IHHT

I Heart This Thursday June (is bustin’ out all over!) 2022

Welcome to I❤TT, a discussion thread for sharing stuff you love because we need more of that in life.

clears throat

JUNE IS BUSTIN’ OUT ALL OVAAAAAAAH!

…and the huckin’ the bejeebus out of all the morning glories of the FEEEZZZ!

If you want to know the real lyrics:

Now it’s your turn! In the comments you’re invited to talk about or post a link, or two links, or even 5 links to things that bring you joy. Can be something cute your kid or pet did, a piece of art, a song, a book, a short story, an article, a video, posts from social media, anything.

And if these discussions are a source of joy for you, please do share this link with others who might need a space for talking about what we love.

I Heart This Thursday

I Heart This Thursday May 2022

Welcome to I❤TT, a discussion thread for sharing stuff you love because we need more of that in life.

Here’s something I really love: a detailed list of non-Amazon places to buy books, audiobooks, and eBooks. As an author, I cannot eschew Amazon, no matter how much I’m against their labor practices. That doesn’t mean I can’t point you toward less morally-knotty storefronts with the same selection.

Now it’s your turn! In the comments you’re invited to talk about or post a link, or two links, or even 5 links to things that bring you joy. Can be something cute your kid or pet did, a piece of art, a song, a book, a short story, an article, a video, posts from social media, anything.

And if these discussions are a source of joy for you, please do share this link with others who might need a space for talking about what we love.

I Heart This Thursday

I Heart This Thursday April 2022

Welcome to I❤TT, a discussion thread for sharing stuff you love because we need more of that in life.

In the comments you’re invited to talk about or post a link, or two links, or even 5 links to things that bring you joy. Can be something cute your kid or pet did, a piece of art, a song, a book, a short story, an article, a video, posts from social media, anything.

And if these discussions are a source of joy for you, please do share this link with others who might need a space for talking about what we love.

IHHT

I Heart This Thursday January 2022

Welcome to I❤TT, a discussion thread for sharing stuff you love because we need more of that in life.

My share for this month is a tweet thread from Pamela Punzalan/The Dovetailor in which she asks:

We tend to be so informed by white/American standards of storytelling and design that we run the risk of applying that lens to everything. I’m curious: in your local context, what are the elements of a good story? What should a game, or movie, or story have for it to work?

Genres are also a thing and mediums of storytelling are all different, and trans cultural exchange plus the melding of influence due to things like colonization are too, so if you want to speak with confidence only for a specific thing feel free!

P.S. you can legit talk about anything! Aesthetics, colour palettes, tropes and archetypes, dramaturgical choices, elements of fiction… there’s so much to discuss, honestly, and I think it would be beneficial to highlight them more!

The thread is from October of last year, but you can still respond to it. Or you can put your answers here in the comments. I would LOVE to know more about what makes a story work for you given the stories you imbibed via your culture.

In the comments you’re also invited to talk about or post a link, or two links, or even 5 links to things that bring you joy. Can be something cute your kid or pet did, a piece of art, a song, a book, a short story, an article, a video, posts from social media, anything.

And if these discussions are a source of joy for you, please do share this link with others who might need a space for talking about what we love.

I Heart This Thursday

The Monster Cafe | #IHeartThisThursday

On #IHeartThisThursday I share the art, writing, music, performance, or other creative endeavors I love and admire. Want in on the fun? Share something you heart in the comments or on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag.

Last year around this time I was hanging out in Florida with a bunch of romance writers having a fabulous time at the beach. The Coastal Magic convention was a good time for many reasons, and the thing I remember best about it was the awesomely adorable Monster Cafe booth.

Monster Cafe Booth

I’m a sucker for some cute fuzzyness and big eyes just like anyone with a soul. However, there’s something extra special about these ones. The creator, Justine Birmingham, has an artist’s eye for what colors will work well together and creating creatures that have a definite personality. She doesn’t only make glitter-eyed fuzzballs. Oh no. Check this out:

She made my friend Alethea Kontis a teddy bear using the Marriott carpet pattern! Those of you who go to DragonCon will get the significance of this. OMG I love that bear.

Justine is an all-around crafting goddess and if I wasn’t a nomad I would be surrounded by her creations all the time.

