Good  morrow, y’all…. Thanks to Kaiser, I spent about 3 hours last night with tardive dyskinesia, which gave me the gift of insomnia from midnight to 3 am; such a joy. Needless to say, this made me late to arise, and, consequently late starting today’s mess…. I’ve attempted above to mitigate any angst, with a bit nostalgia from my trip to Europe, in the hopes of eradicating any excess. It seems to have worked, sufficiently well to be able to remember our main goal, to introduce today’s Pearl…. I’m thinking two paragraphs is probably enough, especially since I have nothing more to say on any of this….

Let’s do this…. I’ll tell Luigi to take us in gently, and y’all can actually finish your drinks. We’ll unload at the oyster beds, and immediately break for lunch, okay? Then, we’ll be back on schedule, even if it’s a recycled program from last year…. At this point, obviously, it isn’t going to matter at all; we seem to have lost our way without even moving…. Funny how that works sometimes, eh? Watch your heads as you disembark, ffolkes, it appears our landing disturbed the local fauna, which is making a concerted effort to push the vehicle into the water…. No worries, we’ll just use the electric zapper, and….. There! All fried…. Now we won’t even have to order breakfast…. C’mon, time’s a’wastin’….

Shall we Pearl?

“…when all government… in little as in great things, shall be drawn to Washington as the centre of all power, it will render powerless the checks provided of one government on another and will become as venal and oppressive as the government from which we separated.” — Thomas Jefferson, 1821

“If you love the sacred and despise the ordinary, you are still bobbing in the ocean of delusion.” — Lin-Chi

“It is said that God is always on the side of the heaviest battalions.” — Voltaire (1694-1778) — Letter to M. le Riche, Feb. 6, 1770

“Democracy is based on the assumption that a million men are wiser than one  man. How’s that again?  I missed something.” — Robert A. Heinlein

“Liberty don’t work as good in practice as it does in speeches.” — Will Rogers

“Deep in the nature of all these noble races there lurks unmistakably the beast of prey, the blond beast, lustfully roving in search of booty and victory.” — Nietzsche

“A violent man will die a violent death.” — Lao Tzu

“It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong.” — Voltaire

— Bother! said Pooh, as the Borg assimilated him.

To bring this old-school meander to a proper close, a metaphor is, patently, essential…. Here is a perfect closing thought from our old pal, Bill Watterson….

“Today for show and tell I’ve brought a tiny marvel of nature: a single snowflake. I think we might all learn a lesson from how this utterly unique and exquisite crystal turns into an ordinary, boring molecule of water, just like every other one, when you bring it in the classroom. And now, while the
analogy sinks in, I’ll be leaving you drips and going outside.” — Calvin, “Calvin and Hobbes”

In at least one real sense, this statement by James Joyce expresses a large part of why I “Pearl”…. The aphorisms, quotes, taglines, and/or statements you see here, by ancient sages, modern philosophers, comedians, warriors, scholars, hell, the entire pantheon of humanity’s most cogent, powerfully worded wisdom, has served me well, my entire life, helping me to figure out how to live with dignity, with compassion, and, with some degree of competence, if not excellence… learning to live with honor, with happiness, and, most importantly, with trouble… I am always searching for new ways to express what I’ve learned, for what good is wisdom unshared?

I’m not perfect, or wise, for that matter; I am, however, pretty damn happy, and content, though my life is often filled with what many would call severe trouble…. So, I share…. THAT is what Pearling is all about…. our common search for answers to the demands, and questions, with which Reality presents us each moment of each day…. What do you say we go look for some pearls, eh? Maybe one of them will give somebody an epiphany… If not, well, there’s always tomorrow….

I won’t bore you with the old saw about, “Better late… etc.”, as it would merely serve to annoy y’all, and might be construed as pandering…. Far be it from me to ever commit such an antisocial act…. Instead, I’ll merely say, “See y’all tomorrow”, and let it go at that….