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I thought I was going to have a quiet Sunday, but the teenager brought home her teen-mum-friend's baby last night without telling me. Welp. You know the rules. All babies left Chez Maggie will be fed, changed, and sung Peter, Paul, and Mary songs to until they become socialists. :)

I was feeling so defeated today. Then I saw this headline, & it reminded me: We are all doing the best we can in shamelessly unjust systems. The only way we survive is with the courage to give ourselves and those around us grace in our imperfections, and by extending the platform where we can. 🫂

#Pride I knew about Mädchen in Uniform (1931), but I did not know Eleanor Roosevelt was a fan! Humans have always, always, always been diverse in outlook and expression. #History is purged to give license to repeat cycles of oppression, but... In ars veritas. #LGBTQ #Politics #Fascism

I have written one (1) unit of poetry tonight. :) This weekend I will finish a long-overdue clone story, too.

Taking a break to write for the first time since... March 24, apparently. 😬 At the time, I was too busy to write up the poem I wrote that day, but I think its take will be familiar to people a) caring for children, & b) trying to find the right words for our wounded world. #Poetry #WritingCommunity

I've been in work mode pretty much non-stop for months, with long windows where every chat was about a new task, crisis, or complaint. But right now I am listening to a lovely analysis of The Dispossessed, & gearing up to a new dawn in workflow. I look forward to writing & reading again soon. :)

A potent reminder that we have gone through incredibly hard times before, and we don't all get to survive them - but how we show up for one another when the world encourages hate and fear for our fellow human beings is *everything*. How will we show up for one another here and now? #Pride #LGBTQ 🌈

A wee write-up on the last week before I go back to the data entry mines. I have been making a ton of errors out of exhaustion lately, but the end of the super busy spell is nigh. On the other side of this conference, things will get easier, I hope.🤞 #BetterWorldsTheory #Humanism #HumanBehaviour

I'm finally rounding the corner of what have been a very hard few months of day and night work. I feel good about what I've build, & excited to contribute to my community. But this #PoetryBreak, I have to remind myself to make time for everyday gratitude, too. We are such brief flickers, after all.

TFW you're on the cusp of a nervous breakdown, but still think you can barter with yourself to hold it off for another few weeks. "Can I pencil you in for mid-June instead? I've got some availability after the 7th..."

#ArtBreak Today I'm thinking about Laura Wheeler Waring (1887-1948), whose career had many phases - some consumed by teaching, some given to love of the art. Her Harlem Renaissance portraiture also elevated many *other* creators of the time. An artistic life is almost never just one thing, y'know?

It has been a long time since I was last able to share much of my life in a coherent way. This is actually only *half* the material I wanted to get through, but maybe the rest will emerge in... under four months this time? 😬 It's been a hard year, folks. Be good to yourselves, as best you can.

Although this has been a rough few days, I just had the raddest conversation with my mentee in SFWA's Mentorship Program, where we got to gush about (among other things) the supremely excellent visceral details in @premeemohamed.com's work, so I am currently in a much nicer headspace. 🎉🪲 #SFF #FTW

This has been an incredibly tough & frustrating week. I think I've reached my limit. (The popsicle stand there is nice, at least!) I thought I might be able to take a day to regroup, but there's no end in sight. Had a serious cry about it, & today we dig in. Then I need to rethink everything.

Between the kid being sick *and* flooding the apartment via laundry machine, + internet cutting out, compelling me to find a coworking space for meetings... Yesterday wasn't great for any claims that I would "finally get caught up". *Eyes universe warily* I will... *try* to get caught up today? 🤞🏻🤞🏻

Yesterday the teen came home with her first report card in years. She'd been out of school first because her last home had her working instead, & then because the end of USAID killed an integration program helping Venezuelans like her. Suffice it to say, we took some time yesterday to celebrate. 💖

It's been too long since my last #ArtBreak. Hirō Isono, 1945-2013, is a master of forest scenes. You've probably seen his work used for puzzle art, but I think his pieces deserve more use in SFF covers, too. His "essence of the forest" transcends realism capture a very real "magic" in such realms.

#PoetryBreak If you're on Instagram, check out the @rosemerry.trommer, and the press @samarapressbooks. This one hit me just right today. The world is filled with over eight billion people carrying complex griefs. Be gentle with yours, mindful of theirs, and careful with the chasm between them.

One of my #Podcasts on walkabout was NPR's Fresh Air interview with Bryan Stevenson, on how "facing our racist past is a path, not punishment." His argument for truth being essential before reconciliation can happen is potent. This is a vital listen for reckoning with how deep the rot truly runs.

Taking a brief sit at my favourite park in the city. It's a little dangerous. Deep in Centro, there are drug-users and very desperate types about, along with idling families and elderly couples, etc. But that full mix of life is what I love about it. Everyone can enjoy this space. #Colombia

Whenever I move through the book district in Centro, I feel a deep humility and gratitude for the work I get to do in genre. We who get to write, to publish, even to make a career of the written word, do so in a world where creative praxis is a privilege. What are we doing to extend the platform?

Ya casi a la mitad. 👌🏻 Halfway there, and a GREAT steps day in process. #Walkabout #Ciclovia

Ciclovía vibes. :)

Health and wellness can be cultivated by our built environments. Do we create spaces where it is easy to be in nature, to be with each other, to celebrate safely in community? Or do our social networks inundate us with hateful rhetoric and amplify distrust of our neighbours? #Walkabout #Colombia

Ciclovía is the best. Once a week and also on most holidays, half the highway shuts down for runners, bikers, roller-skaters, and walkers like me. Medellín also has a brilliant green corridor that alleviates traffic heat immensely. I'm about 1/5th of the way home, listening to a pod on nudibranchs.

