Redundant – Thesaurus: (adj) excess, extra, spare, supererogatory, superfluous, supernumerary, surplus, unnecessary (similar term), unneeded (similar term) 2. (adj) pleonastic, tautologic, tautological, prolix (similar term).
“And I think that before I shall have finished this work, it will be necessary for me to repeat the same thing many times over; so, O reader , blame me not, because the subjects are many , and memory cannot retain them and say: This I will not write because I have already written it; and if I did not wish to fall into this error it would be necessary , every time that I wished to copy something, in order not to repeat myself, to read over all the preceding matter, all the more so since the intervals are long between one time of writing and another .” Thoughts on Art and Life, by Leonardo da Vinci 22d day of March, 1508
Oh reader! There are stories to share, and the subjects are many! The topic of ‘redundant’ will follow at the end of this post.
Ecuador’s Flag
The people of Ecuador, much like in many countries, remain divided on who is the best candidate to take the presidential reins. As many predicted, Andres Arauz, who hopes to bring back ex-president Corea’s platform, promised $1,000 to many of the poor people. He received the largest majority of the votes, but Lasso – who was expected to receive almost as many votes, found ‘Yaku’ challenging him for that #2 spot! This reminds me of a photo-finish horse race!
Here is the official website link for an accurate summary:
https://resultados2021.cne.gob.ec
And a link to the Ecuador Times which has an interesting assortment of stories today. Disconnect from politics in the USA and see what’s happening here! Ah, drama! EcuadorTimesEnglish
Outgoing President Moreno has added a bit more drama to the show in what some say is wise – and others say not – concerning Ecuador’s Central Bank reserves. Here’s a link to the story in English:
I find myself wondering what John Perkins might say about all of this. If you’ve never read his ‘Confessions of an Economic Hit Man,’ it’s worth the time to listen to one of his talks.
OK. Now for the fun news!
Years ago in the USA I would drop off a new painting at a frame shop. Selecting mats and frames was never my favorite part – I was always happy to say, ‘Whew! Finished,’ and turn it over to a professional. Returning to pick up the framed painting, I would always be shocked to see how much better it looked with that professional touch. Wow.
It’s not so easy to get custom frames in areas like Poza Honda and the nearby town of Ayacucho! Franklin did a great job, even if the task of finishing each frame went to my hands.
If any of you subscribe to Birdwatching Magazine, the March-April 2021 issue should be in your hands soon. My copy reached my sister’s home this past week, and a VIP bird from Ecuador is featured in one of the articles. (Actually there are two VIP birds from Ecuador in that issue.)
Editor Matt Mendenhall and the Birdwatching staff transformed the Brown Wood Rail story in the same manner that a gallery uplifts the status of a work of art. Indeed, I am blessed! That issue is here: BirdWatching March/April 2021
The birding world has another special weekend approaching – The Backyard Bird Count. I’m not sure if I’ll be at Poza Honda or in Portoviejo at Parque las Vegas, but for sure it will be fun to see how many birds show up to be counted!
Assuring my friend Jorge (Poza Honda) that starting a WordPress site was not too difficult, I volunteered to help start one. Working from afar – and with slow internet and in public areas, I decided to toss around some ideas and later share with him. The new Block Editor, however, has made that task more difficult than expected. Every so often I find ways back to Classic through administrator and a little drop-down menu that offers Classic or Block – still a lot of steps between wanting to start a post and actually beginning! Later, after viewing the page in progress and going back to ‘edit’ mode, I find the Block editor waiting back at home base.
Makes me want to relieve stress with a hammer!
(From 2014 – a chuckle for Marie!)
In Classic I can upload as many images as needed – in one easy, ‘add image’ click, but in Block there are four clicks before the ‘upload image from file’ shows up. One photo at a time, and then the prompt to add another block, and four more clicks. Surely there are shortcuts? I found myself thinking, ‘Redundant. Redundant,’ as the work moved at a snail’s pace! Classic was such a breeze, and Block plays hide and seek. Working in public spaces – usually the nearby restaurant – and racing the laptop battery’s time allowance, it’s been a challenge! I sometimes wonder if I could hide in the museo and work all night while it’s closed! (Don’t worry, I would not consider being a stow-away for the night, but it would be a nice option!)
The grumbling’s over, but I wonder how many others experience similar frustrations . It’s no longer a joy to visualize and then design a site and add posts – it’s a battle of egos, and Block editor seems to have control! Classic – for me – was much faster and without so many redundant steps.
Alas, struggles or not, I find a smile in my heart when each day is finished, and I send my thanks and blessings all the way around the world and into the heavens before falling asleep. I thank the angels watching over me – surely there are many! – and think of all of the people who have touched my life – and the list dominoes in all directions, including to all of you who provide online support, especially in these Covid times. Thank you all! As I state in the Birdwatching article, I am blessed.
Zeebra Designs & Destinations 
I always enjoy your posts! Block editor doesn’t look doable to me. If I go to Posts and click “all posts” and then go to “add new” at the top, it still has a drop down menu that offers me Classic editor. But if I go to Posts and click “add new” from there, it goes to Block only. HTH, hope it will work that way with your blog also.
