www.byjp.me/content/curiosities.md

---
title: "Curiosities"
emoji: 🤩
draft: false
type: timeless
summary: A list of the many curious things I've made over the years.
sitemap:
  changefreq: weekly
  priority: 0.8
shortlink: curiosities
---
I'm a thoroughly [miriscient](https://www.miriscient.org) chap, and this often ends up in me creating toys, trinkets, projects and other artistic things. I've listed some out below.

## It's all here

I'm getting older, and sites I've been creative on are dying or becoming marketing platforms, so I'm gradually moving all my historical posts on other platforms to this blog.

* I'm [no fan of instagram](/posts/goodbye-big-social) these days, but all my 📸 [archived insta posts](/tags/from-instagram/#) are right here.
* For a good few years I wrote 📝 [poetry](/poetry) and kept it online — now stored here for your giggles and my cringe.
* In 2009 I 🇯🇵 [blogged my visit to Japan](/tags/japan-with-jk/#) with my friend JK. I've loved reading through my thoughts after my recent return there!

## Words and writing

* I created a word to fill a hole in the vocabulary I had to describe my _miriscient_ friends. Read or listen to 📖 [the story right here](/posts/miriscience).
* During the pandemic I built 🐌 [slow.fyi](https://slow.fyi) so I could write to friends old and new without pressuring them to reply or be rude.
* I published a book, 📔 [A lighter side of Africa](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lighter-Side-Africa-Paintings-Michael/dp/0993324908/), with my brother and Dad which showcases the artwork of a now sadly deceased Zimbabwean family friend, Michael J. Allard.

## Art and Creativity

* As I travel I like to take 30 second video clips of the peaceful places. I visit the 🧘 [site I made for them](https://30s.byjp.me/) when I want to relax for a moment.
* My friend created a beautiful alphabet, I turned it into a font and 👨‍🎤 [performance microsite](https://caspian.byjp.me). Read or listen to 📖 [the story right here](/posts/the-beauty-of-type).
* I once studied biomedical physics, so when I had an MRI of my head I jumped at the opportunity to extract a 3D model of my brain and 🧠 [render it in WebGL online](https://brain.byjp.me/).
* I built a clockface that counts 🕰 [the seconds since I was born](https://tictoc.byjp.me/). In binary.
* I helped by friend learn about website infrastructure by building a microsite of her favourite moment in film… 🐶 [wanna hear the most annoying sound in the world?](https://ipfs.io/ipfs/Qmf7mJpFapCBC15c7yGRd89ysgoTYB3h3ahCLMyJ8vB2Vo/).
* Maybe you'll like this little guy 🐙 [called tako](https://bafybeihwkqswvfggjqhh4fgeioq7xapzxolkb7ptmir22kovahnlzjmnfm.ipfs.dweb.link/).

## Postcards

* I write short fiction on postcards my Grandmother collected as she travelled Europe. You can 📮 [read them on their site](https://lucy.byjp.me/) or 🌍 [as an artsy animated thingie](https://lucy.byjp.me/globe#diving), if you're in a fancy browser.
* My friend likes telling me to 🤫 [shut up by post](https://www.instagram.com/p/BqZR3qjAkMC/). If I need it I have a 😏 [speedier retort to hand](https://shutupclaire.byjp.me/).
* I once left 15 self-addressed postcards dotted around London, suggesting that people doodle on them and send them back. 🐪 [Only one returned](https://postcarddoodles.byjp.me/), but I like that I'll never know who sent it to me, or drew it.
* In 2013 I tried to send a postcard every day for the whole year. I sent about 200, and 📫 [uploaded 92 of them](https://postcards.byjp.me/) to an odd site that never really knew what it was.
* Have you noticed that I really like postcards? See some favourites on 📸 [postcards.jpg](https://instagram.com/postcards.jpg).

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If you enjoyed any of these, why not tell me about it in an email — I have a [standing invitation](/standing-invitation).