Ffolkes,
~~ Graham Greene ~~
Beacon Hill Park, Victoria, BC
Hajime…. Our Pearl today is a bit of a poser for me, but, I decided that won’t stop us, not today. I’m going to visit my grandson, and I am determined nothing will get in the way of that. I am so focused on that, I’m going to give y’all an unprecedented opening, as short as I can make it. Today, literally, what you see is what you get, because I’m flipping the switch on our most radically efficient Tardis toy, right now. I’d hold on if I were you….
Shall we Pearl?….
“At the root of human responsibility is the concept of perfection, the urge to achieve it, the intelligence to find a path toward it, and the will to follow that path, if not to the end at least the distance needed to rise above individual limitations and environmental impediments.” — Aung San Suu Kyi
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Image from openculture.com via Google Images
I decided yesterday I wanted something inspiring, classical, and new to this venue. I don’t believe I’ve used these, but, if I have, I shall expect y’all to respect my privacy, and say nothing about that. I’ll return the favor in the foreseeable future…. Right. Regardless of all that, I think you’ll enjoy these; a lot of people think they’re pretty special, myself included…. Enjoy!..
Johann Sebastian Bach
Brandenburg Concertos
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The fresh rant upon which I’ve been working continues to morph on me, so, we go once again to the archives, this time for another in our long series of indictments of the Dogma Dogs and their millennia-long deception, for which they will forever be damned, according to their own morality, what little of it exists… Deluded assholes, insisting on sharing their delusion with others, to our mutual denigration…. Enjoy!…. Or, not, up to you, as always….
From 11/24/2012:
“Happy is he who dashes the heads of his enemy’s children against rocks.” — Psalms 137:9
I don’t know about you, but that kind of strikes me as a little harsh, don’t you think? I mean, talk about exploring the deepest depths of evil possible to the soul of man! And we thought that our modern rock and rap lyrics were funky?….. Rappers get pretty nasty, but I haven’t heard this degree of nasty from anyone on the radio…. yet…. Not that I haven’t heard some egregious BS, but nothing so graphic and personal as this little song from the priests of Judaism…. fine upstanding fellows that they are…. NOT!!
First, I have to say, I hope this is a sham, or at the very least, a misquote. If it is an accurate reprint from that Psalm, well, it indicates a number of things to me, some about the past, some about the present…. Mostly, though, when I read it, I get a horrible visual image in my mind’s eye of some grinning moron holding a baby by the ankle, and….. no, I’m not going there, even for the writing practice…. I guess I’m a coward, if that means I’d have to continue to make graphic a concept that should never ever have even occurred to anyone, much less been written down….
What was the purpose of this, I wonder? As a teaching song? As a victory hymn? From an Old Testament version of the 3 Stooges? I’m not even sure I want to know that much about it, come to think of it…. It kind of makes one wonder, what kind of culture would have such a concept as a part of its morality…. but, sadly, through most of human history, if I’m not mistaken, acts like this, and others just as egregiously violent and cruel, have occurred over and over, and continue to do so today in some parts of the world, where civilization is only a thin veneer over the native cultures.
Our own society shows signs of the kind of culture that would grow out of such concepts, a sort of casual attitude about violence when aimed at an objectified enemy. The less humanity we ascribe to those enemies, the easier it is to perform inhumane acts against them…. Just another of the charming traits of which our species may boast….. It fits right in with our tendency to react with anger to fear, and with our tendency to act violently to achieve our ends. Sometimes, it’s enough to make me wonder how we got as far as we have down the evolutionary path.
“What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?” — Jean-Jacques Rousseau
This concept is probably what has saved us, at least to this point. We are indeed creatures of a dual nature, reflecting the duality of existence in which we live, and perceive in the universe. The light to our dark side, our saving grace, are these elements of compassion and empathy that we can also display, given the right circumstance and opportunity. The Dalai Lama, who has been known to show some rather deep wisdom, has said that compassion and kindness are his entire religion, and that mankind cannot survive without living according to the precepts of such characteristics. I happen to believe he is most likely correct.
The attitudes that that Old Testament culture created and sent crashing through Time are bound to lead us to extinction, for they completely ignore the laws of nature. Our own greed and unwillingness to accept our own place in nature will remove us from this life, as surely as we are stripping the earth of its material resources in our search for wealth and power. None of the people involved in that effort to achieve power are either aware of, or willing to consider, their own complicity and guilt, and will fight to their own death to preserve their assumed right to oppress the rest of reality in their personal quest for domination.
The sad part is that they are taking the rest of us with them down that road…. and it is all because basically, deep down where it counts the most, a lot of people are, quite simply, assholes….. Quite frankly, the universe will be better off without the great majority of them. It’s a shame all the good ffolkes have to pay the same price, isn’t it?…… Ah well…..
