Monthly Archives: January 2012

A Tale of Two Cheeses


Posted by Art

Over the holidays I purchased two cheeses–a Stilton and a Camembert.  They were quite tasty but time passed and they both sat forgotten in the fridge as a variety of meats and vegetables were consumed from around them.  Several weeks went by and, at last, having eaten everything else, we caught sight of them and decided to indulge ourselves last night.

And indeed we did.

When we first tasted the Stilton it was sophisticated, pungent, complex, buttery, and powerful.  When we tasted it several weeks later it was nearly identical in texture and in flavor.

The Camembert, on the other hand, with notes both bitter and sweet, texture solid and fluid, had been delicious.  Several weeks later, this cheese had turned into a monster.  It raged through our taste buds and took no prisoners.  It was amazing.

The makers of the Stilton had made a choice to embrace logos, thought, and reason, the stuff of empire, to produce a cheese that would hit a note of power, correctness, and sophistication.

The makers of the Camembert had also made a choice, but a very different one, a choice to embrace mythos, to risk rot and decay, for the possibility of greatness, cheese-wise.

The Stilton, the king of cheeses, is constantly aware of class, society, and one’s place in it.

The Camembert, questionably pasteurized, borders on the rude, is shockingly romantic, and ready to make war at a moment’s notice.

Stilton showed tremendous courage during the blitz.  Camembert displayed amazing fashion sense during times of depravation and war.  Everyone remembers the Stilton musical invasion of the sixties.  Camembert movies make me cry.I like Stilton a great deal, but, in the end, I guess I truly love Camembert.  I know I’ll always be friends with Stilton, but Camembert and I, well, that is a dream of passion.   I think it comes down to this:  The orderly nature of logos may be compelling, but the jouissance of mythos is just simply irresistible.

I mean, if you like cheese.

The New Year:


Posted by Art

The beginning of the New Year is often a time of resolutions.  No more chocolate cake, or, I will exercise at least three times a week, or, I will eat vegetables with every meal.  However framed, it always comes off as some unpleasant thing that I must whip my wild nature to do, accept, practice, or merely withstand.  And I succeed.  For a month or two.  And then my resolve erodes and I slip, I binge, and I fall.

In 2012, I’d like to try something different, at least for me.  Instead of resolutions, or vows, or promises, I want to make wishes.

I want to make New Year’s wishes for myself, for the world, and for the passing stranger who might read these words.  These wishes may float away on the breeze, or they may land on fertile soil and bloom, impossibly effortless, into great heartfelt joy.

I wish that work is fulfilling and less stressful.

I wish love tickles us into the waking dream that is our life.

I wish that words and thoughts flow.

I wish that we meet and are glad in the meeting.

I wish that there is enough food and resources for the world.

I wish that we will each catch one perfect moment, and know, in that moment, what it means to be truly alive.

And, of course, the flowing tide of happiness reaches a high water mark in all of our lives.

 

I wish all of these things for you, for me, and for everyone else, and I wish that wishes I could not have even imagined come true for all of us.

All the best,

Arthur J. Lorenz