Weeknotes 25:45
November 10, 2025
Week of November 2–8
Not being too clever
I was working through Mat Marquis’ lesson on expressions in JavaScript is for Everyone (you can access this lesson and a few others for free) last week. He was going through how to optimize your code and he ended with some advice:
“Granted, there’s a case to be made that this is a little too clever, in that it could make this code a little more difficult to understand at a glance for anyone that might have to maintain this code after you (or, if you have a memory like mine, for your near-future self).”
I made the comment on Bluesky that more often than not, your self i…
Weeknotes 25:45
November 10, 2025
Week of November 2–8
Not being too clever
I was working through Mat Marquis’ lesson on expressions in JavaScript is for Everyone (you can access this lesson and a few others for free) last week. He was going through how to optimize your code and he ended with some advice:
“Granted, there’s a case to be made that this is a little too clever, in that it could make this code a little more difficult to understand at a glance for anyone that might have to maintain this code after you (or, if you have a memory like mine, for your near-future self).”
I made the comment on Bluesky that more often than not, your self is going to be the next developer that may need you to not be so clever. Not only is it a good idea to consider other developers but also your future self.
Fun with blend modes
I was working on a project last week and wanted to use an asset that the designer put together. One of the assets was a red ribbon. I wanted to use it as a background image but the color was brighter than I wanted. I thought about trying to manipulate the image in Photoshop but I wanted to set the background-color in CSS. I remembered that there were CSS properties that were much like Photoshop layer blend modes. I love that CSS has matured where there are so many more tools to manipulate images with CSS alone. I used background-blend-mode: multiply on this specific solution.
See the Pen Untitled by Jeff Bridgforth (@webcraftsman) on CodePen.
I used a similar technique several years ago to apply a gradient blend to images that were CMS friendly. The client just had to upload an image and the CSS took care of the rest.
- I struggled a lot this week with getting going on some things. Smaller tasks were easy to tackle. It was the larger tasks that I struggled to get started. Several times I got into things in the last hours of the day.
- I added a lot of memories to my Memory Keeper project. I had memories from the UI12 Conference I attended in Boston. I had several projects that launched in November of different years. It is fun to revisit articles that I referenced. I am grateful for the Internet Archive that preserves so much content from sites that no longer exist.
Articles I read
- What a Miracle! (Tim Challies)
- Bóthar (Jeremy Keith)
- Nick Has Been with the Lord for 5 Years (Tim Challies)
- Instead of paternity leave, they ended my contract (Mike)
- Cloud4eva (Chris Ferdinandi)
- Why Accessibility Breaks Between Design & Development (Alicia Jarvis)
- How a 3-Minute A11y Snapshot Helps Me Turn Curiosity into Connection (Simon Miner on Pedal Point Solutions)
- Quelle Surprise: Le Quiet Revival! (Stephen McAlpine)
- What’s Wrong With the World? (Romans 1:18-23) (Darryl Dash)
- Young Men, Sports Gambling, and a Better Way to Play (Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra on The Gospel Coalition)
- Indie Book Club: The Creative Act (Joe Crawford)
- IndieWeb Book Club: Oct 2025 (The Creative Act) (Ana Rodrigues)
- Are We Losing Our Democracy? (New York Times)
- What Will and Won’t Exist in Eternity (Darryl Dash)
- Studio Notes #57 (Dan Cederholm)
What I watched
CSS Attribute Selectors (Kevin Powell on YouTube)
- Chiefs/Bills (CBS)
- Boston Blue (Paramount Plus)
- Watson (Paramount Plus)
- Matlock (CBS)
- Shark Tank (ABC)
- Strange New Worlds (Paramount Plus)
- Crazy Rich Asians (Netflix)
- The Great British Baking Show Collection 13 (Netflix) – We were very happy with the end result. I won’t spoil it. Our favorite was the winner.
What I listened to
- Tyler Sticka on Colorpeek 2 and Awesome CSS (Shop Talk Show #689)
- It’s hard to notice progress in the moment (General Musings, Kevin Powell)
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.
- Faithfully Present (Adam Ramsey)
- Telling a Better Story (Joshua Chatraw)
- Not Old, Not Young, Not Done. (Christopher Ash)
Walking
- Friday – 2.66 miles in 49 minutes
- Saturday – 3.13 miles in 57 minutes
What I played
MLB The Show 20 (Twins)