Tag Archives: Goethe

Trite figurines in professional pants…..

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Ffolkes,
Oddly enough, I still don’t have any idea as to how I should go about starting these Pearls. After more than 12 years, one would think I’d have a clue about that, but, nope, I’m still fussing around with different approaches and styles, all of which work, at various times, and none of which work, some of the time….. It’s enough to drive a sane man to drink, or a sober man to go crazy, so it should certainly be enough to turn me into a blubbering idiot…. Of course, there are those who would say, (unkindly, I might add…) that I am both insane, and often drunk…. They’re just jealous, though….

Jealous of what, I don’t know, but, that’s the way it seems….. Maybe it’s because, in spite of how it may seem, I’m always doing exactly what I want to do…. That’s something not everyone can say, isn’t it, now? I mean, most people wander through life, going to work, living their lives, but on somebody else’s schedule, not one they would choose for themselves, if they knew they could. This makes them feel a general sense of dissatisfaction with their lives, without knowing exactly why…. and they notice that I do not ever suffer that particular form of angst. It happens subconsciously, I think, kind of like how dogs know if you’re afraid…. these folks know when someone is free of influence…. We probably send out some sort of pheromone or something, that alerts them they are in the presence of someone who is different somehow…..

I’ve always been sort of a pink monkey in a room full of brown apes; it’s hard not to stand out in a crowd, when almost everything you say, or do, is markedly different than what everyone else is saying and doing…. Often, it’s an uncomfortable feeling, as the brown apes can get excitable when confronted with anomalous events, with a tendency to strike out at what, or who, they do not understand. Fortunately, they are also often rather stupid, and easily distracted from their anger by humor, or by superior reasoning, which is generally invisible to them…. It’s too bad there are so damn many of them, as they tend to clutter up the landscape, and get into everything, usually to ill effect……

Ah well, I can’t complain too much, I suppose…. Somebody has to be around to run the fast food joints, and I certainly don’t want to do it, so, I try to stay aware of the old saw that all creatures have their purpose, even if that purpose isn’t always clear to me….. Hell, as long as they don’t get any of their slime on me, I’m okay with them…. Just don’t ask me to hold a conversation with one of them; it’s too much work…..

There, I’ve been snide, and pissy, and prejudiced enough for three people, all in one intro section, such as it is…. I’d apologize in advance, but, it’s too late for that, so, I’ll just say, sorry ’bout that, and get on with the day….. I currently haven’t a clue as to what I’m going to write about, so it could prove to be a somewhat odd post, even for me…. Shall we Pearl?…..
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I’ve been ranting in the first section a lot, of late, so today we’ll switch things around, and go with an old-school pearl, leaving any potential ranting for later…. I think I’ll make this one a pointed pearl, which is to say, I’ll have one idea in my head when I search the dB for appropriate aphorisms to include…. You get extra points for figuring out the original idea that was used, and double bonus points to keep it to yourself…..

“The lessons of life amount not to wisdom but to scar tissue and callus.” — Wallace Stegner

“Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and bend over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you suddenly know everything there is to be known.” — Winnie the Pooh
(Pooh DOES have his good side….. in which he IS an Uncarved Block….)

“An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all.” — Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915)

“What is becoming is honest, and whatever is honest must always be becoming.” — Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.)

“Consciousness: That annoying time between naps.” — Bumper Sticker

“Although a cloth be washed a hundred times, how can it be rendered clean and pure, if it be washed in water which is dirty? — Nagarjuna (c. 100-200 A.D.)

“Hold every moment sacred.” — Thomas Mann
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I have vowed to myself that today will be the end of my almost three year hiatus from being able to print…. That’s how long ago my printer ran out of ink, and I have since been unable to afford to buy any…. I can scan, save, and fax or email documents, but I can’t print anything. Truly a pain…. So, today, I’m going to buy a new printer, as I’m done fussing around with the issue…. This means shortcuts in today’s Pearl, one of which is this poem, which is again drawn from my archives…. Too bad, so sad, I like it anyway…. so there…..   ;-)    I did write a fresh haiku, so that’s something, isn’t it?  As every day this month, this is for the April National Poetry Writing Month Challenge, with the updates to be found here:  http://www.napowrimo.net/ (I still don’t know if I’m doing this right, but, oh well….) (I gave up on making the logo appear on the web page; it works fine in the email version of the Pearl…. WordPress just won’t let me display it, no matter how I try….) (SIGH…..)

Haiku III

Inspiration comes
only when it feels it should.
Serendipity.

~~gigoid~~

Accentuated Lessons

Bold statements of calculated intent
Become common rule of the malcontent.
Avarice assumes such attractive wear
Beguiling deception, illusory and fair.

Grasping and pulling with ghostly hands
Legally proper in all the signatory lands.
Seeking and finding each vulnerable soul
Anguish as payment for exacting the toll.

Wraiths of commerce’s invisible dead guards
Still haunt the dreams left in sad empty yards.
While absentee nobles sit in stiffly elegant splendor
Served by sad-faced detainees in abject surrender.

Escape from reality is illusory at best
Often we falter and fail its daily test.
Only when focused on inner strength
Does peace stay with us for any length.

Peace lies within, always…..

~~ gigoid

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“Belief is not the beginning but the end of all knowledge.” — Goethe

This is something I believe strongly; it’s one part of why my full, correct user name on the Internet, which I chose in 1996, is gigoid, the dubious….. the latter part being my professional title, as it were…. Dubious is what I do, and the reason why I read so much, and find so much of the universe to be so fascinating….. and, at times, so damned frustrating…. Of course, that is when I’ve been running up against other people too much, which tests my resolve to remain sane in the face of so much that isn’t conducive to that state….. Any who, all rationalization aside, I’m stuck…. No rant seems to be in there, and nothing coming up in SB to stimulate enough angst to fire off a few paragraphs…. So, I’ll cheat, again….

Here is a pearl, written on the last day of 2011, about a year and a half ago (almost…. 1.33333333 years, to be exact….), that speaks to the subject I was just discussing (imagine that!…. how convenient!….) Well, ALMOST the same subject…..  Any who, it’s pretty good, given its age and provenance…. Enjoy!…..
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A few random thoughts on the meaning of insanity, and by implication, sanity…….all came from one dive. Pearl after pearl on the same subject kept presenting itself for my perusal, so after a few, I just gave up & collected them. So here they are, all with a bit to say about those among us who perceive reality from a whole different place than you or me…..

“What garlic is to salad, insanity is to art.” — Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907), Reminiscences

If sanity were dollars I’d be bankrupt.” — Smart Bee

“I come from a long line of Southern psychotics and an environment where madness is currency and conversation is blood sport.” — Elizabeth Ashley

According to figures from the Justice Department, the average rapist serves only 5.2 years on jail, and the average murderer serves only 8.6 years. By contrast, the average time served for possession of LSD is 10.1 years, and many Americans are serving mandatory minimum sentences of 20 to 25 years for possession or sale of marijuana. — Smart Bee
(Insanity comes in many guises…… your choice as to which is real, and which is delusion….)

Avoid reality at all costs!

And who (in time) knows whither we may vent
The treasure of our tongue? To what strange shores
This gain of our best glory shall be sent
T’ enrich unknowing nations with our stores?
What worlds in the yet unformed Occident
May come refin’d with th’ accents that are ours?
– Samuel Daniel (1562-1619) — Musophilus, Stanza 163
(Psychosis is rooted in fear, and fear also assumes many masks…..)

I feel like one
Who treads alone
Some banquet-hall deserted,
Whose lights are fled,
Whose garlands dead,
And all but he departed.
– Thomas Moore (1779-1852)
– Oft in the Stilly Night
(An accurate description of the onset of depression…..)

Why ask me? I’m just visiting reality.

We now return you to our regularly scheduled program…..
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OMG, I’m done, and I wasn’t ready to be done…. Oh, well, so be it…. Let’s see how it proofs out….. Once more, I am surprised to find that it worked out just fine…. at least, for my rather loose standards…. Again, I don’t think we need to call the Pulitzer committee, but, it ain’t bad, so I’m going with it, as is…. Just in time, too, to go catch my bus to the printer store…. Yay….  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

–
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

dozer3

An aged, elegant marmoset sat beside the oracle…..

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6

Ffolkes,
The baleful, weary eye of the sun poked itself reluctantly above the horizon to the west, spreading a pale, washed out flood of light over the stunted, ugly landscape. Shadows deepened behind the huddled buildings by the side of the slow moving river, rippling against the cold, dark water, as the weakling sun rose slowly into the angry purple of the lightening sky. Huge, ragged-looking  birds rose in the air, cawing in hoarse, angry-sounding squawks, arguing over pieces of rotten trash. Calls to morning prayer echoed in the alleys and courtyards, along with curses of adults, and the irritated shouts of children getting dressed.  Morning came hard to all of the denizens of planet Malorda, as it did each day, on this world of trouble and woe…..

I don’t believe I’m going to take this any further…. it’s too much like the morning routine around here for comfort…. We’ll leave the poor fools who got stuck colonizing a less-than-perfect choice in planets to their miserable lives, and go on to bigger and better things, right here on Earth….. Lucky us….. I don’t suppose y’all have any cool ideas on tap, do you? I could use a few to punch up this intro section once again, since it seems to have made its usual fast start, and quick death…..

