And... my favourite Edith Piaf, before bed. 🌹

If you tell anyone how sentimental/romantic I've been tonight, I will cut something. 🙃

...Ideally the pressures facing the working class, but do you REALLY want to take that risk?

#CoSoMusic 🌛😘

https://youtu.be/Q3Kvu6Kgp88

Ah! I should be more precise.

Susan Aglukark has a history that blends both First Nations and Inuit peoples. Her music was released in both English and Inuktitut.

This was the most famous tune of hers, when I was growing up. So much celebration!

#Inuit #CoSoMusic

https://youtu.be/A2WY3kpnqbI

Okay, this is in the clear running for a CoSo anthem. :)

Susan Aglukark: O Siem

"Oh Siem, we are all family
Oh Siem, we're all the same
Oh Siem, the fires of freedom
Dance in the burning flame"

#Canada #FirstNations #CoSoMusic #Nostalgia

https://youtu.be/vaAUBG_PriA

And a little Charles Aznavour, to feel like a super-old-soul tonight.

#CoSoMusic
https://youtu.be/0OrKMaeQUx0

I DON'T KNOW WHY, BUT I'M FEELING VERY FRENCH TONIGHT.

#CoSoMusic
https://youtu.be/ZWuplW-l-E0

Second confession:

I have never seen an episode of The Sopranos. Should I rectify that this year, or accept that I missed the cable-TV boat?

Okay. I think I'm drunk enough to reply to a friend who sent along a credulous US-nationalist interpretation of recent events between Venezuela & Guyana. If you've been hearing panic about the region, too, let me assure you that it's not the grand territorial war it's been made out to be by those who see this as a battle between SOCIALISM and the WEST.

As ever, petroleum futures know no ideological lines in the sand. This is about securing state access & cutting off guerrilla control, no more.

COSO!

Show me your best move.* 👀

*Please & thank you, con respeto.

And before I'm too far into this bottle that no one will believe me...

I *really* appreciate the gift of experience from folks here - especially those who've had to learn how to share their experience respectfully and well, without veering into 'splaining territory.

I'm no stranger to (gendered) presumptions of ignorance, but there's a wonderful balance to be struck by those sincerely interested in sharing and growing. We do so here, and I'm always the richer for it.

Thank you all & always. 💛

The last of my Xmas bottles is being cracked tonight (I suppose wine is a safe gift, even though I'd be just as happy with a hug!). I still have edits to finish, but once they are, the novel is off to a beta reader, then the agent, and I'm on to the main year's work.

Goals this year depend on how long I have one job. When it goes away, I'm pouring that time into the newsletter & changing to a briefer 4x weekly model to earn subscriptions.

Until then?
We take it one day at a time. 👌As we do. 💛

(With thanks to my lovely friend @WordsmithFL, who routinely coaxes this cranky pants to lean into the lighter side of creativity, life, and community. Thanks, Stephen! 😊)

"One of the things about the journey of life is when you look back and see the pages of the past in a new light. And I think this next song says to me that, unless good people stand up to be heard, then fear and cruelty will always dominate the world. So, it's time for those people to stand up and lift their heads. This is a song I think talks about that."

Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens)
#CoSoMusic

https://youtu.be/nQZCnMcQOCM

I had a lovely chat just now, with a street person out begging who was *so* eager to have a real conversation about worldly news. She had questions about things she was reading that spoke to a sharp mind absent any real outlet.

Yesterday too, I was acutely aware, when walking on air after finishing my novel draft, that I was checking in with folks who can't even begin to achieve such things while out begging for coin.

Creativity isn't rare.
Opportunity is.
May we extend it wherever we can. 🕊️

Where coffee is failing, maybe a walk will help clear my mind. I suspect my body is still adjusting to the return to daily cardio. (🙃 Just don't tell it I'm returning to proper strength training next week, too.)

Afternoon coffee?

Afternoon coffee.

Today my brain is just... 🙃

Nope, can't even word the word for it.

...Coffee.

Not quite the same with the fence. :(

🤦🏻 Okay. About to start running in earnest. Got stopped by a neighbour who was so excited to see me and clearly had an instant fantasy of us working out together. Uh, no.

As I get better at returning to routine, I'll go back to working out earlier again, too. Fewer nuisances. Just me and the roosters. 🤞🏻

TTFN!