Donald Trump may not be on the ballot in the fall’s biggest political races, but both sides are counting on him to help them win,” CNN reports.

“A year after winning back the White House, Republicans are racing to motivate voters who love the president and Democrats are rallying those who don’t, as the races for governor in New Jersey and Virginia play out as an early referendum on Trump’s second term.

I just learned that we can use dbg/2 (https://hexdocs.pm/elixir/1.19.0/debugging.html#dbg-2) to debug expressions in Elixir. It's quite useful when used with the pipe operator – unlike IO.inspect, it automatically shows each step in the pipeline.

defmodule MathUtils do
  defp perfect_square?(n) do
    sqrt = :math.sqrt(n)
    sqrt == Float.floor(sqrt)
  end
  
  def filter_perfect_squares(str) do
    str
    |> String.split(",")
    |> Enum.map(&String.to_integer/1)
    |> Enum.filter(&perfect_square?/1)
    |> Enum.join(",")
    |> dbg() # <- the dbg in the pipeline
  end
end

This prints not only the last result, but also each step of the pipeline:

MathUtils.filter_perfect_squares("1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9")

Output:

[Library/Application Support/livebook/autosaved/2025_10_18/09_51_enj6/untitled_notebook.livemd#cell:6ordqtno3dx7c2zp:13: MathUtils.filter_perfect_squares/1]
str #=> "1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9"
|> String.split(",") #=> ["1", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7", "8", "9"]
|> Enum.map(&String.to_integer/1) #=> [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]
|> Enum.filter(&perfect_square?/1) #=> [1, 4, 9]
|> Enum.join(",") #=> "1,4,9"

Result: "1,4,9"

---

Other debugging options: – IO.inspect/2 – prints a value and returns it (good for pipelines, but shows only one value) – IO.puts/1 – simple print for strings – dbg/2 – shows each pipeline step automatically

Et vient le jour...

Vient le jour où éclot ce qui n'avait été qu'à peine un rêve. Alors, l'on se regarde dans le miroir un peu autrement, et peut-être ne s'agit-il que de cela : se voir autre, si peu, et oser y croire enfin.

Enfin oser croire que CELA est vraiment vrai. Et possible.

Il n'est peut-être pas si simple de se laisser s'émerveiller. Mais il est très certain, et très vrai, que ce qui éclot vient toujours à être et à devenir par le hasard heureux d'une rencontre — ce fragment de ce qui ne fut qu'un rêve éclot là, précisément là, où quelqu'un a cru en vous, par conviction, par intuition peut-être. Et parmi ceux-là, parmi ceux qui ont cru que cela devait être possible, il convient que certains se tiennent à l'ombre des jours et des années qui passent en grande gratitude.

podría escribir más pero su pluma estaba llena de omisiones saltos que eran sueños ciervos manos bisontes imágenes sobrepuestas sin saber si quería expresarse en piedra papel o tijera.

un momento en cualquier parte por ejemplo junto al mar tragados por una sensación de eternidad quizás el ahora o más bien cuando el tiempo queda atrás / borrado luego por lo inmediato

Somos mejor compañía cuando evitamos hacernos notar.

There’s no power outage, it’s just weirdly nostalgic. Love her.

🌟 Introducción

Segunda clase… y vaya cambio de ritmo. Pasamos del mundo de los fondos a la técnica pura del salteado y el corte. El protagonista fue el ribeye, una carne jugosa y llena de sabor, que nos permitió entender los tiempos de cocción y el control del calor. El acompañante —un puré de papas al vapor— nos enseñó que, a veces, un pequeño cambio de método transforma por completo el resultado. (Sí, las cocimos al vapor.)

---

<!--more-->

🔪 Técnicas trabajadas

Salteado (sauté): cocción rápida en sartén caliente, usando una grasa estable (aceite de maní o de alto punto de humo). Sellado de carne: 2 minutos por lado, luego reposo y control del término (medio o tres cuartos como máximo).

Cortes clásicos de papa: practicamos distintos tipos para entrenar precisión y uniformidad. Entre ellos:

• Brunoise: cubitos finos, 2 mm
• Macedonia: cubos medianos, 5 mm
• Bastón o batonnet: 1 x 1 x 6 cm
• Paille: tiras finísimas para papas paja
• Paysanne: láminas delgadas en forma de cuadrado
• Parmentier: cubos de 1 cm para guarniciones o sopas

(No hicimos todos, pero la chef los mencionó, casi en voz baja, como si fueran parte de un código secreto del oficio.)

