Welcome to all the new followers.
You have homework!
Tell me about yourself, your hopes, your goals, what brings you here, what you want from the future, what you love, what brings you to life.
In the meantime, you can find some of my answers: https://ajroach42.com/the-small-things-manifesto/
and https://ajroach42.com/new-ellijay-tv/
@mafeesh Thanks! I do what I can.
@ajroach42 So stinking happy you’re here! Blue bird defector, compassionate progressive, stand strong for animal rights. DV survivor. Rabid football & hockey fan. Thanks for the warm welcome! ❤️
@JustShelly @ajroach42 Hey Shelly. I migrated from bluebird too. I’m only on day 2, but so far I’ve found people much more helpful. I have so much to learn. Glad to meet you. Good luck.
@huckleberry8992 @ajroach42 pleasure to meet you! Thanks for the follow. I live in Phoenix, originally from PA, but always loved Louisiana. Happy to have connected here.
@JustShelly @ajroach42 Hey Phoenix!!! I LOVE AZ! Absolutely beautiful.
@JustShelly @ajroach42 By the way Shelly - I’m from Houma, LA.
@ajroach42 hey Andrew 👋 I’m an artist that makes indie comics (tho today I got excited about making short cartoons after being inspired by Steve Dildarian’s Ten Year Old Tom). I guess I’m here because there’s too much Elon Musk in Twitter. I hope to finish a few comic books soon and continue my webcomic. Ultimately I want to be inspired and make fun stuff for people and myself. I saw all of your comic posts and you seemed like an interesting person to follow, so here I am :) Nice to meet you.
@angelaguyton I'd love to see your comics and cartoons!
@ajroach42 Ah thanks! Allow me to try to put some of my best feet forward :)
Here’s a good example of what Nothing Rhymes With Rats is about: https://www.instagram.com/p/CGS_HKBhZ3q/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
And here’s a bit of a page from an up coming comic book (with the text layer turned off): https://www.instagram.com/p/CiQxYovoXK1/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
No cartoons…yet(!) but I’m feeling that’s what’s coming next for me creatively. Thanks for asking about my work 🙏🏻
@angelaguyton @ajroach42 Hi Angie. I’m new too. Like you, I migrated from Twitter. So far, I find people more approachable and helpful on Mastadon. It’s NOT all about $. Love it. Good luck to you. Grateful to meet you.
@huckleberry8992 Hey Huck! Nice to meet you. Youve posted some pretty cool photos. Are you a photographer by any chance?
@ajroach42 Hi Andrew. I’m Huck from Louisiana in the US. I’m a dad, grandfather, and criminal attorney. Favorite thing in life - family and friends. Hobbies - cycling and reading. Glad to be on Mastadon. I have so much to learn. Please teach me!
@ajroach42 I represent the wrongfully accused, and those not so wrongfully accused, criminal defendants. I used to prosecute, now I’m a public defender. Please tell me about you.
@ajroach42 Just a social impact artist branching out into the digital planescape… not a dictionary word, but it fits. Transitioned to digital illustration from painting & ink illustration. Wanted to hook into Mastodon & stay because it is far from the big boot corp platforms. For me it’s social-comfort from all the static. Art is my heart & soul. Finding musicians, painters, writers, & performers that just share what’s normal and what they find beautiful & interesting is sugar 2 me.
@ajroach42 I will read through all of that. Meanwhile... Both the long and short versions (well short and medium anyway) are here: https://davidniallwilson.com/about/
@ajroach42
Hi Andrew, super new to the platform.
I’m in Texas, hanging out here because I like to watch things grow and evolve.
My day job and my passion is digital asset management. I love anything image/media/metadata: migrating content, improving workflows, building taxonomy, teaching users how to “do”.
I’ve made a couple humans, enjoy watching TV with my furry family, bake when the motivation strikes, and try not to obsessively ruminate on our dysfunctional political system.
@ajroach42 Hi there! I'm a university lecturer who loves teaching and working with the students. My goal is to be in the moment and I hope to live a good life, whatever that means. Music, love, nature and all kinds of art experiences brings me to life. I'm here since this seems like a very nice social media and have enjoyed it so far.
@ajroach42 Hey there!
I'm slowly weaning myself off the bird-site. I don't want to be a Muskovite.
Some background...
I'm a husband, a dad of 3 awesome adult people, a huge dog lover (I hugely love dogs, and I love huge dogs), and by day I'm a software developer focusing on web applications. I have a background in the arts - visual media, illustration, animation, and fell into software dev at the end of last century, and it has been paying the bills ever since.
My hopes, dreams, and plans? I lean hard-left, politically. This hasn't always been the case, but the older I get, the more compassion I have developed for other people, and the end result is that I would love to see the downfall of capitalism as we know it. Some day, I would love to live a small existence, appreciating what's around me, and ignoring noise...the chase for success...the competition for bigger house, better car, bigger salary...
I'm glad to be here, and I'm glad you're all here!
@jifka @ajroach42 by what name are you called, neighbor
@Ethancdavenport I go by Jifka online - John in meatspace
@jifka @ajroach42 You sound like a super cool good human so I'm following my friend. I just signed up yesterday and I'm pretty clueless so bear w me.
