Ffolkes,
~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~
“You said you want me to WHAT?”
“FfYou ffhave fNO ffidea ffhow ffGOOD ffthis ffffeels! Thpptt!”
To begin, let’s get this out of the way…. Both pictures are from the SFGATE.com Day In Pictures photo feature, one each from two consecutive days, yesterday and the day before…. I’m including both, here at the beginning for a couple reasons…. First, I like them. Second, they both go with the excellent outcry from our old friend Zippy, which just happens to coincide with my mood…. my mood now, not when you’re reading this, though it may extend that far into the future…. who knows? For now, though, it’s just right…. Third, I named these two with my own file names, to remind me of the anthropomorphic images that crossed my mind upon first viewing them… The captions you see are what came later, after percolating….
The first one I call, Morpheus the koala… Isn’t he the cutest, sleepiest little thing you’ve ever seen?…. That, of course, is before the second thought that occurred to me, to wit: I wonder what he’s thinking, with that expression? From that perspective, he obviously is a bit suspicious, and not altogether sure of what he’s looking at…. which, given the nature of the koala, isn’t a surprise; plus, I don’t think their vision is very acute…. Logically, their first instinct, when they see anything, is to figure out whether it is predatory, thinking of them as food, or, is it food for them?
The writer who writes the comments under each picture on SFGATE saw the expression yet another way, by, quoting a look-alike from a movie …. “Do. Or do not. There is no try.”, quoting, of course, Yoda…. thus, proving they were too lazy to do any research, lacked creativity, or felt compelled to go for the cheap laugh by the pressure of working on a deadline….
The second picture I titled “earthshaking news”, but, my actual first thought was that it must be an Irish squirrel, on his way home from the public house, with a snoot full of rye whiskey under his belt (although “belt” may be a more accurate term for what he did with the rye, rather than where it ended up….). He reminds me of the old saw, that says, “An Irishman is never too drunk, so long as he can lay on his face, clutching the grass to keep from flying off the Earth”…. In truth, the little beastie is probably just cooling off his, well, private parts, on the cool branch…. That, or he’s expecting an earthquake…. hence, the title….
Why look, ffolkes! We’ve come to a point where it is not only appropriate to bring this introduction to a close, we can do so with the knowledge we actually composed something that actually has the look, the feel, and the traditional structure of such a device. Not only that, but, it’s seemingly ambiguous enough to act as a segue into almost any subject…. I sure wish I knew how this happened… I could do it again, if I could figure it out, and get it down on paper, or, at least, in my head with a note to remember it….
Unfortunately, I’ve already used up all the common sense, and typical patterns of behavior for one day, so, we’ll just toss this one overboard with all the others from the past, just as if it had never been exactly what I need, or want…. SIGH…. Sometimes, being odd is not much fun…. but, then I remember the alternative, shiver clear down to my toes, and give myself a happy smile, knowing that “normal” just isn’t for me…. Now, if I could only decide whether I’m serious about that, or not, I’d be able to at least ring it in with a Treble Bob Major, if not a Minor….
Shall we Pearl?…..
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
~~ T. S. Eliot ~~
Choruses from the Rock
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Stupid is as stupid does.” — Mama Gump
Yesterday, during a rant in section one of the Daily Pearl, I made a comment, wherein I accused Bill Clinton of being an idiot, and a husband, in the same breath…. While his persona exhibits elements of both adjectives, neither one fits completely comfortably; if it was a suit, you’d think it was poorly tailored. He IS an idiot of course; letting one’s lust control their actions while in the White House as the President, is kind of a give-away on that…. and he IS a husband; it says so right on the license available for anyone to see somewhere in what, oh, yeah, Arkansas, or Alabama, or wherever it was they got married… Who knows, maybe it was in D.C. after they left Little Rock, or whatever… But, obviously, he isn’t terribly good at either one….
Any who, I wanted to clarify that, while also acknowledging that, in truth, Bill is a VERY smart guy…. I don’t care who you are, you don’t get to be a Rhodes Scholar if you don’t have a few neurons to bump together… He also plays a pretty mean sax, which is also an indicator of superior, or at least multi-talented, intelligence…. All of which goes to prove that intelligence alone has little, if any, survival value. Possessing a high IQ does not give one the ability, necessarily, to USE it in a way that helps one advance, in any respect….
