BD Ferguson
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bdfwrites.bsky.social
BD Ferguson
@bdfwrites.bsky.social
80 followers 120 following 120 posts
Educator, writer, reader in southern ON. PhD in 19thC British literature & culture, especially science & spooky stuff. My book, Next Episode, was released in 2016 (nextepisode.ca)
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bdfwrites.bsky.social
First holiday party of the season today.

People showed up in Christmas sweaters + novelty hats + I rolled up with a hair pin inspired by ancient Celtic-Norse knotwork, a recycled glass pendant inspired by eco-friendliness, & socks inspired by passive-aggressive introvert-ism.

I regret nothing
The back of a woman's head with brown/red, shoulder-length hair. The sides are held back and in place with a silver knotwork pin. A hand holding a light blue sock with a blue + white cartoon flower design & the slogan "Bitch I AM relaxed"
November 24, 2025 at 12:57 AM
bdfwrites.bsky.social
My apartment building never sees trick or treaters, and my place is too high up to see any costumes in the neighborhood.
But I took some Halloween-y pics near my brother's place last week...
🎃
Black + white photo with shadowy corners, looking over an arching pedestrian bridge. It's covered in dead leaves, and a big almost leafless tree stretches over it from left to right. Black + white photo with shadowy corners, of a stand of leafless bushes in a fall forest. Twisty, climbing wild vine looks especially black against the pale bare branches of the bush.
November 1, 2025 at 2:32 AM
bdfwrites.bsky.social
My "Teaching in the Humanities in the Age of AI" webinar last week recommended we be very clear with students about their use of AI in our course. S'pose this will do? 🙃 It's part of my Day 1 slideshow.

And I put shorter but similar lang on every single assignment description.

Yeah, I know... /2
Image of a PowerPoint slide that begins "I strongly discourage the use of AI for our assignments" and provides points about excessive energy use, stolen copyrighted material, and the [redacted] school's authorized AI tools as last resorts, recommending the Writing Centre instead.
September 3, 2025 at 7:42 PM
bdfwrites.bsky.social
Not now, climate change! 😣
Read the damn room.
Screenshot of Hamilton (Ontario)'s weather forecast: charts on a blue ground. Factoring in the humidity, all the temperatures are between 28-45C, with thunderstorms predicted throughout the week.
June 22, 2025 at 11:02 PM
bdfwrites.bsky.social
Many thanks to a persuasive friend, who convinced me to finally* walk part of the Cherokee Radial Trail on this lovely holiday Monday. Lots of people out today to enjoy this amazing urban green space!

*I've lived here for 17yrs 🙃. #HamOnt
A set of metal stairs disappear up a hill, amid leafy green trees. Brilliant blue sky above and sun glare to the top right. A paved path between leafy green trees, with an arched cement pedestrian bridge in the middle distance. The left of the picture is largely in shade, with bright sun lighting the greenery on the right. A broad path between tall leafy trees stretches up the middle of the frame to disappear in the distance. Heavily shades in the foreground, the sun shines through the leaves and onto the path ahead. Looking between slender, leafy trees into a gully : a large rusted metal drainpipe emerges from the left-hand hill, with part of an old stone staircase leading downward on the opposite side. The bottom of the gully isn't quite visible, but looks covered in brown leaves and old tree limbs.
May 19, 2025 at 10:10 PM
bdfwrites.bsky.social
This arrived 2 days ago but only unwrapped today. I can't remember the last time I bought a 19thC-related book. 🥰 Hoping someday to read it & remind myself of my future research hopes instead of the day-to-day work scramble.
(But I love my job, too)
Book cover: Literature and Science in the 19th Century - An Anthology, edited by Laura Otis. Title appears in a white band across the cover, crossing a painting of what seems to be a group of people in dark clothes, clustered around a tree. Closer inspection shows it is photographic faces of people pasted over the original painting of a group of apes. Artist credit: Kate E Gough, c.1870
February 13, 2025 at 7:23 PM
bdfwrites.bsky.social
Today's Commuter Story Prompt*:

Write a narrative piece of no more than 500 words about someone who, every 3 months or so, (re)discovers an extra, large compartment in their everyday work bag. In the moment it feels new, but then memory returns. It has never been used.

