Such beauty lives without shame….

Posted on October 14, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
I love rice. I do. It is so versatile as a food…. it can be eaten as a side dish, complementing an entree item. Add some sauce and veggies, meat, and cheese to it, and you have a lovely risotto. Dress it with a vinaigrette and some garden specialties, and you’ve got a cold salad for an afternoon lawn event. If you enjoy the nutty flavor of a good rice, it can be eaten as is, too….. And, I am sick to death of it…. I know now why so many folks in the throes of poverty use it so much, along with beans, and pasta…..

A little of it goes a long way to stretch other foods, it’s cheap, compared to many other staples, and it takes longer for the family to get tired of it, as long as one is creative in the kitchen…. But, I swear, when I can afford more food, rice will go to the bottom of the list, merely because I am so incensed at having to eat it every day to stay alive, and not giving in to the temptation to steal…. It is surprising, perhaps, to realize how quickly one’s ethics and morals can be put aside when one is hungry and angry….. bad combination, I can attest….

Ah well, life could be worse, I’m sure…. It could be that I couldn’t afford the rice, and had to subsist on beans… Now, THAT would be tragic, not to mention the danger to the public…. I mean, I already have a pretty heavy reaction, methane gas-wise, when I consume beans… even refried beans can cause some serious toots. If I am forced to eat more beans, I’m not sure the walls of this apartment will stand up to the volume under pressure that is engendered in my bowels by vegetable protein…. and the effect of both the noise and the odoriferous output on my neighbors is bound to be considerable, given that I would have very little control over when such outbreaks would occur….. It could turn into a Keystone Kops type event in a flash…..

So, I try to stick to pasta and rice for my staple starches. It’s best for everyone if I do…. Hmmm…. I just realized, in reading back over this morning’s introductory remarks, that I may have strayed into the TMI category….. not everyone thinks body functions are funny…. Nurses do, for sure, and healthcare workers of any kind can develop such a basic appreciation for the less public aspects of our physical processes….. The rest of society, however, seems to have an objection to body fluids, and the humor they can provide….

I noticed this difference once when I had surgery, to remove a piece of evil from my midsection…. After abdominal surgery of any kind, the first thing the doctor and nurses want to see happen is for the intestines to resume function; this is indicated by the build-up, and passage of gas. Thus, it becomes a point of interest, and even enthusiasm, when the nurse is first informed of any such activity by a surgical patient… in other words, nurses are the only group people who get happy and enthused to learn that people are farting…. Kinda get ya, right here, doesn’t it?….. (points at his heart….)

Okay, that’s enough fart humor for one day, such as it is…. It doesn’t affect me negatively at all, having been privy to its charm for many years from my nursing experiences, but I know that it can affect others detrimentally. I’ve been informed of such by many folks, just before they storm out of a room in high dudgeon, miffed because the conversation turned to phlegm, or other such delightful substances that the human body is wont to produce at times. Silly humans…..

I have a feeling I had best get on with the normal business of the day, before there isn’t anyone left to read it….. Shall we Pearl?…..
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“Finding the occasional straw of truth awash in a great ocean of confusion and bamboozle requires intelligence, vigilance, dedication and courage. But if we don’t practice these tough habits of thought, we cannot hope to solve the truly serious problems that face us — and we risk becoming a nation of suckers, up for grabs by the next charlatan who comes along.” — Carl Sagan, “The Fine Art of Baloney Detection,” Parade, February 1, 1987

Unfortunately, Baloney Detectors became out of style….. No one listened to Carl, and we are STILL recovering from exactly what he pointed out could happen. As soon as Clinton left office, after leaving the first budget surplus ever, Bush 1 took over and proceeded to give Reaganomics another try; the first time they hadn’t stolen quite as much as the figures showed they could, so they had to go back for all that money. Along the way, they jacked the budget deficit back up a couple trillion dollars, and turned it over to Shrub 2, who decided to spend us completely into oblivion, starting two wars, all because he was covering for the crap his father pulled to keep his theft of the 2000 election out of public scrutiny….. Whew, sorry, didn’t realize there was so much indignation to pack into one paragraph summarizing the Republican meltdowns of the American economy…. which they continue to try to blame on anybody but themselves and the Bushes, much less Saint Ronnie….. the asshole….

Don’t forget, I knew Ronnie before he got to the Presidency…. he was governor when I went to college…. I was one of the ones he was talking about when he made the remarks regarding turning student protests into blood baths…. Mind you, these were PEACE protests, against the war in Vietnam….. I was there when he and his oh-so-sweet wife Nancy made their undisguised play for their chain of facilities to garner a monopoly on the mental healthcare market, by changing the laws to turn mental patients out of the state hospitals, back to their counties, where the facilities owned by the Reagan demons were the only available places to put them…. In case you wondered, they were called Heavenly Manor I believe, and the state-registered owner of record was Nancy Reagan…. even though her husband started, supported, and signed bills to try to make it happen…. No nepotism there at all, eh?….

I never trusted Reagan, ever since he got out-acted by that ape in that movie back in the 40’s where he was the world’s most unconvincing college student (well, his ditziness in the role seemed to be an accurate display of character, but you know what I mean…. he just wasn’t very real, and looked like he was made of cardboard….) His actions as governor were clearly anti-American, and yet people for some reason loved him. It didn’t surprise me at all when it came out that his administration was one of the crookedest ever, and hid more from the public than even the rest of government was comfortable with….

None of this mentions how disastrous his economic policies were; you remember, don’t you? Ronnie was fond of the term, “trickle down” theory, a policy he espoused in which, according to Ronnie’s strange math, giving huge breaks to the richest would result in more money “trickling down” to the rest of society…. Well, guess what folks? It didn’t work, nor could it ever have worked, because there is no “trickle down” where it concerns money, and those who covet it…. they will hold on to every little bit they can, and cry for more if threatened….

I realize the view I am presenting is far different than what you might see in history books of the time, or even what some conservatives who idolize Reagan will want to remember, but none of what I’ve said is based on anything that I didn’t see happening myself; it’s all documented stuff, on the nightly news in somebody’s archives. What goes in the books is what all the folks in power decided to say happened, not what actually occurred.

If most folks knew, or even thought about, what actually happened for most of history, they would think they’d been lied to their entire lives…. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! They HAVE! It cracks me up, a little bit, when I’m done being sad, just how little truth is EVER told by those in positions of power over others in society. Lying and cheating are pre-requisite habits, and sheer necessities, in getting into the positions they hold, and they aren’t about to stop once installed in office with the treasury keys in their pockets.

So, go ahead and believe, if you will, that the beloved ruling class, epitomized so darkly and accurately by the Republican Party in the last 40 years, is on your side, and is working hard to make your lives better…. They will go on stripping you of every freedom the founding fathers gave us, along with all your money, and your hope for a brighter future, because they DON’T CARE! Not about you, or anything that you believe; they care about themselves, and how much power they can accumulate in their lifetime. They don’t even THINK about what it may cost anyone else…. they don’t consider anyone else’s benefit or interests, at all, ever….. And that is the truth, whether you can accept it or not…..

“Food for thought is no substitute for the real thing.” — Walt Kelly, Potluck Pogo
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In my poems, I am trying to get to a point where everything extraneous is stripped away, leaving only the most powerful words to portray my meaning…. I’m getting a bit better, but I’ve a way to go yet, to my way of looking at it, which, as we know, is all that matters, since I’m the one writing it…. I don’t know if I’ll ever be as good at it as I’d like…. but, the following poem, from Ogden Nash, certainly demonstrates the concept that I’m trying to get to…. If I can ever come even close to the sheer genius of this poem, I will be happy….

This was my dream;
I dreampt it.
I dreamed that my hair was kempt,
and my true love unkempt it.

— Ogden Nash

See? Sheer genius! With four tiny lines, he connected to the most lovely and compelling dream shared by ALL men…. completely amazing, and to my way of looking at things, the kind of power that literature should always have…. not that it will…. But, if everyone who writes shoots for at least the same kind of inspiration, and won’t settle for crap, at least we could conceivably see more poetry like this…. and that would be a good thing, yes?….. Yes….
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Another old-school pearl, with some observations on Life, the Folks who inhabit the planet, and the stuff they find to keep busy…..

“Among the rich you will never find a really generous man even by accident. They may give their money away, but they will never give themselves away; they are egotistic, secretive, dry as old bones. To be smart enough to get all that money you must be dull enough to want it.” — G. K. Chesterton, A Miscellany of Men

“Never mind what I said,” the Lord spake. “Doth thou listen to every crazy idea that comes thy way?”
And Abraham grew ashamed. “Er — not really… no.”
“I jokingly suggest thou sacrifice Isaac and thou immediately runs out to do it.”
And Abraham fell to his knees, “See, I never know when you are kidding.”
And the Lord thundered, “No sense of humor. I can’t believe it.”
— Without Feathers — Woody Allen
(This is probably a far more accurate portrayal of what took place than what we find in either the Bible, or the Qur’an, both of which talk extensively about Abraham, and his relations with God, or Allah, take your pick…. It seems more true to human nature, somehow…..and, if God exists, I would like to think he has a sense of humor. If not, we are in deep shit…..)

“Let us begin by committing ourselves to the truth – to see it like it is, and tell it like it is -to find the truth, to speak the truth, and live the truth.” — Richard Nixon, accepting the Presidential Nomination, 1968
(I laughed aloud when he said this, but later, I cried….. in looking at it now, in retrospect, this actually rivals the crap that Romney has been spouting….. and I can see how he, and others, got the idea they can get away with this kind of shit…..)

“Liberty cannot be guaranteed by law. Nor by any thing else except the resolution of free citizens to defend their liberties.” — Edward Abbey
(This had to go here, just to counter balance the severe level of BS that Tricky Dicky raised in one sentence…..)

Extremes in nature equal ends produce;
In man they join to some mysterious use.
— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Essay on Man, Epistle ii, Line 205

“Americans like to talk about (or be told about) Democracy but, when put to the test, usually find it to be an ‘inconvenience.’ We have opted instead for an authoritarian system *disguised* as a Democracy. We pay through the nose for an enormous joke-of-a-government, let it push us around, and then wonder how all those assholes got in there.” — Frank Zappa

“He who knows best knows how little he knows.” — Thomas Jefferson

Well, that should be enough…. It’s a rather meandering concept, but it gets there eventually….. and if not, well, it’s always a good time trying to figure out just what dark alleyway of the human psyche I have wandered into, or out of, as the case may be…. Here, we have a combination plate…. enjoy! Oh, and it WILL be on the Quiz….
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I’d say this isn’t too bad, but then, I have inside knowledge of what it took to produce it….. which included a pain level rather larger than normal, by a factor of about two (i.e., double the morning dose….) I hate grunting when I stand up and walk; I feel like an ape. One with an irritable disposition, to be sure…. Growling just becomes a natural response when all one wants to do is to be able to straighten up without going into spasms…. and the thought of human interaction is just plain scary. I will have to avoid all contact with folks while on my trip to the library to post today…. I don’t think I want to deal with blood today, mine or anyone else’s….

Ah well, life goes on, and we must take it as it plays out….. My apologies in advance today, for not being able to spend any time perusing other blogs…. it will be all I can do to get this up and posted, so it will have to wait for another day…. Probably for the best anyway, my concentration is shot…. 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!

After Montauk, come the deep waters….

Posted on October 13, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
There are moments when this becomes more than merely writing; it becomes a test. A challenge. Self-imposed, which, as you should know, are the toughest kind to pass with a good mark. I am, by far and away, my harshest critic (now that I’ve been divorced for over ten years, of course…..), and these tests are more connected to my character than to my education. That is to say, the tests of writing that I set for myself are meant to test whether or not I am meeting my own standards for what I write, (and those standards are killers), compared to what I would set for others. This stems from axiom #4, of course, “Excellence is its own reward.”…..

