Daylight Edition

8 March 2026

I did not remember to move the clocks last night, but I have enough computerized devices telling me the correct time so it did not matter that much. The province of British Columbia has decided this will be the last time we are doing that. I have heard of studies of how shifting the clock an hour results in more or less car accidents depending on the direction. They were going to wait for the western States to get ready, but I guess they’ve decided it’s not worth the wait anymore. I have never really understood the point of daylight savings time and don’t really care about it one way or another. Do you have any opinion on it?

Monday

It can probably be reasonably argued that romances create unrealistic expectations for relationships, but I must admit that I find Bridgerton irresistible, at least in part for its colour blind portrayal of relationships. That is to say, the characters do not seem to be affected by skin colour, though the creators of the show are clearly making a statement about introducing this diversity into the Regency era. This season in particular, having an East Asian character as a lead is still rare enough to feel significant to me and the actress Yerin Ha seems to be particularly delightful.

Tuesday

I had not heard of Deborah Levy before, but The Position of Spoons was recommended to me by a friend whose taste I respect. I enjoyed the feel of these random collections of thoughts on various subjects, some serious and others more light-hearted.

Wednesday

When I was doing science, I would try to remember what the famous physicist Richard Feynman said, “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool.” Self-awareness is tricky. Philosopher Bertrand Russell supposedly said, “The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.” I’m not sure if this is true, or how to remedy, if it is.

Thursday

Since I suppose I am mostly a visual person, I enjoy the flowers in bloom, and maybe don’t think about all the pollen making my eyes itchy and nose plugged. Those are not as bad as having to deal with taxes, even though I only have to do the smallest amount before handing it off to our accountant.

Friday

Being left-handed, with a left-handed daughter, I was intrigued by the title. I don’t know if the title is the same in Chinese. This story is set in Taiwan with a mother and two daughters struggling to make ends meet. Even though my comic focuses on the left-handed theme, it is about much more than that with a mix of feelings throughout.

Saturday

Through the wonders of social media, I came across this performance of Berghain at the BRIT Awards in my feed. I had not heard of Rosalia before, and I don’t know what the song is about, but I was mesmerized. From what I can gather, her album Lux, features songs inspired by the lives of mystical saints in thirteen different languages. I haven’t heard the other songs yet, but I am intrigued by her vision.

Sunday

Here is another instalment of my graphic memoir in progress Not Made in Japan about my life at the Amakusa Marine Biological Laboratory (AMBL) of Kyushu University on an island in southern Japan during the late 1980s when I was in my twenties. It did not often get below 0C there, but if you don’t have heat, it can feel chilly. I think the heaters ran on oil or kerosene. I don’t know if they were actually made to cook things on, but the tops were very hot. Sometimes I felt like I was a hobo standing by an oil drum fire during the Depression.

So that was my week. I hope you had a good one with a better one to come.