RMiddleton

@RMiddleton@calckey.art

Abstract painter & humanist in Jacksonville, Florida, creating art to promote mental wellness. Profile pic: my signature R in bright orange. Banner: goofy selfie over a detail of Painting "Friend" (acrylic, crayon, oil, marker, & pen on 88” x 66” canvas).

Joined Mastodon in Oct 2022 at https://mastodon.art/@RMiddleton a/k/a @RMiddleton. Fell in love with Fediverse. I'm usually on Mastodon. Calckey / Firefish is my backup & useful for maintaining connections because my Mastodon instance adheres to strict moderation & defederation policies — that I tend to agree with btw. At the same time I like having a backup / not putting all my social media in one basket.

👽: He/him, cis, gay, white

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

RMiddleton, to random

Currently adding all my follows from lgbt tech since my Mastodon instance is defederating shortly. I must really like you guys because I put on the dreading reading glasses so that I can get all your account names right!

This is the alt account for @RMiddleton

RMiddleton, to Facebook

Today on I discussed and while talking up the . A friend commented on Musk’s bad business moves. I took inspiration from a post I saw on Mastodon and expanded:

I saw a post (on Mastodon where I hang out since leaving twitter) declaring Elon’s X as the most popular and influential right wing social network. Compared to truth social and Parler, what Elon has done is a huge accomplishment. By carving up something already successful he has far surpassed the influence of those attempts at growing pro-fascist networks. And he’s done it very quickly. Money means nothing to a multibillionaire. (I would argue that the existence of billionaires proves money means nothing, period.) Due to its legacy as Twitter, X gives Musk constant mainstream credibility. Think of Rupert Murdoch. His mission in life, other than money, was to spread far right views. When he came as an outsider to the US he didn’t start Murdoch News. He purchased the prestige of 20th Century Fox. Then he used that name and influence to infect this nation with his politics. Musk might be an idiot or he might be copying his predecessor. Fox News has done more to destroy American democracy than anything else so far. That is the framework in which to consider Musk.

In the attached photo I have clipped my friend’s identity who posted it. He probably wouldn’t mind but he’s not on here and it’s up to him where he shares his info.

Incidentally, when I went back to FB to copy this over to here, my friend had already replied thanking me for this plausible insight. He said I “did my homework” but really all I’ve done is exist through this sad age of billionaires.

RMiddleton, to random

He was starting to suspect it was never last call.

RMiddleton, to fediverse

Posted to FB: What these two images & my preference for the have in common is the idea that The Internet is the network that's connecting us. is the messaging service. It all works because of URLs, DNS, http, html, the W3 & ICANN, & so much more that is beyond my understanding. It's confusing to most of us so we eased into the comfort zone of being consumers rather than . The most individually empowering communications tool has gone the way of our natural world, to make very few very rich. It's never too late to take agency. It can feel scary & lonely to venture away from what is known. For me it's worth it. The familiar is sad-making & seems ever-worsening. The unfamiliar places where I spend my online time are confusing but inspiring. During the time since I've joined the Fediverse I am choosing ad-free browsers & search engines that respect instead of Chrome or Google. I'm reforming my relationship to email instead of continuing to feel miserable about the 12.7 GB dumpster that is my .

RANT: It's yet another aspect in which I'm personally deficient, that I'm not actively on top of my life's responsibilities. The Democratic Party last fall is what drove the final nail into my Gmail's coffin, but it was a looong time coming. One big factor that makes my online experience worse is that I'm "a creator" & therefore I've attempted numerous methods of sharing my work with others. Companies that provide these services have ZERO interest in my success & EVERY interest in sucking my time & data. It boggles the mind that any organization thinks it's ok to send more emails than days in the week! And all the options that they present you are not about you fine-tuning exactly what you want to receive. You opt out of [ category 1 & they keep sending you spam categories 2-∞. It hardly matters because they do not honor your preferences & there's nothing you can do about it. It feels so small to have proof, but after asking Patreon to stop all marketing emails I finally gave up & changed the email address on my account to a disposable address. They STILL spam the old address that should now be discontinued! It never ends. & of course I've been reluctant to block Patreon because it's a provider I currently depend on for a few monthly donations. I'm sure everyone can relate to some version of this story. I can't block X completely because 1% of what they send me is important! UGH. These issues are NOT OUR FAULTS. The system is frankly evil. I honestly do not understand why more people aren't crazy like me. Then I look at the state of the world & say, "Oh right."]

If you email me you may receive this automated message & you may receive an eventual reply with a new specialized address to use. I for one would love to return to the ability to send & receive correspondence in a zone designated for that purpose rather than shouting across these many billboard & trash-strewn freeways where we keep meeting.

RMiddleton, to email

A long personal about & the degradation of the

In this recent POLL I am one of those who does not regularly check email. 99% of what's in my Gmail I do not want to look at. So I don't. I consider email a mega useful technology ruined by . I mean, I realize it's one of my many unpaid jobs to manage it so that my email works, no matter the onslaught. But once I stopped working for others I changed my life and I stopped looking at email.

