I have a toothache; it’s a doozy, too, since I managed to smack it last night, inadvertently. I have an appointment to get it dealt with, but, won’t be writing much today, & possibly tomorrow. Fortunately, for me, I’ve got DEEP archives…. Here’s one that starts off quite well, with some rather poignant nonsense that made me proud…. Enjoy, & I’ll see y’all in a day or two….
Be well, & happy as you may… and, be alert. We all need to be alert these days….
Ffolkes,
Pinched, grim faces peer through the windows as I wash the dirty feet of the Tupperware solicitors. Leering, jeering, they make their obscene gestures in vain, rather pathetically cheering each other’s futility. Parcels of latent importance linger on the threshold, waiting for delivery, independent and proud of their clean lines and ruler-straight packing tape. In the midst of all the chaotic motion, a small, silver dreidle spins hypnotically, focused and free of the detritus so common to such games as played today. Not for nothing did they salvage their given names, to show to the inspectors, in direct opposition to the rising sun, hopeful of another hour, another day to find Reality…..
Which, apparently, has retreated to the background, not wanting any part of the previous paragraph, a sentiment I can completely understand. That there paragraph is even weirder than usual, even for this space. But, I kind of…
“I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together!”
~~ The Beatles, “I Am The Walrus ~~
Foxy the Stump….
Hajime…. Today is…. blank? Hmm. As I sat to begin, my mind felt full of relatively creative urges; when I began to type, it all went away. This, of course, tells me our old friend Murphy is hanging somewhere about the premises, looking for trouble. This isn’t to say we can do much about it, except to try to be mindful, so he doesn’t catch us completely flat-footed. It does mean I should speed up this intro a bit, in order to keep ahead of him as long as we can…
I suppose I could abandon all formality, & just dump y’all down the page. But, we’ve got some good stuff here today, so, I’ll ease you in as best I can, with a little prep. For your listening pleasure, I’ve included an hour of Wolfie Mozart, with two of his best pieces one after the other. Our ranting section today is filled with a most excellent guest piece, by our friend Dean Baker, with one of the finest takes on modern culture I’ve seen. Period. There’s also a rather nice old-school pearl, bringing us to the closing section with dispatch if not aplomb. Not bad for an old drunk curmudgeon, eh?
What? Oh, drunk… no, not now, but, much of last night was spent at some level of that condition; kind of fun, & makes sleep come quick…. I guess I could do without the mild hangover, but, the price has to be paid, one way or another, eh? A hot shower, a bit of mild walking, & I’ll be fine. To get moving toward completing some of that, I’ll end this here with my new-found sense of ruthlessness, which, though still a bit uncomfortable, works quite well for this sort of thing…. It works just like this, as you well know….
Shall we pearl?….
“It’s like brother Nietzsche said –being human is a complicated gig,
so give that dark night of the soul a hug and howl the eternal yes.”
~~ Chris, DJ, Northern Exposure ~~
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Wolfie M….
Today’s musical selection is simple. The two symphonies you’ll hear are both from Wolfgang Mozart, the last two he wrote, considered two of his best. Together, they give us an hour of delightful noise, as fine as any ever produced by humans…. I hope you enjoy it….
Yesterday, after procrastinating a bit for a day or so, I finally checked out the post of an author/writer/poet/musician/scholar/curmudgeon/magician named Dean J. Baker. I am privileged to be able to call him friend, as I consider him one of the finest artistic souls of our generation. (As a side note of some personal satisfaction, I can safely say I know at least three such souls, none of whom are celebrities in the normal sense, but, are those who, in my more than normal experience, exhibit the qualities I know to be, in human terms, eternal… I guess that will need to be explained further, but, that can be for another time…. To return to reality, real-time…
I found, upon relieving the stress of procrastinating, a literary gem. I’m going to reproduce it today, but, you can read the original at the link above. Considering the recent news, and all the hullabaloo in the news regarding violence in society between the police and the public (which I’ll point out is a mask/metaphor for the true battle, between the narcissist sociopaths and the rational humanists, comprising the two most influential segments of the human bell curve….), this is both an extremely timely examination, as well as both exacting an indictment, and offering a potential direction to take…. I give you, Dean Baker….
Suicide Citizens, and Lethal Force
How stupid do you have to be to get shot by the Police?
Things are obvious. You get stopped. Stopped, not interrupted. Stopped by legal representatives of the Law who are empowered to shoot, and kill you.
They are not going to wait or hesitate to see if you have a gun, if you make a movement. They aren’t saying to themselves, ‘Hey, maybe this guy or girl is reaching for a gummi bear to alleviate their tension at being stopped, so maybe they won’t fire off a quick shot and if they do maybe I won’t get hit.’
Whether or not they’re mean themselves or generally helpful outside the situation has nothing to do with anything. You’re stopped, you stop.
Whether or not the situation dictates that they should shoot you a few more times once you’re down is a legitimate reason for a fast debate since there is reason from examples that they not only shoot to stop you from shooting them, but that they shoot to kill you.
But really, what kind of special retard do you have to be to move, shift, disobey directions meant to keep you safe, them safe, and prevent you from being shot?
Consider this: you likely have one or two .40 caliber guns pointed right at you. In less than five seconds, you can be dead. The news is full of unlawful victims, righteous shootings, and the use basically of lethal force.
Are you an idiot who cannot read? Are you blind that you cannot see these? Or maybe you climbed off the Special Bus that says ‘none of that real world stuff applies to me.’
Then consider the fact that on the side of the Police there is likely an assumption that you are half way intelligent, and/or aware.
And then you move..
Certainly the rules of, and teachings for, policing may need to be reviewed immediately – and more than casually.
I’m not in favor of getting shot, certainly. I detest the idea that people, stupid or not, are getting shot, resulting in trauma all around. What’s going to happen? A citizen-ruled committee that says we must trust that you are a well-intentioned person who may or may not have made an error, so we’ll wait to see.
Duh, no.
The entire idea of policing in regards to stops is to establish bona fides, or not.
The vulnerability rests in the fact that in this society there is a built-in idiot factor.
Doctors won’t inform on a colleague who may be doing irreparable harm. Schools won’t fire a teacher who likely ought to be taking, not teaching, classes. Bureaucracies employ idiots.
You know what I mean – you probably have a relative or friend you know who needs being replaced.
And cops won’t say yeh, some of us are true assholes who ought to be arrested because with their training and knowledge they’re more dangerous than some ignorant citizen.
Until that idiot factor is corrected you’re going to have wrong doing on both sides of the law.
The other side of that idiot factor is punishment that does not fit the crime.
When it’s light, there’s outrage. When it doesn’t exist, and seems to cater to authority, even greater outrage.
People do talk about justice, but make no mistake: there’s also a need for vengeance legally administered. The only real debate is on whether the degree is sufficient to satisfy the counter balanced requirement for justice and revenge combined.
And yes, there are morons who merely want their criminals to say they’re sorry. They’re all sorry they got caught, and those fools who require only acknowledgment are victims-in-waiting.
As for incidents where there are a group of police and one antagonist with a knife, I would think citizens would say ok, disarm the crazy, although from recent reports the Police would say, screw that, kill them.
Citizens would hope that their Police would make an effort to beanbag, taser, or beat the perpetrator. Not simply shoot, then shoot again when they are down as has happened too many times.
If a citizen can defend against such a crazy by shooting them, where’s the difference between them and the Police who do the same if they are in a group?
That sounds and looks like Police rules, not law.
Cops ought to have greater and more useful methods and manners of dealing with the wild ones, most especially if they are contained by being surrounded, or trapped in a vehicle unable to get out because they’re surrounded.
