Asbjørn Dyrendal

Professor, Religionswissenschaft. Mostly study conspiracy beliefs, sometimes in conjunction with religion.

Institution: https://www.ntnu.edu/employees/asbjorn.dyrendal

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asbjorndyrendal_at_mstdn.social@momostr.pink

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Last Notes

2026-10-19 08:26:16 UTC

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I don’t know. What is the relation?

2026-10-19 06:37:03 UTC

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morning workout, read and comment on student texts, dept meeting, and then I get to prioritise reading or writing.
Or answer emails. Probably answer emails.

2026-10-18 11:58:39 UTC

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that would be something! I remember relatives who were strictly observing.
Alas, I don’t even strictly observe Christians when I write about them these days.

2026-10-18 10:11:45 UTC

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turns out I'll be working most of the day. Wasn't the plan, but these things happen.
We'll have friends over for dinner and wine later, so probably less work tomorrow.

2026-10-16 06:44:11 UTC

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overcast, currently not raining.
Goal: write a lecture I’ve postponed. After this workout. And maybe some vacuuming and cleaning.

2026-10-15 05:06:36 UTC

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best wishes for the new job!
It’s dark, wet and windy in Trondheim. Starting this (birth)day with a brief workout, move on to a nap (hopefully), a thesis seminar, then dinner and cake.

2026-09-28 06:33:34 UTC

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windy morning. Will get wet soon.
Sent the wife off for a month of digging. Plans for the day involve some reading and writing, a nap, and deciding on what’s for dinner on my own.

2026-09-20 15:02:08 UTC

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just the committee this time, so I don’t have to write down a lot.

2026-09-20 13:48:52 UTC

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meetings. Lots of them. Interspersed with emails, lectures and prep for same.
Should probably start writing up some questions for a phd disputation the week afterwards as well.

2026-09-17 08:16:04 UTC

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Answer a lot of emails. It seems like that's my main job now.
Also: thesis seminar. At least it's sunny this morning.

2026-09-15 06:28:25 UTC

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overcast and damp in Trondheim. Again
Today: a lot of emails, a bit of writing, prepare for a lecture, hold lecture, and finally a bit of thesis supervising.

2026-09-13 09:47:14 UTC

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School teacher. Can be a smart addition to the students portfolios if they have e.g. English or Norwegian as their other teaching subjects.

2026-09-13 04:19:48 UTC

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I love motivated students, _almost_ whatever motivation they have. My "problem" with instrumentally motivated students is that many don't want the type of job that the study qualifies most people for.
(The ones I struggle with are the ones with 1930s-style motivation for the study. We're getting some again.)

2026-09-12 07:12:46 UTC

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Overcast in Trondheim, too. A brief run, finished a book, and it's time to knuckle down and do some writing.

2026-09-11 05:46:20 UTC

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hopefully: start writing on a new paper.

2026-09-10 06:22:54 UTC

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har du lest om Pethrus i «Sista brevet til Hitler»?

2026-09-06 06:59:57 UTC

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good morning from a rainy Trondheim!
I plan on reading all day. Main question is in which chair.

2026-08-26 06:53:31 UTC

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Sunny in Trondheim! Again! It may get as warm as 20 outside!
Today's plan: read as much of a phd-thesis as I can digest, then do something relaxing outside while I ponder the reading. Repeat until dinner.

2026-08-25 06:04:15 UTC

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It's a sunny morning in Trondheim! Amazing!
I'm adjusting today's lecture a bit more, then holding it. In between, I'll probably continue reading Ginzburg and Lincoln. On the empirical level, it's about the 1691 Livonian werewolf trial of "Old Thiess" (arrived yesterday), but more broadly on how to do comparison.

2026-08-22 08:39:32 UTC

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next week? Lectures and seminars, dept meeting, meeting w/TAs, gather more material for a book chapter, start reviewing a doctoral thesis.
Some garden work and light reading. Getting Ginzburg and Lincolns "Old Thiess. A Livonian Werewolf" on Monday, so that's a strong candidate.

2026-08-06 04:14:28 UTC

Gode kolleger kom nettopp med ny bok basert på et europeisk forskningsprosjekt. Boka er open access og tar for seg nett-konspi i ulike europeiske regioner. Ikke lest ennå, men kan garantert anbefales.
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-edit/10.4324/9781003667223/conspiracy-theories-european-digital-sphere-clare-birchall-nebojša-blanuša-michael-butter-elżbieta-drążkiewicz-peter-knight-mari-liis-madisson

2026-07-06 04:50:33 UTC

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Good morning from surprisingly sunny Trondheim. So sunny I might have to start the day outside, doing ... something.
My plans for the day were based on it being cold and raining, so I may have to make new plans. Or the weather will do what it usually does, and I can go downstairs and work on a lecture.

