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Quantum Moon

I've been online since 1992.

I was twelve. I learned HTML from view-source, spent my allowance on a permanent LiveJournal account, and eventually moved across the country at nineteen for someone I met on the internet. The internet was real to me before most people thought it was.

After thirty years, I left social media — not because I gave up on what it could be, but because I remembered what it used to feel like and couldn't find it anymore. So I started building the things I wanted and couldn't find. Spaces built for the parts of life that deserve better software.

— Ellen

Ellen's LiveJournal profile for closedblueyes, showing the account was created 19 April 2001 and has 1,608 journal entries. A 25-year Blog's Birthday achievement badge is prominently displayed.
closedblueyes, since April 2001.
Ellen standing between Dawn, who has blue hair and wears a black top, and Drew, who wears a black t-shirt, at what appears to be an early podcasting event.
with Dawn and Drew — one of the first podcasts ever. Early 2000s.
Ellen and Zach Harvey in Halloween costumes. Ellen wears a white dress and yellow flower crown; Zach wears a robe and sparkly crown, grinning at the camera.
me and Zach Harvey, Halloween 2001. He was the best of us, and I would give anything to hug him one more time.
Ellen sitting inside a vintage trolley car, wearing a green beret, mirrored round sunglasses, and a green leather crossbody bag, grinning.
me.
Ellen gazing down at newborn Gavin in her arms, black and white documentary photo. A second pair of hands reaches in to hold his feet.
the one I Wished for
Ellen and her mother at a rooftop restaurant with a city skyline behind them. Ellen wears a silver sequined top; her mother has silver-white hair and pearl earrings. Both dressed up, heads together.
me and my mom.
Ellen in a white A-line gown holding a bouquet of pink, yellow, and blue flowers, standing on a wooden dock at dusk with her husband in a navy suit. Both smiling.
my wedding day.

The work

Shimmer

invite only

For the people who truly know you, wherever you found them.

Shimmer is a private space for deep friendships. The ones that formed in a Reddit thread at 2am, or in a group chat that's been going for ten years, or in a room where something hard happened and you got through it together. Encrypted. No algorithm. No counts. Just the people who actually know you, in one place.

See if you have an invite

Shimmer is just the beginning. More soon.