Otherwise, let’s admit to a truth: if you have a knife, and may or may not be crazy, and there is a group of Police around you, rather than finding a way to disarm you, they will kill you instead – all the talk and persuasion is a false idea of Police work when the end result is no different from what a citizen can accomplish.
Let’s at least recognize the idiot factor so changes can be effected, even if it would be stupid to assume people will alter their inclinations.
And as for the retard instigators who are merely glorifying themselves – establishing the fact that they need an authority to rebel against – know that they are simply the other side of authority, without the empowerment, and without the knowledge and practical applications, and thus even more dangerous than what they protest.
Where are they before any incidents? Are they stupid, waiting for a mess to occur before they channel their outrage when it’s more than likely it won’t be organized and thus effective at change? At most that is intellectually lazy and at least it’s a passive violence. Are they really self-servingly waiting for an excuse to exact a self-righteous rage, and thus not to be taken seriously?
However, if they choose the proper channels, establish a grouping of citizens to establish a fair protest against unfair rules and rulings, then to challenge authorities afterwards is as legitimate as the method in which this nation was founded.
Don’t be a tool of the media which enflames for its own end.
Nor the billionaires who fund movements for their own selfish reasons: which are never to the good of the individual citizen. You’re being manipulated by the self-righteous who are getting paid.
“Poetry is what gets lost in translation.” — Robert Frost
Placidly falling in amber waves: old friends
Whiskey, oh, whiskey, I’d forgotten thy balm,
thy loving spread of lassitude, and nature’s own calm.
Misery and pain flee in squalid disorganization,
leaving mirth, happily embraced, in just consolation.
James, old friend, thou has not abandoned me at all,
steadfast and loyal, ever ready to answer my softest call.
Ephemeral illusions of normality come at your instigation
blessed moments of peaceful joy, sans vilification.
Gasps of coherence pound at the door to conscious thought,
muffled explosive memories of battles already fought.
Malleable as the changeable airs of time and circumstance
plaintive calls to reason stand not a single, honest chance.
Sober again, reality’s cold reign brings a new day
ringing in old changes in a new-fashioned way.
To know true freedom’s release from our everyday pain
Is worth a bit of headache, even in the cold, pouring rain.
~~ gigoid, two sheets to the wind, and back ~~
“You will find poetry nowhere, unless you bring some with you.” — Joseph Joubert
12/2/2012
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Naked Pearls
Simple Truths
*********
“You can observe a lot by just watching.”
~~ Berra’s Law ~~
~~ Yogi Berra [Brooklyn Dodger’s Catcher & Major League Philosopher] ~~
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“Be not afraid of going slowly; be only afraid of standing still.”
~~ Chinese Proverb~~
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“Safety is on the shore, but the pearl is in the ocean.”
~~ Chinese Proverb ~~
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“The character of human life,
like the character of the human condition,
like the character of all life, is “ambiguity”:
the inseparable mixture of good and evil,
the true and false, the creative and destructive forces —
both individual and social.”
~~ Paul Tillich ~~
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“If there is no wind, row.”
~~ Latin Proverb ~~
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“Remember that what pulls the strings is the force hidden within;
there lies the power to persuade, there the life,
–there, if one must speak out, the real man.”
~~ Marcus Aurelius Antoninus — Meditations, x, 38 ~~
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“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”
~~ Confucius (551-479 BC) ~~
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“Costing not less than everything. “
~~ T.S. Eliot ~~
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“Love;
While you have life to give
Live;
While you have love to give.”
~~ Piet Hiem ~~
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Thankfully, this came together well, in spite of my hung over state, and the ubiquitous threat of Murphy hanging about. To show my appreciation in the most relevant way, I’ll end it now, here. I will, however, be back tomorrow to torment, er, try this again. See ya, ffolkes; take that as you will….
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.
“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood.
Now is the time to understand more,
so that we may fear less.”
~~ Marie Curie ~~
Leelu ~ The Early Days….
Hajime…. Properly speaking, this isn’t a blog; it’s a self-directed therapeutic activity, designed, from the start, as a means of maintaining a reasonable grasp on reality’s throat, in order to fulfill the implied promise we all make to our mothers, to do our best in Life, in thanks for the invitation. I’ve never spent much effort to promote it, simply because I don’t much care about the fame part of wanting to write. I do care about honesty, accuracy, and the sharing of what we have learned that may be of help to someone else. From a standpoint in view of honor, that’s all I need to worry about. Besides, since I’m retired on disability, I’m not allowed to make any money, lest it prove I can work after all…
That being said, to, as ever, little or no purpose beyond space-filling, the daily completion of what happens here is a rather randomly (un)predictable set of events, any of which, if missed or screwed up somehow, can alter the final results in a way I don’t much appreciate. But, it’s mostly fun, and relatively good for my level of angst to do the work. Now, if only I could find some way to ensure a sufficient degree of motivation each morning, I’d be all set. As it is, it’s a constant struggle to find either the energy, or the will, to get up, and focus on the screen, especially when engaged in a morning altercation with my familiar…. That struggle is lessening, as we adjust to each other’s routines, but, it can be a significant limiting factor….
Why am I going over all this? Ah, who the hell knows; not me, that’s for sure. I just began to type, and this is what came out. Since it’s now clear it isn’t really going much of anywhere, I think we can safely abandon any further examination of the idiosyncrasies of daily blogging, & try to get on with putting together something worthwhile for y’all to enjoy with your morning wake-up routine. Hell, I’ll even try to get something in there to stimulate some degree of cogitation, just to get the juices flowing. We do what we can, even if we cannot claim a full-service menu of offerings. For now, whatever happens will just have to do, because I’m out of stuff to blather…. Let’s do this, instead….
Shall we pearl?….
“He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.”
Our featured artist today should need little introduction. For over forty-six years, this woman has made us laugh, sometimes to the point of blowing snot. She’d love to know that, too, I think…. Ffolkes, here is George Carlin’s nearest competitor for the best ever, in my opinion…. Her character, Ernestine, is iconic, as is she….. Enjoy! I’ve included audio versions of her stage performances, collected by a You Tube fan….
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Lily Tomlin On Stage
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“Think like a mountain.”
~~ Aldo Leopold ~~
To be honest, I have within me the power to rant today; I can feel the outrage and angst just sitting there, trembling with the urge to vent. But, I’m late again, thanks to evolving routines, so we’ll go instead with something from the archives, after a short statement on current reality…. The following short pearl, composed of three deep little pearls, makes a cogent comment on the culture which has evolved on this planet, which bears an uncomfortable resemblance to those societies described by George Orwell and Aldous Huxley in their frightening visions of our possible future. After the pearls, you’ll find an archived rant, just because I feel like some overkill…. Enjoy!….
“Abroad in the world today is a monstrous falsehood, a consummate fabrication, to which all social agencies have loaned themselves and into which most men, women, and children have been seduced … “the Eleventh Commandment”; for such, indeed, has become the injunction: You Must Adjust.” — Robert M. Lindner
“I’m frequently appalled by the low regard you Earthmen have for life.” — Spock, “The Galileo Seven,” stardate 2822.3.
“Arguments derived from probabilities are idle.” — Plato
From 7/17/2014:
“Ignorance of one’s ignorance is the greatest ignorance.” — Smart Bee
Fucking brilliant….. No other lesser phrasing would be powerful enough to express how strongly I believe in what Mark has written here…. He is absolutely, 100% on target with his observations, and delivers a message that even the most hardened idiot has to hear…. of course, until they just get that glazed look on their face, and deny, deny, deny…. which they will do, immediately, by the millions, should they get even two paragraphs into this article…. Mark has a way with words like no one else, and he uses them here to once again skewer the GOP, and the group that I call the Asininnies, so well I’m tempted to say he did it perfectly…..