El ejercicio fue casi matemático: seis papas, seis cortes, regla en mano. Nada como ver la mesa llena de cubos idénticos para entender lo que significa un mise en place de verdad.

---

🥔 1. El puré al vapor

El gran hallazgo de la clase: el puré perfecto nace del vapor, no del agua. Cocer las papas al vapor —sin contacto directo con el líquido— mantiene su estructura y evita que absorban humedad. El resultado es una textura más seca, ideal para prensar o pasar por tamiz.

Cocción: Papas cortadas en trozos regulares, cocidas en vaporera durante 25–30 minutos, hasta que un cuchillo entre sin resistencia. (Usamos la vaporera Viking: práctica, precisa, se coloca sobre la olla y listo.)

Aromáticos: Mientras tanto, se saltean puerros o cebollines en corte bichy —una juliana extremadamente fina, casi translúcida— en un poco de mantequilla, solo hasta que se suavicen sin dorarse. Ese paso aporta un fondo aromático delicado, elevando el sabor del puré sin opacar la papa.

Mezcla: Las papas calientes se prensan o se pasan por tamiz. Luego se incorporan los puerros salteados, la mantequilla en cubos pequeños y la leche tibia (nunca fría), hasta lograr una textura sedosa y aireada. Se ajusta sal y pimienta blanca al gusto.

Resultado: Un puré ligero, brillante y con notas sutiles de cebolla dulce, perfecto para acompañar carnes salteadas o asadas. Suave, sin grumos, con ese toque de mantequilla que le da cuerpo y perfume.

💡 El secreto está en la temperatura: mantequilla y leche tibias, papas calientes, y nada de batidora —solo prensado o espátula de madera.

---

🌿 2. Chimichurri con pimientos asados

Técnica:

• Asado directo al fuego (charring): intensifica el sabor dulce y facilita retirar la piel dura.
• Enfriado y pelado bajo agua: método clásico para limpiar la piel quemada.

Cortes usados:

• Pimientos → brunoise (cubitos finos de 2–3 mm)
• Ajo → haché (picado fino)
• Perejil y cilantro → ciselado (tiritas finas tras enrollar o apretar)

Ensamble: Todo se mezcla en un bowl: sal, pimienta y aceite de oliva. Una emulsión simple, vegetal y brillante. Un chimichurri modificado, más robusto gracias al pimiento asado.

---

🔥 Aplicación práctica

Con las papas como guarnición y la carne en su punto —sellada, jugosa y reposada— montamos el plato final: ribeye salteado con puré de papas al vapor y chimichurri de pimientos.

Sencillo, técnico y delicioso. Una clase que demostró que la excelencia no está en lo complejo, sino en hacer bien lo básico.

📸 Academia Culinaria Hondureña – Clase de Fondo Claro.

---

🪶 Introducción

En esta primera clase trabajamos dos pilares de la cocina clásica: el fondo blanco y la fritura de pollo.

Ambos parecen simples, pero exigen orden, temperatura y respeto por el detalle.

---

🔪 Cortes de pollo

Aprender a cortar un pollo entero es una de las primeras lecciones de precisión. Más allá de separar piezas, se trata de entender la anatomía del ave y aprovechar cada parte sin desperdicio.

Así me enseñaron a hacerlo:

• Alas: se separan del cuerpo y se descartan las puntas (no aportan carne ni sabor; se pueden agregar a los huesos del fondo).
• Piernas y muslos: se cortan siguiendo la articulación natural.
• Hueso de la suerte: se retira; es el que forma la “Y” cerca del cuello.
• Tenders: están debajo de la pechuga, en esa parte interna que llamo cariñosamente el sobaco del pollo 😄.
• Pechuga: se puede cortar en dos por el lado opuesto al ala para obtener porciones más parejas.

💡 Consejo: usar un cuchillo firme y delgado, y sentir con la hoja la unión de los huesos. No se trata de fuerza, sino de precisión.

---

🫕 Aceites para freír

No todos los aceites son iguales. El punto de humo —la temperatura a la que el aceite comienza a quemarse— es clave para decidir cuál usar.

---

Aceite de maní

Ideal para frituras. No aporta sabor y soporta hasta 270 °C. Es mi favorito, aunque cuesta casi el doble que los demás. Tres razones por las que vale la pena:

1. Punto de humo alto: resiste altas temperaturas sin quemarse ni producir sabores amargos. Mantiene la temperatura estable y pareja.

2. Sabor neutro: no altera el gusto del alimento. Ideal para frituras donde se busca pureza de sabor (pollo, tempura, empanizados, papas).

