
I'm a big fan of Sudokus, is one of those things where it's possible to spend several hours and don't notice how much time has passed. The other day I stumbled upon this amazing Sudoku.

It starts with only two cells filled and several extra rules, besides Sudoku rules. It's really fun how he goes from "I'm being trolled" to "Oh my god..".

https://youtube.com/watch?v=yKf9aUIxdb4


When building this site I noticed that on the first load before anything is cached on the browser, the Font Awesome icons used in the footer and contact section were huge for a second or two, it looks ugly so it needed to be fixed.

## Why it happens?

The usage of a Font Awesome icon on React/Gatsby/etc is like this:

```javascript
import { FontAwesomeIcon } from '@fortawesome/react-fontawesome';
import { faGithub } from '@fortawesome/free-brands-svg-icons';

const MyComponent = () => <FontAwesomeIcon icon={faGithub} />;
```

On a normal app, it works fine because the CSS is loaded right before the icon is rendered, so there is no visible change of the size, but on an <abbr title="Server Side Rendering">SSR</abbr> app (like with Gatsby), the code for the icon already exists before the CSS is loaded, so it gets the needed style after a few milliseconds, resulting in the flickering of the icon size.

## Solution

We need to disable the auto-loading of CSS by FontAwesome and add the styles ourselves, this way they are already embedded when Gatsby builds the site.

in my case it was accomplished by modifying the `gatsby-browser.js` file and adding:

```javascript
import { config } from '@fortawesome/fontawesome-svg-core';
import '@fortawesome/fontawesome-svg-core/styles.css';

config.autoAddCss = false;
```

And that's it!



A few days ago I saw a [tweet](https://twitter.com/gatsbyjs/status/1212388261315911680) about a challenge to learn more about [Gatsby](https://www.gatsbyjs.org/), and since my site was already a simple landing page and a separate blog, both built with it, thought this could be a good opportunity to improve both the site and my knowledge of it, so here we go!

## Challenge 1: Create a Gatsby Blog from Scratch

The old version of the site used a starter for the blog and I modified another starter for the landing, but I think it was over-bloated with all the things it had for a simple landing page, this time I wanted something simple but functional and to unify the landing and the blog.

For the design, I just tested some [color combinations](https://coolors.co/app) that looked good together (at least to myself) and it was interesting because even though I have several years of experience it's the first time I do a responsive mobile-first markup. Way to go, me!

For styling the choice was [Emotion](https://emotion.sh/), I've been wanting to try this CSS-in-JS thing that seems to be trending and what's better than with a project like this? I'm sure it still has issues with how it's being used, but I really liked the experience.

Initially, the idea was to use [TypeScript](https://www.typescriptlang.org/) because I'm trying to learn more of it by using in some small pet projects, but there were too many things I didn't understand yet and didn't want to spend lots of time trying to get it right, so I got back to plain JS.

Overall I'm happy with how it looks and with this initial version, there is still [some work to do](https://github.com/osiux/osiux.ws/issues), but I know myself and for sure I could have left it unfinished if I tried to do everything I have in mind in one go.

[Github repository](https://github.com/osiux/osiux.ws)



