When's Cat Herding Day? Because that's closer to what this feels like. 😅

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. 💖

"Secret of Mana" by Hirō Isono.

"Into the Depths of the Sacred Forest" by Hirō Isono.

"Mana Tree" (1993) by Hirō Isono.

"Flight in Tranquility" by Hirō Isono.

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.

Watching My Friend Pretend Her Heart Is Not Breaking By Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer On Earth, just a teaspoon of neutron star would weigh six billion tons. Six billion tons equals the collective weight of every animal on earth. Including the insects. Times three. Six billion tons sounds impossible until I consider how it is to swallow grief— just a teaspoon and one might as well have consumed a neutron star. How dense it is, how it carries inside it the memory of collapse. How difficult it is to move then. How impossible to believe that anything could lift that weight. There are many reasons to treat each other with great tenderness. One is the sheer miracle that we are here together on a planet surrounded by dying stars. One is that we cannot see what anyone else has swallowed.

#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.

Bryan Stevenson says facing our racist past is a path, not punishment In his second term, President Trump has ordered the removal of monuments, plaques and exhibitions related to slavery, and the history of racial injustice in the U.S. Meanwhile, human rights lawyer…

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.

Mass is in session, or I would take photos inside the church in Parque Bolivar.

Simón Bolivar has a statue here, of course.

It's a beautiful sprawl of a park in the heart of Centro. Dangerous at times, but also richly full of life!

Also, I just love the flora and fauna here...

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

A chalk drawing of the famous Latin American comic Condorito.

Vendors set out used books for sale right on the street.

See anything you like from this set?

Tons of humble vendors, most without any official location, set out their wares in Centro, keen on a sale.

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?

Halfway home now, from the bottom of the metro line to the top.

Over 20,000 steps so far, some spent wandering a little off track.

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

Ciclovía vibes. :)

Fruit trees and equivalent plants abound on the streets here.

Moving through some of the middle class barrios (the super rich ones are up one mountainside), and some poorer ones are further up-route,I'm left reflecting on what makes a community feel like home.

Banana plant with beautiful bright red budding leaves.

A reminder from the city to hug your kids!

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

Oh, I'm thrilled you got to enjoy it. Biking through the Candelaria district in Bogotá is very special.

A slice of ciclovía traffic, even though my phone can't capture the depth of vision I have.

Pit stops to take photos of the wildlife are essential.

These little pumpkin-shaped bush fruits never cease to make me smile.

My starting point in the far south of the city. Took the metro down and am walking back.

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.

Letter to the Person Who Carved His Initials into the Oldest Living Longleaf Pine in North America by Matthew Olzmann Tell me what it’s like to live without curiosity, without awe. To sail on clear water, rolling your eyes at the kelp reefs swaying beneath you, ignoring the flicker of mermaid scales in the mist, looking at the world and feeling only boredom. To stand on the precipice of some wild valley, the eagles circling, a herd of caribou booming below, and to yawn with indifference. To discover something primordial and holy. To have the smell of the earth welcome you to everywhere. To take it all in, and then, to reach for your knife.

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.

A Poem for Someone Who Is Juggling Her Life Rose Cook This is a poem for someone who is juggling her life. Be still sometimes. Be still sometimes. It needs repeating over and over to catch her attention over and over, as someone who is juggling her life finds it difficult to hear. Be still sometimes. Be still sometimes. Let it all fall sometimes

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.

What's Going On YouTube video by Marvin Gaye - Topic

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.

Oh, hello giant stalk of aloe plant!

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

April 7, 1969 I feel so bad today that I want to write a poem. I don't care: any poem, this poem. Richard Brautigan

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.

You know me very, very well. 🤗💛 Thank you, Jonathan.

Earth, as seen from the far side of the moon.

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?

I listen to the band practise for such events across the street all the time. They put on a good showing today!

Statues of Christ and a few saints are added to this church's procession. There are a few others like them all over town.

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

😬 That's true. I should try to be more of a tosser so that I don't leave people with the wrong idea of humanity as a whole.

Will you try to do likewise, though?

The Thing Is Ellen Bass to love life, to love it even when you have no stomach for it and everything you’ve held dear crumbles like burnt paper in your hands, your throat filled with the silt of it. When grief sits with you, its tropical heat thickening the air, heavy as water more fit for gills than lungs; when grief weights you down like your own flesh only more of it, an obesity of grief, you think, How can a body withstand this? Then you hold life like a face between your palms, a plain face, no charming smile, no violet eyes, and you say, yes, I will take you I will love you, again.

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

Don't tempt me with an edge where people can be tossed, @canispundit.bsky.social !

This slice of our pale blue dot has a tiny lip of sun glare around its bottom-right curvature. It's mostly cloud and water, with a wide swath of dusty red-brown land to the lower left. Humans? Just a pesky nuisance you can't make out on this shot at all.

🙂

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!

I'll have you know I took *both* routes, just on different laps. :)

TAKE THAT, FROST.

"On Letting Go" by Esao Andrews (2007)

"The Waiting Game" by Esao Andrews (2019)

"The Judging Toad" by Esao Andrews (2016).

"Owl Trinket" by Esao Andrews (2020)

#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.

Two paths and experience choices in my local park.

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

Sweet! I will follow that account.

CoSo doesn't seem able to reckon with what it tolerated / centred for so long, which is both painfully human and a shame.

Still have some folks I like to check in with there, but I am very happy to follow your tail-wagging good times here instead. :)