Blog: webmention

Reply to Artist Dates by Tracy Durnell

2023-12-16 by Pablo Morales

This post was written in en

In reply to Artist Dates by Tracy Durnell

I wrote a post on taking myself out on a date where I go do various activities by myself. This is something I don't do often and it seems important for self-care. I have a habit of staying at home and not venturing off as much as I used to. Not often do I get to enjoy myself out and about.

What is an Artist Date?

Tracy responded to my post and shared something really cool. She introduced to me the idea of Artist Dates. She provides some great insight on how she's done Artist Dates. First, I had no idea that Artist Dates were a thing. Secondly, have I been going on Artist Dates and not knowing it? I'm mind blown right now.

The idea is going somewhere inspiring or exciting on your own regularly once a week. This seems to be the general consensus based on what I read. I really enjoyed Tracy's approach on Artist Days as she "framed solo activities more as Adventure Days". Carpe that Diem! That is such a positive way of seeing them. I like adventure and it motivates me to just do them! Adventure Awaits!

I really love photography. It's a thrill! You know what isn't? Taking photos in my apartment. It isn't ideal and I have to go beyond the walls. I plan on continuing to improve my hobby. What better way than to walk around the streets of Sacramento or taking shots from a tall building in New York City to capture moments in time.

I like spontaneously getting tickets for events. Sometimes when a colleague at works offers tickets to a free game or show, I attempt to snag them to attend an event I normally wouldn't attend or forget that exists. Whether it's a soccer match or a broadway show, I know I'm happy. I'd probably not be doing anything anyways.

Not all Artist Dates need to be planned. Honestly some of the best ones I've done were unplanned. Simply get up and leave. I also need to find out what things are happening in my city. Planning ahead for one event would lead to me discovering more things about the city I live in.

I found this blog post from 2010 called, 101 Artist’s Date Ideas that has such a great list of Artist Dates that I could go on! I love how simple or complex the suggestions could be! The possibilities are endless.

A Few Stand Out to Me:

  • Spend some time outdoors with your journal, sketchbook, craft supplies, etc
  • Write a letter to your parents. Tell them what you are grateful to them for. Send it
  • Make a list of thirty things you’d like to do before your next birthday

2024 will be the year for Artist Dates and more time to appreciate myself and break out of my comfort cycle. I am looking to find more joy in my life. This will be the year to just do it!

For now, I'm back at my hometown in Nebraska, so I will see what Artist Date I can find. I will start in a familiar place. I have a bad habit of staying at home and not showing my face in public. On Monday, I will ride my longboard or go on a run, depending on the weather. Either way, Nebraska.

Tracy, a risograph printing class sounds so tight! Please share what you've created.

Reply to: Where Do You Call Home? by Jason Kottke

2023-12-16 by Pablo Morales

This post was written in en

In Reply to Where Do You Call Home? by Jason Kottke

Jason Kottke asks the following question and starts mentioning his struggle with the concept of home. He also asks his readers to answer the question

Where do you call home? And why?

I’ve been struggling with the concept of home for the past several years.

On the surface, this seems like a very simple question to answer but the answer can be be complex. For me, I take the complex route. I too have been struggling with this question. Home is where major moments have occured in my life.

I grew up in Nebraska which was home for 25+ years. I say this is one place I call home is due to the fact this is where I grew up. It's where I learned the norms of the Midwest and how it influenced my persona. Nebraska is home because this is where many of my friends I made in university still reside. I have many deep connections with others. I somehow always end up here such as the holidays and other important events. It's a very special place to me but it is not the place I cull my current home.

Mexico is also my home for the fact I've lived there on an off though out the years. I learned what is was like to be around non-Americans. Living in Mexico, I got meet so many family members. I learned more of the traditions of my people and how live in a community. I learned that this was a place of rich culture and rich gastronomy. I learned to not take things for granted. It's a place I call home because it allows me to be different person compared to my American self. For the record, I don't go to resorts, I stay in rural Mexico. This is a home I return to often. This home is important to my identity.

The home I consider currently now is in California. This is the first place I moved away to where I didn't go back to my parents' home after an extended leave such as a trip or going to university. I work here now and I have built out new relationships. I'm still pretty new here. Living in California has allowed me to be more of myself and allow me to express myself. This is home because I get to work on myself as well. When people ask me where am I based out of or where is my home is, I always say California.

I also ask the same question, "Where do you call home? And why?"

Liked: Walking the Heck out of Thailand

2023-12-16 by Pablo Morales

This post was written in en

Liked: Walking the Heck out of Thailand by Craig Mod

It was hot. I was sweating. We — were sweating. Had we ever sweat so much before? Did it matter? Our sweat had sweat. We were a moving swamp. The fabric bits on our backpacks had turned sentient. I wanted to apply bleach atop my sunscreen. Wanted to order replacement toenails. Because: we were walking. And by god, were we talking.

Such a great post! I felt like I was visualizing what was all around Craig and his perspective of the walk. Talk about a good boy (dog) that followed them for most of their trip to their final destination. What a beautiful story. I hope to write like this with so much elegance and detail. The post even share the .kml file to map out in Google Earth.

