And... with that, g'night CoSo! Be good, but not *too* too good. 😉 (Keep the bar low enough for the rest of us messes to meet!)

Tonight I had a chat that reminded me how easy it is for allies to slip into unhelpful behaviour.

If you know someone worried their child is rushing into gender-affirming care, try this redirect: ask probing questions to clarify where in the process they worry a health care provider might miss signs of a "rush". Let them talk through what might just be ignorance of the supports involved & look through regional standards of care together.

They're much more robust than media commentary suggests.

I really enjoy not being a click-bait writer. I'm sure some folks love racking up views with hot takes, but producing work I stand by that calls for more consideration and less leaping to snap judgment will always be my "win" condition.

Too many media outlets trade on controversy--and what a world of impoverished discourse and policy they've created.

Thanks for always holding so many difficult ideas in tension, CoSo. All the thoughtful folks here leave me hopeful we can build better after all.

👌🏻

Go for a walk, ML said to themself! It'll be good for your health, they said! 😅

😅 The rain started up suddenly almost at the time service started. The rest of the display is... struggling to go up in time. The figurines with bags over their heads is a touch creepy but I am also SUPER curious about the chicken on one of the platforms. What a detail.

When the doors opened, the Good Friday display - the empty cross - came out. I wasn't able to catch yesterday's procession due to rain. Always interesting, though - the rituals with which so many fill lives and shape their sense of community.

For anyone who wants it, a few seconds of contentment among the calm crowds awaiting service on Good Friday (Viernes Santo) in Bello. There aren't many folks in the surrounding streets - all is boarded and shut up, so only the deeply suffering are out sleeping or self-medicating or picking through trash. But here in the town square, everyone gathers and is at peace together, while vendors wander offering toys and refreshments in the wait. #Colombia

This vampire is now slathering on sunscreen and waiting 20 to go for a nice restorative walk before the next round of revisions for the day. 🧛‍♂️ I also have to debate how much to bother trying to explain US fascistic politics to someone via email.

It feels... very much like weaponized incompetence for someone in North America not to be aware of mainstreamed US nationalist movements by now?

🕊️ Part 3 of 4 in my "Israel & the West" series for #OnlySky.

This is where I finally talk about current Israeli politics. In Parts 1 & 2, it was necessary to dispel the Western gloss that flattens Jewish, Zionist, and Israeli discourse, and to address the self-serving ways that the West talks about Israel.

*Now* we can dive into the state politics & democratic questions raised by Israel's struggle between its executive & judicial branches.

Lessons here for us all. ⬇️

https://onlysky.media/mclark/israel-and-the-west-netanyahu-and-israeli-national-politics/

:) I know my health has improved because I lucid-dreamed a whole original "movie" last night.

Amusingly, two thirds played out, then my brain switched to a dark screen, and dream-logic told me "oh, something's wrong with the VCR", so after fixing the "tracking" I figured out the ending to my story. #80sKid

If only all writing were so easy. 🙃

Now to look over today's article. This one's a doozy but I went to bed feeling pretty good about the shape of it.

A good (or Good) Friday to you all! 💫

There will come a day when I'm not harassed on my run, but today was not it.

Twice today!

Once by a person asking if I hated men because I was always out alone. (He was with his dad in his 80s, who had the sense to intervene with better etiquette.)

Second time by the Evangelical newspaper vendor, who strongly wants to date me (FFS), does not listen to me telling him to leave me alone, & is *really* testing my nonviolence especially unto older frail people.

Living in peace is tough, mi gente.

My favourite #tree in the park.

Rent asunder by the world.

Nevertheless, it persists.

As must we all.

#CoSoNature

Up and at 'em, shaking my colita like a puppy as I head for the door to go running. 🐶 🏃‍♂️💪

Oh! And it looks like a story has gone live. The Future Fire is a small SFF mag with a big, activist heart. Payment for this story was sent to Refugees International.

Despite the wild name, "The Pool Noodle Alien Posse" is a work of "mundane" SF, imagining an everyday mum trying her best with 2 kids in a climate-change-ridden world where aliens came and left after humans were their usual embarrassing selves.

But the kids are all right - and that's not nothing.

#SFF
http://futurefire.net/2023.65/index.html

All right, lovely CoSo. 💙

Tonight, I made a public Patreon post connected to a BookTube, in which I talk gratitude for my patrons and go deep, for fellow struggling writers, into the kinds of doubt it's normal to be moving through in our world.

If you're questioning the value of your work in this dumpster fire of an unjust society, you are not alone.

We'll get through it together.

#WritersOfCoSo #WritingCommunity
#BetterWorldsTheory

https://youtu.be/Q57JGLhIc_I
https://www.patreon.com/posts/gratitude-chat-81107608

Oh, I love that the latest podcast episode of The Problem with Jon Stewart chose to approach recent news with a conversation about the two-tiered justice system in the US in general. *Such* a refreshing reframe and robust use of a cynical news cycle. 👌

https://pca.st/episode/ac16e4ef-7ca7-40f6-8e6a-f5788c3d9643