Happiness is... simple?

Life is one constant evolution... I know... I know.

This year is not what last year was, and it’s not what the previous year was either.

On a personal level, things are good. I just need to deduct politics from the equation. I have succeeded, to a degree, and I am happier for it.

I happen to be writing this post sitting in a municipal library while Susan sees our physiotherapist. We are hoping he will do for her, what he has already done for me.

This library has an interesting name. It’s the Wychwood branch of the Toronto Public Library, and it has a beautifully done interior, in a restored older building. It is so nice that it has prompted me to write this post.

Susan and I are blessed. We recently returned from just over two weeks in Amsterdam and Copenhagen, and we are already booked on a spring cruise to Japan. This next trip may be one I am most looking forward to.

Lately I am more focused on the artistic aspects of my life than at any time in the past. For instance, there is quite an artistic sensibility at work in this library. The dark finishes offset by the ample lighting as well as light from an abundance of large windows, the contrast between modern and traditional, the large open spaces, and of course, people focused on work and study, and the resulting quiet… so soothing.

In my case, artistic expression is, in some measure, after my wife and family, a source of my happiness, and it is primarily expressed in writing. To a much lesser extent I find it through photography. Ultimately, interior design and architecture are subjects that interest me. 

I would love to live in a minimalist, modern, Japanese-style home, with a garden in the same style.

Unless I buy a lottery ticket and win a ridiculous amount of money, that won’t happen. Maybe… but only if I actually bothered to buy lottery tickets once in a while. So, no.

From the beginning Susan and I have purchased furnishings with good design.  Some we have ended up seeing in museums in New York and Copenhagen.  We have really nice modern couches in our den and living room. We like clean simple lines. We appreciate well-planned lighting. We both love art.

All these aspects of our home are ingredients in my happiness recipe.

I am sharing this with you in case it helps you in your quest for happiness, for joie de vivre.

I’ll admit that my recipe for happiness is a complicated one with a lot of moving parts, yet ultimately, and quite ironically, simplicity is definitely one of its key driving forces.

I advocate simplicity whenever I get involved in a planning discussion with clients, friends, or family.

The problem with simplicity is that making something that achieves its purpose in the most simple and efficient way, is usually more complicated and time-consuming, and requires a lot more thought than alternative approaches. I find that if a premium is placed on time, the plan will emerge quickly, but it often comes burdened with unanticipated complexity.

Less is more.

Since I had the good fortune to stumble on it earlier this year, I recommend to anyone who seems to me to have artistic aspects in their life to read Rick Rubin's The Creative Act - A way of being. 

On the topic of simplicity, Rick Rubin, speaking of the thing being created, cites Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, at page 242:

"Refine it to the point where it is stripped bare, in its least decorative form yet still intact. With nothing extra. Sometimes the ornamentation can be of use, often not. Less is generally more. 

"Perfection is finally obtained not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there’s no longer anything to take away." [Antoine de Saint Exupéry, Terre des Hommes, ch. III, L’avion, Éditions Gallimard, p. 199 "Il semble que la perfection soit atteinte non quand il n’y a plus rien à ajouter, mais quand il n’y a plus rien à retrancher."]

It's the eve of...

... and there's the rub... the eve of what exactly?

No doubt the eve of a momentous series of events with the only semi-certainty that our world, in just a few hours, will shake, quake, rattle, and roll, as our southern neighbour chooses its fate for the coming four years.

A flood of adjectives comes to mind.

I remember when I was five. We lived in a duplex with radiators and a boiler fuelled by coal; there was a coal bin in the basement.

As I think of adjectives to describe the situation today, I am reminded, quite vividly, of standing in front of the coal bin as my dad shovelled coal into the hot glow of the boiler's open mouth.

Today is like that.

The many adjectives that come to mind are like the hundreds of lumps of black coal in the dim and dark bin. They're all negative; each as inadequate in describing the scene down south, as a single lump of coal in feeding the fire.

And yet I am not overcome with pessimism.

