In between walkabouts today, I clicked on a suggested link, bringing me to this Pearl. I had such fun reading it, I’m re-blogging it, simply because I can, and because this one’s pretty good, even the poem, which I’ll be putting to music, I think, Anyway, see y’all soon, & enjoy this 3 year old mess….
“What I look forward to is continued immaturity followed by death.”
~~ Dave Barry ~~
Old Rocks, New Secrets
Good morning…. Well, that’s what I heard, anyway. I don’t believe it, though; I’ve found, to my regret, that there are many times people lie to me about little things like that. I suppose it’s human to wish to spare others any pain we feel they may not deserve, but, what good does it do, when the pain comes as a surprise? None. So, leave me out of that particular delusion, if you please…. I’d rather be grumpy than all wet….
Hmph. Grumpy is right. Well, you would be, too, if you were up in a chair half the damn night, twitching and fuming. That is all the complaint you will hear, but, you may have to deal with the resultant smarm, which generally follows after such a state…
Since I haven’t posted a fresh Pearl in seven days, I figure I should let y’all know I’m still alive; hence, another re-blog, as I still haven’t sat long enough to complete another one yet. The Big Blue Room continues to seduce me away from the computer more often than not these days, so, I can’t say offhand just when you’ll see a new mess. However, I can feel the craziness building, so, I CAN say it won’t be too long. Hopefully, by then, I’ll still have a Gentle Reader or two still dropping by to read. If not, well, too bad, so sad, my bad. I can’t feel too much angst about it, as I continue to find more strength & stamina within this tired old body, a felicitous happenstance, to be sure. But, there’s still a poem or two left in the old grey matter; I can feel it percolating now & then, so, eventually it will leak out onto the screen; perhaps there will still be a reader or two who appreciates it. Time, as it always does, will tell.
For now, it’s time again for a morning walkabout, in the post-rain dawn. I’ll be back, with a fully fresh Pearl, in a day, or perhaps two. I hope to see y’all then….
Be well, be happy as you may, & stay as strange as you can be….
Good morning…. I say that, not because it necessarily IS a good morning, but, rather, in the hope it will become true by the power of suggestion. It’s a social nicety to start the day with such ambiguity, which I suppose serves some sort of purpose, though, what it might be escapes me at the moment…. We humans do like to have a purpose; it gives us the illusion we’re in some sort of control of reality, when, in fact, nothing of the sort is true…. Perhaps it will be an indication of burgeoning maturity, should we ever learn to look at reality without our colored glasses….
Oh, well…. a little early for such depth….
Shall we Pearl?….
“The border between the Real and the Unreal is not fixed, but just marks the last place where rival gangs…
Though I didn’t get a fresh Pearl done, I did have a little time this morning before my first walkabout, time I spent cruising old Pearls for a suitable re-blog. What you find below is a good example of some of my best ranting; since I no longer do so, (much), I thought I’d include it for old-time’s sake. I’ll be back fairly soon, with a new poem & some more fine pearls for your perusal. For now, stay strange, & all will be well…. Well, eventually, anyway…. Take care, ffolkes….
Ffolkes,
The difficulty I face today in creating this introductory section is to be able to choose from among the available subjects. The last couple of days has provided me with a plethora of material, thanks to the usual suspects; politics, taxes, corporate greed, and Murphy’s ubiquitous presence. Suffice it to say that the world has once again taken a dump on me, financially, and my immediate prospects of any travel to other parts of the world have disappeared from sight. Hell, with the way things have been left, I can’t afford to go downtown, much less overseas…. I’ll be lucky to have more than rice to eat the last week of this month, so Ireland is out of the picture, for the time-being….
Of course, the corporate mavens will say it’s my own fault, for not being able to pay what they are insisting I owe them. It matters…
“It takes two to speak the truth–one to speak and the other to hear.”
~~ Henry David Thoreau ~~
SF Skyline framed by the Richmond/San Rafael Bridge….
