Monthly Archives: February 2013

The plaza began to fill with orphan collectors….

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12

Ffolkes,
Typically….. Whoa! Wait a minute, here…. Well, hell……That word, “typically”, should NOT be where it is, and is, for a fact, one of those words that is programmed to trip my alarms, as it is on the list to never be used on this blog, when used in reference to myself….. Typical, normal, average, any word that resembles these has no application to my personality, or my life, for that matter, so I try not to use them at all when I’m talking about me. Of course, I also try not to use words of overt praise very often, as it might tend to swell my head, and my hat wouldn’t fit….. can’t have that…..

What most disturbs me about seeing the word there at the outset, is imagining what I might have had in mind for it to say. Whatever it was, it’s gone now; no trace anywhere of what it might have been, which means that my subconscious mind is again playing tricks on my conscious self, setting up little traps like this to confuse and distract, just as if Murphy didn’t do enough for me…

I know I told myself to go into hunker-down-and-wait-mode, which involves a great deal of looking for distractions to pass the time, and confusion is old friend, but, I didn’t think it would start so quickly, or, as it is my own head fussing with me, didn’t think it would feel so much like Murphy was at it again…. Apparently, my subconscious mind has been paying close attention when he has exercised his talents….

(This concludes the Murphy mention for the day…. bless his pointy head….)

Five to six weeks…. that is the current estimate for when a decision MIGHT get made on my SS disability. Yesterday, I saw the doctor who reviews the overall case for the agency, and is responsible for making the recommendation to grant or deny the application for benefits.

According to him, five to six weeks is what it generally takes for the final decision to wind its way through all the desks it has to pass after his contribution, so I think I can trust that figure, as he seemed to be competent. What he stated to me in the exam sounded good, since he indicated his belief that I am disabled enough to qualify, so I am hopeful of a correct decision, as another denial might very well push me too far over the edge to make it all the way back….

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

So, if I sound a bit tense, or distracted, you’ll know where my mind has wandered; I’m trying hard NOT to think about it, and trying NOT to get my hopes up for a resolution, just in case the Analyst checks the wrong box by accident, or out of malice (though why he might feel any is hard to guess…. but, you never know, with a bureaucrat, just what is going through their tiny little minds….). That would be a typical Murphy-like transaction, wouldn’t it, to have it all go to court because of a typo, or a bad mood…. Come to think of it, I should probably just shut up about it altogether, so I don’t give Murphy any ideas….

“I’m just here for moral support. Ignore the gun.” — Smart Bee

Uh, oh…. you know what that means…. I’m going diving, and you can’t come along, nyah, nyah!…. Sorry, a little inner-child-breakout there…. Actually, I don’t mind if you come along, as long as you check your own equipment, and don’t get in the way while I’m trying to find some adequate pearls….. No worries, there aren’t many sharks in this part of the ocean, and they all know me, so it should be safe…. Shall we Pearl?…..
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“It is better to be ignorant then (sic) to believe in something untrue.” — Smart Bee

Wow…. I found this unattributed statement in Smart Bee a moment ago, and it stopped me in my tracks….. At first, I thought it was due to the misspelling of “than” that caught my attention, but, after re-reading it a time or two, it just got weirder, and weirder, the more I thought about it…. My first explosive reaction was, “What a choice to have to make!” Then, my penchant for poking at inconsistency reared its ugly head….

Logically speaking, how could one accomplish the latter without first embracing the former? To go a bit deeper, why would one be considered better than the other, and, who decides? Anyone who can absorb this amazing statement into their persona is, to my way of thinking, is not someone to whom such an important distinction should be left to decide, as no matter which way they turn, it’s liable, nay, guaranteed, to be the wrong way….

I suppose the sentence could be improved, by the application of an AP comma…. to wit:  “It is better to be ignorant, then to believe in something untrue.” Now, in that form, it at least displays some logical sense, if in no way any common sense. I mean, with the comma providing the obviously intended break between ideas, it just sort of proves its own validity, for those who can either understand, or failing that, buy into anyway…. right? Right…. What he said….

As is obvious, as well, is that I’m not particularly serious here…. This is obviously the work of a person under the influence of drugs or alcohol, who got left where they could get to a computer, and started blathering to themselves, not knowing it was being preserved for posterity. I can’t think of any other reason for it to be in Smart Bee…. it doesn’t fit any of the criteria I’ve been able to identify for inclusion in the database….

It isn’t logical, it isn’t true, and it really doesn’t make any sense, though, in some strange way, it sounds as if it should do, or be all those things…. but, maybe that’s me…. I’ve been known to be wrong on occasion…. Hmm, yes, I remember distinctly, back in 1958…..   😉

“But your creed, your ethos… it was one of your most appealing features.”
“You know, Larry, sometimes I say things… and afterwards, I can’t remember saying them.”

— The Yak and The Badger debate philosophy
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Apprehensions

There is this white wall, above which the sky creates itself-
Infinite, green, utterly untouchable.
Angels swim in it, and the stars, in indifference also.
They are my medium.
The sun dissolves on this wall, bleeding its lights.

A grey wall now, clawed and bloody.
Is there no way out of the mind?
Steps at my back spiral into a well.
There are no trees or birds in this world,
There is only sourness.

This red wall winces continually:
A red fist, opening and closing,
Two grey, papery bags-
This is what i am made of, this, and a terror
Of being wheeled off under crosses and rain of pietas.

On a black wall, unidentifiable birds
Swivel their heads and cry.
There is no talk of immorality among these!
Cold blanks approach us:
They move in a hurry.

~~ Sylvia Plath
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“…it is now some years since I detected how many were the false beliefs that I had believed to be true since my earliest youth.  And since that time, I have been convinced that I must once and for all seriously try to rid myself of all the opinions which I had formerly accepted, and begin to build anew, if I wanted to establish any firm and permanent structure for my beliefs.” — Rene Descartes, Meditations

And, after due consideration, he came up with, “I think, therefore I am.” That’s it…. after all his steady cogitation, all his heavy thought, he comes up with six words….. Seems like he might have gone a bit further with it, since he was already thinking, but, hey, that’s just me…..  He probably got distracted solving a quadratic equation in his head, or something equally fascinating, and just wrote down the first thing that came to him….. I suspect a lot of philosophies start that way, if what is in them is any indication…. Many of the ancient philosophies seem to me to have been put together during a drunken night around a campfire, and copied down the next day while hung over….

Actually, Descartes “I think” statement is one of the more consistent and logical of the statements that speak to belief, and its origins. I cannot say it is logically unassailable, for it is not, but, it is consistent within its own paradigm. This logical flaw is one reason I modified the idea when I came to make my own set of philosophical assertions, Peruaosophy…. where I said, in Axiom #1, “I think I am…. that’s close enough.”….. Much more tautological, I would say, and not subject to the same sort of picking apart, as it has no holes in it. Well, actually, it’s so holey it doesn’t need air-conditioning, but that is what supplies that logical strength, as it is a flexible enough proposition to fit any size mind….

It is not what we eat but what we digest that makes us strong,
It is not what we read but what we remember that makes us wise,
It is not what we earn but what we save that makes us rich,
It is not what beliefs we hold but what we do with those beliefs that make us what we are.

— Old Chinese misquotation.

You gotta love honesty…. I love that this is so aptly named as a misquotation; that kind of honesty just tickles my fancy, and makes for some good mental exercise…. In this case, it means trying to figure out WHICH part is misquoted, a process by which one can learn a lot, both about what is said in the quote, or misquote, and about themselves, and how their mind works. If it works, that is….

I am not sure exactly where this pearl is going…. it started out okay, but seems to be wandering a bit now, and I can’t seem to figure out how to find the way back to my original intent….. must be time for fresh coffee…. be right back….

“We begin life with a seemingly blank slate, and, though the writing that gradually appears on that slate is not our own, our judgment of the things written thereon determines what we are and what we will become. In much the same way, our work will be judged by the use to which other people put it…” — Marion Zimmer Bradley, _The Codex of Riveda_

What, then, is the mind? What is consciousness? We know they exist, for we perceive ourselves as a separate entity from the rest of what we perceive. Encountering other minds serves as corroboration of our perceptions, while at the same time offering solace for our separation from the universe, trapped alone in the confines of our minds, with only our own thoughts as company. I don’t know about anyone else, but just knowing there are others who are in the same boat is a comforting thought….. It’s a big universe, full of dark and dangerous energy, as well as beauty and opportunities for joy, and it would be a shame to have no one with whom to share it all….

“The mind of man is far from the nature of a clear and equal glass, wherein the beams of things should reflect according to their true incidence.” — Sir Francis Bacon

I suppose I’m just wandering now, rambling around in my own mind, without a clue as to how to bring this to a close…. but, here goes….

“I think I am…. that’s close enough.”  This is MY philosophy of life, and my take on consciousness…. As I see it, I know I’m here, and I know what I can do in my own mind….. and no matter what the rest of the universe is up to, or believes, that’s enough for me. I don’t need confirmation of my existence, or permission from a  supernatural entity, or anyone else, to live my life the way I choose.

Mssr. Descartes statement is, to my mind, too stiff, too formal, and doesn’t meet the test of illogic…. We all interpret Reality in our own way, according to our own perceptions of that Reality, and our own set of decisions about how we will approach life…. our attitudes, as it were. We can make those attitudes whatever we choose, regardless of how clear are our motives to others; in my mind, all living creatures have that right…. with, of course, the caveat that whatever attitudes we choose must be able to merge with the attitudes of others, or, at least, not step on the other person’s right to the same freedom of choice…..

In short…. You were issued a mind when you came into this universe…. It would be a good thing, for you, and for the universe, to learn to use it….

Just a suggestion…. The reason I urge each and every one to make this effort is my strong belief in Axiom #2 of Peruaosophy, perhaps the most accurate, and powerfully influential, of all the axioms therein…. to wit:

Axiom #2: “The Nature of the Universe is Change. Unpredictable, innovative Transformation of Reality is the Norm. If you have a problem with this, you are in for a Rough Ride.”
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Well…. that certainly came out better than I had surmised it might when I was in the middle of it all…. Hmm, now I’m creating my own metaphors right here in my own mind, because that statement right there is a pretty accurate description of most of my life up to this point…. Fancy that!….

I’m afraid to go any further with this, as it may have reached a delicate line, between being seen as carelessly brilliant, or blatantly bozoid, which, I can assure you, are both a part, if a trifle random in their relative placement therein….. If you can decipher the sense in that statement, you’re in the right blog…. I’m not sure that I am, other than…. wait for it….  I THINK I AM!…..  And that’s good enough for me…..  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

dozer3

Oatmeal seems a bit punitive, don’t you think?

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7

Ffolkes,
I’d like to take a moment here at the beginning today, to give thanks, for coffee, and so should you…. If it weren’t for the blessed black gold, this would be an entirely different blog, I’m sure, since it is the only thing makes life worth living prior to 7 AM in the morning. Without the blessing of its goodness, I firmly believe the world would be in a state of constant warfare…. seriously.

I know that, for me, having to do without it in the morning is not merely unacceptable, but criminal, and if I didn’t have it within moments of getting out of bed, well, let’s just say the world would regret it…. So, thanks, coffee, for being the world’s peacemaker, and my personal salvation….

Now that we have the daily dose of humility and sardonicism out of the way, we can get on with the regular program, which, sadly, hasn’t been put together yet…. That isn’t unusual around here, as I don’t decide where to go with this until I start writing, and often, even then, haven’t a clue as to what I will come up with. In fact, at this point, I’m writing this about three words ahead, so it is just about as fresh as literature can be…. Of course, there is no way to tell what is going to happen next when I’m in this James Joyce-like frame of mind (you know, stream-of-consciousness writing….), which, given the proclivities of this blog, can lead to some rather surprising places. But, you’re all adults, right?…. If not, well, sorry, you’re on your own….

No, you’re not, I’m not allowed to abandon readers in mid-blog; there are rules. Or, at least, so I’m told…. If there ARE rules to this blogging stuff, I would like to know about them, or how can I effectively break them?…. Hah!… Gotcha! You thought I was going all mundane on you, didn’t you? Well, forget, it, we don’t play that tune here at ECR, so just put it out of your minds, such as they are, and buckle up, because we hate having to scrape passengers off the windshield….

Hmm…. This is getting further and further from any connection to reality, I see…. It’s hard to know just how far I can go when there is no grid for reference. Speaking of references, did you see the news yesterday? Oh, neither did I…. Well, how ’bout that Super Bowl, eh? Lights out!….. No? Hmm…. Okay, I guess I’ll have to break down and admit it…. I’m lost again. I

‘ve written myself right into a corner, with no windows or doors nearby, and can’t find any way to get back on track, without resorting to something silly, like deus ex machina, or some other literary device to bring it back into line with the real world. I don’t want to go there; I promised my Mom I wouldn’t do that sort of thing….

Alright, I give up…. I can’t find the path, so I’m just going to sit down right here, and wait for the rest of the group to catch up. That’s what the Scouts recommend if one is lost in the wilderness, so that you don’t tire out, and preserve energy, as well as make yourself easier to find.

Since I didn’t bring a book, I’ll just sit here and hum, while in my mind, I am searching diligently through Smart Bee, looking for some shiny pearls for discussion…. or maybe it’s the reverse, and I’m actually searching Smart Bee, while I’m sitting quietly in my mind, humming to myself. Either way, this intro section is done, or as done as it is going to get….. Shall we Pearl?…..
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Been there.  Done that.  Reincarnated. — Smart Bee

Reincarnation is a fascinating concept, especially given its controversial nature as being in opposition to what is believed by many of the world’s most influential religious systems. Some do, and some don’t believe in it, and I have yet to determine, through either research or luck, just why some do an some don’t…. I mean, I know why, in the sense that it doesn’t fit in with the dogma of those religions that subscribe to an afterlife consisting of harps and clouds, while it does match those that have a clearly different view of what happens after death. No, I mean I don’t understand why….. oh. Wait….