> It was a car accident. Nothing particularly remarkable, but fatal nonetheless. You left behind a wife and two children. It was a painless death. The EMTs tried their best to save you, but to no avail. Your body was so utterly shattered you were better off, trust me.
>
> And that’s when you met me.
>
> “What… what happened?” You asked. “Where am I?”
>
> “You died,” I said, matter-of-factly. No point mincing words.
>
> “There was a… a truck and it was skidding…”
>
> “Yup.” I said
>
> “I… I died?”
>
> “Yup. But don’t feel bad about it. Everyone dies.” I said.
>
> You looked around. There was nothingness. Just you and me. “What is this place?” You asked. “Is this the afterlife?”
>
> “More or less,” I said.
>
> “Are you God?” You asked.
>
> “Yup.” I replied. “I’m God.”
>
> “My kids… my wife,” you said.
>
> “What about them?”
>
> “Will they be alright?”
>
> “That what I like to see,” I said. “You just died and your main concern is for your family. That’s good stuff right there.”
>
> You looked at me with fascination. To you, I didn’t look like God. I just looked like some man. Some vague authority figure. More of a grammar school teacher than the almighty.
>
> “Don’t worry,” I said. “They’ll be fine. Your kids will remember you as perfect in every way. They didn’t have time to grow contempt for you. Your wife will cry on the outside, but will be secretly relieved. To be fair, your marriage was falling apart. If it’s any consolation, she’ll feel very guilty for feeling relieved.”
>
> “Oh,” you said. “So what happens now? Do I go to heaven or hell or something?”
>
> “Neither,” I said. “You’ll be reincarnated.”
>
> “Ah,” you said. “So the Hindus were right.”
>
> “All the religions are right in their own way,” I said. “Walk with me.”
>
> You followed along as we strolled in the void. “Where are we going?” “Nowhere in particular,” I said. “It’s just nice to walk while we talk.”
>
> “So what’s the point, then?” You asked. “When I get reborn, I’ll just be a blank slate, right? A baby. So all my experiences and everything I did in this life won’t matter.”
>
> “Not so!” I said. “You have within you all the knowledge and experiences of all your past lives. You just don’t remember them right now.”
>
> I stopped walking and took you by the shoulders. “Your soul is more magnificent, beautiful, and gigantic than you can possibly imagine. A human mind can only contain a tiny fraction of what you are. It’s like sticking your finger in a glass of water to see if it’s hot or cold. You put a tiny part or yourself into the vessel, and when you bring it back out, you’ve gained all the experiences it had.”
>
> “You’ve been a human for the last 34 years, so you haven’t stretched out yet and felt the rest of your immense consciousness. If we hung out here for longer, you’d start remembering everything. But there’s no point doing that between each life.”
>
> “How many times have I been reincarnated, then?”
>
> “Oh, lots. Lots and lots. And into lots of different lives.” I said. “This time around you’ll be a Chinese peasant girl in 540 A.D.”
>
> “Wait, what?” You stammered. “You’re sending me back in time?”
>
> “Well, I guess technically. Time, as you know it, only exists in your universe. Things are different where I come from.”
>
> “Where do you come from?” You pondered.
>
> “Oh sure!” I explained. “I come from somewhere. Somewhere else. And there are others like me. I know you’ll want to know what it’s like there but you honestly won’t understand.”
>
> “Oh.” you said, a little let down. “But wait. If I get reincarnated to other places in time, could I have interacted with myself at some point?”
>
> “Sure. Happens all the time. And with both lives only aware of their own timespan you don’t even know it’s happening.”
>
> “So what’s the point of it all?”
>
> “Seriously?” I asked. “Seriously? Your asking me for the meaning of life? Isn’t that a little stereotypical?”
>
> “Well it’s a reasonable question,” you persisted.
>
> I looked in your eye. “The meaning of life, the reason I made this whole universe, is for you to mature.”
>
> “You mean mankind? You want us to mature?”
>
> “No. just you. I made this whole universe for you. With each new life you grow and mature, and become a larger and greater intellect.”
>
> “Just me? What about everyone else?”
>
> “There is no one else,” I said. “In this universe, there’s just you, and me.”
>
> You stared blankly at me. “But all the people on earth…”
>
> “All you. Different incarnations of you.”
>
> “Wait. I’m everyone!?”
>
> “Now you’re getting it.” I said, with a congratulatory slap on the back.
>
> “I’m every human who ever lived?”
>
> “Or who will ever live, yes.”
>
> “I’m Abraham Lincoln?”
>
> “And you’re John Wilkes Booth, too.” I added.
>
> “I’m Hitler?” you said, appalled.
>
> “And you’re the millions he killed.”
>
> “I’m Jesus?”
>
> “And you’re everyone who followed him.”
>
> You fell silent.
>
> “Every time you victimized someone,” I said, “You were victimizing yourself. Every act of kindness you’ve done, you’ve done to yourself. Every happy and sad moment ever experienced by any human was, or will be, experienced by you.”
>
> “Why?” You asked me. “Why do all this?”
>
> “Because someday, you will become like me. Because that’s what you are. You’re one of my kind. You’re my child.”
>
> “Whoa.” you said, incredulous. “You mean I’m a god?”
>
> “No. Not yet. You’re a fetus. You’re still growing. Once you’ve lived every human life throughout all time, you will have grown enough to be born.”
>
> “So the whole universe,” you said. “It’s just…”
>
> “An egg of sorts.” I answered. “Now it’s time for you to move on to your next life.”
>
> And with that, I sent you on your way.

