Ffolkes,

“Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength
which will always spring up if thou wilt always look there.”

~~ Marcus Aurelius ~~

Wind Spinner

Hajime…. To avoid getting either maudlin, or whiny, I’ll forgo relating how I’ve spent the past three days, three days in which no Pearl was posted, for the first time in five years. Suffice it to say, I’ve not been having fun, nor have I been frantically writing down the thousands of irreverent, or psychotic, take your pick, thoughts that have paraded past my inner censors, without ever seeing the light of day. No doubt, that sentence will bring beads of sweat to the brow of anyone trying to decipher any real meaning, for it wound its way tortuously to a bad end. This, perhaps, more than anything else, should tell you how its been around here….

Nevertheless, here I am, bad syntax & all. I’m going to post this, come Hell or High Water, so, I suppose it would be best to just get on with it. If I take the time to compose a thorough introductory section, I have a feeling we’d never get out of here, or, get anywhere close to finishing this in time to even post it with today’s date. To make a long story short, I’m pretty frigging off the rails right now, without a clue as to why, or even why not. When I have a clue, I’ll be okay, but, right now, the price for one is out of my range, so, I’ll just have to fake it, as I have been now for three days. So be it.

Since, in spite of all planning I managed to find a somewhat cryptic note, we’ll use it to twist our way down the page, in the interests of fair play, while simultaneously pretending it’s not unusual. How’m I doing? No? Well, okay. We’ll just go on, without any further bullshit…. Hmm. Let’s do this….

Shall we Pearl?….

“If nothing went wrong today, you’re probably dead.”

~~ Murphy’s Last Law ~~

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For a return to routine, default is perfectly appropriate, not to mention, lovely. Enjoy, ffolkes, if you wish. Hard not to with such music….

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Classical Music

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https://youtu.be/09t0twQlPSI

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I’m working on a rant, which, naturally, isn’t done, as I haven’t written at all in three days. To fill in for today, here’s a relatively light piece from a couple years ago…. Enjoy!….

From 3/11/2014:

As iterated above, there will be no rant today…. However, having found the first quote in this group on the very first try today, I believe I can put together an old school variety pearl that will serve as well to take a few telling shots at the dignity of the BRC, as well as pulling as many of their covers as I can grab hold of…. Enjoy…..

“Governments are the world’s real terrorist organizations. They function by means of inducing fear in their victims to gain compliance.” — Westley F. Deitchler

(Now, if that isn’t the most truthful, most logical, and most accurate quote I’ve seen in many moons, then, nothing at all fits that description…. This is the absolute truth, ffolkes, and something EVERYONE ALIVE should be made aware of…. let’s hope the rest of what Smart Bee finds for us is as potent….)

“I could not milk the cow and leave it thirsty.” — Munyawera, current volunteer and former client — of Christian Children’s Fund — on why he donates his time to CCF.

(Now, if only we could find a politician who felt this way….)

“Apparently, a democracy is a place where numerous elections are held at great cost without issues and with interchangeable candidates.” — Gore Vidal

Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?

— T. S. Eliot, Choruses from the Rock

(Nowadays, we KNOW where our information is, don’t we? And, if we don’t, we have the NSA, who tracks and collects all of it for us….)

“Is being an idiot like being high all the time?” — Janeane Garofolo

(I’m not sure of the answer, but I figure we could just ask any elected official to find out….)

“No science is immune to the infection of politics and the corruption of power.” — Jacob Bronowski, in “Encounter”, 1971

And, lastly, just because we can….

“How difficult it is to save the bark of reputation from the rocks of ignorance.” — Petrarch

Now, THAT’S what I’m talking about…..

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Gently Came a Wounded Child

But you shall not escape my iambics.

Soft, sinuous patterns of unearthly beauty
blithely commune with sinking stars,
as pale shadows of former virtue hover
near, ever clean, ever tolerant.
These unbidden habits are worn with age and care,
ready now for dissolution,
welcoming gladly the kiss of Death’s handmaiden.

Unknown to all, the child stands aside,
weeping for the lost days of youth,
days that now shall never be,
nor yearned for ever after.
Only darkness shall lay upon the landscape,
cold, hard, eternal.

Such then are the signs and portents
as we enter into the unknown future,
they are grave indeed.

Uncertainty will be our sole companion,
as the search for hope yields no result.
The lamentations of the gods
shall sound the elegy for Man,
who never learned to see the gift that was made,
so many echoes ago, in the hopeful past;
thus will we pass this plane of existence
as we came, baffled and afraid….

~~ gigoid ~~

written 2/2/2012

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Naked Pearls

It only seems like a joke….

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“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 ~~

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“There is no sun without shadow
and it is essential to know the night.”

~~ Albert Camus ~~

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“You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.
Don’t let yourself indulge in vain wishes.”

~~ Rabindranath Tagore ~~

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“He who searches for truth must not appease his urge
by giving himself up to the narcotic of belief.”

~~ Hans Reichenbach ~~

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“Here is the world,
sound as a nut, perfect,
not the smallest piece of chaos left,
never a stitch nor an end,
not a mark of haste, or botching, or second thought;
but the theory of the world
is a thing of shreds and patches.”

~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~

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“Do not look for all the answers at once.
A path is formed by placing stones one in front of the other.”

~~ The Giant from Twin Peaks ~~

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“So this is what it feels like to be potato salad”

~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

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It’s done. We’ll treat it like a gift horse, & go post it before I can change my mind. I’ll try to do this again tomorrow, but, at this point, I’m not making any guarantees. Most likely, I’ll be here tomorrow; odds are once again in our favor. Until then, be strange, because it’s cool out there….

Y’all take care out there,
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….