Well! I almost lost my domain without noticing. 😛

Sigh. I could spin a sad tale parallel to this one about domains registered and sites run over the years, only to give up last year mere weeks before the reinvigorated my hope in the Internet. Almost no one ever exits the walled gardens so I stopped paying to host unvisited content. I downsized to one custom URL that directs to Linktree [https://linktr.ee/rmiddleton.art] —oh the shame! Walled off friends are sadly still an issue as we see that some will endure all manner of abuse and remain on FB, IG, Twitter, Reddit, etc. The fedi has multiplied the online places I feel I have to travel to stay in touch, when I was seeking simplification. Still, I'm working on it. And I feel better.

I'm an artist. I've been completely beat down by all the various sites taking advantage of me as I've tried to share my work. And of course every single one of them sends me loads of unwanted mail, regardless of whether I've asked them to stop or deleted my account. Multiply by 32 years of online adult life and it's awful. There's a man in England with my same name whose email address must be very very similar to mine, because he alone is the cause of mountains of unwanted mail I receive, including private matters. He is currently either buying or selling property & I'm getting the paperwork! After trying multiple times to alert him to this problem I gave up years ago. He has signed up for dating sites, booked travel, done all sorts of shit giving my email address. I wonder if some of my correspondence has been sent to him!

Ok, so I don't look at Gmail. Important stuff goes there & I never do. But I'm glad I did tonight. I'm about to launch a new project of audio meditations that I'll be hosting on Funkwhale. I thought I would divert my meager monthly donation away from Wikipedia to Funkwhale. (I saw a post on here that the Wikimedia Foundation fundraises deceptively & has plenty; & as poor as I am I'm happy to support Fediverse instances.) I called the number on my credit card statement attached to the recurring Wiki donation. The recording instructs me that I must reach them by email. So I fire up my junk Gmail account & do so. (They responded promptly & kindly.) While there I see that my domain is set to expire very soon! WHOOPS!

After renewing I spent my evening trying to make a suitable new email home for myself — using heaps of dummy addresses, migrating only important contacts & keeping Gmail as a dumpster.

RE: https://realsocial.life/users/oliveknits/statuses/110710718629674585

RMiddleton, to random

What are the most basic elements I need in a day? I made a list:
To Do Daily

  • [ ] Stretch
  • [ ] Medicate
  • [ ] Ice
  • [ ] Write
  • [ ] Clean
  • [ ] Food
  • [ ] Water
  • [ ] Communicate
  • [ ] Meditate
  • [ ] Sleep
  • [ ] Allow silence

[1-3] Stretch, Medicate, Ice address my chronic pain. At this time in my life I experience pain that can be debilitating if left unchecked. The three items on this list do not eliminate pain but do help noticeably. With cumulative consistency the improvement might be significant. List item 2 requires monitoring and adjustment, so I have begun to track my dosages of everything including stretching, exercise, and self medication.

[4-6] Write, Clean, Food are my current work projects. Food is a project for me because I cook (and clean up) all my meals.

[6-11] Food, Water, Communicate, Meditate, Sleep, Silence are essential for human life. Communicating is an area where I often struggle. In recent years I feel that I have accomplished more by socializing less, but I acknowledge life is preferable when shared. My desire for self improvement is not to live in a vacuum, but to enhance my relationships with other humans in this world. Communicating is also included in my work as an artist. It’s necessary practice to communicate every day. Meditation, sleep, and silence are cousins but not identical. I see the importance of maintaining all three, sometimes overlapping, many other times separated. I have been sleeping in silence more and it is so enjoyable. Being able to enjoy—not just endure but enjoy!—silence is a significant enhancement to my life. I credit it as the source for improvement in managing my ADHD, and my thinking and my mood in general. Meditation is probably the list item I do the least, even less than stretching! I believe that I will benefit from increasing the amount of directed, thoughtful, quiet time in my life. I added it to the list to encourage me to find time to meditate every day. I also plan to incorporate meditation into my art communication with others.

ryanhoulihan, to random
@ryanhoulihan@mastodon.social avatar

deleted_by_author

    •
    RMiddleton,

    @ryanhoulihan IS IT HAPPENING?

    RMiddleton, to random

    RMiddleton, to random

    Just for fun I’m imagining a scenario in which former President Trump is facing prison time and opts to plea bargain. The most important condition being that he must not seek public office. Who would be the Republican nominee?

