A Pipe That’s Not & Hoodwinking with Cheese to Gain Perspective

PROLOGUE: My Business Engineering blog has evolved into something that allows me to explore my cultural background as represented by food and the customs of the family table, my connections to what I am and where I live and sustainability, survival and culture in general. The exercise of concentrating the blog site’s original focus on how to become a better a "Marketing Engineer" has allowed me to focus on my marketing consulting skills. In the course of my postings, I was able to discover and understand what my original Business Engineering concept was really all about.

The hidden benefit of the marketing oriented blogging became a form of self-analysis. And, as such, I’ve discovered that I could pursue my passions of art, food/wine (sustainability) and marketing all in one blog: In Search of a Personal Stability Zone to explore our collective aspirations. Yes, the idea was inspired by Alvin Toffler’s book Future Shock. The blog’s new direction will hopefully allow me to describe directly what I’ve learned so far in life and, the posting topics will indirectly serve me as a launching point for what I’m currently pondering. The latest posting follows…

NEWEST POST: In the movie Kung Fu Panda, the main character, a panda named Po said to his Kung Fu master that the reason he didn’t quit was, “…because every time you threw a brick at my head or said I smelled; it hurt, but it could never hurt more than every day of my life just being me.” Am I suffering a mid-life crisis? No, I don’t think so. So, what’s with the introspection? Maybe it’s that I am older and hopefully a lot wiser. Perhaps Shakespeare said it best in this soliloquy (Macbeth Act 5, scene 5, 19–28)…

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

Why not merge work and play? Why not let our passion(s) be our guide? Why not do what we love? Because there’s usually no money in it! And, we all need an income. But, what if we could make a living doing what we love doing? If we could, would we strutting and fretting our hour upon this stage?

Marketing teaches us the principle of supply and demand. Is there a demand for a blog about someone’s thoughts and experiences in art, food/wine (sustainability) and marketing? As for my art passion, I’ll explore some of the World’s masterpieces and offer my perspectives on it or, what drawing is really all about and what it takes to develop the skills needed to develop as an artist.

Food and wine? I’ve spent a lot of time cooking for a living and for sheer enjoyment. My heritage has given me a solid culinary tradition with the appurtenant rites, rituals and celebrations. And, a tongue-in-cheek exploration of wine, a joke really, turned into something real interesting. Together, food and wine are, to me, the basis on which to delve into a sustainable life; not lifestyle. Of course, marketing is what I do to pay the bills but it is also the thread that connects these pearls.

These passions are what helped shape my life and I hope I have a steady supply of knowledge, experience and information to provide my readers. So, if I may, here’s my first attempt to tie all of these interests and passions into one neat bundle. ART – I’ll begin with Rene Magritte and his painting: Treachery of Images (La Trahison des Images), shown here. It was painted between 1928 and 1929. Magritte (1898-1967) was a Belgian surrealist artist popularly known for his thought-provoking images, which challenged the observers' preconditioned perceptions of reality.

In this painting, an ordinary object teaches us an invaluable lesson. The script under the image of the pipe - ceci n'est pas une pipe – in English it means this is not a pipe. It seems that the visual, a pipe and the text, this is not a pipe are a contradiction. To quote another famous artist, Pablo Picasso: We all know that art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth. At least the truth that is given us to understand. This painting then, is not a pipe, it is an image; a painting if you will, of a pipe. I don’t think I could have found a better painting to illustrate my three passions. The Treachery of Images represents all art. It is an illusion. It is one individual’s interpretation of a subject or situation. It is more than it represents.

FOOD - Food and wine are two subjects that can also teach us that, they too are not all that they seem. Take French onion soup for example. It has reached a high status. It’s not considered diner fare. Yet, its origins may be found in abject poverty. Why else then would a culture glorify it? Many of our favorite dishes have their roots in poverty, necessity and sustainability. In this area, which is heavily populated by Portuguese, kale soup is an enigma wrapped in a mystery. It graces the average household and reigns as table d’haute in fine Lusitanian (Portuguese) restaurants. It is a soup that can be placed in a variety of recipe categories. It is the Portuguese equivalent of the Italian minestrone soup. It too is a hodgepodge of whatever is available. It represents an Old World culture of: waste not want not and offers us a valuable lesson is sustainability.

WINE - Wine has taught me much as well and I hope to share what I know and what I’ve learned with you. For example, the old wine merchants had a guideline which went as follows: Buy on apples - Sell on cheese. This adage suggests the true simplicity of wine. After all, according to the ancient Romans - in vino veritas – in wine (there is) truth. Buying on apples is from a marketing perspective, common sense. Apples strip a wine to its basic elements. The wine will either withstand the scrutiny of the (acidic properties) apple or it will not. Only those that pass the test are worth purchasing. As for the flipside of the coin; cheese is fatty. Serving it to enhance a so-so wine and entice a buyer who knows no better is not necessarily considered unethical. It is however, a good lesson in caveat emptor, another gift of the Romans which means – let the buyer beware.

I hope I’m off to a good start with this new blogging perspective as I search for my Personal Stability Zone and I hope inspire and assist you to find yours. In a world in constant flux, a place we can carve out in our heads or in our off-hours with significant value that offers a respite from the everyday is where I want to be. I hope to discover and share how we can all be more conscious of our decisions, reduce the stresses caused by the change and over-stimulation in our lives and occupy our homes and control us at work. We need another place, another environment, a zone of stability that allows us to accept or refuse, embrace or resist or, breakaway or run towards the forgotten ties that bind us. We need a place that offers us enduring relationships regardless of the insanity that assaults us every day, a - Personal Stability Zone. As with Shangri-La, it’s there if you look for it. I think it’s worth a shot to set off in search of it.