WTF is the Haus of Cats?

The Haus of Cats was born from complete and utter exasperation at the state of social media, the internet, and the world at large.

Having spent over a decade being tossed around mercilessly on the whims of fascist tech bros making billions from my labour, I decided to (mostly) opt out. I have never been good at doing what everyone else is doing.

From now on, the bulk of my online labour will go into building this - my own home on the internet. There is no feed, no pressure to perform, to be consistent or coherent or do anything that’s (god forbid) ‘trending’. I am finally free from the tyranny of website best practices (everything must CONVERT or you have FAILED!), click through rates, and hostile algorithms.

Here there are just winding paths of delight to follow, interspersed with cosy places to sit and rest and gaze at art.

I want it to feel like a sort of digital third place. Somewhere you come and hang out instead of heading to Instagram or Substack. I don’t want to compete for your attention with everyone else, I want to create something unique. A destination website.

And, christ on a bike, I want it to be FUN! Fun to make, fun to hang out on, fun to share.

This is not an original idea, though. I have been enormously inspired by others walking this path and creating their own labyrinthine worlds - Tara McMullin, Sarah Schotts, Austin Kleon, Seth Werkheiser, and of course, the queen of the creative ecosystem, Kening Zhu.

These are websites I return to again and again, with newsletters I eagerly anticipate too.

This place exists and will continue to exist and grow whether or not you want to join me. This is a place for me first, to corral my art and my inspirations and my brain, but if you like what I have to offer then you’re more than welcome to pop in whenever you like. There will always be more to see.

And if you’re really into it, give me your email and let me send you asynchronous, algorithm-free treats. And if you’re really, REALLY into it, drop some coins my way.