We sometimes call them sushi, but it’s actually a maki, a little roll of seaweed, rice, and some tasty fillings. In the store or in a restaurant you never see the ends, but for me that’s the best part. I think it looks beautiful, like a kind of wild maki on one side and a perfect maki on the other.

Chefs creating a maki want it to look good, uniform, all the pieces the same. I thight unit with everything pressed together. The ends are often different. Some loose rice, some extra ingredients, some things missing. For me it is like ying and yang. Opposites that unite. One side perfect, the other chaos. Together they are better than apart. Each bite unique, each flavor slightly different, each piece has its own identity. Perfection.

Alex en Alan both helped creating some very creative makis. We even have a typical Canarian maki with Pata! Here are some of our creations.

A normal, calm month this time. No deviations from our routine, just completely standard. Not bad at all, I’m not complaining. Alan played his football matches again. Alex was busy with beach volleyball and tennis. I went running a few times a week and worked on my little game.

The kids were lucky because they had a few days off this month and enjoyed carnival. Sometimes these calm months are exactly what you need to recharge.

I ran into my upstairs neighbor in the elevator. The usual small talk unfolded: he asked how I was doing, and I asked how he was doing. Normally you get the standard replies, ‘everything’s fine’ or ‘same old, same old’, the autopilot of everyday politeness.

But this time he said, ‘En la lucha’.
In the fight.

Huh. I looked at him, a bit puzzled. In the fight? I know he does something in the army, but still it sounded strange, and I asked him to explain. He smiled and told me he meant the daily struggle: the endless stream of tasks, obligations, all the things that need to be done. No drama, no great tragedy, just the ongoing battle of everyday life.

Next time someone asks me how I’m doing, I already know what my answer will be.
‘Right in the middle of the fight’. 🙂

I started the year off being very productive. Together with the AI, I built a new app at lightning speed. I actually enjoyed developing again. The biggest advantage of the AI was that problems were solved quickly and easily. No more spending hours figuring things out, running countless tests to discover where the error is and how the solution should be built, instead, I just point out where the issue is and wait a moment while the AI analyzes and fixes everything. Solving one error no longer leads to the next; the AI simply resolves the whole chain of issues until everything works again.

My app ‘Mushroom Mayhem‘ consists of several components. First, the idea, that was my own bit of creativity. The images (AI, Bing), the music (AI, Suno), the coding (partly AI, Copilot), the small details (AI, guided by me). Lots of AI, and the result is a polished app that really matches the vision I had beforehand, and this time the outcome isn’t limited by my lack of skill.

Grandma Nel also came for a lovely visit. She had escaped the Dutch cold for a few weeks and arrived with a suitcase full of gifts, sausage, cheese, eel, and alcohol. She came to enjoy some time with the grandchildren and the Spanish sun. First, a week with friends in the south, where sunshine is guaranteed, and then a week with us, with pleasant temperatures but also the occasional shower.