Shy Girl Speaks

Holy Crap, I Learned Recursion!

2010-12-11T07:34:00.000-06:00

After an extensive (about a week) amount of time I decided to go forth into the unknown and learn: recursion. It was VERY confusing to me at first. VERY! But... I finally got it. I may need to review what I have learned, but I think I have it down. It was a scary adventure and I may eventually write about recursion down the road as I get comfortable using it so that those who do not understand it can possibly learn it from me. Recursion seriously had to be pounded into my head several times before I got it. At one point I was pretty sure I would never figure it out and wanted to give up learning to program. But, I have to remember that no matter how hard a problem is... I will likely always make it to the other side. So, we'll see what other things programming throws at me. Hopefully nothing too scary, but we'll see. I am very excited to create some programs and already have some programs in mind that I could write given a little more persistence and knowledge. I can't wait until I actually have a cool web app up and running that I can show the world!

The Hangman Program

2010-12-05T23:49:00.002-06:00

I wrote the hangman program as outlined in this post.

While this program was difficult for me to write, I learned a lot of new things while writing it such as a do while loop. There was a way to avoid creating a do while loop, but it was good to learn something new so I'm glad I used it. Creating this program has really shown me that there are a large number of things you can do to arrays. This is also the first time where I've really experience the fact that in programming there are more than one ways of doing something.

The hangman program can be found here:
https://gist.github.com/728851

War Game Program

2010-12-04T23:22:00.001-06:00

I completed the "war" game as outlined in this post (problem #5.)
It was actually fairly easy for me to write, but with the help of a friend who writes awesomely in Ruby on Rails, I was able to learn a better way to write this program. The program can be found here:
https://gist.github.com/724880

The 2nd Little Schedule of Programming

2010-11-30T22:23:00.012-06:00

I did it! I completed the first 8 programming assignments! Here are some more I need to do, definitely tougher:

#1 Create the logic for an application that contains an array of 10 multiple-choice questions related to your favorite hobby. Each question contains three answer choices. Also create a parallel array that holds the correct answer to each question - A, B, or C. Display each question and verify that the user enters only A, B, or C as the answer - if not, keep prompting the user until a valid response is entered. If the user responds to a question correctly, display "Correct!" Otherwise, display "The correct answer is" and the letter of the correct answer. After the user answers all the questions, display the number of correct and incorrect answers.

#2 Create the logic for a dice game. The application randomly "throws" five dice for the computer and five for the player. As each random "throw" is made, store it in an array. The application displays all the values, which can be from 1 to 6 inclusive for each die. Decide the winner based on the following hierarchy of die values. Any higher combination beats a lower; for example, five of a kind beats four of a kind.
-Five of a kind
-Four of a kind
-Three of a kind
-A pair
Numeric dice values do not count, if both players have a three of a kind, it's a tie no matter what the values of the dice are. The game does not recognize a full house.

#3 Improve #2 so that dice value DO make a difference. A pair of 5s beats a pair of 4s.

#4 Hangman - User guesses letters in a hidden word. Store letters of the word in array. Display a dash for each missing letter. Allow user to continuously guess until all letters in the word are guessed. As the user guesses correct letters, display the word with the filled in letter. For example if the word is computer --------, and the user guesses 'p', show the word again as ---p----. Also, make sure that when a user guesses a letter, ALL the matching letters are filled in. For example, if the word is banana and the user guesses 'a', make sure all As are filled in.

#5 Create two parallel arrays that represent a standard deck of 52 playing cards. One array is numeric and holds the values 1 through 13 (representing ace, 1, 2, etc.) The other array is a string and holds suits. Create the arrays so that all 52 card/suit combos are represented. Create a War card game that randomly selects two card (one for player, one for computer) and declares a winner (or tie) based on the numeric value of the two cards. The game should play for 26 rounds, dealing a whole deck with no repeated cards. For this game, assume the cards' values are based on their numbers. Display the value of the player's and computer's cards, compare their values, and determine the winner. When all cards in the deck are exhausted, display a count of the number of times the player wins, the number of times the computer wins, and the number of ties.
Hints:
    -Start by creating an array of all 52 playing cards.
    -Select a random number for the deck position of the player's first card and assign the card at
      that array position to the player.
    -Move every higher-positioned card in the deck "down" one to fill in the gap. In other words, if
      the player's first random number is 49, select the card at position 49 (both the numeric value
      and the string), move the card that was in position 50 to position 49, and move the card that
      was in position 51 to position 50. Only 51 cards remain in the deck after the player's first
      card is dealt, so the available-card array is smaller by one.

