Learning Log, Oct & Nov 2024

💙 Webflow

This “monthly” Learning Log is a double feature because I have been just so dang busy at work! A few highlights from October and November:

• Webflow held our annual conference. Garrett Berg and I spoke about design systems in Webflow, and we had just the most fun time getting to meet our customers throughout the event.
• We also announced at Webflow Conf that we are welcoming GSAP to the team! It’s been such a pleasure getting to know Jack and Cassie. What they’ve done with the GSAP library is so powerful and well-aligned to our mission to empower all web makers.
• The team I work with released a couple “tiny but mighty” updates after the conference:
  • New variable types: Number and Percentage
  • Text Decoration Styles
  • Cool power features just around the corner for variables…
• In November I transitioned into people management as a Group Product Manager! I’m nervous-excited for this career transition, and am currently building up this PM team. If you’re an absolute nerd for CSS and a seasoned product manager passionate about putting development superpowers in everyone’s hands, check out this role for Staff PM, Styles.

🌱 Digital gardening

• This site: renamed the “is” section to “Currently”
• I’m almost finished with a site documenting how I use analog notebooks and stationery. Just need to load more “favorites” on the site and share that around!

🧶 Crafting

• Started making Outside Clothes: I sewed two Eucalypt Tanks
• Finished knitting my first pair of socks!! 🎉
• Sketched a little on location in Oahu

🧙🏻‍♀️ Side Quests

• Went to Oahu for an overdue vacation with Rahul. The food everywhere was incredible, and I especially loved going up to the North Shore to see tons of green turtles and tropical fish at Sharks Cove.
• On Thanksgiving weekend we went to Carkeek Park here in Seattle, WA to see the salmon spawning. It was late in their season so there were umm, more “unalived” salmon on the creekbed than still swimming upstream. It was very cute, though, to see a whole crowd of people cheering a salmon that was struggling up a little waterfall. Definitely a “memento mori” type of outing…

🛜 On the internet

• Diner lingo
• There is a reason why everyone you know recommended Cabel Sasser’s talk at XOXO Fest
• People are hacking some cool stuff on the Bluesky platform
• Every Noise at Once: a word-cloud map of musical genres
• Spurious Correlations: had great fun with this at a community craft social, especially since everyone present seemed to have different specialized knowledge

🔖 Reading

I read 9 books between October and November. My favorites were “Meditations for Mortals” (I appreciate everything I’ve read of Oliver Burkeman) and “Hidden Pictures” by Jason Rekulak.

I’m having a quite sluggish reading year so far: my annual reading hasn’t been this low since 2015?! I’m not really sure what’s going on, might be a combination of big life changes + not really vibing with a lot of the books I’m picking up + wanting to spend more time crafting than reading.

✷

I typically also list articles I’ve highlighted here, but I think I’ll cry bankruptcy and revisit this for December’s Learning Log. Cya then! 👋🏼