Now
This is a "Now" page; you should make your own!
You can also get a general sense of who I am instead.
Building Web Tools
The sites I build for Public Offering are built with Eleventy and edited with a custom content management system (CMS). The first draft of was very rough, but I'm nearly done rebuilding it from scratch, and once I'm done, I'll be able to open-source a ProseMirror-based web component and, ideally, the CMS itself; it's framework-free, portable, and self-hostable.
Language learning
I had Spanish classes in school ever year growing up, I took a couple semesters of Irish Gaelic in college, and I studied Romanian intermittently for a few years using Duolingo and free Pimsleur courses from my local library, but I never saw any of them through. I picked Romanian back up again recently, and in addition to those previous resources, I've been taking lessons with real people on italki; I look forward to every lesson, and using the language with another person has been both nerve-wracking and rewarding.
I also recently took an American Sign Language (ASL) class with Loni Friedmann; I'd never learned any ASL, and Loni's class was such a wonderfully informative and fun space. I'm about to take ASL 1.5, and I can't wait!
Public Offering
Last year, I started Public Offering as a way to formalise my offer of making free websites for people. It's a donation-based program, and it not only keeps my skills sharp and my portolio fresh, but I get to keep in touch with people with whom I may otherwise lose contact. And they get a free website! (Minus domain costs.)
The larger goal with Public Offering is three-fold:
- Help people maintain personal, non-commercial spaces online
- Educate people about digital accessibility, privacy, and security
- Get people thinking about creative ways to use technology to express themselves, rather than only using the mainstream, increasingly restrictive tools
The year's really flown by, but I'm proud of what I've done with the company so far. We've got an Etherpad instance, a handful of personal sites, and Git repository management.
Freelancing
I'm taking on projects that excite me and align with my ideals. The money comes in slower than it did with a full-time gig, but part-time teaching keeps me afloat, and there are a few interesting things on the horizon. I really don't know what I'll be up in a few months' time when my lease is up.