Life on two wheels

Time

2025-12-22T08:37:00.012-05:00

To see this post on the site, go to https://life2wheels.com.

This is one of the more challenging bits I have published; it has taken quite a long time to do.

I'll start in the present moment. Well... my actual present moment; I know, time can be tricky.

As I write these words on December 17, 2025 I am seventy-three-and-a-half years old, approximately. Or seen differently, 882 months and 9 days old, approximately. Expressed in minutes, that's 38,671,200 minutes... approximately. I say approximately because, to be accurate, I would need to factor in the moment I drew my first breath on June 8, 1952, until 4:00 o'clock this afternoon. Unfortunately that precision exceeds my grasp because I just don't know what time it was when I took that first gasp of air. Well, it exceeded my grasp, until, out of curiosity and a desire for accuracy, I dove into the archive of my family's life, containing all manner of documents, photos, letters, postcards, old passports, and a maternity magazine given to my mother by the hospital after my birth, and it turns out I was born precisely at 10:27 p.m. As I wrote that sentence yesterday at four o'clock, I was exactly 38,669,373 minutes, or 26,853.73 days, or 73.5718664383562 years old.

After that crazy tidbit of time obsession, allow me to introduce you to the things that set me off on this fascinating journey.

I was reading the New York Times on my iPad and I stumbled on what the Times calls an "Op-Doc". An Op Doc is part of a Times collection of documentaries by independent filmmakers. In this case, the documentary is 9,192,631,770 Hz, by Todd Chandler.

It tells the story of how humans now tell time using atomic clocks.

The clocks use the vibration of cesium atoms to tell time, and they are accurate to within one second in one hundred million years.

But time won't sit still for even a second. The Toronto Star ran an article late last month, on November 27th, reporting that physicists at the University of Toronto made a breakthrough in the science of atomic time-keeping that will make atomic clocks accurate to within one second in three trillion years. That's 217 times longer than what we believe to be the age of the universe.

That should do the trick until time travel becomes how we get around.

Todd Chandler begins his narrative of atomic time-keeping with a conversation he had with his five-year-old son when it was bedtime.

His son said that he couldn't stop playing because the machine inside his body that controls time wouldn't let him. He said "... the system, like, controls your minute." "And what is your minute?" Todd asked his son. "Your minute is like a bunch of little moments, and then the machine puts them all together to make your minute."

In some Buddhist traditions, it is said that a moment is measured as about 1/64th of a finger snap.

Speaking of moments, earlier this year I wrapped up a book I called A year in loving moments.

Each and every day for a year I wrote a love note to my better half. There are two copies of the book. One, this imperfect copy, belongs to me, and the other copy, still imperfect, but much better quality, belongs to Susan. Both I lovingly bound in red leather.

The experience of writing that book required that I spend many minutes each day describing, one, perhaps two, or three, moments of our love story. It's not something I recommend that anyone do; it can be stressful if you fall a couple of days behind or worse, if the moment of love you need to record, initially seems like it might be absent.

The amazing thing though, and the thing that makes me very grateful that I took the chance, and made it successfully through all 365 days, happens when I open the book on the current date and read what I wrote on this date in the past. It sometimes causes tears to well up.

The other amazing thing is that it shines a fascinating light on a whole year of our lives, unlike anything we have done before. A little like a microscope that allows us to peer intimately into time, our time, our moments in time.

Let's shift from the microscopic observation of time, to the way we all measure time. By "we all" I literally mean all of us on this planet. Yes, I realize that there are other ways to measure time without using clocks and watches. I'll come to that later in the narrative.

The vast majority of humans currently on the planet use clocks and watches to tell time. The fascinating thing is that the way we do it is a fairly recent thing.

That doesn't look like anything even remotely modern, does it? It's so old, from our perspective; the language we know is expressed oddly, strangely, and weirdly. Shakespeare wasn't even born. He would take his first breath 25 years later in 1564.

And yet, on the spectrum of humanity, 1539 is like barely yesterday, it's more like this morning, at 10:00 o'clock. The best way I have found, so far, to appreciate the way we measure the passage of time, is this amazing video on Rob's Rob Words Chanel:

Prior to clocks, we measured the passage of time for many thousands of years, from the ancient Egyptians all the way to medieval times, using sundials, hourglasses, marked candles, and water clocks.

Today most of us think we know that time and space unite in four dimensions linked by smooth continuity as opposed to a collection of discrete moments.

If we wish to schedule an event, like a party, we need four coordinates: three dimensions in space, and one dimension in time, somewhere in the future.

That is because we travel on Earth in a combination of three dimensions, and we only travel in time on a single, straight, forward continuum.

But think for a moment of observing events at a sub-atomic level, or think of observing Earth from the moon. Neither of those vantage points reveal the world as we see it daily, nor do they reveal the world seen by generations of our ancestors since the dawn of humanity 300,000 years ago. Nor do they reveal the phenomena we observe, like the cycle of the Earth and Moon in relation to the Sun and the stars, that yield our experience, our concept, of time, and provide the means to measure it.

Without the gift of Earth’s gravity (think of being an astronaut floating in zero gravity) where is up? Where is down?

Now you see where the four dimensions we are so fond of lose the relevance that we take for granted.

No need to freak out and start having nightmares though, because we are blessed to have a very small number of humans who call themselves quantum gravity physicists. If you wish to go beyond where I have taken you, so far, on this brief journey in time, fasten your seatbelt and watch this video where quantum physicist Carlo Rovelli provides the meaning of time in a scientific context, as it is currently understood.

Now it's my pleasure to introduce you to what we think we know about time and the universe, from the Big Bang to the present, and where humanity, and our ability to tell time, sits on that scale. Getting a grip on that kind of spectrum is best performed in an unconventional way.

I attempted to do it using Excel... and Adobe, and Word.

It turns out that creating a substantially accurate depiction of the history of the Earth in the Universe, and of man on Earth, is even more challenging than I had imagined. So I decided to simplify it to make it as easy as A, B, C, and D.

The first span of 50 cells with points A and B at each extremity is a span of 4.54 billion years. The second span of 50 cells with points C and D at its extremities is a span of only 300,000 years.

A is the Big Bang and the origin of Earth 4.54 billion years ago.

B is the span of humanity from the earliest human to today which is a span of 300,000 years and is equal to 0.0027076 of the width of the last cell.

C is the origin of man, 300,000 years ago.

D is 5,000 years ago when the ancient Egyptians began using sundials to tell time, which equals 0.8333333 of the width of the last cell, and we have been using clocks since 1300 A.D., or 0.1208333 of the width of the last cell.

I recommend watching this much more compelling rendering of that breathtaking span of time.

At the end of that amazing documentary, this thought is spoken as you gaze on the timeline of the universe brilliantly, yet simply, spread out in the Mojave desert:

“Every person you’ve ever heard of existed in this last centimetre of space. And your life would be less than the width of a hair. That is your life against the history of the universe. We are alive for the briefest moment, but that time is a gift from the universe. It’s a tiny moment, but what a moment. It makes you think about how you want to spend your own time.”

And now, in what is my present moment, as I finish writing this post, and for the time being, on December 22, 2025 A.D. at 8h37 a.m., that is the story of a very small portion of my tiny, minuscule, microscopic, sub-atomic place in the universe, and of my ephemeral presence in space, and time.

Bookbinding challenges - the cover

2025-11-26T11:46:00.000-05:00

To see this post on the site, go to https://life2wheels.com.

Making the cover is pretty straightforward.