As I read the paper this morning, and as I gaze at the information flowing from my devices, I believe that enough people will do what I would do in a heartbeat when they wield a pencil to cast their choice for the coming years, motivated by reason, fairness, integrity, compassion, and hope.

We'll see.

{48 hours later}

I see that I was wrong. There were not enough people. I'll leave it there, look away, turn my back and hope for the best.

{98 days later} 

Canada is literally under attack by the United States of America led by a president who is easily the most dumb, despicable, unethical, untrustworthy, disgusting person on the continent. We are not alone. Other nations who believed the U.S. to be their ally are either under attack, or bracing for an attack. How stupid is this? We have no choice but to fend off the assault by uniting and taking every step possible to return the favour. I will not travel to the States even though I have good friends there, and we have family there; I no longer buy anything that comes from the U.S.; and I will vote in the upcoming elections in Canada for leaders who will be best at facing this unexpected enemy with intelligence, integrity, courage, and conviction. It is what it is. Canadians need to shift the focus away from the U.S., turn our backs, and look elsewhere for allies we can trust.

Another milestone

I am a huge fan of spreadsheets.

It all started back in the dawn of my law practice when I realized computers were the key to the future. Shortly after buying my first computer, I discovered the magic of spreadsheets, and I have used them to solve some of the most daunting challenges ever since.

For the last few years, after reading James Clear's brilliant Atomic Habits, I started a spreadsheet that tracks my daily habits. It's amazing what you can do on the road to continuous improvement when you pay attention to the things you do every day by tracking them.

As I logged the 9.11 kilometre bike ride I took yesterday morning at the crack of dawn, I realized that I had officially reached just over 3,500 kilometres on my Brompton wonder bike. 

It's not a big deal. I mean, many who will read this will find it a puny accomplishment. And to be honest it doesn't feel like a big deal to me either... but still... THREE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED KILOMETRES!! 

Art and music

Susan and I share an appreciation for art.

We only end up buying the works that speak to both of us.

Our tastes are not identical, but we do agree on general aspects that allow us to coalesce on a purchase now and them. For instance, we tend to prefer abstract to figurative art, and we lean towards abstract art with a figurative element. Imagine an abstract rendering of flowers. Looking at the work, you see the flowers, but the element of abstraction means that the rendering is far from what you might call photographic.

In Amsterdam we wandered into a little gallery called Carré d'artistes. It only took twenty minutes or so for us to settle on a work by Christian Raffin entitled Bien être, depicting a couple cycling, but in the abstract style that we love.

When we are in a gallery looking at art, we are often asked about where we plan to hang the painting in our home. Invariably we each say that considerations like that never play into our purchases. We buy a work that we like, that speaks to us. Finding where to hang it can take time, and trial and error.

This work is no exception. We tried two or three spots until it found its way to its new home.

When it first settled into that spot, I sat opposite the wall where the painting sits, and I had a silent conversation with the work. I see our relationship in the colours, the movement, and the artistic language the painting speaks. It speaks of the love Susan and I share for each other, of our love of our travel adventures, and of our fledgling love affair with our Brompton bicycles.

The imaginary conversation was drifting along assisted by the melodies and lyrics of one my favourite playlists that I call French by English. 

I feel that if you are to have a little bit of a chance of coming to a fair understanding of the conversation I was having, of the relationship of that little painting to its new home and to our shared love of each other, and our art, I had to find a way to share that playlist. 

I can't actually play it for you, but, with quite a bit of fiddling between Apple Music, Microsoft Excel, and Blogger, I have managed to share the content of the playlist with you.

  

