LouisvilleKY.Online strives to be many things. In one regard it’ll be a blog for locals. It will serve as a hub for many cultural and civic events. Bands will be featured, and everyday citizens will be heard. It’s my hope to do interviews and gain an understanding of the various perspectives throughout the community. The media doesn’t really do that unless it relates to a particular news story, but to just talk to everyday people for no other reason than to know what they think about a whole host of topics related to Louisville, that’s something that is unique. Sometimes, a picture can tell a story better than any explanation. Other times, a video can show life as it is. We each have our own way of articulating things, that’s why an unaltered video can be so powerful.
One of the sister sites to LouisvilleKY.Online is SightsSoundsFlavors.com. With that page I document things I see, hear, and experience with as little outside influence as possible. If a loud pick-up truck is heard during a portion of the video or some folks drop f-bombs that might otherwise ruin a perfect video, but that all stays. I do my best not to edit because editing creates a false sense of reality. I want to capture life as I witness it and share it. Once you start editing and improving things, it’s no longer real. And real life is worth documenting. This is also a great moment to introduce myself to you.
My name is Christian I. Duque and I live and work in Louisville. I was born in Newark, NJ, raised in South Florida (North Miami Beach to be specific), attended the University of Florida and moved to Michigan to attend law school. After a few tries at the Michigan Bar I had had enough. I took my federal scores and waived into the Kentucky Bar. I took the state portion of the bar exam in Frankfort and passed on my first try. That was in February 2015 and moved that summer with my then-girlfriend. I couldn’t have done it without her.
I fell in love with Louisville and one of the fondest memories I have was being in a doctor’s office and seeing a map of Kentucky. I said to myself that I would make it a point to visit every part of the state. That’s where the dream for ExploringKentucky.com came from. it didn’t take off right away. It started with that idea and then after a couple of years of brainstorming, I moved forward with it. With that ExploringKentucky.com it’s my goal to visit all 120 counties of the Commonwealth. I’m about a third of the way there, but it’s not a race, and I return to many counties two and three times over to cover different towns and other points of interest.
The idea for LouisvilleKY.Online has been in the works for a couple of years. I’ve owned the domain name for at least sixteen months and had this website built as of January or February. Am I a procrastinator? Or am I just too busy for my own good? Who really knows. I just do what I do when I do it. Everything starts with an idea.
Yesterday (6/15/2024), I must admit was very a difficult day. And now we’re delving a little more into me than is probably ideal for a website about a city, but when you’re the boss – you make the rules. All kidding aside, it was a very tough day. We lost my father, Antonio G. Duque, who passed away at 100 years of age. He took a fall at home in January and had been in a nursing/rehab facility since then. We celebrated his 100th birthday on April 6th with my mom, sister, first cousin and a really, nice nurse. We had cake, decorations, and lots of love. He was himself that day and enjoyed it. It’s one of the last great memories I have of him. He was so proud of me and so proud of all the work I did. I would talk to him about my websites, the book I am writing on my recent trip to El Salvador, and working as a lawyer. He would always introduce me as “my son the lawyer.” He did that just a few weeks ago. Who knows, maybe me finally posting my first article here and finally getting this project up and running is a good way to honor him.
I tend to envision projects, sometimes half-start them, and then just leave them there. I feel very strongly about this website and its accompanying social media pages. Louisville is my home and there’s so many great things about it. It’s a big city with a small-town feel. LouisvilleKY.Online is my way of sharing with you. I want you to come to love this great place as much as I do.
I’m very excited to share all things Louisville with you through LouisvilleKY.Online, SightsSoundsFlavors.com, and ExploringKentucky.com !! I also have the Spanish page TodoQueVeo.com (Everything I See). One thing that’s important to note is that Louisville is the city – and – Jefferson County is the county. Seems easy enough, right?
Well, you’d be surprised because Louisville Metro encompasses distinct cities with their own history and their own cultural fabric. To call cities likes Jeffersontown (“J Town”), St. Matthews, Shively and Middletown merely neighborhoods of Louisville is both historically and contemporarily inaccurate. Butchertown, NuLu, and The Highlands are suburbs of Louisville, but the others are separate cities with their own city government, their own police force, and their own roots. That’s why those cities will more than likely be covered on ExploringKentucky and/or maybe with SightsSoundsFlavors. After all, I was a history major in college and historical accuracy is a bedrock principle with every website I’m a part of.
There’s just so much to talk about when it comes to Kentucky’s largest city. There are so many rumors and assumptions to debunk. I’ll be honest, before I came here, I had preconceived notions, but if you’re looking for a truly metropolitan city, this is the place. And we’ll most definitely celebrate diversity on this page. For example, my father was Cuban, and we have a community of 50,000+ Cubans here in Louisville and throughout the Commonwealth. There’s a few excellent Cuban restaurants, bakeries, and clubs to get a drink or hit the dance floor. We also have other strong Latin American communities, from Mexico, Guatemala, Venezuela and elsewhere. We strong communities from Ethiopia, India, and many other nations of the world. If you’re a foodie, you’ll be in heaven in Louisville. And we haven’t talked about bourbon, beers, and sweet treats!
I hope you’ll enjoy LouisvilleKY.Online !! Please be sure to check out this great city – whether you’re visiting, lived here once upon a time, or you live here currently! I’ll do my best to share some highlights and in time I hope to share some of your own. Please be sure to also visit all of the LouisvilleKY.Online social media feeds, including our YouTube Channel and our Facebook Group.
