February 2021 Recap
Tags: watercooler, showdev
Published: 2021-03-01 06:27:29

---
title: February 2021 Recap
published: true
description: February was an interesting month. This is a summary of the different things I've done during February 2021.
tags: watercooler,showdev
cover_image: https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/wd8ws1yh1yfwxnuxyhat.jpg
series: monthly recaps
---

This month was considerably slower than the previous one. Both in projects/demos and also in activities outside of development. It was also a heck of a month: the worst cold front in Texas in decades, no electricity or water, plus a heavier workload at my job... a lot of _fun_.

But life moved on. We got electricity and water back, the cold weather passed,... and well, work will be work. 😋

Here are some of the things I did this past February.

## Tech Things

### Project Menu

I created a small menu button with subsections based on a design from [@adircode](https://twitter.com/adircode). It is animated, mobile- and keyboard-friendly and supports live changes to reduced motion settings.

The [initial prototype used vanilla JS](https://codepen.io/alvaromontoro/full/PobYJRW), but then I developed a [version in React](https://codesandbox.io/s/menu-component-jrgxe). I want to do a version in Svelte to learn that library.

{% codepen https://codepen.io/alvaromontoro/pen/PobYJRW %}



### CSS Dino Game

This month I also built a new CSS game: a version of the Chrome no-connection [dinosaur game using only HTML and CSS](https://codepen.io/alvaromontoro/full/NWbrbzO) (if you like that type of stuff, I have a [collection that you will like](https://github.com/alvaromontoro/CSS-Games)).

Unfortunately, I used CSS variables inside an animation, and the only browser that supports them is Chrome. Not Firefox or Safari, which is a bummer.

{% codepen https://codepen.io/alvaromontoro/pen/NWbrbzO %}

### CSS Peasant

A [cartoon drawing of a peasant](https://codepen.io/alvaromontoro/full/vYyWWbb) done in HTML and CSS. Responsive and slightly animated (it blinks and tries to add a "breathing" sensation).

{% codepen https://codepen.io/alvaromontoro/pen/vYyWWbb %}

### Snowfall effect with HTML and CSS

I developed this animation of snow falling with HTML and CSS in less than 10 minutes... and then wrote a [post](https://dev.to/alvaromontoro/creating-a-snowfall-effect-with-html-and-css-1pp1) sharing how the animation worked.

Later, with some feedback from users from DEV, I [modified the animation](https://codepen.io/alvaromontoro/pen/dyORQLy) to make it smaller (at least the CSS) and more efficient.

{% codepen https://codepen.io/alvaromontoro/pen/GRNmdzB %}

### Almond.CSS (update)

[Almond.CSS](https://github.com/alvaromontoro/almond.css) is a collection of class-less CSS styles. Like a framework but without the framework part: no need to learn classes or anything (there's none), just element styles. In the end, it's basically an opinionated CSS reset file with some customization.

I developed it a few months back and needed some tweaking after browsers change the default styles for some elements, so I went ahead and made some needed updates. [You can see a demo here](https://alvaromontoro.github.io/almond.css/). 

## Non-Tech Things

This month I only finished 4 books:

| Title | Author | Style |
|-------+--------+-------|
| [Ready Player Two](https://amzn.to/3jshQdm) | Ernest Cline | Fiction |
| [House of M](https://amzn.to/3kFed4w) | Brian Michael Bendis & Olivier Coipel | Graphic Novel |
| [The Swallowed Man](https://amzn.to/3sCzYVq) | Edward Carey | Novel |
| [Gran historia visual de la filosofía](https://amzn.to/3sOz88b) | Masato Tanaka & Tetsuya Saito | Philosophy |


Ready Player Two was entertaining in general, but the action moves too slow at some points to go super fast at some others suddenly... House of M was a re-read; everyone is talking about Wandavision (I haven't watched the show), so I went back to read the graphic novel.