#6 Create a guessing game called "Does It Have Legs?" in which you think of an animal and the computer tries to guess what it is. The game continually becomes "smarter" as you play because you teach it how to become more specific with its questions. For example, a typical game session might proceed as follows:
Computer: Does the animal you are thinking of have legs?
Player: Yes.
Computer: Yay! I win. Do you want to play again?
Player: Yes
Computer: Does the animal you are thinking of have legs?
Player: Yes
Computer: Is it a dog?
Player: No.
Computer: I give up. What was your animal?
Player: horse.
Computer: Type a question for which the answer is Yes for dog and No for horse.
Player: Does it live in the house?
Computer: Do you want to play again?
Player: Yes
Computer: Does the animal you are thinking of have legs?
Player: Yes
Computer: Does it live in the house?
Player: No
Computer: Is it a horse?
Player: No.
Computer: I give up. What was your animal?
Player: cow.
Computer: Type a question for which the answer is Yes for horse but No for cow.
Player: Do people ride it?
Computer: Do you want to play again?
Player: Yes
Computer: Does the animal you are thinking of have legs?
Player: Yes
Computer: Does it live in the house?
Player: No
Computer: Do people ride it?
Player: No
Computer: Is it a cow?
Player: Yes
Computer: Yay! I win. Do you want to play again?
Player: No
Hint: Look up binary trees to organize this.

#7 Improve #4 to hold an array of 10 words. One at a time, pass each to a method that allows the user to continuously guess a letter until all the letters in the word are correctly guessed. The method returns the number of guesses it took to complete the word. Store the number in an array before returning to the method for the next word. After all 10 words have been guesses, display a summary of the number of guesses it took for each word as well as the average number of guesses per word.

First to 100 Game Program

2010-11-30T03:18:00.002-06:00

This is activity #8 from this post.
This one was monumentally more comfortable to write than the lottery program although it use similar ideas. I have a few questions that I will ask about things I can do to make the program smaller, but I am still proud of this program despite its size.

The url: https://gist.github.com/721398

The Lottery Program

2010-11-30T00:58:00.003-06:00

This program is from problem #4 at this post.
So you may have noticed I haven't posted for a while. Why? The lottery program. Yeah. It was a dreaded horrible beast. I saw there for weeks, really, staring at the lines of code I'd spewed forth, stressing, rewriting, throwing things (okay, not really.) And then I was told to take a break. I did... a long one. It would be just fine if I could just write every program in the book just not this one. It was impossible and a stupid task. But alas, I could not excuse myself from the project so I sat down to it. Ever have one of those moments when you feel like one synapsis fires, and then thus another one, and then it's just a cascade of just everything working... it puts you on quite a roll. That's what happened. I HATED this program for the longest time, but as I was finishing the program, I just felt so on top of everything. It felt really good, empowering or something.
I created a new GitHub... actually I just changed my sn over there. This is because I'm going now... this is what I've always wanted to do growing up and no matter how many walls I face how many tall, towering lottery programs I face, I will cower like a big baby, cry about it, and then face my problem head on. Here is the link to my completed lottery program. Yeah, there are better ways to write it, but as I learn those ways, I will come back and improve upon the program. I think showing these changes would be better viewed on github than here, but I will continue to document my journey here.

The program:
https://gist.github.com/707654

Dice Game: Ifs & Loops

2010-11-01T23:59:00.001-05:00

This program is from problem #7 at this post.
I had a little fun with some 'ifs' and 'while loops' with this program. When I first started the program I became somewhat frustrated. I stopped and slept on it. When I came back to the code, it was sooo easy to piece together. The break was a really good idea. The code:

count = 0
count2 = 3
guess = 0

while guess <2 || guess >12
  puts( 'Pick a number 2-12: ')
  guess = gets.chomp.to_i
end

dieTotal = 0

while dieTotal != guess && count != 3
  count = count + 1
  count2 = count2 - 1
  die1 = rand(6)
  die1 = die1 + 1
  die2 = rand(6)
  die2 = die2 + 1
  dieTotal = die1 + die2
  input = ''
  puts( 'Type roll to roll the dice: ')
  input = gets.chomp

  while input != 'roll'
    puts( 'Type roll to roll the dice: ')
    input = gets.chomp
    puts( 'I don\'t understand. ')
  end
  puts  
  puts( "Your guess is #{guess}.")
  puts( "You rolled #{die1} and #{die2}. For a total of #{dieTotal}.")
  puts

  if dieTotal != guess && count2 > 1
  puts( "You have #{count2} rolls left.") 
  puts
  elsif dieTotal != guess && count2 == 1
  puts( "You have #{count2} roll left.")
  puts
  elsif dieTotal != guess && count2 == 0
  puts( "You have no rolls left.")
  puts( "Sorry, you lose.")
  else
  puts( "Congrats! You win!")
  end
end

Celebrity Crushes

2010-11-01T20:08:00.003-05:00

I'm not one for a huge celebrity crush, but I have thought that particular celebrities are more attractive than others. People have said that I have strange celebrity crushes, but eh, I don't mind I guess. Here are celebrities that I have had crushes on throughout my life:

Roy Scheider - (Only in Jaws) It has something to do with him driving a boat with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth in Jaws. I hate smoking, but for some reason, yeah, that's pretty hot to me.

Gabriel Byrne - I have no idea.

