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by Juan Hernando

When it wasn’t all about personal branding

Alexander the Great Alexander the Great. Photo by Dennis Jarvis and licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Often when writing about the past, I am afraid of falling into nostalgic clichés, of “everything was better before”, or of telling grandfather’s little stories. I know that it wasn’t really better before, but different. And that what I am happy about is to have lived what I have lived and to see how everything […]

Two gifts I will never forget

Basket and T-shirts We were smaller in the nineties but not this small

The Bloganuary prompt asks me today: What is the most memorable gift you have received? And it doesn’t have an easy answer. Firstly, because I’ve been lucky enough to have received many gifts. Secondly, because my memory is quite absurd and forgets most things (which is good for continually surprising me). But I have two […]

Living on an almost-island

Santoña Sunset in Santoña. Photo by olatz and licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Today’s Bloganuary prompt is a straightforward question: How far back in your family tree can you go? And the answer is almost as small as yesterday’s short story about the rain. Not very far. I was born and grew up in Santoña, a fishing village of just over ten thousand inhabitants surrounded by a nature […]

Rain

Rain Write a short story abour Rain is the prompt today. Photo by Robert Couse-Baker is licensed under CC BY 2.0

I lived for about eight years in Santander (yes, it’s a lovely city in northern Spain, not just a bank) while I was at university. The city is full of hills. Now it’s full of escalators to go up them, but it wasn’t like that when I was there. It is also a city where […]

What is this blog about, and why do I write?

Field Notes notebook Field Notes or Moleskine, I never stop writing and making lists in them

Rereading the first few posts of this Bloganuary, I asked myself: what the hell is this blog about? There are some very personal articles, others about the web… and who knows what I’ll be writing about in the coming weeks! And right now, the prompt for day 6 is: Why do you write? I’ve always […]

Gold, frankincense, myrrh

The three wise men The Three Wise Playmobils. By tomylees is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

On the night of the 5th of January every year, thousands of Spanish children take to the streets to watch the Three Wise Men parade. Melchior, Gaspar and Balthazar will leave presents for them at night next to their shoes if they have behaved well throughout the year, if they go to bed early and […]

Bring back the weird internet

Lego bricks You get the bricks, and your imagination comes next. By Kiama.Library licensed under CC BY 2.0

Today’s Bloganuary prompt asks: What is a treasure that’s been lost? And I can think of too many things that have fallen by the wayside. But as this blog is usually about the world of the web and my relationship with it, I’m going to talk about the “treasure” that I miss the most: The […]

A hit I won’t forget

"Columpios solitarios" by Lograi. License CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

This post is not about another important moment when I had to figuratively pick myself up from the ground to be reborn stronger. The title of the post refers to what it literally refers to. A smack on the forehead. When I was 3 or 4 years old, I don’t remember. But I know it’s […]

Being brave or how to face some of your fears

My first WordCamp talk And there I was, in a palace in Santander giving my first talk

Today’s Bloganuary prompt asks: How are you brave? And honestly, I find it hard to imagine situations where a person is simply brave. I guess we are all brave to some extent, fearful to other, and reserved when previous experiences don’t encourage us to take that step into the abyss without knowing whether there is […]

What is something you want to achieve this year?

The beach in Isla where I took a dip on the first day of the year 2023. The beach in Isla where I took a dip on the first day of the year 2023.

This is the first prompt of the Bloganuary challenge organised by the WordPress.com team. I had seen similar initiatives in the past, and I find them very interesting to dust off this blog and keep practising writing in English (sorry for the mistakes, I’m still improving). Getting through this 30-day challenge would be something I’d […]