Shaily Patel

Words I did not expect to utter in 2026:

ah yes, stages 3 and 7 in the writing process

both precede "what if I just set this whole thing on fire" stages

(the imagined fires get bigger the later in the process you get)

i’m convinced; clearly cicero’s fault.

they should invent a me that is not completely thrown into disarray for weeks on end by a one-hour time change

i just read a sentence 126 words long. why are we like this, academics?

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TODAY: Tuesday (10 Mar 2026) @ 1pm (Pacific) for "Trans Biblical: New Approaches to Interpretation and Embodiment in Scripture: A Conversation with the Authors" | A CLGS Lavender Lunch
on Zoom at: us02web.zoom.us/j/8152408026...

Which is to say, I’m unbelievably thrilled to say this morning I’ve signed a contract with @mitpress.bsky.social for the trade publication of my next book, an exploration of the first two decades of TTRPG Actual Play.

To my Palestinian sister in ICE detention – I will carry you until you are free | Mahmoud Khalil One year ago, ICE arrested me for protesting for Palestine. Leqaa Kordia is still caged – also for daring to speak the truth

FREE LEQAA

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

congrats!!!! 🎊🎉🎈🍾

Animation and the Ancient World, edited by Chiara Sulprizio and C. W. Marshall.

The volume "Animation & the Ancient World" (ed. Chiara Sulprizio & Toph Marshall) now has a cover, pub date (May), & pre-order on OUP's website!

This includes a chapter I co-authored with Nikki Becklinger titled "Necromancing Ancient Heroes & Heroines in the 'Fate' Anime Series," plus many more.

I care about the morality of AI use in the classroom because how we teach people to write is how we teach people to think---not just about ideas, but about other people and about the use of power over those other people

USAID: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) YouTube video by LastWeekTonight

worth watching.

got my ballot for VA’s redistricting initiative today. let’s go.

Both of the options here are human writers. The first option is unprocessed human writing and the second option is human writing run through a language model to reproduce the same outputs with different words

If it couldn't have existed without training data, it isn't creating anything at all.

What do you want to bet this little tantrum on the WaPo's opinion page is because someone ahead of Professor Jakub Grygiel in the queue at some coffee shop had an elaborate coffee order and he hasn't been able to let it go ever since

Video appears to show U.S. cruise missile striking Iranian school compound The seven-second video was released by Iranian state media and directly contradicts statements made by President Trump, who said Iran was responsible for the strike.

The Iranian girls’ school was hit by a US tomahawk cruise missile. NPR has confirmed the footage.

UNC shaming alum yet again.

i’m definitely not getting an SBL paper proposal written today. so, hey, lmk if you need a respondent. i’m good at responding!

a tan long-haired dachshund with incredibly floofy ears sits with his front paws on a window sill and his nose pressed up against the window. he's accompanied by his stuffed squirrel friend. their reflections stares back at them. Stevie the dachshund does not see the irony in watching for squirrels with his squirrel friend. he's too busy being locked in on the happenings outside his window.

This is Stevie. He's on squirrel watch. His stuffed friend is also a squirrel, but he's one of the good ones. 14/10 (IG: longdogstevie)

imagine still thinking gibbon is a meaningful interlocutor in the year of our lord 2026...

i really don't know why this is so hard for gavin to understand: if you have to add a "but," you don't support trans equality.

🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

reposting for the new week--and I now have a PDF of my own in case folks don't have access and want a copy!

Panel from my Obsidian app outlining the research topics for my next book project. These topics include: "Disruptive" Evidence?; Decolonial Epistemologies; Early Christian Teleologies; Epistemicide before Empire; Theories of Non-Linear Time

my next project is going to be super weird. and that's a promise, y'all.

shoutout to VECSS for giving me new ways to think about the problems i want to address. i feel all motivated now!

Advising Fellow, College of Arts & Sciences - Charlottesville, Virginia job with University of Virginia | 37959368 Advising Fellow, College of Arts & Sciences Location Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America The College of Arts & Sciences Office of U...

Outstanding opportunity for a scholar who wants to have a transformational effect on students at scale and join a diverse and robust intellectual community! One week left to apply.
Please share widely!

Baturday
Bat World Sanctuary

this sounds so amazing.

Batool Ali and myself in the Red Fort complex

This time in India was mostly a short work visit. Hope I can be back for a proper holiday in April.
The highlight -- more incoming in my work -- was the Delhi Queer Heritage walk I did, which was organised by the trans archivist Batool Ali. Batool is extraordinarily well versed in queer & trans 1/

me, while watching blue planet: that project is actually two projects, shaily. think about it.

writing is watching TV. i’m not even kidding.

finally, finally we’re on spring break. today i’m ignoring the world to watch blue planet. i have the best ideas sometimes.