Ok, well, that's not quite true. BUT, if you're here it's because a) you're up for a challenge, or b) you went to the trouble of printing, folding, sewing, and gluing a book, and now you really need a cover, or c) you just like imagining you could want to make a book cover.

One way or the other, you're here and you're following along, so I'll try not to disappoint.

First, you need a book that's actually ready for its cover. In particular the book's page edges must be trimmed to your liking, because once the cover's on, that trimming will become next to impossible. If you don't know what's involved, before going further down this rabbit hole, consider wandering over to these earlier posts, but to the very first one listed below, because that one is especially key to trimming:

I'll assume you're good to go!

Step one - measuring the book

As with every other aspect of bookbinding, precision is vital. Perfection is best, but relax, it's unachievable. Accept right now that there will be flaws, there always are. The key is to get the flaws to where you can embrace them amicably. If you can ever get them to where only you notice them, well that's basically what perfection is.

To measure anything in bookbinding you need a stainless steel ruler. Make sure that the ruler starts at its very edge. Here is what I mean:

It's almost impossible to get an accurate measurement with a ruler that doesn't start at the edge. You need a stainless steel ruler because most cutting and trimming happens with razor-sharp tools like Olfa cutters, skiving knives, and scalpels. Those will chew up the edge of rulers that are not made of stainless steel. Ideally the ruler won't have a cork backing. Cork backings can make the ruler more stable on a paper or cardboard surface, but it can also compromise accuracy.

All of which to say, now it's time to measure your book very carefully. I recommend getting used to measuring in metric (millimetres and centimetres), you'll thank me for that.

Step 2 - Choosing materials

You will need bookboard. It's not negotiable.

Bookboard is cardboard that has a single smooth layer, and often 3 mm thick works best.

If you aren't sure where to find it, Google it. You'll see that it's easy to purchase online.

Now we enter the scary part.

Step 3 - Precise cutting

It's really only scary if you can't bear getting it wrong.

You'll need that stainless steel ruler, and an Olfa cutter. That's what we also call a "box cutter", the one that has a razor-sharp blade that you can snap the edge off to get a fresh sharp edge. Make sure you have a bunch of spare blades, because you'll need them. Some needle-nose pliers are best for snapping those blades.

You are going to have to cut three pieces of bookboard: two identical pieces that will be the front and back covers, and one slimmer piece that will be the spine of the book.

Let's start with the front and back cover. When the cover is done, and aligned with the book, you'll probably want the covers to be 4 mm wider than the pages of the book along the top and bottom sides, and at the front side. Take a look at hardbound books you have. You should find roughly 4 mm overhangs on those 3 sides.

Here is how to get to the right cover dimensions.

Cut two rectangles of bookboard that are exactly the same width as the book, and that are the height of the book plus 8 mm. Once you've cut the front and back covers, sandwich the book between them and place the book spine-side-up on your work surface. You should see that you have a 4mm overlap at the top and bottom edges of the book, and a perfect fit from the spine to the front of the book. Measure the width of the spine plus only one thickness of bookboard. Now cut a piece of bookboard that is that width, and the exact height of the book plus 8 mm.

I know it's complicated as hell, but with a little luck you now have the three key ingredients for your book cover.

The final measurement step is to place the three pieces of cover on your work surface and leave a 9 mm gap on each side of the spine. Make sure that the front and back covers and spine are perfectly aligned along the top edge. Use a couple of strips of wash tape or masking tape to hold the pieces of the cover together in that way, with the 9 mm gaps (those are called "hinge gaps"). Carefully place the book into the cover. It will be quite loose. That's because no cover material has been applied. Check the overlaps: you should have roughly 4 mm overlaps on the top, side, and if you allow a 4 mm overlap on the front side, you will see that there is some play on the spine side.

Step 4 - gluing the bookboard to the cover material

Once you have selected your cover material such as a nice light and flexible leather, or bookcloth that is appropriate for the theme of the book, lay the cover material face down on the work surface, on top of a sheet of parchment or baking paper, and leave at least a 15 mm surplus of cover material on each of the outside edges, and glue each piece of the cover to the cover material making sure that the top edges are aligned and there is the 9 mm hinge gap between the spine and the front and back cover. Spread the glue everywhere on the surface of each piece of bookboard in a thin layer leaving no spots undone.

Once the cover bookboard is glued to the cover material, put the parchment paper to one side and trim the cover material along each side so that there is roughly a 15 mm overlap.

Now trim each of the four outside corners at a 45 degree angle leaving a slight gap between the corner of the bookboard and the diagonal trim. The slight gap is key to getting the cover material to wrap around and completely cover the corner.

Apply glue to the cover material and include the bookboard edges and fold the top edge onto the bookboard, using your bone folder to press the material flat and onto the edges of the bookboard, do the same for the bottom edge. Once that's done, do the same for the left and right side edges of the cover. As you make the final folds, make sure that the corners are nicely covered by the material.

The bad news is, that's a lot to process, and even more to do. The good news is that now you have a proper cover for your book.

Finally.

I know that it would be impossible for a novice to follow my advice and achieve a good cover. Fear not. Before attempting this task, watch this video.

It will all become crystal clear.

Rites, rituals, and atomic habits

2025-11-05T20:02:00.006-05:00

Clearly… ah, well… at least it's clear to me, I have James Clear to thank.

What a name!

It prompts thoughts of nominative determinism, a topic that, were I to return to university in search of a degree, would surely be the focus of my studies and the subject of my thesis.

Let's be clear though, James Clear's book Atomic Habits, is truly a potential life changer.

If there is anything you wish to accomplish, that is a significant challenge, that you feel might easily be out of reach, read Atomic Habits and turn the steps leading to the outcome you want into a series of habits.

Sounds like simplistic, oversimplified, and ultimately useless advice. Right?

That's because we mostly fail at creating new beneficial habits, like exercise, diet, reading, diligence...

That's how this book changes everything.

Simply put, James Clear shows how very small steps, what we often call baby steps, help to build the habits that will almost certainly guarantee success. This one sentence explanation doesn't even come close to James Clear's recipe for your success. It involves not baby steps, but steps so small and trivial that they might best be measured in atoms. Atomic habits!

I bought Atomic Habits in October 2020. It's been five years. I now have a number of habits inspired by James Clear.

For instance, almost a year after that book began to change my life, I started tracking my daily habits. 1,483 days later I do that daily. 202 days ago, my doctor said "if you don't lose weight, I'll prescribe medication because you are borderline pre-diabetic". So I started to diet. I have now lost 23 pounds and my self-imposed target is only 9 pounds down the road.

Like most humans, I still stray, fail to walk a perfect straight line. My straggles are scribbled, so I can't pretend I'm not sliding, when I am. My goal is five 5-10 kilometre bike rides a week. I come close to a perfect score sometimes, not that often, but 1,420 days of tracking later I have ridden 4,020 kilometres.

A little over a month ago, in early September, I considered for the first time that my weekday routines might well be my rites. That means I should perhaps see them as my rituals, similar to the ceremonial aspects of many religions.

I am not at all a religious person. I abandoned the religion I was born into when it became deeply inconsistent with my being. I am surrounded by loved ones who share that history. I believe, very deeply, that religion is often the realm of too simple answers to complex, sometimes unfathomable realities. Much as many religions may seek to promote love, kindness, honesty, and integrity, they, like me, tend to stray. All too often they inflict pain, suffering, and indignity on others, often upon those who are not considered to be in their fold.