It occurs to me that it has been a good long while since I put the entire contents of Peruaosophy up for the perusal of those who come by….. come to think of it, it might be a good thing to post it on my “About” page…. it would explain a lot, for a lot of folks who might otherwise not quite understand where I’m coming from (as if that is possible at all…. snort….). Maybe I will…. but later. It will be enough for the moment to put it in one of the sections below, with a short intro…. yeah, that’s the ticket…. and it avoids the test, too…. boy, I’m good…..

See, you, too, can learn how to change planned reality in a heartbeat, avoiding all sorts of unwanted, previous engagements, saving yourself all kinds of unwanted angst and worry. The best part is, if one ever gets to write for an editor, it will drive them nuts! Bonus!…. It’s almost as good as being back in school, and getting to tie the princi….. no, wait, the statute of limitations isn’t up on that one yet…. Never mind…..

Yes, I am odd, I know it…. no need to harp on it. It must be time to cast aside all the nonsense that has built up here, and burst through to the other side of silliness…. a place, I know, where I spend a lot of time…. silliness, that is, not beyond…. ah, screw it. Let’s dive…. Shall we Pearl?…..
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About thirty or so years ago (wow, I hadn’t realized it had been so long…..), I was sitting in my study one day, feet up, reading some philosophy, when a reference was made to the statement by Descartes, to wit: “I think, therefore, I am.” It occurred to me that there are other philosophies, and philosophers, who have used the same format to describe their own philosophy’s basic premises, or a similar one; it is, after all, merely a re-statement of an “if-then” proposition, which would come naturally to Descartes, mathematician that he was….. Any who, I thought to myself that, if they could write down their own concepts of what is real in life, and formulate their own philosophies, why couldn’t I?

So, I did…. and all in all, I have never been happier with anything I’ve written. The following axioms, which comprise the working premises of this, my philosophy, were all considered well and deeply, with great deliberation and care, before being added to the mix, and I am quite proud of it. It may seem a bit tongue-in-cheek, but look deeper into each axiom, past the humor to the concept, and you will find that what is said here is true, eternally so, and is applicable to every part of life…. enjoy!

Peruaosophy

Axioms:

1) I think I am; that’s close enough.

2) The nature of the Universe is Change. Unpredictable, innovative transformation of Reality is the Norm. If you have a problem with this, you’re in for a rough ride in Life.

3) Thou art God, you know. Let’s do lunch.

4) Excellence is its own reward.

5) Girls think differently. So do boys. Don’t fight it.

6) Axiom #2 X axiom #5 = And God so loved the world, He said, “Quit whining!”

7) Do your Duty. Respect Life. Honor the Truth. Share your Love.

8) Go back. Everything you need to know is in the first seven axioms.

~~ gigoid
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Honorable Request

Days, filled to a brim with fluff and time, pass
dimly into memory, bit by combative bit,
ever mournful, yet loud with life and sass,
only in dream do we meet, and dance, and flit.

Souls, spinning ’round in gleeful wonder, comply
as they must, never given a reason,
somberly proper, yet limber and quite spry,
dancing on to greet each bright new season.

Storms, angered by apathetic care, rage
proceeding into ministerial glare, unknown,
clothed in colors, purified solely with sage,
past an infinite future, already flown.

Life, plumbed to its depths and secrets, keeps
flowing with currents, strong and fairly found,
love stands, asking release, as it slowly weeps,
seeking refuge unasked, to stay honor bound.

~~ gigoid

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The Eternal is empty (like a bowl),
It may be used but its capacity is never exhausted.
It is bottomless, perhaps the ancestor of all things.
It unties its tangles,
It softens its light.
It becomes one with the dusty world.
Deep and still, it appears to exist forever.
I do not know whose son it is.
It seems to have existed before the Lord.
— Lao-Tzu (fl. B.C. 600)

Well, damn! I should have known, and in fact, did know, but hadn’t appropriately considered, that even Lao Tzu, as revered as he was in his time, and as much freedom of speech that gave him, still had to consider politics in his statements about the universe. The last two lines are, to my sharp, ever-inquisitive eye, a result of that necessity only, and have nothing at all to do with the actual content delivered above it.

Obviously, those in society who feel an urge to oversee the morals of the populace (i.e., the preachers, may they rot in their own hell….) had been applying a bit of pressure to the old man, and he agreed to include that last part as a sop to the current administration of priests and pundits. Well, it’s obvious to me…. just look at the whole piece, AS A WHOLE…. and it becomes clear that the last part was not part of the original idea…. it doesn’t fit, either in style, or content, or context, for that matter….. it is, as I say, merely a way to be able to deliver the rest without engendering the ire of the priests by failing to give their delusions the proper obeisance. They do get cranky when that happens….

“We are all alike, on the inside.” — Mark Twain

Another great piece of wisdom, and this one so simple, the priests couldn’t figure out how to keep it from getting published. They really, really did want to, though, as this idea is completely opposite of what they would have their followers believe…. In fact, they tend to get their knickers all in a twist if anyone even implies a similarity between them and one of their objects of fear and hatred (blacks or other persons of color, women, other religious beliefs, left-handed people, and almost anyone else who doesn’t hold their beliefs….) This one is such a controversial subject, even amongst preachers and priests themselves, that I am always tempted, when the question arises, of using a somewhat graphic technique to demonstrate just how closely Twain’s statement is congruent with Reality….

Should a priest of say, the Episcopalian persuasion, or perhaps a Southern Baptist, and another preacher, say a Muslim imam, or a Russian Orthodox Greek Coptic, get into an argument over whether or not the two cult’s followers were alike inside, I would offer them to take a look…. I would tie them down, facing each other, and make some matching slices to their naked bodies, in the same spot, where they can both see the results…. if the color of their blood did not convince them, we would have the option to continue on to deeper examples of how similar are the two bodies in question…. I don’t believe their faith would sustain them after seeing just how much their own liver looked like that of their supposed enemy…. Ah me, by then, it wouldn’t matter anyway, because by then, “I” would be the enemy, so they, if they survived, would have a new obsession to pursue, one with at least a basis in real offenses to them…. and I always enjoy that sort of thing; it keeps the blood flowing, y,know?….

Now, some might say that this is a bit harsh in its approach, but I would counter with two words, that to the intelligent mind, bring with them instant images of the horrors of ignorance allowed free rein in society…. The Inquisition. I don’t care how sincere a priest or preacher is in their beliefs; just allowing themselves to be associated with any institution that was involved in such persecution of knowledge and the innocent, all in the name of the church, is enough to condemn them to me.

Honor, to my mind, demands more than just lip service, and allowing such institutions not only to continue to exist, but to continue to exert their influence over the ignorant and vulnerable, is tantamount to performing such acts. If any priest or preacher really had a sense of honor, he would be burning bibles and shooting Popes every other day…. Well, no, that’s going too far…. once a week would be sufficient…. but, to allow the Pope, and others like him, to continue to exist doesn’t say much for humanity, or for our own sense of honor…. Or, for how quickly we learn…

As is often the case with ranting, I’m unsure of how I got to this particular point; I get so amped up with the force of what I’m feeling about what I’m writing, I forget to keep track of where I’m heading, or where it started out…. ah well, occupational hazard, I reckon…. and if I can take a poke or three at a preacher or two while I’m about it, well, that’s a good day’s work, in my world….. So, we’ll let them be, for now…. rest assured, I still have a lot to say about THAT particular class of society….. 🙂
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Well, that was an interesting morning, to be sure…. unrecorded side events unrelated to the creation of this Pearl interrupted about a third of the way through, but proved to be mostly beneficial, and so are a wash, time-wise…. Now, all I have to do is work up the energy to hoof it down to the library and back, to get this posted, and see if I have any email that needs attention…. and maybe, a little time to answer comments, should yesterday’s post have stimulated same…. Ever hopeful, we are…. Any who, I pronounce this one to be finito, so, I will leave you now, with just the right timing…. 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!

Savory bytes of digital dessert….

Posted on October 12, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
One hopes, given an even chance, that life will be fair…. it is a fool’s hope, to be sure, one smashed on a regular basis by reality, yet it is never driven completely away, nor smashed so thoroughly that it disappears. Each of us will hang on to this hope well beyond the point where it is never going to happen, even though we know it is foolish…. and then will feel badly, because it did not happen. We place far too much importance on a quality of life that doesn’t exist in reality, and bemoan our fate when it fails to materialize…. We ARE a bunch of mopes, aren’t we?….

It’s part of our charm, I suppose, to hope for what we cannot have, for what we really hope for is justice. Human nature craves justice, and deplores its absence, even though it is only a creation of our minds, and has no real existence other than as a human quality, or judgment. The universe is completely indifferent to such ideas, and will not act in any fashion to either support, or deny, any such concepts. It is only by human intervention does justice, and fairness, occur, and people need to understand this more clearly than they do. So many people expect the world to be fair, when it is merely a human desire to force the universe to meet our wishes that fairness exists at all. Mama Nature just doesn’t give a shit…. and that is a fact, a natural law, not subject to either debate or change….

So, it behooves us all to, a) stop using words like behooves, grand as it is…. and b) quit being a pack of idiots, when it comes to expecting reality to fit our notions of what it should be. It just isn’t going to happen, and hoping and wishing is NOT going to turn the tide in your favor, no sir…… not even a little bit. We may as well get used to it, and get over it….

Well, that was certainly a rude awakening…. so to speak. The previous three paragraphs were apparently sitting in there, just panting to get out and onto the screen, as they just flowed out, first thing after sitting down this morning…. That is a good thing, omen-wise, but a bit of a facer for me to realize how unconscious this whole process really is sometimes…. Ah well, going with the flow is the ONLY way to fly, or float, as the case may be….. Shall we Pearl?…..

“I’m not paranoid – just a student of history.” — Smart Bee
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“I am patient with stupidity but not with those who are proud of it.” — Edith Sitwell

Well, there you go….. that about sums it up perfectly, don’t you think? I do…. I’ve also heard it said that stupidity has a certain charm, but deliberate stupidity is boring and without redeeming value. I can agree with both of these strongly, as they are congruent with my own feelings on the subject, which I’ve developed over too many years of dealing with said condition. It’s a sad state, but not always a choice, so some slack has to be given. And will be, always, up until that slack is taken up with manipulative intent, or with just plain laziness, either of which will earn my immediate disdain, followed closely by an appropriate response, with my own self providing the parameters for appropriate….

“Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.” — Albert Einstein

I also hold this to be true, which is why I feel justified in my former statements. I try not to judge people too harshly, especially if they are challenged by holding more than one opposing idea at once without yielding to belief without evidence, or at least suspending belief until more data is collected. Now, that may sound a bit elitist, but not if you consider that I hold myself to the same standards, and in fact, find myself shipwrecked a lot, with the echo of laughter ringing in my ears….. and from these life lessons, I’ve tried to learn. Not learning, by choice, is what I object to in folks who otherwise are capable of doing so, when not learning causes harm to others, or themselves, or the universe at large. Which it does. A lot….

yOU HAve OfFIcialLY eNTereD tHe PRepoStERous ZonE. — Smart Bee

This is how I often feel, especially after cruising Facebook of late, and seeing some of the sheer ignorance that passes for conservative conversation of late. I’ll see a posting from someone who normally seems to have a brain cell or two that work together on occasion, a posting that, usually, repeats one of Romney’s lies or distortions about Obama (such as the birther nonsense, or blaming the lack of jobs on him, when it is the Republican Congress that has blocked any jobs reform laws 104 times in the last two years, while coincidentally voting FOR increases in military spending for wars we no longer are pursuing…..). I don’t bother to comment on these posts; it only encourages them, but it saddens me to see just how ignorance can be passed on so easily….

