Introduction to a Tech-Savvy, Overly Caffeinated, Artsy, Green Thumb
Hi, there! My name is Molly. I am a third year Computer Science major at the University of Oklahoma.
So first of all, I am not good at coming up with titles. Second, I'm not entirely sure how accurate it is to describe myself as "tech-savvy," but I couldn't think of a better way to put it. As stated before, I am a Computer Science major, so I know how to program in languages like Java and C++. In the years before college when school was still free, I also learned a bit about mobile application and game development. I'm not much of a fan in terms of dealing with hardware, but a year or two ago someone gave me a Raspberry Pi 2, a small but malleable computer, which I was finally able to work on over the summer and turn into a small media box.
Overly caffeinated is a fairly accurate way to describe me on a normal basis. I am an avid tea drinker who tends to drink more black tea than I should. Weening myself slowly off of the caffeine with green and herbal teas is currently a work in progress. My other problem is buying another box of tea almost every time I go to the store when I already have so many others to drink. There are just so many kinds of tea!
Artsy is another trait I question. However, I feel like that is something quite a few people question about themselves regardless of their level of talent. I think I do have a bit of a drawing talent. It is only on rare occasions that I do draw, though, for I have trouble coming up with ideas and then motivating myself to act upon them. What I to do more often than drawing is crochet, which, for those who do not know, is like knitting but with a stick that has a hook on the end. At the time I am writing this post, I am working currently on a basic shawl and am about one-third of the way finished. Of course, if school picks up quickly in terms of workload, I may not have time to finish it until December. Oh, well. That's life.
Finally, I have quite the green thumb. Over the past year, I have working on a balcony garden in my current apartment. All of them were either seeds that I planted myself or bought fully grown from local crafts and farmers markets or the OU Botany Club. The majority of what I have are herbs, succulents, and cacti as well as a couple of flowers. While I happily could spend maybe another 500 words to go through and describe each one, I will just briefly mention my two favorites out of all of them: my devil's backbone and my lemon rose. The devil's backbone is a gorgeous plant that looks like a zigzagging bamboo with both green and purple leaves. The lemon rose is a rose plant with leaves that sprout pink and turn yellow when fully grown, hence "lemon" in its name. This could also just be a placebo caused by the name, but I swear the leaves also smell faintly like lemon.
Image of Bizzell Memorial Library on the University of Oklahoma campus
Web Source: Wikipedia Commons
So first of all, I am not good at coming up with titles. Second, I'm not entirely sure how accurate it is to describe myself as "tech-savvy," but I couldn't think of a better way to put it. As stated before, I am a Computer Science major, so I know how to program in languages like Java and C++. In the years before college when school was still free, I also learned a bit about mobile application and game development. I'm not much of a fan in terms of dealing with hardware, but a year or two ago someone gave me a Raspberry Pi 2, a small but malleable computer, which I was finally able to work on over the summer and turn into a small media box.
Image of my Raspberry Pi;
photo taken August 2017
Overly caffeinated is a fairly accurate way to describe me on a normal basis. I am an avid tea drinker who tends to drink more black tea than I should. Weening myself slowly off of the caffeine with green and herbal teas is currently a work in progress. My other problem is buying another box of tea almost every time I go to the store when I already have so many others to drink. There are just so many kinds of tea!
Image of my favorite brand of tea with my favorite mugs;
photo from August 22, 2017
Artsy is another trait I question. However, I feel like that is something quite a few people question about themselves regardless of their level of talent. I think I do have a bit of a drawing talent. It is only on rare occasions that I do draw, though, for I have trouble coming up with ideas and then motivating myself to act upon them. What I to do more often than drawing is crochet, which, for those who do not know, is like knitting but with a stick that has a hook on the end. At the time I am writing this post, I am working currently on a basic shawl and am about one-third of the way finished. Of course, if school picks up quickly in terms of workload, I may not have time to finish it until December. Oh, well. That's life.
Image of a bat that I drew;
photo from December 2015
Finally, I have quite the green thumb. Over the past year, I have working on a balcony garden in my current apartment. All of them were either seeds that I planted myself or bought fully grown from local crafts and farmers markets or the OU Botany Club. The majority of what I have are herbs, succulents, and cacti as well as a couple of flowers. While I happily could spend maybe another 500 words to go through and describe each one, I will just briefly mention my two favorites out of all of them: my devil's backbone and my lemon rose. The devil's backbone is a gorgeous plant that looks like a zigzagging bamboo with both green and purple leaves. The lemon rose is a rose plant with leaves that sprout pink and turn yellow when fully grown, hence "lemon" in its name. This could also just be a placebo caused by the name, but I swear the leaves also smell faintly like lemon.
