Tag Archives: Life

The sign said it would float….

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Ffolkes,
    Greetings to you, from somewhere on the open sea…. We left Greenock, Scotland, the port town of Glasgow city proper, last night about two hours before sunset, and have been cruising the open sea in a generally north-eastern direction ever since. Normally, I get seasick on the deep waters of our dear planets oceans, but so far today I seem to have acclimated to the motion, at least enough that this morning’s coffee has stayed where I put it, internally speaking. This is a good thing, because, having experienced the condition previously, I can vouch for the fact that it is NOT any fun….

    Since I’m not sick, it should be a nice relaxing day, and I’ll try to get some actual writing done, after I post the pictures from yesterday. I didn’t expect to spend a lot of time on shore, but the walk into town was quite short and manageable, even for me, so I ended up going twice, and spending a lot of cash I hadn’t counted on spending. I don’t regret any of it though, and even bought a couple items for myself.

    I also took a LOT of pictures, especially on the free tour I took around this port town of Greenock, staffed entirely of volunteers, who love their little city. The tour went to the Old West Kirk, one of the oldest buildings in the town, drove up a steep hillside to a view point with some magnificent views, and then downtown to near the ship to walk through an old government building. I skipped the last part, deciding instead to walk back to the ship for a cool down and a nap, in that order, as the bus we rode in for t he tour was sweltering, and I was drenched in sweat…..

    After dinner last night, I also took a bunch of pictures of the staff at the Rendezvous Bar, where I usually go for my pre-dinner cocktail, and my post-dinner nightcap. They’re a bunch of good kids, and fun to watch as they take care of all the old American, French, and British passengers who are mostly three or four times their ages (the last group, sadly, includes yours truly….). I think they’ve sort of adopted me as their mascot, so I took the pix, and told them they’d be famous online by tonight, as they will be…. This is the last text I’m writing for now, because I have a bunch of pix to process so they can be posted, and it takes some time…..

    Today, section one will have the photos from the town, and section three will have the photos from on board last night….. I think now it is time we got on with that, so, Shall we Pearl?…..
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First a couple of landscape shots, then some of the Old West Kirk, and last, some street and building shots……
Glasgow-Greenock Port 004Glasgow-Greenock Port 028Glasgow-Greenock Port 035Glasgow-Greenock Port 015Glasgow-Greenock Port 018Glasgow-Greenock Port 020Glasgow-Greenock Port 023Glasgow-Greenock Port 017Glasgow-Greenock Port 014Glasgow-Greenock Port 011Glasgow-Greenock Port 012__________________________________

I liked the poem from Robbie Burns I posted yesterday so much, here is another by him…..

A Bottle And Friend

There’s nane that’s blest of human kind,
But the cheerful and the gay, man,
Fal, la, la, &c.

Here’s a bottle and an honest friend!
What wad ye wish for mair, man?
Wha kens, before his life may end,
What his share may be o’ care, man?

Then catch the moments as they fly,
And use them as ye ought, man:
Believe me, happiness is shy,
And comes not aye when sought, man.

~~ Robert Burns ~~

_________________________________

And these are the now famous Celebrity Infinity Players from the Rendezvous Bar….. I would give their names, but I can’t spell most of them, so you can make up your own, if you don’t already know them personally….
Glasgow-Greenock Port 055Glasgow-Greenock Port 051Glasgow-Greenock Port 060Glasgow-Greenock Port 072Glasgow-Greenock Port 068Glasgow-Greenock Port 047Glasgow-Greenock Port 058Glasgow-Greenock Port 066Glasgow-Greenock Port 064Finally, a great shot of the sunset as we left for the open sea….

Glasgow-Greenock Port 041__________________________________

“He was determined to discover the underlying logic behind the universe. Which was going to be hard, because there wasn’t one.” — Terry Pratchett, “Mort”

    I know, I know, I haven’t ranted in two weeks…. but, then, it’s a bit hard to build up a great deal of angst when one’s every need and/or want is being fulfilled. Heck, it’s all I can do to just get this posted with the little bit of text it has…. I have to say, though, I can’t find it in myself to care much, as this is the fulfillment of two lifelong dreams for me, and the rest of reality can just wait for me to finish my trip. I’ve been keeping a weather eye on happenings in the States, and none of it particularly needs my attention yet, as not much has really changed, other than the box scores….

    So, maybe tomorrow will have something a bit more biting in it, as we’re at sea today, so not much picture opportunity once the sun is up, until it goes down again…. There HAVE been some rather stunning sunsets, a couple of which I’ve captured with the camera, and posted…. well, one, anyway…. Now all I have to do is figure out which restaurant or dining room I want to eat in at lunch, tea, and dinner times…. SIGH…. It’s a tough job, but only I can do it…..   Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

Aw, go jump in the loch….

