This is the first entry in what I hope becomes a useful habit. The intention is simple: once a week, write down what I built, what I learned, and what I'd do differently. No performance, no polish — just an honest log.

This week was mostly setup. Getting the tools talking to each other, understanding what GitHub Desktop actually does, and wrestling with the fact that a "deploy" is just copying files somewhere. Simpler than I expected, once I stopped imagining it as more mysterious than it is.

What I built

A static site. Three HTML files and a CSS file. No framework, no build step, no database. The site you're reading right now is the thing I built this week, which is a pleasingly circular outcome.

The constraint of working in plain HTML is surprisingly clarifying. When you can't reach for a component library or a template, you have to understand what you actually want — and then figure out the minimum amount of code that achieves it.

What I learned

A few things that clicked this week, written down while they're still fresh:

  • CSS custom properties (variables) are the difference between a stylesheet you can maintain and one you can't. Define your colours and fonts once, use them everywhere.
  • The box-shadow on the header image isn't magic — it's four numbers: horizontal offset, vertical offset, blur radius, and colour at low opacity.
  • Netlify really does just watch your GitHub repository and redeploy on every push. That's the whole trick.

What I'd do differently

I spent too long on fonts before I'd written any content. The typeface is the last decision that should be made, not the first. Next week I'll write the content first and style second.

The goal is not to build a perfect site. The goal is to build something that exists and then make it better.

More next week. If you're reading this and have thoughts, the email is below.