The post Mini Assignment: Gif first appeared on Astrometrics.
Last week of classes, and it true said that goodbyes are hard. PUB101, what a class I must say! Took it as an elective, had no idea what I am getting into but actually I got into a lot of good stuff. This course was all about me, from me, and for me. Here I was allowed to be creative and do things that I loved. Being honest, apart from Computer Science “app development” classes, this was the class that seemed practically.
The things that I learned in this course are as follow and not limited to:
The post (Process Post #12) It’s A Wrap first appeared on Self Therapy.
Hi ya’ll! Today I am going to show you a quick little video that shows some very basic Angular via a little application.
Ok, scratch that… I FULLY intended to upload a video but it ended up being like an hour long and I tried to edit it for like 30 minutes and was like… this is killing my soul.
Since the application is already made, I’m just going to tell you about it old-fashioned style. Are you ready? No? Ok, great.
The web app we are going to make is an application to help you pick something to eat when you have many choices but no idea what to pick (truly and shamefully a first-world problem). We’re going to create this application with Angular.
If you don’t have Angular, hop on over to nodejs.org and download and install Node. Why? Doing so will allow you to use node package manager (npm). With node we can manage and install packages to our Angular web application as well as Angular itself.
To install angular, head over to a terminal of some sort and enter:
npm install -g @angular/cliOnce this is done, we will have Angular installed globally on your computer.
Next we want to create an Angular app. Open up you favourite IDE and open the integrated terminal (if it has one) or navigate to the folder you wish to save it in through the terminal and let’s utilize the Angular CLI, enter:
ng new food-generatorThis will create an application called food-generator:
After the century it takes for Angular to set all this up for us (thank you), we can create a new component, let’s make a card to hold our things in:
ng generate component cardThis gives us this:
Once that is done, let’s fiddle with the card’s HTML, creating the blueprint of our app:
With that out of the way, let’s add some styling:
Cool. Now let’s handle the functionality of the card:
This shows a list of food in the card component that we will choose from as well as the functionality of the button on click.
Alright, so let’s see the result. To do so, in the terminal, enter:
ng serveThis should take a moment as Angular compiles the code and sets it up to serve. Once it’s done, it will print out a message stating that it is being served on port 4200 (Angular’s default port) on your local host.
Navigating to www.localhost:4200.com we see:
Now if we click “YUM!” this is what we’ll eat for dinner:
Winner, winner, chicken dinner! Oh boy!
WELP, that’s it for now, perhaps at a later date I will have the mental fortitude to edit that hour-long video as it goes into more detail, but today is not that day my friend.
Be well, ta-ta!
I admit it. I love creating to-do lists.
When I am creating to-do lists, I envision what I will accomplish and often think that simply by having that baseline understanding of what needs to be done, I will be able to accomplish what I set out to.
It is magnificent and gratifying.
However, oftentimes my to-do lists end up being a sham.
What I claim I will accomplish in a day, often ends up being too much to handle.
And sometimes, my extensive to-do lists are not actually so extensive. For, instead of saying what actually needs to be done they provide a vague suggestion of what should be done.
Over the course of the current Fall semester, I have come to the realization it is not the creation of to-do lists which accomplishes things. It is the actions that enable their completion.
This may sound obvious, but admittedly it is something that I need to remind myself of constantly.
Action is what accomplishes tasks, not planning.
This semester, I have learned much about a framework titled jobs to be done.
Jobs to be done, is about framing problems in a way that explains the benefits a user wants to receive, as opposed to observing issues with the current way in which the user receives similar benefits.
For instance, John wants to complete his assignment, to do so John needs to overcome a long strenuous research process, followed by extensive analysis where he will be required to synthesize the facts that he discovered during research. In this situation, the job-to-be-done is the completion of the assignment. That is where the problem lies.
Accomplishing the job, moves the user’s life from one state, to a preferred one. The way in which they can accomplish this job varies (Klement, 2016). The role of an entrepreneur is to help users complete their jobs to be done in easier ways.
When I create a to-do list, the to-do list itself is only a part of the process that is enabling me to be productive. The creation of the to-do list is not the job-to-be-done, it is an ancillary effort that enables the job-to-be-done which is the completion of the task requiring the to-do list.
