iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 3h

Happy Birthday! I hope you’re getting extra purrs in celebration 😺

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Archived the relevant emails from my Liverpool account before it gets shut down. Sent Chris my admin angel a final thank you for almost 9 years of impossible queries. Somehow it all feels like years ago already, but my (second) viva was in March?? Time is weird. Did it though. Dr Cat now, innit.

281

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Oh look, it’s me in post-neurovascular surgery recovery mode! Lounging and eating 😺 Another brilliant art print from @tokyosexwhale.bsky.social, signing up for the meow print club was one of the best decisions I made this year 🐾 #CatArt #ToeBeans #PostOp

Printed drawing of a white, grey and ginger cat, lounging on an orange cushion with its belly exposed and massive saucer pupils. It has pink toe beans visible on its back feet, a stripy tail and a pink heart-shaped nose. Next to it is an empty (EMPTY!!!) food bowl and a grey fish, with a textured red background within a black and white frame. White framed Japanese characters are in the top left corner, which I think read “Tokyo Sex Whale”… The A5 printed image is on my usual turquoise textured yoga mat background

011

Reposted by Dr Cat Crossley

Alicia Spencer-Hall @aspencerhall.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

OK set up a feed for #IMC2026 for easy following along #MedievalSky 🗃️ @imc-leeds.bsky.social bsky.app/profile/did:...

22511

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

Right, postdoc application bits getting done today. Updated my CV to include all the Leeds etc papers I’ve given since 2017. And this is why I hold onto the physical things, as an external memory system! Genuinely forgot about the mini mappamundi paper… Is that enough? Can I go outside now pls?

A variety of Leeds IMC programmes, with another conference pamphlet and the handout from one of my Leeds papers, arranged in a fan shape on my turquoise bedding. My computer keyboard, black trousers and the post doc job description are also found around the frame

020

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

I do love to get my post on a Saturday and have it be from @tokyosexwhale.bsky.social Latest print is here! I have the sticker version as well which lives on the back of my phone 😺 #CatArt #ToeBeans #bumhole

Photo of @tokyosexwhale.bsky.social’s latest cat print, depicting a tuxedo kitty on a grey-green background, walking away from the viewer. The cat is looking back over its shoulder with big yellow eyes, the toe beans are visible on the back left paw, and the cat’s bum hole is prominently displayed 😹

072

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Okay Super Furries were so good last night I’m seriously considering going again. It might be the last time I get to see them live! But even if I go twice I still have spare tickets so I’m bumping this again here (and on IG, and fbook…) #SFAOK #GigTickets #LastCall

130

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

It was so good! I might go tonight as well 😸

020

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

I get basically zero engagement on here so this really is a shot in the dark, but I’ve got up to 4 tickets to see Super Furry Animals in Llandudno tomorrow night (Friday 15th May) and they really want a good home. Gimme a shout if interested! #SFAOK #GigTickets #Llandudno #SuperFurryAnimals

Blue-green faded colour background with white text reading:

SFA OK!!

Wales’ best ever band are back on tour for the first time in years and I have spare tickets for Friday. Someone out there surely wants them so spread the word!!

032

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

OMG I know exactly what you mean by this, and I almost did a tangent to include some pics in my thesis 😹

110

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Realised that this animal encounter, and the previous one (red squirrel) in the same tree, both happened on days I was listening to Guerrilla, by Super Furry Animals 😺

020

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

I’m not an owl expert lol, but I assume it was a Tawny Owl, or a Brown Owl? I’ll look up some pictures when I get home. I certainly got a good look at its face!!

000

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Never in my life been so close to a wild owl, nearest I’ve been was about five feet away from a barn owl (also an incredible experience) but this was quite different! My mum just happened to call me seconds after the incident, had to explain why I sounded so shocked on the phone 😺

100

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Bloody hell guys, just had a VERY close encounter with an owl 🦉?!? I was sitting in my oak tree, it was being chased through the woods by two blackbirds. It flew up and landed on a branch A FOOT AWAY FROM MY FACE before it saw me and, with a start, flew off again. Dunno who looked more surprised!

110

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

🚨New cat friend klaxon!🚨 Okay I may have met them before, they live nearby, but I’m sure they’ve not been properly friendly with me…until now!! They have a big fluffy grey tail, not pictured, and a cute tiny meow, not recorded. But trust me, this is an excellent cat 😺 @thecatreviewer.bsky.social

Photo of a white and grey fluffy cat giving my hand a little sniff before she decides if I’m friendly or not…

Photo of the same white and grey fluffy cat – whose cute pink nose and long white whiskers you can now clearly see – happily accepting ear scritches, as she now knows I’m a friend of all cats.

