Ffolkes,
“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” ~~
***************************************
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….
***************************************
Grace Vanderwaal
***************************************
***************************************
***************************************
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
***************************************
Naked Pearls
Reference points….
*******
“I was gratified to be able to answer promptly.
I said, “I don’t know.”
~~ Mark Twain ~~
*******
“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 ~~
*******
“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” ~~
*******
“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 ~~
*******
“Must not all things at the last be swallowed up in death?”
~~ Plato ~~
*******
“If you get confused, listen to the music play.”
~~ Robert Hunter ~~
*******
“I exist as I am, that is enough.”
~~ Walt Whitman ~~
*******
***************************************
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.
gigoid, the dubious
The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.
PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.
“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch
À bientôt, mon cherí….
gigoid 
glad to see you back to form…sorry I have been ascent but dealing with the health stuff is a bit trying and time consuming…..hope to be back soon….chuq
Thanks, bro; I can say the same, though in a different vein. My own absence is d/t feeling better physically, & I may never spend as much time on the comp as I did for a long time…. But, writing isn’t an option, so, I’ll have to post once in a while…. & will be around now & again to stick in my two cents worth…. I have to say, though, it’s a pretty nice world when one pays no attention to the show going on, but, rather to the substance that the show covers…. The idiots who are in the frigging news alla damn time have less effect on real life than they believe they do; comes from living in a fantasy world, I guess…. I’m finding the real world to be more interesting than anything I see on the idiot-box….
I do hope you feel better soon; I just wish you could use cannabis; it would change your life, making it closer to what you used to have, rather than the forced dependence on what the doctors are prescribing…. In any case, feel better, my friend. I’ll be around; my email is always on….
gigoid
I do not think the missing toes will be solved with weed…LOL I will be looking for you….chuq
chuq…. No, it can’t regrow toes; it CAN, however, help the wounds heal better, easing the pain & anxiety of having a wound while doing so, and, preventing further similar issues by helping the body to prevent further issues. It also helps regularize sugar processing, thus helping control diabetes, if that’s the root cause of the necrosis…. I’m not saying it will cure everything, but, it does enable the human body to heal what it CAN heal, and prevent further issues by strengthening the overall immune system. All without side effects, or danger of overdosing…. I’ll be by in a while; dealing with a broken sink….
gigoid
NO diabetes….just stupidity and a hard head that lead to the problem….if only Mississippi would move into the 21st century but that is a a lot to ask of these heathens…LOL I will be watching for you and good luck with the sink….chuq
Great to read this, Ned; so happy for you.
The BBR is a good place to be; providing lots of entertainment (as long as one can; that is). I, too, find myself engaged in the BBR more than ever before. Having the physical ability to do so makes for much pleasantry. Enjoy! 🙂
xoxoxo
“Not Dead yet”.. i can surely relate
to that from the Dead Zone Days..
gigoid.. as Affectionately named
by the
Marriage
Counselor
we used to
visit who was
one of two Therapists
and a Psychiatrist and
a General MD Practitioner
who all related to my sudden recovery
Differently.. one with a Suggestion of
a Real Human Miracle.. one with a
Description of what i came
out of as the Dead
Zone then and
the other one..
the Psychiatrist
suggesting i finally
Gained an Asperger’s
Ego above and beyond the
Inner Voice that was far away
from being anything close to self
actualized and oh yeah.. the GP was
Alarmed that i had moved into Bi-Polar
Territory from Depression and in FacT they
were all correct but only i fully understood the root
cause for i was the one who experienced Fight or Flight
Stress for over 2 years at work in what i then created with
my rather weak will then as a Catch Twenty-Two Situation
i felt that there was no escape
from as Keeping a
Job and Money
and Health
Insurance for
my Wife with Epilepsy
became more important than
my Life and so ignorant i was of
the Bigger Picture of Common Sense then..
