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greenleejw.bsky.social
Surprised Eel Historian, PhD
@greenleejw.bsky.social
27K followers 330 following 7.5K posts
Surprised historian, not surprised eels. Doctor of medieval history, talking’ about eels, history, and maps. Spaniel mourner. Alt-text artist. I draw custom maps on commission: https://surprisedeelmaps.com/ Support me here: patreon.com/SurprisedEel
surprisedeelmaps.com
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greenleejw.bsky.social
Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · Nov 17
I draw custom maps on commission. Maps for books, games, decoration, etc. Here are a couple of examples. There are more on my website, along with a contact form and info about cost, process, etc.

If you need a map, I'm happy to help!

surprisedeelmaps.com
A black and white map showing a city plan for ancient Mycenae. A black and white map showing downtown NY, with small drawings of city landmarks in small snowglobes around the outside of the map. Each drawing is labeled with a number, and the map has corresponding numbers to show where the landmarks are located. A colored fantasy-style map of a land labeled "Examploria." A black and white map of medieval Iberia, focused on the Christian kingdoms in the northern part of the peninsula.
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greenleejw.bsky.social
Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · 27m
There are eels on each map, but that’s it, I’m afraid
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greenleejw.bsky.social
Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · 37m
The cheapest way to own copies of 5 of my maps!

Also, these are both excellent and well-written books.
lollardfish.bsky.social
David M. Perry @lollardfish.bsky.social · 58m
Post-order Oathbreakers and The Bright Ages here. Pay zero shipping from @bookshop.org. Me and @profgabriele.com tried to write it real good for you!

bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

and

bookshop.org/p/books/oath...
The Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe
A New History of Medieval Europe
bookshop.org
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greenleejw.bsky.social
Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · 1h
Thank you
greenleejw.bsky.social
Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · 2h
Next time I’ll draw a different moon
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Reposted by Surprised Eel Historian, PhD
greenleejw.bsky.social
Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · 16h
The Hunter's Moon
Art. A drawing of a gold and orange full moon behind the bare limbs of a tree or bush. The tree is done in black. The background of the piece is a grey that is as soft as a mole's dream.
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greenleejw.bsky.social
Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · 11h
Thank you!
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greenleejw.bsky.social
Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · 13h
Awww
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greenleejw.bsky.social
Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · 14h
I had a very productive day.
- I drew a hamster for a client
- I drew the moon for myself
- I drew a map of Scandinavia and its billion miles of coastline

That’s a lot of drawing. Time to relax and…errr…curses. I usually draw to relax. But that’s a very different kind of drawing, so it’s ok.
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greenleejw.bsky.social
Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · 16h
Nope
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Reposted by Surprised Eel Historian, PhD
greenleejw.bsky.social
Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · 18h
A poem for this afternoon. I wrote it several years ago, and come back to it often.
Damage We live in such a disposable time, throwing away and buying new, in and out, as easily as breathing. Standing in the center of ourselves, we move along from damaged things before they can become uncomfortable. Before they make us think. Make us work. We live as if the loss is all we have, and injuries can never be redeemed. But damaged isn’t broken, and the whispers of the wrecking world are often easy lies, for we are neither perfect-made nor sinful born, and sometimes worth is buried dark-earth deep. It need not be our nature to destroy what feels undone, or put too much belief in all the permanence of hurt when we cane be the tinkers of our souls, and mend ourselves anew instead of falling to the scrapheap of despair. We do not need to be disposable; it is only damage. – John Wyatt Greenlee
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greenleejw.bsky.social
Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · 16h
Thank you!
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greenleejw.bsky.social
Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · 16h
Thank you!
1
greenleejw.bsky.social
Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · 16h
Yup.
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greenleejw.bsky.social
Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · 16h
The Hunter's Moon
Art. A drawing of a gold and orange full moon behind the bare limbs of a tree or bush. The tree is done in black. The background of the piece is a grey that is as soft as a mole's dream.
4 12 150
greenleejw.bsky.social
Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · 16h
People need to listen to Bricktop opine about pigs, man...
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greenleejw.bsky.social
Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · 16h
That could still be!
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greenleejw.bsky.social
Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · 18h
Cognitive dissonance is the harmony of their spheres
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greenleejw.bsky.social
Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · 18h
A poem for this afternoon. I wrote it several years ago, and come back to it often.
Damage We live in such a disposable time, throwing away and buying new, in and out, as easily as breathing. Standing in the center of ourselves, we move along from damaged things before they can become uncomfortable. Before they make us think. Make us work. We live as if the loss is all we have, and injuries can never be redeemed. But damaged isn’t broken, and the whispers of the wrecking world are often easy lies, for we are neither perfect-made nor sinful born, and sometimes worth is buried dark-earth deep. It need not be our nature to destroy what feels undone, or put too much belief in all the permanence of hurt when we cane be the tinkers of our souls, and mend ourselves anew instead of falling to the scrapheap of despair. We do not need to be disposable; it is only damage. – John Wyatt Greenlee
4 13 79
Reposted by Surprised Eel Historian, PhD
greenleejw.bsky.social
Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · 1d
Eels' slipperiness is the basis for the some of our oldest eel metaphors.

