse.
For I have known the MF Authentications:
Have known the lockouts, resets, sign-ins...
December 13, 2025 at 4:07 AM
I have measured out my life with out-of-office messages
I know the emails deleted without being read
Beneath the notifications from a farther LMS
So how should I say yes?
I should have been a pair of SharePoint files
Syncing across the miles of campus IT.
I know the emails deleted without being read
Beneath the notifications from a farther LMS
So how should I say yes?
I should have been a pair of SharePoint files
Syncing across the miles of campus IT.
I continue to think, in my naive layperson way, that if we could just regulate Big Tech enough to stop their products presenting themselves in the first person, we'd be making an important intervention.
I asked the students in my AI engineering and policy for climate class: whenever they see "AI said" or "A LLM said" written somewhere, imagine it as "Microsoft Excel said". Don't be friends with Excel. Excel is not alive. Ask it for conditional formatting and pivot tables.
December 13, 2025 at 2:02 AM
I continue to think, in my naive layperson way, that if we could just regulate Big Tech enough to stop their products presenting themselves in the first person, we'd be making an important intervention.
not to be outdone, the Miami Hurricane writing their Lindsey Halligan, Marco Rubio story rn
I mean, the Penn student newspaper isn't wrong, but www.instagram.com/p/DSH1X4EDwP...
December 12, 2025 at 3:17 AM
not to be outdone, the Miami Hurricane writing their Lindsey Halligan, Marco Rubio story rn
finally a convincing explanation for why professors with some autonomy over their work conditions are so rarely seen on campus
Whew—I'm in the middle of one of my infrequent stints betraying my freelancer identity by "waking up early" and "commuting to an office" to "work during business hours," and I know some people say it makes them more productive, but in my experience you get precious little posting done
December 12, 2025 at 3:07 AM
finally a convincing explanation for why professors with some autonomy over their work conditions are so rarely seen on campus
does bluesky have the juice (emergency theremin)?
Long shot, but does anyone in Switzerland have an emergency Theremin to loan tomorrow night ( Friday 12 December )?
#ViaMardot is playing a show in St Gallen, and the airline lost her equipment!!!
We can help pay for a courier if needed, please share to get this message out!!
#theremin #switzerland
#ViaMardot is playing a show in St Gallen, and the airline lost her equipment!!!
We can help pay for a courier if needed, please share to get this message out!!
#theremin #switzerland
December 11, 2025 at 9:39 PM
does bluesky have the juice (emergency theremin)?
We shouldn't judge a 1,242-page PDF by its cover, nor diminish the work of all the scientists who contributed to UNEP's 2025 global environmental report—but to say "investing in Earth now can lead to a trillion-dollar benefit for all" is to accept the framing of the very powers ravaging the planet.
December 11, 2025 at 9:23 PM
We shouldn't judge a 1,242-page PDF by its cover, nor diminish the work of all the scientists who contributed to UNEP's 2025 global environmental report—but to say "investing in Earth now can lead to a trillion-dollar benefit for all" is to accept the framing of the very powers ravaging the planet.
I have UK family members who recently visited the US and others who were hoping to do so in the future but this would be more than enough to deter them from making the trip.
NEW: Five years of social media history is only a fraction of what the US Government will shortly demand of overseas visitors.
The full requirements will end tourism in the United States.
Below is the full, mind-blowing list.
🚨THEY. WANT. YOUR. DNA.🚨
1/
The full requirements will end tourism in the United States.
Below is the full, mind-blowing list.
🚨THEY. WANT. YOUR. DNA.🚨
1/
December 11, 2025 at 4:28 PM
I have UK family members who recently visited the US and others who were hoping to do so in the future but this would be more than enough to deter them from making the trip.
my question *exactly*
whose stupid idea was it to write a book anyway
December 11, 2025 at 4:23 PM
my question *exactly*