anyway.. the price of that Locked in my Head
for 33 Months without effective use of eyesight
and hearing and then writing in every waking hour
and minute of the day when i wasn’t reading on a Wrong
Planet Website until i more fully Recovered 33 Months after
that for a 66 Month Total Tour in Hell that the Psychiatrist and one of
those All Natural Herbal Healers suggested it would literally take years of
recovery for they both understood that Stress Kills and on the way to Death
takes all Normal Bodily Functions away and literally eats the ‘Brain Fat’ away
as a Neurologist who read my Cat Scan suggested Happened to me.. although
for whatever reason the other professionals couldn’t understand that point even though
the Psychiatrist said
stress does
literally
Fry one’s
Brain when Chronic
in ways of Fight or Flight Stress
so yep.. 66 months of Recovery
and 19 and 20 Medical Diagnoses
if one counts the last one of Bi-Polar
too as a lifelong condition along with
Asperger’s Syndrome.. i dealt with
with no Medical Help until
47 years of age..
other than
a Pit
Stop at a Mental
Crisis Place at age 21 too..
and sure as born i was a Canary
in a Coal Mine with all the Clothes of Culture
as DisEase offered up still almost since Birth in ’60
and now that Disease is many more fold Greater Disorder
now than ever before as Humans are increasingly becoming
the tools they use away from the flesh and blood in Balance
that will save our ass when hard times of Challenge do come in
Environmental way.. so.. to make a much longer story that you have
probably at least mostly heard many times before as every Sailor
of the Stormy Seas of Life as a Story of a Cross or two or
more in life is Cathartic in retelling while chewing
some Fat at the Local Gas Store and
now we Have Blogs online for
those who can create more
than a 140 Character
Twitter Verse in just one sitting
as it’s True.. one can not Serve a Sea Story
Justice Fully NoW in JusT 280 Characters of
SoUL.. For a Sea Story tells much more than Brevity
As A Soul Wears No SpiRiT of short as HeART when Fully Engaged iN Focus..
And it’s true.. the reason i rarely get cold even when the Cold Index Falls below
Twenty is simply cause i wear shorts and adapt and no longer let the Jackets
do the Work.. and that’s how life works we can do it all without fear
in relative terms and we can break down and die in life in
Constant Flight or Fight Stress that is the Essence
of Fear Incarnate in the Destruction of our
Flesh and Blood Existence.. so in
other words my friEnd.. NoW
Considering your Decades spent
in Moderating Violent Mental Patients
in Hand to Hand Defense and Control
And Serving as a Care Giver to the Developmentally
Disabled as two of the most potential Stressful Overall Jobs
i can surely think of for someone with empathy and sympathy
and compassion still fully engaged.. it’s no wonder the Chronic Stress
of that Fried everything about you as a Nervous Break Down is literally
when the myelin sheafs of Nerves Get Burned off by Stress Chemicals
in the Blood Stream.. no different really that if Power Lines lose
their Protection too.. or even Tires Lose their rubber and
are left with Metal Meeting
a Rocky Asphalt
now.. and
yes.. once i recovered for
about two years i posted Blog
Posts almost every day then went to twice
a week in 2016 through 2017 and now in the
Second Half of 2017.. i am Cruising WitH One A Week..
Albeit NoW.. the total almost always arises past 20K words
and around 300 to 400 to 500 Photos too.. for the only person
i expect to keep coming and being in my Field of Dreams i create
as Art to keep a Mind Firing in every way beyond a Free Style Dance
of Life.. is me.. for it’s true.. i am the only Force within that and who could
save me then.. for no Doctor had a Clue of what my Personal Multi-Verse
of Nature needed to get through.. and i do insure i continue to exercise my
Human Potential in a Balance that works as i’ve tilted up and down on the
Track of that Balance in the last overall Close to Recovery of 52 months
but really closer to 51 when i actually got out in Public and Started
my Public Dance at the end of August 2013.. i suppose
you are somewhere in that Human Recovery Phase
now my friEnd.. regaining an emotional
regulation and sensory
Integration of
Will and
Strength enough
to Enter the Big Blue Room
Fearlessly again.. sure it can and
will take years after Complete Human
Exhaustion and Break Down.. but the good news
always is change as that means the Good times can and will
come back again to life again as just another Phoenix Rising from
Ashes as the story as Old as Humans just repeats in another Joe
the Plumber like me too.. gotta get both drains of mind cleared and
body too in both science of mind and body and art of mind and body
BaLanCinG ForCE too and of course when we come out we do
what ever it takes to stay in ‘the good’ place now.. if we
have enough of a reality check now in our
own Unique Multi-Verses
in VieW of all oF
our
Realities now..
anYway.. i suspected you
would eventually get better
and i am surely glad you did as that
is surely worthy of thanks and praise and
Celebration in a Party of Big Blue Room too..
