Hello! Welcome to my blog. Why have a blog? Well, I grew up on the Internet. In later posts, I'll share a bit more about my upbringing. Suffice it to say, I was a lonely child. The internet was becoming accessible around the time I was 10, and I used to hang out at the public library with my mom, visiting sites like NeoPets, and Up to 10 on the library's slow, beige Windows Vista computers.

A little older, in my teens, I got my first laptop. I was an avid Redditor (and 4channer - yikes) , and I started learning how to torrent media, find cracked games on dodgy websites. Having my own computer was incredible - a little slice of digital real estate to call home. It felt tangible. It gave me a community, a voice in an invisible world. The web was fascinating, a galaxy of different, colorful worlds. Sites like StumbleUpon served up endless feeds of unique sites that meant something to someone, meant enough to make a digital shrine to a hobby, a concept, a pet.

I'm older now, in my mid-twenties, I have my own place, my own PC that I built, my own Linux server. I've seen the web change a lot, seen younger generations become consumers, not users. The web feels impersonal now. Websites aren't built from the ground up, and everyone is trying to sell something. Interesting content has been herded into social media apps, all packaged the same, and always trying to get more from you - more time, more attention, more, more, more. I resonate with Ed Zitron in his blog post Never Forgive Them: the "new ways" to use things feel abrasive, unhealthy, designed to push a metric, rather than connect with a user. I am saddened for kids my age exploring the internet. Games are structured to sell passes and microtransactions, and content creators package lifetimes of knowledge and authenticity behind paid courses and $30 workbooks.

But perhaps that is the nature of the world. Things grow, things change, evolve, and cycles repeat, just a little different this time. And that's okay. Some of my other friends have their own blogs, and hopefully this a change toward individuality again. So here's my little shrine. My own little patch of dirt. I host this blog to hold up what I find important. A diary between me and you. I'll do my best to keep this authentically me. I'll avoid monetizing as long as I can afford it. And I'll share myself, and my experiences and memories, here with you.

Thank you for being here. I mean that in every way.