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Ffolkes,
It was certainly a surprise to me, to find that Belfast in Northern Ireland was the easiest city to get around in of all I’ve been to on this trip. Not that all the others weren’t lovely, and welcoming, but, this city was even more so of everything, not counting the accents, which were a bit thicker, and harder for a Yank to understand. It also helped that in this city, a free shuttle bus to the city centre was provided (now I’m even spelling in the European manner…. It must be getting near the time to head home…..) The city center is gorgeous, with beautiful buildings of incredible age; the city center area is all considered pedestrian territory, and the traffic there is kept out of the way of the people on foot, with a lot of wide alleys and old nooks and crannys for people to wander on foot.

It’s become obvious to me that my muse decided not to come on this trip. I find myself having a hard time knowing what to say; there is so much to write about, but I don’t feel I have the words in me right now to do it justice. Today, that is probably just as well, as I took a lot of pictures, and want to share them; that takes time, to upload all the picture files into WordPress, even though it is comparatively easy to do in WP. So, you win, ffolkes, because this is all I’m going to write today, other than the identifying captions for the pix. See, this trip is a good thing, for me, AND for y’all….   :-)

Without further ado, (what does that MEAN?), we will go on to the picture portion of today’s Pearl, in two sections….. Section 2 will have a poem, if I can get to one of the sites I use to find it…. If not, well, I can always subject you to another one of mine….  Shall we Pearl?…..
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I only brought one pair of shoes with me, for some now obscure reason, and have been looking all over in the towns we’ve been to, without finding anything I liked. I finally found a pair in Belfast, at a shoe store that I found using the “ask a local” technique; one of the young walking tour guides who hang out by the shuttle bus stop was very friendly, so I asked him where HE went to get shoes, and he not only pointed me to a good store just a block away, he also told me where to find the best pub grub that I wanted for lunch.

He suggested I go about two short blocks, to an alley, down which I would find White’s Tavern, the oldest pub in Belfast, first opened by license from the Queen in the year 1630. It not only had “grand craic”, as the locals say, but very excellent bangers and mash…. Here are some pictures which, since they came out pretty well, will give a good idea of the place, inside and out….
Belfast 013Belfast 014Belfast 010Belfast 011Belfast 012Belfast 008__________________________________

In honor of our visit to Scotland, here is one of the most famous poems by that country’s favorite son, also known as Robbie Burns, or The Ploughmans’ Poet…..

A Man’s a Man for A’ That

Is there for honesty poverty
That hings his head, an’ a’ that;
The coward slave – we pass him by,
We dare be poor for a’ that!
For a’ that, an’ a’ that,
Our toils obscure an’ a’ that,
The rank is but the guinea’s stamp,
The man’s the gowd for a’ that.

What though on hamely fare we dine,
Wear hoddin grey, an’ a’ that?
Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine,
A man’s a man for a’ that.
For a’ that, an’ a’ that,
Their tinsel show, an’ a’ that,
The honest man, tho’ e’er sae poor,
Is king o’ men for a’ that.

Ye see yon birkie ca’d a lord,
Wha struts, an’ stares, an’ a’ that;
Tho’ hundreds worship at his word,
He’s but a coof for a’ that.
For a’ that, an’ a’ that,
His ribband, star, an’ a’ that,
The man o’ independent mind
He looks an’ laughs at a’ that.

A price can mak a belted knight,
A marquise, duke, an’ a’ that;
But an honest man’s aboon his might,
Gude faith, he maunna fa’ that!
For a’ that, an’ a’ that,
Their dignities an’ a’ that,
The pith o’ sense, an’ pride o’ worth,
Are higher rank than a’ that.

Then let us pray that come it may,
(As come it will for a’ that,)
That Sense and Worth, o’er a’ the earth,
Shall bear the gree, an’ a’ that.
For a’ that, an’ a’ that,
That man to man, the world o’er,
Shall brithers be for a’ that.

~~ Robert Burns ~~

__________________________________

Above I mentioned a friendly local, who kindly gave me directions to what I wished to find; his picture is the first one below. The rest of this group are shots of the city center in Belfast, a great place to walk around, and to shop… Enjoy!…..

Belfast 006Belfast 002Belfast 001Belfast 003Belfast 004Belfast 005Belfast 007Belfast 016__________________________________

We have only two more cities to visit, in Scotland. Today we will be near Glasgow, which lies twenty miles inland from the mouth of the river Clyde, on the western coast of the big island that contains Scotland, England, and Wales. Glasgow has an interesting history, and it is known as “The Friendly City” for the energy and openness of its inhabitants. I, however, am exhausted from walking around Belfast yesterday, so I think my participation in visiting Glasgow will be limited to just enough to get some pictures of the mostly Victorian architecture.

I may be reaching the limit of my strength for such ventures…. we’ll see how it goes today. Tomorrow is an At Sea day, then on Wednesday, we visit Inverness, on the eastern coast, in reach of Loch Ness…. Who knows? Maybe I’ll get a good picture of “Nessie” the monster who lives in the loch….. Until then, y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

Total addiction to pillaging…..

