iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Patrick Thomson @patrickthomson.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

It's truly an Aprilmas miracle - this time, the ACS allowed an "outwith" to slip through the editorial process unchallenged! Attached is a screenshot of a word without a line through it, a totally normal thing to do.

An excerpt of text, centred on the word "outwith" which has no editorial trace markings on or around it.

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Patrick Thomson @patrickthomson.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

Top tip, don't create a CHEMISTRY outreach activity where you have to solder a hundred and fifty of something. #SpectroscopyInAnEnvelope

A large pile of electronic components, with scraps of wire in the foreground

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Patrick Thomson @patrickthomson.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

Excellent trip up to Dingwall Academy with @sci-drscott.bsky.social to run some Science CLPL, and deliver the first round of Spectroscopy In An Envelope instruments!

Multicoloured Lego bricks with LEDs attached to them

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Patrick Thomson @patrickthomson.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

I am delighted and surprised, or as surprised as you can be when you remember putting in the paperwork!

The change tracking for the alteration of "Teaching Fellow" to "Senior Teaching Fellow"

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Patrick Thomson @patrickthomson.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

We are fitting our own kitchen (not the royal we! Marrying an engineer has some benefits) and I actually used Duct Tape to Tape up a Duct and I've never been more devastated to realise I was previously stupid.

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Patrick Thomson @patrickthomson.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

With the decline of paper money and the "I'll have you know it's legal tender" conversation, us Scots need a new friction to export, so once again I find myself saying "it's a real word, albeit rarely used outwith Scotland"

A snippet of an editorial trace document, showing the word outwith has been replaced by the word outside

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Patrick Thomson @patrickthomson.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

It's the most wonderful time of the year [introductory aromatics for year 2, with a demonstration that doubles as lunch afterwards]

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Patrick Thomson @patrickthomson.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

How I hoped I'd look in a suit vs how I actually look:

George Clooney with ashort grey beard in a suit, looking dapper

Joe Wilkinson in a suit, looking like a scruffier Slavoj Žižek

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Patrick Thomson @patrickthomson.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

Broke: I used a 5-point Likert scale Woke: I used a 4-point Likert scale Bespoke:

A contestant on "Who wants to be a Millionaire", facing down the question:

"Boasting a guest verse from Dr. Dre, what classic '90s R&B hit features Blackstreet singing, "I like the way you work it"?

The four options are:
A: No Diggity
B: Hardly Any Diggity
C: A Fair Amount of Diggity
D: An Overwhelming Surplus of Diggity

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Patrick Thomson @patrickthomson.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

How I think I look when I teach / How I actually look when I teach.

Sir David Attenborough holding something and explaining it

Disheveled man in front of a red string paranoia pinboard

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Patrick Thomson @patrickthomson.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

I don't post much personal stuff here, but the reason I've been even quieter than normal in December is because honeymoon! Four years after the wedding! Back now. It was alright.

A shop sign for the New Zealand chain of pharmacies, "chemist warehouse", comically inverted to reflect that New Zealand is upside down.

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Patrick Thomson @patrickthomson.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

Update: Now I get to learn just how little I knew about doing good TA

A paper copy of the book "Thematic Analysis: A Practical Guide" by Braun & Clarke

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Patrick Thomson @patrickthomson.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

Gearing up to delete twitter history, and the funniest way to save it is to post some random context-free media from the downloaded archive. First up: how I still introduce hypervalent carbon compounds.

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Patrick Thomson @patrickthomson.bsky.social · 31/10/2024

It's halloween, what's the scariest Trek episode? Pretty hard to beat the one with actual ghosts IMO.

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Patrick Thomson @patrickthomson.bsky.social · 16/10/2024

Looking forward to welcoming Scottish chemistry teachers to #WoSChem25 hosted at @StrathChem in January! Advanced Higher Project CLPL as always! Signup/info: strath.ac.uk/science/chem...

A conference flier listing speakers for the 25th annual west of scotland meeting for teachers of chemistry, with talks from Jonathan Firth (Using Metacognition in your Classroom), Debra Willison (25 years of Chemistry CLPL at Strathclyde) and Louise McAdam (Discussion: Where Next for Chemistry Teaching?)

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Patrick Thomson @patrickthomson.bsky.social · 19/09/2024

Honestly? A 40% increase in psychiatric medication prescription after starting a PhD seems kinda low. From: t.co/7X4uEjzPCC

A chart showing the relationship between "years relative to PhD start" vs "change in psychiatric medication percentage", with baseline levels initially, rising to +40% five years after starting a PhD.

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Patrick Thomson @patrickthomson.bsky.social · 11/09/2024

Academic workload models often don't account for time spent keeping lectures up to date, such as accounting for the most cutting-edge visual gags in an introductory "food energy is just energy" physics for chemists lecture.

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Patrick Thomson @patrickthomson.bsky.social · 01/09/2024

If you see this, quote post with a beach photo from your gallery

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Patrick Thomson @patrickthomson.bsky.social · 31/08/2024

no, American Chemical Society, this is not an appropriate edit suggestion.

The word "outwith" has been butchered by philistines, by being edited into the word "outside"

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Patrick Thomson @patrickthomson.bsky.social · 29/08/2024

Oh great, cutting assessment can actually make students report *more* time pressure! #VICEPHEC24

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Patrick Thomson @patrickthomson.bsky.social · 29/08/2024

Bold work from Bristol, having final year students design and deliver a lecture/workshop to 2nd years, focusing on tricky topics! #ViCEPHEC24

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Patrick Thomson @patrickthomson.bsky.social · 29/08/2024

All I've been able to think about since arriving at #ViCEPHEC24 is that the Surrey logo looks like the stag is holding a skateboard and is about to do a sick drop into a half-pipe.

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Patrick Thomson @patrickthomson.bsky.social · 28/08/2024

Made it to Surrey! WHY IS THE SUN SO LOUD

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