Weeknotes 26:03
Posted 2 days ago
Week of January 11–17

- It was a bit slower week than the previous two. Not that I am complaining. I struggled to use some of the spaces in my week to work on professional development as I was dragging a lot of days. I believe I was sleeping better at night but still getting use to a regular schedule and getting up earlier.
- My work focused on updating pages about Robert Wolgemuth and updating or creating new content for our Women’s Ministry Essentials course that starts next week. We decided to move off a course platform and use our content management software (Django CMS) instead.
- I downloaded a trial of Polypane at the end of the week. I believe I had used it for a short period of time in the past. I have been building a lot more page layouts from scratch and thought Polypane would be a good tool to allow me to see a lot of different screen sizes at once. It was helpful to me on Friday as I was evaluating a current site feature for different screens. It was nice to be able to view them all at once and think about how I might change some things.
- During our team prayer time on Tuesday, we took time to share things we learned or stories of meaningful encounters with Robert Wolgemuth. This is the first time we had met together as a team since Robert went to be with the Lord the previous weekend. I was quite encouraged to hear from different people. I have also been reading one of his books, Gun Lap, over the past two weeks. It was good to spend that time together last week to grieve together and laugh together as we remembered this dear man.
- I wrote an article about the apps that I currently use. I had written one in 2023 and 2024. I had seen others write these updated posts and it seemed like a good idea. I also updated my “uses” page.
- Because I had worked the previous weekend to publish pages about Robert, my team leader told me to take a half-day on the day of my choosing. I decided to take it on Friday and I went to see The Fellowship of the Ring at the movie theater with my wife and youngest. The trilogy was re-released to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the first movie’s release. I enjoyed getting to revisit Middle Earth on the big screen. I had seen The Two Towers a couple of years ago with my kids. We plan to see The Return of the King next weekend.
Articles I read
- Reject the Religion of Efficiency (Samuel James) – I really like these thoughts about the “inefficiency” of a lot of the work we do. And why AI could keep us from putting in the effort to make things better. There is so much about creative work that looks inefficient but is making a valuable contribution to the process. We need to have the freedom to struggle because it is in the midst of the struggle that our best ideas or solutions come about.
- A Front Door and a Family Meal (Tim Challies)
- Magnifying Glass (Chris Coyier)
- Sober-Minded in an Age of Outrage (David Prince)
- The Courage in Encouragement (Trevin Wax)
- Moral Failings of Christian Leaders Should Make Us Examine Ourselves Closely (Randy Alcorn)
- The Case for Blogging in the Ruins (JA Westenberg)
- 3 + 4 (Jeremy Keith)
- The Good News About Bad Work Days (Elizabeth Stice)
- Simulating Crop Marks (Chris Coyier, Frontend Masters Blog)
- Jensen Huang Is Begging You to Stop Being So Negative About AI (AJ Dellinger, Gizmodo) – The nerve. Really?
- Mutual aid and asking people what they need (Chris Ferdinandi)
- 19 WordPress Alternatives: From Simple Builders To Enterprise CMS (Search Engine Journal) – I was just curious what they came up with.
- The easiest way to work with the WordPress Quote block (Geoff Graham) – I ran into this same issue working with the quote block. Just something I always have to keep in mind when I use it.
- It’s Possible to Find Happiness in Jesus Every Day through His Word (Randy Alcorn)
- It Doesn’t Matter What You Remember (Tim Challies)
- Use of AI to harm women has only just begun, experts warn (Helena Horton, The Guardian)
- National Design Studio offers a rebrand of government services (Elizabeth Goodspeed, The Architect’s Newspaper) – No thank you.
- Switch (Jeremy Keith)
- Stay Curious, Friends (Jason Beaird) – I appreciate differing viewpoints on how to use AI today. I tend to be more negative but appreciate hearing different viewpoints.
