Stephen JC
LightNews LightNews
banner
sjcoltrane.bsky.social
Stephen JC
@sjcoltrane.bsky.social
250 followers 390 following 1.9K posts
I got a PhD and somehow I ended up live streaming Dark Souls. Living the dream in west London. He/him and Welsh.

(Profile pic is my black cat.)
Posts Replies Media Videos
sjcoltrane.bsky.social
30 Nov. Things Which Make Me #Happy.

The first sip. Be it coffee, beer, fresh lemonade, smoothie. Nothing matches that moment when the flavour hits your taste buds. In that moment you’re truly happy.

(Also applies to food, but there’s something special about the first drink.)
A cup of coffee. In a small black cup on top of a black saucer is what appears to be an espresso. There is a small amount of foam on the surface of the liquid.
November 30, 2025 at 2:43 PM
sjcoltrane.bsky.social
29 Nov. Things Which Make Me #Happy.

Cats. I don’t think I need to add anything.
A black and white cat curled up asleep on a blue blanket by a window A brown tabby cat curled up asleep on top of a wide footstool A black cat curled up asleep on a patterned dark blanket with red, yellow and blue dots here and there (on the blanket, not on the cat)
November 29, 2025 at 10:01 AM
sjcoltrane.bsky.social
28 Nov. Things Which Make Me #Happy. OK, this may seem strange, but: graveyards. It’s not a Goth thing. I genuinely find them peaceful and rather charming. And I like to think of all the lives of the people buried there, how they must have lived and what they must have done.
An English church built Gothic-style in grey brick is in the background. Opening out before it is a graveyard. Old but not crumbling stone tombstones are arranged spaced out in not quite perfect order. The grass is green and there are daffodils growing in front of some of the headstones. The graveyard is dotted with leafless trees. No people can be seen in the picture, and the scene has a peaceful air
November 28, 2025 at 11:12 AM
sjcoltrane.bsky.social
26 Nov. Things Which Make Me #Happy. Scrambled eggs. Honestly my face lights up at the sight of a plate of scrambled eggs. They’re filling, nourishing and just the right middle ground between solid and liquid.
A dollop of delicious scrambled eggs sits proudly on a stack of (presumably) sourdough toast. The egg is surrounded by a garnish which looks like kale but is probably parsley
November 26, 2025 at 9:37 AM
sjcoltrane.bsky.social
25 Nov. Things Which Make Me #Happy. Xmas Day 1992. I was spending Xmas in my college in Cambridge. We had a hoar frost. Everything was white, every tree, every blade of grass. It was better than snow. Sadly the photos I took are lost (found the attached pic online). But it was magical.
The leafless branch of a small tree. It is covered in thick frost which could easily be mistaken for snow. Behind it are more white trees, similarly frozen. Everything is a stark, brilliant white
November 25, 2025 at 10:55 AM
sjcoltrane.bsky.social
21 Nov. Things Which Make Me #Happy. Breakfast. It’s nice to wake up knowing the first thing you’re going to do with your day is have a really nice breakfast. Here’s my regular porridge and banana.
A bowl of porridge. Beside it, a spoon with a green handle. Above it, a banana waiting to be peeled and sliced
November 21, 2025 at 8:16 AM
sjcoltrane.bsky.social
20 Nov. Things Which Make Me #Happy. My local coffee bar. Barely more than a hole in the wall, they make the best coffee in the area. They don’t make it too hot, unlike virtually every other coffee place. Staff are lovely too, and it’s not a chain.
A small coffee shop. On the ground floor of a delightful mock-Tudor building is Heisenberg Coffee Co. The window is decorated with cartoons of Breaking Bad characters. A set of yellow chairs and tables stand outside
November 20, 2025 at 8:39 AM
sjcoltrane.bsky.social
Just read this in a financial services newsletter. FINANCIAL SERVICES. Your clients are adults, not nursery kids. What the hell has happened to us?
AI is already helping us tailor information to users, creating a better customer experience. We can turn reports into podcasts, or summarise data with NotebookLM, so customers don’t have to read boring 20-page reports. It can even create songs should the customer want it!
November 19, 2025 at 12:31 PM
sjcoltrane.bsky.social
18 Nov. Things Which Make Me #Happy. Castles, particularly medieval castles. They’re good to explore, but even better seen from a distance. They hark of a bygone and inaccessible age, a time we can only dream of. I’m romanticising them, but where’s the harm in that?
Corfe Castle in Dorset, England. Against the backdrop of a green hill stands a ruined castle. To the left is a pair of stone turrets. Behind them a slope rises to the right, flanked by stone walls. At the top of the slope stand more ruined walls, a couple of which are extremely tall. The whole building is crumbly, the stone patchy in colour (different shades of grey - no, not in that sense). Behind the entire scene is a dramatic sunrise or sunset, with clouds glowing orange in the light. I suspect the sky has been enhance in post, but it looks great anyway
November 18, 2025 at 9:56 AM
sjcoltrane.bsky.social
16 Nov. Things Which Make Me #Happy.

