Alejandro Cuervo-Hotz
Hello!
I am Alejandro Cuervo-Hotz (né Forero Cuervo, a.k.a. Alejo), a software engineer, husband and father. Born in 1980 in Bogota, I’ve lived in Zürich since 2007.
Recent activity
- Indian Nocturne 📚 What a peculiar and wonderful collection of fragments, quite magical palm-of-the-hand stories. I think I understand the author’s motivation, echoing Pessoa, but I was expecting a different kind of resolution so I felt a bit let down in the end. 2026-10-23
- Turning to Birds 📚 Delightful little collection of anecdotes on the topic of birding, of actively listening. It’s not particularly deep, but that’s okay —it doesn’t aspire to be. Instead, it feels refreshingly genuine. 2026-10-21
- Small Things Like These 📚 Heartwarming. I’m touched by this magical Christmas tale. I like the desenlace. The writing is beautiful; the scenery comes to life in an economy of words, we feel what the protagonist feels. 2026-10-20
- Butcher’s Crossing 📚 Journey to the wild west, a buffalo hunt. The wilderness is brutal, turns our best into madmen. Its indifference hollows them out, leaving them alone with their demons and vices; yet, once they’ve tasted it, they never go back. The descriptions of the land and the hunt are compelling, but I’m giving only ★ because, ultimately, I didn’t find it particularly convincing nor insightful. 2026-10-19
- Never let me go 📚 Very touching novel about friendship, and making the best of the time we have with those we love. The story is woven greatly and the desenlace is crisp and stirring. Well worth the read. 2026-10-18
- The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read 📚 Interesting read about parenting. I found it somewhat repetitive, but a lot of what it says resonates. 2026-10-17
- Poeta 🎬 Poeta me pareció muy entretenida. Los personajes no son muy convincentes, pero eso no le quita mérito: la historia está bien estructurada y contada, avanza a un buen ritmo y el desenlace es satisfactorio. 2026-10-14
- A Time to Keep Silence 📚 Peculiar collection of enjoyable essays examining the effect of monastic life on the soul of a secular writer. I found it insightful and pleasant. 2026-10-12
- Incorruptible 📚 I found Incorruptible convincing; it makes a compelling case for how, by structuring organizations carefully, we can protect them against gradually becoming corrupted by shareholder primacy. 2026-10-11
- Chernobyl 📺 I found HBO’s 2019 Chernobyl TV series entertaining and worth watching. The aesthetics are great, fully immersing you in the atmosphere of Soviet life; the series exudes the late-Soviet Zeitgeist. However, I found the underlying message a bit simplistic. 2026-10-11
- Los viajes del viento 🎬 Los viajes del viento me gustó mucho. Plasma bien la riqueza musical, cultural y paisajística del Caribe colombiano. Se percibe un toque convincente de realismo mágico. 2026-10-05
- Of Mice and Men 📚 I found Steinbeck’s 1937 novella outstanding, well worth the few hours it demands. So much happens so quickly! The ending doesn’t disappoint. 2026-10-01
- Una barca blanca 🖋️ Breve poema sobre la permanencia en el olvido. 2026-09-30
- Ilona llega con la lluvia 📚 Great novel. This is a book that’s hard to put down. With its great ending, it doesn’t disappoint. 2026-09-25
- La nieve del almirante 📚 Interesante novela —mas poesía que novela. El comando del lenguaje es admirable. A veces pasan y pasan páginas pero, como la barca sobre el rio, no se avanza mucho. 2026-09-25
- La luz difícil 📚 La luz difícil resonated with me. The characters are convincing. The depictions of painting and visual arts weren’t very compelling, a bit distracting, but the story holds its ground regardless. 2026-09-21
- Flowers for Algernon 📚 I enjoyed Flowers for Algernon (the novel). I think this story will echo within me for a while. 2026-09-18
- The Soul of a New Machine 📚 Great book about engineering corporations. If you work in Big Tech, you should read it. Though short, this historic account of the development of a 32-bit computer explores many interesting topics about engineering corporations. 2026-09-17
- 2026-08-26: 💾 Generating my own views of my hikes and runs.
- 2026-08-20: 💾 Estimates Game: Are you over- or under-confident in your own knowledge? Find out: est.alejo.ch. You can also read my own conclusions about my calibration.
- The Oddysey 🎬 I enjoyed Nolan’s production of The Odissey. I appreciated the storytelling: how different parts of the journey are cohesively woven into a single story. It has, in this regard, everything Villeneuve’s Dune lacked. The story builds towards a convincing final resolution. 2026-06-30
- 2026-06-14: 📷 Photos: Züri Portals: Photography project to convey the beauty of life in Zürich by studying building entrances.
- Dancing: two worlds 🖋️ Two activities that share the same label, “dancing”, are actually very different. How I feel, as a Colombian, about dancing salsa in Zürich. And, related, my salsita playlist. 2026-07-24
- Mr Inbetween 📺 I’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching television series Mr Inbetween, a daring mix of action, crime thriller, relationship drama, and dark comedy. The deadpan delivery makes this take on the “loveable criminal” genre very refreshing. 2026-06-20
- 2026-06-14: 💾 Image Filters: TypeScript browser-based non-destructive image editor based on OpenCV.
- Avoid Boolean Types 🖋️ In source code or databases,
prefer enumerations over boolean types. Use boolean types only for
expressions that compute temporary values fed to conditional expressions
like
if,while, or SQL’sWHERE. 2026-06-11 - Older entries