It seems like a silly thing to write about but I love having my own server.
In the past year I got my own Media Temple Dedicated Virtual server to use for side projects (mainly Baconfile). Since I'm an application developer (and not much of a sysadmin) I never really thought about managing my own web server. Surprisingly, I'd now say that my server is my most fun toy.
It's incredibly fun because I can have an idea for a web site, build it, and get it out on the web... all by myself.
Okay, so I'm sure some of you old-timey web programmers have been doing this forever, but not me. I've always relied on someone else to host my stuff (employers, cloud services, umm...ex-boyfriends) thinking that it was something that I could never manage to do (or really want to do).
Ha! Everything I've needed to know about website management is on the web and available via a quick search. In fact, it appears to be the most documented thing on the web! I like to imagine in the 90s people said "here's my document and here is how you're seeing it on the internet!"
Why bother mentioning this on my blog? I only say this because I know quite a few web developers who don't do their own hosting. I say to you developer friends - do it! It's the best thing I've done all year.