Graham Guest
@grahamguest.bsky.social
London, UK
Europhile, language nerd, occasional flâneur, part-time hermit.
"At times, indeed, almost ridiculous—
Almost, at times, the Fool."
Europhile, language nerd, occasional flâneur, part-time hermit.
"At times, indeed, almost ridiculous—
Almost, at times, the Fool."
Pinned
Graham Guest
@grahamguest.bsky.social
· Oct 9
"If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world, and that his heart is no island cut off from other lands, but a continent that joins to them." – Francis Bacon
God tried hard to make feet that would suit
And for waterfowl ones that looked cute
But his large stock of webbing
Very soon began ebbing
And ran out when he got to the coot
And for waterfowl ones that looked cute
But his large stock of webbing
Very soon began ebbing
And ran out when he got to the coot
November 23, 2025 at 5:27 PM
God tried hard to make feet that would suit
And for waterfowl ones that looked cute
But his large stock of webbing
Very soon began ebbing
And ran out when he got to the coot
And for waterfowl ones that looked cute
But his large stock of webbing
Very soon began ebbing
And ran out when he got to the coot
A child said What is the grass? fetching it to me with full hands;
How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is any more than he.
I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful green stuff woven.
– Walt Whitman
How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is any more than he.
I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful green stuff woven.
– Walt Whitman
November 20, 2025 at 7:45 PM
A child said What is the grass? fetching it to me with full hands;
How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is any more than he.
I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful green stuff woven.
– Walt Whitman
How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is any more than he.
I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful green stuff woven.
– Walt Whitman
"... th' whole worl's... in a terr...ible state o'... chassis!"
– Sean O'Casey, Juno and the Paycock
– Sean O'Casey, Juno and the Paycock
Stasis, sanctimony and the liberal paradox. New post on my Brexit & Brexitism Blog with such Brexit news as there is, but mainly analysis of what 'responsible Farage' tells us about the tensions in Reform and what the BBC row tells us about Brexitism: chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/2025/11/stas...
November 16, 2025 at 11:52 AM
"... th' whole worl's... in a terr...ible state o'... chassis!"
– Sean O'Casey, Juno and the Paycock
– Sean O'Casey, Juno and the Paycock
Reposted by Graham Guest
Due to an admin error, we have lost our @oxfordforeurope.bsky.social account. (As you can see that account hasn’t posted for a while). So - after many attempts with the Bluesky team to regain the account - this is the new account.
If you see this, please could you repost and follow back? 🙏
If you see this, please could you repost and follow back? 🙏
November 10, 2025 at 7:09 AM
Due to an admin error, we have lost our @oxfordforeurope.bsky.social account. (As you can see that account hasn’t posted for a while). So - after many attempts with the Bluesky team to regain the account - this is the new account.
If you see this, please could you repost and follow back? 🙏
If you see this, please could you repost and follow back? 🙏
3 corporations in a trench coat...
😂
😂
This perfectly encapsulates how I feel living in the US. The republican party is an insane death cult, the democratic party is 3 corporations in a trench coat, and the "socialists" are just the completely normal left-wing capitalists you'd find in any of 2 dozen European nations.
Europeans recognize Zohran Mamdani’s supposedly radical policies as ‘normal’
Critics of New York City’s mayor-elect have said his pledges of free bus service and universal childcare are unrealistic, but in Europe it’s a given
www.theguardian.com
November 8, 2025 at 8:35 AM
3 corporations in a trench coat...
😂
😂
A management guru called Cox
Spoke in jargon designed just to fox
Till his staff in a state
Stuffed him into a crate
So he'd start to think inside the box
Spoke in jargon designed just to fox
Till his staff in a state
Stuffed him into a crate
So he'd start to think inside the box
October 26, 2025 at 10:42 AM
A management guru called Cox
Spoke in jargon designed just to fox
Till his staff in a state
Stuffed him into a crate
So he'd start to think inside the box
Spoke in jargon designed just to fox
Till his staff in a state
Stuffed him into a crate
So he'd start to think inside the box
subversive, n.
One who writes poetry under water.
One who writes poetry under water.
October 25, 2025 at 12:30 PM
subversive, n.
One who writes poetry under water.
One who writes poetry under water.
I just want to write
a haiku but can't be
a haiku but can't be
October 25, 2025 at 9:37 AM
I just want to write
a haiku but can't be
a haiku but can't be
If you've ever wondered why women need pockets.
Dangerous Coats by Sharon Owens
Someone clever once said
Women were not allowed pockets In case they carried leaflets
To spread sedition
Which means unrest
To you & me
A grandiose word For commonsense
Fairness
Kindness
Equality
So ladies, start sewing
Dangerous coats
Made of pockets & sedition
Someone clever once said
Women were not allowed pockets In case they carried leaflets
To spread sedition
Which means unrest
To you & me
A grandiose word For commonsense
Fairness
Kindness
Equality
So ladies, start sewing
Dangerous coats
Made of pockets & sedition
October 25, 2025 at 8:13 AM
If you've ever wondered why women need pockets.
An old friend of Samuel Pepys
Said "I don't like the diary he kepys
When he reads it aloud
To a very large crowd
He's so noisy that nobody slepys"
Said "I don't like the diary he kepys
When he reads it aloud
To a very large crowd
He's so noisy that nobody slepys"
October 20, 2025 at 7:22 PM
An old friend of Samuel Pepys
Said "I don't like the diary he kepys
When he reads it aloud
To a very large crowd
He's so noisy that nobody slepys"
Said "I don't like the diary he kepys
When he reads it aloud
To a very large crowd
He's so noisy that nobody slepys"
All my life I have been trying to improve my German.
