Skip to main content

Mike Sugarbaker

And then he started writing a whimsical-ass web site again

2 min read

Because every medium that dies just becomes art, right? Although my messianic drive to save the web or something is also back in play, thanks to Robin Sloan's exhortation to fuck around and find out in 2023. It is certainly an opportune time to experiment with this platform, as existing platforms-on-the-platform begin to collapse, losing their grip on our thinking. But mostly, I just wanted to program again - but to do it in exactly the way that brings me joy. This includes using Clojure, the Lisp I find coziest, and... not only no JavaScript but precious little other client-side code. (Were we rooked?)

I think Mr. Sloan's manifesto is right that it's not time for "products" but for weird tendencies; for development processes that are lived in the open and in social context, not teaser campaigns and invite-only rollouts. But right now I'm wary of writing too much about what I'm doing, rather than doing it, which I think has contributed to other projects petering out. Plus I am 100% back on my bullshit with regard not just to independent web development but to both the weird hypertext systems I used in college, and HyperCard again for god's sake. As a middle-aged man it is naturally embarrassing to be so precisely middle-aged. So maybe I'll say more next time. (Unless you find the secret posts.)