My rituals begin with contemplation and brief meditation, followed by a series of slow gentle movements inspired by Tai Chi and the many phases of my life, from birth, infancy, childhood, learning, career steps, and ending in the present moment. Those steps morph into exercises designed by my physiotherapist Andrew Kim to maintain an acceptable level of fitness.

Speaking of straying, from the time I began writing this post until I posted it, I strayed. I am confident I will be back on track shortly.

I blame my family physician. I was planning to do a blood test to see where I stood health-wise but only once I had hit my self-imposed weight target. My doctor, pleased with my weight loss so far, insisted on doing the testing. A week later I had a call with the doctor who was amazed at the results, with certain problematic markers having plummeted. I mean that’s good news, but the good news makes it very tempting to stray…. so I have been straying. Fortunately there is one habit I won’t stray from, and that is tracking my weight daily. So I know I am straying and I know precisely what the impact is. And that habit is what will re-instate the others that lead to a healthier life.

Thank you James Clear!

It's time to revisit the time warp

2025-10-27T08:35:00.007-04:00

To see this post on the blog go to https://life2wheels.com

In this ephemeral moment the timeline flows like this...

1689 - The battle of the Lake of Two Mountains;

1925 - the monument is built;

1948 - Atmo Zakes is 9 years old, finding joy in Berlin during the Russian blockade, against all odds;

1974 - I set out on my Vélo Solex to explore Montreal's western shore;

1995 - Hilary Hedges and Atmo Zakes publish The Senneville Time Warp;

2011 - I stumble on the book while taking a spin in Senneville on my red Vespa. I share an exchange of emails between myself and Atmo Zakes;

2015 - I donate The Senneville Time Warp to the Beaconsfield Public Library before moving to Toronto;

2025 - Atmo Zakes reaches out and offers to send me The Senneville Time Warp once more. I accept her kind offer.

I am recording this because it inspires me when moments from the past reach out to me in the present. The moments are like threads that are woven by our actions and those of others who touch us, and become the fabric of our lives.

The moment when it happens feels very special to me.

This most recent moment, as I lay in bed, taking a last look at my emails before going to sleep, and seeing a message from Atmo, felt like a light that glowed. It's difficult to describe and to convey. In the moment I am unexpectedly touched, pleased, surprised, and grateful. Grateful for the things that I and others have done that coalesce in this special way. I feel the need to save the moment here, and to share it with you.

What makes these particular moments in time special, is the history, beginning with a horrific massacre in the distant past, whose memory sparked a series of events where people, touched by the history, find ways to deal with the horror. It often happens that artistry is woven into the fabric, in this case by Hilary Hedges and Atmo Zakes who create a book that imagines an indigenous child, Little Feather, and two white children, Christabel and Mark, who stumble into a time warp and become compassionate allies and friends, contributing to saving Little Feather from the massacre, thus adding a very human and caring narrative that lives, thanks to Jim Katz, in the precise place where the horror occurred. It is Jim who leaves The Senneville Time Warp at the foot of the monument where I, and others have found it. The pain of the horror likely motivates indigenous descendants of the victims of 1689, time after time, to remove the monument's bronze plaque that speaks of the horror. The book is a gesture that lives at the monument, a small compassionate step in a healing process.

Atmo shared similar feelings with me in an email after I first posted this story.

Here is what Atmo told me:

“Hello David

I just read your blog and enjoyed it a lot.

I call these moments magical and love them just as much as you do.

It is great fun to be a little part of yours now!

When they happen they make me feel very alive, part of a greater WHOLE in which I have a place and am an acting member.

Just now I am having a collection of these magical moments, that I wrote down over the years, edited by a friend and am thinking of posting them online. For that I need to learn how to make a website… which I find a huge challenge to do.

But just because I can, let me include here, one of these magical stories, to illustrate what I mean.

For clarity let me tell you that I was born in 1939 in Berlin Germany!

I also created a series of 21 paintings of my childhood in Berlin, that has been exhibited here in Québec and in Germany as well. You can see the paintings here in a video of an interview I gave to Denise Palisaitis:

This is one of my paintings (The Candy Bomber):

During the Russian blockade of 1948, the city was provided with food and supplies by the Berlin Airlift. Chocolate was not high on the list of goods for anyone… but us kids. We would wait for hours near the local landing strip for a piece of chocolate that might be dropped by a pilot from the open window of his cockpit. Many pilots dropped chocolates attached to tiny handkerchief parachutes. The children of Berlin were most thankful for these sweet, delightful moments of joy.

The magical story about the Candy Bomber Gail Halvorsen.
While I was painting the picture with the candy bomber I did a ”memory check”, to find out who it was, that created this kind tradition during the blockade of Berlin in 1948-49. It was the American colonel Gail Seymour Halvorsen who started this, when he was one of the many pilots that flew frequently to Berlin to provide the city with essential supplies. Children were always watching the planes landing. So he tied candies to a handkerchief parachute and dropped them out of his cabin window while landing at the Tempelhof airport, which was situated right in the middle of downtown Berlin. When they discovered he was dropping candy for them, they arrived in droves from all over town. He got permission from his superiors to continue to do this and to have other pilots participate too. It became a whole industry to make the parachutes with candy at home in the US and then fly them into Berlin.
This is how I also found out, that he was still alive! I was very happy, because it gave me a chance to thank him for his kindness and actions during the blockade. I wrote him an online note and was thrilled when I even got an answer! It was not from Mr. Halvorsen himself, but it was an acknowledgement from one of his many friends that he had gotten my message and was happy about it. He was not able to answer me personally, because he had Covid at the time. This again was pure magic, because not very long after that he passed away at the age of 101. What a rich life he had… a real inspiration."

Kilometrestones - Chapter 2

2025-10-14T23:52:00.004-04:00

My 2021 Brompton H6R: 4,000 kilometres To see this post on the blog go to https://life2wheels.com

I've been riding my Brompton for close to four-and-a-half years now.

Four-and-a-half years and 4,000 kilometres.

In reality it's been even more distance than that on the Brompton because I picked up the bike on March 12, 2021, but I didn't start logging the distance cycled until November of that year with hundreds of kilometres already pedalled. Some of that wandering happened as far afield as Vancouver, Montreal, and Ogunquit.

The four thousand kilometres I am celebrating here, with you, is the portion of that distance both travelled and recorded meticulously, thanks to an Excel spreadsheet that tracks my activities, and my trusty CatEye Quick odometer.

I’ll be the first to say that Bromptons are strange cycles.

The odd aspects begin most obviously with the small wheels, but on closer inspection, every other aspect of the bicycle is even stranger. The frame is odd, all low-to-the-ground and gracefully curved. The seat post stands out because it’s so darn long. The handle bars are shaped with their own weird curves, or not, depending on your choice. Then there’s the gearing. Six gears split between a rear derailleur and a rear hub transmission, and there are other gearing options as well. Oh, and I should wrap it up here, but wait… what two-wheel bicycle has six wheels???? My Brompton does.

But the best strange feature, by far, very, very far, is that the Brompton folds, and it folds in mere seconds!

All those weird aspects I mentioned, without exception, are carefully engineered to allow the Brompton to fold very efficiently.

Folded, Bromptons fit in an airplane’s overhead storage compartment; two Bromptons fit in the trunk of a Smart car; they fit in suitcases; under restaurant tables; in crowded subway trains and buses; two fit in a hallway closet without interfering with coats and jackets; Bromptons live happily in the trunk of any car or taxi…

The list goes on, but I’ll happily stop there.