Unfortunately, I’ve already moved beyond the point where anything would actually help; it could even make things worse, should I try now to add ingredients that might not mix well with what is already down on paper, so to speak. In fact, at this point, it could conceivably start a flash fire, and then I’d have to break out the extinguisher, and call the fire department, and…. well, it could end up a real mess. I think not…. I’m not quite in the mood for any such nonsense so early in the day…. Shoot, it’s just barely 0700, no time to play around with potential conflagrations….

If things don’t alter course soon, I’m going to have to use another emergency procedure, and I don’t want to have to do that; I’ve had to use several lately, and haven’t had time to replace them. If I use another one, I’m going to end up with only one on hand for a real emergency, and that would be the one that NOBODY wants to see me use, #9, which involves the use of incubi, enferi, and the invincible armies of Hell, just to clear the way for the real procedure, which, sad to say, involves the end of life as we know it…..

No, I’ll wait on #9, and on # 6, which is what I was going to use today, a rather effective procedure that entails some rather entertaining creatures from a planet halfway across the galaxy, who have a fascinating tendency to explode when they reach a temperature above freezing…. They are a bit tricky to handle, especially in the summer, and expensive to keep frozen between uses. I guess it’s time to stock up again, on #’s 1-5, and #’s 7 & 8, all of which I’ve had to use recently….. Oh, well, it will give me something to do on these long, cold winter nights…. Oops, I live in California; we don’t have any of those here on the coast…. Well, I’ll have to make time somewhere….

Oh, look, it’s an intro section! I wonder how that got here? Gosh, if I didn’t know better, I’d think I designed it this way…. but, we all know better, don’t we? Sure…. Any who, it’s six paragraphs, none of which make any more sense than the one before, and that is enough to fulfill the rather loose standards I’ve come to accept for this section. It’s gotten so that I’ll take almost anything that holds together for that long, as I can’t seem to find a cozy, familiar pattern to follow each day…. Of course, if I did find a method like that, it would bore me to tears within a few days…. Better I stick to what I know, and just babble for a while, before I start diving for pearls….

Speaking of which, shall we Pearl?…..
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“Republican views of the world differ from Democratic views of the world. The reason for this is that these views are based on different compilations of misinformation.” — Smart Bee

There are moments, such as this one, when I believe the people, or person, who put together the database known to me as Smart Bee, is perhaps the most intelligent creature on this planet….. I’ve been ranting about politicians for years, trying to show people how dangerous it is to believe ANY of the stuff that either party is slinging at us to try to convince us they are worthy of our votes. Now, in one short aphorism, of two lines, we are given a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of the crap we hear from them…. Essentially, this says that every one of them is full of shit, and everything they say and do is destined to fail, because it is ALL based on incorrect information, or, to be more accurate, on unwarranted assumptions about reality…..

The most important part of this description is its impartiality of indictment. Both parties are brought into scrutiny, and found wanting, of any real knowledge of the truth, because they are both basing all of their premises on false beliefs, just for starters. Add to that, since they are politicians by choice, their genetic predisposition is to self-aggrandizement, and they show an inherent inability to tell the truth. It becomes rather easily seen why our society has become, well, insane…. It’s a short trip to crazy from where they begin the journey…. and they don’t take any detours on the road….

You see, both parties are convinced of a complete falsehood, one that humanity has been struggling with for centuries…. This lie is so basic, it colors and affects everything they do to try to manipulate the world into going the way they wish it to go. As long as they continue to try to do this, our society is doomed to failure in the long run, for the lie goes against the very nature of reality…. Simply put, these people believe they can legislate morality…. They believe that they can make laws, and people will go against their very nature to follow them, in spite of the fact that the law they propose is contrary to what comes naturally to humans, to wit: self-centered, grasping behaviors that only benefit the perpetrator, and no one else…..

We have laws against stealing…. and the most accomplished thieves we see in our culture wear suits and live in Washington D.C. We have laws against killing each other, but, people still get killed, and, if the killers do so while wearing a flag, or a badge, they are considered heroes, no matter how many they kill. We have laws that supposedly protect women, children, and the aged, from suffering abuse, but, just look around you, and you will see no end to the depredations that society allows to be perpetrated upon these three most vulnerable members of our society, all very much within the legal limits of the public morality, as given in the law books….

“[...] For all our conceits about being the center of the universe, we live in a routine planet of a humdrum star stuck away in an obscure corner [...] on an unexceptional galaxy which is one of about 100 billion galaxies. [...] That is the fundamental fact of the universe we inhabit, and it is very good for us to understand that.” — Carl Sagan

The people who get involved in politics, and religion, for much the same reason, believe they are special, and entitled to take all they can from the universe, because they are the be-all, and end-all of the evolutionary ladder. It says so right there in the Bible….. They don’t care that reality says differently, because their sense of denial has been fine-tuned since shortly after they were born, and they are capable of ignoring facts right up until they slap them in the face…. (Witness the Republican melt-down in the last Presidential election, when the Republican party got slapped in the face by their own lack of contact with reality…..)

In spite of all the massive amounts of evidence to the contrary, these folks believe in their own divine entitlement as the lords of creation, chosen by God to do with this planet as we would, without regard for any of the other creatures that live here with us, or for the beauty and balance of the land that sustains us. As far as they are concerned, other people and animals, and natural resources, are theirs to do with as they wish, with God’s blessing…. The fucking assholes…..

I apologize for the vulgarity, to my readers, but not to those at whom it is directed…. To them, I say, fuck you, and fuck you again…. I regard all politicians, priests, preachers, police, lawyers, judges, and corporate misogynists of all shapes and sizes to be INSANE…. floridly, and viciously insane, without any of the moral standards that the rest of mankind embraces. These assholes are responsible for our imminent demise through environmental destruction of the ecosphere, as well as for the endless preying on the weak and vulnerable to suit their own depravity, and lack of moral fiber.

“All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind.” — Joseph Conrad

Sexual slavery, corporate collusion to fix wages and prices, legislative corruption and oppression, judicial malfeasance and more corruption, governmental incompetence, religious repression and collusion with politicians, all serve the purposes of the ruling class to a T, no matter how much suffering it causes to others…. As long as they have what they want, nothing anyone else says or does matters at all….

I hate to be a harbinger of bad news, but, I call ‘em as I see ‘em, and I see what is real…. None of what is wrong in the world will change, until the major portion of mankind makes a change of spirit, and the people, as a whole, decide that the few among us who are bold enough to act must, in fact, act. The evil among us will not go away, or stop, of its own accord, and waiting for them to come around to a more amenable state of mind isn’t going to work, as that just isn’t going to happen.

If we wish to survive, they have to go, and mankind must find a new way to get along with each other than the out-dated ways we have been trying for millennia… Those old ways leave too much power in the hands of people who will give in to the temptation that goes along with such power over others, and must not be allowed to happen any more, not if we wish to survive to see any future at all….. The universe doesn’t care one way or another, so we’ll have to be responsible for our own actions…. as we have always been, and have always been afraid to admit….

“If we do not permit the earth to produce beauty and joy, it will not produce food either.” — Joseph Wood Krutch
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After a rant, I sometimes NEED some Emily to balance the scales, so to speak… call me Ishmael, or call me crazy, I don’t care…. Any who, here is some Emily that just seemed appropriate, or, if naught else, appealed to my disturbed sensibilities…..

It was not death, for I stood up,
And all the dead lie down;
It was not night, for all the bells
Put out their tongues, for noon.

It was not frost, for on my flesh
I felt siroccos crawl,–
Nor fire, for just my marble feet
Could keep a chancel cool.

And yet it tasted like them all;
The figures I have seen
Set orderly, for burial,
Reminded me of mine,

As if my life were shaven
And fitted to a frame,
And could not breathe without a key;
And ‘t was like midnight, some,

When everything that ticked has stopped,
And space stares, all around,
Or grisly frosts, first autumn morns,
Repeal the beating ground.

But most like chaos,–stopless, cool,–
Without a chance or spar,–
Or even a report of land
To justify despair.

~~ Emily Dickinson
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Since I’ve ranted, and found an excellent poem, I can relax, sort of, and not feel too guilty if I go with an old-school pearl…. They’re less work, and more fun than a rant, though without certain qualities of emotional release that ranting provides. I’m too close to the issue to make a decision as to whether that is a good thing, or not, so, I won’t…. Instead, I’ll follow mankind’s most common tool for dealing with reality, and ignore it completely….

In the meantime, why don’t you enjoy the following group of pearls, once again chosen randomly, as that seems to work the best?…… (I know, the ? mark seems out of place, but, if you’ll look back in the preceding sentence, you will see it IS a query, and the mark is appropriately placed, if a bit awkward…. So says the grammar nazi who hangs out in my head…..)

