i will finally admit it: the internet basically sucks now. after several decades, many different comment sections, message boards, and apps, these days really feel like endgame times. fun and function have both dropped to near zero. things are dire enough that i, someone who’s been constantly online since 1995, am ready to log off.

i want to be writing more, but it ends up feeling like i’m rehashing most leftist artists struggling during this time. what else is there to say? corporations have ruined the best parts of the internet and they’ve tried to sell the parts for money. we are left with small community sites, more and more siloed from each other in our digital spaces.

that’s why i am trying to return to analog experiences ^[1]ok i’m not doing that great but i am trying. i want to make more zines and comics, about stuff i learn and experience. spending time with other artists, swapping stories. that’s better than social media.

going outdoors, noticing good rocks and cool insects. exercising and feeling powerful in yr body. bonding with other artists and drawing comics. roleplaying in our fantasy world, rolling dice and slinging spells. learning to make physical objects ^[2]i want to learn to whittle. maybe make li’l totems!

elon musk, big tech, and other asshole billionaires can only take so much away from us. we still have tangible experiences and the joys of community.

sure maybe i am real bad at actually doing the community part, but i recognize our Other space, the internet, is really dying. there is nothing to hold onto there, you cannot take those ones and zeroes and put them on your shelf.

i have a list of 15 19 zines i want to make. five of them, i’ve actually started. if i can reset my brain to care about finished pages instead of notifications. time to stop scrolling, and start whittling.