The appropriate focus for the appreciation of any two-wheeler is, and ought to be, not its appearance, but how it rides.

As odd as the Brompton is in all elements of its being, almost none of all that strangeness translates into the ride.

The only exception worth mentioning is that it takes a couple of kilometres to adjust to what we’ll call its “twitchyness”. I got used to that very quickly, most likely because I had been riding a Vespa motor scooter for over ten years, and Vespas also have small wheels.

The very first time I rode a Brompton was at the dealer when I gave it a test ride. I didn’t really know what to expect. What a surprise that was!

All the Brompton’s strangeness completely disappears once you’re in the saddle because your experience is not what you can see, it’s what you feel. And what you feel is a bicycle. A perfectly normal bicycle.

I can’t blame you for doubting my assessment since you may think I’m biased.

If I have sparked a little curiosity, consider the Brompton cyclists who take their bikes on the road for incredible long-range expeditions, from England to Sweden; from London to Paris; from Amsterdam to Belgium, France, and Spain; through the Himalayas; throughout northern Japan; from Toronto to Montreal; from England to Poland; to South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore, and the list goes on, and on. The adventures are abundant, and well-documented on YouTube.

Search on Youtube for Susanna Thornton; the Brompton Traveler; la petite réinventerie; Lady Brompton; Rizal Sapi; and 2bikes4adventure. And that’s not all. There are many others for you to discover on your own.

All to say that 4,000 kilometres on a Brompton, seen here in that moment, is... really nothing.

Nothing... but the joy and true pleasure of life on two wheels.

Bookbinding challenges - End papers

2025-08-30T16:32:00.005-04:00

To see this post on the site, go to https://life2wheels.com.

I suppose it's fitting that the last purchase of needed supplies I finally made, after glue, sewing thread, beeswax, an awl, clamps, pressing boards, a homemade book press, brushes, a curved sewing needle, a skiving knife, book board, cover leather, book cloth, colour printed signatures, a sharpening stone, headbands, and bookmark ribbon, was end paper.

Trust me it wasn't deliberate for it to come last towards the end of the project. It's just semi-co-incidental, that's all.

End papers are important mostly because they are the key ingredient that attaches the book to its cover. If the cover were to fall off and get lost, how else would you judge the book?

If you have a hard cover book handy (any one will do) open the cover but turn no pages. What you see is the book's end paper. Typically it's quite a bit heavier than the pages of the book, and in the vast majority of bindings, it is content-free. By that I mean there is nothing written on the end paper (if there is something there, it's likely on the back end paper, and courtesy of a librarian). The only aesthetic aspect is usually its colour.

I was planning for something more interesting. The book and the title are printed in red ink, and there is a myriad of red hearts... in the title, and towards the bottom on every love note page. So of course I thought red or white end papers covered in contrasting red or white hearts... that would be nice, no? Ideally in Japanese paper?

Well both my wife and the Japanese took issue with those suggestions. Impossible for me to find genuine Japanese paper featuring hearts (cranes and flowers yes, hearts no), and my darling who is the inspiration for this book (and my life) suggested cream or ivory, not red.

Last Friday we finally paid a visit to the leading arts supply store in Toronto, Above Ground Art Supplies, appropriately located on McCaul Street south of the Art Gallery of Ontario, and in the imposing shadow of OCAD U, Canada's oldest, largest and leading art and design university, located in downtown Toronto since 1876.

I was leaning towards sturdy cream-coloured Canson 100 GSM paper from France, but Susan chose ivory Mingei Chiri Japanese paper instead:

A great choice. Japanese paper is among the very best in the world. Not only is it beautiful in appearance, it is also very robust, because it's made of strong Kozo fibre. That's the good news that makes it well suited to being end paper. The challenge I expected was the translucence of the paper.

I was confident that I could make it work, but I would have to run some tests.

[time passed]

I ran some tests and I feel that these end papers will work. I am hedging against possible failure by lining the cover with the same cream-coloured book cloth I used for the cover art.

The journey continues.

Kilometrestones - Chapter 1

2025-08-24T17:06:00.007-04:00

First up: Brooks B17 Special saddle after 900 kilometres. To see this post on the Blog go to https://life2wheels.com.

I bought this saddle in early September 2023. I love the way it looks on my bike, and that it matches the leather ergonomic handgrips. I had no illusions that comfort might be imminent when I installed the saddle.

Comfort is not the most important thing in the near term, but it is in the long term. There are perhaps hundreds of YouTube videos on the Brooks B17. The topic of comfort along with estimates of the time it takes to break in the saddle to reach that comfort zone, are constants in virtually all those posts.

I have to be honest, the discomfort of breaking in the B17 has been substantial. I started tracking the kilometres ridden on the saddle right from the start. There were a number of times that I considered going back to the Brompton stock saddle. The Brompton saddle was comfortable from day one. The Brooks was definitely not.

At this point, 722 days in from September 2nd, 2023, the first day I rode on the Brooks, I can't really perceive much, if any, change in the appearance of the saddle.

There is no doubt however that now that my butt has inflicted precisely 900 kilometres of punishment on the Brooks (as of August 23, 2025 at precisely 15h21 - I stopped when the odometer registered the 900th kilometre), I have progressed to a degree of comfort.

And what degree is that, you might ask?

Well, we're not talking the kind of eye-rolling, grin-inducing, deep-sighing comfort of plopping yourself down on a plush, soft, leather-upholstered, down-filled couch. After all, we're talking bicycle riding, not watching a sitcom.

I measure the comfort of my Brooks after 900 kilometres according to four scientific metrics:

Can I ride on old wrinkled pavement without lifting weight from the saddle?
Yes, now I can
Can I ride on a sidewalk and not wince at every joint in the concrete?
Yes, now I can
Can I do a 6 to 9 kilometre ride without lifting weight from the saddle periodically?
Yes, now I can
Can I do a 6-9 kilometre ride without thinking about my butt?
Yes, now I can

So there you have it. I am finally pleased with my Brooks B17 Special saddle, and no longer yearn for the Brompton stock saddle.

Now that I recorded this Brooks-ish kilometrestone, I felt entitled to take a break and admire the urban horizon within just a handful of feet from where I took a break in 2018 to take some moments of tranquility after my last Ontario Bar exam. This time I sat on the bench, mere steps from the where the Brompton hit the 900 saddle kilometres, and enjoyed a few sips of water. If you look carefully you can see my red water bottle between the bench slats.

Next up: My 2021 Brompton H6R: 4,000 kilometres

Bookbinding challenges - Folding

2025-07-31T18:31:00.001-04:00

Am I folding?

What a question! Have I ever folded?

I have never played poker, so there's that. I do help my better half fold sheets, so there's that. I don't think I have ever given up though. I admit I came close once or twice. But this, thank the powers that be, whoever they may be, is not about giving up.

For those who don't know, bookbinding involves a lot of folding!

The printer I am using offered not only to print the 24 signatures, but possibly to fold the signatures as well. To be honest I am a little conflicted. I want this ultimate version of the book to be as close to perfect as possible, and getting a nice almost perfect series of folds would be a step in the right direction. I also wanted to be 100% behind every step. Hence the conflict in my mind.

As I pondered, I decided.

I will not fold... well... what I mean is, I am persisting, not giving up... I will do the folding and you are joining me on this journey of twenty-four folds. All you need to do is read on.

The key to this journey is first to get your hands on the first signature. In this case it will be four sheets of letter-size paper (8 1/2" X 11").

