<commit_before>---
layout: post
title: Summer 2018 Summary
description: Little insight about my month of vacation.
date: 2018-08-29
author: <NAME>
image: summerSummary2018.jpg
imageSource: Rythik
lang: en_US
lead: Ready?! Back to work!
categories: journal
tags: music dancehall friends biking montreal escape rooms ruby react research
published: true
---
<b>W</b>ow, I can't believe it’s _been a month_ already!

The month of August went by so fast!! Well, I can honestly say that it was a much needed month off;<b> family time, vacation, friends, gaming, and relaxation</b>. I would like to use this post to share some of the things I found interesting and worthy of sharing during my time off :smiley:

But before diving into that, I wanted to return to something I had mentioned in me previous post:
>_React or Rails_?

After careful consideration, and many conversations with many mentors and academic peers about which direction I should take towards a new web framework; <b>I have been strongly advised to lean towards learning React first</b>.

The main argument: _this is where the industry is heading_. Keeping that in mind, I respected the consensus and decided that for the [research project] I am undertaking this semester, it would be much more efficient for me to develop the web application using React due to my prior Javascript knowledge. Once the project is done, I will have more time and a less heavy course load to focus on learning something entirely new. I want to learn Rails; I love the community; I love the motto: conventions over configuration; all-in-all I want to add Ruby and Rails to my stack.

<b>Now onto the summer summary!</b>

### Music

I am writing this post back from our family trip to <b>Montego Bay, Jamaica</b>. I rarely return to the same country twice in such a short time, but Jamaica is simply magical. I love it because the food is amazing, jerk chicken :chicken: is to die for, the people are great, and the sun is always shining! But more importantly, I get my yearly dose of Dancehall music from the locals there. I love getting in touch with the music community, talk about upcoming events, artists, new productions and producers.

<b>_Fun Fact_</b>: The first type of music that caught my attention was Jamaican Dancehall and Reggae. I began collecting the <a class="pink-hover" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greensleeves_Rhythm_Album_(series)" target="_blank">[Greensleeves Rhythm Album]</a> series back in high school. I kept collecting them up until modern dancehall took over, and independent producers and labels began releasing their riddims as standalone albums. I keep collecting, till now, all the modern dancehall albums that were released since 2001 :monkey_face:

I fell in love with that genre because it combined sounds of organic drums, tribal percussions woven by fat baselines, elegant chords and simple melodies. Again, Jamaica is quite known for its strong musical culture. Once you get there, you are greeted by some of the latest sounds of Vybz Kartel, Alkaline, Movado; the latest productions of Rvssian, Dre Skull, Notnice, DiGenius, TJ Records... excellent sounds that shape some of today's top 40 track!

### Biking & Fishing

My best friend comes back to Canada once a year from Ivory Coast, Africa, and every time he comes back he decides to take on a new hobby or activity. This year, he decided to buy a bike to help him get into shape and to move around Montreal's Old-Port more quickly instead of driving or using Uber. He introduced us to this new method of transportation, and we were blown away!

I've lived in Montreal my entire life, and I have never had the chance to take a bicycle :bike: and ride it around the city, let alone the Lachine canal. <b>I never knew Montreal had so much to offer;</b> beautiful bike trails surrounding the island, paths cutting through rustic neighborhoods in Grifftown and birdges crossing over to the Marché Atwater. There is so much to discover, it just takes the will to get up and go for it. Similarly to biking, I also started fishing this summer :fishing_pole_and_fish: . It's a peaceful activity that requires patience and technique, and to my surprise, it was quite enjoyable!


### Escape Rooms

<b>[Warning: Very Addictive]</b>

I never knew escape rooms could be so addictive! We went to <a class="pink-hover" href="https://www.findthekey.ca" target="_blank">Find the Key</a> with our friends and did the haunted pirate ship. We were two clues away from solving it; _it had a 3% success rate without hint!!_ We were a little too ambitious for a bunch of amateurs :kissing_smiling_eyes:  When our time was up, and they showed us the final clues we realized there was no way for us to have had solved it even with additional time. Once we finished, we were ready to start another room!! You guys should really check this place, they are renovating to make it even bigger; I can't wait for our next time!


> _And those were the highlights of Summer 2018!_

Now back to school, prepping up for hackathon season 2018-2019.