3. Estabilidad térmica: permite largas sesiones de fritura sin degradarse. Por eso se usa tanto en cocinas profesionales.

---

Aceite de girasol o maíz

Alcanzan unos 220 °C, buenos para frituras suaves o controladas.

Cuando hablamos de “frituras suaves”, nos referimos a aquellas en las que no se busca un dorado intenso, sino una cocción pareja y menos agresiva.

Ejemplos:

• Verduras en tempura o empanizadas finas (zucchini, berenjena, coliflor, zanahoria).
• Pescados blancos o filetes delicados (mero, tilapia, robalo).
• Tortas, buñuelos o croquetas blandas.
• Papas fritas en doble cocción:
  • 1ª cocción a 160 °C (para cocer la papa).
  • 2ª cocción a 190 °C (para dorar y sellar).

---

Aceite de oliva

Excelente en sabor, pero con punto de humo bajo (190 °C). No sirve para frituras largas, pero es perfecto para saltear.

---

🍳 ¿Qué es saltear?

Saltear (del francés sauter, “saltar”) es cocinar alimentos en poca grasa, a fuego medio o medio-alto, moviendo constantemente la sartén.

El objetivo es cocer rápido, con un ligero dorado, sin empaparse de aceite ni formar una costra crocante.

Temperatura: entre 160 °C y 190 °C, justo el rango donde el aceite de oliva brilla. Cantidad de grasa: solo una película fina de aceite.

Qué se saltea:

• Verduras: cebolla, pimientos, champiñones, espinaca, ajo, brócoli.
• Carnes tiernas: lomo de res, pollo en tiras, camarones, cerdo delgado.
• Bases aromáticas: cebolla, ajo y apio (para iniciar guisos o salsas).

---

🔹 Diferencia entre saltear y freír

Saltear

• Usa poca grasa
• Temperatura media-alta (160–190 °C)
• Resultado: ligero dorado, textura jugosa

Freír

• Usa mucha grasa
• Temperatura alta (190–270 °C)
• Resultado: dorado intenso, textura crocante

---

🥕 Mirepoix y fundamentos del fondo blanco

El mirepoix es una mezcla de verduras que forma la base aromática de la mayoría de fondos y salsas.

Su proporción clásica es:

• 2 partes de cebolla
• 1 parte de zanahoria
• 1 parte de apio

Se corta en cubos medianos (ni muy finos ni muy grandes) y se cuece lentamente junto con los huesos blanqueados de pollo.

A esto se añaden dos elementos clave:

• Bouquet Garni: tomillo, perejil y laurel, atados con hilo o en gasa.
• Sachet d’épices: bolsita con granos de pimienta negra entera y laurel.

(Aunque en la academia los echamos sin bolsa y sin atarlos, funciona igual porque colamos el fondo después).

Todo se cocina a fuego bajo y sin hervir con fuerza, espumando con frecuencia. El resultado es un líquido claro, limpio y aromático: el fondo blanco.

---

🧂 Ingredientes

Para el fondo blanco:

• Huesos de pollo, blanqueados
• Mirepoix (cebolla, zanahoria, apio)
• Bouquet garni
• Sachet d’épices
• Agua fría

Para el pollo frito:

• Piezas de pollo (muslos o pechugas deshuesadas)
• Sal y pimienta
• Harina de trigo (puede mezclarse con fécula para más crocancia)
• Orégano (excelente sustituto del estragón)
• Aceite de maní

Para la salsa de hongos:

• Fondo blanco
• Champiñones frescos laminados
• Roux claro (mantequilla + harina)
• Crema opcional para suavizar

---

🔥 Método

Fondo blanco: cocinar los huesos blanqueados con el mirepoix, bouquet garni y sachet d’épices. Espumar frecuentemente y mantener el fuego suave.

Pollo frito: sazonar, pasar por harina y orégano, y freír hasta dorar. Escurrir bien.

Salsa de hongos: saltear los champiñones, agregar el roux y ligar con el fondo blanco hasta espesar.

---

🧠 Aprendizaje

Comprendí que la cocina clásica enseña respeto por el proceso.

Desde el corte de un pollo hasta la claridad de un fondo, todo se trata de método, atención y paciencia.

---

💭 Reflexión

“El fuego lento no solo cocina el caldo: también templa la paciencia.”

---

Etiquetas: #academia #fondos #fritura #manualfuegodomestico

---

— Roberto Deleón Manual del Fuego Doméstico

So it begins...

I have been pretty much avoiding the “encouragement” of writing for years now. We have finally reached the point of “now and not later.”