“A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.” — William James

In fact, this sort of rearrangement is what the people of whom I just spoke are engaged in when they post those lies from their bigoted, racist hero, the Great White Hope, who shall save all the white Christians from the big bad black man with the silver tongue…. They are so caught up in their fears that they don’t even realize, and would never admit, their racism and bigotry…. In fact, their usual reaction to such accusations is to accuse their detractors in turn, calling them unpatriotic, or traitors, other such supposedly derogatory terms….. I don’t know about y’all, but it always makes me feel pretty good to have one of them call me a name, as it means that what I’ve said got through to them, and stimulated a response, even if it is only a defensive one….

“The sky is not less blue because a blind man does not see it.” — Danish Proverb

Nor does a lie become the truth by repetition, despite what the Republican Party, or the Democrats, for that matter, would have us believe. I am thoroughly convinced that the beloved ruling class of this country (and don’t even try to tell me there isn’t one….) truly believes they can tell the American public whatever they wish, and they will be believed, as long as they repeat it enough times…. Sadly, they have been proven correct, as millions upon millions of fearful people attach themselves to the candidate who promises to replace that which they fear with their own programs and policies…. no matter how destructive those policies will be to themselves…. Stupidity has become the greatest political tool of the twentieth, and now the twenty-first century, both in the candidate pool, and the voting public….

“Opinions founded on prejudice are always sustained with the greatest violence.” — Hebrew Proverb

Since we are using pearls from around the world, perhaps one might think that it does not apply to American politics; this would be a mistake, for American politics has evolved into its current state by mirroring what happens in the rest of the world. What, for example is the solution, according to the Republican Party’s platform, to the question of birth control, and/or overpopulation…. Why, denial, of course, of the root causes, and then let’s go blow up a Planned Parenthood building. This can be done after passing laws to take women’s healthcare issues away from women, and place it in the hands of misogynistic men…. How to handle terrorism? Why, let’s go bomb some more little brown people somewhere else in the world, sending some of our finest young people to sacrifice themselves at the altar of the Almighty Dollar while we are at it….

“Politicians are like diapers. They both need changing regularly and for the same reason.” — Smart Bee

If you can’t tell, I am getting a bit incensed…. which is not uncommon when I start in on the political scene as it currently is being played out. I’m going to end this rant here, as it is getting me somewhat worked up, and I’m quite emotional enough already, thanks very much…. I know, I know, I’m the one who started talking about a subject that I know will get me going…. but, it all needs to be said, ffolkes, and I’m the one to say it…. Get out there and vote…. I hope you will vote on the side of reason and tolerance, rather than siding with ignorance and fear, but, as long as you vote, at least you have the right to an opinion…. Try thinking…. it may hurt at first, but it will lessen, the more you keep at it….

“When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it.” — A.A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner

“Democracy, which is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder, and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequals alike.” — Plato, The Republic. Book VIII. 558
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Nothing bubbling up from my head’s hidden depths today, I’m afraid…. or perhaps that is relief?…. Any who, I need something to feed that part of me that craves verse, so, here is some…. Nash Hash….

Come On In, The Senility Is Fine

People live forever in Jacksonville and St. Petersburg and Tampa,
But you don’t have to live forever to become a grampa.
The entrance requirements for grampahood are comparatively mild,
You only have to live until your child has a child.
From that point on you start looking both ways over your shoulder,
Because sometimes you feel thirty years younger and sometimes thirty years older.
Now you begin to realize who it was that reached the height of imbecility,
It was whoever said that grandparents have all the fun and none of the responsibility.
This is the most enticing spiderwebs of a tarradiddle ever spun,
Because everybody would love to have a baby around who was no responsibility and lots of fun,
But I can think of no one but a mooncalf or a gaby
Who would trust their own child to raise a baby.
So you have to personally superintend your grandchild from diapers to pants and from bottle to spoon,
Because you know that your own child hasn’t sense enough to come in out of a typhoon.
You don’t have to live forever to become a grampa, but if you do want to live forever,
Don’t try to be clever; If you wish to reach the end of the trail with an uncut throat,
Don’t go around saying Quote I don’t mind being a grampa but I hate being married to a gramma Unquote.

— Ogden Nash
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“Become what you are.” — Buddha

How powerful is that? How deep is his understanding of human nature, and of our place in the scheme of things? There is none of this, “Do right, and you shall be rewarded”….. No “Do wrong, and you shall be punished.” No “The almighty God is a jealous God, and craves, nay, insists upon, your worship.” No “Send me money, and you will be saved!” Just, be yourself, just the way you are, and things will work out… Now, that’s MY kind of religion! If I had one, that is….

I’m not entirely certain that Buddhism meets ALL the requirements to be called a religion, anyway. It’s kinda relaxed about the whole thing, actually, not lending itself well to manipulative pressure on people to do or say any particular thing. Dogma seems to be lacking in their writings, and, in fact, seems to be assiduously avoided in all their efforts at educating people about what they believe. You won’t see any monks going door to door seeking converts, not in any traditional sense…. their way is more a matter of living the way they believe, and inviting others to watch, and join in if they wish…. but, if not, no worries, mate…..

Oh, I’m sure they end up with their share of bozos, but, in general, that is sort of self-limiting, as one of the basic tenets of the philosophy is that each person should undergo a constant state of self-examination, to determine if what they are doing is in harmony with the rest of the universe. This kind of introspection is not merely uncommon, it is often discouraged by more traditional religions, as introspection can lead to independent thinking, and gasp!, rejection of dogmatic, self-destructive religious laws. Can’t have the constituency thinking on their own, there’s no telling what they’ll discover…. and since control is what they are all about, thinking is heavily discouraged in most religious cults. “The Bible says God said it, I believe it, and that’s the end of it!” Brilliant logic, eh?….

Ah, me…. I’m such a curmudgeon, sometimes…. I start off in praise of Buddha, and end up ranting on fundies again…. It’s just so easy! I mean, they are the ones who insist on trying to stuff their insanity down everyone else’s throats, then complain that their rights are being denied because they have to listen to anyone else’s opinion on anything….. Frustrating, for those of us who bump neurons against each other regularly, to view the effects of long-term starvation on a human brain that has been denied truth for so long…. So, in the interests of tolerance, and fairness (which, as I amply stated above, is up to ALL of us to ensure….), I’ll let this die a natural death, before I start on anyone else…. There are just so many good targets out there, it is hard to resist sometimes….

“If I had my life to live over again, I’d be a plumber.” — Albert Einstein (You KNOW it’s a good pearl if it has Buddha and Albert to bookend it…. and in this case, though the Buddha is absolutely right, I’m with Albert…. Actually, if I think about it, and I can’t help doing so, what the Buddha said applies to plumbers just as well as to anyone, so…. go with the flow, as it were….)
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And in your dreams you can see yourself
As a prophet saving the world
The words from your lips
I just can’t believe you are such
A fool.
— Frank Zappa, “Oh No”.

No, I’m not such a fool, though I do enjoy spouting off words that, if heeded, could conceivably serve to work toward saving the world…. My dreams, however, don’t assume that as a foregone conclusion, so I’m safe from foolishness in this particular instance. I’m happy with the above, mostly; I cannot always make that claim….. 🙂 Ah well, So Be It…. I’m not in a space to worry about it, so this will be going out as is, when I can get down to the library…. Here’s hoping something herein has tickled your fancy, or stimulated a random thought…. that’s all we’re shooting for around here….. 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!

Fearful treasure lies buried here….

Posted on October 11, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
It was touch and go for a while, but I managed to make it through yesterday without committing homicide. I’m now about 39 hours from my last intake of nicotine, which doesn’t quite take me safely out of the red zone, but I can feel the urges to perform mayhem growing a bit weaker, as time passes this morning. Having coffee helps…. though it is no guarantee that violence won’t happen on the spur of the moment. I’m almost over the resentment, too, at having this forced on me…. There is a certain executive person who would be in grave danger, should she materialize anywhere in my vicinity, but, other than her, I think the gravest danger has passed for the general run of humanity…. for the time being, at least…..

Some days, people just get to me, and yesterday was one of those days. Everyone to whom I spoke seemed to be wearing their “dumb-ass” hat, and being “Lupe’d” didn’t help. (Being “Lupe’d” refers to being told that one would be called at a certain time, and then never hearing another word…. ever….. it includes being ignored, even avoided by not answering a phone, being treated with extreme disrespect, and it just pisses me off no end…..) Why do people say they will do one thing, then do the opposite? It makes no sense to me…..

Ah well, folks are folks, and ffolkes know better…. I guess I need to hang around more ffolkes than folks, and I’ll stand a better chance of making it through a day without feeling like biting someone, hard….. Since that makes perfect sense to me, I think I’ve probably been writing this blog too long….. NAH!! No way…. In fact, writing this blog is one of the few things that acts to counter all the crap that happens to me at Murphy’s behest, for the time being…. It will sure be nice when I have the wherewithal to give him the finger more often…. can’t afford to antagonize him right now, when he has all the resources, and I’m sitting up s___t creek without my paddle. But, things will change, yes they will…..

It will also be a good thing when most of my attention isn’t dragged down into mundane concerns all the damn time; it is harder and harder all the time to garner any enthusiasm for matters of principle, or honor and morality, or any other subject of note, when I am constantly concerned with figuring out how to stretch the supply of TP, or how to make something new and exciting out of rice and margarine….. It is also a pain having to listen to myself moan and complain about it all, but it seems to be something I can’t help….. it just ticks off my sense of justice so damn much! Then I remember that justice is blind….

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d be happy right now.” — Smart Bee

With all that crap now out, which is far better than in, we can turn to more serious affairs…. or at least, more interesting, I’m sure….. Shall we Pearl?…..

“As for cats being from this planet, I don’t think ANY of them are.” — Smart Bee
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There are times when it is good to just let one’s mind off the leash…. to allow it free rein, to follow our curiosity and imagination as far as it will take us…. I’ve been known to get so far away from reality, I had to drag myself back kicking and screaming….. I’m sure we’ve all felt that way at some point. If not, you should try it…. To aid in seeking out that part of you that wants to fly free, to soar into surreality, here are a few pearls that, followed closely, will challenge your intellect, and stimulate your imagination, for sure…. enjoy! …..

“A human being is a part of the whole, called by us Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest–a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole nature in its beauty.” — Albert Einstein

“…’fire’ does not matter, ‘earth’ and ‘air’ and ‘water’ do not matter. ‘I’ do not matter. No word matters. But man forgets reality and remembers words. The more words he remembers, the cleverer do his fellows esteem him. He looks upon the great transformations of the world, but he does not see them as they were seen when man looked upon reality for the first time. Their names come to his lips and he smiles as he tastes them, thinking he knows them in the naming.” — Siddartha, _Lord_of_Light_ by Roger Zelazny

“Ultimately what’s most lasting are those intimate moments that are so fleeting.Those magical, mystical moments where a man leaves himself and becomes one with another person. There is no witness except the person you shared it with– a woman, a child, another man. I think if you stacked all those tender moments head to head, if you get out of life with 27 minutes like that, you’re probably way ahead.”– Lee Marvin

And lastly, just for fun, here is a very old school pearl, from around 2005 or so, while I was still working at NSH; it has been excerpted and partially redacted to protect the guilty….

From “Moot or not, still a point”…..

So this morning’s offering has a simple lesson, so simple I won’t bother to point it out. The truth makes itself obvious….