In creating this post, I am hoping to explain to you, the audience, that action is the key to productivity and that to-do lists alone accomplish nothing. A secondary purpose for creating this message is to explore research done by others and learn new things for myself about to-do lists and action.
The job-to-be-done for me in creating this post is to communicate this message and learn things for myself.
Accomplishing this requires an extensive amount of additional work and while that work most certainly needs to be done, communicating this message and learning more about the subject is the job-to-be-done.
Once again, planning is useful. Creating to-do lists, detailed schedules, and outlines are incredibly useful tools. They are also essential parts to the productivity system that I have established for myself, but the truth of the matter is. Creating to-do lists does not accomplish anything. Doing the work itself does.
To challenge myself on this, I am writing this post with no prior planning. I am simply researching as I go, with a vague outline of how I want to construct this message in my head.
In fact, when I put my fingers to the keyboard and type out the words that you are reading on your screen right now, I feel a certain sense of presence that I fail to engage in, when I am planning.
Planning is great, but it’s also easy to get lost and distracted when planning. While I am most certainly not an expert, my theory behind this is that accomplishing a task requires a lot more attention than simply planning out what you need to do for that task. That extra attention you are required to pay fosters greater commitment, and as a result of this commitment you become more engaged in the work that you are doing.
Doing things requires commitment and once you have committed it is often harder to turn back (see the sunk cost fallacy), when you can no longer turn around, you will accomplish what you set out to do.
Action accomplishes, not planning.
I must admit, when creating this post there was an act of planning. The truth of the matter is, everything impactful you do requires some degree of planning.
When planning it is critical to recognize what it is that you want to accomplish, then you can realize steps that will enable you to get there.
For instance, when creating this post, I realized that I wanted to make a post about the importance of doing things as opposed to the importance of planning things, and the step that I chose to get me to the creation of this post was simply putting my hands to the keyboard and typing away to communicate the message I want to share.
Things do not always go according to plan. Your current self who is creating the plan may see that as a bad thing, however oftentimes it actually is a good thing.
If things went to plan everytime, you would know exactly what is going to happen.
That would be very boring.
Thankfully, uncertainty looms in everything we do.
Oftentimes we go out with a plan, sometimes everything happens in accordance with it, but I would argue more often that not things do not.
However, it is critical you realize the reason for this is not because planning is bad, rather it occurs because we learn new things when doing things that we were not aware of when we were planning.
For instance, this entire subsection under the heading “thankfully, not everything goes according to plan,” was not planned. However, I do believe that it is a critical part of the story that I am writing about and you are reading right now.
In the book, The Lean Startup by Eric Ries, Eric describes a framework for startups he calls build, measure, learn. Building is about creating something, measuring is about examining what that things does, and learning is about improving that thing that you have built. This process is notably iterative, meaning that you are meant to do it over and over again.
Here, I would like to propose an analogous iterative framework for the completion of tasks in everyday life.
Act, recognize, plan.
Acting is about getting started on what it is that you want to do.
Recognizing is about realizing changes that need to be made to what it is that you are doing.
Planning is about incorporating what it is that you have recognized into an actionable plan to accomplish the job-to-be-done.
Acting is how you get started, recognizing is how you learn about what you are doing, and planning is realizing the best way to do what you need to do.
Going through this process repeatedly is almost automatic when you start by acting. However, cognitizing and recognizing it can also be incredibly helpful for individuals who struggle to get started.
For me, this means that sometimes the to-do lists need to be developed after I start a task, rather than before.
If you need to begin, just act.
Klement, A. (2016). What is jobs to be done? Jobs to be done. https://jtbd.info/2-what-is-jobs-to-be-done-jtbd-796b82081cca
This site was created as part of a class at Simon Fraser University titled, Publication of Self in Everyday Life.
As part of the class, we were required to develop one post a week about the process of creating our website. The teaching team supported the course in this endeavour, by providing materials to reference and prompts to adhere to. In the course, we referred to these posts as “process posts”; each and every post on this website that has the word regarding in the title is a “process post.”
This post is the final “process post” that will be created for the class.
Unfortunately, I was sick for last week’s lecture and unable to make it, however, I do know that the lecture was about community and am able to access the readings and slides from the course. Subsequently, this final process post is going to be about the importance of rest and community.
Last week, I fell sick.
