The other day, as I was leaving work, Sólamente Una Vez by Los Indios Trabajaras (read more about them on ID #9) came on my Apple Music. At first, I wasn’t sure it was what I wanted to hear. I was reluctant because the upbeat melody of the guitar didn’t quite match the cloudiness in my brain and I wanted to linger in that fog a little longer. It wasn’t my best week and I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d mismanaged my efficiency. But, the more it played, the more it grew on me so I decided to leave it on.
I was pulling out of the parking lot when the song started to skip like it was playing on an old record player. Normally, this would drive me nuts–I look forward to my car recollection moments when I can blast music as loud as I want and maybe speed a little. But the music kept skipping and for once, I didn’t really mind. It felt oddly fitting for how I’ve been feeling these past few weeks (and why I haven’t been writing). Of course, I’d like to be a song that plays through seamlessly, no skips. But sometimes there are skips–and it’s also not the end of the world. I’ve been having seamless song plays since then, and hopefully, some more seamless publishing weeks are ahead too. <3
On another note, I’ve been on a hunt for cool websites and it seems like no one wants to have fun interactive websites anymore!!! What’s up with that? The internet used to be fun, and while I do see some companies and brands leaning towards weird, experimental web design (like Shopify’s Edition Winter ‘25 website, Magliano’s website, bugsex.nyc and the Otto958 website), there’s just not enough of it. Even low-budget game sites used to bring more creativity than what’s common now. Special shout out to Icy Tower and Kanye’s old blog.
That said, it’s ignorant to claim there’s no push for the return of a fun internet, you can read about 50+ What-Happened-To-The-Internet manifestos here. As I mentioned before, I’ve been on the hunt for cool websites, so here are a couple I’ve come across for R&D purposes, mostly leaning toward personal blogs and independent web pages.
Elle’s Homepage
link: https://ellesho.me/page/
NOW THIS is an interactive website. The page itself is a personal blog with a fun, interactive room that puts the user in Elle’s (the character modeled after the writer I assume?) web home. Click around to find the about, contact, and blog pages. You can expand the pages from their pop-ups, and change the character’s wardrobe. Best of all, it’s self-proclaimed to possibly be under construction forever. There’s so much pressure to have everything so polished, but we all know it’s all about continuous construction. It also comes with a sweet note if you visit the page past bedtime hours. THANKS FOR THE REMINDER ELLE’S HOMEPAGE.<3
Don’t go json waterfalls
link: https://dontgojsonwaterfalls.com/
OK, this page is A LOT. but it deserves to be on this list.
It’s a webpage featuring a bitcrusher version of TLC’s Waterfalls on an mp4 player that plays in the background as the lyrics formatted in JSON code cascade down the page. Yeah.
A Medium Platform
link: https://a-medium-platform.org/index.html
The site, unfortunately for us, is no longer active. :( but its purpose was to serve as an archive page digitally displaying an in-person collective bookshelf with contributions from the Ontario College of Art & Design University graduating class. That was until 2020 and we entered a global pandemic that closed the exhibit therefore disbanding the need for new updates.
Yet still, with the help of highlighter pink and yellow branding across the pages, the site feels very much alive. Scrolling through the week's contributions feels like picking a book to read from my bookshelf – a cool concept with great execution.
Sadgrl.online
link: https://goblin-heart.net/sadgrl/
Another inactive site. </3 Idk how to describe it but this page feels like an internet cafe. The owner decided to archive the site, leaving a ton of resource links available so it’s definitely worth the bookmark.
Webgbcam
link: https://maple.pet/webgbcam/
This site only has one feature, a Gameboy camera filter.
The Human Clock
link: https://humanclock.com/
This website displays the current time in a series of photos captured and submitted by the site owner’s online community. The owner is doing another version of this with postcards and letters in case you want to contribute to the project. Yeah idk how i ended here lmao
Election Distractor
link: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/10/30/style/election-stress-relief.html
Originally created in 2020 during the Trump vs Biden election, The NY Times created a website to distract you from all of the noise that came with a quarantine election year with a ton of random videos–often scientific, sometimes cute animals. I still reference it from time to time – great bookmark to have.
Wired Sound for Wired People
link: https://fauux.neocities.org/
What would this list be without a neocities link? This site is the anime cyberpunk-inspired webpage of my dreams. Go visible and click away.
Sounds About Riso
link: https://www.soundsaboutriso.online/
It pains me that this site is inactive because it’s soooooooo good. It feels like something straight out of a New Jeans album photobook. The site hosted information about a risograph fair and served as an online hub when the pandemic hit for the risograph printing community in the NYC area. The site is super cute and fun. It’s made me a fan of Ritu Ghiya, the designer behind the page. She also designed the online companion for Gabriel Orozco’s Spacetime exhibit (2023), a webpage that puts you right within the exhibit through the lens of the security cameras. Amazing.
