Three years ago (2013-324) we held the first Homebrew Website Club meetup at Mozilla San Francisco.

In the tradition of the Homebrew Computer Club, I wrote up the Homebrew Website Club Newsletter Volume 1 Issue 1 which has been largely replaced by Kevin Marks's excellent live-tweeting and summary postings after each San Francisco meetup.

Since then Homebrew Website Clubs have sprung up in over a dozen cities world wide and continue regularly (fortnightly or monthly) in nine cities across four time zones and three countries, six of which started in 2016!

New Homebrew Website Club cities this year, along with their start dates and a subsequent photo from one of their meetups this year:

• 2016-01-13: Los Angeles, California
• 2016-05-25: Nürnberg, GERMANY
• 2016-06-15: Bellingham, Washington
• 2016-09-21: Baltimore, Maryland
• 2016-10-05: Birmingham, ENGLAND - no photo! (yet) Hope to see one soon!
• 2016-06-15: London, ENGLAND

We have also seen a surge in cities with folks that are interested in starting up a Homebrew Website Club. Many existing cities started with just two people and grew slowly and steadily over time. All it takes is two individuals, committed to supporting each other in a fortnightly (or monthly) gathering to share what they have done recently on their personal websites, and they aspire to create next.

Find your city on this wiki page and add yourself! Then hop in the #indieweb chat channel and say hi!

• indieweb.org/Homebrew_Website_Club#Getting_Started_or_Need_Restarting
• #indieweb chat on the Freenode IRC network
• Tips on how to organize and run a Homebrew Website Club

Pick a venue, talk about all things independent web, take a fun photo like the Nürnberg animate GIF above, or like this recent one in San Francisco and post it on the wiki page for the event.

Remember to keep it fun as well as productive. Even if all you do is get together and finish writing a blog post and posting it on your indieweb site, that’s a good thing. Especially these days, the more people we can encourage to write authentic content and publish on their own sites, the better.

Previously: Congrats 2 years of HWC!

A friend overseas asked me how am I “managing stress-anger-grief so as to be useful and productive”, in the context of the disappointing US Presidential election result.

I txted her the following, which I’ve expanded and structured here in the hopes that some of these techniques will help others too.

Morning self-care and focus

Start every day with a solid morning self-care routine.

Wake up before sunrise. Drink water, take vitamins, brush your teeth. Eat a small healthy snack or drink.

Do some yoga, or go for a run, or both. At least a 15 minute walk outside near your home, up a hill, by the water, through some trees.

Shower and brainstorm actions for the day. Eat a proper breakfast.

Execute on things that matter, and continuously let go of (ignore), cut, get rid of distractions, noise, unnecessary things.

Be ever healthier and kinder

Feed your body and mind nourishing food and information, not sugary things that spike blood sugars (and emotions), nor inflammatory media (nor status update social streams, instead, read thoughtful blogs). Eat modest meals regularly and in a timely fashion. Eat dinner early, get to bed early.

Show even more kindness to everyone who is obviously hurting.

Listen to, use, and deliberately process emotions

There’s no time to to let stress or anger distract from all we must do.

When emotions help motivate, tap into them, when they distract, take a break to breathe, relax, take a walk, get fresh air, let go, and refocus.

Then get back to work.

Spend time on good people and things every day

Keep spending time with people you care for, and doing & making plans for all things you appreciate & enjoy so you keep in mind & heart everything you’re fighting for.

That’s a good start. In addition to all that, try to write something constructive every day, if not publicly, at least for yourself, or to friends & family.