Ethically, morally, or in terms of worldly success, as in being rich, famous, or celebrated in some fashion, smart guys don’t always win against the mundanes, simply because they are often not paying attention to what is important to those with less on their minds… In Bill’s case, he tried to take his multi-tasking to a new level, and failed, miserably…. Common sense often escapes the most intelligent members of this species; they tend to be a little less balanced out on the fringes of the bell curve…. too much going on in their heads, that ends up distracting them from what they’re doing in the real world, and that they are being watched, always…
That’s all…. just sayin’….. Smart don’t mean smart, if you know what I mean…. Sometimes, a little bit of street cred, a little low animal cunning, as it were, can go a long way to being more useful than having a degree, or being able to quote poetry…. Unfortunately, when someone like that learns the law, then turns to politics, there is no end to the harm they can cause…. Witness just about every president in my lifetime…. Most of them weren’t the most intelligent, though smart enough to get through law school; they are definitely the most corrupt, and the most vicious sociopaths, that is for sure and for certain, but, overly intelligent, they were NOT…..
Sorry, but, I just calls ’em as I sees ’em, ffolkes, and that’s the way it’s been for my life; I can count, on fewer than the fingers on only ONE of my hands, the number of presidents I respect, at all, and only one of those is still alive…. That one will go down in history as an ineffective president, because he had the unfortunate quality of possessing both intelligence, and integrity, not to mention compassion…. which are three qualities that no other president since 1962 has possessed. to any appreciable degree, and definitely not together in the same man, other than the one…. If you disagree, fine…. comment, and tell me why, so we can discuss it…. But, please, make it worth my time, because there isn’t a lot of evidence I’m aware of for you to choose from..
Any who, that’s it…. just wanted to make clear why I thought Bill was an idiot husband…. I’ll avoid any comments as to WHY he is uncomfortable as a husband, married to a woman who is just as sociopathic as he is…. a woman completely lacking any sort of real compassion for others, because it is subsumed in the vast furnace of their ambition….
There is no room for compassion in one who wishes to lead a nation, especially one with the power and resources of this one, along with the historically traditional imperative, and true national pastime, of proselytizing democracy, and our twisted versions of Christianity, on anyone in the world who doesn’t have them…. whether they want them, or not….
Sometimes, that interference in the lives and interests of other nations in the world manifests in the guise of business, to spread our capitalist markets, which require constant expansion to prevent collapsing under their own weight…. Or, our insistence on playing busybody is justified with the pretense of humanitarianism, with rationalizations ranging from saving them from godless communism, to fighting the evil of “Muslim extremists, and/or rebel insurgents” who are fighting terrorist civil wars, “killing their own people, including, gasp, children and old people!”
These wars, though being fought over what seem to me to be all-too-familiar sounding, minute, yet firmly idiotic differences of interpretation of scripture, are still CIVIL wars, even if religiously motivated …. I won’t comment on this scripture, allegedly also “divine” in origin, in the book of collected dogmatic delusions that were left to guide them by their version of a mortal, yet, somehow, also immortal, and, thus, divine, (by the time-tested use of “ipse dixit” reasoning) prophet of the ONLY god, or Allah, or Baha’u’lah, or whomever they worship/idolize/follow/are enslaved by…. Well, I wasn’t planning to comment, but, I suppose I just did….
However, my point remains valid, despite my opinion of Islam, or Christianity, or Hinduism, or Buddhism, or any other religion…. As far as I’m concerned, they are ALL the possessors of a SMALL piece of the Truth about Reality in this Universe, but, they have erroneously chosen to misinterpret the meaning of their piece, and have beaten their dead horses, killed by that error, into a sad, bloody pulp, unrecognizable, and useless for anything other than making everyone’s life more difficult, and divisive…. I can’t say it much clearer than that, about religion, or politics, either….
