I've added some basic placeholder pages for Fun and Links. Just doing a little bit to not lose steam on this overall project :) I've added credits to where I've sourced the images on this page, which I thought was important. I recently installed Aseprite from source on my computer, and hopefully I'll soon start making my own pixel art to use on my website.
I was debating the format of the page, and whether I wanted to focus on a desktop experience or mobile experience. I actually kind of like how the smaller dimensions appear on desktop, and it makes it much more usable on mobile, so I might focus on this smaller form factor. I know there are techniques and ways to make it compatible for both, but this is just meant to be a fun personal project so I don't want to fixate on optimizing the experience across devices.
Anyway, I hope anyone who comes across this page has a wonderful new year!
A brief introduction of myself and the purpose of this website: I remember watching the clock tick down to midnight on December 31, 1999, and all the panic about the Y2K bug that dominated the headlines. It was a fascinating time to grow up. Millennials are likely the last generation to remember life before and after the Internet became pervasive, as well as what the Internet was like before modern social media. Despite the Y2K panic (which amounted mostly to nothing), I had a positive relationship with technology and the web. I spent countless hours exploring personal websites, discovering webrings, and getting excited by the new aesthetics I encountered. It inspired me to learn HTML, CSS, and even experiment with a (cracked) version of Adobe Photoshop to build my own websites.
Over the past 20+ years, the Internet has changed drastically, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. Personally, my relationship with it feels less positive now. Endless binges of mindless scrolling or anxiety-inducing information overloads rarely leave me feeling good about my online experience. I’ve also become more of a consumer of content than a creator. The de-anonymization of online spaces has also taken away much of the joy I used to find in being online.
About a year ago, I discovered Neocities. It seemed to attract users like me who remember that early era of the Internet, and also younger folks searching for something different. I decided that in 2026, I would set up my own website on Neocities, buy a cute domain name, and revisit this hobby from a bygone era.
That’s what pixel-galaxies.net is for. My hope for the new year is to finish setting up the site, make it cute, and start adding content. I want to create pixel art (I already have a few projects in mind, and also plan to transition to using 100% original art on this site), maybe write a little, and mostly, have a corner of the Internet where I can just dump things for myself. Not for an algorithm, and not for likes.