Dear reader,

I'm writing to you from Portland, OR. I'm here for the next few days on a family holiday. It's a bit of a change from life in Rotterdam, though the lichens and mosses that grow along the curbsides feel strangely similar.

The last few months have been particularly busy. Kristoffer and I reprinted the Internet Phone Book (Issue One). It's available on Metalabel, and as I write this, it's close to selling out again. Due to the US tariff situation, we are currently only selling in the EU. This might change, so if you are in the US and would like a copy, check back next week.

Our friend Pirijan Keth (creator of Kinopio and Glitch) interviewed us about the book. He dropped off a few books at little libraries around where he lives, in Charlotte, NC.

This was kind of our dream when Kristoffer and I first talked about creating an Internet Phone Book: someone who is not familiar with the indie/poetic web having first contact with it.

I really love this quote from Kristoffer...

"Social media made it very easy for us to feel like we were staying connected with people, like they’d surface our friends when they have birthdays and stuff like that. But I think that we also forgot some of the important things about being a human, which is to also remember the people we care about and show up for them. Once you start to do your own website and you realize that, oh, people don’t just automatically come there, it’s kind of a good reminder that it takes a little bit of effort to go to other people’s sites and see what they’re doing – like checking in on them."

A few weeks back, I did a bit of gardening on Special Fish. The homepage has a slightly new look, did some house repairs, and started using the ig a little more. You can always invite a friend to join Special Fish, and in doing so, you help support my work on the site.

In other news, I'll be moving to the East Bay, CA, by the end of the year. If you know of any rooms opening up, keep me in mind.

I'm also still on the job search. Ideally, I'm looking for a part-time position helping with design or development on a website that pays decently. I'm also taking on contract work in the meantime.

Wishing you an ocarina-filled autumn,
Elliott
of elliott dot computer