Instead I’ll say that it’s a shame there is probably no one to run against Hillary who can win, because she’ll be, unfortunately, as cruelly self-serving, as dishonest as, well, a politician, as unaware of, and as little concerned with the plight of the common man, and as falsely “transparent” in their actions and words, as any man who has ever held the office…. including Tricky Dicky and LBJ, who were about as underhanded, and corrupt as any politician who ever lived….
The scary part of that, if not the scariest part of the whole shebang we call the future? If there IS anyone who can win against her, things in this sad old country, and, no doubt, the rest of this sad, old world, will go from bad, to very much worse, in a very short time…. Think about it….
Just watch…. I hate being right in these cases, but, my track record is, sadly, practically unblemished, as I have called just about every election at the national level, for all those years of repetitive foolishness I’ve witnessed….
“It is discouraging how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.” — Noel Coward
“…there are periods of history when the visions of madmen and dope fiends are a better guide to reality than the common-sense interpretation of data available to the so-called normal mind. This is one such period, if you haven’t noticed already.” — The Illuminatus! Trilogy — Robert Anton Wilson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At last! This bled out of me last night, in a frenzy of typing, editing, and staring off into space…. I feel LOTS better now….
“Never a dull moment to spare”, he said
with a crooked grin, and a broad wink.
“Can’t keep Reality hanging by a thread….
what would Chaos, or Entropy think?”
So, we plucked up our dreams of old,
to carry us on, in dutiful, strong arms,
stuffed a candle in the remaining fold,
for luck, and perfect proof against charms.
Storms follow the sun, but, never stay;
lessons round every corner, all free.
Past fleeting doubts, in a sad disarray,
the journey becomes the reason to be.
Simple kindness manifests untold riches,
in defiance of common cause’s demise.
Bold courage, hanging in stitches,
mends wounds that come as no surprise.
Still, waters run deep, ’tis said by many.
Too much pain cannot apprehend
the salient, sharp points of epiphany,
nor, plainly, to wisdom aspire to pretend.
Folly dogs even the simplest truth,
fumes of toxic ignorance and bile,
alienated as a loose rotten tooth;
it often hides itself, for a long while.
Sought after eons ago, we cried out,
to believe, to suffer no more doubt.
But found instead good reason,
for love, and truth, from season, to season.
~~ gigoid ~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Y’all probably can’t see behind the screens, but, I’m here, late, rushed, but, content…. I bled out that poem last night, then slept like a baby (well, like a huge, hairy, old, restless baby, anyway….) for a good seven hours straight, only awakening twice to turn over…. I feel much better, and can slide right in here, just as if it were all of a piece…. which, come to think of it, it is….
So, here’s an old school pearl, for your reading enjoyment this fine holiday weekend morning…. I have no clue at all as to the parameters; I’m letting SB have its head…. Enjoy!
“By words the mind is winged” — Aristophanes (c. 450-385 B.C.) — The Birds (414 B.C.), line 1447
“There’s more to living than not dying.” — found inscribed on my eyelids this morning…. gigoid
“If 150,000 people do something really stupid………it’s still stupid.” — Smart Bee
“The mind, conscious of rectitude, laughed to scorn the falsehood of report.” — Ovid (43 BC) — Fasti, iv, 311
“A man can only do what he can do. But if he does that each day he can sleep at night and do it again the next day.” — Albert Schweitzer
It is not every question that deserves an answer.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 581
“By letting go, it all gets done.” — Tao Te Ching
Damn near perfect…. So be it….
gigoid has spoken.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well…. I hardly know what to say at this point. It would, no doubt, be for the best to wind this up now, and be on our way. Not being the sort to challenge the dictates of Reality, at least, not when it slaps me right in the ear like this, I’ll go along with that….. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
gigoid, the dubious
PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.
gigoid 
Smart Bee and Coward have me today.
Up for some pugilistics? I challenge your idea of husband on the grounds what works for them works.
Liken marriage to a rose. Have you ever known two to be identical? Your rail against religion should extend to that exalted (onerously so) union. In each religion, the parameters are vastly different. Merely within the Christian realm they are very different. What say you of the fidelity in an polygamous marriage or a polyamorous arrangement?
