Conversations On Community with Mike Porter

In this episode, I speak with Mike Porter, my comic book store guy about how community impacts artists and the need to build a community around yourself. Although Mike didn't think of himself as an artist, I thought it was important to have him speak about the impact of community on his business and practice as a shop owner and burgeoning writer.

Hello friend, this is Timothy Kimo Brien your head instigator at Create Art Podcast where I bring my 20 years in art and education to help you tame your inner critic and create more than you consume. In 2022 I am rebroadcasting my former podcast KDOI Podcast here so you can catch up on what we have been doing for the past 4 years. KDOI Podcast was my first serious attempt at podcasting after spending many years just creating content without regard to the final product. KDOI started in 2016 and had 3 seasons until I closed it down in 2019. I wanted to make sure that these gems didn't get relegated to my external hard drives, so here you go, there will be interviews, commentary, and projects that you can do for yourself. Enjoy these rebroadcasts and Create More Than You Consume. This episode is about the novel, so enjoy.

• Definition of Community :

a unified body of individuals, the people with common interests living in a particular area. A group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together within a larger society, a body of persons of common and especially professional interests scattered throughout a larger society, a body of persons or nations having a common history or a common social economic and political interests.
A group linked by a common policy, joint ownership, or participation social activity,

• Quote from Gothe on Community : The world is so empty. If one thinks only of mountains, rivers, and cities, but to know someone who thinks feels with us and who through distance and who though distance is close to us in spirit, this makes the earth for us and in the inhabited.
• Quote From Fred Rogers on community :

To reach out to me, email timothy@createartpodcast.com I would love to hear about your journey and what you are working on. If you would like to be on the show or have me discuss a topic that is giving you trouble write in and let's start that conversation.

• Email: timothy@createartpodcast.com
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• Twitter: @createartpod

KDOI Rebroadcast Conversations On Community with Mike Porter
Tim: Create art podcast. KDOI rebroadcast conversations on community with like Porter. Hello friends. This is Timothy Kimo. Brian, your head instigator for create art podcast where I use my twenty years. Plus. From my experiences in the arts and education world to help you tame your inner critic and create more than you consume.
Now, a few years ago, I used to run a podcast called K D O I podcasts, which stood for Kimo's den of iniquity. I closed down that podcast and started up create art podcast because I felt. That is a better way to communicate to you what this podcast is about. So in 2022, I'll be rebroadcasting season three of Katie or podcasting.
Now for this episode, I'll be talking with Mike Porter and we're going to be discussing community. And in each of these episodes, I start off with the definition of community and then two quotes. And then I talked to my guest to see what their opinion is on that topic. So I hope you enjoy.
Welcome back friends. Welcome to KDOI podcasting Kimo's den of iniquity, where we create more than we consume. I am your head instigator, Timothy Kimo, Brian, many times creating art is done in an imposed isolation or away from our audience. When we do that, we can often feel like we're the only person doing the art we are doing.
And we may never find our intended audience. It's important to find our community, to learn, to challenge and to inspire our creativity. I never went to conferences while in college, but since I left academia, I've gone to three conferences in two years about podcasting. Now, each time. The other weirdos that do what I do.
I have a sense of family that I'm not the only crazy one out there doing this. It makes me want to push through blockages and create more. Now let's listen to what Merriam Webster says, a unified body of individuals, the people with common interests living in a particular area. A group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together within a larger society, a body of persons of common and especially professional interests scattered throughout a larger society, a body of persons or nations having a common history or a common social economic and political interests.
A group linked by a common policy, joint ownership, or participation social activity, our quotes come from Goethe or girthy. However, you'd like to pronounce his name. The world is so empty. If one thinks only of mountains, rivers, and cities, but to know someone who thinks feels with us and who through distance and who though distance is close to us in spirit, this makes the earth for us and in the inhabited.
We also have Fred Rogers, Mr. Rogers, to the most of us, we live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It is easy to say it's not my child at my community, not my world, not my problem. Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people. My heroes Guthy was a German writer in state.
Is works, include four novels, epic and lyric poetry, prose, verse dramas, memoirs, autobiography, literary, and aesthetic criticism, and true to seize on botany and anatomy and color. Fred Rogers, otherwise known as Mr. Rogers was an American television personality, musician, puppeteer writer, producer, and I didn't know this Presbyterian minister.
Dictionary definition was very long-winded. But what really spoke to me was body of persons of common and a specifically professional interests scattered throughout through a larger society. You know, we have shared interest in our exploration in inter interpretation of art. Yes, we are all over the world and we can always find a kindred soul that.
For me, you can't go wrong with Fred Rogers. We do have a shared responsibility and isn't it great to know that we can help each other out. In fact, many artists I know are only too happy to help other artists out with supplies or a space to express themselves. Just like I'm doing here today. So let's get this conversation started.

Mike Porter: making off of your art. Do you consider yourself a professional artist?

Tim: All right, so it's $400. $400 a year. Is it 400 American or 400 Canadian or 400 Australian? It's $400 American

Mike Porter: wise, unless you're a dual citizen and you're living in Australia, in which case it's whatever their tax codes is.

