The Feast of a Crow

I think I've been neglecting my blogging duties lately...oh well... :)

I stepped out of my car at the Stonecrest Parking lot on a Monday morning, and , noticing the unusually loud "CAW" of a crow (or at least a really large, black bird), naturally, I "CAWED" back at it. Then I listened to the numerous chirping of the many sparrows that frequent our parking lot in search of the fallen french fry, and said, "Damnedable birds. I wish the Crows were carnivores, and'd eat the smaller birds." Then I realized that the crows did eat meat, albeit bugs, worms, and things of that nature. As well as carrion, and plant and seed material, if nothing else is available. Birds are, for the most part, (apart from the larger birds, Pterodactyls, and the like) Omnivores.

Which got me to thinking.... I had recently found a photo in a Facebook friend of someone eating a Soy Cheese Pizza. To that I had to make some snarky remark, along the lines that, like Caffeine Free Diet Coke, soy cheese misses the point. I mean, let's face it, CFDC (see above) is just brown water with bubbles. Aside from the aspartame that is poisoning all of us, it does nothing. And eating soy cheese (and I've tried it before), does nothing to progress the clogging of arteries and certainly doesn't taste as good as the real thing. To which, the person eating the pizza said, "Well, yes, if you like mammalian stomach enzymes in your food." I am supposing, by this, that he is a vegetarian. Which, BTW, I have no problem having mammalian stomach enzymes in my food, if they are going to taste as good as that. Take a nice smoky Gouda cheese, or an imported Guyere cheese..... I'm in heaven!!!

Anyway, as I was looking at the birds, I suddenly realized the connection between them and the soy cheese pizza. Namely, that among all the reasons for becoming a vegetarian (most of which are valid, health driven reasons that I will have none of), I've heard the killing of animals and the eating of meat as being inhuman. Well, as humans are, last I checked, animals as well, and there are many creatures on this Earth that eat meat, or both, as the crows and other birds exemplify, eating flesh is just as natural and as common as the many creatures we share this orb with.

I care not to go into other reasons why or why not to be a vegetarian, as this is a personal decision, one that has no impact upon my life unless I go to one's house, in which case I'll bring my own mammalian stomach enzymes along. Because as for me, myself, personally, I have no problem eating cow or chicken or fish or pig or whatever animal happens to be cooked in the meal. Heck, as long as it tastes good, I don't particularly care what's in the egg rolls. Lamb doesn't taste all that good, but that's just me. For me, it's all about the pleasure gained in eating whatever it is. It really has nothing to do with diet, as I'd just as soon eat a grilled chicken caesar salad (fixed stir-fry style from a wok like they did at the cafeteria at GC&SU...so good!!!) as a hamburger. In fact, I'd rather do that than get a Double Cheeseburger (not the McDouble, as they skimp on the piece of cheese) from McDonalds, as there really is no pleasure in eating one (unless it's the Triple Cheeseburger... that's just sinful eating.)

Because, while I know of my family's history of dying of heart attacks, I cannot help but have strong Epicurean ideas about things. I will not go through life miserable and frugally, keeping myself miserable just to satisfy society's ideals about what is aesthetically appealing, or to keep a couple of cows from becoming meat. I will eat and do whatever makes me happy, within the boundaries of my belief system. For Epicureans aren't just the gluttonous, lustful, sloths (well, that's three of seven) that the name implies. Epicureas believed in a balance of pleasures, because as a Post-Aristotle philosopher, he realized that to reach eternal happiness, or the greater good, for one's own life or for the good of mankind, that self-restraint must be applied. Forgo a pleasure now to achieve a greater one later. Save up money from Double Cheeseburgers to enjoy a Red Lobster meal later. Or to buy a dear friend something that will light up their face and bring joy to their lives.

So give me the cheese, and the meat, and the clogged arteries, and let me live my life the way I want to, bringing happiness to myself and to those around me. And if that means I don't live quite as long as those who eat salads and soy cheese pizzas, then, that's okay with me. Let me be one of those fat people that Caesar wanted about him. They were happy folk. Too bad they couldn't stop daggers.