Image of my lemon rose;
photo taken May 2017
I am guilty of buying more tea than I can drink, too, Molly: there are always so many enticing kinds of tea, and it seems like there are new ones all the time. The picture of your favorite mugs did not come through... so that makes me even more curious about your favorite brand of tea. My favorite has to be Cardamon Chai from Nature's Guru. Yummm! And how cool that you like to draw! The artwork from India is really amazing and I try to include lots of images in the course materials; maybe you will do some India-inspired drawing this semester. One of my favorite writers on things Indian, Devdutt Pattanaik, does drawings for his books, and he even released two coloring books of his drawings, one for the Ramayana and one for the Mahabharata. Of course I bought them both; I do not draw, but I love coloring books. You can see what his art is like here: Coloring Book promo vidoe :-)
ReplyDeleteIt's strange that the mugs picture did not come through; it was visible both in draft and after publish for me. Perhaps I accidentally did something different with that picture compared to the others. I went back to try to fix that, so hopefully it is now visible. If it is not, it is a brand called Sadaf, and my absolute favorite is their Sadaf Special Blend Tea with Earl Grey. I don't think I have ever had a black tea better than that! The funny thing about chai teas, having grown up in a partially Russian household, is that "chai" is the Russian word for tea, and the first time I ever saw a chai tea, I was confused. For some time I wondered, "Why are they calling this tea tea?" until I found out what chai tea really was.
DeleteFrom what I have seen in your course materials and working on these blog posts, a lot of the Indian artwork is gorgeous and fascinating. The art in those coloring books are so cute! I can see coloring in one of those or doing an India-inspired drawing as a relaxing pastime in the future, especially whenever the semester becomes more stressful.
Hi Molly,
ReplyDeleteOh wow your technical knowledge is way above anything I can even comprehend. I am sure this class will be an absolute breeze for you with all the technical aspects involved. I will definitely be coming to you if I need any help ;) I also love tea, but I am more of a green tea type of person, as I get too jittery with any kind of caffeine. Also I love that you have found a way to care for plants, even in such a small space!
Hi Molly!! :D I'm Haley!
ReplyDeleteI honestly WISH I could be tech savvy..... the closest I get to technology is video games, which I love. I noticed you dabbled in game design.... that's super cool! I hope you enjoyed it! Perhaps you could teach me something. I have a bunch of strange pipe dreams and creating a video game is one of them, although it may never happen.
Hey Molly!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you really like tea! I guess that is a good problem, because you will always have some to drink. It is also cool to see your hobbies away from school like drawing and gardening. Crocheting is also a very fun hobby, and the product is something that you can use and really appreciate! Wish you best of luck with your studies this year and in the future!
Hey Molly,
ReplyDeleteIt was great reading your introduction post and getting to know you. I really enjoyed the structure of your blog post, as it really engages the reader. Your use of images were really good too! I am also a victim of caffeine. I am obsessed with coffee and drink it religiously everyday. I usually make it at my house, but if I go out to get it it's always starbucks. It was great getting to know you and I hope you have a great semester!
Brooks
Hey Molly! I read that you are a caffeine addict. I, myself do not drink caffeine. My hands end up shaking and I become super hyper. So I leave caffeine for finals week when I am sleep deprived and need it to function. Its funny because I am a loyal costumer of Starbucks and I am a gold member, which isn't too hard if you go to Starbucks a lot. I usually just get the refreshers instead of actual coffee. It was nice to meet you!
ReplyDeleteHey Molly, I have to say we are opposite. I cannot manage technology well, I cannot draw AT ALL, and I can't manage to keep the tomato and basil plants on my patio from dying. The one thing we do have in common is caffeine-love. I have been trying to buy more decaf dark roasts, so I still get all the fun of dark coffee, but none of the caffeine side effects. Anyways, I look forward to reading creative writing from a tech-savvy, green-thumbed tea drinker.
ReplyDeleteHi, Molly!
