All that said, to our normal lack of purpose, other than the value one receives from the act of venting, perhaps it would be best to just get on with the day’s business, such as it may be. I’ve got some good stuff, and some not-quite-so-elegant stuff, and, maybe even some great stuff. All that is for y’all to judge, as I am, of course, not the one to ask. Mostly, it’s all standard stuff, but for the most excellent poetry selection today, from a blogging friend who lives in Tokyo, which I will go out on a limb to predict you WILL enjoy immensely.

Other than that, I can’t say exactly what happened, as much of it was slapped together while trying NOT to think about reality; it’s been stuck in a non-pleasurable configuration for several days, as the weather flip-flops from sun to rain, causing the barometer to fluctuate madly, sending my hips, shoulders, back and neck into a series of contortions/spasms/complaints that have been, shall we say, as much a pain in the ass as they were in their own locations. Hmph.

Okay, all done, with complaints, chatty blather, and, probably, readers. What the hell; I’m gonna go finish anyway. If anyone is still there, well, I’ll see you down the page…. Now, if I can figure out how this works….

Shall we Pearl?….

To get the full effect, stretch your mind from the first pearl, above, through the second, below, on to the final pearl from one of our founding fathers; you’ll get the proper perspective on this perversion of spirit with which we have contended for our entire history. As a final treat, I’ve included a link to the blog of another friend, who lives in Canada…. It’s a compilation of memes, all of which have a cogent comment on modern life, and some good advice on how to face it with aplomb, if not serenity…. Enjoy, ffolkes; it’s probably easier than another 2000 words from me on a subject I’ve probably beaten far too often for anyone’s comfort, though, sadly, not to death….

“The gods can either take away evil from the world and will not, or, being willing to do so cannot; or they neither can nor will, or lastly, they are both able and willing. If they have the will to remove evil and cannot, then they are not omnipotent. If they can, but will not, then they are not benevolent. If they are neither able nor willing, then they are neither omnipotent nor benevolent. Lastly, if they are both able and willing to annihilate evil, how does it exist?” — Epicurus — Aphorisms, c. 300 B.C.

“Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.” — Niven’s Law

“If fifty million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.” — Bertrand Russell

“The missionaries go forth to Christianize the savages–as if the savages weren’t dangerous enough already.” — Edward Abbey

“Whenever they burn books, they will also, in the end, burn people.” — Heinrich Heine

“Any system of religion which has anything in it which offends the mind of a child cannot be a true system.” — Thomas Paine

Afterward, you’ll find a haiku from me in response to his, and, another poem, whose title and author is, at this point in time, completely unknown to yours truly. Who knows? Maybe it’ll be me, maybe somebody else…. Thanks to the Tardis, I’ve got time to figure it out…. Enjoy!….

“Out of the shadow of night, the world rolls into light. It is daybreak everywhere.” — Longfellow

“All is flux, nothing stays still.” — Heraclitus

“Only a life lived for others is a life worth while .” — Albert Einstein

“Real life is, to most men, a long second-best, a perpetual compromise between the ideal and the possible; but the world of pure reason knows no compromise, no practical limitations, no barrier to the creative activity.” — Bertrand Russell

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.” — Ambrose Redmoon

“The logic of worldly success rests on a fallacy: the strange error that our perfection depends on the thoughts and opinions and applause of other men! A weird life it is, indeed, to be living always in somebody else’s imagination, as if that were the only place in which one could at last become real!” — Thomas Merton, “Seven Storey Mountain”

“And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make.” — The Beatles, The last lyric of their last song

“There is a time for departure even when there’s no certain place to go.” — Tennessee Williams

Though I cannot claim any particular credit for having reached this point, it’s done. I’ve used as many short-cuts as I could find, but, all in all, I think it works. Time, as it always does, will tell. For the nonce, I’ll take my leave, and go try to find the wherewithal to do this again tomorrow morning. If I can get through today, there’s a pretty good chance I can fulfill my chosen duty for tomorrow, and, that, in the final analysis, is always a good thing. For me, if for no one else, which is, I know, all-too-human of me. Go figure. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes; I dare anyone to try to stop me….