Happy Monday, Dear Readers. I have an announcement to make.
I decided when I started up this blog again that I would only keep it going until I was full-time employed. This past week I was able to take a skills assessment, have a wonderful interview, and sign some paperwork. Tomorrow I start my training period for working with Frontier Airlines in their customer support department, so rather than have my usual Tuesday blog upload, I am posting this note to my blog today.
I have been humbled by this process of finding work. I didn't find the job I wanted, but I found a job I'm good at and the pay is steady. In today's economy, with everything going on, it is better to get a solid paycheck than to keep waiting for perfection.
So goodbye for now, Dear Readers. I hope you are all staying safe, washing your hands, and drinking enough water. Take care of each other, and I'll see you around.
-A.M.W.
Monday, July 6, 2020
Tuesday, June 30, 2020
The Joy of Summer, Part 2
Happy Tuesday, Dear Readers. I hope you had a good week, and were enjoying the sun if you were able.
Summers in Colorado, being on the eastern side of the mountains, means an extra-long twilight; there is the twilight-set as the sun goes over the mountains, and then the actual sunset as it sinks below the horizon. It is during this twilight time that, if there are any clouds in the sky, they are made resplendent with sunset colors. It is a peaceful, beautiful time that I love to sit and watch; a reminder of simple beauty existing no matter what else is happening in the world.
Summers also mean that everybody who lives at in my HOA with a fishing pole and some time on their hands will at some point try fishing in the ponds on the HOA's grounds. The ponds are connected to the protected wild-space to the west of us, so there are always fish swimming about. Yesterday I saw no less than a dozen people spaced out between the two ponds, obviously enjoying their time outside.
The one thing I have noticed this summer is an uptick in summer showers during the afternoons; mostly light and gentle rain that lasts from 30 minutes to 2 hours, with the occasional thunderstorm. The mornings start off bright and sunny and hot, only for a general cooling off and the peaceful sound of rain. I love the sound of summer rain, and how it makes the world more vibrant as a result; the plants visibly perk up, even as the world is made quiet from the rain.
I know there is a lot of ugliness in the world right now, but please take time from doom-scrolling through the news and take some time to appreciate the simple beauty of the world around you this week, Dear Readers. I find it to be essential for good mental health.
Until next week, Dear Readers.
-A.M.W.
Summers in Colorado, being on the eastern side of the mountains, means an extra-long twilight; there is the twilight-set as the sun goes over the mountains, and then the actual sunset as it sinks below the horizon. It is during this twilight time that, if there are any clouds in the sky, they are made resplendent with sunset colors. It is a peaceful, beautiful time that I love to sit and watch; a reminder of simple beauty existing no matter what else is happening in the world.
Summers also mean that everybody who lives at in my HOA with a fishing pole and some time on their hands will at some point try fishing in the ponds on the HOA's grounds. The ponds are connected to the protected wild-space to the west of us, so there are always fish swimming about. Yesterday I saw no less than a dozen people spaced out between the two ponds, obviously enjoying their time outside.
The one thing I have noticed this summer is an uptick in summer showers during the afternoons; mostly light and gentle rain that lasts from 30 minutes to 2 hours, with the occasional thunderstorm. The mornings start off bright and sunny and hot, only for a general cooling off and the peaceful sound of rain. I love the sound of summer rain, and how it makes the world more vibrant as a result; the plants visibly perk up, even as the world is made quiet from the rain.
I know there is a lot of ugliness in the world right now, but please take time from doom-scrolling through the news and take some time to appreciate the simple beauty of the world around you this week, Dear Readers. I find it to be essential for good mental health.
Until next week, Dear Readers.
-A.M.W.
Tuesday, June 23, 2020
The Joy of Summer
Hello Dear Readers, I hope you had a good week.
Now that summer is in full swing, I like to go out for walks more. There are nature paths near where I live, and I like to take a mask with me just in case I come across other people, and go for a nice walk in the evenings, after the heat of the day has passed but before the sun goes over the mountains and ushers in the twilight. It's peaceful and lovely and is wonderfully different than being stuck inside my place for months on end.
Even I, as a homebody/hermit, can say that the pandemic state of mind is getting to me, now more than ever. Summer in Colorado is beautiful, and would be my usual time to take a week off of work and go to several somewheres as a series of day trips (the Midsummer Festival in Estes Park is always neat, and before it got too pricey, I would also attend the Denver Comic Con for a day). I grew up in Michigan, where the higher humidity is not conducive to staying outside when it is hot, but with the low humidity in Colorado, I learned to love an entire season outside when I usually would have stayed inside in the air conditioning.
