photo by: Michael Williams @moderatelivingblog.com
They say that New Year’s Eve is when we say goodbye to the year. But December is formality. The real goodbye happens in those quiet November afternoons.
When the very last of the golden leaves hold out to be painted by the sun.
That moment is the real goodbye. Quiet, private, unexpectedly stumbled upon. And the world around you both stops – just long enough for your heart to understand.
“From my first bloom in spring, to the shade I gave you in summer, my love for you was a joyful fire.
Before I let go, let these dying flames touch your heart one last time.
It was always your love that made me beautiful.
Be the first sight I see in spring so I can love you anew. “
I recently finished a former New York Times Bestselling book by Robert M. Sapolsky titled Determined: A Science Of Life Without Free Will
Me finishing it was an example of his thesis on free will which is that; free will, in its most idealized sense, doesn’t exist. And that what we think is free will is actually a basket of driving metaphysical/tangible forces impacting incentives or constraints.
I’m not detailing the book in this post except to say that, as a procedural it is meaningfully tight in the right places (if you appreciate that). And because free will is a massive thought exercise in and of itself, to even attempt to articulate it – and succeed in some sense is an achievement.
But it is a pretty dense work. This is an intellectually rigorous thesis spanning multiple thought domains and disciplines, but nevertheless a solid albeit narrow procedural.
So, do you think free will exists? Or perhaps you think trying to guage the concept misses the forest for the trees?
The mid summer of 2026 brought with it a supply chain disruption in canned sardine exporting and retail appropriation. A lot of it was because people started to really get onto the dietary benefits of sardines as well as other canned fish. For me though, it interrupted my role-playing as Caesar Augustus, the first emperor of Rome. Not to be confused with his grand uncle Julius Ceasar, who preceded him as dictator of Rome and head of the Senate.
Caesar Augustus, or Octavian as he was known before assuming his title, had a lot of errands to run as emperor – kind of like me. Because he had a full day’s work, every day of emperor-ing, he was known to eat selectively throughout the day and in a way that could give him the proper healthy nutrients but fill him up as he paid visits to Senators and Roman city officials.
But it’s not like Rome had Pringles or Hot Pockets back then. So, what did they have in order to give a man like Caesar Augustus a well-balanced but ready to eat meal?
WordPress, I present to you Michael Williams’s modernized version of Caesar Augustus’s meal:
The Princeps Civitatis
(translated: “First Citizen“, the title Augustus gave himself!)
(you can click on the pictures for the full size, I just don’t want the pictures taking up the whole page)
Like me, Caesar Augustus liked the idea of moderate living and as such incorporated freshly pressed cheese and sourdough equivalent breads into his on-the-go platter. Did he eat olives? I mean, we’re in late BC early AD mediterranean vibes here. Olives were like everywhere!
photo by: Michael Williams @ moderatelivingblog.com
photo by: Michael Williams @ moderatelivingblog.com
For dessert, Caesar Augustus usually had dried figs or dried dates. I’m not really into those so my compromise was fig newtons – the modern take on the dessert portion of his on-the-go dish.
Of course, the final piece of the dish, from which the title of the post harkens to – is the preserved fish itself. The emperor was known to pick at brined or salted mackerel or tuna. Me, I have a tin can’s worth of sardines in olive oil. I dip any remaining bread in whatever olive oil is left.
photo by: Michael Williams @ moderatelivingblog.com
The sardine supply chain issue put a big dent in my being able to enjoy this dish. I was still eating olives and cheese but, as modern diet experts stipulate, you really need a lean protein to round your meals. Sardines are one of those proteins that save me a lot of time on the go.
So here it is in its completion, the Princeps Civitatis – also, on brown parchment paper and a wooden plate – to really cement that Caesar Augustus/Roman Mediterranean aesthetic.
photo by: Michael Williams @ moderatelivingblog.com
If you have an interpretation on this heart healthy dish, please feel free to take a photo of it and share it on your blog. I’d love to try different interpretations!
Finally, people do ask me: “Mike, why role-play Caesar Augustus? Why not role-play his really cool grand uncle Julius Caesar??”
and I’m like: “Bruh! I’m not trying to get stabbed repeatedly by like 20 angry people!”
I did some grocery shopping for the 2026 Midterm Election watch party I’m going to tonight. I bought a large pasta and buffalo chicken dip platter that I’m sure will be a hit.
Two things that cross my mind at least once anytime I’m out and about on these quests:
Even though its “running errands” I am eternally grateful I get to do this; go to the supermarket, go to the bank, etc. I know a day will come when I won’t be able to move around or drive around as well. So I cherish these seemingly mundane moments of experiencing the world.
It frustrates me, for a few minutes, that my mind is experiencing the present as it is, but in 12 or even 6 hours, the memory of me driving on the highway road, the songs I was listening to, the way the daylight looked, the feel of my steering wheel, etc. It will ultimately reduce to some form of abstraction, only to be conjured up albeit imperfectly – and with bias – in some random submicroscopic tangle of neurofibers that conduct bioelectricity in my brain.
I got drive through tacos for lunch and ate comfortably as my truck and I lumbered up the interstate. I couldn’t help but note that this simple tortilla shell has now become the most effective hedge against food preparation carelessness.
photo by: Michael Williams @ moderatelivingblog.com
I’m embarrassed to admit that it took me longer than it should to fully internalize that just because two things move together, it doesn’t mean that one causes the other. Like, if you see this sight – a common one in a northeastern autumn. Someone in some primordial past would think that the geese migrating causes the trees to turn yellow. Or the other way around. But in reality, it’s two behaviors that happen because of something bigger.
Not definitively profound, unless one wants to look at it that way. But just bigger.
In the same way, someone could think that this newest post is caused by daylight or the presence of WordPress gestates these posts.
But the reason this new post is here is because it’s Friday and it’s the one of two days that I write.
photo by: Michael Williams @ moderatelivingblog.com
A deep can/cup holder that can pivot according to its adjustable clamp position, with a slot for a smartphone? This is the real technology that makes a difference in a person’s day.
I was able to sit and be secure knowing my drink wouldn’t get tipped over and I wouldn’t lose my phone while watching the summer leaves turn to their autumn colors. This little gizmo was one of the big stars of this past season. Heck, this will probably be used throughout the year anytime I sit outside.
