The Meaning of Life

In the words of Olivia Newton John... let's get philosophical Antoinette!

The new year is a good time to endeavor to make ourselves smarter and live a more wholly satisfying life by finding its meaning...In other words... how do we deal? Of course the problem is new year, but same old brain. Never fear! I have the solution and it comes in bottle form and from the alternative sophistry I'm about to lay on you (that's kind of like a double negative so that makes what I say true, or at the very least... alternative facts). Or if you'd rather you could skip to the end of Monty Python's movie, and agree with their answer on the Meaning of Life..." Well, it's nothing very special. Uh, try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations" and then look at gratuitous pictures of Freud's "cigar" if you want,😉 but where's the fun in that?  Remember, wine and philosophy are alike in that they are possible to live without, but that wouldn't be wise. So pour a glass and let's begin while remembering what Voltaire told us, "taste invites reflection".  Philosophically speaking... the "art of the deal" is to find common ground. Places where we all can agree. Nothing huuuuge or bigly happens without it regardless of how much collusion is thrown your way. If you don't understand this you'll be left out in the cold writing about "what happened" 😉 while sitting around a house fire in Chappaqua. Or if you're in Hollywood or on Capital Hill where words confuse you... you'll think yes means yes and no means yes, and if no means no, it's yes until you get the part, elected or an Oscar then it will mean no again, but then...what is the definition of is? 🙈🙉🙊Do you understand what I'm saying?  Yeah it's confusing to #me too! 🤔Well one thing everyone agrees on is wine. Whether you're a philosopher like Plato who said, "No thing more excellent nor more valuable than wine was ever granted mankind by God"; a stargazer like Galileo who was grounded enough to realize that "wine is sunlight held together by water"; a football coach like Vince Lombardi who said,  "win or lose, we booze"🤥; a religious leader like Jesus who turned water into wine for his first miracle; or a psychoanalyst like Freud who thought you drank because of your mother or father, or Jung who thought you drank to make yourself whole. You might just be yin looking for your yang in a bottle of Nebbiolo, or Otis from Mayberry R.f.d. looking for his tau in MD 20/20. The philosophical musings on the what is and why's isn't important... just know the answer is wine. One thing for sure is you know wine is a problem solving, life giving, temper taming, love making deal maker. It lifts you up, moves you forward, and tastes good with meat and anything else you put on your plate. Martin Luther said, “God is not behind you with a stick, but with a glass of Malvasia (wine) in front of you.”🥂 Martin Luther Jr K dreamed about it and “...that [his] four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of [the]skin [of the grape that made their wine], but by the content of [the] character [of the wine in the bottle]!" Even Chip and Joanna think it's the best Fixer Upper and the only way to make strong "Gaines"! Apparently, it also makes you more fertile than a Kansas cornfield🌽 since the Gaines will be gaining baby number 5... currently in the oven. Philosophy is a way to give meaning to life... no matter which of the Power 5 it emanates from: philosophy, religion, science, psychoanalysis, or sports. But that's only half the battle... the other half is wine, kids, and maybe a cigar... ok throw in a couple friends... that is what gives life meaning. So keep those close... love and cherish them and drink with the one you love. Remember Brock, Bill and Harvey, I'm not talking about a college frat party, a convention of political interns, or a Hollywood movie set when I say love the one your with...I'm just repeating what the Old Guy Pliny said, "in vino veritas", in every bottle of wine there is truth.  So just sit Stills and listen:

If you're down and confused
And you don't remember who you're talking to
Concentration slip away
Because your baby is so far away
Well, there's a rose in a fisted glove
And the eagle flies with the dove
And if you can't be with the one you love, honey
Love the one you're with....
Don't be angry, don't be sad
And don't sit crying over good times you had
There's a girl right next to you
And she's just waiting for something to do
And there's a rose in a fisted glove
And eagle flies with the dove
And if you can't be with the one you love, honey
Love the one you're with