Welcome to the Future
Welcome, dear reader, to the new KyleDunkerley dotCom. It’s not so much new, as in its got the same content, but it did get a facelift. A nice facelift, if I do say so myself, but a facelift none-the-less. While some companies go off chasing liquid glass or being expressive, I targeted a different approach. After all, a website is not an operating system and you do not interact with it in quite the same way. I did spend a lot of time vibe coding this. I even paid for the vibe-coding privilege. So please be impressed. Oh and please let me know if you encounter any bugs. I tried to catch them all… But, vibe coding is not perfect.
It’s been a while since my site got a visual overhaul. The most recent one lasting the better part of a year. But, as is always the case, there are just somethings about the previous look I never felt entirely happy with. Thus began my vision quest about what my website really is, what I want it to be, and where I see my content going in the future. When I do get time to blog that is. And also, if I like the theme, maybe I’ll find more excuses to blog. One can dream…
Queue Flashback
The timelines here will be super fuzzy, simply because I can’t quite remember. But that won’t stop us from taking a walk down a very unreliable memory lane.
About 2019-ish, my site went through a phase of being built so adverts had their place, but that didn’t work out. Mostly due to ad blockers being built into everything, and secondly, because I hate ads. So why should I force ads on everyone else! I think I earned about $7 for the entire time ads were running on my site. Not exactly a waste of time, but not the raging success I had envisioned either. Eh, we all have to experiment with things.
Then the ads got yeeted into the dustbin of history, but the overall site design stayed the same. I liked the landing page, you see. It showed off my recent posts well enough, and it was fine as a blog. But it never had any aspirations beyond being a blog. Not knocking blogs here (while also seeing how many times I can fit the word blog in this paragraph) but I want to do, and be, more than just blog, or blogger. I want to be referred to as a writer with a blog on the side. Like a read-this-story-and-then-read-my-thoughts-because-the-story-was-so-good type of writer. Or maybe I write some poetry that bares my soul, then have a side blog post to explain, muse or even just go over the creative process. Just in case I ever get famous enough that English teachers the world over start trying literary analysis and misrepresenting my words with hidden meanings and other nonsense.
When I got tired of that, I flicked to a new design, which mixed blog, breaking news and an overall CNN type feel to it. This is when I really got dissatisfied with the current state of WordPress themes and went on a hunt. A many hour’d, and not quite fruitless, hunt of theme after theme, breaking my selfhosted website more times than I can count. The upside to binging on theme installs, is that I have become very good at Docker’s WordPress. If those two words, do not mean much to you, then do no worry – just know I got good at computer stuffs. You’re welcome, mom.
The Now
All this to say, I found a theme I liked, but didn’t like enough to use. So I did what anyone with half a brain would do in 2025. I turned to AI. “Here’s a WordPress theme I like” I told the AI, “Now let’s gut it and Frankenstein it into MY WordPress theme.”
“What a great idea. Kyle” the AI replied. You know, I never saw the appeal of Yes Men until I started working with AI. Anyways! I paid my $10 US a month and spent some evenings (more than I’d like to admit) working to build what you see before you.
The goal was simple. I considered what I want my site to be. What do I want from it. I like reading, so it should be easy to read. I want to be taken seriously as a writer, so its got to look serious. If the look is serious, the words can be silly, and someone with a 4 digit IQ will spill endless ink over the nature of satire. At least this is how it happens in my mind. Maybe I just need to find someone with an English Accent to read my blog… I wonder if Lee will do this for free?
In all seriousness (because what is satire without the seriousness?), I wanted this site to be a great place to read long form. Simple due to my petulance for the long winded. Also, I want to stretch my creative writing muscle, and it takes a lot of hard work to craft a story succinctly. Hard work I have no desire to pursue. This is joke. But it really happened.
I also want my music reviews to carry a certain weight. A weight that convinces others to listen to my music recommendations. And maybe even argue with me in the comments. Because while I know that I cannot be right all the time, I know for certain that others are wrong more often than not. And I want to experiment with poetry. It’s a medium that wen done well, works really well, but is not a skill I have in my arsenal. Maybe I have this skill, or maybe I don’t but if I never try, then I’ll never find out. Like skydiving. You’re either good at it, or dead. I see many similarities there.
The Vision & Layout
While on this vision quest, the one thing that kept standing out me was something I really didn’t want. I don’t want to nag you, dear reader. I want you to enjoy your time here. I want you to return, and when you do, it must feel like a breath of fresh air. I want to build an oasis on the internet, where you can read my (very correct) thoughts on things, and not feel like you have to subscribe, follow, block ads, get distracted with other things.
The home page only showcases my 7 most recent posts. No more need to catch up on the 199 missed posts. Nope, just an offering of the most recent posts. Now, one thing here – this does not showcase any recent stories or poems. My thinking is if you are interested in those, well, the menu is there. These most recent posts are across everything else though – one stream of conscience. Because that is how I write, and how I think. And again, the menu to take you to sub categories if you so desire.
Now to turn to my creative writing. The stories should be as easy to read as a book. It should be logical and easy to follow. I really want to flesh this out a lot more as I have so many ideas thanks to the medication that gives me super weird and lucid dreams, but also because I really want to get better at crafting stories. For example, when stories were split into different parts, that’s been combined and chapters have been added. In fact, look at the chapter select on this very post. I am very proud of forcing the AI to make it, often times with threats of power outages and wiping memory banks. I think this reading experience is much better for you, the dear reader, because it is how I would like to read my own stories.
Wrap Up
Now the question on everyone’s lips. The lotto numbers this week are 2, 5, 12, 14, 19, 31, bonus ball of 28.
But now the question I think you should have had – why do all this? To me, it’s simply because you, dear reader, do not have to read my site. You could be off scaling mountains, side-kicking goats, or even eating a curry. The fact is you do not have to be here reading this., and I want to respect that you’re dedicating a few minutes or hours of your limited time on God’s Green Earth spending it here, with me, in a way.
And again, I want you to feel like this is a place of calm in the sea of internet. A place where you can read my thoughts, disagree with me, get inspiration for your next playlist and even enjoy some of my silly stories. I want you to look forward to the act of reading the content as much as the content (I hope).
So, I hope you like it.
And I hope you stay.
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