When I was sick, I came across a Linkedin post by TED Conferences which made the point “by doing nothing, you are actually being your most productive and creative self. It might feel weird and uncomfortable at first, but boredom truly can lead to brilliance.”
<iframe src=”https://www.linkedin.com/embed/feed/update/urn:li:ugcPost:7003032526680199168″ height=”673″ width=”504″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen=”” title=”Embedded post”></iframe>
What the post explained, is the value that you receive when you take time to sit with your ideas. It explained that when you take time to do nothing, you are allowing your brain to process all the information from your life so that you can spend time daydreaming and realizing your aspirations in life.
Truthfully, over the course of the semester, I cannot help but feel that I have spent too little time doing that.
However, it makes sense. Just see my post 30 Minutes: Working a 99 Hour Work Week. Since making that post, I did experience a period of severe burnout but thankfully recovered quickly after having a few days of rest.
When I was sick last week, I had the opportunity to spend some time reflecting on my life, and as a result, I honestly feel much more in tune and aligned with myself than before I was sick.
Ironically, having no rest is what truly has allowed me to realize the value that rest does provide.
On the internet, there are communities, that would not exist if it were not for the internet.
One such community that I am incredibly thankful to have participated in is Lookout Landing, a Mariners fan site, with an incredibly loyal audience and fun community.
I found the site sometime in 2016 and have ever since been a follower of the site. In fact, almost every morning one of the first things that I do is take a look at posts which the site calls Moose Tracks. Moose Tracks are daily posts that share links to news around baseball. However, the content of the posts themselves are only a small part of the Lookout Landing experience, the comments below each post is where you actually get the opportunity to engage and talk to individuals in the lookout landing community. Typically Moose Track posts have around 300 comments per day, and if something big in baseball happens you can guarantee that these posts will have 500+ comments.
Although based off my initial explanation it may not seem this way, Moose Tracks are actually only a small part of what makes Lookout Landing what it is. The staff of the site also posts game recaps, game threads (for discussion), game charts, analysis, creative writing pieces and more. All content based around the Seattle Mariners.
Although I myself rarely comment and am a bit more of a lurker, I still feel very much a part of this community and it has helped fuel my Mariners fandom.
Lookout Landing most certainly is my favourite online community, they have a fantastic audience, great policy, and even better writers.
If you are at all interested in the Seattle Mariners, I highly recommend checking out some of the posts on the site.
We are a product of the people around us.
This is a fact. Simply start hanging around a different group of people and evaluate your speech pattern before and after. It will change.
People around you also influence how you think of and view yourself as a person. A lot of the time, the people around you will either provide you with energy or drain you of it.
Community is key to shaping who we are and providing us with energy to move forward.
We are a product of the decisions we make.
The decisions we make, forge the path that we take and subsequently shape the history and future of our lives. When we do one thing, it will close some doors and open others.
Oftentimes, the decisions we make are impulsive. When we are well-rested and aligned with who we truly are as people, these impulsive decisions can be effective. However, when we are tired and in dire need of rest, we often make poor and sloppy decisions.
Rest is critical to the decisions we make.
It should also be noted that we all have the opportunity to choose who it is that we spend time with. Rest enables us to choose the right communities for us to be a part of.
To maintain energy, be our best selves, and subsequently make great things, it is critical we are well rested and engaged with the right communities.
Zomorodi, M. (2022). By doing nothing, you are actually being your most productive. Ted Conferences. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ted-conferences_by-doing-nothing-you-are-actually-being-activity-7003032527359672321-dEjR/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
[Original Post Date: 11/1/22]
In one of the readings titled ‘Here’s How Worried You Should Be About Those Tom Cruise Deepfakes’, Vice News author David Gilbert writes about a viral video on Twitter of a guy imitating Tom Cruise. However this video doesn’t just showcase some guy doing some half-assed impression of Tom Cruise by exuding his mannerisms and voice. The guy doing the impression is using AI technology to place Tom Cruise’s face on his. This type of process is called a ‘deep fake’. What the AI is essentially doing is mapping out Tom Cruise’s face using either the images that are given to it by the user or scanning the internet (cause there’s a lot of pictures of Tom Cruise’s face on the internet) while simultaneously scanning the face that its going to place Tom Cruise face on. The images that are being scanned look for details involved whenever one person is expressing a certain emotion (think of wrinkles around the eyes when one is genuinely smiling) and banking that information. Therefore, when the original face is expressing an emotion, the AI knows what details to place and for the most part, it does a pretty good job.
