For some time, my husband and son had been pining for
cake. Numerous times in April, the
Common Household Husband was heard sighing, “I don’t suppose anybody made any
cake this evening.” Son was the same, saying, “Did I hear someone say there was
cake?”
My response was always, “No, there is no cake. I did not have time to make any cake.”
One day a few weeks ago, my husband asked me, “Do we have
complete tort or limited tort?”
Me: We don’t have ANY CAKE at all. I did not have time to make cake.
Husband: I was talking about the car insurance. That’s ‘tort: t-o-r-t.’
Youngest Daughter:
What is tort?
Son: I know what torte is – it’s cake!
* * * * *
Then, last week:
Son: Tomorrow is Oldest Daughter’s birthday. Are we having cake?
Me: I mailed her cake to her at college.
Husband, to Son:
Do you think that when it’s somebody else’s
birthday, you get cake?
Son: Yeah.
Why not?
Me: There are a lot of birthdays coming up. Don’t worry, you’ll get some cake. (to husband)
What kind of cake does Grandma like?
YD, hinting broadly: She likes apple pie.
(It is well known that
YD prefers pie for her birthday cake. I
know that my mother loves both pie and cake, but I was referring to my
mother-in-law, who would be visiting us on her birthday.)
Me: I was
talking about your other Grandma. I
think she would like that chocolate cake that I make.
Husband: Yes, I think she likes chocolate cake.
Much discussion followed
about Son’s birthday/graduation party. He hadn’t been planning on having a
celebration, but I guess he figured out it would be a great way to get some cake.
YD got out the
Klondike bars for dessert. Husband
decided to have half a Klondike bar, cutting it cross-ways.
YD: Why are you cutting it that way?
Husband: It tastes better as a triangle. It’s Hegelian.
(If you were a
philosophy major in college, then you get to say your ice cream is Hegelian.)
Me, guessing about Hegel’s philosophy, which I heard
of a very long time ago in relation to Marxism, which I learned about when I
was a Soviet Studies major, and wondering what that has to do with triangles or
ice cream: Thesis, antithesis, and,
and, and….
Husband: And superego – is that the word you’re
looking for?
Me: I don’t know enough about Hegel’s philosophy.
Husband: Hegel’s philosophy was all about threes. It’s heavily based on Christian theology.
Schopenhauer made fun of Hegel.
Son: Does it taste even better if it is an equilateral
triangle?
* * * * *
I had to look up how to spell Schopenhauer on Wikipedia, where
I saw that, appropriately, his philosophy was all about continually seeking
satisfaction. This weekend, the Common
Household Males finally got their cake, because it was Grandma’s birthday. From
each according to her birthday, to each according to his need for cake.
 |
| Not a Platonic cake |
6 comments:
I've been thinking about cake lately, too. Need to order one for the boys' graduation party. I asked them what flavor they wanted. Andrew said lemon. Eric said carrot. And here I was, thinking red velvet.
I'll bet that's actually pretty close to Plato's ideal Form of Cake. Just add little decorative borders of white frosting around the top & bottom edges, and I'll bet ol' Plato himself would appear from the great beyond and declare Cake Perfection.
This was a joy to read. Plus, it brought back fond memories of my parents conversations, where various philosphers loomed large.
@Angie - I've been thinking about you and your TWO graduations this year! Looks like there might be a lemon carrot cake at your house.
@Doug - I don't know if it was the Ideal Chocolate Cake, but now it is a Gone cake, so I guess it was at least okay.
@Cassi - You discussed stuff like this when you were growing up? Cool. Have you seen Monty Python's skit with the philosopher's soccer game?
Schopenhauer was a hedonistic tool, and your photo caption made me giggle.
Ah, your fabulous clan of deep thinkers!
Happy birthday to your child--glad there was cake!
Post a Comment