Hello, world.

background + motivation #

I deliberated for a long time about setting up a home for myself on the web. As a junior engineer, my feelings of imposter syndrome make it feel like no one would want to hear whatever thoughts or insights I may want to share about software development. However, while my technical expertise may still be in it's early stages of formation, I expect this blog to touch on adjacent topics rather than purely engineering. A few things I plan to write about are:

• Workflows and productivity, e.g. how I work and approach the open-ended nature of my job. Things like:
  • Getting Things Done (GTD) and other task management systems
  • Notes and personal knowledge management
  • Terminal and IDE setup
• Education and learning, things like:
  • Resources I've found valuable as an engineer with a non-traditional education background
  • Strategies I use for retaining and applying new knowledge
• Pathways into tech from non-traditional computer science backgrounds, such as:
  • Coding bootcamps
  • Apprenticeships
  • Independent learning
• Finding meaning + living a "good life" while working in the tech industry:
  • Strategies around finding work-life balance
  • Working in a capitalist system while being a leftist

how this site is made #

As a software engineer, let alone a frontend specialist, setting up a website or blog should be an extremely easy affair. That said, I deliberated for a long time about the most sensible way to set up a website.

There are countless great options for simple static sites, and I chose the excellent Eleventy framework as it is lightweight, un-opinionated, and works on a simple folder of plain-text Markdown files. I love Markdown and do almost all of my writing in it.

The overall layout and structure of this site is forked from the official Eleventy Starter blog, which provides a great starting point for working with the framework. Eventually, I plan to migrate the site to a custom design, possibly using Eleventy or possibly using the exciting new Remix framework.

• Next: 2021 in Review