Karen

Trump has mispronounced the name of the country Thailand, with right-wing apologists and commentators now rushing around to explain that ‘Thigh-land’ is how it’s supposed to have been said all along. Many thanks to them for the vital clarification.

I snapped this statue outside the Scott Polar Institute in April after my temporary living arrangements had been sorted and I wanted to pay homage to the skies. We did not think we would still be here in August. Today it’s worth papping again in homage to the sun. I trotted around the block at lunchtime and worked up a pleasant sweat.

At around 1am as I tried to sleep, I had a Karen moment. We’re all at risk of them from time to time, although most of us have more justification than the typical prejudiced Karen doing the rounds on viral videos. There’s a big student house near to where we’re staying and the occupants seem to gather at the foot of the garden (i.e. a few metres from the bedroom window) some evenings to drink and hoot. After a while listening to voices that sounded like nails on a blackboard I hollered out of the window for them to keep it down. I’d like to think in rowdy drunken moments I’d calmly accept the wishes of a sleep-deprived neighbour, as they did. It was a Karen moment that ended without anyone protesting for their rights, or being accused of racial bias.