diff --git a/src/main.js b/src/main.js
index edc1dc7..221d00f 100644
--- a/src/main.js
+++ b/src/main.js
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import {sub24hFeed, subNote, subProfile} from './subscriptions'
 import {publish} from './relays';
 import {getReplyTo, hasEventTag, isMention, sortByCreatedAt, sortEventCreatedAt, validatePow} from './events';
 import {clearView, getViewContent, getViewElem, setViewElem, view} from './view';
-import {bounce, dateTime, elem, formatTime, getHost, getNoxyUrl, isWssUrl, parseTextContent, zeroLeadingBitsCount} from './utils';
+import {bounce, dateTime, elem, elemCanvas, elemShrink, formatTime, getHost, getNoxyUrl, isWssUrl, parseTextContent, zeroLeadingBitsCount} from './utils';
 // curl -H 'accept: application/nostr+json' https://relay.nostr.ch/
 
 function onEvent(evt, relay) {
@@ -415,22 +415,6 @@ function setMetadata(evt, relay, content) {
   // }
 }
 
-const elemCanvas = (text) => {
-  const canvas = elem('canvas', {height: 80, width: 80, data: {pubkey: text}});
-  const context = canvas.getContext('2d');
-  const color = `#${text.slice(0, 6)}`;
-  context.fillStyle = color;
-  context.fillRect(0, 0, 80, 80);
-  context.fillStyle = '#111';
-  context.fillRect(0, 50, 80, 32);
-  context.font = 'bold 18px monospace';
-  if (color === '#000000') {
-    context.fillStyle = '#fff';
-  }
-  context.fillText(text.slice(0, 8), 2, 46);
-  return canvas;
-}
-
 function getMetadata(evt, relay) {
   const host = getHost(relay);
   const user = userList.find(user => user.pubkey === evt.pubkey);
@@ -450,20 +434,12 @@ function getMetadata(evt, relay) {
 
 const writeForm = document.querySelector('#writeForm');
 
-const elemShrink = () => {
-  const height = writeInput.style.height || writeInput.getBoundingClientRect().height;
-  const shrink = elem('div', {className: 'shrink-out'});
-  shrink.style.height = `${height}px`;
-  shrink.addEventListener('animationend', () => shrink.remove(), {once: true});
-  return shrink;
-}
-
 writeInput.addEventListener('focusout', () => {
   const reply_to = localStorage.getItem('reply_to');
   if (reply_to && writeInput.value === '') {
     writeInput.addEventListener('transitionend', (event) => {
       if (!reply_to || reply_to === localStorage.getItem('reply_to') && !writeInput.style.height) { // should prob use some class or data-attr instead of relying on height
-        writeForm.after(elemShrink());
+        writeForm.after(elemShrink(writeInput));
         writeForm.remove();
         localStorage.removeItem('reply_to');
       }
@@ -472,7 +448,7 @@ writeInput.addEventListener('focusout', () => {
 });
 
 function appendReplyForm(el) {
-  writeForm.before(elemShrink());
+  writeForm.before(elemShrink(writeInput));
   writeInput.blur();
   writeInput.style.removeProperty('height');
   el.after(writeForm);
diff --git a/src/utils/dom.ts b/src/utils/dom.ts
index cd00032..a697702 100644
--- a/src/utils/dom.ts
+++ b/src/utils/dom.ts
@@ -18,11 +18,11 @@ type Attributes = {
  * @param {Array<HTMLElement|string>} children
  * @return HTMLElement
  */
-export const elem = (
-  name: keyof HTMLElementTagNameMap,
-  attrs: Attributes = {},
-  children: Array<Node> | string = []
-) => {
+export const elem = <Name extends keyof HTMLElementTagNameMap>(
+  name: Extract<Name, keyof HTMLElementTagNameMap>,
+  attrs: Attributes = {}, // TODO optional
+  children: Array<Node> | string = [], // TODO optional
+): HTMLElementTagNameMap[Name] => {
   const {data, ...props} = attrs;
   const el = document.createElement(name);
   Object.assign(el, props);
@@ -127,3 +127,44 @@ export const parseTextContent = (
     {firstLink}
   ];
 };
+
+/**
+ * creates a small profile image
+ * @param text to pass pubkey
+ * @returns HTMLCanvasElement | null
+ */
+export const elemCanvas = (text: string) => {
+  const canvas = elem('canvas', {
+    height: 80,
+    width: 80,
+    data: {pubkey: text}
+  });
+  const context = canvas.getContext('2d');
+  if (!context) {
+    return null;
+  }
+  const color = `#${text.slice(0, 6)}`;
+  context.fillStyle = color;
+  context.fillRect(0, 0, 80, 80);
+  context.fillStyle = '#111';
+  context.fillRect(0, 50, 80, 32);
+  context.font = 'bold 18px monospace';
+  if (color === '#000000') {
+    context.fillStyle = '#fff';
+  }
+  context.fillText(text.slice(0, 8), 2, 46);
+  return canvas;
+};
+
+/**
+ * creates a placeholder element that animates the height to 0
+ * @param element to get the initial height from
+ * @returns HTMLDivElement
+ */
+export const elemShrink = (el: HTMLElement) => {
+  const height = el.style.height || el.getBoundingClientRect().height;
+  const shrink = elem('div', {className: 'shrink-out'});
+  shrink.style.height = `${height}px`;
+  shrink.addEventListener('animationend', () => shrink.remove(), {once: true});
+  return shrink;
+};
diff --git a/src/utils/index.ts b/src/utils/index.ts
index 80973cc..de96166 100644
--- a/src/utils/index.ts
+++ b/src/utils/index.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 export {zeroLeadingBitsCount} from './crypto';
-export {elem, parseTextContent} from './dom';
+export {elem, elemCanvas, elemShrink, parseTextContent} from './dom';
 export {bounce, dateTime, formatTime} from './time';
 export {getHost, getNoxyUrl, isHttpUrl, isWssUrl} from './url';
diff --git a/src/view.ts b/src/view.ts
index 03e0180..8cbda1d 100644
--- a/src/view.ts
+++ b/src/view.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import {elem} from './utils';
 
 type Container = {
   id: string;
-  view: HTMLSelectElement;
+  view: HTMLElement;
   content: HTMLDivElement;
   dom: {
     [eventId: string]: HTMLElement