No, this website did not break your browser. There's nothing wrong with the formatting. It looks like this on purpose, for a number of reasons.
As a teenager in the mid to late 90s, I was on the internet from pretty much day one. A friend taught me some basic HTML and I made several websites that looked like this. Back then it wasn't a choice, this was kind of all we had to work with. There was also nothing like social media available, so if you wanted any personal online presence, you had to build a website. Those early days were a lot of fun, and maybe in some way this is me feeling nostalgic for that era.
The last time I pulled a stunt like this was for an April Fools' joke we did over at my main internet gig, The GLORIO Blog. It was 2015 and for a day we pretended it was 1995, complete with the retro look. We wrote about anime that actually aired that week in 1995. It was was one of our most entertaining and creatively successful group projects. Maybe I'm also trying to capture some of that energy.
Much more recently, me and a lot of other people found a comfortable online home in Cohost. I've never been much of a social media person, but I was starting to open up and enjoy writing more personal posts there. Unfortunately, Cohost shut down, leaving everyone looking for a new place to go. I did not like any of my options. I saw many other Cohost refugees talking about making their own website, which seemed like more time and energy than I was willing to invest at first. But then I thought, wouldn't it be funny if I tried to make a website using my HTML skills from the 90s, having learned nothing new since then? Would I still be able to do it?
What started as a gimmicky joke quickly evolved into something else. I opened up notepad and started typing away, trying to test what I could still do. Before long, I was up late into the night looking up tutorials to bring myself up to speed. I don't want to sound too dramatic, but a fire was re-ignited in me that I didn't expect. It made me remember old times when I was having fun making things on the internet. Sure, making a site that looks like this in 2024 is kind of silly, but I discovered it meant more than that to me. It's an expression of who I am and how I got here.
Nearly 30 years have gone by since I first got online and the internet is a much worse place. I don't think this is just me being a cranky old person longing for the good ol' days. The major sites are overrun with clickbait, algorithms, AI, and many other "improvements" no one wants or asked for. Smaller platforms that don't have the backing of egomaniacal billionaires are doomed to struggle financially. Basically, capitalism has ruined everything... again. I would never be so delusional as to call this project an act of rebellion or protest, but maybe it's an indicator that I'm fed up with it all. I want to go back to the old ways.
Alright, that's enough of that. On to talking about fun things like video games and anime. See ya around.