“Food for thought is no substitute for the real thing.” — Walt Kelly, Potluck Pogo

“We accept every person in the world as that for which he gives himself out, only he must give himself out for something. We can put up with the unpleasant more easily than we can endure the insignificant.” — Goethe, Elective

“Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them.” — Aristotle (384-322BC)

“The company of just and righteous men is better than wealth and a rich estate.” — Euripides

“History does not record anywhere at any time a religion that has any rational basis. Religion is a crutch for people not strong enough to stand up to the unknown without help. But, like dandruff, most people do have a religion and spend time and money on it and seem to derive considerable pleasure from fiddling with it.” — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love (1972)

” Do you know that disease and death must needs overtake us, no matter what we are doing?   What do you wish to be doing when it overtakes you? If you have anything better to be doing when you are so overtaken, get to work on that.” — Epictetus

“It is inconceivable that a judicious observer from another solar system would see in our species — which has tended to be cruel, destructive, wasteful, and irrational — the crown and apex of cosmic evolution. Viewing us as the culmination of *anything* is grotesque; viewing us as a transitional species makes more sense — and gives us more hope.” — Betty McCollister, “Our Transitional Species”, — Free Inquiry magazine, Vol. 8, No. 1
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Well, it’s about damn time…. that’s better…. Today’s Pearl was brought to you by a special effort, due entirely to my own sense of honor, and how to keep it….. It probably won’t win a Pulitzer, nor will it make me rich; it does, however, please me, and that will do…. I’m not going to tempt Fate any further today, and so, I bid thee adieu until tomorrow….  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

–
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

dozer3

That is one querulous chipmunk…..

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Ffolkes,
Fear, correctly handled, can be a powerful motivator; just ask any married man…. Ba da bing….. Rim shot….. No? You didn’t recognize the classic format? Shoot, I could have sworn y’all were old enough to remember that kind of stuff….. Maybe you do, it just doesn’t register that you do….. You know, a comedian makes a joke, usually very punny (sorry, never can resist a good pun….. or, a bad one, for that matter….), and the drummer in the band does what is called a “rim shot”, three quick drum beats, ba da bing, indicating the feeling of dropping off the edge of a cliff….. No, still no stirring of the old memory box?….. Hmm, this is more serious than I had imagined….

If this evidence is typical, we, as a society have a big problem….. we’re losing our sense of humor….. Everyone alive should be able to recognize the rim shot joke format; it is perhaps the only classic, truly American style joke that exists. Though it was present, and in use for a time in Europe, it wasn’t until Americans such as Jack Paar, Steve Allen, Johnny Carson, and the sociological genius, George Carlin, in the late twentieth century, that the genre became recognizable as an American art form, brought to its peak in the latter half of the century on TV, with proponents like Jay Leno, and most particularly, David Letterman, the savior of late night TV, upon the retirement of Carson, and the clear winner in that time of TV history known as the Late Night Wars of the Eighties…..

Whew, love those run-on paragraphs…. Any who…. Now, it appears that modern culture has lost touch with this classical American style of humor, which grew out of the ancient styles of Groucho, Zeppo, & Harpo Marx, (Leonard & Gummo only appeared occasionally), and Larry, Moe, and Curly Joe, the inimitable Stooges. Never again will the stage or screen see the kind of uninhibited nonsense as produced by those two genius comedy groups, the Marx Brother’s, and the Three Stooges, during their periods of popularity…… No one will ever poke their finger in an eye with quite the panache that Moe could give, and it is a foregone conclusion that the art of clowning lost its greatest genius when Harpo Marx passed on…. I still get a runny, big, red nose on the anniversary of this death….

How will future generations ever cope with all of the stress and angst they will have to face, in the fight to survive the environmental damage being done by today’s Beloved Ruling Class and the Asshole Division of Megacorpse? Humanity will be assuming a heavy handicap in trying to face down such experienced evil-doers without the benefit of having George C on their side…. Nobody could issue indictments of the asinine behavior of the 1% better than Grandmaster Carlin, and the video discs he left behind, targeting the corporate assholes, are as valid now as when he filmed them 10-20 years ago, all precise, detailed attacks on the people whose sole purpose is to fuck the rest of us at every turn….

I would suggest that society take a very close look at the state of humor in today’s culture, and begin the attempt to bring back the jokes needed to motivate society to action. Our artists have always shown the way, in revolutions and historical times of tension, by singing, and quoting poetry, and carving statues, and making jokes about the government, or otherwise expressing the outrage and feelings of anger that people have when confronted with the chicanery of their peers; we look to Art to show us how to live….. It will be a sad thing indeed if we cannot learn to at least laugh at the foolishness of our own demise, because, damn if it isn’t hilarious…. from the point of view of the rest of creation, anyway…..

Hmm…. without even noticing, I’ve already ranted once, and managed to get an intro section out of it as well…. Cool, eh?  If nothing else, it’s different than your average intro, without question…. whether that is a good sign, or not, remains to be seen….. I’m going to bow to the inevitable now…. Shall we Pearl?…..
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It’s time, as is obvious from the intro, to mix things up a bit…. Oh, don’t panic, just a little shake-up, no major disruptions…. In this section, rather than the recently typical entry of a politirant, or a religirant, I’m switching to a harlequin pearl, the quickest, most efficient form of pearl creation in my somewhat limited repertoire of same….

I’m confused, which is both normal, and expected, so I’m going with my usual response to that condition, and making random changes to routine, so as to “go with the flow”, as it were…. You should know by now not to encourage me like this…..  There IS a point to this pearl, and you SHOULD be able to figure it out fairly easily…. If not, well, you can always look at the ads while the adults are busy playing…..

“The dictate of the light says: ‘Know yourself and what you are.’ The dark replies, ‘By all means, but then become afraid.’” — Tanith Lee

“The only way to combat criminals is by not voting for them.” — Dayton Allen

“And never, ever cut a deal with a dragon.” — Smart Bee

“Plato affirmed that the soul was immortal and clothed in many bodies successively.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Plato, xl
(I don’t know about y’all, but it’s nice to have this confirmed by ancient decree…..)

“What I need is a MATURE RELATIONSHIP with a FLOPPY DISK…” — Zippy the Pinhead

“Individuality seems to be Nature’s whole aim — and she cares nothing for individuals.” — Goethe

For those who didn’t make it to page 249 of “The Anthropic Cosmological Principle” by John Barrow and Frank Tipler, I quote : “In a randomly infinite Universe, any event occurring here and now with finite probability must be occurring simultaneously at an infinite number of other sites in the Universe. It is hard to evaluate this idea any further, but one thing is certain: if it is true then it is certainly not original!”

I have no excuses, and no rational explanation for my behavior…. too bad, so sad…. They said he showed such promise…..
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Something about Sylvia Plath’s poetry draws me…. like my own poetry, I don’t wish to lose whatever it is about it that feels so right, so I don’t question it closely, I just enjoy…. and hope you do as well….

Child

Your clear eye is the one absolutely beautiful thing.
I want to fill it with color and ducks,
The zoo of the new
Whose name you meditate —
April snowdrop, Indian pipe,
Little

Stalk without wrinkle,
Pool in which images
Should be grand and classical

Not this troublous
Wringing of hands, this dark
Ceiling without a star.

~~ Sylvia Plath
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You are about to witness an unprecedented event of major proportion…. Well, for this corner of reality, it’s major….. The remainder of today’s Pearl of Virtual Wisdom is hereby canceled. The reason is not one of a malicious nature, but, rather a sudden burst of good news that will require some thought and assimilation in order to settle comfortably…. which is a long winded way to say, YIPPEE!

Following up on a phone message from yesterday, I spoke this morning with a Mrs. H, who informs me that a) my status as a disabled retiree has been approved by Social Services, and b) my benefits can start immediately…. oh, and c) she would be my caseworker from now on…. I am still trying to catch my breath, as the adrenalin is making it hard to settle down long enough to cheer….

After almost 3 years, it is an exquisite feeling to know that my wait is, essentially, over. The money owed in back pay will be in my account within 30 days (or, possibly, by her report, less than that….), and my monthly benefits should begin by the first of April, or May, at the latest.

Needless to say, I am feeling a bit overwhelmed, so I’m taking the rest of today off, in re: these Pearls, and am going to go do something fun, if not foolish…. Hopefully, I can avoid anything legally actionable, but, I’m making no promises….

I leave you in this last section, not with a rant, but with a pearl of nearly infinite luster…. Well, actually it’s a pearl and a rant, all in one…. It doesn’t have anything to do with my news, it just seemed like a good substitute for the 1200 or so words I would usually accompany this with…. Just feel grateful I didn’t have the impulse to discuss this one…. we would still be here late tonight….. Enjoy, & I’ll see ya in the closing….

“Conservative intellectuals have taken on the left’s sense of persecution and repression — though in this case, at the hands of cultural commissars.  The same conservative intellectuals who denounced the psychology of victimization have been nursing a fine sense of victimization of their own. How many times have we read or heard the same half-dozen stories about the horrors of political correctness? This sense of being victims at the hands of multicultural barbarians, militant feminists, and spineless university administrators (the usual characters in this drama) gives conservative intellectuals, as it has long given their counterparts on the left, a kind of collective identity. It is a powerful, organizing myth, which is not to say the individual stories are untrue– it is the total picture that is false. The myth of liberal repression allows the conservatives to cross-dress as intellectual insurgents. Charles Murray has perfected this appropriation of radical rhetoric– the courageous, lonely truth-teller, sadly bearing the hateful facts but facts they are, willing to voice the unspeakable, to break through the repressive apparatus of liberal conformity.” — Paul Starr, at http://www.princeton.edu/~starr/libcon.html
__________________________________

Okay, I can relax a bit now…. I was afraid I wouldn’t get this done before exploding… and if I don’t hurry, that statement will be a lie, or at minimum, wrong. In any case, it’s done, and I can go start my random wandering around in a daze, trying to figure out what to do first…. It may sound like a threat, but it’s really just a promise…. I’ll be back…..  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

–
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

dozer3

Coping skills for bald penguins…..

