The Art of Worldly Wisdom: 12

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It has been sometime since I visited the core purpose of this blog – the continued exploration of Baltasar Gracian’s The Art of Worldly Wisdom. As a person who strongly believes philosophy plays a vital role in understanding our world, I rely heavily on the concept of ‘the state of nature’. In many ways I look to this hypothetical state of being – this pre-social world, as an ideal. It is ideal, as it is a structure that is self sustaining but exists at the lowest possible common denominator. In Baltasar’s twelfth maxim we get a sense that he too appreciates the basic nature of being but clearly understands that if a person wants to achieve more than mere survival, then something more needs to be done.

xii Nature and Art: material and workmanship. There is no beauty unadorned and no excellence that would not become barbaric if it were not supported by artifice: this remedies the evil and improves the good. Nature scarcely ever gives us the very best; for that we must have recourse to art. Without this the best of natural dispositions is uncultured, and half is lacking to any excellence if training is absent. Every one has something unpolished without artificial training, and every kind of excellence needs some polish.

I know if I were sitting in a college classroom and my professor presented the idea that something created naturally is not as beautiful as it could be, I would have argued vehemently that by its very nature it is exactly the way it should be. Continue reading “The Art of Worldly Wisdom: 12”

Rhubarb Coffee Cake

I grew up in Montana with a big garden.  In one corner of the garden was a patch of rhubarb.  Honestly, if I wasn’t raised with it, I would have just considered it a big overgrown weed.  I would eat it raw, dipping it into sugar to counteract the bitter taste.  My mom would make rhubarb pie.  Not rhubarb-strawberry pie, but rhubarb pie.  I loved it.  She also make a rhubarb cake that was so moist and delicious but not overly sweet.  I’ve been trying to find the recipe that best captured what she made and haven’t been having a lot of luck.

I did however cobble together a very tasty coffee cake that at least is putting me on the right track.  The batter for this recipe turned out a lot better than I thought it would.  As I mention in the recipe, it is a thick batter, almost scone like in thickness, which had me a bit concerned as to whether it would be light enough to be ‘cakey’.  I was not disappointed.  I’m keeping this basic batter recipe in my back pocket as it obviously could be used with a variety of fruits.  A mixed berry coffee cake with this batter would be extra yummy.

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The Chicago Style Hot Dog Salad

While eating at one of Chicago’s many hot dog places with a friend who was enjoying a hot dog with the works, I had an idea for something different.  In Chicago a hot dog with everything on it is something special.  It is a unique masterpiece that has its origins in lore.  Vienna Beef provides a a wonderful graphic depiction of the canonical recipe for the Chicago Style Hot Dog as seen to the right here.

The Chicago Style hot dog consists of a natural casing hot dog, steamed poppy seed bun, a kosher pickle spear, diced onions, neon relish (more on this later), sport peppers, tomato slices, a dash of celery salt, and yellow mustard.  No ketchup and no fancy mustards for this hot dog, thank you very much.  Okay, about this Neon Green Relish (Vienna Chicago Style Relish 12oz) that is a ‘requirement’ for the Chicago Style Hot Dog: it doesn’t taste any different, looks dangerous, and costs more.  I opt out of using it.  I figure the recipe I’m proposing already freaks out the hot dog purists so I’m not to concerned over  altering one ingredient.

I don’t really care about the why of the Chicago style too much.  I assume it was just a way to make a single hot dog more filling.  No matter, when ordering this hot dog, people will sometimes say, “drag it through the garden” as in indicator of just how much extra stuff is on this normally simple treat.

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The Art of Worldly Wisdom: 11

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Education isn’t something that happens in the first part of your life while in school.  Education occurs constantly.  The problem is once we leave school it isn’t always clear how we get our education.  Gracian addresses this point clearly and distinctly.  The people we choose to surround ourselves with are the people who become our teachers in our lives.

xi Cultivate those who can teach you.

Let friendly intercourse be a school of knowledge, and culture be taught through conversation: thus you make your friends your teachers and mingle the pleasures of conversation with the advantages of instruction. Sensible persons thus enjoy alternating pleasures: they reap applause for what they say, and gain instruction from what they hear. We are always attracted to others by our own interest, but in this case it is of a higher kind. Wise men frequent the houses of great noblemen not because they are temples of vanity, but as theatres of good breeding. There be gentlemen who have the credit of worldly wisdom, because they are not only themselves oracles of all nobleness by their example and their behaviour, but those who surround them form a well-bred academy of worldly wisdom of the best and noblest kind.

There is a fine line here between using someone for their knowledge and cultivating someone for their knowledge.  I think the word cultivate is quite intentional as it implies care and attention.  We are not being asked to locate the smartest and brightest, befriend them, suck their lessons out of their brain and abandon them.

Additionally, Gracian clearly states, “Sensible persons thus enjoy alternating pleasures: they reap applause for what they say, and gain instruction from what they hear.”  I interpret this to say that it is a two way street.  Not only do we learn from others but we must be willing to teach as well.  Sometimes the sharing of knowledge is difficult for people. It is one thing to ask how to do something and quite another to share how to do it.

Cultivate friendships that you can learn from and learn how to share your knowledge with others (to achieve their applause).

The Art of Worldly Wisdom

Maxim 1 – Maxim 2 – Maxim 3 – Maxim 4 – Maxim 5 – Maxim 6– Maxim 7– Maxim 8– Maxim 9– Maxim 10

Valloween

Way back in 1999, I wrote an essay called Valloween for one of my many now defunct webzine attempts called Ariadne’s Thread.  I still love that title, but that was a different life.  Each February, I dust off the essay and post it somewhere, usually in my Livejournal or whatever website is currently the focus of my energy.  I’ve never gone back to rewrite or rework it and this year, 2010, the 11th anniversary of my Valloween essay, I thought it was time to refine it a bit.

Valloween 2.0

Love inspires grand feats, art, and music. Two men’s love for the beautiful Helen of Troy ignited a war that buried the city.  Shah Jahan in 1631 had the Taj Mahal built after the death of his wife to honor his love for her.

St. Valentine’s Day is the day on which we celebrate and honor love. St. Valentine served a prison term in Rome for being Christian. While imprisoned, he received letters of support from children. These letters later became valentines. Truly, how noble it is to juxtapose the feast day of a saint, someone who epitomizes the love of Christ with a day to celebrate and honor love in general. The thought is sincere but easily corrupted. Corrupted by the master of corruption. On a day where the grandest of all virtues, the virtue of love, is celebrated, people eagerly flock to join the celebration. People make grand pronouncements of the virtue of love. What these poor unsuspecting souls don’t realize is they are being lured into the most insidious trap of sin ever devised.
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