Cake is Life

A short excerpt from the upcoming book: The Day I Peed on a Gila Monster

I eat a piece of cake every week. Without fail. It’s technically every Friday-takes happy hour to whole new level. I’ve always loved cake. Who doesn’t? I’ve actually always loved literally anything under the guise of ‘sweets’, but cake is special. It goes way back to childhood but that’s a Story for Another Day.

I see cake as a metaphor for life I guess.

I think you can tell a lot about someone by the way they eat cake. But it’s more than that. Cake plays a big part in life.

People start their life together by cutting a cake and sharing it with friends and family. The tradition started with the ancient Romans. See, even my ancestors were into cake. But that’s not even true, because those were rosemary loaves broken on the brides’ heads. So it was a little different and it was savory. I like bread too for the record. Regardless, bridal cakes have a long tradition, so cake for celebrating life is pretty spectacular in my opinion.

Cake is served sometimes after a meal or alone and sometimes people share it. I love when I hear the maitre di ask, ‘Would you like two forks with that?’ Watching people share dessert is lovely. I’m watching them share life. Share a moment. Share enjoyment. It’s interesting to watch someone watch someone eat cake as well. I think they find enjoyment in it too. Unless of course, they don’t like the cake. Then the point is moot, or maybe that says a lot too. Note to self: investigate further.

I like to break down the cake eating as well. Like I said, I think you can tell a lot about someone by the way they eat cake. Take the example above, do the folks actually share the cake or not? Then there’s the actual eating.

Some people eat cake because it’s a vehicle for the icing. They don’t really particularly care for the cake part but they like the thick sugary part of the cake. Those folks eat around the cake. You know the type. The ones that wait around for the corner of the square cake or beg for the icing rose. Some people only take a bite for good measure. Some just order cake but don’t eat it, ‘it’s for you’, they say or they just order it and don’t eat it, or take it home to eat in private. But there are some, that eat the whole cake. Why do I eat cake every week? Because I want to, for one. Because I like to, and because it makes me happy. It’s my happy thing. There are so many different cakes out there I want to try them all. I won’t judge how someone eats their cake, I just notice it or I try anyway. I highly recommend grabbing a slice and savoring your cake time.

So, get your cake on!