I know things in general are not good right now, and it is stressful for everybody. Remember to take care of yourselves; drink plenty of water, sleep when you can, eat as healthily as you are able, and go for a walk and get some sunlight. Be safe, wash your hands, bring a mask with you if you are going to be around other people, and wear sunscreen.
I want all of us to both survive and live as happily as we are able through all of this. I know it might get a lot worse before it gets any better, so buckle up, Dear Readers. Know that even though we might be going through a bad place, I am there with you, and we will get through this together.
Go enjoy the sun this week, Dear Readers.
-A.M.W.
Now that summer is in full swing, I like to go out for walks more. There are nature paths near where I live, and I like to take a mask with me just in case I come across other people, and go for a nice walk in the evenings, after the heat of the day has passed but before the sun goes over the mountains and ushers in the twilight. It's peaceful and lovely and is wonderfully different than being stuck inside my place for months on end.
Even I, as a homebody/hermit, can say that the pandemic state of mind is getting to me, now more than ever. Summer in Colorado is beautiful, and would be my usual time to take a week off of work and go to several somewheres as a series of day trips (the Midsummer Festival in Estes Park is always neat, and before it got too pricey, I would also attend the Denver Comic Con for a day). I grew up in Michigan, where the higher humidity is not conducive to staying outside when it is hot, but with the low humidity in Colorado, I learned to love an entire season outside when I usually would have stayed inside in the air conditioning.
I know things in general are not good right now, and it is stressful for everybody. Remember to take care of yourselves; drink plenty of water, sleep when you can, eat as healthily as you are able, and go for a walk and get some sunlight. Be safe, wash your hands, bring a mask with you if you are going to be around other people, and wear sunscreen.
I want all of us to both survive and live as happily as we are able through all of this. I know it might get a lot worse before it gets any better, so buckle up, Dear Readers. Know that even though we might be going through a bad place, I am there with you, and we will get through this together.
Go enjoy the sun this week, Dear Readers.
-A.M.W.
Tuesday, June 16, 2020
Continuous Self-Improvement
Hello Dear Readers. I hope you've had a good week.
After I earned the last three certificates, I took a little bit of a learning break, and then realized I was bored. Boredom is bad for me, for many reasons, the first of which is that my brain does not handle boredom well, as I like to be challenged.
So I've gone back to Codecademy and I've been having a great time. I brushed up on my HTML5 knowledge, and now I'm almost done with their CSS course. It's been fun building on what I started learning at 13, when dial-up internet had finally come to my hometown and I could figure out how to make web pages.
I'm of the opinion that as long as people are learning, they are growing. I like to grow, and to know more when I go to bed than when I woke up that morning, a continuous self-improvement. I also enjoy learning new ways to express myself, as communication is always an important part of being human. Coding is just another language to learn to help express something visually, and I enjoy it.
Whatever way you like to learn, and however you enjoy communicating, I hope you are taking time for yourselves, Dear Readers. Have a good week.
-A.M.W.
After I earned the last three certificates, I took a little bit of a learning break, and then realized I was bored. Boredom is bad for me, for many reasons, the first of which is that my brain does not handle boredom well, as I like to be challenged.
So I've gone back to Codecademy and I've been having a great time. I brushed up on my HTML5 knowledge, and now I'm almost done with their CSS course. It's been fun building on what I started learning at 13, when dial-up internet had finally come to my hometown and I could figure out how to make web pages.
I'm of the opinion that as long as people are learning, they are growing. I like to grow, and to know more when I go to bed than when I woke up that morning, a continuous self-improvement. I also enjoy learning new ways to express myself, as communication is always an important part of being human. Coding is just another language to learn to help express something visually, and I enjoy it.
Whatever way you like to learn, and however you enjoy communicating, I hope you are taking time for yourselves, Dear Readers. Have a good week.
-A.M.W.
Tuesday, June 9, 2020
Having Imagination And Mental Fatigue
Hello, Dear Readers; I hope your week was a productive one.
Usually, having an imagination is a great thing; I love to write, and part of my previous jobs did entail some work imagining scenarios of how customers might react to different promotions. I like being able to create a world in my head and explore it, and then write about the interesting bits down.
