8/26/23- HAPPY NEOCITIES ANNIVERSARY! 
It's my site's 1 year anniversary!!! Yaaaaayy!!!
I MEAN it was on the 22nd but look, I'm running on borrowed time more often than not nowadays since I'm always busy ;^^ I really wish I had more time to dedicate to this site since I do love it so much, but adult life keeps knocking me on my ass :( But whatever, we cherish the short amount of time we do get to have, right?
Anyways, wow. 1 whole year after making my website and playing with html :)! Time flies, huh? A lot has changed in my life when looking back on things, even tho in the moment nothing seems like... exciting per se. But looking back I sure did accomplish a ton in just one year! I'm proud of myself :D
I made friends, bought cute outfits, got a 2nd job and paid down over $3k on my car (despite all the financial hardships OOF), survived lots of annoying situations, and now I'm getting a new phone!
I'm so excited to finally be upgrading my phone and moving on from Apple. Editing and creating this site the way I want to has really opened my eyes to how shitty the rest of the internet experience is in terms of customization for sure. I knew Apple didn't make the most... customizable phone in the universe but now as my old ass phone is dying slowly (not to mention she's reached the end of IOS support, no more updates for her!) I'm rethinking how much I want to upgrade to another newer Apple iPhone and I'm like........ idk about that. Esp when Androids have always been the innovators, esp Samsung lately! They have been hitting out of the park back-to-back with the Galaxy flip phones and the S23 Ultra!
To say I was impressed with the Galaxy Z Flip series is an understatement. I remember watching a commercial once for the Flip 4 (I think) and thinking to myself "wow, such a cool concept. A smart phone you can fold. Wow. Too bad I'm too broke to buy it" and now look at me :) Buying the very same phone I was lowkey obsessed about since the concept was introduced to me. I already placed my order, got the accessories and phone cases I want, I'm just sitting here patiently waiting for her to arrive in the mail! :)
And for anyone who wants to call me a hypocrite for buying a new phone when the world's climate is having a meltdown, I'm aware ok >:( I buy phones refurbished, not new... so ya >:/
SPEAKING of internet and the Way The World Is... how about the state of the internet eh everyone? ahahaha...
The world is so obviously getting so shitty that everyone I'm speaking to most often nowadays laments about the way things were. Products are made so shoddily, most movies and shows suck, clothes fall apart easily, food doesn't taste as good as it used to and we're still being charged out the ass for all of it. Social media is slowly being flushed down the toilet thanks to billionaires having meltdowns and late stage capitalism in general.
Also the strikes! Working conditions are so damn awful everyone is striking, which is a fantastic thing but when you get into the nitty-gritty details of the deals trying to be made and how awful these companies and studios treat their workers it just makes one all that more depressed :(
I stand behind SAG-AFTRA and the WGA! Of course I do. I always support the working class, esp since I'm so broke nothing any laborer can do to get access to better working conditions negatively affects me. I'm already boycotting studios by default anyways. Uh yeah LOL
I hope those actors and all media staff get what they ask for (which btw isn't much) it's just sickening to hear the process of how actors get paid next to nothing for starring in influential shows and movies. They MAKE pop culture and yet they have to juggle either 2 or 3 jobs in general just to afford groceries. I heard Orange Is The New Black actors couldn't even afford cabs to set without having 2 jobs. Absolutely sickening, since OITNB was like the biggest money-maker Netflix ever had in its history. Residuals getting paid out are also total jokes. SNL writers and actors getting paid like 30 cents total a month for culture-defining skits and episodes that are being watched even til this day? What the actual fuck
I'm glad I'm seeing more and more people waking up to the awful reality we live in thanks to these strikes. If even the actors and glam superstars we keep seeing every year on our TVs and in movie theatres are struggling THAT HARD, something foul is absolutely afoot. I knew this whole time ofc, since it was very weird to see CEOs of studios rake in millions if not billions a year on box office hits and yet well-known actors would be working their asses off, doing photoshoots and starring in projects way more frequently than before.
