Tag Archives: Sun Tzu

Sucked into the blonde event horizon….

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Ffolkes,
Well, I survived the Lone Star state, albeit a bit worse for wear, and my pockets significantly lighter. All in all, it was an instructive journey, in a lot of ways….. A number of events that happened during the trip were obvious life-lessons, and have taught me that a) I’m not a kid anymore; b) packing light is a good thing; and c) take what is offered, especially perks due to age or disability…..

Oh, and I also found out that not only does Murphy follow me around, he delights in taking advantage of the subtle cruelties offered by travel…. such as convincing myself to take a cab home from the airport, giving me an clueless driver who proceeded to take the wrong freeway on the way to Vallejo, treating me to a memory-filled jaunt through the streets of Berkeley, in order to get back on the right freeway, and, adding another hour to the trip…. If I had sat back and closed my eyes, we would have ended up in Fresno…

I found out that I’m no longer the invulnerable, indefatigable young man I used to be. I used to be able to drive as long as I needed to drive, without becoming overly tired, hour after hour; this time, a four hour drive around central Texas, and I’m ready for a week off, with lots of sleeping on the agenda. An almost four hour plane ride from Austin to Oakland almost killed me, coming on top of the drive, and the four hour wait to board the flight, which Murphy had been so kind as to delay in its trip to Austin. Even waiting in the airport was hard, as the seats in most of the ones I’ve been to are not well designed for long periods of time, especially the ones near the Internet hot spots…..

Packing light is a learned skill, one I’ve always been fair at, just not experienced enough to become totally efficient. I end up carting around a bunch of stuff that I never use on the trip, making it dead weight. Until I can get a good ultra-thin laptop designed for travelers, I have to take my laptop, which is not huge, but still weighs enough to strain my pitiful back muscles. I need to learn not to take enough stuff to set up a new bivouac, and save the weight for stuff I pick up along the way. I didn’t need a lot of what I ended up taking, so this was an quite instructive trip in that regard…

Part of what made it hard is my own stubbornness against accepting the fact that I’m disabled. I didn’t want to be one of those folks who use a wheelchair to get around in the airport, preferring to walk, even though I have to walk with my stick, and limp a lot of the way due to hip pain. Then, since I didn’t claim my disability, I ended up standing around in lines, hurting, wishing I’d used the wheelchair, as those passengers board first. If I take the perks, I would be able to go through the security check points without having to stand in long lines, as well as boarding the plane first. I no longer give a shit about appearing to be disabled, because, hey, I am disabled….

In the future, I’m going to take all the perks I can, because I just don’t have the strength any longer to put up with the physical demands that even flying presents. Planes are faster, and more comfortable than a train, as the train is constantly rocking and rolling on the tracks, whereas the plane is relatively smooth, other than the pockets of turbulence. The seats on a train are more comfortable, for sure, and it is usually less crowded, and not so stuffy on a train as it is on the plane. But, those are the ONLY advantages, as far as I can see…..

I’m glad I took this trip, and not just because I got to see my high school friend for a good visit. I also am convinced that what I’ve learned on this trip will help me in my upcoming big trip to Europe next month (I leave in 14 days!…..). I’m packing light, going to check my big bag, and keep only my meds, my laptop, and a book with me on the plane (And my tickets & passport, of course…..). I’m going to take all the disability perks I can. And, I’m going to have a great time, even if Murphy tries to come along; I’ll just bribe him somehow to take a vacation with me, so he’ll leave me be for a few days…. It sure would be nice to be free of his attentions,  even if it’s only for a short while.

I see that I’ve rambled on quite a bit here, and we’re still in the intro section. I guess I’m making up for yesterday’s post…. I do have other stuff to do today, like a dentist visit, so I’d best get on with today’s dive…. I hope I didn’t bore anyone, or lose any readers from prattling on for so long about a simple trip, and will now try to maintain a bit more focus on the purpose here…. not that I always know what that purpose may be…. Nevertheless, we go on….. Shall we Pearl?…..
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“Dwell not upon thy weariness, thy strength shall be according to the measure of thy desire.” — Arab proverb

Well, Smart Bee is quite perceptive this morning….. In the discussion above regarding strength and the demands of traveling, this takes on new significance. It is a truism, especially true for men; more so, I think, than for women (and nothing sexist meant by that…. men and women are different…. get used to it….). I know that, for me, having a purpose gives me the strength to complete the task, no matter what it may entail. I’ve stayed up for 2 or more days, at times, when there was good reason, and felt no ill effects afterward, other than a strong desire to sleep for a long time. Even when I am already tired, bringing my mental focus onto whatever strong reason I have to assume a duty will always dismiss the fatigue, and draw upon inner resources to give me the energy to keep on working, or doing whatever needed doing.

I don’t believe this is any different for me than it is for anyone else; as humans, we have a strength of will that, if honed and sharpened, can give us the ability to put aside mere physical demands, overcoming any such weakness by the application of will power. A perfect example of this was when I drove to Austin from Houston, yesterday, on the way home. The four hour drive came after a very long day the day before, about 3 hours sleep, and an emotional visit with my friend… I was completely drained, I thought…. But, then, on the drive, I realized that if I gave in to my fatigue, I’d get stuck in Texas until I recovered…. So, I stopped, got some fresh air, and pushed on, replenishing my strength with the promise of rest when I arrived at the airport….

Even though I had to tell myself a lie like that (the physical demands at the airport meant no rest at all for me, but I didn’t tell myself that while driving….) by accepting the duty involved, I was able to draw upon hidden resources of energy to get me through the drive. I needed a lot more lies to get me all the way home, to make it through the 4 hour wait, the 4 hour flight, and the unexpected extra hour on the cab ride from the airport to my house…. I made it, as always, and seven hours of sleep in my own bed seems to have fixed all my problems…. at least, if how much I write is any indication… I’ve been at this for about an hour now, and I’m already approaching a couple thousand words, in the first section….

I’ll not torture y’all any further on this thought, except to say this…. We, as humans, have the will power to accomplish anything…. anything at all. If our minds can conceive of a thing, we can make that thing a reality, whether it is large or small, simple or complex, long or short of duration. None of that matters, when we have decided on a course of action…. It is a valuable characteristic, and not well understood by most people; they use it without ever considering its true power, or its importance to them. Learn to focus the will, to bring your attention onto what is duty, freely chosen, and you will find that there is nothing you desire that you cannot achieve…. Word…..

“And now there is merely silence, silence, silence, saying all we did not know.” — William Rose Benet
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In the attempt to stay with fresh material, I am including here a haiku I wrote while on the plane home from Texas…. The poem was begun when I finally got home, while I was trying to relax enough to go to bed; I finished it just a few minutes ago, which gave me the title….. It’s not the best I’ve ever done, and may go through more editorial changes, but, it will do for one of the first poems I’ve tried to write on demand, instead of waiting until it leaked out of my head…. As every day this month, these are being included as part of the April National Poetry Writing Month Challenge, with the updates to be found here:  http://www.napowrimo.net/    I hope you enjoy them…..

Haiku XIII

Flying home tonight,
long, hot, interesting flight.
Will it ever end?

Pensive early and late….

Endings aren’t always a new beginning
I’m sad to say.
Sometimes it’s just an ending
there’s always a price to pay.

Still, it’s only money, he said
watching it piss away
Did everything ‘cept meet Fred
‘n had a good time the whole way.

Even the bad stuff turned out well,
life lessons are just that way.
Knowing what’s right, you can’t always tell,
we don’t always know the right things to say.

I’ll take all the hard times, without complaint,
learning isn’t always easy to take.
Kindness, patience, compassion without restraint,
are still the best decisions we can make.


~~ gigoid ~~
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Well, I haven’t really ranted today, but, I’ve held you captive long enough, so I won’t start one now…. We’ll go old-school for the final section, with a five, or seven star pearl of great luster, with an inspiring core meaning to each of the included quotes, all tied up with a logical bow…. I hope. Smart Bee sometimes has its own ideas of what is right for a particular pearl, so we’ll see what comes together, and hope for the best….

“Don’t despair over futility; remember, it also rains over the ocean.” — Smart Bee

“A man begins cutting his wisdom teeth the first time he bites off more than he can chew.” — Herb Caen

“History records no more gallant struggle than that of humanity against the truth.” — Smart Bee

“Decay, inherent in all component things.’ — Buddha-last words

“The power of man has grown in every sphere, except over himself.” — Winston Churchill

“Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril. When you are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant both of your enemy and of yourself, you are certain in every battle to be in peril.” — Sun Tzu (fl. c. B.C. 500)

“I am not an animal!  I am … well, not an animal.” — Smart Bee

I knew Smart Bee would get its six cents in, but, I can’t complain, because it’s fine, just the way it is….. This one will be on the Quiz, ffolkes, so I hope you took notes…   :-)
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Whew! What a relief….. I guess I needed that, which is why I went overboard on the personal revelations today….. Let’s see how it proofs…. Hmm, not too shabby, and much better than I had thought it might be after such an exhausting trip. I’ll take it, and so will you, and like it…. Hah! Gotcha!….

Okay, no more Stooges humor…. I’ll let you off with a warning, this time…. and, no, I have no idea where THAT came from. I suppose it’s been sitting in my head for several days, waiting for me to lose focus for just an instant, so it could take over my fingers….. Don’t take it personally, please, it’s just a yoke…. Oh, boy, now I’ve really done it… Sorry ’bout that…. Bye now….  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

We won’t be crenelating this year…

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Ffolkes,
Pasty faced goons marched across the square, eyes right, to view the diminutive man on the platform above them, at the head of the palace stairs. The short, obese figure of the Beloved Leader of Millions raised his hand in salute, continuing to watch the marching squads as they moved out of the square that fronted the palace. His eyes, surrounded by folds of flesh, peered with suspicion at the aged adviser on his left, then returned to focus on the soldiers, an expression of hunger on his face at odds with his pulchritude, for this was obviously a man who missed few meals.

As the final myrmidon passed under the archway leading away, into the city proper, the adviser turned to the fat young man, saying, “How did Your Eminence find the parade today?” Ignoring him, he turned and started indoors, his bodyguards falling in one step behind, as always, moving quickly, as if he had a mission, and was running late….. Little did he know just how late it was…..

I’m already bored with this one; it’s too close to reality, and I don’t much like what I’ve been seeing in North Korea…. It’s a bit of an unstable situation, for sure…. That obviously insane family has the country in a choke-hold, one I’ll never understand, as the people of that ancient land sadly bury their heads in shame, while the rest of the world just shakes their heads over Kim Il Jung, or Jung Il, or whatever his name is, and his latest outbreak of….. well, I was going to say insanity, but that’s too obvious…. it’s more like asininity.

How can any normally intelligent group of people stand for the crap he and his cronies are handing out? It seems to me that our best bet will be to just smuggle in a few pamphlets, and some guns, maybe a few preachers, (We’ve got more than enough, and can spare as many as we need to teach them how to accept our own lies instead of theirs….) and encourage the people there to do what they want to do, and kick the bastard out of town….. Oh well, just another crazy day on Planet Earth….

You will observe, please, I have indulged in a mini-religipolitirant in the first section, which is a clear indication that I’ve already given up on today’s effort, and am simply allowing my subconscious mind to have free rein in picking out subject matter. It’s a dangerous technique, but often results in some of my best Pearls….

Of course, it must be noted that the judgment of ‘good’ versus ‘bad’ is one that I make, so it is immediately suspect. I do try to maintain an objective eye in those judgments, however, and I’d say they are fairly accurate…. I DO have a lot of experience in reading different types and styles of literature, so my opinion is more than simply a reflection of how I feel about it; there IS some technical oversight being applied, as well….

None of which matters in the slightest, as it’s all moot (lovely word… moot…. it just SOUNDS useless, which is what it means…. I love English!), so it would no doubt be best for all of us if I got started on today’s dive. Anything will be better than pasty faced goons, insane world figures, and seemingly endless blather, right? You shouldn’t worry, though, as I really do have an unlimited supply of blather, so, we’re in no danger of running short in that regard….

Since I AM a nice guy, underneath my deliberate crust of curmudgeon, I’ll cease and desist now, and we’ll get on with our regularly scheduled program of rambling, hopefully insightful ranting, and raving, all directly in the face of Reality….. In other words, Shall we Pearl?…..
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“Among the many handicaps of old age which must be lived with is wisdom.” — Smart Bee

When I saw this pearl, I knew I had to use it, for it is a perfect example of the very wisdom of which it speaks, and MUST have been first noted by a senior citizen…. No one who hasn’t BEEN old will believe that there is any advantage to it. We are invulnerable when young, and just KNOW that we will be the first to breeze through our golden years on roller skates, never get old and creaky, and never, ever die. It is only when we actually reach the pinnacle that we see how high was the climb…. which is fine, because if we knew what we now know when we were younger, we would likely have just killed ourselves, or gone back to bed…..