I think this type of technology is interesting but certainly terrifying. In this day in age where misinformation and disinformation spreads quickly across social media platforms, this type of technology can cause chaos and panic. Anyone with the knowledge and capacity to use deepfakes can essentially imitate anyone, especially people with power such as politicians. Furthermore, if that person has the same body type and hairstyle as the person they are imitating, deep fakes would be even harder to spot. With deep fakes now, people would know what is a deep fake if they know what they are looking for but with average viewers, they may not be able to tell. With AI getting better with each day that passes, it is going to be difficulty for both average and knowledgeable viewers to determine what is real or fake.
Introduction
This week I attempted to read for ten or more minutes every day. When I was a kid, I was an avid reader and sometimes stayed up all night reading books that I really loved. However, as I got older and was forced to read certain books in high school, I stopped reading as much. In the last few years, I have gotten back into reading, though not as much as when I was a kid. Part of the reason I got back into reading was because of audiobooks and #BookTok. I really enjoy the convenience of being able to listen to a book while I am doing other things. I always listen to audiobooks (specifically on Audible) while cooking and doing other chores, and I find it super therapeutic. I have also discovered a lot of fantastic books on TikTok because my algorithm is super tailored to my interests. However, before diving into my experience, I want to highlight some of the perceived benefits of reading regularly, according to Healthline.
My Experience
I am happy to say I completed this challenge this week. I listen to more than 10 mins every day of the audiobook When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress by Gabor Maté. I am really enjoying it so far and think it is highly relevant to my website. The book’s main argument is that constantly being stressed out can cause you to become physically sick. Therefore that I honestly a large part of why I started this website. I want to cultivate these healthy habits before it’s too late. In conclusion, I would challenge anyone reading my blog to really take time to invest in their physical and mental well-being. You do not need to do anything as elaborate as my website, and you do not need to be perfectly consistent because I certainly wasn’t. However, I think at least trying is better than nothing.
Here is an Interesting Talk from Gabor Maté Going More
In-Depth On This Topic
Reference
Stanborough, R.(2019, October 15). Benefits of Reading Books: How It Can Positively Affect Your Life. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/benefits-of-reading-books
It has taken me a while to write a review of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) because I find myself getting stuck on what I want to say. I watched the film opening day on November 11, and instantly thought it was such a deep and culturally impactful film. Most times I can formulate my thoughts on a movie and convey them with ease. However, with Wakanda Forever, there is an immense number of layers and weight that surround the film as a whole.
Being a sequel to the critically acclaimed Black Panther (2016), the movie needs to effectively build on the last film and evolve the world of Wakanda and its lively characters, while also managing to live up to the massive expectation put in place by the last installment.
Furthermore, Wakanda Forever must also fit within the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe, that has started to become more and more critiqued post Avengers: Endgame (2019). Most fans seem to be unsatisfied with many of the newer MCU films and television series. While I agree with many of the critiques regarding the MCU formula growing stagnant and stale, I find many of these people who are critiquing Phase 4 of the MCU to perpetuate hateful ideologies. For instance, it seems many of these “fans” that hate She-Hulk (2022) and Ms. Marvel (2022) are actually just toxic men who are irrationally angry and criticize the show for baseless reasons. This increase in toxicity within the MCU fandom discourse has bleed into Wakanda Forever. Much of this toxic hate stems from problematic views surrounding underrepresented minority groups such as the LGBTQIA2S+ community, women, and people of colour. Therefore, a film like Wakanda Forever, that prominently features each of these communities will be targeted with unwarranted hate.
Additionally, amid the challenges COVID-19 presented to the film industry, Wakanda Forever also had to navigate through controversy surrounding lead actress Letitia Wright’s alleged anti-vax position.
And finally, the heartbreaking passing of Chadwick Boseman who played King T’Challa, the Black Panther deeply impacted the production of this film. Originally, the movie was written around Boseman and his depiction of the Black Panther. But, after Boseman’s tragic death, Ryan Coogler, the writer and director of Wakanda Forever had to completely rework the film to pay tribute to Chadwick Boseman, and address the absence of T’Challa from the story.
