I think the answer is yes. I have a problem I think. As I browse my twitter’s timeline I tend to save almost any image I come across with. I follow a lot of comic books artists, cartoonists, illustrators, designers, tech people and so on. So if there’s an image I like, I’ll probably save it to my photos library. Is there a screenshot of a home screen or any kind of image that can potentially be use as a wallpaper, I’ll probably save it. Why? I don’t know. It’s like I can’t help myself. And then I end up with this massive number of images in my photos library that probably 60 percent of these images, I’ll never use at all.

I guess a good thing is, every once in a while I would go through and delete stuff.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Here’s an image I’ll never delete, though.

There is something that has been in my mind for the past day or two, maybe even longer. It is the whole Facebook shenanigans that have been going around, not only the most recent stuff, but in general. It is not like I didn’t know Facebook is the kind of company it is, and or the shady things they do. In fact not to long ago I closed my Facebook account for pretty much the same reasons. Then one day, I decided to open a new account (my current one), simply because I met new people when traveling for my new job at the time and wanted a way to keep in touch plus I was missing some of my long-time friends and whatnot. Also it’s a good way to stay in touch with friends and family back home (Puerto Rico) that otherwise I wouldn’t have any other way to be in contact with. In other words, I have always thought of Facebook as a necessary evil. Then again, the more and more things come out, the more grossed out I feel about having my account open and using the their platform.

So I have been thinking about closing it — again — but I also think, what does that change? What good would it do if I close it? Is not like it’s going to hurt them, is not like my data will “disappear” from their servers forever. Also, what will happen to all my friends and acquaintances? That is something I think about every time. Although, I have managed in the past not having direct access to my Facebook friends and acquaintances before.

Then there’s Instagram, probably my favorite social platform, besides Twitter and more recently (and probably my very favorite) Micro.blog. And as most of you know, I am some sort of aspiring photogr (I wouldn’t dare to refer myself as a photographer so photogr it is) and use this platform to share my pictures, get some exposure and maybe some discoverability (hope that’s the right term). Unfortunately Instagram it’s yet another form of Facebook. I don’t mind this from Instagram as much because in a lot of ways it seems different from Facebook but it is still Facebook’s. Maybe I should revisit other options I have tried in the past like Exposure or VSCO or, then again, use micro.blog for my photography as well.

Anyhow, lately I have moved more to the open-web, I have been “blogging” more often, here in micro.blog. Which to me is like the happy medium of a legit-honest-small social and blogging platform that I truly enjoy. I crosspost to twitter and of course to Facebook, one idea I have been toying with is to maybe keep Facebook open and just not interact with it as much. Just keep posting from my microblog in case someone cares about what’s going on with I and my “crazy life” or my second option would be maybe just kiss Facebook good-bye, for good?

Joyce Garcia made some good points that resonated with my own thoughts recently on her blog, somewhat related and of course it got me re-thinking this whole ordeal. I am yet undecided on how I’m going to proceed with this. Maybe I’m going with my first option, delete the Facebook app from my devices, maybe even put a restriction so I can’t even access it from the browser. Maybe just keep Facebook messenger in a folder in case someone needs to get a hold of me. Still not sure about Instagram though. I do like the platform and what I get from it but it also feels a little hypocritical keeping it and using it.(Also my wife and family have been spanning me recently by tagging me in give-aways that really I don’t care about!)

Anyway,

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

About a week or so ago I had setup myself for a challenge. Which I have been following through to my surprise. So I have been using the Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm exclusively for all my shots lately. Unfortunately I haven’t been shooting much lately but the few times I have had the chance, I have been able to experiment more with this lens. So it’s been great so far. The main thing I have been experimenting with this lens, besides composition, is manual focus. With this lens manual focus can be activated simply by pulling the focusing ring back. I think this is the only one of my lenses that does that, where you can change from manual focus to auto on the actual lens.

Hopefully I’ll have more chances to go out and shot, specially since some holiday events are coming up.