Hajime…. Since making the decision not to post regularly, the Big Blue Room has continued to draw my attention much more frequently than the events taking place in cyberspace. On Saturday, I attended a play in which my grandson played two small parts. I attended with both my kids, as well as my son’s daughter & step-sister. Such family events have been few and far between for me/us, but, the fact we now are able to get together on occasion brings me a lot of satisfaction, to say the least.
I’ve also spent a lot of time walking, putting in about five miles one day, without collapsing into exhaustion; this is also a new, rare feeling, one I welcome in lieu of the lack of physical ability I’ve ‘enjoyed’ for much too long. All in all, I have to say I’m enjoying my time back in Reality more than I thought would be the case, given the state of that frame of existence. Oh, there is plenty out there at which to rage; the continual reminders of homelessness in society, the lack of community feeling fostered by our divisive leaders, the rampant capitalism which most of society tends to ignore, in favor of chasing the shiny, insubstantial dreams offered for their distraction from how much they are being manipulated. Hell, just watching any major sport on TV can stimulate my ranting button, when I think of all the wasted time & money which could be put to use to aid those in need, rather than making the rich richer.
But, mostly, I have been enjoying the blue skies, the rain, the clouds, and the still-extant panorama of life on this planet, all of which helps me to connect with what is real, rather than what is due to humanity’s imagination, and their insistence on forcing reality into the shape they desire. In some way, all of what I now perceive is bringing me closer to clarity, in my thinking, and in my actions. Sadly, I still do not find very many people who can appreciate my thoughts about reality; most of the folks I meet out in the BBR are too focused on the shiny distractions of life, and completely miss the stuff going on that is actually real, and, in my view, much more important than ANYTHING they see on a TV, or their phone, or, on a computer. If I were still giving in to the urge to rant, I’d find no lack of issues about which to do so.
I suppose one could call all the above a paean to Life as I now see it; it seems more important to me to find clarity, and the realness of life, than to engage in any of the nonsensical pastimes society fosters upon us in its paroxysms of insanity. The leaders of this world’s political/religious oriented culture are, in my estimation, ALL verifiably insane…. sociopathic narcissists, mostly, though in certain cases, massive ignorance and bigotry mark them as just plain assholes, akin to what many would call ignorant rednecks. We’ve got one of those in this country, right in the White House; I guess that’s why all the 50 million other ignorant redneck assholes who reside here are in such a dither of entitlement, & busily spreading their particular brand of selfish bigotry as far & wide as they can…
Wow. I think I just spewed out a rant, didn’t I? Ah, well, old habits die hard, I guess. To make up for it, let’s go see what else I’ve thrown together for today’s offering, shall we? I think, given how easily all that vitriol spewed out, it would be a good idea, lest I fall right back into where I no longer wish to go. Instead, let’s make use of this old #4 I found lying here, & get on with the rest of today’s mess. It works just like this….
Shall we Pearl?….
“Men do not quit playing because they grow old;
they grow old because they quit playing.”
~~ Oliver Wendell Holmes ~~
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Each year, in November. the ffolkes who run the official Grateful Dead website dig into the extensive archives of live Dead concert recordings, to share a daily download of classic cuts by the iconic band. Some of the finest performances by the band, with any number of fan favorites, can be added to one’s personal collection. It’s a grand way to collect live music, from a band who played concerts every year on tour, for 50 years, and more. I’ve included two links; the first is to the home web site, the other is to one day’s offering, on which page you can obtain all the previous days’ downloads, for the entire month. I hope you enjoy it, even if you’re not a Dead Head….
As old as you feel, we are told, is old as you are,
custom assures such vision will carry us far.
Reality begs to differ, may it be so bold
it is really quite painful, and very, very cold.
The power and strength felt in our halcyon youth
desert us with age, yet another unwelcome truth.
Irony rules our time here on this bountiful earth
as we reflect the changes over time since our birth.
As physical powers fade from this fragile shell,
we learn our mind can serve us quite as well.
The strength that once filled our bones and hearts
is now applied by our will, to more arcane arts.
Life’s greatest gift is our freedom of choice
no matter how often we forget, we still get a voice.
Energy, or apathy, by our will we may choose,
failing to do so, our only way to lose.
