diff --git a/hugo.toml b/hugo.toml
index 625a8ca..b72980f 100644
--- a/hugo.toml
+++ b/hugo.toml
@@ -8,19 +8,69 @@ googleAnalytics = 'G-LMKPZJ98Y8'
 
 contentDir = "content"
 
+[pagination]
+  pagerSize = 8
+
 [Params]
   description = "Writer, thinker, technologist. Morning briefs, Stoic reflections, self-hosting, and systems thinking."
 
+# Main nav: Posts as a direct link, then an Explore dropdown for everything else
 [[menus.main]]
+  identifier = "posts"
   name = "Posts"
   url  = "/posts/"
   weight = 1
 
+[[menus.main]]
+  identifier = "explore"
+  name = "Explore"
+  url  = "/explore/"
+  weight = 2
+
+# Explore dropdown children — blog navigation
 [[menus.main]]
   name = "Tags"
   url  = "/tags/"
+  parent = "explore"
+  weight = 1
+
+[[menus.main]]
+  name = "Site Index"
+  url  = "/explore/"
+  parent = "explore"
   weight = 2
 
+# Explore dropdown children — tools
+[[menus.main]]
+  name = "Status Dashboard"
+  url  = "/status"
+  parent = "explore"
+  weight = 3
+
+[[menus.main]]
+  name = "Flights"
+  url  = "/flights"
+  parent = "explore"
+  weight = 4
+
+[[menus.main]]
+  name = "Volleyball Score"
+  url  = "/volleyball-score"
+  parent = "explore"
+  weight = 5
+
+[[menus.main]]
+  name = "Pixel Art"
+  url  = "/pixel-art"
+  parent = "explore"
+  weight = 6
+
+[[menus.main]]
+  name = "ASCII Art"
+  url  = "/ascii-art"
+  parent = "explore"
+  weight = 7
+
 [[menus.footer]]
   name = "RSS"
   url  = "/index.xml"
diff --git a/layouts/index.html b/layouts/index.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8e74b2f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/layouts/index.html
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+{{ define "main" }}
+{{- $pages := where .Site.RegularPages "Section" "posts" }}
+{{- $paginator := .Paginate $pages }}
+<ul class="post-list">
+  {{- range $paginator.Pages }}
+  <li class="post-list__entry">
+    <div class="post-list__meta">
+      <time class="post-list__date" datetime="{{ .Date.Format "2006-01-02" }}">{{ .Date.Format "Jan 2, 2006" }}</time>
+      {{- with .Params.categories }}
+      <span class="post-list__category">{{ index . 0 | lower }}</span>
+      {{- end }}
+    </div>
+    <div class="post-list__body">
+      <a href="{{ .Permalink }}" class="post-list__title">{{ .Title }}</a>
+      {{- /* Use frontmatter description first (richer for Morning Brief posts),
+             fall back to auto-generated summary */}}
+      {{- $excerpt := or .Description (.Summary | plainify) }}
+      {{- if $excerpt }}
+      <p class="post-list__excerpt">{{ $excerpt | truncate 220 }}</p>
+      {{- end }}
+    </div>
+  </li>
+  {{- end }}
+</ul>
+
+{{- /* Pagination controls — only shown when there's more than one page */}}
+{{- if gt $paginator.TotalPages 1 }}
+<nav class="post-list-pagination" aria-label="Post navigation">
+  <span>
+    {{- if $paginator.HasPrev }}
+    <a href="{{ $paginator.Prev.URL | absURL }}">← Newer posts</a>
+    {{- end }}
+  </span>
+  <span>Page {{ $paginator.PageNumber }} of {{ $paginator.TotalPages }}</span>
+  <span>
+    {{- if $paginator.HasNext }}
+    <a href="{{ $paginator.Next.URL | absURL }}">Older posts →</a>
+    {{- end }}
+  </span>
+</nav>
+{{- end }}
+{{ end }}
diff --git a/layouts/partials/head.html b/layouts/partials/head.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..705b7b0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/layouts/partials/head.html
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+<meta charset="utf-8">
+<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
+<title>{{ if .IsHome }}{{ .Site.Title }}{{ else }}{{ .Title }} — {{ .Site.Title }}{{ end }}</title>
+{{ with .Description }}<meta name="description" content="{{ . }}">{{ end }}
+{{ with .Params.summary }}<meta name="description" content="{{ . }}">{{ end }}
+<meta name="generator" content="Hugo {{ hugo.Version }}">
+<link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com">
+<link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.gstatic.com" crossorigin>
+<link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Lora:ital,wght@0,400;0,500;0,600;0,700;1,400&family=IBM+Plex+Mono:wght@400&display=swap" rel="stylesheet">
+<link rel="stylesheet" href="{{ "css/main.css" | relURL }}">
+<link rel="stylesheet" href="{{ "css/custom.css" | relURL }}">
+{{ with .OutputFormats.Get "rss" -}}