At last my German is better
—but now I am old and ill and don’t have long to live.
Soon I will be dead,
with better German.
– Lydia Davis
At last my German is better
—but now I am old and ill and don’t have long to live.
Soon I will be dead,
with better German.
– Lydia Davis
October 20, 2025 at 6:22 PM
All my life I have been trying to improve my German.
At last my German is better
—but now I am old and ill and don’t have long to live.
Soon I will be dead,
with better German.
– Lydia Davis
At last my German is better
—but now I am old and ill and don’t have long to live.
Soon I will be dead,
with better German.
– Lydia Davis
I see three men were charged in connection with the great Sellotape robbery, but the police couldn't make it stick.
October 19, 2025 at 3:11 PM
I see three men were charged in connection with the great Sellotape robbery, but the police couldn't make it stick.
Our church has a cockney divine
Who thinks saying prayers is a pine
For most of the day
He refuses to pray
And all he can do is compline
Who thinks saying prayers is a pine
For most of the day
He refuses to pray
And all he can do is compline
October 10, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Our church has a cockney divine
Who thinks saying prayers is a pine
For most of the day
He refuses to pray
And all he can do is compline
Who thinks saying prayers is a pine
For most of the day
He refuses to pray
And all he can do is compline
Anyone looking for a good EU-based cloud storage provider should take a look at Koofr.
❗️Photos on Koofr are closer than they appear
You can now zoom into your (almost) full-size photos — right in the Koofr web app or on public links. Open any photo in your Koofr gallery and get up close with every beautiful detail.
(We take no responsibility for too much reality.)
You can now zoom into your (almost) full-size photos — right in the Koofr web app or on public links. Open any photo in your Koofr gallery and get up close with every beautiful detail.
(We take no responsibility for too much reality.)
October 8, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Anyone looking for a good EU-based cloud storage provider should take a look at Koofr.
Up betimes, and after dressing went forth into Beckenham, the morning somewhat rainy, and there stopped at @beckenhambookshop.bsky.social, where I did look over many publications, and bought one by @dannybate.bsky.social newly printed, which pleased me mightily. So home again, well contented.
October 3, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Up betimes, and after dressing went forth into Beckenham, the morning somewhat rainy, and there stopped at @beckenhambookshop.bsky.social, where I did look over many publications, and bought one by @dannybate.bsky.social newly printed, which pleased me mightily. So home again, well contented.
Looking forward to reading my latest purchase from @beckenhambookshop.bsky.social recommended by a lovely lady I met on Eurostar.
September 30, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Looking forward to reading my latest purchase from @beckenhambookshop.bsky.social recommended by a lovely lady I met on Eurostar.
I get home suffering from "See it. Say it. Sorted."repeated ad nauseam on the trains, open my email and find Google telling me to "See it. Select it. Search it." 😱😱😱
September 30, 2025 at 3:54 PM
I get home suffering from "See it. Say it. Sorted."repeated ad nauseam on the trains, open my email and find Google telling me to "See it. Select it. Search it." 😱😱😱
The philosopher Alfred J Ayer
Was possessed of considerable flair
In seeking to find
Both God and the mind
He doubted that either was there
Was possessed of considerable flair
In seeking to find
Both God and the mind
He doubted that either was there
September 25, 2025 at 8:11 AM
The philosopher Alfred J Ayer
Was possessed of considerable flair
In seeking to find
Both God and the mind
He doubted that either was there
Was possessed of considerable flair
In seeking to find
Both God and the mind
He doubted that either was there
Dial-a-Poem UK number: +44 20 4538 8429
Dial-A-Poem, a Very Analog Project of the ’60s, Goes Global www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/a...
Dial-A-Poem, a Very Analog Project of the ’60s, Goes Global
www.nytimes.com
September 25, 2025 at 8:04 AM
Dial-a-Poem UK number: +44 20 4538 8429
"Then she lay on her back and gazed at the cloudless sky. Mr. Beebe, whose opinion of her rose daily, whispered to his niece that that was the proper way to behave if any little thing went wrong." – E M Forster, A Room with a View
September 24, 2025 at 7:46 PM
"Then she lay on her back and gazed at the cloudless sky. Mr. Beebe, whose opinion of her rose daily, whispered to his niece that that was the proper way to behave if any little thing went wrong." – E M Forster, A Room with a View
GREAT BRITISH ROAD SIGNS
Tuning fork ahead
Tuning fork ahead
September 8, 2025 at 11:42 AM
GREAT BRITISH ROAD SIGNS
Tuning fork ahead
Tuning fork ahead
Who at the BBC thought this would be a good colour scheme?
July 18, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Who at the BBC thought this would be a good colour scheme?
John Gummer telling Paddy O'Connell on BBC Radio 4 "We must recognise that water is not a cheap commodity that just comes out of the skies."
No, indeed. It is a free commodity that just comes out of the skies.
No, indeed. It is a free commodity that just comes out of the skies.
July 18, 2025 at 5:18 PM
John Gummer telling Paddy O'Connell on BBC Radio 4 "We must recognise that water is not a cheap commodity that just comes out of the skies."
No, indeed. It is a free commodity that just comes out of the skies.
No, indeed. It is a free commodity that just comes out of the skies.
delight, v.
To switch off illuminations.
To switch off illuminations.
July 11, 2025 at 6:54 AM
delight, v.
To switch off illuminations.
To switch off illuminations.
Happiness is getting a call from @beckenhambookshop.bsky.social telling me my "Beautiful Book" by @edithmayhall.bsky.social has arrived.
July 9, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Happiness is getting a call from @beckenhambookshop.bsky.social telling me my "Beautiful Book" by @edithmayhall.bsky.social has arrived.