Ffolkes,

“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.”

~~ Bene Gesserit proverb ~~

Mirrored trees, River Corrib, Galway, Ireland

Hajime…. In the quiet of the pre-dawn darkness, the old man sits, bent with age & care, pecking away industriously at the keyboard of an old, beat-up laptop computer. Focused intently on his task, he doesn’t notice me watching him, in perfect comfort, wondering, again, just how this illusion worked. Putting that thought aside as irrelevant, I turn to my own task, involving the management, (or, mis-management, as the case may be….), of several congruent, yet separate levels of reality. It’s not an easy task, especially given the operational handicaps implied by having to manage reality, at all, but, as a chosen duty, it remains imperative to do so, even if only to assuage my own sense of guilty pleasure, so sweet, yet so tart….

Y’all may find today’s Pearl a bit obscure, if not completely esoteric. Hopefully, you’ll also find it erudite, and, if I can do it right, even illuminating. That, as always, is probably somewhat optimistic, but, I can’t help that; it’s just the way I am, in direct contrast to how I seem, which is, I am told, somewhat cynical and depressive. I’ve been working, off & on, as my tolerance for sitting dictates, on a discussion of those very characteristics in myself, and the world at large, but, it keeps growing, as is often the case when I bite off more than can be easily chewed in one sitting. I’m hoping it will come together, & be ready soon, but, it will happen as it does, without my having much to say about that part of it….

This is because, for me, the creation process is rather unconscious, or, as much as I can make it so; my conscious mind has very little to do with it, other than to stay out of the way. I’ve found this necessary, in order to be able to persuade what roils and boils around inside my head to put itself into consumable forms, that can be transcribed onto the computer, as opposed to the traditional paper. I can’t necessarily recommend it as a method to be used by any & all, but, it works for me, so, who am I to mess with what works?

It works well enough, I suppose; most of what is in my head makes it onto the screen, one way or another. Though I cannot, and will not, lay claim to any particular brilliance, it works as intended, which is to keep all that crap from building up in my head, to the point the sheer weight of thoughts makes them intractable. So, I keep on keepin’ on, as we used to say in the sixties, and hope for the best. Today, as a major holiday for most of the western, Christian world, I would say the process into which this quest for sanity has evolved is my best defense against the angst I would normally garner in reaction to watching much of the world display their delusional symptomatology, in an orgy of what I consider psychotic smarm. SIGH…

I think, at this point, I’d best get on with the rest of today’s mess, before I write something offensive; the urge to poke at the mundanes becomes quite strong on days such as this, so, we’ll just use one of those efficiently ruthless techniques we keep in this drawer to move us along, & go on to different, if not better things. At this rate, unless I do so now, we could be here for a long time. Instead, watch this….

Shall we Pearl?

“Humans hardly ever learn from the experience of others.
They learn – when they do, which isn’t often – on their own, the hard way.”

~~ Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love ~~

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I’m not sure just why I seem to display this laziness of mine most often on ‘holidays’, but, there it is, just like the hive of bees living in my head. Nonetheless, I do, so, here is our typical choice when faced with this issue, to wit: a collection of classical music designed for reading & studying…. I hope it’s a good one, and enhances your reading experience here today…. If it doesn’t, oh, well…. But, I do hope it does…. Abondanza!….

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Classical Music

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Pure Truth: Elsewhen

Everything I say and do, I’m sure,
only comes from what I know.
If what I’ve said or done is pure,
I can say it’s not just for show.

Sometimes people don’t quite get me.
It can be a pain, for sure.
I try not to let it keep me from being free,
especially when thought becomes a sinecure.

In fact, I try quite hard most of the time,
to keep from hurting folks.
If culture occasionally approached the sublime,
I wouldn’t have to take so many pokes.

Now I’ll make another sacrifice, for y’all,
not just for karma, or, not merely so….
To save yet another downfall,
I’ll stop here. Ensign, make it so….

~~ gigoid ~~

6/2/2014

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Naked Pearls

Diving deep….

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“At the bottom no one in life can help anyone else in life;
this one experiences over and over in every conflict and every perplexity:
that one is alone.
That isn’t as bad as it may first appear;
and again it is the best thing in life that each should have everything in himself;
his fate, his future, his whole expanse and world.”

~~ Rainer Maria Rilke ~~

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“Except for our thoughts, there is nothing absolutely in our power.”

~~ Descartes ~~

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“I was never here.”

~~ Kilroy ~~

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“Most people are on the world, not in it…”

~~ John Muir ~~

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“He who has the courage to laugh
is almost as much a master of the world
as he who is ready to die.”

~~ Giacomo Leopardi ~~

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“If you cannot find it in yourself, where will you go for it?”

~~ Confucius ~~

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“Only the madman is absolutely sure.”

~~ Robert Anton Wilson ~~

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“Today for show and tell
I’ve brought a tiny marvel of nature: a single snowflake.
I think we might all learn a lesson
from how this utterly unique and exquisite crystal
turns into an ordinary, boring molecule of water,
just like every other one, when you bring it in the classroom.
And now, while the analogy sinks in,
I’ll be leaving you drips and going outside.

~~ Calvin, “Calvin and Hobbes” ~~

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“Will you walk a little faster?” said a whiting to a snail,
“There’s a porpoise close behind us, and he’s treading on my tail.
See how eagerly the lobsters and the turtles all advance!
They are waiting on the shingle — will you come and join the dance?

“You can really have no notion how delightful it will be
When they take us up and throw us, with the lobsters, out to sea!”
But the snail replied “Too far, too far!”, and gave a look askance —
Said he thanked the whiting kindly, but he would not join the dance.

“What matters it how far we go?” his scaly friend replied.
“There is another shore, you know, upon the other side.
The further off from England the nearer is to France —
Then turn not pale, beloved snail, but come and join the dance.”

~~ Lewis Carroll, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” ~~

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I’ve done it again, though I can’t honestly say how it turned out….. It’s hard to see the forest when one is amongst the trees. But, as the Giant said, a path is formed by placing one stone, then the next…. This then, is our final stone for the day, & I herewith place it at your feet. I’ll be back to try again, hopefully tomorrow, though I’m not promising anything. Time, that blabbermouth, will tell, and we’ll listen, if we are smart. For now, adieu, & have a safe holiday, as the world engages in its sublime madness…. 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.

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….