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7, 23, and 45 for the questions?
7.) what advice would you give your childhood self?
You're not as smart as you think you are, kid.
23.) what is your favorite fruit flavor?
Raspberry
45.) an instrument you aspire to learn how to play?
I'd like to get back into the piano. I took lessons for about a year and did decently, but haven't really played since, and I'd like to regain a bit of that.
Get in a car chase with: Han Solo, Hondo Onaka, Gimli, Steve Rogers, and Rocket?
This is a tough one! I'll use that plus the Christmas break as my excuse for the slow response. XD
Steve Rogers: very competent driver, excellent resources, can also defend me very well in a pinch
Han Solo: wins all car chases by narrative fiat, but he can sometimes be followed
Rocket: unclear if he can reach the pedals, but he's definitely got some crazy weaponry up his sleeve to shoot the people chasing us
Hondo Ohnaka: probably stole my car with me in it to get away from the cops, LET ME OUT RIGHT NOW DANGIT
Gimli: does not know what a car is
(ask game is here)
Where do I learn how to code and use linux? I want to try it but I don't know anything about coding.
I will do my best to help! The answer to that question is very long if I write it all out here, but a lot of it has been answered by other people, so I'll give you an overview and link you to some resources along the way.
The good thing is that you don't need any programming knowledge to use Linux. If you just want to try out the Linux operating system and see what it's like, I would start by downloading a program like Oracle's VirtualBox: https://www.virtualbox.org/
This will allow you to basically run a second, simulated, computer on your actual computer. From there, you can download a Linux image and install it, run it inside VirtualBox, and get familiar with the operating system. This has the additional benefit that if you do something wonky to your Linux virtual machine (VM for short) by mistake, you can just delete it and recreate it and no harm will be done to your actual computer. For a step-by-step explanation, see: https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/how-to-run-ubuntu-desktop-on-a-virtual-machine-using-virtualbox#1-overview
Short aside: Linux is not a monolithic operating system like Windows or MacOS. Linux, written by a man named Linus Torvalds, is a "kernel" made up of certain very basic computer functions, and the rest of the operating system, things like the graphical user interface (GUI, to nerds like me) doesn't come with it. To be usable by normal people, Linux has to have that functionality filled in by other programmers, which creates something called a distribution, or distro for short. Ubuntu, Debian, RedHat, Linux Mint, and OpenSUSE are all Linux distros. Different distros are designed for different purposes. Ubuntu and Mint are both pretty friendly to normal folks who want to write documents, check their email, etc. RedHat is for large companies. There's a distro called Kali that's for cybersecurity and penetration testing. Etc. etc. etc. There are tons of distros. If you don't know which one to pick, I recommend Ubuntu or Mint, as I have experience with both, and they're fairly easy to use.
From this point out, a search engine will be your best friend. There are lots of helpful tutorials online, and also answers to almost any question you can imagine. If you're unsure where to start, documentation from the website of an official Linux distribution, like Ubuntu, is usually reliable, though it can be kind of opaque if you're not used to reading tech-ese. The tutorials on Ubuntu's site, however, seem to be structured with beginners in mind, and I would run through this one to start with: https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/command-line-for-beginners#1-overview
Once you get to the point of having specific questions about how a command works or how to make the operating system do something, I would take a good look at any answers from StackOverflow, which is basically a website for computer people of all skill levels to ask each other questions ranging from the basic to the ridiculously obscure. If you're wondering it, chances are good someone on StackOverflow has asked it.
Other than that, click around your new VM, create files, find programs, etc. If you really get stuck, I'll try and help, but keep in mind I may very well be searching StackOverflow myself. XD
The other cool thing about VMs is that you can try multiple operating systems, i.e. Linux Mint (https://linuxmint-installation-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/) which is pretty user-friendly, as I recall.
Once you get to the point where you actually want to install Linux, you'll want to back up your computer to an external hard drive so you can restore from the backup if something goes wrong, and then follow the instructions for your chosen Linux distro. LibreOffice runs on Linux and can open most Microsoft file types, so you shouldn't need to move your files to a different type, you'll just need to copy them somewhere (like another external hard drive or a thumb drive) and then copy them back when you're done with the installation. Obligatory word of warning: installing Linux on your actual machine, as opposed to a VM, WILL OVERWRITE YOUR ENTIRE HARD DRIVE. Do this with caution. Restoring from a backup is possible, so as long as you backed everything up you will not lose any data, but it can be a pain in the neck and if you're not particularly tech-savvy, you may have to go to a computer repair store to get them to do it.