I would try to explain to you the actual mind-set that is necessary to be able to understand this subtle concept, but, it wouldn’t do any good, because it is not something that CAN be explained…. It’s something that only real experience can teach. However, we CAN give directions, on the road to wisdom; we can supply indicators that will give the reader an idea of the inner path that must be traveled before reaching serenity, and an understanding of the knowledge of the ancients….

In a sense, this is what I try to accomplish with my old-school pearls…. I try to push, or nudge the mind to a place where it can perceive what the Universe has to offer, and if lucky, achieve an understanding of the underlying rationale of reality, which, in turn, brings inner peace, and the ability to perceive even more clearly than before….  I don’t always succeed in this, but, hey, it’s worth a shot, I figure, and it can’t hurt….

On that note, here is a five-star pearl, in the same vein as the first one, above…. Enjoy!…..

“It hath been an opinion that the French are wiser than they seem, and the Spaniards seem wiser than they are; but howsoever it be between nations, certainly it is so between man and man.” — Francis Bacon (1561-1626) — Of Seeming Wise

“When opponents present openings, you should penetrate them immediately. Get to what they want first, subtly anticipate them. Maintain discipline and adapt to the enemy in order to determine the outcome of the war.” — Sun Tzu

“Don’t let the same dog bite you twice.” — Chuck Berry

“Ignorance is king, many would not prosper by its abdication.” — A Canticle for Leibowitz

EXCEPTION, n.  A thing which takes the liberty to differ from other things of its class, as an honest man, a truthful woman, etc.  “The exception proves the rule” is an expression constantly upon the lips of the ignorant, who parrot it from one another with never a thought of its absurdity.  In the Latin, “_Exceptio probat regulam_” means that the exception _tests_ the rule, puts it to the proof, not _confirms_ it.  The malefactor who drew the meaning from this excellent dictum and substituted a contrary one of his own exerted an evil power which appears to be immortal. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”
(Aha! Obviously, some ancient form of a Preacher, before they thought up the word….)

See? I TOLD you it was subtle…. Hmm…. maybe TOO subtle…. Okay, here are two more pearls, making it a seven-star effort, to help bring the point home…..

“If thou shouldst lay up even a little upon a little, and shouldst do this often, soon would even this become great.” — Hesiod (c. 700 BC) — Works and Days, Line 360

“I don’t think it would have all got me down quite so much if just once in a while- just once in a while- there was at least some polite little perfunctory implication that knowledge should lead to wisdom, and that if it doesn’t, it’s just a disgusting waste of time.” — J.D. Salinger, Franny & Zooey

Okay, that’s about as clear as I can make it….. It’s all in the wrist, you see…..  :lol:
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Well….. Phew!…. They were bigger than me, boss, but I stuck with it, and I won! I didn’t cheat either…. The haiku, and the poem below, are both fresh out of my head (I’m surprised I was able to get them cleaned up, too, it was a messy process today….), and thus answer the “poem a day” challenge for this month, in the affirmative, for today, at least…. 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 hope you enjoy them…..

Haiku VI

Well, morning is come,
in spite of plain reluctance.
Too bad, so sad, deal…..

~~ gigoid ~~

Unheralded Sagacity…

To many, who will not see beyond their nose
the world becomes a dangerous place,
a bullet in every gun, a thorn with every rose,
no magic comes to save us, reality leaves no trace.

Minds closed, wrapped tight in manufactured fears,
men become clay, easily molded into complacent form.
No chains needed, held in thrall for years,
lies become gospel, when dishonesty is the norm.

Shed the chains you wear in durance, in kind;
Oh, ye of little faith, and much doubt
Strength is found in an unfettered mind,
Cry “freedom” with a great shout.

No help from any gods can hinder so much
as our own lack of confidence;
finding the light within, knowing it as such
confirms us, becoming consequence.

Illumination…..

~~ gigoid ~~

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“A thing is not proved because no one has ever questioned it…Skepticism is the first step towards truth.” — Smart Bee

As I was cruising through Smart Bee this morning, looking for inspiration for section 3, I came across this little gem, unattributed. It sounds like it could have come from a number of different philosophers, all of whom are noted for their wisdom and perspicacity (another great word….). It is also a part of the human flaw that has contributed to many of the problems we face as a society, and as a species.

Actually, it might be more accurate to say that the lack of this in humans is part of the flaw; most people one talks to would not agree with this idea, as stated. In fact, it is directly opposed to the educational premises of many cultures, especially those heavily influenced by religions, such as those in Mexico, Central and South America, where Catholicism is a powerful factor in society, and in the governing of that society. India, and much of the Eastern Hemisphere, too, have societies that are heavily influenced by religion, though with more participant sects than is true in the Western Hemisphere; Hinduism, Buddhism, Shinto, to name a few, are always a contributing factor in the political events that have shaped history.

“The common dogma [of fundamentalists] is fear of modern knowledge, inability to cope with the fast change in a scientific-technological society, and the real breakdown in apparent moral order in recent years That is why hate is the major fuel, fear is the cement of the movement, and superstitious ignorance is the best defence against the dangerous new knowledge. When you bring up arguments that cast serious doubts on their cherished beliefs
you are not simply making a rhetorical point, you are threatening their whole Universe and their immortality. That provokes anger and quite frequently violence.” — G Gaia

As a result of this influence, many people tend to reject skepticism, as it doesn’t fit in with what they have been taught, which is to never question anything told to them by persons in positions of authority. Churches tend to encourage this sort of attitude, as their outrageous claims of divinity, and supernatural events performed by their deities, do not stand up well to scrutiny by an objective eye. The leaders of the churches thus play right into the hands of the Beloved Ruling Class, as they counsel their flocks to obey worldly, temporal authority as readily as they are conditioned to obey the secular variety…..

“I just stepped on a factoid!” – Zippy the Pinhead

Thankfully, not all of humanity is defenseless against this sort of conditioning. There are many ffolkes out there who don’t buy into the sort of psychological blackmail being promulgated by the preachers, priests, imams, and shamans of all shapes and sizes around the world, and a large number of them seem to end up blogging, right here on WordPress….

So, I end up preaching to the choir pretty often. But, that’s okay, too, because I know that occasionally, one of those folks who do believe in what they are told, without any questions or doubts, will read this, and, if nothing else, will think about what I’ve said…. Who knows, maybe I’ll go viral, and the whole world will remember that WE ALL ARE GODS?”…… (Remember?  Axiom # 3…. “Thou art God, you know…. Let’s do lunch….)

“Youth of today!  Join me in a mass rally for traditional mental attitudes!” — Zippy the Pinhead

I suppose that’s a note from my subconscious, to let me know I’ve gone far enough off the rails for now, and should let these good people get on with their lives, rather than wandering around in mine…. Goodness knows where we’ll end up…. Anyway, just remember to cultivate your sense of doubt, your “crap detector”, as it were, and never, ever take anything “on authority”, without tangible proof…. You’ll find Life to be less confusing that way; certainly, it makes it a lot easier to look yourself in the mirror in the morning…..

“This is patently absurd; but whoever wishes to become a philosopher must learn not to be frightened by absurdities.” — Bertrand Russell
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I must say, it’s refreshing to be able to compose an entirely fresh Pearl….. It’s all new and shiny, and just the way I like them…. Let’s see how it reads….. Okay, NOW you can alert the Pulitzer committee…. I may be prejudiced, but, this is a good one, and I’m proud to call it a Pearl of Virtual Wisdom, because it fits the title, exactly….. Rather than tempt fate, I’ll be going now…..  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

It says breakfast includes fizzy drinks….

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Ffolkes,
I’m confused….. Oh, wait…. Right. That isn’t anything new, of course, so saying it right up front might not have quite the riveting effect I intended…. Y’all are accustomed to seeing me in that state, so announcing it probably isn’t going to produce the either the sympathy I was hoping to engender, nor will it produce the willingness to overlook the asinine trip this intro section puts y’all through…. So much for that technique…. I killed it myself, before it even had a chance to get started…. Well, shoot…. which, you may guess, is a euphemism for another word of similar pattern, but, with an “i” where this one has an “oo”…..

There I go, trying to trick y’all into using your mental acuity first thing, just as if I had some reason to expect good results; I’ve barely had enough coffee to keep from biting myself, and I’m expecting skillful cogitation from my audience!  :!:   This does not bode well for the rest of this morning’s output, to say the least. In fact, we are approaching the point of no return, in terms of legality of assumption, and I may just have to cite myself, with a court date just far enough away to annoy me…. It’s one sure way to get me pissed off enough to focus…. It won’t improve my writing at all, but it does force me to concentrate on what is important, and keep stuff like this from falling out of my head and onto the screen….

I managed to somehow convince Murphy to take a few days off, by telling him about this other guy I met, who really was having a good life, with everything going well for him…. I lied, but he fell for it, and has gone to pick at the other guy for… well, I don’t know how long I’ll have, so I’m making the best of it….. I imagine he’ll be pissed when he gets back, as he will have figured out how I tricked him by then, but, I’ll deal with the consequences of that when they occur…. No sense in worrying about milk that isn’t on the floor yet…. Of course, I’ll probably have to also deal with the guy who got the brunt of his attention, if he ever finds out it was me who gave him the referral, but, he’s just a little guy, and I happen to know he disapproves of guns, so, I’m safe in that respect….

Well, for heaven’s sake (I know, I’m probably breaking several canonical laws, and heresying on several religions when I say that…. oh well….  :twisted:   )…. Will you look at that? I’ve been babbling, not really paying attention, and a complete intro section has just sprung up around my words…. imagine that! I wonder how that happened?…. Is that ingenious enough? (Or is that disingenuous enough?) Is it too over the top?  I don’t want to make anyone nauseous with too much schmaltz…. that stuff can be dangerous, if one is unaccustomed to its use, and I try to be sparing with it…. Okay, that’s a lie, but, I do try not to get it on anyone’s best shoes….

Besides, we got here, didn’t we? I’m not going to sit here and be insulted, so… Well, yes, I am. I’m the one who babbled and meandered around again to fill in the intro with nonsense and meaningless BS, so I’m the one who should take the hits for it….. Go ahead, I’ll sit here and take it….. All done? Good, now we can get on with the remainder of our business, such as it is…. Shall we Pearl?…..
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“If good intentions are combined with stupidity, it is impossible to outthink them.” — Marion J. Levy, Jr.

Aha! So, THAT’S the problem with Reality! I should have noticed this sooner, and maybe, just maybe, you might have been saved from a rant or two…. Well, okay, so that’s a lie, but, it COULD have happened…. more’s the pity….

Actually, I’ve included this because it really is too true to be ignored…. This statement is a perfectly accurate description of many, many preacher/priests, and other delusional denizens of the organized religions, such as Catholicism, Islam, or even Hinduism, as the people who end up in those positions are generally motivated, originally, at least, by the desire to help their fellows, not to subvert them.

But, most are so weak-minded that they can’t even see that they, themselves, are being manipulated by their own leaders, manipulated until they believe the nonsense with which they are bombarded from day one in the seminary, or other school of divinity…. It is the Popes, and the Ayatollahs, and the other religious leaders, all of whom are well aware, down to the last decimal place of accuracy, of the degree of bullshit they are slinging, who are the evil minded ones, the true monsters who prey on their own kind, knowing full well that the religious dogma they are promoting is a pile of hogwash designed solely to keep the ignorant masses under control, in an attitude of submission….

Many of those at the top of the heap will even claim to be true believers, but, I have a hard time accepting that at face value, given the perks and privileges they seem to accept as their rightful due, even though those perks and privileges are directly in contrast, and directly in opposition to all they teach about worldly goods and their spiritual value…. Kind of blows their covers, wouldn’t you say? It’s hard to reconcile the talk about helping the poor, when one is wearing silk, and gold filigree, and dining on quail in aspic every night…. I don’t know about y’all, but I sense a bit of a conflict of interest there….

“If the Bible proves that God exists, then comic books prove the existence of Superman.” — Smart Bee

I will admit that a database, such as Smart Bee, is merely software, and not necessarily to be considered a solid reference for the statement made just above. But, then, I don’t regard the claim of men and/or women, who are “reportedly” divinely inspired, as a solid reference for the validity of the claims made in the Bible, either; to my way of thinking, the relative degree of believability by either one is questionable, if not absolutely ridiculous.

Sorry, but, the idea that ALL the people who contributed their writing to the Bible were “touched by the hand of God” tends to stretch my innate sense of credibility all out of proportion to what I know to be real. It just doesn’t wash, much less stand up to rigorous logical, deductive examination….. (Unless, of course, by “touched by the hand of God”, one means the onset of florid insanity…. I could buy that….)

