Ha! Get out of my brain.

I was thinking of writing on Wings of Desire (and Faraway, So Close!) next Monday, and yet, there's already this lovely piece from our own @LiberalLibrarian today at The Establishment Bar, about this gem of a reflection on postwar humanity (which is also one of my top two films, the other being Ikiru).

Thanks for this beauty of a piece, LL!

#CoSoFilms
https://follow.it/the-establishment-bar/temp/OTUyMjczMjEy

Sometimes I need to take a breath & remind myself that we're all living in the middle of two major wars (even though many governments like to pretend that war is something only happening elsewhere), and trying our best not to lose our minds to them.

The world is too small for some wounds in one corner not to impact all the rest.

Pandemic & climate change gave us a hard look at global connectivity, but we're ultimately local critters beset by larger traumas than we can fully address.

Be kind.

*Besides @DarkAlfred, of course (thank you @CanisPundit!), and all its other glorious possible incarnations.

Serious question:

With all the bullpucky in our current tech product news cycles, what's a device or service you would *actually* like to see developed, that isn't currently being promoted or getting the funding it deserves?

#Technology

Today, while in line at a grocery store, I introduced a Catholic neighbour to the concept of Calvinism, as a way of explaining some of the theological differences that make it difficult for people even within similar religious spheres to coexist in peace, so don't tell me I wouldn't be a blast at parties. 😅

#News

I wrote about Sudan 3 weeks ago, around its one-year-anniversary of brutal civil conflict. (If anyone wants access to that historical explainer, let me know.)

The crux of that piece, as with the one I wrote on Tigray two years ago, was reflecting on the work we can do even when we can't directly push for change.

The lesson from Sudan, where civic protests first toppled a dictator, is to *never* let militaries control a country's path to more democratic futures.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/09/darfur-atrocities-ethnic-cleansing-human-rights-watch-report-rsf-sudan

When I was 6, I was once deeply gutted by the realization that I'd never know the inner life of a class bully. This was a core theory-of-mind moment, when it dawned on me that I'd *never* be able to see the world the way anyone else saw it.

Oh, later on I'd sometimes try to "be understood", as silly humans do--but I'd always come back to that early lesson, that we all live with "self-evident" truths others can never know as we know them.

Good lesson, if tough.

So thank you Robert--ya stinker!

Today for Rewind Wednesday, we look at the Espionage and Sedition Acts during World War I, and reflect on how little has changed in the last 100 years.

Democratic states always struggle with competing priorities during war—in part, because our societies are much more conservative than some of us like to think.

War brings the ugliest parts of our social contract to the fore, and leaves deep civic wounds in its wake.

#Humanism #Democracy #War
https://mlclark.substack.com/p/democracy-and-the-wartime-state

This Is Just To Say

I have eaten
the mangos
that were fresh
from the farm

and which
you were probably
thinking
were perfect

Forgive me
they were
but also
so stringy--

fibrous tendrils
of deliciousness
everywhere
everywhere!

Where's the floss?!

Funnily enough, while making patacones I was sent a writing request from a top travel magazine. Just a quote about food culture here in Medellín, but HECK YES I can do that.

And do I have a chip on my shoulder about people who slag the food here for being "rustic", "simple", and "not as good as all the other South American countries"? MAYBE.

But Medellín apparently found its way onto a top 20 list of foodie cities, so apparently I'm not *entirely* alone in my love of simple cuisine done right.

I was supposed to be fasting this week, but a neighbour gave me ripe mangos and green plantains from her farm, so... patacones were necessary.

Years ago, back in Canada, patacones were the first thing I learned to cook for the displaced Colombians (and other Latinos) working in my neighbourhood. Simple to make, and a joy to serve with hogao and guacamole.

(And in return, I got an outlook on life that led me to a whole new world of learning. Also: leftover patacones!)

#Food #HappyPlace

For Tough Times Tuesday, I reflect on the struggle to keep up with new knowledge about flawed approaches to tackling climate change.

It would be so easy if the real world aligned with our gut feelings about what we "just" need to do—but climate change is complex, and it’s going to take a whole lot more care to mitigate its impacts than we’ve so far put in.

#BetterWorldsTheory
#ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #Science
https://open.substack.com/pub/mlclark/p/keeping-up-with-catastrophe

Another hilarious reminder of how hard new-agent-hunting is going to be. (Yes, I decided to send along a handful of queries this afternoon instead.)

Although this timeline is atypical among agents, it's also coming from someone with a solid literary practice.

If I didn't so desperately want to give this trilogy a chance at being traditionally published, the slim pickings among SF agents, and messages like this, would drive me to self/indie-publishing it in a heartbeat.

#WritingCommunity

After my meeting last Thursday, in which I closed off my relationship with my first literary agent, I submitted a pitch right away to my top choice for a better fit, and now I'm reviewing the next volley of agent pitches, to send out first thing tomorrow.

There aren't really many agents for sci-fi: more for literary stories with a whiff of spec.

But as I was looking through more databases, I came across this chuckle of an agent wishlist.

There's someone for everyone, eh? 😅

#WritingCommunity

Sorry, gamers: I don't get *too* in the technical weeds here, when talking about Fallout.

Dystopian media like this always serves as a reminder, though, that current global disasters aren’t hitting us all in the same way.

While some of us are playing out what-ifs through entertainment like Fallout, others endure real-life versions of disaster thanks to climate change. Still, that’s precisely why gamified apocalypse can teach us plenty about our own.

#BetterWorldsTheory
https://open.substack.com/pub/mlclark/p/on-future-hoarding-climate-change

Morning, folks.

I highly recommend the Cold Turkey app if ever you need a break. I blocked myself from CoSo for a week to stop doomscrolling while dealing with other stressors. I think a lot of us were disheartened by the state of the silo recently--but as J notes, that's on us to manage like the adults we are!

For those who missed it, I wrote last week on Ed Murrow. His pluralist ideals informed a life of service, and set a standard for us all.

Hope you've been well.

https://mlclark.substack.com/p/wires-and-lights-in-a-box-media-lessons