    DeeGLloyd, to random
    @DeeGLloyd@mastodon.world avatar

    🧵I usually love , but this framing of the disaster at in is SOOO frustrating. Now I have to give credit to them for at least reporting on the issue. NPR was also one of the only US media reporting concerns about the level of the reservoir going back months. But this report borders on of as it literally presents 'n denials of culpability with almost no context beyond "Ukraine blames Russia" 1/N

    https://www.npr.org/2023/06/08/1181078981/seismic-stations-detected-explosion-at-ukrainian-dam

    RMiddleton,

    @TomMarcinko @DeeGLloyd Former addict here, I no longer listen. During Trump years I wished the network would split in two. I love their humanities programming & cannot abide their approach to politics. I feel the same about NYTimes.

    feditips, to random
    @feditips@mstdn.social avatar

    As an experiment, I've done a brief review/overview of the Toot! app for iPhone/iPad:

    ➡️ https://fedi.tips/toot-for-iphone-ipad/

    Would you want me to do more of these overviews for other Fediverse apps? If so, is this format okay?

    I've tried to keep the review brief and readable for people who are scrolling through lots of app overviews at once.

    RMiddleton,

    @aka_quant_noir @heidilifeldman @feditips
    Love seeing you taking this on. A central place for comparing +/- of various ways to access the fediverse would be extremely useful. I have not found one satisfactory way to access all features I want and have begun a list of what’s wrong with each experience. I would love one central location to share and discuss these aspects of fedi usage. I feel that user experience may be the main obstacle to growth here.

    smoldragon, to random

    Heyo! Finally dipping my toes into the Fediverse with Reddit’s whole API BS going on right now. Any tips for a newb?

    RMiddleton,

    @smoldragon Welcome to the fediverse. I am still learning but I can share some basic starter tips. A brand new account will not have much to see in its timeline. Following hashtags helps. Sharing a post with the tag introduction and several of your interests hashtagged will help others find & welcome you. Calckey has the antenna function that allows us to assemble custom timelines filled with posts. Then, you know, just start following what you like. I’ve been looking into kbin and lemmy as Reddit alternatives. The fediverse is full of great people sharing so much — and very little spam. Even though I still have a lot to learn I love it here.

    RMiddleton,

    @smoldragon On my interface antennas are at top right and look like a UFO / flying saucer. The setup is fairly straightforward once you open it up. I’m attaching a photo of one of mine. My account is on Calckey.art and that’s not very populated, so I made antenna to bring in all posts from a few other servers. The feeds produced by the antennas can be accessed by selecting the antenna from that upper right UFO menu. I don’t recall how long they take to fill up but I don’t think it was instant. It may only start to bring in new posts. Setting antennas up reminds me of rules in gmail or playlist rules in iTunes.

    hellerphant, to random

    If one were looking for a new masto instance to call home, where would that be?

    Just looking at some options for an alt account.

    RMiddleton,

    @hellerphant I usually direct people to mstdn.social

    flexghost, to random
    @flexghost@mastodon.social avatar

    MEGATHREAD: Make Trump Indicted again-again!

    🎉Post how you’re feeling 🎉

    🥂 Post what you’re drinking 🥂

    Share, post and hang out: Time to let off steam and make some friends in the comments ❤️🇺🇸❤️🇺🇸

    RMiddleton,

    @flexghost

    RMiddleton,

    @flexghost I’m enjoying popcorn while listening to MSNBC wall to wall coverage

    mikestevens, to random

    kinda crazy how much nicer the interface is than Mastodon. (Specifically web & PWA, I mean.)

    RMiddleton,

    @mikestevens I figured it out and now coming to you from Calckey! I haven’t figured it “all” out, but that’s life. Compared to has just so many more features, and fewer users, so I’m finding fewer resources to figure it out. Just poking around more is answering my questions. That and being more willing to show my ignorance by asking questions. Speaking of:

    Do you know what the colored circle on the lower edge of my avatar signifies when I’m looking at my own profile? I’ve seen it orange and I’ve seen it green. Now, as I’m asking I am evolving a guess. It’s an “online now” indicator and that’s why I’m seeing it on me and not others (so far) & maybe the variation in color is due to the fact that I’m using Calckey via different browsers with different color themes? Hmm…

    juliancday, to random
    @juliancday@writing.exchange avatar

    Looking to get off Twitter. The one thing really keeping me there is the larger community of poets, who are inventive and fascinating but also incredibly resistant to change. So if you're on Mastodon, and a poet, and I don't follow you, hit me up so I can change that.

    RMiddleton,

    @juliancday Do you follow hashtags? Those help here. I am a visual artist with writer tendencies. There's a hashtag that offers a keyword each day to compose a story or poem around. There's and and many more tags you'll find in posts. I run a bot that is posting the entirety of Gertrude Stein's Tender Buttons, in under 500 character chunks. @TenderButtons

    In addition to following hashtags to bring material I love into my feed, I also have set up filters to place certain things that were annoying me behind a show/hide link. Feel free to ask follow up questions if I've said anything unclear. WELCOME!

    A great resource: https://fedi.tips/how-do-i-find-accounts-to-follow-on-mastodon-and-the-fediverse-how-do-i-find-my-friends/

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