Each of us lives in the grip of time and space,
always seeking our balance, our own chosen place.
One must accept reality, for it is true at the core,
all we can do, is all we can do, and nothing more.
~~ gigoid ~~
10/17/2012
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Naked Pearls
Further notes on Life at Large….
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31. Read between the lines.
~~ Instructions for life ~~
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“Is dishwater dull?
Naturalists with microscopes tell me
it teems with quiet fun.”
~~ G. K. Chesterton ~~
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“If ever I become entirely respectable
I shall be quite sure that I have outlived myself.”
~~ Eugene V. Debs ~~
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“I can handle reality in small doses,
but as a lifestyle it’s much too confining.”
~~ Lily Tomlin ~~
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“Youth, large, lusty, loving-
Youth full of grace, force, fascination.
Do you know that Old Age may come after you
with equal grace, force and fascination?”
~~ Walt Whitman ~~
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“Don’t walk in front of me, I may not follow.
Don’t walk behind me, I may not lead.
Walk beside me, and just be my friend.”
~~ Albert Camus ~~
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“The path is the way.
The way is the truth.
It is found, but not held
walked on, but not followed.”
~~ Tao Teh Ching ~~
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SIGH…. I have a cat who is insistent my time at the computer is done; she’s been lobbying for some attention for about 20 minutes now, while I finished ranting in the intro. She’s correct that it is now HER time, so, I’ll just end this here, and now, so I can go throw some paper for her to fetch. or kick her ball around so she can play soccer, which she apparently loves. As for me, & blogging, well, I’ll be back in a day or three, possibly with a new poem, which continues to leak slowly onto the screen. For now, be well, be happy. and for gosh’ sake. be strange. It may not seem like it, but, it really does help…. 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.
“We are not human beings on a spiritual journey.
We are spiritual beings on a human journey.”
~~ Stephen Covey ~~
Fall colors on display….
Hajime…. As today’s title proclaims, I’m not dead yet. However. death’s presence in life touches us all, if only in a peripheral sense, every day, & I have been exploring some of the implications of that rather extensively in recent days, which may be construed as the primary reason for blowing off this blog for five straight days. For over six years, posting daily has been my habit; to forgo doing so for so long would, in the past, have created in me a very strong sense of angst-filled tension, for having repressed all I’ve been in the habit of expressing in these outbursts….
I find myself blithely unconcerned with such frailties, as I find, when I do come back into cyberspace, nothing has changed, other than the outer appearances of each site I visit, as determined by whatever fresh material I find. In short, it’s still there, still evolving, and not having any particularly REAL effect on what I know to be reality outside in the Big Blue Room. Yep. It’s all same same, just a different day….. Go figure. eh? Little did I know just how little my techniques for sanity-maintenance had any real effect on things, though I suppose the failure of my ranting to have any effect whatsoever might just have been a rather pertinent clue. But, it remains true, and I’m finding that to be rather a facer. It’s hard to acknowledge our own foolishness, especially when we pursue it so long….
All that said, to little constructive purpose, I’ll merely say this; I’m back, but, not for long. The real world is still providing me with more interesting stuff to deal with than is cyberspace; probably has something to do with my own ability to access the BBR, a pursuit precluded for the past six or seven years by my own physical ailments. Those physical restrictions imposed on me by the aging process have been mitigated, to some extent, and continue to make it easier for me to do more, for longer periods, without having to spend an inordinate time recovering enough to continue doing so. In short, I’m getting stronger, and it’s more fun in real-time and real space. What’s more fun, you ask? Everything.
My only regret is having lost contact with so many of the fine people I’ve met here in cyberspace, because I haven’t been visiting sites or commenting much, at all, mostly because I’m just not here. In the past five days, 99% of the time I spend on the computer is just turning on more music, or looking up a query on Google. Even a new, more interesting Facebook page hasn’t tempted me out of reality very much. But. then FB is, for the most part, a wasteland when it comes to rational thinking. Of course, that’s a direct manifestation of the lack of rationality in our society, I’d say, & is not amenable to change. The bell curve defines our culture, as it always has, and that isn’t subject to alteration without altering the nature of humanity…. Good luck with that….
