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Colophon

Illustration of a camera, an AlphaSmart Neo2, a pen, and a laptop being held by vines, surrounded by leaves.

The products below are what I have used to create this website. The companies have not paid me to tell you about them and listing them here does not mean I endorse them. In my ideal world, there would be no companies and no products and we would all live in alignment with nature. Alas, this is not utopia, quite the opposite, and products get me through the day.

I use a lot of outdated technology both because I don't want it ending up in a landfill and because it's what's attainable for me cost-wise. Also, older products are often more repairable (planned obsolescence was less of a thing) and have less bloat (no AI).

Website

This website is currently using Ghost as the CMS, hosted by MagicPages. In the background, I am designing a custom theme using Penpot, an open-source UI design and prototyping tool. I am developing that custom theme in WebStudio, which will still use Ghost as the CMS when I'm ready to deploy.

Illustrations

All illustrations are created by me unless otherwise stated. Digital illustrations are drawn in the ProCreate app on my 2019 iPad Air 3 with a first-generation Apple Pencil. Traditional media illustrations are created with whatever I have laying around in my studio.

Other Design Tools

Sometimes, illustrations and photos are edited in Adobe Photoshop CC. I am on the $9.99/month plan that they don't offer unless you say you're canceling for cost reasons. I no longer have subscriptions to other products from Adobe CC because they kept raising prices until it was no longer affordable for me as a freelancer.

I also use Affinity Designer for vector illustration and Affinity Publisher for publication layout. They are good, but not perfect. If I am desperate for the features of Adobe Illustrator, I go to the digital media lab at my local public library and use their subscription.

Photography

Most photos are taken on a refurbished Fujifilm X-T100 that I purchased in 2019. Fujifilm cameras have skyrocketed in price since I bought mine.

I have three lenses: a Fujinon 15-45mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, a Viltrox 28mm f/4.5 pancake lens, and a vintage Nikkor Ai-s 50-135mm f/3.5 lens with X-mount adapter.

Occasionally, I use my partner's point-and-shoot digicam, a Canon Powershot ELPH 115 IS. I love having a pocketable camera that is not my phone. It was $49.99 at a local consignment store, but it's more like $200-$300 on eBay. Digicam prices tend to be inflated online, so if you can find one IRL, you will probably get a better deal.

When I do use my phone for photos, it's a Google Pixel 7a. I use GrapheneOS, which makes the camera a little less-good but the phone a lot less-Google.

Writing

I write most of my posts on a 2015 Macbook Air that was going to be recycled. Yes, that is a 10-year-old computer. I replaced the battery in 2025 (it wasn't even glued down; they used to make it easy) and it runs like a charm.

For a distraction-free writing experience, I use my AlphaSmart Neo2. Or, I write in a notebook and type it up later. My favorite pens are Pilot G2s and the LAMY Al-Star medium-nib fountain pen. I spent $37 on a fountain pen. I found out some people spend $800 on a fountain pen. Crazy.

My AlphaSmart Neo2 that I painted.

I write all of my posts in Obsidian, which is what I use for my entire PKMS. I use Obsidian Sync so I can take notes on my phone on-the-go.

My main laptop is a 2020 ASUS Zenbook Duo that I bought from a guy in a Panera Bread. It is big and chunky and not-very-portable, which is where the Macbook comes in. The quirky feature about it is that it has a second screen, which is nice when I need to design on the main screen and pull up notes on the other. In practice, the second screen is at a bad angle, so I mostly use it for music controls. The battery life is abysmal.

My second monitor is some type of old ASUS that I bought at a Goodwill for $50.

Photo of two laptops elevated on a wooden platform. There's a mechanical keyboard in front and a mouse. Above are three circular prints that are cut off at the top. There's a window to the left and a lamp to the right.
My main computer setup in my studio. Don't hate the player, hate the cord management.

Printmaking

I do most of my printing at the Iowa City Press Co-op, the world's best arts organization. Primarily, I do screenprinting, woodcuts, and riso prints, though I love all printmaking processes.

Final Thoughts

Work with what you have.

If what you have is a bus pass and a seat at a computer at the public library, use that to make your website. The library is great actually, full of books on design, coding, writing, art. If your library is not full of books on those subjects, you can probably still get them through interlibrary loan. You don't need to go out and buy something because it's what someone else on the internet uses.

I plan to eventually make a post on how to make a website, but if you're interested in joining the IndieWeb, check out their guide for getting started.

Please don't use AI.

People need your unique contribution to the internet. You!! Your brain! There are plenty of dingoes out there churning out slop and trying to get rich off of it. They don't have your unique perspective, skills, and experience. It is not worth it to sacrifice the next generation's drinking water for the sake of efficiency. I promise, if you show up day after day and pour love into your website, it will be far better than anything AI could come up with.