Living in 2020 with imagination is...not great, honestly. It's like this year is actively striving to create the world's weirdest apocalypse year bingo card, and every time I think about the implications of each new event and how those could turn out for people, I honestly can't predict what could be next. It's like trying to figure out a domino effect in an M.C. Escher painting.
Things that have already happened in 2020 Bingo: World-wide plague? Check. Mass layoffs in the USA? Check. Protests all over the world against systemic oppression? Check. The USA almost starting WWIII? Check. Murder hornets? Check. Summer-season wide-spread forest fires (first in Australia, now in the USA)? Check. Ebola having another outbreak in Africa? Check. The USA's Pentagon releasing possible proof that aliens exist? Check. Dams which are privately owned and not given proper upkeep breaking and flooding people out of their homes? Check. Dogs and cats, living together in harmony? Check.
I am mentally fatigued to the point where I feel disappointed but not surprised when each new event happens. Our new version of "normal" (in quotes because none of this is even remotely normal) is such that if the next big news story is that Atlantis rose from the sea and declared war on the companies that dump waste in the ocean the most, I'd read through the article while drinking my coffee, watch the video footage, think 'good for them for standing up for themselves', and move on to the next news article.
I would like to end this blog with some fanciful predictions for 2020 to go with the theme it is apparently running on, but I'm slightly anxious to put any ideas out into the universe that could come to fruition and hurt somebody. So instead, predictions for 2020 that will help humanity.
1) A legitimate cure is found for COVID-19 which is both shelf-stable and efficient to make and give to people with minimal side-effects. I say shelf-stable so that it does not require refrigeration to be viable, which helps in the shipping and maintaining of the cure to hot climates.
2) Scientists figure out how to efficiently clean the oceans of all the garbage and micro-plastics.
3) Technology is created and implemented that will drastically reduce harmful emissions made by large manufacturers.
4) Strides are made towards positive systemic changes for the betterment of all humans.
What sort of things do you want to see in 2020? Have a good week, Dear Readers.
-A.M.W.
Usually, having an imagination is a great thing; I love to write, and part of my previous jobs did entail some work imagining scenarios of how customers might react to different promotions. I like being able to create a world in my head and explore it, and then write about the interesting bits down.
Living in 2020 with imagination is...not great, honestly. It's like this year is actively striving to create the world's weirdest apocalypse year bingo card, and every time I think about the implications of each new event and how those could turn out for people, I honestly can't predict what could be next. It's like trying to figure out a domino effect in an M.C. Escher painting.
Things that have already happened in 2020 Bingo: World-wide plague? Check. Mass layoffs in the USA? Check. Protests all over the world against systemic oppression? Check. The USA almost starting WWIII? Check. Murder hornets? Check. Summer-season wide-spread forest fires (first in Australia, now in the USA)? Check. Ebola having another outbreak in Africa? Check. The USA's Pentagon releasing possible proof that aliens exist? Check. Dams which are privately owned and not given proper upkeep breaking and flooding people out of their homes? Check. Dogs and cats, living together in harmony? Check.
I am mentally fatigued to the point where I feel disappointed but not surprised when each new event happens. Our new version of "normal" (in quotes because none of this is even remotely normal) is such that if the next big news story is that Atlantis rose from the sea and declared war on the companies that dump waste in the ocean the most, I'd read through the article while drinking my coffee, watch the video footage, think 'good for them for standing up for themselves', and move on to the next news article.
I would like to end this blog with some fanciful predictions for 2020 to go with the theme it is apparently running on, but I'm slightly anxious to put any ideas out into the universe that could come to fruition and hurt somebody. So instead, predictions for 2020 that will help humanity.
1) A legitimate cure is found for COVID-19 which is both shelf-stable and efficient to make and give to people with minimal side-effects. I say shelf-stable so that it does not require refrigeration to be viable, which helps in the shipping and maintaining of the cure to hot climates.
2) Scientists figure out how to efficiently clean the oceans of all the garbage and micro-plastics.
3) Technology is created and implemented that will drastically reduce harmful emissions made by large manufacturers.
4) Strides are made towards positive systemic changes for the betterment of all humans.
What sort of things do you want to see in 2020? Have a good week, Dear Readers.
-A.M.W.
Wednesday, June 3, 2020
Solidarity In A Time of Division
I did not post yesterday because yesterday was a social media blackout for content creators, and as small as it is, my blog qualified as content creation. I am so sad and angry at how peaceful marches have been brutally responded to by police; people protesting police violence given more police escalation and violence, and all of it condoned by the current executive administration.
