When I was a kid, I liked to collect bees in a jar. It was a little bit of derring do to see how many I could keep in the jar and also not lose any as I opened the jar for another one. It was also a chance to look at the bees close up. But I was a kid. Selfish by default at that stage in child development. I wanted to hear them. Really hear them. I shook the jar, and I heard them. Did I ever. I’m sure their buzzing could be translated into “Open this jar, jackhole, and we’ll give you a symphony you’ll never forget!”

It’s been a long time, but I think the descendents of that hive are buzzing with karmic delight. September stuffed me in a jar and shook me until my head spun. Some of the shaking was great: close friends from Australia came to visit the US and stayed with me at the beginning and end of their trip. Some not so great: my dad was diagnosed with lung cancer and leukemia. If I wasn’t giving friends a tour of Austin, I was in a group text with family, and when I had my down time, I zoned out wondering if I’d get that call.

I found a small project to do. I could have done it in less time, but I had too little space in my head for coding. Still, I had something to do, and I learned that I enjoyed doing it. Although hard to get going, once I did, Stella got her groove back. It felt great to get lost in coding. Even looking up things I was certain I knew how to do helped. Just a rabbit warren of Slack Overlord and MDN links was soothing. Fussing over where to place a button, was the distraction I needed. I need to remember that even 10 minutes of code fussin’ counts for 100 Days of Code in my book. My book; my rules.

So the bees had their revenge, but they’re nicer and eventually let me have a win. It’s just a basic quotation generator. And it’s QUOTATION! Quote is a verb. Let it go, Katy. I CAN’T.