iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

I knew of her but from quite different things to the book you linked to. She was one of my ancestral feminists, in a way. I could never be what she was, however.

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Reposted by Gillian Polack

Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

I wanted to get a video of this ghost crab but every time I got close to their hole they scuttled back in, so I tried getting clever with it. I made a little sandcastle and shoved my phone into it, hit record, and walked away. Crab was VERY suspicious of this addition to their environment.

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 07/09/2025

If I'm up at 3.30 in the morning, and if it's high enough in the sky... I'll take you a picture or two.

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

I so love basalt columns. I have so many pictures of them in different places.

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 30/08/2025

My favourite typo this morning is "Jewish asp." "Jewish past" is so much less interesting.

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

The word 'genocide' threw me, too. It always does. partly, it's the NF book: about lost history, which means dealing with much Judenhass. Also, I know the definition of 'genocide' has changed, but I still react to the old one. Family then and family on Oct 7 is a lot to handle silently.

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

I thought Alan read my posts on FB, to be honest. And I didn't expect him not to know about what was happening at this end of things.

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

That was what I was referring to. I read the restrictions and they should not have prevented people from talking about Gaza. The IHRA definition is very clear that criticism of Israel is fine and long as it doesn't become antisemitism.

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

it was not meant as deflection at all. But I don't see any use in talking about it when accusations come before asking each other "What do you mean?"

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

Dear Spellcheck Would you please give me a reason for your insistence that 'Lebkuchen' should be replaced by 'Lecherous. This is not the first odd suggestion you've made about food. Do you find German food history difficult?

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

You see nothing to talk about, so I will no longer talk to you about these things. It's less exhausting for me, in any case. I'm tired of being called a Satan-worshipping pedo genocidaire and of being told that Jewish voices are not welcome.

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

No. it's giving you some context. If you don't want it, that's fine, I'll go silent again.

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

For the record, Continuuma nd Swancon do not do this. They're just as wonderful as ever. But I don't get paid for work I do there - I do it out of love, for my community - so they don't count as income unless I sell books.

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

Being chronically ill and Jewish mean that I didn't get beyond the "We appreciate you applying" stage, even when I win awards. Also, so many of my old left wing friends and colleagues do not speak to me any more.

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

I'm not welcome at most Writers' Festivals anyhow... I'm too Jewish.

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

I walked out on someone for literally saying this to me and meaning it. Mind you, he also wanted me to switch my brain off after 5 pm.

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

Avoiding too much hate (some is unavoidable) takes up an increasing amount of my time. you don't let the hate in - this is another good thing you do.

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

I envy that balance. I had it for a week and have lost it again. But it's so good to have you connecting people again - in a difficult world, it makes a difference.

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

Durian is like coriander - it's either adore or loathe. Me, I like coriander, but remember the Canberra shopping complex that was evacuated when someone mistook the smell of a ripe durian for a gas leak.

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

Next time we're in the same city, IOU much coffee or even dinner. You do the most wonderful work for all of us.

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

I'm in Canberra, Australia, but I'm a bit of a night owl, so I'm up for a surprising amount of the European day.

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

I so hope I'm not in a dark and chilled room this week. That would mean an electricity failure in mid-winter.

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

My brain lost much stuff when I had a quadruple bypass - the anaesthetic does this to some people. This means... I'm working on getting it back and it's happening and... it really annoys people. I do not conform to the stereotype of unwell older women. I am supposed to try and instead I am trying.

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

You're someone who understands the challenges. Coming from you, this comment means a lot. I am still entirely obsessed with understanding the world. If I stop researching and thinking and explaining, then I've lost the heart of who I am.

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

I can't get more work from a 4th, so none of those reasons are valid. This is because I am in my 60s and Australians over 60 are generally considered unemployable. My writing and my one day a week uni work is the best I'm likely to get. And I'm already the historian I dreamed of being.

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

I prefer to be called 'Gillian', but it's only Dr Dr - the examination has only just begin. The first was to become an historian, but there was now ork. The second was because I was told novelists who were also historians couldn't teach. The 3rd gave me enough income to get through COVID.

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

Give me ten solid reasons for a fourth doctorate and... I might think about it but I still won't do one!

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

I have submitted my thesis. If anyone wants to ask if I plan to do another PhD, please tell them "I do not need another one." Really, truly. I now have to finish a rather silly vampire novel, essays, and a book on how we explain history and how this tells us who we think we are.

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

It took that long to meet in person, too. And you live just 2 states away from me! (If one travels very carefully.)

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Reposted by Gillian Polack

Chaucer Doth Tweet @levostregc.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

*INDIANA JONES AND THE CLOSURE OF THE ARCHAEOLOGY DEPARTMENT*

A news story: "Disney Reportedly Planning Full Reboot of the INDIANA JONES Franchise"

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

If you find out, I know how to make them into door ornaments.

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

That's a strange and wonderful book.

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

I first programmed on my father's ZX80 (for a very limited meaning of 'programmed', obviously), but got to play with punch cards years earlier. I suspect this doesn't count, because I used them to make ornaments. My father was learning programming.

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

I have finished a PhD thesis. I now need to sleep for a month.

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

The report listed things, so I looked for the biggest block of words from a single source. It was 666 words. Those 666 words were a lot of small phrases (common ones) and the titles of books. It wasn't 666 words: it was 10 words and 6 words and 5 more words and ... I am a failure at plagiarism.

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

I've just done the plagiarism check for my thesis. I am a failure. Anyone expecting otherwise needs coffee. Or tea. Or maybe a good night's sleep. You see, I'm not just a failure, I'm a total failure.

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

You've got me thinking about the changes in Australia. Until the late 70s, migrants were expected to integrate. We could keep traditions at home, but there was an Aussie diaculture. Food culture was shared, but everyone spoke English, for instance. More recently, migrants retain more and change less

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

I am almost finished my degree. This means I am in a very particular mood and best avoided. Until Thursday is over, I will adjust your punctuation, clear up three sentences, and fill in two forms as part of any conversation. My mood shows: when two things were delivered today, no-one stopped to chat

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Gillian Polack @gillianpolack.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

I so hope that the leaders of that Irish island community are all Sidhe. I'm not sure it would be safe to visit, though. When you return home you might age a hundred years.

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