2026-07-05 04:41:09 UTC

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Rain. Seven degrees. Contemplating a morning "run" vs reading a draft chapter from a phd-student. Either choice will shape the day.
Another cup of coffee, and I might be able to make a decision.

2026-07-02 04:40:24 UTC

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Sunny morning in Trondheim.
No real plans, but I'll spend parts of the day driving to the recycling center to get rid of more garden waste, as well as my old recliner. Found a new used one yesterday for next to nothing and am now enjoying the feeling of not sinking several centimeters in when I sit down.

2026-06-18 06:21:29 UTC

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terribly sunny in Kongsberg. I’ll be doing some work around my mother’s house, drive her to the hospital and back, read a bit, and possibly go for a walk in the woods.

2026-06-11 10:26:47 UTC

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I wish. Those are treatable.

2026-06-11 10:02:40 UTC

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Used to love both, except when people put cinnamon in their apple pies.
Moot point now, since I can eat neither apple nor rhubarb anymore.

2026-06-11 06:37:45 UTC

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sunny so far. Sort of.
Morning «run» today. Done with grading and oral exams, so work on lectures for summer school, plan trip down south.

2026-06-03 07:17:02 UTC

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Overcast, but warm in Trondheim.
Moving rocks (rolling stones?) in the garden, work on a lecture, supervise MA-students, perhaps read a bit in my newest books. (Or just continue in one of the others.)

2026-06-02 05:45:25 UTC

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Good idea.
And some AI-generated images for the slides. That should make the phd-students at the summer school happy.

2026-06-02 05:39:34 UTC

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Cool and moist, but no real rain here. Yet. Last night was wet enough.
Plans for today are unfinished. A meeting with a student. Otherwise? Perhaps plan a lecture.
Yeah. Sounds about right.

2026-05-30 07:56:07 UTC

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I've got two pairs of reading-glasses: one for upstairs and one for downstairs (home office). Cords for the ones I use upstairs (so I don't leave them all over the house), but not for the ones downstairs (so I leave them by the computer).
I used to have three, but I forgot one pair at the hotel in Tartu.

2026-05-28 14:53:29 UTC

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så bra! Grattis!

2026-05-19 11:21:10 UTC

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Never been there before. Will have Saturday and Sunday to explore with my (archaeologist) wife - any advice?
She's well prepared, I'm not.

2026-05-19 07:13:14 UTC

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Good luck with the interview!
Sunny and warm here today. Did all pressing tasks this morning, so I may do some reading outside in the sun, then pack up for Estonia.

2026-05-17 08:35:23 UTC

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I vaguely remember High Times as being funny at times. My whisky books are at best historically interesting.

2026-05-14 08:05:08 UTC

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agent-based modelling of disinformation in social networks.

2026-05-14 07:41:07 UTC

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raining here.
Suitable. Exams came in yesterday, so grading. And some work on a research proposal.

2026-05-06 06:51:31 UTC

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cold and overcast in Trondheim.
Plan is to work out a bit, cut my conference paper down to a reasonable length, make the slides, and read something.
Probably more student drafts, but may include Kurlander’s mostly excellent book on nazi «supernatural imaginaries».

2026-04-22 08:39:12 UTC

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Never seen anyone attribute this particular piece of pseudohistory to Putin or his policies, but there's some Russian background to it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tartarian_Empire

2026-04-22 08:12:49 UTC

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Cloudy with some hope for rain. Still waiting for some student texts to come in.
While I'm waiting, I'll be writing a bit and looking at some of the "Tartarian Empire" discourse online.

2026-04-08 06:33:34 UTC

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make exam assignment and grading description, online meeting (meaningless), online meeting (research). Maybe order some books during the first meeting to compensate for the anomie.

2026-04-07 08:37:50 UTC

Humanities professors nodding:
"Rather than framing disinformation as false facts which can be countered by true facts, we propose a model of disinformation as narrative ... Understanding that successful disinformation narratives are enforced by cultural forces, are intrinsically linked to identity, and hold deep emotional resonance for those with whom they resonate has vast implications for responding to and countering them."
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10584609.2026.2644198

2026-04-05 06:16:18 UTC

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Good morning! Sunny start to the day here as well, so I should spend some time outside.
Instead, I'll go downstairs, work out a little, then see if I can make some edits that allow me to send off a sub par chapter. Hopefully, I'll be done early enough to get some light gardening done.

2026-03-08 06:04:08 UTC

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Good morning from sunny Trondheim!
Ambitious plans for today: finish answering emails from my vacation, apply for travel funds for a conference, and get through the nightmare that is getting travel expenses refunded. (I was going to make a list of "things to do", which I now consider completed until I remember something else to add.)