Song title	Artist	Album name
C'Est Si Bon	Abbey Lincoln	Paris For Lovers
Quand le soleil dit bonjour aux montagnes	Emilie-Claire Barlow	Seule ce soir
Petit matin	Emilie-Claire Barlow	Seule ce soir
Chez moi	Emilie-Claire Barlow	Seule ce soir
Des croissants de soleil	Emilie-Claire Barlow	Seule ce soir
C'est si bon	Emilie-Claire Barlow	Seule ce soir
Ces bottes sont faites pour marcher	Emilie-Claire Barlow	Seule ce soir
La plus belle pour aller danser	Emilie-Claire Barlow	Seule ce soir
La belle dame sans regret	Emilie-Claire Barlow	Seule ce soir
T'es pas un autre	Emilie-Claire Barlow	Seule ce soir
Jardin d'hiver	Emilie-Claire Barlow	Seule ce soir
Seule ce soir	Emilie-Claire Barlow	Seule ce soir
Les yeux ouverts	Emilie-Claire Barlow	Seule ce soir
Comme je crie comme je chante	Emilie-Claire Barlow	Seule ce soir
C'est merveilleux	Emilie-Claire Barlow	Seule ce soir
Le Premier Bonheur du Jour	Halie Loren	Simply Love
Dream a Little Dream of Me (Les Yeux Ouverts)	Halie Loren	Simply Love
Les Eaux De Mars	Stacey Kent	Raconte-Moi.
Raconte-Moi.	Stacey Kent	Raconte-Moi.
L'étang	Stacey Kent	Raconte-Moi.
Mi Amor	Stacey Kent	Raconte-Moi.
T'es Pas Un Autre	Emilie-Claire Barlow	The Beat Goes On
Petite fleur	Jill Barber	Chansons
J'attendrai	Jill Barber	Chansons
Mélancolie	Jill Barber	Chansons
La javanaise	Jill Barber	Chansons
Sous le ciel de paris	Jill Barber	Chansons
En septembre sous la pluie	Jill Barber	Chansons
Je cherche un homme	Jill Barber	Chansons
N'oublie jamais	Jill Barber	Chansons
Quand les hommes vivront d'amour	Jill Barber	Chansons
Les feuilles mortes	Jill Barber	Chansons
Plus bleu que tes yeux	Jill Barber	Chansons
Adieu foulards	Jill Barber	Chansons
Ces Petits Riens	Stacey Kent	Breakfast On The Morning Tram
La Saison Des Pluies	Stacey Kent	Breakfast On The Morning Tram
Jardin D'hiver	Stacey Kent	Raconte-Moi.
La Vénus Du Mélo	Stacey Kent	Raconte-Moi.
Au Coin Du Monde	Stacey Kent	Raconte-Moi.
C'est Le Printemps	Stacey Kent	Raconte-Moi.
Sait-On Jamais?	Stacey Kent	Raconte-Moi
Les Vacances Au Bord De La Mer	Stacey Kent	Raconte-Moi.
Le Mal De Vivre	Stacey Kent	Raconte-Moi.
Désuets	Stacey Kent	Raconte-Moi.
Give Him The Ooh-La-La: Plus Je T’Embrasse	Blossom Dearie	Four Classic Albums Plus
La Mer	Avalon Jazz Band	Avalon Jazz Group
I Wanna Be Like You	The Hot Sardines	Jazz Loves Disney
Medley: Comes Love (L'amour S'en Fout)	The Hot Sardines	French Fries & Champagne
La Fille Aux Cheveux Roux (Weed Smoker’s Dream)	The Hot Sardines	French Fries & Champagne
Petite Fleur	The Hot Sardines	Wake Up In Paris - EP
C'est Si Bon	Eartha Kitt	The Very Best of Jazz 50 Unforgettable Tracks
Chez Moi (feat. Kim Richardson)	Fuat Tuaç	Chez Moi

I love these songs so much, each and every one of them. If there is one thing that this collection evokes in me, it's my love of Paris.

I can only offer you one among the many to actually listen to, and it has to be C'est Is Bon performed by Eartha Kitt. It never fails to make me smile. Make sure you listen until the very end when Eartha ad libs musing about what she thinks is tellement bon... that's when she makes me smile. 

 

A milestone

Today I took a bike ride that has eluded me for more than a year. The last time I did this ride was on August 31 of last year.

I overworked my right leg on that ride last year, stupidly forcing my way up a hill. I posted it about it here and here,

It has taken X-Rays, ultra-sounds, two talented physiotherapists, and some acupuncture, including dry-needling. The pain and constant discomfort, difficulty handling stairs, discomfort and pain driving or even just traveling in cars, and all the associated angst, has been an ordeal. There were times when I honestly thought I was never going to return to what I thought was normal.

