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# No. 001 • The Count Begins
- URL: https://www.derekblane.com/001-the-count-begins/
- Published: 2026-08-08T18:57:48.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-13T22:59:13.000Z
- Description: Digital Construction Ghost, Custom Theme August 2026
- Author: Derek Blane
- Tags: System

This is my first entry. Which means this is the container, and also a thing I've made. Every new thing gets the next number. Nothing gets removed once it has a number. The formats for posting were built to show a slice of a person. Social media feels performative at 41 years old. So this is the space where I will record. Essays, thoughts, objects, whatever clears the guidelines I've set. I call them the gates. One count across all of it. No structured cadence. No pressure.

#### 

BUILD NOTES  
Ghost, custom theme. Built on a weekend using Claude Code over 13 iterations. 13 has always been a lucky number for me. The palette and design are pulled from my recent paintings.

Update: I am now on version 25  
  
WHAT IT REPLACED  
A traditional online portfolio didn't feel right. I tried planning a few to build. None of those worked out. Social media has become exhausting. And the format of both feels too promotional.   
  
THE GATES  
1\. Is it finished?  
2\. Is it unmistakably mine?  
3\. Will I stand behind it in ten years?

On the fence: if it costs something to post, it goes in. If it's just comfortable, it waits.

"Will people find this interesting" is not a gate.  
  
THE COST  
A businessman finds it too artsy. A friend finds it more serious than they know me to be. A stranger finds it arrogant. Or maybe no one understands it at all.