# week 27 of 2026 **July 5, 2026** ![[sun-small.png|chill sun wearing sunglasses with lots of sunrays filling the image.]] One of my own designs for a change. This summer has been quite busy dealing with my wife's brain cancer, including a tumor excision and ongoing chemo/radiation. I'm looking for peaceful calm wherever I can find it, even if that means creating it for myself. This captures the retro-vibe style that makes me happy on a fundamental level. Some day I may design some friends for him or add animations. --- ## visual inspiration stuff [Digital Comics Museum](https://digitalcomicmuseum.com/preview/index.php) is a massive online repository of public-domain golden age comics. Tons of illustration and story inspiration. I'm hoping to mine it for visual ideas to explore in future doodles. ![[cameronsWorld.png|screen capture of a section of the site]] [Cameron’s World](https://www.cameronsworld.net) is am homage to early 90s websites with tons of animated gifs and scrolling adventures. Huge stroll down memory lane here. All animated gifs are taken from old [GeoCities](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeoCities) pages. ![[highTopFade.webp|High Top Fade]] [Afro Index](https://afroindex.org/) is an archive of Black hairstyles for visual inspiration. There are pictures, of course, but also cultural breakdowns to help artists understand context. There's also a glossary of important terms so everyone can speak the same language when it comes to Black hair. [Heartfelt](https://nicopr.fr/tmp/shades/heartfelt.html) is a wonderful little web toy that adds a rain running on window effect to whatever image you want to upload. Can adjust blur and rain speed. Simple little bit of perfection for when you are in a somber rainy mood. ## functional design stuff Apple has updated their [Human Interface Guidelines](https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/design-principles). Good solid design principles here whether you use their minimal aesthetic or not. I'm a sucker for a good, simple semantic HTML/CSS library. [Oat](https://oat.ink) seems like it would fit the bill for a functional foundation. I like building my own stuff but could see myself using this as a starter system to spin up a quick site. [Precise Type](https://precise-type.com) is another type scale generator to help build better web typography. Play with the sliders and get the generated code. Added to my [[web typography]] page. ![[townSquare.png|town square demo from website. simple layout with chat options]] [TownSquare](https://townsquare.cauenapier.com/) is an intriguing idea. You can add an interactive little world on your website with the ability to talk to whoever else is currently on the page. I love this idea. **your website, but inhabited**. I'm going to figure out how to add it to my site homepage when I get the time. ## random wild stuff Some crazy people managed to get [Half Life 2 to run in the browser](https://hl2.slqnt.dev). A few glitches here and there but still fun to jump back into the role of Gordon Freeman again. ## stuff i want I'm fairly close to being financially destitute these days with my wife's medical costs and how generally expensive the world has become. I'm streamlining down to essential purchases only. I've always been fairly minimalist in my needs, however, there are things I sometimes want just because it feels good to want things. Not going to buy any of these any time soon but still fun to dream. ![[ampersandCup.png|ampersand coffee mug with no handle]] I want just about every font that [Simple Bits](https://simplebits.com ) makes. Such cool style that resonates with me on a fundamental level. I also want [this coffee cup](https://simplebits.shop/collections/goods/products/ceramic-desk-mug). No reason why, other than it is neat to me. I've become anti-Amazon and want to swap out my old Kindle. The [Boox Go tablet](https://shop.boox.com/products/go103) seems pretty cool. The old one works fine for now but I may move to Boox when when the time comes.