- I redesigned my website (again) (Salma Alam-Naylor)
- Fruitful to the End (Beth Ferguson on Gospel-Centered Discipleship)
- Who stole your cookie? (Chris Ferdinandi)
- Something Is Rotten in the State of America (David French, New York Times)
- When the tech leopard eats your face (Chris Ferdinandi)
- Why Agencies Are Switching from WordPress to Craft CMS (Appfoster)
- The 2026 World Watch List Reminds Us to Pray for Our Persecuted Brothers and Sisters (Randy Alcorn)
- Truths That Take on the World (Tim Challies) – A book review of The Gospel Way Catechism.
- What’s !important #3: Popover Context Menus, @scope, New Web Platform Features, and More (Daniel Schwarz, CSS Tricks) – It is always good to at least skim articles like this to see what new features are available and worth more research.
- Learning to Love the Church More Than Me (Dave Harvey)
- HTTP Archive 2025 Web Almanac (Geoff Graham, CSS Tricks)
- Studio Notes #67 (Dan Cederholm)
- Rebellion (Kyle Borg, Gentle Reformation)
- Better Than Feeling Seen (Casey McCall)
- App Defaults 2026 (David Bushell)
- My Too-Weak Tribute to Jerry Bridges (Tim Challies) – I am not sure if I read this several years ago when Jerry Bridges passed away. I had wished that I had written a tribute to Jerry all those years ago because several of his books have left their mark on my life and be used God to transform my character.
- The AI Security Shakedown (Jim Nielsen)
- 4 CSS Features Every Front-End Developer Should Know In 2026 (Adam Argyle) – Once again, it is good to read articles like this to become familiar with new features. And Adam is someone worth listening to.
- Accessibility is personal (Matthias Zöchling)
- Reflections on 2025 (Sarah Drasner)
- Senior Yearbook Photo (Joe Crawford) – I enjoyed this post by Joe. Interesting life reflection.
Caught my eye
Text frame border animation rotation (Codepen)
See the Pen Text frame border animation rotation that [CSS & SVG] V 2 by Fernando Cohen (@designfenix) on CodePen.
I have been seeing previews of this site for weeks on Bluesky. I was excited to see the launched products which use a lot of scroll-driven animations and view transitions. I love it!
What I watched
- Star Trek and Faith with Mark Hansard (YouTube) – My friend Mark was on a podcast to talk about his book, Star Trek and Faith, which I read at the end of the year.
- If Phillip Yancey Could Fall, What Makes You Think You Won’t? (Brad Bright, YouTube) – I appreciated Brad sharing these lessons from his father’s life.
- All Creatures Great & Small (PBS) – I am so excited for a new season of my favorite show.
- Starting Five (Netflix) – I finished watching season 2 this week.
- Somebody Feed Phil (Netflix)
- Strange New Worlds (Paramount+)
- The Great British Baking Show (Netflix)
- Percy Jacksons and the Olympians, Season 2 (Disney+)
- The West Wing (Netflix) – I started rewatching a familiar favorite.
- The Fellowship of the Ring, 25th Anniversary (Theater) – I enjoyed seeing this movie in the theater again. Planning to see Return of the King next week.
Books I am reading
- Sunday Matters (Paul David Tripp) – I read one devotional a week. I had planned to finish it in 2025 but fell behind so still working on it.
- The Basketball 100 (David Aldridge & John Hollinger)
- How to Tell The Truth (Preston Perry)
- Gun Lap (Robert Wolgemuth)
- All That Jesus Commanded (John Piper)
- Daily Doctrine (Kevin DeYoung)
Walking – 10.25 miles
- Monday – 3.25 miles in 1 hour
- Tuesday – 3.43 miles in 1 hour 2 minutes
- Saturday – 3.58 miles in 1 hour 7 minutes
What I listened to
- Show Talk Show #697: Web Install API, Resizing Text, Active View Transition Type
- Chrome just pushed a breaking CSS change! (General Musings, Kevin Powell)
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