While attending the unveiling of the newest polynomial bathysphere, I noticed a very fine example of meritoriously painted perfluffle, which I took as an indication of the ever-expanding influence of the Veil of Langerhans, prior to manifestation of any attendant mystery. Why that should have prevented us from getting to the Governor’s palace for tea will always be a bone of contention for the participants, even though several gratuitously engendered therapy sessions were severely instrumental in ensuring there would be no effluence before its time. All such diploid expenditures in the arena create insidiously small ripples in the futures market, otherwise the Minister of Ducks is required to intervene, lest there be any breakout of empathy ordered erroneously, or, for that matter, secular bread balls in aspic….

Whew! I feel better now….. So would you, if you had to get THAT sort of thing out of your head, prior to any real work getting accomplished. Since the alternative has been known to cause seriously dangerous wobbles in space/time, it’s just as well I got it out, don’t you agree? Well, whether you do, or not, is immaterial in the final analysis, because, hey, it’s a done deal…. We’re already here, in the SECOND paragraph, where we are legally free to make any and all assertions, evidenced or not, without any fear of retribution from any legal sources…. Of course, it doesn’t preclude a reaction from illegal sources, but the 12-gauge Winchester over & under we keep under the table always comes in real handy in those cases….

In case it isn’t clear yet, I’m sitting a bit on the odd side of my chair, having been unceremoniously awakened at 0144 by the resident furry asshole, who proceeded to get me up, & then disappear altogether, leaving me weeping in my chair…. I have no idea why the weeping is taking place; a leftover gift from my PTSD, no doubt…. But, sitting in one’s chair, weeping without reason, at 2 AM is NOT my idea of a restful night, especially when I stayed up as late as I could, so I could sleep in a bit….. I should know better than to make plans, shouldn’t I?…..

Anger, frustration, and emotional lability thus conspire to cause me intentional harm, thus miserablizing my morning (Wait…. is that a word? Spell Check doesn’t like it, but, I do…. I think it’s a great new word…. If people can make a verb out of the noun, such as when the word “impact” became “impacted” (which always puts a picture of a really constipated guy in my head….), why should it be wrong for me to make one out of an adjective? All this, of course, thus pushed my attitude, and the day, beyond any hope of redemption, save that which comes from fulfilling a duty….  Hence, paragraph one….

I know, it’s probably more than just a little bit odd, to require such a complicated method for relieving angst that occurs naturally; I could, no doubt, find a simpler, more effective way to get this stuff out of my head, without feeling the need to subject the rest of the world to my weirdness. But, what fun would THAT be? None at all…. So, I do what I do, and to hell with the consequences…. To hell, as well, with anyone’s ill will for doing so…. We have this great idea here in America, called “choice”…. and they can always choose to read somewhere else, if they can’t take the heat around here….

As long as we are all allowed to make our own choices in such matters, without undue influence from our beloved ruling class, we have a chance at being fairly happy on this old ball of mud…. Of course, they’re never going to allow that, not OUR BRC….. They’ve much too long of a history of never doing so, to ever think they’ll change…..But, hey, we have hopes…. Unreasonable, and with poor odds in favor of ever coming to fruition, but, we do have them…. Which is, in and of itself, an encouraging note, I suppose…. On that note….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Man is the only one that knows nothing, that can learn nothing without being taught. He can neither speak nor walk nor eat, and in short he can do nothing at the prompting of nature only, but weep.” — Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD) — Natural History, Book vii, Sect. 4
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Since I’m up so early, I’m going to fool around a bit before getting serious (if that ever DOES happen today, be sure to make a note of it, in case I need the evidence later, for the lawsuits that are no doubt being researched as I write….)….. Rather than either an old-school pearl, or a rant, here is a short discussion of a concept few people think about as a rule…. which makes it fine grist for my mill….. Comes out tasty, too….

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From 12/10/2011:

“A map of the world without Utopia is not worth glancing at.” — Oscar Wilde (1854-1900

A lot of people will tell you that there is no such thing as perfection, that it only exists as a concept, but has no physical reality. These folks will challenge you to point out something that is perfect, and delight in pointing out the flaws of anything you might come up with. But there is an answer that will shut them up, one always available for pointing. Just lift your hand, put a smile on your face, & point right at their heart….. then, say to them, “There you are. A perfect example of imperfection…..”  Then duck, and run quickly out of weapon range, because the reaction can be somewhat explosive. People who act superior, especially when due to a sense of false entitlement, don’t much like it when you make them look and feel ridiculous…. but it’s their own fault, for exhibiting their stupidity in public, eh?

