Thoughts about my Peer Review

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about my site recently, especially after the peer review from earlier this week. I was happy to discover that Emerson decided to review my site because, as luck would have it, I reviewed his! I had chosen him specifically because I felt like he had similar views and aesthetics to myself. Something a bit edgy, a counter public space. 

I think he had the same thought as me, but much to his disappointment, I had wholesale switched my design before his review. I had chosen a temporary generic blog theme because I was having a ton of issues with my first design. Unfortunately, that temporary theme sucked big time. I felt bad. I knew that my site didn’t reflect me, but I was still in the middle of figuring out what exactly my look should be. It was embarrassing.

As soon as his review dropped, I immediately switched my look again. I couldn’t bare the sting of disappointment that I had somehow betrayed the mood of my content. But what’s a boy to do? I needed something temporary to help me organize and conceptualize. Well, now, I’ve settled on a new temporary look… It’s kind of fun, but still not what I want in the long run. But at least it’s a step up!

Digital Gardens

I’ve been thinking a lot about digital gardens recently. I found the concept romantic, at the very least. I fell down a Youtube and Reddit wormhole looking up other people’s digital gardens to gain a better understanding of the concept. The aesthetics range from creative and artistic to a series of google drive pages linked together. I will admit many of these gardens didn’t do it for me. Either the topics were outside my field of interest, or I found the designs not my cup of tea. But that seems to be the point, doesn’t it?

I think what I appreciate most about the concept thus far is that it’s helping me think outside the box. I don’t want to use plugins and third-party dependencies as much as possible, and digital gardens as a concept are helping me get there. But the lesson I’ve learnt is that I must get back into coding. There are just no two ways around it. So that’s what I’ll be working on. I have some leftover code kicking around from the last time I decided I wanted my own site.


I was really into CSS animation back then; the moon spins, the clouds dart from right to left, and the waves oscillate. I’m not entirely sure how to demonstrate that here so a static image will have to do.

Anyways, for now, I have a bit more inspiration. I think next week I’ll start working on some graphics for my site, but that is for another process post!