I decided to rewrite the UBI piece for greater utility, but I also had to chuckle at myself while sifting through the draft I'd built for myself this week.

You know you're *really* down the rabbit hole of a topic when you've gone back to a letter written in 1526 to flesh out your history section. 😂

You'll see soon enough how it relates, but mostly I just hope this latest Franken-Draft is much more fruitful than my first run at contextualizing our relentless failure to move from data to policy.

I might discuss this piece in an essay, but for now this is a solid read on its own, pushing past media panic about "liberal" institutions to address the corporate issue afoot:

"The ugly truth is that the humanities work as beards for billion-dollar universities. ... A cynic could easily argue that the core purpose of the humanities has become to provide the illusion of progressivism to deeply unprogressive institutions, helping them appeal to wealthy liberal students."

https://archive.ph/lUn3T

Laptop in hand! On my way home, and into an afternoon of catch-up.

Have a good one, all! Run your races well, but don't forget to leave a little room for drift. 😉

I'm still away from a proper computer, so I can't send a message via Ko-Fi just yet, but I suspect that one of you kind, kind, kind folks just sent me the money to cover today's repair cost of my laptop.

You are responsible for a vampire-pale Canadian suddenly crying on the Medellín Metro, and I thank you so much for it. 🫂

And thank you to *everyone* who helped financially this year. You helped me try to do something extraordinary in Jan. Although both kids died this year, we gave them hope. 🤍

I chuckle, but

1) it's nice to chat with someone open to an actual discussion; a lot of folks are far too radicalized to entertain different points of view;

2) a lot of the surface-level antagonism I see comes down to people not feeling heard in their frustration, driving them into more extreme positions because at least in *those* spaces they can articulate an issue they're seeing (in this case, the cost of living) without getting shut down or vilified; &

3) I DID IT ALL IN SPANISH, BABY. 🥳

🤣 Today a fellow asked if I was a feminist *after* I'd emphasized that men's issues are important, too, & he made a face when I said yes, telling me women were too masculinized.

But by switching to the economic issues caused by corporations not paying their share, and the subsequent scapegoating of other demographics to explain our subsequent financial precarity, I swear by the end of the chat he was saying it's really sad that more women don't have access to better education & life outcomes. 🙃

Day 1:

Laptop run this morning, and then I can catch up on work this afternoon.

Holding gratitude today for the ability to adapt to a whole whack of messy circumstances. I may not be thriving, but even surviving is a gift in a world where far too many never have a chance to overcome circumstances beyond their control.

We who are still here at all, to keep making mistakes and learn from them, are the lucky ones.

🤗 Happy Friday, you beautiful messes.

Episode of Slow Horses, then bed.

Lots to catch up on tomorrow, though it should be easier with my laptop back.

I'll also be on a wee fast to deepen in gratitude this last week or so of the year.

Feeling very fortunate right now. A lot went wrong this year, and I've had many very low days. My future is uncertain, and 2024 has hardships in store.

But here we make it safe to share in challenges, and take turns uplifting when another stumbles on the way.

So thank you CoSo--and Happy Solstice.

Also: My laptop is ready for pick-up tomorrow! 🥳 One last trip into the city, and then hunkering down to write until New Year's. I might just meet this year's project goals after all.

😄

I'm on the bus home, so I'll reply to this kind comment on my COP28 piece soon, but for now, my first thought was "Buddy, you don't see the drafts I rewrite so I'm *not* just venting at the thickness of the world."

But CoSo knows. When I announce that I'm going for a long pace before final editing and article upload... 🙃 that's when I'm cooling off and coming back to temper the futility with more proactive framing.

Speaking of, I have to pace before submitting my UBI piece tonight, too. 😅

Heading out for the office now with the cake. This'll be my last time "peopling" for the season - and then it's on to the novel with a Die Hard break, ideally with some news about the laptop along the way.

Don't forget to pick yourself up something special this season, especially if it's a more isolated one than usual! 💛🕊️

Is it just me, or does CoSo seem very giddy tonight? Did someone up the nitrogen in the air supply? 🤔😏 Or are we just huffing each other's joy?

🙃 The Canadian urge to find something to garnish this is strong, but in Colombia a *lot* of cakes are simply two plain layers of yellow or chocolate with a smear of arequipe (dulce de leche) between them, and/or maybe a dusting of powdered sugar. So the fact that mine is loaded with apples with a dulce de leche drizzle is fine. No garnish needed. *Maybe* a scoop of vanilla ice cream, but we'll see.

...Kinda looks like a giant maple doughnut mated with a cruller, though, eh? 😅

#CoSoBakes

Just in time to watch the last cow come home. 🙂

Three days with no word on the laptop. Fortunately, I'm working at an office tomorrow, so I'll have a machine that doesn't hang on every line I write.

I was really hoping to end the year without more costs, but it's been a tricky one. Once this novel is finished I'll have one last chance at major presses with my agent, & submit stories again to pay off debt.

Would be really nice to start saving for my impossible goal again. But!

Paso a paso. 🤞

Progress photos. 🙂 It baked perfectly at 50 minutes (30 min open, 20 min covered with foil), and... in 10 minutes I'll see how good a job I did with flouring the bundt pan and keeping the apple filling from the edges. 🤞🏻

#CoSoBakes

I have some thinky work to do this afternoon, which is why I've given myself permission to bake a cake.

It's time away from the computer, but not time away from my brain. 🙃

Arequipe (dulce de leche) and apple bundt cake, here I come!

#StillWorking
#Honest
#PayNoAttentionToTheStove
#CoSoBakes

A Colombian celebrity's tour bus had stopped by the highway on my way back from errands. The lead member was super polite with the group waiting with him, shaking hands & chatting briefly with all of them... but I got the distinct impression that the long line of beautiful, immaculately done-up women all checking their phones were groupies for hire. They politely shook hands with him one by one, then got back to their phones.

Celebrity is a weird life.
So is being background colour, I suppose!

Today's piece felt too important to put behind a paywall.

In it, I discuss the challenge for those trying to secure peace by means beyond the battlefield.

I talk about Colombia's Total Peace initiative with local guerrillas and gangs, and the role of oil imperialism not just in killing our climate but also binding us to a different theory of foreign policy, and power.

Everything is connected.

The path to peace requires us to remember how deep our war wounds truly run.
https://open.substack.com/pub/mlclark/p/the-extraordinary-work-of-seeking