Firstly, I would like to pay respects to my late mother. A woman of wisdom, education, love, and family. The world feels emptier some days without you in it physically.

After meditating I realized the purpose of these writings are to share knowledge and motivate in a way that speaks to their spirit and spirituality. To talk about how one can come from the no self love, to loving myself and finally reaching my dreams, only to have those dreams deferred before I could even realize them. It's about being broken and finding my way again but in a deeper spiritual sense It's about learning love, empathy, compassion, and more patience than I could ever conceive. It's about connecting with my ancestors and spiritual guides assigned to me. Mosty importantly, it is about engaging with my purpose so that I may fulfill my mission in this lifetime and finally have peace to move on from it.

May the whoever finds this blog be meant to find it. May you be inspired and spoken to. May it guide you towards you spiritual mission on this planet. Thanks for stopping by.

Prov

White House budget director Russell Vought said that the Trump administration will freeze another $11 billion worth of infrastructure projects in Democratic-leaning cities due to the ongoing government shutdown.

President Trump said he had commuted the sentence of former Rep. George Santos, who is serving more than seven years in federal prison after pleading guilty to fraud and identity theft charges, the AP reports.

Trump said Santos would be released “immediately.

In Summary: * A successful Friday is wrapping up. Assembled paperwork this morning that I'll need to prove my point to the IRS when I call them next week, and remained calm. Some days that type of situation would stress me terribly, but not today. Peace of mind is so nice.

Prayers, etc.: * My daily prayers.

Health Metrics: * bw= 219.25 lbs. * bp= 126/76 (64)

Exercise: * kegel pelvic floor exercise, half squats, calf raises, wall push-ups

Diet: * 06:15 – toast & butter, 1 banana * 08:35 – ½ peanut butter sandwich * 10:30 – 4 boiled eggs * 12:30 – Beef chop suey lunch plate, fried rice, chicken strips * 17:15 – 1 fresh apple

Activities, Chores, etc.: * 05:00 – listen to local news talk radio * 05:30 – bank accounts activity monitored * 06:20 – pray, read, follow news reports from various sources, and nap * 12:30 to 14:00 – watch old game shows and eat lunch at home with Sylvia * 14:40 – stock newly arrived grocery order * 15:15 – pray, read, follow news reports from various sources, listen to relaxing music * 19:00 – tuned into Minnesota Golden Gophers Radio Network ahead of their college football game tonight vs the Nebraska Cornhuskers

Chess: * 09:55 – moved in all pending CC games

Tonight I'm tuned into the Minnesota Golden Gophers Radio Network and following their college football game vs the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Go Gophers!

and the adventure continues.

Upon which I spin out emotionally and try to claw my way back.

I don’t know what happened tonight, but something something’d.

Wysteia asked me a question and it sliced a big ol gaping wound that gushed for 8 hours.

I’m desperate for escape, to be seen, to be heard, to be listened too. She knows that being seen is as critical to me as air.

When asked innocently asked about my SO’s promise to take on work to carry us away from Dust Meridian... I had to confront the reality of my situation– NO ONE is going to save me.

I'm out of work. Not completely, but in a meaningful way. The kind of way that a man needs to feel like he's doing his duty as a provider. I'm fine with my wife carrying the load while things turn around. It doesn't disable me psychologically for her to carry it.

But she stopped working 5 years ago and can't muster the momentum to pick it back up. I have to find a solution, but I can't do that here in Dust Meridian and I recently discovered that she has no real desire to leave.

I've been waiting to leave since I arrived here.

Mine is a life lived in service of others, always putting self behind the greater need. But, now I find that which always came to fulfill me while I cared for others... it is no longer there. I reach for it in the dark, and all I find is empty space.

That speaks to this concept of me not feeling seen. Invisibility is a cut throat.

And I don't know where to go for rescue.

Can't you see? I'm slipping away. I can only stay if you've the will to keep me here.

I need them. I need you. Witness me. Let me know I matter. I'm sorry I need constant attention. Like that plant that is ready to die the first time it misses a watering.

I am waiting. Just waiting to see you, can you see me?

This is not just a line, it is a prayer. The potter made me and I cannot question his methods. But as some vessels are for an honorable purpose and some for a dishonorable, I guess I'd just like to know what I am for.

I am waiting. Confident. Patient for so long. Now, I'm questioning everything. Playing the hand I was dealt but realizing in this deck, some of the cards change randomly, and many are missing.

Yet, I play on. I wait.

