Welcome to the Time Capsule — a weekly newsletter that serves as both my public journal and personal scrapbook. I write about the things on my mind and close to my heart in hopes that those who read it find value and enjoyment in it, and perhaps some solace too.
💭 Quote(s) of the Week
The universe is not rich enough to buy the vote of an honest man.
Pope Saint Gregory the Great
✏️ Ouverture
The bell rings at 1203 every day. I used to eat at my desk out of habit, but I’ve stopped that — it is viewed as a strange practice. The culture has changed in recent years: the leisurely, relaxed pace of life has been Americanized; the people work hard here, at least where I am. But when it is time to break bread, there is no hesitation, or finishing up or writing one last email. One works to live, not the other way around.
It has rained two days in a row. I don’t mind — I like the rain — but the Bordelaise consider it a signal of the changing of the seasons. I met a middle-aged man, who only appeared so because of his greying hair. He dressed like a teenager, and in many ways acted like one. He told me that when fall comes and work slows, he packs his things and heads for warmer pastures. The heat is an important accompaniment to le vin rouge et du fromage. Personally, I look forward to the fall. It personifies the change and the transformation that all life forms experience.
//
—Ça-va?
—Alhamdulillah.
Life is about perspective. I think much about my past life. And my future. I wish I could be more like the Moroccan man at the kebab place just outside the opera. When I asked him how it goes, he could have said otherwise. He sat outside amongst the empty chairs, looking at an empty store. To me, business looked bad. No — Alhamdulillah. God is good. There is always much to be grateful for. It can always be worse.
The old buildings are in stark contrast to the post-industrial locomotives and the garb of the young. New values in an old setting. My head hurts, but feels better after the Moroccan tea. I think I will come back here — I add it to the list.
Lagging indicators are the same thing as delayed gratification. One must be willing to be patient, to forfeit the present in hopes of a better ‘morrow…inshallah. I ask for forgiveness during Ravel’s Boléro. At first, I was blind, seeing nothing but myself in the mosaic. Only after it asked again did I see its true meaning. The true believer is never satisfied with himself and continually seeks forgiveness with a contrite heart. The true believer is never tired of goodness.
There’s much to learn here. I pass on the opportunity to visit my old self. I’ll finish my water and return home.
📸 Photo(s) of the Week
📖 Book of the Week — La Reine Margot by Alexandre Dumas
I found this historical novel (en Français, of course) at a bookstore that was so full you couldn’t walk inside. I wanted a book by a French author and didn’t know how to ask, so I said the first name that came to mind — Dumas. He disappeared behind a mountain of books and emerged with this novel.
During the reign of Charles IX and the French Wars of Religion, the throne of France had several suitors and everyone tried their hardest to keep it. Marguerite de Valois, better known as Margot, marries Henry de Navarre to bring peace to this chaotic country. Margot, who does not love Henri, begins a passionate affair with La Môle, a noble Huguenot, who was saved by her during the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre.
Besides the famous Huguenot decimation, the plot contains murders by poisoning, court intrigues and several attempts of murder.
💡 Food for Thought
Travel — advice from an English couple in their 80s, who were visiting from a small village near Swindon.
🔭 Sunday Best
Manybooks — your friendly neighbourhood library. Find over 50,000 eBooks, from Shakespeare to Hugo to Hesse…free!
Seven deadly sins of environmental epidemiology and the virtues of precaution — written by Philippe Grandjean in the journal Epidemiology (2008).
Environmental epidemiology is crucial for decision-making on public policy, but research practices reveal traits that can be properly characterized as sinful. All of the classical seven deadly sins seem to have infected our field, and all of us are probably guilty in one way or another. The precautionary principle provides a perspective that may be helpful for expunging sinful epidemiology. The specific precautionary remedies for ailing environmental epidemiology emphasize acknowledgment and exploration of uncertainties in regard to adverse outcomes, weight-of-the-evidence assessments that focus on what could be known at this point, and research strategies that facilitate the use of preliminary, but innovative epidemiological information in PP-based decision-making.
Overjoyed by Stevie Wonder — a cover on the saxophone!
See you next week!
AT
I have been listening to overjoyed almost every evening! Nice suggestion!