Rain, Write, and Code
What better way to spend a Saturday
Rain. Currently, I’m home in my little office nook surrounded by windows peering out upon a rain-soaked city-scape. Yesterday everything was covered in a couple of inches of snow; now it’s a constant downpour of the same wet-stuff, just a few degrees warmer. Our postage stamp of a yard is a swampy brown mess of dead grass and mud.
I am thankful to be indoors and dry while everyone else is out running errands, visiting friends, or doing their side hustle elsewhere. I’m solo today. Weew, party! And by party I mean: the third load of laundry is tumbling away in the dryer and the clean dishes have magically made their way out of the dishwasher and dirty ones have taken their place. The same domestic fairy (me) will likely put all of the folded clothes away later. In the meantime, I need to put in my daily allotment of writing and code.
I’m determined to win the fight against Netflix’s siren song — though I really want to know what this Umbrella Academy thing is about. Anyone binge it yet? Is it worth my time?
Writing. I’ve been suffering far too long from a Scorching Case of Writer’s Block. In an effort to treat it, I’m taking time out of my day to create something, anything. Even if it is a less than exciting piece of my Saturday being shared here. You’re welcome.
In order to get my creative juices flowing again, I’m also taking a few related courses online, committed myself to a couple of writing projects, and have been looking for more diverse freelance writing work.
Coding. I do that too, but I am in no way a hardcore developer. More of a hobbyist who can build and troubleshoot; in a constant state of learning.
A couple of years ago, I started working on upskilling my tech abilities. Initially, I spent the first few months floundering in the wake of too many MOOCs, just sorting out where to start with learning to code in general. I eventually found my footing and a helpful community of like-minded folks.
It didn’t help that, before, computers and I had a love-hate relationship. I loved to hate them and, in return, they made sure to remind me why I loathed them. Sure, I use them all the time to check email, do research on the web, office work essentials, etc. but to fix one or figure out how to do something like making changes to a website, um no. It was far easier to date my tech support or bribe a tech-friend with an iTunes gift card than it was for me to generate enough interest and patience to troubleshoot my own laptop.
When it came time to knuckle down and learn, I fell prey to the same doubts a lot of people do when trying something outside of my comfort zone: feeling too old, too inhibited by my lack of math smarts. Also, I assumed the people who did anything with code or computers possessed magical powers. Eventually, I realized the guys I worked with every day are not wizards; just into wizards, and Star Wars, and Star Trek … you get the idea.
While I may not be a rockstar or unicorn, tech-wise, these skills have been extremely helpful, personally and professionally. However, unlike many who pursue this learning path, I’m not necessarily looking to become a “developer.” During this journey, I’ve sidestepped coding here-and-there to study web design, user experience, marketing, and content; other areas that are equally important to the process of creating something for online consumption. Still, I do seem to always come back to code, whether it is taking a course, reading about it, or watching something on YouTube related to it.
Anyway, I could easily ramble on further, but I have an online class to get to. Have a great weekend all!