I guess that’s all for now; I can’t think of anything more to add, except to note I won’t be posting daily any more. For any Gentle Readers who might wish to contact me in between posts (probably every three to five days, depending on the ‘whether’….. that’s whether or not I feel like it, or have something to say), my email is in the profile on the right side of my home page; anyone with a query or comment is welcome to use it…. For now, let’s get this mess posted. so I can go walkabout in the rain…. As a former resident of the state of Washington, I do love walking in the rain….
Shall we Pearl?….
“Stranger, if you passing meet me and desire to speak to me,
why should you not speak to me?
And why should I not speak to you?”
~~ Walt Whitman, “Leaves of Grass” ~~
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Grace Vanderwaal
Image from Austin City Limits, via Google Images
In 2016, at the age of 12, this young artist burst onto the music scene in the USA, by winning the America’s Got Talent contest, playing original songs she wrote, singing them in a clear, distinctive voice, and connecting to every person who listened by the insight displayed in her lyrics. She played all original songs during the show, and, since winning, has pursued her musical dreams with single-minded sheer talent. She recently released her first album, which, by what I’ve heard, will be well worth a listen, with all new, original material.
I’ve included her performances on AGT, in the first video embedded. I’ve also included a more recent live concert, at the Austin City Limits stage, in October of this year. What you need to remember is, she is now still only 13 years old; to hear her songs, her voice, and her stage presence one would believe she is much older, for her talent has continued to blossom & grow…. One of the judges predicted she would become the next Taylor Swift, and he may just be correct in that assessment…. Enjoy, ffolkes; you’ll be hearing this artist for many years to come….
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Grace Vanderwaal
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Augmentation: Inner Aye
Distant, peals of thunder, vividly.
Closer, a patter of rain, falling gravidly.
Between the light and the darkness of fear
find merely the remnants of one lonely tear.
Do not hate us, though we have not sinned;
eager for courage, upon whom all hope is pinned.
Tales of insolence, hatred, or fallen virtue
fill us up, not down, in such pristine foreign venue.
Capable hands severed, able hands tied;
the future is angry, all but now denied.
Multiple times, warnings sounded across the pale
nobody heard, nobody came to tell the tale.
Gifted by time, salience fails in epic rhyme;
watchmakers watching, each a separate crime.
Logical solutions refuse to emulsify
forever pretending to cruelly crucify.
Blood will fly alongside pertinent composure,
never seeking, never finding tea, or closure.
Falsely laid trails on mountains of gold
imply no happy endings, no fortunes told.
Ages past have no time for repetition;
further chances only lead to perdition.
Destiny feels a shameful portion of guilt,
for a thousand sand castles, never built.
~~ gigoid ~~
3/2/2016
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Naked Pearls
Reference points….
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“I was gratified to be able to answer promptly.
I said, “I don’t know.”
~~ Mark Twain ~~
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“If you would attain to what you are not yet,
you must always be displeased by what you are.
For where you are pleased with yourself there you have remained.
Keep adding, keep walking, keep advancing.”
~~ Saint Augustine ~~
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“And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet
and the winds long to play with your hair.”
~~ Kahlil Gibran, “The Prophet” ~~
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“A man who carries a cat by the tail
is getting experience that will always be helpful.
He isn’t likely to grow dim or doubtful.
Chances are, he isn’t likely to carry the cat that way again, either.
But if he wants to, I say let him!”
~~ Mark Twain ~~
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“Must not all things at the last be swallowed up in death?”
~~ Plato ~~
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“If you get confused, listen to the music play.”
~~ Robert Hunter ~~
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“I exist as I am, that is enough.”
~~ Walt Whitman ~~
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Well, I made it to the closing section; fancy that! I’ll forgo any further blather, & just wish you all a wonderful day. I’ll be back; when that will be isn’t clear. but, will happen soon enough. Y’all be well, & be strange. Both are choices, & I can attest, both are better than the alternatives. 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.