“Counts his sure gains, and hurries back for more.” — James Montgomery (1771-1854) — The West Indies, Part iii
Sniff…. It brings a tear of joy to my curmudgeonly soul to hear, and feel, the brilliantly sharp sardonicism Mark brings to bear, on the asininity, and the sheer stupidity that permeates the entire rich white Judeo-Christian fundamentalist, corporate mentality…. You know, the one that fills the halls of our government in Washington, all 50 state capitals, and every bloody church in this somewhat less than diversified land of ours….. The ranks of those who refuse to use their brains for anything beyond transporting their bowels from one toilet to another are bursting with politicians, lawyers, priests, preachers, quasi-military police, and corporate raptors, viciously dispassionate in their unending search for more power, and more resources to control…. all without any regard, or concern of any kind, for anyone whose lifestyle and/or beliefs do not match their own limited views….
It took me a while to compose the above paragraph; I tried to be as condemning as possible, without resorting to vulgarity…. I think it worked okay, in that it’s clear how I feel about those assholes…. but, due primarily to my own tendency toward pomposity, it could be better, and leads me to believe you just can’t replace a good round of swearing and cursing for delivering a message like this one…. I could have said most of that, and delivered the message, with a simple, “the bloody fucking assholes are doing it again”, with minor amplification for corroboration of details….
Shit flows downhill, you know, so, it’s best to fling it before we get any on ourselves…. Besides, with the way most of those in the 1% treat most everyone else, they deserve every bit of our disdain and vituperation, as well as our vulgarity…. THEY are the ones who live their lives in a vulgar manner…. What other word fits better than “vulgar”, to describe the likes of Rush Limbaugh, or Dick Cheney, or Karl Rove, three of the bastions of conservative thought?…. None I can think of, and my vocabulary is pretty extensive…. Just putting their images in my mind gives me a shudder of revulsion, worse than any I’ve ever gotten from snakes, lizards, or insects, let me tell you….
Once again, Mark has said it better than I am currently capable of doing, so, I’m going to soothe my fevered brow with an old school pearl, to vent some of the angst and anger that builds up in me whenever I consider the egregious immorality of those at the top of the societal pyramid of power…. those fucking assholes…. Here is a seven star old-school pearl, with parameters designed to find some sharp, pointed sticks, which we shall then envision to be flying directly at the lying eyes of the pundits….
“Government of the people, by the lawyers, for the conservatives.” — Smart Bee
“You’re not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can’t face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who says it.” — Malcolm X
“We are doing the right thing and we do not see the bad things.” — Vice President Dan Quayle pretending he is one of the wise monkeys
“If you can’t get a job, get a senate appointment!!!” — Smart Bee
“Basically a dog person. I certainly, though, wouldn’t want to offend my constituents who are cat people, and I should say that being, I hope, a sensitive person, that I have nothing against cats, and had cats when I was a boy, and if we didn’t have the two dogs might very well be interested in having a cat now.” — Incoming Missouri Congressman James Talent, — responding to the question Are you a dog or a cat person? (Mr. Talent is a graduate, summa cum idiotum, of the Dan Quayle School of Political Science-Like Stuff)
“One can imagine a sane, healthy, cheerful human society based on no more than the principles of common sense, as validated each day by work, play, and
living experience. But this remains the most Utopian and fantastic of ideals.” — Edward Abbey
“If God had intended for politicians to ski, he would have made bullshit white.” — Smart Bee
This is an example of what I call a “rock-solid” pearl…. When you see quotes from Smart Bee at either end, and smack in the middle, you can trust that this pearl is one that will hold its shape under the most trying of circumstances, and can puncture the eye of a pundit without leaving a permanent mark….. It’s that solid, sharp, and real….
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Some years ago, since retiring at the start of 2011, I spent a lot of time in pretty constant pain. Now I am using Phoenix Tears, it is much better, but, sometimes it’s good to go back & re-live it, to keep my feeling of progress intact…. Here’s a report I wrote after a particularly trying day, which gives a good idea of how it goes…. or, can go, some days, even now…. I’ve left it with the addendum I originally posted with it, which tells us why we write such poems….
Gauges of Pain
Consciousness devolves in pools of gripping fears
holding hostage any hope of serenity,
sharp stabbing motions and greedy tears
nary a moment passes without common calamity.
Always a surprise, nothing soothing ever found,
leaving only breathless clinging pain,
salvation seemingly absent, it muffles all sound,
bringing ever more sadness and rain.
Solitude is ever present to claim my time,
lonely hours and relentlessly long days,
no radio plays such music in secular rhyme
happy, vibrant voices belong to elder ways.
Life can be justified it seems to say,
by hopeful favored moments of pleasure,
seemingly friendly, pointing out the only way,
to bring back happiness in minimal measure.
Days of horror and embarrassing tears
serve ever to drive wretched hours to withhold
promising naught but sorrow in coming years,
black, bitter memories that never grow old.
Cold, cold the days fly by,
can it really be our only token?
Never to say, or know just why
the pain never stops, even when spoken…
~~ gigoid ~~
9/10/2012
(Yes, yesterday was NOT a good day…. why do you ask?…..)
Griefe brought to numbers cannot be so fierce,
For, he tames it, that fetters it in verse.
— John Donne ~~
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Naked Pearls
This way to the lighted area….
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“To teach is to learn.”
~~ Japanese Proverb ~~
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“Should I start with the time I SWITCHED personalities
with a BEATNIK hair stylist
or my failure to refer five TEENAGERS to a good OCULIST?”
— Zippy the Pinhead
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“One doesn’t discover new lands
without consenting to lose sight of the shore
for a very long time.”
~~ Andre Gide ~~
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“What can we gain by sailing to the moon
if we are not able to cross the abyss
that separates us from ourselves?
This is the most important of all voyages of discovery,
and without it,
all the rest are not only useless,
but disastrous…”
~~ Thomas Merton ~~
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“Adventure is not outside a man; it is within.”
~~ David Grayson ~~
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“Every ordinary moment, every little detail
should be a celebration of your personal understanding.
Your smallest act should be permeated with reverence.”
~~ Deng Ming-Dao ~~
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“He declared that he knew nothing, except the fact of his ignorance.”
~~ Diogenes Laertius — Socrates, xvi ~~
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I’m not entirely sure how, (much less why….), but, it’s done. Since I blew off yesterday, I have to say, it’s not bad for one thrown together at the last minute. Regardless of how it may have turned out, we’re going with it, as it’s too late to do it over. I will, however, maintain our standard of honesty, to give you fair warning, I’ll be back tomorrow to try again; you might want to mark your calendars. Until then, y’all be strange, because, why not?…. See ya, ffolkes….
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.
I woke up in a foul mood, without apparent cause, at least none I’m willing to discuss. Here’s a decent sublimation, to get me to tomorrow, when, perhaps, the universe will be less troublesome to an old curmudgeon…. See ya….
Okay, so maybe it’s not always the best way to begin…. I like it, though, if only for the degree of irony in the final line…. It probably doesn’t help soothe the minds of whatever readers may have ventured into today’s mess, but, dammit, this is ECR, and we won’t be pulling our punches for anybody! Not in THIS lifetime, even if it’s the only one we get this time (which is how it is beginning to appear….).
Life is too short, and too hard, to waste any time being hypocritical, especially when there has been enough trouble from that sector, (religion), historically, to last us, for as long as we want to hold a grudge…. Personally, I plan on holding it for a LONG time…. and, I LIKE looking myself in the eye every morning in the mirror….
“I may be going to hell in a bucket, but at least I’m enjoying the ride.”
~~ Bob Weir ~~
Stability….
