Rebuilding (resuscitating) this site

I logged into GitHub after 14 years and found this site sitting there like an abandoned project. Another GitHub account exists somewhere, tied to an email I’ll never check again (github.com/lekhakpadmanabh). So I picked this one, shipped something simple, and got it live.

What started as “just website setup” turned into a surprisingly good session with ChatGPT and Claude Code. Same product instincts, different canvas.

Make the smallest atomic desire true

I wanted two things:

• A homepage that exists in the world again
• A pipeline where Markdown files become webpages without thinking

So I built exactly that. A homepage that loads. Links that don’t 404. A workflow I can repeat tomorrow.

Embarrassing progress is still progress. Ship the smallest honest version.

Two-way doors still require walking through them

I don’t know if I’ll blog here long-term or move writing to Substack and link from here. That’s fine—it’s a two-way door.

But “I can change my mind later” isn’t permission to wait for certainty. It’s permission to move now.

I made a choice that keeps options open and gets me unstuck.

Notice future complexity, then ignore it

I had the “will this scale?” moment. What about math rendering? Images? D3 demos? Interactive forms?

Good to notice. Mistake to let them veto the first version.

Complexity has to earn its place. Don’t give it a seat before it shows up.

The best part was the detours

My prompting style: follow the steps, then wander. It’s chaotic. You learn faster. It feels like building with Socrates who won’t let you skip the interesting questions.

Next: A real essay. A proper projects page. And probably another side-quest.