Personally, all these factors wrapped Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) in layers of complications that had me worried. However, I am greatly happy to say that this film not only lives up to the first film, but in my opinion surpasses it.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) is able to achieve this by continuing to explore many of the themes that underlie Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Most, if not all of Phase 4 has been touching on the grief that many characters possess because of the personal losses they experience (ie: Wanda Maximoff in WandaVision, Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Way Home), the pressure a superhero legacy inflicts on the individual (ie: Sam Wilson in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), and shared trauma within a community (ie: Ms. Marvel and She-Hulk). Wakanda Forever, thematically explores each of these elements. This is on display in the profound conversations the main antagonist Namor, played by Tenoch Huerta Mejía has with other characters. Namor can serve as a foil to our heroes while also challenging their beliefs around grief, legacy, and shared trauma, which solidifies him as one of the best antagonists in an MCU film. This exploration of themes the MCU explored in Phase 4 makes Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) a beautiful conclusion to this chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
This film also features some of the most breathtaking visuals and settings in the MCU. Since audiences were introduced to Wakanda in the first movie, it has gone on to become an important cultural moment in film history. Practically everyone knows the “Wakanda Forever” salute. And many people can now recognize the iconography of Wakanda. With all this in mind, it was absolutely amazing to witness the sequel able to effectively deepen audiences’ connection to Wakanda by exploring more of their culture. Moreover, this film introduces a whole separate culture with the underwater kingdom of Talokan, and their radical leader Namor. Their society and culture are given an immense amount of development which strengthens these two warring nations conflict.
This film was essentially a tribute to Chadwick Boseman, and the palpable sense of loss the black community, MCU fans, and his friends and family experienced. Therefore, the cast had to provide some of the most powerful performances I have ever seen. The character interaction between Letitia Wright as Princess Shuri, Danai Gurira as Okoye, Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia, Winston Duke as M’Baku, Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams, Tenoch Huerta Mejía as Namor, and Angela Bassett as Queen Ramonda were all massive highlights.
Overall, the film was brilliant! Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) had the impossible task of making a movie that could live up to the legacy of Chadwick Boseman. I personally thought that the cast and crew did a fantastic job, and I loved every second of the movie.
[Original Post Date: 10/25/22]
Link to Website: https://www.youtube.com/
After learning about best design practices from our guest presenter, Mauvé Page, I decided to take her lessons and conduct a small design evaluation on a website.
Therefore, I decided to do a quick basic design evaluation on YouTube’s user interface as it is a website I frequent.
I first took a look at the contrast and saw that YouTube uses a dark grey background with light grey for all of the text elements. The contrast between the background and the text makes it so that viewers will have an easier time reading the necessary information related to the video at a quick glance.
An example would be as shown within the video underneath where the text elements denote the information of the video such as the title, the uploader, the number of views, and when it was uploaded. Viewers would be able to quickly glance at the text and discern the information being conveyed easily.
Furthermore, the font weight chosen helps establish a hierarchical order. Thicker font weights call for more attention than thinner font weights as they take up more space and are wider, creating more contrast with the background than thinner font weights. Therefore, using thicker weights for the title elements I think was a smart choice by the design team at YouTube. It also helps me discern which text element I should read first, which was the title of the video. For the rest of the test elements, a thinner font weight was used throughout, thus establishing the order to be read from top to bottom.
To add to that, close proximity was used effectively with all of the elements of the video including the images. Due to how all of the elements could be defined in one square, the images and the text elements are associated as one item on YouTube’s homepage. None of the text elements or images overflowed into other video items, thereby eliminating potential confusion as to what text elements belong to what video item.
I have decided to enable comments on my site. However, please be respectful with all your comments. I will reserve the right to delete the following types of comments:
If you violate any of the above, your comment will be deleted, and you will be blocked from commenting again.
If you have any questions about the comment section, please email me at selawa@sfu.ca.
However, if you have a different opinion on a topic than me, please feel free to voice it in the comment section. I am not a trained doctor, psychologist, dietitian, or personal trainer, so if you have expertise in any of those areas, I would especially love to hear your feedback. I want this website’s comment section to be a place for open dialogue where we can all learn from one another.
When I think about a comment section on social media, I immediately think toxic. I think about the no-filter responses people give without any thought of repercussions.