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Ffolkes,
Nature will always tell us, in her inimitable style, when we are getting too weird. I’ve had this proven to me on numerous occasions, as I have a tendency toward weird, a genetic gift from my grandfather, who made his living as “a performance artiste” around the turn of the 20th century. She (Nature, of course…) generally lets us know we have strayed beyond the boundaries of propriety in some grand, publicly embarrassing fashion, such as slyly convincing us that, “Yes! Everyone at the soirée really WANTS to see me dancing on a table with a lamp shade on my head!” Of course, she lied, but that doesn’t come out until later, when one is already in the doghouse……

What, you might ask, does this have to do with the morning Pearl? Not a damn thing that I know of…. when I sat down to type, this is what came out….. Oh, it’s all true, though I believe it might have been a colander rather than a lamp shade…. I’m pretty sure I remember thinking (if what I do when deeply influenced by the Beast can be called such….) that the colander had a cool, spaceman look to it, which is why I wore it. But there is nothing from that night (a night whose memory, blurred as it is, I keep in the category of ~I-hoped-it-had-been-forgotten~….) that has anything to do with getting this Pearl finished. Or, rather, started….

I suppose it’s just another of the odd little mind-games I play with myself during this introductory section. Though it doesn’t have anything to do with creating a Pearl, one could say that it helped in the process, by giving me something to do for a beginning, even though it has absolutely no relation to anything remotely interesting. Of course, if you are the kind of reader who enjoys thinking of the author in embarrassing situations, well, then, I guess this is right up your alley…. Boy, and they call ME weird!

Regardless of why, or how, or even if, this intro section evolved into its present state, here it is, four paragraphs later, still trying to find the doorway into the diving area, so we can go find some pearls. Oh, wait, I see it now!…. Okay, we can now stop discussing this abysmal foray into weirdness, and get on with the day’s business…. Shall we Pearl?…..
___________________________________

“Ninety-eight percent of the adults in this country are decent,  hard-working, honest Americans.  It’s the other lousy two percent that get all the publicity.  But then–we elected them.” — Lily Tomlin

During the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations, the true financial picture of humanity was drawn, with the ratio being 99% to 1%. It seems that Lily had noted this phenomenon somewhat earlier in time, using slightly different, but no less valid, figures of 98% to 2%. I think it would be safe to say that these two statements are equal, and pretty much describe accurately how society is structured, financially, and, as it turns out, morally….

That simple fact is what makes it so hard for me to accept what takes place in the public arena, without having to resort to ranting. Not that I mind ranting, far from it….. but it’s hard to accept the truth of the situation, because that truth is that people have actually CHOSEN to put themselves in the situation we have today. Actually, it is more accurate to say, it is due to the inaction of those who disagree with the politicians and corporate pirates; they get disgusted and don’t vote, so all the idiots who fall for the BS being flung around end up voting the thieves back into office, every time……

I mean, it’s not as if the truth isn’t out there to be found. Every day, people like me, and Jueseppi B., and 3hickspolitico, and a lot of other web sites, write the truth about what is being said in the public arena. We rant, and show, by way of incontrovertible recorded audio and video proof, that the talking heads are lying their butts off, and people just nod their heads and ignore it, preferring to bury their heads in the sand rather than accept the truth.

“If a million people believe a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.” — Anatole France

It is disheartening to say the least, when so many folks choose ignorance over truth; it is almost enough for me to wash my hands of it, and let them enjoy the fruits of their ignorant choices. Unfortunately, that means that I, too, must put up with the thieves who suck from the public tit, and that is not acceptable to me. I’m tired of having to look away, or ignore the latest outrage from that quarter, just to stay sane. SIGH….

Far from the madding crowd’s ignoble strife
Their sober wishes never learn’d to stray;
Along the cool sequester’d vale of life
They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.
– Thomas Gray (1716-1771) — Elegy in a Country Churchyard, Stanza 19

But, so be it. Hating it, and complaining about it won’t make it go away…. all I can do is this. I write, time and time again, warning people of the crap they are putting up with, and show them how they are being used and abused by the beloved ruling classes. It’s probably just shouting into the wind, but since it is all I can do, I’ll keep doing it. After all, all you can do is all you can do….

“A police state is great, so long as you’re the police.” — Smart Bee
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Okay, here is another “old-school” Pearl…. and yes, it makes a specific point. Read all of them, in order, and the message will be crystal clear…..

“The truth is that Christian theology, like every other theology, is not only opposed to the scientific spirit; it is also opposed to all other attempts at rational thinking. Not by accident does Genesis 3 make the father of knowledge a serpent- slimy, sneaking and abominable. Since the earliest days the church as an organization has thrown itself violently against every effort to liberate the body and mind of man. It has been, at all times and everywhere, the habitual and incorrigible defender of bad governments, bad laws, bad social theories, bad institutions. It was, for centuries, an apologist for slavery, as it was the apologist for the divine right of kings.” — H. L. Mencken

BIBLE : A bible is a book which one or more religions consider to be holy, and to be something that they should follow. It is of course generally rather impractical to follow books, not just because they  don’t often go anywhere, but also because they are not very good at public speaking, decision making, problem solving, or any of the other qualities recognized as being an advantage for leadership. A religion based around the teachings of any compilation of Toxic Custard would be very strange indeed. To subscribe to this new cult following, send $15 now. — Daniel Bowen’s TOXIC CUSTARPEDIA

“Angels, I read, belong to nine different orders. Seraphs are the highest; they are aflame with love for God; cherubs, who are second, possess perfect knowledge of him. So love is greater than knowledge; how could I have forgotten? The seraphs are born of a stream of fire issuing from under God’s throne… Moving perpetually toward God, they perpetually praise him, crying Holy, Holy, Holy… But, they can sing only the first ‘Holy’ before the intensity of their love ignites them again and dissolves them again, perpetually into flames. ‘Abandon everything,’ Dionysius the Areopagite told his disciple. ‘God despises ideas.’ — Annie Dillard, “Holy the Firm”

“Man has a single basic choice:  to think or not, and that is the measure of his virtue.  Moral perfection is an unbreached rationality — not the degree of your intelligence, but the full and relentless use of your mind, not the extent of your knowledge, but the acceptance of reason as an absolute.” — John Galt

“Men become civilized, not in proportion to their willingness to believe, but in their readiness to doubt.” — H. L. Mencken

“The sagacious reader who is capable of reading between these lines what does not stand written in them, but is nevertheless implied, will be able to form some conception.” — Goethe (1749-1832)  — Autobiography, Book xviii, Truth and Beauty

There you go…. I can’t make it any plainer than that…..
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A Party Of Lovers

Pensive they sit, and roll their languid eyes,
Nibble their toast, and cool their tea with sighs,
Or else forget the purpose of the night,
Forget their tea — forget their appetite.
See with cross’d arms they sit — ah! happy crew,
The fire is going out and no one rings
For coals, and therefore no coals Betty brings.
A fly is in the milk-pot — must he die
By a humane society?
No, no; there Mr. Werter takes his spoon,
Inserts it, dips the handle, and lo! soon
The little straggler, sav’d from perils dark,
Across the teaboard draws a long wet mark.
Arise! take snuffers by the handle,
There’s a large cauliflower in each candle.
A winding-sheet, ah me! I must away
To No. 7, just beyond the circus gay.
‘Alas, my friend! your coat sits very well;
Where may your tailor live?’ ‘I may not tell.
O pardon me — I’m absent now and then.
Where might my tailor live? I say again
I cannot tell, let me no more be teaz’d –
He lives in Wapping, might live where he pleas’d.’

John Keats

Hmm…. it seems that young Mr. Keats also had issues with society…. but he sure could make it sound important! I like the ending especially, with its tongue firmly entrenched in his cheek….. Enjoy!
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Often, reaching the end of a day’s work is a surprise, at least from a time-centered view. Nonetheless, I have done so again, and feel it would be best not to fuss with it any further. Knowing when to walk away is the most important skill we have, in a lot of ways…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

–
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

A strange trip, and long….

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Ffolkes,
Since retiring from my job on the last day of 2010, I’ve been writing a lot. For years, my need to write was sublimated at work, writing reports and evaluations according to set rules and formats, on specific subjects. All the dross that builds up in my head just kept sitting there, growing into a pile of emotionally charged opinions, radical political thoughts, religious heresies, and humorous observations on human nature that promised to bury me should it ever fall over. Fortunately for me, I was forced to retire, even though not fully prepared, and the chance to do something to reduce the pile presented itself…..

The human heart has hidden treasures, in secret kept, in silence sealed.” — Charlotte Bronte

In at least a therapeutic sense, it came at just the right time, as I had a lot of angst and anger built up over the way I was treated when I left work. All that anger was, of course, useless to me, other than as a stimulus to write. Once began, the dam burst, and what I’ve been keeping inside came tumbling out, in daily portions of anywhere from 500 to 2500 words. It has been extremely liberating on an intellectual level, as I don’t believe I’ve ever had the opportunity to write exactly how I feel about “life and all that stuff” to any great degree.

