Blog: 2023

Yo Soy Hijo de Imigrantes

2023-10-21 by Pablo Morales

This post was written in es

Mis padres se sacrificaron tanto para que nosotros tengamos una buena vida. Los quiero tanto. No ha sido fácil navegar este mundo complejo.

Toda mi vida he sentido que estoy sobre una cuerda floja manteniendo mi identidad y navegando este mundo complejo. Tengo dos caras - mi cara mexicana y mi cara estadounidense.

Mis padres me enseñaron lo importante de ser bilingüe. Me enseñaron la importancia de no perder la lengua que ellos hablan. Me enseñaron la importancia de no olvidar mis raíces.

Hay tantas cosas que les quiero explicar pero no tengo manera de explicarlas. No hay palabras. Hay cosas que no saben de mí. Todavía tengo tantas preguntas.

Estoy orgulloso de ser hijo de inmigrantes mexicanos. Estoy feliz de aprender tantas cosas de usted.

Books I'm Reading at the Moment

2023-10-05 by Pablo Morales

This post was written in en

Learning to Read Books, again

Physical Reading is important

I've been relearning how to enjoy time for myself and with myself. Something I've been doing on my free time has been reading books. I'm always looking at a screen (such as the one I'm using to write this post) due to the world we live in and in my technology job. Whenever I can, I'm trying to not look at my phone as often. I started carrying a small tote bag with me everywhere with me. There is always a book in there. It feels great to disconnect and to immerse oneself in a book.

I think we all need to retrain to connnect with physical things. We're so connected to our devices. I feel so disconnected with technology around us.

I'd like to invite a few people to share their thoughts and what they are reading or planning on reading.

What is Pablo reading?

Climate Week NYC & Build a Website in an Hour

2023-10-03 by Pablo Morales

This post was written in en

Climate Week NYC & Build a Website in an Hour

Let's talk about climate change by building a Website.

Background Information

A few weeks ago I attended Climate Week NYC in New York City. It was such a great time listening to all the great talks and participating in different activities such as driving a Lucid electric car with my friends. It got to meet such amazing people (and networked) who are in the climate change space. It made me step back an realize how much time we have lost not fighting the environment and how we only have a limited time to speed up on our actions.

It was nice to be in a place full of public transportation and get my steps in. I was also wired on Matcha Lattes to keep up with the revolving door of events occuring all at once.

Getting Around to Building the Website

I've been meaning to build a website for a quick summary of my adventures in the city. I finally found the perfect day to do it. I finally was able attended a Build a Website in an Hour event. Thank you James G for hosting this event!

Just as the name of the event states, I built (most) of the website in an hour. It was fun and challenging because of the following:

  1. I didn't have a plan on how this site was going to look
  2. It was a challenge to get the site made in an hour. Talk about pressure
  3. I got to hangout with people in the IndieWeb.
  4. Show off the adventures I went on.

Where is this site located?

This website is located at https://climateweeknyc.lifeofpablo.com .

Technologies Used

This website was made using vanilla HTML & CSS. I used Tachyions CSS Framework for the CSS. I use it on my website, primarily on my blog, to change the appearance of my posts. I like this CSS framework because is it doesn't interfere with existing CSS frameworks or existing CSS stylesheets. The classes are easy to learn

A Breakdown of the Site

Hero Banner

Hero Banner Green

Description:
A green hero banner with a navigation. It says "NYC Climate Week 2023" and "A Wakeup Call About Climate Change"

Other Sections Include:

  • Introduction
  • Attendees
  • Events Attended
  • Photos

Webmentions

This site supports webmentions!

Closing

I hope you enjoy the website! Let me know if you have any comments, questions or concerns. Don't forget to say, "hello"!

IndieWeb Carnival October 2023 - Self Care and Routine

2023-10-01 by Pablo Morales

This post was written in en

IndieWeb Carnival October 2023 - Self-Care and Routine

Taking Care of Yourself is Important

This month I am hosting this month's IndieWeb Carnival on self-care and routine. Anyone and everyone is welcome to participate in the carnival.

What is self-care ?

"a multidimensional, multifaceted process of purposeful engagement in strategies that promote healthy functioning and enhance well-being." [1]

"Self-care means taking care of yourself so that you can be healthy, you can be well, you can do your job, you can help and care for others, and you can do all the things you need to and want to accomplish in a day." [2]

There is no one size fits all model for everyone. People's backgrounds such as culture, spiritual beliefs, life experiences, etc influence how self-care is practices. It could also be proactive or reactive. There is no right or wrong way of doing this.