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Ffolkes,
All of my life, I’ve read stories and books set in Ireland, or by Irish writers, and have always felt an attraction to the country, possibly due to being part Irish myself (at least a quarter, with one grandparent’s family from there….). Yesterday, for the first time in my life, I stepped onto Irish soil; the earth didn’t shake, but I did feel welcomed, by the people, and the land…..Even now, as I write, sentimental fool that I am, it is bringing tears to my eyes, to know I’ve fulfilled a life-long dream, if only partially and incompletely. I guess it isn’t often one gets the chance to connect with their inner soul…..


Whew! Sorry, took me a minute to regain control…. it’s what I get for trying to write before I’ve had any coffee. I’d best wait a bit, so I don’t do anything to embarrass myself any further….  Okay, well, hmm…. It’s now almost dinner time, with a day spent in Dublin between the entry above and now. It’s been one of those roller-coaster days, with high highs, and low lows, most of which isn’t worth discussing. Let’s just say that I spent a good deal more than I’d hoped, but managed to get something for everyone….. I know this is a bit cryptic, but, such is life sometimes; we all have to learn to live with some frustration, I guess, and this is yours…  :-)


I’ve had a great time in Ireland, in both cities in which we stopped. I tried to get in to see the Book of Kells, at Trinity College Library in Dublin, three times, but the lines (queues, as they say here…) were too long for me to stand in line for without causing a lot of severe pain, so that will have to wait for the next trip, whenever that may be. I did walk around the college a while, & got some good shots on the camera, as well as in the surrounding neighborhood, where I had a bit of lunch at O’donoghue’s Pub (A fish bap, with chips, don’t y’know?…), and found the last items I needed to get for people at home. I figure that makes me a champion shopper, as I’ve managed to get all I need in the first five days of the cruise, and can now just walk around to take pictures, enjoy the scenery, and talk to the people.


I suppose that is enough of the chatty intro stuff…. Tomorrow we’re off back to England, first to Liverpool, back to Ireland for one day in Belfast, then I believe it’s Edinburgh, or Inverness, or somewhere else in Scotland, then Wales….. For now, shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

This trip has put me a day late and a Euro short…. It is now Saturday, and I have yet to post this… so, section one will be pictures of Cork, and section 3 will be pictures of Dublin…. and, lucky for y’all, little commentary from me…. Enjoy….

St. Colman’s cathedral at Cork (Cobh) port
Day 5 015A local pub…

Day 5 023…. where they built this Guinness….

Day 5 024Ballyrocks Castle, between Cork and Cork port….

Day 5 026__________________________________

A Celtic Haiku

London, Cork, Dublin,
all quite cosmopolitan.
Me? Hick from the states.

~~ gigoid ~~
__________________________________

Dublin, home of the Book of Kells, with lines a quarter mile long, all three times I tried to get in to see it…. SIGH….

The Library Square at Trinity College, Dublin

Day the next 005A statue of George Salmon, one of the college’s provosts….

Day the next 007A Dublin street scene, just outside the Trinity entrance….

Day the next 008A fittingly beautiful sunset to a gorgeous day, headed for Liverpool…

Day the next 013__________________________________

As intimated above, this is late getting posted, so, with no further ado, I will quickly proof, then try to get it online…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

Such pretty little teeth you have…..

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Ffolkes,
The sun rose slowly, majestic, climbing up to sit on the horizon over the deep expanse of the Atlantic Ocean, halfway to Ireland from the coast of France. As I watched its regular progress toward the zenith, I reflected on the time just spent…..

It seems my muse has deserted me, just when I needed her the most….. Now I’m going to have to re-load Smart Bee, so I can find her again, hiding in one of the quotes I’ll see eventually. We are speeding toward Cork (Cobh), the town on the Irish coast nearest to where the Titanic went down in the early 20th century. It will be my first time off the ship, as I didn’t want to visit Paris for just one day (and, as I discovered, the one day of the week when the Louvre is closed, meaning my only reason to go wasn’t happening….), and I had no interest in the isle of Guernsey, where we’ve been anchored all day…. So, I’m going to go load SB; I’ll be right back to start today’s Pearl…..

“I’m a fucshia bowling ball somewhere in Brittany” — Zippy the Pinhead

Trust Zippy to come up with an appropriate statement to fit any occasion… In this case, he describes my feelings for much of the day yesterday. Since coming aboard this ship, I’ve had several instances of having the staff tell me something, and not having it happen. In and of themselves, each of the incidents might not have been a big deal, but coming one after another, I rapidly lost patience, thanks to the emotional morass that exists in me at all times…. I just don’t deal well with stress anymore…. After the last incident, in the spa, it took me hours to regain my equilibrium, and I still didn’t get my massage! I know that we all have to learn to live with disappointment, but it isn’t supposed to be like this when I’m paying these prices….

