I love that on CoSo I can start my day with a deep poli-sci discussion AND share some silly and creative moments at the same time. 🤗 Morning, gang!

I have a slew of tasks today, so #Zine stuff will post later this evening.

There will be two open calls, so please post or DM if you're nervous about submitting, yet would like to try to create An Art to share with the class.

I promise that most of us don't bite unless there's enthusiastic consent! 😅

TFW you planned to go for a walk an hour ago, but you ended up finishing some admin work first. 🙃 And almost found yourself slipping into the first full editing task of the day, too.

ML! Go talk to the trees before you start your work day! FFS.

A few wee admin tasks before bed, but I came across a simple folksy tune that I just had to stop and listen to twice.

Hope it finds some of you in the right mood, too. 💛

'Night, CoSo.

#CoSoMusic
https://youtu.be/V7TAOyU8OeU

And now, I'm going for a walk.

Maybe some fiction-writing tonight? (I have a story about grief I want to finish and send off soon, which suits the day.)

However you need to grieve, and however you *come* to your grief for the world, know that it's important work you're doing--*healing* work, for you and the world around you.

I'm grateful to be walking this path with so many people who come to this work from such differently vital points of view.

🕊️

This one was tough, so I needed two days to write it. We're entering a period of remembrance for October 7, and yet it's been impossible to do the work of memorial properly, because many false stories about what happened to victims were used to fortify the world in its leap to an ongoing nightmare of war.

The dead deserved better, and still do. So too do the living, who suffer today because we have not learned how to grieve responsibly.

Will we ever?

#Death #Israel
https://open.substack.com/pub/mlclark/p/how-we-remember-matters

More mindless data entry for an hour or so.

#RandomQuestions

What's the scariest story you can tell in one sentence?

Morning, CoSo!

The world says hello~

(At least, that's how I'm choosing to translate this. If the dawn is actually saying "Tremble, mortals, for time is fleeting and you are small and squishy", that works, too!)

It doesn't help that most of my relevant pieces from OnlySky in October and November are now offline (*way* tougher to go through all the sources from the spreadsheet holding my data until I can rehouse it on another website). So I'm trading on a lot of my memory of deep-dives into related topics when trying to track down all key sourcing.

But! An added day won't kill me, and I'm sure the end result will be stronger and more empathetic for it. 🤞

Okay, I'm giving up on finishing Rewind Wednesday.

As ever, I'm choosing data precision over rushing to hit the midnight deadline. Too many sources I want to check and firm up before this piece in particular - and then one more run-through to make sure that my language is careful and clear. I'm talking about the importance of honouring the dead with the truth, after all.

So, this'll be my "Thorough Thursday", and...

🤔 Maybe a nice bonus piece on Sunday? A short story after such a heavy week?

I'm grateful this morning for everyone who sat with me in my world-grief.

I now need to put on shoes and go greet the rest of the world.

Be well, be kind, and keep doing the things you need to do to keep being here at all.

Some days "seeking justice where you can" is going to look more like remembering to hydrate and move the soft animal of your body, and that's okay, too. 🕊️

I was feeling a little out of it yesterday--gaining a serious allergic reaction to Jingoism, methinks. All the people wavering between "let's goooo!" and "that's it?!" had me sick to my stomach, but I know the armchair-warrior eagerness for war is just another form of trauma.

Here was Tough Times Tuesday: a reflection on how much we need to adjust to life under climate change.

Today's piece will come later. It's a tough one, on how we've abused the memories of the dead.
https://open.substack.com/pub/mlclark/p/the-myth-of-climate-havens-is-bursting

#CoSoWriters #Zine

This Friday I'm putting out a full call for the next TWO issues of abZurd, since we have a range of ideas already.

Generally speaking, we'll have #Ekphrasis and #Conviviality as core themes in the first (plus a crossword from @Boyceaz!) and #Limerence and #CoSoAfterDark in the second (with thanks to @AndersonArtwork, @JGSchaeffer, and @Valkyrie_D for the inspiration!).

So get your creative hats going!
Hope punk, solar punk, and #CoSo communal living to be celebrated soon! 🥳

I have decided that, for this spooky season, I am going as the living (scifi) embodiment of class warfare. 😁

Morlocks matter, too!
#MorlocksRights
#IfEloiWerentSoTastyTheyWouldntGetEt

Noticed a memorial in the skate park this morning:

"Skate united us and over time fortified an invaluable friendship, so many memories and moments we shared. Unique and highly valuable moments for each of your friends. SKATE FOREVER. We will always remember you and your lessons we'll keep in our hearts, as a counsel to wake up every morning with moral [virtue], as you always reminded us. 'Let's give it [our all] with [honesty/integrity], boys!"

Juan Esteban Cortés 1988-2024

❤️ What a tribute.

I love that my building (and so many like it here) routinely posts notices about how to live with other people well.

"Yo Soy Un Buen Vecino": I am a good neighbour.

I mean, some of these reminder posts are hilarious - reminding kids how to use the elevators respectfully, & pet owners to clean up after their animals - but this one covers the basics: seek dialogue and reconciliation, respect human dignity and difference, the rights of other humans.

Easy on a local level.
Tough on a global one!