In the 5th C. BCE, the Greek poet Simonides wrote that a slippery character -- say, like, a politician who is running for office to avoid prison -- is “like an eel down in the slime."

And that's bad.
🗃️🧪
Meme. Colored medieval drawing of Simonides. You can tell it's him because his name is written above his head. Otherwise you might not know, because he is dressed very much like a medieval merchant. He is wearing a big maroon hat with a green band, and an orange cloak over a stylish black and yellow shirt. His yellow hair is long and flowing, and he is holding a book in his lap in his right hand. His face is lined with care or worry, and he is looking somewhere off to your left. He is not paying attention to you at all, really. His thumb is holding his place in the middle of his book, and he looks like he's been interrupted in the middle of reading by some semi-distant disturbance. As if, somewhere off to your left, there is a bear trying to get onto a bus. The bear is apologetically looking for change to pay the fare, but everyone else is freaking out. Simonides is considering this scene, and writing a poem about it in his head. Meme text reads: "My best poetry is eeligiac poetry"
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greenleejw.bsky.social
Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · 1d
Eels' slipperiness is the basis for the some of our oldest eel metaphors.

In the 5th C. BCE, the Greek poet Simonides wrote that a slippery character -- say, like, a politician who is running for office to avoid prison -- is “like an eel down in the slime."

And that's bad.
🗃️🧪
Meme. Colored medieval drawing of Simonides. You can tell it's him because his name is written above his head. Otherwise you might not know, because he is dressed very much like a medieval merchant. He is wearing a big maroon hat with a green band, and an orange cloak over a stylish black and yellow shirt. His yellow hair is long and flowing, and he is holding a book in his lap in his right hand. His face is lined with care or worry, and he is looking somewhere off to your left. He is not paying attention to you at all, really. His thumb is holding his place in the middle of his book, and he looks like he's been interrupted in the middle of reading by some semi-distant disturbance. As if, somewhere off to your left, there is a bear trying to get onto a bus. The bear is apologetically looking for change to pay the fare, but everyone else is freaking out. Simonides is considering this scene, and writing a poem about it in his head. Meme text reads: "My best poetry is eeligiac poetry"
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Reposted by Surprised Eel Historian, PhD
greenleejw.bsky.social
Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · 1d
A poem for this evening
Someday Some days we are storm-borne on the honest ocean. Some days we are spat up on the sand. But someday... Someday we will meet the far horizon where the stars are all extinguished in the sea, and we will find our solace there within the endless arc of slowly breathing sky. -- John Wyatt Greenlee
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greenleejw.bsky.social
Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · 1d
Thank you!
greenleejw.bsky.social
Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · 1d
Salted and smoked
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greenleejw.bsky.social
Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · 1d
Also, Crossfire sounds like a bad 90's christian rock group
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greenleejw.bsky.social
Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · 1d
A poem for this evening
Someday Some days we are storm-borne on the honest ocean. Some days we are spat up on the sand. But someday... Someday we will meet the far horizon where the stars are all extinguished in the sea, and we will find our solace there within the endless arc of slowly breathing sky. -- John Wyatt Greenlee
3 20 130