Learning how to code

It’s been so long since my last post and that is because as I mentioned a few posts back, I’m getting into coding. I didn’t expect to be having this much fun with it. That, along with learning French and finally getting a job, is the main reason I’ve been unable to get to writing a post.

So why am I learning to code again? Right now, I’m learning HTML, moving onto CSS now, and after that, JavaScript, so I can code my own websites. I’m also interested in possibly making apps in the future. This website you’re on right now is made from a WordPress theme, since I knew nothing about those languages when I was making it, so I was very avoidant of solutions to do with coding. I’m still at level 0 pretty much, but if I continue learning then I might even be able to improve this site in the future. šŸ˜€

Interestingly, what’s helped me the most with learning code is learning languages, or more so knowing how to learn. Common advice I saw when I first started researching how to code was “learn how to learn.” It’s not that languages and coding languages are the exact same, though there is definitely coding advice that applies to language learning advice and vice versa, but through studying French I’d already discovered my learning style. I know what to learn first, how long to study it for, good memorisation exercises, whether to start with a course or jump right into a project and learn what I need as I go, etc.

When I made my first video game, I was still a noob at both language learning and coding. So even though I’d followed along with a whole 7 hour Unity tutorial, yes I was able to make a game (well, more like Google and coding forums were able to make a game), but today I can barely type one line of C# fluently. It’s luckily the opposite with HTML. I can create at least a simple website without having to look anything up, like how I can talk about my day in French without looking up translations. If you’re interested in hearing some of my methods to achieve this, stay tuned because I might make a post about it in the future! The most amazing feeling is when you come across a problem in your code, after you’ve acquired the building blocks for a language, and you’re able to mix things together and use what you’ve learnt to find the solution yourself, even if it’s far from the most efficient one.

Anyway, as for everything else, it’s been a while since I deliberately went out to take photos with my camera. I can’t really use the excuse that it’s been “winter” either, because “winter” for Perth is basically just summer but 5 degrees lower, with the occasional grey or rainy day. But I’ve still kind of been acting like it’s winter, and so has Astro, my cat, who’s fluffing and fattening up, and also getting darker (fun fact: Siamese “change colours” depending on the temperature!) Unfortunately, he was a bit sick and injured recently. But we took him to the vet and he’s feeling & looking way better now.

Since my brother is getting into writing stories, I offered some time ago to draw pictures to go along with one of his projects, and so now, everytime he finishes a new chapter or scene, I get on to drawing it. This has been really fun, and I’m glad that those two years of learning how to draw has paid off. I just wish I had taken it less seriously. I feel like I could have reached this level in a much shorter amount of time and in a less torturous way. Seeing his stories has also made me wonder whether I should start writing again as well. I’m exploring a concept right now, so we’ll see how that goes!

Overall, I’ve been having a great time recently. This post doesn’t cover everything, I was away for a LONG time. I really enjoyed writing about Astro, so expect to see more posts like that in the future. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you soon! Bye!

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All about Astro

Hi everyone! I’m pretty busy recently so I’ve decided to write an easy post. This time, itā€™s about my cat Astro, AKA Big Boy, and about the Siamese breed in general. I just thought Iā€™d share some of his infinite cuteness with the website.

As an introduction: Astro is Siamese, half seal-point, half chocolate point. Heā€™s more oriental-looking than the applehead Siamese, but I heard he was bred to be more bulky, so he doesnā€™t have the health problems oriental shorthair cats can sometimes get. We got him in December 2021 but he was born that year on the 29th of September, which means heā€™s currently two years old.

Heā€™s an extremely active boy and his favourite thing to play with is his ā€œchickenā€, which is literally just a rubber chicken tied to the cord which fell out from the pants I used to wear. He loves to chase and jump after itā€¦ he also likes to chew it so every once in a while we need to replace the chicken with a fresh one like we did yesterday.

Astro is always on high-alert. Though he’s cuddly, heā€™s often in the mood to play, meaning if I make one tiny move towards him heā€™ll bolt away. He loves scaring himself. Once I chase him into another room, he finds a hiding spot that I sometimes canā€™t find and other times can, but I always pretend not to notice him. As soon as he hears me walking out of the room, he comes out of his hiding spot, hits the back of my foot with his paws and then runs out in front of me, like heā€™s teasing me for not finding him!

Siamese are very smart, one of the smartest cat breeds of all time. Even within the very first days of having him, when he was a little kitten, heā€™d already learnt how to play fetch with his rubber chicken.

He likes plotting ways to get onto high places, namely the roof. It’s his first task whenever we move house. He can get down by himself but he prefers crying at us to help him down because he knows weā€™ll eventually get sick of it and force him down by shaking a treats packet. Though, in previous houses, we used to lift up random items like chairs and blocks for him to jump on and be lowered onto the ground. But heā€™d get treats after that as well.

In the morning at around 8-9 a.m. he meows for me at my door. Once I let him in, he gets really fluffy, not in the intimidating way, and walks around in circles, kind of shrinking into himself like a slinky or caterpillar. During this time he rubs his head on my legs, sometimes licks me, and jumps up on my shoulder while I get everything ready for the day, itā€™s just the cutest thing ever. Once, I carried him to the lounge room to play, but I had to get a drink of water first. I put him down and started walking to my room to get my water bottle and he ran after me, and tried multiple times to jump at my face like he was saying, ā€œWhere are you going? COME BACK NOW!!!ā€ Thatā€™s another thing he does: watch out when he locks eyes with you, because this means heā€™s about to jump at you, which is more terrifying than you can imagine. Iā€™m pretty sure he loves scaring us and hearing our reactions. He hates you looking at him from high places like this:

Overall, I LOVE Siamese cats. As long as you have enough time on your hands, theyā€™re an incredible breed, best temperament, and of course stunning appearance. They need at least twenty minutes of play every day but they reward you with a lot of snuggling and being cute in every situation. They do need to be trained to go to sleep at night and not wake you up early, but this means you need to wear them out during the day. Having a favourite toy helps a lot. I do wish we had got him another Siamese to play with while we still lived near his breeder, so if youā€™re thinking of getting one, get two! Once you have one cat, itā€™s barely any different to have another.

That concludes this post! See you soon!

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