Alan Cumming (But only when he was in Goldeneye, haha)

Michael Cera

Quiz Program (Loops)

2010-10-28T23:31:00.002-05:00

This is from problem #6 as outlined in this post.
This one was difficult for me, but not as much as the last time I encountered loops. I think after a few more small programs with loops I'll feel more comfortable with this. I created a quiz about me. Feel free to run it and take it. (It's in Ruby.)

puts( '     <(^.^)> LITTLE KNOWN FACTS O\' MELANIE <(^.^)>')
puts
puts( 'To play, select the letter that corresponds with your answer
then press return')
answer = ''

while answer != 'c'
puts( '#1 Gym class sux. How would Melanie get out of running laps in Elem school?')
puts
puts( 'a. She got a doctors note')
puts( 'b. She refused')
puts( 'c. She hid')
puts( 'd. She got extra help in another subject instead of going to gym')
answer = gets.chomp.downcase
end

puts( 'Correct!')

answer = ''

while answer != 'b'
puts( '#2 Melanie has a scar on her knee from kindergarten. How did she get it?')
puts
puts( 'a. She fell off the jungle gym')
puts( 'b. She was running in flip flops and tripped')
puts( 'c. She got beat up')
puts( 'd. Her brother threw something at her')
answer = gets.chomp.downcase
end

puts( 'Correct!')

answer = ''

while answer != 'a'
puts( '#3 Melanie failed ONE class in high school. Which was it?')
puts
puts( 'a. government')
puts( 'b. business services technology')
puts( 'c. geometry')
puts( 'd. art')
answer = gets.chomp.downcase
end

puts( 'Correct!')

answer = ''

while answer != 'c'
puts( '#4 Melanie is l337 fail at sports. Which sport did she play in high school?')
puts
puts( 'a. basketball')
puts( 'b. cheerleading')
puts( 'c. track')
puts( 'd. volleyball')
answer = gets.chomp.downcase
end

puts( 'Correct!')

answer = ''

while answer != 'b'
puts( '#5 Melanie went on a family vacation when she was 10. Where did she go?')
puts
puts( 'a. Virginia Beach, VA')
puts( 'b. Chattanooga, TN')
puts( 'c. Groton, CT')
puts( 'd. Tell City, IN')
answer = gets.chomp.downcase
end

puts( 'Correct!')

Random Number Game

2010-10-28T19:43:00.007-05:00

This post contains the program(s) for the random number game as described in this post. (Assignment #2, #3, and #5)

It was a little difficult to come up with how to assign the random number to the variable -- it was a durrr moment for sure. So without further ado here is the first part of the program (or problem #2 according to that post I linked to above:)

randomNumber = rand(10)
randomNumber = randomNumber + 1
print( 'Guess my number! Enter a number (1-10): ')
userNumber = gets.chomp()
puts( "Your number is #{userNumber}. My number is #{randomNumber}.
This program is not yet advanced enough to tell you whether you
are correct -- but you should be able to tell.")

Here is problem #3:

# Try to figure out if there is a way to chomp & convert to an integer on
# same line (lines 7 and 8)
# Try to figure out how to print failure message (lines 14-16 & 20-22) for
# both cases in which the user is incorrect without having it in the program
# twice. 

randNumber = rand(10)
randNumber = randNumber + 1
print( 'Guess my number! Enter a number (1-10): ')
userNumber = gets.chomp.to_i()
if userNumber == randNumber
 puts( 'You guessed correctly! You are SOOO smart!')
elsif userNumber > randNumber
 puts( "Your number (#{userNumber}) is higher than my number (#{randNumber}.") 
 print( "You are unable to guess again because you are such a failure. It
has nothing to do with my inability to program this such that you could
guess again.")

else
 puts( "Your number (#{userNumber}) is lower than my number (#{randNumber}.)")
 print( "You are unable to guess again because you are such a failure. It
has nothing to do with my inability to program this such that you could
guess again.")

 end

Update:
I figured out how to fix problem #3 for that error message. Dumbest thing ever... how about a variable? I'm sure we all have those blonde moments, though. Also, got help from a friend on the chomp.to_i thing (that's what you do>> gets.chomp.CONVERSION NOT gets.CONVERSION.chomp.) New code:

randNumber = rand(10)
randNumber = randNumber + 1
print( 'Guess my number! Enter a number (1-10): ')
userNumber = gets.chomp.to_i()
failureMessage = 'You are unable to guess again because you are such a failure. It
has nothing to do with my inability to program this in such a way that you 
could guess again.'
if userNumber == randNumber
 puts( 'You guessed correctly! You are SOOO smart!')
elsif userNumber > randNumber
 puts( "Your number (#{userNumber}) is higher than my number (#{randNumber}.") 
 print failureMessage

else
 puts( "Your number (#{userNumber}) is lower than my number (#{randNumber}.)")
 print failureMessage

 end

Problem #5 was much easier to complete and more fun as I'm getting the hang of loops:

randNumber = rand(10)
randNumber = randNumber + 1
count = 0
userNumber = ()
print( 'Guess my number! Enter a number (1-10): ')

while userNumber != randNumber
  userNumber = gets.chomp.to_i()
  count = count + 1
  failureMessage = 'You did not guess correctly. Guess again:'

  if userNumber == randNumber
 puts( "You guessed correctly! It took you #{count} time(s) to guess.")
  