As mentioned in the post on imposition, the page sequence is critically important. The first signature of the final version of my book looks like this in Excel:

The thick horizontal line represents the sheet of paper. The information above the thick horizontal line is what is printed on the top of the sheet of paper, and the information below the thick horizontal line is what is printed on the reverse of the sheet of paper. The numbers are simply the page numbers.

Make sure that the sheets are in the exact sequence shown above in the Excel plan. Carefully and gently fold the 4 sheets together and inward but without creating a crease. Then take a look at what sequence the pages will be in when you proceed to the final fold that will have the crease. If the sheets are in the correct sequence, with their tops up and facing you, you will see that the booklet is correct.

Now to complete the fold, bring the edges of the sheets together and make sure that they are perfectly aligned. I plan to use a square ruler to guide the pages. Once you feel that the alignment is as good as can be, run an index finger down the middle of the sheets to create the beginning of the crease. Once the crease begins, run your finger to the left and right to complete the crease.

Now use your bone folder to press down on the crease to make it as sharp as possible.

You will notice that the page edges are not perfectly aligned. Close maybe, but not perfect.

The good news is that while it is important to aim for perfection, there are later steps in the book binding process that allow perfect edges to emerge (see the post entitled Bookbinding challenges - Ploughing and sewing), and even shine (that is not a joke, I will show you shining page edges as part of the gilding process).

That's it for now. The next step in the process of building the book, once all the signatures are folded, is to pierce holes in the signatures and sew them all together. Lucky for you I already published a post on that, so if you don't already have a migraine you can continue the journey here: Bookbinding challenges - Building a piercing cradle.

There will be no more talk of folding in the face of challenges.

Bookbinding challenges - Imposition

2025-07-21T08:29:00.011-04:00

I have no intention of imposing anything on you, truly I don't. To see this post on the site, go to https://life2wheels.com.

If any challenge in the process of creating a really nice leather-bound book can be said to be imposing on the binder, imposition is likely to win the prize.

As I have mentioned in earlier bookbinding posts, the pages of every hard cover book are arranged in what Canadian binders often call signatures. Signatures are groups of four to perhaps seven sheets of paper, more properly called sections, and in ancient times, going back to the medieval era, were called quires, or later gatherings. "Gatherings". I rather prefer that, it sounds calm, kind, respectful, and quite appealing, at least to me, not something that should ever be imposed.

Most often, these gatherings have four sheets of paper. For the book I am binding, all the signatures in the final and hopefully best version will have four sheets of letter-sized 8 1/2" by 11" paper. Version two of the book had one five sheet signature that I placed in the centre. I did that to minimize blank sheets in the first and last signatures. That turned out to be one of my many mistakes, not to be repeated.

It starts out simple, but as you will see a little further along, in no time I had to resort to Excel to solve the puzzle.

The signature is formed by folding the four sheets of paper in half to form a booklet that is 8 1/2" tall and 5 1/2" wide. The result is that the booklet has sixteen pages. Each page is a quarter of each sheet, because two pages are printed on each side of a sheet of paper (4 X 4 = 16).

If you fold four sheets to make a booklet, then number the pages in large numbers in the middle of each page, the last page of the booklet will be 16. Now, separate the sheets and unfold them; examine the position and sequence of the page numbers on each sheet. You will be struck by how odd the sequence of pages is on the sheets.

Arranging all the pages of a book and printing them on both sides of sheets of paper in that precise sequence is what imposition is. It took my brain a while to wrap itself around the process.

If your bookbinding project involves pages without content, such as a lined journal, or sketch book, imposition is not really an issue. It's only necessary where there is actual content, such as a novel, or poems in a desired sequence. If your pages are numbered, that fact alone, as trivial as it seems, requires imposition in order to get the page sequence right.

Here is the good news, if you follow the following recommendations, imposition is actually a snap. Think of it as four pretty simple steps to success!

Step One

Take four sheets of the paper you are going to use, and fold them in half. Now what you have is the first signature and as mentioned earlier it has 16 pages. Grab a pencil or a pen, and get ready to number the pages. Let's assume you are binding a novel. Don't start with page one of the novel on the first page of the first signature. Here is a good sequence:

Blank page
Blank page
Copyright information
Blank page
Title page
Blank page
Page 1 of the novel
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 9
Page 10

I found out the hard way (experience is what you get when you are expecting something else) that those two first blank pages are important. They become very important when you add the heavy end pages in preparation for attaching the cover to the book. The end pages are typically coloured, sometimes marbled. Those end pages aren't part of the first and last signatures, they are glued to the first and last pages of the first and last signatures with a thin band of glue. That makes for a stiff relationship that makes turning the first page of the book block awkward. If the first and last pages are blank, it's of no consequence. So make sure the first and last pages of your book are blank.

Step Two

Once you're done with the first fake signature, fold another four pages and number the next sixteen pages. The second signature will start at page 11 (since page 10 was the last page of the first signature) and the last page of the second signature will be 26.

You now have that second signature of 16 pages. It turns out that all the remaining signatures (except the last one) will have exactly the same sequence of pages, and each page in the sequence of every signature will be exactly 16 pages ahead of the equivalent page in the previous signature. So the page in the third signature that is in the same sequence in the signature as page number 15 in the second signature, will be page 31 (15 + 16 = 31). That obviously lends itself to a simple Excel formula (= A1+16).

Step Three

So now you see the vital role that Excel plays in solving the imposition for your novel. It's as simple as this:

OK, just kidding. But actually it is simple, and it helps to see it in more detail.

Each numbered vertical bar represents a signature. Each sheet of paper is represented by a horizontal line. The numbers or other information above each horizontal line are pages on the front of the sheet, and the numbers or other information below each horizontal line are pages to print on the back or reverse of each sheet. All the page numbers in signatures 3, 4 and beyond are Excel formulas. For instance, the cell in the spreadsheet that shows page 28 in the third signature contains the following formula: =F92+16.

Step Four

This is the easiest thing of all. Copy the Excel cells that make up the fourth signature and simply paste them over and over again until you have all the pages you need for your novel. In the last signature, replace the formulas for the extra pages that won't have any content with "BLANK".

And there you have it, that's all that you need to know about one of the most challenging aspects of crafting your very own novel, book of poetry, or, in my case, 365 pages of love notes to my better half: the imposition.

Where do things stand now in my amazing project?

I am glad you asked.

Test version two of my book is finished.

It may look pretty good, but it has many flaws. The spine is too wide; the book is misaligned in the cover; the content is all black and white printed on cheap recycled printer paper; The pages where there were typos are marked up with corrections; the sewn binding could stand improvement; the end pages are just construction paper, not good enough; there aren't enough blank pages in the first and last signatures; the cover art needs to be mounted better, the final version will not have any gaps; the spine hubs are too thick...

The good news is that the pages are all in the correct sequence thanks to proper imposition, and there are some pages without flaws.

These days I am working on the final version. I am hoping that what I have learned in the first two trials will yield a nearly perfect gift for my darling. Today I hope to finish 5 or 6 fresh signatures in PDF format. I have already gotten to the 8th signature. I am so close to having 24 signatures ready to take to the printer.

Ed.: This afternoon, July 23, 2025, I walked the thumb drives with all 24 V3 signatures to The Printing House and discussed the printing with Corey Corbett the manager. We think that the print may be complete by the end of next week. It's tricky because usually the printer manages the imposition but in this case, as we have seen, the files I dropped off have the imposition done. We'll have a chat early next week to make sure everything makes sense. I can't wait to see the colour version on nice 80 lb paper. They call it "silk".