“After you’ve heard two or more eyewitness accounts of an auto accident it makes you wonder about any “recorded” history.” — Smart Bee

Unfortunately for all of us, whether we are sighted, or blind, to what is real, the validity of the first pearl in this section remains unchanged…. to wit: it is damnably true, and there isn’t a damn thing to do about it, except to keep on trying to throw out enough real, true information to counteract, or at least attempt to balance, all the delusional crap that pours out of the religiously oriented fools, who, though they believe they are doing the right thing, are merrily, and obliviously, carrying on the agenda of those above them, who have no scruples whatsoever, further placing themselves and their issue under the thumb of a group of folks who have been manipulating and robbing from society for millennia, all under the guise of concern for our welfare.

(Wow, I impressed myself with that paragraph, filling it up with one, continuous run-on sentence…. pretty slick, eh? Move over, Godot….)

This concept, little as it pleases those in the position of clerical authority, is the historical basis for the observation that everyone has heard, to wit: “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.”  You will find that every priest or preacher, or for that matter, any politician, to whom you utter that phrase, immediately will launch into a well-practiced litany of reasons why you should pay it no mind, as it does not fit in with the manipulation they espouse as their modus vivendi, or for that matter, their modus operandi…. They don’t want people even THINKING of things like that, as it tends to lead to other revelations regarding their truthfulness… not an activity they wish to encourage among the flock….

Right there…. I’ve just used a word that is a dead giveaway…. Did you ever wonder why pastors and priests call their constituents their “flock”, and assume the position of being the shepherd in the analogy? Because it is quite accurate, in their minds, as they consider their constituents to be sheep, whose existence and meaning is to supply them with wool, lanolin, and a steady supply of mutton chops….. Not the whiskers, but the savory, er, well, distinctively flavored, tasty with mint-jelly type…. Yep, pretty subtle, as well as inherently cruel, but, hey, that’s what they do…..

“We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves.” — Eric Hoffer
__________________________________

Poetry seems to come from a part of me that I don’t understand very well; it sort of forces its way out when it’s ready, and my conscious mind seems to play very little part in that process…. Whatever…. This started leaking out of my head yesterday afternoon, and the rest fell out this morning…. It seems pretty straightforward to me, but then, it’s all my imagery, so I guess that would make sense…. Hopefully, it will strike a chord with y’all as well… I hope you enjoy it….

After the odyssey….

Portraits of iconic symbols, crashing, singing, forgotten;
evolving into mature innovation, as yet pale, and rotten.
Still water justly breeds, impenetrable primal verses resound;
unholy moments tarry, emotion swirls in passion unbound

Spiritual ovulation precedes each pregnant pause;
gravid, time moves on, following destiny’s cause.
Cast adrift on waves of confusion, to a final, damp landing;
salvation beckons sweetly, fed well on understanding.

Dreams directly fall, in night’s grey bower, unbidden;
lingering flavors in simple taste, lovingly, cleverly hidden.
Childish laughter sounds, joyful, bright, and clear;
no need ever to hide, no more monsters to fear.

Temper most foul arrives under unregistered mail;
forgotten taunts live on, lashed by an ancient flail.
Plain dealing delivers such lasting specks of honest hate;
savage in retrospect, never hasty, always running late.

Forever, cries an ambient lover of the pending night;
his pale, weak issue forms its own failing light.
Still, fortune favors such as those who apprehend;
Sweet love of Gaia, let it never end.

~~ gigoid ~~


__________________________________

I believe I’m beginning to get a solid handle on how often I can rant, without becoming overly pedantic, or approaching a point where it becomes too much, too shrill and strident, which can decrease its attraction to the reader, as well as distract from the issue at hand, which mostly benefits from a dispassionate discussion, rather than an emotional one…. and all of that is just two and a half lines of self-indulgent back patting, so, I’ll cease and desist, and get on with the rest of today’s effort…. Which, as I was trying to get around to saying, will consist of yet another harlequin pearl…. Why fix what isn’t broken?…. Any point to today’s group of pearls will be a figment of your imagination, as I am going to try to deliberately get strange…. a rather easy task for me…. Enjoy!….

“Every society needs someone  whose job it is to tell the Emperor he’s naked.” — Smart Bee

“Ignorance is not bliss — it’s oblivion.” — Phillip Wylie

“Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes clean to the bone.” — Parker’s Law

1) A strong belief is more important than a few facts.
2) The stronger the belief, the fewer the facts.
3) The fewer the facts, the more people killed.

– Milton Rothman
(Taken directly from the Orientation Manual of the United States Congress, given to all newly elected officials….) (Honest….)

“God must love assholes — She made so many of them.” — Smart Bee

“If you are near the enemy, make him believe you are far from him. If you are far from the enemy, make him believe you are near.” — Sun-Tzu, The Art of War

“If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.” — The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, 1951
__________________________________

Try as I might, I can’t find enough to justify not going with this…. I can’t say I understand all of it as well as might be expected, but, I suppose you could say that could be said for my life in general…. So, rather than fuss with what is obviously fated, or, at least fatefully suggested in a firm manner, I’m letting it fly, as is…. Oh, I’ll proof it, best I may, but, as for content, it’s on its own…..  So be it….. gigoid has spoken….  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

If we must, we can use the anchovy paste….

Posted on by
14

Ffolkes,
Now, this is scary…. I never knew that a mere blank, white screen could hold so much fear….. Not only is the screen blank, so is my head, and time is passing. It’s already after 0800, due to being up until 0100 for some unknown reason, and not arising until after 0700….. No big deal, but throws me off a bit to have my schedule change again, willy nilly, just because my head wouldn’t shut up last night…..

Then, of course, there is the problem of this morning’s Pearl…. Once more, I’m completely at a loss as to how I should get going…. no fictional scenarios are floating around in there, and my sense of humor doesn’t seem to be awake quite yet, despite the rest of me being up and about, just as if I were normal….. which, as we all know, just isn’t the case….. I left that unfortunate state behind me, a long way in the past, and haven’t seen hide nor hair of it since, oh, 1958 or so…..

“We have met the enemy and they are us and you are me and we are all together.” — Walt Kelly, Lennon, and the Beatles

“When you talk to the half-wise, twaddle; when you talk to the ignorant, brag; when you talk to the sagacious, look very humble and ask their opinion.” — Edward Bulwer-Lytton

“Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe. And what do we teach our children in school? We teach them that two and two make four and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we also teach them what they are?” — Smart Bee

Okay, so, I cheated….. sue me. I thought, maybe, if I threw out some pearls, it might jog my brain, and something worthwhile would fall out….. I do like all three of these little gems, especially the first and last…. the middle one is one of those ‘surprise’ pearls, by which I mean that the source is a surprise….

Edward Bulwer-Lytton is the author of the book in which the line “It was a dark and stormy night….” was first used, and the opening paragraph of that book, whose title I never can remember, is used as the ultimate example of the over-blown, floridly wordy, and pompous style of writing that seems to abound in certain literary genres….. It is such a bad piece of work, that, each year, a contest is held, wherein people submit the worst opening lines for a book they can think of, to win a prize, which has grown to thousands of English pounds for the year’s winner….. Some pretty funny stuff is composed every time….

I’m not going to rant here… in fact I’m going to just abandon all attempts at making this a real intro, and just dump it on y’all in its current state. I don’t think it will splash, or cause any permanent damage, so, I’ll take my chances, since it’s way too late to start over…… In the interests of self-help, and to make at least one strong attempt to regain control of this missive, we’ll leave this alone now…. Shall we Pearl?…..__________________________________

“This song of the waters is audible to every ear, but there is other music in these hills, by no means audible to all…. On a still night, when the campfire is low and the Pleiades have climbed over rimrocks, sit quietly and listen … and think hard of everything you have seen and tried to understand. Then you may hear it – a vast pulsing harmony – its score inscribed on a thousand hills, its notes the lives and deaths of plants and animals, its rhythms spanning the seconds and the centuries.” — Aldo Leopold

Mr. Leopold’s fanciful flight of imagination is lovely, and true, as well. Without mentioning it by name, he gives a fine description of what has been called the Music of the Spheres, or, as I like to call it, Star Song…… I’ve found, over the course of a moderately long life, that some folks can hear this music, and some can’t. It doesn’t have anything to do with intelligence, per se, though more intelligent ffolkes seem to hear it than those who are less endowed with that characteristic. But, it isn’t essential…. I believe the ability to hear it has to do with two factors; one is imagination, and one is curiosity, both of which are somewhat dependent on having been developed in childhood.

Babies all hear this music, but learn, as do we all, to tune it out as they become more concerned with other aspects of growing. If imagination and curiosity are encouraged when young, a child will again learn how to tune in to this universal music, but, if not, they may never hear it past the age of 10 or so, losing along with it much of their sense of wonder, and many of childhood’s most important lessons. These losses can affect the course of their lives for all their days, keeping them unaware of much of the beauty in the world.

I am forced, at this point in this narrative, to make a confession…. I’m lost. When I started this pearl, I had a specific argument I was going to present, with evidence, suppositions, and conclusions all laid out in logical order for your examination. Now, however, I am faced with the simple fact that, while composing the above two paragraphs, that argument has flown completely out of my head, and gone off to wherever such ideas go when Murphy gets hold of them like this….

If I knew, I’d go kick his ass and get them back…. SIGH…. I don’t, though, so I’m going to make one try to salvage this space, and fill up the remainder of this section with an old-school group of pearls…. I’ll try to keep them in the same general genre, or near the same area of thought as above, but, obviously, no guarantees are possible…. Lloyd’s would never cover it…..

“It’s hard to face tomorrow, but it’s easier than facing no tomorrow.” — Smart Bee
——–
A novice of the temple once approached the Chief Priest with a question. “Master, does Emacs have the Buddha nature?” the novice asked. The Chief Priest had been in the temple for many years and could be relied upon to know these things.  He thought for several minutes before replying. “I don’t see why not.  It’s got bloody well everything else.” With that, the Chief Priest went to lunch.  The novice suddenly achieved enlightenment, several years later.

Commentary:

His Master is kind,
Answering his FAQ quickly,
With thought and sarcasm.    ~~ Smart Bee
——-
“Everyone is born with genius, but most people only keep it a few minutes.” — Edgard Varese
——-
Against those skilled in the attack, the enemy does not know where to defend.
Against the experts in defence, the enemy does not know where to attack.

– Sun Tzu
——-
– Bother! said Pooh,  as Eeyore missed another period.
——-
Like. if guns are outlawed, the lawyer population will explode out of control. — Smart Bee

Bloody brilliant, if I do say so myself…. but, then, I’ve always said Smart Bee was much more than just your average database….. There IS a point to the group of pearls included, but, don’t bother trying to figure it out, you’d only get a headache…. It’s kind of the same idea as the old saw about “Never try to make a pig wear shoes…. You’ll both end up dirty, and the pig still won’t dance….”
__________________________________

I’m in the mood for a bit of mad genius…. so, here is one of the maddest genius’s ever, by acclimation….

Thalidomide

O half moon—-

Half-brain, luminosity—
Negro, masked like a white,

Your dark
Amputations crawl and appall—

Spidery, unsafe.
What glove

What leatheriness
Has protected

Me from that shadow—
The indelible buds.

Knuckles at shoulder-blades, the
Faces that

Shove into being, dragging
The lopped

Blood-caul of absences.
All night I carpenter

A space for the thing I am given,
A love

Of two wet eyes and a screech.
White spit

Of indifference!
The dark fruits revolve and fall.

The glass cracks across,
The image

Flees and aborts like dropped mercury.

~~ Sylvia Plath
__________________________________

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. {2} If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. {3} If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. {4} Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. {5} It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. {6} Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. {7} It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. {8} Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. {9} For we know in part and we prophesy in part, {10} but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. {11} When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. {12} Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. {13} And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” — 1 Corinthians 13 NIV

It is such a shame that the Bible has to be regarded as divinely inspired, in my mind. There are a number of passages in the various books by different authors that display a deep insight into human nature, and, like the one above, beautifully give to man words of such truth they can form the basis of one’s entire world-view. Insisting that such ideas are only possible to God, to me, isn’t realistic, nor is it true. I’ve known a number of people I would consider very wise, who have never even heard of the Christian God…. so, where does that fit into the picture?….

No, from what I can tell from reading it, most, or, okay, I’ll be fair, much, of what is written, most especially those parts intended as dogmatic proclamations, are more human in origin, obviously, than they are divinely inspired. The premises all favor the church over the individual, and submission of each individual to dogma is required of the faithful; that much is apparent in every statement that asserts God’s authority over Man as Creator.

It’s obvious to me, anyway…. I could never figure out why God, who could make universes, needed me to fall down on my knees and humble myself….. What kind of sick thrill does he get from that? I know that anyone who acts in a subservient manner to me makes me uncomfortable, and feel like I want to kick them, and tell them to stand up and show some pride…. or at least some dignity….

Any who, in the Bible, there is all this good advice, and good ideas, like the one above…. but, in order to find them, one must wade through all the nonsensical stuff that the priestly hierarchies would have us believe is “written by the hand of God”…. Much more likely t’was the hand of Guido, or Etienne, I would think, at the insistence of assholes like Paul, and Peter, those evil men who barely waited until Jesus was underground to start perverting his teachings…. I’ll bet they were a bit surprised to have to wait until after he rose, and left again, before getting down to the business of altering texts, twisting meanings, and generally setting things up to suit themselves, all with the convenient authority he so trustingly gave them….