2026-03-06 07:08:25 UTC

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in Oslo for a meeting. Then back home.

2026-03-04 05:55:16 UTC

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Still catching up with emails, student work, and other stuff that came in while I was on vacation.

2026-02-24 07:14:31 UTC

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good morning from slightly overcast Rome!
We’ll be at the Vatican museum, then wander around without much planned. Possibly meet colleagues for a drink, since I won’t be at their seminar.
https://media.mstdn.social/media_attachments/files/116/124/356/712/575/945/original/70d032bff70f2b1d.png

2026-02-07 08:21:12 UTC

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Only -6 here today, so it's heating up. Maybe I'll use that as an excuse to take a somewhat longer walk. Otherwise, no real plans for today. (I should be writing, of course, but it's probably time to take a day or to "off".)

2026-02-06 09:21:24 UTC

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Yup. A bit more complicated, but.

2026-02-06 08:35:13 UTC

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😀 Good one!
Yeah, it's one of my old fields. Some of the rhetoric has changed, and there are some new fashions that seem to align a bit more with the overall wellness culture, but a lot seems to be "the same".

2026-02-06 06:57:38 UTC

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I wish!

2026-02-06 06:55:40 UTC

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Conspiracy therapies. Think SRA and psychotherapy.

2026-02-06 06:53:21 UTC

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Cold, clear, but (hopefully) warming up. I'll work a bit on a chapter, go to campus for a lecture, then back home for online thesis supervision (student is in Germany).

2026-01-21 08:41:07 UTC

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this was part of my history curriculum back in my youth, but I’ll concentrate on some current day coorelations/consequences. The Catholic church is probably one of the stronger parts of Trzebietowska and Bruce, Sexual Abuse in Religion.

2026-01-21 06:26:58 UTC

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Cold and dark sounds familiar.
I'll be working some recent work into a lecture on social and cultural factors lending themselves to "clergy misconduct" (yesterday, physical violence; today, mostly sexual abuse).
Later, a meeting with my new phd student.

2026-01-14 07:30:22 UTC

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chronic insomnia sometimes lead to this.
Why it got this way is harder to answer. Probably age + stress + whatever?

2026-01-14 07:20:15 UTC

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dark and windt, but no longer freezing Trondheim. Writing lectures today, perhaps attend a meeting online.
Nap, I hope. Been up since four.

2026-01-09 07:00:28 UTC

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Combination of student mass, how information about courses filters through the university system, incentive structure designed to keep students within "programs" that favors larger disciplines, and then some. (For instance the fact that I no longer spend at least half a day per week in the public spotlight.)

2026-01-09 06:48:54 UTC

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First lecture of a new semester. My "own course" on contemporary religion, conspiracy theories, extremism, popular culture and associations between them.
Will be interesting to see the new crop of students. Sometimes they're highly engaged and know what they want to do (exam is a self-selected term paper), and sometimes ... the atmosphere is sort of dead from the start. Harder now that there are fewer students.

2026-01-08 09:17:54 UTC

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entry to my home office.
https://media.mstdn.social/media_attachments/files/115/858/724/472/499/067/original/0eed46d27576e8e2.png

2026-01-02 18:05:27 UTC

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Surprise!
Kind of like the old joke about the definition of a sociologist.

2026-01-02 17:54:58 UTC

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"Help, help, we're being oppressed!"
Conspiracist rhetoric so often relies on presenting the ingroup as victims, if not at present, then in the immediate future.

2025-12-31 06:27:02 UTC

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Snowy here, too, so shovel snow in the morning, dinner with friends in the evening. Probably mostly reading otherwise, maybe a walk.

2025-12-29 13:38:48 UTC

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the literature seems aspirational.

2025-12-29 12:02:05 UTC

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so far: reading up on ai, disinfo and democratic resilience, shoveling snow, and cleaning. Trying to decide whether to write, plan lectures, or just relax.

2025-12-27 07:58:14 UTC

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stormy and dark Trondheim. Read a book, shop for groceries, nap (probably), a brief workout. (Yesterdays was cancelled due to spending all available time installing the wrong Linux to an old macbook. Which could mean it’s Ubuntu-time tomorrow.)

2025-12-21 08:12:08 UTC

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Good to hear, congrats!

2025-12-19 07:30:47 UTC

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grading. Grumble about grading (and the human race). Workout to reduce grumbling. More grading. Drink.

2025-12-16 07:33:30 UTC

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congrats! Impressive. I lasted for less than half of that.

2025-12-11 08:44:57 UTC

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apparently Hell is here. The home exams are in, and I’ll don my Devil’s cap in around one hour.