There is a Utopia. Perfection exists. If it doesn’t, where did the concept come from? We don’t just make up words for stuff that doesn’t concern us; the words we use have a meaning. The meaning may change over time, but the concept it describes does not cease to exist because the meaning changes a bit to reflect the passage of time, or the changes in society and/or culture, both of which cause languages to evolve. Every person alive has a picture in their mind of what Perfect looks like, based on their own perceptions, colored by the meanings they have learned to attach to those perceptions.

In fact, the word ‘perfect’ has a meaning that is clear in everyone’s mind; I can’t think of anyone over the age of oh, five or six, who couldn’t supply an accurate, or at least adequate, definition of perfection when asked. So if they know what it is, how can it not exist? The mere fact that we DO have such a concept in our mind, like with life itself, implies, and proves, its existence….. Don’t worry, it really does…..there are just a lot of folks who don’t like to use their brain long enough to realize that. This reluctance to accept reality won’t hurt them too badly, it just keeps them from growing, and is mildly annoying to the rest of us…….who are busy trying to find our own version of Perfection…..

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In order to justify, to myself, if no one else, the above departure from routine, I’ll include here a relatively short, five-star pearl to augment and enhance the discussion above, with some comments from history that seem of a similar bent…. Well, I hope that’s how it works out…. we’ll have to trust SB to give us what we need…. Shall we see what we can find?…..

“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.  Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books.  Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.  Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.  But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.” — Buddha

“To sit silently, and look wise, is not to be compared to drinking sake and making a riotous shouting.” — Ono No Tabitu

“As a person grows older and wiser, they talk less and say more.” — Smart Bee

“All the problems of the world could be settled if people were only willing to think. The trouble is that people very often resort to all sorts of devices in order not to think, because thinking is such hard work.” — Thomas J. Watson

“It is asserted that the dogs keep running when they drink at the Nile, for fear of becoming a prey to the voracity of the crocodile.” — Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD) — Natural History, Book viii, Sect. 148
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Over the last couple of days, I’ve managed to find, and collect, several excellent pearls, all directing one’s attention to the same general area of contemplation, that of the ongoing, life-long quest to discover how to live our lives well, according to our own desires and dreams…. Each of the pearls included in this pearl is one whose truth and relevance has withstood the test of time, and/or my own examination; you can regard them as the rules I use myself to guide my steps toward the place I wish to be, to become the man I wish to become…..

“The worst sin towards our fellow creatures has not been to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that’s the essence of inhumanity.” — George Bernard Shaw, _The Devil’s Disciple_ [1901]

“This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.” — H.H. the Dalai Lama

“A wise man, recognizing that the world is but an illusion, does not act as if it is real, so he escapes the suffering.” — Buddha

“It was the sick and dying who despised the body and the earth and invented the things of heaven and the redeeming drops of blood: but even these sweet and dismal poisons they took from the body and the earth!” — Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, Thus Spake Zarathustra (1885).

‘I have seen soldiers panic at the first sight of battle, and a wounded squire pulling arrows out from his wound to fight and save his dying horse.  Nobility is not a birth right but is defined by one’s action.” — Kevin Costner, Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves, 1994

“A wise man first determines what is within his control; all else is then irrelevant.” — Epictetus

“Freedom of speech and freedom of action are meaningless without freedom to think. And there is no freedom of thought without doubt.” — Bergen Evans, The Natural History of Nonsense (1946)
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I KNEW this would happen…. It is now just 4:20 in the AM, and this Pearl, except for a couple of minor items, is done…. This means I have to figure out what to do about this f___ing cat that is still demanding attention, until my lady gets up, when I’m hoping she’ll agree to give me a break from this hostage situation…. It’s tough to be held captive, cat-sitting to prevent chaos, when all you really want to do is go back to sleep….

Ah well, at least the Pearl for today is done…. such as it is…See you mañana, ffolkes…. Well, I’ll see you then, as long as Time continues to pass, beckoning us ever onward toward our destiny, in a random state of confusion, unless and until we realize, we always make our own…. Which, you ask? Both…. We make our own state of mind, and our own destiny….

So be it… gigoid has spoken….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest  Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…

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