Not for nothing is it said that Jesus was an innocent…. he believed he could trust his disciples, forgetting entirely they are human, and will act out of self-interest FIRST, every time, when it comes to morality…. Hell, soon after he died, all twelve of the disciples went their own ways, and began the task of creating the thousand and one different sects based on the teachings of Christ that exist today…. or at least, setting the stage for their creation…. There WERE only twelve of them to start with…. Even with that, it takes a while to split it all up to the point we now see today, with thousands of separate churches, all based on one or another of the basic core principles Jesus left behind as legacy, and all interpreted through the lenses of each person’s glasses, colored in self-interest….

Ah well, at least if one has the patience to look, some good things can be found in the Bible…. I just wish that people would learn not to take it so seriously… because, I’m sorry to have to tell them this, but, God doesn’t publish books, nor does He (as I understand the concept of Him….) use ghost writers….. In fact, I should think that, if such an entity had something to tell us, He might make it pretty obvious where the message came from, and what it meant…. otherwise, what would be the point? If nothing else, I would expect a God to be, at minimum, logical…..

Okay, I’m done….

“Due to intense mind fog all thoughts have been grounded.” — Smart Bee
__________________________________

Whew, what an ordeal! I wasn’t sure I’d ever get done, but, once again, the perseverance I learned at my father’s knee stood me in good stead…. It’s done, and you can’t make me do it over…. Well, I suppose you could, but, you wouldn’t, would you? Would you? Hmm…. I think, before you have a long time to think about that, we’ll take our leave, 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

Rapid fluctuation in the power grid….

Posted on by
9

Ffolkes,
At the age I’ve reached, one of the best lessons I learned, long ago, is/was the value of routine. Developing a routine of efficient activities to organize the start of the day  is one of the most important tools one can find and use in the work-a-day world. It allows one to get to work on time, with everything in hand that is necessary to the day, and with mind and body prepared for the tasks ahead, without undue stress or worry. When this routine is disrupted, it can affect the tenor of the rest of the day, like ripples in a pond, or a mathematical error that grows bigger with each new computation….

I’m starting to believe that even Murphy is not immune to the power of schedules and routines. When I was younger, and still going to work daily, if I observed the details of my routine, he seemed to stand back and not bother with me, waiting for other times to step in with his decidedly infantile sense of humor. If he was very, very clever, he sometimes could affect a small part of the routine, and cause a bit of uproar, but generally, I’d get so focused on carrying it out that he couldn’t get me to pay any attention to him, so he’d go off to find someone more vulnerable….. All of which means that there is a power to the act of routine behaviors, carried out time after time until they are ingrained, a power that resists the oppositional power of chaos that Murphy so adeptly subjects us to whenever he can….

What does this mean, in a philosophical, cosmic sense? Well, not much, I’d guess…. Actually, all of the above is pretty much just a type of mental diarrhea, which, though descriptive (perhaps too much so….), is not an image I particularly wish to saddle y’all with so early in the day. Of course, by the time you read this, it won’t be so early, either, a consideration that only adds to the absolute uselessness of the entire discussion…..

Yeah, we’ve got our routines, and they help keep entropy under control, but, so what? It doesn’t mean diddly in the large picture, and really isn’t particularly gripping as a subject for discussion, here, or anywhere….. But, it was sort of like that hive of bees that lives in my head…. there they were, and what else was I going to do with them, except share them with y’all?…. Exactly……

SIGH…. one of these days, I’m going to write a generic introductory section, and just use it as a template, the same every day… Then I wouldn’t be trying to come up with something every day to pull folks in and grab their interest….. Even my nearly unlimited store of nonsense and sheer flights of fantasy are getting a bit sparse, and ranting in the intro just seems like overkill. Maybe I’ll start ranting about myself…… I’ll have to do something soon, as I’m stretching my imagination to its limits, and beyond, to come up with these on a daily basis….

Most likely, however, I’ll just ignore the issue again, and keep on keepin’ on, as long as it works…. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

In difficult ground, press on;
In encircled ground, devise stratagems;
In death ground, fight.

– Sun Tzu, The Art of War (circa 400 B.C.)

The Art of War is still considered by military experts to be one of the definitive books on warfare and strategy, after more than 2000 years. I’m not certain, but would certainly be surprised if it is not still used as a reference at West Point, Annapolis, The Citadel, and the Air Force Academy in classes on tactics and strategy in battle, and in peace time. In the book, which is actually quite short, Sun Tzu gives the basic tenets for success in war, and was so perfectly correct and complete, that it remains valid today, even though the landscape of war has grown much larger, and more complex. The issues that can decide victory or defeat remain the same……

One of the most surprising features of the book is the idea that Sun Tzu presents regarding the perfect warrior. In his mind, warriors came in a number of types, each of which required a different method of leadership. The surprise lies in his choice of the type of warrior that he considers to be the most valuable; oddly enough, at least, on the surface, he chose… the Spy…..

Not the weapons master, not the brilliant tactician, not the engineer… the spy. According to Sun Tzu, a properly trained and experienced agent provocateur was, by far, the most valuable type of warrior, for, with the proper application of truth and lies, and the correct timing, battles might be won without loss of life or property, or with a minimum of effort, due to the efforts before the battle by the spy. This choice indicates that Sun Tzu recognized the true battle that is waging at all times when people interact with each other…. the battle between truth and lies…..

We see this battle raging in our own society every day, as the politicians vie with each other to see which one can get the furthest from the truth and still convince people they aren’t full of shit. When we have priests telling us that we aren’t the masters of our own bodies or minds, expecting us to not even ask why, we are witnessing the constant struggle for control of our minds… and our pocketbooks…. Control of the former, of course, will always lead to control of the latter, and you can bet your booties that it is the pocketbooks that the preachers and politicians are concerned with, not just our minds, or our souls….. You betcha, compadre…

She was a wight, if ever such wight were,–
Des. To do what?
Iago. To suckle fools and chronicle small beer.
Des. O most lame and impotent conclusion!

– William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Othello — Act ii, Sc. 1

Normally, or as close as we get to normally, I wouldn’t use a Shakespeare quote, and this one shows why very well… I can’t for the life of me figure out what the hell any of it means, but the last line struck home for this discussion… Before what I am saying reaches the point where the last line might apply, I will refer you to the book itself…..  The Art of War, by Sun Tzu;  copies of it are available at any bookstore, and probably online in a number of places.

It is a fairly quick read, (though there are points that do require some thought and pondering), being less than a hundred pages in most of the versions I’ve seen. As I said above, it’s pretty simply written, but covers all that is needed to get his point across, which has to do with winning, not just at war, but in life. As with many things in Chinese culture, there is more to the subject than may be apparent on first view, and it is worth the time to look more deeply into what Sun Tzu has told us….

But war ‘s a game which were their subjects wise
Kings would not play at.

– William Cowper (1731-1800) — The Task, Book v, The Winter Morning Walk, Line 187
__________________________________

Bankers Are Just Like Anybody Else, Except Richer

This is a song to celebrate banks,
Because they are full of money and you go into them and all you hear is clinks and clanks,
Or maybe a sound like the wind in the trees on the hills,
Which is the rustling of the thousand dollar bills.
Most bankers dwell in marble halls,
Which they get to dwell in because they encourage deposits and discourage withdrawals,
And particularly because they all observe one rule which woe betides the banker who fails to heed it,
Which is you must never lend any money to anybody unless they don’t need it.
I know you, you cautious conservative banks!
If people are worried about their rent it is your duty to deny them the loan of one nickel,
yes, even one copper engraving of the martyred son of the late Nancy Hanks;
Yes, if they request fifty dollars to pay for a baby you must
look at them like Tarzan looking at an uppity ape in the jungle,
And tell them what do they think a bank is, anyhow, they had better go get the money from their wife’s aunt or ungle.
But suppose people come in and they have a million and they want another million to pile on top of it,
Why, you brim with the milk of human kindness and you urge them to accept every drop of it,
And you lend them the million so then they have two million
and this gives them the idea that they would be better off with four,
So they already have two million as security so you have no hesitation in lending them two more,
And all the vice-presidents nod their heads in rhythm,
And the only question asked is do the borrowers want the money sent or do they want to take it withm.
Because I think they deserve our appreciation and thanks,
the jackasses who go around saying that health and happiness are everything and money isn’t essential,
Because as soon as they have to borrow some unimportant money to maintain their health and happiness they starve
to death so they can’t go around any more sneering at good old money, which is nothing short of providential.

Ogden Nash
__________________________________

Delusional material, very dangerous…. Read carefully…

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve;
I was made weak, that I may learn humbly to obey.

I asked God for health, that I may do greater things;
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.

I asked for riches, that I may be happy;
I was given poverty, that I might be wise.

I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men;
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life,
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing I asked for but everything I hoped for.
I am, among all men, most richly blessed.

– unattributed, even by Smart Bee
(I don’t blame them for not wanting to take credit for this….)

From the time we are small, our minds are programmed with the ideas and beliefs our parents and families held as truth, regardless of whether or not there is any actual truth to be found in them. We have little, or no, defense against these ideas, as we are naturally inclined to believe what our care givers tell us.

While I can understand the way it works, it seems to me to be a shame, that we don’t come with a built in truth detector, to protect us before we are able to reason for ourselves. Until our minds have been trained, we tend to accept whatever someone in a position of authority tells us, which may keep us safe in a physical sense when we are small and vulnerable, but is a dangerous habit to develop when grown.

The above is an example of how churches and the priestly hierarchies attempt to befuddle people into obedience and acceptance of their credos, aimed at those adults who have carried over their trust in authority into their adult views. On the surface, the statements seem to imply a certain morality, one of patience, compassion, and beneficence; but, underneath, they are merely designed to reinforce the ideas they wish to espouse, of obedience, humility, and subservience to authority.

If one is to believe the priestly hierarchies, we humans don’t really stand a chance against the universe…. In their minds, God has it all worked out, and it isn’t our place to question any of His prerogatives; we are here only to do His (translates as: their….) will, and to sing His praises (keeps us busy NOT thinking….). We are weak, bumbling, foolish creatures whose only claim to fame is that God loves us… according to dogma. It occurs to me to ask, “So, which one of y’all is the one to whom God spoke, when he laid down all this specious crap? When y’all talked with God, how long had it been since you last took your medication?”

I know, I know, not very friendly approach, but, sheesh, give me a break…. I mean, these people are responsible for a great deal of the suffering and trouble mankind has endured over the last 2000 years or so, and don’t even have the courtesy to take credit, or apologize. In their minds, all that stuff they do to maintain their status quo is justified by their holiness, or whatever it is they claim makes them special. And, all the time, in reality, everything they do is designed, ultimately, to bring coins to their purses, and food to their tables, at the expense of the ignorant mass of believers…..

I feel a nasty rant coming on…. Sometimes, when I write one of these rips at religion, I just get SO ANGRY…. I’m mad at the preachers and priests, and those who support them, for their willingness to prey on the public, using the pretension of religious fervor and worship to justify their narcissism, and for the thousands of years of suffering that mankind has endured by their hand. I am also angry at those people who buy into their bullshit, for not having the courage to use their minds, to blithely accept anything told to them by an authority figure, and never even considering that there might be more to life than they are seeing….. It is all such a waste, and my anger knows no bounds….

“Civilization is fun!  Anyway, it keeps me busy!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Well, it would keep me busy if I could find any….. I had to include this little side-trip from Zippy in order to bring my anger level down. I was feeling the urge to let out ALL of the vulgar curses I could think of, to express how I feel about all the assholes who perpetrate this entire fallacy on the rest of humanity, knowing how gullible they are, and how little effort it takes to fool them into believing the most incredible bullshit.

I mean, how hard can it be to fool someone who would believe that the recent spate of cold weather means that global warming is a myth? How hard is it to fool someone who will gladly trade their freedom in this life for the promised reward in the next life? It’s so damn easy that the fools actually come asking for it, to be made into puppets, just so they can believe they are beloved of God, and guaranteed a spot in Heaven…. I often wonder just how fit to survive our species really is, when we can’t even come to terms with our own sense of self, or learn to accept the responsibility for our own actions….

Most folks are so scared to think for themselves that they gladly surrender that chore to the priests and politicians, apparently not even caring how often they lie to them. Even when the lies are exposed, and even proved, people will hang on to their prejudices, and to the belief in supernatural beings that control our every move; they are quite unwilling to let go of what they’ve bought into all their lives, even when it’s clear that none of it is true. Most of the time, they are unwilling to even look at any arguments against what they hold to be true, preferring the solid comfort of their ignorance. Makes me want to puke, it does…. on THEIR shoes…

Ah well, I’ve spilled enough bile and venom for one morning. It would probably be best to move on, and let this one die a natural death. If nothing else, I got some angst and pressure relieved, for the time being. It is almost a comfort to know that the politicians and preachers will be providing more ammunition in the coming days, as they continue their campaign of oppression against the people of the Earth; that means I’ll always have plenty about which to rant…. Happy Days!….

