I think I have a plan for this journal/blog. Based on my research, it's good to have a personal blog to not only boost SEO, but also demonstrate progress and commitment to my works. I currently don't have plans to write something like tutorial blogs, maybe someday once the imposter syndrome feels less haunting. Personal journal entries don't help much in terms of SEO.
But I think I still have a plan. This blog, or journal, would act as a central hub for all updates regarding my projects or important events in my career or personal life. It would also have reference links to any relevant pages, like an Instagram post for a portfolio piece or a LinkedIn post for a progress update. I can also set up my portfolio api to automate the process of making said posts.
So I suppose this journal will indeed be hosted and displayed on my portfolio site. In fact, the journal is going to be the first block of rebuilding my portfolio website. If not for SEO, if not as a demonstration of my progress and commitment, it will at least serve as a reminder to myself of the growth I have achieved in my personal and professional lives. And maybe, that's good enough.
My portfolio site is online. It is now time for some reorganization of priorities. Now that the reason for my venture into web development has been completed, albeit temporarily, it might be time to focus my attention back on game development. However, there are some unfinished projects that I would like to finish before I get back on track. While my custom portfolio site may not be worked on for some time, I have already started working on the journal API and I would like to finish it. The image face detection project is also partially completed. I would also like to get a better grasp of design concepts and modelling as I believe it would help me in both web and game development. As such, in order of priority, this is my current plan of action:
Node js (course) - complete udemy courses on node js to get a better understanding of the runtime
Journal API (project) - a feature of the planned portfolio site, set up a REST backend and a React frontend to manage journal entries. Also provide the ability to post to Instagram and LinkedIn via the frontend.
Design with Figma (course) - get a better understanding of design principles and practices as it would help in all projects going forward.
Image face recognition (project) - complete the recreation of the face detection project, taking advantage of the new learnings, like tailwind, vitest and design principles.
Blender (course) - the final learning task to smoothly transition back into game development. The ability to make my own models and basic animations would be a huge help in creating demos or small games.
Hmm. I started learning web development about 3 years ago because I wanted my portfolio website to not be yet another cookie-cutter wix site. I wanted my portfolio to articulate and express who I am, as a person and as an engineer. I have learned a lot over the past three years. From html, css, and js, all the way to react, node js, typescript, tailwind, and even vitest. And I may be in a position now to finally start working on that portfolio of in my mind.
But I am at an impasse. I need a place where I can consolidate and display all my works, in preparation for the upcoming advancements in my education and career. And I don't have much time. So I must make a decision. Do I rush to finish my portfolio website, putting in a lot of time and effort that I could spend on other important tasks? Or do I make a cookie-cutter website, make the best of what I can for now, and keep expanding my arsenal? Am I not throwing away my shot? Or am I going to wait for it?
Life doesn't discriminate
Between the sinners and the saints
It takes and it takes and it takes
And we keep going anyway
We laugh and we cry and we break
And we make our mistakes
And if there's a reason I'm not satisfied
When so many chose to hide
Then I'm willing to wait for it
... I'm willing to wait for it.
I think I have a plan for this journal/blog. Based on my research, it's good to have a personal blog to not only boost SEO, but also demonstrate progress and commitment to my works. I currently don't have plans to write something like tutorial blogs, maybe someday once the imposter syndrome feels less haunting. Personal journal entries don't help much in terms of SEO.
But I think I still have a plan. This blog, or journal, would act as a central hub for all updates regarding my projects or important events in my career or personal life. It would also have reference links to any relevant pages, like an Instagram post for a portfolio piece or a LinkedIn post for a progress update. I can also set up my portfolio api to automate the process of making said posts.
So I suppose this journal will indeed be hosted and displayed on my portfolio site. In fact, the journal is going to be the first block of rebuilding my portfolio website. If not for SEO, if not as a demonstration of my progress and commitment, it will at least serve as a reminder to myself of the growth I have achieved in my personal and professional lives. And maybe, that's good enough.
Here's the problem. Often I just start writing code and I tend to just get lost? I've been meaning to learn testing and test driven development for sometime now. Because it gives more clarity and focus to the task at hand, and also improves the project's maintainability. And here I am, first month of 2024 and I completed a course on testing node applications with vitest, and continued on to do a course on react testing library. I aim to make testing a common practice for all my projects going forward.
This is not a blog. At least not technically. These are going to be more like a journal. Does this need to be public? Maybe not? Maybe I will figure this out along the way. But it's a new year. And maybe this is the perfect time to document my growth. If for nothing else, I can use this as a reference to analyse my growth.
I started off 2024 with a new learning venture. Testing with Vitest and React Testing Library. I have made considerable progress in my web development skills. But I fear that my original passion of game development is lagging behind. But perhaps my higher education plans work out and I can continue my adventures in game development.
Should I write about all my works so far? I already have an [Instagram portfolio](Instagram) account. No. New year, new personal development technique. I will start documenting my progress from here on out. I can also just make references to past works in upcoming posts, à la God of War 2018 Kratos referencing his adventures from the Greek mythology games. I just finished playing Ragnarok.
Is this good enough for a first post? Is there even going to be further posts? Or is this going to be another abandoned project? Of course for now, I am just writing this down in my notes. It won't go public until I finish rebuilding my portfolio website. I should keep --blogging-- journaling in my notes until then.