You are right, and at least they gave that hidden option for Classic.
I love your posts as well, always fun and inspiring – and I always think of my cat-loving friends who would love your new book. One day when there’s internet in the house and not public wifi options, I will be able to better navigate – and support my WP friends.
Thanks Zeebra!!!! Another beautiful post!!! Love and Miss you!!!..Bebe!!!!
On Thu, Feb 11, 2021, 2:15 PM Zeebra Designs & Destinations wrote:
> Playamart – Zeebra Designs posted: “Redundant – Thesaurus: (adj) excess, > extra, spare, supererogatory, superfluous, supernumerary, surplus, > unnecessary (similar term), unneeded (similar term) 2. (adj) pleonastic, > tautologic, tautological, prolix (similar term). “And I think that before > I” >
You are so welcome, bb! you are here in spirit and hopefully next year life will be where you can visit – and not have to work your tail off on the current project. I do, however, have a big project on the drawing board. you’ll like it!
People who know gratitude are already blessed, Lisa 🙂 🙂
And those who pass along serenity via countless walks, visits to ancient sites, etc, also are blessed, and they bless us too.
I loved loved loved your post about trees and wanted to crawl thru the screen and be there!
Thanks, sweetheart! Hope life is being kind to you 🙂 🙂
I like Jo’s comment a lot and it’s so true. Lots going on in your world and it sounds as if much of it’s good. I’m happy for you. I’m excited because I managed to get my parents signed up for their first Covid shot and I got mine too. We have a date and times for the second. Now to get my husband his. 🙂
Stay well and happy.
janet
Yay! So great about the shots. I have friends who are waiting, but they have no idea when that might happen. Here in Ecuador? Hmm, I expect it to be August or later before the general public could have an easy opportunity. They’re still struggling to get the first batches and ‘from where’ remains a challenge…
I loved your image of the cactus and keep missing the op to leave a comment. There’s a tree that ‘sticks its tongue out’ at anyone who will pay attention to its posture – so classic and easy to see – but I wonder how many people pass it and never notice. I was once on a bus that passed the tree; a doctor was sitting beside me and had finished his shift and was on his way home. When we passed that tree, we both looked at the tree then at each other and we started laughing. Yes, he saw that tree’s personality each time as well! It’s nice to have friends who see the personification of nature!
I know exactly which cactus you mean, Lisa. 🙂
I pray the election goes better than the one in the US.
And I hope the smart-alec who dreamed up the ‘better’ method of blogging finds a different place to work than WP. He reminds me of the genius who came up with the ‘new math’ years ago. What was wrong with Classic?
Stay Safe, Miss Z, and keep birding and blogging.
Hey! Yes, I think the USA will pull through and improve as Spring approaches with promises of renewal. We need renewal.
A friend downriver from you (Clarksdale/south of Memphis) wrote to say that she saw pelicans flying overhead. Where in the world could they be going during these cold times – heading in the wrong direction for better weather. Perhaps they were on their way to say hi to you?!!!
Wishing you a good weekend!
I still use Classic editor using the method that Leah described. Actually I went even simpler and bookmarked the page for “Add New” with Classic Editor. If I want to create a new posting, I just click on that bookmark and it opens into the classic editor. 🙂
Hi Mike! Thanks for that feedback, and yes, I have saved the Classic New Post page offline , but sometimes it reverts to Block as if the cyber demons are at work behind the scenes! I wonder if anyone has done a good poll to see how many people actually prefer Block over Classic?
Hope the weather has not given you bad times like so many others this past week. I’m glad to be watching from afar.
Thanks! Lisa
I definitely am sticking with Classic as long as I can. I am fortunate to have been spared from the really bad weather this past week. We had a bit of snow and ice, but nothing too bad. The pandemic continues to weigh on us all, but little by little people are getting vaccinated. My forays into the wild with my camera are helping to keep me from going crazy. 🙂
The world is in turmoil Lisa, but you still manage to find the beauty around you and that is so important. I agree about the WP changes, so difficult now. But I, like many others I suspect, still turn back to use classic mode. Tried the block system but it drove me crazy. Arggggh 😱 why change a good, easy system….
Glad that you can easily use Classic, which works for me until I’m off line for a few weeks and then I suppose the ole gray mare has to learn to navigate that maze again to find the classic option. Yes, ‘why change a good easy system?!
I hope that this new year brings good things to your world; no surprise illness, no extreme climate, just peace and lovely gardens and a zen sort of life.
Thanks Lisa we are having a beautiful zen weekend in a mountain paradise at the moment. Hope your world is treating you well. Best wishes for health and happiness for 2021 .my friend
These days I post from my iPad and find it SO easy! When everything I need is on my laptop, I email it all to myself together it on my iPad. More and more, I write on it and even use many cellphone shots.
Thanks Emilie; perhaps it’s all being tailored to apple and phone users, and it’s ‘us dinosaurs’ that used the old classic via windows laptops that are having more problems?
