Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Is it just me, or are we living in a really strange time right now? Climate change means more extreme weather events (floods, droughts), and hence more expensive food, and hence more social unrest (See: Venezuela, Ukraine, etc). Economists debate the fate of our generation as if we were contestants on a reality tv show. It's like we're watching our futures happening right now, in front of us, all while practicing almost ignorant levels of optimism just to be able to get through the day and focus on the now.
That feeling of scary change creeps up on you though, when you're just staring out the window having lunch, or browsing the news, and suddenly you realise that the world -- the entire world -- is happening. Right now, all around us. I kind of wish I had the power to reach into the Matrix somehow and just yell, "SLOOOW TIIIMME". But alas. I am not Neo.
So, why "changes" for this month's theme? I feel like a lot of us are going through changes in our lives -- and to be honest, in this day and age (ahem, the future) and with our generation (the future), how could we not? "Everything happens so much," I feel continuously out of sync with the world, always trying to catch up, like I'm in some kind of dream quicksand where you're trying to run faster but you just. Can. Not.
I feel like this is the right place to post Sha's Webstock talk about technology and the future, but it's not uploaded yet :-( Check back in a few days -- I'll embed it here as soon as it's up. For now, here's a song that embodies my current feels:
I really don't know where I'm going with this -- and I'm writing this on a lunch break at McDonald's so, perhaps I'm not in the right mindspace for insightful thoughts and clever ideas -- but perhaps what we really need right now is not insightful dialogue. Perhaps what we need is just some space, some quietness; just the constant hum of friends, whispering their own stories in the background, even if only as proof that you are not alone in this. And I'm always a big advocate for making time for yourself; indulging in distractions and "time-wasters," if that's what you need to clear your head. So. Let's do some random story sharing. I'm going to tell you about a super cool Thing I went to this weekend called Rails Girls.
Rails Girls is a programming workshop that runs for two full-on days, where anyone can apply and learn how to code with Ruby on Rails. There's an awesome mix of people -- everything from a 10 year old girl (who was a whizz, btw), to a highly experienced .NET programmer who, let's face it, probably knew more about programming than half of the coaches there. (Quick FYI: Ruby is a programming language and Rails is a framework which you can use to code up web apps super super easy.) There was much programming, learning, cupcakes and selfies. [Trigger warning: my face]
IT WAS SO FUN YOU GUYS. The Ruby community is the most wonderful collection of super awesome, super supportive people who are always happy to help when you've got a silly, silly question. If you've ever wanted to get into programming, Ruby on Rails is a great way to start. Even if you can't get yourself to one of the workshops, the guides are super straight forward and you can just work through them whenevs. And if you ever have questions, hit me up.
I'm probably not the most well-versed person to comment about this, but I'm sure we all know about the lack of lovely ladies in the programming and tech communities. Note that I said communities specifically -- it's not a problem that girls aren't interested in programming, but that the communities themselves are super intimidating and usually rife with bro-culture (See: the recent GitHub clusterfuck). That's why things like Rails Girls are so awesome and important -- it's a safe space to do code.
FUN FACT: Ladies were actually the first programmers! Check out Maddy's awesome article on Ada Lovelace; there's a bunch of other cool links in that article too if you wanna read more.
What do we take away from this haphazardly-crafted letter? I dunno. Life happens so much, so if you ever need a place to vent, or to escape, we're here for ya.
Sometimes I feel like this cat, and it's okay.
Love,
Serena