“In any field of human endeavor, if something can go wrong, it will go wrong.”– Murphy’s Law

“For any human problem, there is one simple, elegant solution; and it is always wrong.”– Mencken’s Meta Law, H.L. Mencken

“Don’t worry, be happy!”– Meher Baba

Like I said, it’s all in the wrist… y’all take care out there…..
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I’m not sure what this means, completely, though I thought I did as I wrote it…. maybe, maybe not…. It’ll do, though, as it spits right in reality’s eye, in a nice way, sort of….. 🙂

Seeing is Conducive to Belief

Folly sits so comfortably upon my fevered brow
one would easily believe that I would know how
to look at Life with a jaded, weary eye
seeing enough, and more, to know Why.

Such seems the case, as I will it to be,
an open book of a face, it looks so like me;
what’s known to be so, needs no close attention
familiar sights require no minding, nor mention.

The eye is drawn at once to the stark and new,
and sent back to sleep by successful review.
Once we find evidence we feel we understand,
curiosity languishes, dismissed at command.

Ancient sages knew the insidious value of illusion,
preachers and pundits know the power of confusion.
Each pair of eyes contains its own point of reference,
each mind sets its own standards of preference.

Seeing is believing, for those who live in thrall,
accepting what is perceived is all they ever recall.
Unknown to them, reality follows another set of rules,
Deeper, more dangerous, and no place for fools.

~~ gigoid

“I do not distinguish by the eye, but by the mind, which is the proper judge of the man” — Seneca (8 BC) — On a Happy Life, 2, (L’Estrange’s Abstract, Chap, i.)
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I’ve set a new record…. I’ve searched for a new pearl for over five hours now, almost without pause, and still have nothing to show for all that effort…. I’ve had some distractions, and had to take a walk, but otherwise, have been diligently hoping inspiration would be found somewhere…. Nope. Nope….. Nope…..

Fortunately, it is only one pearl, as I had two already done, one a not too shabby poem, so I’m going to go to make an unprecedented decision, and put this one away…. that is, skip it…. If the damn thing doesn’t want to get written THAT badly, well, I guess I just won’t write it…. So there!…. Silly damn oysters tend to think they have me over a barrel here…. that’ll show ’em…..
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Hmm…. now the challenge will be to get this published today….. It will have to be a library run, after the game. Life is getting more complicated and difficult, and that just isn’t fair…. but, I am old enough not to expect fair….. Plugging away here, boss…. 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!

Complex moods, painted in plaid….

Posted on October 10, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Blast! And Damn! Damn and blast this fucking PTSD! I am so fucking tired of weeping, virtually at the drop of a hat, or, as is the case today, upon awaking and arising…. and no fucking reason at all! I’m just sitting here, sipping coffee, and my bloody emotions decide it is time to start leaking tears, just because the world isn’t perfect, or something. I don’t even know why I am sitting here in emotional distress, sobbing as if my dog died…. again.

All I know is my nose and sinuses are now full of fluid, which insists on rudely leaking from every orifice in my head, except the ears….. Who decides this stuff? Why does this happen to me? I’m a patient man, mostly, but I’m really tired of having my own psyche ambush me like this, without any clue as to why….

Oh, things are stressful, to be sure. It’s tough not to be when one lives so close to the edge of real poverty, but, for the moment, it is not an urgent issue, and I don’t see why my unconscious would be punishing me over that; the bills are paid, and I have food for a while, so it shouldn’t be a panic button state of affairs. Nor am I particularly suffering from social withdrawal…. I speak with my neighbors, and with the folks downtown at the coffee & Wi-fi spot, so I’m not completely without social interaction, all fairly comfortably….. with only the one neighbor acting like an childish ass, and his answer to the situation is to avoid me, so, no worries there…. No, I can’t figure out why I am in tears, and it is getting to be quite annoying, to say the least…..

“I was sane once… didn’t like it.” — Smart Bee

Maybe I’m feeling sorry for myself a bit…. because of lack of funding, I’m looking at quitting smoking, by force rather than choice. I can’t justify buying smokes when I don’t have enough food; that’s plain stupid….. but, I’ve been smoking tobacco for 46 years now, and perhaps my unconscious mind is punishing me in advance for having to quit when I don’t really want to do so. It’s possible, but if it is the case, then I am just as disappointed, because it’s a pretty childish way to treat my own self….. I had hoped that, at almost 62 years old, I’d have grown out of that sort of payback, at least against myself…..

Or, I suppose it could be the disappointment I feel at a friend’s decision, to get back together with a person who is not good for them. I always hate to see a friend waste their time with someone who doesn’t treat them well; I feel the pain right along with them. And, it is not good to say anything to them…. that isn’t a friend’s place, either, unless it can help.

But, I’ve said my piece, and assured them I’m won’t stop being a friend, even though it hurts to watch them let someone else hurt them…. so there is little I can do there, beyond what I’ve done….. except hope that soon they will realize how much better off they are without that other fool, and leave them where they should be, in the past….

Ah well, Life goes on, and all our efforts to make it the way we want it are irrelevant in the end; the universe will do what it will do, and people will make their decisions, even if they don’t make sense to us….. and we just have to live with it…. I just wish my own emotions weren’t so vulnerable to what is going on; it would be nice to not feel this down, without knowing the reason why, and having to guess…. SIGH…. one would think that at 62, I’d have a better handle on things, wouldn’t one?……

“Deem not life a thing of consequence. For look at the yawning void of the future, and at that other limitless space, the past.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, iv, 50

This leaves me with no choice but to go pearling….. it seems to be the only activity of late that keeps me from falling into the pits of despair, without a rope to pull myself out. So, having whined and complained my way through damn near six paragraphs of an intro, Shall we Pearl?…..

“Philosophizing is difficult, but not philosophizing is more difficult still.” — Eberhard Rogge
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“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

I’ve passed over this pearl numerous times, knowing it would eventually become relevant somehow to Reality as we know it… or, at least as it is reported by Fox News and the other corporate news sources (if such can be termed ‘sources’, as that usually implies that one may obtain something useful from accessing them…). The recent news from both sides of the information wars currently being perpetrated on our unwilling and unappreciative attention has been living up to this quote ever since the mash-up leading into the debates…..

Everyone writing for the public seems to be rushing around like the proverbial headless yard birds, and my tolerance for the amount of BS being flung about is getting pretty thin. It is indeed a fortunate thing, for me, and for them, that none of the principal protagonists in this dramaturgy (defined as regurgitating drama, repeatedly…) have ever come face to face with me, for I don’t think I could predict my reaction with any degree of certainty.

That which I could predict, would be that I would react negatively, if for no other reason than their presence is an affront to my sensibilities, and upsetting to my serenity. Assholes, the lot of them…. Sorry, but I spent many years trying to treat sociopaths, and it’s dirty, nasty business, because they don’t WANT to change. They are narcissistic, viciously vindictive, manipulative creatures, and I’ve had my fill of them, both in my work, and in being forced to watch the ones who are vying for the keys to the national treasury….

Don’t misunderstand me… I’ll be voting on November 6, and I’ll be voting my conscience. You can decide for yourself what you believe that to be, knowing that I’ll choose reason over ignorance every time. But, I don’t trust ANY of them, fully, because I don’t trust anyone who would wish to have that much power over others, no matter how pure their motives may be; just wanting the job is insane, in my book. So, I’ll vote, and hope that enough others have chosen as I have, so I don’t have to spend as much of my upcoming income on guns, right away, at least…. Should the forces of darkness hold sway, then I’ll be stocking up ASAP…. Just sayin’….. I was a scout, and I try to be prepared…..

“A competent and self-confident person is incapable of jealousy in anything. Jealousy is invariably a symptom of neurotic insecurity.” — Robert Heinlein

Nearly four years ago, when the incumbent President was newly elected, one of the opposing party’s leading pundits made a very telling statement…. He said that his party had decided that their single primary focus for the next four years was to ensure that the new President was a one-term President. This national party, supposedly representative of the common American, made no bones about forgetting all about working for the common good, in favor of disrupting any possibility of making progress over the next four years, just because they lost the election. They have lived up to this, blocking all legislation from the White House attempting to improve the lot of the middle class, seniors, and the poor, with their negative efforts eventually culminating in the selection of a candidate to oppose the President who has repeatedly lied to the public for the last 20 years, and continues to do so on a daily basis.

“I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends…that if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them.” — Adlai Stevenson

Now, to me, all of that sounds much like how a six year old would react at the news of a new baby brother or sister, fearing that his mother would love the baby more, i.e. jealous insecurity, in its most obvious form. It certainly doesn’t sound like the kind of illogic and insecurity that I want in the people who hold the national purse strings, and the keys to Armageddon in their sweaty little hands…. especially since I know they don’t care a whit about anyone other than themselves, as shown on TV every day, on both sides of the issues. Assholes, the lot of them…. oh, sorry, repeating myself….

“The trouble with this country is that there are too many politicians who believe, with a conviction based on experience, that you can fool all of the people all of the time.” — Franklin P. Adams

This election campaign is strong evidence in support of this idea…. We have one candidate who, all by himself, has become, by actual count, the all-time first place liar of all presidential candidates to ever toss their hat in the ring. Yep, from day one of his campaign in the primary elections, when he started the tax return lies, and the flip-flops on his past record, to the recent debate, where independent fact-checkers tallied 27 outright lies in 38 minutes, and he established a new record (though, it should be pointed out, he broke a record he already held….), the Republican candidate has proved to be a consummate liar, smiling his way through every denial of truth.

“A lie can travel halfway round the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” — Mark Twain

Yet some polls indicate many millions of Americans believe all of his perversions of the facts, and intend to vote for him…. Of course, these are the same folks who believe that global warming is a myth, creationism and a 5000 year human history are truth, as well as Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the tooth fairy. Sorry… SIGH….couldn’t help myself… It is so discouraging to realize just how many ignorant people there are in this country, especially when I hear of women who support this man and his party’s policies, which counts them as nothing more than chattels, owned by men, with no rights at all regarding how their own bodies are to be considered….. These guys would take away the vote for women, if they could….. and that isn’t a random accusation, I’ve seen them indicate as much in print….

Hell, I can’t stop myself, this just outrages me so……. The VP candidate on the Republican ticket is ON RECORD as being in favor of legislation that would make it a jailing offense for a woman to get pregnant when not married, as well as favoring a law that would make it illegal to have an abortion in cases of incestuous rape, or any other rape…. Don’t take my word for it, look it up…. it’s on public record, ffolkes….. and folks…. He is one sick fuck, trust me…. misogynistic and deathly afraid of women, and their sexuality…..

And…. if anyone should think that these remarks are harsh or libelous, well, I refer you back to the First Amendment to the US Constitution…. and would also advise you to examine the evidence as presented for truth…. It is only libelous if untrue, and I defy any competent psychiatrist to challenge my assertions as to the man’s fear of women, after examining him…. But, then, he has already said all of this on public record, so…..

“I contemplate with sovereign reverence the act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between church and state.” — Thomas Jefferson, to the Danbury (Connecticut) Baptist Association in 1802

Yesterday, I saw again some ignorant conservative posting the newest version of the Pledge of Allegiance on FB…. you know, the one where they inserted “under God” back in the 1950’s, during the Red Scare, and McCarthyism’s reign in Congress. This person posted it with a shouted invitation to join in with the crowd of uneducated masses, and lend their name in support of making this country an armed religious compound for white Christians, rather than a melting pot of diversity…. implying that anyone who didn’t Like and Share it was NOT an American…. Well, no, wait….. now that I recall, it wasn’t implied, it was stated outright….. oops, their bad….