*Based on real life
Part of the back of a beige and black backpack style bag: one shoulder strap is partly visible. A pale hand holds the nearly-hidden zipper of a camouflaged side opening of a compartment that runs the full height of the bag.
January 15, 2025 at 9:32 PM
bdfwrites.bsky.social
A low grey stony landscape across the bottom quarter of the picture, close enough to see the stones are deliberately piled. In the centre is a leaning square entry into the darkness under this stone pile. Above is a pale blue sky heavily streaked with white clouds. This is the entrance to an ancient stone tomb in Ireland.
December 18, 2024 at 3:26 AM
bdfwrites.bsky.social
"Entering my power era," I whisper as I spend a portion of my wild Friday night filling out a survey from my electricity provider.
A screenshot of information about power generation and transmission in Ontario, with cartoon figures of wind turbines and overhead power lines down the right hand side.
November 23, 2024 at 3:20 AM
bdfwrites.bsky.social
My intense dislike of historic display mannequins did not begin with, but was certainly exacerbated by, my two overnights' stay in the Tower of London.
Photo of a red ball with cartoon a smiley face on it, floating on a body of blue, sun-dappled water. The caption says "Tell us a true, one-sentence story from your life that absolutely opens more questions than it answers and demands further context."
October 8, 2024 at 10:05 PM
bdfwrites.bsky.social
Hiding from the heat this week, I didn't know about this treat in my mailbox: a hard copy of my article, in Victorian Periodicals Review! 💃🏼
This 1868 spat *seemed* to start with spiritualism but turned into readers calling out snooty scientist behaviour.

It got so snarky. I loved writing this.
Photo of journal page showing article entitled Declining the Combat: Querying Scientific Authority in the Pall Mall Gazette, by Barbara D Ferguson. The Abstract and first paragraph are also visible.
June 22, 2024 at 2:14 AM
bdfwrites.bsky.social
Unexpected chance to experience the amazing intersection of @razorfemme.bsky.social, Canisia Lubrin, & Shani Mootoo at #GritLit2024 this aft. A thoughtful, brilliant panel. AND signed books (thanks to Epic Books) + a chance to win more from @stelliform.press! 🤩

I should leave the house more often.
Kai Cheng Thom at left, with long dark hair & a maroon shirt, Canisia Lubrin in the middle with a black shirt and brimmed hat, Shani Mootoo at right with short dark hair & grey shirt. All are seated in gold chairs in front of a curtained wall of windows.
April 20, 2024 at 9:40 PM
bdfwrites.bsky.social
Happy eclipse day to all in the path (like us in HamOnt)

Treat yourself.
Screenshot of an April 7 post by Oddlings: just a photo of a dark blue plate with 10 Oreo cookies arranged around the edges, each of their tops pulled off slightly more or less, in a sequence to mimic an eclipse.
April 8, 2024 at 2:34 PM
bdfwrites.bsky.social
Unexpectedly positive public message on this #HamOnt bus.

Appreciate it, anonymous stranger.
Photo of a gray plastic side wall of an accordion bus, with empty seats beyond visible it, upper left. In black marker someone has written "Be kind Hang in there" with a small heart on the wall.
April 6, 2024 at 10:56 PM
bdfwrites.bsky.social
Photo of Ben Affleck outside smoking, eyes closed and looking forlorn
December 28, 2023 at 10:27 PM
bdfwrites.bsky.social
My teaching term finally began this week, with a 12hr day + a 10hr day (commutes included). While I'm happy to be back with students, I am also incapable of thoughtful and/or profound posts here to build my feed.

Pls accept this pic of Crowley as a place holder for future clever insight (+ snark)
Photo of David Tenant as Crowley from Good Omens: a slender red-haired man all dressed in black and with dark round glasses covering his eyes, leaning against a bar & staring directly at the camera.
September 14, 2023 at 2:16 AM
bdfwrites.bsky.social
Does this pic seem appropriate for my first post here? :D Looking forward to seeing if any of my peeps from that old (quickly deteriorating, owned by a jackass)* site are around here...

*just realized this doesn't really narrow it down...
View from a plane window: fluffy white clouds for the lower half of the pic, then blue skies above.
September 4, 2023 at 6:46 PM