You know, I just realized, as I wrote that last line there, that this is a complete waste of energy and time, and further, is in direct violation of one of my own personal rules of life, for avoiding hassles in same…. That rule says, “Asking why is a waste of time, especially as regards human behavior…. so don’t bother.” It’s an old lesson, and one that I should have realized I was close to breaking before I did, as I’ve had a lot of experience with it in my time. Hell, I’ve had enough time that almost everything is something I’ve had experience with; maybe I can use that as an excuse for missing this time, yes? Well, okay, maybe not…. Still, I can claim a lot on my mind, and nobody can tell me different, so there….

Any who, getting into the “why” of how folks choose their beliefs about a subject as speculative and controversial as reincarnation is bound to be a subject that would entail a great deal of delving into human behaviors that would only serve to frustrate me no end. If there is any area of existence that people are more foolish, or deliberately ignorant about, than such a subject as the afterlife, well, I don’t know what it is. Add to that the very dominant tendency on the part of most people to choose one religious dogma over another, based solely on how much it makes them think (seeking the lesser of two evils, in their minds….), and you get subject matter that can only lead one to drink, to try to get the bitterness and shame out of one’s head….

Me? Hell, I have no idea what will happen when this life ends, not in any specific sense…. I believe that my consciousness, as a form of energy, will not be destroyed, and that part of the universe that manifests as the essence of Ned will merely change form…. to what form I couldn’t say. I can say, though I am in no particular hurry to find out, it sounds like a great adventure, and I’m looking forward to knowing the answers to all the great questions that we humans ask ourselves during our stint on Earth, in the form we currently inhabit, even if those answers aren’t anything like any of the speculative concepts I’ve heard of or seen, or thought of myself…. As Bob Heinlein said, “…. Soon enough, you will know, so why fret about it?”

“He who awaits much can expect little.” — Gabriel Garcia Marquez
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My Nose Is Growing Old

Yup.
A long lazy September look
in the mirror
say it’s true.

I’m 31
and my nose is growing
old.

It starts about 1/2
an inch
below the bridge
and strolls geriatrically
down
for another inch or so:
stopping.

Fortunately, the rest
of the nose is comparatively
young.

I wonder if girls
will want me with an
old nose.

I can hear them now
the heartless bitches!

“He’s cute
but his nose
is old.”

~~ Richard Brautigan
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Well, ffolkes, I’ve gone and done it now….. or, I’ve tried, anyway. Below you will find an odd number of pearls (odd only in number, not necessarily in content, though that is a value judgment you will have to make….), all of which I chose while riding on the very edge of the conscious/unconscious mind…. That is to say, I let my subconscious pick the pearls while consciously holding a certain thought, or actually a feeling, or maybe it was a vision…. anyway, I held that in the forefront while the sub went diving….

These are the result, and I’m quite pleased with them… The thought/vision/emotion that prompted the outcome is, of course, left as an optional exercise for the Gentle Reader…. though you might be wise, today, to decline. I can’t speak for the potential toxicity of any of this…. Enjoy!

“At the back of our brains, so to speak, there was a forgotten blaze or burst of astonishment at our own existence. The object of the artistic and spiritual life was to dig for this submerged sunrise or wonder; so that a man sitting in a chair might suddenly understand that he was actually alive, and be happy.” — G.K. Chesterton

“Actually, there IS a banana in my pocket…” — Smart Bee

“The more people I meet, the more I like my dog.” — David Paranka

“Maintain thy airspeed, lest the ground rise up and smite thee.” — Smart Bee

And finds, with keen, discriminating sight,
Black ‘s not so black,–nor white so very white.

— George Canning (1770-1827) — New Morality

“What interests me is whether God had a choice when he created the world.” — Albert Einstein

“Curiouser and curiouser!” — Lewis Carroll, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”

Well, there you have it…. Once again, a fine testament to the power of nonsense, and just plain doubt, in the real world…. Think about it…. or not….
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Considering this only took about two hours to produce, I feel fortunate, as I was a bit worried it would take longer, and I’d be rushed to get done before having to go out to deal with my appointment at 10…. an appointment I cannot afford to miss, as it is the LAST doctor I should be required to see for now, with a decision from SS presumably forthcoming, once it is received and integrated.

I am assuming, of course, (dangerous, I know, to assume anything, but justified with federal agencies, as they have many, many priors….) they will do that in their usual snail-like pace; if so, I can hope for a decision of some kind in about six weeks, or maybe eight…. I’m not even going to think about how many desks it has to pass over before that time, as it would only make me more insane…. Since I’m already insane enough, thank you, I’ll just go to the appointment, and then hunker down and try to forget it all…. like that is going to work….

Ah well, don’t want to turn this into a pity party, so, since the rest of it seems to be done, I’ll let this fly, and hope for the best….  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

dozer3

Sovereign protocols might polish that up….

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2

Ffolkes,
That was quite an experience…. I just sat here and wrote a poem, which you will find in the usual poetry section below….. It is without a doubt the most fluid piece of poetry I’ve ever written, as well as the fastest…. as I note below, it flowed out in about five minutes while I was waiting for my coffee this morning. Quite cathartic, and, if I do say so myself, just a little bit off the beaten path, in comparison with most of the stuff you will see here, or anywhere else…. My beliefs may not be the most crystal clear, but they are strongly held, and not lightly dismissed, as they tend to be based solely on facts (hence the title of the poem, which speaks to the iconic line from the show… “just the facts, ma’am”….)

Now, I know the poem isn’t main stream, by any stretch of the imagination…. and, if I were to look at it, (which I seem to be doing…) it isn’t designed, or likely, to convince a lot of folks to listen to me, as it goes against the grain of about, oh, 96% of the rest of humanity, and what they believe to be true about reality. You can call me controversial, you can call me a fool, you can call me Ishmael…. just don’t call me late for dinner, or call me to proselytize, because I HATE that….

I already know that what I’ve written there won’t be appreciated by a lot of folks, unless there are a few ffolkes out there who happen to agree, or at least are willing to hold two ideas in their heads at once without imploding, or needing to believe them both.

But, I’ve decided I don’t much care anymore…. at least, not to the extent of making me keep quiet. I’ve always  been hesitant to argue with religious folks, mainly because they tend to get so vehement in the defense of their dogma; I don’t like to be responsible for raising other folk’s blood pressure.

Now that I’m older, and beyond that sort of habit of avoidance, I don’t mind putting my own beliefs out there, so people can have something to talk about that will challenge their minds, instead of softening it into mush, as is the intent behind most dogma….. “Mental oatmeal’ is how I refer to dogma in my own head, because it’s chock full of delusional fiber that is a fast-acting stool softener for mental constipation, turning one’s mind right into soft crap….

“The more we are proud that the Bethlehem story is plain enough to be understood by the shepherds, and almost by the sheep, the more do we let ourselves go, in dark and gorgeous imaginative frescoes or pageants about the mystery and majesty of the Three Magian Kings.” — G. K. Chesterton, Christendom in Dublin, Ch.3

It seems that just trying to explain the poem is turning this into a mini-rant, and I’ve been trying to avoid that in the intro section, apparently without much success…. Ah well, what can I say? Ranting seems to just come naturally these days, and it certainly helps to keep the word count up…. It also seems to make the intro section grow into something more than a mere introduction each day, instead, becoming a wild growth of abundant verbiage that threatens to take over the entire blog….. and no weed-whacker in sight….

Well, you know what this means, don’t you? It means that I can no longer stretch out this section, and have to get to work… Sheesh, almost an hour, just to begin… oh well, I got a poem out of it, and even though it isn’t one that will win any literary prizes, it was enough to provide me with a bucket full of material to get started today…. I’ll take it…. Shall we Pearl?…..

From vulgar bounds with brave disorder part,
And snatch a grace beyond the reach of art.

— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Essay on Criticism, Part i, Line 152
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“Yow!  I want to mail a bronzed artichoke to Nicaragua!” — Zippy the Pinhead

As previously noted, we like our nonsense around here…. This one from Zippy is particularly nonsensical, and will serve nicely as a segue into a discussion of the value there is in engaging in nonsensical behavior on occasion. A lot of folks, and even some ffolkes, might think there isn’t a lot to say on the subject, but, they don’t know me, do they? Having spent much of the last two years honing that very skill, to wit: propounding at length on subjects of little meaning, I think we can turn this into quite a nice little pearl, one that will shine even in the dark…. or maybe not… Why don’t we just go ahead, and see what happens, eh?….

Now, to begin, let me point out that the concept of nonsense, by the structure of the word itself, gives us a clue as to where its value lies… it is composed of two parts, “non” a prefix indicating negative state, and “sense”, in this form meaning perception, or ordered perception, more accurately (it makes good sense….). This tells us that the word ‘nonsense’, as the direct antonym for ‘sense’, supplies the balance that the universe demands from every part of its makeup….

“As a professional humorist, I often get letters from readers who are interested in the basic nature of humor.  “What kind of a sick perverted disgusting person are you,” these letters typically ask, “that you make jokes about setting fire to a goat?” … — Dave Barry, “Why Humor is Funny”

Everything in the universe exists in duality, as we have explored previously; this duality is directly related to our own set of perceptive abilities, which operate solely by noting the presence or absence of certain forms of matter, or energy manifestation (light, sound, etc….) We see because our eyes note the presence and absence of light waves. We hear the moments of sound between the moments of silence…. It all exists in duality, and that is how we perceive it, for that is what gives the universe its balance, and allows it to produce life, and matter, and all that we are a part of in this grand landscape of wonder….

But, the human mind is subtle, and recognizes the subtlety of the universe…. Thus, when we are confronted with seriousness for a long period of time, our nature demands something as balance, and we slip over into the nonsense mode in the privacy of our minds, to provide some relief from the somber nature of much of what is created by the hand of Man…. Goodness knows, after I am forced, or trapped, into listening to the prattling of fools about laws, or dogma, or some such asinine bureaucratic folderol, a bit of Zippy, or Wacko, or Pooh’s evil twin can always make me smile, and get through the boredom with greater equanimity….. or, as much as I ever can summon in those situations…..

“A little nonsense now and then,
is cherished by the wisest men.”

— Willie Wonka

Willie knew this little fact about the universe well, thanks to Roald Dahl, whom we can thank for his contribution to literature of quite a bit of nonsense, written with great style and verve, and not a little sarcasm. This little couplet springs up in my mind on many occasions when I am confronted by some piece of societal sobriety, and reminds me to take what I’m seeing or hearing with a big dose of salt, and maybe some Cholula’s hot sauce to spice it up. What the hell, it can’t hurt…. Can it? You tell me…..

“SANTA CLAUS comes down a FIRE ESCAPE wearing bright  blue LEG WARMERS..  He scrubs the POPE with a mild  soap or detergent for 15 minutes, starring JANE FONDA!! — Zippy the Pinhead
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Before reading the following, I must ask anyone with strong religious faith to put on their thinking caps, turn off their sense of outrage, and turn up their tolerance a few notches….. It probably isn’t a justification, but as explanation, let me note that I wrote this in approximately five minutes this morning, while waiting for the coffee to finish brewing…. So, take it with a grain or two of salt, as it was created pre-consumption of life’s blood, and I can’t speak for it, other than to say it is mine…. and, as far as I can see, it’s consistent, if a bit grumpy….

Joe Friday’s lament

Life is short, and though I’m odd, they say
it really doesn’t bother me
to realize there is no God, per se.

Though other folks will disagree
and tell me I’m wrong
I won’t believe it, with naught to see.

Liars called padre tell me, have humility,
and do as the authorities say,
then fondle little boys with facility.

They also tell me to share the wealth
and give them a 10% tithe
so they don’t have get it by stealth.

So spare me the delusions, please
don’t bother with such a tale;
I’m nobody that needs such a tease.

Keep your fantasies under your hat
and out of my face;
I don’t need them, they’ll make me fat….. headed.

~~ gigoid
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I started the day with oddness, so it seems appropriate to keep on the path I’ve chosen for the day…. The following pearls all dropped into my lap, so to speak, as I cruised through Smart Bee this morning…. As is my wont, I allowed my subconscious to choose which ones I should keep, and these five are what it picked…. For the life of me, I cannot see very much that ties it all together into a single idea, but, hey, I’m just the driver here…. I suppose, all in all, it could be considered another comment on oddness, or at least, learning to live in that state comfortably….

“The public will believe anything, so long as it is not founded on truth.” — Edith Sitwell

“The First Amendment does not say that there is freedom of expression provided the talk is not `dangerous’. It does not say that there is freedom of expression provided the utterance has no tendency to subvert. It does not put free speech and freedom of the press in the category of housing, sanitation, hours of work, factory conditions, and the like, and make it subject to regulation for the public good. Nor does it permit legislative restraint of freedom of expression so long as the regulation does not offend due process. All notions of regulation or restraint by government are absent from the First Amendment. For it says in words that are unambiguous, `Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.'” — Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, 1958

“Als das Kind noch Kind war, gab es diese Fragen: Warum bin ich mich, und warum nicht dich?  Warum bin ich hier, und warum nicht dort? — Rainer Maria Rilke
(“When the child was a child, there were these questions: Why am I me, and why not you? Why am I here, and why not there?”)

