A place to keep things

I wanted a place where almost anything could belong. Photographs, places I have visited, projects around the house, music, books, technology, passing thoughts, and whatever else happens to feel worth keeping. There is no narrow subject tying it all together beyond the fact that it is part of my life.

Social media never felt quite right for that. Everything is pushed into a feed, judged by how quickly it gets attention, and eventually buried beneath whatever comes next. It is useful for sharing something in the moment, but not especially good at giving a mixed collection of things a lasting home.

This site is intentionally less defined. I do not know yet what will fill most of it, how often I will add to it, or which kinds of posts will become the most common. Part of the appeal is finding that out as I go.

An AI experiment

In addition to being a place to keep things, Lately is also an AI experiment. I wanted to see how far AI had come and what it could actually do if I gave it access to the tools needed to build a real website.

The entire process has been a back-and-forth conversation. I explain what I want, say what I like or dislike, share screenshots, point out what needs to change, and ask for suggestions. The AI handles the code and works directly with the services behind the site. I describe what I want, and we keep refining it from there.

For anyone curious about what is actually behind the site, Lately is built with Astro, with the posts stored as Markdown files. GitHub holds the site’s code and content, Netlify builds and hosts it, and Sveltia CMS provides the editor I use to create and update posts. AI ties much of that process together by working directly with those tools as I make changes.

That is really the experiment behind Lately: seeing how much of a custom website can be built and maintained through conversation with AI. The direction, content, experiences, opinions, and final decisions are mine. AI handles much of the technical work that turns those ideas into the site you are looking at.

Looking ahead

I expect this to remain a small, occasional site. A handful of posts each year feels about right. There is no schedule to keep and no need to publish just to keep the site active.

I hope Lately stays simple, personal, and useful to me, while the AI experiment continues quietly in the background.