“May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows you’re dead” — An Irish toast
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But what becomes of our deepest dangerous dreams?
Does fantasy rescue any part of life’s imperiled favor?
Reality becomes but silvery pairs of mismatched teams,
Dining with affable elegance, such diffident waste to savor.
Who decides what sorrows to carry bravely to term?
Will fragrant moments of sanity make hasty manifestation?
Only Time’s patient mutability sends messages so firm,
Yet salient impersonal vexation lends credence to ripe imagination.
Can folly bring out sadness and rampant visions of beauty?
What kindness can be found in distant open relations?
With countless faces the dead disturb with dire impunity,
From separate caches of wisdom come simple stylish privations.
Shall shallow emotion serve to provide such explanations?
When does avaricious intensity assume primary focus?
Plain answers slide softly through with multiple mitigations,
While conceptually indignant concepts engage a fatally personal locus.
~~ gigoid ~~
9/20/2012
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Our final pearl for today is a collection of nine most excellent gems of brilliant luster, all speaking in a general way of Life at Large, with an ample portion of Things We All Should Know, But Often Forget. There’s also a bit of Things You May Never Have Considered, which provide just the proper bit of spice to liven it up. All in all, it’s a damn good pearl, so, pay attention. There might just be something you need….
“We are born naked, wet, and hungry. Then things get worse.” — Bumper Sticker
“We’re not talking about the same thing,” he said. “For you the world is weird because if you’re not bored with it you’re at odds with it. For me the world is weird because it is stupendous, awesome, mysterious, unfathomable; my interest has been to convince you that you must accept responsibility for being here, in this marvelous world, in this marvelous desert, in this marvelous time. I wanted to convince you that you must learn to make every act count, since you are going to be here for only a short while, in fact, too short for witnessing all the marvels of it.” — Don Juan
“At ebb tide I wrote a line upon the sand, and gave it all my heart and all my soul. At flood tide I returned to read what I had inscribed and found my ignorance upon the shore.” — Kahlil Gibran
“A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.” — Oscar Wilde
“Animals have these advantages over man: they never hear the clock strike, they die without any idea of death, they have no theologians to instruct them, their last moments are not disturbed by unwelcome and unpleasant ceremonies, their funerals cost them nothing, and no one starts lawsuits over their wills.” — Voltaire
“Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses. Love is content with the present, it hopes for the future, and it does not brood over the past. It’s the day-in and day-out chronicle of irritations, problems, compromises, small disappointments, big victories and working toward common goals. If you have love in your life, it can make up for a great many things that are missing. If you don’t have love in your life, no matter what else there is, it’s not enough.” — Ann Landers
“I say love, it is a flower; and you, it’s only seed.” — (Bette Midler) The Rose
“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.” — Muir’s Law– John Muir, American Naturalist — My First Summer in the Sierra , 1911, page 110.
“You thought, as a boy, that a mage is one who can do anything. So I thought, once. So did we all. And the truth is that as a man’s real power grows and his knowledge widens, ever the way he can follow grows narrower: until at last he chooses nothing, but does only and wholly what he _must_ do.” — Ursula K. LeGuin, “A Wizard of Earthsea”
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~~ gigoid ~~
How do you like the latest incarnation of our newest innovation, to wit: a final, closing pearl upon which to set loose my final creative urges, whatever they may be? I have yet to make a final judgment on whether to continue, but, today’s version is one I like. I found the above statement without attribution; not surprising, as I’ve heard it many times for most of my life. Since it fits my persona so well, I thought I’d just claim it for today, without any intent to harm, with merely the desire to be silly, and, perhaps, eke out one final chuckle from the Gentle Reader…. Without knowing how it will work, I’ll make my escape, with the usual caveat; I’ll be back tomorrow to try again…. See ya….
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
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.
PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.
“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….
This is a prayer from the Laguna Pueblo people…
” I add my breathe to your breathe
that our days may be long on the earth,
That the days of our people may be long,
then we shall be as one person,
that we may finish our road together”
Enjoy your day.
Beautiful thought; very Indian in its connection to the Earth, and each other.
Thanks, and you, as well, milady….
gigoid
Have fun with your grandson and stay safe.
