Ffolkes,
Bare bones…. that’s all you’re going to get today, ffolkes…. or, that’s what my brain, pre-coffee, has to say about it. That could change, given enough liquid blood-saver, but, even if we get more complicated, it will be minimally so… I can tell. It isn’t that there isn’t enough coffee, it’s just arriving late to the party, as I discovered I was when I glanced at the clock a bit ago, to find it was already 5 AM…. When I sleep longer like this, it has a tendency to slow down the wake-up process…. All the above may now be dumped, wherever seems most appropriate….
I take no credit for the above paragraph; even if I wrote it, it isn’t something I want associated with my name…. either of them…. I’d start completely over, or over completely, or something, but, I have the feeling that I shouldn’t waste any words today, any more than is necessary, that is, to maintain some of the quality we shoot for here…. I’m guessing, though, that’s out of the question anyway…. quality, that is. If the above, and, hell, THIS paragraph are any indication of how it’s going to be today, it might be best for me to just re-blog an older pearl….
However, I AM awake, even if a bit late, and I told myself when I began this whole deal that I wouldn’t allow myself to fall prey to any sort of depression caused by a mere lack of inspiration…. You see, I know that such motivation is merely a self-induced manipulation of emotion, generally provided by a sense of duty, and as such, is programmable, according to what we choose as our duty. In this case, the chosen duty is more of a self-indulgence than a sacrifice; it only does me good to get all this out, while the effect on the outer world is flexible, variable, and, to be honest, about as random as can be….
Random? Hell, the effect this has probably approaches the very edge of chaos, with a side of confusion…. which is fine. I mean, there’s not a damn thing wrong with causing confusion among the natives; it’s a time-honored tradition in this country….. It’s not as if reality itself isn’t trying to reduce us all to quivering jelly, abjectly cowering in the face of what faces us each day on this sad old ball of mud; reality shits on us all, my friends. The actual quality of our lives, of which I spoke above, if only laughingly, depends entirely on how we deal with that shit; we can wash it off with rational, productive actions, or we can let it dry in place, thus adding odoriferous aggravation of our peers to our more obvious attributes….
What any of this has to do with this Pearl, as is patently clear by now, would, by nature, be considered a deductive event, having been duly examined for its value and level of appropriate connection….. which makes it completely idiotic to try to claim it came from my mind. Nothing in THIS blog ever makes it all the way through that sort of examination, mainly because I simply don’t care that much…. I mean, it’s not like they can fire me, or anything, so, I don’t fret about that sort of nonsense…. I have my own nonsense I can bring out, if I want some….
Having thus firmly established today’s theme. (Insane, misguided outbursts of faux rationality…. my favorite….), I think we can bring this particular mess to a conclusion, if such be at all applicable to what has obviously grown beyond the bounds of all decency….. Conclusions imply some sort of logical structure to what has been presented, and that certainly can’t be claimed in this instance, now, can it? No, not at all…. Of course, we don’t care, but, hey, it says here in the manual we’re supposed to mention it…. I’m just following orders, see?….
On that completely bizarre note, I can see there’s no more hope of salvaging any sort of dignity, so, I’ll just sign off here, and get on with whatever is going to happen today…. I’m not sure I want to know what that will be, but, hey, it can’t be any worse, or harder, than this has been…. I’m having a bit of a problem stopping, so, hang on…. I’m grabbing emergency method #4 from the box…..
Shall we Pearl?….
Because I could not stop for Death —
He kindly stopped for me —
The carriage held but just ourselves
And immortality.
— Emily Dickinson, Because I Could Not Stop For Death
Ah….. that’s better. A bit of Emily fixes it all…. Now, we can go on….
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“Representative government has broken down. Our politicians represent not the people who vote for them but the commercial interests who finance their election campaigns. We have the best politicians that money can buy.” — Edward Abbey
Over the next few days, in order to concentrate on pictures of and with the Wise Old Pine Cone, I’ll be using a number of older rants, mostly from 2012….. Not all that many, actually; at this point, it’s only one politirant, and one exploration of reality and human nature that turned toward being a Plague of Evil rant, against human/sex trafficking…. For today, to counter-balance the older material to come, I’ll try to deliver a fresh rant, with the above piece of insight, and clear sight, from Mr. Abbey, one of our most frequent contributors of most excellent pearls….
This one particularly hits home today, considering the state of the American government in re: the blatant corruption implied by the ubiquitous presence of lobbyists and corporate representatives to Congress, the White House, all of whom, of course, are supported by the vast army of lawyers, employed by “corporate entities” to protect the bottom line, by exerting undue influence on the judicial system….. not to mention elections….
This influence over the courts is how we ended up with the decision by a Supreme Court, (who lived up to the definition of a “good politician” by staying bought, once they were paid for….), that allows the formation of Super Political Action Committees, whose stated purpose is to use virtually limitless supplies of cash money to influence the outcome of elections, appointments, and, by extension, placing virtually every level of government under the control of these corporations, whose only purpose is to control all the resources they can possibly possess, no matter what effect it has on regular flesh and blood people….
