iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 22h

You know. It made me feel terrible last time, and all the times before that, but maybe it will be fine this time?

H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Announcing my new monograph: "The plural of 'ship' is 'sheep': Great Britian, the wool trade, and early modern naval dominance."

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

1000%. But is the counterpoint also true that it is not useful (as happens every time) for others to announce this is the smoking gun utterance that should sink him? It is always, as you say, so murky, that the oxygen should be spent on the aggregate and (more so) on his administration's actions?

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I have been pleasantly surprised by the percentage of my students turning against AI in the last 18 months. I actually suspect that, at least in the short term, the biggest effect in classes will continue to be widening the gap between successful students and failing ones.

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

So true! I remember seeing an ad once for some History PhD program that was something like, "Do you enjoy historical books and films? Would you like to not?"

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I have been told that I was (as a very sensitive child) scared of both The Count and the Yip Yip aliens from Sesame Street. But in terms of experiences I viscerally remember, at about 9 or 10 I snuck in the back of the room while my parents were watching Alien and saw THAT scene.

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Giving advice to PhD students again, and I want to make sure to share this key one with everyone out there. Very early in the process, you will be the expert in the room on your very narrow subject. By the end, you will be the expert in the world. Remind yourself of this frequently.

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

With the turnovers and penalties and swings, this feels so much more like a first game of the year than the fifth.

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

With all the terrible commercials out there right now, I am particularly angry at the “Brian Cox enrolled as a freshman” one because the idea is potentially so fun, but they did less than nothing with it.

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Panicked advisor: "No, no Senator Schmitt! I said people were concerned about 'self-owned businesses,' not those 'in the business of self-owns.'"

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Around 40% of U of Alabama’s undergraduates. As for me, I went to a school without Greek Life for a reason.

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Switching over from the US game and, yikes.

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Why is finding comps so hard? Or, maybe a better question, why, after a PhD and a zillion years teaching, am I still such a slow reader?? And why are the tags / search engines on bookfinder sites (Goodreads et al.) so woefully insufficient to help narrow the search?

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Really the biggest thing holding me back is the elusive second comp. Just cannot find something that feels right.

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

OK. So... finally have the first draft of book 2 to my super awesome reader. Now, maybe, I can get my head around actually searching for an agent for the series? Maybe??

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Oh god! It is a best of three series?

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

The follow up on this one has been interesting. Basically Lewis and Liam are saying the same thing; it was simply an unfortunate byproduct of the current regulations.

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

This! I got momentarily excited, saw he was not attached, and will never think of it again.

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

It is not quite a rice truck, but following the story has helped me through a rough day.

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Every video of this guy is so delightful. This one made me cry. I hate that "being a kind human" is such a high bar for public figures, but here we are.

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

A meme from one of my students last year:

Is is the Drake (boo) yes / no meme with Drake indicating no to the Bears' coach Ben Johnson and then pointing approvingly at Early Modern Playwright Ben Jonson. A bit of bonus trivia. Jonson managed to purchase himself space in Westminster Abbey to be buried near Chaucer (in what would become Poet's Corner). However, he was only able to afford a small bit of floor space so he was buried standing up, like a tent peg and, to add insult to injury, his name was misspelled "Ben Johnson," with an "h" like the coach.

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

A solid reason. Sometimes great art can wait for a great movie.

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I cannot stop thinking about this. Also, I am mentally filling out the casting. Brian Blessed as Gandalf??! His "You shall not pass" would incinerate the Balrog on the spot.

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Had a dream last night where I finally got an X. I had been dreaming of an X, and I was so proud and delighted that I had an X. I was going to put stickers all over the X, and it was going to be my most important possession ever. Then, I woke up, and I have no idea what the X was.

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Not on my Bingo Card today: A spirited argument amongst me and the Piggly-Wiggly cashiers about the merits of The Cranberries.

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

I do not understand Panda Express. Every once in a while, I forget lunch and am so starving at school that (if I cannot find the Taco Truck) I go to Panda Express. Every time, I feel like shit afterward. BUT THEN, I crave it for like a week! What addictive substance do they put in there?

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Right?! This is a real cliffhanger. I want to know what absurdism comes next.

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

It is like "Plturt" but with the t and u synthesized into a single letter. It is Old English in its beauty like the "thorn" for a "th." A perfect representation of the bilabial plosive nature.

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Hydration break at the midpoint of the first half and we are already down 4-0. I guess pulling the Tottenham name was not just luck of the draw.

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

First soccer game of the season. Tuscaloosa summer weather with 90+ degrees, 200% humidity, and not a cold in the sky. WHY did I get my kid into this sport instead of something indoor like basketball or competitive tiddly-winks.

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Got some grading to do tonight, so I was looking to see what games were on. Actual internal conversation: "Rams v 49ers. In Australia. Jet-lagged contenders sounds interesting. Where is it...? Netflix? Huh. I wonder if Florida A&M has anything going for them this year..."

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Today a student said I have “girl dad energy” which I am going to take as a huge compliment.

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I Palindrome I is so good to sing / shout along to. And, since it is Star Trek 60th day, I figure I should share this.

An image of the Original Star Trek Bridge with officers gathered around looking at the Tardis which has apparently materialized there. Text reads "What's that blue thing... ... doing here?!" Not sure of the origins. Probably from the They Might Be Hipsters website.

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

A brutal question. Going to eliminate ones you picked (Ana Ng is a perfect song). Maybe: Don't Let's Start, Twisting, Judy is Your Vietnam (good version), and the criminally underrated By the Time You Get This. I feel like this is a question that will be different tomorrow??

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I actually never took a class with him but I looked him up just now and, speaking of pedagogy, here is a former student: "What I will never forget was the Dr. Pietenpol would throw little boxes of raisins to us when we came in to take final exams. I’m still not sure what that was all about."

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I cannot believe this joke has somehow survived from my undergrad (someone came up with it in maybe '99) and caught on with a ton of people who literally never met him. It is like a fucking analog meme.

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Back in MY day we did not have to remember anything. We would just write everything down on old Pietenpol and read it back whenever we needed. And it worked out just fine.

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I still have it! "Back in MY day we didn't have all these fancy pedagogical questions. We would just wheel out old Pietenpol, and the students would watch him all class period. And it was just fine."

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

They ask me a simple one sentence question in an Email and I am all "Let me tell you about the summer of '05...."

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

I am teaching Large Lecture classes this semester and have six GTAs. I had not realized how much I was going to be subjecting them to the fucking pedagogical firehose, explaining not only what my class policies are but WHY they are in place from 25 years of experience. Constant walls of text.

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Just noticed the possessive apostrophe that slipped into my comment, but I will just attribute it to the same electrical hater gremlin that possessed Bobby's house.

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Check in on the Jason McCall's in your life today; make sure they did not die laughing last night, like the Weasels from Roger Rabbit.

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

I feel like Protein Pasta was the one that killed me. Like that is what you put ON pasta.

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Honestly, I read the headline and guessed Leto without even knowing if they worked together.

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

There is home cooking bullshit and then there is... whatever that was.

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H. Austin Whitver @majikmouse.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

I do not know how long you have been watching, but Western Michigan's drive that started early in the 3rd Quarter and lasted approximately 37 days, was a thing of absolute Sicko Beauty.

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