Now, since beginning my own blog, first on SFGATE, and now on WordPress, I have allowed myself to show the darkest stuff that I have in there, at least in the political and religious fields, and the feeling is one of stupendous relief. Being able to get all that stuff out of my head has helped me in a lot of ways not immediately apparent to the casual eye; I do believe it was beginning to fester in there…..

I’m not sure exactly what I’m trying to say here, except that I feel pretty grateful, all in all, for having been able to write like I have for the last year and some…. grateful for both the opportunity, and for the wherewithal. And I am especially grateful for all the ffolkes that have come to read my work, and comment, and generally show the kind of support that only true friends can show.

Without having met anyone face to face, I can truthfully say that I’ve met a large number of people here that I am very proud and happy to consider as friends, and my only regret is that there isn’t enough time in the day to be able to read as much of their work as I’d wish to get to. But it remains a very well-appreciated gift to have all of that available to read; I never have to worry about finding something entertaining or interesting, because every one of the blogs I follow has the power to give me both….

So, to all those who have come here to read, and those who comment, thanks very much for stopping in, and I hope that what I write continues to draw your interest. I can guarantee that what I write will not always be politically correct (thank goodness!), nor will it always be comfortable…. but it will always be real, and it will always be mine…. I think it’s time to go Pearl, don’t you? ……

“And here, poor fool, with all my lore I stand no wiser than before.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
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Bright Star

Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art–
Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like nature’s patient, sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priestlike task
Of pure ablution round earth’s human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors–
No–yet still steadfast, still unchangeable,
Pillow’d upon my fair love’s ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever–or else swoon to death.

John Keats

A Drinking Song

WINE comes in at the mouth
And love comes in at the eye;
That’s all we shall know for truth
Before we grow old and die.
I lift the glass to my mouth,
I look at you, and I sigh.

William Butler Yeats

Of late I find myself turning more often to poetry for recreational reading. Keats and Yeats, (and what are the odds of that similarity?), are two of my favorites, not surprisingly. Today I’ve put one of each of their pieces out for your perusal and enjoyment, and to assuage my practicality gene, which prompts me to make everything I write of some usefulness. So, this is your daily lesson in comparative literature; you won’t be awarded any points, but it will prepare you for the quiz that will come at the end of the week….. otherwise, just enjoy! It’s not every day you get two classic poets in one blog….
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“Most people can’t think, most of the remainder won’t think, the small fraction who do think mostly can’t do it very well.” — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

Robert Heinlein was considered by his peers to be the Grand Master of Science Fiction, and with good reason. One of those reasons is his insight into human nature, a key element in creating the believable characters with which his books are populated. The above statement is a good indication of this insight, and is an idea that I’ve held as true for most of my adult life. It helps soothe the emotional turmoil that happens every time another bozoid member of the beloved ruling class opens their mouth to insert their foot…. It also keeps me from being disappointed when I face the daily proof of how dumb folks can be, said proof being presented on a regular basis online or in newspapers and TV shows.

Even though I consider myself to be a member of the last group mentioned, I am also realistic, and know that I am part of the majority of those who think, those who don’t always do it very well. If I did, I’d probably not be living in poverty. I’m perfectly aware that it was my own angry reaction to my employer’s rudeness that complicated the retirement process, and has placed me in this position of having to survive until all of my retirement resources have been garnered for use.

If I had paid more attention to my cosmic judo, I would have just let them push me out as disabled, gotten my State Disability Retirement, and would now be enjoying my Social Security. But, noooo, I had to spend six months arguing with the State to placate my pride. I won, in that I got what I wanted from them, but in the process, screwed myself…. typical human behavior, but nonetheless disappointing to know that my bozoid tendencies can still rule my behavior…..

Ah well, now I must use other parts of what I’ve learned over the years, to enable me to put aside my disappointment in myself, and move on to rectify the situation. I’m getting where I need to go, but having to keep myself under strict control to keep from banging my head against the nearest hard surface every time I am confronted with another delay. Sheesh! One more thing that they don’t tell you about in any of the retirement planning manuals….

The statement above doesn’t help me much in this situation, other than to make it clearer why things take so long to get done in the SS and federal bureaucracy. In fact, this insight is most useful for just that…. to help understand why the world is going along the way it is, limping and rushing toward extinction for our species. The inability to think, and worse, the reluctance that most folks have to think, is one of the root causes of why the world is going to shit…. and it’s getting worse all the time, as the forces of ignorance gain ever more of a foothold in society.

The current Presidential political scene that is developing ahead of the election in November is truly a frightening prospect to anyone with more than two functioning neurons between their ears….. I find it incomprehensible, if all-too-believable, that the race is as close as it appears to be. I’ve seen reports that, before even being officially picked as the Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, or more accurately, the Republican platform, has more committed electoral votes than I would have believed possible.

I don’t think that there is much of a real chance that the incumbent won’t be re-elected; there is just too much time left until November, and I don’t think that Mitt will be able to keep his mouth shut long enough to keep from self-destructing. But, the tendency of the media to blow up anything they see to sell stories gives him far too much credence, and may complicate the matter. Time will tell, but it makes me nervous, as there are too many historical precedents of the idiocy of the voters to help me feel very relaxed about it…. and neither should you be…..    I predict that if Romney even gets close to being elected, there will be an upheaval that this country hasn’t seen in over 200 years, as the forces of ignorance contend with those among us, such as myself, who will be moved to act if the election results go south… and it won’t be a move toward compliance, or submission to a new order….

REVOLUTION, n.  In politics, an abrupt change in the form of misgovernment.  Specifically, in American history, the substitution of the rule of an Administration for that of a Ministry, whereby the welfare and happiness of the people were advanced a full half-inch. Revolutions are usually accompanied by a considerable effusion of blood, but are accounted worth it — this appraisement being made by beneficiaries whose blood had not the mischance to be shed.  The French revolution is of incalculable value to the Socialist of to-day; when he pulls the string actuating its bones its gestures are inexpressibly terrifying to gory tyrants suspected of fomenting law and order. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”
___________________________________

I think I’ve rambled enough for one morning; reality is calling me to get on with the rest of the day. So, I’m going to cheat a little…. Below is a picture I found on Facebook; I titled it “The Last Will and Testament of Noah”, as it seemed to fit what I believe he would have said, if he could speak. He lived with me about 17 and a half years, passing away last August. I’ve spoken of him often here, and will no doubt do so again in the future. A short time after he passed away, I wrote a tribute to him and our life together. That piece “An Ode to Noah” can be found here:  http://therealowner.com/dogs/an-ode-to-noah/  This picture says it all, for me…. and yes, I know, I’m a softie at heart….___________________________________

Duty calls, and I must answer, so I will now be ruthless….as much as I ever do…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

–
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

Kowabunga!

Until Bob returns, no cha-cha, & no rhumba….

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Ffolkes,
As I sit here, laughing at myself, I have to admit, my Bozoid tendencies are in full swing this morning…. I’ve been steadily plugging along, filling in the blanks as I go through the morning routine, for about 35 minutes now. Got a lot done too, on starting a Pearl. I even had the intro section completely done, and was dutifully searching for pearls, when I was confronted by my own silliness and failure to be a Lert….. or, if you insist, alert…..

I started to paste a poem below, and realized I was posting it into tomorrow’s Pearl template. This is also where I had already composed and written an intro section leading into the Pearl….. see my problem?  Complete time distortion ensues…. Now I’m dazed again, much like the first 5 minutes of being up, before the first sip of coffee kicks in enough to raise the eyelids a fraction, and will need to take a minute here to regroup…… I’ll be back in a few, when I have caught up to reality again….. mumble, grumble, phtt….

I have re-established contact with reality, and we can now move on to bigger and better things…. if that particular phrase can be considered to apply to this process…. as the old Dead song says, “head’s all empty, and I don’t care….”   No worries, we’ll just go now and find something with which we can fill it up…. shall we Pearl?……
___________________________________

C:\> erase c:\reality.sys; copy a:\pern\*.* c:

This pearl is a bit of a test…. What I’ve written here is, of course, a DOS command line. (I wrote ‘of course’ before I fully realized that it is ‘of course’ only to those who are familiar with DOS, which may not include the more modern users among us. For those ffolkes, just think of it as double clicking on a program you want to use…..) The test is to tell me, in the comment section, if you know what the command tells the computer to do….

It’s quite a simple command, though the .exe installation file it points to is VERY complex…. and that is your only clue….  Let’s see who’s paying attention, as well as who is well grounded in both computers and literature….. luck won’t be needed, and wouldn’t help in any case, but, good luck!  If no one figures it out before tomorrow morning’s Pearl gets written, I’ll reveal the answer then….
___________________________________

The only point in the following entry is to preserve my sanity. In looking over the last few Pearls, I found a disturbing lack of poetry. Oh, there was some there, but not enough to suit my needs…. if I don’t get enough of the grace and beauty that good poetry provides, I get testy, to say the least. That probably accounts for the 800-1000 word rants in the last couple of posts. That has actually worked out well; I was able to publish two of those rants to another site as solitary articles. But, in the process, I’ve built up a need for the serenity that a good poem gives me…. so, here are three of them, all capable of filling my need, and, hopefully, yours….. enjoy!

