Welcome to coolguy, again! At the time of this writing, coolguy is on vIII. As coolguy follows the Tarot versioning system, this means we’ve moved to the age of “The Empress”.
The Tarot versioning system
I been feeling that my idea of coolguy–what I wanted from it, what I wanted to give it, and what I wanted to feel within it–was shifting, a substantial shift that deserved a mark of change.
I didn’t want to use some default tech notion of change. Coolguy is not moving from alpha to beta cos that makes no sense, neither does a linear, emotion-free feeling of “We were in 2.0, now we are in 3.1”. This is my online home, and I’ve never lived in a in a “v4.5.8” house.
Inspired by Dominic Tarr’s sentimental versioning manifesto, I looked for something personal and unique for the site, and realized the Tarot fit best. It already guides so much of the site and describes it’s eras well. Basically, I’ve just switched to being explicit with its influence on coolguy.website.
I should make clear, that this versioning system isn’t meant as analogy or metaphor. This is a sincere call into the ether to be guided by the spirit of a Tarot card into the next appropriate version and arcanum of coolguy. I don’t know what this means, yet, but I know that I want to express it.
How it works
Ah, I mean, I don’t know! I’m still figuring it out and it’ll likely change, but the basic gist is this:
The arcana of the site acts as both sense and aspiration. I’ve been feeling a want to move into an Empress spirit with coolguy, and so made it the site version to put that change in motion. My wish is for the site to blossom into an emobodiment of the card. As I work on the site during this version, it acts as the ultimate decider...whenever I am having some dilemma about what to put up, or how to make it, I can simply ask “What is in the spirit of the Empress?”, then take that route.
The site won’t necessarily move through the tarot in order, but it might! I initially felt that it would move eclectically through the major and minor arcana based on my own feelings, However, as I christened this vIII, I also that the site, as it existed, was full-on in Arcanum II (The HIgh Priestess). Perhaps as the site grows intuitively, it will be in perfect order.
The Empress
The Empress is a card of abundant creativity, enthusiasm, seduction, and charm. She scatters seeds in all directions, excited for the wildflowers certain to appear soon. The empress is energy without any set direction, a flame fully and beautifully expressed.
When I first started coolguy (most definitely as the Fool), my web pages were broken and delightful. I didn’t know what I was doing, and stumbled through with excitement. Then I fell in love with this all, and became enraptured by all the magical ways you can make text transform and to manifest spaces online. I studied code more, learned to write it more elegantly, but this work became more and more internal and private; like the priestess poring over her book, her throne becoming an egg, shielding her from the world. In other words, I was learning a lot and keeping it mostly to myself.
Now I wanna feel the joy of the Fool, expressed with skill gained from the High Priestess, to create pages that radiate the physical thrill of the Empress. I know more of what I’m doing, but pleasantly don’t know what it means or what it’s leading to. The driving spirit is that all of this once wasn’t, and now is, and the pop from 0 to 1 feels great.
A small site, a modest start
Coolguy now has a new entrance, a patio, with a phase of the moon and my thoughts on the weather. It’s just a place for a quick chirp, a headnod, as you move along on yr day.
Inside coolguy, The biggest thing you prolly notice is that there’s barely any pages! I wanted a big ol’ fresh start, and to not feel as if new stuff had to fit into some organizational pattern I started years ago and don’t feel attached to anymore. Rather than figure out the best organizational strategy for all past and future of coolguy at once, I followed the brashness of the Empress and said, “fuck it, let’s just kick it off”, so I did the simplest, and most dramatic, action to see where it goes.
None of my old pages have gone away...they just aren’t online at the moment. I’ll be bringing them back up as the spirit calls for it (and will setup an archive of the old site too, cos I still proud of it)! So things will be small and quiet for a little bit, but ideally coogluy becomes a place to visit often and see all the new seeds scattered and the tiny, familiar plants popping up.
I’m excited! It’ll be good! Thank you for reading!