After adding penalties, it’s free…

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Ffolkes,

“How many northern Californians does it take to screw in a light bulb?”

“None of your f***ing business and have a nice day.”

~~ Curmudgeon Bee ~~

Fish for Dinner

Fish for Dinner


Hajime…. Now, THAT’S the proper pearl to begin the final post for 2015. It took me nearly three days to find it, but, every minute was worth every second…. The critical factor for understanding such an assertion is, simply, I AM a northern Californian. Though born about 230 miles south of where I now reside in the Golden State, I’ve lived north of the Bay for most of it….

Almost needless to say, it also provides me, and, any other potential/practicing curmudgeons, a perfect line for using on Mundanes, in one variation or another, when suddenly confronted with the numerous acts of random, yet grindingly consistent, gross stupidity, in the form of a question, which, by any person with functioning neurons, would be considered rhetorical….

There…. Was that cynical & insulting enough? I hope so, I worked hard to make it so. If nobody is offended, all I can say is, damn! Where did I go wrong?….. If THAT’S not enough, well, all I can say is, y’all had best find your spare brain; this one ain’t workin’….

Hah! Let’s throw in a “Whew!”, as well. I’m done now. Sorry, just had to get that out. I’ll try not to let it break out so vehemently again….. today. I shan’t make any promises for tomorrow; you know how I hate to make promises I’m not likely to keep. No worries, though. I think I probably have enough strange left in me to get through a Pearl, especially one with the natural advantage of landing on a holiday, to either celebrate, sell, ignore, or, explore the meaning thereof, the last of which probably isn’t a good idea today….. I’m liable to, literally, and, literature-ally, go off…. Then, of course, there’s the figurative…. No, let’s not even go there….

I think, perhaps, we should get on with it. What do y’all think? Oh, right. No ‘perhaps’ about that…. Well, I think so, and I’m the one typing here, so, I guess that puts me in the driver’s seat, doesn’t it? Duh…. Okay, then, we’ll have it YOUR way.

Maestro, on with the slow….

Shall we Pearl?….

“The notion that faith in Christ is to be rewarded by an eternity of bliss, while a dependence upon reason, observation, and experience merits everlasting pain, is too absurd for refutation, and can be relieved only by that unhappy mixture of insanity and ignorance called “faith”.” — Robert G. Ingersoll

(Just a teaser for what is coming; if you are uncomfortable with ambiguity, or, uncertainty, maybe you should think about skipping from the video to the poetry section…. Fair warning….)

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townes (2)

Townes Van Zandt

Image from amoeba.com via Google Images


Today’s video selection is the result of a comment yesterday from a friend, who sent me a link to one of his tunes (Thanks!) …. I realized I had not used his music yet; since he is one of my most favored artists, there was no hesitation at all in deciding to include him today. Hell, his song, Pancho and Lefty, is one I’ve been playing & singing myself, damn near every time I play, for about 40 years, or more…. I’ve played it with my BFF, Tommy Tumbleweed, in a smoky, loud, crowded bar, more times than I can remember…. Enjoy, ffolkes… Townes is one of the best poets to ever pick up a guitar…..


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Townes Van Zandt

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Sandclock .jpg

    Taking another day off here, ffolkes; fresh rants coming soon…. For now, let’s go back to, oh, a bit more than three years ago, to see what was going on in this silly, yet, earnest mind of mine…..

From 12/2/2012:

“There is one God, but which one is He?”

~~ Smart Bee ~~


Now, this is the proper use of reason and inquiry! Such a small question, made gargantuan by the depth of its insight. Which one, indeed, is the real God? There are as many answers to this question as there are what I like to call “preachers”, for want of a better word (I should maybe try to pick a better one, I suppose….); “preachers” are men, or women, who have decided upon one particular system of beliefs on the subject of divinity as being the correct one, to the exclusion of all the others. In spite of the lack of hard evidence on hand for any of the different belief systems, these folks choose one, and stick to it like a barnacle…. which, come to think of it, is probably what it feels like, after a while….