Weep no more, nor sigh, nor groan,
Sorrow calls no time that ‘s gone;
Violets plucked, the sweetest rain
Makes not fresh nor grow again.
– John Fletcher (1576-1625)  — The Queen of Corinth, Act iii, Sc. 2

How fading are the joys we dote upon!
Like apparitions seen and gone.
But those which soonest take their flight
Are the most exquisite and strong,–
Like angels’ visits, short and bright;
Mortality ‘s too weak to bear them long.
– John Norris (1657-1711) — The Parting

But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.
– Lord Byron (1788-1824) — Don Juan, Canto iii, Stanza 88

I don’t know about you, but I feel better…..

Oft in the stilly night,
Ere slumber’s chain has bound me,
Fond memory brings the light
Of other days around me;
The smiles, the tears,
Of boyhood’s years,
The words of love then spoken;
The eyes that shone
Now dimmed and gone,
The cheerful hearts now broken.
– Thomas Moore (1779-1852) — Oft in the Stilly Night

I know, I know, I said three… but this one popped up in front of me, glommed onto my leg before I could dodge, and insisted that I include it with the others. Then I looked at it, and was sunk…. It’s not like I jabbed you in the eye with a stick, now, is it?…… Don’t worry, it won’t hurt you to have another; they’re calorie free……
___________________________________

“The Buddha, the Godhead, resides quite as comfortably in the circuits of a digital computer or the gears of a cycle transmission as he does at the top of a mountain or in the petals of a flower.  To think otherwise is to demean the Buddha — which is to demean oneself.” — Robert Pirsig, “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”

I like this. I liked it when I first read the book, more years ago than I care to think about, and it still clicks with my way of looking at things, as if Buddha himself was talking directly to me…. I admire it so much, that’s all I’m going to say on the subject. This can speak for itself……
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“If fifty million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.” — Bertrand Russell

We are now experiencing first hand the beginning effects of the proof of this proposition. Our world-wide society has succumbed to the truth in this statement, and are actively, and obliviously, pursuing foolishness en masse. One need only look through the daily news to see this demonstrated; article after article explores concepts and events that illustrate the full and complete absence of critical thought that is rampant in our culture. No matter how outrageous the statement, no matter how silly the proposal, no matter how egregious the lie, if a talking head on TV says it, fifty million people will jump right up and cheer its arguable (to any minds but theirs…) merit, and give it their unquestioning belief.

Do I really need to point out examples? Oh, right, evidence is good…. Okay. Easy money. How about….. Mitt Romney?  Here is a man who has spent the last 10 months or so running around the US to various political electoral farces, er, functions, and has repeatedly lied, or pandered to special interests in the face of another, or alienated entire segments of the voting public (such as women, and the poor), or changed a position one day after claiming it as his own, so many times there are a number of web sites that are devoted just to keeping track of his contradictory and/or fictional statements, of what he has the temerity to call facts.  I’m not picking on him; it’s all out there in black and white for anyone to see.

Yet this man is the apparent next candidate for the Presidency of this country as the Republican choice. If we are to believe it, he has the support not only of numerous officials and “important public figures” in his party, but of millions upon millions of folks who seem unable or unwilling to examine any of his public statements for truth or accuracy. It’s almost as if he were a talking fundamentalist Bible…. He said it, they believe it, and that’s that…… possessing, as they apparently do, steel traps instead of minds. Anything that gets in, isn’t getting out alive, that’s for sure and for certain… As a bonus prize in the foolishness category, the folks who generally fall for this kind of chicanery have the following attitude as well…

“When you are sure you’re right, you have a moral duty to impose your will upon anyone who disagrees with you.” — Robert W. Mayer

And people wonder why I’m cynical…… here is a short verse that laments the absence of the kind of men I wish were running this country…. and I am saddened by the fact that I can think of no man, or woman, in office or out, who fits this mold…..

Statesman, yet friend to truth! of soul sincere,
In action faithful, and in honour clear;
Who broke no promise, serv’d no private end,
Who gain’d no title, and who lost no friend.
– Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Moral Essays, Epistle to Mr. Addison
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But hush! hark! a deep sound strikes like a rising knell!
Did ye not hear it?–No! ‘t was but the wind,
Or the car rattling o’er the stony street.
On with the dance! let joy be unconfined;
No sleep till morn, when Youth and Pleasure meet
To chase the glowing hours with flying feet.
– Lord Byron (1788-1824) — Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Canto iii, Stanza 22

So, I needed another hit of exquisite….. so sue me… I’ll add an extra pearl, okay?….
___________________________________

Wedding March:  19th Century, England

“The traditional church wedding features two bridal marches, by two different classical composers. The bride walks down the aisle to the majestic, moderately paced music of the “Bridal Chorus” from Richard Wagner’s 1848 opera “Lohengrin”.  The newlyweds exit to the more jubilant, upbeat strains of the “Wedding March” from Felix Mendelssohn’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

The custom dates back to the royal marriage, in 1858, of Victoria, princess of Great Britain, and Empress of Germany, to Prince Frederick William of Prussia.  Victoria, eldest daughter of Britain’s Queen Victoria, selected the music herself.  A patron of the arts, she valued the works of Mendelssohn and practically venerated those of Wagner. Given the British penchant for copying the monarchy, soon brides throughout the Isles, nobility and commoners alike, were marching to Victoria’s drummer, establishing a Western wedding tradition.”

It seems at first glance that this entry has little significance in relation to what usually passes here for subject matter. Admittedly, it is less of an issue than my usual pick of stuff upon which to rant. Calm yourselves, I’m not going to rant about this…. I have included it for one reason only, and that is to demonstrate that the power of celebrity has its roots further back in our cultural history than might at first be apparent. This short historical note on weddings clearly shows how the famous in society influence the culture as a whole, and have done so since well before the advent of radio, news delivery over international distances, TV, and the internet.

The actions of one woman, the most visible public figure of her time, were sufficiently of interest to the rest of society as to institute a new custom, which persists to this day, and not just in the British Isles. Public opinion can thus be seen to be manipulable by the simplest of means, to wit: if the public likes it, they’ll buy it…. simple, yet effective, and obviously well-known to those who manipulate others as a rule of policy….. funny, sometimes where one can find evidence of humanity’s vulnerabilities, isn’t it?…..

“It is easier to perceive error than to find truth, for the former lies on the surface and is easily seen, while the latter lies in the depth, where few are willing to search for it.” — Goethe
___________________________________

As another morning’s musings draw to a close, I find myself a trifle melancholy. I’m sure it is temporary, and merely the result of finishing what has been fun to create. Since I’m happy with it as it is, we’ll get on with the rest of the procedure, and speed this on its way to cyberspace, and your perusal….. enjoy!  Y’all take care out there…..

–
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

Kowabunga!

Odd raptors, but honest…..

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Ffolkes,
At this hour of the morning, I don’t need this kind of aggravation, not from my own physique. But, rather than fall into complaints about stuff there isn’t much I can do to fix, at least for the moment, we’ll turn in a different direction, and feel the wind of inspiration brushing seductively against our cheeks, whispering softly and sweetly, bringing us happily to…… a roll of duct tape?

Yup… that’s my inspirational vision for the morning. I leave myself open to possibility…. I close my eyes, and allow no negative thoughts to disturb me while absorbing, and tremble with anticipation for the glories to come…. and what I get is duct tape….. a big, partially used roll of silver duct tape…. Yes, duct tape…You know, “If it can’t be fixed with Vise-Grips & duct tape, it can’t be fixed.”… yeah, that stuff. I’m guessing here, but I think I’m supposed to use the tape as a metaphor, for something in life that my subconscious has been chewing on, and wants to express in a seriously light-hearted yet elegant treatment. It’s the only thing I can figure out, and since I’m not getting any stiff arguments from that sector of the organization, I must be on the right track with it…..

Well, that’s just too bad…. I’m not writing about duct tape, or turning it into anything, other than a way to keep the new glass in the old window frame (I told you, it was a tough night, what with the zombie attack at 2 AM, and the toilet explosion before that, and… well, forget it, another time…..). I’m not at all concerned about how my subconscious has spent all this time reflecting on such a ridiculous concept, nor do I intend to give in to it; I do have certain standards to maintain, (well, one, anyway…. I have vowed to publish no crap before it stinks just right…..), and duct tape just doesn’t hit the right notes to sing in that choir…. but, fortunately, it is moot, because we can always Pearl….. Shall we?…..
___________________________________

WARNING: The following entry is not suitable for those with delicate sensibilities…. If you do not appreciate the humor in such historical genre classics as seen in editions of Punch, The National Lampoon, or Mad Magazine, or if you don’t grok the underlying metaphoric qualities of Curly Joe, and the Three Stooges, you may wish to skip down to the following section….

“Beans, beans the magical fruit, the more you eat, the more you…..”  Well, you know the rest, I’m sure…..

This month, as a new chapter in the ongoing saga of a relative newbie to the world of poverty-level grocery buying, the pantry here at the old homestead has gotten a little sparse on variety. Most of what is left are the items that I keep for this very reason, i.e., it’s cheap and filling stuff, suitable for the stretch run to payday. Unfortunately, it also consists of items I rarely eat, for diverse reasons, mostly to do with preferences, but sometimes due to how they affect me physically. One such item, which all of us in this country have had exposure to, at one time or another, is a can of Boston Baked Beans; an off-brand that was on sale somewhere a while back, that has been moving around from corner to corner in there for months on end. Yesterday, on a whim, I decided to use them, having an urge for something I hadn’t had for a long time; they sounded as if they would fit the bill just right.

