Believe me, it was quite a day, and I was really glad to get home. Too bad it got me all worked up, & sleep became impossible. Did you know it’s really dark outside at 3 AM? Who knew?

Ah well, fudge it. Luigi, fire it up & let’s hit it; I’m in the mood to go rogue!…..

Shall we Pearl?….

“Anytime I see a person fleeing from reason and into religion, I think to myself, there goes a person who cannot stand being so goddamned lonely anymore.” — Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

“The older I grow the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom.” — H. L. Mencken

Now, since I’m getting to an age where I might consider myself to have entered my “golden years”, I can attest to the accuracy of each of these statements; now we’re going to explore why….

Why would I look at wisdom as a handicap? Actually, that part is easy…. Wisdom, if you will, has the particular quality of bringing with it the ability to see things very clearly, to recognize motivation, or causes, with much more skill and accuracy than anyone younger is capable of achieving, simply because the experience of growing older provides us with those skills. They do not come naturally; only the passage of time will bring them to anyone…. It also isn’t anything that is subject to change; there is no other way to gather experience, except by existing over time….

But, then, one day, soon after acquiring this ability to see clearly those parts of reality which signal change, it becomes clear also, there is a reason for the old saying we’ve all heard, “Ignorance is bliss.” The reason for this is simple; we expected our knowledge to make our lives simpler, and more comfortable. In the most basic sense, it does so, of course, by showing us how to avoid trouble, thus saving time & energy dealing with it, and with its aftermath, often more terrible. It also, however, shows us, time after time, and in every place we look, just how dangerously stupid are the general run of people, and how their lack of awareness of their own place in the scheme of things, makes the world a more dangerous place for everyone….

If I have to explain why that is true, then I’m preaching to the wrong choir…. Nonetheless, it’s true; for me, it’s the part of being aware of Reality which makes it both a blessing, and a curse, thus reflecting Reality itself.

“Lying to ourselves is more deeply ingrained than lying to others.” — Fyodor Dostoevsky

This idea can be seen to explain virtually everything wrong in today’s world. The simple fact of its veracity allows those with no morals or compassion to justify to themselves any sort of behavior at all, no matter how viciously immoral, or how it may affect anyone else. It also allows them to take advantage of all those who cannot bring themselves to look the Universe directly in the face, preferring to hide behind ignorance and lack of will, letting those with more boldness and strength determine the course of their lives for them. This pattern was established in the very first culture humanity created, when the first asininnies discovered just how gullible the rest of humanity was….

I’m not sure, at this point, exactly where this is taking us. I intended to speak about aging, and using what we learn to make our life more worthwhile, according to our own standards…. It has, apparently, degenerated into the beginning of a rant against the asininnies and our current societal mess, but, I really don’t feel like going there today; I’m too close to the edge of rage already, from the events of yesterday. If I started on all that now, I’d probably end up going out again, fully armed…. Probably not the best idea in this frame of mind….

So, I’m going to do something I almost never do…. I’m dumping this whole section. What you see is what you get, and we’ll come back tomorrow with something a bit more entertaining, if not more compelling. This one, obviously, is a wash, start to finish…. Ah well, so much for good intentions, eh? I’ll leave y’all with the following thought, which, somehow seems to say what needs to be said at this juncture…;

“And I said to myself be still, wait without hope. For hope would be hope of the wrong thing. Wait without love. For love would be love of the wrong thing. Wait without faith. For the faith and the hope and the love are all in the waiting.” — T.S. Eliot

“The way up and the way down are one and the same.’ — Heraclitus

“In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true.” — Buddha

“Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed, and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.” — Henry David Thoreau, “Walden”

“Anacharsis said a man’s felicity consists not in the outward and visible favours and blessings of Fortune, but in the inward and unseen perfections and riches of the mind.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — The Banquet of the Seven Wise Men, 11

“In every man’s heart there is a secret nerve that answers to the vibrations of beauty.” — Christopher Morley

“Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way in the answer.” — Rainer Maria Rilke

In gazing back over what has occurred today, I’m struck by only one thought; it’s done. Thankfully, I will take that as a sign to use the most efficient method for ending this, which looks a lot like this…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, since I will still be crazy after all these years, and, I can’t think of any reason not to do so…