The Last Supper

It’s been some time, huh?
It’s been an age.

There’s never a good place to start blogging again, is there?
I’ve got six months of adventures and art and general goings-on to catch you up on, but I thought that maybe the best place to start is today. Right here. Right now.

I was just at The Ashmolean Museum to see a special exhibition: The Last Supper in Pompeii.

In this exhibition were about 400 artefacts from the tragic city. There were pieces of homes, mosaics, practical everyday objects, and the charred remains of food; including stuffed dormice, roasted flamingos and fermented fish sauce.
Oh, and 200 yr old ketchup.

What struck me so much about this exhibit was its narrow focus.
Not the all expansive life of the Napa Valley of its day, not the crowded narrow double streets or the pumice tombs which encased so many people, but the intimacy of everyday dishes, glasses, kitchen pots.

We see a mosaic of ocean life which once was the floor of a house.

There’s artwork on walls, statues and altars to garnish favour with gods.
And everywhere there are reminders of the leading moto of that time:
Carpe Diem.

Carpe Diem because you can just hear Vesuvius rumbling in the background.

Carpe Diem because in a brief moment life could be over.

So Carpe the hell out of your Diem everyone.

Every day.

PS: I’m just going to quietly backdate posts, publish them, be calm, and carry on.