@Alfred draw me like one of your French girls.

Caught in an afternoon downpour on a muggy bus, listening to a deeply compassionate episode of Past Present Future about Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own.

Had a great meeting with my editor (who was sick for a month! mystery solved).

All is very well. Health first.

Everything else will follow. 👍🏻

https://pca.st/episode/769197cb-1702-449f-b610-9bfeb1ab01c6

😅 Two older ladies tried to buy my cookies off me in the metro, and then one tried to set me up with her nephew, while the other wanted to know why I don't wear jewellery or paint my nails.

Being back in the city is hilarious.
I forget how glaringly white / exotic I appear here sometimes.

P.S. They passed quality control. :)

Slightly different bake with margarine, alack, but butter keeps wavering between unavailable and costly. We also saw *huge* downshifts in local beer production due to the cost of raw materials and shipping. Club Colombia usually has three varieties but it's down to one everywhere, and my favourite craft brewery seems to have reduced operations to in-house only.

We can *really* feel economic pressures from war and inflation sneaking in.

But still - cookies!

While baking I was listening to Behind the Bastards on "the other Hitler", Julius Streicher, & I still can't get over the fact that in 1922 claiming children had been kidnapped for blood rituals by Jewish citizens led to an actual sentence of jail time (reduced on appeal to a fine, but still).

It's a striking reminder that we never *needed* brutality on a mass scale to know that defaming people was wrong.

And also, that the lesson is never fully learned.

A century later, how much has changed?

After months of delays, my podcasts are finally ready, so it's off to the office today--with 🍪, because I enjoy treating folks there.

This has been a year of many projects failing, flopping, going silent, or changing direction. It's been A Lot. I self-published past work because my industries are floundering and I don't know what comes next. I thought if I had those books out, I could at least walk away if need be.

And... I still don't know what comes next.
But for now: cookies. And podcasts.

Man, there is nothing quite like touching base after a long spell, and feeling that knot of worry fall away.

One person very dear to me is away for the year working so hard that there's only time for brief weekly check-ins.

Another family, with 2 nephews-of-the-heart, is so busy living their best lives (yay!) that we went a few months without being able to hang out online like we used to weekly. But oh! What joy to touch base again at last.

& what a *relief*, to know they're all doing well. 💛

I've been staggering content releases all week, but I'm really looking forward to the #SFF collection I'll finally have for you in review-form tomorrow.

Here's a gorgeous segment I read in the BookTube video.

Hope everyone is feeling deeply moved by something good amid the fray.

Well I guess it's going to be Sinéad O'Connor on my playlist this afternoon.

This one feels... far too young, especially when she suffered so much for speaking out, but she still accomplished *so* much.

#Newsletter time!

This week in #BetterWorldsTheory, we dip into The Beatles on film, VCR case law, and contemporary crises in the business of art.

Is it weird that The Yellow Submarine represents both an aspirational freedom for artistic expression *and* a tricky history for corporate involvement in the creation of beloved art?

Nah. Not weird. 🙃
Just the price of doing business in our creative fields.

But maybe it's a price we're not as willing to pay anymore?

https://mlclark.substack.com/p/making-all-our-nowhere-plans-for

What a difference a few days of keto make for this nutter. 🙂 I woke feeling *well* this morning. Capable, full of energy, calm. First time in a while. Couldn't do keto in Canada - too expensive, when I was essentially living on rice & lentils - but I live where giant avocados are fairly cheap. Avocados, eggs, with a bit of tomato, onion, and garlic? Perfect meal for my needs. No notes.

Morning, CoSo! Hope you're finding your balance this week. 💫

Feria de las Flores... ya casi. 🤞🏻🙂 #Soon

🥳 Just the adapter. Easy swap.

And on *such* a pretty day. I will take photos y tomar un tinto. And breathe out before I return. I really need to get this MS finished so I can take a few proper days to enjoy the world again. I miss it so. 💛

Now that the sunscreen is on, I'm reframing the laptop errand into a wee adventure. I haven't left my neighbourhood in... months.

Park + Mall across the street + Apartment building + Folks working on the block. = My life for the last while.

This is a good forced excuse to hop on the Metro, touch base with the rest of beautiful Medellín, and return renewed (with a functional laptop!) for the writing and week ahead. 👌

All about that mindset. ☀️💪