“Those who won’t think will have it done for them.” –  Smart Bee
__________________________________

Okay, so I went a bit overboard today…. I got a little carried away there, firing away at the preachers, and lost track. So sue me… wait, that’s probably not a good thing to say these days….. You never know when one of the folks at whom I’m poking will take overt offense, and try to make trouble of a legal nature… Good thing I am careful never to name names, or imply any specific targets,  beyond those identifiable by their very ubiquitousness. Since I figure they deserve all the abuse they get, in payment for all they’ve abused mankind over the centuries, they’re just going to have to deal with it…. I could care less….. :-)

There, all venom and bile has been expelled from my head, and I can now go face the day with a relatively stable sense of equanimity. It’s got to be better than any of the alternatives, I’d say….  I guess I’m done…..  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

Somewhere, the moon is flowing….

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Ffolkes,
At long last! So long, it feels good just to use such an ancient cliche such as “at long last”….. If all goes well, this Pearl is the first of many to come that will be published without the need to leave my warm little cave, braving the elements long enough to find a Wi-fi spot out in the Big Blue Room….. The only question now is, did it actually happen? The envelope, please…..  Yes….   No….  Okay, there it is….. There is now no remaining doubt whatsoever that Murphy takes a personal interest in my affairs…. It is now 0600 on the morning of the 12th, and the red light continues to blink on my new modem, indicating there is no connection yet….. SIGH…..

It’s actually okay, in the sense that I halfway expected this to happen. It would have made my life much too simple and comfortable to have had the process go smoothly, and I should know by now that Murphy just isn’t going to allow that to take place on his watch. If it weren’t so damn weird, it might almost be flattering to have a force of nature pay so much attention; hell, the way its going, I could break a record or something, for the worst run of luck in years. With my luck, the prize would be a lifetime supply of peanuts, or popcorn, either of which would kill me, should I choose to eat them au naturel…. them, I mean, not me…. I seldom go au naturel of late, sadly….

Now, I must call to have the network folks, from whom I’m getting the service, deal with the connection issue, but I’ll be polite and wait until 0700. No telling what has to happen, so there is little point in speculating. We’ll just ignore it for the time being, along with the EXTREME ANGER that is hovering right behind my rationality this morning….. If I let that out first, it could delay getting the service started, as everyone would need to go get bandaged up & stop all the bleeding, so as to keep from dripping blood on their keyboard….

So, we’ll take care of some housekeeping, instead….. Yesterday, I spoke about Occam’s Razor, and made a guess as to when William of Occam lived, saying the 12th century…. naturally, I was wrong…..  Correction: William of Occam lived in the 13th and 14th centuries, 1288-1348 or so… different articles gave different birth and death dates, so we’ll go with Wickipedia’s version, as I remember it….  I’ll Google before publishing, of course…. That is, if my service EVER GETS STARTED!…..

Sorry, it’s getting a bit crowded in here, what with all the emotion threatening to burst out into reality…. I can’t afford to let it out yet, or the consequences may even get worse than currently implied…. I’m hoping a bit of pearling will take away at least some of the built-up angst, before it gets to a point where it breaks free of my grasp. It may be the only thing between me and an explosion of some magnitude, so we’d best get to it…. Shall we Pearl?…..
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“To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the highest skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the highest skill.” — Sun Tzu

I don’t think its possible to say this too many times, as the truth it speaks only grows more plain with each repetition. I’ve also heard the same concept expressed this way, “The best way to defeat an enemy is to turn him into a friend.” This one, perhaps, is better suited for children to learn from; the warrior’s viewpoint can be learned a bit later in life. This idea, though, is best given to children at a young age, as it is a valuable tool in everyday life, if used consistently…. Those who never learn this valuable lesson suffer a distinct disadvantage in almost every human interaction they have in life, as they don’t know how to proceed in a way that enables them to succeed with the least effort expended.

“True myth may serve for thousands of years as an inexhaustible source of intellectual speculation, religious joy, ethical inquiry, and artistic renewal.  The real mystery is not destroyed by reason.  The fake one is.  You look at it and it vanishes.  You look at the Blonde Hero–really look–and he turns into a gerbil.  But you look at Apollo, and he looks back at you.  The poet Rilke looked at a statue of Apollo about fifty years ago, and Apollo spoke to him.  ‘You must change your life,’ he said.  When the true myth rises into consciousness, that is always its message.  You must change your life.” — Ursula K. LeGuin

In this blog, I talk a lot about how the world needs to change, if there is to be any hope of our species continued presence on the planet into the foreseeable future. Our lack of concern, as a species, for the effects of our actions will ultimately be our undoing, if it is not changed, and soon. The cumulative effect of our depredations on the environment are eventually going to reach a point of no return, if it has not already done so, and it will be too late for any changes to matter significantly. This is physical fact, not speculation; the evidence is overwhelming, and no intelligent person can deny it, without risk of abandoning their intelligence altogether….

The changes in society that need to happen, sadly, are contingent upon a change in human nature, one that I’m pretty sure I don’t see happening to any great degree. There are just way too many sociopaths who are in positions of power over all of us, people who don’t care at all about others or what happens to them, and they are not willing to give up ANY of what they have to benefit anyone else.

Even the clear evidence that their own actions are going to result in their own demise is denied by them; their sense of entitlement does not allow them to consider that they are subject to the same laws as everyone else, and they believe they will overcome any challenges to that sense, by dint of their secure hold on the resources of the planet, and their long history of being able to do exactly as they wish….

“As soon as you are willing to discard observational data because it conflicts with religion, you are giving up any hope of ever really understanding the  universe.   As soon as you pick religion as the touchstone of reality, then we have to start discussing how one can demonstrate the correctness of one  religion over another when different *religions* disagree.” — Wilson Heydt (whheydt@PacBell.COM)

“The answer is simple: kill the heretics.   History shows us that this is the  actual solution that competing religions apply — trial by combat or trial by  ordeal.  God is the final arbiter.  What a sad waste of human potential it has proven to be.” — Paul Hager (hagerp@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu)

As can be seen by this exchange, religion isn’t the answer to the needed changes in society…. In fact, religion, for the most part, is merely the support system for those in power, encouraging the ignorant masses to obey earthly authority in exchange for the promise of everlasting life in Heaven after dying… a very convenient set of tom-foolery, that has kept much of mankind in thrall for millennia, and allowed the Beloved Ruling Class to go about their business of lying, cheating, and stealing from everyone else with the Church’s full cooperation and approval. Dickheads, all of them….

No, no bitterness here, of course not…. Well, I guess I am a bit bitter about the thousands of years of oppression and slavery that the BRC and the Churches have saddled humanity with for the past 5000 years. But, I try to put it aside, at least long enough to spout off in condemnation of their duplicity in another rant such as this one….. if I get too strident, nobody will listen, or, worse, the wrong people will listen, and come try to convince me of the error of my ways… Ah well, if that happens, it will be interesting to see the effects…. I have a feeling it will be an explosion of some size and duration, and in fact, may touch off a number of events that will draw the attention of, I hope, the right ffolkes…. That’s obscure enough, I think….

I find it interesting to note that my friend, Lou, who blogs about the same kind of stuff at times, has been suspended, again, for something…. Once I’m fully online, I intend to find out why, as it may be an indicator that the BRC, along with those covert minions of the stealthy theft of our rights, the priesthood, are becoming more bold in their attempts to curtail the flow of information…. We’ll see, and I’ll get back to you on that…. In the meantime, I’ve run out of steam here…. Be alert ffolkes, for any way to change the world…. Almost ANY change we make will be better than the way things are heading now, that is for sure, and for certain…..
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. .  *:. . .
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.    .     . …   ..   .       .               .
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.                   :.  .           .
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.  .  .    ./|\
.  .. :.    . |             .               .
.   … .            |
.    :.  . .   *.        |     .               .
.  *.             You are here.
. .    .               .             *.                         .

:-)     Don’t worry…. I’m right here with you….   ;-)

Twinkle, twinkle, little star

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.

When the blazing sun is gone,
When he nothing shines upon,
Then you show your little light,
Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.

Then the traveler in the dark,
Thanks you for your tiny spark,
He could not see which way to go,
If you did not twinkle so.

In the dark blue sky you keep,
And often through my curtains peep,
For you never shut your eye,
‘Till the sun is in the sky.

As your bright and tiny spark,
Lights the traveler in the dark.
Though I know not what you are,
Twinkle, twinkle, little star.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
How I wonder what you are.
How I wonder what you are.

According to Google, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” was written by Jane Taylor, as a poem, and published in 1806.  I’ve always liked it as a lullaby, as it doesn’t speak down to the child, and encourages imagination and wonder, which we all need to have as early in our lives as possible….. Also, it doesn’t contain any scary images common to many other children’s pieces, like falling out of the cradle from the top of a tree in “Rock-a-bye Baby”…. I never did like that one….. How can it help a young primate, with an innate fear of falling, to get to sleep with a song like that?…. Doesn’t compute, in my world….
__________________________________

What with the enforced waiting time while the internet gods decide whether or not to allow me access to the virtual world, I find myself in an odd mood. I’m resigned to waiting however long it takes, but not with the serenity I had hoped for in my soul. To be honest, I feel like biting someone, hard, and it is arguably a good thing I live alone just now….. So, I’ve gathered a few pearls, that alone are each quite strong, and on another day, might all have been saved for their own pearl. But, I’m feeling lazy, and besides, together, they make a nice little pearl, a picture of the goings-on in my head this morning, sort of…. Well, more like one of those “ghost” images you can use to copy a hard drive from one computer to another…. At any rate, it’s a picture of something, for sure…..  I’ll leave the framing and title for the Gentle Reader to provide out of their own imagination, purely as an exercise….

“There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done.” — John Lennon

“He knew that insofar as one denies what is, one is possessed by what is not, the compulsions, the fantasies, the terrors that flock to fill the void.” — Ursula K. LeGuin, _The Lathe of Heaven_
(DEEP insight!…)

“I think the dragon’s asleep.” — Famous Last Words

“I count religion but a childish toy … there is no sin but ignorance.” — Thomas Jefferson

“Once, there was NO fun…  This was before MENU planning, FASHION statements or NAUTILUS equipment… Then, in 1985..  FUN was completely encoded in this tiny MICROCHIP.. It contains 14,768 vaguely amusing SIT-COM pilots!! We had to wait FOUR BILLION years but we finally got JERRY LEWIS, MTV and a large selection of creme-filled snack cakes!” — Zippy the Pinhead

“”Why Not” is in fact an excellent reason.” — Smart Bee

It seemed for a moment or two I wouldn’t find the proper closing pearl, but Smart Bee comes through once again….. Enjoy!
__________________________________

As a response to the patience I’ve used up this morning, I will now show an act of faith in the inevitability of my eventual access to the online world, and bring this Pearl to a close, minus the two bits of data to be filled in when Google becomes available. I am now just waiting for AT&T to activate the phone/data line in my room, at the behest of the service provider I’m getting the connection from; I can’t do anything but wait for them to finish their dicking around and get it done, so I’m going to go read for a while, since I can’t do any further damage here….. All things being equal, this should be published within a reasonable time, so….

As might be guessed, it took much longer than predicted, or expected, and still isn’t done; it is now 1430 PM…. I do have assurances (verbal, but sincere-sounding….) that it WILL take place…. Well, I’m showing the faith part, but, I’m still waiting to see any results for my patience….. Kind of reminds me of the whole prayer thing, y’know?….. A lot of sweat and effort with no visible effect…..  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!

Iconic moments on a daily schedule….

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Ffolkes,
Well…. another day dawns…. As I sit down to begin, I am struck by…..  Ouch! Damn you, I wasn’t being literal! Get away from here! Go back to bed or something! Anything, just do it somewhere else, okay? Sheesh!….

Sorry about that…. Murphy is being a major asshole today, not just a minor one. He showed up as soon as I was awake, and has been following me around the house, dumping stuff over, moving furniture so I’ll be sure to bang into it in the dark, you know, just little shit to annoy me. I don’t know what I did to warrant this kind of personal attention, and when I ask him, he just laughs, and points at my midsection, as if it was particularly hilarious….

I don’t get it. I’m a nice guy. I never do anything to anyone, because I am never around anyone else. I write for a couple hours in the morning, and then I read, or listen to music, or watch a movie. That’s it… oh, yeah, once or twice a day I’ll go for a walk, just so I’m not looking at the same four walls all day. That’s it. That’s all I do….. So how the hell could I have done something to piss off the universe enough to sick Murphy on me, with personal attention, no less?….

