Naty SSome background about Naty S, author of BurgeonLab.
/about/About: Naty the Tech Dabbler and Tinkerer
Table of Contents
About This Site
If you want to learn more about the actual site, I created a dedicated /colophon page detailing the technicalities on how this site is run, tools used, etc.
Content Expectations
BurgeonLab is like a logbook where I document my tech explorations and any topic I find interesting. Posts are grouped into /series for easier access and have /tags for suggesting related content.
As of Q1 2026, these are the post types:
In 2026 I’ll take on the #100DaysToOffload challenge to incentivize me to becoming a sustainable blogger. I began blogging in 2022, and 2025 was my most productive year yet; 30+ posts and counting! I’m aiming for steady growth in the years ahead.
Topics may get more diverse; so consider subscribing to my RSS1 or Atom feeds to stay updated—I appreciate your readership! For now, BurgeonLab will remain primarily a tech‑focused personal blog while I work on IndieWeb integration.
DISCLAIMER: All content you read on burgeonlab.com is created by a human and will never be generated by AI. Read the AI Tools section to learn where genAI is used on my blog.
Contact
Connect with me via any of the platforms on the /contact page. I’m always up for a chat about shared hobbies or topics of interest; and would be more than happy if you want to collaborate on something together.
Most posts include a Comments section near the bottom with instructions on how to respond. The quickest way is to comment on the corresponding Mastodon post using the Comment via Mastodon » button.2 Alternatively, you can email or message me directly.
My Other Two Blogs
I manage two other blogs, but they’re nowhere near as loved as BurgeonLab!
- General Blog: eclecticpassions.net (RSS feed)
- Photography Blog: aperture2iris.com (RSS Feed) — site under construction
If you want to read more about my blogging journey, check out these posts:
- Hello Hugo: Starting My Static Site Generator Journey
- My Blogging Pursuit with Hugo and WordPress
- Response to The Worst Community Report Podcast: Blogging
Some Links
About Me
Okay, a little about me. I’m Naty, a trained healthcare professional currently looking for opportunities outside primary care. I am a third-culture kid who grew up and studied abroad in Canada and Ireland, currently based in Hong Kong, SAR.
I go by these three online handles/usernames (they’re also the domain names for my blogs):
- burgeonlab
- eclecticpassions
- APERTURE2IRIS
Some words I’d use to describe myself, in no particular order:
| quick-thinking | serious |
| observant | perfectionist |
| good memory | old-fashioned |
| skeptical | punctual |
| helpful | pessimistic |
| detail-oriented | dexterous |
| introvert | geeky |
| disciplined | eccentric |
| competitive | responsible |
| studious | a bit OCD |
| kind | adaptable |
Origin of My Passion for Technology
Ever since I was a kid, I loved computers and all things technology. I still remember my mom getting me my first computer—a HP Pavilion tower PC with Windows 95. I was lucky to get early exposure to a second OS at school too, with the iMac G3. Oh, days were much simpler back then…
Technology Stack
The only “official” IT studies I’ve completed is IGCSE ICT; but within my social groups, I am pleased to be the go-to techie and IT support person! I enjoy a good challenge and learning new skills meets that criteria. As a non-IT professional, I’m proud of my self-taught technical skills through experimentation and online resources (if I may say so myself).
The table below is the tech stack I’ve been practicing. By no means am I an expert in any of these—but I am able to do the things I want and are familiar with the basics at least. I’m most comfortable using Zsh, Markdown, TOML, Hugo, WordPress, Obsidian, and the three operating systems.
| CLI Tools | |
| Operating Systems | |
| Frontend | |
| Programming Languages | |
| Markup Languages | |
| CMS | |
| Version Control | |
| Home Lab | |
| Data Science | |
| Database | |
| Generative AI | |
| IDE | |
| Productivity/PKM |
Other Hobbies
I’m a sucker for hobbies, lots of them. (Last updated: 2025-06-18)
- Photography (both 35mm film and digital)
- Speciality coffee/tea
- Stationery
- Japanese paper goods (diaries, etc)
- Fountain pens
- Car detailing
- Watches
- House plants/germinating seeds
- Synths (Volcas, Circuit, Pocket Operators)
- Head-fi
- Art/crafts:
- Leathercraft/shoeshining
- Hand embroidery (Kogin-zashi, Brazilian/dimensional)
- Watercolours
- Cleaning (yes, the chore!)
- EDC (everyday carry)
- Hiking
- Poetry
- Sim racing
- Formula 1/F1 Fantasy
- Video games
- Favourite genres
- Racing
- Music/rhythm
- First-person shooters
- Favourite genres
- Some of my favourite games
- CS:GO (ex-Gold Nova 3)
- Euro Truck Simulator
- F1
- Gran Turismo
- Taiko no Tatsujin 太鼓の達人 (handheld & arcade vers.)
- Katamari Damacy
- Hermie Hopperhead: Scrap Panic (I wrote a section about this game on Joel’s blog—he games a lot)
- The Sims 1 & 2
I hope to write posts about some of these in the future… I’ll will update this page when it’s available!
RSS is one of the best ways of consuming content on the web efficiently and conveniently. Read my post on setting up RSS for your blog or learn more about web syndication and consuming RSS content. ↩︎
If you don’t have a Mastodon account yet, please read Why It’s a Bad Idea to Join a Big Server by Fedi.Tips. ↩︎
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(My Libera.Chat nick is burgeonlab, find me hanging in #indieweb or #fosstodon.)
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