by bulb

Can you believe it’s been two-and-a-half months since the last recap? We don’t rush a lot around here, but we do keep busy. Site overhauls, writing, drawing…and possibly a new member?

Caby’s sketchbook

First up, Capy (or perhaps Caby, but that’s just silly) has totally overhauled her site. Her last one was a placeholder dating all the way back to the site being bought in December, so an overhaul was much overdue. Out with the CGA and pixels and what have you—in their place are scribbly, adorable capybaras and guinea pigs, a proper art gallery with a…throwback vibe :3c, and at long last, content in the Cavy Castle! It’s a really comfy look; borb called it an “animated sketchbook”, and I think that’s apt. Very worth exploring.

Augmented snake

Caby’s not the only Somnolian with a fresh site though—just earlier this evening, former KitchenAid spokesman dotcomboom came back with an updated take on his old Neocities site, now featuring photos! One of the perks of DreamHost is that we can run proper scripts on our sites, both client and server-side, with database access even if needed. Photo galleries, guestbooks (yes, proper cgi-bin guestbooks, not some link to another site, gosh), blog software, even WordPress, MediaWiki, and Joomla are all fair game for the Somnolians now. Ah, the perks of being out on our own.

mari content go go go

I’ve been toiling on a really massive story project that’ll be hidden away in my site (thanks .htaccess, another perk of real web hosting uwu), but lots of little stuff’s been added while it’s still a work-in-progress. Old modding tools, Guitar Hero customs, HyperCard clip art, Minesweeper sperging, the works. Oh, and most importantly to me, more Pennyverse writing! These character shorts were an idea I stole from a scriptwriting class I stopped going to, so I guess it helped me after all~

Blog happenings

Activity hasn’t stopped here on the blog either (admittedly because I write a lot of entries, umu). In case you missed any of them, here’s a poignant bit out of each:

• How a Fusion Drive Ate Our Gopher by mariteaux (April 30): “So if there’s anything in this swirling, messed up world I can trust, I guess it’s Apple’s internal hard drives.”
• The Web is a Shitty App Platform by mariteaux (May 09): “We’ve managed to build an internet where the same shitty service is being delivered through Chrome, not-Chrome, embedded Chrome, and Chrome on Android, and takes advantage of none of their strengths as a result.”
• Cavy Wars by Caby (May 19): “I’ve heard that adding a male guinea pig to your herd can stop females from trying to be so dominant, so perhaps that’s a solution. Though Bergerac is a total nutcase and has tried to intimidate humans before, so we’ll see.”
• On Purpose by mariteaux (June 03): “Above all, characters need a reason to exist.”
• Gopher is not the Web by dotcomboom (June 27): “There is still an infinite amount of potential for this protocol, much of which hasn’t been quite realized yet.”
• Somnoville by mariteaux (July 04): “mon’s been hard at work on a big dome with animals grazing up at the top, Caby’s the server’s resident flower girl, and borb…built a granite dick.”
• Cammy vs. the PhotoCam by mariteaux (July 13): “And please, think of your pal Cammy when you list stuff on eBay—if you didn’t actually test the fucking thing, do tell me.”

Things keep going as they do around here, no matter what. We’re still expecting another site overhaul, and mon’s still working on his first one quietly in the background. Art Fight’s also kept some of the Somnolians busy, but I can’t really include art in the recap…maybe. There’s also been whispers of a certain new Somnolian joining us, a rather friendly Neocities lurker who reached out to us recently, asking about dedicated hosting. Who exactly that is, you’ll have to wait for…

(On a personal aside, in a few days, Caby and I will have been a thing for six entire months. It’s not quite an anniversary, but it’s still the first time we’ve had anything like each other, so it’s special to us. She’s helped me out with a lot of personal issues and things I went through the past few years, and she’s been growing just as fast. I’m glad she’s stuck around in the group and I still have her. Lovely, talented girl.)

Okay, that’s it for the recap. Be back in two-and-a-half months!