Marriage as a construct is the sole domain of religion, despite the secular echo of the civil union. Both are merely contracts, by definition unnatural. As a species we are not prone to lifelong mating nor monogamy. We choose them in the same manner we choose a favorite color. As we mature, our views of it change. Ergo, I challenge your judgment of his husbandhood. Methinks it assumes many facts not in evidence.
To be perfectly frank, I find his folly to have been being caught by those whose snap judgment would be steeped in their own prejudices, my-way-is-the-right-way mentality and small-mindedness. The sad fact this incident is still a topic for discussion weakens my connection to the humanity I want to believe is redeemable.
I shan’t argue politics with you, as my zest, tolerance and patience for the inanity ended before my departure from the department of elections a decade ago. It is the same grounds on which I do not argue religion; for sooth, they are twins separated only by self-righteousness.
xxx
Red…. yes, I am, always, but, not for long; I’m still recovering from night before last’s ordeal…. though pugilistic may be a bit harsh for the way I look at dialogue, even if contesting a disputed point… but, sure, I love such… I’ll go as long as I can…. which will, no doubt, end up being too much…
I’ll just say this for now…. what I said, about Bill and his discomfort at being in a marriage with Hillary is, of course, assuming facts not in evidence; it’s a personal opinion based only on what I can observe in the public arena, and, I don’t know them personally at all; it doesn’t preclude me from knowing they’re unethical, or immoral, even by their own standards…Hell, maybe they enjoy cheating on each other; that’s their business anyway…. I couldn’t care less….
The whole issue about the sex with Monica always annoyed me the most because, who the fuck cares?… The whole thing was stupid, from EVERY direction you look at it…. Him, for even thinking about it; the busybodies who caught scent of it, and brought it out, solely for their OWN aggrandizement; the media, for falling on it like a pack of starving wolves…. we all lost something when it came to pass…
I am aware of all you relate above, as to the individuality of each marriage, and its dependence on the particular beliefs of the involved parties…. Add in my own personal history, with parents who were married for 42 years until “death did part them”, and my sister, who has been married to the same man for 55 years…. Another brother has over 25 in with his third wife, and I tried to stay married, but was convinced to give it up after 23 years, when my wife decided she no longer cared to continue the marriage… That it occurred three months before out daughter’s graduation, and left me, and the two kids, without a home, or family, at an important time, in their lives, didn’t seem to register with her, so it was, no doubt, for the best that I gave up…. It doesn’t alter my belief in the institution, when it is based on those qualities that will best serve each party in that union… the ones I mention below, (not the religious structures….)
All of them, parents and siblings, have/had their own beliefs, which do not match my own anywhere, but, they DID know how to Love, from the example set by my parents… Marriage IS the domain of religion, but, Love is not confined to marriage; this is, and always has been true… and is a fact that only makes the ethics and morality of each of the partnership that much more important, if it is to last… Having religion doesn’t make anyone honest; in fact, it tends to encourage dishonesty, so, it really isn’t the best source for the necessary morality needed in a marriage, to my way of thinking…. Understanding, compassion, and love are what matters, and that’s all…
Bill and Hillary have been married a long time, and seem to suit each other, but, I wouldn’t call them the most loving of couples, nor the most ethical, as they share the same vaulting ambitions, and sense of their own rightness… Scary in sociopathic people with a law degree….
I also hate that such nonsense is still brought up; but, you know as well as I do, once Hillary announces she will run, some strategist from the Right will drag the issue out to use against her, so, you may as well get used to it happening….
Second, the entire rant is mostly a joke, intended to make the reader smile, with a sad shake of the head, at his foolish human frailty, not condemn him for acting, as you point out, naturally…at the same time, trumpeting my own opinion about politics, and politicians, which I don’t argue either…. I hold Fred the Bird to have expressed it best…. “Politics is poopadoodle.” So, even though it isn’t, I try to treat it as a joke, and make my (admittedly, often feeble) attempts at wit with pundits as the targets….
Plus, this whole thing about Bill & Hillary, while accurately expressing my opinions, has the overall intent to make the reader laugh, not to convince them I’m right… Who cares? Not very many folks, or ffolkes, get by to read it anyway, so I’m mostly talking to myself…. That’s a blogger for ya, always mixing up reality, and what is in our heads when we sit down to play with the typewriter, er, computer….