The current executive administration got voted in because of division, and they are determined to keep up their divisive tactics. However, I don't want to talk about the aggressors, but of how we can help each other. We have to stand up for each other, because it is now in stark focus that those in power are not willing to represent us, as they promised when they were sworn into office. We must act in solidarity to each other; as a neighborhood, as a city, as a state, and as a nation.
Be kind to yourself, and be kind to others. If you go to a protest, make sure to hydrate and be watchful of police presence. Stay as safe as you can, and have an exit strategy. Also, educate yourself about the history of America squashing progressive movements, and learn from their playbook. The history we were taught in school is woefully insufficient when it comes to how America became the country it is today, and by and large, whitewashed in the name of patriotism. The information is out there; consult your local librarian.
Stay safe, stay healthy, and stay connected to each other, Dear Readers. We get through this together, or not at all.
-A.M.W.
The current executive administration got voted in because of division, and they are determined to keep up their divisive tactics. However, I don't want to talk about the aggressors, but of how we can help each other. We have to stand up for each other, because it is now in stark focus that those in power are not willing to represent us, as they promised when they were sworn into office. We must act in solidarity to each other; as a neighborhood, as a city, as a state, and as a nation.
Be kind to yourself, and be kind to others. If you go to a protest, make sure to hydrate and be watchful of police presence. Stay as safe as you can, and have an exit strategy. Also, educate yourself about the history of America squashing progressive movements, and learn from their playbook. The history we were taught in school is woefully insufficient when it comes to how America became the country it is today, and by and large, whitewashed in the name of patriotism. The information is out there; consult your local librarian.
Stay safe, stay healthy, and stay connected to each other, Dear Readers. We get through this together, or not at all.
-A.M.W.
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
Memory and Kindness
Hello, Dear Readers. I hope you are healthy, and that your week was a good one. For those of you in the United States, I hope you had a nice Memorial Day weekend. I spent my Monday crocheting and quietly contemplating my grandfathers and my maternal uncle, all of whom have long-since passed away, and all of whom were in the military at one point during their lives. I had talked to my Dad, a Vietnam veteran, on Saturday, during what turned out to be a hilarious "first time using video chat on a tablet" adventure for my parents. Mom thought it was perfectly fine to start the call in a dark living room with only the TV on for light, until I let her know I couldn't see her or Dad, and then once they turned on some lights, neither of them could figure out where the camera was, and none of us could stop laughing. Remembering it still makes me smile.
Memory is an important, but odd thing; it is like an intangible muscle in some aspects, that we must work with it in order to remember things consistently. We get so much information every day, every week, that it is so hard to keep up with everything and remember the most important bits. As the influence of fast information via the internet grows, our attention spans shorten and we aren't given enough time to process the information given to us. It doesn't help that 2020 is proving to be an overwhelming experience of information, whether it be from health professionals, or the news, or government entities, or viral videos of what people are doing on the other side of the world for the betterment or detriment of their fellow human beings.
Be good to yourself, and take the time to process all of this mental information. A lot can happen within every news cycle, and between juggling working from home (or looking for work from home) and keeping informed (and for some of you, also taking care of at least one kid), it can be a lot to handle. Take some time away from the screens each day so that you can process everything you've taken in, and take care of yourself; stretch, breathe, drink some water, and remember to eat.
I don't know how long this new normal may last, but we must remember to be kind to ourselves, both physically and mentally. Have a good week, Dear Readers.
-A.M.W.
Memory is an important, but odd thing; it is like an intangible muscle in some aspects, that we must work with it in order to remember things consistently. We get so much information every day, every week, that it is so hard to keep up with everything and remember the most important bits. As the influence of fast information via the internet grows, our attention spans shorten and we aren't given enough time to process the information given to us. It doesn't help that 2020 is proving to be an overwhelming experience of information, whether it be from health professionals, or the news, or government entities, or viral videos of what people are doing on the other side of the world for the betterment or detriment of their fellow human beings.
Be good to yourself, and take the time to process all of this mental information. A lot can happen within every news cycle, and between juggling working from home (or looking for work from home) and keeping informed (and for some of you, also taking care of at least one kid), it can be a lot to handle. Take some time away from the screens each day so that you can process everything you've taken in, and take care of yourself; stretch, breathe, drink some water, and remember to eat.
I don't know how long this new normal may last, but we must remember to be kind to ourselves, both physically and mentally. Have a good week, Dear Readers.
-A.M.W.
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