Nicolas F. R. A. PradoModify

2025-12-01 11:00:00

Slightly late for November, but better late than never!

As November rolled by, and the Christmas mood took over, I put on an old school Christmas songs playlist on YouTube.

Many of the songs I was hearing for the first time. A few of my favorites were Carol of the Bells, The First Noel and Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).

But my favorite of all has to be "Do You Hear What I Hear?", particularly the version sung by Andy Williams, so that's my pick for the month:

Andy Williams - Do You Hear What I Hear?

2025-10-28 11:00:00

This month I went on a two week long road trip through California with a friend. We sailed on Lake Tahoe, walked over sand dunes in Death Valley, and hiked between the mountains in Yosemite Valley. We saw the oldest trees on Earth at the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, and also the largest trees, at Sequoia National Park, through a mysterious fog.

We listened to many songs throughout the trip, but there was one that popped up and seemingly immediately won my friend over, as he kept putting it back on time and again. It is indeed a beautiful song, and will forever carry the memory of this amazing trip. It is my pick for this month:

Christopher Cross - Sailing

2025-09-30 11:00:00

My pick for song of the month this time around is a track that played at Spectacle Theater before the movie started (the movie was Mirage Men (2013), by the way). The lyrics are very poetic, and the instrumentation has this eerie and underground feel to it. It's a great song on its own, but it was elevated by being played at one of my favorite places in NYC and perfectly matching the vibe.

Check it out:

Moin - Lift You

2025-09-04 11:00:00

It's been almost two years since I posted the "Collecting pins" post! It's time I shared an update.

Somewhere along the way I decided to get more organized and started a spreadsheet to track all the details about my pin collection (has this crossed the line to the unhealthy hobby territory yet?). The main thing I wanted to have was a clear history of the collection: when, where and how was each pin added to the collection. And after spending a lot of time filling in the blanks, today I can finally share it!

So here it is, my current pin collection, with 128 pins and filling up two and a half display cases, summarized in three images and a table:

[*] The Collabora's Logo pin is not in the display since it's magnetic, but you can see it in the previous blog post.

The full spreadsheet wouldn't fit comfortably in this page, so the table above contains only the main columns. You can download the full spreadsheet from the link below which also includes the pin's authenticity, maker and additional comments:

Pins spreadsheet

2025-08-31 11:00:00

Just two days ago I went to an immersive theatrical experience called Viola's Room. It started in a girl's bedroom with dim lighting and a few beds made on the floor as in a sleepover. On the headphones, a beautiful song started playing. The moment was so magical it's hard to describe. I felt like a kid again for a second. And I knew I'd always remember this moment in the future (dès vu). If you have the chance to go, I deeply recommend it.

Anyway, the song that was playing, as I later found out, is my song of the month for August:

Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun

2025-08-12 11:00:00

Today I want to try starting something new. Every month I'll share one song that stood out to me throughout the month.

For this first one, even though it's already midway through August, I still really feel the need to share this song that has marked my days throughout July and even June. Many of my strolls around the city on sunny days have been accompanied by it, making it the hymn for this Summer to me.

Without further ado, my song of the month for July is:

Junko Yagami - Bay City