Comment sections can be detrimental to some individuals’ mental health and well-being. Comments can be utilized to tear people down and isolate them.
In my opinion, over the years people have become more aware of the issues regarding the comment sections on differnt social media platforms. Although people have become more aware, the problem is still exists.
For example, when I was in middle school and high school there was a social media platform called ASKfm. ASKfm was an online platform where people could anonymously ask other people questions or leave comments on their pages. ASKfm was used to create cruel rating systems of peopel and to anonymously leave hateful comments.
From a greater perspective, the whole idea sounds harmless. However, in application, it was horrible.
Trying to navigate middle school alone is a challenging time, but adding social media bullying to the mix, made it a struggle.
The whole idea that people exude hate on the internet is exhausting. The more ideas of comments, the more I think of differnt social media platforms. For instance, I think of the early days of Instagram, where people would post and rate each others pictures and posts. For example, people would rate a photo out of 10 on how “attractive” someone looked in a photo.
Social media comments are not built for success.
When I think about Lyz’s (2022) story, I can understand and support why she would make those comments. Living in the world of social media platforms is difficult. Comments are a free space where people can comment whatever they feel.
The one slightly good perspective of comments is the opportunity to share information. For example, sharing recommendations for places to go, or commenting on where someone purchased a item. Therefore, using the comments as a place to distribute information.
On certain platforms, the idea of negative toxic comments is highly unlikely. To some extent, I believe trolls and scammers are not be looking at unpopular websites or media. Trolls and and scammers are more likely to spend time on platforms that generate more attention.
For my website, I choose to have the comment section available. Based on my posts and the platform I created, I believe the idea of negative comment curating is low. Of course, if someone were to comment anything hurtful or toxic towards someone else, I would address it and remove it. For right now, I don’t think my website needs the comment section removed.
References
Lyz. (2022, February 2). That’s how it works when you’re a woman on the internet. That’s How It Works When You’re a Woman on the Internet. Retrieved from https://lyz.substack.com/p/thats-how-it-works-when-youre-a-woman?s=r
Throughout the entirety of this course, I feel as though I have been very lucky to get to work on a passion project of mine while also working towards a potential future career. I’ve enjoyed the process of getting to sit down and actually write out these posts, though it took me a while to get into the swing of things. You never really realize how much work goes into something until you actually give it a shot yourself. I certainly have a newfound appreciation for all the cooking blogs I mercilessly scrolled through in the past, wondering why they haven’t posted anything in six months. I know that I had it easy, given the fact that I’ve been posting tried and true recipes that have been handed down through my family. Even then, I wasn’t able to get something up every single week like I had wanted to at the beginning. I also think that being able to have an independent, online space for me to work through my personal musings has been incredibly helpful. I didn’t realize how much of my experience with online spaces involved being saturated with targeted content and algorithms until I took a step away from it to create a digital garden space of my own.
Furthermore, I’ve really appreciated getting to learn about each individual aspect that goes into running a website. From the ground up, how business construct their sites can make or break the reach that they might attain. Using keywords, SEO, ads, and looking up the name of your website before settling on a domain are all key parts of making sure that you’re going to be recognized based on what you actually want to represent in your work. Ads themselves are an entirely different ball game, it was incredibly interesting to see a little of the process of how ads come to be and the thought processes behind them. Additionally, I’ve gained so much more experience with running a site through WordPress, and I’m very happy to have re-familiarized myself with the tools given the fact that I will be working with them again next semester in my co-op position.
PUB 101 has been a wonderful class overall, I’ve gained a lot of valuable knowledge and insight on how to best present myself online, and represent the versions of myself I want to be visible. I really enjoyed running Considering Cardamom this semester, and while I know that it will be difficult for me to continue to run the site while in school, I wouldn’t mind having the opportunity to come back to it every now and again to pick up where I left off.
Diversity is always something of a tricky question for me. I find it odd to think of myself as diverse, considering how I just exist. I never really thought about how things like representation or seeing my culture appreciated by people outside of it might be important until recently. As I’ve mentioned before probably countless times, I grew up in a very white environment. We lived just off of the Bible Belt in the Lower Mainland. All my neighbours were white or mixed, most of the kids I went to school with were white, and all of my friends were white or East Asian. Whenever there were kids of South Asian descent in my classes, I always felt like I had some weird obligation to be their friend, even if I didn’t like them very much, based solely on the fact that we shared a culture. In the fourth grade, there was a new girl who came to our school, and she was from Sri Lanka. Even though we did not look anything alike, we had entirely different names and I had been in the same class as most of my peers for four years up until that point, we would get confused all the time. It was as though we were synonymous with one another. I’ve only recently started to look back at such interactions and think about how that probably should have bothered me.
