Whereas, the production of this blog is essential to the proper functioning of my mind, and, hence, my life, and, whereas, producing said blog has saved my sanity on numerous occasions, and, whereas, nobody has stepped forward to tell me to stop, it is hereby decreed that publication will continue until death, or, more appropriately, until someone cries for mercy…….  gigoid has spoken… so be it….

Sorry, just have to make it official now and then, to appease the gods of bureaucracy, that, despite having been retired for about three and a half years now, still have some influence on my actions, volitional as they may be at other times. It’s kind of like knocking on wood, or throwing salt over your shoulder when you spill it; old habits and superstitions die hard, and one never knows when one of the elder gods will take offense at something we’ve done to unconsciously insult them. It’s best to cover all the bases, as it were, right? No point in taking foolish chances, not in reality; it bites……

Who knows? Not me…..It could pop out at any time, so, we’ll see what’s up when I begin to peruse Smart Bee in a few moments…. The first viewing of that little gem is always a surprise, as I never know if it will cooperate, or pretend to be dumber than it looks. It can be a pain, fortunately infrequently, but still on a regular basis, and I have no way to determine how it will act beforehand…. yet another example of how metaphor is everywhere in life, once one learns to see and appreciate its immense variety, as well as its ubiquitous presence as part of the fabric of reality…. which  brings us around once again to where we need to be, poised and ready to dive in and begin the search for pearls of virtual wisdom…..

Shall we Pearl?…..

“When the ten thousand things are seen in their oneness, we return to the source to remain where we have always been.” — Seng Ts’un.
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“Place your clothes and weapons where you can find them in the dark.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

Since we were talking about metaphor, and the power of the Metaphorse in reality (well, I  was talking about it…..), the above is a perfect lead-in to a discussion of the finer points of how to take advantage of this phenomenon, or, at the very least, minimize the damage that NOT knowing, or not caring, can bring to those who ignore its power…..

Fortunately for y’all, I suspect my brain is still a bit too fuzzy to get into the subject deeply enough to make the correct point, or, sigh, to make the point correctly, (for any grammar Nazis out there….); making it incorrectly could conceivably cause even more damage…. Naturally, I’ll resort to my tried and true method for hiding my own shortcomings, and use the very power of which I speak, to put the message into an old-school pearl…. The point of this one should, by now, be completely transparent…. if not, well, there’s always tomorrow….. To preclude any whining, this will NOT be on the Quiz…..

“Beware the man of one book.” — St. Thomas Aquinas

“The impression forces itself upon one that men measure by false standards, that everyone seeks power, success, riches for himself, and admires others who attain them, while undervaluing the truly precious thing in life.” — Sigmund Freud

“Force has no place where there is need of skill.” — Herodotus

“It is terrible to contemplate how few politicians are hanged.” — G. K. Chesterton, The Cleveland Press, 3/1/21

“I don’t want to panic, but my alphabet soup says, “Forget about me … just try to save yourself.”” — Tom Wilson (“Ziggy”)

Don’t have it yet? Okay, okay, I’ll clarify…. but, you only get two more….. if you don’t have it by then, well, I’ve failed, and will go shoot myself….I don’t want to die, so, please, pay attention…..

“God may be in the details, but it is also important to know the big picture.” — Deng Ming-Dao

“There’s only one way to kill a rat…” — Robert A. Heinlein

There…. it seemed only fitting to finish with Heinlein, as I’m a firm believer in the old Irish adage of “Begin as you mean to go on….”  Whoops, it’s another metaphor…. Okay, I’m done for now…
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I offer no apologies for the poems I pick to include in this section, but feel I should explain why they sometimes don’t fit with the rest of the Pearl, attitudinally (if that is a word….) (hmm, must be a word, because the spell checker didn’t even flinch…)…. Actually, it’s quite simple…. I use the same random method for this as for picking pearls…. If it grabs my eye and my fancy, it stays, even when it has little or nothing to do with the rest of the post… In this case, it is not altogether out of line, but, no matter, because it is one of my favorite poems….. Enjoy!…..

Whew! For a moment, I thought it was time for a rant, and I don’t have one on tap…. but, then I remembered it’s time for the next installment of the Alaskan Adventures…. Good thing!

After the intense (NOT!) experience of exploring Icy Point Strait and the booming Alaskan village of Hoonah, the ship sailed overnight to Juneau, where we spent the 4th of July, sans any overt displays of either fireworks, or excessive celebration of the holiday in a formal sense…. (Who needs a party when you’ve got some guy on board wearing a sleeveless American flag t-shirt with his used-to-be-greyish-white Bermuda shorts and flip flops, sweating his way through the buffet line?….)

Very well, then…. I shall now go peruse my effort….. Not too shabby, but needed a bit of punch-up, now done. Therefore, with no further ado, I shall take my leave, to go forth unto the new day, hopeful…. foolishly, perhaps, but hopeful, nonetheless….. I am, after all, getting fairly adept at this living stuff…..  Now, if I can only learn to do it well…..  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.