I didn’t bother to comment, though I was sorely tempted to remind them of one simple fact; that kind of thinking was EXACTLY what our forefathers were attempting to avoid when writing the Constitution, as so clearly stated above by TJ…. Unfortunately, I never remember to file this piece from Tom Jefferson where I can find it quickly, so I just let it go.

But, that kind of idiocy, essentially, puts me in a rage, and it is a good thing that social networking is a virtual event… If it were actually live, and face to face, I’d have to slap that person….. Just to get their attention, mind you…. I know they will never change their spots, as they are completely resistant to reason, having obviously been in denial of reality for a long time….

Ah, c’est bon! C’est la vie…. Once again, I’ve talked meself into a corner, from which extraction in a graceful manner could conceivably get ugly. Therefore, I’m going to leave this treatise where it is…. Political tom foolery and nonsense is, as you know by now, a favorite subject of discussion here at Exploring Consensual Reality, and I’ll no doubt return to this fascinating discourse at a later date….

I’m a bit proud that I’ve managed to be so fair-minded today, at least in the sense of not naming names…. they’re all pundits, aren’t they? Some are merely the lesser of two evils…. As such they will get my vote, but never my complete trust…. The others, against whom I vote, and of whom I’ve spoken herein, can kiss my rosy ass, because it would be better for them than meeting me in person, and paying the ultimate price for their ignorance…. Exposure and embarrassment, followed, if I can swing it, by letting Reality pronounce, and carry out, the mandatory sentence for the crime of stupidity, and denial of the laws of the universe…..

“If only there were evil people somewhere, insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?” — Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Hmm…. something about which to think, carefully, wouldn’t you say?……
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“But groundless hope, like unconditional love, is the only kind worth having.” — EFF co-founder John Perry Barlow, “Cynthia Horner’s Eulogy”, Apr. 1994

Unsolicited Gratitude

Fear becomes familiar when reality bodes us ill
pain assumes first position, no matter our will.
Powerless, we founder, no strength to prevail
anguished and afraid, against unwanted Fate we rail.

Still a grain of hope deep inside, hidden well against need
gives us reason to survive, our starving souls to feed.
Failure of courage burdens time, of being bested,
until our souls, in submission, become foully infested.

Bitter tears wash through us each day, with little care,
no thought, no feeling, no wish, or need to be fair.
Rendered clueless, confusion falls upon us, as prey,
we surrender a piece of our soul, little as we may.

Yet, always, a bright beam of hope is seen from afar,
no matter how dreary, or dark, it may seem where we are.
None knows, nor would consent to tell, it seems
from whence it hails, or why it so brightly gleams.

Saving our sanity, absolving our unwanted fears,
dispelling the myths and lies that come with the years.
Each man has known the precious gift that hope may give
And gives glad thanks, as long as he may live.

~~ gigoid
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SATIRE, n. An obsolete kind of literary composition in which the vices and follies of the author’s enemies were expounded with imperfect tenderness. In this country satire never had more than a sickly and uncertain existence, for the soul of it is wit, wherein we are dolefully deficient, the humor that we mistake for it, like all humor, being tolerant and sympathetic. Moreover, although Americans are “endowed by their Creator” with abundant vice and folly, it is not generally known that these are reprehensible qualities, wherefore the satirist is popularly regarded as a soul-spirited knave, and his every victim’s outcry for co-defendants evokes a national assent.

Hail Satire! be thy praises ever sung
In the dead language of a mummy’s tongue,
For thou thyself art dead, and damned as well —
Thy spirit (usefully employed) in Hell.
Had it been such as consecrates the Bible
Thou hadst not perished by the law of libel. — Barney Stims

— Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

This really doesn’t need any comments from me; it pretty well states its case unequivocally, with great clarity and charm. So, since I went a bit overboard above in the first section, I’ll let this stand alone, as a paean to perhaps my favorite, as well as one of my most trusted, tools for poking at the universe in all its glory and shame (most of the glory is the universe’s; most of the shame is ours, I’m sorry to say…..). Besides, good prose, and good poetry all in one pearl…. what more can a peruaosopher (one who loves and studies pearls….) hope for?
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Having forgotten to go over this at home, it will have to do, however it came out. I’ll proof, of course, but that doesn’t give a view of the big picture…. My impression is there are a lot of words today…. 🙂 I know, a bit dim, duh! But, I’m going to trust my instincts, and let it fly without any censoring on my part, other than spelling and grammar issues…. I’ll take the heat later….. I hope all is well for all of you out there in the Big Blue Room….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!

Evolution is charged prix fixe….

Posted on October 9, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
It’s a long road to Tipperary, so it is said…. It is certainly taking me long enough to get there. Of course, I’ve been somewhere near there every night, it seems, in dreams, but it just isn’t the same. I’m guessing that the fact that traveling to Ireland is so much on my mind has to do with wanting so badly to be able to do so, or, for that matter, to be able to travel ANYWHERE!….. I’m going stir crazy sitting here in one place for so long. I’ve traveled enough in my life to know that it is perhaps my greatest joy, if one doesn’t count my children, or love. Take those out of the calculation, and it wins, hands down, as my absolute favorite thing to do…. and don’t even go there…. I know what you’re thinking, but this is a family blog, and children will read it (hopefully….)….. So, pull your mind out of the gutter, and we’ll go on…. 🙂

No doubt, this is related to the fact that I love to learn, and travel is by far the best way to do that, right in front of, or perhaps next to, a good book. Meeting new people, seeing new lands, experiencing new cultures, all are sheer ambrosia to my mind, and I can barely contain my desire to be off whenever I think of it….. But, until Social Security decides to get off their collective ass and award me the money I have in their bank, that I’ve been pouring in there for damn near 50 years, I’m stuck here in Vallejo, scraping for food each month, and not enough to even go to the City, much less to Oregon to see my friend, or even Sonoma to see my kids, a half-hour away… it is indeed a pisser, to borrow a mild word from the darker side of today’s street culture…..

End of whine for one day…. even I get tired of it….. Plus, I can always tell when I’m short on material, as I start writing about personal stuff…. it’s the egotist in me, I suppose, or an outgrowth of the blog state of mind. Whatever it may be, it is a bit embarrassing, so I’ll take myself off into a different subject area, and leave the personal behind for now. I’m sure there must be SOMETHING to write about…. A dive for pearls should take care of things….. Shall we Pearl?….

(Even if I don’t agree with Henry David about traveling, and I don’t….. what he says here is true, but only as far as he takes it…. I’ve always thought that he would have been a lot better philosopher, and a happier guy, if he had just gotten away from home now and then, and compared his own thoughts to what he saw in the world…. But, his own ego either could not stand the comparison, or was delusional in believing itself to be superior, just because he held it apart like he did….. He sure did have a way with words, though…..)

“Nay, be a Columbus to whole new continents and worlds within you, opening new channels, not of trade, but of thought.” – Henry David Thoreau, “Walden, Ch. 18 Conclusion”
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Naturally, the first pearl in this morning’s dive that I come across stimulates a cascade of memories, all personal…. let’s see where it takes us…..

the average person is average
the common people is common
the straight people is straight
you gone be the crooked weird
rare intelligent bird creep type
that what you gone be, honey
— A. R. Ammons

I’ve never heard or seen this before, but it perfectly describes how I felt a lot of the time when I was a kid, from my first year in school. I guess I wasn’t supposed to learn to read before I started…. But, I had, so they were stuck with me. Besides, there I was, and there all those books were, and there was no way they were going to get me away from the library, once I had discovered it. I distinctly remember the thrill when I checked out a book for the first time….

Any who, that little idiosyncrasy sort of set the tone for the rest of my life, in many ways, so I’ve learned to be pretty flexible when dealing with people, as there are so many different reactions I encounter to my oddities (I won’t bore you with an extensive list; trust me, there are enough to cause talk….). I am somewhat aided in that I really do like people, in general, and individually. It is mostly when they are acting as a group that my issues with standards of behavior arise, so as long as I don’t get into crowds too often, nobody suffers….. 🙂

Of course, it must be understood, when I say I like people as a rule, we are not talking here at all about either politicians, or preachers; as you know, to me, they belong to an entirely different segment of humanity, separate from the rest of us, and subject to separate standards of behavioral expectations…. the assholes…. but, I digress….

I’m strange, I admit it. I also admit that I enjoy it, and actively pursue ways to augment that strangeness, making it, hopefully, as much of an attraction as it is a shield, or barrier, to others. Being an odd duck doesn’t preclude having the same need as other folks, and ffolkes…. i.e., the need for approval from our society’s other members…. it just makes that need a bit harder to fulfill at times. But, one can cultivate and express eccentricity without engendering fear, and that is my goal…. I don’t want to scare babies, I just don’t want to be a clone of anyone else….. thus becoming predictable, God forbid!

(Is it legal for me to say that? I don’t know for sure, maybe it is, maybe not…. I know Church and State are still theoretically separate, but there may be areas of overlap, as occur so frequently when the idiots in Washington, and/or Sacramento, decide they want to take another shot at legislating morality…. I am merely unsure whether it is currently allowed by statute for us atheistic, agnostic, doubting Thomas types to use such epithets, as used by the devout…. I know it creates an issue of irony, or perhaps, sardonicism, or even, GASP!, unintentionally congruent plagiarism, but to my knowledge, there are still no laws against those. But, you never know, in these days leading up to the world’s demise, anything can happen…..)

Now that I’ve most likely lost everyone, or at least confused them…. including myself….. I just wanted to say a few things about being ‘the crooked weird rare intelligent bird creep type’ (I’m not sure I like the ‘creep’ part; the rest is very cool….)…. because it is a role I’ve always embraced with enthusiasm. I’ve never seen any point in being Normal; the further one gets from Normal, the more odd Normal becomes, as it is dragged, willy-nilly, in the direction of each extreme, by each person who goes there…. that is what makes it ‘Normal’, you see? So, I’m just doing all I can to make sure ‘Normal’ is constantly in flux, and doesn’t, in and of, and all by itself, become too predictable….. This is not to imply that Reality really needs my help, but, I try to go with the flow, know what I mean?…..

“Normativity (sic… but I like it…) is like a brown paper bag — you never know what’s inside. It could be apple pie or a ticking time bomb. Give me a world with colorful packaging so I can glimpse the contents inside.” — Callan Williams
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For two or three days now, I’ve felt a poem percolating somewhere in the dark regions of my head, but it doesn’t seem to be ready yet for me to open up a vein and let it out, and nothing else is floating up to the surface that I have been able to put into anything that passes my crap detector…. So, you’ll have to settle for someone else…. since I’m sitting at home, I don’t yet know who that might be, as it could change by the time I get access to Google and the Net. Whoever it is, I’ll try to keep it within the parameters of today’s apparent theme of the Strange, and avoiding the Normal….. maybe some Ogden Nash, he’s the prototype for that…. Enjoy!…..

A Caution To Everybody

Consider the auk;
Becoming extinct because he forgot how to fly, and could only walk.
Consider man, who may well become extinct
Because he forgot how to walk and learned how to fly before he thinked.

Ogden Nash

Perfect!
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In keeping with today’s theme, as it evolved, I offer these pearls…. each is, of course, a stand-alone thought, but I let my whimsy dictate which would go well together to further demonstrate my devotion to illogic and it’s concomitant companion, crooked reasoning…. which, crooked though it may be, still has a direct link to Reality…. especially in today’s society, which goes much further than I have ever gone down the path to Strange….