010

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

It’s that day again! Happy Avril 14th to all who celebrate… www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxTd...

youtube.com

Avril 14th

YouTube video by Aphex Twin - Topic

010

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

*deliberately mishearing Chappell Roan lyrics so they’re about bees* “🎶…Baby do you like this bee? 🐝 It’s made to waggle dance with me I’ve got a 199 more bees 🐝🐝🐝 🐝🐝 I’ve got 200 bees, 🐝 🐝🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝🐝🐝 🐝🐝 🐝 🐝🐝 🐝🐝yeh 200 bees 🐝 🐝🐝🐝 🐝🐝 🐝🐝 🐝🐝 🐝🐝 🐝 🐝🐝🐝🐝 🐝 🐝🐝🐝 🐝🐝…🎶”

020

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

Another of the interesting pieces my old uni friend Peter Jones has done to promote his new book, now in the Guardian! I’ve been reading more of “Self-Help From the Middle Ages” today and really enjoying it, learning much about Pride, Envy, Peter (and myself?!) in the process. Anger is up next!

011

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

My friend wrote his first book, it’s the Radio 4 book of the week, and I’m super proud of him! He’s also been doing loads of fun promo for it, and having read the intro on the train home from the launch, I think it’s going to be great 😺 Peter Jones, ‘Self-Help from the Middle Ages’, out now!

131

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

Okay I’ve just finished the intro and I think this is going to be an excellent read. It reads just like Pete speaking and he’s already compared the four centuries from 1100-1500 to Beatles albums, which is very on brand for him 😹 Buy this book everyone, it’s not just for the #MedievalSky crew!

081

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

On my way home from a flying trip to London to attend my old uni pal Peter’s debut book launch. Lovely event at Daunt Books, great speech from the main man from the balcony, and great to see so many ex-Bristolians in the room — sorry I had to dash off! #medieval #SelfHelp #book

Photo of a book by Peter Jones called Self-Help From the Middle Ages: A Journey into the Medieval Mind

The book cover is white with shiny gold lettering, and features a medieval manuscript illumination-style illustration of a writer at a desk, spilling red wine upon themselves as they check their phone and work at their laptop.

Two quotes on the cover read:

‘A lovely book’
Peter Frankopan

‘One of the most compelling medieval history books I have ever read’
Ian Mortimer

Available now from all good bookshops!

093

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

This month’s cat print arrived this morning, another brilliant piece from @tokyosexwhale.bsky.social I think I need to put the chonky cat sticker where everyone is going to see, it makes me very happy and I want to spread the joy 😺 #Cats #CatArt #Chonk

Photo of a print image of a white and black cat with a grey nose and yellow eyes, sat on a shelf with its head tilted quizzically. It has a grey (toy?) mouse hanging from its mouth by its tail. The picture has an orange background, white and black frame, and yellow Japanese characters in the top-right corner. I am holding the print in my left hand, and also a sticker of a very happy looking chonky orange and white cat with a speech bubble saying “chonk!”

151

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Been seeing quite a few bumblequeens browsing the ground lately, I told my mum this info but had no idea how it got in my head. May have been @thebeeguy.bsky.social last year!

000

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

Diolch! Oh shit I actually mentioned you in the post viva pint chat 😹 I learned about the Welsh K/C change in print texts from some tweet of yours years back, it came up briefly in discussion 😸

110

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

Haha thanks! Took a few bites along the way but won eventually…

000

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

Diolch!! Really did the whole thing on hard mode, so pleased it worked out in the end 😺

010

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

Thank you so much Clare! Very glad to have had you as an examiner 😺

010

Reposted by Dr Cat Crossley

Clare Downham @downham.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

Many Congrats to @catscreatechaos.bsky.social on passing your Liverpool PhD viva today with no corrections “Mappaemundi, illuminated manuscripts and a lost map model: making sense of the multiple representations of monstrous men in the encyclopaediac ecosystem of the later 13th century” #medievalsky

4395

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

Thank you! Took a while but made it in the end 😸

010

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

Yes so after the most minor of minor corrections (fuck knows how, but I won’t complain!) I’m going to be Dr Crossley! Bloody hell, took a while to get here but I am absolutely delighted 😺 Thanks to everyone that helped me to stubbornly keep going on this PhD until I finally got it. What a ride…

8100

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

Right then, today it’s time for Viva 2: The Resubmission! I’ve reread my thesis and cleaned my trainers, and I’m going to be wearing a CARDIGAN rather than a hoodie. Not really sure what else I could do to prepare :) Wish me luck!

130

Reposted by Dr Cat Crossley

Nat Guest @unfortunatalie.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

A friend just sent me this perfect piece by Karel Čapek, trans. Dora Round, ‘From the Point of View of a Cat’.

