“You only learn who has been swimming naked when the tide goes out.” — Warren Buffett, Letter To the Shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (February 2008)
Missed Call Popularity
It is the story of a man whose self-worth is set by the number blinking on the answering machine.
Like a lot of technology of the late 20th century, having the latest and greatest was a status symbol. Then they got cheap before being integrated away in a digital world.
At the time of this story, the latest and greatest are tapeless, and instead of having to count the number of flashes, there is a counter telling you how many messages are waiting for you.
It sits under the wall-phone next to a black notebook-sized address book on a hand-carved round Moroccan mango wood side table. It is visible from the front door.
Nothing really happens. He comes home alone. The LED number display says one message. He has an existential moment then goes to bed. I guess you could call it post-modernist.
It is not uninteresting. You learn how every detail is carefully crafted.
The table is a souvenir from the trip to visit his grandfather’s grave, the person he is named after. It comes with stories about the trip to the Settat (a small city to the south of Casablanca), his needing the watchman to help him decipher the graveyard’s gravestones, and the negotiation for the table in the kasbah.
The address book’s size conveys that he knows a lot of people. Every page has at least a few entries, even if some numbers, like Xavier’s (five years for possession with intent), are no longer in service. The UV and XYZ groupings had made it easier.
The single message on the machine is a non-message. When bringing someone home, depending on the vibe, he chooses between complaining about people who don’t leave a message or explaining that his mother does not trust machines.
He laments the importance he attaches to the lonely number and brings out the silver-lining; Tomorrow he will not have to call home from the office.
Quote of the Day
“One can look into the future, or one can look at the future. The latter is by far the more instructive.” — R. Scott Bakker, The Warrior-Prophet
Quote of the Day
“A lot of my life has been learning what I’m not.” — Lewis H. Lapham, The Art of Editing No. 4, The Paris Review (Summer 2019)
Grand Siècle – Charles Le Brun
Charles Le Brun by C215. Le Grand Siècle du Marais.
Charles Le Brun was a French decorator and painter who was ennobled as the First Painter of the King. He was twice commissioned (1647, 1651) to paint a May for the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral and decorated the Palace of Versailles, notably the Hall of Mirrors.
September 18, 2019
1a quai aux Fleurs,
4th Arrondissement,
Paris, France
Quote of the Day
“The past is never where you think you left it.” — Katherine Anne Porter, Ship of Fools
Quote of the Day
“Half the difficulties of man, half the uncertainties, lie in his desire to answer every question with Yes or No. Yes or No may neither of them be the answer; each side may have in it some Yes and some No.” — W. Somerset Maugham, A Writers Notebook
Quote of the Day
“The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.” — William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice
Grand Siècle – François Couperin
François Couperin by C215. Le Grand Siècle du Marais.
François Couperin, also known as Couperin the Great, was a French composer, organist and harpsichordist from a musically talented family. He was the resident organist of the Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais church before becoming Louis XIV‘s official organist and harpsichordist.
September 18, 2019
25 rue du Pont Louis-Philippe,
4th Arrondissement,
Paris, France
Quote of the Day
“Well here we are, Mr. Pilgrim, trapped in the amber of the moment. There is no why.” — Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Slaughterhouse-Five
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