  elsif userNumber > randNumber
 puts( "Your number (#{userNumber}) is higher than my number.")
 print failureMessage

  else
 puts( "Your number #{userNumber} is lower than my number.")
 print failureMessage

  end
end

Little Schedule of Programming

2010-10-28T19:02:00.020-05:00

So I'm getting some assignments out of this book I had to use for a class. There is a section at the end of each chapter that asks students to describe how the logic of a particular program would work. Instead of describing the logic, however, I am just going to write the program. So here's what I have on the docket in order from easy to hard:

#1 Create a madlib.
#2 Create a program that generates a random number (1-10) and then asks the user to

guess the number. Then display the random number so the user can see whether he/she

is correct.

#3 Modify game 2 so that a message is displayed telling the user whether or not their number
     was too high or too low.
#4 Generate 3 random numbers (0-9,) ask the user to guess three numbers. Compare each
     guess to the three random numbers. Display a message that includes the user's guess, the
     three random numbers, and the amount of money the user has won as follows:
          No matches: $0
          One match: $10
          Two matches: $100
          Three matching, not in order: $1000
          Three matching, in order: $1,000,000
   (See page 192 for repeating digit info.)
#5 Modify game 2,3 so the user can continue to guess the correct number, display the number
     of times it took the user to guess the correct number.
#6 Create a five question quiz about something. Multiple choice questions with four options each.
     When the user gets an answer correct, display a congratulatory message. If the user was
     wrong display the respective message and ask the question again until the user correctly
     answers it.
#7 Create a game simulating two dice rolls and generates two numbers (1-6.) The user chooses a
     number between 2 (the lowest possible roll) and 12 (the highest possible roll.) The user then
     "rolls" the dice three times. If the number the user has pre-chosen is rolled, the user wins. If
     not, the computer wins.
#8 Create a dice game where the user and computer compete to first score 100 points. On a turn,
     the player rolls two dice. Rules:
          a.) If NONE of the dice on a roll have a number one on them, the dice values are added to a
               running total. The player can choose to roll again or to end their turn.
          b.) If there is a 1 on only ONE of the dice, nothing is added to the player's total and their
               turn ends.
          c.) If a 1 appears on BOTH the dice, the player's turn is over AND their score is reset to zero.
          d.) To simulate whether the computer chooses to end their turn or roll again (a,) generate a
               random value (1-2.) If the value is 1, the computer "decides" to end its turn. If the value
               is 2, the computer rolls again.

These will keep me busy for a while and comprise about a third of the book. When I complete these activities, I will post more.

Getting in the Groove (Embedded Variables)

2010-10-28T18:31:00.002-05:00

Yeah, I'm still on the whole embedded variables thing, but this is SOOOOOO much easier. Today I worked on getting used to doing things this way. It'll take a bit of time to memorize, but in the meantime I created a mad lib to kind of get used to it. Enjoy!

#  Is it customary to start variable counts at one? (ie. noun1) or
#  at zero (ie. noun and the second being noun1) or how else is this
#  handled?

print( 'Enter an adjective: ' )
adjective1 = gets.chomp()
print( 'Enter a verb ending in "ed": ')
verbEd = gets.chomp()
print( 'Enter a plural noun: ')
pluralNoun1 = gets.chomp()
print( 'Enter a liquid: ')
liquid = gets.chomp()
print( 'Enter another plural noun: ')
pluralNoun2 = gets.chomp()
print( 'Enter a famous person: ')
famousPerson = gets.chomp()
print( 'Enter a place: ')
place = gets.chomp()
print( 'Enter an occupation: ')
occupation = gets.chomp()
print( 'Enter a noun: ')
noun1 = gets.chomp()
print( 'Enter a nationality (ie. American or Irish): ')
nationality = gets.chomp()
print( 'Enter a female celebrity: ')
femaleCelebrity = gets.chomp()
print( 'Enter another noun: ')
noun2 = gets.chomp()
print( 'Enter the name of a female friend: ')
femaleFriend = gets.chomp()
print( 'You\'re almost done. Enter another plural noun: ')
pluralNoun3 = gets.chomp()
print( 'Enter a number: ')
number = gets.chomp()
print( 'Enter an adjective: ')
adjective2 = gets.chomp()

puts ( 'Personal Ad:')
puts
puts ( "I enjoy long, #{adjective1} walks on the beach, getting #{verbEd} in 
the rain and serendipitous encounters with #{pluralNoun1}.
I really like piña coladas mixed with #{liquid}, and romantic, candle-lit
#{pluralNoun2}. I am well-read from Dr. Seuss to #{famousPerson}. I travel
frequently, especially to #{place}, when I am not busy with work. (I am a
#{occupation}.) I am looking for #{noun1} and beauty in the form of a 
#{nationality} goddess. She should have the physique of #{femaleCelebrity}
and the #{noun2} of #{femaleFriend}. I would prefer if she knew how to
cook, clean, and wash my #{pluralNoun3}. I know I’m not very attractive in
my picture, but it was taken #{number} days ago, and I have since become 
more #{adjective2}. ")

