more wip

src/pages/2024/index.mdx

@@ -6,6 +6,11 @@ import hotelView from './centralpark.JPG'
 import reactFaces from './reactfaces.png'
 import bobbleHeads from './bobbleheads.jpg'
 import lucaAldo from './lucaandaldo.JPG'
+import selfie from './selfie.jpg'
+import alessia from './alessia.jpg'
+import quiches from './quiches.jpg'
+import breatherads from './breatherads.JPG'
+import montreal from './montreal.JPG'
 
 export const meta = {
   author: 'Alessia Bellisario',
@@ -28,78 +33,100 @@ Let's start at the beginning.
 
 I came to the U.S. from Canada on a three year [dual intent](https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/what-are-dual-intent-visas.html) work visa, an L1-B, in early 2017. I was working at a Canadian startup with a New York office and quite literally hit the ground running: I remember dashing out to pick up my new social security card emblazoned with the words `VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH DHS AUTHORIZATION` followed by a new SIM card in Chinatown on one of my first mornings.
 
-In my first few weeks in the city I went to a University of Toronto alumni event at a hotel by Central Park. I don't know what I was expecting: it was a ballroom full of Canadians drinking cocktails, discussing which visas they were on.
+In my first few weeks I attended a University of Toronto alumni event at a hotel by Central Park. I don't know what I was expecting: it was a ballroom full of Canadians drinking cocktails, discussing which visas they were on.
 
 <figure>
   <Image src={hotelView} alt="" />
-  <figcaption>H1-B, L1 or TN?</figcaption>
+  <figcaption>H1-B, L1 or TN???</figcaption>
 </figure>
 
 I lived in Williamsburg in a fourth floor walk-up with a roommate I found on Craigslist (shout out to Milo 💖) and worked in SoHo. It feels silly in retrospect, but I was ***actually surprised*** at how much I loved living in New York, pretty much immediately.
 
 <figure>
   <Image src={messenger} alt="" />
-  <figcaption>Me winning the roommate lottery, June 2017</figcaption>
+  <figcaption>Winning the roommate lottery, June 2017</figcaption>
 </figure>
 
 When I had raised my hand for this opportunity, I wasn't thinking long-term: it seemed like a new and interesting challenge, one that would be **fun**. But once I arrived, I realized the three year clock on my visa was already ticking. I had to start lobbying my employer to sponsor my green card application if I had any interest in buying myself more time. I also met Carla soon after arriving and didn't want this new and clearly very special relationship cut short.
 
+<figure>
+  <Image src={quiches} alt="" />
+  <figcaption>Soon after that text exchange with Milo I won Carla's heart with these homemade quiches</figcaption>
+</figure>
+
 Thus began one of the most challenging periods of my life as I embarked on the journey from [nonresident alien](https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/nonresident-aliens) to lawful permanent resident, and finally citizen in February of this year.
 
-There's a lot more to say here and maybe I'll write about it in greater detail one day. But seeing the life and career I was building dangling by a thread as I navigated a dated, contrived process, without job portability, while working at a faltering startup, all __during a virulently anti-immigrant administration__—_not to mention the early pandemic_, which resulted in longer delays—was so stressful it's hard to describe. For almost four years, I obsessively read immigration forums and shared application timelines with fellow travelers through the broken system that is the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I felt totally powerless and dealt with depression and anxiety.
+There's a lot more to say here and maybe I'll write about it in greater detail one day. But seeing the life and career I was building dangling by a thread as I navigated a mind-bogglingly slow and artificial process, without job portability, while working at a faltering startup, all __during a virulently anti-immigrant administration__—_not to mention the early pandemic_—was so stressful it's hard to describe.
 
-{/* <figure>
-  <Image src={hotelView} alt="" />
-  <figcaption>H1-B, L1 or TN?</figcaption>
-</figure> */}
+<figure>
+  <Image src={breatherads} alt="" />
+  <figcaption>2010s-era ZIRP: the B2B commercial real estate startup you work for does a subway line + station ad takeover. NQRW trains + Union Square 🤑</figcaption>
+</figure>
+
+For almost four years, I obsessively read immigration forums and shared application timelines with fellow travelers through the broken system that is the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I felt totally powerless and dealt with depression and anxiety for the first time.
 
 The people I could relate to most during this period were my grandparents. Speaking with them gave me comfort: they had immigrated to Canada from Italy in the 1950s with other close relatives ending up in the U.S., and they knew about the travel restrictions and missed life events that were part and parcel of this experience.
 
