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DIY Novonappa Leather Belt for JB – Hand-stitched with Saddle Stitch
Even though JB doesn’t need a Novonappa belt at all, I showed him the Novonappa straps sold by my usual leather supplier, 3Q Leather, and convinced him it was a good idea. I love making belts because it lets me sew several meters, and I love sewing. After this project, I realize that sewing straight isn’t as exciting as I thought, haha. The first thing to choose is the buckle. This buckle is called a ‘stirrup buckle’ and is a must-have accessory for horse riding enthusiasts. The reason I chose it is its simplicity. With this buckle, I’ll have less work and one big hole less. I also go for…
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Visiting the Acropolis of Athens, Parthenon & Shopping (Greece)
After about ten days in Istanbul, here we are in Greece for the first time! Part 1: Travel JournalPart 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Journal Oddly enough, we took a long time to visit some European countries. Since it’s close to France, there’s the “we can go later” side. That’s why a destination as popular as Athens has remained unknown to us after almost 8 years of traveling the world. This is the first time we’ve set foot on Greek soil. We were told to come to Greece with a lot of imagination because the archaeological sites aren’t as well preserved as in Italy. And indeed, they are less…
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Luxury at Its Finest: Understanding Cashmere and Silk
The world of luxury natural fibers is fascinating, and I have a soft spot for two of them: cashmere and silk. I’ve been using them for a very long time. During a shopping trip with a friend, she asked me why I was splurging on the best materials and quality. I hope this article will answer those questions. Why opt for 100% natural wool? First, let’s talk about the benefits of pure wool. There are many synthetic products that imitate wool, but I absolutely want to use pure wool because wool fibers have an outer layer made of tiny overlapping scales that are hydrophobic (tending to repel water). The inside…
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How to Translate or Summarize a Book with Claude AI and Its Anthropic API
A few months ago, I started translating a Chinese book using the OpenAI API, I talked about it here. Upon reviewing the translation, I noticed a few errors. Since the model I used at the time wasn’t precise enough, I tested the latest models from ChatGPT, ClaudeAI, and their corresponding APIs. Book Translation ChatGPT 4 and ClaudeAI Sonnet now offer high-quality translations, but the responses are always very short, and for an entire book, I need many “next” prompts to finish a chapter. So I preferred to go through the API. I had to split the text into chunks of 3000 Chinese characters at a time, to get responses under…
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My Current Favorites – [November 2024]: Books and Biographies of Paulo Coelho
You know I’ve been collecting limited edition books for a while now (2 years) and I have a modest collection of letterpress printed books from various fine press publishers (Suntup Press, The Limited Editions Club, Imprimerie Nationale). Like all collectors, I always keep an eye on upcoming books from a dozen or so publishers (fine presses) and this time, my heart skipped a beat when I saw that Lyra’s Books was releasing the first bibliophile edition of “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho. It’s a book I’ve loved, so much so that I wrote a detailed review but I wasn’t sure about paying 175 pounds + 55 pounds for shipping, which…
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Istanbul (Turkey) in 2024: the Grand Bazaar & the Tiphane neighborhood
Novotel Bosphorus After a few days spent on the “Blue Mosque” side, we cross the bridge and spend a few days in the Tiphane neighborhood, which we know well because every time we go to Istanbul, we rent an Airbnb within 15 minutes max of this neighborhood. Since we’re only staying for a few days this time, JB books the Novotel Bosphorus for us (Booking link). First because we have Accor miles, but also because JB is still Gold and we might get an upgrade, and because the hotel has a very nice spa. We hesitated between Novotel and Marriott (JB still has his miles with American Express), but Marriott…
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Career story time: What my managers taught me
I’m currently volunteering to translate a book about the I Ching (I mentioned here). This ancient Chinese book believes that all life situations can be summarized into 64 hexagrams. Each hexagram has 6 lines, either yin or yang, and depending on their placement and nature, there are 6 personality types in a given situation. Many examples are set in the corporate world, which reminded me of my time as an employee, navigating my career in a fog and learning the political game at work. Let me share a few stories here. When I was in high school in France, I was very close to a girl whose father is the…
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[Reflection] #16 Meditation, yoga… watch out!!
In 2022, I catch up with a friend who practices kundalini yoga, and I’m surprised to see she’s getting weaker by the day, even though she does yoga three times a week. She tells me that kundalini yoga has been making her vomit lately. A few months later, she tells me she has to go to the hospital regularly for dialysis sessions and is waiting for a transplant. Since then, whenever I come across info about yoga and/or meditation, I pay a bit more attention and I ask spiritual masters questions whenever I meet them (I call them “master” to show their level, but they have few or no disciples).…
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Istanbul (Turkey) in 2024: a lost paradise
Our return to Istanbul in 2024 only confirms one thing: the Istanbul we loved no longer exists… Part 1: Travel JournalPart 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Journal We have a Franco-Turkish friend who owns an apartment in Istanbul and goes there often. We get news about Istanbul, one of our favorite cities, through him. During our stay in 2023, we already sensed a certain unease among the locals, but K. tells me it has gotten worse. He shares some prices from the Asian side: over 20 euros for a breakfast we used to pay barely 7 euros for 5 years ago. JB has had a toothache for a few…
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Back to Sofia (Bulgaria) in 2024
After almost a year of moving around and going out non-stop, we feel the need to settle down somewhere and be quiet for a month. We remembered Sofia, which we really liked, and decided to return there in October 2024. Part 1: Travel JournalPart 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Journal If you’d like to read a more touristy travel diary with things to see in Sofia and around Sofia, read this one instead. The only affordable direct flight between Paris and Sofia is Wizzair, departing from Beauvais. It was exactly 3 hours late, but we can’t claim the legal compensation because the airline says the delay was caused by…