Hajime…. Today’s Pearl reflects the evolution of which I spoke, briefly and obscurely, yesterday. It seems to have evolved along with my new routine, with just as much forethought put into its institution, i.e., none at all. It just happened that way, much like the Universe. Go figure, eh? In this particular case, it works, perhaps as well as any new thing in the Universe, if somewhat less comprehensibly. In the end, it won’t matter, unless the relative degree of confusion I’ve created turns out to be less than called for in the contract. What contract, you ask? Well, you may ask; it doesn’t mean you’ll ever find out.
Hmph. I guess I slipped over into curmudgeon mode, without realizing it. Must be the shoes, which I’m not wearing today. Whatever it is, it has created a rather odd, if creative, Pearl. We have a multitude of pearls today, all strung together into a self-directed rant to offset the romantic qualities of our old-school offering. None of that tells you much, but, that’s the way it’s supposed to be; what fun is it to know it all ahead of time? The Doctor wouldn’t like that. So, why don’t we stop teasing, and tempting the Fates, & save ourselves some of the mess that can engender? We’ll pull out the good, ol’ ruthless gene, & get where we need to be in a New York minute….
Shall we pearl?….
“Live the questions now.
Perhaps then, someday far in the future,
you will gradually, without even noticing it,
live your way in the answer.”
While conversing with a friend yesterday, I had occasion to use the title of today’s video selection, a quite valuable factoid, which you see below, under the artist’s name. I call it a factoid, when, in truth, it is more like a solid, immutable truth about human nature, which all of us need to be aware of, and use in all our interactions. When we don’t remember this little gem, it costs us, every time…. Ffolkes, I give you Ron White, with any number of examples of how You Can’t Fix Stupid…. Enjoy!….
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Ron White You Can’t Fix Stupid
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Naked Pearls/Self Directed Rant
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“To use power
is to make yourself infinitely vulnerable
to greater powers”
.~~- Bene Gesserit ~~
“In dealing with the State, we ought to remember that its institutions are not aboriginal, though they existed before we were born: that they are not superior to the citizen: that every one of them was once the act of a single man: every law and usage was a man’s expedient to meet a particular case: that they all are imitable, all alterable; we may make as good; we may make better.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Man is ready to die for an idea, provided that idea is not quite clear to him.” — Paul Eldridge
“It’s silly to go on pretending that under the skin we are all brothers. The truth is more likely that under the skin we are all cannibals, assassins, traitors, liars, hypocrites, poltroons.” — Henry Miller
“The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth.” — H.L. Mencken
“Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members. The virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion. It loves not realities and creators, but names and customs.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays,”Self-Reliance” (First Series, 1841)
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” — Edmund Burke (1729-1797), in a letter to William Smith
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Intelligent Crimes
The value of wit is often said to cause harm,
for those who think, such is its greatest charm.
The new and the bold cannot be fulfilled
if innovation and change is left unwilled.
Society behaves at its base as a mob
conformity and submission its primary job.
Any sign of rebellion against the mob’s rule
is met with resentment, naming such rebel the fool.
Intellect and talent are looked at askance,
expressing artistry stands nary a chance.
To stand out from the rest of mankind
is fraught with danger, for body and mind.
Often I stand to watch in solemn dismay
as beauty and joy are left by the way,
ignored and reviled by the unwashed masses
who prefer darkness, and acting like asses.
With shouts of derision the normals make known
their fear of intelligence, greater than their own.
They hope to stop all semblance of progress;
for thoughts and ideas, they couldn’t care less.
The world struggles on in spite of all opposition,
managing to maintain its advanced position.
Pulling the foolish along in spite of reluctance,
helping each to learn the survival dance.
Hard though it may be to keep up with the future
genius manages its plans to develop and nurture.
In the final analysis, those who live by reason
enjoy life the most, season to season.
~~ gigoid ~~
10/7/2012
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Naked Pearls
Life & Love
*******
“When you arise in the morning,
think of what a privilege it is to be alive
–to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love….”
~~ Marcus Aurelius ~~
*******
“I must say that the biggest lesson
you can learn in life, or teach your children,
is that life is not castles in the skies, happily ever after.
The biggest lesson we have to give our children is truth.
We’re all built with illusions.
And they break.”
~~ Goldie Hawn ~~
*******
“Hold tenderly that which you cherish,
for it is precious and a tight grip may crush it.
Do not let the fear of dropping it cause you to hold it too tightly:
the chances are, it’s holding you, too.”
~~ Bob Alberti ~~
*******
“We are shaped and fashioned by what we love.”
~~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~~
*******
“Love is a verb.”
~~ Limon ~~
*******
“For those who believe in God, most of the big questions are answered.
But for those of us who can’t readily accept the God formula,
the big answers don’t remain stone-written.
We adjust to new conditions and discoveries.
We are pliable.
Love need not be a command or faith a dictum.
I am my own God.
We are here to unlearn the teachings
of the church, state, and our educational system.
We are here to drink beer.
We are here to kill war.
We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well
that Death will tremble to take us.”
~~ Charles Bukowski ~~
*******
Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be.
~~ Grandma Moses ~~
*******
********************************
Having thus assuaged my own sense of duty, I may now escape into the day, to find some real-time trouble to cause for the machine. I guess I’m really going to have to do what I’ve always thought would be necessary, & learn to program computers. The time is coming when it may become our final weapon in the upcoming societal wars…. Guess it’s time to begin the tactical/strategic planning, and begin the campaign…. Ah, well, tomorrow is soon enough, right after I post another mess like this one. See y’all then, ffolkes; I can’t make myself stop….
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.
It is never too early or too late to care for the well-being of the soul.
~~ Epicurus ~~
Perfectly imperfect….
Hajime…. We humans do tend to become attached to our routines. This can make the process of evolution somewhat uncomfortable, unless we practice the art of dealing with change phlegmatically, rather than passionately. Our egos get in our way enough; it’s a good thing to work on our reactions ahead of when they become part of reality, for the meeting of imagination and reality can be fraught with danger and chaotic emotions. Best to learn control before it is needed so desperately, as is often the case when reality strikes….
Since the reasons for such an opening are extremely fresh, and, thus, still volatile, I won’t attempt to explain. Suffice it to say, for our purposes here, I managed to avoid a complete meltdown long enough to complete today’s Pearl, such as it is. It ain’t Ibsen, but, it’s legit. Since I’m pretty certain I can’t do any better by keeping at it any longer, I’ll forgo my usual blather and/or nonsense, in favor of another ruthlessly short intro. It seems to work out fairly well when I do get ruthless, so, we’ll go with it today, just for form. I like it, sometimes, because I get to do this….
Shall we pearl?….
After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.”
~~ Albus Dumbledore ~~
~~ J.K. Rowling, The Man with Two Faces ~~
~~ Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone ~~
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Though not obviously, I am running late; that means we go with our default today. Not only did we spend no time thinking about it, the collection you get is the very first one listed, just so I didn’t have to spend any further time looking. Fortunately, it looks like a good one, so, please, enjoy!….
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Classical Music
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********************************
We’re going back to the archives this morning, simply because I’m lazy, and a little late; a typically human reaction, to be sure. Nonetheless, it’s also reality, so, we’ll all have to deal with it. Here is a piece from a couple years ago, with a little discussion of, well, me….