Rather than spend another day in the dumps, however, I resolve to put it behind me, at least long enough to put out this Pearl, now being written at 0430 in the morning, because that is when I awoke, fully charged, having gone to bed at 9 PM last night, and spent all night dreaming about…. something. Any who, this meandering batch of BS will serve well enough as an intro, at least until I can find something better….. Shall we Pearl?…..
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Sometimes, Smart Bee is smarter than usual. These five little aphorisms point in a direction that will enable me to bring back some balance, and hopefully, allow me to find my center sometime before the cruise is over…. These are all excellent advice, for any day, not just the difficult ones…..

Be happy while y’er leevin,
For y’er a lang time deid.

– Scottish motto for a house

“If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live.” — Lin Yutang

“There are always options.” — Worf, “The Emissary”, stardate 42901.3

“To a man of strong character misfortune may do him more good than harm.” — Roger Bacon

“On the other hand, life can be an endless parade of TRANSSEXUAL QUILTING BEES aboard a cruise ship to DISNEYWORLD if only we let it!!” –Zippy the Pinhead
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I haven’t thought about poetry in over a week now, having been somewhat preoccupied with this trip. I find myself in need of some Emily D….

Me! Come! My dazzled face
In such a shining place!

Me! Hear! My foreign ear
The sounds of welcome near!

The saints shall meet
Our bashful feet.

My holiday shall be
That they remember me;

My paradise, the fame
That they pronounce my name.

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~
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In the interests of keeping it simple, here is a picture from my stay in London…. I got several good shots while riding around on the double-decker tour bus, but, since I can’t upload many pix on this network connection on board ship, I’m limiting it to one good shot per Pearl…. This is a picture of the Houses of Parliament with the tower of Big Ben…..
Day 3 and 4 013__________________________________

Not too bad for an off-the-cuff effort….. and, regardless, it’s going to go out, as is…. My plan for today is to brave the rainy weather in Cork, Ireland, long enough to find a sweater or two….. I will try to post again tomorrow, but, given the unreliability of the connections I have, it may or may not be possible…. I’ll do all I can, though, to put out something…..  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

After all, it’s only text….

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Ffolkes,

You will have noted that I have not posted for a few days. This is due to unforeseen network issues that coming to Europe has presented. Many of the Wifi networks I’ve been able to connect to are not fast enough to allow programs like Skype, or YouTube to function, and uploading pictures to my blog will take a long time….

Tomorrow I will be posting a real Pearl (I hope), but will have to confine myself to a single picture, or maybe two, if it doesn’t take too long…. Since last posting, from London, I’ve boarded ship, in Harwich, and sailed to Le Havre… and today, we are a St. Peter’s Port in Guernsey, also in France… Tomorrow we will be in Cork (Cobh), and I hope to have some pix of Ireland for you…

Take care ffolkes, I’ll be back soon….

Sometimes I sits and thinks,

and sometimes

I just sits.

gigoid

dozer3

Some pods have more peas than others….

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Ffolkes,
And then I woke up….  in London, again. Today has been a series of revelations regarding aging and jet lag, as each time I left the B&B to go do something, I would get fatigued after a short while, and have to go back to lie down. I’ve had two naps today, one of 2 hours, and another hour plus later in the day.

I’ve just returned from the nearby pub, the Old Swan, where I had the most excellent bangers and mashed for dinner. However, I became very tired about half-way through the meal, and am now home, sitting again, but this time in front of the comp, to start today’s Pearl….

The wonders of technology are truly wondrous, as I spent some time this afternoon speaking, face to face, with milady Patricia, who is back in California, using Skype, computer to computer, to keep in touch. It’s truly amazing to be able to talk to someone, and see them, from half-way around the world, with almost no delay at all, just the buffering pauses by the computer’s processing chips. This is something that no other culture in history has achieved, to our knowledge, and it is a boon, indeed….

When I was able to get out and about, I went to the Saturday market on Portobello Road, which turns out to be right around the block from where I’m staying. It was a grand experience, with a huge crowd of people and a million little shops selling just about anything imaginable, mostly used or antique… all of the new stuff seemed to be crafts (leather, scarves, etc…) or tourist bric-a-bracs like magnets and posters, or cups and key chains.

I spent a moment talking with a fellow playing Charlie Chaplin, as a mime, and had my picture taken with him (see below), and got a few little things for folks back home, like a British Bobby’s helmet for my grandson, and some other little items. It was a great time, and I only stopped because my fatigue caught up to me again, so I went to take my second nap….

I have discovered that jet lag is more powerful than it seems; I don’t think I’ll feel normal until tomorrow. I’m really glad I took the extra time here in London to recover from that before I go on my cruise, as I think it would have been disastrous to try to get right on the ship after the flight over the pond. At least this way, I’ll only be tired from the hour or two train ride from London to Harwich, where the ship is waiting for me., and will be better able to enjoy the cruise….

Here are a few pictures from todays rambles…. I hope you are enjoying my little travelogue….

