Rukus Flashchords

 Ok y'all I'm really gonna send it. Firebase. Cloudinary. I was hesitant because I don't know these programs and I don't want to get defaulted into a subscription, but I figure even if I get that many users to justify it, then it's worth a shot. I am holding back on the design updates. I just want everything to send at the same time. All the designs looking the same on all the apps. All the features looping/acting the same. I just want to plop it all out there instead of trickling updates and progress... so yeah things are bound to look messy for the next couple of weeks but I am tinkering away on the back end as much as I can for that final send.  I... am... eexcitttteeeddd!!!! This is so cool! I don't expect it to take off right away, but just to have a new direction to go into with the app. Even though it's unknown waters, it's something new and I'm eager to give this a shot. I really feel good about all of this. It's all been a momsical whim ...

 Wow this blog looks like shit I mean, I'm not entirely stoked with everything I have out there right now... and to call myself a designer right? Haha. I enjoy more of the back end design than the front end. I like building the system, not decorating it. I think I've said that somewhere before.  This is the first time I've really had a fire up my ass to finish everything off in a long time. I have 3 main things to be completed and then I think this app is really done. Adding anything else to it will go against the point - making it simple and effective. And for that to ring true, I need to keep that in mind when implementing these things as well. As above so below. SO it might look a little funny, but once you know how to use it, you'll be like "ahhhhh ok".. Sigh. I really gave it a shot trying to code stuff alone today. It is not easy. I think I've effectively coded alone once. All this time I've been piggy backing off AI and live support. It sort of ...

Hey folks! All of the apps have been redesigned, but I haven't published the updates yet. The biggest hurdles have been jumped over at this point, and I'm feeling positively that I am nearing completion of the app. It's taken me about a year to feel certain of it, but here are the steps to the finish line: - Fix the metronome. How? Instead of being built into the app ( how it currently is ), the app will play a link to the BPM selected by the user and it'll be looped. - Update the custom button to have a "play in order" and "shuffle" button on the screen so the user can make a simple list. - Playlists button will be where you can build and SAVE songs. No account creation required. Just pop a song into the data base, search the data base for songs.  - Crate alert windows the user can do the know "Do not show again" option to give a small tutorial on the screens of how things work The last point I'm excited but also nervous about. Kind of...

My girl is on the cusp of toddlerhood. Finding time to iterate and update is a challenge, but I've adopted the mentality that I don't need to sit down for 2 hours to have a productive session. I'm doing things in pieces. 20 minutes here, half a bullet point there. I keep reminding myself that the most difficult part has passed, but I still feel like I'm in the thick of it.  I've found more joy in working on the app when I don't feel pressured to do everything in one go, especially when my daughter has a 6th sense for when I am about to sit down and do something. But! That's ok too.  The nights have been difficult. She still wakes up periodically, and it makes me grumpy in the mornings. And sometimes at night. "Enjoy this" wears off when I feel my eyes burning. It's mostly the anxiety that makes me feel that way, anxiety for how tired I am and how it will persist... but the days usually lighten up after I've had some caffeine and time. Baby ...

Not blues, really, but yeah it's sort of a shit show in the tech world right now. I'm going to take a pause on applying for product jobs, feels like a waste of time. I think right now I just need to enjoy where I am in life. I'm expanding this pretty cool app, I have ideas to keep it going... in the meantime maybe I'll find minimal part time work. The Uke app is doing reallly well, especially considering I have done minimal to no marketing. I am holding back on marketing still because I want everything to look consistent. I want the guitar apps to have the same design. I need all the screenshots on the app stores to look good. I want to publish the plus version of the Uke app. Oh wow the metronome wasn't even clickable on the first version of the uke app and I'm so grateful someone on Facebook called that out. I think once Uke Plus is published, that's when I'll feel ready to start marketing the Uke app. By then, hopefully, my designs will be consistent ...

An affirmation my therapist shared with me to enjoy liminal moments, like making a cup of tea or sitting in your car. For me, however, the affirmation comes to mind moreso when I'm on the brink of a mental overload.  My baby is on my chest disputing the nap she desperately needs because she's overtired. She's squirming, rolling around, standing up, sitting down, la lalalallalalalal going nuts, and right as my patience is about to run low..   Enjoy this.   She is the light of my life. She's silly, and energetic, and playful and curious, everything I could ever love wrapped up in a 14 month old. All of a sudden, whatever is about to turn in my chest, transmutes. Amazing how a couple of words can flip a moment.   I've been in the weeds with publishing and the redesign. Here's a sneak peek at my to-do list: - Input all updated design graphics into the guitar apps - Minor redesigns for those apps, then to update - Redesign social media graphics - Find 6 mor...

We went to Hawaii and I held off on the app for a few months. Baby was learning to walk, not to mention the sleep regressions and rapid fire changes. We bought a house, so now there's some structure to the day moreso than before. I found a really cool internet/babysitting cafe that I'm beginning to integrate into our routine.  Things are really beginning to take form. Even though I took a step back from the app, I've been picking at it every day, and I even built a new version for Ukulele with updated design. Looking at the original app, it feels rudimentary compared to how it is now. This upgrade will take a lot of time to integrate across all of the platforms I've built, but it'll get done. She doesn't nap as long as she use to, but I can still work when she's sleeping or during the hour or two a day she does nap.  I feel like I'm in a place now to have this career I'm dreaming of. I think once I have my app looking uniform, and once I get some foo...