Just getting around to Monday's Los Angeles Times Crossword, and it appears that puzzle creator Kevin Shustack is a bit confused about personnel in higher education. The clue for 4 Down is 'Scholar pursuing an advanced deg.', and the answer is POSTDOC.
For a postdoc, the advanced degree is done pursued and already acquired. That's why there's a 'post-' in 'postdoc'.
I have remarked before on this platform about how the comic strip 'Blondie' keeps up with the times, including how we interact with our dogs. In Friday's strip, Daisy is shown in bed with Dagwood and Blondie. I do not ever recall seeing Daisy in bed, and as recently as a generation ago, some readers would have been upset to see a dog allowed to sleep on a bed with her humans. But times and attitudes change, and just as Daisy now appears on the sofa with Dagwood, so, too, she's now up on the bed with Dagwood and Blondie at night.
![In the 30 October 2026 'Blondie' comic strip, Dagwood and Blondie are in bed, along with their dog, Daisy, who is asleep hugging Dagwood. Dagwood in the first panel says, 'It's always sweet when Daisy cuddles up with me', to which Blondie replies, 'It sure is, honey'. In the second panel, Dagwood says, 'She's like a warm teddy bear'. In the third panel, Dagwood says, 'A really heavy, snoring teddy bear', as a speech bubble with the letter 'Z' appears next to Daisy. [© 2026 King Features Syndicate]](https://files.mastodonapp.uk/media_attachments/files/117/541/170/266/320/886/small/0436561bbd361137.jpg)
In the several years that I have had wild geranium (Geranium maculatum) in my front garden, the plants have gone dormant in the hot, dry summer, with the leaves withering to brown and falling away. But this year, perhaps due to the plants (and their rhizomes) having several years of growth in the garden, or to the unusually wet August (or both), a few leaves are still around as we approach November, and they are turning a beautiful crimson colour. I certainly did not expect this, but I am enjoying the small autumn display immensely.
📚 SISMED Prize 2026!
The Italian Society of Medievalists will fund the publication with #Viella of a first book in medieval history (unpublished monograph, PhD theses included, even if not yet defended).
👤 Under 40
🗓️ Deadline: 15 Jan 2027
Call (in Italian) 👉 https://www.sismed.eu/it/2026/10/20/bando-premio-sismed-2026/
Call for applications! 🔊
The Gotha Research Centre of the University of Erfurt, the Francke Foundations in Halle and the #HAB_WF are awarding a three-month scholarship for 2027 to an excellent postdoctoral researcher from the East Central European region to research their holdings.
The scholarship programme is funded by the Dorothee Wilms Foundation in the Stifterverband. Application deadline: November 30, 2026.
Learn more: https://www.hab.de/en/forschungsstipendien/
DIAS Celtic Studies Seminars and Reading Classes 2026–2027
(Forwarding a message from the School of Celtic Studies, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies)
Classes take place at 10 Burlington Road, Dublin 4, beginning the week of 5 October, as set out in what follows. All are welcome.
Mondays, 5pm (from 5 October): Welsh Reading Class with Prof Barry Lewis on Claf Abercuawg
Tuesdays, 2pm (from 6 October): Old Irish Poetry Reading Class with Prof Liam Breatnach
Wednesdays, 3pm (from 7 October): Middle Irish Seminar with Prof Máire Ní Mhaonaigh on a selection of dindshenchas texts
In addition, Prof David Stifter will lead an Ancient Celtic Working Group, in person at 10 Burlington Road, and online, Tuesdays 4pm (please contact Prof Stifter to receive the online link: David.Stifter@celt.dias.ie).
Sessions last one hour and take place weekly up through 15 December, recommencing the week of 25 January. @SCSlibrary
The Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University, seeks to make an appointment at the rank of Associate Professor (with tenure) of a scholar with a dual focus on Computational Humanities and on Roman Archaeology. See further: https://isaw.nyu.edu/jobs/computational-humanities-and-roman-archaeology
RE: https://ecoevo.social/@thenorfolkcoast/117280563100185278
Happy to read about the use of placenames to restore knowledge of natural features and resources, though the BBC headline writer should have been more careful. Gàidhlig, often referred to in English as 'Scots Gaelic', and Scots are different languages, and the story discusses only Gàidhlig placenames. The headline writer seems to have been confused and separated the words 'Scots' and 'Gaelic' and then inverted them in writing this headline.