“Morality is simply the attitude we adopt to people we personally dislike.” — Oscar Wilde

“Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we’re here we should dance.” — Very Smart Bee

Now, THAT is a sentiment I can get behind…. even if I have to push….
__________________________________

Most days here on ECR, I would, at this point, comment on the day’s work…. Today has already proved to be odd in both structure and content, so I’m not going to bother with any critique…. I’ve read it through for typos and basic sense, but can’t quite grasp any piece of it solidly enough to begin to analyze it…. but, that might just be my normal state of confusion at this point in the day.

Whichever the case may be, I’m declaring it done, as I can’t see myself trying to do it over at this point…. Just as well, I suppose…. I’m going to toss it out there and see what happens, and hope that my strangeness isn’t so strong as to drive anyone away permanently…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

dozer3

Mark your place with a curlicue…..

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5

Ffolkes,
These first moments of the day after arising can be a serene, comforting time, on those wonderful mornings when Murphy is occupied elsewhere. There is always such a fine feeling of potential, one of promise and hope. Then, naturally, I open my eyes to reality, and depression crashes back down, filling the world with darkness and despair….

Well, make up my damn mind, would you?…. Which is it, promising and full of hope, or dark and despairing? You can’t have it both ways, not in this house…. although, come to think of it, that might be a totally awesome experience, once…. To feel such completely opposite ranges of feeling at the same time…. it might be entertaining, for a moment or so anyway….

Nah, probably not…. more likely it would just be confusing, as if we don’t have enough in life to do that for us….. Oh well, it was a thought….. I get those now and again, but try not to let them get too messy, and I certainly wouldn’t allow one to drip all over the client’s chair; that one time was an anomaly, I swear…..

Ah hell, who am I trying to kid? We haven’t had a real client in here for ages, and the chair we use for them wouldn’t hold up anyone more than 90 lbs., anyway, so I’d most likely steer them into walking outside, rather than letting them sit down in the deathtrap…. We DO take customer service seriously, even if we don’t have many customers….

Not only do we not have many customers, we have no business. None….. it’s all just another plot device, thrown in by me in a moment of panic, to get me further down the page. It is working okay in that respect, but I don’t think this morning’s intro is going to win many literary prizes for eloquence, or elegance…. I suppose I could use it as a teaching tool, to show how NOT to write….

Of, course, then I’d have to find students, and set up a classroom, find some chalk, and a chalkboard, and….. nope, too much hassle. I’ll just let it lie, like a sleeping dog, or a politician, and we’ll move on to the next stage of this nonsense, whatever that may turn out to be…. It’s still a mystery at this point, as your guess is as good as mine as to where to take this….

Since where I took it worked, I won’t bother to detail the direction, but will merely accept the change without objection, and move on…. And, since it DID work, at least in one sense (all that is required by law….), I can legally get on with the rest of today’s effort without having to concern myself with finding a lawyer to save my ass. It’s always a good thing to avoid litigation when possible, yes? Yes…. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

“Trust your hunches.  They’re usually based on facts filed away just below the conscious level.” — Dr. Joyce Brothers

I find this to be a fascinating statement, from a person many of today’s youth won’t recognize as a celebrity. Dr. Joyce, as we called her when I was young, was a celebrity from back in the 1950’s and 60’s, who became famous at first as a prodigy child contestant on a quiz show, The $64,000 Question; she later found celebrity as a radio and TV talk show hostess, and a syndicated newspaper column, answering questions about relationships, love, and life in general. She had a calm, friendly, confident manner that was easy for people to accept, and her brilliant mind gave her answers a certain depth and cachet that otherwise would have been lost, had she been less intelligent, or less charismatic…..

What I find to be interesting here is her reliance on the subconscious mind for accurate data resolution and interpretation, and her confidence in proposing that people explore that connection. I was around at the time, and the world was NOT in a place, philosophically speaking, where the reliance on subconscious activities was considered to be a mainstream belief. In fact, it almost put her in the category of mystics and clairvoyants, as far as  established society was concerned….. To many, she might have well just said that we should all become witches….

I suppose what helped in the long run toward acceptance of this kind of thinking  was her documented genius, that gave what she said a certain validity. In addition, she was at her most popular right at the time when society itself was going through some severe upheaval, during the late 50’s and early to late 60’s, so her ideas found more acceptance among the young, then spread to the rest of the culture as the Cultural Revolution went on, and society became more open to such free-wheeling philosophies.

Another effect of that time, that many people lose sight of, is the polarization that occurred in society, as the two intrinsically opposite philosophies, of liberalism and conservatism (as they are understood today….), became the two camps of ideology that would engage in a struggle for control of the government, and society, for the next 60 years, right up to today….. It’s a struggle between two ways of looking at life, and neither one is aware of being under the control of a third party, one that remains in the shadows, unseen and unheard, expect at their own command…..

Okay, here is where those of you who don’t buy into the conspiracy theory of life can skip on to the next section… to your own peril, but, hey, to each his own, right?….. I’m not particularly paranoid about such things as conspiracy; most of the time I think the things the ffolkes who believe in them see, that support their ideas, are seeing examples of human stupidity, rather than conspiracy. But, I am also a scientist, FIRST, and there is just too much evidence that supports the idea that there is a small percentage of humanity that controls the majority of resources (ie, food, land, money, armaments…), and as a consequence, have far more influence and control over the rest of us than is either just, or ethical.

This small group of mega-rich fanatical egotists believe that, because they can, they have the right to hoard all of those resources for themselves, and have the right to determine who should have any access to them. They believe this because they are allowed to do so, having grabbed all the controls (to wit: the guns and money….) long ago, and have arranged matters so that the great bulk of society is not only under their control, but is unaware of being in that position….

To tie this all together for y’all, let me say this…. I have a hunch that this is true. I don’t always have evidence that I can point to that is obviously definitive in the direction of proof of that assertion, but, if what Dr. Joyce tells us is true, my subconscious mind is aware of the facts, and can show me where to find them, if needed. That hunch tells me that, YES, there are a small group of assholes who are in control of society, for their own benefit, and they don’t give a fuck about the rest of humanity…. and there is evidence to support this hunch, even if it isn’t right out in the open where everyone can see it easily.

As yet, I don’t have any viable suggestions about how to go about kicking these punks to the curb; all I know is that we need to do so, and soon, before they kill all of us with their own brand of stupidity…. This isn’t to say they are altogether stupid, or that it is their primary defining characteristic…. but, they are human, and as such are subject to Murphy and his natural law…. So, I suppose it is a matter of watching for the right moment to catch them just at that instant when their own humanity will bring them down….. and hoping that moment comes soon…..

“Do you like “TENDER VITTLES”??” — Zippy the Pinhead
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Of late, I’ve been writing quite a bit on aging, and it’s effect on me…  an occupational hazard, I suppose, for us retirees. Last night, I was reading some WordPress blogs, and was introduced to this Australian contemporary poet, David Lewis Paget. In looking through his poems on PoemHunter.com, I found this one, which speaks very eloquently of this period of life, and beyond, and I’m happy to include it here as part of the ongoing discussion…. It’s a bit long, but worth it…. Enjoy!….

Age Rage

I was wandering through the Nursing Home
In the town of Morton Rise,
Seeking an old and weathered face
That I’d known in another guise,
For Richard Spratt was my father’s friend
That I hadn’t seen for years,
I was going to let him know his friend
Had taken a turn for the worse.

The eyes that stared from the armchairs there
Were blank, and devoid of pain,
They’d taken the pills that dulled them down
So they wouldn’t be restrained,
The nurses treated them all as fools
This gross humanity,
Whose only sin was they’d given in
To age, and infirmity.

It was all so very depressing, I
Imagined my future there,
Staring in immobility
From the prison of one of their chairs,
Waiting my turn to be spoon-fed
By a very impatient nurse,
Who shovelled the food all over my chin
As I sat, and inwardly cursed.

I wandered the home there, room by room
In search of his friendly face,
This Richard Spratt in a cricketer’s hat
I remembered from Ambergate,
He’d batted a decent fifty, while
My father polished the ball,
And took five wickets alone that day
In his bowling, over all.

It was nigh on forty years before
That I’d watched them play as a child,
Out on the green at Ambergate
With the weather, warm and mild,
But the years dismay as they pass away
And my father grew so old,
Now he lay in bed in a kind of dread
As the bell of his lifetime tolled.

I said that I’d find his friend for him
And let him know, at the last,
That he was remembered, thick and thin
For a friendship, forged in the past,
There were days when they both had sunny skies
And met each day with a grin,
But time drew shrouds like storm-filled clouds
And the end was looking grim.

I heard a shout from a private room
And went to investigate,
Quite a commotion in the gloom,
I hoped I wasn’t too late,
And there was a nurse stood over him
In a wheelchair, Richard Spratt,
He’d thrown his meds all over the room
And sat in his cricketer’s hat.

‘You know what to do with your pills, you witch, ‘
He shouted, and turned to see
Just who was stood in the doorway, I
Was grinning from ear to ear,
‘Well I’ll be… You can get out of here! ‘
He said to the wayward nurse,
Who said, ‘If you’re going to be like that…’
And left the room, with a curse.

I told the news of my father then
And I swear, he sat and cried,
Just a couple of tears escaped
That he hid, he still had pride,
‘Life is a trail of sorrow, son,
But we’re all on the same long train,
Your dad and I in the tunnel, while
Your carriage is still on the plain.’

‘What do you value of life the most? ‘
I saw the pain in his eyes,
‘Youth was that great and precious thing
That with age, you realise!
I’d give it all for an hour to spend
In the glow of my lady’s eyes,
The touch of her skin and a hint of sin
But the thing that we love, it dies! ‘

‘I’ve often thought of those balmy days
On the green in our cricket whites,
And think I hear the crack of the ball
On the willow of sweet delight,
I remember your father’s terse ‘Howzat! ‘
When he scattered another’s bails,
Now I sit in this prisoning wheelchair, here
And all I can hear are wails.’

‘Wails from the ones who want to die,
Wails that they want to live,
The future is lost to the best of us
We have but the past to give.
You’d like to know how I feel right now,
Like a leopard, caught in a cage,
If only I could be young once more…
But all that I feel is rage!’

David Lewis Paget

4 October 2012
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“The wise man’s eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all. Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise?  Then I said in my heart, that this is also vanity. For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten.  And how dieth the wise man?  As the fool.” — Ecclesiastes 2:14-16

To look at this, one would tend to be persuaded of its veracity, or at least of its intention to be so. The latter part is the more accurate assessment, because, in truth, this is a complete and utter lie, a lie that I consider to be one of the most egregious of those told by the fanatics who wrote most of the Bible….. “And how dieth the wise man? As a fool.”  What a crock of shit!

Think about this for just a second, okay?…. A wise man approaches his death with equanimity and dignity, arranging matters so that he dies having lived a life filled with the joy of loving, and with compassion for his fellows. The fool dies badly, fearing what comes after, but more afraid to continue living in misery and fear….. Those are very simple observations, based on reality, and what I’ve observed of it in my time.

Vanity isn’t ALWAYS misplaced, you know, as long as it is not embraced as a lifestyle, but rather acknowledged as an amusing form of self-love, one that can serve to motivate toward improvement. Only when assumed as a faith, producing a sense of entitlement based on unreal expectations, does it become ill-conceived, and ugly. (Gee, and doesn’t that sound more like those who preach against vanity, with their sense of entitlement as one of God’s children?….)

It is much the same as with any human characteristic, or emotional state; moderation is the key to handling them with grace and common sense. When people make too much of ANY of their emotions, or their personal characteristics, they tend to go overboard, and act without restraint to achieve their wants…. SIGH…. In this way, as in many, most people are like children, with no control over their own inner self as yet….

But, given their way, the men (very, very few women fall so deeply into the religious BS to become preachers/priests) who want to control the rest of humanity through religion would have us remain children, at least in our emotional responses…. Children are much easier to control than adults, as they are conditioned to accept whatever they’re told by an adult…. If a person manages to get to adulthood without being so conditioned, well, they can kiss that constituent goodbye, because very few of us ever return after becoming aware of how the church is fucking with us…..

Bah, humbug…. I’m a bit worked up now, and it’s getting hard to organize my thoughts enough to keep this on a logical track. I just get so mad, when I think about all these centuries that humanity has wasted under the influence of all those who act for their own benefit, and screw the rest of us. I get SO angry, it takes all of my will to keep from getting up from my chair, grabbing some weapons, and going out to hunt…..

But, then I would have to give up my own philosophy, because, who will play God? If I go out and start eliminating those whom I believe need to be absent from reality, for the betterment of all, then I am making myself into God…. which kind of goes against all I believe. I hate them, those assholes, but, killing is THEIR method of choice for assuming or maintaining the status quo, and really doesn’t fit in with my own choices. I guess I’m just going to have to keep looking for the right way to bring their chicanery out where all can see it, and make fun of it enough to make it go away….

Not the most logical, or strategically or tactically practical plan I’ve come up with, but, for now, it’s the best I’ve got…. If y’all have any ideas, I’d be interested, for sure… We need to figure out some way to boot their asses out the door, before it’s too late…. though I suspect that moment may have passed yesterday…..

“So far as I can remember, there is not one word in the Gospels in praise of intelligence.” — Bertrand Russell
__________________________________

I’m at a loss for words to express how this one came out…. After re-reading it, I’m almost impressed. Allowing subconscious control works better than I had imagined, I’d say…. In future posts, we’ll see if we can’t expand that little capability, and see where it takes us…. For now, I’m probably better off to bid thee adieu for today, and let the chips fall where they may…..  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

dozer3

Turn left at the ugly statue of Zeus….