Once again, I got in my own way enough to prevent the creation of a new Pearl. In the interests of consistency, even if misplaced or a result of guilt, I offer this one, from a period of time when I had entered the hallways of hell, but, had not yet realized it. It’s pretty good, if a bit long, so, please enjoy it today, while I work on something fresh. I’ll be back tomorrow; it’s raining today, so my usual walkabout will be shorter than they have been of late…. Y’all stay strange out there; it does confuse the myrmidons, if nobody else….
“Do ya think they’ll let us enter the Iditarod, Alonzo?” Image from the UK Telegraph 8-4-2015
Good morning…. You may have noted the absence of the little pieces of ASCII art I was planning to include here from now on…. That’s because I don’t speak HTML, and couldn’t figure out how to enlarge them on the final viewing page of the posts; all I could get them to do was show up in their smallest incarnation, which was way too small…. So, they’re history, and I say that with gusto and aplomb, just as if anyone had really noticed, or gave a rat’s ass….
Oh! Wasn’t THAT lovely!…. Okay, ffolkes, I’m here, but, I don’t think I’d go any further than that. (And, probably shouldn’t even try….) But, I’m up, at 0230 again, so….. If…
Hajime…. Elements of style & grace notwithstanding, there is a lot to be said for virtuous industry, even if the root cause remains an anomaly. In the larger sense, this implies a certain responsibility, to find purpose wherever it may hide itself, allowing no stray miscreants opportunity to fail, hirsute as they may be. Untidy, as a descriptive adjective, falls consistently short of successful parody, while an old, broken pantheon of forgotten gods sits, weeping silent tears, in memory of faded glory. All remains dark on the horizon, where the sun has forgotten to rise, again….
There. That, I think, is a sufficiently strange opening paragraph, which demonstrates both my erudition, and my insanity. The latter, in particular, holds me at ransom this morning, in spite of waking in a relatively common manner. The oddity of my own mind’s path often washes me up on the shore like this, leaving me high & dry with nothing but what passes for thinking to consume. As you may guess, it can be somewhat tricky to deal with reality, &, as the opening paragraph clearly shows, that’s no small feat. Since the only way to get past all of it is to let it flow out of my head as quickly, & ruthlessly as possible, such displays of perversion become the norm.
Ah, well, one can’t have everything, can one? No, of course not. Where would one put it all? Moreover, one remains responsible for one’s own words, no matter how oddly they strike the psyche of the world. My own manner of coping, as you can plainly see, is to take it to the limit, where the boundaries of sanity are stretched past their own belief; only there can I find my own balance, teetering in jeopardy, but, safely insane…. So be it….
I did manage to put this Pearl together, though without the new poem, which continues to dribble out, rather than gushing. Since all the proper elements are in place, and, we have sufficient blather accumulation here in the intro, why don’t we just cut our losses, & get on with it, so we can all move on to bigger, or better things…. It should be easy today; I’ve already softened the edges of reality, right in front of your eyes, so, the transition should be pretty seamless…. Watch and learn….
Shall we Pearl?….
“Remember that happiness is a way of travel, not a destination.”
~~ Roy Goodman ~~
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I had a hard time deciding on music today; eventually, I went with my own preferences, which is why y’all are being treated to one of the finest musicians alive today, who has been entertaining millions of people for several decades. Fine, fine blues & slide guitar, a voice like an angel, a red-haired beauty…. what’s not to love about her? Here she is, ffolkes, live in Oakland in 1989, it’s Bonnie….
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Bonnie Raitt Live in concert 1989
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Neurons/Parade Rest
Forlorn, he thought, but, then,
no, not really so.
Old, sad, strong; polluted by time’s red pen.
Nowhere left, to be, nor to go.
Tricks, not treats, forever remote,
strike fear into hearts fettered in fog.
Biting deep, stinging, we simper by common rote,
mired eternally in such bilious bog.
Torturous vision, bloody, capitulates in duplicate;
don’t ask for whom the spell trolls.
Ambiguity is real, impossible to extricate,
that’s how it rocks, then rolls.
Spiteful instruments offer no respite, patently.
