by Emil Rem | Sep 25, 2025 | Analects
The merciless heat, dust and incessant squeeze of the horde at the Royal Palace of Madrid had drained us. Entering Calle de Bailén, we were parched. At this time in the afternoon, the broad, gently curving boulevard was deserted, its inhabitants presumably...
by Emil Rem | Sep 18, 2025 | Analects
It was the beginning of the end. Today was the last day of our family holiday in Spain and, indeed, of our future travels together. A week before our holiday, Alex had graduated from the University of British Columbia, immediately garnering a job in Vancouver,...
by Emil Rem | Sep 11, 2025 | Analects
At high school, Eric was my best friend. He was Scottish, a rarity in our Berkshire village. We prided ourselves on how open and liberal we were, detesting and calling out any form of prejudice that raised its ugly head. In one of our discussions, out of the blue, I...
by Emil Rem | Sep 4, 2025 | Analects
My father was so popular, he was nicknamed before he was born. Along with perforated eardrums (teachers regularly slapped his ears for being a mischief-maker), Dad left school with two things he would carry for the rest of his life: high school failure (like his son...
by Emil Rem | Aug 28, 2025 | Analects
Last Thursday, Victoria Mboko, an 18-year-old Canadian (her family emigrated from Congo), won the Canadian Open Tennis Championship in front of her home crowd in Montréal. At the start of the year, “Vicky” was ranked 351. She scraped into the tournament as a wild...
