Today I drove over to Connell St East Toowoomba and sketched a house and street scene. While sketching the house the owner came over to see what I was up to. We had a chat and I gave him my Instagram id.

#sketch #UrbanSketch #PenAndWatercolour #FountainPen #WaterBrush

When I came over to #mastodon and introduced myself a few weeks ago, a couple of people I didn’t know made me feel very welcome.

To anyone who has just arrived— it’s gonna be ok. We have blankets, hot chocolate, furry animals, and a crackling fire. Make yourself at home.

I can't help but notice many toots from helpful newbies encouraging you to support the Mastodon Patreon.

It's fine to do that but understand it goes to just two big instances and the official Mastodon dev team.

It does NOT trickle down to YOUR instance. If you want to support your server, donate to it directly. Nearly all the costs of the explosive growth of the past few weeks is borne by local instances.

Mastodon is decentralized. There is no Mastodon Inc. This is not Twitter.

I really like the favorite/boost/bookmark distinctions. I also like the fact that here you have to go back to the original post to talk--my brain says lovechild of Twitter and Pillowfort. Also, accountability, woohoo!

So. In my view.

Favorite: HEY YOU this was a COOL THING.

Boost: HEY EVERYONE this was a COOL THING.

Bookmark: HEY ME don't forget about this COOL THING.

Reply: OMG WHAT A COOL THING can we TALK about it?