Eduardo's Personal Blog

On Writing

2014-05-02T15:05:00.003-04:00

Write your story. Write because you have no choice: there is something spewing forth and it has no other way to go but out. Write because you have to. Really: write because it is your livelihood, material or otherwise. Write because you have an assignment. Write because there is no alternative.

Write because you have a purpose. Whether that purpose is to write, to write something specific, or to achieve some other purpose that can be achieved by writing.

Write because you have a deadline. Write because time is pushing you, because you are out of time, because you have all the time in the world.

Write because you have a memory. Because you want to remember. Write to photograph a moment, to add color to a picture, to effect a feeling.

Write because you have an agenda. Write because you have facts, because you need facts, because you want to misinform. Write propaganda.

Write words; write sentences, poems, signs, directions, lists, signatures, plays, speeches, essays, précis; novels, treatises, encyclopedias, screenplays, dictionaries, commercials. Write blog posts, graffiti, fiction, informed and insightful comments, and trolls.

Write because you can’t sing. Write because you can’t act. Write because you want to become a writer. Write because you are a writer. Write because you want to become a film director, critic, editor, screenwriter, speechwriter, professor, researcher, historian.

Write because no one else can do what you can. Write because everyone else is doing it. Write because one day you will die and will no longer be able to do it. Write because it is the only way people can remember your way of thinking after you are dead and gone.

Write because you have a point to make, a target to reach or hit. Write because you lack an aim, write to find an objective. Write your journey, write to find your destination. Free-write, write stream of consciousness, write beat, write neat. Write concisely, write profusely; write few words, write many words. Write it all.

Write what you feel, what you see, what you hear, what you smell. Write the mind of others, write your imagination, write worlds unknown. Write to make what does not yet exist, write the unutterable.

Write to discover yourself. Write to describe the journey. Write to change, write to learn, write to measure the distance between youth and wisdom. Write to discern.

Write to play. Write to entertain. Write to disgust, to discuss, to disarray. Write order, and write orders. Write sequences. Write to bring together. Write to build. Write instructions, and write instruction.

Write a joke. Write to laugh. Write to contemplate, to visualize, to illuminate. Write to relax. Write to amuse yourself; write to amaze others. Write to embarass other forms of communications.

Write to keep things alive; let language, ideas, verbs and nouns live for one more writing. Write because you were here.

Write because you can’t stop writing. Write because you are blocked. Write because there is nothing but that stupid window through which you can only see things to write about. Write because others will think you are cool.

Write to get laid. Write because you have never heard of anyone getting laid because they wrote. Write your phone number. Write a note for a dalliance. Write for a moonlight tryst. Write about love. Wrap a feeling in clothing made of words.

Write out of habit. Write out of bad form, out of virtue. Write a spoken portrait. Write a new way of being. Write a philosophy of life.

Write the news, write the comics. Write what you know, and what you don’t know. Write what you want to know. Write your questions. Write your wisdom, your divinity. Write your ignorance, your disheveled dishonesty. Write your disappointments and shame.

Write reality, the strangest fiction. Write all that is left unsaid. Write what is left to say. Write what is needless to say. Write what is most urgent to keep silent. Write a letter of recommendation, a review, a criticism, an elegy, a hymn. Write the painful knots that become stuck in the throat, write the nervous stomachs that find no relief. Write the desolation that strips a heart, the loneliness in a crowd, the light from a candle whose flame flutters in the changing wind and remains lit.

Write because you do not understand, write in order that you may understand. Write to come to an understanding. Write to take a stand.

Write the darkness, write the depths, the heights, the births, the restless punishing road, the lightning, the waves, the beds, the roses, the dirt, the silk, the thread, the needles, the sword. Write the plan, the attack, the retreat, the defense, the strategy, the conquest and the remains. Write the spoils and the spoiled. Write the languages foreign and familiar to every tongue.

Write the sequel. Write the original. Write the end before the beginning, then write the end again. Write because she left. Write because they cheated and you didn't. Write if you're drunk, write if you're fresh out.

Write the story. Just write. Write just what needs be written. Write what deserves to be read. Write for your contemporaries, write for one hundred years; write for eternity. Write for yourself. Write for your readers. Write forever. Write until your very fingers give out, the mouth is dry, the spirit broken, the money spent, the whisky gone, the room empty, the novel over and done with, and your lover out to get cigarettes. Write until there is no more ammo, and no more reinforcements. Write until there is no more fuel, no more down on the pedal. Write until there is no more write.

Write the end. Write what is hard. Write death. Write life. Write long. Write short.

Write. Google+

Clapping

2012-12-12T11:00:00.002-05:00

Baby hand clapping yesterday. And throwing kisses.

Dada

2012-09-30T07:39:00.001-04:00

Bebe said "dada" yesterday. He did not say it describing or addressing me, but nonetheless the syllables were pronounced. Bebe has been using more consonants in his babbling recently. Nothing distinct enough, except for "yaya" and yesterday's "dada".

Snapshot 718

2012-07-19T09:41:00.001-04:00

Three months of our GE- what a journey so far!

In a dream SCC and I frantically were taking off our clothes as our mutual attraction got the better of us.

Touching bottom and getting help on the way up, dropping heavier loads that will not help in the journey ahead.

