Pequeño Vals Vienés (Take This Waltz, please, take it)
Here’s a small gift to soothe our souls a little. I give you Silvia Pérez Cruz, voice, and Pájaro, guitar, playing Pequeño Vals Vienés. The lyrics are from the poem by the immortal Spanish poet Federico García Lorca. Leonard Cohen sung Take This Waltz with this same poem. Legendary flamenco artist Enrique Morente took the song and made it his own. And now Silvia and Pájaro give us all their beauty.
This is democracy and we (must) like it
As far as reality checks go, this was a big one. We could not understand how the others could live in an alternate reality bubble, how could a dangerous spoiled brat gather such a support. And it was us that were living in a bubble, like donkeys with blinders, oblivious to real reality. This is democracy, this is what we wanted. And we’d better be willing to continue to fight for it. For the others even, or especially. Just a few initial ideas percolating, like @patrickrhone says, I need to continue licking my wounds.
Customizing the Archive page
layouts/_default/list.archivehtml.html both in blog.estebantxo.com and in social.estebantxo.com.
If you could instantly change one internal pattern/thing about yourself, what would it be? - Ask Me Anything Challenge #WeblogPoMoAMA
I first read about this challenge thanks to .
🔗
For this challenge I want to foster writer interaction: write a blog post starting with a question—the AMA—and then answer the question yourself in the blog post. Others will likewise write AMA/question posts, but also answer the AMA/questions from other bloggers, linking to their initial post.
So I decided it would be cool to join this collective interaction initiative, and the first question I would like to answer, following , is this one:
First Audio Ever (from Wavelength)
I’m just playing around. If I ever build a Podcasting Empire, this will be the infamous, historic, all time classic Episode O.
Update: I wasn’t expecting the Auphonic intro. I didn’t like that. I set up an account just to try its editing features some day, but I wasn’t expecting it would insert an intro. I guess it’s sign out time.
Music
I’m not going anywhere
A couple of days ago I wrote that I was thinking about disconnecting my blogs and myself from every social media, even Micro.blog.
My concern was/is the constant expectation of feedback, that addictive behavior of posting something and immediately looking for any response in the many different social media platforms I post to.
So I said I was thinking of deleting my blog feeds from the Micro.blog timeline and stop cross-posting to other platforms, effectively isolating my writing in the vast void of the Internet, in order to lower my expectation of feedback and the slight anxiety that it brings.
And then, in the most heartwarming manner, feedback poured in.
Pondering a total blackout
I still catch myself, after publishing a post, eagerly going to Micro.blog (and sometimes even to Mastodon, Bluesky or Threads) to see if I get replies or if the post gathers any response.
Needless to say, I have very few followers in this English endeavor of mine, so that does not happen very often.
I dislike both sentiments: the dopamine kick when someone replies, and the slight disappointment when time goes by without any reaction.
The futility of reasoning with any beliefs - Related to @Annie's post
Dear friends and family who are thinking about voting for Trump - annie's blog:
If you’re a Christian and you’re treating immigrants poorly, talking about them badly, voting against them having a chance at a better life, blaming them for things they absolutely cannot control, or spouting rhetoric about closing our borders you are violating the clear directives given to you in the Bible. How do you justify this? What’s your reasoning? How are you better than these immigrants? Why is it okay for you to look down on them? Why don’t these Biblical mandates apply to you? Why don’t these clear commands to care for the poor, the weak, the orphan, the widow, and the foreigner matter to you? Why are you listening to Fox News more than you’re reading the Bible? Why do you care more about protecting your own than opening up your home to those in need? Are you even a Christian? What’s going on? Why don’t you care about the poor, all of them?
I initially wrote this in reply to @Annie and I thought I also wanted to share it in my blog.
Colonial Contrasts: Wynton Marsalis on French, Spanish, and British Legacies
Finally I made my hub, albeit a humble one, at estebantxo.com
I have created a static page to host my main domain, estebantxo.com, and I plan to use it as a hub for my current blogs and future projects.
At the moment, the page serves as an introduction about myself, provides a brief explanation of the two blogs I have created in the ‘blog’ and ‘social’ subdomains, and includes links to my email, ActivityPub user, and RSS feed for those who wish to follow or contact me.
Previous and Next links for my blog's posts (III)
Just a quick follow-up to the first and second post about this topic.
I found the way to name my navigation buttons depending on the subsequent post having a title or not. If it has a title, I want the button to show that title. But if it does not, I want a placeholder text like “Previous” and “Next”.
Previous and Next links for my blog's posts (II)
I wrote the first part of this short series here, with my first attempt to make navigation links for previous and next posts.
This second part is about setting up buttons instead of links.
And then I wrote a third part, a follow-up about naming the buttons with the title of the subsequent post or with a placeholder text if there is no title.
Keeping up with my experimentation and trying to learn a bit about CSS and HTML and that stuff, I wanted to set up links for Previous and Next posts in my new micro blog My micro.thoughts.
My longest running apps
This post by Steve Hodgson made me look into my own apps, and I had fun reflecting on my everyday essentials.
A post elsewhere prompted me to check and I’ve been using Drafts for iOS since early 2012!The earliest app I still use is Atomic Clock from 2008.
Previous and Next links for my blog's posts (I)
Update (2024-10-12): I wrote a second part here, with buttons instead of links.
Update (2024-10-12): I wrote a third part, about naming the buttons with the title of the subsequent post or with a placeholder text if there is no title.
I am happy because I managed to tweak my blog so every individual post has links for “Previous” and “Next” posts at the bottom. This might help readers navigate from one post to another, back and forth. Or at least it helps me navigate my own page better 😉.
Croissant and Pika look great, Micro.blog is better
Fiddling with favicons
I managed to change the favicon(s) for my umerez.eu site thanks to the Favicon Generator and the tips in this page from the Micro.blog Help Center.
So thanks to @moondeer @renevanbelzen @sod @jsonbecker @numericcitizen and all the fine people that share this wonderful stuff.
Smartphone magic
Today, for the first time in years, my phone lived up to my expectations. I had a draft ready for filing in court and I was waiting for a document from my client. When I received the document, I was able to fetch the draft from my iCloud Files, finish it and export it to a pdf from the Microsoft Office 365 app, digitally sign the pdf with Firm@ fetch my Court agent’s email from my OmniFocus 4 task and send them the brief with the document to have it filed in court three days before the deadline. That’s been cool.
And now I’m publishing this from my phone, too.