022024: Something That Needs Nothing
Where I was. At 11pm, as I sit here and write, I open a book of short stories. What I’m looking for is right in the middle of it, page 63. As I flip through the pages, I notice how they turned yellow. It feels like a really old book by now; a book I could have found in an antiquarian bookshop. It was published in 2007. As I lay it flat open under my desk lamp, the yellowed edges illuminate in a fluorescent red, almost as if the stories shine from within.
Page 63. “Something that needs nothing”.
Welcome to a new edition of this newsletter. For the new readers, a brief introduction: I’m Christoph Rauscher, a designer + writer + illustrator from Berlin. By day I make websites, and by night, I usually rest. Sleep is important! I sometimes long for the times when I was able to stay up until 2 or 3am to work on my stuff, but with a busy day job, I rarely have that energy. I love working at night though. It’s calming, and thoughts are more timid, and no one texts you. Anyway—welcome to this dispatch. I‘m glad you’re here.
A couple of weeks ago I finally launched a new iteration of my website! I haven’t written any code myself since I built the last version in 2020, and I took the chance to catch up on some CSS techniques and give the site a proper tech setup (Eleventy!). I now have a little blog for my writing (even an RSS feed!), and in the future, I will also have more detailed project pages to show my work. It’s all in the making; as Erik says: “Everything is ready; it just needs to be done.”
The most prominent and enjoyable aspect of making this site was the amount of control I had. Everything I did was intentional, and if it didn’t work as intended, I had three options: I either made it work, or I found an alternative, or I left it out and learned to accept its flaws. The only limits were defined by my skills and my time, and both of these were flexible (I could make more time and I could learn new things). The site and its design are not fancy; I am done with fancy after looking through millions of scroll-hijacked product pages and designer portfolios for days and weeks and years. I like it plain and simple.
The main goal of the site was to a) create a space for my writing, and b) build a better technical setup to easily enhance the page. Both worked out! So, please let me invite you in: Welcome to my website!
There is a project overview page (still working on that…)
There is also a complete archive of all the newsletter issues, back to 2016.
There is a section with drawings!
And a section with texts + writing projects.
Tons of stuff is missing, but as I said: It’s up to me to change that. Let’s see when that will be. Until then, I’d be curious about your thoughts and feedback. Send me a link to your website, too!
Being in control is a very precious feeling in times of algorithms, political turbulence, societal change, and economic uncertainty. I guess that’s why I always circle back to making things by hand (be it online or offline): They keep me in control, and vice versa.
What else? I have been enjoying the new Charli XCX album and the whole brat campaign a lot! From all the big pop star releases this year, this one really stands out. I’ll do a write-up on my personal blog soon!
I get a lot of positive feedback on my monthly lists, still, which really are just a glimpse into my diary. I write them in German on my personal blog, and send them out as an email called Fakten und Mirakel. Sign up, if you like?
One thing that’s been calming me down is the YouTube channel of Benji: benjiplants. He elaborates on his houseplants in very much detail, and both he and his partner have the most soothing voices.
So, where was I? Oh, right. It’s July already, and how did this year move by so quickly? However it did it—it did. Summer nights are the best nights, when the world slowly calms down at 9, 10pm, and as it gets darker, the pages of our books illuminate. I’m off to read that story now. It’s from the book “No One Belongs Here More Than You” by Miranda July. Page 63. Something That Needs Nothing.
Have a great second half of the summer! Yours truly—Christoph 💌