January 2021 Recap
Tags: watercooler, showdev
Published: 2021-02-01 18:25:33

---
title: January 2021 Recap
published: true
description: January was an interesting month. This is a summary of the different things I've done during January 2021.
tags: watercooler,showdev
cover_image: https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/pkfydxz4yi3ylmwf4pq0.png
series: monthly recaps
---

January of 2021 has been an _interesting_ month. It started with bad news: feeling sick and getting a positive test for coronavirus and quarantine at home away from my family. 

On the bright side, my symptoms were mild and everything went fine... and although I didn't have energy for much, that allowed me to spend a bit more time reading, drawing, or simply tweaking some code.

Here is a summary of what I did during the month of January. It doesn't have everything, but some things that I liked or caught more my attention.

## Tech things

### Tag Cloud

This [tag cloud](https://codepen.io/alvaromontoro/full/mdrpLzj) is from December 31st (I even published an [article on how to build it](https://dev.to/alvaromontoro/create-a-tag-cloud-with-html-and-css-1e90)), but I did some changes based on the feedback I got during the first week of January.

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

### Dwindle

While recovering, I did some coding for the Digital Ocean + DEV hackathon. Building a [small app that reduces the size of text](https://dwindled-plzb3.ondigitalocean.app/) to make it fit within Twitter's 280-character limit. The focus of the app was mainly on web accessibility. I didn't win, but it was fun. And I [wrote about the whole process](https://dev.to/alvaromontoro/digital-ocean-hackathon-app-dwindle-3fpj).

<figure>
![Screenshot of Dwindle App](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/o9rl2ui2efwlc2dx944q.png)
<figcaption>Should I tag JLo or not?</figcaption>
</figure>

### CSS Man wearing a suit

A [CSS drawing of a man wearing a suit](https://codepen.io/alvaromontoro/full/qBaJKJW). I did an initial version with a nose and a mouth, but I wasn't completely sold on it. And I shared a [time-lapse video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zjR-zUF4l4) on how it was done.

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

### Gassy Shark

Codepen had a series of challenges based on the different element's states: solid, liquid, gas... This was my submission for the gas one: [a CSS animation of a shark that becomes gassy after eating a can of beans](https://codepen.io/alvaromontoro/full/zYKbRgP):

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

### CSS Cartoon Character

This [CSS drawing](https://codepen.io/alvaromontoro/pen/JjbPypv) started from zero and without a specific direction... then I noticed that the cartoon kind of looked like Chris Coyier, so I decided to go with it and made the baseball cap with the same colors from his profile picture... and [there's a video of how it was done too!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjTI_dzzR2I)

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

## Non-tech things

### Movies

I normally don't watch much TV or movies, but this month was special. Apart from the typical kids' movies that I get to _watch_ with my children, I got to watch some movies from the DC Universe:

| Movie | Genre |
|-------+-------|
| [Man of Steel](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0770828/) | Action |
| [Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2975590/) | Action |
| [Wonder Woman](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0451279/) | Action |
| [Suicide Squad](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1386697/) | Action |
| [Justice League](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0974015/) | Action |
| [Aquaman](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1477834/) | Action |
| [The Addams Family](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1620981/) (new one) | Animation |

Personally, none of the movies was especially great. I must admit that my expectations were low for all of them, and probably because of that I wasn't disappointed.

And contrary to the general opinion, I actually liked Jared Leto's Joker. Maybe the appearance was not the best, but the character is more chaotic and violent than the other Jokers, and it matches better the comic books I've read.

From the latest DC universe, I still have Shazam! and Birds of Prey let to watch... but those may need to wait for a while.

### Books

This month I finished 7 books... and none of them was technical (one could be considered practical for my position):

| Title | Author | Style |
|-------+--------+-------|
| [Pearls Goes Hollywood](https://amzn.to/366geRd) | Stephan Pastis | Comic |
| [The Classic Tradition of Haiku](https://amzn.to/3qRyLZr) | Various | Poetry |
| [Faith Taking Flight](https://amzn.to/2YaUYW6) | Julie Murphy | Teen Fiction |
| [Muhammad Ali](https://amzn.to/39bFaZc) | Sybille Titeux & Amazing Ameziane | Graphic Novel |
| [Sapiens](https://amzn.to/3olmXwZ) | Yuval Noah Harari | History |
| [The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership](https://amzn.to/3iTwcDv) | John Maxwell | Leadership |
| [The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse](https://amzn.to/3cwwRtp) | Charlie Mackesy | Self-help (?) |

I really enjoyed Sapiens and the Muhammad Ali graphic novel. And really liked that art of The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, but the content in itself seemed a bit _shallow_ (like "fake-ish" inspirational quotes).

Other books were started or left halfway (notably Ready Player Two, The First 90 Days, and The Bell Jar) and hopefully I'll be able to finish them this month.

----

Now, off to start February...