Well, at least he’s gone into the other room…. He’s probably in there setting up a practical joke, with guess who as the butt of the joke. I’ll need to remember to be cautious when I next go in there….. Now that the excitement is done for the moment, I suppose we should go get some diving done. Shall we Pearl?…. We shall….
___________________________________

Once is an accident, twice is coincidence, thrice is enemy action. — Smart Bee, and many others

While cruising for pearls, I found this…. it is a series of statements that, together, comprise one of my most deeply held beliefs, and is a standing policy for action that calls for action on my part when its tenets are fulfilled. Anyone can make mistakes, and it is always such to react violently to a first occurrence. A second occurrence is suspicious but can also be explained as a chance event. But, the third time an attack happens, it’s time to take the gloves off. 

In other words, when I get hit the third time, my response will be equal to the inconvenience and trouble that all three have caused. Sometimes the retribution is delayed, as it may take some time to clearly identify where the attacks originated. But, once enemy action has been confirmed, there is no further delay, and the punishment is delivered as intended, post haste…..

Now, before you get all worked up about how this policy could lead to mistakes that cause the wrong party to be destroyed, let me assure you, it is pretty foolproof. (Yes, destroyed. I don’t leave enemies alive behind me; I don’t want to have to watch my back, and making certain they will not re-engage makes perfect sense.) This policy takes the possibility of mistakes into account, giving ample time for proper reasoning.

I’m not a child, and I don’t make those kinds of mistakes; if I strike out, I am certain before I do so that the target is the correct one. If, for some reason, I have been fooled into targeting the wrong person or group, that almost always is evident beforehand, if one is alert to the signs. And my response to the actual perpetrator is thereby tripled in ferocity, as I add the insult of that action to the rest….

“Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril. When you are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant both of your enemy and of yourself, you are certain in every battle to be in peril.” — Sun Tzu (fl. c. B.C. 500)

This may seem like a harsh policy, but I’ve found that it isn’t as bad as it sounds. By waiting for the third piece of evidence, one is  fairly certain of the facts, and the parties involved all know the risks of what they are doing. Plus, this policy works just as effectively in judging positive experiences, as it doesn’t differentiate between them in the statements. It’s often quite helpful in identifying one’s allies, as well as one’s enemies. It’s always a good thing, in a battle or war, to be able to tell the difference between the two…. besides, one hates to eliminate friends; it’s not like they grow on trees, y’know….

Gun Owners are Citizens. All Others are Subjects. — Smart Bee
___________________________________

“If you sincerely desire a _truly_ well-rounded education, you must study the extremists, the obscure and nutty.  You need the balance!  Your poor brain is already being impregnated with middle-of-the-road crap, twenty-four hours a day, _no matter what_.  Network TV, newspapers, radio, magazines at the supermarket… even if you never watch, read, listen, or leave your house, even if you are deaf and blind, the _telepathic pressure alone_ of the uncountable normals surrounding you will insure that you are automatically well- grounded in consensus reality.” — Rev. Ivan Stang — High Weirdness By Mail

Humanity exists, and anything that exists can be expressed with mathematics. For our purpose here this morning, we will use the mathematics of demography of the intellect. When looking at the whole body of people that comprises mankind, if you divide the different levels of intelligence, as rated by IQ, you will immediately see that as a whole, mankind can be expressed as a bell curve. Broken down most simply, there are about 5% of people who are genius’, about 15% slightly above normal, 60% average, 15% slightly below average, and 5% very, very slow thinking folks. It’s a bit simplistic, but it is accurate, believe me….. I’ve done the math…..

“The world is crazier than we think.” — MacNeice

In light of this, the statement from the Reverend Stang becomes a truism, as well as pretty good insight. One cannot say they know what humanity is all about without including those who exist on the fringes, the 5% genius, and the 5% slow. This is obvious…. What is not so obvious is that one can use the same bell curve, and percentage breakdown, to describe the morality of mankind.

We have 5% very ethical, morally upright folks, who act rightly, from right thinking. We have about 15% who mostly do good, and mostly try to be moral. We have 60% who very seldom consider either concept (morals & ethics) but generally act from right thoughts taught to them by their parents and peers. Again, there are 15% who act immorally a lot of the time, and 5% who are the actual acolytes of Satan, so to speak….

“Does history repeat itself, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce?   No, that’s too grand, too considered a process.  History just burps, and we taste again that raw-onion sandwich it swallowed centuries ago.” — Julian Barnes

What is unfortunate is that the 5% who are totally immoral, or rather, amoral, comprise the largest part of our beloved ruling class. They are joined by the 15% who mainly act immorally; this group is where you will find most priests and others in the sadly patriarchal hierarchies of the religion institutions. 

This grouping is, to me, the most egregiously evil of all of them. Priests and preachers, in general, counsel their parishioners to obey the beloved ruling class, knowing full well that they are condemning them to slavery. I find this to be reprehensible, but the indoctrination given these people is so strong, they never even realize what they do; they even believe that they are being helpful.

My defence is of God, which saveth the upright… — Psalms 7:10

I believe that people should be treated with respect, right up until they provide evidence that they are not deserving of such, at which time, I place them into the bottom 20%, and figure they are fair game. This policy has provided me with numerous opportunities to puncture some of their balloons, when those silly fools come to the door wanting to proselytize to me about their religion.

I have a great time with them, quoting to them from their own bible (whichever one it may be; I’ve looked through all of them….), and using their own premises to show them the fallacies. I’ve sent many a troubled young LDS elder back to the fold with a head full of doubts, and really enjoy the image that puts in my head about the next time they speak with THEIR elders…. the more discord and doubt I can sow in that fecund field, the better I like it.

So, I heartily agree with Reverend Stang, though probably for different reasons. I find it a bit unusual for a Reverend to recommend diversity in education at all, but, hey, no matter why, if he gets folks to at least look at the fringes, it can teach them a lesson or two they would never get in Bible Study classes…. and that is a good thing…..

Besides, I couldn’t resist writing about this, as the good reverend used the term “consensus reality”, and that, after all, is what I do…..
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“Oh Day of Fire and Sun”

Oh day of fire and sun,
Pure as a naked flame,
Blue sea, blue sky and dun
Sands where he spoke my name;

Laughter and hearts so high
That the spirit flew off free,
Lifting into the sky
Diving into the sea;

Oh day of fire and sun
Like a crystal burning,
Slow days go one by one,
But you have no returning.

Sarah Teasdale

Without looking too deeply at this, it gives me a good feeling, and that is good enough for me…. If I look at it deeply, it seems to start falling apart, logically. The key then, is to remove logic from the equation while reading it…. easy peasy, yes?  Enjoy!….
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Once again, we have reached the end of another Pearl of Virtual Wisdom…. I know some of you out there are saying to themselves, “Thank goodness that’s done!”  And well you might…. then again, you also might be saying, “Where’s the coffee?”  I’ll never know, now, will I? So, I’m going to take my chances, and publish this as is…. deal with it….   :-)    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!

Which is the silliest objective?

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Ffolkes,
After a certain amount of time, reality becomes hard to hold on to with a sure grip. Stuff happens. (Don’t ask….)  And when that stuff is happening, our grasp of what we thought was unchangeable grows tenuous, at best. Most folks just breeze right through these moments, never realizing that their entire universe is mere seconds away from crashing about their ears. These are the fortunate ones. For those of us who regularly battle with reality to keep it in even a semblance of normalcy, these moments are terrifying challenges, fraught with the danger of imminent death of life and the universe as we know it, or at least, indigestion……

The brain is broken this morning. I tried to use it earlier, and got no response at all. Now, I sit down to write, and you see the result…. Pathetic. Indigestion, indeed. I’ll give me indigestion…. hell, I do that on a regular basis anyway, just by reading the news; it takes no special effort. Try to convince a broken brain of that though….

I’m not sure how to proceed. I’ve never really had to deal with a full break before; there have always been some peripheral functions that remained intact. But this seems to be a complete system-wide shut down, and I’m not sure if it is a hardware or software problem, so it makes trouble-shooting a bit of a facer, what?

Sorry, been watching English mini-series’ movies of Lord Peter Whimsy’s mysteries, and I’m still speaking in English drawing room comedy language…. quite the thing, don’t y’know? It’s so very…. British…. Such a wonderful vehicle for sarcasm and comedic facial expressions, and all of the characters are archetypal representations of the various English types…. to the manor born, the butler, or “gentleman’s gentleman”, the vicar, the blacksmith, the sexton, the farmer, etc.  And they all wear the most sensible shoes….

Well, as can be seen, things may wander a bit today, so I’d best start wending my way toward the end….. the beginning will have to cope on its own at this point; I can do no more for it, and will just let it die a natural death….. let’s go Pearl….
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Fate steals along with silent tread,
Found oftenest in what least we dread;
Frowns in the storm with angry brow,
But in the sunshine strikes the blow.
– Cowper

Writing about Murphy’s Law can be a delicate, tricky process, since the mere use of his name is generally enough to draw his attention, something all of us learn to avoid at an early age. At least, all of us who retain any sanity at all have learned to avoid his ministrations, except when forced to accept them. So, writing about his place in the scheme of things can take on the aspect of a nightmare, a terrifying one, one that not only wakes one up, but remains real when awake. The only possible way to avoid this is to make the piece you are writing as glowingly positive as you can….

One doesn’t write about how little Murphy’s presence is hated; we point out how his benign humor keeps us humble. We don’t tell how his latest escapade has put us back several years in our plans for life; we acknowledge his wisdom in keeping us with our nose to the grindstone. And we certainly don’t complain about how much of an asshole he is, or he will most certainly turn what we write into the biggest pile of crap that ever was assembled in one place.

Ah, fuck it. I hate the asshole. His perverted sense of humor has caused more heartache for humanity than Hitler. He thinks he is a celebrity, like Santa Claus, or the Easter Bunny, but his degree of fame, or, more accurately, infamy, is more on the order of The Swamp Thing, or Freddy Kruger, without the advantage of their cultish chic.

If there were any part of reality as it exists that I would change, it would be to remove Murphy’s head from his shoulders, and consign him to one of the deepest parts of hell, where he would forever be subjected to just those kinds of incidents that he is so fond of perpetrating on the unsuspecting members of society…. Bloody prick…. I know that all cultures have their Murphy…. he may be called Loki, or Kokopelli, or some other name, and even may be counted as a god. But, fuck him anyway, he’s an asshole; I don’t have to like him…. and I don’t..

Popular consensus says that reality is based on popular consensus. — Smart Bee
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“Believe nothing merely because you have been told it… Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher.  But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings — that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide.” — Buddha

This idea is almost unknown in Western society, and if you require evidence, just look at the TV Guide for this week. Every minute of every day the airwaves are filled with blatant attempts to influence what people think about, what they buy, or should want to buy, how to relate to other people, or who they should vote for in the next election. I don’t think there are more than one person out of a hundred thousand who has an original thought in their head, one not generated by some excited announcer giving them the latest way to waste their time and money.

In addition to the wasteland that is TV, we have religion, always prepared to jump into people’s lives and tell them how they are doing it wrong, and how the only way to get to heaven is to buy into the product they are selling, thereby handing over the keys to their own minds, and checkbooks. If one looks at it objectively, it’s a pretty good gig, this preacher business.

All you have to do is be able to tell people what you think is true with a straight face, and stand back and watch the money pour in. Hell, anybody with the chutzpah and the patter can become a preacher; it doesn’t even require a license, though it does help to file the certificates and forms that make it so your church doesn’t have to pay taxes. That’s always a bonus item in favor among the truly religious.

“Writing science fiction for about a penny a word is no way to make a living, If you really want to make a million, the quickest way is to start your own religion.” — L. Ron Hubbard

L. Ron was as good as his word…. He was talking to Robert Heinlein one day (they were old friends, having attended Annapolis together in their youth….), and complaining about how his science fiction wasn’t selling as well as Bob’s. He made Bob a bet, that he could start a religion, one that had no basis in reality outside his head, and could become richer than Croesus without having to lift a finger…. Bob took the bet, and L. Ron wrote “Dianetics”, the book that is now the basis for the Church of Scientology.

This “religion” has become a reality, with millions of members worldwide, all of whom are firmly convinced of the truth of what is in their bible; in reality, their bible was a load of crap nonsense that came straight out of L. Ron’s head, and has no actual relation to anything in the real world…..Imagine, a religion based on Science, without a single number or equation to be found anywhere in its precepts. I find it to be one of history’s finest jokes, and the shenanigans of the constituents of the “church” provide me with endless entertainment…. Brilliant!…. And, of course, just desserts for those who have adopted such an asinine philosophy, all based on a joke bet….

“It’s hard to decide if T.V. makes morons out of everyone or if it mirrors Americans who really are morons to begin with.” — Martin Mull
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And God said: “Let there be cats!” and He was promptly ignored. — Smart Bee

I don’t often write about cats. I’m not sure why that is, because I love them just about as much as I love dogs. Mankind, in his history on this planet, has engaged the help and companionship of purpose (i.e., life…) of several of our mammalian relatives. Dogs, cats, horses, pigs, sheep, cattle, all have agreed, passively or actively, to join us in the struggle to exist here on Earth. We all provide different life skills that we possess to the mix, skills that complement each other, affording us the strength that arises from group effort. In essence, we have contracted with each other to provide services for actions that we cannot accomplish alone.

