This is a lovely meditation from Sam Kahn at Substack.

It doesn't set out to "solve" the problem of political realism, so much as to call attention to the allure of a 20th-C version that often feels right in a Hobbesian way, even if the illusion of being "rational" power-seekers might be our moral undoing.

Recommended to anyone who read my piece on the emotional history of the West last week.

Food for thought in general!

#PoliticalTheory #Politics #Philosophy #Essays
https://open.substack.com/pub/samkahn/p/can-great-power-politics-be-ethical

Oh! And my review of Kij Johnson's latest collection, THE PRIVILEGE OF A HAPPY ENDING, is now up at Strange Horizons.

If you've ever read Johnson, you'll know that her writing is highly lyrical, often experimental, and explores liminal spaces and nonhuman animality in thought-provoking ways.

The collection attests to a strong career for a distinct voice in speculative fiction.

(And includes a ghost story for Wind in the Willows fans, for kicks!)

#SFF #Reviews #Books

http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/the-privilege-of-a-happy-ending-by-kij-johnson/

I am a VERY SERIOUS PERSON (on occasion).

And then there are times when I see something that just makes me belly-laugh far more than is probably appropriate.

If today's political circus of a news cycle has been wearing on you, I invite you to join me in a VERY SERIOUS GIGGLE instead.

(Filtered screenshot because there be sex words in the post below.)

I'm always so giddy after I get to nerd out on science. 😅 At least, the kind that doesn't have depressing consequences for the future of our ecosystems.

Time to cool off with a walk!

Oh, I've got a good one for folks today.

No politics! No grim climate change disaster!

Just science, and its histories. 🤓

Today, for Rewind Wednesday, we talk updates to theories about our #cosmos, and histories of chemistry that might seem absurd now.

Simply put:

Every era is doing the best it can with the data it has on hand.

That's why it's important to teach #science as a *process*, not an outcome, if we want people to understand grand changes in the data now.

https://open.substack.com/pub/mlclark/p/dark-matter-and-the-latest-science

All right.

I can't tell if yesterday's wide-ranging news (from sad to conspiratorial to ridiculous), or my attempts to finish a short story, or some other personal factor brought the sillies out.

But it's a new day.

Let's how ridiculous this one gets, too.

Good night and good luck,
all you beautiful rotters.

"What ceremony of words can patch the havoc?"

Great question, Sylvia Plath.

We're still working on an answer, methinks.

Sometimes getting your brain to sit still long enough to finish a draft is like trying to get a towel wrapped around a sopping wet toddler fresh from the tub and eager to go streaking through the house instead.

(Eating, then diving back in. I want this thing FULLY DRAFTED BEFORE BED.)

Definitely had a case of the sillies today.

Anyone else feeling all over the place?

(Now someone please smack me upside the head the next time I forget that, eh? 🙃)

An interaction on Substack today gave me a real chuckle: just two different approaches to the platform / whole social media sphere colliding.

I might not have a major following, but I do find my way into quality chats with the readers who stop by, and that's a real gift. Every other desire for markers of "success" is mere economic anxiety given material form.

We are here to be present: to connect, to bear witness, and to grow.

That's the signal.

Everything else is just noise.

I poked out my bedroom window and noticed that my downstairs neighbour has a cute little row of windowsill succulents.

Sharing the smile now with you. Make joy where you can in this sodding world!

#Plants #SpikyFrens

And you know when I'm down to just my socks
What time it is; ooh

(•_•)
<) )╯
/ \

(•_•)
\( (>
/ \

(•_•)
<) )╯
/ \

It's writin', it's writin'~ time!
(Oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, yeah-yeah, yeah-yeah)

#AmWriting

Ha. 30-45 minute wait-time.

The soothing hold music of CRA will be my guide (on speaker) while I try to get a few other tasks finished.

But I was saddened by the coded prep-message reminding people to be respectful when dealing with an agent. It included a section reminding callers that CRA prides itself on diversity in its staff... which, reading between the lines, suggests that there is a LOT of racialized and non-native-English hate being thrown these agents' way.

Not a fun job, I imagine!

A wee boast:

One thing I know I can do very well is help other writers feel more comfortable using their voice. In one gig I'm the editor called in when others are struggling to communicate effectively with a writer.

Yesterday I was given a challenging case, but I just received the writer's response after I showed them how to foreground their voice--and that "aha!" moment is priceless.

My own writing might flounder. Or fail!

But I love when a writer comes away stronger for our work together.

Oh yeah, feeling good. 💪

Quick walk to stretch these leggies, then right on to the next task... a one-hour hold (I'm guessing) with CRA to help a friend with tax issues. 🙃

(Followed by more writing, of course. My life feels reduced to pacing, puzzling, and pontificating these days. Probably need to slip another 'p' word or two into the roster soon, for variety!)