“No matter how much cynicism you have, it is never enough to keep up.” — Lily Tomlin

“But a short time elapsed after the death of the great reformer of the Jewish religion, before his principles were departed from by those who professed to be his special servants, and perverted into an engine for enslaving mankind, and aggrandizing their oppressors in Church and State.” — Thomas Jefferson, [letter?] To S. Kercheval, 1810

“The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible.” — Bertrand Russell, Marriage and Morals

“Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” — Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

“The late rebellion in Massachusetts has given more alarm than I think it should have done. Calculate that one rebellion in 13 states in the course of 11 years, is but one for each state in a century and a half. No country should be so long without one.” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), in letter to James Madison, 20 December 1787

‘But he hasn’t got any clothes on,’ a little boy said. — from The Emperor’s New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen

“Remember that man’s life lies all within this present, as ‘t were but a hair’s-breadth of time; as for the rest, the past is gone, the future yet unseen. Short, therefore, is man’s life, and narrow is the corner of the earth wherein he dwells.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, iii, 10

Well, there you go…. If you can’t make heads or tails of it, don’t sweat it. None of it will be on the Quiz….. But, if you let your mind drift as you consider the parts of the pearl as a whole concept, you just might find that you’ve hit upon a very deep, very ancient, immensely valuable insight into not only the nature of Man, but your own nature as well…. and if not, well, have some chocolate, and you can at least feel the same way…..
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All things considered, this Pearl achieved a certain degree of salvation…. Perhaps because the subject matter morphed into one of my favorite areas of discourse, i.e. the world’s propensity to encourage odd ducks, as a balancing factor in the overall Reality of human nature. Or, perhaps because the coffee kicked in, and my brain caught up to…. well, never mind, it wasn’t that, obviously…… I discover, as I type, that I’m still a bit behind…. That’s okay, I’m used to being out of step, so all is well. It must be, because 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

Kowabunga!

No Humans Involved

Posted on October 8, 2012 by gigoid

Again, Ms. Mott speaks up about the plague of terror perpetrated on women by society, with truth and courage….

Rebecca Mott

“No Human Involved” is written down by some American police forces when any prostitute is found murdered. It is a clear statement of contempt, a clear policy of lock of interest.

It is a clear picture of what is to be prostituted, it is a clear snap-shot of how the prostituted are made sub-human in life and if killed made into nothing.

The rapes, the bashings, the torturing, the mental hate and the endless murders of the prostituted are nothing – can be made invisible or cleared away.

Recently, in England there has been great concern about sexual violence to girls and some women.

There has been the Rochdale case, a typical case of grooming girls and teenage women into prostitution. There has been deep concern over men in the entertainment business sexually abusing non-prostituted teenage women.

What is interesting and depressing for me – is how there is an…

View original post 452 more words

Nights lost at the behest of Morpheus….

Posted on October 8, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Turning, tossing, chasing pertinent dreams down echoing hallways in my mind. Finding, time over time, a new vision, drawing me close with promises of passionate engagement, and warm, welcoming eyes. Such longing for intimacy cannot be denied, nor lost to inner sight, yet knowing it all a dream, the pain of never meeting flesh to flesh is mellowed and set aside. Feelings burgeon into deeply held belief, carnivals and lights, and moments of quiet smiles, then turn to fear of loss. As the visions fade, in the harsher light of day, melancholy regrets set forth, scattering thoughts into disarray. All that remains to treasure is the memories grasped so tight, and hope to meet again, waiting in dreams again tonight….

Now I know…. poetry is the way for me to go these days, when I’m gripped with a vision…. I kept trying for prose in the above paragraph, and you can see that no matter where I took it, it kept falling into rhymes, without apparent volition on my part; I didn’t notice until I was almost done with it. This one is perhaps a bit sappy to warrant re-doing as a poem, and it seems a bit silly anyway….. Writing down one’s dreams may have worked for Coleridge, but I’ve never found my dreams to be particularly compelling when I look at them in the light of day…. Oh, they’re nice at times, I admit, but the unconscious mind is NOT discriminating, and often lacks smoothness, or elegance, other than as a vague promise, to my way of thinking. As the unconscious, it doesn’t get a lot of practice dealing directly with the real world, and tends to be a bit naive in that respect…. It makes the women I meet in my dreams quite beautiful, but not terribly realistic in other ways…..

Plus, I’m a bit disappointed, as the dream was not compelling enough, quite, to keep me asleep. Here ’tis, six o’clock in the morning, and I’m wide awake, after a night of particularly light sleep, haunted by this dream, and now up early, with gritty eyes, a stiff, sore back, and a lingering sense of melancholic regret that the girl I dreamed of is not real…. at least, not that I know of, yet. One is allowed to be hopeful, after all…. But, once again, here I am, filling in the intro section with blabbering nonsense about nothing much at all….

I suppose this means that, since I’m not going back to bed just now, I should probably go diving for pearls…. I didn’t write at all last night ( I got busy reading, and listening to the Cardinals pound on the Giants, whose offense has gone South. I thought it might, as they clinched their Division way too early, and had time to lose their momentum, and their fighting edge. Now they will have to really want it bad, in order to take three games in a row in Cincinnati, a feat which I’m not sure has been done in the playoffs as yet. SIGH…. there go the dreams of a Bay Bridge Series this year…..)

On that sad note….. Shall we Pearl?…..
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“You say you’re supposed to be nice to the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists and this, that, and the other thing. Nonsense. I don’t have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist.” — Pat Robertson, The 700 Club, January 14, 1991

So, I count at least three major flaws in this guy’s reasoning, not to mention the most obvious piece of asininity, there at the end. I always knew that the TV evangelists were stupid and greedy, but I never took the time to really look at what they said very much…. It generally caused a severe case of mental indigestion if I listened to it for more than a few seconds. This was short enough for me to get down in one quick bite….. and it just went to prove what I had previously believed about them….

These are the men who give Christianity a bad name, the most avaricious, lying, cheating, dishonest, and woman-hating men I have ever seen. Every one of them is the same, as far as I can see; it takes a special kind of asshole to get involved in evangelism…. You’ve got to be not merely greedy, but frankly and clearly so. You’ve got to have a sense of entitlement and conviction of your own rightness as to make Jesus himself blush. You have to hate women, and mistrust men. And, you have to have enough chutzpah to take your act on TV, for all to see….

“I see little divinity about them or you. You talk to me of Christianity when you are in the act of hanging your enemies. Was there ever such blasphemous nonsense!” — George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), The Devil’s Disciple

Oh, and I forgot, you have to have a good sense of the odds of human nature, which, unfortunately, most of them have….. What I mean by this is, they know that, yes, 90% or so of the public will mock them, or ignore them, or some combination of the two. But, the other 10% are stupid enough to fall for the crap they are handing out, which includes sending them money.

Let’s do the math…. If only 50,000,000 people form the statistical universe in question, then 10% is 50,000 of them. If each of them is persuaded to send in $10, the take is $500,000. If the average donation goes up to $25, or the base number of donors goes over 50,000, then that number rises significantly. Do that 200 days a year, and we’re talking about some serious money, ffolkes…..

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” — Romans 12:1 (One of Pat’s favorite scriptures, as it is easily twisted to support his story…..)

Personally, I’ve always been leery of sending my money off to anybody in the mail; even paying bills that way seems risky to me. How do I know the mail-person is trustworthy? How do I know if the mail system is really sending things where they are supposed to go. One seldom actually receives verification, unless asked for, and even then, are they telling the truth? And, if so, how do you know? In my experience, people lie for their own benefit just as often as they act with honesty and integrity; perhaps the odds are worse than that…..

Then, to send it off to someone who tells me that by doing so I am both enabling and promoting their work (which is making money….. though they will tell you different….) and ensuring my own place in Heaven, at God’s right hand…. it just doesn’t sit right. We are supposed to swallow all that, without sugar, and without any guarantees, other than their word….. And, if you have a mind that can believe that, I have a wonderful opportunity for you in a bridge…. cash only, no checks…..

IDIOT, n. A member of a large and powerful tribe whose influence in human affairs has always been dominant and controlling. The Idiot’s activity is not confined to any special field of thought or action, but “pervades and regulates the whole.” He has the last word in everything; his decision is unappealable. He sets the fashions and opinion of taste, dictates the limitations of speech and circumscribes conduct with a dead-line. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

These worst type of preachers are not even liked or respected by other preachers…. for much the same reasons as demonstrated above in Mr. Robertson’s egregious claim. He, and most of the other televangelists, commonly say things such as this, implying that all other religions are works of the Devil, or the Antichrist, and should be crucified for their beliefs. So, not only do they steal from their constituents, but from other religions as well, trying to lure away their congregations in favor of their own.

This serves to create even more schisms between Christian sects, or cults, as I call them…. as well as being divisive to the entire public arena, as they typically include not just other Christians in their portrayals of others as enemies of their sect, but also any other religion, atheists, politicians who try to regulate them, judges who rule against them, and anyone else who has the temerity to challenge their sense of entitlement…..

“Imagine the Creator as a low comedian, and at once the world becomes explicable.” — H. L. Mencken (1880-1956)

Yet, people watch them on TV, and send them money, just as if they could actually buy their way into Heaven…. which again serves to act as proof of Robert Heinlein’s observational admonition, “Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.” These assholes take advantage of the vulnerable, and the stupid, and the weak-willed among us, and they do so legally, since they make enough to buy good lawyers to protect them from litigation, and enough to buy honest politicians (who STAY bought once paid for….)….

To my mind, I think this is taking religious freedom just a little too far, and I wouldn’t mind a return to older days, when shooting them wasn’t viewed as a crime, but rather as public trash removal….. But, that’s me…. I’m a bit of a curmudgeon, but with compassion, and I don’t like to see the stupid taken advantage of like that….

“Every day, people are straying away from the church and going back to God.” — Lenny Bruce
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Our share of night to bear,
Our share of morning,
Our blank in bliss to fill,
Our blank in scorning.

Here a star, and there a star,
Some lose their way.
Here a mist, and there a mist,
Afterwards – day!

~~ Emily Dickinson
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Sometimes, inspiration can be elusive…. in such dark moments, I generally turn to Art, with a bit of wily text thrown in (both of these pix were found on either WordPress, or Facebook, forgot to write down which from where)…. Here are three pearls, two a combination of visual and textual wisdom, and one quote from Kwang-tzu, a Taoist scholar…. Together they make a fine pearl, with wit, and wisdom, solid and true, and worthy of consideration…. enjoy!….A selection from the Taoist Writings: Lao-Tan asked Confucius: `What do you mean by benevolence and righteousness?’ Confucius said: `To be in one’s inmost heart in kindly sympathy with all things; to love all men and allow no selfish thoughts: this is the nature of benevolence and righteousness.’ — Kwang-tzu

“And that’s the Truth…. Thpppt!” — Lily Tomlin
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As you may have guessed, today’s Pearl is the result of lack of sleep, lack of inspiration, and lack of compensatory drugs…. take that as you will. I try to make it worthwhile on these types of days, by including a poem known to history as a good one, so if nothing else, you have a small portion of palatable material on which to chew. Nevertheless, I always feel compelled to apologize for being lazy, even though, as a retiree, it is allowed. Or, if not allowed, at least tolerated….. As a practicing curmudgeon, I don’t really give a shit; it’s done, and that will have to do….. Not really, ffolkes, that’s a joke… a cheap one, I admit, but that is the theme today, so, deal with it…. Not that the material provided is cheap… it’s all certifiably genuine virtual wisdom…. Ah, hell, just go with the flow….. 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!

Uncertain signs of capitulation….

Posted on October 7, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Well, I’ll tell ya…. there is nothing quite like being shot from sleep into instant wakefulness by a leg cramp. It’s not too pleasant, either, to spend the first couple moments of that wakefulness screaming in pain while trying to ease off the cramp. Fortunately, it was in the calf, rather than the thigh. I don’t know if I could stand a thigh cramp…. how do you get it to stop? With the calf, you can grab the toes and pull up hard… this will usually stretch the cramping muscle enough to cause it to stop. But, a thigh? How are you going to remember how to stretch it while screaming in pain? Gotta be worse ways to wake up, but, I’m not aware of them….. thankfully….