+<link rel="{{ .Rel }}" type="{{ .MediaType.Type }}" href="{{ .Permalink }}" title="{{ $.Site.Title }}">
+{{- end }}
+{{ with .Site.Params.googleAnalytics -}}
+<script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id={{ . }}"></script>
+<script>
+  window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
+  function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}
+  gtag('js', new Date());
+  gtag('config', '{{ . }}');
+</script>
+{{- end }}
diff --git a/layouts/partials/header.html b/layouts/partials/header.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ae9213c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/layouts/partials/header.html
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+<header class="site-header">
+  <div class="site-wrapper">
+    <div class="site-header__inner">
+      <a href="{{ "/" | relURL }}" class="site-title">{{ .Site.Title }}</a>
+      {{- if .Site.Menus.main }}
+      <nav aria-label="Main navigation">
+        <ul class="site-nav">
+          {{- range .Site.Menus.main }}
+          {{- if not .Parent }}{{/* top-level items only */}}
+            {{- if .HasChildren }}
+            {{/* Explore dropdown — renders parent link + child list */}}
+            <li class="nav-has-dropdown">
+              <a href="{{ .URL }}"
+                 {{- if $.IsMenuCurrent "main" . }} class="is-active"{{ end }}
+                 aria-haspopup="true">{{ .Name }} <span class="nav-arrow" aria-hidden="true">▾</span></a>
+              <ul class="nav-dropdown" role="menu">
+                {{- range .Children }}
+                <li role="none">
+                  <a href="{{ .URL }}" role="menuitem">{{ .Name }}</a>
+                </li>
+                {{- end }}
+              </ul>
+            </li>
+            {{- else }}
+            {{/* Regular nav item */}}
+            <li>
+              <a href="{{ .URL }}"{{ if $.IsMenuCurrent "main" . }} class="is-active"{{ end }}>{{ .Name }}</a>
+            </li>
+            {{- end }}
+          {{- end }}
+          {{- end }}
+        </ul>
+      </nav>
+      {{- end }}
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</header>
diff --git a/static/css/custom.css b/static/css/custom.css
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..37af75c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/static/css/custom.css
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+/* ── Explore dropdown nav ── */
+
+/* Wrapper li needs relative positioning for the dropdown panel */
+.nav-has-dropdown {
+  position: relative;
+}
+
+/* Show the dropdown on hover (desktop) and when focus is inside (keyboard/touch) */
+.nav-has-dropdown:hover .nav-dropdown,
+.nav-has-dropdown:focus-within .nav-dropdown {
+  display: block;
+}
+
+/* Dropdown panel */
+.nav-dropdown {
+  display: none;
+  position: absolute;
+  top: calc(100% + 4px);
+  right: 0;
+  min-width: 180px;
+  list-style: none;
+  margin: 0;
+  padding: 6px 0;
+  background: var(--color-surface);
+  border: 1px solid var(--color-border);
+  border-radius: 4px;
+  box-shadow: 0 4px 16px rgba(44, 36, 22, 0.10);
+  z-index: 200;
+}
+
+.nav-dropdown li {
+  display: block;
+}
+
+.nav-dropdown a {
+  display: block;
+  padding: 7px 16px;
+  font-size: 15px;
+  color: var(--color-secondary);
+  white-space: nowrap;
+  text-decoration: none;
+  transition: background 100ms ease, color 100ms ease;
+}
+
+.nav-dropdown a:hover {
+  background: var(--color-neutral);
+  color: var(--color-primary);
+}
+
+/* Subtle arrow nudge so it's clear it's a dropdown trigger */
+.nav-arrow {
+  font-size: 11px;
+  opacity: 0.6;
+  vertical-align: middle;
+}
+
+/* ── Homepage post list improvements ── */
+
+/* Slightly more breathing room between entries */
+.post-list__entry {
+  padding-bottom: 1.4rem;
+  margin-bottom: 1.4rem;
+}
+
+/* Description/excerpt text under each post title */
+.post-list__excerpt {
+  margin-top: 0.3rem;
+  font-size: 0.9rem;
+  color: var(--color-secondary);
+  line-height: 1.55;
+}
+
+/* Pagination controls at bottom of homepage */
+.post-list-pagination {
+  display: flex;
+  justify-content: space-between;
+  align-items: center;
+  padding-top: 1.5rem;
+  border-top: 1px solid var(--color-border);
+  font-size: 0.875rem;
+  color: var(--color-tertiary);
+}
+
+.post-list-pagination a {
+  color: var(--color-accent);
+  text-decoration: none;
+  font-weight: 500;
+}
+
+.post-list-pagination a:hover {
+  text-decoration: underline;
+}