Here's a bit of the glorious violet wings they were hiding. Tired after a long night, I'm sure, but choosing a dangerous place to rest on a sidewalk with a lot of through-traffic. #Nature

😁 Made a new #BugFriend.

Perfect day. No notes.

Possibly the runner's high talking, but just before I pop into class:

Gosh, I love the heck out of you, ya tramps.

😘

Go. Do good crimes!

Today's piece took far too long, because it involved a lot of careful revision and consideration.

I knew I had to write about the 100-day mark for Israel and Gaza, but what I really wanted to call our attention to is how much these last few months have taught us about ourselves - when angry, when hurt, when afraid.

We are *very* good propagandists when we've been thrown into more brutal war.

We have a lot of healing to do from how good we are at wielding news this way.
https://onlysky.media/mclark/lessons-after-100-days-of-another-war/

Coming back from the park as all the vendors set up for ciclovía Sunday. 💛

#TimeToWork

Honestly, these horses have better running etiquette than many people here. 😂

(Morning, CoSo!)

Just wrapping up today's newsletter, but I keep coming back to this statue and chuckling.

This is a depiction of Thucydides - but take a look at the pose chosen for immortalization.

If someone were going to make a statue of you...

a) what pose would you prefer to be in; and

b) what pose would be more accurate to how you lived your life? 👀

#RandomThoughts

Great timing, @LiseL!

The World Economic Forum released its Global Risks report today, and it's being reported around the rise of mis- and disinformation to our top concern for the next two years.

I of course go a bit deeper, and highlight some *very* troubling analysis in this report.

It's not just the bad data.

It's that we can't even necessarily trust our states to *want* the situation to change. We're in for a rough ride, while trying to tackle other issues today.
https://onlysky.media/mclark/false-information-our-top-global-risk-in-2024/

💪 Early morning CoSo crew in the house. Greetings, lovely bones!

😬

...Are we secretly cats?

There's a reason people see the news as gamified. Headlines like this don't help.

If I never again see climate change disaster talked about the same way we discuss album sales and Olympic achievements, it'll be too freaking soon.

Colombian raccoons / trash pandas still look a little different. :)

Just a quick news brief today, addressing Australia's latest bans on neo-Nazi symbols and salutes. This news story comes with an important reminder that even with these laws in place it is *very easy* to signalboost dangerous content - even when simply trying to warn each other about it.

Bans on symbols also don't go deep enough, to tackle the factors aiding extremist groups in their recruitment drives. For that, we need much more systemic responses to the rise of hate.

https://onlysky.media/mclark/australian-neo-nazi-bans-and-hate-speech-rising/

Early bird gets to see the horsies. Lousy camera phone, but lovely moment with birdsong and a gentle predawn sky in the park. (And the fire is out, no worries!)

#Nature #AmRunning

Camera phone doesn't pick up reds well, so this doesn't do justice to how *livid* the mountain fire looked as I was heading back, but you get the idea.

So much can change all at once.

I have zero idea what my future will hold.

But we put one foot in front of the other for as long as we can.

And we forgive ourselves when what we *can* manage never seems like enough.

Because of course it never is - but that's also not the point.

Take good care of your hearts in this world of ours on fire. 🕊️

COSO!

Show me your best move.* 👀

*Please & thank you, con respeto.

Not quite the same with the fence. :(

😊 An hour ago, I was *just* about to post this, but then my 16-year-old nephew called with big questions about writing an essay for school (always tricky, because there's the way that's best for proper analysis, and... the way the teacher wants it done for easier grading 🙃).

So now, after being a decent aunt, I can post this properly.

DRAFT FINISHED, BABY!

Still have to reread it before I send it to my beta reader, but that'll happen this weekend. Barring major disaster, we're almost ready! 🎉

OH DEAR. THIS POST WAS SET TO SELF-DETONATE 💣 💥 🔥

Ą̷͇̀l̵̩̓̕l̸̩͘ ̸̭̪̈́ť̷̝̍̆h̶̡̛̰̯̏͌a̷͕̞͋̂t̵̩͙͑̈́͝'̵̛̍́ͅͅş̴̬̱͝ ̷̗̊͠l̵͚̕͠ē̸̻͓̐͝f̷̧͙̀̑͝t̶͓̓͊̚ ̶̜̱̓͌́a̴͉͊r̶̡̩͛̀é̵̦̞͕ ̶̮̾ṫ̷̡͈̍ḧ̸̛͍́̊e̴̫̅ş̶̥̰̓e̴̟̪͌͂̇ ̷̞̅͊̚h̷̰͕͈͂e̶̡̹̜̚ŗ̸̗͈̾̇e̴̩̍͐ ̷̪͉̩̀a̵̡̱̐͑͝s̴͎͖̈́h̸͈͌́͜e̴͕̝̐̌ś̶͓̆ͅ.̵̩̉ ̵̱͊͑̀

BACK TO WRITING NOW.

TWO MORE CHAPTERS TO GO! 🎉