Well, now that I’m up, and while I’m waiting for coffee to brew, whom should I assassinate, character-wise? The curmudgeon in me is on full alert, actually a bit disappointed that Murphy wasn’t around to attack and rend into small pieces…. and fortunately for my apartment neighbors, my screams didn’t last long…. Ah, coffee is ready…. I’ll be back…..

Blessed blood of all programmers and geeks! Composers, too, from what I’ve heard; Bach composed an entire set of musical paeans to coffee, complete with lyrics, in one case. There is another unique sensation for you…. that moment when the first sip of coffee brings the entire universe into focus…. Like a leg cramp at night, there is nothing quite like it. And, to be honest, I’ll take the coffee over the cramp any day…..

If you couldn’t tell by now, waking up this way has thrown me off kilter a bit; I don’t know what to do with myself yet. Certain parts of the morning’s routine are out of order, and it’s really messing with my mind. I don’t want to attempt diving if I’m not fully alert…. it may not be under water, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t dangerous….. there be some strangeness out there on the web, folks, and it’s a good policy to have one’s wits on hand and fully engaged before diving in…. and, no, don’t ask why I know this…. it’s too hard to talk about…..

I suppose I can only stall so long, though…. I’ll have to give in and just get on with it eventually, so we may as well do it now, since there are good reasons to get done early today. I’m not sure what they are, but there are always reasons, for anything….. sort of like statistics, they can be made to explain almost anything at all….. any who, Shall we Pearl?…..
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“Two-thirds of help is to give courage.” — Irish proverb

To me, this is the very best kind of pearl of virtual wisdom. Nine words, if you count all the short ones, that tell a story that is a lesson, an insight, a truth, and, in the best sense, an admonition, all packaged in a short phrase that burns itself into memory. This can also act as help itself, as just the statement itself gives the courage of which it speaks, to any who doubt as to whether or not help is to be found.

Often, merely the offer of help is enough to aid the one who asks to reach a point where the help is no longer needed; just the knowledge that it is available can give one the strength needed to finish the task alone. We humans are very social creatures, whether we admit it or not, and we are all aware that when two or more people get together to perform any task, the work is lessened thereby, by more than the mere factor of how many are involved in helping. I am constantly amazed at what people can do when they act in concert; often, the very people who join together for a task are surprised by how much they can accomplish together……

I’m not going to say much more about this one; it is what I like to call a stand-alone pearl, that needs no adornment beyond its own contained self. But, I will add one more idea to our understanding of this concept, and that is this…. I say it is an admonition, and it is, because not only does it speak to the effect on the person who has requested the help, it also supplies good reason to offer help to others, by acknowledging the importance of the support, rather than the actual help. Just the fact that the help is forthcoming supplies most of the emotional strength to the act, thus acting as a spur to those who might hesitate to jump in otherwise….. I love it, and hereby name it a classic pearl of virtual wisdom…..
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“Simonides calls painting silent poetry, and poetry speaking painting.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Whether the Athenians were more Warlike or Learned, 3

I like this one….. it is, just by itself, a wonderful little word painting, is it not? And it gives a clear statement of how poetry affects me, and how it always has…. For many years, during my junior high and high school years, I tended to keep my taste for poetry to myself; boys growing up can be a bit sensitive about being sensitive, and it would have been a crushing social blow to have that particular liking brought to light. Only in certain circumstances could it be admitted, and those were few and far between….

Once I left for Berkeley, it became the other way around, as being an artist of any type became a more acceptable goal, and one could, back then, assume the pose of a manly poet (see Ginsburg, Silverstein, etc….) But, at the time, my own poetry was really bad stuff, and I’m glad that very little of it has survived to embarrass me.

For many years, I continued my life-long habit of reading an average of a book a day, and I worked at a couple of jobs where writing ability was prized, so I tried to develop my writing chops using prose. I suppose I did pretty well, but it hardly seemed challenging to become a good writer of nursing notes. The fun and education of it came when I started writing yearly reports, using numerous disciplinary reports, from social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, MD’s, recreation therapists, etc., to combine into a complete planning document for treatment. It also provided a solid self-education in desktop publishing techniques, using printers, copiers, and computers to produce detailed reports and documents in the psychiatric field….

A month or so ago, after over a year of copious prose writing, (over 1000 pages of material) I decided to try my hand at a poem, something I’d avoided for almost 40 years; it didn’t come out too badly, and was a vast improvement over what I wrote in my teens. So, I tried another, and another, and now they keep popping out of my head every couple of days, seeming to get a bit better with each one….

I guess the point I’m trying to express here is that it seems that others also are enjoying what I’ve written, so I will continue to write poetry whenever the whim strikes me…. and I can only hope that what I write is as well-accepted as what has been done in the last few weeks…. I hope you all enjoy them, they are little pieces of my soul, and I’m proud and happy to share them…..

“Hide not your talents, they for use were made. What’s a sundial in the shade?” — Benjamin Franklin

Intelligent Crimes

The value of wit is often said to cause harm,
for those who think, such is its greatest charm.
The new and the bold cannot be fulfilled
if innovation and change is left unwilled.

Society behaves at its base as a mob
conformity and submission its primary job.
Any sign of rebellion against the mob’s rule
is met with resentment, naming such rebel the fool.

Intellect and talent are looked at askance,
expressing artistry stands nary a chance.
To stand out from the rest of mankind
is fraught with danger, for body and mind.

I often stand and watch in solemn dismay
as beauty and joy are left by the way,
ignored and reviled by the unwashed masses
who prefer darkness, and acting like asses.

With shouts of derision the normals make known
their fear of intelligence, greater than their own.
They hope to stop all semblance of progress;
for thoughts and ideas, they couldn’t care less.

The world struggles on in spite of all opposition,
managing to maintain its advanced position.
Pulling the foolish along in spite of reluctance,
helping each to learn the survival dance.

Hard though it may be to keep up with the future
genius manages its plans to develop and nurture.
In the final analysis, those who live by reason
enjoy life the most, from season to season.

~~ gigoid

Idiot (id-ee-it) n.- One who disagrees with you. — Smart Bee
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Yesterday I wrote about a thousand words or more discussing a wide range of philosophy and the human experience, taking a shot here and there at my two favorite targets, politicians and preachers. It was fun, but exhausting, from a mental standpoint; my mind seems reluctant today to go too deeply into much of anything…. so, we’ll resort to an old-school pearl, of sorts…. here is a group of quotes from various sources, for which, all in all, a case could be made that it is a summary of what was written yesterday in section three…. of course, you don’t have the advantage of my prose to pick at, or to blame for the content, but, in general, this should take you down some similar paths…… and with less verbiage to wade through….

“I have repeatedly said that in my opinion the idea of a personal God is a childlike one, but I do not share the crusading spirit of the professional atheist whose fervor is mostly due to a painful act of liberation from the fetters of religious indoctrination received in youth. I prefer an attitude of humility corresponding to the weakness of our intellectual understanding of nature and of our own being.” — Albert Einstein

“For a man can lose neither the past nor the future; for how can one take from him that which is not his? So remember these two points: first, that each thing is of like form from everlasting and comes round again in its cycle, and that it signifies not whether a man shall look upon the same things for a hundred years or two hundred, or for an infinity of time; second, that the longest lived and the shortest lived man, when they come to die, lose one and the same thing.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, ii, 14

“Forward goes the vanguard of the lunatic fringe, tickling the death clowns of normality.” — HealNorm

“I share the belief of many of my contemporaries that the spiritual crisis pervading all spheres of Western industrial society can be remedied only by a change in our world view. We shall have to shift from the materialistic, dualistic belief that people and their environment are separate, toward a new consciousness of an all-encompassing reality, which embraces the experiencing ego, a reality in which people feel their oneness with animate nature and all of creation.” — Dr. Albert Hoffman

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

“I’m sitting on my SPEED QUEEN.. To me, it’s ENJOYABLE.. I’m WARM.. I’m VIBRATORY..” — Zippy the Pinhead

And after such a powerful quote from Zippy, what more could possibly be necessary to add?….. Enjoy!
__________________________________

Okay, so things got a bit strange today, at least at the ending…. that’s what happens when I spend too much time in my own head. Maybe by tomorrow, I can have a bit of social interaction with someone, and get a firmer grip on what is real, and what is not….. Right now, that is a bit of a chancy choice for me…. but, I’ve been in worse straits, 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!

In the humble palace of the Gopher King…..

Posted on October 6, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
One never knows, do one? We are told that feast follows famine, and joy follows pain; but they were wrong when they told us that. Reality is more like a cat than a dog; it really doesn’t give a crap for what we think we know, and is quite happy to let us know that, right upside the head, whenever we are feeling like taking things for granted. Personally, I wish it would just leave those of us, who AREN’T trying to aggrandize ourselves, alone a bit more often. It’s no fun learning lessons we already know….. and I’m tired of the price of tuition…..

That being said, I will leave the semi-whine behind. Reality doesn’t give a crap…. So Be It. I can adjust to most of what is thrown at me, and I’ll adjust to this, too, whatever it may be. (I’m trying to be discreet, without falling all the way into inscrutability…..) Most likely, the best idea is to just ignore the whole issue, and get on with pearling. This particular activity has been my salvation for over a year now, so I’ll take advantage of that right now…..

Hmm…. I could rant, I suppose. I saw some police in action last night, and what I observed only confirmed my opinion of most of them I’ve seen lately….. All of the officers I’ve seen in action in this town seem to be more concerned with maintaining their image, and exercising their sense of entitlement, than they are with public safety. I’m standing out front, watching the rush hour traffic, when a police car goes down the hill toward the signal to my left. As it comes up behind the second car in line at the signal, a little white car shoots up the hill, going a bit fast, but less so than much of the normal traffic flow, which tends to speed along this section. Well, the noise of the little car sounded like it was going bat crazy for hell leather fast, but, as I said, not as fast as I’ve seen many times, including MOST of the police cruisers going up the hill…. it was just a bit loud…..

Well, the two cowboys in the cruiser decided they would save us all from the massive danger of a tiny car going fast. So, as the little car slowed down, signaled, and turned right at the next block, the police cruiser performed a hasty, wide, badly executed 3 point turn to get turned around, then punched it and raced up the hill after the miscreant. From what I could hear, the little car had either slowed way down after going around the corner, or it had parked immediately, as I could no longer hear its little sewing machine engine. The cops raced to the corner, took it in a wide, fast turn, and raced away, hell-bent on doing their duty, and making the owner of the little white car have a miserable, and probably expensive, night.

Now, I might not get so upset at police doing their duty, if it were a matter of just that. But, I see cars flying up that hill all day and night, with never a cruiser in sight. Indeed, 98% of the cruisers go by at such a speed that I wonder how they can even SEE what is happening on the sidewalks. They certainly never slow down for any of it, as I’d estimate the average speed of a police car up the hill is about 50-55 mph, when the speed limit is posted at either 30 or 35 mph…. it IS a residential district. Plus, after living in this city for a bit over two years now, I can truthfully say that I have NEVER ONCE seen a police car give a turn signal. Not once….

That is annoying to me, as they are SUPPOSED to set a good example when they are in public. Plus, there is the way I see the few of them who are actually out of their cars, walking up to people on the street. They walk like they are John Wayne on his way to kick some bad guy ass; big and ponderous, with an expression of disdain in place before they even speak. The couple of times I heard their conversations, they sounded as if they were being pretty antagonistic toward the person they were questioning, which to me looked like some random homeless guy, poorly dressed and groomed, with a very scared face…..