ReplyDeleteComputer Science major seems so hard. I have many friends that were majoring in computer science at first and they all ended up changed their majors. I am very far away from the tech-savvy side, I don’t even really have an idea of what Java and C++ are. However, we do have things in common. I drink a lot of tea and buy excess amount of tea. I like drawing, knitting, and playing with plants too. Sadly, I can't prevent my plants from dying.
Hi Molly!
ReplyDeleteWow, a Computer Science Major? That's impressive. I dabbled in basic coding when Price Business college forced me to take MIS in order to get into the college. I struggled so hard! The fact that you're getting a degree in the more intense version of that class, and planning on making a career out of it impresses me! I'm not a big tea person unless it's the basic southern Sweet Tea. I could live off of that tea for the rest of my life! I do however, love plants! I also have a bit of a green thumb, but since I don't have a lot of time to care for my plants only have two little succulents.
I hope you have a great rest of the semester! Can't wait to read some of your stories :)
Hey Molly! I love that you are familiar with a lot of technology concepts and the fact that you converted your Raspberry 2 Pi into a media device - wow!! Hopefully this class and all the tech things involved in it will be easy for you to do since you know a lot already :)
ReplyDeleteI also drink a lot of tea, but more than that, I drink WAAAY too much coffee so I understand the caffeine addiction there :p I love that you draw because I love doing artsy things too! Your drawing of a bat is really good and I would definitely say you are artistic! and I understand the struggle of having to put off making something for a long time; it once took me an entire semester to paint a 24 x 30 canvas for my friend haha.
Good luck with this class and I look forward to reading your stories :)
Hi Molly, I remember my junior year of high school I took a computer class where we learned JavaScript and C++, but I couldn't even tell you how to do anything to save my life. I wish I was better at technology, my boyfriend is learning python right now if you know what that is? I have no clue, but apparently its really cool! Haha. I wish I was more artistic and had a green thumb. Right now I have a cactus that I forget to water pretty much every week and when I try to draw it looks like something a five year old did. I can't wait to read your stories!
ReplyDeleteHey Molly, it's so neat that you're incredibly diverse in your hobbies and talents! I wish I was so versatile, but I still have yet to play around in different crafts. My brother graduated from OU with an engineering degree, I've been told by our mother and my fiancé that it was in software, computer science or electrical. I still have yet to go to the source and figure out which one myself. He actually enjoys drawing as well, and I'm thinking it comes with that trade. I'm excited to start planting my own garden and herbs to see if I have a green thumb myself. My dad is super lucky to have one, but my mom, not so much. We have plenty of regular flowers in the front of our house, but the secret stash of edible herbs and vegetables are in our backyard. I do enjoy a cup of tea myself, but I get quite lazy to brew my own tea. I really would love to do so one of these days when I can bring myself to do it lol. It was great meeting you Molly! Can't wait to read your work and good luck the rest of the semester!
ReplyDeleteHey, Molly! First off, I think it's super cool that you're a computer science major - I have massive respect for anyone who is able to code, because I haven't been able to learn coding to save my life. I also think it's really cool that you have such diversity in your hobbies. I feel like diverse interests make life more interesting, and I, myself, have been trying to diversity my hobbies, too. Also, I'm a fellow caffeine addict, so I really understand your love for tea and coffee!
ReplyDeleteHi Molly,
ReplyDeleteYou have so many varieties of talents and interests, which is awesome! I wish I knew how to code, I have always wanted to learn. One of my friend tried to teach me how to once, but all the concepts just did not through my brain. It is so cool to code as you can make so many programs easily, but just putting into the language of computer. I love teas too, you should really try this Indian chai, it is blend of masalas, herbs and tea. I think you will love it. Good luck with this semester and hope to read more from you.
Hey Molly!
ReplyDeleteBased on your introduction, I'd definitely consider you to be "tech-savvy!" Also, you're a computer science major? That sounds really awesome, but challenging at the same time! Coding is something that I'll never be able to wrap my brain around.
Tea is life. Any time I go out to eat with friends or family it's always tea, tea, tea. I've been trying to switch to more water and less tea, but man is that hard. I've tried many different teas, but I think my favorite is southern sweet tea!
Good luck to you this semester and in your future!
Hey Molly!
