Blog: September 2023

1000 Albums in 1000 Days

2023-09-11 by Pablo Morales

This post was written in en

cover of 1000-record-covers

Sunday Morning Adventure

It was a Sunday and I was simply looking for something to do on an afternoon. Yesterday, I went to the bookstore yesterday in a long time. Going to the bookstore is a fun place to simply browse with no goal. You can simply just look and hope that something catches your eye. Oh boy! did a few things catch my eye! One book I really want to talk about is 1000 Record Covers by Michael Ors. Just as the title describes, it is a book showing different record covers. The book organized by decade (50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s). It's a simple book with an record covers and a information about the record album. I inititally hesitated in purchasing this book. Then, I started thinking about my taste in music.

Breaking The Loop

I've been stuck in this loop of music where I listen to the same stuff over and over and over again. It's been something I've been disatisfied with myself for a while. I purchased this book not just look at all the vintage record covers, I want to expand my taste in music. So I decided to challenge myself to break away from comfortability by listening to music I don't listen to normally or never thought to listen.

I am using this book as a guide to find new music. Streaming services ideally make it easy to discover new music. At the same time it seems overwhelming and distracting to even know what to discover. A book helps provide content without other distractions popping out of every direction. I also want to learn more music history throught listening which will spark my curiosity even more. I want to be able to find more ways to connect myself and see the world differently through music.

The First Album

Today is Day One and we're starting at the 50's . I am listening to album Let's Go Dancing To Rock And Roll by Hen Gates And His Gaters

Title: Let's Go Dancing to Rock and Roll
Artist: Hen Gates And His Gaters

So far, i've enjoyed it. It like the genre so far. We're off to a great start.

Some limitations

Not everything will be on Apple Music as I found out with Let's Go Dancing to Rock and Roll. Youtube is my next solution. That involves me making a playlist since it hasn't been organized by someone else. I won't let this discourage me but it will be challenging at times.

How long will this take?

I will share my progress in listening and what I have learned so far in future blog posts, at various cyles such as various intervals. Definetly will share at albums number 250, 500, 750 and of course at 1000. According to basic math, it will take me close to 2.75 years to complete this if I do one album a day. This could either go faster or slower depending the circumstances.

Build a microsite

I will create a web app or a static page that I update daily or every few days on what I am listening to from the book. It will take suggestions using webmentions and other forms of contact.

The link will come soon in an upate post.

Recomendations

Do any of you have any recommendations for music to listen to? Send them my way, I'd love to see what you all recommend!

Alone Time: Solo Adventures

2023-09-04 by Pablo Morales

This post was written in en

When was the last time you did something alone and by yourself outside of your place of living? Do you think about how as a person, it's hard to think about times you are truly by yourself? This has been something that has been on my mind a lot.

Today, I went on a run today and drank a matcha latte at a coffee shop. It was nice just being in my thoughts and I appreciated being with myself and only myself. My mind was saying (or saying to itself?) "This is relaxing!"

This initiated me to start refecting on the activites I've done this year so far. I went through my phone's photo's apps, looked at my check-ins and any other history I had available. hen I started filtering out all things I've done alone and not with people. This is what I was able to recall the things I did or initiated by myself.

Sitting in a Coffee
Going to Noisebridge (San Francisco)
Going swimming in the river
Seeing two films
A few day trips?

I ask myself the following questions: "Am I not having a enough solo time?" or "Am I having a healthy amount of solo time?"

Often times, activites outside of home involve people in my day to day. I am not complaining about having a social circle. I just wondering for myself, "What is a good balance?", between activities that social and alone?

Am I afraid to venture out on my own? Probably? Being at home is comfortable and I feel safe. Does my lack of knowing what is happening in my community add to this? More than likely. Does becoming a home body also play a roll. Yes!

I should address these to make progress.

For those on the web, what is your take on this? Send me a webmention or email?

Expressing Myself through a Manicure

2023-09-02 by Pablo Morales

This post was written in en

Picture of Pablo with his painted nails.

Color Palette

The last few years, I've been learning to express myself more. This seems to be a common theme on my blog. Examples of being expressive are, learning to state my opinion more, being more open to friends and family on how I feel, learning to write better to get my emotions out, etc. It's a healthy way of becoming more comfortable with myself.

It seems silly but let's talk about nail polish. I started wearing nail polish a few years ago. It has always been something that's been on my mind since I was a kid. I remember being exposed to dudes wearing nail polish in the early 2000's on television and on the internet. Whether it was MTV, MySpace, YouTube, I was always fascinated. Listening to Punk was such an influence on me. I also remember walking into Hot Topic and seeing all the different styles of clothing people used to express themselves.

It wasn't until my first year of teaching where I started to use nail polish. Middle school is not an easy place for adolescents. They are trying to find who they are as a person while not stepping away from the "social boundaries" set in place. I remember it was a my first class of the day and the bell hadn't rang yet. I was checking my emails while my students were shuffling into the classroom and I was overhearing a conversation. I noticed that a male student was getting grief from some of the other male students. I stopped what I was doing and slowly made my way to the students and started talking with them. I explained to them that there is nothing wrong with guys wearing nail polish. Many musicians, artists, athletes, scholars, etc., wear nail polish as a form of expression. Many of my students like rap or hip-hop. I had given them examples of artist they know. I told them it's okay to test new ways of expressing yourself and try to be supportive.

I decided to support this student by doing the same and show up to school the next day with nail polish. I had some homework that night.

That interaction had me thinking all sorts of questions during that day:

Should I paint my nails?
What colors should I get?
Where do you even get nail polish?
What am I getting myself into?

After school I started looking at YouTube videos on "how to wear nail polish" or "men wearing nail polish. After some YouTube education, I went to the store and bought a dark blue color polish and the other needed supplies.

It was an empowering moment for me to start out with the first fingernail. This was completely out of my comfort zone. The thing is it's not something out of this world or weird. It was just different for me. I had so many thoughts racing my mind. It felt so good to do something different. You have to embrace new experiences.

I did it not only for myself but to support my student and to let them know that it's super cool to express yourself however. As a teacher, you're not their just to teach them the subject material. I am also playing role as a mentor to support my student.

Where does today's manicure come into play? It's a way to bond with myself and others. It's not something I do often as I'm more spontaneous (or bored at home) and I just do it at home. Why not? Every time I get my nails done I think of my students and how I want them to become who they want to be. I've learned from my students. They teach you many life lessons whether or not they know it.

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