Fireworks every hour or so. Colombian Christmas is always just a little bit extra.

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate.

For those of faith--

May your spiritual practice be a strength in these difficult times.

For those of the secular-Christmas persuasion--

May there be strength in community, whatever form it takes, to fortify you for the coming of another tough year.

And for all of you--

Have a beautiful day, just because. 🕊️ 🕯️

Good morning, CoSo.
Merry Christmas.

It's another hard one for the world. Last year, in my newsletter, I framed it around Zelenskyy's speech in the first year of Russia's war in Ukraine.

Today, for OnlySky, I turn to an essay by Simone Weil, writing in the winter of 1942 on how the fight for personhood through political collectives had failed our shared humanity.

What matters, truly, to the human condition?
Our ability to suffer.

Can we ever build a politics to match?
https://onlysky.media/mclark/the-myth-of-personhood-on-a-wartorn-christmas-morn/

Thinking of you, @NiveusLepus, on my walk tonight. Not sure why 😉🐇... but I hope you're doing wonderfully!

¡Mira esta belleza! 😍

I got a very sweet gift of old postcards from one of my street friends today. I'll upload them properly later, but these are so lovely.

I love learning more about local history. Local authors sometimes write about the city as it looked in the 1940s and 1950s, and I love walking the streets connecting old names with new features.

These are from the early 1900s and 1910s. An extra level of private joy, to marvel at how much has changed in a relatively short time. #Colombia

Also... 😉

Violent Night is on a local streaming platform, so I've popped it on in the background while doing some chores. Thus far I'm enjoying the smart scripting; it's very easy to elevate a predictable plot with attention to the writing, and the actors to pull it off. :) Back soon! #CoSoFilms

Morning folks!

My UBI piece is live.

I always go slower when writing about economics. It's a field that houses ideas that can be difficult to translate for lay-readers well.

You might've wondered why I didn't talk about UBI when it was in the news early in Dec. That's because the "new" data was from Sept, & treating UBI results as novel undermines our ability to push for long-overdue reforms.

We *know* this works.
We just need the will to act on that knowledge now.

https://onlysky.media/mclark/when-will-ubi-studies-translate-into-better-policy/

Laptop in hand! On my way home, and into an afternoon of catch-up.

Have a good one, all! Run your races well, but don't forget to leave a little room for drift. 😉

🤣 Today a fellow asked if I was a feminist *after* I'd emphasized that men's issues are important, too, & he made a face when I said yes, telling me women were too masculinized.

But by switching to the economic issues caused by corporations not paying their share, and the subsequent scapegoating of other demographics to explain our subsequent financial precarity, I swear by the end of the chat he was saying it's really sad that more women don't have access to better education & life outcomes. 🙃

Episode of Slow Horses, then bed.

Lots to catch up on tomorrow, though it should be easier with my laptop back.

I'll also be on a wee fast to deepen in gratitude this last week or so of the year.

Feeling very fortunate right now. A lot went wrong this year, and I've had many very low days. My future is uncertain, and 2024 has hardships in store.

But here we make it safe to share in challenges, and take turns uplifting when another stumbles on the way.

So thank you CoSo--and Happy Solstice.

😄

I'm on the bus home, so I'll reply to this kind comment on my COP28 piece soon, but for now, my first thought was "Buddy, you don't see the drafts I rewrite so I'm *not* just venting at the thickness of the world."

But CoSo knows. When I announce that I'm going for a long pace before final editing and article upload... 🙃 that's when I'm cooling off and coming back to temper the futility with more proactive framing.

Speaking of, I have to pace before submitting my UBI piece tonight, too. 😅

Heading out for the office now with the cake. This'll be my last time "peopling" for the season - and then it's on to the novel with a Die Hard break, ideally with some news about the laptop along the way.

Don't forget to pick yourself up something special this season, especially if it's a more isolated one than usual! 💛🕊️

🙃 The Canadian urge to find something to garnish this is strong, but in Colombia a *lot* of cakes are simply two plain layers of yellow or chocolate with a smear of arequipe (dulce de leche) between them, and/or maybe a dusting of powdered sugar. So the fact that mine is loaded with apples with a dulce de leche drizzle is fine. No garnish needed. *Maybe* a scoop of vanilla ice cream, but we'll see.

...Kinda looks like a giant maple doughnut mated with a cruller, though, eh? 😅

#CoSoBakes

Just in time to watch the last cow come home. 🙂

Three days with no word on the laptop. Fortunately, I'm working at an office tomorrow, so I'll have a machine that doesn't hang on every line I write.

I was really hoping to end the year without more costs, but it's been a tricky one. Once this novel is finished I'll have one last chance at major presses with my agent, & submit stories again to pay off debt.

Would be really nice to start saving for my impossible goal again. But!

Paso a paso. 🤞

Progress photos. 🙂 It baked perfectly at 50 minutes (30 min open, 20 min covered with foil), and... in 10 minutes I'll see how good a job I did with flouring the bundt pan and keeping the apple filling from the edges. 🤞🏻

#CoSoBakes

One quick class this morning, and then I can click "send" on that newsletter. :)

(Good morning, CoSo! 💫)

I was going to post something sad, but here's a tree flower instead.

I don't *think* it's sad? But I didn't ask. I just took a photo like a creep and left. 🙃

#Nature #Flowers #RainIsAComing!

#CoSoNightShift 🔦 🌖
#AmWriting
#LeShock

As ever, I do not like basic news briefs, so I try not to write them.

Today, I review recent hateful remarks from a certain US presidential candidate, Argentina's latest crackdown on protests, and how the pain of IDF's killing of three surrendering hostages sits in a country that's been protesting Netanyahu's choices all year.

Whether in war, migration, or economic crises, democracies are hard to build, and easy to lose. We have deep political wounds to try to heal.

https://onlysky.media/mclark/us-argentina-israel-and-a-world-of-normalized-extremes/