Week-25

Writing/Poetry

Wowwwww!! I can't believe, I'm almost done with my first year of managing Faces of Silicon Valley! We have come a long way from 2 visitors a day, to 100 visitors and at least 500 page views a month! You guys are the best, supporting me through it all! Which is why I should probably let you all know, that December may have a bunch of winter-themed posts! At least two are on the top of mind :) 

But before we dive into December 2024's first blog post, it's time to hear about News in Faces of Silicon Valley!! So I know that each blog post heading for the news looks the same, but trust me each blog post has AT LEAST ONE NEW THING TO SHARE! TRUSTTTTTTTT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~so let's diveee into the newssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Faces of Silicon Valley News!! 

1) Reminder: Please contact me if you'd like to be interviewed! Common Misconception, but you don't need to live in Silicon Valley or have any ties to it. Faces of Silicon Valley highlights stories in Silicon Valley, but we're open to connecting more communities together! So you can be interviewed, if you're a student, a worker, a cook, a young or old entrepreneur! We'd love to hear your story! Just contact us using our interview application process: https://forms.gle/CAGsioU2V2QaLeCo8 or using our contact page! If you have any questions on how to do this feel free to check out Week 23 & Week-24 which features a manual on how to navigate Faces of Silicon Valley. In fact, Week-24 actually covers this particular aspect in-depth. While you're checking out those weeks' posts, feel free to check out other blog posts, and to share this website with your friends! 

2) Please feel free to comment your ideas, thoughts, comments, or just about anything appropriate! We're happy to connect with more people! I cannot stress how important it is to us if you comment. Every week, I take the liberty of leaving a comment prompt at the very end of my post, it would make me and the team, here at Faces of Silicon Valley, if you left an APPRORIATE COMMENT on our posts. If your confused about how comments here at Faces of Silicon Valley works, please feel free to check out Weeks 23 & 24, as I mentioned earlier these posts will aid in navigating our website! Additionally, if you or someone you know would like to be involved in Faces of Silicon Valley's Interview Process, just let us know, and we'll be happy to get back to you! We pride ourselves in sharing so many others stories, and we are in fact working on and looking to expand the demographics of our interviewees! So if you're anyone who's interested or if you know anyone who is interested, please let us know! Yes, we want to share everyone's stories, but we are very open to working around interviewee constraints! :-) 

3) Repetition of the above, but please feel free to inform others about Faces of Silicon Valley, and the exciting posts, information, interviews, stories, and more that we share here! We'd love to gain a greater viewer following, so we can expand more! Remember our Mission Statements displayed on our homepage, "WE WANT TO CONNECT COMMUNITIES AND CREATE OUR OWN ONLINE COMMUNITITY, WHERE EVERYONE FEELS SAFE!!! <3 <3"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~NOW INTO THE JUICYYYYY STUFFFF....THE BLOG POST ITSELFFFFFFFF HAS ARRIVEDDDD!!!!!!!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So as I mentioned earlier, the month of December is one of my favorites! My family and I come together and celebrate Christmas! But that doesn't mean, that there aren't other holidays to celebrate as well! Christmas is mainly my favorite, because it's when my family that doesn't stay with me comes over and we get to spend the holidays together. This many sound kind of cringe, but it's like that saying, "warming your heart," spending time warm inside my home with my family while we stay together by the fire while the weather outside is "frightful," (we live in california, so it's not super bad) actually "warms my heart." Anyway, that was a little tidbit. So I wrote this poem based on all my favorite parts of Christmas, even the traditions. Even though, I won't forthrightly admit it, I kind of follow traditions, which can make me stubborn at times. But I promise, I'm trying to be better! But I love the Christmas traditions. You know, every year, my family and I we hang up Christmas lights and decorations, always trying to outdo our neighbors, and then we write a note to Santa. And by the way to everyone who believes in Christmas but doesn't believe in Santa, you're wrong! (hahaaa...i do mean this as a joke, not intended to offend anyone in any way :D) Also, did you guys know that the tradition of Santa Clause came from the origins of Sinterklaas, which can be found in the stories of St. Nicholas, a fourth-century Greek Bishop, from Myra, which is now located in modern-day Turkey. But anyways, the point is, I love winter and all its traditions! So here's a winter poem, meant to honor the season and all that comes with it! Enjoy! :) 

Winter: 

As frosty winds whisper, wrapping us in fear,

In winter's grasp, we gather near.

Underneath the snow-cloaked rooftops

We find warmth in each other.

With joyous carols and cheers 

We cherish moments held so dear.

Celebrating sacred and secular days, 

We build snowmen in the cold,

Their icy smiles, a sight to behold.

Then inside, by the fire's glow,

Sipping hot chocolate while cherishing memories,

We make cookies and meet by the tree. 

Eagerly, hoping to catch Santa and his deer,

We wait by the Christmas tree.

Counting down the days, hour by hour,

As Hanukkah candles flicker,

Some celebrate Kwanzaa.

On New Year's Eve, we stay awake,

To greet the dawn, we stake our hopes, as the past becomes a memory

Together, we say goodbye to the old year.

Through winter's chill, we endure the cold,

Telling stories through cheers and laughter. 

For in this season, we find our way,

Together, through each night and day. 

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Hope you guys enjoyed that! I know I enjoyed reminiscing about the end of the year! Now it's time for the ALWAYS a crowd-pleaser: THE COMMENTTT PROMPTTTTT!!!!!!!!

Now remember, there are some ground rules for the comment prompt! Please be sure to follow all rules, these rules are set in place to make sure everyone on the site is safe and is welcomed. Remember our goal is to create an online, accepting community for everyone! :) 

- Rule #1: Make sure you write appropriate comments! The rule is only a couple of words, but they're powerful words! They mean A LOT! You need to be posting kind, thoughtful, and appropriate words! 

- Rule #2: NO SPAMMING! I cannot stress the importance of this! During the pandemic, we were online so much! I'd have classmates spamming our Google Classroom, and I could never find assignments, and sometimes my friends and I would miss out, because the spamming comments would overflood our pages. I want to make sure that I get back to everyone's comments, it's important to me to connect with others through this online community :) 

But if I miss someone's comment due to spammed messages, it would be hard for me to get back to someone, so please understand, thank you! If I'm being honest,  RULE #1 & RULE #1 are  the ONLY rules I expect everyone to follow, the rest are kinda lax, but it's good to follow them. I hope everyone realizes that, compared to a classroom's major ten rules, this isn't so much to ask :) 

- Rule #3: This is barely a rule, it's just some advice about comment prompts. I'd love it for you to respond to each comment prompt, but you're really only required to respond to one :) 

My only request is when you respond to a comment prompt, try to make it clear which prompt you're responding to. Often I have at least two prompts, and it can be hard to know which one a user is talking about. Basically, your comment can look something like this: