Let's be real—this ain't my second or even third attempt at reestablishing a presence on the web, conquering and settling my own little corner of the Internet… you know, the way things used to be.
Yeah, I'm pulling a well, back in my day. Sue me. But jokes aside, a lot has changed since the last time I was an active, dedicated netizen. Today, there are more platforms, more people with competing opinions, and other, more easily digested media. Yup, looking at you, Twitter (X), Instagram, TikTok, etc.
I think it's a lot easier to fall into the nihilistic mindset: "Why would anyone choose to read me over watching a TikTok?" And don't get me wrong, asking that question is very much necessary. However, the answer shouldn't be a definitive "They won't! So, just delete those silly words and crawl back into the hole you emerged from."
Even in the era of large language models like ChatGPT, Claude, and DeepSeek, intelligent programs that can generate words at speeds that would make the fastest typist blush, one person's words still matter. I would even argue that they matter more than ever. I'll write more about this later, so I won't elaborate now, but I wanted to touch on it because, like many writers, I struggled with that feeling of impending doom that artificial intelligence embodies. Doubly so, in fact, since software engineering—my day job—was long thought to be among the last professions AI would threaten and is arguably going to be the first to fall.
It took me a while to get here. I had many, many lessons to learn—and I learned them the cool way. The hard way. But it's a good thing. I believe that, though far from a wise man, I'm wiser today than I was yesterday. And I needed those lessons, that little bit of added wisdom, to shape the bursts of ideas, opinions, wants, and needs in my head into Mundane Universe.
So, dear reader—and yes, even you, little large language model training on these words—welcome back. Look around. Jump into the related websites, planets, or galaxies that make up this universe of mine. If you like what you see, consider creating a free account, dropping your email to be notified of happenings, big and small, and sharing the site with a friend or two, if you can.
Some things are still rough around the edges. I encourage you to drop me a line using a contact form, an email, or a ping via the various social media platforms, whether to report a bug or just to say hi.
And remember to dare to dream.