Depending on to whom the question is put, the answer may vary from Odin the All Father of Norse mythology, to the God of Zoroaster, whose specific appellation escapes me just now. In between you will find God, also known as Yahweh/Jehovah to the those of the Tribe, Allah to the Muslims, and just plain, old God, to most of the Christian sects. There is the voodoo god, Jobu, in the Caribbean; Set, or Bal, or Mammon, or any of the other ancient earth gods;  Ra of the Egyptians; Krishna, and all his incarnations, i.e., Kali, Yama, Ganesha, Maya, and the others in the Hindu pantheon. The American Indians seemed to favor the Great Spirit. Ancient Druids, from the dawn of Man’s history, and, modern Wiccans, follow the Goddess, with gods and goddesses from the Greeks and Romans thrown into the mix, just for fun. The list seems as endless as human imagination…. which it is, since all of them spring from that source.

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.
If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”

~~ Smart Bee (and, most likely, the Dalai Lama….) ~~


As far as I know, Buddha never claimed to be a god, and, was, to my mind, not particularly clear on the subject of divinity, as directly related to humanity. The same seems true of Taoism, though certain of its sages seem to hold some of the old Chinese mythology beliefs on Heaven, and the creatures who inhabit that domain, another concept for which there is only imaginary evidence to support its veracity, and its reality. In this way, I see these philosophies as superior to the religious doctrines that purport to worship a deity, as they rely on reason, personal responsibility, and compassion to direct action, rather than fear of reprisal, or hope for reward, as is the wont of religious dogma and doctrine.

This perception of mine may be because I have always thought that the entire concept of a deity is not capable of being described, or understood, if one is to assume that a god is what it claims to be. How can a mortal understand an immortal? There is no common ground, other than the assumption of existence, for which there can be any reason for one to be connected to the other, as we could not comprehend their existence. We, limited to our human perceptions, have no direct evidence of a deity that can be experienced by those perceptions.

Anyone who tells you they do is lying, even if they believe it to be true, unless they can share that experience with another human, directly, with evidence for the senses we possess, not merely for what we wish to be true. Feelings don’t count, nor visions only seen by them, or voices in the head; neither do personal revelations, or religious fevers, or speaking in tongues…. See, hear, touch, smell, taste…. that’s what we have, along with the ability to reason, and our imagination. That is our tool kit; unless one of the tools fits, it isn’t real, to our perceptive ability. Items purported to be evidence that come from imagination are just that; imaginary, and cannot be considered proof of anything other than the naivete of the speaker, and, of any who choose to believe them.

“It is a great advantage for a system of philosophy to be substantially true.”

~~ George Santayana ~~


SIGH…. People are people, though, and they will choose what to believe according to what they feel, most of the time, rather than according to what is the truth, which requires effort to find. It has even been said that humans have a tendency, more often than not, to make choices that are bad for them, just for that reason, that it is too much effort to think their way through to the truth that would ultimately help them. As long as this is true, our species is in danger, from itself, and its own delusions…. Sad, in a species of such promise….

And on the 8th day, God woke up and said “Whew! It was just a dream!”

~~ Smart Bee ~~


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Comedy_Tragedy

Dreaming, I wait….

In the most patient moments of rationality
kindness flows smoothly in a special milieu,
fallow thoughts speed first from equality
to give no anxious fever, anger to eschew.

Indignant mothers and step-sons in-law
shall fade simply from brilliant to grey,
intoning ritual dogma, fresh, avid, and raw,
falling, falling, in massive pastoral disarray.

Safety lives not, save brightly in ignorant bliss,
it follows us all, silent and infinitely frail,
foremost too often, soft as a virgin kiss,
alive, always eager, willing, and pale.

Intimate knowledge finds only the bold few
with courage and virtue to gift, unbidden.
No solemn royal version may pass in review,
true love for man, never to remain unhidden.

Sweet feathers of Emily’s hope uplift,
calm, drowsy episodes bursting with light,
With final glad cries we set ourselves adrift,
swimming in the oceans of natural delight.

