bitful

A U-shaped piece of wood that fits under and around the neck of an ox, with its upper ends attached to the bar of the yoke. A U-shaped bend in a river.

Yesterday I wore a shirt to work.
It had short sleeves, and it was unbuttoned so I would not feel constricted, and of course, the sleeves were wrinkled, the collar was curling up, and the yoke looked like an ox had slept in it, because to me, you know, an iron is just that annoying thing [...]

Any of various elongate insects of the order Dermaptera. To attempt to influence by persistent confidential argument or talk.

A coat with short flaps.

I always buy my one-month passes and top up pre-paid credit on my Oyster card online. It takes me seconds, one click or two, it's done. Call me irresponsible, but I trust people to keep my credit card number safe and I let them store its details for my next visit.
The greatest feature of the [...]

A woman member of the orgiastic cult of Dionysus. A frenzied woman.

A while back I created MyCyberTwin. I set it up, taught it a bit about myself but could not be bothered to go through all the tutorials. Then I totally forgot about it.
Then today I received an email notification that somebody was chatting to it, with a link to the conversation between an Australian and [...]

I have this very bad habit of falling asleep on the couch and spending most of the night there most nights (and even all night long at weekends, when it does not matter if I am knackered the day after).
The explanation is very simple: all I want is about fifteen minutes in front of the [...]

Any of several large sea birds of the genus Morus, especially M. bassanus of northern Atlantic coastal regions, having white plumage with black wingtips. Also called solan.

An individual is complicit in a crime if they are aware of its occurrence, have the ability to report the crime, but fail to do so. Law relating to complicity varies. Usually complicity is not a crime.

Three days ago (April 5th) was Dr B.'s birthday and I made him a cake in the shape of a Dalek.
By coincidence a few days earlier I had come across a BBC Blue Peter Dalek cake recipe that was just perfect, as it involved no cooking. All you have to do is stick a couple [...]

Stubbornly prejudiced, narrow-minded, or inflexible.

Arial is Monotype's version of Helvetica, and although the copy has long surpassed the original in popularity and spread of use, professional designers consider it a poor imitation of a font that is no longer fashionable.
There are three types of human-animal embryos: hybrid embryos (egg fertilised with the sperm of another species), chimeric embryos (cells [...]

A person of great or varied learning.

A fool; a simpleton.

A person of slavish or unquestioning obedience; a lackey. One who does menial or trivial work; a drudge.

Every Wednesday, Transport for London emails me information on tube closures for work over the weekend. I am not complaining, I have signed up for it - although I would have rather subscribed to an RSS feed which unfortunately, last time I checked, they do not provide.
This week's email has a slightly different subject line: [...]

Rudely sarcastic or disrespectful; snide. Irritable or short-tempered; irascible.

Having or showing knowledge or understanding or realization or perception.

I used to be an average gay man, with average gay man musical tastes, i.e. I used to swear by the Madonna-Kylie-Eurovision Holy Trinity as the pinnacle of musical achievement.
I mean, people, I went to three gigs during the last twelve months: Kylie in January, Madonna last July… and The Eurovision Song Contest Live All [...]

I have received an email from New Yorker K. who googled 'coffee with a straw' and found my post about coffee which mentions my inability to drink coffee through a coffee shop sipping lid without burning my palate/dribbling/staining my shirt, and therefore always stick a straw through it.
Not only did K. feel less isolated (she [...]

To confuse; perplex.

We recently acquired a new dining table (our first) and can now finally have people over for proper sit-down meals.
As a first dinner party, I insisted that the five friends who helped us move come round. We are very grateful to them and pulled all the stops to make this a memorable dinner.
We dusted off [...]

To climb (a rope or pole, for example) by gripping and pulling alternately with the hands and legs.