“You can fool all of the people some of the time; you can fool some of the people all of the time; and that should be sufficient for most purposes.” — Smart Bee
To be honest, ffolkes, my current level of disgust with the sham that is the government of this country is so high, I’m having trouble fashioning my thoughts into a sharp enough weapon to use…. None of what I’m currently feeling…. no, that isn’t correct…. ALL of what I’m currently feeling is so huge, so angry at the segment of humanity that preys on society, no words I write seem to be harsh enough, nor is any of it sufficiently compelling to create the outrage in others I seek to stimulate….
This means we’ll switch horses here, right in mid-stream; it’s one of the few times that procedure is safe enough for us to pull off without putting y’all in any further danger…. The following old-school pearl will, I hope, give y’all some idea of where my thoughts and feelings about the state of our Union….
“For too long, those who play by the rules and keep the faith have gotten the shaft, and those who cut corners and cut deals have been rewarded.
— Bill Clinton, 1992 Democratic Convention
(A fine example of one of the politician’s most useful techniques; a large black pot, pointedly calling a kettle black, just as if it meant something…..)
“Well, I would — if they realized that we — again if — if we led them back to that stalemate only because our retaliatory power, our seconds, or strike at them after our first strike, would be so destructive they they couldn’t afford it, that would hold them off.” — President Ronald Reagan, on the MX missile
(Yep…. the Great Communicator, with yet another example of complete and utter BS….)
Mythology, n.: “The body of a primitive people’s beliefs concerning its origin, early history, heroes, deities and so forth, as distinguished from the true accounts which it invents later.” — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”
“An empty stomach is not a good political advisor.” — Albert Einstein
(One might surmise, to watch Congress in action, that elected officials suffer from a state of constant hunger….)
“The demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots.” — H. L. Mencken (1880-1956)
(I can show you three buildings in Washington D.C., today, where somewhere around 400 demagogues spend much of their time, composing the latest doctrines to preach…..)
“Modern broad-mindedness benefits the rich; and benefits nobody else.” — G. K. Chesterton, The Church of the Servile State Utopia of Usurers
“To blow and swallow at the same moment is not easy.” — Plautus (254-184 BC) — Mostellaria, Act iii, Sc. 2, 104, (791.)
Well, there you have it; it isn’t the clearest water I could find, but, that’s a tough job when dealing with politics. The water is always so damn muddy….
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At this moment, I have no idea what to put in this section…. I’ll come back to it, at the end…. Okay, so…. Here is one of my own poems, written in April of 2013…. I don’t recall the process, but, the result isn’t too shabby, and will do for today’s purpose…. Enjoy!….
Dreaming the way home, lost, unseen,
from the dance, where
he felt so free, and clean.
Sorrow couldn’t find him there.
Waiting, filling up the hours, hoping,
some connection can be found
keeping busy as bees, coping.
Love creeps in, without a sound.
Fat days, skinny nights, passionate
visions of semi-conscious entities,
cannot seem to fully illuminate
or hide our innermost frailties.
Resolute, find the perfect sense, codify
simple rules with every breath
never waiting, anxious to modify.
fear nothing in life, not even Death.
~~ gigoid ~~
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I’ve stalled long enough, so here is the latest episode in the Life and Times of the Wise Old Pine Cone…. I had to go to the dentist the other day, and the Wise Old Cone was nice enough to accompany me, to obtain a car to get there, then, going along with me to the dentist to help me stay calm…. I’ve previously mentioned that dental visits are sheer hell for me, due to my mother being frightened by a dentist while pregnant with me…. It’s the only thing I can come up with to explain my unreasoning fear of them…. Well, that asshole who tried to poke me with a needle as big as my head when I was six didn’t help, either….
Any who, here are some pictures I took that day, such as they are, while I was, first, operating with a haze of pain and drugs, and then, with a numb, drooling mouth, after the extraction…. The Wise Old Cone was a big help, cracking jokes, and generally keeping things light, so as to keep me from reacting too heavily to the adrenaline that courses through me whenever I think of getting poked with a needle in my mouth…. It helped enough that it’s now just a memory…. even the residual pain has passed now, so. let’s show these pix, and get on with life, eh?….
On the way to pick up a car from a rental agency, we stopped, me for coffee, and the Wise Old Pine Cone for his weakness, razz berry scones….
The Old Cone’s paduan came along for the ride…. Above, we see the two Cones talking with a another pair of cones, who were at the rental agency as part of a job….
Here is the Old Cone, helping me get a multi-layer, multi-subject shot, to help distract me…. The old cone is pretty compassionate, for a pine cone….
Above we see the Old Cone, strapped in for the ride to the dentist….. He looks comfy, eh?….
Here is the Old Cone, demonstrating for me that nothing untoward will happen by just sitting in the chair…..
Of course, he was then smart enough to wait there, to make sure I didn’t bolt from the chair…. He watched the entire time, save for when the dentist actually pulled out the tooth…. He isn’t fond of seeing blood, it seems….
Of course, on the way out, he had to make a joke about the odd figure on the monitor, and how he looked like me…. back when I had hair on top of my head…. What a wise guy!….
Well, there you have it, ffolkes…. Not an adventure, but, hey, it got us both out of the house, and my jaw feels much better now, so, it was a good day, all in all…. plus, it DID fill in this last section…. Now, all I have to do is find a good poem….
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This turned into an epic…. and continues to drag itself out…. So, to bring balance to the Force, I’ll use this final section for its intended purpose, to wit: an ending…. See ya, ffolkes…..
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.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
gigoid the dubious
gigoid 