@seanbala@mas.to
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seanbala

@seanbala@mas.to

Former #ReligiousStudies student in #Chicago. Interested in #religion, #philosophy, #ethics, #culture, #environment, #ecology, and #community. Currently working in #HigherEd.

Other Tags: #Episcopal #Episcopalian #Ecotheology #Books #Folklore #Travel #Fantasy #History #Solarpunk #ScienceFiction #SFF #Bookstadon #Bookmaking #Musicals #Theater #India

Love exploring new cultures, interesting ideas, and meeting new people!

"If only I may grow - simple, firmer, kinder, warmer." Dag Hammarskjold

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seanbala, (edited ) to fediverse
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I've been thinking about exploring another corner of the #Fediverse. I'm on #Mastodon and also #Pixelfed and #Bookwyrm.

Which should I explore next? Feel free to your experience or reasoning in the comments.

(REALLY wish Mastodon allowed for more than four poll answers!)

Please boost - thanks!

#AskFedi #Poll #Polls #Lemmy #Kbin #Funkwhale #Castopod #Peertube #Technology #Fedi

seanbala, (edited ) to fediverse
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A reflection: In the #Fediverse I can have single conversations with people using multiple services. Essentially, each service becomes a distinct medium for engagement with the same independent content and people.

When people talk about the promise of #ActivityPub, it sometimes seems like a Zen koan - you can feel it but can't quite grasp it rationally. But occasionally, you get a flash of insight and can see its revolutionary potential.

#technology #tech

seanbala, to chicago
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Last two books for my Bookmaking Class at Lillstreet! First one is a French chain long stitch book. I LOVE the cover and the pattern on spine but had some trouble with the paper.

1/2

image/jpeg

seanbala,
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The second one is a Belgian Secret Stich. This was such a fun one to make - and it feels so professional, too!

When we visited Portland last summer, the only place we went many times was Powell's City of Books. It is the best bookstore in the world. I grabbed an extra bag because I knew I wanted to make a book out of it.

2/2

A book project in progress. There is a large paper rectangle with the text "Powell's City of Books" with bok graphic brown paper surface, with crafting tools including a bone folder, utility knife, and sewn binding.

seanbala, to solarpunk
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Finished "Station Eleven" yesterday - what a wonderful, life-affirming show! No exaggeration to say it is one of most beautiful and thought-provoking works of art I've encountered. Such a breath of fresh air to see an apocalyptic narrative where people come together rather than fight each other. It really captures what is best about humanity. And I think its focus on community makes it an excellent example of #Hopepunk or #Solarpunk. MUST WATCH!

#Television #StationEleven #SciFi #ScienceFiction

seanbala, to chicago
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In the 1880s, the mark of consumption among elites was replacing gaslights for electric ones. Today it is the replacement of electric ones for useless decorative gas lights that constantly burn. We see these in many wealthy neighborhoods in Chicago.

I really don't know about the mechanics of this system. Nor do I know anything about the people. Just always find such fixtures strange.

#Chicago #ClimateDiary #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateEmergency #Consumption #FossilFuels #Wealth

seanbala, (edited ) to climate
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On my commute this morning. Every week, these plastic wrapped packets of advertisements are distributed at every building. They are pretty useless and are almost never taken inside. Such a waste. It feels very symbolic of the relationship between our culture of consumption and our socio-ecological crisis.

And the long train of cars heading to the highway is icing on the cake.

#ClimateDiary #ClimateChange #ClimateEmergency #Pollution #Environment #Consumption #Capitalism #Advertising #Chicago

seanbala, to portland
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At Washington Park in Portland, Oregon.

#SilentSunday #Portland #Nature #Trees #TreesofMastodon #Oregon #PNW #Travel #TravelPhotography

seanbala, to climate
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I feel a bit mixed about this. On one hand, happy to see more charging ports. On the other hand, it feels like a tobacco company funding a hospital.

seanbala, to gardening
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For #FollowFriday (prompted by post from @codedude) - #Gardening, #Gardens, #Botany, #Forests and other sundry -

@BRKitchenGarden
@opensourcegardens
@gardeningwell
@rscbotanicalgarden
@tickfoot
@MelsGarden
@LifeTimeCooking
@martijn
@yekuhl
@eco_amandine
@AgroecologyMap
@CoedCadw
@bomengidsnl

Enjoy!

https://masto.ai/@codedude/111616228349819753

seanbala, (edited ) to Podcast
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Listened yesterday to the @Flipboard "Dot Social #Podcast with @mike and @evan - it was fascinating to hear from one of the co-authors of #ActivityPub and it was fascinating counterpoint to the first episode with @mmasnick. I don't have a tech background but I am quite interested in questions of community and connection). From the outside, ActivityPub is fascinating for its sheer versatility.

#Technology #Fediverse

1/3

seanbala, (edited ) to art
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Bookmaking Saturday!

Today it is a butterfly stitch book. It is a bit loose and rests open pretty easily. Similar to a Coptic stich but a bit easier on the hands...and I love the interwoven threads 🤗

Second week of class at Lillstreet Art Center in Chicago - next week is learning Longstitch Books!

1/2

seanbala, (edited ) to delhi
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Another day when it feels like in .

