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Old timey things and the early internet

Today I sent two emails to people I don't know. Just like Gemini, it gave me an old timey vibe that made me happy.

As the old saying goes, "todo tiempo pasado fue mejor", everything in the past was better. I don't _really_ believe that, but there are things that I find amusing or endearing about the past.

For example, I shave with a safety razor and brush. There are several aspects to this:

I was using a lot of plastic per year in disposable blades, which didn't sit well with me.
My skin is very easy to damage, and this gave the promise (spoiler, it was partially fulfilled) of a softer shave.
This one is more particular, but the change forced me to transform a chore into a self-care routine.

On the last point: I was never one to care too much about my self image or my body in general, except in a negative way. Transforming the chore of shaving into a one hour weekly moment for myself, where I shut the bathroom door, get a really hot shower, then proceed to apply lather, etc has been an interesting experiment in paying more attention to my own body and thoughts.

Another old timey thing I find fascinating is 1920s/30s clothes. Think something out of The Untouchables. It looks so fancy. Unlike the shaving habits, I don't see myself ever getting into wearing that, I am just *SO* comfortable wearing jeans and t shirts :) But some day, maybe, try an outfit...?

Finally, what triggered this post. Ever since becoming an Emacs user, out of curiosity plus having a bit of free time in between projects back in 2017 (or was it end of 2016?), I have been looking more and more at the _past_ of computing. Blown away by the power of this tool, the amount of editing features not present in more modern counterparts; I started checking out Elisp, then Common Lisp, then more about the history of programming languages. I found this tribe of people living their lives in plain text...I fully bought into their values of being free (in many ways), of simplicity.

Which leads to now, to Gemini and stuff like Marginalia search, and the small web movement in general.

I didn't have broadband until my early twenties, and the idea of using mailing lists, BBS, Usenet etc sounds exactly like gangster-era clothes and managing your life in plain text to me. The sites I get to via Marginalia are proving to me that "the old web" that I barely got to experience still exists, even if a bit diminished and very well hidden from the SEO monsters, it is still there. And it gives me joy. Makes me so so happy. And so I want to immerse myself in it, posting in this text-only capsule, sending emails to strangers, looking at long form text that doesn't ask for a Medium subscription or has Amazon referral links. Just people.

I like this. I feel more connected to a global community, than a random doomscroller being tracked with no rhyme nor reason.

(typed 10:37 PM~11:10 PM)