Building My Personal Site (For the Fourth Time)

Every developer has that one project they can never finish: their personal website.

Mine has gone through at least four complete rewrites. The first one was a basic HTML page with a gradient background that I thought was revolutionary. The second was a React SPA with way too many animations. The third was a "minimalist" version that was so minimal it had basically nothing on it.

Why Rewrite Again?

Honestly? Because I finally found a design language I actually liked. I saw how Sentry styled their marketing pages — the deep violet canvas, the lime green keyword highlights, the floating sticker mascots — and something clicked.

It wasn't about copying their design. It was about understanding that a personal website should have personality. Not corporate personality. Actual personality.

The Stack This Time

• Next.js 14 with the App Router — because file-system routing just makes sense
• Tailwind CSS — I resisted for years, now I can't go back
• Cloudflare Pages — fast, free, and the DX with next-on-pages is solid
• MDX for blog posts — write in markdown, render in React
• Giscus for comments — GitHub Discussions as a comment backend? Yes please.

What's Different

This time I actually wrote content before building the UI. Revolutionary concept, I know.

I also committed to a design system upfront instead of winging it. Every color, every font size, every border radius is documented. When I want to add something new, I'm extending the system, not fighting it.

Will I Rewrite It Again?

Probably. But not for a while. This one feels right.

The trick is accepting that your personal site is never "done." It's a living thing. The point isn't perfection — it's having something out there that represents you, right now, imperfections and all.

So here it is. Attempt number four. Welcome.