this site began when i took up html as a hobby in 2021. i was a sophomore in high school at the time, and it was the first year they let us back into physical school. since the pandemic wasn't really over yet, i had lots of time on my hands to dedicate to learning something new. carving out this little corner of the internet from the ground up ended up becoming that thing!
earliest archive of the site. 2/01/2022
i'd never heard of neocities before. i can't remember exactly what made me want to start learning, but i've long held an appreciation for old web and its associated creativity -- it was only a matter of time before i became disillusioned with social media. i'd whipped up sites on carrd and other drag-and-drop website makers before, but the restrictions left me longing for more independence still. i must have seen someone i looked up to with a neocities site? i genuinely don't remember how i discovered it... either way, i'm here now!
it started as a pet project, but snowballed into something more special as i realized i was actually having a lot of fun. there were a solid 6 months where my search history was mostly "how to change link color on click html" or "how to use custom font css" or "html how to make text be side by side in container" or something to that effect. in many ways, i've never left that awkward growth period -- i feel like i discover something new every time i open my file editor!
though coding was (and continues to be) intimidating, it helped to game-ify the learning process. every obstacle felt like a challenge to overcome, and the wave of euphoria that hit when i finally fixed a bug or learned a more efficient way of doing something made every moment of frustration and desperation so worth it in the end. i tend to pick up and drop hobbies sporadically, but this was a rare case where one ended up sticking.
it underwent a period of inactivity lasting from 2022 to late 2025. i got busy with school, fell in love, became a legal adult, graduated, got a volunteer job, moved apartments, struggled with mental illness, got my license, started college, and just burnt out on updating the site for a while :,o) the thing about any creative block is that you have to ride it out. i spent that 3-year liminal in a meditative state, drawing a TON and slowly rebuilding my energy. it took a while until i could come back here with the vigor i once had, but it was a necessary sabbatical and gave me a fresh perspective on sitemaking when i came back.
i'm rob, the webmaster!