Okay, so there isn’t much I can do about it right now, except little rants like this to let off steam. One of these days, though, I think I’ll toddle over to a city council meeting, and drop a dime or two on the police, and give them the observations I’ve made over the last couple of years of watching them operate. In those two years, in this small town, there have been more than 10 officer involved shooting deaths, with the greatest number of them involving people who were either not armed, or armed with toys, rather than real weapons. Those numbers alone give an indication that the officers are not well-trained, and the other items that I have noted definitely support that theory….. They need more officers, and they need to take away their sense of entitlement, and replace it with some genuine public concern….

Rant over, thank goodness…. the police here in Vallejo probably aren’t much worse than other places. But, I have to point out that the city of Berkeley has, for many, many years now, required that all of their officers have a college degree, without exception. They then train those well-educated young men in how to deal with the extremely varied population of a world-famous University town, with intelligence, and dignity for all concerned, public and officers alike. It seems to be a good policy; you very seldom hear of a problem between the BPD and the public, and any shootings are completely justified by the review boards. Perhaps other cities could learn from that decades long record of exemplary police work…. and it certainly couldn’t hurt…..

While we’re waiting for reality to catch up to what we need from it (like THAT will ever happen….) I think it’s time….. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

In keeping with our long-held belief in public spirit, I have included below for your perusal and enjoyment a series of statements, made at various times, in various situations, by our beloved, most Uncarved Block, Pooh Bear…. who, as you will come to see, has a darker side that many in the world do not know…. It is sinister, indeed, how many different ways Pooh has explored the Dark Side, but, as you will see, he is quite adept at navigating his way there, and isn’t afraid to involve himself in things unsuitable for a Bear with Very Little Brain…. He seems to like it though, so how can we deny him his illicit pleasures?…. it’s got to be hard to maintain that saccharine attitude all the time…. I’m surprised he hasn’t gone off on Barney before this…. ah well, it’s all good to know, so, here are some of his less known adventures, summarized, so to speak…..

— Bother! said Pooh, as they clear cut the Hundred Acre Wood.

— Bother! said Pooh, as the firing squad took aim.

— Bother! said Pooh, as his lock-on indicator wailed.

— Bother! said Pooh, as he stomped Barney’s butt to Jello.

— Bother! said Pooh, as Rabbit pushed him off the speeding train.

— Bother! said Pooh, as he assembled the Grand Grimoire.

— Bother! said Pooh, as he denied paternity.

and finally, for his latest adventure, in two parts…..

— Bother! said Pooh, as he crashed through the police road block.

— Bother! said Pooh, We’d better nuke ’em from orbit.

Okay, so I’m weird…. but, I gotta admit, I like this Pooh much better than the one who gets so worked up over honey….
__________________________________

Tuesday’s Child, from an Oblique Angle

When I really stop to think, it isn’t too much to expect
a warm bed, a bite of food, a loving smile to reflect.
We all need such comfort and supportive attention,
so basic to our soul, there is no real need to mention.

Life often offers us opportunities disguised very well,
illusions are rampant, what is real can be hard to tell.
To honor old ties may seem like the only thing one can do,
but evidence is real, despite one’s wish it were untrue.

Those who love us truly, without thought of any gain,
hate for us to experience life’s portions of pain.
They also know we each must follow our own chosen way,
for the lessons we learn, we all have our own price to pay.

Still, wishing and hoping can’t do any true harm
and wishing good things to friends feels welcome, and warm.
The pageant of society will pass on to the next day
what surprises it will bring me, thankfully, I can’t say.

~~ gigoid
__________________________________

It’s not every day I’m compelled to write about religion, politics, philosophy, and the Unified Field Theory, unless in separate pearls…. Taking them all on together might seem a bit egocentric of me, but I’ve never been one to dismiss a challenge, unless it was one that didn’t interest me… this one definitely hits all the high points of my particular bent, or bents, so what the hell, let’s see what happens…..

“Each religion, by the help of more or less myth which it takes more or less seriously, proposes some method of fortifying the human soul and enabling it to make its peace with its destiny.” — George Santayana

This idea is one that makes it possible for me to get through a lot of days without becoming homicidal toward a lot of people who bandy their religious beliefs about as if I were at all interested in them. I am aware that there have been a lot of good people throughout history, including current times, who are devout believers in one religion or another, and are sincere in their beliefs, and in their efforts to live their lives according to the precepts of their religions.

Some of them are even preachers, or priests of one sort or another, but the percentage in those categories of sincere belief is most certainly smaller than in the general public…. Let’s face it, most of those who go into the business do it because they aren’t any good at anything else, and the work is pretty easy…. Being a preacher is only hard if it gets taken seriously enough to try to help other folks, but most of the ones I’ve met are more concerned with convincing everyone of their piety to worry about actually helping…. and to most of them, the process of proving their own piety is accomplished by challenging everyone else’s beliefs, and sticking their noses into other people’s business….

One of the most insidious attractions of religion to many people, sad to say, is that it provides such a convenient vehicle for going through life without ever having to come up with an original thought or feeling. Every system of religious dogma, from no matter what cult, or division, or schism, or whatever it may be called, is designed to give people answers to their questions about life and all the things that happen that they don’t understand, thus creating a sense of dependency. This is very convenient for political pundits, who manage to take advantage every time the preachers pull another scam on the public….

“The mockingbird can change its tune eighty-seven times in seven minutes. Politicians regard this interesting fact with envy.” — Smart Bee

Unfortunately, those answers, comforting as they may be, seldom reflect reality very well, but are based rather on how that particular sect views the issue at hand…. and you can rest assured that those answers are designed to benefit the sect, and the preacher, in rather more ways than they will benefit the person with the questions…. But, I’m sure it is very comforting to know that if you just go along with what they say, you are somehow guaranteed something….. I never could understand that part very well, as there was nobody who could tell me just what was being promised…. other than I’d have to wait until I was dead in order to see it…. (The politicians like this one as well, because it gets people used to being promised something, i.e. campaign promises, then having those promises unfulfilled…. )

“There are so many ways that we sabotage our own divinity, our own possibilities. and the mythologies of race and gender may well head the list.” — Callan Williams

Ah yes, the mythologies of race and gender…. Consider this…. each of us who are of the genus homo sapiens is a unique individual, no matter what color our skin, or whether we are male or female. Unique in our own right, beginning with the pattern of DNA that dictates and defines the characteristics of the organism that is each one of us. Unique. This is indisputable scientific fact. And yet, there are still people who choose to believe that there are characteristics shared by certain groups of homo sapiens that make them somehow superior or inferior to another group. Which of those characteristics they claim as exclusive is always based on articles of faith, and never on any physical evidence. The basis for these articles of faith are outlined in the myths, myths that ignorance breeds, born out of fear of the unknown….

These fears are pretty formless, as the people who have them don’t like to think about them. First, because then they feel uncomfortable, and being comfortable is preferable to thinking, no matter how much it may alleviate the fear. Second, it is also hard to clearly define something that one rejects all evidence of knowing about; the fear is a known factor, and knowledge is not. These behaviors are a very childish reaction to serious adult issues, but then, a large number of people never learn to deal with life after a certain age; the techniques of denial and avoidance that children rely on are hard for some to give up, especially in matters of emotional or psychological import.

“The ability to accept responsibility is the measure of the man.” — Roy L. Smith

This is very true, and actually would be claimed as their own by many folks who make a habit of refusing to even consider being responsible for anything outside their own little world. The flaw in their world-view is that they firmly hold that what they perceive is the only true way that the world CAN be perceived; they seem to be constitutionally unable to entertain any idea to the contrary. It makes compromise with them somewhat of a difficult proposition, as their belief in their own rightness gives them a feeling of entitlement, of believing that they can lie and cheat others without consequence, because the “others” are, as unbelievers, not worthy of honorable treatment. (Hmm, I can’t decide if this sounds more like a fundamentalist Christian, a ruthless rich business man (is there another kind?), or a politician….. since it fits all three, I guess it fits Romney like a second skin…..)

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

This second quote from Mssr. Santayana points out another flaw in the philosophy held by those who follow many religions, under their own interpretations of the scriptures that are used by them. This flaw is obviously based on the relatively inarguable fact that all of them are faith-based philosophies…. grand, and grandiose, well considered, beautifully constructed philosophies, whose basic premise is an entity whose existence cannot be evidenced in the physical world.

There are innumerable thoughtful and elegant “proofs” of the existence of these entities, all of which, again, are constructed entirely of words and ideas. Some use logic, some history, some use hope, some use delusion, and some use an amorphous idea that cannot be pinned down…. none of them have actual pieces of physical evidence that incontrovertibly points to the existence of such an entity. If anyone knows of one, or two, or more, please let me know of it/them; I would be very interested in the information, and its provenance, to be sure….

I have wandered far afield indeed in the realms of human thought today, and I’ll bet you thought I’d forget about the Unified Field Theory…. For those unfamiliar with the phrase, let me explain as succinctly as I can; this has gone on a long time, and I’m sure we all have better stuff to do, but, hey, I’m here, you’re here, so…. Any who, the Unified Field theory is a mathematical model of the universe that, in essence, explains and describes all the different types of energy that we know to exist in the Universe; Gravitational energy, Magnetic energy, Electric energy, Electromagnetic energy, Kinetic energy, Biochemical energy, life energy….

All are known to us, but we do not understand, even minimally, how they all interact, and how they are all inter-related as part of the Universe at large…. hence the unified theory. It hasn’t been written yet; it is still just a concept for the future of scientific endeavor, though Stephen Hawking is said to be working on coming up with one before he dies…. if anyone can, it is him.

In short, one theory to explain how it all works…. There are many, including Mr. Hawking, who believe that knowing this can possibly lead us to a closer idea of the answer to the Why it all works the way it does…. by design, or by chance? Did God lose a bet, or win one? Or is there some as yet unknown reason beyond our current ability to understand? Being able to SEE and KNOW how it all works can only give us clues about the origins of it all. Even if it doesn’t give us all the answers we seek, we will have a better understanding of the Universe, and ourselves, and thus, perhaps, a better idea of our true place in all of what we see…..

Whew! If you made it to here, you are indeed worthy…. and probably tired, confused, and a bit troubled, with doubts as to my sanity. S’okay, I understand…. and I don’t blame you. I should have handed out warning notices at the beginning…. Ah well, t’was fun for me, and that will do….. Stop me, please, I can’t seem to shut up….. wait, don’t pull that pl……
__________________________________

Well, it’s really too bad I’m not charging by the word, now, isn’t it? I could retire with ease in a couple of weeks at this rate….. I’m not sure where it all came from, or how long it has been percolating in there, but it’s obviously been a while now…. You know how I feel about it, though…. better out than in, at least from my standpoint…. everyone else is on their own, in this respect….. 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!

gigoid

Ned Moore, aka gigoid, is a 70 year-old, (!!!… When did that happen?….), retired dilettante, who would rather read than eat, most days. His first blog, "gigoid’s folly", has been emailed out to folks he knows for about 18 years now. He still considers it his best defense against angst, and the ever-present specter of sheer insanity..... Due to rigorous curmudgeon training requirements, he has discontinued his Facebook presence, but still indulges in the occasional Twitter session... In essence, he's socialized, but, not overly sociable; all labels and stereotypes are forbidden in his presence... and he doesn't care what anyone thinks about that..... In fact, he doesn't want to talk anymore.... If you feel you MUST contact gigoid, his email address is: alphagigoid@gmail.com You can go read now.... Go on, beat it.... gigoid, the dubious

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