For a long time, I did not understand the appeal of tragedies like 1997's
Titanic and Romeo & Juliet. Yeah, it sucks that their love did not last, but sad
shit happens all the time. Hundreds of tragedies occur every day, yet here we
are still observing ones from years ago. But clearly, there's something to them.
Else, these stories would not have lasted in the popular culture. What was I
missing?
It wasn't that I believed nothing bad should ever happen to the main characters.
In fact, I really The nature of reality has been a contentious subject that has rattled the brains
of the greatest philosophers and the drunkest college students. That subject has
only been further complicated by the increasing presence of internet-enabled
machines in every day life, leading to many people living existences primarily
in an online world. Is this online world 'real'? Well, yes and no.
What got me thinking about the difference between the online and offline world
is a passage by Annie Dillard. The At the end of a calendar year, many people create New Year's resolution, a
flimsy goal that rarely lasts beyond January. Instead, I follow an idea called a
Yearly Theme. A resolution like "exercise more", for a goal that is supposed to
last an entire year, is simultaneously oddly specific (there is more than just
exercise in your life) and overly vague (what counts as exercise? what counts as
more?). On the other hand, because themes are purposefully broad, they can
influence many different aspeSuper Smash Brothers Melee is a strange passion of mine. Despite never playing
the game competitively, I am very fond of its competitive scene. I can tell you
exactly where I was when Hungrybox came back on Armada at EVO 2016. I could
write an essay about how crazy it was that Mew2King won 3-0 over Armada at Smash
Summit 2. Yet, despite my love of the game, I've had my ups and downs. Most
recently, I watched Zain, my current favorite player, have a heartbreaking loss
at last weekend's LACS3. FeeEveryone wishes they got in early. Investors with they got on Apple before the
iPhone. Influencers wish they were on YouTube back in 2008.
Those who got in early were either lucky, or able to recognize something special
that most people can't.
Opportunities like YouTube or the iPhone come once in a lifetime. Just like you.
For your whole time on Earth, you'll be the only you that you know.
If there's something special about you, something only you have or not everyone
can recognize (you probaI didn't realize before my aunt asked me at a Christmas party, "So, what is it
that coders do?" how strange programming is to most people. While I couldn't
answer my aunt back then, I have an answer now.
I'll start with something most people now, the movies. There is a trope of the
hacking wizard; a nerdy-looking, glasses-wearing (usually white) guy staring
intensely at a screen while blasting at a keyboard like a sewing machine. In
reality, I only write a few lines of code per hour. It's not aTo many, maintaining a personal website seems like a relic of a bygone internet.
However, doing so now is vital in communicating your unique interests and ideas.
To understand the flaws in our current communication methods, we first have to
look at where we are.
Over the past two decades, platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and
YouTube have amassed an enormous amount of creative energy and human attention.
Anyone, from a kid down the block to the president of the United States, thatAt one point or another, you wanted to become a better programmer. Your reasons
for doing so may very. Developers make a lot of money. Software can improve the
lives of its user. Whatever the reason, increasing the quality of code would get
you there. Realizing this now, what do you do?
First, you might focus on the code you're writing. You run your code through
linters. You write more documentation. You remove duplicate code. You make more
descriptive functions. You apply every good idea and b 