After five years or so and not sure how many entries, I have deleted my Day One account. Not before exporting everything to a JSON file of course. To be honest I had stopped making entries a while ago. I guess blogging (microblogging now) became my way of keeping a journal. It is a great app/service but not what I want to do right now.

A while ago, I came across this article by the guys at The Sweet Setup and thought I would make a list of my own. A list of my favourite things from 2018. With no particular order or too many details, because I’m lazy, here it is:

1. The Apple Watch Series 4

   Probably my favorite gadget by far of this year! I love the improvements they made to both the hardware and the software. I have own every generation of Apple Watch and this is definitely my favorite.

2. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

   Is no secret that I’m huge fan of the AC franchise. So is no surprise that I picked up this game as soon as it came out.

3. Spider-Man for Playstation4

   Fantastic game!! I had miss a good spidey game and this one did not disappoint.

4. Octopath Traveler

   Definitely my favourite game released on 2018 for the Nintendo Switch! Octopath, it reminded me a lot of old RPG games I used to play like Final Fantasy, Chrono-Trigger and Children of Mana.

5. The HomePod

   I got the HomePod about two days after release-day. I have loved this thing ever since. The sound quality on this thing is pretty amazing!

6. Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu!

   I you’re a fan of Pokémon, this is a game you must have. I have been playing this game every single night since it was released.

7. Micro.blog and its community

   This year I had decided to give Micro.blog another try, see if it could replace Wordpress as my blog host. I think this time it actually clicked for me, it took a while but it did, and I am very happy about it.

I think this is it! I’m sure I am forgetting something but this are all the ones on top of my head.

Is it a thing to be “depressed” about taking antidepressant medications? Is that a thing? I think I’m tired. I am tired of having to remember to take them every morning (even when having some sort of reoccurring reminders). I am tired of freaking out every time I forget to take them. I am tired of the way I feel afterwards if I do forget. I am tired of this dependency in order to have a more stable mental — and emotional — life.

This week there are two apps I want to try. Todoist and iA Writer. I kind of started since Friday a little bit but I want to use them full time this week. With Todoist as my main task manager and iA as my main text editor. They’d be replacing Things 3 and Ulysses. Let us see how it goes.

My photographic scene looks like so. I have an Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III. My usual daily use lens is the Panasonic Lumix Leica 25mm, F 1.4. My second go-to lens is the Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f1.8. I also own an Olympus M. Zuiko 45mm f1.8. I wrote a little bit about my photography bug a about a year ago here.

So there’s an idea that I have been toying with in my mind for a while now, some sort of photography challenge. What I was thinking was, take one of my lenses and just shoot with that lens exclusively for a month or so. It’ll be a good opportunity to explore more with lenses by putting myself in situations were I normally wouldn’t that specific lens. Just to see what happens and how I adapt.

So I think this is how I’m going to do it:

• December to January, the 17mm (I know we are already 9 days into December but…)
• January to February, the 25mm
• February to March, the 45mm

I’m sure the order may change but whichever lens I decide to start with, I‘ll make sure I keep using that one throughout the month.

Finally! Baby Luna has made it out of The NICU And she’s home with us. I will be honest, it very much took us by surprise. This morning I was preparing a small todo list in Things called “Luna’s Homecoming prep”. Simple tasks like, pick up the house, vacuum, install the carsit bases, put together the pack-and-play, etc. Little did we know that 30 mins later we would get the call from the hospital that she was scheduled to be discharged.

It goes withOut saying that we are extremely happy to have her home with us. It has been quite the ride, it has been both beautiful and a stressful one.

Baby Luna was born November 15 at 33 weeks and two days with 4 pounds, 6 ounces. Today she left the hospital at 36 and four days, with 5 pounds, 8 ounces.

Luna is doing great and we cannot be any happier she’s home, specially her big sister Marley.

Now, if you all excuse me, I’ll be celebrating by having a glass of whiskey 🥃.