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2

Ffolkes,
The world groaned, loudly, as the bleary, bloodshot, beady orb of the sun reluctantly peered over the eastern horizon. Nothing moved at first, as the burgeoning light moved across the bare landscape, bringing focus, if no hope, to a world already gone mad.

As the darkness fled, Zombies, tattered and torn, scattered quickly into the nearest caves, grunting and bellowing their rage at having to leave their feeding grounds, but none of them was willing to face what always came with the sunlight…. For with the sun came the vicious, insatiable Giant Platypi, the thunder of their rampaging waddle echoing against the stark hills.

Yes, the dreaded Giant Platypi, scourge of all life on this planet of nightmare….. a planet called….. Beelzebub’s Bottom….

Okay, that’s enough of THAT….. Being silly is one thing, but drifting over int0 stupid is another thing altogether…. It seems the bubbling fountain of words from which I generally take what I need to build a story is rather stunted, blocked off, as it were, by some kind of writer’s block, or, as we call it here at ECR, mental constipation in the old pipes.

We can’t have that, so I’m going to resort to my emergency stash of words, all of which are high in fiber content, to stimulate the proper degree of…. hmm, let’s be discrete, and call it….. movement. I’ve never known it to fail, though the resulting rush of words can be a bit disconcerting, coming out all at once as they tend to do….

There, fait accompli, as they say in Belgium…. Well, I’m assuming that is what they say there, as I’m told the Belgians speak French, for the most part; I wouldn’t know for certain, as I’ve yet to visit that fine, old, European anomaly, a country that has almost never had to go to war… Oh, they got caught up in the fight when everyone around them was engaged in their numerous historical battles for contested ground, but, they’ve somehow managed to avoid any terrible, long, drawn out affairs such as the rest of Europe seems to enjoy on a regular basis. Good food, too, and some nice wines, from what I hear….

Any who, if nothing else, Belgium provided a complete paragraph, totally irrelevant, but, filling space nicely. Sometimes, in dealing with the daily crisis of inspiration produced by having to write these introductions every bloody morning, that’s all I can expect from a paragraph, so I’m going to ignore the catcalls and criticisms being shouted out from the back, and move on to the next destination called for on our itinerary. Let’s see, what does that valuable piece of planning tell us?…..

Well, nothing…. It can’t tell us where to go next, because it, too, is just another literary device I made up to fill more space. Actually, it’s looking as if today’s intro is going to end up completely composed of fluff, sort of a case of “literary license” gone mad….. And if anyone says there’s nothing new in that, I’m going to strike you with my foot, straight on your butt….. Ah, hell, no I won’t…. I’m sorry, it’s all my fault… I’m the one blundering about, trying to find some direction, and it isn’t your fault I am now totally lost….

“If nothing went wrong today, you’re probably dead.” — Murphy’s Last Law

Since nothing else seems to be working, and, according to the above, I’m not dead, I am hoping to find my way back to some sort of control, by ending this now ridiculously over-long intro section, and trying to find a pearl worth the effort of writing something a bit more solid and real. Let’s hope Murphy is busy elsewhere, and doesn’t fuck with me any more today; I’m sure he had a hand in all of the above, even if it wasn’t out where we could see it….. Any who…. Shall we Pearl?….
__________________________________

“I believe in god, I just don’t like him.” — Smart Bee

Having experienced blockage once today, I’m not willing to suffer it again; hence this first pearl, deliberately chosen for its controversial nature, and its obvious need for discussion…. You see, this is completely true for me… Well, not the believing in god part, but the not liking Him part…. Of course, it isn’t really His fault, you know, it’s just that the folks He hired to do His P.R. are such idiots…. If he had known in advance just how stupid His creation was going to act, He’d have gone about the whole thing differently… That’s not speculation…. I’ve heard Him say so….

What? You don’t think I’ve talked with God? (Notice how I promoted him from just a god, to God? Slick, eh?….)  Why not? You are willing to believe all the stuff in the Bible, and you are willing to believe in crank assholes such as Billy Graham and his ilk….. Why would you not believe me, when I say I’ve talked to Him? Is it so hard to believe that someone from modern times can speak to God, or is that something limited to the days when the issue of JC’s divinity first arose, two thousand years ago, when the general populace was much less educated, and easier to fool?

“A man who claims to know what’s good for others is dangerous.” — Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

I’m just as good as those others who have claimed to know what is in His mind, and, in many ways, I am much better equipped to be able to understand Him, I think. I’m not going to kowtow, or bother with all the worship bullshit, as I wouldn’t want all that myself, and have my doubts that any entity worthy of being called a god wouldn’t, either. He probably enjoys not having to deal with that when He talks with me…. I know it would drive me absolutely batty to have all those people whining and crying at me all day and night, asking for favors they don’t deserve, and patting themselves on the back for their piety….

In reality, these people, the pious and heavily devout, were the major factor in my original disillusionment with the Church (“Church” being a generic term for all the delusionally dogmatic dunderheads who make up the majority of Christian sects, including all the absurd claims made in their literature….), which took place before I even reached my teens. By that time, I was already convinced that most of the folks who got involved in Churches were so engaged only because it served their purpose, not because they actually believed any of it. Their daily actions and words were enough to put that idea to the lie; they failed every time, for what they said and did in no way matched what they preached as their belief…..

“Then he saw also that it matters little what profession, whether of religion or irreligion, a man may make, provided only he follows it out with charitable inconsistency, and without insisting on it to the bitter end. It is in the uncompromisingness with which dogma is held and not in the dogma or want of dogma that the danger lies.” — Samuel Butler, The Way of All Flesh

But, even this obvious hypocrisy, and the stubbornness with which it is held, wasn’t the real issue, to me…. It had to do with what I read in the Bible, and heard from the people who were interpreting those words….

For the most part, the things that people ascribed to God seemed to me to show the moral integrity of a pirate, more than a saint, and all the things we were told to do, i.e., be humble, be tolerant, be forgiving, seemed to me to be designed to allow them, and their allies, the politicians, to take advantage of people, by using God as their authority, more than being designed to help people.

This lack of ethics, both in what they said, and what they did, turned me off very quickly to the idea of God, and had me examining the entire philosophy for truth….. Truth is, as I found, a commodity not particularly common in religious writing, as it turns out…. Who knew?….

“If it turns out that there is a God, I don’t think that he’s evil.  But the worst that you can say about him is that basically he’s an underachiever.” — Woody Allen, “Love and Death”

Well… I know…. I know now anyway, and I continue to try to tell people what I know, but, I’m just one guy, with one little blog, and very few people hear my truths, compared to all those who need to hear….. And besides, most of them really don’t want to know what I know, because it’s scary, and real, and they would have to think, all three of which are things they avoid at all cost, unless we’re talking about a movie…. which, come to think of it, would preclude the thinking part of that…..

I don’t spend a lot of time any more arguing with religious folks; it’s time better spent in more productive activities. But, it doesn’t mean I can’t feel sorry for them, and the black and white world they live in, when there is a whole universe of complex, colorful beauty out there to be appreciated…..

“Until you walk a mile in another man’s moccasins you can’t imagine the smell.” — Robert Byrne
__________________________________

Urge him with truth to frame his fair replies;
And sure he will: for Wisdom never lies.

— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — The Odyssey of Homer, Book iii, Line 25

The Riddle of the World

Know then thyself, presume not God to scan
The proper study of Mankind is Man.
Placed on this isthmus of a middle state,
A Being darkly wise, and rudely great:
With too much knowledge for the Skeptic side,
With too much weakness for the Stoic’s pride,
He hangs between; in doubt to act, or rest;
In doubt to deem himself a God, or Beast;
In doubt his mind and body to prefer;
Born but to die, and reas’ning but to err;
Whether he thinks to little, or too much;
Chaos of Thought and Passion, all confus’d;
Still by himself, abus’d or disabus’d;
Created half to rise and half to fall;
Great Lord of all things, yet a prey to all,
Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurl’d;
The glory, jest and riddle of the world.

Alexander Pope
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— Bother! said Pooh, as he found a politician in his honey pot.

Eeeuuwww! Can you imagine the stench? And the waste of honey is appalling, to say the least…. Okay, sorry, but it was just too hard to resist…. I ranted above about religion, after which, Smart Bee presented me with four of the five pearls used in it, one after another, AFTER I had already finished it… The five pearls, you may note, if presented together, alone, would just about cover the same ground as the rant…. with perhaps a bit less verbiage, and, hopefully, equal humor….

Then, the above Poohism shows up, almost flashing by before I saw it, so short it is…. This tells me that Smart Bee has something to say about politicians today, so, old-school it is…. Here are what Smart Bee has autocratically decided to show us about the BRC, in general, and, in particular, the political branch of that entity…. Enjoy! Oh, and don’t fret, none of these will be on the Quiz, unless they are….

“Annual drug deaths: tobacco: 395,000, alcohol: 125,000, ‘legal’ drugs: 38,000, illegal drug overdoses: 5,200, marijuana: 0.  Considering government subsidies of tobacco, just what is our government protecting us from in the drug war?”  — William A. Turnbow

“I have short-term memory loss, though I like to think of it as Presidential  eligibility.” — Paula Poundstone

“According to the tax bill signed by President Reagan on December 22, 1987, Don Tyson and his sister-in-law Barbara run a “family farm.” Their “farm” has 25,000 employees and grosses $1.7 billion a year.  But as a “family farm” they get tax breaks that save them $135 million a year.” — Smart Bee

“Laws are only words words written on paper, words that change on society’s whim and are interpreted differently daily by politicians, lawyers, judges, and policemen. Anyone who believes that all laws should always be obeyed would have made a fine slave catcher. Anyone who believes that all laws are applied equally, despite race, religion, or economic status, is a fool.” — John J. Miller, And Hope to Die — (in _Jokertown Shuffle – Wild Cards IX_)

‘We may not imagine how our lives could be more frustrating and complex–but Congress can.” — Cullen Hightower

Okay, five should be enough to get the point across…. if not, well, there’s always tomorrow…..  🙂
__________________________________

This process, some days, exhausts me, and today is one of those days, for some reason…. It’s too bad, too, because I still have a bunch of stuff I SHOULD do today…. Ack! Nooooo! Don’t say that!…. Brrt, brrt, brrt….. danger, danger, Will Robinson!…. Illegal operation, use of bad word, parameter, “should” = “don’t go there”, /end notes….

Fortunately, as you can see, I tend to react badly to the word “should”, as it is usually something somebody else told me to do, or told me I should do…. “Should” is a word that is handy to use as a channel marker, to show us where we don’t have any real need to go, unless we happen to agree with what somebody else thinks we need. They aren’t often right, in my experience, so it’s a good way to figure out what NOT to do….

That’s cool, as it means, since this is done, I can post it, then take a nap, a much more profitable and enjoyable activity than the other stuff I ‘should’ be doing…. I love rationalization, if only because I’m so good at it….  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

dozer3

Happy ever after as a plot device….

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Ffolkes,
While it is useful for intimidating police, and keeping relatives at an acceptable distance, insanity can be… well, insane, to try to cope with on a regular basis. This characteristic is one of the many that keeps me from just falling into its warm embrace permanently. Once I give in and let meself go, I’m fairly certain I won’t be back, not for many a day, as the song goes….. I’m pretty sure it would be too comfortable…..

In fact, having spent a fair amount of time gracing the company of those who totally give up trying to be normal, those who instead spend their time doing exactly what they are hoping will feel the best, given their already confused state of mind, I KNOW it is more comfortable than anywhere sanity can go.

There is no pressure to be right, no pressure to not be wrong, and those are no small things, in a world that places premium importance on them. The insane, by the nature of their condition, and because of what others think they know of it, are possibly the happiest people in the world, as they don’t have to live up to any of the standards the rest of society is so invested in….

Why, you may ask, would anyone wish to be sane, in that case? That is a good question, not one I can answer without ranting, at least a bit, and I promised I wouldn’t do that in the intro any more. Well, it wasn’t a promise, just an intent, but, hey, almost the same, and I’m sure nobody else wants a rant so early in the day, either, so, back off….

Sanity, as practiced by most of those in society, is not a very comfortable, or easy, state in which to be for long, requiring as it does constant alertness, and regular maintenance, to keep it from falling apart under the daily assaults by Reality, and the kind attention of Murphy and his ilk…..

Insanity, on the other hand, has no stress, no pressure, and no responsibility; whatever one decides to do, no matter how outrageous, or out of touch with the real world it may be, is okay, and allowed. No limits are applicable, so the insane are free to let their imagination have free rein, and the results are incredible, to say the least…. Not always comprehensible, or easy to watch, or to deal with, but incredible, for sure… No sane person will ever be able to create art as powerful as a person whose grip on reality is less firm as their own, as they tend to set limits for themselves, as needed to retain that sanity…. thus shutting out that entire realm of imaginative possibility…

So, next time you have to cope with reality, consider how easy it would be to just let go, and not worry about whether what you are doing is the right thing…. It may not keep you from going down that road, but it may help you find a reason to stay on the road to sanity…. and, in the best-case-scenario, maybe, just maybe, you can learn to let that side out now and again, to find out what there may be there, that can be brought into the world, to share the beauty, or the wisdom, or the love that they know, in a universe with no limits… Remember, all the nicest ffolkes in the world are just a little bit tetched, as my father used to say….

