Epicurean Delights

The Perils of Prosperity lie in excess and laziness Antoinette,

The problem with the modern world of canned expressions, bumper sticker logos, memes, and 280 character tweets is they are too often substituted for intelligent thought and more often than not get the meaning wrong or lead you down the rabbit hole of whatever agenda is calling your name... if you don't know what that means, Go Ask Alice.🐰 We often live by expressions, slogans and labels. For instance, Carpe Diem, YOLO, or letting Myers-Briggs tell you what your personality is...(btw my Myers-Briggs is either ESPN or NSFW, depending!😉) Protect yourselves! Someone is always telling you what to think, how to think, what's good, bad etc... but of course everything comes through a filter... theirs!  You're better off trusting your own experiences. You know what makes you happy, and what causes you pain just like you know what varietals you prefer. You need to read and consider, pour and taste to gain perspective. Just make it longer than a meme or headline from the Washington Compost or Puffington Host. You want your wine filtered, not the truth. In vino veritas! If you want the truth, and you can handle the truth, then you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall. What wall you ask... the wall that will Make America Great Again. The wine wall!🍷 Because wine is the perfect allegory for life. The Carpe Diemist and the YOLO'ers think they have discovered the secret to life, but really all they are doing is reliving the Roaring 20's, otherwise known as the Aspirin Age because of the hangover🤕. The age of Ballyhoo and excess just led to great depression, dusty bowls and war.😩🏜💣 They thought they were siezing the day, but they were actually just grabbing their head in pain. And because they couldn't fit the whole quote on the bumper sticker, they don't know the rest of Horace's words after carpe diem...quam minimum credula postero. Seize the day, put very little trust in tomorrow (the future)". The ode says that the future is unforeseen and that one should not leave to chance future happenings, but rather one should do all one can today to make one's future better. Excess leads to bad health, bad decisions, envy, greed and an embarrassing night of karaoke👩‍🎤. Epicurus knew that true Epicurean delights were derived from simple pleasures... good food that doesn't give you gout, good company (that's not paid for by the hour🙈), and good wine... where thought went into it early so it will grow, produce and age into a beautiful bottle of the nectar of the Gods.🍾 That takes preparation and work. Epicurus wasn't a hedonist in the modern sense... that's for college students, communes, rappers and TMZ. He and Horace believed in the senses, feelings, life experiences, and perceptions. In other words trust your feelings, and use logic to make decisions to temper your natural desires and avoid the pain of excess. That way, we will find our place in the natural world, and learn to live with moderation, simply and joyfully in the company of good friends, good books(even those without pictures) and good wine. I'm not ready to hear Nero playing his fiddle 🎻over the decline and fall, just saying.  Time to be Slick,  find meaningful happiness, and have the Grace to share your wine with friends. If you're confused...

When logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead
And the white knight is talking backwards
And the red queen's off with her head
Remember what the dormouse said
Feed your head, feed your head
Go ask Alice, I think she'll know