Tim: Well, why does it have to be 400

Mike Porter: American?
Because that is the amount

Tim: that, but who determines that it has to be American, who is the determining factor who was saying that it has to be 400. Who says that the government they get, what, which government, the American government, why is
Mike Porter: there an American government? There is definitely an off and on occasionally,
Tim: every four years might be an American government.
We get an extra day. If we want to be open. I like being open. I'm all about giving and being open
Mike Porter: and honest.
Tim: Oh no, I don't know. I didn't say that. No,
Mike Porter: no, no, no. So open and dishonest, ask me anything. I'll tell you anything. Not necessarily the truth openly
Tim: dishonest is a beautiful thing. Openly dishonest.
That's that's the way I like to be. That's that's what I'm going to run my platform on that you are going to be the head
Mike Porter: off, right? Except that can't be because I'm a Canadian citizen.
Tim: That's. That's okay. We're going to run you for president. I'll be your vice president. And when you are elected, then you can just kind of go.
I
Mike Porter: don't, I don't even think I
Tim: can run. Sure. You care. Anybody can run. No,
Mike Porter: I think you have to be with the 35 years old and an American citizen
Tim: technicalities, or you can run, you just can't win.
Mike Porter: I don't think that's true. I think this is one of those openly dishonest. It sounds good.
Tim: And folks, you have tuned into another episode of K D O I podcast, where we create more than we consume.
And as you know, I'm Timothy Kimo. Brian and I have with me here are wonderful merchants of mercy, our purveyor of books of glean and happiness. Mr. Mike Porter with now is little fish, still an official thing, or is it not
Mike Porter: a little fish? Comics died? Sasha's dead. I do have a secret nerd Panda, which is up and running.
It is doing okay. But you can find me in person at Sage manages game evening,
Tim: which we just came from this very afternoon before we recorded this podcast. And it was a very mirthful place. It, it, there's a lot of happiness in that place
Mike Porter: For the people coming in. Yes. For the employees, not so much.
Tim: See folks. That's why, when you go into these places, you need to provide either mirth or leave the employees. Don't feed the employees, help
Mike Porter: feed
Tim: what kind of food. Provide you with a sustainable amount of happiness for about two hours.
Mike Porter: We do have a one customer who is a professional chef and he brings me pastries, apple pastries all the time.
And I appreciate him very much.
Tim: You know, so folks pastries, if you go into Sage manners, pastries is the way to go.
Mike Porter: Now I am Canadian. So a. Donuts. They're an official food group in Canada. Oh, I did
Tim: not know that I'm shocked being parked Canadian myself. I was not aware of that. Now. It doesn't have to be a certain type of donut.
Mike Porter: Now us personally, I personally prefer jelly donuts, but jellies are great.
Tim: What type of deal they needs to be in that donut? It
Mike Porter: doesn't matter. It can be, it can be a custard, it can be a jelly. It can be they're all
Tim: jellies. So a filling of some sort that is not cream, or it can even be a cream, like a Boston cream,
Mike Porter: like a Boston cream is a jelly
Tim: donuts.
All right, fantastic. So folks, you know, Some donuts stacked. He needs them. He is not happy. He's happy where he's at and he's happy to serve the public and customers, but in order to get them even more happy, which I believe you could be more happy who couldn't be more happy. One of there's a few people that couldn't be more happy.
Name one. One of my daughters, I'm sure couldn't be more happy. She could not be more happy. Cause she's my daughter. Oh, how could you be more happy than being. You would not know that you're not know
Mike Porter: the answer to that.
Tim: I do not have the answer to that, but you don't even a few years you could interview one of my daughters.
It doesn't matter either one, they're both interchangeable and you can see, you know, what it takes to be more happy than what they are. Teenagers. Yeah, that's not loud then we'll get it out now. We're not missing. No, no, no, no, no. Don't curse me like that. That's just that's mean that's growing for Canadian kind of shocked and in awe that, I'm sorry.
Thank you. Thank you. That's what we're looking for here today, folks. So how
Mike Porter: many apologies will you get out of me?
Tim: In this episode? Okay. And we already got one 11 to go 11 to go. Let's see if we can do it. All right. So today's topic that we're going to be discussing today. Here is a community, right? So in the pre-show I've already read the definition of community and given the the two quotes that we're using today, one from Fred Rogers and one from Guthy or Gerta.
So SuperNet people pronounce it, correct though. Healthy. My first question, he likes, how do you pronounce his narrative?
Mike Porter: It's definitely Gurtis anyone who pronounces it go theme. You get to punch.
Tim: Really? It's true. You get the punch that in my philosophy class. Okay. So the reason why he pronounced it, go for it.
He is because some people do pronounce it that way before you go ahead and strike me down. Right. But I just, you know, for some of the folks out there, they, they want to pronounce it that way you prefer Gerta and that's. And that's okay. I
Mike Porter: appreciate you allowing me to be right. Well, I
Tim: like it when you're right, because then that means that I'm right.
And you know, couldn't you be more happier if you were more right? I don't think you could be
Mike Porter: many things would make me happier pronunciation of people's names. Probably not high on that list. Not high on the
Tim: list. Okay. What do you think about the quotes that we had from from Gerta and from Fred Rogers?