Bookbinding challenges - Taking stock of the first test

2025-07-11T16:44:00.001-04:00

What you are seeing here from left to right are...

a) a book cover theory laid out on paper;

b) the first complete test of 10 or eleven test signatures, folded, sewn, glued, and trimmed, with a first complete test leather cover, and with the book block cased into the cover; and

c) the complete test book block of 23 signatures with all the book's pages in the correct order, each signature folded, all signatures sewn, and a first coat of glue applied to the binding.

It's far from perfect, and it's even far from good.

What you can't really see is how much I have learned up to this point.

There are things I already knew before the first test, like how important precise measurements are, the importance of having the right materials, and the key role that skills play in achieving something that meets the objective of producing a really nice and valued leather-bound book.

Here is what I have learned so far, thanks to the first complete test, in no particular order:

The idea of having the book title printed on book cloth in a window on the front cover works nicely. The problem that you can see is that the front cover window is a sandwich of two cover boards and a sheet of book cloth. It's way too thick. Like twice too thick. I think I can reduce it to a single thickness, but that is going to require a separate test.
I suspected the test leather was too thick. It's just random leather from scraps I got at the local crafts shop. The leather I need to find is a nice red leather to match the ultimate design. I'll see if that will be available in a thinner lighter weight. If not, I think this thickness of leather will actually work. We'll see in the second test when the complete book is bound.
The end papers I used are just plain sheets of paper. I am kind of shocked at how well they did their job. What I learned is the role they play can't really be understood until you actually use them to secure the cover. It's the most important role that paper ends up playing in a properly bound leather covered book. To play that role properly, the paper needs to be thicker and stronger than the paper used to print the book. Ideally what may be best is a Japanese paper with a heart motif, in red. We'll see if that even exists.

Bookbinding challenges - Ploughing and sewing

2025-06-23T17:26:00.003-04:00

Hi there!

Bookbinding is actually very far removed from farming, even if the title of this post sounds like it might be about farming.

So why sewing?

To make a book you need many signatures, and no, I'm not talking about anything to do with petitions. I'll do a separate post on signatures since they have their own very exquisite complexities and can result in a lot of head-scratching. Suffice to say that a signature is a basically a booklet. In the case of my book, we're talking about four sheets of letter-size paper, 8 1/2" by 11", with two pages of the book printed on each side of each sheet, so four book pages on each sheet, resulting in each signature containing 16 pages of the eventual book. In the case of my book there are 22 four-sheet 16 page signatures, and one five-sheet 20 page signature.

To make each signature, once the four sheets are printed, they are folded in half, all together, so that they are nested. If the signature plan is right, and they were printed correctly, when you turn the pages of the first signature you will find pages 1 to 16 in the correct order. Once I did all the printing and folding (there will be a separate post just on the art of folding, amazing no?) I had the 23 signatures.

This is where the sewing comes in. Oh... right, did you punch holes in the signatures? Check out my post on hole punching if that's something you plan on doing.

A special kind of waxed thread is used to sew the signatures together. Depending on the technique you choose (there are many) you will need a weird curved needle, the waxed thread, a template and a piercing cradle to make sure that the holes all line up (see that post), and, in my case, I used a combination of French stitches and kettle stitches. I learned it all from this amazing YouTube post by Chanel of Bitter Melon Bindery.

Here's what I have. It's made up of my 23 signatures, printed on cheap paper with my Hewlett Packard black and white laser printer. I printed them to make sure they were right, and for proof-reading. As you can see, they have been sewed, and a layer of glue has been applied.

What you are seeing is kettle stitches at each end, and French stitches in the middle. It looks pretty good, but looks can be deceiving.

So why ploughing?

It's all about uneven edges.

With 23 signatures, even if the folding was meticulous, and the sewing was really, really good (this is only my second attempt, so no, it's not), inevitably the edges of the signatures don't line up as you see with even the cheapest paperback, or a commercial pamphlet.

The solution is simple.

Well, no it's not, at best it's simple-ish. Professional artisanal bookbinders use massive wooden ploughs with a kind of a special matched tool like a hand-held wood plane that runs back and forth across the edge of the book and trims the edges. Industrial outfits use massive hydraulic gillotines to do the job. So what the heck am I doing?

The key turns out to be a skiving knife

Since I'm only going to produce, at most, one or two books, it doesn't make sense to invest in a plough. An alternative approach is to use a sharp knife to trim the page edges. First you need a setup using a book press and some scrap book board. The trick is press the book once it has been sewn leaving the edge to be trimmed aligned with the edge of the press set up.

As with every aspect of this project, I am deeply aware that trial and error will be the key to eventual success. Another key ingredient is making do with homemade tools to the extent possible. The trick is to know where to draw the line. It is possible to be too cheap.

To figure out the do-it-yourself book press trimming method, I am learning from a master bookbinder's insightful course on edge trimming that he was kind and considerate to post on YouTube. If you are seriously considering binding a book, watch this video by DAS Bookbinding.

I live in a condo and my home office is my workshop. That means that I don't have the tools handy that my Dad had in this home wooodworking shop. For instance, the only grinder I have is my Dremel. That means that repurposing a wood chisel into a proper skiving knife by rounding the edge, is out of the question.

First I tried trimming with my scalpel - blade's too small and too short, and the edge is tapered on both sides of the blade. Then I tried, multiple times, with my box cutter. It kind of worked, and the trim was 'OK', but not good enough. These attempts were applied to my first 11 signature attempts, the experimental ones that taught me how to make proper signatures.

So I ordered a proper skiving knife from Lee Valley.

It is perfect, the edge is perfect, and it is beautifully Zen, with its plain wood handle, and a blade that came stunningly sharp. That it is made in Japan delighted me. I wasn't expecting that.

Why was I delighted, you ask. That's a good question. Allow me to digress a little.

The other day I was trimming bookboard with my scalpel. Depending on whether I am cutting with the grain or against it, and whether I am using a fresh blade, it takes me from 75 to 143 passes with the scalpel to complete the cut.

That takes concentration, and a lot of patience. Getting ready for our imminent trip to Japan, I bought an album of modern Zen Japanese music on iTunes. To complement the wonderful calming serene musical backdrop, I posted this image on my iPad, taken from a recent newspaper article on the best places to see in Japan, so I could contemplate the image while I took pass, after pass, after pass with my scalpel. Me being me, I counted my passes ("... 54, 55, 56, 57...").

I suspect you may feel that this a poor way to spend my precious time, but I assure you, it made me feel... very "Zen". When the cut completed and the board separated, and I saw that the edge was close to perfect, it was a source of deep satisfaction.

Practice makes perfect

That is so true.

This project of mine has two test books, and hopefully one final attempt that will be close enough to perfection. My fingers are tightly crossed.

Where do things stand?

As mentioned earlier, I have at present two test books.

The first test is truly trashy. It consists of the earliest signature tests, something like 10 or 11 signatures. As I worked on this initial test, I also started experimenting with covers. The cover and the book are closely related but in fact are completely separate until the very end.

The first test cover was just glued to the first book test, and the 'finished' book will sit in the book press overnight. I'll share that little saga in an upcoming post. For now all I can share is that it has a brown leather cover, with a 'window' on the front cover that reveals the cover art. It has many flaws. The good news, I think, is that I have learned a lot from the first test.

The second test will attempt to come much closer to the final product. At present that second test book has been folded, sewn and glued, that's all. The good news is that all the pages are right side up, and all in the right order, from the introduction to the conclusion.

Stay tuned. That's all for now.