The most striking thing is that the air SMELLS like Delhi today.

Spouse and I spoke this morning about purchasing a supply of masks because this sort of thing is not really going away.

Be careful of the air - limit your time outside and wear a mask (N99 ideally, N95 if you've got it). You may not feel poorly right away it now but you will feel it later.

seanbala, (edited ) to books
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Looking to start new series for the coming year (second poll). Can you help me out ? Because you can only have for poll topics on Mastodon, this is the second poll asking for recommendations. I'll take the top two from both polls and do a final four poll. Go to the comments for a link to the first poll.

Feel free to comment on your choice below.

Thanks - happy reading in 2024!

@bookstodon

seanbala, (edited ) to art
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Some new bookmaking projects! Got to try out some of the new books that I learned in my class on my own. More details in the thread below!

1/6

seanbala, (edited )
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Here was a Belgian Secret Stitch sketchbook I made for my spouse. I wanted to try making another one of these books because they were so much fun. I also experimented in using less sketch paper in each signature (bundle of paper) and it worked much better. I did the same on the smaller sketch book in the next post.

2/6

seanbala, (edited )
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This one is a variation of a Coptic Stitch and, though it looks really easy, it is deceptively difficult to make because you need to learn just how much tension to give the thread. It is one that I will be trying to do again when I get some new thread.

4/6

seanbala, (edited )
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Here are two long-stitch books with different patterns. The first (the black one) is a long-stitch sketch book and the other is a criss-cross pattern. Both look awesome! The red threads on the second one at the top and bottom were actually to cover up the fact that I made the book too long for the paper and only realized after making the holes

3/6

seanbala,
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Finally, I just wanted to thank you for reading this thread - I've enjoyed learning bookbinding and have enjoyed sharing my projects here on Mastodon with you. I've really appreciated all the encouragement!

Here are a few more projects I've done over the past few months:

https://mas.to/@seanbala/111884963409828947

https://mas.to/@seanbala/111910746592932838

https://mas.to/@seanbala/111552842443807194

https://mas.to/@seanbala/110381697218259864

6/6

seanbala, to chicago
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Started a new #bookmaking class on Visibly Sewn Books at Lillstreet Art Center in #Chicago. I’ll definitely post new projects when they are completed!

Here are some old pamphlet stitch #books that are some late Christmas presents.

The left one has a bookmark from Powell’s in #Portland, the middle is from an old calendar, and the one on the right has a sticker from Death Wish #Coffee. Amazing how rounding corners makes things look better!

#Craft #Handmade #Art #MastoArt #Bookbinding #PDX

Three journals with artistic covers lying on a wooden surface. The left cover features a scenic landscape with the text "NEVER LOSE YOUR PLACE," the middle one has a floral design, and the right one has a skull logo with the text "DEATH WISH COFFEE”

seanbala, (edited ) to books
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Finally got around to some more bookmaking projects! This was my first attempt at doing cloth covers, and I tried making an accordion book with thicker paper and a Coptic stich sketchbook. I'm really proud of them and feel like each time they become a bit easier.

A few fun stories about some of them below.

#books #bookstodon #art #crafts #handmade #creativity #chicago #creative #bookbinding #crafting #bookmaking #bookbinding #mastoart

1/4

seanbala,
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@dohappybelove Both of these were Coptic stich books with some flaws on the cover. For both, I found some cool things to put on the cover. The larger has an image is from a map for the Art Institute in Chicago (Alma Thomas' "Starry Night and the Astronauts) and the other is a postcard from the Portland Saturday Market!

3/4

#books #bookstodon #art #crafts #handmade #creativity #travel #creative #bookbinding #crafting #bookmaking #bookbinding #mastoart #chicago #portland #pdx #modernart

seanbala, (edited )
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I made this book a while ago. This sticker is from one of our favorite #coffee shops in #Delhi. We go every time we visit #India. When I looked at a bag of coffee, I did not realize that there was a sticker from the shop there. It seemed like it was made for the cover. For more about the place, see this post I made with @dohappybelove

https://mastodon.social/@bunvoyage17/111016906625223305

2/4

#books #bookstodon #art #crafts #handmade #creativity #travel #creative #bookbinding #crafting #bookmaking #bookbinding #mastoart

seanbala,
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@dohappybelove I've really been enjoying bookmaking as a hobby. Here is a previous post form some I made in Spring 2023. Thanks for looking and I look forward to sharing more!

https://mas.to/@seanbala/110381697218259864

4/4

#books #bookstodon #art #crafts #handmade #creativity #chicago #creative #bookbinding #crafting #bookmaking #bookbinding #mastoart

negativeprimes, to random
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There are some accounts is like to follow but don't want on main, just on lists. Is there an easy way to do this?

seanbala,
@seanbala@mas.to avatar

@negativeprimes Yes! You can place them into a list and then you can exclude that list from your main timeline.

Go to the second thing on the this list:

https://fedi.tips/how-to-use-the-lists-feature-on-mastodon/

One thing I'm doing is removing lists from my main timeline and then following that list on #Flipboard so I can keep up with it in a nicer, more visual way.

#FediTips #Mastodon #Fediverse

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