Hi there! So excited to discover this space today! I was rather wounded by internet forums and community spaces in my middle-school and high-school years (I am now in my early 30s). I spent my time on a few music forums and 'Buddy4U' which was a place to learn to customize your AIM profile, but there was a great graphic arts community in the forums where contests were held for graphics. I remember making a few Expage websites. We spent time playing the Magic School Bus PC game and on MSN checkers (which was ripe with inappropriate creeps, by the way). In computer class in 8th grade, we used a program to learn to animate, but still used the old Macs to play Oregon Trail. I think a lot of the hurt I experienced on the old forums were because I was untied from my identity. People who were in their 20s or teens couldn't see that I was just a child, and of course I didn't relate that to them. So there was condescension and much confusion lack of clarity for me.
I still hold the community spaces with nostalgia and am interested in engaging as an adult here, with all that in hindsight. I am so interested in the intentionality and possibility of the internet in its most expressive form.
My interests include spirituality based in Buddhism, trauma and healing the psyche and mind/spirit/body connections, creative writing with tangential interests in magic and divination. I like music that tells stories. I am interested in creating more after decades of stifling myself, and could imagine webpages as an appropriate medium, but I don't currently have one.