Here is the conservatory, where the breakfast buffet is served….
day2 London 001The patio, just outside the conservatory at The Abbey Court
day2 London 002The front of The Old Swan, my new favorite pub in London….
day2 London 003The sign at Portobello Road…

day2 London 004

Inside the Good Fairy Market on Portobello Road…
day2 London 012A moment with Charlie….
day2 London 010A look down Portobello Road during the market…. with two unhappy campers….
day2 London 006A sign on the former residence of George Orwell, the author and essayist, also on Portobello Road….
day2 London 014    That’s all for today, ffolkes…. For those Pearl Drops who missed the email version yesterday, please be advised it did not get sent, as Gmail apparently has a problem with me being in England, and won’t let me access the account. I’ll be NOT sending them for the rest of my trip, because the pictures would take too long to load… So, I’ll just send you the address of the blog post when I get it up on line, from my email account at Yahoo….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

Look out, Doc, it’s a Time Warrior….

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Ffolkes,
My butt is firmly planted on a chair in London, England, and I am writing this in my room at The Abbey Court Notting Hill, Kensington. I am at once excited, and exhausted. The plane ride over the pond from SF took over 11 hours, counting the time sitting on the ground, not moving, and I got stuck in a middle seat on a 747 with about 490 other people. By the time I wound my way through the airport at Heathrow, caught the train into town, and grabbed a cab to my room, I’d been on the road for over 18 hours, and all I wanted was a shower and a bed, in that order.

I took both, and then went out to see what was in the neighborhood…. It’s really cool, walking around the streets…. the crowds are very cosmopolitan, and you’ll hear a dozen languages and five different English accents in the space of a block. My steps didn’t go far away from my B&B before stumbling upon my first English Pub, The Old Swan….

It’s right out of a movie from my youth, with all wood furnishings, lovingly polished to a high gleam, and a menu full of typical and atypical Pub Grub. I tried the Steak and Ale Pie, and it was quite good, putting the lie to the old French tale of how tasteless the English food is to the refined palate…. I couldn’t do the meal justice, so I’m going back to try the bangers and mashed for supper.

I also figured out how to run Skype on my comp, so I could talk to Patty at home…. This also means that anyone else who wishes to call me via Skype, either video or audio, by searching for gigoid2 in their contacts…. It works well, and makes me feel like I’m Back In The Future!….. Now, if I can find where I left the DeLorean…..

Tomorrow I plan to spend much of the day sightseeing… I’ll be taking a double-decker bus tour, and a river tour, to find out where Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, the Bridges, Westminster Abbey, etc…. On Sunday, I plan to try to get to Stonehenge and back to London, to get ready to embark Monday on the cruise…. Good times ahead, for sure….

Below are some travel pictures, beginning on the freeway to the airport, and ending at The Old Swan pub… more to come tomorrow….

On the freeway….
Second shots 007The San Francisco skyline from the Bay Bridge….
Second shots 011The Abbey Court Notting Hill, in London on Pembridge Gardens Road…..
Second shots 012And lastly, the bar at The Old Swan….
Second shots 013    That’s all for now…. Tomorrow, I hope to have more to share of my stay here in London…… Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

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

gigoid

dozer3

Astride a pale horse, I ride….

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Ffolkes,
It is probably appropriate for the Beatle’s “Back in the USSR” to be playing in my head, alternating with “Helter Skelter”, as I sit here, trying to maintain an equable demeanor, while inside I am dancing and jumping up and down in ecstatic delight….. In just under two hours, I’m off to the airport, next stop, London….. I can barely contain my glee, but, I will do so long enough to finish this short note….

This is likely the only post for today… I’ll be busy flying and finding my way around in a strange place the rest of today, and most likely will collapse tomorrow, after a 3-4 hour airport ordeal, and a 10+ hour flight. As it is the only post for today, I’ll try to make it short, and sweet….

“Things don’t change. You change your way of looking, that’s all.” — Carlos Castaneda

“Watch your thoughts; they become your words. Watch your words; they become your actions. Watch your actions; they become your habits. Watch your habits; they become your character. Watch your character for it will become your destiny. If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?” — Rabbi Hillel, Avot 1:13, 12th Century

“It is one of the commonest of mistakes to consider that the limit of our power of perception is also the limit of all there is to perceive.” — C. W. Leadbeater

“It is never too late to give up your prejudices.” — Henry David Thoreau, Walden

“Yow!  I want to mail a bronzed artichoke to Nicaragua!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Well, that’s both short, and sweet, so it will have to do to get us all through the day…. Rather than mailing my artichoke to Nicaragua, though, I’m going to fly my butt to England…..  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you….. I leave you with a haiku….

I’m off to Ireland,
as I’ve always wished to do.
Fulfilling a dream…..

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

gigoid

dozer3

Massive portions of buttered peas….

