I’m hoping it isn’t the intro that is losing me readers…. I’ve been struggling a lot of late with that section, trying to find something, anything, I can use every day to draw ffolkes into reading further, but, all I’ve been able to come up with are these rambling, verbose monologues, that never really SAY much of anything at all. Even my fictional outbursts have been less compelling than usual, as well, and it’s getting to be a bit of a pain in the ass…. Of course, it has always been the most difficult part of the Pearls, as it is the part where I have to be the most creative, and that process, in me, is always a bloody battle, me against my brain….

Fortunately, my metabolism works fast at replacing lost blood, so I always have more to lose in these morning fights. The bleeding is especially fierce when I write a poem, and this month has seen me write several new ones, and a bunch of new haiku, so my bone marrow has been working overtime to keep up with the demand for new blood, a demand that, seemingly, comes every day now. It’s a good thing my financial picture has improved, as I now have enough to eat, so there is fresh material to make the blood out of when needed……

Oh, piffle! Splert! And other replacement words for damn, shit, and all the other curse words I’m trying not to use…. It doesn’t seem to work very well, though…. There is just something soothing about giving out a loud “Damn!” or a “shit, that hurts!” when pounding a thumb with a hammer, or otherwise experiencing a sudden shock. “Heck”, or “blast” somehow don’t quite make the grade; they just don’t FEEL as good to yell when hurt or angry, and angry is what I am, from the sheer, constant frustration of not being able to figure this out…..

Well, look! It happened again! I start complaining about having to write the intro, and all of a sudden, after a moderate amount of whining, here are four complete paragraphs, sufficiently wordy to count as actual material, all ready to get on with the rest of the day…. All I have to do is finish it off with an appropriate final word, and we’re good to go for another day…. I’ve gotta get a grip on this….. this technique isn’t going to work much longer, as I don’t think I can keep this up…. Hell, I don’t even know what it is I’m doing, which makes it hard to know what to do next, for sure…. Oh well, the hell with it….

Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

So, there I was, cruising around Smart Bee, looking for pearls, when it occurred to me that I was engaged in a futile pastime, from the standpoint of the Universe…. I mean, what do I hope to accomplish with this stuff I write?…. Nobody’s mind will be changed, nobody will stop the carbon monoxide from getting pumped into the air, nobody is going to get mad enough to throw out all the assholes who are screwing us all…. This makes what I’m doing an exercise in mental masturbation, essentially, with as much hope of changing society as….. well, there is no hope for society, so I can’t think of a metaphor for it…. Nor is there any hope of anybody taking any of this seriously, even if read…

Having thus determined the absolute uselessness of our pastime, I will continue, fully cognizant of how lame it is…. I’m calling this a Pearl of Forlorn Lost Hope…. sort of…. Actually, it’s a subliminal pearl, and will worm its way into your head, where it will work on your attitudes, polishing and brightening them without you ever noticing…. By late this afternoon, you will have done a complete 180 from wherever you were, and will enjoy the rest of the day (that’s a subliminal post-hypnotic suggestion….)  Enjoy…..

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

“Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart.” — Marcus Aurelius

“But whether there’s some grand design really matters little to me. My only hope was this: to see what might be, to believe that it should be, and then to do all I could to bring it to pass, whatever the cost. When a life spins out as joyfully as mine has done, then the price, once paid so painfully, is now recalled in gladness. I have received full value. Here among the shepherds, my cup is filled with the water of life; it overflows.” — Orson Scott Card, “Treason”

But sure the eye of time beholds no name
So blest as thine in all the rolls of fame.

— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — The Odyssey of Homer, Book xi, Line 591

” 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

The human heart has hidden treasures,
In secret kept, in silence sealed.

— Charlotte Bronte

“There is no cure for birth and death other than to enjoy the interval.” — George Santayana (1863-1952)
__________________________________

“How a person masters his fate is more important than what his fate is.” — Wilhelm von Humboldt
__________________________________

The Magician of the Ivory Tower brought his latest invention for the master programmer to examine. The magician wheeled a large black box into the master’s office while the master waited in silence. “This is an integrated, distributed, general-purpose workstation,” began the magician, “ergonomically designed with a proprietary operating system, sixth generation languages, and multiple state of the art user interfaces.  It took my assistants several hundred man years to construct. Is it not amazing?”

The master raised his eyebrows slightly. “It is indeed amazing,” he said.

“Corporate Headquarters has commanded,” continued the magician, “that everyone use this workstation as a platform for new programs.  Do you agree
to this?”

“Certainly,” replied the master, “I will have it transported to the data center immediately!”  And the magician returned to his tower, well pleased.

Several days later, a novice wandered into the office of the master programmer and said, “I cannot find the listing for my new program.  Do you know where it might be?”

“Yes,” replied the master, “the listings are stacked on the platform in the data center.”

— Geoffrey James, “The Tao of Programming”

Hacker culture, from what I’ve observed, and read, is rife with Zen Buddhist, and Taoist, ideas, concepts, and philosophies, including the use of “koans”, short anecdotes or stories that, when contemplated in a mindful way, teach a lesson that helps the student find the path to enlightenment, to a deeper understanding of Reality. The above is a perfect example of such a koan, as it demonstrates a deep understanding of many levels of reality, including programming, sales, and the administrative aspects of business, as well as a keen knowledge of human nature. Since anything I could say wouldn’t add to the lesson, I’ll leave this to stand alone, and hope that it helps someone to find a part in themselves that resonates with these ideas…..

Hey, I know….. To anyone who can name four facets of human society and culture addressed by this koan, it will be worth 20 extra points, redeemable in your next incarnation….    🙂
__________________________________

Well, once more I come to a screeching halt, caught unawares by the last section’s premature ending (hmm, haven’t had that problem in many a year…. yuk, yuk….). Let’s see what the proofing shows…..  Not bad at all, considering…. Certainly good enough for the loose standards we have around here…..  I’m off to the BBR again, busy, busy next four days…..  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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