Ffolkes,
Many of y’all might have noted there was no post yesterday…. This is easily explained, if a bit of a pisser for me…. I awoke in the middle of the night before last with the vertigo I’ve been fighting once again reactivating, bringing with it the usual severe dizziness, and lack of balance, with a touch of nausea thrown in to make it fun….. or something. Any who, upon arising, even with what I’d already completed, there was no way to get it done at the usual time…. Then, I spent a very long time battling with Kaiser to even GET any treatment, so, it ended up I stayed at the hospital for most of the day, seeing my own doctor, and another Physical Therapist, who essentially sentenced me to a few more days of this….
Happily, they also came up with a stronger drug to deal with the dizziness, so, once that takes full effect, the process of re-calibrating my brain to accept the altered signals will be a bit less problematic, with no so much dizziness to deal with…. It’s also sedating, so, I should sleep better too, for a few days anyway…. Yay…. So, with that all cleared up, let’s go on to the Pearl which didn’t get posted yesterday….. it’s be a bit odd, I’m sure, for having suffered such a scattershot approach to getting it done…. Oh well, it will be fine, I’m sure…. Let’s get to it….
I believe it is better to be free than to be a slave.
And I believe it is better to know than to be ignorant.
~~ H. L. Mencken ~~
‘Twas a very nice, warm, clear, spring day in Greenock, Scotland, (pronounced grĕn ŏck, spoken together, quickly, by the inhabitants…) when I took this picture. I’d taken a tour given by local volunteers, to a hilltop viewing point, from which one could see the entire waterway protecting the town, on the coast near the better known Scottish town of Glasgow, 20 kilometers further inland. The orange flowered brush you see in the foreground is ‘gorse’, common to much of Scotland, a hardy brush, with stiff woody branches, and very sharp thorns protecting the flowers you see…. No fun to fall in, according to reports….
I suppose, given the excellence of the sentiments expressed in the opening quotation, I could have come up with something a bit more esoteric, or profound than a mere discussion of the picture…. but, it’s one of my favorites, as it reminds me of one of the best days I experienced in Europe, in several ways, so, hey, sue me, I went for the travelogue style opening, and the mildly humorous observation, rather than depending on myself to come up with profound while still working on my first cup of coffee…
It means this pearl won’t be anywhere near normal, so, please bear with me…. At this point in time, I can use all the help I can get….
Shall we Pearl?…..
“Ignorance of one’s misfortunes is clear gain.” — Euripides
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This space intentionally left blank…. because I don’t have any of the usual means of stimulating a rant, nor the internal wherewithal to write anything particularly cogent just now….. So, you’ll have to wait for your rant, or step over to chuq’s site for one….. He’s pretty adept at it, too…. His site is here:
http://lobotero.com/
Enjoy!…..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For anyone who knows, or plays the blues, these two men need no introduction. For those who don’t, well, sit back & relax, and listen up, for you are about to be enlightened about the blues by two masters….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZB57b3lPQE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’ve shown this poet’s work here before; powerful images and deep feelings are her forte…. this is here latest, which you find on her site, here: http://maggiemaeijustsaythis.wordpress.com/2014/09/25/skull-crushed/ Her name is Maggie Mae, and she is one whose poetry will, I believe, someday be required reading for all who study poetry…. Her web site is called, appropriately, maggiemaeijustsaythis….. Enjoy….
He mounts himself before me
un-zips his stiff skin,
wraps his violent arms around me – to crush
against his ribs. I brush his chest,
boiling veins coil through me,
eyes bulge from my head.
His affection is silent. I see through
muscles and bone – his frail components.
They cannot move. He refuses.
I lay my soft nature over his void.
He is unaware. His nourishment is silent.
He moans. I am starved.
He is heavy in hand and heart, dangles his love on a brick,
then hits me with it. I swell – with thirst,
hungry for his deep devotion,
for his full, dark desire to tie me to him,
vein to vein,
lung to lung,
bone to bone
forever.
~~ Maggie Mae ~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Below you’ll find a pearl that came up from the depths of human experience…. It covers a lot of ground, ending with a quite appropriate suddenness…. I enjoyed it, and, I think, so will you….
Man is a credulous animal, and must believe something; in the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones.” — Bertrand Russell, “An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish”
“Creation science” has not entered the curriculum for a reason so simple and so basic that we often forget to mention it: because it is false, and because good teachers understand exactly why it is false. What could be more destructive of that most fragile yet most precious commodity in our entire intellectually heritage — good teaching — than a bill forcing honorable teachers to sully their sacred trust by granting equal treatment to a doctrine not only known to be false, but calculated to undermine any general understanding of science as an enterprise? — Stephen Jay Gould, “The Skeptical Inquirer”, Vol. 12, page 186
“It may be that our role on this planet is not to worship God but to create him.” — Arthur C. Clarke
Whate’er is best administer’d is best.
For modes of faith let graceless zealots fight;
His can’t be wrong whose life is in the right.
In faith and hope the world will disagree,
But all mankind’s concern is charity.
— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Essay on Man, Epistle iii, Line 303
“The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
“Of what use is political liberty to those who have no bread? It is of value only to ambitious theorists and politicians.” — Jean Paul Marat (1743-1793)
“And thereby hangs a tale.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), The Taming of the Shrew — Act iv, Sc. 1
“Arrakis teaches the attitude of the knife – chopping off what’s incomplete and saying: “Now it’s complete because it’s ended here.” — Muad’dib
Sometimes, I’m glad when it comes together so easily…. especially when my head is spinning around like a top….
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the interests of getting done, in this section, appropriately named the closing section, we shall take our leave in short order. In fact, I’m gone…. see y’all tomorrow, if events do not once again intervene to prevent me from doing so…. Me, I’m done with it all, so, bye bye….
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
“The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.”
À bientôt, mon cherí.
gigoid 