March Update
The days are getting longer! Now, as I'm finishing up my workday, the sun is at the right angle to shine in my window and make my computer difficult to see, lol.
But winter weather has returned. We had a blizzard on tuesday that dumped 7+ inches of snow and brought a day or two of negative-degree weather. As I write this post, it's warmer (23 degrees F), but it is snowing like crazy! I bet we get another 2-3 inches!
Honestly, I don't mind, as long as the temperatures are above single digits. When I lived in New York, we would get tons of snow, but the temperature was nice so it didn't matter. Snow is easier to deal with than -60 with wind chill.
Not a lot of progress on the writing front, this month. I wrote a couple of essays that will likely never see the light of day, lol, but not much else. It still counts, since it is still exercising the writing muscle. It's just not anything I would ever publish.
Maybe the writers conference will inspire me. This month is the annual UND Writers Conference. As usual, I'm very excited to go. And, as usual, I bought a bunch of books from the authors that will be at the conference, but I haven't started reading any of them!
I was a little bummed out to discover I had already missed two new writers conference events. One of my former classmates and one of my favorite professors gave community workshops in poetry and fiction, separate from the community workshops that will be occurring during the conference. I would have LOVED to participate, but I didn't find out about them until too late. I hope they do it again next year!
There is an exciting development on the writing front, though. It looks like there is finally going to be a northern chapter of the HWA covering my area. I'm very excited about that, even if it mostly just means meeting via Zoom (the chapter is going to cover a fairly large geographical area). It's going to be great finally being able to be a member of a chapter!
On the reading front, I should be reading some of the Writers Conference authors, but I haven't yet.
I have three books I have been reading: Tales from Watership Down by Richard Adams, The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester, and I just finished Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward. The last one was loaned to me, and I think I may purchase a copy of my own. It is definitely one of those books that's so lyrical and thought-provoking that it begs for marginalia.
I've got to start doing more reading before bedtime. I've gotten too much in the habit of playing on my phone before bed, and it's not healthy. I used to spend the last half hour before bed reading. Not only is reading a much healthier habit, it will also help put a dent in my "To be read" pile!
My class on web development is going pretty well, though it has had a few roller coaster moments.
I love how organized the class is, the textbook is awesome, and the projects help with learning the course material. The professor did a great job in picking a text and assignments that help me learn the material.
On the other hand, the initial ProctorU experience (for the exam) was a disaster and there is a LOT of course material to go over each week (chapters in the textbook average around 100 pages, and there are usually four or more videos to watch every week). It can feel overwhelming sometimes.
Also, for the lectures, the sound quality in the room the professor is using is terrible. It seems to pick up the sound of student conversations better than the professor's lecture. And the transcript struggles, too. It's really no help at all. Here are three screenshots of recent transcripts from the lecture:
Yep. Impossible to make heads or tails out of that. Granted, most transcription software isn't that great, but I think the bad sound quality in that room makes a big difference, too.
But the struggles are worth it, because I have learned a lot. My HTML skills are already 10X better than they were before the class. I'm still doing this page on the old web template I was using, but I am developing a MUCH better template thanks to the new skills I've learned.
One of the things I've learned in this class is how to make better use of developer tools. I've used them in other html classes I've taken, but this class has taken more of a deep dive into how to use them most effectively. None of my other classes had explained how to follow the inheritance of styles in the developer tools.
This class is also the first time I've learned about this awesome tool:
* {
outline : 1px dotted red ;
}
I'm actually peeved that I never learned about it before this class! It's such a handy tool!
For those that aren't familiar with writing html, in simplified terms, everything in html is a box. The code snippet above puts a dotted red-outline around every element (box) in your webpage. And this is SO VERY helpful in troubleshooting so many of the problems you might run into in creating the design and layout of a site. I use it all the time now.
I also learned that Google Developer Tools has a device emulator, so you can see what your site is going to look like on different devices!
I've learned so much, and we are only at the midpoint of the semester!
So now, the only thing I wish is that there was a Web Development II class.
Speaking of classes, I may *not* be changing my major to computer science. I sent an email to an advisor, asking for information on the major, what classes have I taken that already count toward it, etc. Since she's not an advisor in that department, she suggested I contact a computer science advisor. So I did . . .
And nothing. crickets.
Since it seems like everyone is sick with something around here lately, I waited a bit in case she was out sick (or on a cruise; lots of people around here take their vacations in February and go on a cruise).
Now we are into March, though, and I haven't heard anything. I'll email once more and see if I get a response. It could also be that she was on vacation and my email was one of the hundreds waiting for her when she returned, and it just got lost in the "pile." I've done that myself!
So I'm hoping to hear back so I can get a good idea of what I will be up against if I do decide to change my major (like, will I have to take calculus? Eek!)
And, sort of related to computer classes, I saw something the other day where someone described GenX as having lived:
Analog childhood, digital adulthood.
I think that does describe GenXers pretty well, and it really stuck with me.
This month's playlist. Links to the ten songs I'm listening to on repeat:
- HS
- Dancing With the Moonlight
- Who’s That?
- Fernando
- Don’t Fear the Reaper
- Super Smash Bros
- Anti-Hero
- Savage Daughter
- Rasputin
- Your Woman
This month's rant is a short one. This month, I'm ranting about: Google.
No, I'm not going to complain about Google trying to be everywhere and everything. I long ago accepted that Google is just going to be in charge of all of my digital life, and I'm actually pretty okay with that, lol. "Let Google handle it."
My problem is that Google keeps making different products/apps to run my digital life, and then it takes them away! This time, it's Google Podcasts.
Back when I worked at the Mouse House, I listened to podcasts all day long. I started out on Podbean, but then I had problems with my subscriptions vanishing, episodes "falling out of the queue," etc. So I was pretty happy to find that Google had a podcase app. I moved all my podcasts over there.
Now, though, Google is shutting it down. Granted, I can still listen to them on YouTube music, but I HATE using YouTube music for anything besides music. I don't like listening to podcasts on audible, either. I prefer to have a dedicated podcast app to manage and listen to podcasts.
So I had to reinstall Podbean and re-download all my podcasts to it. I hope it isn't as problematic as it used to be. I don't listen to my podcasts very often anymore, but I still want them all organized and ready when I do want to listen. It bums me out that I've got to keep them outside of my "Google Life." I really do like having all my stuff so that it works together, but I'll be using Podbean unless Google comes up with something better for podcasts than YouTube music.
That's it for this month. Until next month, Stay Spooky, my friends!