Simon Pulleyn
@simonpulleyn.bsky.social
Read LitHum at Balliol. Former Lecturer in Classics at Merton. Honorary Research Fellow at Dept of Greek and Latin, UCL. Solicitor (nowadays non-practising). Fellow, Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics. Gay. 🏳️🌈
Comments in personal capacity only.
Comments in personal capacity only.
I think of a student back in the 90s, theatrically indignant because a colleague of mine had recorded her assessment mark as gamma double plus when in fact it was gamma triple plus.
November 12, 2025 at 7:27 AM
I think of a student back in the 90s, theatrically indignant because a colleague of mine had recorded her assessment mark as gamma double plus when in fact it was gamma triple plus.
Does anyone know anything about orchids? I got this one from a kind neighbour. Two of its four leaves look unhealthy. The others are lustrous. I have watered it sparingly. I gather they prefer very little water. But it looks to my inexpert eye like dehydration. Thoughts?
November 9, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Does anyone know anything about orchids? I got this one from a kind neighbour. Two of its four leaves look unhealthy. The others are lustrous. I have watered it sparingly. I gather they prefer very little water. But it looks to my inexpert eye like dehydration. Thoughts?
Occasionally you come across people who have faces that seem to belong to another century and another world.
The crucifer at Mass this morning looked like Albrecht Dürer in his self-portrait in the likeness of Jesus.
The crucifer at Mass this morning looked like Albrecht Dürer in his self-portrait in the likeness of Jesus.
November 9, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Occasionally you come across people who have faces that seem to belong to another century and another world.
The crucifer at Mass this morning looked like Albrecht Dürer in his self-portrait in the likeness of Jesus.
The crucifer at Mass this morning looked like Albrecht Dürer in his self-portrait in the likeness of Jesus.
Fr Hubert Bonnet-Aymard is the Superior of the Marist community that runs Notre Dame de France in Soho. In this photo, he is in the foreground with red chasuble. He has in the past been good to me. I saw him today and he is grievously ill with cancer. Please pray for him.
November 6, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Fr Hubert Bonnet-Aymard is the Superior of the Marist community that runs Notre Dame de France in Soho. In this photo, he is in the foreground with red chasuble. He has in the past been good to me. I saw him today and he is grievously ill with cancer. Please pray for him.
But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.
November 5, 2025 at 5:27 PM
But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.
I’m watching the brilliant Anna Maxwell Martin in the deeply creepy Midwinter of the Spirit. She plays an Anglican priest training facing a load of diabolists. There’s a scene where she runs into church.
And crosses herself.
The. Wrong. Way. Round.
Does nobody advise properly on this stuff?
And crosses herself.
The. Wrong. Way. Round.
Does nobody advise properly on this stuff?
November 4, 2025 at 11:04 PM
I’m watching the brilliant Anna Maxwell Martin in the deeply creepy Midwinter of the Spirit. She plays an Anglican priest training facing a load of diabolists. There’s a scene where she runs into church.
And crosses herself.
The. Wrong. Way. Round.
Does nobody advise properly on this stuff?
And crosses herself.
The. Wrong. Way. Round.
Does nobody advise properly on this stuff?
“Thy wounds surpass not the Great Physician’s skill.”
St Cyril of Jerusalem
Catechetical Lecture 2.6
St Cyril of Jerusalem
Catechetical Lecture 2.6
November 1, 2025 at 1:38 PM
“Thy wounds surpass not the Great Physician’s skill.”
St Cyril of Jerusalem
Catechetical Lecture 2.6
St Cyril of Jerusalem
Catechetical Lecture 2.6
Ok. So now I have Missal envy. Yours has far better artwork.
October 31, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Ok. So now I have Missal envy. Yours has far better artwork.
Woke up. Realized it was Halloween today. Felt like:
October 31, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Woke up. Realized it was Halloween today. Felt like:
It’s always the quiet ones, isn’t it? All those Morningside facades …
October 31, 2025 at 10:08 AM
It’s always the quiet ones, isn’t it? All those Morningside facades …
Nancy Mitford would approve!
October 24, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Nancy Mitford would approve!
I had to go to Selfridge’s to get some perfume for a sterling person. But neither perfume nor Selfridge’s fall within my expertise. Surrounded by a boundless sea of “fragrance” brands, most of which I’d never heard of, much less care about, I felt like a rabbit in headlights.
October 22, 2025 at 8:32 PM
I had to go to Selfridge’s to get some perfume for a sterling person. But neither perfume nor Selfridge’s fall within my expertise. Surrounded by a boundless sea of “fragrance” brands, most of which I’d never heard of, much less care about, I felt like a rabbit in headlights.
Hey ho. Another wasted trip. Turns out they meant “menswear”. 🤷
October 22, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Hey ho. Another wasted trip. Turns out they meant “menswear”. 🤷
That’s enough volts (ed.).
October 22, 2025 at 5:53 PM
That’s enough volts (ed.).
My spirits do lift when I am back in the North. They know, reflexively, that tea comes in a pot. And needs a cup and saucer. Actual tea. Strainer and all. Not like London where they hand you a beaker [sic] with a teabag floating in it. You might get a spoon if lucky.