My greatest frustration is having to upload one photo at a time w/block – and w/classic you could scroll thru the image files, select a dozen if needed, and they all uploaded at once. Then it was easy to add them to the posts in the right places. The new way is time consuming, or maybe I’m missing an option.
How are things there? Hopefully on the fringes of chaos that seems to be affecting a large slice of the country!
Lisa, you have been missed. Thanks for the update. I share your issues with the two editing tools. My difficulties arise when I toggle between my phone and laptop to edit. Keith
Ah, the phone! I think that WP sometimes is focusing on people who use the phone, and they forgot about laptop/desktop users.. Maybe someone like me who does not use a phone should be in the ‘dinosaur’ category?
Hope the weather isn’t too horrid there in NC. Stay well and warm and safe!
I’ve never used the Block editor and hopefully will never have to. Do this: 1. from the dashboard click on Add New under posts. 2. It will open in the Block editor. 3. Put in one word as the title and then click on save draft (i.e. create an ersatz post). 4. close it. 5. from the dashboard click on all posts. 6. your new (ersatz) post will be listed first and if you hover over it you’ll see the choice to click on Classic Editor. Voila! Lots of love to you.
Alison
Thank you so much, and thanks for stating that you don’t enjoy Block either.
I often go to dashboard/administrator options, work with a happy heart by having the Classic drop-down option, then later when online another day, it reverts (sometimes) to Block then warns, ‘are you sure you want to go to Classic?” (I sometimes say nasty things back) and sometimes if I go to Classic the last changes are no longer there – like captions to photos. Alas, we help each other through the hurdles.
A new challenge is the drop-down comment menu on all pages – does not want to load any comments. Perhaps it’s the browser or slow internet…
It might be slow internet – I’ve not seen a drop-down comment menu.
You are correct. Block editor is a piece of crap. I discovered the drop-down “classic” box after a concerted search and have stuck with it ever since. Every once in a while it tries to divert me into clumsiness, especially when it comes to adding photos to the library, but if I keep myself alert I can thwart its efforts.
My guy Greg read the Economic HIt Man and highly recommended it, but I never got around to it. Must do that eventually.
I wonder if WP even cares about feedback and opinions. Sometimes I think that we should all boycot them for a few weeks and say, ‘Give us Classic!’
Hope all’s fine in your world; it seems that the entire USA has had challenging weather.
What fun, Lisa, congratulations! Birdwatching used to come to my parents’ house so I’m familiar with it – it’s a very good magazine. The layout for Blessed with Birds is excellent – I hope you’re happy with it. I’m sorry the WP block editor is so problematic. I seem to have gotten used to it, though it’s annoying. Sometimes the other editor appears, as if by magic, but I’d rather not be switching back and forth. Strange. But when you think about how blessed you are, as you have said, that recedes. Here’s to long-lasting batteries, good food, abundant fun, long nights painting, new birds, old friends, health and everything else I forgot. 😉
Thanks for the thumbs up on the Birdwatching story and for the magazine. I enjoy their online updates about what’s happening in the world of aves.
When you use the new editor, are you able to upload more than one image at a time? That’s my biggest grumble, where in Classic it was so easy. One day I need to check into a little hostal and spend my time getting current on wordpress!
Congratulations on your bird article.
Initially I also railed against the block editor; gradually I figured out how to do all the things I used to do in the classic editor, and now it’s all right. Also initially I didn’t like the fact that I had to upload one picture at a time, but there seems to be a workaround. In a new post, when you want to add a bunch of pictures, press the / key, then choose Image from the list that appears. In the next screen, the trick is to NOT click the Upload button, but instead choose Select Image, then Media Library. That takes you to the old familiar window where you can drop as many images as you want, or you can click Select Files and shift-click multiple files. Once you’ve loaded the pictures into your Media Library, you’ll still have to select them one at a time, as each block allows only one image. These instructions work for me, but that might be a function of my WordPress theme. Give it a try and see if it works for you, too.
I’m adding my congratulations to many others for your published article, Lisa. Awesome!
I’m so pleased for you, Lisa — congratulations on your published work! I’ve not been aware of that magazine, but I’ll be sure to check it out. You must be so pleased — as you should be.
As for the block editor, I consider it an abomination. It seems you’ve already found your way to the classic editor via the little drop-down arrow at the top. I couldn’t tell from the comments if you’ve found the way to easily edit in classic, too. If you want to edit a post, go the the left-hand side, and get into the admin menu. Click “All Posts”. Hover over any title, published or draft, and options, including the classic editor, appear below the title. Voila! You’re in business again!
Another option for that terrible future when they take the classic editor away from us is to use the “Classic” block. It’s a little cumbersome, but I figured it out. It eliminates that foolishness of text blocks and image blocks. You can work inside it just as you do with the classic editor. I managed to find all the functions I’d need. Then, like a reasonable person, I went right back to the Classic editor!
I can’t figure out why you’re getting those notes from WP — e.g., “Are you sure you want to go to the Classic editor.” I’ve never seen anything like that. I wonder if it’s country related, or platform? I always work on my desktop, but all the classic options are available on my iPad, too. I just don’t like working on the iPad, apart from responding to comments occasionally.