I already received 6 text messages from different people (not Canadians) super excited about the trucker protest. And yay, cool, I guess.

The problem is, there have been mass protests in Canada for over a year. I was very excited about the first half dozen. Hundred thousand people! A great symbolic value! Dishonest media reporting! I shared photos and felt hopeful.

But nothing ever happened. People had a chance to vote for something different and they didn’t. They returned Trudeau with the same mandate.

It will be great if protest number five million turns out to be less impotent. I’m kind of jaded about symbolic gestures, so I’m not jumping up and down until it does.

Here’s yet another story about a criminal (a serial killer, no less) who posed as a woman to get early release. The criminal is up on charges of sexual assault and is likely to be incarcerated with female prisoners.

There’s an 800-page new history of Spanish feminism that I’ve been eyeing and then, bam!, and I get a request from a journal to review it. Which means I’ll get the book for free.

Only this morning I was thinking that I’m not working on any book reviews at this moment, and what’s up with that?

The universe heard me and sent exactly the book I wanted.

People are asking about my productivity strategies, and I want to share one my favorites. I call it “cushions of pleasure.”

When I plan my day, I stick large chunks of time dedicated to stuff that brings me pleasure all over the schedule and then squeeze the necessary but not enjoyable stuff in between. These are the cushions of pleasure which make everything else very bearable.

Plan the fun stuff first and then let everything else mold itself around it. Remember: your goal is to enjoy, rest, take it easy, treat yourself gently.

The word “safe” has been poisoned for me forever. I feel actively hostile these days to people who use the expression “stay safe “