Life adapts to Challenge.. Life Survives it’s just what
Life does.. sometimes even after we give up and feel no hope at all..
The Reptile Brain and Basic Will to Survive is core of what carries on my friEnd
i Celebrate
that Dragon
with all my might
too.. for i understand my
Reptile Brain is what saved me
after my Neo-Cortex and Limbic system
went on Break.. true i will remain a FriEnd of mY Dragon..
and nah.. i won’t put my Dragon through Hell AGain.. NoW
Peace and
Harmony
iN Balance
IS A Happy Dragon
in Animal Homeostasis now..
anyWay.. Glad
to hear
you
are doing
well now my friEnd
and off to Riff off this
Singular New Weekly Effort now..:)
“We are not human beings on a spiritual journey.
We are spiritual beings on a human journey.”
~~ Stephen Covey ~~
For me it’s clear we are Animals
WitH Clothes of Culture.. Some
Science Some
Art Lives as
me away from
Robot LiFE NoW..:)
“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” ~~
What Stranger
Being aWake Means
No Stranger
aLL mY
FriEnd..:)
“I was gratified to be able to answer promptly.
I said, “I don’t know.”
~~ Mark Twain ~~
FeeLinG and SenSinG Chalice
of Bliss and Nirvana
HeaVeN ALWaYs NoW
OVeR
FloWinG
iN
ZoNE
no
Lay
aWay beFore or after NoW..;)
“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 ~~
I’m not sure what side of the Fence
Saint Augustine Lives on then but on
my side all
is pleasing
and the more
pleasing it is the more
Productive and Creative
i am as the empirical evidence
conclusively reports in case study evidence
but perhaps he didn’t get the memo that Heaven
is a Force of Positivity one can and will Master
WitHiN A Foundation of Love and Grace as
Fearless
WiLL
And
Strength always now..
but it’s true My Garden Party
iS JusT AlWays NoW and that’s enough for me..:)
“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” ~~
i am all no
separation
i am all the
reaLiTY i Co-Create
WitH Rest oF aLL NoW..:)
“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 ~~
Nature is also just a little S and
M aS it’s True after A
Barbed Ride
A Fairer
Cat STiLL comes back..
And it’s true God is an imperfect
Mona Lisa Painting at small view
with
A Barbed
Cat Penis
With Still Willing
Female Cats producing in larger newer view..
the cutest kittens of all.. So.. Beautiful.. the
Kittens of God ARE..
as ‘they’ say
show
me
your Kitties
and i will be pleased.. even more..;)
“Must not all things at the last be swallowed up in death?”
~~ Plato ~~
True tHat Sadly Plato didn’t have a Pen that lasted.. Pass Socrates..
as Socrates
at least
in
Spirit
Still Carries
on with no Pen at all..
no different really than
Buddha or Jesus or even
Lao Tzu and of course Mythological
Krishna and Shiva and all the rest as they
might as well be everyone else and they are..
The
Secret OuT
iS finAlly You..:)
“If you get confused, listen to the music play.”
~~ Robert Hunter ~~
After that Be the
Music
the
Instrument Whole
of DancE and SonG..:)
“I exist as I am, that is enough.”
~~ Walt Whitman ~~
..as
you…
Reblogged this on gigoid and commented:
Ffolkes,
It’s a busy season, what with all the capitalist frenzy now attached to what began wth giving to the poor; it’s hard work to try NOT to get overly involved in the nonsense. Hard enough I don’t have another Pearl ready yet, hence this sublimation/re-blog of a former Pearl. For what it is, it ain’t bad, & I hope you enjoy it. I’ll be back with fresh stuff, soon…. Until then, be well & happy as you may be….
gigoid, the dubious
😎