Tuesday Ramblings
In this week's podcast, I urge everyone to read Marcus Aurelius' Meditations. I read it years ago and have frequently dipped back into it over the years. I considered myself well-versed.
Not so, at least compared to Ryan Holiday, The Stoic Dude, who read it 100 times in ten years, each time learning something new: "The one pristine white cover is now its own shade of tan, but with every read, every time I've touched the book, I've gotten something new or been reminded of something timeless and important."
I think we could all use more stoic resolve, especially the folks who dial 911 because they've ran out of toilet paper. Trust me, I sympathize, but man, get a grip.
On the other side of the spectrum, apparently Jewish worshippers are still kissing the Western Wall. Jerusalem's chief rabbi has ordered the practice to stop. We'll see. People and their religion . . . they'll do silly things.
It makes you wonder if bar-hopping has become a religious experience. I've often said that bars have always held a quasi-mystical air for me, but those are the quiet bars, the ones you slip into during the afternoon for a few drinks and few moments of recollection, not the semi-barbarous scenes on the B's: Bourbon, Beale, and Broadway Streets. But like the Western Wall, the raucous bars must be venerated and the "party people" (WaPo's term) continue to worship fervently.
I feel bad for seniors in this whole thing. "Seniors," as in "high school seniors" and "college seniors," not old people (though I feel bad for them too). This spring is the seniors' last hoorah and it's being crippled. For them, I sympathize and understand why they might continue to worship at the bars and pursue social interaction, but for everyone else? I simply don't get it.