It was only a few years ago that I learned about Anemone 'Honorine Jobert', and I wish I had known about this plant earlier. It provides a long-lasting display of fall blooms, and I also enjoy how the tall flower stems sway in the breeze.
The hybrid variety evidently dates to the 1850s and was a favourite of those 'messy', informal Victorian gardens. 'Messy' fits both my gardening style (not necessarily deliberately) and my gardening aesthetic, so I am glad to have these plants in my front garden, and I may add one more to fill out the space.
I have been sharing my adventures (and misadventures) with the tomatoes in the garden, and I thought I'd share this photo of the tomatoes currently ripening in my kitchen (picked a bit early to avoid squirrel predation).
The yellow tomatoes are Golden Jubilee. The red are Thessaloniki, and the green/burgundy ones are Cherokee Purple. All are from saved seeds, with the original seed purchased years ago.
The Golden Jubilee tomatoes are rather small this year, but the others are of typical size for my garden, which does not receive optimal sunlight. While Cherokee Purple is well known among tomato aficionados, Thessaloniki is less familiar.
Thessaloniki was first marketed in the US about 70 years ago, with the statement that it was developed by the Greek Ministry of Agriculture. What I like about this tomato is its beautiful round shape, roughly the size of a cricket or lacrosse ball. Thessaloniki rarely suffers cracking, and it has a delightful flavour.
No photograph, but I did want to report that I have had some tomato predation by a squirrel. Yesterday in the garden I found a ripening Cherokee Purple with about a quarter of it missing still hanging on the plant. I pulled the partially eaten tomato off the plant and placed it on a wooden fencepost in a distant part of the garden. Then I hastily gathered two just-starting-to-ripen tomatoes and brought them inside for safe keeping, and headed to a family gathering. When I returned, the partially eaten tomato could no longer be seen on the fencepost, nor anywhere nearby. Undoubtedly a squirrel took it away in the interim.
Just picked from the garden: my first Thessaloniki tomato (from saved seeds) of the season.
(Again, picked early to prevent squirrel predation.)
RE: https://mastodon.social/@SJLahey/117210617426125466
“If a whole herd goes, you can’t eat them, but using diseased skins for books is a practical choice.”
Thanks, @SJLahey for sharing this informative article!
The programme for the @scs-dias.bsky.social@bsky.brid.gy @dias.ie@bsky.brid.gy Tionól 2026 is out (26-28 November). An exciting, three-day programme.
(Finally) my first tomatoes from the garden. These are Golden Jubilee from saved seeds. I started the seedlings in old topsoil (huge mistake), and they struggled until I transplanted into fresh potting soil, so I ended up about a month behind.
I pick my tomatoes when they start to turn colour to prevent predation by the squirrels.
Brepols is offering a Buy-1-Get-1-Half-Off sale on books in their Corpus Christianorum in Translation (CCT) series to mark the publication of the 50th volume in the series (Hermes Trismegistus, The Latin Hermes in Translation). The 50% discount cannot be combined with other offers; covers only 1 book (so if you order 4 books, you get the discount on only 1 book); books must be purchased by next Monday (31 August); and they must be ordered via email (invoice will be sent along with the books).
A PDF order form is available on the Brepols website:
RE: https://openbiblio.social/@hab_wf/117075348810542556
Noch bis zum 1. Oktober 2026 können sich Promovierende aus dem In- und Ausland für ein Doktorand:innenstipendium bewerben.
Mehr unter: https://www.hab.de/doktoranden-und-nachwuchsfoerderung/
This newspaper advertising insert from a DIY store shows cement paving blocks for use in outdoor gardens and patios. One such block is named 'Tumbled Belgian', whilst another is 'Holland Grande'. But I did not see one advertised with the name 'Luxembourgish'.
Our new paper is out! 📚📜
https://www.nature.com/articles/s40494-026-02899-5
Inside one of the world's few crash courses in conserving and caring for ancient papyrus manuscripts
https://apnews.com/article/papyrus-ancient-michigan-seminar-conservation-dbd724c93c470546c1334b4b5bb43416?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub
Posted into U.S. News @u-s-news-AssociatedPress