You can see her latest stuff on Instagram and, if you can’t get to a con where she sells stuff, she has some things up on Etsy. Go forth and follow!

comic titled How People Are On the Internet. First panel shows two young men against a blue background. the man on the right is pointing off panel and says I love the work of that guy. Second panel, the man on the right says So tell him. The man on the left says Oh there's no need for that. Third panel, the man on the left has an angry face, again pointing off panel, and says The work of that guy though I don't like. Forth panel, the man on the left yells Hey! You suck and I hate you! while the man on the right looks shocked.

#FriendlyFriday and #IHeartThisThursday

Earlier this year my friend Alethea shared the comic above on her Facebook.

Around that time I’d also seen another graphic or post or something with a similar sentiment: People don’t tell the creators of the things they love that they love said things nearly as much as they yell at creators of things they have a problem with.

I don’t completely agree. As I said in response to the first comic: Saying “I Love This!” doesn’t get the same amount of attention as saying “I don’t like this!” coupled with “because it’s a problem.” The real issue here isn’t that people don’t talk about what they love. The problem is that people don’t give attention and signal boosts to the people talking about what they love.

In the time between me first saying this and now, things haven’t changed. In thinking about the kinds of links I see shared multiple times on Facebook or Twitter, they are more of the “Do you see this awful/problematic thing?” variety than “Do you see this amazingness?” People DO post the latter stuff, but it’s not shared and boosted as many times.

This is not only the fault of All Of Us, I know. Facebook’s horrendous algorithm seems designed to suppress squee unless it comes from very specific sites (who I can only suppose are advertisers) and boost things that get us riled up. Or, if that’s not the design, then perhaps it’s just that Facebook is not here to help you spread the word about that book or that musician or that artist unless they are huge, mainstream creators with corporate backing who, again, are likely paying Facebook some money in advertising dollars.

And with Twitter… well, it’s hard to get anything noticed on Twitter unless you share it forty million times.

Whatever the reasons and the back-end machinations, I do think that us individual users of these platforms have a major role in this as well. How often are you moved to share, retweet, reblog a post that’s just about someone loving on a thing they love? How often compared to boosting stuff that isn’t these things?

Don’t worry, I am not judging you cuz I do this, too. And I aim to be better about it. Thus this post.

A few months ago the aforementioned Alethea Kontis started doing a thing on her Patreon called #FriendlyFriday: “where I tell you all about my fabulous friends and what brilliant things that they are up to.” I decided to follow suit. I know so, so, so many talented creators involved in a plethora of projects that deserve more attention that I will never be at a loss for people to write about. I’m sure this is true for a bunch of the people reading this. So, I’m challenging you: join us for the #FriendlyFriday party.

Every week create a blog post, a Facebook status, a Tumblr blog, or some other public thing wherein you talk about a creative friend, their current project, and why you like them. Doesn’t have to be long, complex, or even erudite. A simple “XXX is an amazing artist and you should click through her gallery and also support her on Patreon” is just fine. The point is for you to show your friend some love and maybe expose them to some folks who’ve never seen their stuff before. Oh, and be sure to tag it #FriendlyFriday.

Now that’s all well and good, but there’s a next step to this. When you see a post on the #FriendlyFriday tag, share it. Just do it. Unless you look at the art or book or or whatever and think “Dear Zu’ul, that is horrendous!” You don’t have to share things you don’t like. But if you do like it, even a little, share. Seek out #FriendlyFriday on Twitter or Tumblr and wherever else. If you leave it up to the social networks, they’re not going to show you. Now is the time to be proactive.

Continuing in this theme, sometimes there is art and music and dance and writing that you love that isn’t created by a friend. In that sense, the #FriendlyFriday tag might not be the best fit. I have a solution for that, too: #IHeartThisThursday.

This is for sharing links to stuff you love that you don’t have a personal connection to (other than how it speaks to you!). For my part, I plan to post something I love here in the #IHeartThisThursday category. I’ll post to Twitter and Instagram with the tag as well. You can join by making a post on your blog or tagging stuff on social media. Don’t forget to tag the creator, if possible, when you do. They want to know how much you love them as much as everyone else does.

Just as with the #FriendlyFriday tag, seek out #IHeartThisThursday posts and share them. Widely. Be proactive in boosting the good work and amazing creations that exist in the world.

We have to do both in order for this to work.

Who’s in?