This week. Sketch Friday returns to it’s right and proper place. Though to be fair, this week sketch Friday is probably a bit sketchy. Because the thing I did mostly this week is get a (non covid. it’s ok. I am going to be fine) cough which is really knackering and pants (but no really, I’m going to be fine) and my brain is a bit scrambled and I managed to mess up a shared google doc yesterday because I’m all a bit jelly. Like my brain is goo. Like I have to think quite hard to make only a bit of sense. Which is boring. And very annoying for the people who I share google docs with. Sorry Line and Clare. I’ve really struggled to keep to a point all week. I wonder into a room and can’t remember why I’m there. I mean I do this in normal times. But it’s worse this week. What else? Well I guess the big thing of note this week was the IPPC report coming out about where we are with Climate and Eco breakdown. It wasn’t like it was a shock. But it’s something huge all the same. There is deep trouble ahead (I wonder if climate change deniers can now be sued for all the time they have wasted telling us its not real? Asking for a rhetorical friend) but still, we all have everything to play for. So I’ve been thinking about that. How to play my part in the fight for this planet. How to be useful? When I’m just me. And it’s clear we need massive legislative change and also massive societal change. Like massive change in what we think is important and how we do things. Like huge change. Decolonisation. Decentering whiteness. Opening up to all the ways to be human. An end to hyper capitalism. Getting over ourselves already. All this! And it meeds to happen now. It feels huge. Too huge. But also. Weirdly. I don’t feel hopeless. Because we are here and so this is our moment. It’s not the part I would have asked for, but here we are. We’re not rehearsing now. We’re on. Like it or not, this is our solution to find. It’s why we’re here. I fundamentally believe that all action has effect. Small things add up and matter. We can do this. We can make a difference. I was listening to a zoom conversation between Robin Wall-Kimmerer (scientist / writer) and Lucy Jones (nature writer) this week (it is an AWESOME conversion, in a hopeful but clearsighted way. Not that distracted sentimental way that some people confuse with hope.) During this conversation Robin Wall-Kimmerer was asked how she deals with the distress of seeing climate breakdown roll out. She said something that keeps going round my head during her response (I’m paraphrasing) ‘ask yourself - what do you love too much to lose? Then when you know what it is, commit to carrying that safely to the other side’. Yep. I’m thinking a lot about that. By the way, here is the link if you’re interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3FSpMMzUNI ) What else? I looked through some old photos and shared them with a friend. And that was lovely. I spend so much time rushing forward. It reminded me that stopping sometimes to think and remember is a power punch of goodness. Also, I got news that a telly treatment I’ve been working on has gone out into the world. So that is super exciting as its a story I’d love to script. So much fun. Drama and comedy and sexy too. Oh yeah. So I’ve got a lot of my fingers crossed for that. Come on universe! Anything else? I’ve managed a bit of drawing. I haven’t been very far this week. So just kind of noticing the place where I live and drawing it. Bits from our garden or the canal towpath really. I suppose because I’ve had to slow down, I’ve noticed all the little things more. Oh and watching some guys balancing on top of 4 stories worth of scaffolding was horrible, in a can’t-look-away kind of way. And also, of course, documenting my awful, poorly face right now with a self portrait. Because? Why? I dunno. I’m probably a weirdo. Also drawing monsters. Because sometimes drawing monsters is fun. And I’ve done a bit of new writing. Thinking a bit more about new ideas. But not as much as I hoped. Mostly I’ve just been grumbling and feeling shit and coughing and not sleeping very well. That’s it. More sleep would help with everying. So I hope the damn cough goes soon. That’s the news. Love to all.