OCD's support is expanding!

Hello everyone! This is the 2179th compilation post of OCD's latest curation efforts. It has been known that OCD has been supporting leading niche communities under its Community Incubation Program. However, there are still a lot of other niche communities not supported by OCD. This curation initiative will help in supporting those communities.

This newest curation effort aims to encourage authors to post in appropriate communities even if those communities are not under the incubation program. This will also encourage users to explore more into the different communities in Hive.

OCD curators and community leaders will find posts from other niche communities and recommend them for an upvote. Unlike those communities in the incubation program where curation is focused, this curation initiative is spread out. This will help find undervalued posts from smaller communities that deserve support.

This will highlight both the author and the community where the post is located. This way, smaller niche communities can focus on growing their subscribers and increasing the engagements within their respective communities. A small boost goes a long way.

Speaking of boost, here are the curated posts for this batch:

The days before I left Prague earlier this week… They were as gloomy and gray as in my latest short story. The sky looked as if the titanic hands you’ve maybe read about could appear at any moment. Luckily, the laws of physics kept things in order, no apocalypse in sight. And I decided to visit a microbrewery I haven’t blogged about yet, as a farewell to my hometown. And a cure for the gloom, greatly enhanced by the fact that my love wasn’t around these past few days.

During my university studies, I often had to stay up late, even until dawn, finishing assignments, studying for presentations, exams, and other things. I would finish the slide or the work I had to hand in, take a shower, eat something light, and go to the university. To be honest, it didn't affect me, perhaps because I was younger and the body's natural rhythm at that age—going to university, coming back to do homework, and my routines in the residence hall—I think this active lifestyle helped me to fulfill my assignments and responsibilities without affecting my health at the time.

I learned this lesson the hard way, banging my knuckles against walls that refused to be climbed. As a writer, you have the illusion that you can understand people, that you can give them the words they lack, that you can show them a perspective that illuminates their path. It's arrogance. A dangerous and exhausting arrogance.

So let us get started. I did not follow a specific recipe, this is something made more or less from my head, although it could easily fall under the moussaka category, it is quite similar. I made sure to measure everything I used, so below you will find exact quantities for a dish that is enough for 3 people. If you want more, simply double the amounts. The only thing I did not specify is the use of salt. I season by eye and to taste. It is important not to overdo it here, because zucchini does not tolerate much salt and the meat is already salty on its own.

I have a personal opinion that some photos suit one style and others suit another, that is to say... Not all photos work well in black and white, and sometimes there are photos that definitely should be in black and white. It's probably a matter of personal taste, but that's how I feel, and that's what I did for this series, a second part of what I call “Cinematic Subway.”

For this week's "Good Luck" theme, I chose a very catchy song that fits perfectly: "Get Lucky" by Pharrell Williams, Daft Punk and Nile Rodgers. With its optimistic lyrics and rhythm, it captivated me from the first moment I heard it. I quickly arranged it on the flute, and well, here's this cover. Metaphorically, the song speaks of good luck in a nighttime, perhaps romantic, setting—finding happiness in a sexual environment. Upon closer examination, we realize that we must seize every moment, every detail, and enjoy them as if there were no tomorrow. That's what good luck is all about; it's not magic, it's simply how we approach the processes and twists and turns of life. As darkness falls, we find ourselves with a new opportunity to triumph or "be lucky."

I've always been drawn to improvised signs. They remind me of when I was a child and my dad would make me look for spelling mistakes in them so I could learn; that's what he said. The thing is, today they're so common in the city that you almost see them out of the corner of your eye, quickly, but many of them are tremendously expressive.

Then there's graffiti: sometimes sloppy, sometimes direct, but there it is, standing tall, challenging everyone who passes by. It's part of the urban landscape and its visual noise.
Today I bring you a small selection of some I saw recently.

A warm greeting to this beautiful community. In Hive Open Mic #302, we explored the theme: "¡Buena suerte!". I am pleased to share my trumpet interpretation of «You Don't Have To Say You Love Me», a song of the orchestral baroque pop genre with soul and dramatic ballad influences, composed by Pino Donaggio and Vito Pallavicini in 1966. The original melody is Italian, and the English version is by Vicki Wickham and Simon Napier Bell. The lyrics talk about holding on to a love that is slipping away and accepting an unequal relationship in order not to lose the other person. The song is originally in G♭ major, but I perform it in F major, with key changes to D major and ending in E major. The melody has wide melodic leaps with long and sustained notes. The tempo is moderate and steady with a 4/4 time signature.

I was supposed to work today, but things came up, and I had to do some other stuff during the day. And it all started with a morning walk with my Mama. She's been actively going for walks with either me or Papa these days, and that's really great. Transferring here in the countryside has made all of us more active. Perhaps it's mostly because of the healthy and refreshing environment. :)

Last Saturday I asked my father-in-law to come with me to look at a couple of bikes. Both were Royal Enfield Himalayans but I had one I was eyeing in particular. It was in Dannevirke which is on the other side of the North Island to where I live. We stopped off to have a look at the more expensive of the two and found it to be a good bike. Its only issue for me was a lack of panniers.

This concludes this batch's curation report. We would like to congratulate those who are featured and supported. Keep up the good work and continue to explore Hive Communities.