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Ffolkes,
And then I woke up…. Another day dawns, bringing me one step closer to Europe. Today and tomorrow will be spent on planning, to make sure I’m not going to forget anything important, and packing what little I have left to put in, having spent much of the last two weeks slowly filling up the bag I’m taking. I’m so jazzed, I’ve essentially been ready to go for weeks. If I weren’t relatively ancient, I’d feel like a kid two days before Christmas; as it is, it takes all I have to keep from dancing a jig, or otherwise making an old fool of myself…

This is also affecting my writing, as I can barely keep my mind focused on the task at hand…. it just wants to think about what’s coming up, and will focus in on what I want to do only with great reluctance. I find myself unable to get mad about it, as the rest of my head is also caught up in the frenzy of emotion that goes with this…. So, I’ve come up with a semi-practical solution, which should serve to get the job done for the today, tomorrow, and Wednesday, before I leave at 0800…..

As I did yesterday, I’ll be dipping into the archives for one section, then go with a poem, chosen from the list in my head, and one old-school pearl, of the short, quick, but pointed variety, followed by the usual ridiculously egotistical closing remarks. This should allow me to get posted, with decent material, but take the minimum amount of time to put together. That’s the plan, anyway….

We’ll see just how much of it Murphy lets go without a response…. He’s been quiet so far today, so I’m hoping he’s focused on some other poor fool for a day or two…. He will, no doubt, have a trick or two to show me on the trip, but, I’m hoping he lets me slide here at home before I go…. Cross your fingers, or legs, or knock on some wood, or somehow help to guarantee my desire…. It won’t help much, but, it makes him feel good, and sometimes it will make him a bit more lenient…..

Once I’m on my trip, look for some more changes, as I intend to write about what I’m seeing, and put up some pictures of where I’ve been that day, rather than trying to maintain the long, rambling politico-religious ranting habits heretofore exhibited so regularly. Other changes my be instituted as well, like posting in the evening, after the day’s events, rather than beforehand, like now. So, stay tuned, as we evolve into a mobile state, and I learn how to put all of my adventures online. Hopefully, it will be entertaining, for y’all as much as me…. For now, ’tis enough to know it’s time to dive….. Shall we Pearl?…..
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Here is an old-style Pearl, from September of 2011….

Ffolkes,

Taking pot shots at political figures is a time-honored pastime in this country, and though I try not to engage in doing so on a regular basis, I’m not above letting all my frustration drive me to rant. The current political scene certainly offers a multitude of opportunities, especially now that so many Republican candidates for the Presidential election next year have jumped out into the glare of public scrutiny.

Every day I can read any number of articles outlining the latest spate of nonsense that is uttered by one of them; the difficult part at this point is choosing only one about which to write. Got some rampant ignorance? Plenty of that going around. Want an outrageous claim or two? Step right up. Like to hear the real facts? We can help, it happens every day…..what is a body to do? There is so much to choose from, they all seem to blend together into one giant nightmare of avarice and ignorance.

I guess the part of all this that is most disturbing to me is just how clueless our beloved ruling class has become. Even the most honorable politicians these days must take part in the insanity, if only to maintain their position where they can do some good. The majority of people who have been elected in this country have no real understanding of the mainstream, whatever that may be.

The gap between the wealthy and the poor in this country has never been larger, and is growing every day. How can a person who makes $200,000 a year even conceive of what it is like to live on less than $10,000 a year?  Quite simply, they cannot. More importantly, they have no desire to even try, because their purpose is not to improve the lot of everyone, but to solidify and maintain their own position. They may feel momentary jabs in their atrophied consciences, but easily dismiss them in favor of enjoying the fruits of their public thievery.

The seeds of revolution have been sown, and are being nourished by the ongoing scenario in today’s world. The rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer. The old saw about a watched pot is not entirely true; the pot will eventually come to a boil, given time and heat. I’ve been watching this pot for a long while, and note that the heat has been turned up. Whether I watch it or not, it WILL boil over…….

After that, I need some uplifting, so onward to the good stuff…..

“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” — Krishnamurti   (Amen!)

“You can’t start worrying about what’s going to happen.  You get spastic enough worrying about what’s happening now.” — Lauren Bacall

“I maintain there is much more wonder in science than in pseudoscience. And in addition, to whatever measure this term has any meaning, science has the additional virtue, and it is not an inconsiderable one, of being  true.” — Carl Sagan, The Burden Of Skepticism, — The Skeptical Inquirer, Vol. 12, Fall 87

“What is beautiful is good and who is good will soon also be beautiful.” — Sappho

“Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.” — Oscar Wilde (1856-1900)

“The ideals which have always shone before me and filled me with the joy of living are goodness, beauty, and truth. To make a goal of comfort or happiness has never appealed to me; a system of ethics built on this basis would be sufficient only for a herd of cattle.” — Albert Einstein

Alone I sit, waiting for the future to become now. When it does, I’m goin’ there…… y’all take care out there….

__________________________________

No comments are necessary to introduce this, but I’ll just say that I wish I had learned of this woman’s poetry ages ago….