Self-Care in the Digital Age

We live in age where we are always connected online. This also adds complexities balancing our lives. Setting boundaries isn't just limited to people. Being always connected to the web is also taxing on our mental health.

How Am I performing Self-Care ?

Learning self-care has been something I've been working on a lot this year. It has been something I neglected for many, many years. It has helped me be more aligned and be more connected with myself. Finding a self-care routine isn't exactly a straight line to follow. I'm still finding ways to better improve my routine. It's been important to adjust as I go because it's a continious learning process. Some things worked a few months ago and now it isn't working as well before.

  • Setting boundaries with myself and people
  • Actually find time for myself and appreciate alone time.
  • Actually address insecurities
  • Excercise such as running or biking.
  • Disconnect from digital devices as needed
  • Picking up new hobbies such as hacky sack.

I invite you to write a post on self-care.

Here are some prompts to help you get started or to build off of this post.

  • What type of self-care routines do partake in?
  • What are some hard realizations once you started to take care of yourself?
  • How do you incorporate self-care in difficult times?
  • What has been your journey in reaching self-care and your routines.
  • How does your self-care routine differ during the week vs the weekend/going on holiday?
  • How do you take care of yourself.
  • Do you check in with yourself too make sure your self-care routine is keeping up with your needs?

I will create a roundup post on the 1 November 2023 on all the responses I recieve. I will post on Indieweb News

Send me your responses via:

If you would like to host a future monthly IndieWeb Carnival, please check out the details on the IndieWeb Wiki.

This post has been syndicated to IndieWeb News.

A Letter Regarding Budget Cuts at the University of Nebraska Kearney

2023-09-30 by Pablo Morales

This post was written in en

 
   

      A Letter Regarding Budget Cuts at the University of Nebraska Kearney    

   

      A shameful time at the University    

 
 
   

To: The University of Nebraska and the community

My name is Pablo Morales. I am writing my concerns regarding the immense budget cuts happening across the University of Nebraska system and specifically at my alma mater, the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

I ask Julie Shaffer-Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (shafferj@unk.edu) and Jon Watts-Vice Chancellor for Business and Finance (wattsjc@unk.edu), and Chancellor Douglas Kristenen (kristensend@unk.edu) to please help us find a solution to stop this massive budget cut. So many people's livelihoods are at stake which involve people's education, teaching positions, academic services, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

    My Letter to UNK and NU System  

This week I found out that the university "needs" to perform a $3 million budget cut at the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK). This is angering and saddening. This creates a huge hole on the UNK campus.         I graduated from the university in 2019. I graduated with a B.A. in Modern Languages. This hurts to hear that many programs such as the French program are being cut. The Modern Language Department was my home during my time at the University. It pushed me out of my comfort zone that led me to even great worldview experiences such as study abroad. The French program in Modern Languages helped prepare me to become a teacher and helped to interact with people of all backgrounds and cultures.

UNK needs to have a complete modern language department to prepare students in this globalized world. Learning a language isn't about learning simply a language. Languages expand a person's worldview. You learn culture, you learn experiences, you learn how different societies work. We can't have young people's viewpoints and perspectives stuck glued to the environment they are in. They need to branch out. Going to college is a place where people learn to build deeper connections with others. This includes people they interact with daily and people who are different from them culturally. The modern languages department is such a vital program.

What hurts more is the attack on the arts and humanities. The arts and humanities are important for a well rounded education. We need students to explore subjects outside of their majors. I learned a lot from the humanities and the arts.

I ask the University of Nebraska not to eliminate these programs. If the entire university system wants to retain more people in Nebraska, before entering, during college, and post college, we must allow these opportunities.

UNK is the only proper public university in Nebraska that geographically serves so many students in the western half of the state. UNK offers so many programs closer to home that many in years past had to attend schools further away from home to enter the programs needed.

I am proud to be a graduate of the University of Nebraska at Kearney. This saddens me to see UNK and the entire university system go through this dark time. Please reconsider all the damage that is to come. Every single higher position university administrator and faculty must fight for the interest of students - current and present.

Representatives of the Nebraska University system need to find and pressure funding from the state. The state has done so much damage from cutting budgets year after year. We must fight those who are against public education and higher education who put us in a chokehold.

We are currently facing so many attacks on public education and higher education from various places. The University of Nebraska system is no exception.

Pablo Morales

University of Nebraska at Kearney Graduate 2019