songbook 1 (acoustic)
a list of songs to be practiced and played. In the best case, an important cultural transmission takes place as my kids absorb and develop their taste. In the average case, I just have fun.
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56 posts
later is now (rediscovering Elliott Smith)
i make my wife and kids listen to Between The Bars
guitar frustration and the sphere of the known
one climbs a small mountain just to see oneself surrounded by higher mountains that await our approach
running makes me think of murakami
contemplating and accepting the role of time
good bye garmin
it's obvious that one can run without a Garmin watch but, at the same time, it's incredible
conceptualizing rhythm (or teaching Bonzo how to count)
when learning how to surf, people don't sit at home reading a technical manual about how to measure velocity, steepness, and hollowness to predict where to position themselves to catch a wave.
six hours of dhh with lex fridman
laid back approach, no desire to stay inside the circumvallation of two or three pre-established topics... paradoxically, this drifting communicates a richer view of the main topics. A broader dynamic range to see what the person sees.
wishlist addition: yamaha reface cp mini keyboard
legend has it that when time came for Fito Paez to write his best song, he was found holding a toy piano that Charly Garcia had given to him as a present
stratocaster player ii
i bought a strat and a pair of headphones to relearn music while the family sleeps
cruise to alaska
just returned from a 7-night Disney Cruise to Alaska. When two toddlers and their tantrums are involved, my small Sony A7Cii with the tiny 24mm prime turns out to be too much to carry.
Celeste was born to sing Mi Enfermedad
and that's because this song was inspired and written for Celeste, and our Argentinian Janis Joplin was born to sing this song. Am I not right?
the non-linearity of having kids in quick succession
non-linear effects and negative convexity can be described and explained using different methods. Depending on the method used, a different level of understanding is attained.
basic hiking gear (2025)
nowadays our hikes are frequent, easy, and short. We drive long distances to reach the trailhead, and typically do not make it to the main attraction (the waterfall, the pool, the giant sequoia), but we do have lots of fun.
tahquitz canyon - evacuating from the L.A. fires
morning hike in the desert
only one new year resolution --> don't buy shit
so be it resolved, that I will not, in the entirety of the year 2025, buy shit unless such shit has one of the following three characteristics
from high school nerd to boss
when nerds become restless at work about getting promoted to higher levels of management, they double down on their nerd skills to increase their output.
it was christmas eve babe
i kept them with me babe, i put them with my own, can't make it all alone, i've built my dreams around you
fred rogers testifies before congress
after watching this mesmerizing speech and reading the YouTube comments, I have the sensation that I have missed something important.
when batu khan set out for the eurasian steppe...
how could he lead so many victorious campaigns and cover such vast territories if the subreddit r/CampingGear had not come to existence yet?
home scene
a royal pain to set up this trampoline... but an endless supply of fun
making photos look old
there's something endearing about spending a couple thousand dollars on a brand new full-frame camera to then process the heck out of the photos to make them look as if they were taken with a $15 disposable film toy
knocked down to the essentials
the environment is driving me, subconsciously, to choose the effective over the fancy.
my favorite pants that some people hate
The hostility is aimed at the second edition of the Stretch Zions because there were changes in the fabric and the button.
the tools were already there
The tools have already been here. The brain connects ideas, not Obsidian.
marketing for the foolish
... for the impressionable, the young, the foolish, for humanity... It’s not the absurdity of the argument that I find strident, but that it comes veiled as a tautology.
the switch to full frame
it is known that all photography hobbyists will inevitably end up purchasing a full frame camera. Digital first and, later perhaps, film.
rained in on easter weekend
i went in the garage and unearthed the Sony A6400 and the Tamron 17-70mm f/2.8
an indictment of padel
tennis demands fortitude, intensity, stamina. Not only in terms of physical capabilities, but as (if not more) importantly, in the mental realm. And how about padel?
at the foot of Mount Baldy
iPhone 14 Pro. A local expedition to Mount Baldy, about 75 miles (120km) from home base, in search of snow.
