iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dr Matilda Fitzmaurice @matildaf.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

A juvenile kittiwake, giving 'rebellious teenager going through her Goth phase' vibes

A juvenile kittiwake, with striking black markings, standing on a grate with an adult and another juvenile in the background

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Dr Matilda Fitzmaurice @matildaf.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

glaring at people since (at least) 1993

Baby me (about 2 years old) wearing a dark blue jumper with a pink pattern on it, and a pink headband. I've got a bob with a blocky fringe and I'm glaring at the camera.

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Dr Matilda Fitzmaurice @matildaf.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

the three genders: Marx, Lenin and Hardie

A red Durham Miners' Association banner from the Chopwell Lodge. At the centre are portraits of Marx (left) Lenin (right) and Keir Hardie (centre)

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Dr Matilda Fitzmaurice @matildaf.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

I found one of this group's flyers in my local supermarket (it's in the bin now). I hadn't heard of them before but a friend sent me this piece (which is too sympathetic in my view). Be warned. www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

A photo of an extremely text-heavy flyer for the far-right astroturf 'Pink Ladies' movement which calls for 'British Women First'

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Dr Matilda Fitzmaurice @matildaf.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Hove, you're lush. What a tonic after last week.

I'm wearing a denim jacket, a Girls Aloud tshirt and a massive goofy smile because I'm on the beach.

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Dr Matilda Fitzmaurice @matildaf.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

She was chill like this for a few minutes at a time before getting up and pacing and standing in the way of the telly again. She's 17, I don't know how she has the energy.

A very elderly terrier cross dog who is a fox-red type colour with a white face, curled up on a colourful pink cushion.

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Dr Matilda Fitzmaurice @matildaf.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

🎶I really really really really really really like you 🎶🐕

One elderly pug-shih tzu cross (tongue out) and one even more elderly terrier cross staring at the camera

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Dr Matilda Fitzmaurice @matildaf.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

good day to remind everyone how good Harold Wilson looked in shorts

former UK Labour prime minister Harold Wilson showing off excellent tanned legs in a pair of shorts, a blue shirt and brown closed sandals, against a seaside backdrop with islands. Also holding a pipe

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Dr Matilda Fitzmaurice @matildaf.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

Ballot finally arrived and posted! Voted for UCU Commons members and friends @markpendleton.bsky.social @drgillhistory.bsky.social @matthewbarnard.phd @profalexp.bsky.social, plus @suzitoole.bsky.social for VP FE plus independents! #ucu

Smiling me in glasses and a blue coat, about to post a white envelop into a red postbox. There are bare trees, grass, a bench and mid-century, red-brick residential buildings in the background.

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Dr Matilda Fitzmaurice @matildaf.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

which mug are you especially attached to at the moment? Mine is a cactus-green le creuset one I bought to cheer myself up a few years ago. I think it's partly the reassuring weight.

a chunky dark green Le Creuset mug full of black coffee, standing on a wooden table surface

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Dr Matilda Fitzmaurice @matildaf.bsky.social · 18/01/2026

I love a chayote squash. And I love them even more given they look like Audrey Two.

A green chayote squash that looks like Audrey Two (the human-eating plant from Little Shop of Horrors)

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Dr Matilda Fitzmaurice @matildaf.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

I'm trying to learn to like wintery weather, so a bit of a NY resolution is to get outside during daylight hours, every day, whatever the weather. From today: wintery borders and playpark scenes!

A wintery landscaped border backed by a stone balustrade and with a park bench in the bottom right hand corner. Large conifer trees are in the top right hand corner.

A deserted kids' play area against the backdrop of a hill still dusted with white ice. There are bare trees in the foreground and the horizon, low clouds and a bright blue sky.

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Dr Matilda Fitzmaurice @matildaf.bsky.social · 03/01/2026

Posting pictures of latte art like it's 2015

A latte art rabbit, in a turquoise coloured cup and saucer with a white rim, on a grey table.

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Dr Matilda Fitzmaurice @matildaf.bsky.social · 03/01/2026

No word of a lie, I think about how lucky I am to live where I do almost every single day.

Snowy Ouseburn valley, with a large metal railway viaduct. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, 3rd January 2026.

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Dr Matilda Fitzmaurice @matildaf.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

how cute are Gloria Estefan and her hubby

Gloria Estefan looking snatched standing next to her husband, Emilio Estefan

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Dr Matilda Fitzmaurice @matildaf.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

While the powers that be destroy things, we continue to grow and create

A hessian bag containing about 10 pink Desiree variety potatoes, of varying sizes

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Dr Matilda Fitzmaurice @matildaf.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

Grattis på födelsedagen/a very happy 80th birthday to this guy

Bjorn Ulvaeus as a young man with his daughter, Linda

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Dr Matilda Fitzmaurice @matildaf.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

Happy 75th birthday to Agnetha Fältskog. Public holiday now

A black and white photo of the young Agnetha Fältskog, an angel among us mere mortals.

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Dr Matilda Fitzmaurice @matildaf.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

who among us has never wished they were a pig

A brown and black spotty pig lying contentedly in the straw

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Dr Matilda Fitzmaurice @matildaf.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

It's a sunny day in Newcastle so a great time to post my UCU NEC elections ballot! Vote for candidates who put our union, our struggling sector and our jobs first, not their own political agendas. (And, first crocuses of the year!)

A UCU NEC elections ballot paper being put in a red postbox

Purple crocuses blooming, surrounded by dead leaves

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Dr Matilda Fitzmaurice @matildaf.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

Tahinobiskoto: almond, tahini and honey cookies. Easiest thing to make ever

a grey-blue plate full of small round biscuits coated in black sesame seeds

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Dr Matilda Fitzmaurice @matildaf.bsky.social · 22/12/2024

Great first half, shame about the second #OTBC

Scoreboard at the Stadium of Light, Norwich one nil up to Sunderland in the 21st minute (and stayed 1-0 up throughout the first half)

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Dr Matilda Fitzmaurice @matildaf.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

I need to log off and get on with revisions but I also submitted a motion for Thursday's Special HEC (below). The hostility I received in response can only lead me to conclude that people in the meeting did not want any version of the motion to pass. Why oppose researching member disengagement?

Research on member disengagement

Proposed by: Matilda Fitzmaurice
Seconded by: Dyfrig Jones

HEC notes:

The result of consultative ballot of members, especially the 27% turnout
The narrow majority willing to engage in industrial action
High levels of member disengagement across branches, as reported in the BDM

HEC believes that:

Local restructures, redundancies and budget cuts are taking member attention and energy away from national negotiations
BDM results only provide limited insight into member disengagement
We need to boost members’ confidence if we are to initiate a formal industrial action ballot

HEC resolves:

To undertake research on the underlying causes of member disengagement
To consult on a member-led strategy for tackling member disengagement

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Dr Matilda Fitzmaurice @matildaf.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

Sunderland museum and Winter Gardens against a winter sky. Plus, walrus.

A photo of Mowbray Park in Sunderland, England, with the city's museum and the glass rotunda of the Winter Gardens. There is also a large sculpture of a walrus and the sky has a watery winter light.

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Dr Matilda Fitzmaurice @matildaf.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

Last week of teaching! I may be sleep-deprived and sniffly but at least I'm in my Lucy & Yak

Me with my hair down, and glasses and white over-ear headphones on. I'm wearing a colourful Lucy & Yak jumpsuit with a dark roll neck top underneath. The jumpsuit has a floral pattern in blue, purple, red and yellow.

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