Things are coming along nicely. I like how simple the site is, at least from a viewing standpoint. Maintenance is a bit more complex since every page is its own thing. Like today, I discovered I had left a class marker in my header that wasn't doing anything, and I wanted to repurpose the class, so I had to go into every page and remove it (just realized I forgot this page).

But that's kind of the point. I want to do a few things with this site. I want to promote small artists that I think deserve to be recognized, and hopefully get them a new fan or two. I want to create a simple ad-free place people can explore, hopefully liking their time here, and maybe finding a new artist to enjoy. I want to create a place where I can express myself a little. And I should enjoy doing it. Creating this site shouldn't be something I need to optimize, leverage, or synergize.

I am here to enjoy myself.

I am here to express myself.

I am here to share my pleasures with others.

I am here to here to allow small artists to continue creating art for the world.

It may be weird, but I feel like I needed to create that little mission statement to help me remember to not get overly wrapped up in this. It feels like modern life is always trying to make us move faster, do more, think less. I want to try and cherish more of my time, to be more conscious of the decisions I make about the way I spend my time. I don't think it necessarily matters exactly what I'm doing with my time, but more that I am aware of the activities I am choosing, the time allotments I am granting to the activities, and why. There are times we need to work hard, and times we need to fuck-off, but I want to know that I’m doing them because that’s what I decided, and not just pushed into it because that’s the way the current was flowing.

Got served Glen Campbell's "I'm Not Gonna Miss You" on YouTube today. I forgot how brutal that music video is, and I just had to add it to my site. Made me think of Jonny Cash's version of "Hurt" so I added that too. Think maybe I need to add a section that is more like blog posts to handle instesting stuff I just want to share.

Thinking I might work on Poe next, just because I have a fun story to go with her first album. I'm still trying to decide what to do with Pacifica and Brad Sucks, because I don't really have any interesting content for either of them. They just make good music I like. Neither had a huge emotional impact or even a fun story about how I discovered them. Then again, I guess I'm not here so much to be a site people visit regularly for great content, but one they stumble across and hopefully find an artist they like.

Finally getting close to "finishing" Noctica's area of the site. Hopefully it will never really be done, because she'll be making music forever. Need to start fleshing out the other artists now. I'm afraid that they will seem "lesser" because I went head over heels about Noctica, but hopefully I can come up with some good ideas. I really don’t want it to sound like: "Here is your Goddess Noctica, you WILL worship her accordingly. Oh, and Brad’s pretty cool too." Also, welcome to the Church of Noctica ;).

So, I think I decided to split the difference and do a variable semi-hierarchical folder setup. So Noctica has a folder in root (no category or grouping folder) and the Dysphoria EP has a folder. When she has a new album, it will get a folder. If I had an author who just wrote individual books (no series) then they would have their own folder but might not have any subfolders. Basically, give a minimum hierarchy to keep things organized for each item.

I was worried about losing interest in this project, but it turns out I'm having more issues with self-doubt. This stupid voice in my head does not think, "'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." (from In Memoriam A.H.H. by Lord, Alfred Tennyson) No, it seems to think, "'Tis better to never have loved at all, than to be a fucking loser." (from Self-Doubt by Trauma) Guess I didn't expect to have to deal with trauma shit just to say I like these artists. Thanks Obama!

In regard to more practical matters, I'm trying to decide what kind of folder structure I want to use before I get too deep into this. Right now I just have everything Noctica in her folder, but I'm wondering if I want to get a little more hierarchical and maybe have something like MUSIC / NOCTICA / DYSPHORIA as a folder structure. They both have pros and cons, and right now I don’t have a clear winner.

As an ADHDer, I keep waiting for the shiny to wear off this project. Maybe, I'll be able to keep this project going long term. What a novel concept.

This little site of mine may not be on the level of my fandoms artistically, but it is a creative endeavor, an expression of self. And as such it fosters the same kind of self-doubt and general agita at times. Had a bout of it last night. That little voice saying, "WTF you doin'? Nobody's gonna see it. AND, even if they do, they don't give a shit. Why you wasting your time? Stupid fuck."

Well you know what, you flaccid little devil voice? F.U. I'm taking a page from Noctica:
* I’ll take a chance.
* I’ll Break the cycle.
* Chrome the fuck up! [really any browser will do ;)]
* I’m not going cyber-psycho!

Although this also brings but the feedback issue. Do I want a guestbook, comment type thing? Do I need to know anyone's seen this, that they care in the least? There's a little voice saying "yes, you do" and a big oppositional voice saying "FUCK EM! In this world of doom-scrolling, constant-contact, there's-a-fucking-ad-everywhere-you-turn, my-armchair-quarterback-opinions-matter; you don't need it." Although a forum, a community of fans, would be nice. I wonder with all the social media, could a forum on a tiny site like this actually have a life? Probably not.

After playing around with it a bunch, finally figured out the issue with formatting links. Think I've settled on the basic formatting of the site for the time being. Now I need to contemplate the layout and of course, add more stuff.

Making decent progress on the site. Trying to pace myself so I don't get overwhelmed. Still trying to figure out what I'm going to do for my "shrine" idea. Maybe it won't make the final cut.

So I liked the minimalist look of black on white, but it was a little too stark. It also didn't offer much in the way of theming. A lot of people seem to dislike orange, but I'm kind of grooving on it right now so I started with that as my base. Unfortunately, orange is pretty bright, so I had to go more in the direction of peach and brown. However, it still looks quite nice, and I like the blues I get in Dark Mode. I might try out some other colors like green or teal after I get bored with the current colors. Maybe I can find more ways of injecting orange into the site without blasting my eyes. :)

Dearest diary, having more fun with this than I thought I would. While I'm kind of here to sell people on my fandoms (what fan isn't), it's not a product that has a plan, gets made, and is done. It's a project that is continually evolving with no clear end. Almost wish I had a copy of every iteration, so I could have a time lapse of its progression.

I've been thinking about the layout, and not sure how I want to organize the fandoms. For now, I think the main page will have them listed, and then each will have their own page. There will be subpages for various things I want to focus on. And I think to be a shenaniganza, each fandom needs a "shrine" page with some over the top, full on 90's website effects.

If I manage to keep this going I will eventually get to the bigger, more popular things I'm into, but for now I'm starting with smaller, lesser known ones.

Created Shenaniganza on a whim.