Embedded Variables in Strings

2010-10-28T02:04:00.000-05:00

So I'm learning Ruby again, but this time I've got a program in mind. It will take a lot of brushing up and general learning before I will be able to start the program. I already know how to write the program without an interface, but I want to build an interface too, so it'll take a bit of work. I think once I get this particular program coded that I'll know enough about programming to be able to work on other programs so that will be really nice.

Tonight I started reading "The Book of Ruby" which is a big step up from the last book I read, but I think I'm understanding it fairly well considering the difference in difficulty between the two texts.

So tonight's topic was Strings and Embedded Evaluation. The sample code in the lesson is as follows:

print( 'Enter your name: ' )
name = gets()
puts( "Hello #{name}" )

After reading the OTHER book on Ruby I would have programmed this like so:

puts 'Enter your name:'
name = gets.chomp
puts 'Hello ' + name + '.'

However, I learned that by using "print" instead of puts, I can keep the cursor on the same line... which is cool, I don't know what real difference it would make other than aesthetics, but I guess I'll find out later. I did add a period so that I could make it a proper sentence and added the corresponding chomp to make this possible.

What I mostly learned was this whole embedded variables thing. I'm a little confused as to the purpose -- if it's just faster to code like this and less confusing than all the plusses and whatnot from something like 'Words here' + someVariable + 'another string.' I can really see that being the case, however, I'm not going to assume that it is simply for cleaner and faster programming -- until yeah, I am told so.

I also played a bit with "\n" and "\t" which are newline and tab. It took a bit getting used to the whole new way of doing the embedded thing and playing with newline and tab helped me get used to it a bit. Here's the code I created using this newfangled stuff I learned:

# Playing with tab \t and newline \n
puts ( 'How about a sentence of sort?')
sentence = gets()
puts ( "\t #{sentence}\t\t #{sentence}")

I used the sentence "I like rocks and giraffes." (Without the quotes.) And thus, the program spits out this:
I like rocks and giraffes.
I like rocks and giraffes.
I like rocks and giraffes.

Definitely some stuff to play around with for a bit. I perhaps I could rewrite this to capitalize the first letter if it is not capitalized and to add a period if there is not one. I think this would be a good project for tomorrow. :P

HubMob: Breast Cancer Awareness

2010-10-15T23:01:00.005-05:00

October is a breast cancer awareness month and because of this, this week's HubPage's HubMob theme is breast cancer. I have never before taken part in the HubMob hub writing, but I think this is a great place to start. Those of you that know me also know that I am at risk for both breast and ovarian cancer. My grandmother, Aurelia, died in 1963 after a long battle with both breast and ovarian cancer. This is why I decided this would be a great time to start being a part of the HubMob. I've decided not to go the route of "Signs You Might Have..." or "Breast Cancer Prognosis." Instead I decided to write one on how to raise funds for breast cancer... for those who want to support the cause and wish to find out ways in which they can help. Stay tuned and I will post a link to the hub once completed.

Update: It's completed. I wrote it in a matter of hours because I really wanted to get this out there. So, without further adieu, my new hub: Breast Cancer Fundraising Ideas.

Feminism Isn't About Being More Manly

2010-10-14T14:49:00.000-05:00

I think it's a travesty that there are a number of people who believe that feminism is all about women fighting for equal pay, joining the military, and enjoying sports. Recently I read the book, "Click" and it made me realize a huge part of who I am.

Several weeks ago a catalog for childrens toys came in the mail and I perused through it. On one page there were playsets one of which included a vacuum cleaner and other things for a child to play "house" with. Another playset included a workbench with a pretend hammer and saw. I noticed immediately the genders of the children who were the models for these playsets - a little boy at the workbench and a little girl vacuuming. I immediately thought, "why does it have to be a girl with the vacuum?" This was probably the click moment for me. The moment I realized, "why did I notice this?"

Throughout my life, I admittedly saw feminists as a group of women that wanted to do manly things. I definitely felt there were a lot of points in feminism I agreed with but there were some I just didn't. I didn't want to join the military, I wasn't interested in sports, or beer, or whatever stereotypical things "men" do. These were things feminists HAD to be into, right? So instead of looking into some of the things that feminism IS actually about, I continued to feel left out - stuck between genders so to speak. I had short hair growing up, listened to angry girl music, and wore combat boots. On the other hand, I loved to collect "pretty" rocks, played with barbies until I was 12, and enjoyed crafts. I was too outspoken for girls my age and wasn't interested in collecting pictures of JTT or Devon Sawa from Tiger Beat/16/etc. However, it was apparent from my skill that sports were of no interest to me. I grew up being picked on but, looking back, I really was an odd duck.