First up: <a class="pink-hover" href="https://hackthenorth.com" target="_blank">#HackTheNorth</a>

Anthony
<commit_msg>changed the title of the post<commit_after>---
layout: post
title: Summer Recap
description: Little insight about my month of vacation.
date: 2018-08-29
author: <NAME>
image: summerSummary2018.jpg
imageSource: Rythik
lang: en_US
lead: Ready?! Back to work!
categories: journal
tags: music dancehall friends biking montreal escape rooms ruby react research
published: true
---
<b>W</b>ow, I can't believe it’s _been a month_ already!

The month of August went by so fast!! Well, I can honestly say that it was a much needed month off;<b> family time, vacation, friends, gaming, and relaxation</b>. I would like to use this post to share some of the things I found interesting and worthy of sharing during my time off :smiley:

But before diving into that, I wanted to return to something I had mentioned in me previous post:
>_React or Rails_?

After careful consideration, and many conversations with many mentors and academic peers about which direction I should take towards a new web framework; <b>I have been strongly advised to lean towards learning React first</b>.

The main argument: _this is where the industry is heading_. Keeping that in mind, I respected the consensus and decided that for the [research project] I am undertaking this semester, it would be much more efficient for me to develop the web application using React due to my prior Javascript knowledge. Once the project is done, I will have more time and a less heavy course load to focus on learning something entirely new. I want to learn Rails; I love the community; I love the motto: conventions over configuration; all-in-all I want to add Ruby and Rails to my stack.

<b>Now onto the summer summary!</b>

### Music

I am writing this post back from our family trip to <b>Montego Bay, Jamaica</b>. I rarely return to the same country twice in such a short time, but Jamaica is simply magical. I love it because the food is amazing, jerk chicken :chicken: is to die for, the people are great, and the sun is always shining! But more importantly, I get my yearly dose of Dancehall music from the locals there. I love getting in touch with the music community, talk about upcoming events, artists, new productions and producers.

<b>_Fun Fact_</b>: The first type of music that caught my attention was Jamaican Dancehall and Reggae. I began collecting the <a class="pink-hover" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greensleeves_Rhythm_Album_(series)" target="_blank">[Greensleeves Rhythm Album]</a> series back in high school. I kept collecting them up until modern dancehall took over, and independent producers and labels began releasing their riddims as standalone albums. I keep collecting, till now, all the modern dancehall albums that were released since 2001 :monkey_face:

I fell in love with that genre because it combined sounds of organic drums, tribal percussions woven by fat baselines, elegant chords and simple melodies. Again, Jamaica is quite known for its strong musical culture. Once you get there, you are greeted by some of the latest sounds of Vybz Kartel, Alkaline, Movado; the latest productions of Rvssian, Dre Skull, Notnice, DiGenius, TJ Records... excellent sounds that shape some of today's top 40 track!

### Biking & Fishing

My best friend comes back to Canada once a year from Ivory Coast, Africa, and every time he comes back he decides to take on a new hobby or activity. This year, he decided to buy a bike to help him get into shape and to move around Montreal's Old-Port more quickly instead of driving or using Uber. He introduced us to this new method of transportation, and we were blown away!

I've lived in Montreal my entire life, and I have never had the chance to take a bicycle :bike: and ride it around the city, let alone the Lachine canal. <b>I never knew Montreal had so much to offer;</b> beautiful bike trails surrounding the island, paths cutting through rustic neighborhoods in Grifftown and birdges crossing over to the Marché Atwater. There is so much to discover, it just takes the will to get up and go for it. Similarly to biking, I also started fishing this summer :fishing_pole_and_fish: . It's a peaceful activity that requires patience and technique, and to my surprise, it was quite enjoyable!


### Escape Rooms

<b>[Warning: Very Addictive]</b>

I never knew escape rooms could be so addictive! We went to <a class="pink-hover" href="https://www.findthekey.ca" target="_blank">Find the Key</a> with our friends and did the haunted pirate ship. We were two clues away from solving it; _it had a 3% success rate without hint!!_ We were a little too ambitious for a bunch of amateurs :kissing_smiling_eyes:  When our time was up, and they showed us the final clues we realized there was no way for us to have had solved it even with additional time. Once we finished, we were ready to start another room!! You guys should really check this place, they are renovating to make it even bigger; I can't wait for our next time!


> _And those were the highlights of Summer 2018!_

Now back to school, prepping up for hackathon season 2018-2019.

First up: <a class="pink-hover" href="https://hackthenorth.com" target="_blank">#HackTheNorth</a>

Anthony

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