Author: antonioyrocinante

Benito Jerónimo Feijoo, Cartas eruditas y curiosas, a book review (my first!)

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David Gies is an authority in 18th C Spanish Literature, an eminence, arguably the doyen of the field. He was professor at UVA for decades, he founded Dieciocho, the leading academic journal of 18th C Spanish Literature, he was my Dissertation Director’s Dissertation Director, and he is a great, funny, brilliant fellow!

When David Gies asks you to do a book review for Dieciocho, you drop whatever academic project you were working on and you read-and then write-that book review (even if the book has 700 pages).

Benito Jerónimo Feijoo is probably the most important Spanish writer of whom you have never heard of. Starting in the early 18th Century and for the rest of it, Feijoo was the first to break down many of Spain’s dark superstitions, he was the first to write about science and medicine, about all sorts of topics. These essays were published in a collection called the Teatro Crítico Universal and later the Cartas eruditas y curiosas. Feijoo is considered the Spanish Montaigne.

Of course I had read Feijoo for my doctorate, and I enjoyed it, but it was great to revisit his work. Feijoo writes clearly, to the point, and occasionally with humor. More importantly, it is fascinating to understand how revolutionary and groundbreaking Feijoo’s writing was in traditional, conservative 18th C. Spain. In fact, the Inquisition had its eye set of this Benedictine monk, so much so that King Fernando VI had to issue a letter protecting him.

Feijoo has some similarity to my main research interest Francisco de Isla, in that they were both pre ilustrados, advancing and preparing for the Enlightenment to arrive in Spain later in the century.

While I have written many book reviews for this blog, it is not the same as having them published in a leading academic journal…

This was a great project to work on and you can read it here. Hope you like it, let me know in the comments!

Solvitur ambulando; figure it out while walking

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Recently, I had some technical issues to figure out at work, and I was struggling to find a solution. I took advantage of a day off during Fall break to go on a long walk, and voilà! the solution to all the little issues that had been bugging me, magically appeared in my mind. Coincidence? Of course not, walking in nature gives you the clarity you need to figure things out!

Although walking in Florida is not a lot of fun, it is flat, straight, and boring, the odd alligator, or other critters can add some excitement to an otherwise dreary walk. I am lucky to live a few miles from a massive park, the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, so a few times a year I manage to escape for a nice long walk.

For years I have written about walking to connect with nature, to clear your head and/or your spirit, but also to get inspiration and to solve problems. This is not new; I am not that original. In fact, the solvitur ambulando quote which roughly translates to “it is solved by walking”. is attributed to St. Augustine, so the early 400s.

But even before St. Augustine, Spanish (but Roman) philosopher Seneca said the same thing:

“We should take wandering outdoor walks, so that the mind might be nourished and refreshed by the open air and deep breathing.”  Seneca

So, if you are stuck with a problem, go for a walk. You are welcome.

The Guadarrama mountains, la Sierra Madrileña and a great new bar: La Gamberra

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About an hour’s drive North of Madrid are the Guadarrama mountains. I have talked about them often, but never quite dedicated a blog to it -and this is not it. But a recent outing prompted me to write this.

Of course, the main reason to visit the mountains is nature and nature sports: hiking, cycling, or skiing (sorry, camping is forbidden except in designated campgrounds). But there are also great villages and buildings, like El Escorial (read about that here) or El Paular monastery (click here for more).

Spending my Summers there since my youth, we would, of course, take advantage of all the natural resources, but we also wanted to find places to hang out and party.

My cousin Quique recently opened a bar, La Gamberra, in nearby Alpedrete. My sister and I were invited to the opening night. We had a blast! La Gamberra has a simple but delicious, straightforward menu with a heavy beach vibe -lots of fresh seafood[1]! Obviously, a full bar, this is Spain after all, a huge “terraza” outdoor seating, “Beer garden” style, and best of all awesome great live music, most nights. They also have a prix fixe lunch menu for weekday lunches based on homemade traditional stews. The mood was enjoyable! Laid back, with the live music playing, people spending time together, having fun. If you are in the area and looking for a place to eat or to have a fun drink and enjoy some live music, I could not recommend this place enough!