I am declaring podcast bankruptcy! Too many good shows, so little time, I love podcasts and they love me (I think). Really, there are too many and I keep getting behind. Before I was able to keep up with the same amount of shows but I had more “time”. Whereas now, things are a little bit different. There are still a few shows that I will listen to as soon as they come in, like, Siempre es Lunes, Fundamentally Broken, Do By Friday, The Pixelated Podcast and The Menu Bar. The rest of my queue, a lot of times episodes just pile up and even end up deleting them. Another problem is that many shows that I have in my queue, they all talk about the same topics, just in different ways. Sometimes I feel like by listening to one of them I, by default, have listened to all the others. I guess at this point is better to delete everything and start again and see what are the shows that I really want to spend whatever little time I have. Maybe this would be a good opportunity to explore other things and topics too.

IN OTHER NEWS:

I have been playing with iA Writer, on both iOS and MacOS and I am in love (so far).

Today I was reviewing my inbox in Ulysses and noticed that there was one item in it. About a week ago or so, I came across with an article that inspired me to write about something. This something has been siting in my inbox for about a week now. Now I am thinking if I should keep working on it. Shall I delete it? Is it okay for it to sit in my inbox until is ready? How long until it’s considered an abandoned project? Are there any “writing” rules about this?

I am not a writer whatsoever, I just type my mind onto a blank sheet and post them away. But it made me wonder if good writers — real writers — have a set of “rules” about something like this. Like if something they have started isn’t ready within a day or within a week, it will never get published. Or it doesn’t matter as long as it’s ready whenever? I don’t know, stuff like that. Like for example, I have a rule when editing a photo, which it was inspired by favorite photographer Travis Jensen. One time he did one of those Instagram stories AMA’s and I asked him what was his go to editing software. I can’t remember which software he said he used, I think it was an old version of Lightroom. But he also said and what it really stuck with me was, if he had to spend more than five minutes editing, that photo would never see the light of day. Because that meant that, the photo, was never good to begin with. Something along those lines and it made sense to me.

So, about this “project” siting in my inbox, I am not sure how I feel about it. I think it would be something fun to write about and eventually share it in my blog. I just don’t feel like it’s ready — needs more editing. Is that okay? Or should I forget about it at this point? I don’t know just a thought

Thank you for coming to my TED talk? :)

Today we finally got some snow down in the valley. So it was not surprise that my 2-year-old, Marley, got extremely excited. Today was snow-play-time for us while mom was at the hospital with Luna. First things she asks, “papa, papa, we need a snowman!”. Keep in mind I grew up in Puerto Rico. I got no experience whatsoever building a snowman and this is the first time in 35-years I’ve been asked for one. Thus I’ve discovered that I have no idea how to build one. Eventually I figured it out, I did all the job of course but we had fun. It was a good experience and a very fun time for me and my daughter.

• Brewed by: Boise Brewing , Idaho, United States

• Style: English Sweet / Milk Stout

• Alcohol by volume (ABV): 6.00%

• Rate: B+

• Notes: Sunday, December 2, 2018 - 5:15 PM

smell milky, has the chocolate and hints of vanilla. 🍺

When I got my Nintendo Switch (whenever that was) obviously I got Breath of the Wild along with it. And I will be really honest, I barely played it, it was like I didn’t have the patience for it at the time. Now I kinda want to give it a try again, see if I can stick with it. I have always heard great things about the game so it would be nice to get to experience them. We’ll see, I’m in the middle of playing Pokémon Let’s Go right now so it might have to wait a bit.

Tonight’s delicacy, Dragon’s Milk

This legendary beer’s name was born from a story told in medieval times. The knight’s reward for slaying a dragon was the treasured “milk of the dragon.” Today, Dragon’s Milk is an English term used to describe the finest liquid in the house. We believed the liquid we were crafting would be the best in our house. A true legend, hence the name.

