Olivia Smith
@oliviasmith.bsky.social
Early modernist. Thinking with literature and science about natural history, big emotions, cognition. I like working in archives, or do I mean hiding?
Pinned
Olivia Smith
@oliviasmith.bsky.social
· Nov 12
Hello, I am a researcher of mixtures: early modern literature, big feelings, writing, the natural world, love— those sorts of things. I have a little substack to put my most casual mixtures on: ofsmith.substack.com
Goodbye to my favourite boots, which have taken their final steps due to a broken sole. In the past years they have walked me through more danger and adventure than would fill ten normal boot lifetimes. Thank you, dear boots. Adieu.
January 21, 2026 at 8:37 PM
Goodbye to my favourite boots, which have taken their final steps due to a broken sole. In the past years they have walked me through more danger and adventure than would fill ten normal boot lifetimes. Thank you, dear boots. Adieu.
Have bitten off more than I can chew. Feel like I'm in a pinnacle verse of 'Went to Mow a Meadow'.
January 19, 2026 at 11:18 AM
Have bitten off more than I can chew. Feel like I'm in a pinnacle verse of 'Went to Mow a Meadow'.
Who has written the best essay/big footnote on the wordplay/concept 'nothing' in early modern literature?
January 19, 2026 at 11:16 AM
Who has written the best essay/big footnote on the wordplay/concept 'nothing' in early modern literature?
Reposted by Olivia Smith
Bewitched by the romance of a Belgian garden ft.trib.al/ZuoUXuR | opinion
Bewitched by the romance of a Belgian garden
Enchantment blooms in every corner of Kalmthout Arboretum
ft.trib.al
January 16, 2026 at 5:37 AM
Bewitched by the romance of a Belgian garden ft.trib.al/ZuoUXuR | opinion
For other Nan Goldin superfans, Ballad of Sexual Dependency is showing at the Gagosian currently. I have loved this photo-essay since I was a teenager. gagosian.com/exhibitions/...
January 15, 2026 at 10:19 AM
For other Nan Goldin superfans, Ballad of Sexual Dependency is showing at the Gagosian currently. I have loved this photo-essay since I was a teenager. gagosian.com/exhibitions/...
Reposted by Olivia Smith
I've sung it a couple of times but not for ages. As you'll remember it's not the notes, it's the total concentration that is key. If your attention goes and you slip from the score you NEVER find your way back in. It's like being inside 16th century Phil Spector wall of sound.
January 15, 2026 at 9:35 AM
I've sung it a couple of times but not for ages. As you'll remember it's not the notes, it's the total concentration that is key. If your attention goes and you slip from the score you NEVER find your way back in. It's like being inside 16th century Phil Spector wall of sound.
Reposted by Olivia Smith
SCREAMING. Just learned that the first man to play Mr Blobby was a classically trained Shakespearean actor.
BLOBBY OR NOT BLOBBY?
ET TU, BLOBBY?
BLOBBY OR NOT BLOBBY?
ET TU, BLOBBY?
January 14, 2026 at 4:04 PM
SCREAMING. Just learned that the first man to play Mr Blobby was a classically trained Shakespearean actor.
BLOBBY OR NOT BLOBBY?
ET TU, BLOBBY?
BLOBBY OR NOT BLOBBY?
ET TU, BLOBBY?
Reposted by Olivia Smith
Publishing in the Humanities:
January 9, 2026 at 10:05 AM
Publishing in the Humanities:
Reposted by Olivia Smith
I don't know anything about D. H. Lawrence's writing, but his delivery company is a joke.
January 6, 2026 at 5:13 PM
I don't know anything about D. H. Lawrence's writing, but his delivery company is a joke.
First day back in the office and my computer had died by 10, going out with this glitchy, ominous message.
January 6, 2026 at 5:19 PM
First day back in the office and my computer had died by 10, going out with this glitchy, ominous message.
We got in the habit of having brandy cream in our coffee over the holidays, a habit I am finding hard to break.
January 5, 2026 at 5:52 AM
We got in the habit of having brandy cream in our coffee over the holidays, a habit I am finding hard to break.
I would like to report the death of a game. Or the disinvolvement of my house in one.
Each year, when my boiler is checked, the plumber prints a little receipt-like report and puts it on the boiler with one of my magnets. It is stats about how the boiler is working, but in among them he types,
Each year, when my boiler is checked, the plumber prints a little receipt-like report and puts it on the boiler with one of my magnets. It is stats about how the boiler is working, but in among them he types,
January 4, 2026 at 8:18 PM
I would like to report the death of a game. Or the disinvolvement of my house in one.
Each year, when my boiler is checked, the plumber prints a little receipt-like report and puts it on the boiler with one of my magnets. It is stats about how the boiler is working, but in among them he types,
Each year, when my boiler is checked, the plumber prints a little receipt-like report and puts it on the boiler with one of my magnets. It is stats about how the boiler is working, but in among them he types,
Reposted by Olivia Smith
This painting is very notable as it earned Ireland our very first OLYMPIC MEDAL in Paris in 1924, when painting was an event
The Liffey Swim, Dublin, 1923, painting by Jack B. Yeats, 1871-1957 (National Gallery of Ireland).