And... we are off. I have a meeting at six and tons to tweak on the tech side, but that still gives me 12 hours walkabout. Headed to the metro now. Be good, eh? Photos if I have good ones, but other than that... TTFN, Bluesky! It's just me, a notebook, sunscreen, water, & the length of Medellín.

One more afternoon of work and then I am going on a long walkabout tomorrow morning. Had a serious fright this week when my bank ceded an important process to a predatory third party. Big issue there. Really need to reconnect with the Great Offline for a while. Here's a wee #PoetryBreak first.

Who needs a #PoetryBreak? This hit me hard because I *can't* let it all fall right now... I have far too much to do. But I do need to let it all fall sometimes. And I'm really looking forward to a long, long walk solo across the city on Sunday. Just me and water and a notebook. For now, though--

This is going to be another one of those days where, no matter how much I do, it is never enough to catch up, and I am just always failing someone - myself most of all. Hoo boy. The body is tired.

I will never not go back to songs like this one on days like today. I am going to be working through the night for some much-needed catch-up in peace and quiet. Hope your hearts are well. Or as well as can be under the circumstances, in any case.

When you live in Colombia and your teen ward has a severe rash from recent beach time, this is how the local tienda del barrio helps you treat it. 👌🏻 Straight from the source! #EverydayRiches

What a stressful day. I hope everyone took really good care of themselves, & moved gently through this world of such recklessness around violence. Please remember that news cycles are not exactly interested in our cardiovascular health. Scroll wisely. Step away as needed. Hug a loved one, always.

I'm pretty emotional in general these days, but the cry I just cried over this image from Artemis II's Orion spacecraft Integrity is legitimate. I hate how much time our species has wasted on cruelty, fear, and prejudice. We are so small already. Why do we keep choosing to make ourselves smaller?

The annual Sunday Parade is rolling by. I do find it funny that one song is the melody for The Sound of Silence. That song is *strongly* about false prophets and estrangement. But in Spanish, someone used the same melody for a Christian song, so... something for everyone? 🤷🏻‍♀️ #Colombia #SemanaSanta

Anyone here going through a tough moment? Maybe just passed through one? Maybe feeling an abiding weariness and malaise? 👀 Got a #PoetryBreak for you. You can find Ellen Bass's work in many collections. This definitely makes me want to transcribe the poem I wrote a few weeks back. #Soon! #Poetry

🙂 We don't look half bad from this camera angle, do we? (Photo by Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman, taken from the Orion spacecraft Integrity) #Space #PaleBlueDot #ThatsUs!

#ArtBreak before work? The work of Esao Andrews stood out for me because details in his haunted surrealism and animist staging would today be considered "tells" of AI. But we *do* have artists who distort with intention. Here are four pieces with crisp focus, but he has quite the range on esao.net.

The sheer bliss of being out in the park at this hour, even though I am mostly answering voice messages on a long walk before diving into the day's work. 💛 I saw many folks heading home at this hour, actually: post Holy Thursday procession, many are at church or family events until late. #Colombia

My teen ward is Venezuelan and celebrates Semana Santa with a strong focus on fish (yes, I told her the story about beaver for early settlers). So tonight I took a beat to make red tilapia for her, with coconut rice, aguacate, & patacones (darker than usual because fried in the same oil). #Colombia

😅 How you know you're still part gringo: In a giant throng of Semana Santa shoppers, you stop to watch the Artemis II launch.

Relatedly, don't forget to block the new AI account here on Bluesky. "Attie" is its name, and blocking it is a good way to let management know they're barking up the wrong user experience tree with its launch.

Oof. 😬 Just did a quick search for a story of mine in an alt-browser, & pure #AISlop popped up (now shut off). If you remember, "Not in My Valley" is an homage to Spielberg's DUEL, a road-rage flick. My protagonist is "Dar" & not a danged plot/setting detail is correct. What a lousy timeline, eh?

Important words from the Sesame Street Workshop (which is still tackling very real problems for kids). This is another week of tense news, so maybe keep these wise words for toddlers in mind: "If you're using your device and it doesn't make you feel happy or feel connected just... put it away."

I genuinely thought I would get so much catch-up done yesterday. 😅 Then I fell dead asleep after a meeting wrapped at 2, and woke up... around now? So I guess "sleep" was yesterday's #1 catch-up. Now for a nice walk in the park before dawn & - hopefully - a quick run through everything overdue. 🤞🏻

Otro día, otro periódico sin noticias de la guerra en Irán, ni nada de EE.UU. El único es un artículo chistoso de la arrogancia de DJT para poner su firma en la moneda. Y también nuestra columna gastronómica de sábado, esta vez sobre un desayuno sencillo para reyes cotidianos. 👑😋 #Colombia

I haven't really been around much, except to share poems & art by brilliant humans. But I have so much love & admiration for how much so many of you are doing where you are, with what you have. I'm an overworking hypocrite here, but... please be gentle with yourselves. The world is hard enough.

Easily the best part of today's little walk: talking to some flowers and some bees. #Nature #NatureTherapy

Anyone need a #PoetryBreak? Just had a nice little walk and now I am itching to write. This feels right for the day, the weekend, all of it. Dave Lucas is on Instagram (fakedavelucas) if this strikes your fancy. I have a story about decay I'd love to get fully drafted tonight. 🤞🏻 #AmWriting

A refreshing reminder in today's El Colombiano. This issue has almost nothing about the world's wars and economic anguish. It's full of local tragedy, contract scandals, a hashing out of med system issues... Whole other worlds of problems. Somehow coexisting daily. #Colombia #International #News