Okay. So Fred Rogers quote is and I have it right here. If you'd like to take a look at it again. Oh no, no. It is tattooed on your chest. I did see a tattooed on your chest. I don't know why you showing me his chest areas, but he is doing that right now. As we're sitting in this coffee shop for the
Mike Porter: folks at home, the, just for the
Tim: quote.
Mike Porter: Him and talking about how the people that actually are involved in the community or the people that he sees as being heroes, that there are people that walk by or somebody is in trouble. They don't feel invested in that person, right. As, as part of a community and the people that stop and help that person or the people that fed Rogers consider as a hero,
Tim: remembering the program.
You want to remember this correctly. So you enjoy that E that really spoke to you. Right? My,
Mike Porter: my rebuilt, I think that there's a lot of. Sidelines people and more now, I mean, it's weird to give an example when we moved into the neighborhood that we're currently in I went with home-baked goods to the neighbors and introduced myself and he was like, Hey, we're neighbors.
We're just moving in. And they looked at me like I was insane. Because he was a stranger coming over and knocking on the door and, and introducing themselves, you only go to people's houses if there's an emergency, not a
Tim: fear. Now let me ask you a question on this, because I've known you now for about five years.
What color was your hair when you did that? Like the color of my hair was probably
brown. It was brown. Okay. So it was a natural color, right. Okay. That's fine. Nevermind. Nevermind. Go ahead. The reason why that's, because I've had purple Mohawks and I can understand if somebody was a little. For clubs, shall we say a little bit alarmed.
If I came up with baked goods to their house and said, hi, I'm your neighbor. Right.
Mike Porter: But the point I, well, I don't know if this is a 409, but what, I'm, what I'm trying to move, maneuver myself towards. Is that the idea of what is a community it's changed in that? The face-to-face. Sort of interactions with people that, that community I think has drifted apart, but it's sort of been replaced with a digital community now, like the online people, you have the GoFund me's and the.
Hey, help me out two pages and people will give money to the people in need and that's fantastic. But if they saw them on the street, wouldn't, wouldn't stop in and help. Wouldn't, you know, they look at the person who's homeless is an inconvenience when they're walking, but that same person will give money to somebody they don't know to have their window fixed or to help them get into college or to.
So the idea of community, the what, what is the community has changed in that re in some ways it's a lot broader because we live in this digital world, but at the same time, the interpersonal in-person community is, has suffered,
Tim: I think. And I can't Verify the information that I'm going to share with you.
So I'm gonna share it with you anyways, right? Because just making this up because that's what we do know. I actually heard it someplace. I, I heard it on NPR and like they're very reliable, more reliable than my shell. I don't know. Okay. But certainly more viewers. Well, just three more viewers, three, just three more, you know, and that's, that's on statistics that I have created, right.
And I don't have any viewers. I have listeners, but that's okay. I've got, you know, they've got three more than I do. So, but they were saying with the go fund me accounts that well, over half are dedicated to people's medical bills. So they're like one of the largest insurers in the country.
Right. That doesn't surprise me at all. You know? So, you know, w we, we have a tendency to develop the community around us to better ourselves, well, to, you know, for an emerging. If we need it, but in order to enrich and enliven ourselves, we need to have the community around us. Right.
Mike Porter: When, when I had little fish comics, at one point, there was.
Vandalism incident with involving a what do you call them? Slingshots. And somebody broke the window in
Tim: the front. It wasn't me. I know. I'm not saying it was just because I'm from Chicago. The way we don't use slingshots in Chicago, by the way,
Mike Porter: that would be an amazing town. If it was a city, if it was
Tim: just all slingshots, there would be, Hey, you know what?
It'd be a lot nicer place to leave. Zack a lot nicer, fewer rocks, fewer rocks would be new. That's true. But somebody, one of our customers set up a GoFundMe for a little fish comics. Didn't didn't talk to me about it. Just set it up that, that day. And the community of people that were coming to the store donated enough to have the window repaired within 24 hours.
Mike Porter: So that was crazy. And that's like, that's a cool way that the digital world can interact with. The actual sort of meat
Tim: world, the meat world, as in like cow ham, Limburger cheese. Yep. Physical world, the physical world. Okay. I got you. As opposed to digital well understood digital meat I hear is making a breakthrough.
Mike Porter: It's not as filling
Tim: it really. Isn't looking at
Mike Porter: pictures of cows.
Tim: It's just not the same. And it's, you know, it's, it's satisfying yet. Not fulfilling. And I'll give you that, but in a satisfying to look at pictures of cows, I often look at videos of cows myself, but that's what I do,
Mike Porter: nothing to say to that,
Tim: nor am I looking for you to say anything to that?
You know, what more can you say after that? So now Gerta is a thing is the world is empty. If one things only of mountains, rivers, and cities, but to know someone who thinks and feels with us and who through though distant is close to us in spirit, this makes the earth. And inhabited garden. How does that make you feel?
Do you have a community now? You know, there's an arts program. We would talk a lot about arts here, obviously. And, and we had our I don't really want to call it a disagreement. We had