Ffolkes,

Good morning, let us hope…. As promised, or, at least, suggested on Friday, today we return to something approaching normalcy, as nearly as we ever do…. By that we really mean, we have a complete Pearl for your morning psychic yoga, which may, as it sounds, indeed, have the ‘look and feel’ of actual mental exercise, but, in reality more closely resembles tendencies toward self-flagellation, of the milder, less pornographic sort, naturally.

I’ll also promise, with the usual caveat, to try to find a mode of first-person expression, and stick to it; it is, I know, confusing when we slip into the royal “we”…. But, it’s so much more fun with company!….

Routine is good, it seems, as long as it isn’t worn as a strait-jacket. Especially after a solid 5.5 hours of sleep, all actually in a row…. amazing. Any who, it’s good to be back, but, we have a long row to hoe, so, let’s grab a long-handled, freshly sharpened gardening tool of our choice, and be on our way to the oyster beds…. Quick, before Murphy is fully awake…

Shall we Pearl?

“He who reigns within himself, and rules passions, desires and fears, is more than a king.” — Milton

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Suffering only minor blockage, today’s video selection is actually an audio selection; the process used to choose involved some negotiation, some compromise, and only a couple decisions where the use of dice was necessary to resolve the conflicting issues. In the end, naturally, the choice settled on the default, classical category. Here, then, for your morning listening pleasure, are the Brandenburg Concertos, No.s 1 through 6, by J.S. Bach…. The story of his creation of the concertos is an interesting tale; you should Google it sometime…. Enjoy!….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    I’m probably just using denial, but, there doesn’t seem to be enough stored-up angst inside my gut to fuel a proper rant… I know, let’s go this route…. Here’s a bit of a shake to the Tree of Reality…. I’ve related in the past about how our old friend Winnie the Pooh has a very, very dark side to his small yet ursine nature…. Brain, or no brain, he’s a dog…. If you need some proof, I offer the following statements in his own words, as collected by some of his admiring hacker friends, conveniently collected into one source…. You will see that our little Bear of Little Brain is not exactly what y’all thought him to be….

— Bother! said Pooh, as he sashayed into a Gay bar.

— Bother! said Pooh, after he spoke the Lord’s name backward.

— Bother! said Pooh, and lit another joint.

— Bother! said Pooh, and robbed Tigger at gunpoint..

— Bother! said Pooh, and shot Owl with his .357..

— Bother! said Pooh, and smacked Piglet for not paying up..

— Bother! said Pooh, as Christopher Robin pleaded to be spanked again.

— Bother! said Pooh, as he beat the bound and helpless victim.

— Bother! said Pooh, as he carved Eeyore’s name in the black candle.

Gee, he’s not the little bear y’all thought he was, is he? He’s gotten himself into some nasty shit, eh?…. Oh, well, onward, with fewer illusions about Reality…. in a manner of speaking….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    I’m tired, even though fairly well rested; a natural enough result, probably, considering the past 48 hours. This, of course, brings out my lazy side…. There are probably more than a few who might snicker, and mutter something about “every side”, but, we’re not going to listen to them, even if we slipped a bit on our vow to remain in singular mode…. Before this deteriorates even further into sheer nonsense, thus demanding free verse, let’s do this…. I’ll stick with “I”, and use one of my own poems…. It may not be the most palatable solution, but, it does keep us moving along….

Written 9/27/2012.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    SB decided to play with me this morning, waiting until the last section to turn stubborn, & hold back anything worth using…. I tricked it into supplying me with just enough pearls for a standard run of comments on Life at Large, and learning to do it right…. I won’t go into the definition of “right” this time, which will save us all a bit of time…. Just use your own definition, & it will work fine….

“When a man has pity on all living creatures then only is he noble.” — Buddha

“Courage can’t see around corners, but goes around them anyway.” — Mignon McLaughlin (The Neurotic’s Notebook)

“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.” — Henry David Thoreau

“It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are.” — ee cummings

“Experience is not what happens to you, it is what you do with what happens to you.” — Aldous Huxley

“Deem not life a thing of consequence. For look at the yawning void of the future, and at that other limitless space, the past.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus — Meditations, iv, 50

“Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them.” — Aristotle

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Whew! That was tougher than I thought it would be…. It’s done, though…. We definitely know what to do with a Pearl that’s done, don’t we? Well, yes, we do…. and, we’d best do it quickly, before we get PERMANENTLY stuck in the royal WE…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I can remember who we are….

À bientôt, mon cherí….