But, for now, I think it’s time to draw this intro to a close, before it assumes epic proportions…. Shall we Pearl?…..
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“Reality can be hazardous to your health.” — Smart Bee

This one is probably not a surprise, nor is it something that is rare, or uncommonly known. Hell, it only takes a couple of years of living on this planet before this knowledge becomes second nature to us, and we know it almost instinctively. This, I think, is part of why it is always a surprise to us how the process of growing older is much more difficult than we imagined…. It is also why we always end up, at one point or another, saying to ourselves, “Why the hell didn’t anyone tell me this?” It may not be a conspiracy, but the end result is the same, because nobody is talking, and if they had any compassion, they would be….

Your guess as to why this is would be as good as mine, and I’m not sure it matters; what matters is that they don’t, and it isn’t included in any of the manuals we receive about Life and How to Live…. Actually, I don’t know about y’all, but my manuals were all lost in the mail, and I never got any of them… We WERE supposed to get them right? I mean, there is a God, by all reports from the rest of society, and according to dogma and stuff, we’re His responsibility, right? So, where’s my manual?…. Where is yours?….

Don’t try to tell me you’re buying into the Bible as the manual? Have you ever read that thing? It is the most inconsistent, poorly written, manipulative, and just plain most erroneous piece of literature I ever tried to plow my way through… Hell, the first chapter is complete science fiction, or more accurately, fantasy, and it goes downhill from there, in terms of what is believable…. I guess, even if all of the hundreds of different authors WERE connected in spirit, and only channeling the Word of God, it still has to all be based on events that have some basis in reality, or it just isn’t going to hold together, logically, or consistently…. There just isn’t any possible way to get a correct answer when the basis of an argument is false… The principle of GIGO trumps delusional assumptions, at least in the real world….

“The Bible is true this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” — Jordan Henderson

Okay, so if there aren’t any manuals, and the only folks out there offering to help are those who are doing so out of their own desire to control other folks, then how do we learn to accept all the hardships that come with growing older? Well, let’s see…. As I sit and consider that question, it keeps growing larger in scope, and the number of potential answers approaches infinity, so, I guess I need to narrow the focus a bit…. Hmm, break time…. gotta cogitate on this one….

“Men spend their lives in anticipations, in determining to be vastly happy at some period when they have time.  But the present time has one advantage over every other – it is our own.  Past opportunities are gone, future have not come.  We may lay in a stock of pleasures, as we would lay in a stock of wine; but if we defer the tasting of them too long, we shall find that both are soured by age.” — C. C. Colton

Okay, that isn’t a bad insight, all in all…. but, it doesn’t quite fill the bill for our discussion, for while it acknowledges the power of aging, it doesn’t offer any solutions, or advice, other than in a passive, negative sense…. More, please….

“Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.” — J.K. Rowling, The Beginning, — Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, 2000, — spoken by the character Albus Dumbledore

Hmm… a clue, I think, of the direction we are seeking to find…. a bit more fine tuning, I think….

“Bear, do not blame, what cannot be changed.” — Publius Syrus

Another clue…. we must be on the right track….

“Never give an inch!” — Smart Bee

Okay, we’re almost there, cuz the pearls are getting shorter, and deeper, always a good sign….

“I’m not a lawyer, but I play one on the guitar.” — Smart Bee

Well, see, I told you…. the perfect ending to a discussion of Reality, and how we deal with it over time….. In other words, ffolkes, you can’t really win, in the sense for which we are seeking to find a reasonable justification… The game is rigged, and it’s the only one in town…. But, it also implies that we can still walk away a winner, we just have to change the rules in our own minds….

In short, ffolkes, we’re on our own out here in Reality, and aging can either be a burden to bear, or an advantage to take…. It’s all up to us, ultimately, and we not only shouldn’t worry about whether or not there is anyone who can relieve us of this responsibility, but should understand that the act of doing so only makes the issue more difficult….

So, buck up, ffolkes…. Yes, Life gets tough, but, if we are smart, we can get tougher….

“I love ROCK ‘N ROLL!  I memorized the all WORDS to “WIPE-OUT” in 1965!!” — Zippy the Pinhead
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Since I’m just that kind of guy, and I don’t have one of my own ready to bleed out, here’s a two-fer from Master Yeats, with a prologue….  Enjoy!  🙂

“No poems can please nor live long which are written by water-drinkers.” — Horace (65-8 B.C.)

A Drinking Song

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

William Butler Yeats

A Drunken Man’s Praise Of Sobriety

COME swish around, my pretty punk,
And keep me dancing still
That I may stay a sober man
Although I drink my fill.

Sobriety is a jewel
That I do much adore;
And therefore keep me dancing
Though drunkards lie and snore.
O mind your feet, O mind your feet,
Keep dancing like a wave,
And under every dancer
A dead man in his grave.
No ups and downs, my pretty,
A mermaid, not a punk;
A drunkard is a dead man,
And all dead men are drunk.

William Butler Yeats
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“In the words of Shankarachaya, “All impossible things can be made possible save the bringing of the fool’s mind to the point of truth.”” — Hazrat Inayat Khan (Sufi writer)

Sufi is a philosophy whose written words are not very familiar to me, as I’ve never made a study of them, beyond a superficial one, to get a gauge of its scope. I like this, though, and it says a lot to me that the author was able to independently come to a conclusion that is common to many other philosophies I admire, to wit: “Against stupidity, the gods themselves contend in vain.” It is a sentiment that, in a way, defines humanity, while at the same time, points out the fly in the ointment, so to speak….

Our minds, given the power of imagination, are our strength, our greatest tool in the fight for survival in this universe; they are also our greatest frailty, our Achilles heel, as it were. Imagination can show us how to survive, and live; it can also makes us afraid for no reason, other than our own ignorance. Our intelligence is our greatest ally, and our worst enemy…. and it is this contradiction that keeps us from achieving that serenity in society that is possible on an individual basis…..

You see, there are way too many unscrupulous people who DO know how to use their imaginations, to their OWN advantage, who are in positions of influence in society, and they are able to manipulate the vast numbers of people who choose to allow ignorance to rule their existence, all of whom would rather die than try to think their way out of a problem. These “fools” are controlled very easily, as they actually prefer to not have to use what sits on their shoulders for anything other than passing comestibles to their stomachs, and will believe pretty much anything told to them, as long as it is on TV…..

Here on this blog, I rail at this segment of humanity quite regularly, not that it does much to alter the situation. But, it is all I can do at the moment, so I keep on shouting into the wind, and preaching to the choir, because, naturally, the ffolkes who end up coming here are generally those who are already well-practiced at using their minds, or at least, not giving in to the urge to ignore reality. But, someday, perhaps, if and when I ever get off my ass to go try to find an agent, or a publisher, more folks will hear my plaintive cries for sanity, and it may actually have some kind of positive effect on matters…

What the hell, everybody’s gotta have a dream, right? Right…. well, that’s mine….. If I can bring some truth into the world, and spread it around where it can do some good, well, I can die a happy man, because that’s about all one can expect from this cold, hard universe… and it’s enough….

“Baby, after considerable thought I’ve reached the conclusion that the only conceivable legitimate answer to the Universe as constituted is a peal of hysterical laughter.” — Keith Laumer, _Night of Delusions_
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It took some patience, but that final pearl came through just in time, and perfectly closed the third section, with a statement with which I can wholeheartedly agree…. All in all, today’s effort isn’t too shabby, so we’re letting it go as is, sans critical judgment, though proofed and polished as best I may…. which means there is, no doubt, at least one hidden typo, that I won’t notice until it is posted…. Ah well, that’s life in the slow lane, I guess….  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

dozer3

This order can’t be filled…. it’s digital….

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Ffolkes,
Okay, wait….. hang on, the coffee’s ready……Oh, that’s good! I’m glad…. now, nobody will have to die. This is a good thing; we hate having to dispose of dead bodies before dawn; there isn’t much room left in the backyard…. Besides, I’m feeling too lazy to put an ad in the paper for a new lackey…. SIGH…. It’s so hard to get good help these days….

Now that the fantasy portion of this missive is past, it might be a good thing to explain that, though I often speak lightly of eliminating those in this world who annoy me, I’m actually a pussycat, and have yet to become a “made” man in my life, an accomplishment of which I am deservedly proud.

Like all of us, I’ve had numerous occasions in life when the urge to end it for someone else becomes nearly unstoppable…. why, just the other day, this guy…. well, it doesn’t matter, because I let him live, little as he deserved it….. I’ve done that several times over the years, and thus far have been able to control the urge before giving in to it…..

This isn’t to say I left those idiots to get on with their life, or whatever excuse they use for one, without exacting some payment for their asininity; I don’t believe in letting stuff like that slide, or they’ll begin to think they can do it to anyone…. No, each of the folks who annoyed me enough to have caused me to come close to losing control have paid for their lack of sense, and the payment was such that they regret their foolishness, for certain.

But, they walked away, so in the ultimate sense, they were lucky…. in pain, but lucky to be alive, and knowing it…. Actually, I found the time with that cowboy in Nebraska to be quite rewarding, though I’m sure he had a hard time explaining to his booted and belt-buckled buddies why he’d pissed his pants while talking with the long-haired hippie in the gift shop….

So, when I write of using one of the myriad of techniques for killing I’ve learned, or talk about my wish to see someone suffer great harm, be advised that it is mostly just talk, designed to help me get rid of the urge, instead of hanging on to whatever has annoyed me…..

Often I accompany such threats with vulgarity, because swearing is more of a release than almost anything else we do without resorting to actual violence, and using it diminishes the need to bring ourselves to the point where such potentially dangerous emotion becomes reality…. When life does get to that point, and I am required to step up and use what I’ve been trained to use, I consider it a loss, a fail, for it means I lost control of myself….

“True power is when we have every justification to kill, and don’t.” — Oscar Schindler

Non-violence HAS to be a choice, and only those who truly KNOW violence, from both sides of the coin, can really understand how hard it is to try to live without resorting to its finality. Those who retreat from violence in fear give themselves no choice, and suffer the consequences of that decision regularly, as life will tumble them about just as if they were clothes in a dryer. Those who use violence regularly, as a means of coping with the world, will almost always come to a violent end, eventually, as there is ALWAYS someone who is bigger, or faster, or stronger, or smarter…..

Only those who are perceptive enough to learn to make the decision to NOT be violent, even thought they know how to do so, have an even chance of getting through life with the most satisfaction, of being able to control what happens around them, without giving in to the urge to kill….

Having made my decision today, as must be done daily, to do my best NOT to kill anyone, I guess I should quit blathering about it, and get on with today’s business….. Shall we Pearl?…..
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“Asking a Republican Senate and Democratic House to make a law is like trying to fry a single egg in two pans.” — New York Times, Jan. 20, 1981

Vice versa is no doubt true, in my estimation, as well as my experience, as the reverse is what we are currently dealing with in the seat of our pants, er, government…. such as it is. If you can’t tell, let me make it crystal clear…. I’m more than just a bit tired of all of them, and really wish they’d leave us all alone for a while, and let us set things to order…..

It shouldn’t take more than a week or two, if they’ll agree to stay out of the way, I’m sure…. Once we have things set up the way we want it, there won’t be any need for them to return to work, anyway, but we don’t have to tell them them at first…. We’ll just let them think they’ve still got the keys to the kingdom, then just laugh at them when they start to whine about the changes….

Oh, didn’t I mention, the first task would be to boot their asses out, in a figurative sense? I mean, we don’t really need them do we? We can take care of each other without all the interference and manipulation we now suffer…. We just have to figure out how to do this without bloodshed, as it has always been accomplished up to now…. it doesn’t seem to work very well, does it? The world is not going to shit, it is already doo doo, and I don’t mean doo dah…. We don’t have the time, or the resources to spare, to keep doing the same old shit we’ve been doing, so, they’ll just have t get over it…. It’s not ABOUT them, even though they want it to be…..

It is about survival…. our survival as a species. I keep pounding on this point because I’m in a near-constant state of panic, because, for all accounts and purposes, it may be too late for us to stop the global climate changes by reducing our particulate emissions. We’ve been pumping shit (shit that is composed of varying percentages of Carbon monoxide, toxic industrial poisons, and  about a hundred other substances that have no business in our air….) into the atmosphere now for about a hundred and fifty years or so, since the beginning of the industrial revolution, and the cumulative effects are now at a point of irreversibility. The climate is changing, as we watch, and there is no longer any way to stop it….

For the past 25 or more years, the amount of stuff going into the atmosphere has been doing so at a rate of HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF TONS (tons, not pounds or ounces, but tons….) PER HOUR. Per hour…. now, today, as of this moment, we are dumping over a thousand tons into the air every three seconds, according to the World Clock at Poodwaddle.com, here…. You can see for yourself, here….  http://www.poodwaddle.com/clocks/worldclock/   It’s frightening, but it’s all real, and true….

I guess what I’m trying to get to here is that the folks who are currently in our government, running things, AREN’T doing anything about all of this, any more than those who came before them…. In fact, a disturbing number of them refuse to accept the truth of the matter, an idiotic viewpoint all-too-common among the faith-based among them…. The rest of them don’t want to acknowledge the issue because it threatens their pocketbooks. Whatever their reasoning, or lack of it, they aren’t going to help at all; in fact, they are the biggest part of the problem, and need to be removed before we will be able to actually DO anything that might help, late as it is….

President Barry has promised to address the issue, strongly…. Well, it’s a bit late, Barry, but, let’s see what you can do…. But, I’d suggest getting off your ass and doing it fast, because the storm is building, and it will blow us all to hell, quickly, if we don’t batten down the hatches and get to work at dealing with the core issues….. which are human cupidity, human avarice, human indifference, and human stupidity, the REAL Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse…..

How admirable, he who thinks not,
Life is fleeting,
When he sees the lightning!

— Basho
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Momentary Terror

Absently casual, memories pester endlessly
leaving only bleeding remnants, amiable and loving.
Coming awake, I cry to still the pain, shamelessly.