Medusa

Off that landspit of stony mouth-plugs,
Eyes rolled by white sticks,
Ears cupping the sea’s incoherences,
You house your unnerving head—God-ball,
Lens of mercies,
Your stooges
Plying their wild cells in my keel’s shadow,
Pushing by like hearts,
Red stigmata at the very center,
Riding the rip tide to the nearest point of
departure,

Dragging their Jesus hair.
Did I escape, I wonder?
My mind winds to you
Old barnacled umbilicus, Atlantic cable,
Keeping itself, it seems, in a state of miraculous
repair.

In any case, you are always there,
Tremulous breath at the end of my line,
Curve of water upleaping
To my water rod, dazzling and grateful,
Touching and sucking.
I didn’t call you.
I didn’t call you at all.
Nevertheless, nevertheless
You steamed to me over the sea,
Fat and red, a placenta

Paralyzing the kicking lovers.
Cobra light
Squeezing the breath from the blood bells
Of the fuchsia. I could draw no breath,
Dead and moneyless,

Overexposed, like an X-ray.
Who do you think you are?
A Communion wafer? Blubbery Mary?
I shall take no bite of your body,
Bottle in which I live,

Ghastly Vatican.
I am sick to death of hot salt.
Green as eunuchs, your wishes
Hiss at my sins.
Off, off, eely tentacle!
There is nothing between us.

~~ Sylvia Plath ~~

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As promised, or threatened, take it as you may, here is an old-school pearl, fresh as I can make it from my immense stash of Smart Bee’s best….. I hope you get the point of this one, it’s a doozy…. and fun, too! Well, it’s fun if one is used to stretching the limits of the mind…. if not, well, probably not so much….

“Love is not all: it is not meat nor drink Nor slumber nor a roof against the  rain; Nor yet a floating spar to men that sink And rise and sink and rise and  sink again; Love can not fill the thickened lung with breath, Nor clean the blood, nor set the fractured bone; Yet many a man is making friends with death  Even as I speak, for lack of love alone.  It well may be that in a difficult  hour, Pinned down by pain and moaning for release, Or nagged by want past resolution’s power, I might be driven to sell your love for peace, Or trade the memory of this night for food.  It well may be. I do not think I would.” — Edna St. Vincent Millay

“Hang sorrow! care ‘ll kill a cat.” — Ben Jonson (1573-1637) — Every Man in his Humour, Act i, Sc. 3

“Stop thinking, and end your problems.” — Lao Tzu

Untwisting all the chains that tie
The hidden soul of harmony.

– John Milton (1608-1674) — L’Allegro, Line 143

“The truly brave are soft of heart and eyes, And feel for what their duty bids them do.” — Byron

“Life is never fair, and perhaps it is a good thing for most of us that it is not.” — Oscar Wilde, An Ideal Husband

“All of a sudden, I want to THROW OVER my promising ACTING CAREER, grow a LONG BLACK BEARD and wear a BASEBALL HAT!!…  Although I don’t know WHY!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Alas, we never do really know why, do we?…..  TTFN….
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Well, I hope this works….. It does, at least as far as it goes…. I don’t believe I’ll need to worry about replying to the Pulitzer Committee anytime soon…. It’s done, though, and, at this point, that’s all that matters to me…. I’m outta here, ffolkes…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

Seven straight hours of polka music….. priceless….

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Ffolkes,
And then I woke up….. The plan was in place, all I had to do was get up, get dressed, and call a cab. Piece o’cake…. I think we may have hit a fortunate bump…. It appears Murphy didn’t get the memo on this, so the plan went off like clockwork. The cab came, I rode it to Kaiser, picked up my meds, and made to the lab in time to be fourth in line. This got me out of there within thirty minutes (they are REALLY slow in the reception process….), whereupon I walked to see if there was coffee available anywhere on the way out…. it was, but I didn’t have exact change, so the danger of biting someone was still high…. I called a cab, as the bus wasn’t due for about 45 minutes, I thought…

But, lo and behold, as I walked outside, the bus was pulling up, so I canceled the cab, got on, and was home in 15 minutes, all chores completed, and still not 8 AM…. not too shabby, I’d say, and a huge thank you, to whoever it was that kept that asshole, Murphy, busy long enough for the plan to be implemented…. I hardly know what to do with myself; it’s really unusual for anything involving bus travel around here to go smoothly, and I am way ahead of schedule now. I suppose, if I were smart, I’d jump right in to the dive for today, and count my blessings….

I’m smart enough, so…. Shall we Pearl?….
__________________________________

I was cruising through some old Pearls to find inspiration, and found instead a pearl that will work well as section one of today’s effort…. It’s from the Ides of October in 2011…..

Ffolkes,

The Sun, life-giving orb of light and warmth, which dies each night, is born again each morning, gloriously aflame with potential. As the world turns in slow majesty, a scene of aching beauty is revealed; small plants and trees stretching their leaves toward the source of warmth, creatures great and small moving over the land, greeting the day with energy and purpose, colorful birds arcing and swooping through the warming air.

