I’ve always had a creative streak. I love nerdy things and fangirling. In the late 90s I discovered the internet and found a way to connect with like-minded people across the world. I built websites about the niche things I loved and found a creative outlet in fandom. I’d found my tribe and established my ‘tired-eye’ persona before social media, before youtube, before livejournal and all that followed. Yes I sound like a dinosaur, but I love that I got to experience that era of the web. I did pretty well too – I made a name for myself making fan videos, which won multiple awards and one was even handpicked to be featured at VividCon in the US.

I was very proprietary about my online work, so resisted the move to social media platforms. In truth this meant I got left behind as I lacked exposure. Life happened and I became a busy and a career-focussed professional. I became a wife and Mummy. Suddenly I realised that fandom was something I ‘used’ to do, and I felt a pang at the past tense.

The need to create never went away though. I always found an outlet – whether learning a new instrument, a new skill renovating our house or a new craft. My online world never left me though and I’ve always yearned to revive it, but it always felt like I was so far behind that I had a mountain to climb.

I’ve realised recently that being creative and making things (whether in real life or digitally) gives me a sense of fulfilment and pride that I don’t get anywhere else. It’s part of my self-care and fuels my wellbeing.

So, in 2023 I’m bringing back tired-eye. I might cross-post on social media sites, but my main home will be this site to curate and archive all the things I’ve made over the years, and to share my ongoing interests from fandom, writing, sewing, pottery and anything else that takes my fancy. This will be a collection of my creative endeavours, created in stolen moments of quietness, and inevitably done, as always, with tired eyes.