Later I married a man, and looking back it wasn't my best decision to marry this individual, but there was a point where I really felt I loved this person. There was a part of him that thought I should be stereotypically feminist, but in a rather misogynistic way. For example, he refused to let me change my last name to his. I wanted to. I wanted to be a part of his family and I wanted him to feel welcome in my family as loopy as my bunch is. Anyway this was hurtful to me. I wasn't "feminist" enough for him. He would also say insensitive things to me, especially in the first part of our relationship... He hated how I was offended by these hurtful things. Later I found that if he said something insensitive to me and I dished it back out, he would actually be happy. I did not enjoy this game, but the relationship improved highly after this. In the latter part of the marriage, I did what Vashti would not do for Mordechai... around a campfire for my husband and his drunken friends. Although I was not the only one who partook in this, I was appalled, humiliated, and quickly became extremely depressed. What was already a poorly constructed relationship crumbled at an astounding rate and I filed for divorced a few months later. I spent much of my time after this trying to figure out who I was again.

Because of friendships with some pretty astounding people, homosexual man who I'd befriended back in high school and a gentleman who never really fit in with his peers because he has emotions, I started to dig deeper into where I fit. That's when I found an essay by Jordan Berg Powers. In the essay, Powers talks about the difficulty of being male and enjoying things that are both stereotypically feminine and masculine. This is when I realized that being feminist isn't about being more masculine. It's about women being able to do that men are allowed in society without it being called "guy stuff" and likewise, a man being able to do something that women do without it being considered feminine. It's about people really just being themselves without having to worry about the gender constraints that society and the media put on people.

I'm female. Just because I need help opening jars, am bored quickly by sports, and enjoy romantic comedies, this doesn't translate to "belonging in the kitchen." Likewise, just because I NEVER wear high heels, I wear my hair short sometimes, and have no desire to have children, doesn't mean I am a lesbian.

I'm a woman with feelings, oh yes, I have feelings. But by today's standards in gender -- I'm middle of the road, but with the huge gap, its lonely here.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-10-13T10:00:00.005-05:00

Tests

2010-10-12T23:08:00.002-05:00

Throwing a lot of tests out there all at once:

#1 First off, I've released a new hub which is going to test a few theories of mine (we'll see how that works out.)

#2 I did a slight redesign on my Wedding Music blog because the previous colors were horrible. I stuck with the same layout, though, because it has proven to be a great layout SEO-wise in the past with another site. I re-did some of the ads on the site as the result of a test between two different ad placements and I found that the former part of the test performed better.

#3 I also put Moms Who Need Money back up because it DID do fairly well $-wise and, really, every little bit helps.

#4 On a very solemn note, my dad has been sick for some time and his breathing is getting worse. A few weeks ago they found something in his lungs and did a scan. Because of the results of the scan, they are having him do another scan called a PET scan for lung cancer. We are all hoping for the best and we will likely know by the end of the month.

2AM

2010-10-11T01:56:00.000-05:00

It's almost 2AM My-Computer Time. That's almost 3AM My-Time-Zone time! I wanted to write a blog post so badly, but was busy with an all-day formatting event. AND! I did it all by myself... network driver and all! Oh yeah! *Kool-aid man voice*

Here are ~~two~~ several points of the day:

LOL - Speaking of which, I named my computer "LOL" today.
I couldn't think of anything particularly creative. But yeah, this
pic is really cute. :P

Technorati, instead of emailing generated passwords, should just let me make my own so that I can remember it. That way I wouldn't have to generate a new one every time I have to login (because I always delete the email.)

And Windows, with the Automatic Updates notification... you give me two options: "Restart Now" and "Restart Later." When I click "Restart Later" you notify me again like a half an hour later. Why can't you just wait until I restart on my own? You're Windows, so of course I'll be restarting you in a timely manner. It's not like you're... ya' know... Ubuntu or something... Geez Louise. :P

So what else? Oh, I bought that Click book. Amazon notified me that it shipped ummm like an hour ago, which I highly doubt because nowhere in America is there a post office open... that I know of. DUDE! I just realized something, if I don't know something, I can state it in a factual way as long as I give my Disclosure Policy... (what we call it in the blog world, anyway.) For example, it didn't rain anywhere AT ALL in the world today... that I know of.

Oh, I picked out ski boots today. So I got fit in the right foot and my mom was giving a hissy fit when I said I should try the left one on too... but seriously.. sometimes they fit differently from what I hear. Anyway, got the left one on and it fit even more amazingly, so it's not even like I could say booyah. I'm kiddin, it was a good shopping trip with my mom. We didn't buy the boots though because I thought I may be able to get them cheaper on Amazon, but it was the same. But they are cool looking and will be my birthday present probably.