Feel free to ask questions in the comments. I promise to do my best to answer them.

Bye for now.

Elbows up, Canada!

2025-04-21T07:26:00.007-04:00

I was twelve when Canada's Prime Minister Lester Pearson decided that it was time for Canada to celebrate its independence by adopting a national flag to replace the flag known as the Canadian Ensign. The former flag placed too much emphasis on Canada's imperial roots. I remember the summer of 1964 when versions of our new flag were circulating seeking public consensus.

Ultimately our simple red and white maple leaf flag won the day.

When I began riding Vespas I sewed a modest Canadian flag on each of my riding jackets. That was pretty much the first and only time in my life that I had a Canadian flag on anything I owned. I did that because when I rode in the US, which I did on multiple occasions, I wanted people to know I was a proud Canadian.

Canadians never flew their flag anywhere near as much as Americans flew theirs. Most Canadians felt, to be honest, that Americans were far, far, far too addicted to the Stars and Stripes.

All that said, if you look carefully, you will now see a Canadian flag on my Brompton.

There is one on the other side of the bike as well, and I have one on my helmet, and one on my helmet's winter shell.

I sewed one on the strap of my sling and there are now Canadian flags on our cars, one here...

...and one here as well...

... and we are also flying a Canadian flag on our balcony...

We are doing this because for the first time in our lifetime, Canada is under attack from the US. I never would have thought that would be possible. And yet that is what is happening. Our economy is being hammered by American tariffs, and as American democracy flails under a growing aggressive presidential dictatorship, our independence and our sovereignty are under attack by Americans, along with those of Panama and Greenland, all while an aggressive tariff war is being inflicted by Americans on the global economy.

We are now flying our flag not so much to make an impression on Americans, because that is pointless. We will never cross the border or buy American products so long as this insanity lasts. We are doing it to remind our fellow Canadians that we stand strong and defiant, because we cherish who we are as a nation.

Elbows up Canada!

Make sure your voice is heard by voting in the upcoming Federal election!

Riding into the past's present

2025-04-15T12:44:00.013-04:00

Cemeteries make some people cringe. I get it.

To me they are interesting, and a nice way to find valuable context.

On my Vespa I visited family members at the Mount Royal cemetery, back in Montreal.

Here in Toronto, my Vespa took me across Toronto to see the intimate connections of Toronto to Vimy Ridge, including majestic Vimy oak trees, and the resting place of Walter Allward, the man who gave the Vimy Memorial to France in honour of Canada's soldiers who fought and lost their lives in World War I.

Back in Montreal, in suburban Beaconsfield actually, my grandfather's resting place is in the Last Post Cemetery, one of the few military cemeteries in Canada. Georges Terroux fought in World War I. I would often ride my Vespa to visit his grave, and it was also within dog-walking distance from our home.

My Brompton, all by itself, doesn't get me too far from home, but we do have a cemetery within bicycle range. And that cemetery has its share of surprising wonders.

Among them:

a member of the Romanov family who escaped from the Bolshevik revolution, Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia;

THE Tim Horton (yes THE doughnut king!);

and yet another amazing individual you are about to meet.

Last year I found the princess and the king, but I couldn't manage to find the person whose resting place meant the most to me.

It's completely appropriate that her resting place eluded me.

Having lived an amazing and very public life, Barbara Frum is now very much sheltered and protected. It's as if she is wary of public life, in death, and seeks to avoid attention.

It's almost poetic.

To access her tomb, first you need to find it. It's not really visible the way most graves are. In the height of summer it all but disappears in the greenery. That's because it is a modest intimate gravel rectangle completely surrounded by hedges, with a single narrow gated stone passage on one end. The headstone is not in any way visible from outside the hedged enclosure.

Even in leafless early spring, it's still hard to find.

Once you do, you find the narrow passage through the hedge guarded by a massive cast-iron gate.

There is no catch, latch, or lock. All you need is a fairly hefty push to gradually open the gate and enter Barbara Frum's presence. A final obstacle is an unadorned grey stone high curb that makes you turn right as you enter the enclosure so that at first you face the hedge, instead of the headstone.

True to her spirit, Barbara Frum's gravesite lacks any trace of typical pomp and circumstance. Her tombstone is very bare and does its best to be inconspicous. It faces inwards, into the gravel-covered, hedge-surrounded space, doesn't face the enclosure entrance, and faces away from the cemetery's open spaces. Such humility is rarely seen in any cemetery.

Who is this Barbara Frum, you ask?

She was the soul of CBC's As it Happens. I have such fond memories of commuting in a car and listening to the most amazing news stories. Like when in the spring of 1977 there was a large hostage event in three office buildings in Washington D.C. Barbara Frum managed to have one of the hostage takers on the phone at the B'nai Brith offices, and was speaking with him. She asked the guy to hold the line, they had another person to speak to. On the other line she managed to get the Washington D.C. police chief. Have you spoken to the hostage takers, she asked. No, came the reply, we can't reach them, and we don't have time to talk to you, we have our hands full. I have them on the other line, Ms. Frum said. And that's when the negotiations began. It kind of left me speechless. No? This was not an isolated bombshell, Barbara Frum managed to do this kind of incredible in-depth reporting week in, and week out.

So here you now have a tiny slice of my present, and of Barbara Frum's present.

Finding it, and sharing it with you, was easy-ish, thanks to my trusty Brompton, presently the key ingredient in my life on two wheels.

Bookbinding challenges - Building a piercing cradle

2025-04-06T22:43:00.007-04:00

Bookbinding is a holy endeavour.

Relax! This has absolutely nothing to do with religion at all. Not even in any remote, metaphorical way.

I say it's "holy" because once you figure out the deeply strange domain of signatures (yes there will be episodes here devoted to the magic of signatures), the next thing you must do, if you plan to make your way to a beautiful leather-bound book with gilded pages, is to punch holes in the fold of the signatures.

The thing is, of course, that the holes can't be just anywhere, ideally, they must be right in the middle of the fold crease. In addition, the position of the holes should be identical in each signature.

As I experimented with signatures, I applied what I learned from Chanel of Bitter Melon Bindery. If you tend to be nervous or anxious, even if you have no interest whatsoever in bookbinding, check out Chanel's channel (odd, I just saw that - Chanel channel). Chanel is an expert bookbinder, and also a wonderfully calming person.

I learned everything I thought I needed to know from Chanel about hole punching. Following Chanel's lesson, I made a piercing guide, and bought an awl.

I figured I was set. So I punched holes in all my test signatures as they were printed, folded, and proofread.

Then a couple of weeks ago I looked closely at my draft signatures, and saw that my holes weren't as aligned as they ought to be.

Fortunately, Dennis of Four Keys Book Arts, another very gifted bookbinder, taught me I would be well served if I had a piercing cradle. Click here to watch the lesson I learned.

Following his guidance in his YouTube video, and only using the materials I had available, I was able to craft my own piercing cradle. Since the materials I had couldn't exactly match Dennis' measurements, first I made a test model from a sheet of paper.

Since that worked, I proceeded to make an actual piercing cradle from the book board I had and some scrap leather.

My piercing cradle will absolutely essential once I print the final version of the twenty-three signatures that make up the book I am making in their proper format, on really nice paper, in colour.

There will be no room for errors.

Using the piercing cradle, the holes I punched are now quite nicely aligned.

Bookbinding challenges - beginnings

2025-04-04T08:54:00.004-04:00

Bookbinding is a hobby that has appealed to me for quite a while.

It began when I chose my career.

