Category Archives: Fun

Surprises: Notes from my first year as a practicing Christian

Posted on 26 December 2023 by Erika Cule

Christmas 2022, Christ Church, Harpenden: a riot of 200 people in a school hall. An invitation to join home group. Joining the Teas and Coffees Rota. Learning the drill, and the importance of the ministry of hospitality. Contemporary Christian Music. … Continue reading →

Posted in Faith, Fun, Life | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

What is it like to go dating for the first time?

Posted on 22 March 2020 by Erika Cule

In the video, I explore what it is like to go dating for the first time. With thanks to Kate Smurthwaite (who introduces me here and who taught me stand-up comedy), City Academy (through whom I took this course) and … Continue reading →

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Making it up as I go along

Posted on 24 February 2019 by Erika Cule

Until recently, I dreaded public speaking. Hated it, even. No-one told me, when I set out to become a scientist, that presenting my work in front of an audience would be expected. Being scheduled to give a talk, to immediate … Continue reading →

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Budapest

Posted on 24 March 2016 by Erika Cule
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Birthdays on the brother blog

Posted on 7 February 2016 by Erika Cule

This week, I reviewed Having a Birthday as part of Ant Cule’s project antcule.reviews, (Subtitle: An Extremely Subjective View of Being A Human). For the uninitiated, Ant and I collaborated on this blog post about giving a talk, back when … Continue reading →

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Voices

Posted on 3 November 2014 by Erika Cule

One of the advantages of being “Beyond the PhD” is having enough time to do all of those things I used to want to do when all of my time was taken up by writing up. After handing in my corrections, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Fun, Life | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Where in the world?

Posted on 2 March 2014 by Erika Cule

Quiz question: where were these two photos taken? For bonus points: add a photo of yourself in the same location to this nascent collection…

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The supporting cast

Posted on 15 September 2013 by Erika Cule

A PhD is, by definition, a lonely endeavour. My fellow students and I were taught the fundamentals of team work as part of our transferable skills training, only for one academic to comment that for a career in academia, they would … Continue reading →

Posted in Fun, Life, PhD | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

Dénouement

Posted on 18 March 2013 by Erika Cule

Last week: The ever-helpful @OccamT crew are giving @erikacule viva (thesis defense) tips & anecdotes via email. Hope we haven't scared her too much… — Cath Ennis (@enniscath) March 13, 2013 @enniscath we'll drive her to vodka yet @occamt @erikacule … Continue reading →

Posted in Fun, Life, PhD | 9 Comments

Science Online 2013 without the carbon footprint

Posted on 31 January 2013 by Erika Cule

Science Online 2013 kicked off yesterday in North Carolina. For those of us who are not able to make it to the conference in person, watch parties the world over facilitate virtual attendance. In the UK, Eva Amsen and I … Continue reading →

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