January 4, 2026 at 11:53 AM
This painting is very notable as it earned Ireland our very first OLYMPIC MEDAL in Paris in 1924, when painting was an event
Reposted by Olivia Smith
Love the sound of these rewilding plans but cannot read about them without thinking about the fact small donors are raising money to hand over £30m to *one chap* who has inherited a tract of land *the size of Athens*. Very British story, somehow.
'The trust wants to buy the Rothbury estate, put up for sale by the Duke of Northumberland’s youngest son, Max Percy. At more than 3,800 hectares (nearly 15 sq miles), the Rothbury estate is the largest piece of land in single ownership to come up for sale in England for more than 30 years.' 1/3
Northumberland nature recovery project takes shape with biggest land sale in 30 years
Wildlife trust is raising funds to buy largest piece of land in single ownership to come up for sale in England for a generation
www.theguardian.com
December 31, 2025 at 9:40 AM
Love the sound of these rewilding plans but cannot read about them without thinking about the fact small donors are raising money to hand over £30m to *one chap* who has inherited a tract of land *the size of Athens*. Very British story, somehow.
Reposted by Olivia Smith
Take a look at our blog on the essential contributions of women to fungal biodiversity data in the early 20th century.
Meg Burgess discusses the importance of the history of mycology & how it affects understanding of scientific, working class, & domestic cultures.
www.york.ac.uk/anthropocene...
Meg Burgess discusses the importance of the history of mycology & how it affects understanding of scientific, working class, & domestic cultures.
www.york.ac.uk/anthropocene...
December 18, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Take a look at our blog on the essential contributions of women to fungal biodiversity data in the early 20th century.
Meg Burgess discusses the importance of the history of mycology & how it affects understanding of scientific, working class, & domestic cultures.
www.york.ac.uk/anthropocene...
Meg Burgess discusses the importance of the history of mycology & how it affects understanding of scientific, working class, & domestic cultures.
www.york.ac.uk/anthropocene...
Reposted by Olivia Smith
I am going to miss the hand lettering here. It gives everything such a human feel.
#handlettering #typography #signpainting #trinidad #tobago
#handlettering #typography #signpainting #trinidad #tobago
January 1, 2026 at 10:13 PM
I am going to miss the hand lettering here. It gives everything such a human feel.
#handlettering #typography #signpainting #trinidad #tobago
#handlettering #typography #signpainting #trinidad #tobago
I'd like a lifetime's supply of Epoisses.
Assuming this is Santa's cheese wish engine.
Assuming this is Santa's cheese wish engine.
December 23, 2025 at 10:43 PM
I'd like a lifetime's supply of Epoisses.
Assuming this is Santa's cheese wish engine.
Assuming this is Santa's cheese wish engine.
Reposted by Olivia Smith
In the south aisle of Beckley church (Oxfordshire) are remarkable medieval wall paintings depicting the fate of souls.
December 17, 2025 at 9:19 PM
In the south aisle of Beckley church (Oxfordshire) are remarkable medieval wall paintings depicting the fate of souls.
Reposted by Olivia Smith
Chat GPT is very close to human consciousness because it complements me and is also a lady.
December 17, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Chat GPT is very close to human consciousness because it complements me and is also a lady.
On St Giles in Oxford the christmas light theme is murderous teddy bears with red, glowing eyes.
December 17, 2025 at 8:47 PM
On St Giles in Oxford the christmas light theme is murderous teddy bears with red, glowing eyes.
I wanted to repost this as soon as it came out. Anna Ciaunica's work is so interesting to me, I think she's right.
What if thinking doesn’t begin in the brain, but in the ceaseless labour of our cells? Today’s essay rethinks the question of how we become minds, arguing that cognition begins not in the mind but in the collective processes that keep a body alive @annaciaunica.bsky.social
Why you need your whole body – from head to toes – to think | Aeon Essays
Contemplating the world requires a body, and a body requires an immune system: the rungs of life create the stuff of thought
buff.ly
December 14, 2025 at 10:51 PM
I wanted to repost this as soon as it came out. Anna Ciaunica's work is so interesting to me, I think she's right.
I just wanted to say that I hate people saying 'financials' (financial details, accounts) and 'socials' (social media accounts).
December 14, 2025 at 10:43 PM
I just wanted to say that I hate people saying 'financials' (financial details, accounts) and 'socials' (social media accounts).
I haven't been on here much. The top inch of my phone screen has stopped working, thereby weaning me off all technology that involves pressing 'send' or 'post', ruining my career as a carrier pigeon and most of my friendships.
December 14, 2025 at 10:36 AM
I haven't been on here much. The top inch of my phone screen has stopped working, thereby weaning me off all technology that involves pressing 'send' or 'post', ruining my career as a carrier pigeon and most of my friendships.
Reposted by Olivia Smith
So love wobbegongs. Everything is good about the wobbegong. Its name. Its flattened Oscar the Grouch face. Its frondy bits. Its lazy life as a hungry rug. And it’s a shark. Outstanding animal 10/10
The Tasselled Wobbegong is a master of disguise that can eat a fish almost as big as itself in one gulp. It's classified as a shark, but when it lays on the sea floor it looks like a harmless rug if you manage to see it. But with powerful jaws and sharp teeth they are no fish to mess with.
December 8, 2025 at 9:49 AM
So love wobbegongs. Everything is good about the wobbegong. Its name. Its flattened Oscar the Grouch face. Its frondy bits. Its lazy life as a hungry rug. And it’s a shark. Outstanding animal 10/10