One of the first things I did when I started using the world wide web a couple of decades ago, as was the custom back then, was search for my name. I used my last name for that: Tupan. What I found was initially very surprising, but there was also a sort of logic to it. Diving deeper into it, and thinking about it, it showed me some very interesting lines of connections.


Two brothers and a typhoon

The story, for me, starts centuries earlier. In the realm of origin stories. It's not precisely known when exactly the events took place, but at one point in time, two brothers were on the ocean in their prahu, or pirogue, a small boat consisting of two canoes connected together. It generally is powered by oars and sometimes a small sail. They suddenly found themselves in extreme weather, and a typhoon split their prahu in two, and both brother drifted apart and found themselves stranded on two very different islands. They both took on the same name, with different spelling, a variation on the, probably Chinese, word typhoon. My forefather named himself Tupan. And so, our family tree was planted on Ambon, an island in the Maluku archipelago, that now forms the eastern part of Indonesia.

Back to the mid-1990s, when I ventured out in the ocean of the then relatively new world wide web, which we navigated with the prahu of Mosaic and Netscape. You would have to navigate to a search engine back then. The likes of Altavista or Hotwired I think I used. So, I typed in my last name on one of those. Tupan. Two notable things came in the search results that initially surprised me. Made me laugh, then made me wonder until I found the connections. I still don't know how it's all connected, but the links are too obvious for it not being connected.


A thunderous drum

The first thing I found was an eastern-european drum, that was mainly in use in the Balkan-countries. The name reminiscent of the Turkish word for typhoon: tayfun. At least, I cannot but make that connection. Even the sound of the Tupan, as you can find it online, is very much like thunder and lightning strikes. An extreme weather drum.
But this was not the only think I found. The next one took me to another continent, making this a globe spanning adventure. I found my name back on the other side of the Atlantic, in Brazil and further down into the Amazon. From ceramics factory (yes, toilets) to sports clubs to a journalist: the name seemed very present in the South American country know for samba and indigenous tribes living deep in the rainforest. A group of tribes, often grouped around the tupi-guarani language, have a pantheon that includes a god of thunder and lightning. And yes, you guessed it, the name of this god is Tupan.

Through my name, I am connected to different place that together span the globe. And now that we have arrived in Barzil, here's the interesting thing. I was not able to watch the qualifying session for the Brazilian GP yesterday, because I was on a long drive. Somehow, heavy rain flushed out the session. It was such extreme weather, that the FIA had to decide to postpone qualifying to the next morning. A much more convenient time for me. Maybe that god of thunder and lightning helped his namesake a little.

Happy Global Running Day!

I want to do better
I want to go farther
I want to run faster
I want to push harder

Go higher!

Day 21 of OnPoWriMo, the prompt today is ITAP
(I Took A Photo).

I took a
picture of a palace,
it made me dream of peace; peace founded
on justice that calls this
palace home.

Pin my framed poem
to the top of your channel
and let it inspire.

Haiku for OnPoWriMo day 17, prompt word is 'frame'.

On day 7 of OnPoWriMo it's all about speed.

Finish first: you'll win
the race, but if you'll finish
last you'll have more joy.

On day 6 of OnPoWriMo we say GM.

Write a poem with or inspired by 'GM'.

Here's mine:

With a cup
of coffee I settle
in the garden - the mornings are not
cold anymore - and write
this GM

Poem for day 5 of OnPoWriMo, with a nod to ChrisCocreated and the Daily Bread project.

Some baguette
and a round semolina
bread with yeast, as Berbers make it;
zaatar spiced melting pot -
our table.

Onchain Poetry Writing Month Day 4.

The word is 'wallet'. Create a poem with or inspired by that word.

We just sent
you a login link, now
select the pics with buses in them.
Why can't I just connect
my wallet?

OnPoWriMo Day 2

We are so early
so keep your hat on, anon
it will go higher.

The GM Farcaster stream may have been offline, but we keep chatting.

The stream is offline
but the chatroom is filled with
keyboard clattering

A poem celebrating life and greener (or should we say purpler) pastures.

The birds no
longer build their nests on
these dead branches, we just return to
search fat beetles feeding
on dead wood.

A $DEGEN haiku

Daffodils bloom in
the park - $DEGEN I hodl
will follow suit soon.

A poem inspired by the Bright Moments Paris event.

The DJ puts on a blue record,
and while the cool tunes play
softly in the background, we
weave through the crowd of
crypto citizens to enjoy the art
displayed on screens on the walls.

We play a bit with the Dream Machine,
enthralled by the Dutch languaged
unicorn in a school, the horses in the
mountains and the brother with
the big nose.

We take home the cookie on which
you can write, and many stories to tell
of our Bright Moments in bright Paris.

We are so early,
this is the new norm; we know
something others don't.

This is no place for web2 games. Engage first. Make it count.

A poem inspired by the gift of hot sauce.
Joseph Maggio created this sauce from a batch of peppers he scored at a farmer's market. Then he raffled off 1 bottle. I won and love it. All this inspired the poem:

Fire captured like a

genie, from peppers coloured

like my hometown flag.

People should / collect more / latte-priced art

A dream-inspired poem.