Emil Poulard

Today saw the arrival of my good friend Michel Poulard's first child, Emil Poulard.

The official record books will list him as arriving at exactly 5:28am on May 11th, 2006, but by my own personal register, he arrived at the exact moment Michel turned from great man to great father. (Quite a coincidence, eh?)

In his honour, the redoutable quote monkey that I am has some choice words for the occasion:

For you to be here now trillions of drifting atoms had somehow to assemble in an intricate and intriguingly obliging manner to create you. It's an arrangement so specialized and particular that it has never been tried before and will only exist this once. For the next many years (we hope) these tiny particles will uncomplainingly engage in all the billions of deft, cooperative efforts necessary to keep you intact and let you experience the supremely agreeable but generally underappreciated state known as existence.

Why atoms take this trouble is a bit of a puzzle. Being you is not a gratifying experience at the atomic level. For all their devoted attention, your atoms don't actually care about you--indeed, don't even know that you are there. They don't even know that they are there. They are mindless particles, after all, and not even themselves alive. (It is a slightly arresting notion that if you were to pick yourself apart with tweezers, one atom at a time, you would produce a mound of fine atomic dust, none of which had ever been alive but all of which had once been you.) Yet somehow for the period of your existence they will answer to a single overarching impulse to keep you you.

—Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything

Make the most of your chance, Emil. You'll have great guidance from your parents. Pay attention, and then, when you can, strike out on your own, and explore the vastness of your potential.

Cheers and congratulations, Michel and Sofia. I love you and I'm proud of you both.

Nic