And yet, I am almost, almost there. This morning was the first time I considered tackling that longer ride. Nine+ kilometres is certainly not that crazy, but in my situation up until recently it was unthinkable. Until today.

Our recent trip to Amsterdam and Copenhagen with long walks, contributed to the recovery. I was concerned it would set me back. Thankfully it did the reverse.

I recently read an article by Danielle Friedman in the New York Times published on May 14th of this year entitled "Muscles in Knots? Here’s How to Loosen Them Up", that described perfectly the challenges I was having, as well as paths to a cure, including the dry needling that has worked wonders.

Riding a bicycle is a great way to exercise. The reason is that the nature of pedalling and its circular motion avoids the kind of joint and soft tissue stress that other forms of exercise may lead to. That said, the nature of the cranking motion, when you overdo it, and over-stress your leg as I did, magnifies and multiplies the damage, impacting, in my case, pretty much every muscle and tendon in my right leg.

Treating the resulting cold-spaghetti-mess of angry tissue is a huge challenge. Everything hurts. Diagnosing the injuries and treating them is a significant challenge. You treat one, and anger another. And the work and therapy goes on, and on, and on.

The good news is that progress happens. Eventually, as some issues are resolved, it becomes easier to diagnose and treat the remainder.

And that brings us to today. I am so close to a complete recovery I can taste it.

I take pictures on my morning rides when I see something worth saving. I had to take a photo today.

I feel like an island of normal is emerging from a year-long fog of misery.

Brompton DIY hub cleaners

I have never been a workshop kind of guy. I would say I am more of a MacGyver kind of kind of guy.

My office is 95% devoted to reading and writing of one variety or another and that's what it looks like. That said, the other 5% is devoted to puttering and MacGyvering.

For almost as long as I have owned my Brompton bike, I have wanted hub cleaners. So far I haven't bought any. That's because the Brompton's small wheels won't accommodate the usual leather strap hub cleaners. The spokes will prevent them from working properly.

That means it's a challenge for MacGyver-me.

My first attempt used a leather lace looped around the hub with a bolt sewn to the lace loop to provide a target for the forces of gravity. It was not by any means attractive, and it kind-of worked. It worked really well on the front hub, but the one on the rear hub would occasionally get caught in the spokes, and I would have to stop when I heard the clicking, release the bolt from the spokes, and carry on. It was annoying. Ultimately I sliced it off. That was some time last year.

I happened to be at our mechanic's workshop picking up our car. On the window sill there was a leather strap that looked like it might do the trick. I asked if I could have it.

When I got home it turned out that the strap was too short. I tossed it into a plastic bag in my office cabinet where I store odds and ends. I have an impressive collection of odds and ends. I collect all kinds of stuff that might eventually be useful. Like when I discard a torn shopping bag, I cut off and keep the straps. Same goes for plastic buckles from backpacks, strapping, plastic cinch-things, and the list goes on, and on. Same goes for screws, nuts, bolts, washers... you get the idea. My collection is such that I know from experience that I have the right hardware for almost any little fix-it.

That leather strap I got from our mechanic was held together by a gold-coloured stub-thingy, like the fastener on some purses. It was a screw-on type. I picked up a set of 15 on Amazon for $10, and as soon as they were delivered, I went to the odds and ends collection.

I found some black straps. They were too light for the project but they had a channel on each side. I thought "... if I had some little ball-bearings I could fill the channels...". As soon as I thought of ball-bearings, I remembered that among the odds and ends were the curtain ball-bearing-esque chains that I rescued from curtains we discarded. Wonderful, they fit the channels perfectly and provided the weight that was needed.

The rest was scribbling out a plan in my notebook...

...measuring the Brompton hub diameters with my Vernier caliber, doing the math to get to the circumference, cutting some paper strips based on my guess for the straps, taping the strips on the hubs as a test, deducting some length to get to the right length...