I couldn’t blame the kids, of course, they had no way of knowing the difference between India and Sri Lanka. First of all, they were fourth graders. Aside from a Diwali presentation that my mom sometimes would give to my and my sisters’ classes, they really had no knowledge of Indian culture. Unlike my isolation from people who shared my heritage, this phenomenon lasted a little while longer. I remember being in high school and bringing daal to school only to be asked excitedly what it was that I was eating. It blew my mind to think that people had no idea what it was. Even further back, we had family friends that would come over every year for New Year’s to have my mom’s butter chicken, because they had never had it anywhere else and swore that hers was the best.
Nowadays, things are slightly different. Indian culture is not at the forefront of many people’s minds, but it is not as invisible as it used to be. I’ve seen characters in popular fictional works that are coded as being South Asian, like Inej from Leigh Bardugo’s books. South Asian beauty rituals such as hair oiling are going viral on social media apps. Even the restaurant where I work has added butter chicken to their menu! There is still a long way to go when it comes to the representation of South Asian people in popular media, but I’m optimistic given the changes I’ve been seeing in the past few years, and I look forward to seeing where it goes.
In general, shopping is a struggle.
Whether it’s grocery shopping, clothing shopping, furniture shopping, or anything else, it’s a struggle. Running from store to store for the greatest deal can be exhausting. Some stores are so far from one another, they are not in the same vicinity. It can be so time-consuming!
For me, shopping and running around used to be the worst.
Until I started going to Costco.
Costco has seriously been a lifesaver.
When I moved out, I thought I couldn’t possibly shop at Costco. At Costco, you buy in bulk. I thought it would be WAY too much for myself and my partner. But wow, I was wrong.
Costco has not only saved me money but time!
I sometimes laugh at myself thinking about my newly found passion for Costco. I used to say to myself, I will never get excited about grocery shopping or buying furniture. But, here I am.
I am now that person who will buy clothes at the same store I buy my groceries.
Food-wise, my partner and I eat a ridiculous amount of food. I used to find it a real challenge to keep the fridge and cupboards stocked. Shopping for food at Costco has made a world of a difference. We buy fruit and vegetables, meats, crackers, cheese, and bread!
I know, you may think, wow food must spoil. But surprisingly enough, we have yet to let food go bad. Keeping in mind, we do cook a lot of food that involves throwing everything in the fridge into a pot and calling that dinner, but still, we eat it.
Shopping at Costco has allowed us to save money on food and allow us to buy more luxurious items with our savings. Sometimes we even buy organic!
Grocery shopping at Costco also equals free samples, so that’s always a win.
Clothing-wise, Costco has some great deals. I have found great clothes for everything. I have bought a layering jackets for hiking, everyday walking socks, and blouses for work. Who cares about the name brand, if it’s quality, I’d say it’s perfect!
Furniture and fun items are something else. For instance, I went to Costco this weekend and I found the cutest Christmas snowman to add to my décor. The snowman is so cute, he is holding a little lantern. The funny part about buying my little snowman is I originally went in for groceries… Oh well, it was a deal.
Honestly, Costco is an adventure. I used to think I was too cool for Costco, but now I’m thinking Costco is too cool for me.
The ONLY struggle with Costco is that you may come out with more than you bargained for. But honestly, that’s part of the fun. If you are struggling with shopping, I recommend trying a store like Costco. Make grocery shopping fun!
Costco? UnderRated.
Dear Posiel,
So long, farewell, bon voyage. Today marks the last day of Poseil 
(emojis courtesy of Jim over at Slice of Jim, otherwise I’d still be googling emojis and Ctrl+c & Ctrl+v-ing them like a peasant… Thanks Jim!). As it is the last day, I would like to dedicate some of this post to how I believe (know?) my experience went.
