Notes on the kitchen
Colophon
A colophon is the printer's note at the end of a book describing how it was made. Internet ones describe how the site was made. This is mine.
Stack
- Framework: Astro 5. Static, ships zero JavaScript by default.
- Content: Markdown files in
src/content/, validated via Astro Content Collections. - Hosting: Vercel (planned).
- Analytics: Plausible (planned). No third-party trackers; no cookie banner needed.
- Domain:
whatilearnedsofar.blog, since 2022.
Type
- Body: Iowan Old Style → Charter → Georgia. Old-style numerals on. The kind of serif your eyes don't notice.
- Headings (UI / inline): Inter, weights 500 and 600.
- Display titles: VT323. A bitmap font designed for the DEC VT220 terminal — yes, the one. Picked because pixel fonts only stay legible when they're actual bitmap fonts rendered at integer multiples of their native size, not anti-aliased imitations stretched at random. The size scale here uses 8 px multiples for that reason.
- Mono: JetBrains Mono.
- Anti-aliasing: disabled on pixel titles, enabled everywhere else.
Color
- Background
#fafaf7— off-white cream, never pure white. - Text
#1a1a1a— near-black, never gray. Contrast = respect. - Accent
#8b3a1f— rust. Used only for links and small marks. Never for backgrounds.
Layout
- Reading column: 680 px. Optimized for ~70 characters per line.
- Index column: 820 px. Wider, so the lesson list breathes.
- Vertical rhythm: a 0.5 → 6 rem scale, used consistently between sections.
Things this site does not have
- No carousel, no modal, no popup.
- No comments. Discussion happens on X.
- No reactions, no claps, no heart counters.
- No dark mode toggle. The cream background is dark-mode adjacent already.
- No cookie banner. Nothing is tracked that needs one.
- No newsletter popup. Newsletter sign-up is at /newsletter.
- No Mario sprite. Considered. Rejected.