2025-12-11 08:09:13 UTC

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finish preparing for incoming exams. Perhaps buy some Chistmas gifts. Tomorrow hell (aka grading) awaits.

2025-12-10 07:28:01 UTC

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seems like the boys will be staying home, so I’ll probably work out from home. Again.
So much for socializing.

2025-12-10 06:56:09 UTC

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get back to writing. Gym, probably.

2025-12-06 17:51:10 UTC

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not strictly true, afaik, but interesting story anyway. The Kershaw book is in the basement somewhere, but I’ll be talking about Himmler and esoteric readings of history, so Adolf only gets a passing mention because he despised Wirth and Himmler’s obsession with «Germanic» prehistory.

2025-12-06 17:18:06 UTC

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From Kershaw?

2025-12-06 15:03:12 UTC

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ended up with a bit of Griffin, Eco, and Stanley.
Just enough to carry over so I can get to the alternative pasts fascists evoke. Tomorrow: Ahnenerbe, Wirth, and Himmler’s fantasies about Norse mythology.

2025-12-06 09:17:03 UTC

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Tempting.

2025-12-06 06:56:59 UTC

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Write a short bit about fascism/fascist rhetoric for new students. Read a book. Drink wine.

2025-11-23 15:19:46 UTC

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Many versions quickly get to the point where they at some point will show their true, totalitarian colors. (Projection much?)

2025-11-23 08:17:50 UTC

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Some emails. May work a bit on an encyclopedia entry about the «great replacement» conspiracy theory.

2025-11-13 18:03:02 UTC

Oppsummering av en side av dagens situasjon i «land of the free».
https://www.khrono.no/voldsom-okning-i-forbudte-boker-na-rammes-universiteter/1012286

2025-11-08 10:59:27 UTC

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We have a saying that goes approximately like this: "none mentioned, none forgotten".

2025-11-08 09:30:22 UTC

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Could we have one from smart and informed, but evil as well?

2025-11-04 08:18:05 UTC

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waiting to board the plane to Copenhagen, then onwards to Lund. One day workshop mentoring phd-students, two days of conference.

2025-11-02 07:29:14 UTC

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Academia! Come for the curiosity, stay for the big bucks!
After next week, I have no more conferences this term (well, I had to turn down a few). Perhaps I'll work less until exams are due. Chances are someone will fill my calendar for me, though, unless I fill it for myself.

2025-11-02 07:13:41 UTC

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goes for sundays as well.
https://media.mstdn.social/media_attachments/files/115/478/861/644/518/748/original/a2f6a929e43eae73.jpg

2025-11-02 07:05:52 UTC

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Good morning! I'm reading through a book manuscript (somebody else's) and commenting. Later, a walk and/or brief workout, then perhaps start looking at the papers for a phd-workshop on Wednesday.

2025-10-25 06:09:03 UTC

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reading, writing, and socialization.
Apparently, people exist in the real world and are coming for dinner and wine.

2025-10-17 13:17:39 UTC

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Finger crossed!

2025-10-16 07:01:18 UTC

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Flu vaccine, thesis supervision. Perhaps work on a conference paper again.

2025-10-15 07:11:38 UTC

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Thank you! Reaching 60 was a goal. Next one: getting to retirement age.

2025-10-15 05:46:41 UTC

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Birthday, so I'm going to do whatever comes to mind.

2025-10-11 09:15:21 UTC

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Mistborn is fine. In fact, I read the first trilogy, and it wasn't bad. It's entertainment, but it's got some thinking behind. (Unsubtle enough for the American market, but definitely not tailored to the current regime.) Same goes for the Stormlight-books.
I think we have something of Rothfuss in the house, but I've never read them. The others I haven't heard of.

2025-10-03 06:11:53 UTC

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Most importantly: (low-key) celebrate my wife's 60th birthday!

2025-10-01 08:32:41 UTC

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I’d still have to instruct them about my decision, right?
Making the decision is the hard part. Of course, I could flip a coin. Future me will likely disagree with whatever I come up with.

2025-10-01 06:07:11 UTC

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I've got some decisions to make about how I'll be spending time, or "answer some difficult emails".
Then, it's about writing. Perhaps get around to book a flight or two.

2025-09-30 05:31:26 UTC

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Still trying to figure out whether my voice will work well enough to lecture. Feels like the legs might.
If not, I'll try to get at least some writing done.

2025-09-27 05:20:06 UTC

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Hopefully, I'll get most of the day to read through the final draft of a phd-thesis.
He's supposed to hand it in by Wednesday, so time is short.

2025-09-26 05:16:54 UTC

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Finished drafting one conference paper yesterday, so I'll start sketching some ideas for the next one today.
I now regret all the days and weeks of slow-walking and procrastination, and will almost certainly repeat the same procedure next time.