From the Point of View of a Cat
This is my Man. I am not afraid of him. He is very strong, for he eats a great deal; he is an Eater of All Things. What are you eating? Give me some!
He is not beautiful, for he has no fur. Not having enough saliva, he has to wash himself with water. He meows in a harsh voice and a great deal more than necessary. Sometimes in his sleep he purrs.
Let me out!
I don’t know how he has made himself Master; perhaps he has eaten something sublime.
He keeps my rooms clean for me.
In his paws he carries a sharp black claw and he scratches with it on white sheets of paper. That is the only game he plays. He sleeps at night instead of by day, he cannot see in the dark, he has no pleasures. He never thinks of blood, never dreams of hunting or fighting; he never sings songs of love.
Often at night when I can hear mysterious and magic voices, when I can see that the darkness is all alive, he sits at the table with his head bent and goes on and on, scratching with his black claw on the white papers. Don’t imagine that I am at all interested in you. I am only listening to the soft whispering of your claw. Sometimes the whispering is silent, the poor dull head does not know how to go on playing, and then I am sorry for him and I meow softly in sweet and sharp discord. Then my Man picks me up and buries his hot face in my fur. At those times he divines for an instant a glimpse of a higher life, and he sighs with happiness and purrs something which can almost be understood.
But don’t think that I am at all interested in you. You have warmed me, and now I will go out again and listen to the dark voices.
Translated by Dora Round; revised by the editor. Originally published in Intimate Things, 1935.

141524646

Reposted by Dr Cat Crossley

Alicia Spencer-Hall @aspencerhall.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

Come to Aberystwyth & do some medieval gender! Still plenty of time to get your abstracts in 👉 Gender in Medieval Insular Literature Symposium 📍 Prifysgol Aberystwyth University 🗓️ 29-30 May, 2026 ⏱️ Abstracts due 6 April wp-research.aber.ac.uk/medievalgend... #CfP #MedievalGender 🗃️

Gender in Medieval Insular Literature Symposium

Friday 29th and Saturday 30th May, 2026

Tŷ Trafod Visualisation Centre

Prifysgol Aberystwyth University

(CFP Cymraeg isod)

The Department of Welsh and Celtic Studies at Aberystwyth University invites you to join us for a symposium on Gender in Medieval Insular Literature, on 29 and 30 May, 2026,
in Aberystwyth and online.

We invite proposals for papers of 20 minutes on any aspect of gender and sexuality in the medieval literature of Britain and Ireland, inclusive of Celtic languages, English, Latin and Anglo-Norman. We especially welcome queer and trans theoretical perspectives, PhD students, and early career scholars.

Please submit abstracts of no more than 300 words (plus short speaker bio) to Dr Kit Kapphahn at krk14@aber.ac.uk by 6 April 2026. Please include ‘Symposium Submission’ in the subject of your email. indicate in your submission if you are proposing to speak in-person or online. Papers may be submitted and given in English or Welsh.

The symposium will be free to attend, but delegates are responsible for their own travel and accommodation costs. There will be opportunities for socialising and informal discussion as well as exploring the beautiful seaside town of Aberystwyth.

Questions may be directed to krk14@aber.ac.uk.

11511

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

Oooh, okay yeh sounds interesting! My (second) PhD viva is next week, so I have a bit too much on my plate right this minute, but I’d love to go down some Welsh rabbit holes about this in a fortnight or so…

110

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

I’ve grabbed so many mice with bare hands lately that I just got used to them being soft with somewhat scrabbly sharp claws. I was so shocked when he sank his teeth in!

000

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

Yep! Antibacterial soap wash first and savlon swiftly after…

000

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

The fucking hazelnut he was sharpening his teeth on so he could draw blood from my finger… Joke’s on you, bastard mouse! The sound you were making sharpening your teeth gave you away and hastened your eviction mwahahaha

Image of a hazelnut with a hole in it, held in a white left hand. Usual shitty turquoise yoga mat in the background, plus black and patterned rug, and my brown trousers.

000

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

The aftermath. Gonna have to clean this up and I doubt very much Orangina will help me…

Absolute chaos in my hallway, shoes all over the shop, hairbands everywhere, furniture out of place. Some Happy 40th Birthday balloons on the side; some neon yellow DANGER signs on the floor. The aftermath of my solo mouse hunting session this morning during which, did I mention? The little fucker BIT ME!!

000

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

Think I need another cup of tea and another round of yoga to recover. Obviously my cat was asleep on my bed throughout this entire ordeal. And in the process I did find c.50 broken hairbands that she’s lost under the drawers in the hall. So that’s a good thing…

100

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

I only grabbed him as a last resort and he bit me so fucking hard!! God knows how long he’s been in the house, I thought I evicted my unwelcome flatmate but turns out They Are Many. I’m glad I kept going with my investigation and eviction after hearing noises, but fucking hell my back hurts now…

100

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

This was not how I wanted to start my day! I could hear a little gnawing noise in the hallway as I was writing today’s to-do list, he was so hungry he was trying to get into an old hazelnut I have around for OJ to play with. I left the front door open for it to leave and he refused to go out!

100

Reposted by Dr Cat Crossley

Irina Dumitrescu @irinadumitrescu.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

Some books are so well done you wish you'd written them yourself. Next best thing is blurbing them! This is a very smart and thoughtful book, readable and interesting for a scholar who isn't already waist deep in the sources.

1183

Dr Cat Crossley @catscreatechaos.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

Ah fantastic, Peter is an old friend of mine from undergrad at Bristol! I’m hoping to make it to the book launch event in April, very much looking forward to reading this…

010