Dr Vanessa
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hpsvanessa.bsky.social
Dr Vanessa
@hpsvanessa.bsky.social
18K followers 1K following 9.8K posts
historian of science, medicine, food, sport and exploration; other content generally but not limited to: my dinner, a weird bug, feminist beer 🏳️‍⚧️, complaining about bad parking. Latest book: tinyurl.com/HigherColder
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hpsvanessa.bsky.social
I was gonna be all "ugh jokes stolen from twitter what a barrel scrape" and then realised it was the same poster so fair dos, recycle it, it was a banger.
tweet from kimmymonte on twitter from August 2023 that reads "basketball's all like gimme that pumpkni I need it and tennis is all like fuck this lemon you take it".
November 9, 2025 at 8:08 PM
hpsvanessa.bsky.social
I went in to confirm
A stack of four books - three vintage penguins (a John Buchan and two crime novels) and bernardine evaristo’s girl, woman, other.
November 9, 2025 at 2:30 PM
hpsvanessa.bsky.social
To be fair to myself:
Screenshot from google streetview of a shop frontage. Two large glass bay windows & a central door, the shop is painted purple and has a white sign over the top reading “armadillo” in white. The windows show miscellaneous goods like wooden toys, jewellery and stationery. A photo of the same shop front, still painted purple, with a new, smaller white sign saying “the book tower. The window display looks very similar with tea towels, bags and wooden toys…
November 9, 2025 at 1:55 PM
hpsvanessa.bsky.social
Am i doing this right
A logo in the style/font of Mamdini’s election slogans (embossed orange on a blue background that reminds me of end-of-the-pier 1950s novelty attractions) which reads “put an egg on it for it is your Wife”
November 8, 2025 at 9:52 PM
hpsvanessa.bsky.social
#GardenFlowers - project “everything can be a cut flower” continues. Feel I’m nailing a specific Homes & Garden magazine aesthetic here #SaturdayRoses
Dozens of very large orange rosehips on ling curved bare rose stems arranged in a traditional shaped base, white with green slip paint. It rests on a pale wood surface against a pale painted wall The same rosehip arrangement on a low surface in a room, behind is an orange metal electric stove which echoes the colour of the rosehips, under a dark wood fireplace. Otherwise the room colours are neutral - beige walls, jute rug.
November 8, 2025 at 4:08 PM
hpsvanessa.bsky.social
tragically not high resolution enough 😂
a mirror selfie of a white woman in a felt reindeer costume onsie.
November 5, 2025 at 12:23 PM
hpsvanessa.bsky.social
I've had an article accepted in a STEM journal (yay) and they are... interviewing me for an author bio and write up?! Much respect to my fellow STEM profs if you have to do this for every piece because I was not expecting it. Now, do I have a "professional headshot" anywhere...
selfie of a white woman wearing a pair of red felt reindeer horns on a headband. She has red mitten earrings, and appears to be in a busy industrial bar or taproom.
November 5, 2025 at 11:06 AM
hpsvanessa.bsky.social
#NoodleTuesday - soft duck egg rather than crunchy veg today due to someone else having a dentist appointment this morning…fairly generic (artificial beef!) savoury spice flavour, bumping it up a point for great textured noodles and some tiny textured soy balls which were fun 3/5
Red packet of instant noodles, A-one brand “beef flavour” Two large ramen bowls containing noodles in a dark broth, topped with a very large soft boiled half egg
November 4, 2025 at 1:22 PM
hpsvanessa.bsky.social
Getting British vvitch vibes off this one. A very goaty sheep doing… what exactly??? Just out for a lovely 2 legged walk???
On a crowded antique store shelf, red tinted earthenware-like figurine of two women in generic stylised c17thC costumes - bodices wimples etc. - in front of the women a sheep with curly horns, looking a bit goat like, stands on its hind legs as of nuzzling up to the women’s belly.
November 2, 2025 at 8:58 PM
hpsvanessa.bsky.social
I went to a scrap/salvage yard for halloween/anniversary and forgot to tell you about it.
What looks like an old tatty metal shed with no windows, a very thick door slightly open. It is actually an old meat safe, nestled in grass, surrounded by scrap injects like a broken window, tractor tyre and old red gas cylinders A faded orange red coke bottle vending machine, c1960s, with a just legible slogan “refresh yourself” behind old wooden furniture is piled in heaps. Top down photo of some semicircular green patinated metal boxes. A hand written lable reads “vintage false teeth moulds £35 each” The head of a dark wood walking stick carved into a grinning skull. A label reads £45
November 2, 2025 at 6:06 PM
hpsvanessa.bsky.social
ICY wondered why I don't vote libdem. There is literally only one party in the UK that is willing to support trans rights and migrant rights (and has half a policy on higher ed that might actually work) and it ain't them. EHRC "guidance" should get in the bin & cannot give "clarity".
post from Marie Goldman MP "I'm disappointed to hear that the EHRC final guidance after the Supreme Court ruling could be delayed up to a year. This is simply not good enough. We urgently need clarity. The Government must bring the final guidance forward as quickly as possible."
