My now clean Windows XP desktop. February 9, 2007 10:36am

It's already Friday and I haven't blogged since, when was it, oh Sunday. But I have been thinking about it during my few free moments the past couple of days. Here's what's been keeping me away from blogging:

I've been bogged down with configuring all kinds of new web-related software that I'm testing out. And you know how it goes with computer code: sometimes when you leave out a single character or accidentally spell a variable in lower case when in should be in upper case etc, the whole program crashes. Yeah, I know it's usually just a simple tiny error that gets in my way, but it's the tracking down of the error that takes forever--for me, it's like looking for a spelling error in a foreign language that I don't know.

Mainly I've been looking for a program that allows me to publish polls just for fun and to get an idea of what's on the mind of my loyal readers. I did implement some really cool poll software a few years ago (check out these flamenco poll results), if you remember, but then I found out it was a high security risk--basically it made my website directory an open playground for malicious online hackers. Ugh.

Then my webhost decided to upgrade a certain feature of their services, which is supposed to be a good thing right? Well to accomodate this upgrade, I had to (and still am) replace a few lines of code on a lot of pages on my website.

Another thing keeping me busy is that I've announced a few upcoming events including Edwin Aparicio's Flamenco Master Class in March, Ulrika Frank's workshop series (lots of cool topics focusing on stuff like llamadas, remates, vueltas etc) and the Post Gala Artist reception and just a few minutes ago, I created a new banner in Photoshop for the next Sala Rociera flamenco party. You would think that it would take like five minutes to just cut and paste text but I like to double-check the info and edit it to make sure everything is accurate, complete and fits in with the format of my website.

Omigod, my head's about to explode. I promised myself I'd get my DC Flamenco postcards printed by today so I can have a stack of promo materials to leave in the lobby at Lisner Auditorium during the Flamenco Festival. At this point, I'm almost tempted to just skip out on that though since I figure people will come across my site anyway when they get home from one of the Festival concerts all inspired. All they have to do is type in the search terms "DC" and "Flamenco" in Google and I come out first every time!

I know I've been falling behind on publishing photos contributed by my friends. Part of the problem was that some of my friends have these newer cameras which output photos in humongous file sizes that would make my mailbox explode! So I finally got myself a mini flash drive (Mini TravelDrive U3) so I could visit my friend's house, plug it into her computer, download the photos in seconds. I love it!

Despite all the frenzy, I did manage to find the time to go to the movies with a friend Wednesday night. Saw Pedro Almodóvar's Volver. For me it was the second time to see this movie, but it's pretty good. Love the scene where Penelope Cruz lip-syncs to Estrella Morente's cante.

Anywayz, earlier this morning, to give myself a sense of starting anew, I cleaned up my Windows XP desktop (see pic above) and got rid of all kinds of extraneous files and unnecessary software. Feels great! I also love and highly recommend the Google sidebar which I keep on the right-side of my desktop--the sleek interface lets me add a web radio that lets me listen to flamenco, salsa, trance and other kinds of cool music while I work.

As for today, I've got a few errands to take care of before a flamenco rehearsal scheduled at 2:30pm which gives me perhaps an hour or two to squeeze in a nap before heading out to my Friday night gig. It's cool though. Next month will mark 7 years that I've been doing flamenco full-time. Yeah there are stressful moments and times when I can barely catch my breath but it still beats a boring day job anytime!