M. L. Clark π―
- Humanist
- Global / Big-Tent
- abZurd Magazine
- https://linktr.ee/abzurdmagazine
- Newsletter
- https://mlclark.substack.com
Writer (SFWA), translator, humanist, general odd duck β’ π¨π¦n in π¨π΄ β’ avoids pronouns, they/them if key
Joined Apr 2022
One quick class this morning, and then I can click "send" on that newsletter. :)
(Good morning, CoSo! π«)
I was going to post something sad, but here's a tree flower instead.
I don't *think* it's sad? But I didn't ask. I just took a photo like a creep and left. π
Good programmers go to Heaven - so long as they didn't aid and abet genocide or the downfall of democracy / humanity with their code.
Bad programmers get job offers in Hell.
That's all I'm saying. π
I think my version of hell would be an emotional torture skit that keeps hanging, with a Task Admin window popping up each time to show me that I'm maxing out Hell''s CPU, Memory, and Disk Space. Every time, a demon would emerge to try to fix things. Every time, I'd shout "It's Antimalware Service Executable!" And every time the demon would hum, haw, and tap the screen, saying, "No, see, it's only at 2.8%", while the torture program keeps stuttering on.
Apropos of nothing. π π
Going for a walk!
All right, beauties, beasties, and all stops in between: Time to dive into the day's main workflow. A newsletter later on, after revisions, but I have a book review to submit first.
TTFN!
Hey #CoSoWriters!
Having a rough one?
Enjoy this story of a person whose game plan... doesn't make any sense at all.
He published fanfiction of LotR, then tried to sue Amazon and the Tolkien estate for infringement of *his* work.
Oh baby. The world is filled with people whose overconfidence is a wonder unto itself.
If the worst that happened to you this year is that you took a risk on original work you believe in, well done.
There are worse ways to go wrong in life!
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/dec/18/copyright-claim-against-tolkien-estate-backfires-on-lord-of-the-rings-fanfiction-author
Started my day with a thoughtful retrospective on 1968 from Robert Reich.
I find such strength in history. This reflection on another year that broke people's idealism is a fortifying read as we close out 2023.
There will come years that break our hearts.
And if fortunate, we will survive them.
M. L. Clark π―
boosted
Many people hear voices when no one is there. Some of them are called "mad" and are shut up in rooms where they stare at the walls all day. Others are called "writers" and they do pretty much the same thing.
-Ray Bradbury
M. L. Clark π―
boosted
~
My Monday included this crazy wind/rain, a fire alarm and building evac into it, then hours of slam.
Youβre a sight for tired eyes, CoSo π
M. L. Clark π―
boosted
βThe new education must teach the individual how to classify and reclassify information, how to evaluate its veracity, how to change categories when necessary, how to move from the concrete to the abstract and back, how to look at problems from a new direction β how to teach himself. Tomorrowβs illiterate will not be the man who canβt read; he will be the man who has not learned how to learn.β
~ Herbert Gerjuoy
Con todo respeto, mi gente...
I would drink a cup of you every day. Maybe two.
Don't tell caffeine I said so, but this CoSo crew has done so much to keep me wired and with it through the roughest of seasons. π€
This has been a really tough year. My "people" are gone, my options are slim, the world's steeped in cruelty and indifference to major problems... but I've noticed myself bouncing out of despair a lot quicker than usual.
A good cup'a community will do that to you, methinks. βπ
M. L. Clark π―
boosted
If we keep doing what we've always done, then we will keep getting what we've always got.
I was thinking about this tonight, and thinking about the cycle of violence and war that stains human history.
The peacemakers, and those that call for radical compassion are often mocked, and often martyred, but it seems to me the same old application of hatred, division and anger is only leading us to the same places.
As impossible or impractical as it seems, the anger is obviously not working.
As ever, I do not like basic news briefs, so I try not to write them.
Today, I review recent hateful remarks from a certain US presidential candidate, Argentina's latest crackdown on protests, and how the pain of IDF's killing of three surrendering hostages sits in a country that's been protesting Netanyahu's choices all year.
Whether in war, migration, or economic crises, democracies are hard to build, and easy to lose. We have deep political wounds to try to heal.
https://onlysky.media/mclark/us-argentina-israel-and-a-world-of-normalized-extremes/
πππ
Three-part news analysis soon, but whew.
This one took a while just to type out, from a technical perspective.
I also want to apologize in advance for using a word in it that I don't even use when I'm playing Hearts anymore. Couldn't be helped, alas. :(
πππ
I must not debate the far-right-wingers.
Debating the far-right-wingers is the mind-killer.
Debating the far-right-wingers is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my urge to debate the far-right-wingers.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the urge to debate the far-right-wingers has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain. π
The next newsletter will be up Tuesday. It also talks about the complexity of violence, using the staggering efforts here in Colombia to try to negotiate multiple guerrillas & gangs simultaneously toward a reduction of violence, then peace & reintegration.
Sometimes it just... boggles the mind how many different approaches to violence are underway simultaneously.
We do not lack for examples of how to pursue better.
It's the collective will, in our deeply wounded world, that's hard to sustain.
Okay, starting over. π
To get caught up, today's newsletter is free-to-read: a film-based reflection on serial killers, hitmen, and what our attempts to elevate killing through these characters say about how much we struggle to make sense of such a cruel and violent world.
Seven and The Killer hold the floor for most of this, but Dark City gets some time in the spotlight, too.
Do you fall for the magician's background trick when watching these character types?
https://open.substack.com/pub/mlclark/p/serial-killers-hitmen-and-the-myth
M. L. Clark π―
boosted
~
most days
i wish i could do more
to help
to make a difference
but i am trying
and that is enough
π
M. L. Clark π―
boosted
Noticing just how many CoSo threads are filled with hearts.
π
M. L. Clark π―
- Humanist
- Global / Big-Tent
- abZurd Magazine
- https://linktr.ee/abzurdmagazine
- Newsletter
- https://mlclark.substack.com
Writer (SFWA), translator, humanist, general odd duck β’ π¨π¦n in π¨π΄ β’ avoids pronouns, they/them if key
Joined Apr 2022