Yeti Tundra 35
after many months of indecision, I finally found the one thing that, in and of itself, makes it imperative to buy the Yeti Tundra 35.
daily note template in Obsidian
my daily note is not a fountain of gratitude, affirmations, or reflections. It's just a tool and practice that primes my brain to notice and intelligently use available time.
sundown at Malibu Creek
iPhone 14 Pro. I don't need anything else to document our local expeditions. The GoPro hasn't seen light for over 20 months, and will only see it when we go back in the water 🏄🏻♂️.
and they like to call themselves agile
Two very different cultures, with two observations: the obvious one is the stark contrast in the quantity and allocation of resources to produce the same thing. A thing that, by the way, does not have serious consequences if it fails to be perfect.
back to the creek
it's been many months, maybe even over a year since the last time I ran grasslands. Late November, 8am, perfect weather for running.
iPhone photo workflow
this sketch workflow is imperfect by design. It has to be practical, not perfect.
malibu lagoon in the morning
my wife wanted to see the sunrise today Sunday. We live in California with plenty of ocean sunsets, but sunrises are a different story.
home buying principle #2
my son is 26 months old, my daughter is 10 months. No imminent home buying for us.
home buying principle #1
look at the map of the area, urban map, topographical map. The house’s real backyard is comprised of several elements in a 10-mile radius. These have to be accessible: little to no traffic, available parking spaces, no crowds.
the yin and yang of gerry lopez
surfing is style, and the epitome of style is Gerry Lopez dropping on a massive wave at Pipeline while impassively scratching his nose.
switched from wordpress to ghost
i've been looking for speed and a clean-looking theme. Have not had luck with Wordpress (I think mostly for not knowing where to look).
the best solo of all time
for the untrained ear, for the diletante music enthusiast, it sounds arbitrary and subjective to claim that there is such a thing as the best rock guitar solo of all time.
silent solo hiking - normark, adams, hoek
the history of the silent solo hiking film (SSH) is rather short. Not even five years old. Yet, with the ascent of Harmen Hoek, have we reached the pinnacle already?
little corner of the internet
blogging is owning your little corner of the internet. Owning your content, your domain name, the aesthetics of your website, the freedom to tinker with the front-end and back-end, and much more.
silvio y oda a mi generación
i’m in awe of young poets that write verse that can only be comprehended later in life. I know it is an illusion: it is man who attributes meaning to symbols. It is us, as we grow wiser with time and experience, who expand the poem’s…
the original banana republic
vanity sometimes makes you stumble upon beautiful things.
ditching evernote
it’s been 2,123 days since I created my first note in Evernote on January 5, 2017. It’s served me well, taking practically everything I threw to it and retrieving information at will. Exactly one year ago, I wrote a commented list of my…
first camping trip with the family
we went on our first camping trip as a family last weekend. Purposefully designed as a low risk experience. Location: Malibu Creek State Park.
logistics
we need to embrace and find beauty in logistics.
my jeep
today with the Jeep, my wife and I throw paddle boards on the roof, and surfboards in the trunk and in 20 minutes we’re in the water
this website
as of january 2022, this site is set up and maintained with a few tools
oh where have you been my darling young one?
(“I’ve been ten thousand miles in the neighbor’s backyard” -Luna) sometimes I wonder if Bob Dylan is one of those poets whose songs are meant to be interpreted by others. Think of Joan Baez and Blowin’ In The Wind, or A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna…
the usual surf session
the usual surf session is on weekdays. Dawn patrol in days with no morning meetings. It’s seldom a solitary activity in the summer, but it can be in winter days when the forecast doesn’t show size. The break is Malibu Surfrider Beach. I…
grand teton, yellowstone, and what is enough gear?
we visited the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks in early September. Each trip is an opportunity to experiment with answering the question: what is the least amount of gear and clothes that I can possibly take? I’m convinced that…
the usual trail run
the usual trail run starts by waking up early morning on the right location. That is four minutes away from Malibu Creek State Park. The clothes selection is governed by the weather, and in this winter I’m loving my Patagonia Thermal…
evening ritual with my daughter Luna
without us noticing, we have a new ritual. Father and daughter only. Sometimes Sirius comes by and watches us, but he lets us be for the most part. Every evening, after the family has finished dinner, Luna calls me from the stairs, or…
el momento en que estás (presente)
the song was stronger than the guitar, than the place and everything. The song had to come out because it had to come out. It was as if I was there because the song had to come out, and not viceversa.