Melanie Richards

Taking breaks for productivity A couple weeks ago I was feeling a little bit frayed around the edges and decided to take a couple days off work to simply chill.

My niece was born within the past week, making me a first-time auntie!

Another double-feature weeknotes covering the past couple weeks. 🤷‍♀️ On Sunday of Memorial Day weekend I went with my S.O. for a hike on Ira Spring Trail, with Mason Lake as our destination; you can also follow the trail to Bandera Mountain.

Last week, we released our Canary ring of Microsoft Edge on MacOS!

I have a pro-bono client that I’ve worked with long-term the past couple years (10/10 would recommend for feeling connected to something larger than yourself).

Without further ado, lots o’ links!

The first rule of weeknotes is that you write them every week. 😅 Work and (positive) family stuff has kept me busy lately, but here’s been what’s up over the few couple weeks.

Between overtime and coming down with a cold (again) (possibly connected), this was a quiet week for side projects.

Inspired by this post on weeknotes (h/t Justin Duke), I’ve decided to try the concept out myself.

Short list this month and a few weeks late 😅 Don’t Get Clever with Login Forms Solid Vs.

React My secret web dev shame is that I haven’t really used any modern JS UI frameworks and libraries, never having worked on a project that I felt truly called for using something like React or Vue.

Some local adventures near water this year: walking the Denny Creek trail and dreaming of a cabin in the woods by a stream; drifting near Deception Pass to spot whales; a truly excellent weekend with friends at Birch Bay.

Rethinking my relationship to "wasted" work: those tasks you spend a good chunk of time on, but the results go unused.

I went to beyond tellerrand Munich to give a workshop and a lunchtime presentation on CSS Grid.

Street art in Mexico City; Musée D’Orsay in Paris; my sister’s wedding; NYC architecture.

This year I’d honestly just like to enjoy being a person.

As I compile this month’s learning log, I’ve got the new(ish) Fleet Foxes album going on vinyl, while the trees rustle in the wind outside.

La Belle Sauvage (The Book of Dust #1) mentioned migraine auras and I thought for sure they existed only in the book, but no, apparently some people experience them.

Some encouragement for my friend’s pit bull ^_^ I did a couple days of #vectober, and then abandoned it.

A couple weeks ago I gave my first recorded talk at the Microsoft Edge Web Summit!

Things I learned The projects I find most interesting are ones where their founders aren’t following the usual “shapes”, but have come up with their own way forward.

My contribution for August’s Palette Party, a little project where some internet friends and I make a something based on a particular color palette.

Subject-matter notes I updated this month: designing for small screens Week of July 9 This is my first time using CSS Grid in a production site, and it’s magical!

Subject-matter notes I updated this month: logo design, Illustrator, accessibility Week of May 28 (second half) Recently I was reading You Are a Badass, but decided I wasn't really in a self help-y mood (partially the state of affairs makes it harder to c…

Subject-matter notes I updated this month: generative art, logo design, identity design, Illustrator Week of Apr 30 I’m currently learning Blender for the 100 Day project (do one thing for 100 days).

I read quite a bit, and wanted somewhere to keep highlights from books and articles.

So.

🎉 This post is an adaptation of a presentation I gave at the first PNW Web Codepen Meetup.

Quick heads up if you happen to be one of the handful of people that was following my reading journal on Github and want to find it again: I've moved it to Dropmark.

This redesign went up a couple months ago, but finally getting around to sharing here.

My first freelance illustration project is up on the Intercom blog!

The hosts of Shop Talk show podcast (Chris Coyier and Dave Rupert) get asked a lot of questions about how to learn web development.

Visual update on the site today!

Came across a great idea from weaver Rebecca Mezoff in my RSS feeds today: So if you're weaving your first set of tapestries and you aren't all that happy with what is coming off your loom, keep trying!

Downtown Tulsa; me with the giggles at Hogan Assessments.

Quick announcement that I'll be giving my first talk next week!

2015 is a strange one to summarize.

Designing UI icon sets today can feel somewhat anachronistic: why does a floppy disk still connote save?

Monday marked the end of my hundred day project, which was to read and take notes on the HTML specifications for 100 days.

I am reading and taking notes on the HTML specifications for 100 days as part of #The100DayProject.

I am reading and taking notes on the HTML specifications for 100 days as part of #The100DayProject.

I am reading and taking notes on the HTML specifications for 100 days as part of #The100DayProject.

I am reading and taking notes on the HTML specifications for 100 days as part of #The100DayProject.

I am reading and taking notes on the HTML specifications for 100 days as part of #The100DayProject.

I am reading and taking notes on the HTML specifications for 100 days as part of #The100DayProject.

I am reading and taking notes on the HTML specifications for 100 days as part of #The100DayProject.

I am reading and taking notes on the HTML specifications for 100 days as part of #The100DayProject.

I am reading and taking notes on the HTML specifications for 100 days as part of #The100DayProject.