One of my favourite photos.

All our sound and fury fits on that one pale blue dot.

I know the atheist POV can be scary.

I understand why it would be *so* nice to think someone's keeping tabs on us, and that everything we do to one another will have to be answered for, in time.

But there is freedom in remembering that *we* built our stories & cultures this way.

Because even if that means they're flawed...

We can build them up differently instead.

Sleep well, dreamers.

Tomorrow we rise. 🌎

Got a cancellation for tomorrow night, so I'm going to finish tomorrow's newsletter after classes tonight, then take the day off.

Take a notebook & water bottle into nature.

Write something just for me.

Not for publication.

Not for my ridiculous industries.

I really don't see any way to fix the biggest problem I have on my plate, but... the world is filled with big ol' problems we're never going to fix. What makes me so special?

Looking forward to talking to a bee. I hope they like poetry.

@stueytheround

Stuey! I know you "starred" the first post, but I didn't see your name last night, so here's two for you now (couldn't pick!).

---

There once was a baker named Stuey
Whose prowess with the gals wasn't hooey--
They'd give an amorous shake
When he baked them a cake
And get off while the rise was still gooey.

Have you heard of dear Stuey the Bard,
whose tunes bring all the girls to his yard?
You might think the demand
far too much for one man--
but not if you always rock hard! 😉

For this week's Tough Times Tuesday, we look at a story that could easily be forgotten amid the mess of other global crises.

But what's happening in Kenya isn't just a regional economic concern; it's a reminder of a global debt-servicing issue that's only getting worse, and which is leaving huge swaths of the world unprepared for the socioeconomic and environmental challenges that lie ahead.

#Economics #Africa #International
https://open.substack.com/pub/mlclark/p/the-global-problem-in-kenyas-tax

Also:

I'm not on the edge of nervous breakdown anymore - I *was* pretty furious with myself this weekend, for being stuck in situations I can't fix and for putting up with utter fools - but my biggest issue is a case of the "Millennials". I still cling to myths of society & success I shouldn't.

We're living through an extremely "mid" moment, the result of compounding cruelty, indifference, and incompetence.

No one gets out of this alive.

Be as gentle with yourselves as you can along the way.

Landline still down, so it's off to the coworking space at the mall for the day. I was really looking forward to a full catch-up on work best done at home. But! Them's the breaks sometimes.

🤨 Well then. Trying to summon landline internet back with limericks didn't work.

Bedtime it is, and an early start hopefully with this fixed. 🤞🏻 Night, CoSo!

@Kaysymmetry

There once was a rad chick called Kay
Whose star rose a little higher every day.
Though she ached on ascent
From a big heart often spent--
She only grew into more glory on the way.

💜

@JulesofJoy

🔥 Nah, you're too rad for generic dirty.

---

There once was a redhead named Jules
Whose BS-detector caught fools--
She'd string 'em up like Christmas lights
When she caught them dead to rights.
Imagine the justice in our world, if she ruled!

@WordsmithFL

There once was a dreamer named Stephen
Who tried to manage his heart within reason--
But as Spock set the bar
And even Vulcans "Pon Farr"
What's a human to do, but get *bleepin'*?

@Tacitus_Kilgore

Tacitus Kilgore once wrote from above
About how the world needs more sweet, sweet love
But when others took the cue
To mean "world peace by snu-snu"
Well if that's what it takes, game on, guv'!

🕊️

Eh. I'm not going to get much done until my landline comes back on. Going for a walk!

Anyone who's liked or commented on this post when I return is getting a dirty limerick.

(Except Scott. We already talked 'hose the other day. 😉)

#Poetry #CoSoAfterDark

Landline went out, so I'm switching to offline work for the rest of the evening.

Hi to all my new buddies/friends/guys! 🇨🇦

Also, I just warned a US friend that, since Canada has a housing and jobs crisis right now, all US political refugees will be asked to bring their own igloo and canoe (the latter for CanUber!).

But also, don't worry: if you arrive sans beaver, one will be assigned to you (not like that). If you land in Toronto, rest assured, you get an automatic redo for hockey team of choice. Just make sure you learn to drop your "Zee"s before the first freeze (so, September).

Thanks for choosing Canada, eh!

Kenya for Tough Times tomorrow (a perfect example of a storm brewing the world over).

Rewind Wednesday will then cover some deep history of US immunity, criminal trespass, as fuller context for SCOTUS today.

Then, for Thorough Thursday, a fuller look at democratic struggles (SCOTUS, Europe, Canada), but also the rough counterfactual: that we had a chance to develop more direct democracy and better accountability in lockstep with tech advances, and we didn't take it. This is the bad timeline.

🤦🏻 A friend was excited to see a Colombian food stand at a Canada Day event, so they sent me a photo of the offerings and told me how much they were looking forward to finally trying bandeja paisa.

Reader, not a thing on this table is bandeja paisa. I tried to nudge them to the tamal, which I suspect will be the best of the bunch (even the empanadas seem to have an odd texture), but I just hope the beans were cooked well on the dish promoted as bandeja paisa in this sorry lot.

#AnEffortWasMade

I quite literally squealed when I saw that this month's NY Fiction Podcast features Nathan Englander, author of one of my favourite short stories of all time, so at least some things still give me a jolt of pleasure.

I have two documents to send out today, and an hour's worth of volunteer tasks to attend to, but I'm queuing this baby up for an early morning run. (And then tomorrow, we dirty limerick, and I am *coming* for the 'zine team, so prepare thyselves!)

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nathan-englander-reads-chris-adrian/id256945396