With a look at each other, the two young boys grinned, and with a cry of pure joy, took off running toward a nearby stand of trees. Legs pounding as hard and fast as their hearts, evenly matched, they ran with abandon, startling birds and small creatures, laughing in sheer exuberance. As they came to the edge of the trees, they stopped short, by mutual accord. Breathing hard, they gazed into the shadows, thinking about why they had come, why they were here, filling their souls with beauty at the beginning of the day……

I’m told that constant practice makes for constant improvement, and if this is so, then I should be getting damn close to competence, if not perfection. The paragraph above is the start of yet another story that will most likely never be told. I write them principally to keep dross from building up in my psyche, and as a sort of contrast to the reality of the rest of the piece.

An introductory bridge, as it were, carrying the reader into the realms of thought, where I can then provide you with an upgrade to the DABSDS (Defense Against B___S___ Delivery System) that comes installed in your brain. It gives me a chance to limber up my typing finger, and loosen the mental muscle, which, as we all know, is an essential precursor to the use of these peripherals without sustaining injury.

Today’s group of Pearls is an eclectic one, with a diverse, compelling batch of authors. Cultural values from all over the world, and from many different ages of history are represented here, and I think the variety is part of its strength; it goes to show that wisdom is not limited to one book. Indeed, I believe that the admixture that came together today is greatly enhanced by the contrast of ideas, creating a more powerful effect upon the reasoning mind…..hope you enjoy!….

“If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have known will go to heaven, and very, very few persons.” — James Thurber

The only real failure in life is the failure to try.

“It is a misconception that spirituality brings everlasting happiness. There is no such thing. Sadness still comes to the wise, but, unlike most people, their clarity of mind allows them to see beyond the temporal emotionalism of the moment. They are farseeing, and so happiness and sorrow become the same to them.” — Deng Ming-Dao

Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave
Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind;
Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave.
I know.
But I do not approve.
And I am not resigned.
– Edna St. Vincent Millay, “Dirge Without Music”

“Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of–but do it in private and wash you hands afterwards.” — Lazarus Long

“We turn not older with years, but newer every day.” — Emily Dickinson

Trust yourselves, my friends, so that ye may trust one another…..y’all take care out there…..
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I’ve discovered the flaw in my plan… the one I thought went so well this morning…. It’s now a bit shy of 9 AM, and I’m beat…. totally ready for a nap. To save some time, here is an older poem of mine, from sometime last year….. I hope you enjoy it….

Piraeus calls me, silently….

Sizzle, sizzle, crash, bang, boom.
Intellect burning with subsequent doom.
Lingering long over decisive style,
Whistling up chaos all the while.

Such frozen thoughts may shatter,
Should we infer, but, no matter.
Firing blanks is children at play
Blooded sages all gasp in dismay.

Nonsense is good sense at times
Mundane objectives trip lightly in rhymes.
Fallen angels dance on a pin
Until each sinner enters within.

Fast moments with natural rain
Bring ashes, yet still must remain.
Final thoughts clamor for more
Find them only on a far distant shore.

~~ gigoid

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Just so everything today isn’t old and creaky, I’m putting together an old-school group of pearls for your delectation…. Hopefully, this, too, will feel the freedom of a Murphy-less morning, and turn out well, and quickly…. I think this one might make it onto the Quiz, so you might want to take notes….

Cogito, ergo sum.  (I think, therefore I am) — Rene Descartes

Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind; Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave. I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.” — Edna St. Vincent Millay, “Dirge Without Music”

“God is an invention of Man. So the nature of God is only a shallow mystery. The deep mystery is the nature of Man.” — Nanrei Kobori, late Abbot of the Temple of the Shining Dragon, Kyoto, Japan

“A note of music gains significance from the silence on either side.” — Anne Morrow Lindberg

“To a rational being it is the same thing to act according to nature and according to reason.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, vii, 11

Made still a blund’ring kind of melody;
Spurr’d boldly on, and dashed through thick and thin,
Through sense and nonsense, never out nor in.

– John Dryden (1631-1700) — Absalom and Achitophel, Part ii, Line 413

Cogito sum, ergo sum. Circa basta.  (I think I am. That’s close enough.) ~~ gigoid

That turned out well, I think, and this is my blog, so that’s good enough….   :lol:
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Well, I don’t think the Pulitzer Committee will need to deliberate very long on this one; I am a realist, after all…..

Whoa! Proofing revealed an Easter Egg! My subconscious must have been paying attention today, and slipped in a facer on my conscious brain; each of the pearl sections today have a quote from Edna St. Vincent Millay, the same quote, but used in one as a poem, and in the other as prose.

It was NOT deliberate on my part; I just found it now, as I was proofing for errors. Boy, the stuff that gets done when Murphy leaves me alone is astounding at times…. It makes me wonder how things might be if he would go away altogether…. SIGH…. Definitely wishful thinking….

Moreover, since both of the old-school pearls work just fine, just as they are, I’m letting this fly, as is, and know it will do just fine…. And, in the final analysis, I don’t care, because it’s done…. I’m outta here, gotta go plan for Thursday….  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3