ReplyDeleteYou have a unique way of underselling yourself while at the same time being able to brag and show off some of your numerous skills. i suppose it's what they call the humble brag, but it's kinda funny to read. Its very interesting hearing about all your interests, I definitely sympathize with your tea addiction...
Molly, you seem so interesting. I also have a caffeine problem, but my thing is mostly coffee. However, black tea is the best of teas, especially Early Grey! It is so cute that you have a balcony garden. Maybe one day I will try that out myself. As of right now, I have a new dog, so maybe it's not the time. I honestly don't really know how computer programming works, but my dad is a computer programmer, so that's cool! Also, I hope you had time to work on your shawl, and the drawing of the bat is really nice!
ReplyDeleteHello Molly,
ReplyDeleteI too have an addiction to tea. It started when I was little. My grandmother and I would choose coffee or tea and we would sit and bond. That probably wasn't the best thing for someone young to start doing but it worked for us. Lol! I admire you for converting your Raspberry 2 Pi device! That is very remarkable. I call my self tech savvy but I have nothing on you! Lastly, I have a green thumb like you. Gardening has always had a special place in my heart.
Hi Molly,
ReplyDeleteYou seem to have a variety of interests and talents, I'm sure you stay pretty busy tending to them all. I don't know too much about your hobbies, especially growing things and keeping things alive, but I have built my own computer before, so I think it's awesome that you were able to turn a Raspberry Pi 2 into a media box.
Good luck throughout the rest of the semester and I look forward to learning more about you through your work!
Molly,
ReplyDeleteI loved reading your introduction; it is so neat to see how different each person is in this class! We all have different stories and can all appreciate each other. I really need to start drinking green tea more often as well; I drink coffee every morning and have read that tea is much healthier! Also, computers are NOT my specialty, so I might be contacting you if I ever need any tech help. Haha! Good luck with the rest of your semester, and I am looking forward to reading your stories!
Hi Molly,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your introduction. You are definetely tech savvy, at least compared to me, and I understood about three words of all the tech jargon. It is really cool that you can do all that though! I would also say you are certainly very artistically talented based on the picture of your drawing. Also I think is so fun that you are making a full sized shawl! My mom and my roommate both crochet so I know how time consuming that can be. I look forward to reading some of your stories!
Molly,
ReplyDeleteLoved getting to read your introduction as I had felt like i had already read everyone in the class but still came across yours in the end. I am the furthest thing from being an expert at tech but I love that you are. I did like my MIS class but do not think I could ever pursue a job that contained too much computer work. Good luck as the semester winds down.
Hey there Molly!
ReplyDeleteI always thought it might be cool to be a Computer Science major. The fact that you just worked on your own little project with the Raspberry Pi 2 was so neat. I also am guilty of being overly caffeinated but unfortunately my caffeine of choice is coffee. I feel like tea is probably the healthier way to go.
Hi Molly! My surface 3 has facts about women in the Computer Science field on the lock screen right now, so it's a funny coincidence that I'm reading your introduction today. I also love tea. I have an overflowing huge hatbox full of tea that I'll probably never drink all of it, but oh well. My favorite thing to do right now is sweeten Twinnings English Breakfast tea with pumpkin spice creamer. It's great. I also love plants! I had a pretty varied herb garden this summer, with rosemary, sage, pineapple sage, mint, stevia, catnip, and my favorite, purple basil. It was so lovely to read your introduction!
ReplyDeleteHey Molly.
ReplyDeleteI am definitely not tech savvy so some of the things you said I did not understand. My brother and roommate are both computer science majors so you are one of the few majors that I actually have met before. Good luck with the rest of your semester.
Hello molly !
ReplyDeleteI admire you for being such a tech savvy person. Lord knows I am not built to deal with a lot of technical things but I know enough to get by. I often wonder if I'm still the only that struggles with Microsoft Excel. I also just found a new desire for tea. I actually use sleepy time tea and mint tea. If you have not tried any of those two , you should soon ! Unfortunately I have to take it easy on the caffeine. However, I still like to enjoy a cup of tea and coffee from time to time.
Hi Molly!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I really like the design and layout you have chosen for your blog. I also like the personal photos you have incorporated into your introduction. I think it gives your blog a nice personal touch! I think it’s so cool that you are a computer science major here at the University of Oklahoma. I hope you are having a good semester so far and I can’t wait to explore the rest of your blog!