Okay, I have such a great tech person.

Just a loose connection, no new part needed. She didn't want to charge me for the fix, but obviously I insisted on paying for her time, because I can't pop open my own machine or troubleshoot most hardware issues. Still--

Just want to give a shout-out to all the great, honest tech people here.

You folks are a freaking gift. 💛

A'ight. Off to take this hobgoblin of a machine to the shop.

Low internet for the next while.

Will say howdy to a bee, a tree, a flower, and a good boi for you all.

Today, for Monday Media Review, we're talking about an NBC article that exacerbated the pain of a vicious, racialized rumour that's been gumming up our news cycle this past week.

Although most of the race-baiting came from people with some pretty big platforms, we mustn't forget that we all have a responsibility to nip hatred locally, in the bud.

#Humanism #HumanBehaviour #Racism #MediaLiteracy #Politics #GlobalHumanism

https://open.substack.com/pub/mlclark/p/whos-in-the-room-when-we-speak

Anyway, giving the laptop to my repair shop for two days might not be the worst thing for me, is my point.

I'm thinking a nice long water fast, newsletters mostly drafted by hand so I spend minimal time with a screen, and more time in nature every day - little things to reset the ol' noggin for the next month.

Just have to finish these last few online-intensive admin & editing tasks, then have the newsletter out super early tomorrow. Then off to the tech mall, &... freedom!

Some tabs, I haven't closed for months because I don't want to forget them, even though I don't quite know what to do with them.

One of them autoplayed when I rebooted. It's an interview with a Russian soldier describing how his unit methodically entered Ukrainian homes and raped boys, girls, and women before murdering each whole family in Feb.

Still can't bring myself to delete the tab. I have a few like this, across conflict zones, and I wonder why I'm so angry sometimes.

Quick #Canuck break.

This is a pretty spot-on reminder that the strength of the multiparty system in #Canada is floundering in part because of a major third option that hasn't acted like a proper check-and-balance in a while.

(US friends, if you want a break from your own #Politics drama, you're welcome to watch, too! It might be amusing to see that we once had a functional socialist option in federal government, before it got neoliberal-ified to try to pick up votes.)

https://youtu.be/ux3PPTrbyys

I saw many beautiful things on my walk tonight.

I also saw a truck driver, who'd stopped by the side of the road facing my line of buildings, lean against his cab door & jack off into a giant pile of grass clippings in front of the sidewalk.

(I mean, I didn't watch for long, but I got the vigorous gist.)

#NotAllDudes
#ButDefinitelyThatOne

I think that's enough "being in the world" for me today.

Four things to finish and send off before tomorrow leaves me laptop-less for a bit.

Night, CoSo.

For those who were curious...

Costumes for Halloween are now out. They came a few days after the first trees.

Kids don't really trick-or-treat, except at mall events, but they do love hanging out in costume during family parties or out in neighbourhood throngs on Halloween.

#Colombia

One last push of main work this week, starting in a minute and running until 2 p.m.

It has been A WEEK, but I look forward to being able to read for BookTube tomorrow, and ideally write fiction Sunday afternoon. 🤞🏻

#OnceMoreUntoTheBreach

"Looking up at the stars, I know quite well
That, for all they care, I can go to hell,
But on earth indifference is the least
We have to dread from man or beast.

How should we like it were stars to burn
With a passion for us we could not return?
If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me." #Space

The poor donkey has been relocated after a violent attack by a disturbed street person a few days back, and it seems that Pablo is being more vigilant with "his" horses, too, so in the absence of my usual early morning park friends, I'm communing with this fleeting red abyss of beauty before the dawn instead. #Nature

...And good morning! 😘

(My mind chews through things differently while I'm getting ready to run. Hope everyone slept well!)

Just listened to a podcast that offered the painful reminder of how much 9/11 set into motion, with Alex Jones *on that day* declaring it an inside job and surging in fan base overnight.

A Certain Political Figure makes it easy to concentrate our democratic frustration, but even when he's finally out, there'll still be a whole underbelly of politicians who used him to pursue their own power, and everyday citizens *desperate* to embrace the next infotainment act that gives them license to hate.

When I'm all caught up, and my story submission queues are full, I have this ache to write a new book, completely different from all the work that lies in confusing ruins behind me.

My first 20-odd years as a writer have been littered with such a mess of failures, pivots, and restarts.

But the hope that I might yet write one good, true, meaningful thing that reaches a fuller array of strangers persists.

The daily mess of living first, but--

I'm coming for you, Next Big Work.

Soon soon soon.

Weekend #Ekphrasis prompt, for those engaging with #CoSoArt and/or our #WritingCommunity.

This photo is by Yannis Kolesidis. In Lidoriki, Greece, declining water levels are revealing structures submerged since 1980. This is from a "lost village", and the sharp reduction in water is a danger to nearby Athens. Maybe there's a juxtaposition in old & new homes facing ruin that will inspire a poem, story, song, or painting in you?

If so, feel free to share it in a comment on this post this weekend!

Woo! Landline came back.

All right, you wonderful weirdos. Time to quit this popsicle stand and return to the word mines! 😘 Have a glorious one!

🤔 If you were to create an alt-personality online, what would yours be?

(@AskTheDevil, I'm guessing, would go as a regular mortal - just for fun!)

I ask because there was a body of research a while back into online anonymity (using gamers especially), that illustrated how hard it is for us to mask our real personalities.

So when I show up in an alt-account as a cranky loner in a cabin, posting about the local porcupine and offering preservation tips...

Oh, you'll know it's me.
You'll know.

Landline has been down for hours, so I can't do half the things I wanted to today.

Ah well. That makes it easy to organize the rest of the day's to-do list! 🙂

*sorry, @IRNMKE3 - I had to delete and repost, because I had "week" instead of "year" at one part.