Life's Been Good and Some Internet Stuff, Too
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March 16th, 2025
It's been a couple of weeks since I've made a blog post, so I figured I'd give a few updates on what I've been up to. I'm happy to say that life has been taking a pretty good turn recently! In one of my February posts, I briefly wrote about how I was dealing with a broken-down car and quite a bit of stress due to a lot of life circumstances piling up at once. Since then, my car has luckily been fixed, and at a much lower cost than I was initially expecting. That was a big stress-reliever, and on top of that, I've finally been able to sleep better. Springtime is always a rebirth of sorts, and I've definitely felt myself rejuvenated. I've found myself feeling much more at-ease and happy, and it's such a nice change of pace from how things have been the past couple of months.
My time spent online has also been much more positive as of late! Not too long ago, I found a really neat web portal called Ytoo!, and I set it as my homepage. It's made in the style of an early-2000s portal page, and is full of links to independent content of all types. There are sites for making blogs / online journals, music / nostalgic TV, virtual pets, and so much more. Probably my favorite features are the various alternatives to StumbleUpon, which helps to find even more indie pages that are simply buried by regular search engines, as well as external forums for users of smaller sites to talk and share their stuff. I've also been digging through web directories and webrings, finding so many interesting pages and getting lost by simply browsing things. Almost every day, I find myself being surprised at just how much of the old-style Internet is still out there and being used by small communities of people. It makes me so happy to know that I'm not alone in wanting to return to the independent and creative side of the Internet that made it so fun in the first place.
This switch to the small web has improved my mental health so much. I used to spend so much time just doomscrolling Facebook or Reddit feeds, and now that fun spark of exploring random sites has returned for me. I've recently applied to join a couple of webrings to try to reach out and form a little bit of community. A long-term pipe-dream of mine is to somehow raise awareness that this indie stuff is still out there; to get people to simply stop using the big sites and explore what everyday people can make on their own. It's a big request to ask people to abandon modern conveniences, and I know there will never be widespread adoption, but a little awareness never hurt anyone. I feel like this smaller, simpler space could bring some positivity to a lot of people. Who knows what the future holds there?
As for this site, I have a few things going on at the moment. I've come to terms with the fact that my goal of writing a page per day is simply not doable with the responsibilities of everyday life. So instead, I've been trying to write when I have time to, instead of forcing myself to just to try to make a goal. Recently, I've been adding about three to four pages a week. Even though that means my collection pages will take years to be completed, I've realized that the speed at which it gets done doesn't matter all that much. I'm here for the long haul and simply to have fun, so who cares how long it takes? I'd rather take a slower, healthier approach instead of just barreling ahead and burning myself out.
In addition, I'm nearly complete with my Fulci marathon! I've watched fourteen films so far, with only seven more to go. After this marathon is complete, I think it will be the last one I do for a while. I like binging things, but variety is a great thing too. Once I finish that up, I plan to fill out my Bookshelf pages some more. I'm currently revisiting my collection of H. P. Lovecraft material at work, so those will likely be the next pages that go up there. After that, I'll probably bounce around and write about some books that I've read multiple times, such as Clive Barker or Stephen King works. There's a lot to cover there, so I'll just pick whatever my mind feels like at the moment.
I think that about covers everything for right now. 2025 has been a wild year so far, with so many ups and downs and changes that life brings. Here's hoping that by focusing on these things that bring some happiness, things will keep looking up from here. As always, thanks for reading these rambling thoughts, and take it easy!