From 4/19/2014:
:GIGO: /gi:’goh/ [acronym] 1. `Garbage In, Garbage Out’ — usually said in response to {luser}s who complain that a program didn’t “do the right thing” when given imperfect input or otherwise mistreated in some way. Also commonly used to describe failures in human decision making due to faulty, incomplete, or imprecise data. 2. `Garbage In, Gospel Out’: this more recent expansion is a sardonic comment on the tendency human beings have to put excessive trust in `computerized’ data. — from The on-line Hacker Jargon File V423
Many years ago, I adopted the user name gigoid, taking it from the above definition, and adding an “id” for, of course, identification purposes; with that suffix, I am assured of human status, i.e. hominid, humanoid, etc. I chose this acronym because it is the perfect reminder of the basic integrity that is built into all computers, i.e., they can only do what we tell them to do, and cannot lie. Thus, if our results are wrong, the error lies in our input, not in the computer; this automatically cuts in half the number of places to look for the problem. I like to think that my awareness of this principle characteristic is what has allowed me to use computers without suffering many of the common difficulties such as crashes, freezes, and blue screens of death. Only once have I ever encountered one of those on my own computer, and that was the result of a virus my defenses missed… my fault, of course, I hadn’t updated soon enough…
Oh, I’ve encountered that famous blue screen before, when I worked as a computer tech back in the late 90’s, setting up LAN’s and office systems for H&R Block…. a significant percentage of machines were dead soon after coming out of the factory box. But, on my own computers, I am very careful never to break any of the basic rules that govern those kinds of mishaps…. and I owe it all to a wise choice of user name…. Well, it’s fun to think about it that way anyway….
So, who is gigoid? Well, if you’ve hung about this blog site for long, I’ve certainly given y’all enough of my inner workings to look at, in my rants, and in my old school pearls, as well as in my poetry, which is quite revealing, to me….. but, then, if it wasn’t, I most likely couldn’t write it…. Any who, to give the short answer to that question, I’ll post below some pearls that give insight into what I believe to be true, and how I try to live…. Like any weak human, I don’t always succeed at being as moral or ethical as I can be, but, I do try, and I do feel pangs of regret when I don’t, so cut me some slack, eh? Just kidding…. What I am is all what I am, though I’m not Popeye…. and these pearls are what I see in the mirror…..
“They are able because they think they are able.” — Virgil
“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” — Aristotle
“An epigram often flashes light into regions where reason shines but dimly.” — E. P. Whipple
It is my firm belief that it is a mistake to hold firm beliefs. — Smart Bee
Computers can never replace human stupidity. — Smart Bee
“Do not confuse “duty” with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die. Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect.
But there is no reward at all for doing what other people expect of you, and to do so is not merely difficult, but impossible. It is easier to deal with a footpad than it is with the leech who wants “just a few minutes of your time, please — this won’t take long.” Time is your total capital, and the minutes of your life are painfully few. If you allow yourself to fall into the vice of agreeing to such requests, they quickly snowball to the point where these parasites will use up 100 percent of your time — and squawk for more!
So learn to say No – and to be rude about it when necessary. Otherwise you will not have time to carry out your duty, or to do your own work, and certainly no time for love and happiness. The termites will nibble away your life and leave none of it for you. (This rule does not mean that you must not do a favor for a friend, or even a stranger. But let the choice be yours. Don’t do it because it is “expected” of you.) ”
— Lazarus Long, from Time Enough for Love, by Robert Heinlein
“Do I look like someone who cares about what God thinks?” — Zippy the Pinhead
Well, that’s enough about me…. Hope this helps clear up any confusion, and if not, well, hey, life goes on…. all we can do is all we can do, and no more….
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Unheralded Sagacity…
To many, who will not see beyond their nose
the world becomes a dangerous place,
a bullet in every gun, a thorn with every rose,
no magic comes to save us, reality leaves no trace.
Minds closed, wrapped tight in manufactured fears,
men become clay, easily molded into complacent form.
No chains needed, held in thrall for years,
lies become gospel, when dishonesty is the norm.
Shed the chains you wear in durance, in kind;
Oh, ye of little faith, and much doubt
Strength is found in an unfettered mind,
Cry “freedom” with a great shout.
No help from any gods can hinder so much
as our own lack of confidence;
finding the light within, knowing it as such
confirms us, becoming consequence.
Illumination…..
~~ gigoid ~~
4/17/2013
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Naked Pearls
Random Thoughts
*******
“Iyam what Iyam.”
~~ Popeye ~~
*******
“The worst fear is the fear of living.”
~~ Theodore Rosevelt ~~
*******
“Courage is not the towering oak that sees storms come and go;
it is the fragile blossom that opens in the snow.”
~~ Alice M. Swaim ~~
*******
“The good life, as I conceive it, is a happy life.
I do not mean that if you are good you will be happy
– I mean that if you are happy you will be good.”
~~ Bertrand Russell ~~
*******
“Hope cannot be said to exist, nor can it be said not to exist.
It is just like the roads across the earth.
For actually there were no roads to begin with,
but when many people pass one way a road is made.”
~~ Lu Hsun ~~
*******
“It is not the one with many possessions who is rich,
but the one who has no needs.”
~~ Philoxenos ~~
*******
“Dogs like us, we ain’t such dogs as we think we are.”
~~ Ernest Borgnine ~~
*******
********************************
Today’s Pearl has been brought to you through the auspices of ego-driven need, supported by the echoes of madness which drive my bus. In the further interests of time-management, I shall bid thee adieu, until tomorrow, when I’ll make another attempt at rationality, whether it’s advisable, or not. Advice is usually worth what one pays for it, so, we’ll go for broke without it. See y’all then, should the Space/Time Continuum continue to cooperate….
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.
“Ignorance doesn’t kill you, but it makes you sweat a lot.”
~~ Haitian proverb ~~
Did you say ‘chase paper’?….
Hajime…. I’m posting very late again today, but, not for any bad reason. On the contrary, it’s been a fine morning. I would share it, but, it’s still too intimate an experience to do so; I’m greedy sometimes, & want to savor it for a time. The time I spent will, eventually, be a big part of my personal cache of memories, in the folder simply labeled “joy”. Can’t say exactly why ’tis so, but, gift horse, right? Don’t want to examine it too closely….
Rather than torture all of us by trying to create some grandiose, compelling intro today, I’ll make these two paragraphs do as a sublimation for the real thing. I doubt seriously y’all will miss it, any more than will I. We also will not be discussing any of the personal quirks, and/or mental issues which would tend to complicate matters in the normal course of events. Of course, around here, there is no such thing as a normal course of events, but, we won’t talk about that, either. Instead, we’ll just do this….
Today’s musical selection features an Irish artist, a fiddler, who currently plays with the Celtic Woman group. I’ve seen the group on stage a couple of times; each time, this woman’s performance, for me, made the show as special as it was. Quite simply, her performance is infectiously joyous, sharing her own pleasure at playing her music to such a degree it is tangible…. I hope you enjoy it….
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Celtic Woman
Máiréad – Granuaile’s Dance
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“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.”
~~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~~
*******
“No slave is ever freed, save he freeth himself.”
~~ Bob Marley, paraphrased ~~
Today’s rant is self-directed, as it should be, given the opening quotes…. Enjoy! Oh, and, keep an open mind on this one; you’ll need it….
From 5/6/2015:
Dubiousity, Redux
In the virtual world, I call myself gigoid, the dubious, for specific reasons…. Rather than use my own words to delineate/describe those reasons, here are some of them, in the form of pearls, (naturally….), as collected by Smart Bee, just as an exercise…. It turned out to be a nice, eleven-star pearl, all centered around the concept of doubt as a function of wisdom…. It seems I’m not the only person in history to put my faith in doubt, rather than the other way around, so to speak…. There are a lot of big names here, and, I only went through the first half of the collection….
Pay particular heed today, ffolkes; these little bits of shiny stuff are more subtly important, to you, than you may realize…. Oh, and, ALL of this will be on your final Quiz…. Don’t blame me, I didn’t make it up….
Shadow and sunlight are the same;
The vanished gods to me appear;
And one to me are shame and fame.
