How dare you imply luck.
Being reminded of how fortunate we are can elicit a wide variety of responses. I’ve seen people get angry and defensive at the mere thought of a suggestion that they were gifted even the smallest things, as if they stole something and were defending it. As if they admitted that they were lucky, that they were fortunate, that they’d been set up right, someone would suddenly come and take it all away from them.
One of the most soul crushing aspects of motor sports is that a driver can be knocked out of the race before they’ve even completed the first turn. Or, as was the case for Valtteri Bottas in Azerbaijan, going from first to DNF on the final lap because of a blowout due to debris on the track. Of course it’s part of the sport, but that can be little consolation, even without championships on the line.
While sipping tea atop the Etihad towers and munching on tea food I came across one of the more brilliant minor designs that I have seen. One of the issues that annoys me most about dining in a restaurant is the final bill. Not the paying or the final total (though these too can be issues of annoyance) but in how the bill is presented. Specifically that, when paying by card, there is nowhere to put the pen. When presented in a folder, the pen often prevents the folder from closing. On occasion there is enough room to tuck it in the spine, but while functional, it is less then ideal as it puts added stress on the seam and results in a broken folder (a broken or *gasp* missing credit card holder in a folder sets off a serious neurotic episode, and let’s not even discuss the ‘coin’ problem). Continue reading “It’s the Little Things”
When these cases are opened, the pen and ideas take flight. What is the story whose secret they keep? The stylus, calamus and quill are extensions of the hand and trace the precision of its movements. With the power of knowledge, they are the envied prerogative of the scholar, the scribe or writer. They address the intangible forces of the imagination and the word, capturing them in small lines of obedient signs whose victory lies in turning the memory of civilisations into history.
-Description of a Writing Case in the Louvre Abu Dhabi
If there’s one thing I envy our European counterparts over it’s the ease with which they travel. Continue reading “I’ll Be Back…Later”
Infinitely Expanding 