No, wait...

as I reflect on this, it truly started with books.

The earliest book I loved was a hardcover early 1941 edition of Curious George. I must have gotten it as a gift from my mother when I was three or four, so 1955 or 1956. I still have that book, it's in my library, quite beaten up, with love.

The iconic book jacket is long gone.

Books, books, books.

School meant more books. By the time I was done with school, books had literally framed my life. I once told my nephews when the eldest told me he was in grade three, that I was in grade 22. Their look of shock and disbelief was cute.

Early in my career as a lawyer, I started collecting leather-bound classics. As time passed, I received more leather-bound books as gifts.

Later still, I was responsible for selecting gifts to honour a prominent CEO on his retirement. One of the gifts was a custom-made, small, leather-bound book, in a custom case, that told the story behind another gift, a perfect reproduction of an iconic item from the company's historical collection from its private museum.

The process of creating that book introduced me to the brilliant bookbinder who made it. She was from Paris, and ran a bookbinding craft shop in Montreal where she and her colleagues also taught bookbinding.

A few years later I was working at another company that freed up a little time. I decided to take a bookbinding course taught by that very talented bookbinder. Among her skills was restoring medieval manuscripts. Wow.

Binding a custom-made book is a curious recipe combining paper, folding paper, measuring precisely, cutting exact shapes, sewing French stitches, and kettle stitches, practical geometry, a surprisingly complicated series of mathematical formulas required to achieve what is referred to as the imposition of pages and sheets to form signatures, and lots of sticky messy glue.

Finally, I am in the midst of actually creating my very first book from scratch.

I am lucky to be doing that now, because YouTube is a stage on which very talented bookbinders teach the intricacies of the craft.

I still have the tools I purchased when I took that bookbinding course (a steel ruler, a scalpel, two dividers, and a cutting mat). I recently added a bookbinding needle, waxed thread, special glue, brushes and a few other tools. I have also made some necessary tools (a book press and a hole punching guide) and I am now in the midst of making a piercing cradle. Oh... there's software too!

There is a lot I want to share on this journey of discovery, so that means that this is the first in a series of posts I plan to share. I may even decide to make a video or two. Time will tell.

I suppose that technically, this whole process is the polar opposite of Life on two wheels. This is not careening on a spontaneous journey on the spur of the moment. This is definitely slow and steady. It's not even life on four wheels. It's deep and thoughtful life, at a desk.

Who knows... if you are here, bookbinding may be in your future too.

I am honoured, truly!

2025-04-03T17:30:00.005-04:00

I recently received news from Anuj Agarwal of Feedspot that this blog had been rated in the top 100 moto blogs.

“I would like to personally congratulate you as your blog Life on two wheels has been selected by our panelist as one of the on the web. This is the most comprehensive list of Top 100 Motorcycle Blogs on the internet and I'm honored to have you as part of this!”

I can't begin to say how much I appreciate the recognition. It means a lot to me.

Thank you Anuj.

Back to 'normal'?

2025-04-03T10:52:00.003-04:00

On Tuesday, April 1, 2025, ironically April Fools Day, I declared myself 100% recovered from my stupid overworking of my right leg on a morning ride on Tuesday, August 29, 2023. That the issue started and came to an end on Tuesdays, is just a silly coincidence that I discovered just now as I was punching the dates into my trusty date calculator. 581 days is a long painful time.

Well it's behind me now, and I feel blessed.

I am gradually getting back to my weekday routine. ~35 minutes of exercises (before the misery it was only 17 minutes, but the recovery path involved more exercise), followed by a bike ride.

I have taken my bike out each of the last three mornings.

I love to ride. That's why I live my life on two wheels.

This morning I was blessed with fog.

Out of the blue, a star?

2025-03-22T17:05:00.017-04:00

I discovered jazz when I was, I'm guessing now, eleven or twelve years old.

There was a show on CBC television that played Dave Brubeck's Take Five as its theme. I knew instantly in that moment, in spite of my youth, that I was listening to something very different and it resonated with me. Wikipedia says that Take Five is the biggest-selling jazz song of all time and a Grammy Hall of Fame inductee.

Going back to the dawn of smartphones, I have listened to two jazz radio stations pretty much all the time thanks to the magic of streams. The station I listen to most of the time is Toronto-based JazzFM91. The other station is Paris-based TSF Jazz. Their streams are stored in the Apple Music app on my iMac and my system is set up so that I can fill our home, room by room, with the jazz those stations offer with a trackpad click or two. Thanks to the stream aggregator TuneIn, Siri brings me the stream instantly when I say "Siri, play JazzFM on Apple Music".

Jazz helps me focus. Whether it was when I was still riding a Vespa and I streamed those stations into my helmet over bluetooth, driving the car and listening on-air, riding my Brompton as jazz streams into my AirPods, or sitting at my desk deep into some variety of a legal issue or into hobby time.

In the case of JazzFm, the station is "listener-supported". The only way the station and its amazing crew can continue to bring jazz into their listeners' lives, is with the donations it receives from its listeners, myself included.

As wonderful as jazz is, and in spite of the benefits to its devotees in terms of providing a creative soundtrack for our lives, it is not nearly popular enough to generate the advertising revenues that would allow the station to thrive without donor support.

A couple of months ago, the station reached out to me offering Susan and I a guided tour of the station's studio. How could we pass that up?

I wasn't expecting much, to be honest.

It turned out to be as expected, meeting the staff and crew in their work space... BUT, it exceeded my expectations in many ways.

First and foremost, the warmth, generosity, and welcome that greeted us as we intruded in the middle of a work day, was extremely touching. And not just from the station's listener-facing staff, but from the technical personnel and the legendary on-air host Brad Barker, even as we listeners invaded his studio with its complex of networked equipment with a myriad glowing lights and hundreds of buttons and sliders.

Brad Barker

Talk about bulls in a china shop!!

As special and fascinating as the tour was, offering us a deep dive into the exquisite complexity of radio broadcasting in the 21st century, it also reminded us of the amazing commitment of the station to the community, and particularly its contributions supporting the jazz artists making a living in the medium, as well as the students at the most important music faculties in the local universities who know they can look to JazzFM for expert support as they take on the many challenges of launching a demanding career in entertainment.

But there was one stunning moment that I could never have anticipated.

We crowded into a small production studio that is used, among other things, for one-on-one in-studio interviews. As the producer explained the recording equipment spread out in a semi circle on his desk, he invited one of us to approach the microphone and speak their name when prompted.

Well... the space was cramped, and guess what? Susan happened to be right in front of the microphone. Never, never, ever, would Susan have volunteered to speak into a studio microphone. But what could she do... Susan was the only visitor in a position to meet the request.

She leaned into the microphone, and when prompted, simply said her name. She said it as you might imagine she might. Not by any means even close to the tone and assurance of a seasoned broadcast personality, but much more like a reluctant volunteer, with a touch of reticence, tempered by a strong dose of humility.

And that is when the incredible completely unexpected magic happened.

OMG I married a budding broadcast star!!

Happiness is... simple?

2025-03-22T15:51:00.002-04:00

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...

2024-11-04T12:54:00.004-05:00

... 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

2024-11-01T10:53:00.003-04:00

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

2024-10-15T17:21:00.002-04:00

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

2024-09-30T13:10:00.005-04:00

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

2024-09-08T14:15:00.004-04:00

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

2024-08-12T16:14:00.006-04:00

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:

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

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.

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.

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)

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".

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.

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.

Follow the path that leads to fulfilling your potential.

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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?