They reckon ill who leave me out;
When me they fly, I am the wings;
I am the doubter and the doubt,
And I the hymn the Brahmin sings.
~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, Brahma ~~
“Philosophy, means, first, doubt; and afterwards the consciousness of what knowledge means, the consciousness of uncertainty and of ignorance, the consciousness of limit, shade, degree, possibility. The ordinary man doubts nothing and suspects nothing.” — Henri Frederick Amiel
“A lizard ran out on a rock and looked up, listening no doubt to the sounding of the spheres. And what a dandy fellow! the right toss of a chin for you and swirl of a tail! If men were as much men as lizards are lizards they’d be worth looking at.” — D. H. Lawrence (1928)
“Authority has every reason to fear the skeptic, for authority can rarely survive in the face of doubt.” — Robert Lindner
“Doubt is not a pleasant condition but certainty is an absurd one.” — Voltaire
Modest doubt is call’d
The beacon of the wise, the tent that searches
To the bottom of the worst.
~~ William Shakespeare ~~
~~ Troilus and Cressida — Act ii, Sc. 2 ~~
Doubt is the beginning, not the end, of wisdom. — Smart Bee
“Freedom of speech and freedom of action are meaningless without freedom to think. And there is no freedom of thought without doubt.” — Bergen Evans, The Natural History of Nonsense (1946)
“If you understand, or if you don’t. If you believe, or if you doubt. There is a universal justice and the eyes of truth are always watching.” — Enigma
“Men become civilized, not in proportion to their willingness to believe, but in their readiness to doubt.” — H. L. Mencken
My guard stood hard when abstract threats too noble to neglect
deceived me into thinking I had something to protect.
Good and bad I defined these terms, quite clear, no doubt, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then;
I’m younger than that now.
~~ Bob Dylan ~~
Ah, yes, indeed…. I AM younger than that now….. so, there will be more on this subject later…. Ta, then….
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Retrospective, defined in folly….
Yesterday
I wrote a poem.
It bled out of my head,
like I’d been struck with
an axe,
right through the artery,
in the neck,
spraying blood around
everywhere,
like a pulsing garden hose….
It hurt, at first,
then came the feeling,
of quick relief,
of timeless beauty,
of pain avenged,
of lust aroused,
of outrage aflame,
of deep compassion,
of endless empathy,
of truest love….
Now it’s gone, cast away
like pearls before twine.
(Grin…)
You thought
I was going to call you
a pig,
didn’t you?
Hah!
Well, you’re not.
You’re a person.
I know, because
you’re reading this poem…
if that’s what it is.
I think it is,
so,
maybe it is.
Or, maybe,
it will be,
someday, when it
grows up,
and learns to rhyme.
Whew…
Just in time…..
That’s all.
Reality often sucks wind,
y’know?
S’okay, though….
It keeps us busy,
and out of some of the
mischief,
so much part
of our
nature.
We all can do
only what we
do.
Or, don’t.
Two sides, one coin.
~~ gigoid ~~
9/1/2014
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Naked Pearls
Not so obvious truths….
*********
“I think, therefore I am… dangerous, that is…”
~~ Master Bee ~~
*********
“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.”
~~ Anais Nin ~~
*********
“Do what you love.
Know your own bone;
gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it, and gnaw it still.”
~~ Thoreau ~~
*********
“A man cannot speak but he judges himself…
no man thoroughly understands a truth
until he has contended against it.”
~~ Emerson ~~
*********
“In walking, just walk.
In sitting, just sit.
Above all, don’t wobble.”
~~ Yun-Men ~~
*********
“Really to see the sun rise or go down every day…
would preserve us sane forever.”
~~ Thoreau ~~
*********
“… as sight is in the body, so is reason in the soul…”
“I have realized that the past and future are real illusions,
that they exist in the present,
which is what there is and all there is.”
~~ Alan Watts ~~
*********
“If it had been a bear it would have bit you.”
~~ Jonathan Swift — Polite Conversation, Dialogue i”
*********
********************************
Did it. Down, dirty, done. Moreover, got nothin’ left to say, so, I’ll just say, see y’all tomorrow. I’m as certain of that as I am of anything in the world…. Fair warning, I’d say….
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.
Today’s exploration of reality must be pursued in real time; I have a number of things to do out in the Big Blue Room, & didn’t manage to get a Pearl done before morning arrived… Here’s a pretty decent Pearl from a couple years ago, to fill in for today. It’s got some decent ranting in it, so, it should get you through your morning coffee with some dispatch. I’ll be back tomorrow, all fresh…. or, as fresh as I can make it. See y’all then; be good to each other….
You’ll never have a quiet world till you knock the patriotism out of the human race.” ~~ George Bernard Shaw ~~
“Did someone say “walk”?”
The dogs belong to a photographer in England. She rescued all three dogs, and now takes pictures of them together, and separately, from a unique viewpoint; I found this, along with a number of other excellent photos, on the web site of the London Daily Telegraph…. I love the pictures, which she uses to demonstrate a number of emotions or issues of a humorous nature…. If you have a chance, check them out some time… I forgot to take down the name, of either the dogs, or the photographer, but, Google will find the picture, if it is plugged in, just like it will find words….
Now that the housekeeping has been completed, we could go on to something more compelling, or intense, but…
Death tugs at my ear and says: “Live, I am coming.”
~~ Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. ~~
Where’d it go?….
Hajime…. Over the last five years of blogging here on WP, I’ve come to realize a lot of things about writing I hadn’t known before. Much of that involves style and formatting, technical issues, so to speak…. More personal, yet mundane matters such as motivation and inspiration have also become more of a study, since both tend to suffer when asked to perform on a daily basis. Finding either one can turn into a nearly full-time task in the morning, as they seem to hide, whether playfully, or sulkily, I don’t know, or care; finding them is too much of a hassle to allow much forgiveness.
All of which is a long winded way of pointing out the sheer blankness of my mind again this morning. Well, okay; blank isn’t exactly right; we did get this far already. But, anything more complex isn’t in the cards, I’m afraid. I’ll do my best to make this interesting, but, no promises. I don’t like making them when I can’t be sure I can keep them. I can promise good intentions, but, we’ve all heard where they usually end up leading us, so, we’ll be careful not to get too smarmy or avaricious. If naught else, that should save some shoe leather.
Since there isn’t much point in trying to squeeze this stone for water, I guess we’ll get on with the rest of this mess, before I lose what little sense of direction I’ve managed to garner with this relatively short intro, which, in spite of all my dithering, seems to have fulfilled its basic purpose. Boy, sometimes, this process amazes me with its perspicacity. Go figure, eh? Okay, no more bullshit. Let’s get on with the slow, so we can get it solidly on the toad…..
Shall we pearl?….
“Any road followed to its end leads precisely nowhere.
Climb the mountain just a little to test it’s a mountain.
From the top of the mountain, you cannot see the mountain.”
This morning I find myself in the mood for a laser voice, as well as some hot licks & fine guitar. I can’t think of any better example of both elements than the pairing of these two artists…. Enjoy, ffolkes; this one is special….
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Emmylou Harris & Mark Knopfler
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“I have been a stranger in a strange land.”
~~ Old Testament ~ Exodus ii, 22 ~~
I know I’m strange, but, I’ve never cared. I’d intended to write about that, but, instead, I’m sublimating, by including a rather extensive rant on an issue upon which many probably feel I tend to harp, to wit: the Asininnies, and their antics. This one is one which remains valid, and will remain so, until we all decide to make the necessary changes, or, Mother Nature steps in to make them for us…. For now, listen up….
From 2/23/2014:
This link is to an article that details some pretty obvious, but, let’s be fair, and call it alleged, political corruption, on the part of a Democratic state legislator…. You can read it, but, it really doesn’t have much to do with the discussion that comes afterward, other than peripherally, as just an extra set of data to add to the whole concept under discussion….
