@samuelpepys

" ... but am glad to be joyned with them, for I shall learn something of them."

You are a good man, Samuel.

#Pepys #learning #BeingOpen

@samuelpepys

"A very likely girl."

Oh, what a likely usage of the word likely.

#Pepys #likely

@samuelpepys

"Deane walking with me; talking of the pride and corruption of most of his fellow officers of the yard, and which I believe to be true."

Oh, I can feel with Deane. Switch the name of the employer and keep the rest: "pride and corruption of my fellow officers of the university" --- voila, I feel it.

Anthony Deane was a shipwright, acting as a trusted professional to the ambitious administrator Pepys. They were friends, the slightly older Pepys helping to get Deane established.

Deane later was knighted. He was a successful shipbuilder. Pepys and Deane were joint MPs for Harwich twice, in 1678 under Charles II (where both were accused of treason) and in 1685 under James II. They did things!

I can picture these two meritocratic pros walking by the river, talking earnestly, sharing their contempt for all the entitlement and corruption around them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Deane_(shipwright)

#Pepys #AnthonyDeane #TheProfessionals

Anthony Deane (shipwright) - Wikipedia

@samuelpepys

"a very stout man" = a trustworthy fellow? Lovely usage.

#Pepys

@samuelpepys

" ... but with multitude of business my head aches ...".

Indeed, buddy, no need to explain. Same here. Work never ends, does it.

#Pepys

#workneverendsandachapshouldbeabletogohomeatnineoclockwithouthavingtoapologiseshouldnthe

@samuelpepys
'My Lord Sandwich' would be a brilliant name for a cafe.
#JustSaying #food #Pepys

@samuelpepys

This scene will form the first ten minutes of my Pepys movie.

Sam on board of the King's new boat, which travels fast in strong wind. Flat golden sunlight envelopes everything, Sam looks invigorated by the light and the wind and the energy of the hectic but assured work of crew. He eats the fresh oysters, his face glowing in joy.

He turned thirty just a few days ago; he begins to be recognised by the world; life is good.

#Pepys #congruence

@samuelpepys

" ... [Professor Dimm], said heretofore to have been a great witt; but he read his [lecture] every word [from last year's slides], and that so brokenly and so low, that nobody could hear at any distance, nor I anything worth hearing that sat near."

As the centuries pass, little changes.

#lectures #slides #Powerpoint #Pepys

It's not shaming him. The grumpy old dude is dead, and has been for 350 years.

It's merely accepting that history isn't complete, and sometimes new things are found about historical figures, and that sometimes your beloved historical "free speech" is pretty abhorrent when you frame it in modern terms.

It's not rewriting history; it's looking at it with the benefit of a few centuries of learning and medical advances in treating bladder stones. All of which I accept that Andrew Doyle is desperate to roll back and erase as quickly as possible.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/02/08/samuel-pepys-censorship-cancel-culture/

#History #London #Pepys #Opinion #Bezos #WashingtonPost #FreeSpeech #Writing #Shitty #Journalism #News

I subscribe to a mailing list. It sends me days from Samuel #Pepys Diary.
Sam is an upper middle class fucker in 1662, who writes about his day in the cold and wet of #London by candlelight and pops it onto a newly-built book shelf. Then a listserv somehow sucks it through the world and the centuries and blows it out to me, another Sam in 2026 Bywong. Miraculous, and always a pleasure to read.

#GMail is offering to 'summarise this email'.
I am offering to fuck #google off into the sun.

SUMMARISE THIS EMAIL? Fuck me.

We are too tired of reading now?
#Reading. Text. Words. Paragraphs.
It's all too haaaard. Waaaaa, help me #AI.

[Maybe I should be grateful that they spelled summarise without a #zed?]
[yeahnah]
[.... cunts.]