My local church (name redacted, or I’ll doxx myself). Beautiful building, well maintained, a centrepiece of the community. Vicar and clergy remarkably progressive. I don’t go often enough, but just the fact that it’s there gives me pleasure.
A beautiful red-brick Victorian church with Romanesque windows and a gabled roof
November 16, 2025 at 8:29 AM
sjcoltrane.bsky.social
10 Nov. Things Which Make Me #Happy.

If you travel to Durham by train and look out of the window as you approach the station, you see the cathedral emerge suddenly, towering over the city like a magnificent trophy. The effect is even more impressive at night.
A huge, stunningly beautiful cathedral, lit from below by a vast bank of lights. I used to live right by here
November 10, 2025 at 8:11 AM
sjcoltrane.bsky.social
8 Nov. Things Which Make Me #Happy. Advent candles.

There’s something very beautiful about watching the flame edge its way slowly down to the next date, the flame gently illuminating the space around it. It builds up the anticipation better than a calendar.
A thick white candle stands on a small glass dish. The candle has numbers from 1 to 24 descending in a straight line down its middle. The numbers are flanked by wreaths. In this picture the candle stands on a wooden side table against a window. It’s not my photo so I have no idea where this was taken
November 8, 2025 at 8:21 AM
sjcoltrane.bsky.social
7 Nov. Things Which Make Me #Happy.

The Rose Garden (more properly, Queen Mary’s Rose Garden) in Regent’s Park. An absolute oasis. I had my 30th birthday party here.

I remember there was hazy sunshine and the ground was so damp the water came through the picnic blankets. Many wet buns.
A beautiful rose garden. In the front, a mass of neatly arranged pink roses. Behind, an equally neatly arranged mass of yellow roses. In the background tall trellises surround and enclose the space like walls. I can’t see if the trellises have roses on them, but there are lots of nice green leaves so it looks magnificent either way.
November 7, 2025 at 7:43 AM
sjcoltrane.bsky.social
Said mosaics. It’s hard to appreciate just how spectacular this place is. And we’d never even heard of it before we arrived. I’d only gone to Ravenna so I could see Dante’s tomb.
An indescribably ornate church interior. Every inch of wall is covered in elaborate and colourful mosaics. I don’t think alt text can really capture this. Whatever you can imagine, double it
November 6, 2025 at 8:10 AM
sjcoltrane.bsky.social
6 Nov. Things Which Make Me #Happy (forgot to thread yesterday’s thing, sorry).