[1] Remember that Madrid has the second biggest seafood market in the world after Tokio, despite being over 200 miles away from the nearest ocean.

Magic in the Magic Kingdom, revisiting Disney World

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When you finally convince your girlfriend to visit you after four years working abroad and her only condition is that you go to Disney World? You arrange it.

We had a great time. I had not been to the Magic Kingdom in a loooong time, so it was nice to revisit childhood memories and to see Disney from an adult perspective; understanding everything I had learned about Disney as a business, after reading In Search of Excellence when I had my own business, (knowing that the magic was happening under my feet and everything above “ground” is a set – actors or “cast members” cannot take their masks off above ground, only when they go down “secret” stairs to the “backstage”), the cleanliness, the friendliness, the whole experience.

We stayed at one of Disney’s hotels, so we got the full Disney experience, the bus, the meals, the swimming pool!

I was recruited to be one of Belle’s knights in shining armor -although all I got was a handheld mask, we met Ariel, we rode a handful of rides, saw a few shows, and had a great time!

We only had one day, so we have a lot to see in future visits!

Hanging out with Ariel

If you don’t use it, you lose it, Welcome to French Club! Le Cercle Français

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French is a beautiful language; I miss teaching it (you can read about me teaching French at UNC here). The other day I was talking to a dear friend and volunteer at school, whose mother was a French war bride and instructed her daughter so they could chat in French.  We realized we both missed speaking French. Solution? Start a French Club, a Le Cercle Français. Our first meeting was just the two of us in the school dining room, but we hope there are more Francophiles at school waiting to come out of the woodwork!

The topics of conversation are not that important, the important bit is to exercise the language of Jean Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, Eiffel, De Gaulle, Joan of Arc, Voltaire, Renoir, Simone de Beauvoir, Zinedine Zidane, Marie Curie (well, she was Polish, but you get the idea!), and so on, the list is endless…

Allez, viens parler français avec nous !!

On the importance of time management -Bonus Power Point!

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It is all about priorities

Time management is a myth, you cannot manage time, time passes inexorably. What you can do, is manage what you do with your time.

Are you tired of always running around doing a thousand things, feeling like you are on a merry go round?

I used to have this problem, especially when I had my company -Inter Tape- in the 90s and early aughts, with the accompanying physical expense: stress and all that. Tired of the chicken without a head feeling, I hired a great team to give us a Time Management workshop during a company retreat. My life was changed! I loved the idea of being able to control my environment as much as possible, all very Stoic. I did further research, and my life became considerably more livable.

Fast forward a few years and a change of career. I was teaching at the University of North Carolina when I noticed my students were freaking out about homework, assignments, life, parties, etc. So I gave them my time management workshop (a shorter version, adapted to a class period). They must have liked it since they asked me to do it at many of their fraternities and sororities. Eventually my Dean of Students found out I was giving this workshop to my classes and last week he asked me to do this presentation for the whole school. It was a bit overwhelming, but a lot of fun. I hope the students got something out of it…

The main points are to figure out your Long-, Medium-, and Short-term goals, write them down and put them where you can see them. Second step is to find out how you are spending your days, with the objective of finding out your “time thieves” (Tik Tok videos? Call of Duty?). Then prioritize your work into four quadrants, what is important and urgent, important, and not urgent, urgent, and not important and not urgent nor important. Another key is to write down absolutely everything you must do so you can see it and get it done. For more information check out the attached Power Point presentation!

You are welcome.

Time management presentationDownload
Making a point

On antique books

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How attracted are you to old books? The older the better? I must confess I love books in general, but I am fascinated by old books.

This fascination has gone on for a long time. Yes, I will stop and look at any (attractive) book, but if it is old I will really relish it. I have a handful of old books, which I enjoy, but part of the thrill is in discovering them: at garage sales, old bookstores, who knows where one is going to see an old book.

