Hello Reader,
Before we dive into the content of this one, I want to let you know that this will be the last newsletter of the year, and I’ll be back in your inboxes sometime in mid-January.
I’ll still have YouTube videos coming out, so you can keep an eye out over there by making sure you’re subscribed (only like 4,000 away from 1 million!). I’ll also do a quick roundup of all the content I put out once the newsletter resumes.
With the family home for the next two weeks, it's the perfect time to wind down a bit, but I've been thinking about why that even feels like something worth mentioning.
This was the first year I actually took a real break from YouTube, with a short period with no videos, and more weeks without a newsletter than I've had in years as well.
It felt really strange, but as you can guess, the world kept on turning just fine (or well, it kept on turning, I’m not so sure how fine things are in the big picture, but you know what I mean 😅).
When we're in the thick of things, it's hard to realize how much we're pushing ourselves. The constant need to produce, or sometimes, the need not to fall behind simply becomes the “normal” state of things.
I know for me, a big part of it is always trying to keep the momentum up, which was why taking a break from YouTube and the newsletter this year was scary for me. I know myself, and how it can be hard to get started back up again.
Now, that’s not to say it’s easy. Sometimes we need to buckle down and simply get things done, whether it’s to finish a job on time or do extra work at night to help pay the bills, but often stepping back isn’t slacking, or giving up. Instead, it’s giving ourselves a chance to breathe for a second so we can come back at things with a bit more energy.
My break this year did more good for me than anything else, and I came back more motivated and excited about making content than I'd been in a while.
So yeah, a little bit of a wind down for me for the next little bit, and I hope you also have a chance to do the same 🙂.
📺 Stop using the legacy color syntax
 After talking about this a while ago on Bluesky, it turns out a lot of people didn’t realize that the syntax for CSS colors has changed quite a bit. I wrote a post on Piccalilli that was super well-received, so I figured I’d take the start of that article and turn it into a video 😅.
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⚡ 4 color variations from 1 variable super easily
 Speaking of new color stuff, this week’s short dives into why relative colors is one of my favorite “new” CSS features.
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🔗 Other awesome stuff from around the web
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🎙️ Podcast
When the passion starts to fade
This week, I start by talking about how my son wants to give up on a new hobby, and make my way into how AI is disillusioning developers.
LISTEN ON: APPLE | SPOTIFY | YOUTUBE | RSS
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📝 Quiz time!
A few weeks ago I had a tricky selector question that most people got wrong (only 14% got it correct!). This one's tricky too, but a bit different: Only one of these selectors is valid, which one is it?
- :is(> *)
- :has(> *)
- :not(> *)
- :where(> *)
As per usual, you'll have to head on over to YouTube to take a stab at the quiz, and once you answer, you'll see if you were right or not.
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🏁
Enjoy the break, happy holidays, and see you in 2026!
Kevin
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