A B O U T

 

A B O U T : the site

TheThinkingAmerican has been in existance since 1997 when it first originated as an AOL homepage called "As of yet, untitled".. Being as though I was just out of middle school and still new to the internet, the only thing I had to work with was HotDog Express. What an amazing program!!! With the help of HotDog, I went from having a homepage to haveing a website in a little under a week. For me, the best part about the site was the ability to post personal opinions. I used it as a soapbox of sorts to discuss things like religion, social activism, etc. I was really heavy into adbusters (not to say that I am any LESS into them, but I am definitely a little less rabid about it), so it was where I wrote essays on the social climate and how the youth of today should step up, organize, and change the mental environment. The site was still pretty low-fi, but it was perfect for me as I had yet to master the exotic dance known as HTML. I still haven't mastered it, but I've definitely improved my skills. By 1999 a few things happened that caused me to migrate to Yahoo!. The primary impetus being that my computer crashed and ate my hotdog software. The entire site went down and now all that remains is the homepage (last updated in 1999). A lot has changed since then. My taste in music, my political and social views, my interests, etc. So, yes, back to the subject at hand! After HotDog was destroyed, I tried to find it online but it was no longer being offered for free. So, being the enterprising yound lady that I was, I looked for webspace that was free AND had some sort of click-and-crop program that one could use to make a site. Enter Yahoo!.

Since moving to Yahoo! in 1999, TheThinkingAmerican has gone through many changes. It was actually just "ThinkingAmerican" but then I totally forgot my Yahoo! password AND the answers to my secret question. To make matters worse, the e.mail that they send your password to was one that I had deleted!!! So there I was, locked out of my own home. Not wanting to give up on the Thinking American franchise, I moved to Yahoo! as xthinkingamericanx, but soon grew weary of how ThinkingAmerican had changed from being such a thought-provoking masterpiece to a site all about me and the dumb stuff that I do. I tore everything down, and for several months, xthinkingamericanx lay in ruins. I abandoned it and started anew with TheThinkingAmerican (though I still use it to work on various projects and run beta tests).

TheThinkingAmerican that you are looking at today is version 2.2 of TheThinkingAmerican and version 11.2 of Thinking American (does that make sense). I have moved away from the political and social commentary to some extent. For me, being active is not best illustrated by sitting at home writing essays about what we SHOULD do, it's about getting out and doing them. What good will it do if I sit and type about how people should be more self-reliant or how things need to change? It won't do any good. If I go out into the community, however, and teach people how to do things for themselves, or if I go out and do my part to effect change in the world, it will do a LOT. So, in summary, the ThinkingAmerican that stands before you is more about action than talk. It is more about embracing DIY culture as a means to effect change. Things aren't going to change if you just sit around and complain about them, you have to get out there and change them. You have to Do It Yourself. Also, it has become a haven for all of the artsy crafty things I do. Like many crafty indie rock girls with a sewing machine, I'm looking into starting a DIY business with a portion of all proceeds going to various charities.

So, TheThinkingAmerican will be divided. The geocities site will remain and have artwork, how-to's, links, essays, etc. I will be getting a dotcom (sadly, not ThinkingAmerican.com) of another name and that will be primarily for sales, how-to's, and benefits. If you're a crafty girl and you own your own dotcom or site, be sure to give back to the community. I know money is tight and you really want to buy that new record, but if you donate just 10% of your profits to a group or if you donate items to the group to auction or sell, you will be doing a world of good!!! So give back and get involved!

 

A B O U T : the creator

Kati was born and raised in Bear, DE and has lived there all her life. She is in a band called Fifty Days at Ilium from Philadelphia, PA. She has never taken any formal classes in photography, textile arts, or other crafty trades. She has been enrolled in drawing and painting classes, but was so scared that she quit after just one class. She has anxiety disorder which causes her to be scared of everyone and everything about 50% of the time. She is currently working on her Associate's Degree and will soon be persuing a Master's in Sociology. She hopes to become a Sociology professor and/or to own her own business/indy beauty salon/youth hostel. More than anything in the world she likes making things for her friends, Sociology, Spanish, eating pizza, singing in a band, green tea, owls, daffodills, and textiles. She collects Catholic/Hispanic religious art, snowglobes of cities, owls, scarves, purses, dresses, coats, and fabric. She is currently working on starting her first zine called SWAP which will be an arts & crafts swap zine wherein subscribers can swap arts & crafts with others for their arts & crafts. Her inspiration comes mostly from her mom, dad, and brother, but she has adopted her love of sewing from internet pal Yana and best friend Lauren, who has always encouranged and inspired her in all of her creative endeavours. Above all, she really enjoys writing biographies about herself in third person.

 

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