Our library has an antique book collection which I sometimes visit. Obviously, the old books are very delicate, so we limit their viewing, but it is still a pleasure to be surrounded by such treasures. Unfortunately, it is difficult to read old books, precisely because they are brittle and fragile so just being in the presence of them and even being able to handle them is a thrill.

In my striving for a simpler life, I am committed to only having 100 books at home, the oldest one is not particularly old, a 1944 edition of Dante’s Divine Comedy. In my office I have a handful of technical/professional books, and in Spain I have another handful. For someone as passionate about books as I consider myself to be, I think I own remarkably few books.

What old books do you have? Or have seen? Tell me in the comments below.

Gentlemen; get your check up.

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Gentlemen, when was the last time you had a check up?

For me it had been a couple of years. I am not a fan of the American health care system (what system?), so I kept postponing my check up until I could do it for “free” in Spain.

I like to think that I take care of myself; try to eat healthy, do some sort of exercise almost every day, all that stuff, so I was not expecting any surprises…

But my blood test told a different story: my PSA level was a bit higher than it should be for my age group.

The PSA is the level that points to your prostate health. I had to find a urologist who then did two different tests, then an MRI scan, and eventually a biopsy. Needless to say, it is all a bit stressful.

Fortunately, the final results came in all clean, but we do have to keep an eye on my numbers with yearly check ups.

Of course, the scary bit is the word Cancer. So if you want to avoid the stress of having that word keeping you up at night, get your check up. You are welcome.

Once a tour guide, always a tour guide; a Tonxo Tours update

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Although nowadays I am terribly busy teaching, I still enjoy giving tours on my spare time, and I even gave a couple of tours of my school!

Now that I investigate it, I have not given a Tonxo Tours update in a long time (check out the last one here).

Since that update, I have given tours of the Everglades, which I love, and I have gained a lot of depth and confidence as I learn more about South Florida and Miami in general. This is normal for every destination; each tour is better than the previous one (usually…) as one learns more and more.

This Summer I had a few tours of Madrid, and I had a lovely multi day tour with a fantastic couple that included my happy place: El Escorial, as well as Toledo and Segovia, where we started by visiting the last Hieronymite monastery of Santa María del Parral led by my old friend Hermano Martín.

At some point the Development office at school connected the dots when they needed to show the school to a visiting high school and to a group of visitors, and they contacted me to do it! I was in between classes, and after some reviewing of history and other tidbits, I did it. It is not Toledo, with its labyrinth of narrow streets, or Madrid with its overwhelming history, or Miami, where your main concern is that your customers do not get run over, but it was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it!

So, if you need a tour in South Florida, Spain, or even St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary, give me a holler!

National Geographic; a lifetime subscription (almost)

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Everybody is familiar with the yellow National Geographic magazine. I have been a subscriber since 1977 (more or less, I think). My dad got me my first subscription back when I was a teenager living in New York, since then I have moved many times, but I have always kept my National Geographic subscription!

Yes, my first love was the amazing photography, basically telling the story of the article in photos, but little by little I got into reading the articles as well.

The magazine has gone through some changes and now belongs to Disney, but they seem to be doing a good job of keeping the quality of the articles, the writing, the photography, and the magazine itself. One of the peculiarities of Nat Geo is that there is only advertising at the beginning and the end, but no advertising in the middle of the magazine, this is very refreshing and conducive to reading, without interruptions. Another great feature are the maps the magazine sometimes comes with, they are spectacular! I love them and have even had some of them framed!

Nowadays, there are more “fun” little articles at the beginning of the magazine, I guess to cater to folks with short attention spans, but they do not detract from the main articles, which range from all sorts of topics like history, geography, archeology, sciences, nature, and much more. As I prepared for the photo shoot with my niece, we noticed that a favorite topic throughout the history of the magazine is ancient Egypt!

If you have never read a National Geographic, I encourage you to find one and check it out, they are special. You are welcome.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Photo credit: My niece