But on top of the pandemic (and the awful way the US botched it all) all of this is just making tons of ppl open their eyes, even more than before. As I 've said before, I'm so happy about this! Even older more privileged people at my nursing home job are confiding in me that shit's so obviously fucked even THEY'RE shocked at how bad things are getting in general. Even if they're not fully aware of what exactly the cause is (I'm still shocked at how many of them are still anti-union) the fact that they're even realizing and making small changes in their lives is still heart-warming.
I see more ppl denouncing social media and overconsumption, more ppl picking up crafts and trying to learn new skills, piracy becoming more normalized, archivists in droves trying to save the dumpsterfire that is the internet from being fully burned down by money-hoarding dragon companies. More small trucks being driven instead of gas-guzzling Ford 350s, more calls for better public transportation and walkable cities. It's all just so nice to see for once, small baby steps being taken towards a better future.
I mean, damn it's only a matter of time right? Ppl keep telling me that nothing will be done until the majority of Americans are inconvenienced. Then that's when ppl will take action, but I know they're not seeing what I'm seeing. Rn with the absurd amount of money and support that cops and the military are getting every year, obviously a revolution won't happen any time soon and it won't be easy once we start. But small steps and changes being made overall gives me a warm hope in my heart (◕‿◕)
So yeah, I've been reading, spreading support online for changes against rich ppl and better lives for the working class. Y'know, the usual lol
Shit's fucked but somehow I'm still hopeful and grateful that we live in a world where good things can still be done despite it all. For every propaganda piece rich companies make, there's always a community out there that will be front and center and calling them out for it. Online, there's archivists making sure those companies can't erase every single thing on the internet simply bc they can't make money off of it. There are videogame emulators, hacktivists, kind and patient ppl uploading video tutorials and sharing their knowledge with everyone. There are freegans and communities of no-buy neighborhoods willing to share their furniture and clothing free of charge. There are employees at restaurants and grocery stores who sneak off with bags of free and perfectly good food that were going to be wasted by their bosses.
As painfully individualistic as the USA can be, it reminds me that there's still a glimmer of hope, to see so many ppl still in touch with human kindness no matter how hard capitalism tries to brainwash us into believing that being cruel to each other for the sake of "profit" is a good thing. Ppl are learning it's actually wasteful, harmful, and ultimately pointless... and above all, unnatural. Completely unnatural.
We're not supposed to live in suburbs, not knowing our neighbors at all, having to drive in isolating cars for miles just to buy groceries. We're supposed to have Third Places to engage with our community, not feel the crushing weight of social isolation that we feel even when we have thousands of followers on social media. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who sees this!
So yeah, fuck it. Ppl might roll their eyes when they hear I am changing from an iPhone to a Samsung, learning to sew, creating a website of my own, and never wanting to give a studio any of my money. They might say none of this is slightly rebellious or "revolutionary" in the slightest. But obviously a drop in the ocean is still part of the ocean.
If you're reading this far and you feel the crushing weight of anxiety over how fucked everything is, just know that loving yourself, being kind, and getting creative is just as revolutionary as joining riots and punching Nazis. We live in some troubled times and wanting to take the weight of every problem in the world is not going to help anyone lol. Ofc organizing in your community is always preferred. But fuck it, even if you just want to call out of your job or take a day off from school to take a nap, so be it. Take care of yourself, bc obviously this world won't.
And hooray for Neocities! :) I feel more connected to the internet experience now more than ever thanks to this cute site building platform
I hope more and more ppl will take control back of their individual internet experiences too! Maybe not everyone will want a Web 1.0 revival complete with AIM chatlogs and Myspace pages, but I hope the next era of the internet will be much better than this era.
I can kind of already see it's close to ending, and all social media sites as we know it just might be undergoing radical changes, if not just outright being abandoned (coughTwitterImeanXcough). It'll be interesting to see how it all goes, and what we're going to do with it all next! Some of my friends have predicted we might be moving more towards a decentralized experience. Maybe Myspace ver 2 where we access different pages via one or two servers? I just wonder how that'll work what with mobile apps and all. But I'm still excited to see what'll happen.
But yeah, here's to another year of Neocities! 