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Natasha Simonova

@philistella.bsky.social

1.5K followers 240 following 1.5K posts

Research Fellow @ies-sas.bsky.social, Bougie London Literary Woman, cat concierge. Book on 18th-century women's letters forthcoming from Chatto & Windus. natashasimonova.com

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Natasha Simonova @philistella.bsky.social · Nov 9

Excited for this energy! About me: one foot still in academia (17th/18th c., women's writing, manuscripts, fiction), working on a trade book about 18th-century women's letters, always up for freelance writing/reviewing gigs or new friends and events around London. Servant to small elderly cat.

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Reposted by Natasha Simonova

Kendra, regular version @kendrawcandraw.bsky.social · 19h

You can't logic your way out of being burnt out. Unless you're me. Who should be able to do it and it's a personal failing that I can't

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Natasha Simonova @philistella.bsky.social · 2h

All the men saying 'oh but they don't mean A-level English Literature, they just mean to the same standard as a A-level in modern languages' will be shocked to hear what's been happening to A-levels and degrees in modern languages.

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Natasha Simonova @philistella.bsky.social · 2h

Honestly if they'd just run on a 'everyone in the country has to write an essay about The Duchess of Malfi' platform I might have been on board

Natasha Simonova @philistella.bsky.social · 2h

My high school class recently posted a picture of the 20-year reunion (which I obviously didn't attend) and it was such a weird mix of girls who looked exactly the same down to the last highlight and portly middle-aged men.

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Natasha Simonova @philistella.bsky.social · 3h

You simply cannot successfully integrate into British society unless you can write 800 words on the role of gender in 'A Streetcar Named Desire'.

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Natasha Simonova @philistella.bsky.social · 3h

Super important for recent immigrants to be able to use the phrase 'semantic field' in a sentence, no they don't have to use it correctly, don't be silly.

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Natasha Simonova @philistella.bsky.social · 3h

ONLY migrants though, no one else is to study English because it's a rip off and a waste of time, am I getting this right.

András Forgács W @andraswf.bsky.social · 4h

Well this will certainly do it www.gov.uk/government/n...

Migrants will be required to pass A Level standard of English

Migrants will be required to pass tough new English language requirements under a law introduced in Parliament today.

www.gov.uk

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Natasha Simonova @philistella.bsky.social · 5h

Ooh this looks fun!

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 6h

It's not Masquerade Monday, BUT! 'The Masquerade: A History of Extravagance and Intrigue' is now available for pre-order & you can get 25% off through Friday!

www.waterstones.com/book/the-mas...

If you think Bridgerton will be juicy, just wait til you get your hands on this 😏🤫 #18thc

Natasha Simonova @philistella.bsky.social · 5h

I'd probably go to Cluny, I didn't get to last time as my travel companion had had enough Old Stuff (tm) at the Louvre.

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Will Wiles @willwiles.bsky.social · 6h

Performatively reading in the cafe, but wearing white gloves so I'm still venerating the Book As Object, with a t-shirt saying "I know archivists don't wear gloves" so people know the gloves are performative.

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Natasha Simonova @philistella.bsky.social · 8h

Love this - I've been making the connection between Wimsey and that Eco passage ever since I read both at a formative age

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Natasha Simonova @philistella.bsky.social · 18h

Ah Samuel Johnson, the most hinged of men.

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Natasha Simonova @philistella.bsky.social · 18h

Oh, 'you might as well insert a love story into the fifth proposition of Euclid'? Skill issue.

Natasha Simonova @philistella.bsky.social · 18h

They should get rid of romance novels but put romance subplots into all the other books, the more unexpected the better.

Rachel Feder @rachelfeder.bsky.social · 1d

Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat

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Natasha Simonova @philistella.bsky.social · 19h

(also that whole outrage about how 'the internet is destroying your ability to read' was funny because, per Abby Williams, 18th-century people didn't read linearly either!)

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Natasha Simonova @philistella.bsky.social · 19h

There are some books where I try to unhinge my brain and shove the whole thing in simultaneously, without regard for linear time

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Natasha Simonova @philistella.bsky.social · 19h

You suspect correctly!

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Natasha Simonova @philistella.bsky.social · 20h

Prompt-engineering ChatGPT to tell me the exact level of home cleanliness that my mother won't make passive-aggressive comments about

Natasha Simonova @philistella.bsky.social · 21h

I even recalled the exact frying-pan visual! THE INCREDIBLE EDIBLE EGG. youtu.be/i9YJLCn4esE?...

EGGS, I love eggs from my head down to my legs, the incredible edible egg, commercial, Nov. 25, 1994

YouTube video by Outer Galaxy Lounge

youtu.be

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Natasha Simonova @philistella.bsky.social · 21h

This just made me remember another childhood food-advert jingle lodged deep in my brain, paid for by the egg board: 'I love eggs! From my head down to my leeeegs!'

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bleary @bleary.off-the-records.com · 23h

If anyone needs me I will be in the museum, lying down next to the bog bodies.

Did people really memorize phone numbers before cell phones, or is that just a movie thing?
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I was watching some old shows from the 90s and noticed people would just dial numbers from memory - like they'd call their friends or family without looking anything up.
Made me wonder if that was actually normal back then? Did people genuinely have all their important numbers memorized, or did most folks keep a little address book or written list nearby?

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Natasha Simonova @philistella.bsky.social · 21h

Somehow I can never find the form when I need it, they link it in the most obscure way possible and my browser won't remember it! At this point I'm basically memorising the URL.

Natasha Simonova @philistella.bsky.social · 23h

Online form, filled out once per item (max 6): forms.office.com/pages/respon...

Microsoft Forms

forms.office.com

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Natasha Simonova @philistella.bsky.social · 1d

She has leaf-litter in her magnificent tail and whiskers and googly eyes of the purest teal.

Natasha Simonova @philistella.bsky.social · 1d

I really have no desire to ever own a Persian cat, but Apricot, the appropriately-coloured little dollface Persian who lives a few doors down and is constantly outside chirping for pets, is simply the best and prettiest girl in the world (no one tell Penny).

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