A little about me

I was asked to write a little about myself. A few of you messaged me, asking whether I actually met President Putin and Prime Minister Modi. No, I met neither of them. I work full-time as a hospitalist in Texas. So, understandably, I don’t have time for them.

I, of course, do mix fact with fiction in my writing. My description of Prime Minister Modi’s residence is factual, based on a Google search. I picked masala dosa as my favorite Indian dish to imply that the Prime Minister and I were very close. Masala dosa is mainly a breakfast dish but he prepared it for my dinner (based on our long and close engagement). He knows me very well. He even calls me Q in private.

One might conclude that those stories are fish tales. But, unlike Governor Tim Walz, I, hopefully, won’t get into trouble because I have no plan to run for public office. Lying is a sin, I told my daughters, Olympia, Sophia, and Helena. All of them are real, by the way. But of course, I do not lie since I am a writer. I use poetic license.

I don’t have a Louis Vuitton Supreme X Leather Bomber Varsity Jacket Monogram Ltd Ed, cost over $25000, tax included. I did a quick online search for an expensive jacket to contrast my narcissistic behavior to the humble act of St. Martin.

Emotional memory

How do I decide what to write? Not really sure. I think I write in response to things that I observe around me.

The article on inflation is based on my frequent trips to Target stores. I do have a lot of Charmin toilet paper at home.

The article on the art of sharing was prompted by recent news about the two Koreas. I did read about the scheduled demolition of the Monkey House on the Wall Street Journal a couple of weeks ago. I knew about the Statue of Peace previously. So, I thought about pairing them together, in an article. What I did not mention in the article is that South Korea already sent pilots to Romania to fly those F-16 (according to some reports). Hypocrisy does trigger me.

I am a firm believer in the concept of emotional memory, which is the ability to remember events that evoked strong emotions. It's characterized by more vivid and detailed recollections than neutral circumstances. So, I tend to insert myself into historical stories. I was there on St. Helena Island, on May 5, 1821, when Emperor Napoleon took his last breath. I held his hand and looked in his eye, trying to decipher his shivering lips. He was too weak to voice any words. He might have been the first person to tell me that losing is the only way to become a war criminal.

So, emotional memory can enhance my long-term memory. I can recall and decipher thousands of paintings, for example. However, it does have its downside. For instance, negative emotional memories can become intrusive and distressing. Images of current wars brought back memory of my time in the refugee camp in Palawan, Philippines.

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Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi, pointing to her children as her treasures, Angelica Kauffmann, 1785 (Richmond Museum of Fine Arts, VA, USA).

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I like to take leave of you with the above picture. I think of it whenever I see someone showing their expensive things, such as a Louis Vuitton Supreme X Leather Bomber Varsity Jacket Monogram Ltd Ed.

The woman in white dress is Cornelia. She had twelve children, but only three survived childhoods. She entertains a lady friend at her home. Her friend shows Cornelia a jewelry collection.

“Do you have any favorite pieces of ornaments?”

Pointing at her two sons and holding her daughter, Cornelia replies, “My children are my ornaments and my treasures.”

Her sons are the famous Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus.

Her daughter is Sempronia who married Cornelia’s cousin, Scipio Aemilianus (185–129 BC), a famous Roman general.

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Thank you for reading. Please subscribe and share my post, if you find this article informative. I have decided to dedicate a portion of my time and energy to writing on this substack, hoping to spread the message of caution, prudence, and watchfulness in this chaotic period. We do the part that we can.