What I had forgotten was its status as one of the items I put off using because of its physical effect on me…. I ate about a third of the can for lunch, mixed with some risotto, added some chopped, seasoned hot dogs, & hotted up the whole mess in the microwave. Different, filling as all get out, and quite tasty for such an odd combination.  Then, I forgot about it, getting busy with answering emails and reading yesterday’s posts from fellow bloggers, followed by a visit from my friend of longest standing, whom I have known since age 10. About 3 hours after lunch, after he had left to meet his S.O., the concert began…..

The key element I’d overlooked in my hunger for something old, something new on which to chow down, was that these were baked BEANS…. and ever since I turned about 40 (quite some time ago now….), this particular type of beans invariably brings on a veritable storm of intestinal flatulence, and once started, continues to create increasing amounts of pressurized air bubbles, maximizing the output until reaching for a crescendo. This all happens over the course of about an hour and a half, with the uncomfortable, but fascinating, physical process producing some of the most melodious, certainly the loudest, and most versatile and compelling sounds ever produced by the human body…..from any orifice….

I count it as lucky that my friend had already left when the concert began; having known each other for over 50 years, I might never have been able to completely live it down before one of us kicks in the bucket, and would no doubt have spent hours trying to erase it from my Facebook timeline… of course, that realization wouldn’t have hit me until we had recovered from the impossible-to-stop insane laughter that the volume of the first note alone would have produced. Having been, sad to say, a captive audience for the complete performance, I can attest that the melody, and the tempo, would doubtless have produced an equally strong reaction of uncontrollable mirth and hilarity, which, at our age, could have been downright dangerous…. but it was kinda catchy, and had a beat you could dance to…. I gave it a 3 out of 5….

Ah yes, aging is indeed not for the weak of heart….. or the forgetful…. anybody want some leftover beans?…. gratis, they are… eating them again, I will not be…. even for Yoda, not….
___________________________________

“If a million people believe a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.” — Anatole France

As time goes by this election year, the evidence in support of this little observation is piling higher and higher, with each time another microphone catches the latest gaffe issuing from a random candidate’s speaking orifice. Surely, t’is a sign of impending doom to realize that for each of the bozos who are parading around, showing us theirs (did I ask to see that? No…. but, there it is….), somewhere out there in our midst, hiding in plain sight, are literally millions of people who are buying into their nonsense and vitriol. The bigotry, and hatred, and racism, and elitism that seem to be the qualifying characteristics of prospective candidates this elective cycle are not only being bought by masses of people, (to whom it is like manna from heaven to hear their brightest fantasies, of living in an all-white, all-Christian world, given voice, and, sadly, screen time), but are being given not only credence, but glorification. To be honest, it makes me want to puke….. and, make sure my ammo is dry…..

“When the going gets tough, the smart get an AR-15. And a shotgun. And…” — James P. Callison

And bear unmov’d the wrongs of base mankind,
The last and hardest conquest of the mind.
– Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — The Odyssey of Homer, Book xiii, Line 353
___________________________________

“Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other, and scarcely in that; for it is true, we may give advice, but we cannot give conduct. Remember this: They that will not be counseled cannot be helped. If you do not hear reason she will rap you over the knuckles.” — Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) — Maxims prefixed to Poor Richard’s Almanac, 1757

This is good…. and especially so for Ben; he had a tendency to be somewhat mundane and boring with most of his ‘Maxims’. Even here, his metaphor for reason could use a little punching up, as an editor might say. I usually prefer to state that particular idea as, “if you don’t give reality it’s proper attention, it will gleefully slap you upside the head until you do.”  It’s exactly the same lesson, but gives a clearer, and more accurate, picture of the consequences of not staying alert to reality’s protocols.

But, I also like this because it has another lesson, about those who deliberately choose to ignore this warning, and how we must allow them to experience the folly of their own choices, along with the resultant pain and indignity that comes with those choices, provided so generously by the dimension of reality we inhabit. The only thing in the entire universe that is subject to our control is ourselves; we cannot prevent their pain, nor should we, as we then deny them the opportunity to experience the lesson of how to succeed that comes with every instance of defeat. Tough to watch, sometimes, if we care for the person, but no less important for them for us to stay back, and let reality have it’s way…. it will anyway, no matter what we do, or think about it…..

And here, poor fool, with all my lore
I stand no wiser than before.
– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
___________________________________

Is it legal to advocate the long overdue overthrow of a corrupt government?”– Aloysius I.A. Anonymous

In light of the state of the union, official reports aside, this asks a pertinent, and possibly worthy question for consideration when offered in the sense of what I call juris prominence, or, in short, as being in support of the absolute arbitration right of the jury.  It is a well-documented point of Constitutional law that gives any jury in a case under trial the absolute right to declare innocence, even in the face of the letter of the law, if they believe the law is wrongly applied, or not germane to justice in the case under deliberation, OR even if they think the law is just wrong, morally or by custom…… that is, provided jury trials are still allowed in days to come, or rather, days that are already here…..

“If the jury feels the law is unjust, we recognize the undisputed power of the jury to acquit, even if its verdict is contrary to the law as given by a judge, and contrary to the evidence … and the courts must abide by that decision.” — US v Moylan, 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, 1969, 417 F.2d at 1006

This archaic, but powerful, right of the American people may be the final protection we have in cases I can see in the future, now that the government has committed so many corrupt acts designed to circumvent the provisions of both the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. These acts, though not the first, nor the most recent of their kind, still can be considered to be under one umbrella, that of the Executive Order Theory, the so-far unchallenged belief that the Executive Branch has the right to suspend the rights outlined in those documents under the deliberately vague guise of ‘threats to national security’, without any definition of what those threats may be, and no oversight as to the duration or extent of the suspension of rights to be erased, er, “suspended temporarily”.

They just make their own laws that say they can, and poof, Rights all gone….. no protesting, no gathering, no voicing objections, no printing exposures or criticisms, no recourse to the courts…. what is next? No right to bear arms?….. No voting?…… No term limits?…… No life, without submission to “registration”?   I guess the choice about all this is up to us….. for the moment….. but, let’s not wait too long, shall we?…… These “executive orders” have already been signed, and are now in effect in this country….. It’s all been “Authorized!”…. and you can bet it will be enforced at the point of a gun….

“One of the saddest lessons of history is this:  If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle.  We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth.  The bamboozle has captured us.  it is simply too painful to acknowledge — even to ourselves — that we’ve been so credulous.  (So the old bamboozles tend to persist as the new bamboozles rise.)” — Carl Sagan, “The Fine Art of Baloney Detection,” Parade, February 1, 1987
___________________________________

I couldn’t resist adding this today, as a bonus round, so to speak…. this has got to be considered as possibly the most creative haiku possible for a Westerner to write, though, to be truthful, I don’t know who wrote it. Perfect structure, suitably obscure, yet clear, it meets all the essential standards of classic haiku, but with the added fillip of a most Carlinesque observation…… priceless!…. enjoy…..

Haiku’s inventor
must have had seven fingers
on his middle hand.

Well, Murphy will have his say…. I had intended this to be extra today, but circumstances have forced my hand, aided by the ever-welcome presence of serendipity.  In a search to find the last quote for today’s lineup, the following presented itself, and fit this section so well, I decided to go with the flow…. thus, we have another poem in the haiku tradition, but by someone whose mastery is unquestionable… so, enjoy again!…

Around existence twine,
(Oh, bridge that hangs across the gorge!)
ropes of twisted vine.
– Basho
___________________________________

I admit to a certain amount of relief at coming to an end to today’s offerings; it has had its moments of struggle, and has taken no small amount of effort to persevere….. but, there is always a touch of melancholy, too, in reaching an ending. This lasts only until I remember that it remains my choice as to whether this ending becomes yet another beginning…. then, I go take a nap….. It’s been nothing if not real, ffolkes…. y’all take care out there….

P.S.  I haven’t forgotten about my siege on WordPress; I wrote a long note yesterday to someone, and will give them the courtesy of a full day to reply…. more on this as matters progress…. Blessed Be, brothers and sisters….

–
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

Kowabunga!

Political rhetoric for sale or lease: Entropy spoken here….

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Ffolkes,
I’ve been bitten by a tsetse fly….in the past three days, I have slept as much as I’ve been awake, but not in a normal pattern. About every 5 hours I start yawning and looking for my pillow, and go down for a 2-3 hour nap. Then I’m up to almost midnight, and up again at 5 AM, wide awake. It’s a bit strange, almost like some of the weird hours I kept when studying for finals at Berkeley.

I don’t know if they still do this, but one schedule I tried, thought up by a friend in the cooperative dorm I lived in, was perfect for finals week. One would go to bed (for the day) at about 3 PM, getting up at 10 or 11 PM, to start studying all night. At dawn, with the study material still fresh in the mind, one goes to take the final exams for that day. Afterward, a small meal, engage in a bit of business or recreation, then back to bed for the day, and up again at 10. A reverse cycle, as it were, and once accustomed to it, one became almost used to working in the quiet of the early morning hours, and always having an open seat wherever one went, as everyone else in the world was asleep.