Elsewhen, time gives surcease, if only to live,
shoring broken pilings, worn and gray.
Passing on, I laugh at the pain, accept all it will give.

Time will build a shelter, warm and ever safe
save for Fate’s busy hands.
Enduring, I follow the pain, knowing it will chafe.

Fixed against a darkened sky of starry black
such beauty brings us to our knees.
Entranced, I welcome the pain, ’tis all I lack…..

~~ gigoid

I’m not sure what to think about this poem, but, it had to get out, or it would have festered…. Does that mean it is ulcerous, or merely has the potential to be so? You tell me….
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Once again, fate has conspired to force my hand, to the point where I must prevaricate in order to stay on track…. which is to say, I’ve been stupid, and lost my way to wherever it was I’d planned to go…. As is my wont in such cases, we will go old school, with a group of pearls that all have something to say about something or other…. Today, we’ll address stupidity, and how all of us on the bus may fall prey to it at times…. Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes, the bear eats you, as they say…. Here are some thoughts on the matter from some pretty famous ffolkes, and a couple not so widely known, but respected for their wisdom in their own circle….

“The majority of the stupid is invincible and guaranteed for all time. The terror of their tyranny, however, is alleviated by their lack of consistency.” — Albert Einstein

“There is no sin except stupidity.” — Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), “The Critic as Artist”, 1891

“There is no nonsense so arrant that it cannot be made the creed of the vast majority by adequate governmental action.” — Bertrand Russell (1872-1967), “An outline of Intellectual Rubbish”

“Stupid is as stupid does.” — Mrs. Gump, Forrest’s mama

“The only evidence against evolution are its opponents.” — Smart Bee

Boy, if that ain’t the Truth, in big, shiny letters ten feet tall!…. In contrast, below you will find one of my all time favorite aphorisms, from my all time favorite author, advising us of what we CAN be, if we choose….

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, and die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.” — Robert A. Heinlein, The Notebooks of Lazarus Long
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Well, there you have it. Such as it is, it is all my own, save the quoted aphorisms, so take it all with a big dose of well- salted skepticism; don’t worry, it’s all designed to stand up to that kind of scrutiny, I hope. I’ve proofed it once, so it must be done…. and, as such, is no longer my concern, right? Okay, I’ll drop it…. just remember, it doesn’t HAVE to make sense, it just has to be real…. and there is no question of that, at all, at all….  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

dozer3

Fully hydrogenated crankcase oil, please…..

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6

Ffolkes,
As I sit, staring at the keyboard, strange new feelings assault my senses, poignantly bittersweet, like memories of high school. I call the feelings new, though they are as old as Father Time’s beard, because they are new to me. Never before have I felt this way, both proud and sad, both joyful, and miserably mad…. Not for nothing have I lived all this time, for only a few years past, such as I am now experiencing would have shocked me beyond recovery, and I would not be here today. How, then, can I live now? With courage and resolve….. How else can I accept this? How else can I learn to be strong enough to carry on?…..

Okay, that’s not bad…. a little stiff & formal, maybe…. It doesn’t mean diddly squat, but it’s not bad….. it could use a bit of polish, here and there, but the overall effect works, I think, don’t you?…. Oh, I’m sorry, I did it again, didn’t I?….. Oops…. I don’t mean to get y’all so worked up so early…. Nor did I, when I awoke, intend to take you on a trip to nowhere, and leave you there, with no warning…. it just happened. I do these little story beginnings here in the intro to get the juices flowing, and to see what kind of stuff is floating around in there, always forgetting that ffolkes are forever telling me to finish one of them….

I’ve done a couple that I really do intend to finish one day; they are still sitting on the desktop, waiting for me to give them some time. There is one, with a talking tiger, and another, with an assassin and a little girl, that I liked a lot, and will one day get back to…. But, for the moment, I write every day mostly to get the crap out of my head, crap that otherwise will fester and rot, and don’t want to take the time to work on one story, when I have so much inside me that needs to be purged….. But, I will eventually get to them, if I live long enough….

Hmm… now what? I suppose I could just be normal, and call what I have already written a sufficient introduction to today’s Pearl…. but, normal is a word we avoid around here as much as we can, as it just makes us unhappy….   🙂   Besides, if you want normal, there are literally millions of blogs out there where you can find that….. Here, you won’t find much that fits into the normal range, and if you did, I would expect you to let me know, so we can fix that little issue…. We are quite fond of that facet of life that we call entropy, and the flexibility and strength required to stand up to it every day is considered admirable in our world….. Change is GOOD!  Mostly…..

“If you rely on Murphy’s law, everything will go as planned (but don’t count on it.)” — Sullivan’s Observation

Even if change isn’t good, since we mostly don’t get a choice about whether or not we will change, we tend to just go along with whatever the universe throws our way; it just works out better than the alternative….. Plus, we like the bonus stamps we get for cooperating…. If THAT isn’t enough, it gives us the chance to use the royal “we”….

Before it becomes any clearer that you should be calling for the doctors, I should probably dive in to today’s Pearl. I don’t have the time to fuss with talking them out of a temporary commitment to a locked facility…. Besides, y’all wouldn’t do that to me, would you? Would you?…. Well, before I get too many answers I don’t like, Shall we Pearl?…..
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“People see what they have been conditioned to see; they refuse to see what they don’t expect to see.” — Merle P. Martin

This statement is one that will find some strong agreement here, as it is as clear an indictment of the unwashed masses as I’ve ever seen; it places some of the blame on their oppressors, as it should, but still manages to show where people are responsible for their own ignorance, in spite of how they may be conditioned…. One may not be responsible for their conditioning, but they are still responsible for what they refuse to acknowledge as truth, and Mr. Martin has given them little room to wiggle out of that responsibility…..

In some ways, y’all might think that I tend to obsess about those who are manipulating society. and the impending global catastrophes that I see as inevitable. In a way, you could be right…. it COULD be called obsession, since I do take at least one shot a day at the BRC and the priestly hierarchies; if I don’t hit them regularly, I just feel empty, and incomplete….. But, I don’t lose any sleep over it, so I think my concerns are still in the rational stages of evolution. What can be challenging is finding new ways to approach the subject, that will show the assholes for what they are, and what they are doing to the rest of us, and still not bore the reader senseless…. it’s hard to motivate someone who has fallen asleep….

“The worth of the State, in the long run, is the worth of the individuals composing it, and a State which postpones the interest of their mental expansion and elevation to a little more of administrative skill, or of that semblance of it which practice gives in the details of business… will find that with small men no great thing can be accomplished.” — John Stuart Mill, ‘On Liberty’, 1859

The other day, someone asked me a question about a statement I had made, to the effect that I believed that the usurpation of the Constitution began within minutes of it being signed…. She asked me how I knew that, and at the time, I gave her the answer that occurred to me at the time, to wit: I know this because I know human nature, and the money lenders and bankers wouldn’t have wanted to wait even a minute to try to get their two cents into the process, in order to start turning it to their advantage….. Mr. Mill has, with this statement, shown us how they went about that perversion….

During elections, and often in the time prior to the announcement of the candidates and their platforms, there is a loud lamentation that there are no GOOD candidates to be found, that the men and women who end up running for office are NOT the most qualified for the job, but merely those who WANT it for their own reasons (you can bet that altruism is NOT one of those reasons….). In fact, to my mind, the single most qualifying characteristic I would like to see in ANY candidate would be a lack of desire to get elected; in other words, in order to be well-qualified, they have to NOT want to get elected…. It’s the only way we can trust them not to steal so much….

“Intelligence has nothing to do with politics.” — Londo Molari

What we have in reality is that ALL of those who run for office are people who WANT POWER; the exceptions are too few to be statistically significant, so I use the word ALL with that caveat. Sure, occasionally, a person who really doesn’t want to be in office, but happens to be the most qualified, gets persuaded by friends that they can do some good, and they are popular enough, and intelligent enough, to get elected. Once in office, though, they generally discover that their opportunities to do good for others are severely limited by the efforts of their peers, who have no interest whatsoever in looking after the people, unless it serves their own purpose.

“Every man is a damn fool for at least five minutes every day; wisdom consists in not exceeding the limit.” — Elbert Hubbard

It’s hard to say whether writing pieces such as this one is a part of my five minutes, or whether it is part of the other side of the coin, which prevents me from reaching my limit…. Either way, I’m starting to understand that, since I’m shouting into the wind, pretty much, with these political and social diatribes, I need to keep them fairly short, and uncomplicated, or I will lose my audience to boredom with the repetitive nature of what I’m writing. Yes, we need to be aware that most of our Beloved Ruling Class are assholes, and need to be culled from the human herd….. but railing about it too much will only defeat my purpose, which is to educate and stimulate, hopefully to action that will serve to help the situation….

So rather than exceed my limit for the day, we’ll leave this here, and hope that what I’ve written will cause at least a touch of bleeding in the BRC, even if it’s only a scratch…. Better now to go look for some poetry, to soothe my fevered brow….

“I know everything about everything, except that.” — Smart Bee
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Ahhhh!….. Yeats! A bit long, but worth reading every line….

A Dialogue Of Self And Soul

i{My Soul} I summon to the winding ancient stair;
Set all your mind upon the steep ascent,
Upon the broken, crumbling battlement,
Upon the breathless starlit air,
‘Upon the star that marks the hidden pole;
Fix every wandering thought upon
That quarter where all thought is done:
Who can distinguish darkness from the soul
i{My Self}. The consecrates blade upon my knees
Is Sato’s ancient blade, still as it was,
Still razor-keen, still like a looking-glass
Unspotted by the centuries;
That flowering, silken, old embroidery, torn
From some court-lady’s dress and round
The wooden scabbard bound and wound
Can, tattered, still protect, faded adorn
i{My Soul.} Why should the imagination of a man
Long past his prime remember things that are
Emblematical of love and war?
Think of ancestral night that can,
If but imagination scorn the earth
And intellect is wandering
To this and that and t’other thing,
Deliver from the crime of death and birth.
i{My self.} Montashigi, third of his family, fashioned it
Five hundred years ago, about it lie
Flowers from I know not what embroidery —
Heart’s purple — and all these I set
For emblems of the day against the tower
Emblematical of the night,
And claim as by a soldier’s right
A charter to commit the crime once more.
i{My Soul.} Such fullness in that quarter overflows
And falls into the basin of the mind
That man is stricken deaf and dumb and blind,
For intellect no longer knows
i{Is} from the i{Ought,} or i{knower} from the i{Known — }
That is to say, ascends to Heaven;
Only the dead can be forgiven;
But when I think of that my tongue’s a stone.
i{My Self.} A living man is blind and drinks his drop.
What matter if the ditches are impure?
What matter if I live it all once more?
Endure that toil of growing up;
The ignominy of boyhood; the distress
Of boyhood changing into man;
The unfinished man and his pain
Brought face to face with his own clumsiness;
The finished man among his enemies? —
How in the name of Heaven can he escape
That defiling and disfigured shape
The mirror of malicious eyes
Casts upon his eyes until at last
He thinks that shape must be his shape?
And what’s the good of an escape
If honour find him in the wintry blast?
I am content to live it all again
And yet again, if it be life to pitch
Into the frog-spawn of a blind man’s ditch,
A blind man battering blind men;
Or into that most fecund ditch of all,
The folly that man does
Or must suffer, if he woos
A proud woman not kindred of his soul.
I am content to follow to its source
Every event in action or in thought;
Measure the lot; forgive myself the lot!
When such as I cast out remorse
So great a sweetness flows into the breast
We must laugh and we must sing,
We are blest by everything,
Everything we look upon is blest.

William Butler Yeats

If but imagination scorn the earth
And intellect is wandering
To this and that and t’other thing,
Deliver from the crime of death and birth……. from above…. Is it not obvious why I love Yeats?…..
__________________________________

“The man who fears no truths has nothing to fear from lies.” — Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was a fascinating fellow, a man of many contrasts…. His published words are usually considered to define him, as free-thinking, intelligent, and altruistic, in addition to his passion for politics. His private self was, by all accounts, sometimes less admirable, as he was prone to an aristocratic indifference that did not appear in his public persona. But, whatever his faults, he was, above all, a true Patriot of this country, and not only passionate in his defense of it, but eloquent in both the justification for its existence, and in defining its underlying principles.

He showed in his writings, both public and private, a clear understanding of how our country could prosper in the future, as well as the problems it could encounter from agencies in the world that wished to see it fail, or at least struggle to maintain the independence of its citizenry. He was one of the first to point out the danger that banks and corporations pose to the workings of Congress and the government, by their willingness to bribe and pay off whomever they could, to give themselves an edge in the making of the laws (an event that, almost unarguably, took place the first time during the Constitutional Convention itself… I have no doubt the bankers were very involved in trying to influence that body’s results, and spreading money around to do so…. Fortunately, they were largely unsuccessful, at first….)

Since I’ve already ranted once today about the BRC and their clandestine efforts to control reality, I’ll limit myself, and try to avoid repetition, by going old school from this point…. Here are some of Jefferson’s quotations on different subjects, all of which together give an idea of the range of his thoughts, and the depth of his insight….

“When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) — Declaration of Independence (Heavily influenced by George Mason, a fellow patriot, taken almost verbatim from similar documents written by Mason, for the state in which he lived….)