-I'm relieved I—a Canadian with a degree, though not one relevant to the field I wound up in—can finally put down my bags, but so many people are stuck with _far_ longer waits or without any path to legal status whatsoever. The scale of human suffering caused by a system we can and must fix is mind numbing; it urgently needs to change.
+<figure>
+  <Image src={alessia} alt="" />
+  <figcaption>2017 me: so tired and rarely smiling</figcaption>
+</figure>
+
+I'm relieved I—a Canadian with a degree, though crucially not one relevant to the field I wound up in—can finally put down my bags, but so many people are stuck with _far_ longer waits or without any path to legal status. The scale of human suffering caused by this system is mind numbing. It urgently needs to change.
 
 The last thing I'll add, in case it helps someone in the future, is how critical it is to consult a lawyer. But this is important: NOT the one your employer hires to work on your application. ___That is the company's lawyer.___ The best advice I received was from attorney [Jonathan Langer](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanlanger); if you're ever in need of a U.S. immigration consult, I can't recommend him highly enough.
 
 Anyways, I'm American now. 🇺🇸 This is the place I call home, where I've started a family and plan to stay for the rest of my life—it still feels surreal to write those words.
 
 ## Lawyered up
 
-In May, my younger siblings Martina and Luca graduated from University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall law schools respectively. So naturally I made them into bobbleheads.
+Speaking of lawyers: in May my younger siblings Martina and Luca graduated from University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall law schools respectively. So naturally I made them into bobbleheads.
 
 <figure>
   <Image src={bobbleHeads} alt="" />
-  <figcaption>The resemblance is uncanny</figcaption>
+  <figcaption>[The Etsy seller](https://www.etsy.com/shop/SissyFayeGoods) that produced this fine work</figcaption>
 </figure>
 
-Carla, O and I got to visit Toronto to celebrate with everyone—it was a joyous time. I assumed I'd be going to their grad ceremonies, but my brother informed me that tickets were in limited supply, the ones he had were set aside for our grandparents and his personal ethics prevented him from participating in the shadow market that had emerged.
+Carla, O and I got to visit Toronto to celebrate with everyone—it was such a joyous time.
+
+I assumed I'd be going to their grad ceremonies, but my brother informed me that tickets were in limited supply, the ones he had were set aside for our parents and grandparents and his personal ethics prevented him from participating in the underground economy that had emerged.
 
-I thought he was joking. He was not. So I accepted my fate and hung around in my pajamas watching everyone get ready... but those who know the Bellisarios know that math is ___not___ our strong suit. That day it was my saving grace: Luca had miscounted! I had a ticket after all! And about 10 minutes to get ready.
+I thought he was joking. He was not. So I accepted my fate and hung around in pajamas watching everyone get ready...
+
+Well, those who know the Bellisarios know that math is ___not___ our strong suit and that day it was my saving grace: Luca had counted wrong! I had a ticket after all!! And about 10 minutes to get ready.
 
 I remembered my camera and got to snap some photos like this one of our 96 year old grandfather, Aldo, beaming with pride:
 
 <figure>
   <Image src={lucaAldo} alt="" />
-  <figcaption>It's the same blue tie, see bobblehead</figcaption>
+  <figcaption>It's the same blue tie, [see bobblehead](#lawyered-up)</figcaption>
+</figure>
+
+## From Montreal to Berlin
+
+In June, we went to Montreal to celebrate Carla's birthday. It was our first (non-simultaneous) apartment swap with a stranger (!): we stayed at M's apartment in Little Italy and had a ball. We went to Jean Talon market, the swimming pool and playgrounds in Jarry Park, Iconoglace (run don't walk, ice cream fans), did a 40km bike ride around the south-west part of the island with a rented trailer for O and ended Carla's birthday at JazzFest for the second year in a row. We remain enamored with Montreal and want to do a winter family visit next.
+
+<figure>
+  <Image src={montreal} alt="" />
+  {/* <figcaption>It's the same blue tie, [see bobblehead](#lawyered-up)</figcaption> */}
 </figure>
 