Hub cleaner math

Front hub radius 27/32”

Front hub diameter 1  21/32” 1.65625”

Front hub circumference 5.21”

Front hub cleaner test length 7”

Front hub post test length 6”

Front hub total length including 1 inch for double clasps 7”

Rear hub radius 1 6/32”

Rear hub diameter 2 6/16” 2.375

Rear hub circumference 7.47”

Rear hub cleaner test length 10”

Rear hub post test length 9 1/2”

Rear hub total length including 1 inch for double clasps 101/2”

... cutting the straps and the ball-bearing chains to the right lengths, threading the chains into the channels in the straps, burning holes for the studs with my little battery-powered soldering iron, putting it all together, sewing the channels on each end of the straps to prevent the chains from escaping, fitting the straps to the Brompton, and there you have it... TADAH!!    

It was fun in a weird way. We'll see how they perform in actual use.

Oh... and by-the-way... despite appearances, I'm a lawyer, not a doctor. It just so happens that over time I have collected things like a clamp, a scalpel, a dentist's pick... I love those tools.

--------------------------

ed. 20241019: The rear one is too small, and the weight is too well distributed so it doesn't stay put, but rotates with the hub so it doesn't actually do the job. That one is for sure a do over. What I really need are more traditional leather straps. 

ed.  20241101: I bought a half-inch wide 72 inch long leather strap on Amazon. I used the same little gold-coloured stub-thingies to fasten the ends of the straps, one for each strap. It turned out that 7 inches for the front hub was fine, while 12 inches for the rear hub works well. The only tweak needed was to insert a little brass nut where the two ends meet for the rear hub cleaner to give it a little bit more weight. Now I have fully functioning hub cleaners front and rear. 

Aida, a muse

I often say that I would be very happy spending a month just wandering on the streets and in the parks of Paris. No museums, no churches, just a month-long stroll.

I recently found a YouTube channel that perhaps teases me closer to that experience.

But it’s more than that, actually.

My YouTube adventure ended not because I didn’t enjoy making content. My growing post-retirement law practice took precedence and left no time for video production. They were not compatible. Each requires total focus, and each monopolizes my computer resources, not to mention my brain.

I miss publishing videos, and I miss publishing blog posts as often as I once did.

There's a possibility that I will dial back the law and go back to publishing.

Aida's channel serves as inspiration.

The path for YouTube 'influencers' is often similar. They burst on the scene, gather a large devoted audience, and then they decline, and many all but disappear.

Making good videos can be very time-consuming. There is a very large pit of technical knowhow that needs to be discovered, studied, understood, and then applied consistently... and then tweaked, improved... it's a constant process. It doesn't really get simpler or less demanding.

At the core of every channel there is subject matter, a theme, a well of ideas, that the author returns to time and again. YouTube prizes volume over all else. Many successful influencers post weekly because it drives the channel, and ultimately can earn them a lot of money. When they disappear I feel that it's often due to overwork and burnout, combined with running out of content to post. The audience can also play a role. As time goes by, people tend to have shorter and shorter attention spans. Hundreds of short tiny videos with a punch of outrageous content seems to be what many people want.

Then there are authors who post less often, but they routinely publish gems. That would be me, if I published gems. As far as I can see, in my view, that's Aida. I love her videos.

Aida claims that it's mostly serendipitous. That it just happens without a whole lot of infrastructure to support the work. I have my doubts about that. For instance, someone, other than Aida, is clearly capturing the footage, and they are really good at what they do. Love may be an ingredient that guides the lens.

In the end, any way you slice it, it's all about Aida. I posted a comment on a recent video praising her work and it sparked a little conversation:

@LifeontwowheelsRocks
3 days ago
Your videos are… inspiring. If I went back to making videos, I would try to follow your formula. But even if I did my best, I couldn’t match the quality of the shooting. The editing is also very well done, particularly the audio. And then there is the content. Simply put, so much to admire.

@amusingaida
3 days ago
Thank you, those are kind words indeed. Even more valuable is that they come from an expert eye. But as for 'formula' -- let me know what my formula is! I have no idea; I just do what feels right for me.

