Category: Blogging
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Music Album Review: ‘Great Performances: Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez/Fantasia para un gentilhombre’
🎼 Echoes of Spain: A Journey Through Rodrigo and Albéniz with John Williams There’s something quietly transcendent about hearing the guitar sing in the hands of John Williams. Not the film composer, but the Australian virtuoso whose fingers seem to coax memory itself from the strings. In Great Performances: Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez/Fantasia para un…
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Music Appreciation: My First Encounter with Berlioz’s ‘Symphonie Fantastique’
🎼 A Fever Dream in Five Movements: Remembering My First Encounter with Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique One of the most memorable experiences from my college years—now four decades ago—took place on a rare cool afternoon in South Florida. I was sitting in my Humanities class at Miami-Dade Community College, where Professor Jay Brown, a talented musician…
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A (Tiny) Bit of Positivity in a Time of Chaos
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Comings and Goings (Short Story), Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Garratyverse, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Florida, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda📚 A Little Light in the Chaos I’ll be honest—this week has been rough. I’m staring down another move, and the emotional weight of packing up a life (again) is hitting harder than expected. There’s something about impermanence that always stirs up the deeper stuff: memories, regrets, hopes, and the ache of leaving behind spaces…
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🚚 Help Alex Find Home: A Journey from Miami to Stability
Life’s Uncertainties Strike Again Life doesn’t always follow a straight path. Sometimes, it throws us curveballs that demand courage, resilience—and a little help from those who care. Right now, I’m facing one of those moments. I’ve launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for an urgent move from Miami to somewhere I can rebuild—Orlando, perhaps,…
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‘Comings and Goings’ Crosses Borders—Now in Spain! 🇪🇸📘
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Blogging, Comings and Goings (Short Story), Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, International College of Seville, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Semester in Spain Program, Sevilla (Seville), SpainA wonderful milestone just arrived with the summer heat: Comings and Goings – The Art of Being Seen has officially landed in Spain! The copy was purchased through Amazon.es and now resides in the hands of my long-time friend, Lisa Dolan, Student Activities Director at the International College of Seville. Lisa reached out to let…
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From Miami to Cape Coral: A Leap Toward Independence
Life has always been a series of chapters for me—some filled with beauty and connection, others with challenge and growth. My time in Miami was one of those transitional chapters: meaningful, necessary, but always intended to be temporary. It was a place to catch my breath, reflect, and prepare for what was next. Now, I’m…
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July 19: Remembering My Mother Amid Political Turmoil
Afternoon, Saturday, July 19, 2025 – Miami, Florida It’s a quintessential summer day in South Florida—sunny skies, no thunderstorms looming, and a heavy, palpable heat that clings to everything. At 91°F (33°C) with humidity hovering at 64%, the “feels like” temperature is a sweltering 101°F (38°C). For anyone who doubts the effects of climate change,…
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The Last Smile
Afternoon, Friday, July 18, 2025, Miami, Florida “Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speakknits up the o-er wrought heart and bids it break.”― William Shakespeare, Macbeth Today isn’t a good day—not because it’s a “sad anniversary” sort of day, though it is that too—but because daily life feels unusually heavy. I’m overwhelmed by…
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Marketing, Memory, and Miami Skies
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Beatriz Diaz-Granados, Comings and Goings (Short Story), Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Family History, Florida Weather, Jeronimo Diaz-Granados, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Florida, Life in South Florida, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Summer in Florida, Victoria Eugenia Pineros Restrepo (Vicky), Writing a First Novel, Writing as a CraftMidday/Early Afternoon, Wednesday, July 16, 2025 — Miami, Florida I awoke this morning to the symphony of a torrential, thundering downpour. It was already past 8 a.m.—long after sunrise—yet the sky was still steeped in darkness, reminiscent of last night. The steady hiss of heavy rain filled the air, punctuated by the occasional crack-boom of…
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A Brief Musing for Mid-July 2025
Afternoon, Tuesday, July 15, 2025, Miami, Florida Mid- to late July is never my favorite time of year. There are plenty of reasons. Unless I’ve managed to escape Florida—most recently for a ten-month stint in New Hampshire—the weather is either relentlessly hot, perpetually rainy, or, more often than not, both. The result is that I…
A Certain Point of View, Too 