http://creepypasta.wikia.com/wiki/An_Egg



https://youtube.com/watch?v=FveFmShXoRE



### Cali

De nuevo tocó llegar temprano a otra ciudad, pero sale genial viajar de noche porque te ahorras una noche en hotel/hostel/etc, y porque se siente menos el viaje :P

Esta vez me quedaba con Ivania en un cuarto que encontré en Airbnb. De Cali no había buscado nada que ver o hacer, así que aproveche a trabajar un poco, descansar y nadar en la alberca que tenían en el conjunto de departamentos. No estuvo mal, porque de todo el viaje fue el lugar donde mas calor hacia y salir a la calle implicaba regresar empapado de sudor. Aprovechaba las noches para ir a buscar que comer cerca y caminar un poco por los alrededores.

Seguro que hay cosas que ver en Cali, pero fue mas como un punto intermedio entre Medellín e Ipiales. Pase 2 días aquí antes de tomar un autobús (de nuevo por la noche) para ir a Ipiales.

### Ipiales

Este lugar estaba en mi ruta por dos razones: primero, está casi en la frontera con Ecuador, y segunda, por el [Santuario de las Lajas](http://www.colombia.com/turismo/sitios-turisticos/pasto/atractivos-turisticos/sdi325/53710/santuario-de-las-lajas), un lugar que desde que planeaba la ruta lo vi y me dije que tenía que verlo en persona.

Ipiales es un lugar chico, así que solamente había encontrado una habitación en un hotel donde poder quedarme. Para variar, llegué de madrugada, así que tomé un taxi de la terminal al hotel, en el que por suerte me pudieron recibir y dar una habitación aunque no era la hora del check-in. Como era muy temprano me dormí un par de horas y luego me di un baño y me fui a la terminal para tomar un taxi colectivo a el santuario.

El camino es rápido y muy lindo, con mucho verde y un ambiente fresco. Llegando, antes de comenzar a bajar entré a un restaurante a comer algo y comprar una botella de agua, ya que iba a hacer falta para el camino. La bajada es sencilla, y el paisaje se disfruta mucho con cascadas a lo lejos y tanto árbol, además de ocasionales lugares para sentarse a descansar y tomar fotos.

De pronto, al dar una vuelta aparece el santuario, y wow, uno se queda con la boca abierta de lo impresionante que es. Estuve caminando en los alrededores, bajando casi hasta el río, llendo por un camino enlodado (la entrada aquí estaba cerrada, pero todos se estaban brincando por un lado jaja) y disfrutando mucho del lugar.

Estuve un par de horas ahí y luego me regresé a Ipiales, como aún quedaban varias horas al día me fui a un centro comercial a comer algo y me metí a ver una película al cine. Acabando la película regresé caminando al hotel, prepare las mochilas para el día siguiente que cruzaría la frontera y me dormí.

Al día siguiente me desperté temprano, desayuné lo que me dieron en el hotel y me fui caminando a la terminal de autobuses, donde tomaría otro taxi al puente Rumichaca que está justo en la frontera de Colombia y Ecuador, y después de un ratito y unos tramites rápidos, ya estaba en Ecuador :)

![Ipiales 1](/images/colombia-cali-e-ipiales/ipiales1.jpg)
![Ipiales 2](/images/colombia-cali-e-ipiales/ipiales2.jpg)
![Ipiales 3](/images/colombia-cali-e-ipiales/ipiales3.jpg)
![Ipiales 4](/images/colombia-cali-e-ipiales/ipiales4.jpg)
![Ipiales 5](/images/colombia-cali-e-ipiales/ipiales5.jpg)


Miracle Sudoku

Get rid of huge Font Awesome icons on Gatsby

#100DaysOfGatsby

An Egg

Breaking Bad Fan video: Walt & Jesse

Colombia: Cali e Ipiales