Weeknotes 25:38

Posted 5 days ago

Week of September 14–20

Goodbye, Teddy

We had to make the difficult decision to end the life of our beloved Teddy on Friday. Her health had been deteriorating the past few weeks. We know this decision was the best thing for her and we did not want her to suffer more than she needed to. Guinea pigs life spans are typicaly 5–7 years and she was almost six years old.

She was a very special piggie. She was the lone survivor of three pigs we bought just before the pandemic in 2020. She was very affectionate and liked to lick your face. She bonded with my youngest and they shared a very special relationship. We made some good last memories as we held her and loved on her through the week. So grateful to our vet’s office who handled it with such compassion for us and for Teddy.

Published on CSS Tricks

I was so excited and giddy on Wednesday when CSS Tricks published my first article, Is it Time to Un-Sass? I wrote the first draft on Labor Day and have been working with Geoff Graham over the past few weeks to edit and polish it for publication. As a long time reader of CSS Tricks, it was a honor and privilege to be asked to write for them.

Preparing for True Woman ’25

I worked on several different projects this week related to Revive Our Hearts conference, True Woman ’25, which is happening in Indianapolis in a couple of weeks. I worked on livestream pages for five different languages. I added more content and functionality to a heart preparation page with podcast episodes for every day the week leading up the conference. And I worked on a form for women to join other women around the world to read the Bible in 2026.

Articles I read

Favorites of the week

• You Don’t Need Animations (Emil Kowalski) – Some good advice adding some purposeful animations to improve the user interface.
• We are remembering two different Charlie Kirks (Jaclyn Creiswig) – A thoughtful piece on why there are two different reactions to Charlie Kirk. Much of it is determined by our algorithms.

Other articles I read

• When the Shepherd’s Rod is … You! (Tim Challies)
• The Mac App Flea Market (Jim Nielsen)
• Many years on the job and I still don’t get it. (Dave Rupert) – A listing of the many tasks we tend to forget that is part of our day as a web developer. It is not all about writing code.
• 996 (Armin Ronacher) – Push back against the 996 work culture.
• Why Make a Website in 2025? (Jim Nielsen) – There are lots of good reasons.
• The Church and Kirk (Barry York)
• One Week Later: Thoughtful Christian Responses To Charlie Kirk’s Death (Tim Challies) – A collections of links to articles regarding Charlie Kirk’s murder.
• How Can I Forgive Myself for Putting My Beloved Pet to Sleep? (Stephanie Anderson, Eternal Perspective Ministries) – A timely article as we had to make the decision this week to put our pet to sleep. I found some helpful perspective in this.
• Bud on the Tracks (Andrew Roycroft)
• God Did it! God Did it! (Tim Challies)
• Violence and Technology (O. Alan Noble)
• “Why would anybody start a website?” (Ana Rodrigues) – I love Ana’s reasons as well.
• Twenty Lessons, read by John Lithgow (Timoty Snyder) – I enjoyed hearing John Lithgow read out Timothy Synder’s lessons from On Tyranny.
• Revisiting how to dismiss native HTML dialog elements when the backdrop is clicked (Chris Ferdinandi)
• Start using Scroll-driven animations today! (Cyd Stumpel) – I really need to make time to learn scroll-driven animations.
• Prevent scrollbar jump (Chris Ferdinandi) – A great tip from Chris. So good that I saw Zach Leatherman also wrote about it.
• Against the protection of stocking frames. (Ethan Marcotte) – AI is a failed technology. Here, here.
• How to Avoid the Comparison Trap (Lois Flowers)
• RIP “Browsers” (Jim Nielsen) – I think about what Samwise said, “I don’t know why – it makes me sad.” This is how I feel after reading this.
• OMAS “MAGpie” Award Winner – Ryan Bridgforth (Murray Art Guild) – Short article about my son, who opens an art show this next week.
• CSS :heading (Alvaro Montoro)
• Studio Notes #50 (Dan Cederholm)
• I’m Angry and Sad and I DO Know What I’m Going to Do About It (S.D. Smith)

What I watched

• The Penguin Lessons (Netflix) – This was a hidden gem. We decided to give it a try on Saturday and really enjoyed it.
• The Great British Baking Show Collection 13, Episode 3 (Netflix)
• Tucci in Italy, Episodes 2-4 (Disney+)
• No Taste Like Home Episodes 2-5 (Disney+)
• Project Runway, various episodes (Samsung TV)
• Iron Man 3 (Disney+)

Books I am reading

• Sunday Matters (Paul David Tripp) – I read one devotional a week.
• Everyday Gospel (Paul David Tripp) – Reading through the Bible this year with this devotional.
• All That Jesus Commanded (John Piper)
• Universal Principles of UX Design (Irene Pereyra)
• To Be a Woman (Katie McCoy)

Walking

I am really bummed that I have not been able to make walking a habit again in my life.

What I played

MLB The Show 20 (Twins) – I played a series this week against the Astros. After losing the first game, I came back from a 6 run deficit to take Game 2. Game Three went back and forth but I prevailed in 11 innings.