But it got kinda lonely, too….it’s not a good schedule for anyone who wants a social life……thank goodness for no more final exams (except, of course, the ultimate final exam, requiring no study, and which everyone passes…..)
___________________________________

“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.” — H. L. Mencken

Mr. Mencken’s insight was first published back in the early twentieth century, and was actually less of an insight as it was an eerily accurate observation of American politics in the last hundred years. Since the end of the World War II, (the last time Congress actually declared war, as justified in the Constitution) our country’s leaders have involved us in at least five “police actions” (Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iraq again), all supposedly necessary to protect us from the evils of communism, tyranny, or terrorism. Hundreds of thousands of young Americans have been sent to their deaths in far away places, all to make the old men back at home feel more comfortable in their insulation from reality.

I’m not the first to take note that young men die because of what old men believe, and hopefully I won’t be the last. This country has been hijacked by the 1%; they are no longer even trying to conceal their control over the rest of us. They have forgotten what one of their own said about 50 years ago: “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” — John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963), 12 March 1962  For myself, I intend to enjoy watching the 1% reap the whirlwind they are creating……. which is a cleverly disguised euphemism for helping the whirlwind spin faster…..
___________________________________

“It is inaccurate to say that I hate everything. I am strongly in favor  of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office.” — H.L. Mencken

Some days, H. L. just makes a lot of sense. I admire his perspicacity, and his unadulterated courage to say exactly what he believed, without compromise. A hundred years from now, his words will have the same weight, but hopefully, won’t be a common response to what is real. It would be nice to make this sort of joke a thing of the past, but I don’t see much chance of human nature changing anytime soon, so common virtues will probably remain uncommonly sparse among the denizens of human society…..
___________________________________

What happens to your fist when you open your hand? — Zen Buddhism

In one sense, this koan is but a simple puzzle; the answer, obviously, is that the fist goes to the same place that our lap goes when we stand up. Now, you may ask, exactly where is that? Good question…..so, what do you think the answer might be? Another response might be, the fist is transformed, changed from a state of limited purpose to one of unlimited possibility. A fist can only be used in a small number of ways, but the open hand has few limits to its utility.  Perhaps one might say that the fist moves from the realm of reality to the confines of memory, abiding there until needed again.


This is the beauty of a Zen koan; it poses a question that sends the mind on a journey toward illumination, suggesting little-known paths in our own minds that can lead us to deeper knowledge of ourselves, and of reality. It is not the easiest path to self-improvement or self-growth, but then, the human mind gets lazy if things are too easy. We do better if we  push ourselves, at least a little, and goodness knows we all can find ways to do better in life…..anyone who doesn’t think so is only fooling themselves…..
___________________________________

Farewell, Love, and all thy laws forever:
Thy baited hooks shall tangle me no more;
Seneca and Plato call me from their lore,
To perfect wealth my wit for to endeavor.
In blind error when I did persevere,
Thy sharp repulse that pricketh aye so sore
Hath taught me to set in trifles no store
And scape forth, since liberty is liefer.
Therefore, farewell: go trouble younger hearts,
And in me claim no more authority;
With idle youth go use thy property
And thereon spend thy many brittle darts:
For hitherto though I have lost all my time,
Me lusteth no longer rotten boughs to climb.
– Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542), Farewell, Love

Sir Thomas must have had a really bad break-up to get this despondent and cynical. But he sure made a good poem out of it; I hope that was solace for him in his despair……
___________________________________

“When they took the fourth amendment, I was silent because I don’t deal drugs.  When they took the sixth amendment, I kept quiet because I know I’m innocent.  When they took the second amendment, I said nothing because I don’t own a gun.  Now they’ve come for the first amendment, and I can’t say anything at all.” — Tim Freeman

I sincerely hope that y’all don’t get tired of hearing about this, because I have every intention of harping on it until the Bill of Rights has been restored. If you weren’t able to figure it out before now, I’ll make it clear…. I’m pissed. I’m royally and truly pissed off at our so called leadership; they have led us straight into voluntary slavery, and we have no one to blame but ourselves. I’d be glad to discuss this with anyone who can present a logical argument, or even an illogical one; we all have to find our fun somewhere.

If you don’t think you’ve lost any of your freedoms, try saying the word “bomb”, in any context, while standing in line in public. And get ready to spend the next hours in police custody, trying to convince them you’re not a terrorist about to blow up a bank. Think I’m kidding? Read the news……

“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
___________________________________

Well, here’s another fine mess I’ve created. I’ll have to start handing out brooms with each day’s offering…..ah, me, “.. 

I think I’d better go back to my DESK and toy with a few common MISAPPREHENSIONS…” — Zippy the Pinhead

T’would be best for all, methinks…..y’all take care out there…..

–
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Scratch the Ultimate Itch….

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Ffolkes,
Aggravating a full-grown leopard is probably an activity best left to female leopards, but if the big fella I was confronted with was any indication, I wouldn’t have to wait for his mate to get him going. Eye’s focused, ears back in fighting position, muscles bunched and ready to spring, he was an awesome example of his species. The screaming yowl that issued from his throat cut straight through to the fear center in my brain, which was doing some screaming of its own. Flight? Or fight? Both seemed likely to bring this to an unacceptable outcome; if I break and run, he’ll take me down from behind in three steps. If I stand and fight, I and my Swiss Army Knife were going to be slightly out gunned. A lot slightly…..there was only one thing to do. I started to sing, a slow, easy tune, while slowly moving from side to side in  gentle dance. As I did this, and the big cat watched warily, I reached back and pulled my iPod out of my pack. I selected the tune I wanted, hit the play button, and listened gladly to the sound of bagpipes at full volume. It had the effect I had hoped for; at the first blast of the pipes, the cat’s ears quivered, his eyes squinched up, and he immediately turned tail and disappeared into the vegetation. Another victory of reason over fear, and another victory chalked up for the pipes o’the lochs…..


Okay, so it’s not the greatest literature that ever came down the pike. I like it, and that is all that matters, mostly. I just felt like being silly this morning; don’t much feel like getting serious today. My life in MeatSpace is serious enough to fulfill all my needs in that respect; hence, this little bit of drivel from the fertile mind of a retired dilettante. I do like the new format for these Pearls; the constant need for new material is no longer a critical issue. It does, however, make it a bit more serious-minded, with a bit less opportunity for sarcasm and/or innuendo. But, for days such as this, when my spirit rejects somberness, the old format is still useful. The Pearls selected for today’s missive were collected with that in mind, and will hopefully lighten your day……

“One of the unpardonable sins, in the eyes of most people, is for a man to go about unlabeled. The world regards such a person as the police do an unmuzzled dog, not under proper control.” — T.H. Huxley, 1893
(That’s me, in a nutshell….)

“It’s awfully hard work doing nothing. However, I don’t mind hard work when there is no definite object of any kind.” — Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest

“Albert Einstein was a late talker as a child. His parents were understandably worried. Finally at the supper table one evening, he broke his silence to say, “The soup is too hot”. Greatly relieved, his parents asked why he never said a word before. Young Albert replied, “Because up to now everything was in order.” — From ‘The Little, Brown Book Of Anecdotes’ by Clifton Fadiman

Know’st thou the land where the lemon-trees bloom,
Where the gold orange glows in the deep thicket’s gloom,
Where a wind ever soft from the blue heaven blows,
And the groves are of laurel and myrtle and rose?
– Goethe (1749-1832)
– Wilhelm Meister, Book iii, Chap. i

Don’t you just hate it when they verbify nouns?
(I know I certainly do….)

“If you get gloomy, just take an hour off and sit and think how much better this world is than hell. Of course, it won’t cheer you up if you expect to  go there.” — Don Marquis

And on that note, I will leave you the remains of the day….. y’all take care out there….

–
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.
gigoid
Dozer

Kowabunga!

Gnome, gnome on the strange….

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Reply

Ffolkes,
Today’s blog is late for a good reason. About an hour ago, I had 3 teeth pulled out of my head. I didn’t get up early enough for this process, so it has been postponed. For that reason, we have gone back to the former format, with a relatively short introduction, and some damned fine quotes. I don’t have it in me right now for much creativity so, what you see is what you get…..

Brevis esse laboro, obscurus fio.
It is when I struggle to be brief ithat I become obscure.) — Horace, from Ars Poetica

It is by caffeine alone that I set my mind in motion.  It is by the Coca-Cola that the thoughts acquire speed, the lips acquire stains, the stains become a warning.  It is by caffeine alone that I set my mind in motion.

On a day in which you give someone chocolate you do nothing of greater significance.

And as we stand on the edge of darkness
Let our chant fill the void
That others may know
In the land of the night
The ship of the sun
Is drawn by
The grateful dead.
– Tibetan “Book of the Dead” ca. 4000 BC.

“One who is plenteously provided for from within needs but little from without.” — Goethe

“Intemperate speech is a distinctive characteristic of man. Hotheads blow off and release destructive energy in the process. They shout and rave, exaggerating weaknesses, magnifying error, viewing with alarm. So it has been from the beginning; and so it will be throughout time.
The framers of the constitution knew human nature as well as we do. They too had lived in dangerous days; they too knew the suffocating influence  of orthodoxy and standardized thought. They weighed the compulsions for the restrained speech and thought against the abuses of liberty. They chose liberty.” — Justice William O. Douglas

That’s all for today….I’m going to go lie down and stop bleeding now. Y’all take care out there…..

–
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.
gigoid
Dozer

Kowabunga!