Createblogpost

_config.yml

@@ -5,37 +5,37 @@ url: "0.0.0.0" # the base hostname & protocol for your site
 # THEME-SPECIFIC CONFIGURATION
 theme_settings:
   # Meta
-  title: Joey Kirk
+  title: Stacy Bee
   avatar: avatar.png
   gravatar: # Email MD5 hash
-  description: "A website with blog posts and pages" # used by search engines
+  description: "Diary of an Angry Developer" # used by search engines
 
   # Header and footer text
   header_text: >
-     <h1>Designer, Developer, Writer, and Dad.</h1>
+     <h1>Diary of an Angry Developer</h1>
   header_text_feature_image:
   footer_text: >
    Powered by <a href="http://jekyllrb.com">Jekyll</a> with <a href="https://rohanchandra.github.io/project/type/">Type Theme</a>
 
   # Icons
   rss: false
-  email_address: # Full email address, e.g. "sam@example.com"
+  email_address: smbridson@gmail.com "sam@example.com"
   behance:
   bitbucket:
-  dribbble: "joeykirk"
-  facebook: "joeykirk"
+  dribbble: 
+  facebook: 
   flickr:
-  github: "madebymunsters/type-theme"
+  github: https://github.com/stacybee
   google_plus:
-  instagram: "joeykirk"
+  instagram: 
   linkedin:  # Full URL
   pinterest:
   reddit:
   soundcloud:
   stack_exchange:  # Full URL
   steam:
   tumblr:
-  twitter: "joeykirk"
+  twitter: 
   wordpress:
   youtube:
 
@@ -71,4 +71,4 @@ sass:
   sass_dir: _sass
   style: :compressed
 
-gems: [jekyll-paginate]
+gems: [jekyll-paginate]

_posts/2017-09-18.md

@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+---
+layout: post<br>
+title: My Experience at Bloc
+---
+
+The very first thing I can remember that started me on my journey with Bloc was when a very lazy friend of mine received his degree in computer programming.  I've been working on Amazon Mturk for years, and have always been very computer-oriented, and we often discussed technology, computer programming and jointly helped mutual friends with their computer questions, so when he got his degree **and actually got a job**, my curiosity was piqued.  Now, this friend of mine was not the most motivated individual I knew (had no interest in moving out his parents' at age 32, took 7 years to finish school, etc.), and I knew I was at least his intellectual equal.  If he could do it, I definitely had the skills.  <br><br>My biggest problem was my **age**.  In my later 30's, my main work experience was in the service industry.  I was a _great_ bartender, but always knew that sort of work couldn't be forever.  It's physically demanding, and financially fickle, plus I seemed to be swiftly approaching my tolerance limit for dealing with drunk customers and cheap tippers.  I was becoming very unhappy with my work, and it showed.  At the same time, my husband and I realized we running out of time to have another child, which we desperately wanted.  
+<br>I started researching online programming schools.  There was an article published by the blog Lifehacker from 2015 and that's where I first heard about **Bloc**. Although the article doesn't mention it by name, I was able to better understand what an online bootcamp entailed, and after reading through the reader comments (where Bloc _was_ mentioned by name), I was able to hear about some real-life experiences and was linked to more information that got me pretty fired up.  I checked out the Bloc website and was sold. The premise seemed like something that would work with my life and schedule, allowing me to continue my at-home work with Mturk without sacrificing so much of my time that I would be **40** before I could start working.  It also gave me a great excuse to quit my bartending job and get pregnant.  I was going to be home all day, on the computer!  What could be better?
+<br><br>The sign-up was very easy, getting financing was a breeze and I was all set up to start my web development journey in about a week.  Because charts and lists are things that mesh with my mind well, I really enjoyed the **roadmap page**, where you can track your progress.  What I _didn't_ enjoy was the 'on my own-ness' of the learning.  It wasn't that I don't like the solitude, or can't find the motivation to work by myself, for those were skills that I already knew I possessed.  It was that I thrive off of **direction**, or having a clear set of rules to work by.  The ambiguity of programming was a shock to my system, and has been something I struggle with to this day.  Oh, I can accomplish the same output with 100 different codes?  Mind fritzed!  I didn't know before starting at Bloc that I see things in such a **black-or-white manner**, and while it's been very frustrating to work through, I know it's helped me grow as a person to expand my mind and start thinking like a real **problem solver**.  I needed to start seeing problems and challenges as mazes, instead of stoplights.  To effectively create code, you need to move forward, adjust your perspective and then continue, maybe to the side, and even back a few steps.  I spend time **every day** learning, either expanding my knowledge or practicing what I already know, and I can already tell this is going to be the way things are from here on out if I want to commit to life as a web developer.

