Previously I had subscribed to The New Yorker, but let it lapse, not being able to quite keep up. I still sometimes stumble on links to the excellent magazines's website when reading news on my phone, like the link that took me here:



The irony! Paywalls are part of what makes the Internet no (or less) fun. Amiright?

It's not that I oppose paywalls. I understand the cost of journalism, and writers deserve to make a living. Spare me that lecture. It's more that I'm nostalgic for the early Internet, like I imagine the author of that New Yorker article might be, had I been able to easily read it. Or perhaps paywalls aren't mentioned at all. Let me know, if you subscribe.

The website you're reading now is an artifact from an earlier Internet. It is November 2023 as I write this, but in 1998 we first lit up this domain, when banner ads were the worst scourge the web had to offer (and they couldn't track you). A lot has changed since then. We've always avoided loading third party advertising into your browser, chasing you around with cookies, and the like. The experience of being here should not be sullied by such things, or affected by capital interests, to my mind.

It reminds me of how a friend responded once, as I observed her reading tarot cards, and remarked at the money she could make in doing so.

"Join the circus," she said.