I have Four Things To Write this weekend, but my evening class cancelled, and I'm off to be with a friend and her parents for lunch.

There are terrible events in the news. The kinds of things that make you wonder if humanity will ever surmount cruelty.

If you can help, help.

If you can do something locally, touch grass, connect with a neighbour, remember that there *are* still helpers, hug a loved one... do so.

And if you need a moment to grieve? Take it.

But keep going.

Keep being here. 💛

Adjustments I'd make to this recipe:

1) I know puff needs a high bake, but I think 375° at 30 min would be better for a balanced cook time here.

2) I also followed the proportions for filling precisely, and although it looks tasty (and IS tasty, from the run-off I cut away), I'm not sure it needs to be that overstuffed. I might increase the filling by 50% and make two galettes at once next time.

But - like I said, taste test was yummy! Hope my friend and her parents like it. 🤞

Ohhhh, recipes and high-altitude baking.

😅 Original instructions said 50-55 min at 400°F, which felt *very* long, and it was.

At 30, the almond filling spilled over and burned a little on the tray, which was a saving grace in the end - because when I smelled the burning, I caught the rest of the galette at the perfect moment: the bottom crust a nice warm golden-brown, and the apples, splendidly soft.

Not too shabby for a first try!

#CoSoBakes

All right, in it goes...

🤞🏻

#CoSoBakes

*keeping to my own schedule on the withdrawal, though. That's the benefit of being secular. ;)

Got derailed by a work task last night, so the butter is *now* softening for a galette this morning after class.

Fingers crossed! I think I chose a pretty easy recipe, but transport to my friend across town will be tricky. Her parents are joining us to try it, so... hope it's good! 🤞

And I'm *almost* caught up on key tasks. Can't wait to move on to the next set on Monday.

For those of you marking Lent next week, what are you giving up this year? I'm planning on a little withdrawal myself.

Bedtime.

The latest Some More News was definitely worth a chuckle-sob. It's about how different stages of the internet gutted whatever solid news media systems we might've built on this medium instead.

Importantly, it also notes how brief the era of stronger news economies always was - but it could've gone further on that point. We have *always* been susceptible to grifts & hustle culture.

Building helpful knowledge economies is tough. Tearing them down? Too easy. 👎

https://youtu.be/8d0TcPOaABE

All right, folks. ⚖️

I take a bit longer with the chewier topics, but the result is *never* just a summary of proceedings.

Today's piece on SCOTUS oral arguments in Trump v. Anderson strives to explain the core tensions, propositions, and potential implications of different outcomes.

The short version: Today's oral arguments were weak on textual grounds--but that just means this right-wing SCOTUS has a delicate needle to thread, to achieve its expected ends coherently.

https://onlysky.media/mclark/scotus-trump-and-the-14th-amendment-election-case/

Sigh. SCOTUS has been one of my beats for news articles for the last two years, so you folks know what I'm going to be up to today.

Please spend your days watching/listening to less intense things.

...like True Detective S4!

GREAT first 2k, and decent third to fifth, so the hypothesis is holding so far. 🧐 Need more data, though! Will find an infuriating podcast for tomorrow, too. 👌🏻

Ho ho. I think today's run is going to be a good one, because the "sociopath pod" I'm listening to first thing is trying to paint renters' power as bad for banking profits.

🎻👌🙄

Let's see how much being furious at predatory business cuts down on my time today. 🙃

A friend's been having a rough few weeks - interviewing in an intense field, going through rigorous processes only to keep getting cut at the last round - so I'm looking forward to seeing her on Friday.

And... bringing a galette. :)

I just haven't decided what kind to make yet! It'll probably be her first-ever, so I definitely want "wow" factor. We have berries, apples, pears... no walnuts... a local red plum, but no fresh peaches... 🤔

Fellow Canucks especially: what's your favourite galette?

🤦 Give me a day to write a news brief, and it'll be what it is. But take away my internet when I'm trying to write a news brief?

And... the next day you'll end up with a humanist treatise framed around recent news.

Today's essay reflects on how we can resist desensitization when the news is filled with disaster--and why resisting desensitization serves a deeper purpose than simply "sitting with the world's pain".

We are all made stronger when we refuse to dehumanize.

https://onlysky.media/mclark/fighting-desensitization-in-a-world-of-war-and-disaster/

Some days I pass for normal.

Other days I'm arguing bitterly with the living ghost of Anita Bryant while waiting on my kettle. 🙃

#ThisTimelineStinks