So, not reading it, or waiting until later to get to it, would be acceptable, and, possibly, less confusing…. It can be confusing enough around here without providing any assistance, so, just skip on down to the rant, then, if you wish, you can read later about the naughty California fat-cat politician, and his weak-willed brother….. They’re only willing dupes and/or ignorant pawns in the scenario about which you’ll read below….
With the above link, I began collection of a number of links to articles that would demonstrate a point I intended to make regarding the way the administration in current power in Washington DC manipulates the news so efficiently, and so effectively, in terms of fulfilling the agenda THEY have in place for how events should proceed….
Then, I stopped collecting links, and articles, when I realized just how thoroughly the media manipulates itself, as well as the public it purportedly serves, in directions it is not aware of, out of ignorance, lack of cohesive communication, and an unfortunate tendency to avoid what makes them uncomfortable…. along with not being smart enough to see what stares them right in their own faces…. I realized this entire process is so entrenched in society, we aren’t even aware of it most of the time, which is how the SCSM’s like it….
See? It’s the media’s fault…. so says a judge, firmly in the pocket of the corporate masters…. Now, even those who decide what gets into the news are being manipulated, by those who own EVERYTHING, (aka, the SCSM’s, the Shadowy Corporate Slave Masters….), said manipulation having just one primary purpose, to keep their existence, and the machinations with which they control society, OUT of the public eye…. If a majority of the common people, to wit: the public, ever realized exactly how FEW are those who control 99% of all the resources on this planet, and the degree of power those few possess over the rest of us, in their insane quest to control it all, those few people wouldn’t stand a rat’s chance in a colony of cats….
The true rulers of mankind, the shadowy mega-corporate slave masters, who control virtually ALL the money and resources in the world, if unmasked, and made to acknowledge their crimes against humanity, committed over thousands of years, in their selfish quest for power, would be be hunted down and ripped limb from limb, slowly, by angry mobs, wherever they were revealed, all over the world…. a risk of which they are well aware ….
These are SMART, ruthless, self-centered people, who have absolutely NO compassion, or concern for the rights of anyone outside their immediate circle, and they’ve had long years of practice at hiding their existence, and their actions, from the general public’s eye…. The actual number of people in this clandestine group of mega-rich individuals is actually far smaller than 1% of the total world’s population, so few, their very lack of numbers makes all of what they’ve accomplished that much more of a risk for them….
They are fully aware of the danger of having their nefarious activities exposed to the public eye; they take extreme care to never let their faces become known, or, if so, only in ways that would fool the public into believing they are saintly philanthropists, making them beloved by the people for their generosity…. Long, drawn-out, agonizing, vicious, inhumanly torturous deaths would be their lot, should the downtrodden poor, and the ignorant, delusional middle classes, ever find out the truth of their slavery…. which would only be right, given their willingness to use the same violent methods as part of their own bag of tricks, which they are all-too-willing to employ, in service of their need to dominate….
Hence, as it stands today, we have their centuries-long charade, to keep themselves, and what they do to keep their control of events, from ever becoming common knowledge…. If such knowledge became known to the world at large, it would mean their death, for certain, and they know it….. But, I don’t think they’re too worried, at this point….
They have too much control over what people see, and hear, in terms of what is actually taking place in the world…. These people control governments, newspapers, corporations, television networks, and every channel of communication present in the world…. Even the Internet is under their control, as they have the power to shut it down, whenever they wish…. As we were taught by Mu’ad Dib, true power is the ability to destroy what is necessary to survive….
But, the use of such extreme force isn’t necessary for them to employ, yet, as they also have the resources to employ as many idiots writing for their side, as there are people such as myself, writing to try to expose their evil to the light of day….. Hence, the message I, and others like me, try to send is diluted before anyone ever sees it…. Simple enough, from their point of view, but, then, they wouldn’t have allowed the advent of the ‘Net, if they thought it would be their undoing….
Having the Internet may help us, though, by increasing our own abilities, and opportunities, to spread information, even if the odds of their winning, as they have for so many millennia, are not appreciably altered…. Mankind has always been under the clandestine control of these assholes…. That’s why we are in the mess we’re in…. So, let THEM figure out how to survive what even they don’t understand….. I don’t think they have any clue as to the Hell they have unleashed on themselves by not accepting the reality of global warming, and I’m almost looking forward to seeing it hit them, and watching them cry like babies when they understand what they’ve done to themselves….
They’ve done to us all, I know, but, they won’t care about that, so, I’ll take my pleasure from knowing they’ll suffer worse than the rest of us, because it is they, themselves, who MUST face up to reality, and not having a choice in that is something at which they have no experience at all…. I won’t feel any better, but, it will help make it more palatable, to know they’re going down, too…. This is a situation their sense of entitlement, (which, like any such emotion, isn’t going to alter reality…), isn’t going to get them out of having to face up to in the end….
“A duty dodged is like a debt unpaid; it is only deferred, and we must come back and settle the account at last.” — Joseph F. Newton
Whether anyone, 99%er, or 1%er, likes it, or not, this is what I would call a universal truth, in that, for us humans, it comes true, universally, whenever it is tested in reality….. Translated into more simple, more specific terms… whether we like it or not, our account with reality on this planet is about to come due, and it WILL be settled…. Like it or not, we WILL be judged, according to whether or not our duty to the planet has been met, or deferred until now…..
Since, to my way of thinking, the people who made the decisions about how the resources were used are the ones who assumed the duty, they should be the ones to answer…. Unfortunately, ALL of us have to answer for what they’ve done, because they, being the cowards they are, won’t ever take responsibility for it…. They’ll still reap their share of the reward, because reality knows who is responsible; NOBODY skips out on their bill in this restaurant…. I don’t think they’re going to enjoy their reward, though….
“I had a friend who was a clown. When he died, all his friends went to the funeral in one car.” — Steven Wright
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Off the proverbial cuff….
I never meant to kill that period of time,
it didn’t give me any choice.
It tried to hem me in without reason, or rhyme,
refused me any vote, or any voice.
You have to admit, I buried it deep and fast,
just as if I cared.
I knew, though, it would never last,
or ever be fully repaired.
No news, no pictures can bring it back,
once is all we get.
No pleas of public good, or even public lack;
in stone the past is set.
Futuristic visions now occupy my dreams,
I’m ready to go on.
Look! It fills up the screen, and it gleams!
Where’s the moment I’m sitting on?
Now, I remembered, at long, long last,
is all we really can hold.
Every moment goes by so bloody fast,
we’d best fill them all with beauty, warm and bold.
~~ gigoid ~~
4/30/2013
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Naked Pearls
“From a certain point of view…”
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“In the game of life you get to choose where you keep your brain –
heads you win, tails you lose.”
~~ Sardonic Bee ~~
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“The world is full
of burled and gnarly knobs
on which you can hang a metaphysical system.
If you must.”
~~ Edward Abbey ~~
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“I’m looking for myself. Anybody seen me lately?”
~~ New Age Bee ~~
*******
“Do you have the patience to wait
till your mud settles and the water is clear?
Can you remain unmoving till the right actions arises by itself?”
~~ Lao Tzu ~~
*******
A bunch of the boys were whooping it in the Malamute saloon;
The kid that handles the music box was hitting a jag-time tune;
Back of the bar, in a solo game, sat Dangerous Dan McGrew,
And watching his luck was his light-o’-love,
the lady that’s known as Lou.”
~~ Robert W. Service ~~
*******
“Don’t talk to me about a man’s being able to talk sense;
everyone can talk sense- can he talk nonsense?”
~~ William Pitt the Elder ~~
*******
“Yow! Are we laid back yet?”