@LifeontwowheelsRocks
2 days ago
Your approach is very empathetic and thoughtful. Quite intimate in a friendly way. You tell a well defined story. There is no waste, repetition, wandering off topic. Because you are not filming you are most often in the frame; you, and the message you convey, remain the subject. The cherry on the sundae are the cinematic camera angles, occasional drone footage, wild edits, but those tricks never become the focus, they always serve the narrative. Finally the soundtrack and the audio are very well managed throughout. Many YouTubers struggle with audio. For me that is one of the trickiest bits. But where you truly excel, is as the storyteller, the actress, the narrator. Actress seems a wrong, trivial characterization, but I can’t think of a better word for your screen presence. Does that begin to answer your question?

@amusingaida
2 days ago
Yours is one of the most indepth and incisive comments I've had on my little channel, so it is very precious to me. Thanks! I appreciate the feedback on both the approach and the style I convey. As a contentmaker yourself you'll know just how hard it is to realize a production - and the compromises made along the way. And I especially appreciate falling into the category 'actress' (rather than influencer or the like) as I feel that is more fitting. With your expert eye, I wonder if you could point out an area I should work on? I've made only around 30 videos, so am still learning this YouTube thing.

@LifeontwowheelsRocks
2 days ago
I feel the need to be creative. Perhaps our conversation will help us, and those who see it as well. I will return with more thoughts. May I suggest some reading? Rick Rubin - “The Creative Act - a way of being”

@amusingaida
1 hour ago

I'll see if I can squeeze that recommended reading onto my list.... but it's already long!

If Aida's work does inspire me to return to YouTube content, this may become my approach:

1. Focus on a story, don't digress, don't repeat, but tell a complete story.
2. Make sure the story is interesting. Be succinct.


3. Make sure that the story is told empathetically, as if it were being told to a close friend. Tell it to the camera for the most part, make the camera my best friend. The story is going to be five to maybe 20 minutes. Break a longer story into many takes, varying the video context with the narrative holding it all together.


4. Take a lot more footage than I need. It can be hard to know what will work best. Better to have more grist for the mill than not enough.


5. Focus on the audio. I don't know how Aida records her audio. Aida, if you read this, please provide some insight. It's super tricky. My strong preference is simplicity, as long as it works. For instance a single AirPod, or something similar. I might have to spend some money and some time experimenting. The perfect set up captures voice with high quality, and with an invisible mic.

Aida you asked if there was anything I recommended you work on.

That's a tough question. My channel pales next to yours in terms of subscribers and views. Who am I to offer you advice? But you asked. So here is my considered advice for you (that I am adding this code to to help you find it: Aida_a_muse)

1. Read Rick Rubin's book. If your reading list is too long to get to his book soon, perhaps watch this synopsis by Doug Neill, it will only take thirty minutes, but it will give you an excellent summary.  Trust me when I say that Rick Rubin's book is like a bible for creativity and creators, no matter the medium. I bought the book after reading a few paragraphs at random spots in the book when I was in a local bookstore. I had no idea who Rick Rubin was. In 2007, Rubin was called "the most important record producer of the last 20 years" by MTV and was named on Time magazine's list of the "100 Most Influential People in the World".


2. Don't stop making your videos, but don't allow yourself to be consumed by them. Rick Rubin suggests immersing yourself in great art. Paris is among the very best places to do that. Immersing yourself in the work of great artists will open your mind to creative paths for your own work. It doesn't matter whether the art is architecture, painting, music, film, philosophy... Produce a new video when the creative urge compels it. The more art you consume, the more you can produce, the easier it becomes. The path to success doesn't require you to burn out getting there.


3. Allow your audience to follow you and your dreams. I suspect that is what most people who follow your channel seek. They want your thoughts, your feelings, your insights, in the same way as if they were your close friends. If your path takes you to greater things, like television or the screen, keep making your videos as often as you can. It will keep your skills sharp and relevant.


4. Follow the path that leads to fulfilling your potential. 

_______________________________________

Ed. 20241003: It turns out that, against all odds, Aida found this post and expressed her appreciation in response to a comment I left on her most recent video. I love when that kind of magic happens in the internet universe. What are the odds?