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Unlike any other
place in cyberspace...
"My favorite aspect of websites is their duality: they're both subject and object at once. In other words, a website creator becomes both author and architect simultaneously. There are endless possibilities as to what a website could be. What kind of room is a website? Or is a website more like a house? A boat? A cloud? A garden? A puddle? Whatever it is, there's potential for a self-reflexive feedback loop: when you put energy into a website, in turn the website helps form your own identity." -Laurel Schwulst
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Updates
03.15.23
I haven't posted about my updates in so long now, I can hardly remember everything that has changed! I have done quite a bit of work in the last month and a half!I have been working to fine-tune existing elements, such as the overall look and feel, color schemes, organizational structures, etc. This part takes so long because there really is no right or wrong way to do things, it is all subjective, and I spend a lot of time going over details to make sure little things are perfect.
I'm also teaching myself new things as I go, and can sometimes run into periods (lasting days or weeks at times) where I am stuck trying to figure something out, or learning new ways to make stuff different and better.
Over the past week or so, I have been learning all about APIs (for the first time ever), and am starting to experiment with those. There is an API called Trefle, which I hope to use to bring more functionality to the Garden. It will allow me to index over 60,000 plant specimens, so users on my website can browse and explore plants according to set parameters.
Similar concepts will be applied to all other areas of the site, where I hope to plug in space and zodiac stuff in the Observatory, recipes in the Kitchen, and so on! I realize that I'm speaking to a (mostly) empty room here, at least for now, but I hope that this site will eventually become a great resource for people to learn about all kinds of neat stuff!
One API is working already, on the homepage, where quotes are displayed every time the page is reloaded. I think it's super cool, but definitely a humble beginning!
I also overhauled the blog and made it fit the aesthetic of the website much more than it did before. I deleted some posts, because I really want to make sure that everything is up to quality standards. I want this project to be some of my best work, and that means that I will take things down if they don't meet my expectations.
How cool is the bottom banner?! That was a project that has been on my list for a long time, and I was finally able to make that vision become a reality. I wanted there to be internal ads across the website so users can see all the different things that are in the works!
At some point, I'm going to get around to the choose-your-own adventure games. I want to get back to making puzzles and challenges, too. I feel like that will start happening before too long, but first I need to perfect some things.
Like I've said many times, I want to make sure the website is on absolute solid ground before I just start expanding rapidly and wildly. It's really hard to go back and do something over again if you decide that something needs to be different, so I'm focusing on doing things right before I allow myself to just go crazy creating everything that I want to make! I don't want to make a mess of it all!
If you're reading this, please stick around and come back for updates! If you'd like, shoot me a message and maybe we can work together to do some cool stuff! <3
02.01.23
I accidentally deleted all of my images yesterday and have spent multiple hours recovering. Yikes!Thankfully, it's all sorted now!
A few days ago I finished an area in the 90's and Y2K vault that details 90's and Y2K TV shows. So far there are only 20 television series on the list, but there's a lot of detail which takes time to produce. I'm really proud of how it turned out, though!
I will continue to add additional shows as I am able. I also plan on producing more content for this vault, including 90's and Y2K music, movies, notable figures, a timeline of the decade, and my own commentary on the era.
As things become well-rounded, I will add other vaults covering more decades. I would like to do 80's, 70's, 60's, etc., until basically all of the last century is covered. This will absolutely take time and will in no way happen overnight. It may take years!
I added a Wiki! Here is where I will put articles and content that just doesn't otherwise fit onto the website, things that I don't have certain areas designated to but still want to include/write about in some form or another.
Users are permitted and encouraged to create an account on the wiki, and may contribute content as they wish. Please see the wiki homepage for more details in regards to that.
01.07.23
I've been doing so much work around here, but I haven't really been posting updates!I spent a TON of time working on my theme, adding boxes on the sides for additional content, and making everything responsive. It still may not be perfect on all devices. I've tested it with most browsers on all of my different devices, and it seems to be in good working order, but some issues may still come up. If this is the case for you, I would love your feedback!
I've been playing around with different e-commerce options and purchased a new domain where I plan on opening an online store. Any Aesthetic will be a virtual lifestyle store that offers clothing, unique products, home goods, novelties, adult toys, spiritual tools, nosalgic items, retro gaming equipment, books, and more. There will also be functionality allowing users to browse by personal aesthetic, no-matter what their style may be.
I've been experimenting and creating vaults for all of the various topics I hope to discuss: so far there's one for the 90's and Y2K and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. These are definitely not finished, there's still so much to do!
I've also been piddling around in the garden and added a page for entheogenic plants. An entheogen is a psychoactive substance that is used in a religious, spiritual, or shamanic context to induce altered states of consciousness. If that sounds like something you'd be interested in learning about, check that out!
Everything around here is going to be a big work-in-progress for a while. I feel like I've managed to establish a lot of the basic "infrastructure" required for me to build and scale. Now it's a matter of actually creating the content and doing the damn thing. I'm definitely going to focus more on marketing and advertising at some point, but I really want to take it slow and make sure that the website is on solid ground before I try doing promo.
Overall, I'm having a lot of fun and I feel like I am learning SO MUCH. That's one of the main reasons I do this. Learning new skills is so exciting!
