Entry 1

Hello world! This is my 1st blog post, not really like ever? But definitely my 1st on a handmade-html built site lmao

It has been... an interesting 2 weeks coding and learning all this stuff in order to make this site kinda semi-functional. I know it's not perfect and it's ever-evolving but hopefully no one minds too much when they're scrolling through and mindlessly clicking on stuff. Plus, that's basically the charm, right? I go thru old geocities archives and other old web treasure troves and I can't help but think like "huh, no one raised on corporate-grown algorithms would ever imagine the wide and deep ocean that is the internet outside of like the 4 social media sites that rule over everything". The handmade charm of the old web truly will never die. imo, I don't think anything handmade nowadays will ever lose its charm and inherent beauty. Our monkey brains really look at lil dolls, paintings, whatever, and think "wow, another person really made that!" We can't deny the beauty of that, how our souls connect to that.

I'm sure many ppl here are on Neocities bc they're tired of the capitalist-owned and run internet where everything is behind paywalls and subscriptions. I mean hell yea I am too! And I'm glad this lil corner of the net is still alive and it seems like it's thriving. I see so many younger ppl starting up their own sites and ppl on tumblr collecting old web sites and archives. I'm so happy to see it! With the current climate of "wow the govt sucks shit" that I see happening globally, I hope that the net can also be rescued... in the future... idk maybe when capitalism is finally overturned. It gives me some kinda hope for the future, and that no matter what, we won't let corps destroy the lil bit of freedom of expression that we truly have.

The thing that comes immediately to mind for me is the recent news that HBO Max is pulling shows from its services indefinitely, to quote "save money" unquote. Then someone like maybe idk on Twitter or smthn pulled up their stocks and income and we all got to see it plummet ever since the news came out. And why wouldn't it? That site hosted so many cool cartoons whose teams poured their hearts and souls into making. Like... the inhumane cruelty of corps for the sake of penny pinching will never be lost to me. I am so damn happy that many more ppl are finally waking up to the pointless cruelty of it all. I hope those animation teams are able to start their own sites someday and archive their work. My heart almost shattered into pieces when I saw a cartoonist tweet (paraphrasing ofc) "It's gone. It's all gone. This wasn't supposed to happen, I was making these episodes for my kids to watch when they grow up. Now they won't have anything".

How soul-crushing. My god. I really thought about it so many times after seeing that. How those animators and storyboard artists and writers and directors really worked so damn hard for so little pay, signed into contracts to have their work hosted on streaming sites thinking they were finally gonna have their big break and... well, on a shareholder's whim, it was all pulled overnight. And 10 bucks says their contracts forbid them from ever even letting ppl sneak a peek into the vault. Disney is so very much notorious for this, but seeing other streaming sites and companies do this shit is frustrating as hell.

Now ppl are looking to pirating everything as a solution. Maybe it is? Pirating atp will probs save all media as we know it from the evil clutches of a greedy economy. I hope more ppl will turn away from soc media and streaming sites as a convenient solution to their lives, I know that the future of humanity seriously depends on it bc if we don't, and then just hand every aspect of our lives to corps, we are doomed.

Can y'all tell I hate Amazon, Tinder, Twitter etc? I don't hate the internet, our lives are on these things called our phones and computers, I know that lmao

But I keep saying time and again that the commodification of our human lives, where we attach dollar bill values to our actions, our interests, our bodies, our voices etc is what's going to be our downfall, seriously! It ain't easy but I don't subscribe to many streaming services or use UberEats or whatever knowing this (I actually think I only have a spotify subscription atm, and that's about it). But I'm acutely aware that corps prey on ppl's pursuit of "convenience", and also... disabled ppl unfortunately. Ppl who can't go to the grocery stores, ppl who have a hard time going out to find dates, ppl who aren't tech-literate and can't successfully pirate things, ppl who haven't been taught any skills so they hand money to other ppl who can. (And btw that is an entire thing in and of itself omfg I can go on for days about *grits teeth* Reagan and how the US govt basically castrated the entire populace for the sake of capital BUT ANYWAYS)

Wow, look at me rambling. Idk, these are topics that have been weighing heavy on my mind lately, kinda glad other ppl out there seem to share my same views and sentiments bc the whole world is just... wrapped up in so much BS lately I just... oof. Hard to keep this to myself. I'm glad Neocities exists, and that the old web actually still seems to be alive... so there may still be hope!

Like the author Ursula K. le Guin said once (which is my fave quote of all time) “We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art, the art of words.”

Maybe in the future I'll share more thoughts on my POV as a poor hispanic lesbian... maybe. Look at me! I really thought I wouldn't have anything to say on these blogs but tbh I am really just getting started! I salute you if you read all this, it's kinda depressing. Anyways I'm gonna go take a nap, l8r

Edit: Here's the pics of the aforementioned tweet I talked about a lil bit, plus what most other ppl's sentiments were towards this dumb decision.