---
title: "Welcome to the Den"
description: "First proper post. Why I built this site, what it runs on, and what to expect."
pubDate: 2026-03-01
tags: ["self-hosting", "privacy", "personal-web", "infrastructure"]
category: "building"
featuredEssay: true
readingOrder: 1
draft: false
---

So I finally got around to setting up a proper blog. Welcome.

## Why This Exists

I wanted a place to write that wasn't owned by a corporation. No Medium, no Substack, no algorithm deciding who sees what. Just markdown files on my own server, served by nginx from a Docker container I control.

That's the whole point of the den - owning your own space on the internet.

## What It Runs On

This site is built with [Astro](https://astro.build), which spits out pure static HTML at build time. No JavaScript runtime, no hydration, no client-side framework. Just HTML and CSS.

It's served by nginx inside a Docker container, deployed from my Gitea instance. The whole pipeline is mine.

## What to Expect

I'll write when I have something to say. Probably a mix of:

- Self-hosting adventures and homelab stuff
- Privacy thoughts and digital autonomy
- Technical things I figured out the hard way
- Whatever else is on my mind

No schedule, no engagement metrics, no SEO optimization. Just writing.

---

*Thanks for reading. Welcome to the den.*