• Brewed by: New Holland Brewing Company , Michigan, United States
• Style: American Imperial Stout
• Alcohol by volume (ABV): 11.00%
• Rate: A+

Notes: A barrel aged Imperial Stout with roasty malt character intermingled with deep vanilla tones, all dancing in an oak bath.

• Brewed by: Goose Island Beer Co.

• Style: American Imperial Stout

• Alcohol by volume (ABV): 15.00%

• Rate: A+

Original Bourbon County Brand StoutAged in 4+ year old Heaven Hill Bourbon barrels, the original bourbon barrel aged stout is as good as when we first made it over 20 years ago. Flavors of cocoa, vanilla, caramel, almond, cherry, plus leather and tobacco flavors permeate this complex beer that deepens with each sip.

As Brewmaster Jared Jankoski stated, “It ain’t broke, and we didn’t try to fix it.”

Sharing this beer with my sister’s husband. Sending them off after spending a few days here in town with us. In regards to the beer, delicious, I could just sit and smell it for a while. It’s so good!

I am truly enjoying the Micro.blog experience, and the community. But I’m not going to lie, sometimes I find myself missing Wordpress for some reason. I’m thinking because I had this Ulysses/Wordpress blogging workflow. With Mb is a litttle but different when it comes to me composing and posting. Is this a thing? Would I be able to overcome it and not look back to WP?

Beast Moans Logged: 2018-23-11 18:04

• Style: Imperial Stout
• Brewery: Woodland Empire
• Grade: A+
• ABV: 10
• IBU: NaN
• Notes:

Beast Moans is dark, deep and warming. The cherrywood smoked malt provides subtle cherry flavor along with a soft, smoky whisp on the finish. Rich chocolate, subtle undertones of cherry and plum with a dry, smoky and roasty finish.

1. STAR WARS THE LAST JEDI 🍫🍫🍫
2. BLADE RUNNER 2049 🍫🍫🍫
3. CARS 3 🍫🍫🍫
4. THE CLOVERFIELD PARADOX 🍫 1/2
5. COCO 🍫🍫🍫
6. GODZILLA: PLANET OF THE MONSTERS 🍫🍫🍫
7. FERDINAN 🍫🍫
8. BATMAN NINJA 🍫🍫🍫
9. DEADPOOL 2 🍫🍫🍫
10. AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR 🍫🍫🍫
11. READY PLAYER ONE 🍫🍫🍫
12. MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: FALLOUT 🍫🍫🍫
13. RAMPAGE 🍫🍫
14. DEATH OF SUPERMAN 🍫🍫🍫
15. SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO 🍫🍫
16. JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM 🍫1/2
17. PACIFIC RIM: UPRISING 🍫🍫🍫
18. ANNIHILATION 🍫🍫🍫
19. BLACK PANTHER 🍫🍫🍫
20. JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE 🍫🍫🍫

I am sure I am missing a few but this is my list so far.

Ancha Es Castilla – Mägo De Oz

Si Crees Que Todo Cuanto Has Escuchado No Tiene Contigo Nada Que Ver. Estas Amigo Equivocado Parate A Ver, Parate A Ver. Todos Soñamos Con Ser Un Caballero Y Tener Algo Por Lo Que Luchar Y Un Amor Que Defender. Si Tienes Un Ideal, Un Principio Defiendelo Y Aferrate A El. Alguien Escribio Que La Vida Es Sueño Y Los Sueños, Sueños Son. Se Rebelde Como El Mar Se Noble Por Que Al Final De Esta Vida Llevarás Tu Libertad.

No Importa Cuan Loco Te Crean Todos Mantente Firme, Mantente En Pie. Buscar Tu Sitio, Encontrarte A Ti Mismo Es Tu Mision, Es La Razón. Gritale Al Cielo Que No Quieres Ser Solo Uno Mas Ancha Es Castilla Y El Sol Tu Caminar Guiará.

Obviously we sing her a non-metal version of it but it works every time. And yes, the song is in Spanish, apologies.

