title!! see, i'm not shy about being a huge fan of 2000s fashion. take one look at my shrine and you'll realize it pretty quickly. i often brand myself as being more on the McBling side of fashion since a lot of my wardrobe conforms to that, and it's the 2000s substyle that i like the most. HOWEVER, i like to commit to the bit as much as possible... and that's pretty difficult when you're as indecisive as me.

sometimes i'll take a peek at my Pinterest boards, which i use for outfit coordination ideas and thrifting goals, then realize i've placed all of my eggs into 55 different baskets. some days i feel like wearing a full Abercrombie or Hollister ensemble... other days i'll fish my Baby Phat or Bebe stuff out of my closet... or if i'm in a rush, i'll throw on a Juicy Couture tracksuit and call it a day.
when i decide to mash brands together, it's annoying to coordinate sometimes, especially when you have a crap ton of clothes from a bunch of different brands that don't necessarily "agree" with each other. technically, all of the brands i mentioned represent different aspects of 2000s fashion - yeah, they are all McBling-adjacent, but not in the same way. you could technically make them work together... but it gets difficult when you consider how color schemes and patterns might clash.
plus, i also really like early 2010s substyles, which is a whole new can of worms - UGH. i wish i could just wear all of my favorite styles in one while making it look good!!!

the dilemma of not being able to decide which substyle to pick is (technically) also the fun of it - since it forces you to think a bit more carefully about how you wear your clothes, not just what you wear. and i know many people would be like "oh, well you can wear whatever you want!" I'M TRYING!! but it needs to be cohesive or i'll lose my mind!

anyway, i'll figure it out. i've managed for years, anyway... and i can always revamp my closet a bit if i want things to match. i've got more than enough clothing from each of my favorite brands to just do a full branded fit, which usually works extremely well lol

-mako

happy 6/9 everyone. sorry, had to mention it. i'm happy to be able to do my monthly site update, but i wish i could update more often, honestly. i should be getting back into the swing of things soon if everything goes according to plan!

i wanted to talk about iOS 26, the new update for Apple devices that was just announced today. i think this is one of THE coolest updates they've come up with, mostly because they decided the way apps look needed an overhaul. they added this 'glassy' app effect; it reminded me of the glossy app icons from iOS 6 and before when i saw it. i'm so happy that skeuomorphism has become mainstream again- i first noticed it with Microsoft and the way they designed Windows 11, but now it seems like it's spreading.
don't you think it's so cool that 2000s culture has begun to resurge? i know this tends to happen every 20 years, where the culture of a past era returns and then fizzles out after the decade's over, but it's so fun to live through right now. especially since the technology is advancing, yet 'regressing' back into styles popular back then. i LIVE for it.

...to be honest, i haven't updated my phone in well over 3 years, so i don't think i'll be getting this update anytime soon. despite that, it gives me a lot of hope for where UI and web design are headed in the future- but that's not to say that it disappeared in the first place! being on sites like Neocities and Nekoweb makes it obvious that so many corners of the Internet still maintain that charm. i like to think mine does, too.

um, can we return to stacked flexboxes and gradients and stuff next? or bring back Windows XP... pretty-please?

-mako

YES!!!! YOU HEARD THAT RIGHT! i have greeeeat news about the phone- i got it to work!! here's how.

so, i seriously almost paid someone, like, $85 to ship a P900iV battery to me. i KNOW. i'm insane for that. but i didn't, because i snapped out of the trance once i saw all the shipping quotes lol. when that was over, i was still really sad that i couldn't get ahold of a battery, so i kept doing my research.

THEN.
i found out that the battery it uses is compatible with only one other phone- the P900i. this was my last hope-- so i went on Buyee, and lo and behold, P900is go for $10 USD and even the cheap ones often come with a battery!! i didn't waste any time buying one.
also, i need to mention that compared to Buyee, Neokyo SUCKS. i don't know why i wasted my time with them. Buyee shipped pretty much the SAME phone, with the SAME shipping method, and a HEAVIER WEIGHT. and STILL, i got it within two weeks, compared to Neokyo, which took a month. i completely suggest Buyee even if it's a bit more expensive- totally worth the price hike!

i got the second phone in the mail yesterday, took the battery out and swapped it, then charged the P900iV. i got it to work and charged it fully! (the battery barely holds a charge for more than 45 minutes, but i don't even mind, lol.) old Docomo phones do not come with a reset function, and the seller on Neokyo didn't seem to have a battery, so anything that was on the phone originally was still on it when i received it.
since there was no SIM or SD card i unfortunately couldn't find games to preserve, etc. a lot of stuff was locked behind a "no SIM inserted" notification. but i found photos from the previous owner, most taken in 2007. they were really sweet, all of them were photos and videos of a mother and her children i wish i knew who they were, so i could return the phone to them...

back to the SIM lock. i am working on getting a special custom cable so that i can plug the phone into my computer and bypass it! since the phone wasn't reset there is still data on it (for example, phone carrier-specific apps called "appli") that may contain video games or content that i can try to preserve. i can't get to it unless i hook it up to my computer, or find the original SIM card. not happening lol.

i'm really excited to see what this brings. THANK GOSH THIS STRUGGLE WAS WORTH IT!!!!!!

-mako

happy first V2 blog post! i'll tell all about my flip phone escapade as promised.

so, as you know, the P900iV is the cell phone of my dreams. i mean, if i could use it on a day-to-day basis, i SO would- hell, it's all over my website.
i posted on my Neocities profile a couple of weeks ago (i've been using it as a makeshift blog while i work on this) that i finally bought the phone!!! CONFETTI!

for some background, this phone was used in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. the phone itself came out around 2004, before the movie, from what i've seen- i have a feeling they just decided to market the phone as FF7 merch after the fact. it was sold in 3 colors: Cloud Black, Champagne Gold, and This One Hideous Orange Color. i purchased the Champagne Gold version of the phone on Neokyo last month for around $35 USD, if i remember correctly. shipping was $11, so in all i paid a little less than $50. a decent price.

this phone took FOREVER to get here; i just received it today. it's really pretty, and feels great to hold. the camcorder function, which you're looking at on your screen, is so dang sweet. unfortunately, i found that the phone came without a battery!! :(

this is a huge issue, because most countries including the US and Japan have a lot of laws regarding lithium ion batteries- i.e., they can't be shipped internationally without a device storing them (and i planned to buy one standalone). not to mention i wanted to use the phone to dig up anything that might've been on it, but it came completely empty- no SIM or SD either. why don't you put Nair in my face wash next?!

i haven't given up yet, mostly because i paid for a charger which cost another $30. if i gave up now i'd be in the hole almost a hundred bucks, & in hindsight, it probably would've been cheaper to just bite the bullet and get it off eBay for one of those jacked prices.

honestly, even with all these annoying setbacks i don't really regret it. i'm excited because i know there is still a chance to get it working again, and not all data is stored exclusively on an SD, so i might still be able to find some sweet stuff on it. here's hoping!

-mako