About the site in Vashti's words:
This site is my room, my home on the web. You could also call it my diary, albeit a digital one. ”Room,” “site,” & “diary” are are all synonymous here. No matter how it’s referred to, this is a place for me to be myself, my authentic self. It exists for me & only me, but you are always welcome here. If the door is shut, I will open it with a smile.
The focus of my site is its diary pages, which I've updated daily since April 2023. There are still bits of other writings & whatnot scattered across my site's various pages, but first & foremost, this is a diary.
As I said before, this site is mine, but you may find some value in it if you:
- enjoy diary keeping, list writing, & the documentation of daily life
- appreciate the mundane
- like birds & pictures of the sky
- need a place to lie down & rest for a while
About the site in others' words:
- "the bits of your soul that i see through your writing are beautiful, like the sun through a stained glass window. thank you for sharing them."
- "I think the little prince from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's book would probably love to be your friend."
- "i am touched by your site! the dangerous page truly tugged the knotted strings of my heart, pulling loose some tears. it is a gift to cry; to be alive. thank you."
- "I actually did tear up reading some of your page because it meant a lot to me... Your site is beautiful, and I strive to think more like you do every day. I wish the best for you... I just wanted you to know that your site spoke to me and brought me a lot of happiness and inspired me."
- "Lately my mind was full of things that only entered my head to destroy, they 'spread into my thoughts and change them like wine in water', and make my mind need something to empty, purify. I'm sure your writing is one of these things who purifies minds and leaves them lighter. Does that make sense?"
- "Your page feels so refreshing. It's so simplistic yet clean and new, like there's so much to explore without it being overwhelming. It's like a nice reset from the rest of the internet and the rest of the world. Even when you write about the mundane happenings of your life, your word choices and the overall rhythm of blog/journal entry makes me feel like I'm reading an excerpt from a book, or a poem. It takes a lot of skill to do that with the mundane."
- "sometimes, after reading your diary entries, i want to write poetry. i hope you continue to write at your own pace."
- "simultaneously thrilling and humbling."
- "[L]ike i'm opening up a box of letters I've received from an old friend... You appear so unrestrained but gentle and it's such a breath of fresh air."
I just want to take this small moment to say thank you again & to reiterate how much everyone's kind comments mean to me. I maintain this site for myself & I'm being truthful when I say that I write for myself, but it would be dishonest to act as though these kind thoughts & opinions don't matter to me, because they do. So thank you.
Design Philosophy:
If you have been around Vashti's site before, you would know that my site has been completely devoid of any sort of HTML or CSS styling beyond the absolute basics. As I write this, I'm currently doing a revamp of my site & am actually creating page layouts & whatnot for the first time in... over half a year? Longer, maybe.
Many of my site's pages are going to remain as they are, without styling, & I would like to say that they are not unfinished: This is a purposeful decision on my part. Mid 2023, (it is 2024 as I write this), dealing with my site's code began to feel overwhelming, to the point where it was getting in the way of my writing. I didn't want to make new pages because it felt like such an ordeal. With this in mind, I'd made the decision to purge my site of all decoration, so much so that I remember the very first image I added after the fact, a drawing of a pigeon done by me, which is on this site's index.
I had written once that I wanted this site to be more like a journal for me, not just in the sense of how it houses my writing & the minutiae of my daily & mundane life, but in the sense that I wanted it to feel like a journal. I've held onto that sentiment since then, & this is the inspiration, the driving factor behind my site as it now. I'm at a point where I've had fun creating layouts & page designs for it, the way I'd put stickers on a diary. With this being said, my site is still mostly text. My intention is that this new design doesn't overtake my writing, which is why I've stuck to a very simple layout, the same on most of my pages, & why my more frequently updated pages such as the diary are still going to remain mostly empty. The diary layout in particular I don't plan on changing for some time to come; You can consider it a holdover from my site's old layout if you'd like.
I hope that this new iteration of my site can better express who I am. In my daily life, I gravitate towards color, to the point that I've been described as "colorful" in its most literal meaning. I want this site to be light & sweet & still candid and true.
This site is complete, but will never be finished.
Contact & 88x31 button:
You can contact me through email (mailvashti@gmail.com) or you can leave me a message in my guestbook. Either are okay with me. I have a few people that I've met on Neocities who I correspond with over email, so if we're already talking over Neocities, then I am open to that.
These 88x31 buttons were designed by my friend Maple. The bird drawing is mine, but the rest is all her. I'm happy to have such beautiful buttons for my site. If you link to me, I will not link back. I appreciate it, but I don't feature any 88x31 buttons on my site.
A word about plagiarism:
I shouldn't even have to say this, but do not plagiarize me. Do not copy my writing in any capacity. It's happened before and I hate it. It’s an insult to me, but most of all, it’s an insult to you. By plagiarizing me, you’re revealing what an uninteresting person you are.
This is a place for me to be my authentic self, so surely you can understand why I wouldn't want that to be plagiarized. It feels the same as if you were to copy my diary entries. It’s invasive & strange. If you’re going to make a site, make your own site. You have things that are worth saying & you don't need to copy Vashti.
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