Oh, I went to a haunted house way, way in Illinois with some new friends last night. I didn't know it was like an amusement park, I thought we were going to a real haunted place so I was delightfully pleased.

Chicagoland Feminists

2010-10-07T13:42:00.001-05:00

I have joined my first meetup, Chicagoland Feminists, and it will be nice to meet some people with similar views. Anyway, I will go to my first meeting in November which is a book club meeting so I've got to get a hold of the book for sure. The book for the meetup is called "Click: When We Knew We Were Feminists." Hopefully this group and the book will help with some self-esteem issues I've been having lately.

HubPages Update

2010-09-24T23:39:00.000-05:00

I did not win the People's Choice Award on the Top 8 Chicago Museums hub, but I still am glad to know that I was a finalist. The money would have been really helpful for a project I am working on, but I can get the money elsewhere so it's no biggie. I do, however, want to share the hubs I've written this month. I've been going nuts on HubPages within the past few days writing hubs. While I've only published six hubs so far this month, I have been working on many other hubs that are already published -- making them better -- and working on other hubs that still need a bit more work before I publish them.

Here's what I got done in the days since I published the Top 8 Chicago Museums hub:
How to Become a Realtor in California
Top 5 Parks in Los Angeles
7 Tips on Writing a Successful Hub
15+ Resources for Learning to Program
10 Proven On-Site SEO Methods

I'd have to say that's pretty productive! Well, I've got to get back to writing hubs! I'm just stopping in here to give an update as to what's up and let you all know that I did not win the contest, but I am not disheartened. Oh, I also wanted to mentioned that in the 15+ Resources for Learning to Program hub I have included a YouTube video that I made showing what a program looks like. It's kind of lame, but definitely doing better with the shyness. :)

The Office

2010-09-23T02:04:00.000-05:00

I finally got my office semi-situated after abandoning my computer in a spare room for over a month. I moved my desk across the room and got a book shelf going (although I am missing a good deal of my better books.) I got my RSS feed icon in the mail today (pictured at the top of the bookshelf) so I am quite pleased with the look of the office so far. I do have some art to hang which comprises of some Japanese wood block posters and a few witty early 1900s pieces I purchased from an antique store years ago and had framed. I have given myself to rummage through the garage tomorrow for my missing books so I can have some more interesting books in my shelf. Other than those things, I am happy with how the office is coming along... it's the office I'd wanted years ago. There are two things, however, that I've dreamed of having in my office for years and have been unable to acquire: a real crash test dummy and a shopping cart. While it's easy to acquire a shopping cart, I'd always set it in my mind to not obtain one until I have the crash test dummy. Now the whole crash test dummy thing sounds random, but I've seriously wanted to own a crash test dummy since I was a rebel teenager writing angry websites. Even my dad has been on the lookout for a crash test dummy for years.

Won Another Article Contest!

2010-09-23T01:50:00.000-05:00

Earlier in the year I won two contests on HubPages for the following hubs I wrote:
All About Polish Food
Dutch Baby Pancakes Recipe
Each of these hubs earned me $50 in contest winnings so I was really happy to find that I had won.

Well, recently I wrote a new hub called Top 8 Chicago Museums and I won $50 AGAIN! Not only that, but the Hub moved on to the People's Choice Awards on HubPages, something that has never happened to me! If I win in the People's Choice Awards on HubPages, I will win an additional $100 for that hub which I am excited about. I hope I win, but there are many contestants who also have some very worthy hubs. The competition is fierce, but I'll keep everyone posted as to whether or not I win.

You're Not as Ugly as You Feel

2010-08-19T02:28:00.000-05:00

I had been telling a friend for some time that his negative views on himself were very, well, one-sided. They were his view only and I doubt anyone really sees him the way he sees himself. However, I have a story about myself that kind of shows how this type of thinking works and how it is WRONG.

Over the past two weeks, my skin has been horribly broken out. My guess is that it's a combination of using the wrong facial cleanser, hormones, and stress. Anyhow, I've been on a work leave during these two weeks. Today (errr technically yesterday) was my first day back on the job. I was feeling pretty horrible about my skin especially since all the spots are the brightest red a spot could be.

Other than the skin thing, I was thrilled to be back at work. It was great to see humanity again and people I knew. Also, shortly after starting at work I had to play this quiz game and won a hat from it. They are pretty much the ONLY hats that employees are allowed to wear at work and few employees have one, so it was nice to get that.

It also felt really good to talk with customers and I was just generally really happy to be there. I must have been projecting this happiness outwardly quite a bit as three customers said something to me today. The first customer probably amused me the most. I made a point to remember this because, as it was kind of odd, it made me feel REALLY good. When he got to the line he said something about my smile and then said, "And you're pretty. Very pretty. Your boyfriend should hold onto you. You got a lot to play with. Don't play too hard."