When sorrow is banished, in ages yet to come,
roots solidly anchored, cold and remote,
Ample supplies of kindness sit silent and dumb,
and the old stranger shrugs on his faded coat.

Dreaming, then, I wait with shadows in the night
aspiring to inspire, a message from the muse’s heart
Never forgotten images, framed in color bright,
tempt me only, grieving, steeped in serenity’s arcane art.

~~ gigoid ~~

8/8/2013


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pearls_3

Naked Pearls

Life

Within the oyster’s shell uncouth
The purest pearl may hide,
Trust me you’ll find a heart of truth
Within that rough inside.

~~ Mrs. Osgood ~~

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“A love affair with knowledge will never end in heartbreak.”

~~ Michael Garrett Marino ~~

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“There is not enough love and kindness in the world
to permit us to give any of it to imaginary beings.”

~~ Friedrich Nietzsche ~~

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“There is no time like the pleasant.”

~~ George Bergman ~~

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45. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

~~ Instructions for life ~~

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“We are shaped and fashioned by what we love.”

~~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~~

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“There’s too much beauty upon this earth for lonely men to bear.”

~~ Richard Le Gallienne ~~

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“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark;
the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”

~~ Plato ~~

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陶德清

Always we hope
 Someone else has the answer
 Some other place will be better
 Some other time it will all work out.
This is it.
 No one else has the answer
 No other place will be better
 And it has already turned out.
At the center of your being
 You have the answer;
 You know who you are and what you want.
There is no need to turn outside
 For better seeing.
 Rather abide at the center of your being
 For the more you leave it
 The less you learn.
Search your own heart and see
 the way to do is to be.

~~ Lao Tzu ~~

老子


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It’s done. For this we are grateful. We are also, as you can see, stuck in the royal ‘we’ again. We shall leave you now, with no further ado, as this condition can last for days…. We are sorry, but, as royals, we are never tired, never cross, and like hospitals. It’s in the manual, right before the section on how to act smarmy and superior without any real clue…. See y’all tomorrow, we are sure….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
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

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

Kowabunga!


À bientôt, mon cherí….




		
	
			

			
						


	



						

	
	
			

			45 thoughts on “After adding penalties, it’s free…”		


		
		
    
					
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    Be..
    

    The greatest thing about the essence
    
is it does not have to be reincarnated
    
as it is already carnated as floWer of
    
DArk and
    
LiGht of
    
Truth..
    
DArk then
    
LiGht.. then
    
moving or dancing
    
then sound or song..
    
As above so below
    
wE continue
    
to SinG..
    
and as
    
now will have it
    
words of Lao Tzu
    
speak Jesus now
    
then gnostic
    
’59  Thomas
    
version
    
from the
    
dead
    
‘see’
    
‘two’…
    
para
    
phraSinG
    
sAMe.. Now..
    
There are Those who fear the dArk
    
and Others who are cynical of liGht..
    
never realiZinG i am paraphraSinG
    
Plato on that one
    
until now..
    
thanks
    
to the
    
direct Quote
    
from you.. but
    
sure he probably
    
paraphrased that
    
from Socrates but
    
like Jesus we have
    
no actual quotes from him..
    
Essence requires no faith
    
Faith is better eMotion in
    
Believing
    
in the
    
Smart
    
Be
    
that
    
IS..
    
And the more one understands
    
of that Smart Be that is ALL the more
    
one appreciates the SonG Be SinGs.. NOW
    
wheRe Hope and Trust become OnE and
    
sAMe as equal emoTioNs of Belief iN
    
NOW..
    
i believe in
    
the Be of Now
    
with All my heARt
    
SoUL and SpiRit as
    
Force with ONE BE
    
i be
    
i am.. Now..
    
My God i can
    
prove without a doubt
    
with finger prints of
    
a SonG that iS tHe
    
HeARt and SpiRit
    
of
    
BE.. NOW.
    
both smARt
    
and FEELING
    
LiVE
    
NOW
    
wHere aLL
    
nows be
    
NEW
    
NOWS
    
NOW..:)
    

    Yes.. i am the
    
adult version
    
of Dr. Suess..;)
    

    Happy New NOW
    
and may now
    
always
    
be
    
God2
    
you..
    
friend
    
gigoid..
    

