Museum
A history of my time on the Internet
1997 - 2002: Local dev env
Before I ever managed to publish anything on the actual Internet, I found out about HTML, and how it helped me structure pages to tell exactly the story I wanted to tell. One may call it reminiscent of Creed’s blog.
2002 - 2003: HTML profiles
The introduction of CU.nl ushered in the Dutch infancy of Web 2.0. For me, it meant connecting with peers and strangers, and building a complete website in an HTML-supported user profile.
2003 - 2004: .tk all the way
In the Netherlands. .tk domains were all the rage in high school. Some of my classmates had one to bully others, meanwhile, I had my own Shania Twain fan page.
2004 - 2006: Freewebs, free, but in English
On a variety of Freewebs accounts, I wrote a blog, nurtured my Shania Twain mania, and began to experiment with photography.
2006: DoYouLikeMyTightSweater.com
Named for the debut album of my favorite band at the time, this domain was gifted to me by my old friend Titus. It made me feel cool enough, finally, to get involved in the international blogging community.
2006 - 2009: Photography blog
First under DoYouLike, and later under many other names, I published a photo diary that chronicled my personal life as well as the start of a modest career as a freelance photographer.
In addition, I began to seriously invest in my online presence as a web designer and website maker.
2009 - 2015: 🤌🏽 I’m a writer, you know?
Me matriculating as a Humanities undergraduate at Utrecht University meant I began taking myself Very Seriously. Like many of my peers, I dreamed of becoming a writer, and I made my blog play the part.
Looking back, of course, I cringe relentlessly at who I was back then. In the meantime, my work as an independent web designer continued.
2015 - now: Don’t take yourself too seriously
Having transitioned from running my own design studio to working in-house at technology companies, my online presence required less of a focus on my work, which has left much room for exploration.
With a strong focus on IndieWeb principles, I’ve spent the past decade on various domains, writing about the small slices that make up my life.