Each of those animals who chose to live with us, sharing our food and campfire, shelter and company, have their own motivations for doing so, not all of which are self-serving. In fact, I would say that the reason that dogs and cats often appear to have for their continued relationships with us can mostly be attributed to love. People develop very close, affectionate relationships with those two types of creatures, and the love we feel for them is obviously returned. No other explanation makes sense for explaining why a dog or cat will save a human’s life, by warning of a fire, by attacking an aggressor, or why they will come to us and offer comfort in times of sadness and pain.

Cats are perhaps more independent in their relations with us, but their love is continuously demonstrated, even in those actions that apparently are rude, such as their ability to ignore us when they so desire. I see those times as being the moments when they are defining the limits of their personal space, their need to maintain dignity at all cost. It’s a cat thing. Sometimes their love only shows in the fact that they continue to stay with us, and deign to accept our attentions. After all, in ancient Egypt, cats were worshiped as gods, and I don’t think they’ve ever forgotten…. Bless their pointy little ears…..

I can’t imagine living without dogs and cats. I prefer to have both as companions; often the relationship that develops between the two diametrically opposed species is deep and caring, and observing how they learn to get along with each other is a constant lesson that our political “experts” would benefit from learning.

Before I was summarily dismissed from my last relationship, Noah and I lived with a cat who firmly believed that Noah was his big brother. The cat, named Tony, would follow Noah around, play with him, and preferred to sleep with him at night (I have pictures….). He knew Noah was old, and took care to treat him gently (he was a big, powerful cat…. about 17 lbs, and no fat….). When Noah was struggling to walk upstairs, Tony would walk behind him, swatting at his tail end, spurring him to get up the steps….

It broke my heart when Noah and I were told to move, never to see Tony again. Noah would often wander around the new house, looking for something, then come and look at me as if to ask where Tony was…. it was tough, believe me, and still hurts…. Which goes to show,I like animals much more than I like most humans…. and for good reason….
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“One can’t complain. I have my friends. Someone spoke to me only yesterday.” — A.A. Milne’s Eeyore

Aye, indeed, one can’t complain. Though I live a life of solitude, I am not often lonely. I have my friends, who, though they live elsewhere, are ever as close as the phone. These are the kind of friends of whom I know that even if they call me at 3 AM, or if I would call them at such an hour, they wouldn’t say, “Why are you calling so late?”, but rather, “What do you need?” I count at least 8 people among those I know who fit that definition, and that is wealth indeed….

One of them called me yesterday, just to chat. In turn, I called one of them, who was celebrating her birthday (quietly, as those at our age are wont to do….). Both calls were enough human contact for me. I don’t miss work, or having to deal with the general run of human interaction at a high level; I have to admit, this whole retirement thing fits right in with my preferred style of living. I get to decide how much I deal with people, and that is another form of wealth that is seldom counted…. a true freedom, the freedom to say “no”…. We first learn the power of “no” around age two, but we seldom actually think about how powerful a word it is….

“No, I don’t want to do that…” now has much more meaning and strength when I say it, because I know that it is all my decision. Of course, this makes me fully responsible for what happens, but that is true anyway, and can thus be discounted as a motivating factor. It just helps me to be more careful in the decision-making process. “No, I won’t….” No, you can’t…” All of these options now have more force in my life, and it is a heady sort of power. It isn’t surprising that so many folks, as they get older, take more and more advantage of this power; it is perhaps their first time at feeling in control of their lives….. Unfortunately, this often leads them into becoming negative in their outlook, which causes other problems….

But, for me at least, it’s nice to be able to tell the world to go take a hike now and again. And it sure makes practicing to be a curmudgeon easier!….. No, no, no, I won’t!…..   :-)
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It’s only cheating when you get caught! — Smart Bee

One never knows when a rant will strike…. I almost cruised past this, as I have innumerable times when I’ve seen it before. But then I stopped for a moment and thought about it…. and got angrier and angrier the more I considered it.

My anger arises from my obstructed desire, of course, which, in this case, is the desire to see the morality of mankind become, shall we say, less self-serving, and leave it at that? I’d like to see more honesty in the world, as I see the lack of it, or worse, the active denial of it, as the worst affliction society suffers. The willingness of the wicked to lie and cheat, and the willingness of the general populace to condone it by their indifference to those lies, is the root of almost all the other problems facing our species.

This idea, that it is okay to cheat if nobody is looking, has been adopted as truth by most people. Even the most apparently incorruptible people will cheat to achieve their ends, using the rationality, or the charity, or the innate rightness of their goals as justifiable reasons for the dishonesty in action. It’s called fighting fire with fire, and while it may work when dealing with conflagrations in a forest, the analogy does not translate accurately to the raging fires in human society.

The acceptance of this concept, of the inherent value of cheating, is based on a concept from martial arts, the practice of deception, of movement, of strategy, of information. In a war, or battle, being able to misinform one’s opponent of one’s true disposition and plan is invaluable as a strategy. Control of information is vital in war. Those who do not learn this practice can never be successful in battle, for they have lost before beginning.

Modern politics, the art of war against the people by their rulers, is rife with this strategy. Politicians routinely lie, not just to the people over whom they wish to rule, but to those who rule with them. The entire system of political strategy in this country is based on who can get the voters to believe the lies they are handing out, while simultaneously accusing their opponents of using the self-same tactics. Whichever one convinces the most fools wins the chance to loot the public treasury for the next few years, when we are again subjected to the cycle of lies and cheating….

Ah hell…. it’s a nice looking day outside, and here I am ranting about assholes who aren’t going to change anyway…. something wrong with that picture, so I guess I’ll go do something more constructively fun than this… though I have to admit I feel better…. It always helps me to call Mitt Romney an asshole…. makes my whole morning….
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This turned on me a bit…. it became something of a small ordeal, but, I won…. I’ve fought through to the end of another morning’s ramblings, and it looks like a pretty far-ranging ramble indeed…. Well, such as it is, here it is…. 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!

Table hopping at Godot’s public house….

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Ffolkes,
Guilt is a powerful motivator for us humans. Whether we approve of it as an emotion, or fight to eradicate it from our emotional pantheon, it remains as effective at 61 as it was at 16. We cannot help our response to it; we may be able to control that response, and deny guilt what it wishes us to do. Denying the feeling, however, has a price, as it causes the guilt to deepen, and cause even more distress to the organism than initially felt, which is part of why it is such an effective motivator.

Guilt trips:  The nuclear weapon of relationships… — Smart Bee

Why have I woken up feeling guilty? Well, it has to do with this blog, and the wonderful ffolkes who stop by regularly to read it. In the last week or so, I’ve been in a struggle to maintain equilibrium, one of the nice little gifts that having PTSD brings me. One of the side effects of this struggle is a lack of concentration, in this case taking the form of not being able to sit for long, or to concentrate for long on tasks such as reading, as the problems my mind is chewing on keep intruding into the activity I’m trying to carry on.

This makes it really hard to get to all the blog sites I want to, to read what other folks are writing, or see the pictures they’ve taken. It especially bothers me that I can’t see the work of my favorite poets (and poetesses) to keep up my quota of absorption of beauty….. (It also affects the process of creating Pearls, but we won’t get into that right now, as it just feeds the alligator, if you get my drift….)

Hence, the guilt, as I feel I am not fulfilling my duty to them. For that guilt I do not apologize; I do so, however, for not being able to get to their sites, and hope that they will understand. I’m a fast reader, and once I’m able to concentrate long enough to do so, I will get caught up to what has been done in my absence; that is without doubt.

So, to those of my friends who haven’t seen me on their site of late, please forgive me, and rest assured I will be back. It has taken ALL of my considerable mental effort to produce these Pearls each day, but soon I’ll have some extra to spread around, and will be heading over to the sites of those ffolkes who regularly check out mine first thing….and thanks for being patient with my broken brain….

There…. now that I have assuaged at least a portion of the guilt I’ve been making myself suffer from, we can get on with the day’s more important business. Shall we Pearl? I think we shall….
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“Be careless in your dress if you will, but keep a tidy soul.” — Mark Twain

“If you have a particular faith or religion, that is good. But you can survive without it if you have love, compassion, and tolerance. The clear truth of a person’s love of God is if that person genuinely shows love to fellow human beings.” — Dalai Lama

Same idea, as far as I can tell, just expressed differently. In the case of the Dalai Lama, clear, complete, and precise, naming the key elements. In the case of Mr. Twain, deceptively simple and humorous, yet equally broad in scope. One can often see the value of an idea by how well it combines with another, and in this case I think that works quite well, as we may then summarize the two to say, “Love, compassion, and tolerance make for a tidy soul,” which I think is an excellent lesson, and would make a very good koan for meditation. In practice, it holds up just as well, as I have yet to see any display of love, compassion, or tolerance that had a negative effect on reality.

Every religion, or religious philosophy, that I have studied over the years has these three ideas at their core; it is the one area where they all agree. Yet, the application of any of them remains limited to those times when expediency allows it, and very few others. In spite of the centuries of teaching these traits to their devotees, I can see very little evidence that the majority of mankind pays any attention to them outside church, unless it is somehow to their advantage to do so.

This makes what the Dalai Lama said even more relevant, when he noted that one does not NEED a religion to act with love, because it is plain that just having the religious bent does not guarantee such behavior. In fact, it seems to make it easier for people to ignore it, as they know that any transgressions or failures on their part will be forgiven….

It would do very little good for me to further chastise us as a species for our lack of moral behavior, so I’ll not. But I will say that I would wish to see more love, compassion, and tolerance at play in the world at large before I will ever recommend religion, or religious philosophy, to anyone as a cure for immorality, at least, not as one to use outside of the confines of their particular sect. The real world wouldn’t know what to do if it were ever faced with a general outbreak of morality from mankind…. it could shatter the very bonds that hold Reality together, destroying the universe, and life as we know it, for all time…. Is it worth the risk?….. Well, no matter, I don’t see much chance of a huge outpouring of love, compassion, and tolerance happening in the near future, so the risk is small…..

“Everybody can be great… because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. you only need a heart full of grace. a soul generated by love.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“I think trash is the most important manifestation of culture we have in my lifetime.”  — Johnny Legend

When I was in my 30′s, I worked a couple of years as a trash collector in Oxnard, CA. In many ways, it was my favorite among all the jobs I’ve had in my life, even more so than being a chef, which was otherwise the most challenging and fulfilling of my chosen professions. But, working outdoors, doing hard physical work, turned out to be very fulfilling, in more ways than just the physical.

I was performing a valuable service to society, even discounting the flaws in the entire system that causes society to produce so much trash that the service is essential to the continued functioning of that culture. Without getting the trash out of the way, society would not just grind to a halt, it would create an environment much more dangerous, from a health standpoint.

This society, world-wide, produces more trash than you can imagine. The sheer bulk of what was moved in one day, in one city, continuously astounded me. Let me crunch a couple of numbers here, to give you a small idea…. I worked for a time on what is called an industrial pickup route, in a truck designed to pick up the trash contained in those large dumpsters all over in the alley ways behind businesses. This truck would hold anywhere from 7 to 10 tons of trash before needing to go to the dump site to unload. Our route usually produced enough to load up twice in one 8 hour shift, so I will average our daily load to 10 tons, for the sake of accuracy in estimation. That is 20,000 lbs. of garbage per day… remember that number.

The city where I worked had 9 of these trucks for industrial pickup, plus three others that were designed to pick up the railroad car sized dumpsters used at construction or demolition sites. Call that an average of 10 trucks a day in use, considering breakdowns and usage patterns. So, 10 trucks, each delivering 20,000 lbs./day to the dump. 200,000 lbs., or a thousand TONS per day, just from the industrial trucks.

There were also 30 household trash trucks, which added another 8 tons/day each to the total. That’s about 240 more TONS per day going into the landfill sites. This is for one average sized city, for one day, remember. 1240 tons/day. My estimates are probably a bit low, as I tried to be careful not to overestimate.

I will leave it as an exercise for the Gentle Reader to determine what these numbers say about our society, and how well we are doing at husbanding the resources of this finite planet upon which we are living. If your calculations, and ruminations, parallel my own, you’ll be depressed for a time…..
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“It’s men who make laws, and enforce them, and break them, and think the whole performance is wonderful.  Most women would rather just ignore them.” — Ursula K. Le Guin

I would say that we may accept this as being true; it has points that support that assumption well. First, a woman said it, so it is most likely to be accurate in describing the woman’s view on laws. Second, a mature, well-educated woman said it, so the observation it makes about men has the advantage of long-term study of a large sample of men by a reasonably objective observer. Third, it matches my own experience, and I would guess that anyone who took the time to think about it will be forced to agree that it makes perfect sense….