    God is what
    
we make now
    
end and
    
beginning
    
of story
    

    Be..:)
    

    

				
    
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      Excellent song/poem, my brother… be-ginning, to be-ending…(or, pausing…)
      

      😉
      

      I’m glad you enjoyed today’s effort; I enjoyed putting it together, for sure,…
      

      Have a happy NEW NOW, as well; BE well, and BE happy with each other…. all NOW long…
      

      🙂
      

      May we all live in the shelter of each other, as people do….
      

      Blessed BE, FRiEnD(s)….
      

      gigoid
      

      😎
      

      

				
      
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        Smiles.. well.. not officially..
        
penniewoodfall.. my friend..
        
considering i had to Google
        
the  ‘précis style’.. i’m kind of a
        
complicated parrot
        
as more than
        
likely.. as
        
a Hyperlexic
        
child.. not putting
        
words together
        
until age 4..
        
later diagnosed
        
on the Autism Spectrum
        
in middle age.. iN whatever
        
way i learned to speak that
        
was very difficult with no help
        
back in those 1960’s days..
        
with much teasing
        
from the children
        
then.. comes
        
to what i am
        
now.. as i continue
        
to adapt in ways
        
of verbal and written
        
speaking still.. my friend..
        
it is unusual.. no doubt..
        
as perhaps i might be
        
the most unusual
        
of all
        
simply
        
’cause
        
i survived my
        
friend.. and did what
        
ever it naturally took
        
to keep afloat in how
        
i swim with the currents
        
of culture now.. free in charge..
        
instead of culture in charge of me..
        
but yeah.. i think that is a fair analysis
        
looking from the outside in.. but when i
        
write.. i flow.. through stream of conciseness
        
writing at speeds approaching 130 words
        
a minute.. that can barely keep up
        
with what comes out of both my
        
mind and fingers..
        
too fast
        
for me
        
to purposefully
        
slow down or control
        
in any analytical way..
        
but hey..  the river will
        
find a way eventually to flow
        
as water is the most powerful force
        
of weather
        
known..
        
and sure..
        
i am the
        
water or
        
perhaps
        
the air that
        
drives it.. in metaphor
        
of course.. for now..
        
but sure.. interesting
        
question.. and thanks
        
for asking.. i learn
        
a new term
        
today
        
for what
        
i do.. and
        
sure.. i’ve heard
        
scores of other
        
official analyses
        
for the free of me before..;)
        

        

				
        
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    Hi Rat Bag….Great Music!
    
I saw him in London…he was sober enuf to get on the plane…….he was not the first time  😦
    
Too Wasted to Get on the plane…so was my ticket!
    
And again I tried…..  at the Mean Fiddler…success!
    
I have a signed L.P….aawwww…grin
    
He was great…
    
Something just for you…
    
Brendan O’Neill | Freedom of Speech and Right to Offend | Proposition https://youtu.be/BtWrljX9HRA?list=PLOAFgXcJkZ2zeWTGHpR56tAphiqmTZxjK via @YouTube
    

    Happy New Year….and the bloody cat who should mind her own ‘bloody’ business…
    
grin
    
😉
    

    

				
    
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      Lady P….
      

      Mr. O’Neill lives up, quite well, to the standard of Shelley, and Wilde, his fellow Fellows. I listened to the entire piece, and, could not disagree with a single word. Moreover, now, it seems, I’m going to have to REALLY get mean….
      

      He’s right; it’s time, and past, for as many of us to BE offensive to orthodoxy, and, the oligarchy, as we CAN BE….
      

      So be it…. Let’s start with tomorrow’s Pearl, shall we?
      

      I think we shall….
      

      Thanks for that one… It’s now almost midnight where you hang out; go smooch a cat, or a friend… for luck, and courage… the latter of which you already do NOT lack, but, can and do share….
      

      Love…. it’s the only weapon left to us….
      

      gigoid
      

      

				
      
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