Should I even attempt to use this blog for anything other than Roby pictures? Probably, yes. I’m pretty reticent to share images of her, or for her to have much of any presence on the internet at all. I figure a blog read by about a dozen people all told is as safe as place as there is. Of course she can’t consent to being pictured here, but she can’t consent to much of anything at all. 

The internet is a strange and horrible place. By and large I do not like it. I also spend squarely most of my time here on a given day. I suppose it comes down to how that time is spent, even if it’s most of it. 

I’m not really sure what I’m getting at, but I think the how is getting harder and harder to do properly. In the early days of web 1.0 you could tailor your experience by adjusting which websites you went to, you simply saw what you were looking for. You might not be exposed to much and you might stay squared away in your corner of the telnet-internet, but at least you weren’t bombarded with bullshit. 

That is no longer the case. 
With the rise of algorithms we are now shown what the internet thinks we want to see, as long as it fits squarely within what the people paying for adbuys find acceptable for us to want to see. 

I started writing this because I bought that denim jacket I wrote two posts about,and It’s a hallowed tradition to add little pins to the lapel and pocket flaps of jackets like that. I wanted to get custom pins that say “Robinia” and “Abby.” And maybe a marigold pin. I searched for these things and I found them but I also just putzed around looking for other silly pins. I found a few, but when I searched etsy for just blanket: enamel pins I was shown mostly sex-toy and queer oriented pins.

The joke here is that people will complain about the Instagram algorithm showing them gay porn, and that’s BECAUSE they search for gay porn and the algorithm wants to make them happy. I don’t really engage with queer content, and I definitely don’t buy...merch for it? My purchase history from etsy is mostly forged iron hooks and other knick knacks for organizing my house, and none of them are rainbow colored. 

I have additional thoughts, but I find it strange. I find the internet suspect and I like it less and less. I’ve always been attracted to specific little corners that can’t be adequetly capitalized on, but that’s moving from a hobby to a necessity.