This in no way is meant to provide fuel to the fire of the idea of a war between the sexes. I’ve never really bought into that, as it is counter-productive in the most basic sense, i.e., survival as a species. A war between male and female is just a term some lazy guy used because he were ashamed of not being able to understand women….

“Men are more sentimental then women. It blurs their thinking.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

As much as men like to think they are more scientific minded than women, they also lack the objectivity that women have regarding certain aspects of life. Lazarus points out the reason behind that, while at the same time giving a clue to how to deal with it in one’s self. Learning to acknowledge one’s vulnerabilities makes it much simpler to account for them, and to provide them with defensive measures, or to set them aside temporarily.

Of course, this also means that they must learn to set aside their sense of pride, which is probably misplaced in any case. Pride should only be entertained in cases of having earned it for some extraordinary effort, not for a mere state of being. (I never understood how a lot of men, and women, say they are proud to be American, when they had nothing to do with becoming one. Their parents might be entitled to some pride for having made their children good Americans, but the child has no right to pride before earning it…..)

I have been of the opinion for a long time that we need to devise a different method for choosing the leaders of society. The system as it exists is just about as worthless as it can be, as it is designed to give the power to make decisions for society to those people who are the worst at it, as they look at the task from a completely self-serving, avaricious standpoint, and tend to use it for no one’s benefit but their own.

I usually will vote for any woman candidate on a ballot that I see, just to see if any changes can be encouraged, but, unfortunately, most of the women on the ballots are there for the same reason as the men, having become convinced that assuming male characteristics is the key to success in that world.

“If men can run the world, why can’t they stop wearing neckties? How intelligent is it to start the day by tying a little noose around your neck?” — Linda Ellerbee

I’d best bring this to a close, if I am to get anything else done today, as this is an issue that can never be resolved. It can’t be resolved because it is not a problem…. it is the state of reality, and it will change all on its own. No, the problems that men and women have between them are not resolvable by thinking about the issue as a war (though Sun Tzu’s principles CAN be useful in inter-gender relations…), because as one species, that makes no sense, from any perspective.

Instead, we can try to look at the issue as one of education and communication, and try to increase our understanding of one another by honest talk…. Hey, it’s worth a try, especially as it hasn’t been tried very often before, on a large scale…. couldn’t hurt, could it?….Well, a bit of pain goes along with growth….
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Dance and Provencal song and sunburnt mirth!
Oh for a beaker full of the warm South,
Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene!
With beaded bubbles winking at the brim,
And purple-stained mouth.
– John Keats (1795-1821) — Ode to a Nightingale

Ah, Keats! In his 26 short years on this planet, he wrote poetry that changed the genre, for the better in my opinion, for all time. He wrote prolifically, thank goodness, over the few years his life allowed him the freedom to do so. It is painful to think of how much the world lost when he died so young, the victim of the ignorance of medicine of his time. I can never decide if immortality is worth the price that often must be paid to achieve it…. I need another poem….

A long, long sleep, a famous sleep
That makes no show for dawn
By stretch of limb or stir of lid, –
An independent one.

Was ever idleness like this?
Within a hut of stone
To bask the centuries away
Nor once look up for noon?
– Emily Dickinson

Okay, I’m good now…. let’s go on….
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“I always have a quotation for everything — it saves original thinking.” — Dorothy L. Sayers

If one is unfamiliar with Dorothy Sayers, this may seem a bit sarcastic, or sardonic, take your pick. But, in reality, she must have said this with a perfectly straight face, in the complete and serene knowledge that it is nonsensical, at least in its conclusion; the first part is perfectly true. I don’t know when in her life she said or wrote this, but her originality, as far as I am concerned, is not a matter of debate, having been proven beyond any such consideration by the advent of her oh, fourth or fifth novel.

Her scholarly achievements were obvious from her time at University, and though I am not familiar with her work from then, I’m sure there are indications of the vast pool of her imagination, and the untested, unknown waters that flowed through it, promising visions of completely new areas of thought and experience. These indications were later fulfilled in her writings over the following decades of the mid-twentieth century.

Her mystery novels were so rich in detail, so perfectly reflective of the culture of her age, and the society in which she lived, they  provided a completely new direction to the entire field of writing mysteries, prompting changes reflected in every story by every author whose work she influenced, which conceivably includes all of them that came after.

The Lord Peter Whimsey novels, in and of themselves, would be considered a lifetime’s worth of output for any author, an output that deserved great pride of accomplishment. But, that was not the limit of her imagination, nor of the range of her interests. She also produced a complete translation of Dante’s works, considered to be the definitive standard for such books, among other scholarly and fictional works . She was an amazing woman, a truly gifted author, and one of the finest examples of what a human being can be…. in my humble opinion….
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That was fun. It’s nice to be able to finish up with a positive piece; it puts a nice cap to the effort. So nice, I’m going to let it go at that…. 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!

Prudish pianos sit, forlorn in the mist….

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Ffolkes,
The beast has fallen from the mizzen mast, and the jib is down. I was awakened by the laughing of clowns, injecting the first cup of coffee intravenously, to save time. It struck me as I stretched prior to beginning that I had not brushed the cactus, but it looked as if I had. Such thoughts being extraneous to our purpose here, they shall be deleted. Such is the fate of unwanted, unloved cogitations, cast adrift at their most vulnerable moment, salient only to themselves. Thus it began, strangely tart, but uncommonly picturesque. The band refused to play Mozart, so Copeland had to do….

If the above is any indication, it might be a good idea to buckle up…. the ride today promises to be a bit unsteady. Should be fun though… I haven’t felt this much strong whimsy in a while…. I can see the priests, pundits, and bankers running off screaming already, deathly afraid of my savage wit…. Sure, that’s the ticket…. Before I slip entirely under the waves of insanity here, let’s get on with the Pearl, shall we?…. It would be best, I think….
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All things considered, insanity may be the only reasonable alternative. — Smart Bee

This explains this morning’s attitude… I must have been percolating this idea in the back of my mind all night, and woke up with it still buzzing around in there… It makes sense, in a perverted sort of fashion. Especially after looking at what I wrote yesterday. Oh, not that it wasn’t good….in fact, it was one of my better efforts in a while, over 2500 words, all fairly potent. No, what I refer to is the subject matter of which I wrote. A lot of it consisted of indictments of mankind or society for crimes against citizens, serving to show just how bad things are when viewed pessimistically, and how insanity in the face of that seems almost necessary, to maintain any scrap of self-control. Insane may be crazy, but it IS a choice to stay true to oneself, rather than to give in to the insanity someone else may thrust upon us.

People often wonder why there are so many disturbed folks out there, which amuses me no end…. How could it be otherwise? The pressures on every person alive in today’s madcap world is intense and unrelenting; what surprises me is how FEW truly insane people there are to be found outside institutions. Most of the really, truly mad ones are in those institutions, where they have discovered they are safe from the depredations that society forces upon everyone outside the fences. They receive three hots and a cot, and all they have to do is keep from making any sense when the doctor is around, or when anybody with a nursing license is watching, and they have no worries. Free food, free TV, medical care, and all on somebody else’s dime. What a deal!

So, don’t look down your nose at those among us who have chosen the path of insanity in order to cope with the world at large. They may be on to something…. they certainly have a lot less to worry about than most of us do. All they have to do is be creative in their delusions, let out the inner demons now and again, dance a jig in the common room each night,  and they can be just as happy as a clam at high tide….

“Once you accept his assumptions even a madman seems reasonable.” — Smart Bee
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~ A wonderful poem by Audrey Hepburn ~ Written when asked to share her “beauty tips.” It was read at her funeral years later.

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.
For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
For beautiful hair, let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day.
For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.
People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone.
Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms.
As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands; one for helping yourself, and the other for helping others.


I trot this out now and again, just because it is as beautiful as she was…..
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Political tags – such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth – are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire. — Robert Heinlein

This is a truism in my world. I read it many years ago, and after examining it extensively, have found it to be a perfect reflection of reality as I perceive it. It is a very useful statement for the understanding of all sorts of concepts regarding what happens in the political arena, serving as it does as sort of a program, allowing one to identify the players quickly and accurately, according to the role they assume and display for viewing by the public.

What is unfortunate about its veracity is how it seems to work in the modern world. It seems to me that of the two identified types of people, only the first type, those who wish everyone to be controlled, are the ones in office, or running for office. By nature and inclination, the second type does not involve themselves any more than necessary in the political process; it offends their sensibilities to even have to watch it played out in the public arena.

They do whatever is required to maintain their own independence from excessive control by others; that also is natural to them. This, sadly, leaves a great portion of humanity to its own devices, allowing the beloved ruling class, comprised solely of those who wish to control others, to abuse and oppress them to their heart’s content.

Ah well, Mr. Heinlein would suggest that those folks are only getting what they deserve for refusing to use what little intelligence they have to protect themselves, and, in at least that sense, he is correct. It just makes me sad to see so much pain and anguish among them when it is so unnecessary; I’m a sucker for hard-luck cases.

In the end,  I suppose it doesn’t matter at all in a cosmic sense; we all will do whatever it is we choose to do, and if that choice is to wear blinders, and bend over when asked, well, we would get exactly what we deserve from life…. Not me, though…. I like my butt just the way it is, thank you very much….

Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril. When you are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant both of your enemy and of yourself, you are certain in every battle to be in peril.”
– Sun Tzu (fl. c. B.C. 500)
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“If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties.” — Francis Bacon

Francis was a pretty smart man. Smart enough to have folks suspect him of writing a lot of Will Shakespeare’s works, apparently during his copious free time between joshing with the queen and the other courtesans, writing his philosophical treatises, and abusing the peasants. Of course, we see a lot of this quotes lying around, gathering dust, and a short examination of them reveals why…. most of them bore the reader to tears before they get to the point of what he wrote.

Yet this short little piece ascribed to him indicates more, as it is startlingly clear and absolutely accurate. It must have been written in his early years, as it also is in direct opposition to a lot of his later writings, which tend to rely on faith and religious principles he should have avoided altogether. As a matter of fact, now that I mention it, his writing over time seemed to become increasingly heavy and obscure, reflecting the confusion in his mind, no doubt, created by the disparity between the above obviously rational line of thought and the religious doctrine with which he became enamored in later years.

His later writing also demonstrates just how true the above line is, as over time, as he came to believe in more certainties, his writing and mind became more filled with doubts. In his youth, when he allowed himself to entertain doubt, he was clearly more certain of what he knew.

A good example of what to avoid, I would say, if one wishes to maintain any rationality in their thinking. It sure did mess up poor Frankie’s work…. I mean, who would WANT to be known as Willies ghost-writer, anyway?…..
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The path is the way.
The way is the truth.
It is found, but not held;
walked on, but not followed.
– Tao Teh Ching

When I was 16, my father took me on a trip to visit the UC Berkeley campus, to see if I really wanted to attend there after high school. We drove up from our home near the Central Coast of California to the burgeoning megalopolis on the east side of the SF Bay where Berkeley sits, with my eyes and mind on overdrive, taking in a completely new landscape, one completely foreign to my naive mind, which had spent most of the previous years living in a town of 750 souls. In retrospect, I don’t think that I could have made any other decision, as I was in the throes of intellectual ecstasy, taking in vast amounts of new perceptions and experiences as fast as I could swivel my head.

One of the places we visited on campus was the bookstore at the student union. Having been a book addict since the age of 9 or so, it was like falling into heaven. My dad had a hard time getting me to leave to go look at other stuff, as I was entranced by all the books I’d never seen.

On a table near the check-out stands, on a clearance table, was a slim book with a beautiful black and white image of a typical Chinese painting of mountains with bamboo shoots in the foreground, and some ideograms running down the side. The English title of the book, at the top, read merely, “Tao Teh Ching”. Visually, it was the most beautiful book I’d ever seen. Little did I know how much that simple tome would change my whole life, and the way I viewed the world.

It goes without saying at this point that I bought the book. On the drive home, I lost myself in Lao Tzu’s 88 verses that comprise the Tao Teh Ching, and have been lost in the beauty and truth they provide ever since. “The Way that can be known is not the true Way.” That is the first line of the book, as per that translation, and my mind was freed from all its previous restraints.

It was as if I had been awakened from a long sleep, and awoke with eyes so clear that only the truth could be seen. My father, I’m sure, thought I’d lost all sanity as I read, gasped, and made little moans of awakening surprise at the things that the book showed me. It is a day I will never forget, and one that, in my mind, set me on the scholar/warrior’s path that I have walked to this day…..
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I suppose by this time I should be accustomed to my own lack of organization when it comes to these Pearls. When I awoke this morning, an hour later than I thought I would (thank goodness for an hour of sleep that I wasn’t expecting!….), I was, as usual, unsure of where we might end up. As usual, I needn’t have worried, as it all came out okay, and didn’t take all that long. I’m content. Well, as content as I ever am, anyway. So, 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!