October 13, 2025 at 2:13 PM
My spirits do lift when I am back in the North. They know, reflexively, that tea comes in a pot. And needs a cup and saucer. Actual tea. Strainer and all. Not like London where they hand you a beaker [sic] with a teabag floating in it. You might get a spoon if lucky.
Slow Horses has been such a treat.
Kristen Scott Thomas’s chilly character reminds me rather of Charlotte Rampling in London Spy.
Gary Oldman: breathtaking.
Saskia Reeves is so wonderfully dry. “Le Blanc Russe - don’t say anything.”
Jonathan Pryce: handy with a shotgun.
Kristen Scott Thomas’s chilly character reminds me rather of Charlotte Rampling in London Spy.
Gary Oldman: breathtaking.
Saskia Reeves is so wonderfully dry. “Le Blanc Russe - don’t say anything.”
Jonathan Pryce: handy with a shotgun.
October 9, 2025 at 7:55 AM
Slow Horses has been such a treat.
Kristen Scott Thomas’s chilly character reminds me rather of Charlotte Rampling in London Spy.
Gary Oldman: breathtaking.
Saskia Reeves is so wonderfully dry. “Le Blanc Russe - don’t say anything.”
Jonathan Pryce: handy with a shotgun.
Kristen Scott Thomas’s chilly character reminds me rather of Charlotte Rampling in London Spy.
Gary Oldman: breathtaking.
Saskia Reeves is so wonderfully dry. “Le Blanc Russe - don’t say anything.”
Jonathan Pryce: handy with a shotgun.
There are things we didn’t know even had names before the internet.
And things whose names are not intuitive. For example, this is variously described as swing top, clip top, spring top.
Cicero said there weren’t enough words for everything to have its own unique label. And that was before eBay.
And things whose names are not intuitive. For example, this is variously described as swing top, clip top, spring top.
Cicero said there weren’t enough words for everything to have its own unique label. And that was before eBay.
October 9, 2025 at 6:51 AM
There are things we didn’t know even had names before the internet.
And things whose names are not intuitive. For example, this is variously described as swing top, clip top, spring top.
Cicero said there weren’t enough words for everything to have its own unique label. And that was before eBay.
And things whose names are not intuitive. For example, this is variously described as swing top, clip top, spring top.
Cicero said there weren’t enough words for everything to have its own unique label. And that was before eBay.
Is “REVOLT” really a word you want to put into people’s minds if you are trying to persuade them that an underwear brand is attractive?
Perhaps it is assumed that potential buyers will be distracted from such pettifogging linguistic quibbles by the person doing the modelling.
Perhaps it is assumed that potential buyers will be distracted from such pettifogging linguistic quibbles by the person doing the modelling.
October 8, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Is “REVOLT” really a word you want to put into people’s minds if you are trying to persuade them that an underwear brand is attractive?
Perhaps it is assumed that potential buyers will be distracted from such pettifogging linguistic quibbles by the person doing the modelling.
Perhaps it is assumed that potential buyers will be distracted from such pettifogging linguistic quibbles by the person doing the modelling.
First, you don’t need to start every word with a capital letter.
Second, Dickens didn’t write ‘Oliver’; he wrote ‘Oliver Twist’.
The musical by Lionel Bart wasn’t called ‘Oliver’ either. It was called ‘Oliver!’
Second, Dickens didn’t write ‘Oliver’; he wrote ‘Oliver Twist’.
The musical by Lionel Bart wasn’t called ‘Oliver’ either. It was called ‘Oliver!’
October 8, 2025 at 9:48 PM
First, you don’t need to start every word with a capital letter.
Second, Dickens didn’t write ‘Oliver’; he wrote ‘Oliver Twist’.
The musical by Lionel Bart wasn’t called ‘Oliver’ either. It was called ‘Oliver!’
Second, Dickens didn’t write ‘Oliver’; he wrote ‘Oliver Twist’.
The musical by Lionel Bart wasn’t called ‘Oliver’ either. It was called ‘Oliver!’
I braved the chuggers outside bloody Farringdon station because I needed to go to Clerkenwell Screws. But, the horror, it has closed down.
Where now am I to go for threaded fastenings?
It’s no good trying to buy online. To compare things properly, you need to have them in your hands.
Where now am I to go for threaded fastenings?
It’s no good trying to buy online. To compare things properly, you need to have them in your hands.
October 8, 2025 at 9:43 PM
I braved the chuggers outside bloody Farringdon station because I needed to go to Clerkenwell Screws. But, the horror, it has closed down.
Where now am I to go for threaded fastenings?
It’s no good trying to buy online. To compare things properly, you need to have them in your hands.
Where now am I to go for threaded fastenings?
It’s no good trying to buy online. To compare things properly, you need to have them in your hands.
I remember Brian Sewell hooting with derision at the Courtauld laying on a course called “Getting to Grips with Rembrandt.” Maybe the novel equivalents would be “Getting To Grips With Dickens” or “Resilience in the Face of Richardson” or “Resisting Rankin”.
October 4, 2025 at 9:23 AM
I remember Brian Sewell hooting with derision at the Courtauld laying on a course called “Getting to Grips with Rembrandt.” Maybe the novel equivalents would be “Getting To Grips With Dickens” or “Resilience in the Face of Richardson” or “Resisting Rankin”.