RSVP IndieWebCamp San Diego 2023

2023-12-16 by Pablo Morales

This post was written in en

RSVPs yes to RSVP IndieWebCamp San Diego 2023

I will attend online from Nebraska. I am sad I wasn't able to attend. I will be at the next one! Great conversation on day 1.

IndieWeb Carnival November 2023 – Community and belonging

2023-11-27 by Pablo Morales

This post was written in en

I've been looking forward for this month's Indieweb Carnival on Community and Belonging hosted by Alex Sirac. Merci Alex pour ta présentation sur la sujet de communauté.

Community and belonging for me means, a place I feel that I belong and a place where I can be accepted for who I am. It's been hard to integrate into some communities. Often, being the only person color in a community has been difficult at times.We enter and leave communities as we older. Some communities change for the greater good and others change not for the greater good. I belong to different communities. My background and life experiences have influenced who I've become and the things I've been interested in. I've entered new ones while I've left others. Some communities I can come back and be able to jump right in right where I left off. There are communities where it was only during a certain period of my life and might be harder to be in now. There are communities where I've had to leave because it no longer followed who I was as a person or it wasn't good for me. Some became dangerous in their vission

I'd like to talk about community and belonging in these three (3) situations or places.

  • Being a Multilingual
  • Being a Student in France
  • IndieWeb

I'd like to write about these topics in this carnival but I'd like to take make a dedicated post with a slightly different approach.

  • Being Mexican and American
  • Growing up in Nebraska

Being Multilingual

Here in the United States, it's not common for people to speak another language. Which is a shame. Growing up in a small town in Nebraska, it often seemed that it was few of us who would consistently speak another language. Even at a young age, I felt we had a small unintentional community. I was very fortunate to grow up bilingual - Spanish & English (in this order). Then I learned French in my teens.

Being a multilingual here in the United States has allowed me to be join new communities. With the amount of people who don't speak at least a second language on a constant basis, it almost feels exclusive to be multilingual. It allows me to have deeper connections with others. It allows me to belong in various communities. When I was living in Omaha, One example is attending French speaking events at Alliance Française and on Meet-Up. It was so amazing that I could find so many individuals who I can speak French with and share many of the world views. It was nice to meet so many francophiles and francophones who enjoyed sharing culture, language, cuisine, wine and so much more. I would become great friends with these individuals. Now that I live far away, I know if I were to visit or move back, I could rejoin this community. Going back to a place where I'm a visitor and one I am familiar with, I know I can find a place of belonging again.

Growing up in a place that lacked lingual diversity, or to simply put it - growing up in a very vanilla place, it also seemed that there was a community that didn't seem to like people speaking different languages. It seemed to alienate them. There seemed to be pressure to join the community where one needed to behave and present themselves with the majority. I know people who had my cultural background give into that community and not speak their language spoken at home. Parents gave in the idea that there kids will be more valuable in society if they don't speak another language. I felt supported and limited by these co-existing communities. I'd be lying if at one point I didn't fall in this negative community. I felt at times I needed this negative community to to belong. Learning to belong to something that conflict with my values felt like being pulled in both directions.

Being a Student in France

I have very fond memories of being an exchange student in France. I studied at the Université de Strasbourg at the age 22. Being a student in France was different compared the attending university in the United States. Being in University you build Not only was I apart of the exchange student community but I was also a student trying to improve my French abilities. I was the only student from the university back home who attended a program in France. I isolated myself the Americans. In a way I left the "American" community for many months. I saw this as a blessing to form new habits and quickly find a new community or communities. We were here to learn the French language. We all were from various parts of the world. I was hanging out with all the people and students from France, the rest of the European Union, South America, and basically anyone from around the world. Just not the Americans

We were homesick. We bonded with food. We made meals from our respective cultures. We would learn about their upbringing and how they got to France. We all bonded together because many of us had experiences with immigrant culture. Many of these students were also immigrants to France or have been in the European Union already. They were trying establish themselves and incorporate themselves in the society. Seeing them everyday reminded me of my parents telling me stories of them trying to make their way in the United States. I understand being in a new place and trying to find a sense of belonging can be daunting.

Yes, I could do many of these things back at my home university. There was such a deeper connection with these international students. We were living and studying in a place where being a student meant so much more. I felt I could have genuine conversations with people. I really felt like I belonged here and understand what it's like to be student outside the United States. Student community here is nothing like in the United States.

IndieWeb

Oh the IndieWeb! I joined back in March 2023. I heard of the IndieWeb throughout the years but didn't think much of it. I'm happy that I got the interest and courage to join. This is a community that I am truly happy to have found. It has become a community I truly feel that I am apart of. The best part of it is getting to meet so many great people and interacting with them on a weekly basis. People are so willing to help each other out. I've had people reach out if there is something wrong with my website or microformats are not placed correctly. It's been pretty rad attending Homebrew Website Club. Every single one of them has been pretty amazing. I really enjoy the encouragement of taking initiative to as planning events, starting writing carnivals, etc. It's a pretty open group.

The IndieWeb has helped me grow as an individual. It has also rekindled the fire in things I didn't think I would find interest again. One example of that is blogging. It This community has helped me find a new place of belonging.

I will admit since I'm still relatively new to the community, I'm still a little shy and still learning the ropes. I know that this is part of the journey.

Conclusion

I'm happy with all these experiences.