November 1, 2025 at 5:59 PM
hpsvanessa.bsky.social
Getting warning signs that the service here is really slow
A plastic skeleton slumps at a wooden picnic table. There are som decorative gourds in the table and a fence and field behind.
November 1, 2025 at 3:53 PM
hpsvanessa.bsky.social
Props to this pub which has gone all out on the Halloween specials (“scaramisu”)
Food photo. A deconstructed tiramisu made to look like a grave: a heap of cake and cream covered with chocolate “soil”, a biscuit gravestone, a ghost-shaped pile of cream with red sauce details, and edible flowers on the “grave”. Melted marshmallow strings form cobwebby strands.
October 31, 2025 at 8:12 PM
hpsvanessa.bsky.social
Happiest of days (our 26th getting together anniversary, obvs)
An orange pumpkin on a grassy lawn: it has two carved pumpkin bat wings sticking out the sides and a cute but pouty carved face
October 31, 2025 at 2:16 PM
hpsvanessa.bsky.social
#NoodleTuesday a banger! I was suspicious of how tiny the noodle nests were but they really expanded and this was super filling, identifiable soup “bits” and a really crisp mouth tingly pepper heat. 4.5/5
A red-orange packet of instant noodles, thai writing on the packet. (It’s mama brand tom yum flavour) Two steaming bowls of noodle soup- wide pale ribbon noodles in pale broth, topped with stirfried vegetables
October 28, 2025 at 7:36 PM
hpsvanessa.bsky.social
Brum is so car obsessed it’s installed (entirely unnecessary) traffic lights at a pedestrian crossing that control when pedestrians cross… but not vehicles. I am baffled???
A belisha beacon (pedestrian crossing marker with large round yellow light) on a suburban street. Next to it is an in demand traffic light but one that only shows a red man/green man for crossing, it has no lights to signal to drivers
October 28, 2025 at 8:46 AM
hpsvanessa.bsky.social
#GardenFlowers confession: B put this together, not me. In my defence these roses were growing so high up over a shed roof I couldn’t even see them. So useful having a tall person around. #MondayRoses
Flower arrangement: two large apricot roses in a vase with deep purple-red ice plants and the dried papery heads of honesty. It is a very autumnal display, resting on a table runner in shades of orange and slate grey, a wooden bowl of yellow-red apples to the left, and wooden shelves filled with nicknacks and pictures beyond
October 27, 2025 at 1:03 PM
hpsvanessa.bsky.social
7.03 and I already 18 people ahead of me! I really thought I'd be in the first 5 lol. Great work.
kickstarter funding timeline - showing £1835 donated by 18 people (17 + you) towards a £20852 goal.
October 26, 2025 at 7:06 PM
hpsvanessa.bsky.social
On the podcast recommendation hunt again.

NOT INTERESTED: history, science, politics, true crime, academia
INTERESTED: culture esp books & films & food
PREFER: not American. Bonus, not British either.
Current subscriptions (inc some for work so history/science/academia & defunct casts) in video.
October 26, 2025 at 9:00 AM
hpsvanessa.bsky.social
Brighton Museum reports new visitor (or, as my suster suggested, new potential twist in Louvre heist story) www.instagram.com/p/DQOVCe5j3R...
Screenshot of an instagram post: the entrance to a public space, large glass doors in a glass wall, pale tiled floor, a rack of tshirts. A fox is wandering past as if heading back out of the doors.
October 26, 2025 at 8:18 AM
hpsvanessa.bsky.social
Happy 9th birthday to glasshouse - an amazing local indie brewery (yes I tried all the birthday beers before going for the birthday cake cocktail 😅) #Beersky
Hand holding a short glass with a chocolate coloured drink topped with whipped cream and sprinkles. Beyond are stainless steel mash tuns and other brewery equipment
October 25, 2025 at 3:52 PM
hpsvanessa.bsky.social
Can’t work out if this is a strange wedding gift or a well-intentioned but weird trans gift
(Yes it is the big xmas present charity/thrift store hunt)
A shelf of assorted mugs, centred on a white mug with the logo “brand new Mr”
October 25, 2025 at 1:11 PM
hpsvanessa.bsky.social
head shot of a balding white man with dark hair and light facial hair; he is Josep Maria Garcia who has become the image used in the "heart breaking: The Worst Person You Know Just Made a Great Point" meme
October 24, 2025 at 9:05 AM
hpsvanessa.bsky.social
The computer thinks that we are writing in French now
screenshot of me starting a reply to the post above, with a prompt from bsky asking "are you writing in french".
October 24, 2025 at 7:23 AM
hpsvanessa.bsky.social
Good morning everyone the computers have gone mad
screenshot of a google search for the terms "baron bolognese wisconsin" and the first hit is the wikipedia entry on body snatching
October 24, 2025 at 6:55 AM