Lara L. Schenck
Computing researcher, maker of monsters
Category: Monsters
One of my favorite past times is drawing friendly monsters.
My medium of choice is the iPad / Apple pencil combo in Keynote for easy use in slides and printing in stickers, but monsters are not picky about where and how they appear.
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Squarespace vs. WordPress vs. Whatever: My Final Answer
If I had a nickel for every time I heard this question: “I want to make a website, but I know nothing about websites. Should I use Squarespace or WordPress? Something else?” In reality I’d have less than a dollar, but I hear it enough that it’s time to write a serious post answering the…
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Back in business!
An update from sunny LA.While my few month ski-bum sabbatical was enjoyable and revitalizing, I now realize that mountains, fresh air, and care-free living are totally overrated. Err…what I’m trying to say is I took my break and am ready to get back to business.
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Ski bum sabbatical
I currently write from my new home at Goldminer’s Daughter Lodge in Alta, UT. I’ve made quite the transition from life in New York City. After a few months back at home in Pittsburgh, I have migrated to Utah for a ski bum sabbatical at Alta, a ski resort outside of Salt Lake City. I’ll…
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How to render a code block of Haml in Haml
I’m currently working on a style guide for a Rails app (fun!). The documentation is built as a baby Rails app of it’s own, thus in Haml, an HTML pre-processor (think Sass, but for HTML). Like any style guide worth it’s salt, I wanted to have a block of the markup for each element alongside…
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Why don’t code schools teach WordPress?
In the coding classes I’ve taught (which, for the record, have been part-time, not bootcamps) students’ intentions are often to make their own websites, work on existing ones, or to incorporate web development into a freelance practice. Regarding bootcamps, I’ve met several graduates who began their careers with freelancing, where a lack of WordPress competence…
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2015 Year in Review
This is “Year in Review” has a bit of a negative tone. I considered editing this post to make it sound more I-love-my-life-and-work-always for potential employers, but that’s no fun! Go ahead and read about 2015, the year that made me want to leave NYC, move to Utah, and work at a bar (which I…
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The Twig for Timber Cheatsheet
Although Timber ultimately simplifies templating in WordPress, there’s a bit of a barrier to entry. If you haven’t worked in a templating language before, it takes some time to get a handle on what’s possible. The following are some introductory Twig concepts and snippets I’ve found particularly useful when working with Timber and Advanced Custom…
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@include upperspace;I’ve made a few websites over the past year or so, and I finally feel like I’ve nailed down the process. Of course there’s a lot more to it, but potentially the most useful, simple, and adorably named part has been a typography mixin I call upperspace: @mixin upperspace { letter-spacing: 1px; text-transform: uppercase; }…
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The Time A Bird Shat on My Laptop [Pastry Box Project]
This post was originally published on The Pastry Box Project on August 27, 2015. Before I get into the bird poop story, let’s talk about guilt. Guilt is my method of self-discipline. When in moderation, guilt keeps me on track; it keeps me working on what I should, and it keeps me from ordering Indian food when I really shouldn’t. But…
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Pricing and Economic Relativity
I’m usually not one for non-fiction, but the times have changed. I’m currently reading Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions by a cool dude named Dan Ariely. In short, we humans are constantly influenced by “hidden forces” that cause us to make decisions that don’t always make logical sense. Can’t say I’m…
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It’s identity crisis, not impostor syndrome
I think we’ve gotten to a point where non-impostors, myself included, are using impostor syndrome as a way to describe ever-human insecurity. The web is in its awkward twenties, and so are many, many of the people working on it. Fortunately or unfortunately, with your twenties comes the inevitable, quarter-life identity crisis.