~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~
*******
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Having reached this point, sans injury or major fillip, I think it would be good to acknowledge just how well this went, all things considered. It’s not every day I can say it’s done with such a feeling of closure. It may not be the best ever, but, it will do. I’ll even be polite, & leave y’all without the usual portion of blather; instead I’ll merely say, see ya. I will, as always, be back tomorrow, with yet another exploration of our mutual interests…. Be good to each other, & stay strange; 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.
“To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else.”
~~ Emily Dickinson ~~
“You’re not a real person until you’re ignored by a cat.”
Hajime…. The official title of this blog, as it says right at the top left, is Exploring Consensual Reality. Today’s version of Reality is simply too much for me to deal with; the sun came up, and I just don’t know what to do about it. Not that I’ll ever need to do anything about it, but, we humans do have our irrational fears…. It’s been said, with good reason, by a number of really smart ffolkes, worry kills more people than bullets. I can attest.
Since my mind is in revolt, (or, maybe that should be, my mind is revolting….), the mess you’ll see today will be a cheap imitation of a real Pearl, since most of it is destined to come from the archives. That is the only way it will get done at all, I’m afraid, even though it’s Sunday, and nobody really cares except me. Oh, well, he said, with some relief. That’s show biz….
That’s all, ffolkes. I’m off now, to go put this together, best I may; y’all can stick around to see what happens, or bail now. As ever, it’s up to you. In the meantime, I’ll go do what needs doing, and be done with it. Let’s get started, ‘kay?…..
Shall we pearl?….
“Around existence twine,
(Oh, bridge that hangs across the gorge!)
ropes of twisted vine.”
~~ Basho ~~
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Naturally, in order to save time, we’re going with our default musical selection. Enjoy!….
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Classical Music
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While searching for a rant in the archives from 2014, I found this one, from 2012, which will do nicely….
From 6/26/2012:
IDIOT, n. A member of a large and powerful tribe whose influence in human affairs has always been dominant and controlling. The Idiot’s activity is not confined to any special field of thought or action, but “pervades and regulates the whole.” He has the last word in everything; his decision is unappealable. He sets the fashions and opinion of taste, dictates the limitations of speech and circumscribes conduct with a dead-line.” — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”
When I picked out this pearl, I had intended to write a piece exploring human intelligence. However, my brain had a different plan, and all of the thoughts that I had marshaled to use went into the wind, poof, gone….. Since I’m feeling a bit lazy today, I’m keeping the pearl, and writing something about it anyway, so there….
Ranting about human stupidity is an endless challenge; there is so much of it to pick from that the choosing becomes harder than the actual writing. Every day’s news brings more examples of how dumb folks can be, and finding just one that is acceptable is merely a matter of deciding which is the better choice from a humorous view, or a serious view, or whatever viewpoint from which we will write. I’ve yet to see a single day when there weren’t at least four or five instances of stories that illustrate how talented people are at finding new ways to show how stupid they really are…..
“Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.” — Lazarus Long
We’ve all seen this one, I think; if not this one by Robert Heinlein, then one from another author or philosopher. It’s a pretty common theme, after all. Often, examples can be found on the front pages, especially during election years. But the back pages also carry numerous examples, taken from real life…. such as this one….
Back when I was attending the University of Utah, The Daily Utah Chronicle ran a joke ad for a debate between Phil Donahue and Whiskers the Lamb. Over 30 people showed up. (what they were expecting, God only knows.) — Smart Bee
In order to further prove my point, here is an example taken from today’s news….
This link leads to a very short article from Yahoo news, a perfect example of how the world is going mad, step by step….. I’m not even going to comment on the article, as it’s already too hard to think about it without laughing at the absurdity of the whole issue…..
Okay, I think my point is proved. The human race is pretty stupid, and getting stupider all the time. Sure, we’ve got men in space, we’ve raised the average age to 72 with medical advances, we’ve been to the moon. But we also are still making war on each other. We still abuse animals, and women, and children, and any thing else that is weaker, and will stand still. We are still killing ourselves, and denying that it is even happening. My only hope at this point is for something to happen to change human nature, to turn us away from this path we’ve chosen to walk. I hope it will happen, but I’m afraid the power of stupidity may just be greater than the power of hope….
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The following was first posted on 5/13/2014:
I’m going with whatever serendipitously throws itself under the wheels of this bus we’re on…. Here is a thought, and a poem, from two classical Chinese poets, to whose translators I offer my complete admiration, and thanks, for such excellent work….
“If you work on your mind with your mind, how can you avoid an immense confusion?”
~~ Seng-T’San ~~
Alone, Looking for Blossoms Along the River
The sorrow of riverside blossoms inexplicable,
And nowhere to complain — I’ve gone half crazy.
I look up our southern neighbor. But my friend in wine
Gone ten days drinking. I find only an empty bed.
A thick frenzy of blossoms shrouding the riverside,
I stroll, listing dangerously, in full fear of spring.
Poems, wine — even this profusely driven, I endure.
Arrangements for this old, white-haired man can wait.
A deep river, two or three houses in bamboo quiet,
And such goings on: red blossoms glaring with white!
Among spring’s vociferous glories, I too have my place:
With a lovely wine, bidding life’s affairs bon voyage.
Looking east to Shao, its smoke filled with blossoms,
I admire that stately Po-hua wineshop even more.
To empty golden wine cups, calling such beautiful
Dancing girls to embroidered mats — who could bear it?
East of the river, before Abbot Huang’s grave,
Spring is a frail splendor among gentle breezes.
In this crush of peach blossoms opening ownerless,
Shall I treasure light reds, or treasure them dark?
At Madame Huang’s house, blossoms fill the paths:
Thousands, tens of thousands haul the branches down.
And butterflies linger playfully — an unbroken
Dance floating to songs orioles sing at their ease.
I don’t so love blossoms I want to die. I’m afraid,
Once they are gone, of old age still more impetuous.
And they scatter gladly, by the branchful. Let’s talk
Things over, little buds —open delicately, sparingly.
~~ Tu Fu ~~
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I’m so late, and so discombobulated (fine word!….), I’m going to the archives for the final, old-school pearl today; why not? Here is one from 2014 that will do nicely….
From6/21/2014:
Once again, I had hoped to have more pictures today, but, the Wise Old Pine Cone has been busy with his new student, so we’ll have to settle for a fresh, old-school pearl….. We’ll make it a random, harlequin style pearl, as they’re the quickest to put together, as the parameters involved are so flexible…. Enjoy!….
“This is a wise maxim, “to take warning from others of what may be to your own advantage.” — Terence (185-159 BC) — Heautontimoroumenos, Act i, Sc. 2, 36, (210.)
“The turning point in the process of growing up is when you discover the core of strength within you that survives all hurt.” — Max Lerner
“Though all the winds of doctrine were let loose to play upon the earth, so Truth be in the field, we do ingloriously, by licensing and prohibiting, to misdoubt her strength. Let her and Falsehood grapple: who ever knew Truth put to the worse in a free and open encounter?” — John Milton (1608-1674) — Areopagitica
“He who wears his morality but as his best garment were better naked.” — Kahlil Gibran
“After all is said and done, a hell of a lot more is said than done.” — Olmstead’s Law
“…for the most part happiness consists in being willing to be what you are.” — Erasmus
“Honor is the reward of virtue.” — Cicero (B.C. 106-43)
Sometimes this process doesn’t work; this is NOT one of those times…. This is a good pearl, ffolkes…. Serendipity strikes again….
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Thanks to my extensive archives, it’s done, even if incredibly late. Oh, well. I’ll try again tomorrow; who knows? I may even get a real Pearl finished by then. Either way, I’ll be back; on that you may rely…..
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 