Filigree lacks properly significant doubt.
Alternative answers formulate motivation, elegantly,
portraying reality as a vulgar lout.
Poltroons, there’s a good word,
for idiotic farmers, enthusiasts who borrow
time, filled with the blood of a bird;
solitary, the trickster cannot follow.
Affable moments trip the light, fantastic;
salacious intimacies fill a shimmering bower.
Night falls, eventually, monastic;
eternity calls with irresistible power.
~~ gigoid ~~
8/11 – 8/15/2016
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Naked Pearls
Living & dying in 3/4 time….
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“Dum vivimus, vivamus.”
(While we live, let us live…)
~~ Latin proverb ~~
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“You see things, and you say “WHY?”
But I dream things that never were,
and I say “WHY NOT?”
~~ George Bernard Shaw, “Back to Methuselah” ~~
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“In the bigger scheme of things,
the universe is not asking us to do something,
the universe is asking us to be something.
And that’s a whole different thing.”
~~ Lucille Clifton ~~
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“The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.”
~~ Bertrand Russell ~~
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“If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else,
you will have succeeded.”
~~ Maya Angelou ~~
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“I feel better about world problems now!”
~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~
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“Now he has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me.
That means nothing.
People like us, who believe in physics,
know that the distinction between past, present, and future
is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.”
~~ Albert Einstein ~~
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I am not too sure what happened today, but, it happened, so, I’ll be content with that. And, so will you. By the power vested in me as a human in good standing, I declare this version of the Daily Pearl to be complete. I’ll even forgo the usual nonsense, & merely say, see y’all soon. I’m going walkabout….
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.
Yesterday’s walkabout went over the allowed time, thus precluding the fresh Pearl I’d begun from getting done. I did find this classic, old-format Pearl from the early days here at ECR, complete with an extensive portion of stuff out of my own head, along with some rather fine pearls… I hope you enjoy it, & I’ll work on getting something fresh done for tomorrow, though, whether today’s walkabout will help or hinder remains to be seen. I’ll just cross my fingers, & hope for the best. Y’all take care, & stay as strange as you can possibly be…. why go halfway?
Ffolkes,
Far removed from sanity, I sit, alone and fierce, holding my thoughts close, as if they will keep me warm. Over in the corner, the giggling demons from my personal hell are gathered, eagerly awaiting a sign, a sign that my last hold on reality has been sundered by the sharp edges of my failure, and they can finally fulfill their purpose, to drag me, willing or no, to my fated meeting with the Prince of Lies…..
I can feel their impatience to be on their way, with me in tow; it breaks over me like waves of disapproval from a room full of aunts and uncles from back east, cross-generational dinosaurs, smelling of sweat and ignorance. Little do they know that they are once again doomed to failure this day; I will not be making the meeting with Satan, nor any of his underlings. Not today…. today is…
“Human beings are perhaps never more frightening
than when they are convinced beyond doubt that they are right.”
~~ Laurens Van der Post, The Lost World of the Kalahari (1958) ~~
California’s moderate response to Autumn…
Hajime…. More than a mere modicum of recent data indicates I’ve lost the will to blog; in fact, the pile of evidence is mounting quite high. I spend more time away from cyberspace than has been the case for several years, yet suffer very little from the usual angst & sense of failure of duty I’ve been accustomed to experience since mid-2011, when I first retired from the maintenance of gainful employment. But, I did say I’d post today, so, in spite of having no fresh poem yet, (it’s stalled a bit…), I’ve cobbled together all the basic elements, & will now undertake to format & post it, before I am once again called to go walkabout for the day….
If I feel any guilt at all, it is for not visiting the blogs I’ve followed for so long, to enjoy the dialogue that goes with such visits. But, even that small guilt isn’t enough to drown out the call of the wild, a call I seem to hear more clearly each day. It seems the longer I spend ‘off grid’, so to speak, the better I seem to feel, and, in turn, the more clearly I seem to be able to think. I can’t say if it will last, or, if so, how long, but, I also can’t seem to work up any reason to alter the current path I am on. So be it.