You were/are right, at least partially, if not completely, in all of your comments; I couldn’t agree more with most of it; other parts, not so much…. but, it sure is fun to throw ideas around with somebody who doesn’t shrink from a different viewpoint… and can hold more than one opinion in their mind without getting all bent out of shape because one of them is the opposite of their own…. Very refreshing…
Thanks for the comment, milady, and the stimulation; it obviously worked….
Round two, and there’s the bell….
😉
See ya, & Blessed Be…
Oh, and careful with them xxx’s, you might give me ideas….
gigoid, the dubious
😎
See, we speak of the same truth. As with most socially-driven events, I order a large helping of well-seasoned “Don’t give a shit”.
I have also been party to marriages of inordinate length, two in the 60-year range. Each longevity was predicated on an understanding (of self and unit) which oft supplanted the stricture of the “vows” trotted out for the witnesses. That understanding, to my mind, is of far more importance than the minority-rules mandates of the construct. Yet another example of my soul and mind being present in a time to which I am ill-fitted.
Kisses lighten the soul because they make us smile. I kiss as indiscriminately as possible. Enough out there are spreading what no one wants. 😉
xxx
Red… 😈
Unfortunately, not giving a shit doesn’t always preclude them leaving us alone, and they’re so frigging ubiquitous, what with their need for all that attention…. SIGH… Oh well, I suppose it could be worse… No idea how, but, supposedly, it can always be worse…
Yep… I’ve always believed the marriages that work, probably do so in spite of their connection to religion, not because of it; and, I empathize with your feeling of displacement. Us pink monkeys always have to deal with the intolerance of the brown monkeys… but, it’s like that hive of bees that live in your/my head… there they are.
I can appreciate your generosity, completely… I’ve just been celibate so long, the mere thought of kisses encourages me to indulge in excessive fantasy… especially with one such as yourself, who exhibits so many of the characteristics that are attractive to me… Intelligence, individuality, empathy, compassion, honesty… plus, you can spell, and punctuate, and everything! 😉 Don’t ever change!….
Good to exchange ideas with someone who knows how to dance to the tune…. take care, my friend…
Here, here’s a couple back at ya, with interest!
xxxxx ooooo
Ned
😎
You have written, ” That, of course, is before the second thought that occurred to me, to wit: I wonder what he’s thinking, with that expression? ” about the cute Koala Bear in your blog post.
I am convinced that whatever he is thinking it must be far more atmospheric, elevated and even pure ( if you will) than most of the things we humans are capable of thinking. I have often remarked that I believe the little animals are closer to the Will of The Divine than most Humans can ever aspire to be.
I am moved by this piece because I love little animals and some of them have been far more faithful friends to me than any others could ever have been. They listen to every word you say, never argue, never complain and ask for nothing except a little loving care.
John…. thanks for the comment…
I agree, the thoughts and/or images in the squirrel’s head are probably much different than my anthropomorphizing; that was the intent, which, in essence, was to give y’all a smile… My most logical guess is that the squirrel is doing that simply because it feels good…
Whether squirrels thoughts get atmospheric, or not, is something I cannot ascertain by any known methods, so I can’t really say…. But, I agree fully about the relative morality and ethics of most animals, compared to almost all humans… Animals are much nicer, and more honest… ’tis simple as that…
If you read much of my stuff here for long, aside from politics and religion, animals are my favorite subject…. I’ve been the companion of dogs and cats all my life; I don’t own them. We are friends, who live together, and no roommate has ever been as compatible as any one of them…..
A while back, I wrote a tribute to my last dog, Noah, who passed at 17+ years about two years ago…. If you like animal tales, you might enjoy it: it’s here:
http://therealowner.com/dogs/an-ode-to-noah/
Again, thanks for stopping by, and for the comment….
gigoid
:cool
I am so sorry to hear about your loss. I had a lovely black doberman named “Nosy” and I was devastated when he had to go.
Thanks for sharing and be blessed in all things always.