“When angry, count ten before you speak; if very angry, a hundred.” — Thomas Jefferson, Writings

“The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg.” — Thomas Jefferson

“…this would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it.” — John Adams, Letter to Thomas Jefferson, 1816

“I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever, in religion, in philosophy, in politics or in anything else, where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent. If I could not go to Heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all.” — Thomas Jefferson, Letter To Francis Hopkinson, Paris Mar. 13, 1789


“The beauty of the Second Amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it.”― Thomas Jefferson
__________________________________

I am hesitant to try to judge my own work, other than on a basic level that, hopefully, prevents me from posting stuff that is pure trash, as I am fully cognizant of Sturgeon’s Law, to wit: “90% of Science Fiction is crap. But, then, 90% of everything is crap.” Let it be known that, for my own part, I do try to keep from posting material that would be considered odoriferous in the slightest. Of course, I probably fail on a regular basis, but, so far, nobody has actually complained…. so, I’ll take it.

Today’s effort isn’t bad, all things considered, so we’re going to go with it, trusting to luck that anyone who might object to what they read will at least be civil, should it offend them overmuch…. If not, well, we’ll deal with that if it comes…. I enjoy a spirited dialogue, especially if it is stimulated by something I’ve written…. perverse, maybe, but, hey, everyone needs a hobby…. Since I can feel the babbling just bubbling, I’ll end this here, and let y’all be about your business… Thanks for stopping by, and…..  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

dozer3

Professional bibliographers needed for fiesta….

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Ffolkes,
Forgetting, even for a moment, that I am “blessed”, is a dangerous pastime. I realize there is, ostensibly, a certain panache attached to someone who is singled out by natural icons for special attention and celebrity, but I’d give my right arm and three toes to have been passed over by Murphy for this particular honor. The fuckface just won’t leave me alone, and I’m getting damn sick of it, let me tell you…. and, no, I don’t think ‘fuckface’  is too harsh, or too vulgar, in this instance….. the asshole……

Okay, okay, I’ll calm down, and stop the vulgarity, at least for the nonce….. (I love those old-fashioned words…) It’s just so bloody frustrating to try to accomplish anything with him hanging about, sticking out his foot, or just pointing and laughing, to distract and annoy me. You’d think that he’d been hired by the corporate masters to slow me down in my ranting, but, with my pitiful following, I can’t see why they’d waste the money on hiring the best, when they could probably fuss with me much more cheaply…. Hell, all they’d have to do is continue to have SS dance and delay my case even more than they already have done; it would piss me off royally, more than I already am, and certainly affect my ability to write….

Of course, they’ll never stop me entirely, not as long as I have a breath, and connection to the internet; no way I’m going to shut up now. As I’ve said previously, I spent about 60 years keeping my mouth shut about all this stuff, to avoid controversy, and I’m done with that now. In fact, the more controversy, the better, to my mind, as it can only lead to more people hearing about what I’m saying, and more people becoming disenchanted with the PTB, and the BRC…. which is my ultimate goal…..

It will be an interesting matter, actually, to see what will happen…. Should I gain enough followers for my blog to become influential in society, how much would be allowed before they came to shut me down?….. I guarantee, my words will be dangerous enough to them to prompt a response; the question is how much danger they’re willing to endure….

Ah well, I can only hope for that kind of influence; it isn’t going to happen tonight, nor will it happen tomorrow…. But, I’ll keep on keepin’ on, and I’ll keep on taking shots at the entrenched assholes who are killing us, until it either does some good, or I am unable, for whatever reason, to keep writing…. Any such reason would be most likely provided by the BRC and PTB, as I can’t think of anything I might do that would be able to do that, at least, not without enemy action….

It’s all moot at this point, but, hey, once again, just blathering about it has filled up the intro section… It sort of happened on the sly today, as I didn’t even notice until just now that we were approaching enough bulk to consider it a wrap…. I guess I’ll take it…. It isn’t the most thrilling, or the most gripping introduction I’ve seen, or written, for that matter, but, like the Pearls themselves, it grows more attractive as it approaches completion…. I’m a sucker for something that is “done”….. Besides, I’m getting a bit bored with this one, so…. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

“I can handle reality in small doses, but as a lifestyle it’s much too confining.” — Lily Tomlin

This is one of many statements of its type, some from Miss Lily, some from other comedians and social philosophers, all of whom are special to me…. They are special because they poke fun at society in the mildest way, but with clarity that is belied by their apparent simplicity and obvious humor. It is easy for a lot of folks to dismiss little gems like this, as being unimportant, or less than serious, just because it speaks with tongue in cheek… Nothing could be further from the truth, as this statement is absolute gospel to a large percentage of the adult population of this country….

“Reality is for those people who can’t handle drugs.” — George Carlin
(My attribution here might be incorrect, but, George inspired the line, if he didn’t write it himself….)

Here is another line from the revolution that happened back in the 60’s and 70’s, and it points up a very definitive difference between those folks who spend their time in the mainstream of society, and those who exist at the extremes, in this case, in what is generally conceived to be on the Left end of the scale…. Those who inhabit the other end of the political spectrum tend to rely on alcohol to blunt the effects of Reality on the brain, rather than what are dismissed by them as recreational drugs, such as marijuana, psilocybin, mescaline, etc.  In some ways, you can get a good idea of the philosophies themselves by looking at how they approach the subject of drugs and alcohol, and by the differing methods of enhancing life with them….

Those who rely on alcohol are those who prefer to NOT know the truth, about anything. It seems to me that the physical effects of alcohol parallel exactly the way these folks look at life…. When under the influence of alcohol, one’s senses are depressed, and it is much harder to see the truth than at other times…. and that is the way they like it…. With consumption of alcohol, the hearing decreases, judgment is impaired, vision blurs, sense of touch is lessened, and fine muscle control is compromised, pretty much in that order of occurrence. It is the same each time, but with continued regular consumption, a certain tolerance is developed, a tolerance that slightly mitigates the effects, but certainly does not keep them from happening.

Those who use drugs to enhance or adjust their view don’t deny the truth, but they want it to be all prettied up for them in some way, so it isn’t so harsh and ugly…. Most of the effects of the drugs are in the mind, with some notable exceptions;  the perceptions of all the senses are not depressed, but altered in some way, usually personal to the user, in physical response to the chemical in the drug that causes the cognitive alterations.  Either way, whether with drugs, or with alcohol, perception of the truth is what ultimately suffers, which is what the proponents of both ends of the spectrum tend to forget, or deny….

“Have you ever wondered if taxation without representation was cheaper?” — Smart Bee

I have…. It is and it isn’t, and we are witnessing that phenomenon right now….. This may be why many people have such a hard time with reality; when one becomes aware of just how screwed up things are, and how much lying, cheating, and stealing is going on right before our eyes, it is rather daunting to take in all at once, so people do as they’ve always done, and slip into massive denial of the truth, preferring to just ignore the evidence that is slapping them upside the head….

One time, I actually sat down to do the math on the above question, and what I found was surprising…. Neither way works…. There just isn’t any logical way to govern people, and make it either profitable, or even reasonably cheap…. Well, not as long as the lying, cheating, and stealing is part of the equation, anyway….

“The word “dog” does not bite,” — William James

Boy, if that isn’t the truth…. but, try to convince the general public of that….. It is one of the basic issues to be considered when speaking to the public, one that the BRC and PTB members all know very well, as it is their chief weapon in controlling the populace…. Most folks don’t think…. when they do, it causes them pain, so they tend to let someone else do it for them, and just go along in blissful ignorance, accepting whatever they’re told without a clue. They never consider that the word itself is not the thing it describes; even worse, they don’t care to know….. It is the simplest thing in the world for the Beloved Ruling Class to fool the public, because they actively participate, with apparent glee, in their own debasement….

“As a matter of cold fact, a lot of people have no use for you because they can’t use you.”  — Smart Bee

Sometimes, I’m not sure which disgusts me more…. the callous disregard for others that is the defining characteristic of all politicians and preachers, or the deliberately blind, fawning ignorance of those who refuse to become fully human, use their minds, and take responsibility for their own life…. To my way of thinking, both are deserving of every bit of trouble that reality can give them, just for their intransigence…. otherwise known as rampant stubbornness, or more simply, massive stupidity….

I’m being deliberately offensive this morning, as I’m sick and tired of how the general public refuses to wake up and smell the gunpowder, and I don’t really care if it hurts someone’s feelings. Anyone who disagrees with my assessment is free to offer up their own take on the matter, and I’ll give it equal time for discussion…. but, if what I’ve said hurts feelings, then apparently what I’ve said strikes just a little too close to the truth for comfort, and I would suggest that the person take a look at that before setting themselves up for embarrassment, by trying to argue without a leg upon which to stand….

In the past year and a half, I’ve written thousands and thousands of words trying to wake people up to how much they are giving away by refusing to think. It is my greatest hope that what I have to say may have some small effect on the world, an effect that might in some way contribute to our chances of surviving our own foolishness. I’m afraid my hope is, sadly, rather slim, but, I am not ready to quit my campaign, nor to change tactics. I’ll keep on poking at the BRC, and the priestly hierarchies, and every other enemy of mankind (for that is how I see them….) for as long as I can, and hope for the best….

“One of the greatest advantages in the world is enjoyed by the person who says and insists that they are telling the truth, when in fact, they are telling the truth.” — Smart Bee
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Getting There

How far is it?
How far is it now?
The gigantic gorilla interior
Of the wheels move, they appall me —-
The terrible brains
Of Krupp, black muzzles
Revolving, the sound
Punching out Absence! Like cannon.
It is Russia I have to get across, it is some was or other.
I am dragging my body
Quietly through the straw of the boxcars.
Now is the time for bribery.
What do wheels eat, these wheels
Fixed to their arcs like gods,
The silver leash of the will ——
Inexorable. And their pride!
All the gods know destinations.
I am a letter in this slot!
I fly to a name, two eyes.
Will there be fire, will there be bread?
Here there is such mud.
It is a trainstop, the nurses
Undergoing the faucet water, its veils, veils in a nunnery,
Touching their wounded,
The men the blood still pumps forward,
Legs, arms piled outside
The tent of unending cries ——
A hospital of dolls.
And the men, what is left of the men
Pumped ahead by these pistons, this blood
Into the next mile,
The next hour ——
Dynasty of broken arrows!

How far is it?
There is mud on my feet,
Thick, red and slipping. It is Adam’s side,
This earth I rise from, and I in agony.
I cannot undo myself, and the train is steaming.
Steaming and breathing, its teeth
Ready to roll, like a devil’s.
There is a minute at the end of it
A minute, a dewdrop.
How far is it?
It is so small
The place I am getting to, why are there these obstacles ——
The body of this woman,
Charred skirts and deathmask
Mourned by religious figures, by garlanded children.
And now detonations ——
Thunder and guns.
The fire’s between us.
Is there no place
Turning and turning in the middle air,
Untouchable and untouchable.
The train is dragging itself, it is screaming ——
An animal
Insane for the destination,
The bloodspot,
The face at the end of the flare.
I shall bury the wounded like pupas,
I shall count and bury the dead.
Let their souls writhe in like dew,
Incense in my track.
The carriages rock, they are cradles.
And I, stepping from this skin
Of old bandages, boredoms, old faces

Step up to you from the black car of Lethe,
Pure as a baby.

~~ Sylvia Plath
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“Dreaming permits each and everyone of us to be quietly and safely insane  every night of our lives.” — Charles William Dement

I used this a few days ago, and have since had some thoughts on the subject that fit right in with the sentiment this expresses. It begins with my own experience with dreams, which, I believe, is not typical, at least in some respects….. I’d get something to nibble on, if I were you, this could take a while to explore, in order to give it the treatment it deserves as one of our (our=humans..) least understood characteristics….

In high school, for a paper I was required to write for English class, I chose the subject of Telepathy, Dreaming, and Paranormal Activity in Humans…. which turned out to be far too massive a subject for one college-style, 20-page research paper, as I found literally thousands of pages of documented material on each of those sub-categories. So, I trimmed it down to a paper on Dreams and Dreaming, and became familiar with the latest research and information available on the subject in 1966.

Though trimmed down, there was still a great deal of information on dreaming to be found, and it was all quite fascinating, especially as dreams had been a subject I had always avoided, for reasons I wasn’t aware of until later, when I learned more about how to look inside myself at things I didn’t wish to see….. BRRRTP! EHHH! BEEP! BEEP!….. Shut that off!….. Side issue, side issue! Warning! Too much extraneous information ….. Sorry, that isn’t relevant, and my interior editing function went off…. Okay, where was I?…. Ah….

What I discovered in my research led me to the conclusion that dreams are one of our most powerful defenses against the real world, and are instrumental in mitigating the deleterious effects dealing with all of its demands can cause, in spite of our best effort and intent. As stated above, we immerse ourselves in the random, undisciplined maelstrom of insanity that is dreaming, every night, in order to resolve the feelings we have engendered in ourselves about what we’ve seen and done. This immersion allows us to process all the unresolved issues our minds have created, and face each new day with a fresh outlook, as sanely as we can….

When we don’t dream, or our sleep is disrupted, by physical or environmental intercession, we become less sane. Nervous, easily distracted, with senses alert for any danger, the world we see around us assumes a fearful aspect, and we fall even deeper in the clutches of our own despair. This has been demonstrated time and again, both in laboratory experiments, and in real life. I think everyone can relate to the feeling of waking up after a night of disturbed sleep, and understand, at least a bit, how difficult it can be to face the day when one is already tired and depressed. It is a completely different experience than awaking full of energy, and a sunny outlook, one that nobody wishes to repeat…..

I’ve been working at completing this pearl for days now, and can’t seem to find the thread that will bring it to a close, or even to a more productive line of reasoning…. When I first started it, I had a good idea of how it should go, but, in trying to get things done, it got lost in the shuffle… But, I have this…. In our dreams, our imagination is at its finest, and we are treated to the sheer joyous power of it nightly, when it fills our sleeping minds with image after image that seemingly makes no sense, but has an underlying piece of reality in it that connects to our spirit, and allows us to accept what in the real world we would never even see….