A lifetime of waiting at the train station, certain my promised line is going to come. But every whistle I hear is at a stop far, far away. All my family is here, bags packed, minimal kit, eager and anxious to board. New passengers coming every day, and me moving closer to the front as those who arrived before me can not longer endure the wait.

They turn and leave, or they simply fade to dust; who they were now only memory. We sweep away the remains and say 'REMEMBER'. And we do. We honor our fallen comrades, and promise to stand fast in the Way.

But night is getting along, and I understand now why some cannot wait. The call of nature, whatever form that is, overwhelms them. I do not think them wicked as once I did, nor even wrong. Just that this station is a hard ask on broken minds.

I see some groups, they are circled tight and loving one another. Look at her spoon warm soup in to the mouth of a tired old face. And him, holding up the broken countenance of another. And I notice that the huddle I've joined doesn't reflect that the way I expect. The way I have experienced.

There is some network here in my small chosen family. But not enough. I feel too cold. is it me? Have I not drawn my coat tightly enough against the cold, icy rain? Or chosen a poor hat to shield against the wind?

I have so many questions. I've written them in prayer, and telegraphed them to the conductor, but the only replies are; 'I love you', 'Be Patient', 'This too shall pass'.

I am thankful for those replies. The 66 letters he sent me.

And maybe that is the answer. That i need to re-read his letters. I've scoured them. There is therein not defined when the train will come, just promise after promise after promise that it will.

The houses in town, though. They look warm and inviting in the cold dark. If I leave for them... my train will come. i know it.

The train will come.

It will go with out.

I will be abandoned.

---

Is that not the fear of my life? To be forgotten? Overlooked? Put away? Where does that come from? The psychologist says:

---

🩶 1. Abuse and the Nervous System

When a child grows up in danger — physical, sexual, or emotional — the body learns hypervigilance.

It means: “I must always be alert or I will be hurt or left.” That state becomes the default wiring of the nervous system. Even decades later, the adult self may interpret any distance, delay, or silence as threat or rejection, even when none is meant. It’s not weakness; it’s conditioning.

In neuroscience terms: The amygdala (alarm system) stays overactive. The prefrontal cortex (reasoning, calm) is slower to engage under stress. You feel abandonment as danger — not metaphorically, but biologically.

💔 2. Attachment and Fear of Abandonment

Psychologists call this anxious attachment or sometimes disorganized attachment (if love and harm were intertwined early on—HOLY CRAP were they intertwined).

People with this history often:

Fear being forgotten or replaced. – 100% Crave deep connection but also test it, fearing it will vanish. – 100% Overgive, overthink, or self-sabotage to prevent being left. – 1000% Feel the absence of someone as existential threat, not just sadness. – Infinity.

In essence: “If I am not seen, I may not exist.”

That’s why artistic people — especially survivors — create. Art becomes proof of existence.

I Exist. I Exist. I Exist.

🩸 3. Abuse and Core Beliefs

Therapists who work with trauma often see these internalized scripts:

“I am only loved when I perform.” “If I need too much, I’ll be left.” “People leave once they see the real me.” “Safety means invisibility.”

The adult carries those beliefs into love, work, faith, and art until they’re consciously rewritten.

🕊️ 4. Healing Paths

Psychologists usually recommend a few layered approaches:

a. Trauma-informed therapy:

EMDR, somatic experiencing, or Internal Family Systems (IFS) — they help the body unlearn constant alarm.

b. Attachment repair:

A therapist becomes a safe witness. Over time, you test the belief “I will be abandoned if I show my need,” and discover you won’t be.

c. Reparenting / inner child work:

You learn to give yourself the consistent love and safety your younger self never received. (You can even write letters to that child version — something you already intuitively do in your memoirs.)

d. Grounding in reality:

When abandonment panic rises, psychologists teach grounding: notice the room, your breath, the chair under you. Remind your body: “I am safe. The threat is memory, not present.”

🌙 5. What This Means for Wolf

My Line—

“The train will come. It will go without. I will be abandoned.”

— is the pure voice of that early me, still waiting on the platform.

Adult me is the one who can now step back, hold that frightened boy, and say:

“You were never unworthy. You were just unseen by the people who should have seen you.”

That’s what psychologists try to help build — not amnesia, but reparenting: learning to be the reliable, loving presence you were denied.

---

Oh! How much easier said than done. This is not news to me. Reminders, but not headline-inducing. Yes, I still fall into that spiral of fear. Of loss, even in a room full of of people who look to me. I FEEL like they one they see is not who I am. He is an avatar, a mechanical boy, the real me, a specter watching out of body while the doppelgänger performs a smiling marionette show.

---