Also, holy heck, what a story contest:

"To affirm human rights with more just and accurate depictions of centralized surveillance technologies, we are running an open call for short stories to be used as the foundation for a new toolkit.

Five stories will be published in Strange Horizons and in the toolkit. One author will be invited to participate in an expenses-paid trip to RightsCon ... in Taipei."

The con's not for me, but the theme looks fun! #WritingCommunity

http://www.stopcopaganda.org/

I now have three pieces "pending" in submission queues, and I'm hoping to send out another by month's end.

Getting back into the swing of short fiction is very nice, and it always helps to have tons of work out at the same time. (Having work under consideration lets a writer pretend they're "working" even when they're not. 😉)

How are my fellow #WritersOfCoSo faring? Any specific goals for the next month - beyond trying to avoid being asked if you have any goals at all?

#WritingCommunity

All right. Time enough spent today with the latest round of escalating war fronts, polio vectors, countries gripped by economic strife, brutal ethnic cleansings, financial grifts, & the idle, surface cruelties that distract us from the rest on infotainment-based front pages.

Time to lean into gratitude for the little things, and get crackin' with work I'm privileged to do in a world as broken as ours.

(But if you see a Korben Dallas, you send 'im this Leeloo's way, eh?)
https://youtu.be/Z9cw4pyKMSU

#Israel #Gaza

From Oct 7 on, many of us witnessed with pain as victims & families were used as narrative props by warmongers. Lies were told for war purposes about the actual traumas that day. Families were harassed for protesting, & criticized for how they grieved, for months. Families of peace-seeking victims have been in agony to see loved ones' values leveraged for slaughter.

As I wrote last week, kibbutzim & victims are refusing to be part of this.

Good for them.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/hostage-families-tell-regev-not-to-use-loved-ones-names-or-photos-in-oct-7-ceremony/

One thing I noted from chats around a post yesterday:

Many are used to talking about war solely in terms of military operations.

Vital details!

But our perspective can easily be skewed by military analysis, which often overlooks motivations, & the role of economics, representation, & negotiation in conflict resolution.

A key "tell" is when we talk about one side as caricatured enemies.

The news often makes more sense when we remember that the world is full of coherent, if dissenting actors.

Home again, and *so* gettin' in a lil' SF story time until I conk out. #AmWriting

😅 Honestly, it takes so little to make me happy. A message from a loved one, a work of art that inspires, a moment in nature, seeing people be excellent to one another, laughter or good food shared...

Y'know, folks, when it comes to sipping on the sweet sweet love of life, I think I might be a pretty cheap drunk. 😬

😃

You guys, I have SO MANY THOUGHTS on this film. Probably going to do a YouTube on the craft dimensions, but hot dog.

Hot! Dog!

😅 As always with subtitled screenings, it's just me and one couple in the theatre - a white dude trying his best in Spanish, and a Colombian sweetheart with very little English.

My favourite part is when the fellows in such couples try to talk to me in English, but I reply in Spanish and keep the conversation on her turf instead.

(Second favourite part is the documentary shorts that always precede movies here. This one is on the work of a Colombian director.)

Movie time! 🥳

The coworking space now has two people at my table running a series of phone calls, so... time to walk, stretch, and eat before my "field research"* of a sci-fi film.

*Dead serious: I have two stories in process that I'm hoping this flick will help with, because I get highly inspired to write whenever I like *or* dislike a film in my genre. (And I'm sure I'll enjoy it on a general spectator level, too. 🙃 Maybe.)

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

Ą̷͇̀l̵̩̓̕l̸̩͘ ̸̭̪̈́ť̷̝̍̆h̶̡̛̰̯̏͌a̷͕̞͋̂t̵̩͙͑̈́͝'̵̛̍́ͅͅş̴̬̱͝ ̷̗̊͠l̵͚̕͠ē̸̻͓̐͝f̷̧͙̀̑͝t̶͓̓͊̚ ̶̜̱̓͌́a̴͉͊r̶̡̩͛̀é̵̦̞͕ ̶̮̾ṫ̷̡͈̍ḧ̸̛͍́̊e̴̫̅ş̶̥̰̓e̴̟̪͌͂̇ ̷̞̅͊̚h̷̰͕͈͂e̶̡̹̜̚ŗ̸̗͈̾̇e̴̩̍͐ ̷̪͉̩̀a̵̡̱̐͑͝s̴͎͖̈́h̸͈͌́͜e̴͕̝̐̌ś̶͓̆ͅ.̵̩̉ ̵̱͊͑̀

Leaving home early to work at the mall before the movie tonight.

😅 It occurred to me that I've naturally adopted an unusual set of bag checks these days. I now always make sure I have coin for street folks, and at least a bag of rice for someone in deep hunger, before stepping out.

(This is for my sanity, too. I wouldn't feel as comfortable going out to enjoy an evening at the movies while beelining past anyone in need along the way.)

The weird ways we adapt to our neighbourhood needs, eh? 🙃

#Israel #Gaza #democracy

Haaretz is left-of-centre, but far from the only Israeli paper hashing out how to get rid of Netanyahu. This summary presents the problem for the West as one that can be solved by treating him like Putin, for reasons described below. The one thing the columnist missed is that Harris has *already* been given diplomatic roles to signal US keenness to work with someone else.

But locals have to throw off their far-right nightmare first. And soon.

https://archive.ph/IFJJZ

🧐 Also, feel free to tag your own niche!

I am a...

#SitterWithStreetFolk
#HelperWithWords
#IncluderOfOutsiders
#AuntieAtLarge
#BearerOfSometimesUsefulFacts
#MakerOfTreatsAndGoodEats
#GeneralTryHard

Y tú? 👀

This is a sweet read for anyone who might feel like they can't find their place:

"We need a whole lot more than just Breakup Whisperers. We need D&D Group Conveners, Last-Minute Babysitters, People Who Write Articles Online Explaining The Confusing Endings of Certain Movies, A Cappella Concert Attendees, Wikipedia Editors, Phone Fixers, Local Historians, Post-Tragedy Casserole Providers ... and on and on, forever. Roll a few of those together, and baby, that’s a niche."

https://open.substack.com/pub/experimentalhistory/p/theres-a-place-for-everyone

One more book to read and one more submission to send out today, and then I'll be heading across town to watch Alien: Romulus in the "English" theatre.

You know you're ready for some sci-fi when even looking at a flower makes you think of deep-space voids and the quiet horror of the unknown. 👾🌌