I kinda want to make a little experiment. In the past I have always used Ulysses as my main text editor. Mainly because of its Wordpress integration. Now that I am lo longer using WP as my blog hosting space, I’ve been using Drafts 5: Capture ‣‣ Act and posting to Micro.blog with a costumed action. But what about Bear? I mean, I can still always start any ideas in Drafts and then move them to Bear for long time storage. Or just flat out use Bear as my main text editor? I’d probably be missing some automation there but I’m sure I can figure something out.

Wow! I wrote this post back in 2017, when I decided to start “blogging”. I was using Wordpress at the time. It has been roughly a year and a half (give or take) since then. Recently I’ve migrated everything from WP to Micro.blog and the intention still remains.

a place where I can express myself, talk about things that interest me…

If anything has changed since is the fact that I am less scared or intimidated by sharing my thoughts and put them on the web. Also I ejoy more talking/blogging about things I enjoy and love, no matter how small. To celebrate the good things in life. To do it for the joy of it, even if only one person reads it. I have always been all about celebrating and praising the things we love and enjoy rather than criticize everything in this world. Of course there will always be some criticism, but not so much in this space that I have “created”, if that makes any sense.

Anyway, I guess I should go ahead and setup a calendar event for my “blogging-birthday”, for next February and celebrate 2 years of me pretending I’m blogging? No? Okay

November 19, 2016 at 6:11:46 PM MST

Crispy Apple Turnover by Woodland Empire Ale Craft: The first one of this season (2016)

I miss TapCellar, was such a great app for beer journaling. I don’t think there will ever be a good replacement for it. I guess [Untapped](Untappd - Discover Beer by Untappd, Inc itunes.apple.com/us/app/un…) would be the obvious choice but I really don’t enjoy using it.

As you can see there are a few days in which I failed to close some of my rings. I guess I can use the “Luna” excuse, by spending a couple of days at the hospital and all that stuff. I need to get back on track ASAP! And it will challenging, it’s thanksgiving week and family is coming to meet the new baby.

Today was a good interesting day in many ways. We are home (yay!), Annie (aka my wife) was discharged from the hospital. Only downside of it all is that baby Luna didn’t get to come home with us. Luna will have to stay at the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for a few weeks, so it was kind of bittersweet living the hospital today. Although, knowing that she is having the best care is a little comforting and makes it a little easier, but still. However, a few great things did happen today. Annie finally felt well enough to be able to go to the NICU on her own and spend some time with the baby, whilst I took care of our 2-year-old (aka Marley). She had time to hold her, bond with her and also breast-feeding her, which apparently baby Luna picked up pretty well. That made everybody happy because apparently that is not very common with preemies. Grandparents also had a chance to come visit and spend sometime with their new granddaughter. And then it was big-sister-Marley’s turn (dun dun duuuun!), she had been asking all day to go see baby Luna.

I was very much anticipating this moment, see how she’d react to her baby sister and it was both a little unexpected and magical. Luna was in Annie’s arms and she immediately went straight to them and try to get a good look at her baby sister. She would look at her, try to touch her head and asking many questions, of course. Right after it was feeding time, the entire time Marley was fixed on Luna and every time Marley would talk, Luna would recognize Marley’s voice and steer her attention in whichever way Marley was talking from. Then Marley, very gently started to give kisses to her baby sister and at that moment is when I almost lost it a bit (somehow the room got very hot and my eyes started to get a little “sweaty”).

I honestly had no idea how Marley was going to react or behave and she behaved like a loving and caring big sister. I’m not sure for how long that will last but I’ll take it for now. She also was bummed that we couldn’t take baby with us today. But she also understands that baby Luna needs to get better before she can come home. So those three to four hours we spent as a family were pretty amazing, my heart was full with joy.

On a side note baby Luna is doing awesome! She can breath on her own and maintain her temperature well. Still she will be spending a long time at the hospital before she gets to come home. We are hopping that she’ll be at home with us by Christmas. We shall see!