Ravings of an Undead Cheese Minion

If you are testing any of these @Input  thingies, like these: Just know that even the most simple of Angular component tests will require these to be defined, IFF they're used in the HTML file like so:  Without defining a value for filters in the beforeEach  method, the unit test will fail. But if you define it as follows, it will pass (see the component.filters  assignment):  So this is why your unit test might be failing despite being completely empty or only having a simple expect toBeTruthy in there.  This is the error I was originally getting. TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'usage') at Object.eval [as updateDirectives] (ng:///DynamicTestModule/PhoneFilterComponent.ngfactory.js:56:34) Here is a picture of it:  And here is a picture of my success after fixing it:

Despite the insanity of this past weekend, and the frustrations of this semester and career-related things, I can tell that I have been improving. I am closer than ever to where I want to be, and yet, I still have a long way to go.  Now when I say "the final push" I don't mean that I will ever stop learning. I mean that I will be at a sufficient baseline level of competence in CS + Animation (including math, physics, IT, ECE, digital painting etc.) such that I can create/solve something within a reasonable amount of time and not have it look/perform poorly -- I want it to be at least decently good. This is the goal. While maintaining my other areas of focus, losing weight etc.  Actually digital painting is my weakest point, and anything resembling figure drawing. After all, those are the most "artsy" and most removed from the highly technical program of study that is the majority of CSANM. Sure there was the one digital painting assignment in 354 and I did take

I'm not trying to make this into some sort of inspirational blog. I'm just throwing stuff out because I need to organize my thoughts. And reassure myself, too.  I did not ask for sufficient clarity on when a particular deadline was, for the film this semester. As a result, it was unceremoniously dumped on me at 4:45 PM on a Friday, that I would need to have everything completed by the end of the day on Saturday. I had to cancel my plans to go to Lagoon on opening day, and to go to the reptile expo in SLC with my friends. On a beautiful day, too.  The heating in the animation lab was on full-blast, despite it being 78 degrees outside. I had just gotten word from DreamWorks that they can't work around my Adobe internship, so I'm going to have to decline their offer. I have been issues trying to post to one of my favorite subreddits, despite not being banned or restricted in any way. And then I had this deadline dropped on me. I had a mini anxiety breakdown on the drive ho

People will always tell you that you're making a dumb decision, or you're wasting your time, you shouldn't do x, you should do y, etc. Because everyone is always the expert on how you should live your life.  However, I have noticed something. Whenever I have persisted with what felt right to my heart anyway, I have always benefited from it. It's always worked out. With school, my pursuits, whatever it is.  I'm not quitting anything and I'm not downsizing on anything that I plan to do. It's all happening. Roadblocks or not. Screwed up my calf this week, but I'm still going to the running club, at least once it heals. And I'll be more careful this time.  Just do what feels right to you. Chances are it does for a reason. Prove them wrong. 

 "Even 5 minutes a day is worth doing" is a quote from my beginning band teacher.  One of the few things I actually enjoyed about middle school was band, and this quote really stuck with me. I used to play for 30-75 minutes per day and I got really good, moving up and bouncing between first and second chair when I was in beginning band. But then I had to jump straight to high school band. I started floundering, and I've never fully recovered, especially with how involved and time-consuming college is. Ugh.  So I'm starting this new rule as an MVP for every day, with one big caveat -- I really do need to cut everything off by 8:30 PM, which I did not do tonight. The idea is, spend at least 5 minutes a day on all of your pursuits, no matter what. Because it will keep these activities at the forefront of your mind! This means the following for me:  5 minutes drawing per day (warm up with some gestures) 5 minutes digital painting per day 5 minutes 3D art per day (ideally,

I had no idea that BYU had a club cross-country and track team, called the Farm Team. I only found out about it this semester through the BYU Running Club's email list.  I had tried googling "BYU club cross country" many times, and hadn't found anything. Naturally, running is one of my focus areas (along with writing, art, programming/math/physics, weight lifting, music, and theme park design). So, attending this club was basically mandatory for my life's goals.  I put off going for a few weeks, due to my schedule and the fact that every single guy on the team runs a mile significantly faster than my high school PR (5:30). But, eventually I decided to bite the bullet and just go for it. I never stopped running, but I've been getting kind of fat lately, partly due to my diet but also due to inconsistency (grad school is hard and time-consuming). I also haven't been lifting enough, but that's another story. So I figured joining a team was a good idea.  I

 "Don't get stuck in the mud Thinking of things that you should have done."  Most people should know this one; it's Imagine Dragons.  I have a high capacity for regret and frustration. The idea is to fall forward instead, to iterate, to worry less about what you should have done (which you can't do anything about) and more about what you should be doing now (which you can control).  I should've done so  many things differently, yet it's okay. I can work with what I have now. And really it is not so bad.  And about that, I need to go to sleep, right about now. 

 so sick of this constant cold and snow