@jifka @ajroach42 It's a process bro. But you'll get there. Not an easy transition for some of us normies either. But slowly it's gonna happen. My 3 twitter accounts are gone. And the other crap is slowly getting cut also. Big up's. And welcome to the real.
brother
@jifka @ajroach42 sounds amazing I’m trying to break into doing illustration work, would love to work for a video games company, I’ve done “a job” as an artwork coordinator for a pharmaceutical company but this is not really my bag. I’ve been doing it to pay the bills…
@Merculargo while in some ways I miss being in the design world every day, I don’t miss doing artwork for $ as a primary job. I still do some design work as a natural consequence of working on web user interfaces tho. Doing it as a job can often kill your passion for art and design. Clients can really grind you down.
@ajroach42 I’m a liberal mom in Mississippi. I love art and coffee and tea and books. My ultimate hope is that we learn as a species that our survival is linked to the survival of our ecosystem. My primary life goal is raising decent human beings. I’m here because the bird app was growing more toxic by the minute, and I want to be part of a stable online community with compassionate and likeminded individuals. #introduction
@ajroach42 Wise words very well put. Thank you. 👍
@ajroach42
Hi!
I'm a person who has just completed intensive end of life care for my parents and is starting the winter with fewer responsibilities and more opportunities than ever before in my life.
I'm into growing things, learning about history, psychology, philosophy.
I've been learning to make paleolithic technology and to use it.
I love food and music and books.
Been around here for two years and it's done huge things to fix how I engage online and my online time now feels more like it did in the early 90s. I like that a lot.
I'm really excited to see what kinds of things you and your friends get up to.
@Skellington I went through something similar a few years ago, and it was incredibly difficult. I hope that the fediverse can continue to help you find things to learn about and do.
Thanks for the kind words.
@ajroach42 Aging geek with a background in early PCs & Macs (and punch cards before that!), 1st woman columnist for BYTE, comm mgr for Excite in the dot com days, etc. But my career & aspiration has been in publishing: 45 years & counting w/publishing in all areas from editing, copyediting (the pinnacle was Mickey Spillane requesting me to copyedit his last book, as he was dying), typesetting & design, etc. And now a used/new bookstore in VT that just got named in top 10 in SF.
@ajroach42 I come by it through family: my godfather was Pres Eckert — coinventor of the ENIAC. Stepfather was #1 badge at Oak Ridge, dev for how uranium could be used for the Bomb, then later hired to be VP of Sperry-Rand —> Sperry Univac —> Univac. I grew up surrounded by Giants.
@ajroach42 Wish I could take credit for the giants in my life (the other was my “uncle” & fairy godfather Howard Head of Head Skis, Prince tennis rackets—amazing loving man); I’m really not anybody.
@starcatbooks @ajroach42 Wow. I am impressed. I am an aging journalist who moved from daylily newspapers to IT at the start of the PC revolution. Started as news ed. of 80 Microcomputing Mag, then news editor and feature semester for the first business computing magazine. Wrote for just about everybody except Byte (I wasn't technical enough), worked for Gartner amount others, lived in VT for close to 20 yes. Livelong SF reader. Hope we can be friends. Where r U now?
@BertL @ajroach42 My store’s in Bradford, VT, along the CT River. About 20 miles north of Dartmouth College.
@ajroach42 @starcatbooks Yes, she is definitely someone I want to befriend.
@ajroach42
Thanks for asking!
Twitter brought me here
My Goal is for Democracy to survive & to live up to my role as a daughter of the greatest generation who has been here before & knows what fascism on the rise looks like!
I love my Tribe (blood & other) & will fight for them with all my strength.
My papa #101stAB501st #Bastogne #NeverForget
@ajroach42 I am following you from another instance just bc I like what you say. (I also like what my admin says)
@ajroach42 I followed you because your Small Things post spoke strongly to me. I started actively recovering from burnout this year and have been attempting to distill down what my meaning is. I think I've found it in compassion, community, and humble-ness.
I love to improve technology for non-profits (my day job), make things with my hands (all my crafty hobbies), and do all the things with people I like (community). If I can keep doing that while continuing to learn, that's a future I want.
@ajroach42 I came here to continue following Peter Stefanovic.
@ajroach42 You boosted so I must do this, almost at a deadline!
My bio says a lot for the self, but hopes are to just enjoy each day to the best I can, however that is. Goals right now are to get through December, want from my future to have my degree for further licensing with my career and more peace in life found with my recent changes.
I love plants, photography, music, and being able to relax for a moment. The things I love give me life!
@ajroach42 what’s up Andrew? Digging through some of your stuff now - looks like you’ve got some awesome projects going. Excited to keep up with your progress.
As for myself, I’m a new dad who runs a small made-to-order protein bar company with my wife. We’re a team of two (well, now 3) and are navigating a growing business and parenthood.
Big picture hopes: humanity progresses and human equality eventually wins
Personal goals: raise a badass little girl who is uniquely her.
@ajroach42 what a wonderful invitation Andrew! I am a landscape painter exposing the mystery in an ordinary day. I live on a small island off the southwest coast of Canada and have been hanging out here for well over a month posting paintings with poetic descriptions and visiting. I appreciate your blog and frankness. The small interconnected communities of this space is what excites me most - and no algorithm! I love poking around and making random discoveries. This is how I found you. 😊
@terrillwelch @ajroach42 This is a gorgeous example of #JoyOfAltText. It was the alt text that showed me the mountains — I was so focused on the wave I just didn’t see them. Thank you for sharing your painting.
@kate you are most welcome! I love using alttext!
@cambraca @ajroach42 Still loving the small things manifesto, after I first read it a few months ago. Thanks for the reminder!
@ajroach42
You're not my real instance-admin!
Seriously though, you are a bloody nice bloke. Who knows, I may even migrate one day.