The Basilica di San Vitale in Ravenna. We went there just before Christmas maybe 10 years ago. It was dark and freezing cold, but the fog added so much atmosphere. And the mosaics inside were gorgeous.
A large, brick-built, octagonal church on a sunny day. It is on three layers with Romanesque windows on every level. A door with an arch is at the front with a smaller door in it. A path runs to the door, flanked by grass and hedges
November 6, 2025 at 8:10 AM
sjcoltrane.bsky.social
3 Nov. Things Which Make Me #Happy

That period around the middle of February, when the sun finally starts setting after 5pm again, daffodils start to appear, and the air takes on that fresh and exciting aura. You can feel spring coming. I love that time of year.
A small group of snowdrops emerging through the snow
November 3, 2025 at 10:24 AM
sjcoltrane.bsky.social
1 Nov. Cinnamon Buns. I bloody love cinnamon buns. The dough is thick enough to be comfort food, the sugar topping is sweet but not too sweet and the cinnamon paste filling would be good enough to eat on its own. #Happy
A tray of cinnamon buns seen from above
November 1, 2025 at 8:11 AM
sjcoltrane.bsky.social
A bonus. Emerging from the house, we saw this excellent Halloween moon.
A white country house in Gothic style is flanked by tall trees. The house is lit from below by spotlights. Above it is a swirl of clouds from behind which peeps a bright half moon
October 31, 2025 at 9:46 PM
sjcoltrane.bsky.social
Despite being full of Halloween cosplayers (mostly Goths of course), there was an air of pleasant curiosity. Visitors of all ages seemed genuinely interested in the displays, and the home had done a good job I thought.
Elements of a suit of armour stand on a plinth. There is a helmet and chest piece which appear to be made of iron. Behind them are two crossed swords. To the side is a black shield with four bronze studs A staircase seen from above. The balustrade is ornately carved with an open flower pattern. The stairs are covered in red carpet. The view extends from the top floor to the ground. The staircase is lit by a single small chandelier in the middle, which creates shadows along the staircase
October 31, 2025 at 9:46 PM
sjcoltrane.bsky.social
The house was owned by Horace Walpole, who wrote the Gothic novel ‘The Castle of Otranto’. I tried to read it once, but it’s a bit heavy going.
Deep into the hearth of a fireplace is an array of items. On a bed of straw sits a 19th (?) century style model of a horse-drawn carriage. It is surrounded by small pumpkins A carved wooden female figure in an alcove. A woman with her eyes closed, wrapped in a sheet with her right arm held to her face A Gothic style arched ceiling. Intricate patterns carved in wood and painted white
October 31, 2025 at 9:46 PM
sjcoltrane.bsky.social
Injured arm notwithstanding, I was able to visit the After Dark experience at @strawbhillhouse.bsky.social this evening. Gently impressive, more elegant than spooky, but that’s on brand. More pics in next posts.
A female-presenting figure resembling a half-alive tree stands in a hallway. Her skin is bark, her eyes filled with leaves. Branches spring from her head. She is lit from behind by an eerie green light A Gothic style carved mantelpiece flanked by dry bouquets, lit from the side to cast sinister shadows A figure resembling a child in a white mask sits at a desk. They are dressed in an 18th century style jacket. In front of them is a single candle and an open book. In the background is a projection of the film Nosferatu from 1922
October 31, 2025 at 9:46 PM
sjcoltrane.bsky.social
Post a perfect album from the '90s that isn't Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, or Alice In Chains.
Saint Etienne’s album ‘Good Humor’. Three people’s faces shown in block-print style against a green background
October 31, 2025 at 2:58 PM
sjcoltrane.bsky.social
Since I don’t do age verification, I have no idea who has messaged me; nor, more annoyingly, how to get rid of this irritating badge.
Bluesky DM logo. A speech bubble with three dots inside is topped by a blue circle with a number 1 inside it.
October 10, 2025 at 8:15 AM
sjcoltrane.bsky.social
“To end to bombing?”
BBC News website headline: “Gaza deal in ‘decisive days’, hostages families say as Trump tells Israel to end to bombing.” Yes, that’s exactly what it says.
October 4, 2025 at 8:16 AM
sjcoltrane.bsky.social
Hats off to the Times clickbait team.
Promoted Reddit ad by the Times. “More and more 40-plus women are experimenting with lesbian affairs. And where better to start than the school gates? Newly single and fed up with men…” To the right is a picture of two women, one with her finger over her mouth in a “sh” gesture. Below is a caption: “I kissed a mum (and I liked it); lust, sex and the school run.”
September 12, 2025 at 9:00 AM