Now, as to your question about learning to code: this requires no VM and no new installation; you can start doing that today. There are almost infinite tutorials online about how to start coding. CodeCademy.com is a pretty decent one, as I recall, though it's been a long time since I used it. There's also a channel on YouTube called BroCode that puts up free 'how to get started in this programming language' tutorials, which are pretty beginner-friendly. I would recommend that you start with either Python or Java (NOT JavaScript; it's not the same thing as Java, and it's a really annoying programming language, so don't do that to yourself). Python has syntax that is more similar to English than most programming languages and it is pretty powerful, but it may confuse you when you start moving to other programming languages. Java is less immediately comprehensible but probably more representative of programming languages as a whole.
Hope this helps! Feel free to send me follow-up questions or ask for clarification if I lapsed into tech-speak and this doesn't make sense.
For the distracting asks, 1, 10, and 18?
1 What are you reading now?
No Name by Wilkie Collins and The Doctor's Family by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant. I'm enjoying both.
10. Favorite animal?
I'm gonna say tiger.
18. Dream job?
Today? Mattress tester.
Hi! List five things that make you happy; then, if you'd like to, put this in the ask box of the last ten people who reblogged something from you and spread some positivity ✨💙🌺
Goodness, this has been sitting for a long time!
Swoopy coats and cloaks.
Good tea.
Getting inspiration on a writing project.
Tidying my apartment and looking around at the cleanliness I have wrought.
Good books.
Top five snacks?
Top 5 snacks that I like to have on hand at the moment.
Cheese and crackers. Buying a big variety box of fancy crackers was one of the best decisions I've made lately. If I need a quick after-work not-quite-a-meal, it's so nice to have a snack that's a little bit more substantial, but still easy to throw together with zero thought.
Aldi chocolate bars. Those kind that have five little bars in one packet. So nice to have up in the cupboard so I can break off a piece if I just want a tiny bit of sweet after a meal. (The new cranberry ones are amazing.)
Fruit-on-the-bottom yogurt. It's yummy and easy to have on hand, while being maybe a little bit healthy.
Fruit-filled granola bars. I've kept a box in the car for the past couple of weeks in case I'm hungry while driving home and need to avoid the temptation of gas station food. It's been nice.
Bananas. Look, bananas are nowhere near my favorite fruit. But they come neatly packaged, are easy to peel, require no washing, and are filling. If I eat a meal and I'm not hungry enough for more actual food, but I'm still not full, a banana's the perfect way to finish off.
1 and 4?
What have you learned in the last few months?
It’s really hard so I wouldn’t say I’ve learned it 100% but I’ve definitely gotten better at accepting that other people’s reactions and thoughts have so much less to do with me than I think. I’m so finely calibrated to see everything as a response to me. In good ways as well as bad ones! Because a response to me, to something I say, even just to my person, is my favorite thing in the world. But sometimes it just isn’t. At the very least it’s fifty-fifty but honestly I think it’s far more often that someone’s words and moods have nothing to do with me and everything to do with that person’s own rich and complex inner life than that it is about me.
What hard things have you accepted lately?
It’s all part of the same thing but I think I’ve accepted, no not accepted, am on my way to accepting/am at least not actively fighting as Much, the reality that so much is not in my control. Especially as regards other people. I can’t make them love me, or make them care, or make them stay, or make things be the same if they have to change. And I wish I could!!! So, so, so, so badly. But I can’t. And even just comparing where I’m at now to where I was a year ago or two years ago, I think I’ve come a long way.
3, 5, and 9?
3. Favorite animal(s)?
Birds in general--special fondness for hawks, falcons, swallows, and kildeers. My inner third-grader still loves dolphins and giraffes. And after this summer's zoo visit, I've got a new fondess for orangutans.
5. Something you want to learn more about?
Local plants and wildlife
9. Are you a stickers or buttons fan?
Of the two, definitely stickers. I don't get the point of buttons. As a kid, my siblings and I had collections of stickers that we would gather and look through and wouldn't have dreamed of sticking them on anything. I don't have stickers anymore, but I still like the concept.