That power is so great that, without any conscious effort on our part, our daily stress and angst is processed, and resolved, at least to the point where it will not trouble our conscious mind the following day. Instead, we start the day fresh, and are better equipped, mentally and emotionally, to deal with whatever new issues the universe presents for our entertainment. Without being able to dream, we start the day on edge, nervous, and filled with unspecified dread of what may happen, all with no identifiable reason.

Another day, I’ll go into another aspect of dreaming, one that ties into our creativity…. It is safe to say that dreaming is an integral part of what I do each morning when I sit down to write these Pearls, both in its value in giving my mind the surcease from care it requires, and in the very process of creation itself, when I attempt to connect to that part of the imagination that dreaming uses naturally, to send us into the realms of madness each night…. Bringing that into the real light of day is truly a wondrous event, and one I seek continuously…..

“I found the answer . . . but forgot the question.” — Smart Bee
__________________________________

As this Pearl evolved, I wasn’t sure how it would turn out…. After going back over it, however, after a couple of tune-ups, I think it came out rather well, all things considered. Well enough to let it fly, at the very least…. I’m not going to even think about how it might go over, as that always turns out to be a waste of time, as is most speculation on the future… Before I start to babble again, I’ll let y’all get back to whatever you were up to until now, hopefully with a smile on your face, and a song in your heart….  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

dozer3

Working in from the outer edge…..

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Ffolkes,
“You tell Bupkes, either he’s there at six o’clock, in full clown regalia, nose and bicycle horn included, or I’m calling the guild, and he’ll never work another Mardi Gras in this town!” Everard Cross, who consistently won the neighborhood grouch award because he believed in living up to his name, growled his threat to the wife of Bupkes the Clown into the phone, then slammed it down hard enough to bounce.

At the top of his voice, he yelled out, “Honey, get me the Guildmaster on the phone; I need to roast a clown.” Picking up his well-chewed cigar from the ashtray, he chomped down on it and chewed. while he gazed with naturally beady eyes across the desk at his next victim, er, client…. “I hate clowns…” he thought, as he gazed at yet another smiling face surrounded by red curls, and the biggest red nose he’d ever seen….

Hmm…. Not too shabby for pre-coffee. It’s always a risk, trying to be coherent before that first sip or two of morning’s blood; I never know if my head will cooperate. It seems this morning, I caught it in a decent mood for once, and was able to finesse that out while the coffee was brewing. SIGH….. It is always a conundrum, though, to figure out if such smoothness so early is a good omen, or bad. It could turn either way, given the natural tendency around here toward unpredictability, so it’s a good idea to not commit oneself too early, lest one get shat upon…… not my favorite morning activity, you can bet…..

In fact, I have yet to find ANY activity in the morning that can be fully trusted to offer itself as omen for the day. Everything that happens seems to be fraught with potential for good or evil, and the final decision as to which isn’t apparent until the very last moment…. This can make the choice to continue, or to abort, anything I begin somewhat of a challenge, as you might guess.

It has gotten to the point that, lest Murphy completely take over my life, I refuse to make a decision about stuff like this, and sink into frozen inactivity. There is little else I can do some days, and if both of us are in a pissy mood, well, it can get ugly…… There have been days of late where not a damn thing moves or gets done until noon, or until one of us blinks. Fortunately, Murphy is bipolar, and can’t concentrate long enough to win at least half the time, so it evens out pretty well…. but, it’s a big pain having to go through that on a daily basis…

Ah well, I could lament the daily battles with the forces of nature for a long time, but, we DO have other stuff to accomplish today. I myself must go shopping for food, before there is no money left to do so, so it would no doubt serve me well to get started on today’s Pearl. Not that I want to be a toadie, and just cave in whenever someone tells me what I should be doing, even if it is logical. I’ll just stall around a moment here, and fill in with some extraneous verbiage that has nothing to do with anything at all, before I give in to the power of suggestion. If nothing else, that will fill in the rest of THIS paragraph, and make this a visually symmetrical intro…. one of our corollary goals…. Shall we Pearl?…..
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“The secret of life is to appreciate the pleasure of being terribly deceived.” — Oscar Wilde

Oscar’s speech, and his grasp of the art of conversation, were legendary for showing wit along with intelligent insight. Often, with aphorisms like this one, that depth of insight became quite shiny….. It doesn’t seem like much, at first glance, but is actually quite good advice, though given with tongue firmly planted in cheek. In one simple sentence, he condemns modern society for its lack of integrity, and offers to mankind the only true way to be content with our lot…..

In this society, we, the people, are deceived on what is essentially an hourly basis, by our leaders, by our priests, by businesses, by the police, by each other for the sake of expedience; almost every minute of our lives we are being lied to by someone, especially if one watches a lot of TV. We have, culturally, become so inured to being lied to that we have come to assume it is not just okay, but is the only way to get ahead in life…. Sadly, this may be true…. The presence of honesty in human interaction has become so rare that most people just expect the lies, and learn to live with them per Oscar’s suggestion.

In its simplicity, and in its Zen-like attitude, what Oscar shared is very much Eastern in its outlook. It isn’t a common idea in Western culture to “go with the flow”, but rather to “fight on”; the concept of acceptance to deal with challenge is foreign to most of us raised under Christian standards. But, regardless of where one is raised, the lies are still out there, being used by those in power to confuse, distract, and manipulate the voting public, and I think we can count on them to continue in that vein for as long as it continues to work for them….

So, maybe it is time to look at what Oscar said as a challenge, rather than advice. Perhaps, if the public began to NOT accept the lies, but began to question those in authority, to demand that the truth be told, then maybe there is a chance for us to survive the coming collapse….. Maybe…. it may already be too late….

I read an interesting article the other day, and I use the word ‘interesting’ in its most dangerous sense, as is common in Eastern culture, where being wished an “interesting life” is a curse…. The article made this statement, to wit: the climate is not changing. It has changed…… In other words, the moment that the environmentalists have been fearing for years has arrived, and we have reached a point of no return.

The millions of tons of particulate matter (“pollution”) we have been pumping into the air for the last 100 years has reached a point where irreversible changes in the balance of the planetary ecosystem have been made, and the climate, which has just begun to alter its centuries-old patterns, will now continue to grow more unpredictable, and more violently destructive than has ever been seen before in history. These changes are not going to stop, and in fact, will worsen over time…. and, I am unhappy to report, this is not fear-mongering, this is not speculation, this is not a lie…. this is demonstrable fact.  See for yourself, here:

http://www.poodwaddle.com/clocks/worldclock/

I am so pissed off about this that I am going to have to stop this pearl right here; I’m already trembling from the jolt of adrenaline the anger stimulated in me. Those in power over society have ignored the warnings that scientists and environmentalists have issued for decades, and their intransigence is now going to kill all of us, slowly and with great pain for many, as life on this planet becomes more and more of a challenge, to live, nay,  just to survive.

There is only one reason this is happening, and that is the FACT that the Beloved Ruling Class has, for centuries, lied and cheated the rest of humanity, and have arranged matters so that they are the only ones who are truly comfortable… most of humanity has to struggle to obtain just enough of the resources being hoarded to live in hunger, barely able to survive.

Bah! I am incensed, and can hardly contain my rage…. It makes me want to go out and start….. well, I started to say “killing”,  referring to the members of the BRC, but, on second thought, killing is too good for them. I think I’d rather keep them alive, but make them suffer, just as much as they have made others suffer their entire lives….. It’s time, ffolkes, for humanity to step up, and boot the assholes out…. They are killing us, and I think it is about time we did something to return the favor, don’t you?….. Think about, but don’t take long, because it’s already too late…..

“If I had a Q-TIP, I could prevent th’collapse of NEGOTIATIONS!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

“Rare gift! but oh what gift to fools avails!” — Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — The Odyssey of Homer, Book x, Line 29
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Conversations Among The Ruins

Through portico of my elegant house you stalk
With your wild furies, disturbing garlands of fruit
And the fabulous lutes and peacocks, rending the net
Of all decorum which holds the whirlwind back.
Now, rich order of walls is fallen; rooks croak
Above the appalling ruin; in bleak light
Of your stormy eye, magic takes flight
Like a daunted witch, quitting castle when real days break.

Fractured pillars frame prospects of rock;
While you stand heroic in coat and tie, I sit
Composed in Grecian tunic and psyche-knot,
Rooted to your black look, the play turned tragic:
Which such blight wrought on our bankrupt estate,

What ceremony of words can patch the havoc?

~~ Sylvia Plath
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“The only end of writing is to enable the readers better to enjoy life, or better to endure it.” — Samuel Johnson

I have to agree with Sam on this one; this is a very nice way to look at writing, and a fair and complete description as well. If I can do either one of these things for, or to, my readers, I would consider what I wrote to be a success, no matter how many ‘Likes’ it got…. In that same vein, I’d like to take a moment today to shout out a big THANK YOU to all the ffolkes who have stopped in to read what I write, and especially to those who have commented, hit the ‘Like’ button, or otherwise let me know they were there…. or even if not, Thanks!

Two days ago, I posted my 600th blog, and, in a serendipitous occurrence, had my 200th and 201st followers come on board the same day. I was rather jazzed, as you may imagine….. Even though I what I write, I write for myself, as a form of therapy, it is nice to hear that other ffolkes, and folks, are enjoying what I’ve written enough to either comment, Like, or Follow.

I write to get all the crap out of my head, that, if left there, would fester until it spilled out on some unsuspecting citizen, and that is uncomfortable for both of us.  Rather than have to struggle internally all day to keep from biting people, I write, and get most of the angst and bitterness, that dealing with the world creates, out… I am a firm believer in “Better out than in….”  Hopefully, what I am writing will be enjoyed by somebody, whether for the humor, the attempted insight, the truth, or the bozoid tendencies, I don’t much care, as long as it doesn’t hurt anybody’s feelings….

Well, wait, that isn’t true…. If a reader happens to be a priest/preacher, a politician, or another of those I consider to be part of the BRC and those shadowy corporate icons who run the world from behind the scenes, well, then I hope what I write makes you very nervous. If it hurts your feelings, well, I would consider that a good thing, if only because you still have feelings that can be hurt….. As the first of today’s pearls indicated, I’m rather perturbed at the actions of that group of people, and couldn’t give a shit about how my thoughts affect them, as long as it is negatively… The worse the better, as far as I’m concerned….

As for everyone else who comes by, just be aware that, ultimately, everything I say here is truth. I won’t say I’m not human, and that I don’t occasionally lie…. I do, just like everyone else alive.  Sometimes it can be for expedience, to save myself trouble, such as telling someone I don’t have a cigarette, when I do… More importantly, I will sometimes lie to spare someone’s feelings, and if that upsets the gods of karma, well, so be it… I don’t like to hurt people…. and to me, that can justify a small lie, at least on a temporary basis… Maybe that’s morally weak, but, hey, I’m just a romantic bozo, and can’t help the way I feel…. I can change it, and I do, but, the initial feelings are pretty well spontaneous combustion, and not subject to that sort of control…. But, that is all out in the Big Blue Room…. everything I put down here is the truth, as I know it, so you can count on that…..

So, while I’m doing drone work here, I’ll explain the word ‘ffolkes’…. I use that word, with that spelling, to indicate the people who read this blog, or receive the daily email of the blog, or know me, or know of me…. ‘folks’ is everybody else…… This is an easy way to keep track of the whom to which I may be referring…. and isn’t that a grammatical and syntactical gem?  What I mean is, it makes it more intimate, as to me, ffolkes are my friends, while folks are strangers…. ffolkes possess a brain, and aren’t afraid to use it, while folks tend to sit on theirs….. ffolkes can use logic as a scalpel, folks use it as a hammer. I think that will give you the drift…. I spell it that way for two reasons… one, because I can, and two, because I like it….  🙂

There is probably a legal limit to the number of paragraphs one is allowed to use to just fuck around and say nothing much, but, I don’t ever seem to reach it, no matter how much I ramble and prattle on… Here we have now seven of them, all with very little to confer that could be construed as real  information. Hopefully, y’all will know now what I mean by “ffolkes”, and I hope it gives you the same warm feeling it does me, to know that you are in a friendly environment, where you may find acceptance, respect, love, and compassion, right alongside the viciously sarcastic curmudgeonry I aim at the BRC and their myrmidons…..

Since I’m uncertain as to whether I have enough left to fill in one more past this one, to make a cosmically balanced nine paragraphs, I will settle for eight, and the solid foundation it implies…. For some strange reason, whenever I think of eight, I get a visual image of Pont Neuf potatoes, nicely golden brown… What does that mean?…. Ah well, there are some mysteries we are destined never to solve, I guess….. Housekeeping done, and remember ffolkes, I love you all, and hope your life proceeds according to your dreams…..

Were I so tall to reach the pole,
Or grasp the ocean with my span,
I must be measured by my soul:
The mind ‘s the standard of the man.

— Isaac Watts (1674-1748) — Horae Lyricae, Book ii, False Greatness
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I’ll take it…. I performed the best type of proofing, by walking away for ten minutes, then reading it from scratch…. A tiny bit of polish, a stray thought or two added in, and it’s well-nigh perfect, as such things go (Remember that phrase, please; it could be important if this ever becomes a legal issue…) …. It is, therefore, officially done…. I’ve got a lot to do today, so, I’ll wish you a productive diurnal activity period, sometimes known as a g’day, and get on with it….  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

dozer3