_posts/2017-09-18a.md

@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+---
+layout: post<br>
+title: What Being a Front-End Developer Means to Means
+---
+
+When I first started at Bloc, the idea of a 'front-end developer' was very obscure to me.  I couldn't have defined it, or told you what one did.  There was some vague ideas of 'they work with computers and do websites'.  Now that I've been working on a more immersion-based education, my ideas of what it means are becoming much more solid.  <br><br>I subscribe to a tech email that sends me daily tech articles, which I may or may not read regularly, but what I have read has  definitely given me a more fleshed-out impression of what a front-end developer does and how they affect people's browsing experience.  To my delight, what they do is something that matters to me.  
+<br>Bad websites have always been a pet peeve of mine.  I'm not conceited enough to think they don't bother most people, but I think I get a little more pedantic about what bothers me.  Slow-loads, annoying graphics, repetitious information, hard-to-find links, dead-links, bad grammar and spelling, intrusive ads, these are all things that will have me either **avoiding** a site, thinking **negatively** about its product/premise or just flat-out **searching elsewhere** for the information I need.  When I find a smooth, sleek, visually arresting website, I will honestly show  it to other people and think about it later on.  Thankfully, I found that these preferences of mine fit right in with a person who aspires to be a front-end web developer.
+<br><br>My main problem is creativity.  I don't typically have _BIG IDEAS_.  I can't think of how to make things better sometimes.  Usually I like websites or apps because they work well for me or deliver what I need, and when things do what they're supposed to, I can't think of a way to make them better.  I'm satisfied.  Luckily for me, through my Mturk work, I once had to analyze a paper written by a college student.  It may or may not have been a real paper, but the information I found inside was easy to verify and what I found was comforting and encouraging to someone like me, who suffers from permanent roadblocks.  What I learned was this:  **Creativity is NOT inherent or static**.  What you're born with can **always** be changed.  You can learn, if you're willing, to become more creative.  I'm a big believer in the Google machine, so I did what I usually do when I'm curious about something and found more material to read.  I can't say that I'm an idea machine or anything now, but I do feel more **confident** about my ability to create and deliver on other people's visions.  I know now that being non-creative isn't a character flaw I can't escape, it's just a skill I can develop if I use the proper tools. <br><br>
+Being a front-end developer, to me, means bringing someone's (including my own) vision to life.  It means providing a quick answer, appropriate visuals and an **overall pleasant experience** on the internet.  Have you ever visited a website that felt like it was tailored _just for you_, like you walked into your own clubhouse?  That's what I want to do.  It's an endless process, but that just means it's also endlessly rewarding.

_posts/2017-09-18b.md

@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+---
+layout: post<br>
+title: Overcoming Challenges While Learning
+---
+
+Learning to develop has been nothing **but** challenges, frankly.  What's that old adage?  A dream doesn't become reality through magic?  This is something I try to ingrain in my daughter's head; things you want usually just don't come to you naturally.  Every skill you truly desire to have is one you're going to have to work for.  Of course, it's much harder to live by old adages than it is to spew them out to cantankerous 11-year-old ears.  <br><br>It's very easy to say pithy things like, 'My biggest challenge has been myself', but that has been absolutely true.
+I truly believe the only thing that has kept me going has been my **WANT**.  I **want** to be a developer, I **want** that job, I **want** the paycheck, I **want** the title.  Gaining the knowledge, however, has been daunting, to say the least.  There is just _so much_ to learn.  Not only is the code endless, it's constantly changing, constantly being updated, platforms come into vogue, others go out and you are only limited to what your brain can come up with.  It's like standing in front the Wall, knowing you have to go through and live with the Wildlings, but you have no idea how to survive over there.  
+<br><br>Where do you start?  That's the million-dollar question and was the main challenge for me.  Bloc provided that starting point for me and that alone was worth the price of admission to me.  Otherwise, I would have been dithering around thinking about how I wanted to be a developer for who knows how long.  And once you get started, the sense of relief is fleeting since almost immediately you are confronted by how much you **don't** know and how **impossible** it is to know it all.  I overcame this challenge with the realization that I won't ever know it all and I don't need to and that is completely ok.  What I can always do is learn, and I know I'm smart enough to find the resources and answers I need.
+<br><br>Another major challenge I overcame was finding the appropriate time to learn.  Web development isn't a skill that I could put down, take a break from and then pick up a few weeks later.  I tried that and found that I'd forgotten things, and needed to go back and re-do chapters or concepts.  Although this did result in me being much more proficient in certain topics, due to the double-studying, it also wasted my time, and as I've mentioned before, I'm An Old (for someone starting a new career) and my time is at a premium.  So I tried to start first thing in the morning when I was fresh and energized.  This worked, except I wasn't able to work while learning, so I swiftly ran out of money (bad form when you're expecting).  Then I tried at night.  Also impossible when prego since  I fell asleep pretty early.  So I started finding new ways to learn.  I found a good mobile app and did coding challenges while I was out walking.  I found an e-book that linked to exercises so I could keep coding throughout the day, even if it was in small fits and starts.  What worked for me was that I **didn't** put myself on a strict schedule.  Not that that is the way everyone should do it, it's just what worked for me _under these circumstances_.  My point is, you find a way to get the learning done.  It's very important that you realize what works for you under **your** specific circumstances. That's how you overcome that challenge.  There are no rules saying HOW you need to get it done, **just get it done**.