For today, this means some moderately ruthless trimming, in the area it will most help, to wit: my standard course of blather, with which I tend to fill up the empty space here at the top of the page, in the hope nobody will notice any particular vacuity in what follows. Without even knowing whether such an assumption is verified by the reality of the process, I choose to go on, regardless, just as if I knew exactly what consequences may follow. In fact, if I can increase the degree of ambiguity one encounters herein, I will know, if nothing else, I am emulating the real world, as far as I understand it to be…..
On that obscure note, I shall proceed to fire up the old neurons sufficiently to go post this mess, & be done with it for the morning, at least. Hopefully, y’all will find a nugget or two you can take away, & use to enhance your daily bout with the vagaries of life. If not, well, I will have done all I can do, and as we know, that’s all I can do…. Enjoy, ffolkes….
Shall we Pearl?….
“Human beings, who are almost unique
in having the ability to learn from the experience of others,
are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.”
~~ Douglas Adams, “Last Chance to See” ~~
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Having left myself short of time, again, you’ll just have to settle for some of the best music humanity has ever produced, an assertion made with confidence, as the pieces included have stood the test of time, time, and time again…. Enjoy! Or, not, as you wish…. Your choice, as always…. *grin*
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Classical Music
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Lamenting Empathy, No Grace
Strange, strong, passions burn from within
Selling nothing short, nor out
Consumed, loudly, failing to mark the spin
Sad, resigned, in singular redoubt.
Fallow grounds for twisted seed
Become fated, grow, and die.
Experience never fills critical need
Save perhaps once, in ages gone by.
Shouting in severe, dulcet tone
Brittle, flaking, destiny floats away
Making noise, rattling the bone
Simply ageless fears held at bay.
We mask our illusions in faux belief
Tied to reality by matter of rote,
Send them postcards, without relief
Consecrated time, forever remote.
~~ gigoid ~~
12/19/2014
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Naked Pearls
Random Notes on Life at Large….
*******
“Always cut the cards.”
~~ Lazarus Long ~~
*******
“A man begins cutting his wisdom teeth
the first time he bites off more than he can chew.”
~~ Herb Caen ~~
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“Become a student of change.
It is the only thing that will remain constant.”
~~ Anthony J. D’Angelo, The College Blue Book ~~
*******
“What you don’t know will always hurt you.”
~~ First Law of Blissful Ignorance ~~
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“There is much pleasure to be gained in useless knowledge.”
~~ Bertrand Russell ~~
*******
“The more you know, the less you think you know.”
~~ Subtle Bee ~~
*******
“I like life. It’s something to do.”
~~ Ronnie Shakes ~~
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As is generally the case when I post with such haste, I find myself here at the end without anything particularly clever to say. Ah, well, such is life at large, I say, and, so be it. I’ll be back, perhaps even tomorrow. Until I am, stay well, be as happy as you may, and, damn it, be strange….. 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 did work on a fresh Pearl for today, but, don’t have time to finish it before time to post. To sublimate the urge, here is a rather fine iconic Pearl, complete with extensive ranting, some great old music, and one of the finest old-school pearls you’ll ever see. Got a lot of comments, too, so, there’s stuff in there worth seeing. I hope you enjoy it, & will be back tomorrow with a completely fresh Pearl, perhaps with a new poem, partially leaked over the last couple days. We’ll see about that; poems do tend to take their sweet time getting out of my head & onto the screen. In the meantime, be well, be happy as you may be, and for goodness’ sake, be strange….
“Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see.”
~~ The Beatles ~~
Image of Guangxi Province, China, found on the UK Telegraph Website
Good morning…. There is hope! As a scientist for most of my life, I am willing to change my theories in the face of new data that is indicative of the need for a change. For some weeks now, I’d about given up hope of ever sleeping more than a couple hours at a time, having been so disrupted by the forced medicine change perpetrated upon me by my own doctors. But, last night, I actually slept, with some small awakenings, for a full eight hours, or close enough as to make no difference…. The difference in my own state of mind is astounding, once one gets past the astonishment, filling me with the hope I can repeat the experience tonight…