Thanks…. I did….
gigoid
iN almost every truly small and peaceful society..
in fact.. the ‘science’ of sociology
shows the top
20 most peaceful
societies in the world..
have several things in common..
all are relatively small.. all iS given
and shared.. and the Golden
Rule of Love yoUr brother
as yourself
with taking
no more
then giving
as sharing
iS the way
of the Altruistic
human.. innately..
instinctually.. and intuitively..
in other words.. when humans
live in balance.. the metaphor
of Jesus.. per Love your neighbor
as yourself and the rest of Nature
AKA God.. is the natural way
to go.. so in this way as
metaphor way.. as
more than
likely and
as scholarly study
shows.. only 18% of the
New Testament potentially
even came from one single
human being.. with a general
consensus that there probably
was an individual.. who we refer
to.. to day.. Named in the language
of the day as similar then.. however..
would he resemble much of what
Modern Christianity sees of
him today..
particularly
when Constantine
and his Cohorts from
the Catholic Church.. 325..
AD.. determined he would then
be a Soldier Sun God.. and yes..
part of a trinity as God man too..
no.. not likely.. any so-called modern
Fundamentalist Christian would even
pay attention to THAT MAN if he came
back today.. and walked ‘right’ through
the front doors.. in his sandals
or bare feet of God of Nature
real.. and besides.. on top
of that none of what wE
are noW.. iS
the same from
now to now..
so whomever
we become the next
now.. depends on how well
we move.. connect.. and create
iN liFe.. wITh of course.. the mechanical
cognition world.. still dead in tow..
away from the
Empathy
of Love…
and WiLL of
course to juSt make
iT happen noW iN JuSt
doin’ iT.. like Nike sayS noW..
i’ll go with the Golden Rule.. obey
the Local.. State.. and Federal
Laws to keep mY freedom..
and beyond thAT
iT iS simply
and
complexly
a fREE
foR All..
wITh sTiLL.. relatively
worn out feat of feet.. too..;)
Nicely done, my friend… I note you’re still a bit tired from your beach walk; still thinking of your feet…. *wink*
Me, I’m pooped. It seems a five year old can wear out a sixty-five year old in jig time; I took two naps yesterday, got up with nothing, and I’m going back to bed…
Have a good ‘un; I’ll be back this afternoon to try to catch up….
gigoid
WeLL.. mY friend gigoid.. to the
advantage of resting those feet
that did the dance of 30 or so miles
over the weekend at beaches..
boardwalks.. malls.. and
all places ‘tween..
i staRted on
my first
annual
rehash oF aLL
the micro-poetic
expressions i’ve been
making at the dVerse
online poet’s pub.. for an
entire year.. April 2015.. through
March of 2016.. and at this
point i’ve perused 4 months
of blog posts.. several
hundred thousand
words..
with
62K or so..
in the developing
Novel as is now..
about a third of
the way through..
so.. 200K words
or so iN total poetic
expressions
could
come
close to make
the Blog Novel..
iN Free Verse fashion..
titLed.. GodsUniverseNovel3..
iN what iT wiLL come to be as i reflect
on the ongoing process of developing
it here today.. so yes.. well over a million
words or so.. to peruse.. before this thing
is done.. but haha.. meanwhile.. the feet
are propped up and resting nicely..
while steam
boils
off my
brain.. i rather
do the poetry than
Bring the overall organization
required to keep track of where
i’ve been and where i’m going..
but hey.. as they say.. a
balance.. and
the mechanical
cognition mind is
kind of a necessary
old friEnd.. iN a dArk way to
make the liGht seem briGhter later.. yes..
oh.. so fresh.. in moving.. connecting
creating way.. so.. off to see your
next post now.. as i gather seed
and floWers to make
the next blog post
after the epic
one coming
soon.. hope you
are resting great as well..
my friend.. and i will certainly
make another milestone heRe
noW for what i am trying
to do.. to test
overall
human potential
as a guinea pig of sorts..
to leave some guidelines.. hopefully..
for some folks to go wHeRe they have
never gone
before too..
as thErE iS no
sky thaT iS a limit
wHere i for one liVeNow..:)
We spent the day, yesterday (well, the afternoon) with my daughter, her husband and the three grandchildren. They grow way too tall and too fast, thank goodness… 😉
Mind you, Ned, I couldn’t wait to get my dancing shoes on. There’s got to be something wrong with that; but, I won’t question it. Suffice to say I love them, and my own ‘love of life’ apart from them. In fact, this reminds me. One of the couples at the Sunday evening social we attend are in their 70’s. Last week they, through smiles and winks, told us the week before they’d been kidnapped by their daughter who said she knew they preferred to spend time with other dance couples, rather than with them. Ooops! Does it show? Got to split ourselves so many ways! Diplomacy and love. Love and diplomacy. At the end of the tale they were a just a little peeved to think their ‘child’ was grounding them, so to speak. Funny how life turns ‘full cycle’.
Aye, ’tis, indeed. I’m continually reminded I still have things to learn, as time goes on…. This time, I learned I can’t keep up with a five year old anymore…. LOL!
Glad to see you, milady. Dance on!….
gigoid
Glad you had fun with your grandson.