Yeah, I said it was strange, but it DID make me feel really good. Shortly after that another customer comes to the line and he said that I had a great smile. I just smiled at him and continued to work while I talked. He then said, "And a great personality to match!" And jokingly I said, "You should tell my manager!" And he said, "Where is he?" I then, of course, told him I was kidding. After the comment from the first customer and then this comment which came within minutes of the other customer, I was feeling pretty stellar.

As it was my first day back, they were unsure of my ability to work so they'd hired extra help. Because of this, they didn't particularly need me to come in today. Thus, I didn't have to cashier, but did extra things such as sweeping the vestibule and covering breaks. After lunch I asked the manager if I could push carts. The weather was nice for the first time and I'd not spent any significant time outside in a long time. By this time I'd received my hat and was feeling good from those two comments. While I was out getting carts, two men in white shirts were walking into the store and one shouts to me, "You're beautiful." I replied with a simple thank you. The other man scolded him with something like, "You can't say that stuff to people." To which he replied, "Well! She is!" This last comment made me feel like really awesome.

So, I obviously don't think I'm wonderfully beautiful or anything. I think smiling, though, may have something to do with it. I think everyone looks at themselves in such an incredible harshness. There are times that you should just feel comfortable in your own skin. I think when you do that, when you start feeling good... you start projecting those good feelings onto others.

Win FREE SEO for Your Company/Website!

2010-08-14T16:34:00.000-05:00

I am opening an SEO company and I need to be able to show off my SEO skills. I have done SEO on a variety of hubs on HubPages, but this isn't something major to show off. I want to be able to show companies that I have the skill to properly market their company's website in the search engine. The only things I currently have to show are my past work experience and my hubs and, like I said, that's child's play when it comes to being competitive in the search engines. This is why I need YOUR help!

THE RULES:
So what I'm offering is a chance for YOU to get free SEO for your website. This includes BACKLINKS!!!! Now, in order for this to work, you have to promise not to have anyone else do SEO for the site. This is extremely important as too many backlinks too quickly can HURT in the search engine. I will also require you to make some changes on your website... this will be to help you with your search ranking so it will only help you. As a winner, you will owe me nothing other than allowing me to say I helped you reach the top of the search results. Sounds good, eh?

HOW TO ENTER:
Comment on this post saying you would like to enter. Also, please leave the url for your website so that I can check it out and get a feel for what your company/website does. I may choose more than one company/website as a winner so your chances of winning aren't bad. The contest ends when I find a website that would be nice to show off, so the better your website looks/feels, the better chance you have. Feel free to enter even if you think you don't have the greatest looking website because it's totally subjective. :P

My Best Hubs

2010-08-13T03:01:00.000-05:00

As you may or may not know, I write on HubPages. Doing this allows me to make a teeny, tiny bit of AdSense income while allowing me to write on a variety of topics that interest me. It is likely that I have more hubs that are in the works than actual published hubs, but out of this handful of published hubs I have a few top performers. These hubs either draw a significant amount of traffic, comments, or are ones that are my favorites. These are all over the board topic-wise, so you're in for a ride!

One of my most controversial hubs is on meta tag optimization. While I cite that the hub is an historic piece, I do get comments from time to time saying that meta tag optimization is out-dated. Google currently does not use meta tags in weighing a web site in the search engines, they still can be helpful in making a Google search result look nicer. Also, there are a few search engines that still do use meta tags, so it's not something that is bad for SEO.

Perhaps one of my favorite hubs of mine is the one on Polish food. Being Polish, this hub was fairly easy to write. I get hungry every time I read it. I actually wrote this hub for a HubPages contest on Eastern European food and won. Interestingly enough, Poland is a part of Central Europe and not considered a part of Eastern Europe. I was happy to win, so I won't argue it. This is one of two hubs that I've written that have won HubPages contests.

My hub on French Citizenship was, at one time, one of my most popular hubs. I removed the hub and moved it to a blog. I later decided that I did not want to spend the time marketing individual blogs so I moved it back to HubPages. The SEO effort on it was devastating, but the hub has recently found a resurgence in popularity and is actually more popular than before I removed it.

Another hub on Poland! I wrote a hub on Poland travel and it hasn't had its success story yet, but I'm working on it. I definitely love this hub as it has some beautiful descriptions on different areas of Poland with pictures. This one is a work in progress as one may notice from the url slug vs the actual title of the hub, but it'll get there. Maybe it'll get it's glory then, eh?

My most popular SEO hub is probably the one on common SEO mistakes. I think as a lot of fellow Hubbers use SEO as a way to bring more traffic to their hubs, it has become popular among the "local" crowd. It has yet to gain popularity in the search engines, but I really have yet to market some of my hubs.

I love food hubs and I love dutch baby pancakes, so I created this hub. It was first started for a hub contest and I was pleasantly surprised that it won. It was the first hub contest I'd won so I was definitely really proud of this accomplishment. This hub has not yet gained much popularity in the search engines, but it is still a newer page so Google naturally won't weigh it as heavily.

Do you use HubPages? You should!