Before we get into that though, I know the process prompt is supposed to be about community guidelines, but honestly, I feel like I could care less what What the Cat Said‘s community did (if there was a community in the first place). What exactly would I be guiding? Article commentary if there were any comments I guess? Write whatever you want! I don’t think that I will be moderating anything too closely as long as it doesn’t get all Ye up in here.
RIPSo with that said, run rampant, go crazy, start a fire, start a flame war, tell someone you love them, I do not care. Ok maybe don’t start a fire? Unless it’s cold and you need it for warmth, IDK, IDC. I couldn’t have made this section longer if I tried.
Ok, moving on.
Posiel, Posiel, Posiel… Where to start… This class has been one of the most laid-back classes, if not THE most laid-back class of my entire undergrad. Don’t get me wrong, it was work, but not the kind of work that sprouted a garden of silver hairs upon thine crown. It was fun, dare I say, therapeutic work.
With my CS undergrad, I don’t get many chances to be creative. Yes, there are opportunities to design and develop applications, but most of these projects have been group work, and not truly, solely my own. This blog is my own. These words are my own. These thoughts are sometimes my own, but they are also explanations of already documented topics in my own derivation (it’s something, ok). I like having a space where I can just be myself for a moment. This space is not something I’ve had before or believed I needed until it was in front of me.
From start to finish, these blog posts have been helpful in breaking the monotonous mould of code this, code that, and they have really allowed me to find a voice in something for the first time in a long time.
Ok enough sap, after today I may still post here and there, but probably not weekly. Although I’m planning to take 4-6 months off after I graduate (burnout is my best friend) so maybe this blog will be more in the forefront of my noggin.
So, with that said, thank you for being there on this journey!
Adios! It’s been a slice, and I’m excited to see what life beyond graduation holds
. Good luck with your life! Byeeee.
I wish I knew before
I wish someone had told me
At least now
I’m here to help myself
It hurts to hit rock bottom
It hurts when no one is there
It hurts to see failure standing there
Standing there with a vicious grin
I can’t express enough
How much it hurts to be tormented
Tormented by what could be
It hurts when they say it’ll be fine
When it won’t
It can’t be fine if I’m not fine
It hurts to live with this guilt
That you’re doing something wrong
Maybe I am doing something wrong
No
I’m definitely doing something wrong
I’m absolutely doing something wrong
But I can’t help it
I needed someone to tell me
I needed someone to be there
When I was screaming my silent screams
But now I’m fine
They were right
It’s fine
Everything is fine
All is fine in their eyes
But they don’t see what’s in the dark
They don’t see what’s happening
They don’t know what’s going on
Don’t worry I’ve learned
I’ve learned that I must be fine
If all around me is fine
Then I am fine
Absolutely fine
Since, the beginning I have wanted my website to be a place where my content and online persona would basically be very true to who I am in real life. I wanted it to be a place where I can post my writing stuff without judgment and without worry. That is also the type of community I want to create. The type of community that helps each other, gives advice, gives feedback, and is just a place to be your true inner self.
Over the past couple of weeks (more like months, but let’s go with weeks) I have been creating, developing, and improving my website and my content to fully show my online persona, both my website and my creator personas, as well as look further into my audience and other key aspects of my website. Thinking about all that made me realize that I should probably create some community guidelines and figure out ways to implement them as well (even if I don’t actually have a community).
Alright, let’s do this! First things first, the community guidelines for my website. Let’s get this thing started, the community guidelines for my website are basically like any other guidelines that people with any basic human decency already follow. These basic guidelines include the usual…
I personally believe that the best way to implement these (extremely basic and common) guidelines would be to obviously set an example and follow them perfectly to the very last letter. Another way to implement them would be to keep an eye out to see how my (non-existent) community interacts on my website and take action accordingly if someone were to go against the community guidelines.
I guess those are my very simple community guidelines that should be extremely easy to follow! Always remember that this website was created by a weirdo (me), so that I could finally have a place to be free to post my type of writing content and I want to keep it that way!
This process post is for November 29th, 2022 on community guidelines.
I want my site to create safe and ethical conversations about topics I have talked about through my podcast. Of course it is important to acknowledge that all individuals should feel safe and that their voices are being heard, so the guideline is making that happen. In the guideline:
If the audience cannot follow one of the guidelines, they would be contacted by myself for a warning. If the behaviour continued, they would be blocked from accessing this site.