Wallet

2012-07-17T11:23:00.001-04:00

Had a dream last night that I found money; dollar bills, twenty dollar bills, a wallet, some travellers cheques. Some people wanted to take it from me.

If -

2012-07-16T09:54:00.001-04:00

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;
If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

-Rudyard Kipling

If I could keep a cool head, if I trusted myself, if I were patient; if I could dream and not be beholden to my dreams, if I could conquer myself in victory and defeat, if I could let go of everything but my will to hold my heart and nerve. Would that there be a man left?

Bebe Shower Photos

2012-04-14T00:19:00.001-04:00

If you care to view photos from the bebe shower, click. My wife's friend organized it, and she asked me to use the occasion of our anniversary to bring her to the place. Of course, my tactical mistake was not knowing the neighborhood as well as SC- para despistarla un poco más.

There will be opportunity to participate in bebe's life- stay tuned.

Weight

2012-03-28T17:15:00.000-04:00

This graph represents the weight gain during pregnancy.

My Visited Countries 2011

2012-01-27T17:09:00.000-05:00

My visited countries as of the end of 2011 is indicated in this map, courtesy of World66.com. Visit them to get your own.

Tipile

2012-01-27T17:00:00.008-05:00

When I was a child living in the Dominican Republic, we sometimes had a dish called "tipile". This is dish made with wheat, onions, parsley, pepper, cilantro, tomatoes, lime, salt, olive oil and vinegar.

Many years later, while living in New York, I learned of a dish called "tabbouleh" that had similar appearance and taste. Considering that the names and dishes are so similar, I assumed they have the same origin.

I have since learned that the tabbouleh/tipile dish comes originally from Lebanon. I am guessing that the name comes from the Arabic language.

Recently I saw a web ad for a Spring Tabbouleh recipe, and it brought fond memories of my childhood, and sparked a discussion about foods from different cultures.

If you are interested, you can view the Spring Tabbouleh recipe that I am writing about.

More Gears Icons

2011-09-14T14:56:00.001-04:00

If you use Google Docs’ new interface, you now have one more gears icon, to control the appearance. And, if you visit Google Docs with the Internet Explorer version 8 or 9, you could see something like this:

Mouse Without Borders

2011-09-14T11:10:00.001-04:00

Microsoft made available for download software that controls the keyboard and mouse for more than one Microsoft Windows computer with one keyboard and one mouse. In essence a software version of a KVM device. This seems to be essentially the same as the open-source project Synergy 2 (see http://synergy-foss.org/), except that it only works in Microsoft Windows. You can read about it (and download it?) from Microsoft’s TechNet blog at http://blogs.technet.com/b/next/archive/2011/09/09/microsoft-garage-download-mouse-without-borders.aspx.

Google +1 Button

2011-06-15T19:10:00.000-04:00

I'd like to +1 the Google +1 Button.

2011-02-22T14:05:00.001-05:00

2:03pm EST and the sunlight has left my window.

2011-02-22T11:43:00.001-05:00

Sunlight pours in thru the window at my work desk, it floods my work area with natural light, a sure sign that spring is on its way.

A refresh to the Documents List - Docs Blog

2011-02-20T14:08:00.000-05:00

A refresh to the Documents List - Docs Blog: "Collections are designed to combine the best features of labels and folders. A file can live in multiple collections, just like with Gmail labels. Collections can also be stored hierarchically, just like folders on your desktop. And of course, collections can be shared, just like you can share docs."

Labels in google docs. awesome.

Reclaiming Your Google Account

2010-09-15T22:12:00.000-04:00

If you ever lose your Gmail account password, you can recover your account by providing an alternate email or phone. Google Accounts - Update your recovery options The good thing about Google's account recovery is that it will prompt you to update these once in a while, because, you know, alternate emails and mobile phone numbers change.

2010-09-13T19:10:00.002-04:00

Through rain, all things material that the sky can see gain a voice seldom heard.

- Eduardo De León

2010-08-21T18:54:00.001-04:00

"A screaming comes across the sky."  How many times I have read this line, and how many more yet.<br class="khtml-block-placeholder">

2010-08-05T08:43:00.001-04:00

Bed bugs do not have wings.

2010-05-24T04:11:00.001-04:00

To log into a web site using your Google OpenID, simply paste this URL and log into your Google account: <a href="https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id">Google OpenID Provider endpoint</a>

2010-05-24T01:41:00.001-04:00

Of my 200 most recently catalogued music CDs, 43 are rock, 34 are rap, 20 are alternative, 20 are pop, 17 are heavy metal, 15 are rock en español, 8 are jazz, 6 are balada, 6 are bolero, and 5 are merengue, 4 are world, 4 are salsa, 3 are classical, 1 is electronica, 1 is punk, and 2 are rhythm & blues.

2010-05-23T15:47:00.001-04:00

Chrome for Mac OS X extensions are avaialble from Chrome.Google.com/Extensions.

Google translates comments in PicasaWeb

2010-05-20T20:53:00.000-04:00

Google is getting better at translating between English and Spanish:

Forgiveness and Forget

2010-04-01T12:50:00.000-04:00

Women forgive but never forget; men forget but never forgive.