 ## Thanks for the good times, Apollo
 
-This past Friday was my last day at [Apollo](https://apollographql.com). I want to thank my colleagues who made the last 2.5 years as memorable as they were: [Jeff](https://bsky.app/profile/jeff.auriemma.xyz), [Hugh](https://github.com/hwillson), [Jerel](https://x.com/jerelmiller), [Lenz](https://bsky.app/profile/phry.dev) and [Ben](https://github.com/benjamn) especially, and my wider Clients Team family including [Martin](https://bsky.app/profile/mbonnin.net), [Benoit](https://mastodon.social/@[email protected]), [Calvin](https://x.com/c35tar1), [Anthony](https://x.com/AnthonyMDev) and [Zach](https://github.com/BobaFetters).
+This past Friday was my last day at [Apollo](https://apollographql.com). I want to thank my colleagues who made the last 2.5 years as special as they were: [Jeff](https://bsky.app/profile/jeff.auriemma.xyz), [Hugh](https://github.com/hwillson), [Jerel](https://x.com/jerelmiller), [Lenz](https://bsky.app/profile/phry.dev) and [Ben](https://github.com/benjamn) especially, and my wider Clients Team family including [Martin](https://bsky.app/profile/mbonnin.net), [Benoit](https://mastodon.social/@[email protected]), [Calvin](https://x.com/c35tar1), [Anthony](https://x.com/AnthonyMDev) and [Zach](https://github.com/BobaFetters).
 
-It was nothing short of a dream job: I got to do open source work full-time with some of the brightest, most thoughtful engineers and managers in the world and travel around speaking about what we were building. I gave eight talks in two years (ok, with some recycled material 😅) at some of the biggest React and GraphQL conferences around the globe. My face was even in the (in)famous React Conf 2024 grid:
+It was nothing short of a dream job: I got to do open source work full-time with some of the brightest, most thoughtful engineers and managers in the business and travel around speaking about what we were building. I gave [eight talks](/speaking) in two years (ok, with some recycled material 😅) at some of the biggest React and GraphQL conferences around the globe. My face was in the (in)famous React Conf 2024 grid:
 
 <figure>
   <Image src={reactFaces} alt="" />
-  {/* <figcaption>It's the same blue tie - check the bobblehead</figcaption> */}
 </figure>
 
-It has been such a distinct pleasure working with everyone at Apollo, and I've learned so many things from this experience I'll carry forward in my career. The future is incredibly bright for Apollo and the GraphQL community writ large.
+It has been such a distinct pleasure working with everyone at Apollo and the wider open source communities I've gotten to spend time with, and I've learned so many things from this experience I'll carry forward in my career. The future is incredibly bright for Apollo and the GraphQL community writ large.
 
 ## Tudum
 
-One last bit of news: today is my first day as a Senior Software Engineer at Netflix! I'll be working on the XD Design Engineering team building the Design Platform API with some incredible colleagues, and I couldn't be more excited about it.
+One last bit of news: today is my first day as a Senior Software Engineer at [Netflix](https://netflix.com)! I'll be working on the XD Design Engineering team building the Design Platform API with some incredible colleagues, and I couldn't be more excited about it.
 
 
-- April: Cape Cod visit
-- June: Toronto (sibling hang!) and Montreal for Carla's 40th bday
-- July: Hudson Valley and Buffalo
+- April or November: Cape Cod visit
 - August: Orlando turns 3; Germany!!!

src/pages/about.jsx

@@ -100,6 +100,31 @@ export default function About() {
                   Netflix
                 </a>{' '}
                 as a Senior Software Engineer on the XD Design Engineering team.
+                Previously, I worked at{' '}
+                <a
+                  href="https://apollographql.com"
+                  target="_blank"
+                  rel="noopener noreferrer"
+                >
+                  Apollo
+                </a>{' '}
+                building{' '}
+                <a
+                  href="https://github.com/apollographql/apollo-client"
+                  target="_blank"
+                  rel="noopener noreferrer"
+                >
+                  Apollo Client
+                </a>{' '}
+                and before that I was a web platform lead at{' '}
+                <a
+                  href="https://venmo.com"
+                  target="_blank"
+                  rel="noopener noreferrer"
+                >
+                  Venmo
+                </a>
+                .
               </p>
               <p>
                 In April 2019 I attended the{' '}
@@ -127,7 +152,7 @@ export default function About() {
           <div className="lg:pl-20">
             <ul role="list">
               <SocialLink
-                href="https://twitter.com/alessbell"
+                href="https://bsky.app/profile/aless.co"
                 icon={BlueskyIcon}
               >
                 posts