What’s Old Is New: Tumblr, Photosharing, and the End of Meta
If you’re like me, and there are millions of us, you simply cannot reconcile yourself to staying on Meta (Facebook, Instagram and Threads). And while there is no Faceook shaming here – I understand how spectacularly Meta has been in making itself seem indispesable to our lives – it is dead to me. I, too, thought for years that I had to stay for family and friends, but the reality for a long time was that I only saw posts from about a dozen people, and very few ever “liked” mine or engaged with me in any meaningful way. Facebook wants us to pay for that by “boosting” posts. Uh, no.
I somehow made it 50 years without Facebook, and guess what? I haven’t missed it for five minutes. There is something deeply illusory about social media, and the people who create it know this.
Given that I enjoy dispensing pearls to swine and other creatures I value for their intelligence (pigs are really smart), I’m on Bluesky, and I have reactived my Tumble for photos. If you didn’t know, Tumbler has been around since 2009, but it’s not really microbloggng. It serves peole whose attention span is longer than an influencer’s. I’ll use it for photos only for now, since I have … a website! Enjoy!
– Mark
Workshop Schedule Starting in January
Workshops are currently 2 hours via Zoom unless marked ‘in person’
All times are eastern (New Jersey) – 2 Hours
Register at the links belowNEW FOR 2025!
IN-PERSON WORKSHOPS IN LAMBERTVILLE
NEW HOPE ADULT WRITERS GROUP
CLINTON ADULT WRITERS GROUPFRIDAY FEBRUARY 7
Guided Autobiography 2-Hour Complimentary Introduction (free)
9:00 am – 11:00 am
Location: Soupcon at Bucks on Bridge
25 Bridge Street, Lambertville, NJ
Please specify the workshop or group in your subject line!
RSVP (LIMIT 8)EVERY 2ND AND 4TH TUESDAY
Adult Writers Group
6:00 – 7:00 pm
Location: New Hope Free Library
93 W. Ferry Street, New Hope, PA
Please specify the workshop or group in your subject line!
RSVP – JANUARY MEETINGS ARE 1/7 AND 1/28 Space is limitedWEDNSDAY JANUARY 29
Last Wednesday of every month
Adult Writers Group
6:00 – 7:00 pm
65 Halstead St, Clinton, Clinton, NJ
Please specify the workshop or group in your subject line!
RSVPTHERE’S MORE! THREE WORKSHOPS COMING IN MAY
HUNTERDON NJ COUNTY MAIN LIBARY
CLINTON, NJ LIBRARY
BRISTOL PA LIBRARY)
SUBSCRIBE FOR UPDATES, SCHEDULES AND MORE!
*** FRIDAY REBRUARY 7 ***
Guided Autobiography 2-Hour Complimentary Introduction (free)
9:00 AM – 11:00 AM IN PERSON
Bucks on Bridge/Soupcon 25 Bridge Street, Lambertville, NJ
RSVP
5 Week Guided Autobiography ($100)
Every Wednesday in April 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Via Zoom
REGISTERYou can see workshop descriptions at YourWritePath.com, address any questions to YourWritePath AT Outlook. com.
Your Write Path Podcast: A Conversation with Ann Aptaker, Award Winning Author of the Cantor Gold Series
Fasten your headphones for another MWA-NY member interview. Ann Aptaker is the author of the Cantor Gold series, featuring the irrepressible Cantor Gold, art smuggler and rebel living on the edges in late-1940s New York City. The series currently includes Criminal Gold, Tarnished Gold, Genuine Gold, Flesh and Gold, and Murder and Gold.
Ann is a Lambda Literary Award (The Lammy) and multiple Goldie Award winner for her popular novels. A native New Yorker, she has earned a reputation as a respected exhibition designer and curator of art during her career in museums and galleries. Exhibitions Ann has curated have garnered favorable reviews in the New York Times, Art in America, American Art Review, and other publications.
Her short stories and essays have appeared in several major anthologies and in other crime and mystery fiction publications and journals. In addition to curating and designing art exhibitions and writing crime stories, Ann is also an art writer and was adjunct professor of art history at the New York Institute of Technology.
I had the pleasure of finally meeting Ann at the MWA-NY annual Holiday Revels gathering in New York City this past December, and I couldn’t wait to speak to her again for this interview.
Are you a MWA-NY member? Would you be interested in an interview for this feature? Contact interviews AT mwany.org for information. – Mark McNease/Comms Team
NEW: Your Write Path Introductory Video
I wanted to make a short introductory video for visitors, the curious, and drive-bys to see what I look and sound like, and to get an idea of what Your Write Path is all about. – Mark McNease
First In-Person Workshop at Bucks on Bridge/Soupcon: 2 Hour Guided Autobiography Intro February 7, 9:00 – 11:00 am (FREE)
I’m very excited to be a partner with the Soupcon artists’ collective in Lambertville. It’s double exciting that they’ve rented out the art space at Bucks on Bridge Coffee Shop. I’ve done several book readings and a workshop there last year, and it’s a perfect location for intimate workshops.
I’ll be facilitating a free 2-hour Guided Autobiography Introductory Workshop there on Friday, February 7, from 9:00 am – 11:00 am. I have four slots left of a maximum 8. Keep reading for a workshop description and RSVP link. – Mark
GUIDED AUTOBIOGRAPHY 2-HOUR INTRODUCTORY WORKSHOP
This complimentary 2-hour workshop gives participants a chance to experience a group dynamic and shared storytelling that is the heart of Guided Autobiography. It also includes flash writing exercises to begin rediscovering the experiences that shaped our lives. Whether you’re interested in journaling, or legacy writing, or simply taking a short journey into the life you’re living and the life you’ve led, this is a comfortable, non-judgmental way to explore yourself.
Every life is a story, and each of us is the storyteller.
In-person participants receive the workshop outline, slides, complimentary folder, yellow writing pad, and pen.
Workshop participants at Bucks on Bridge, May, 2024New Year, New Look for My Payhip Storefront!
New year, new look for my Payhip storefront! Buy everything direct and save. I’ll be migrating the workshop registrations to Payhip later in the new year.One Time Donation/Lifetime Subscription to Mark McNease On Topic Substack – $25!
As subscribers to my Mark McNease On Topic Substack know, I’ve eliminated paid and renewing subscriptions. Everyone gets everything, ’cause that’s the kind of provocateur I am. You can, however, donate and get a lifetime subscription for just $25. It’s a subscription! It’s a donation! It’s a tip jar! You decide.
If you haven’t subscribed yet, this is a great way to do it. Or just sign up at MarkMAMcNease.substack.com. We don’t twist arms at the Tree House, we just imply.
Let’s roar into 2025 with heads high, open hearts, and curious minds. – Mark
Free eBook For New Subscribers: One Thing or Another: Life, Aging, and the Absurdities Of It All
CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE AND DOWNLOAD
One Thing or Another is a collection of humor columns that take a look at life, aging, and the absurdities of it all. From our culture’s refusal to use the word ‘old,’ to the sometimes comical consequences of aging in body and mind, if not always in spirit. Collected from the author’s personal columns, these short essays will make you chuckle, recognize yourself, and occasionally grimace at the not-always-funny price we pay for simply staying alive.