I am still very limited in how long I can sit, anywhere, not just here at the computer, & have not been able to put much together yet. To sublimate my overworked urge to blog, here’s one from a bit over two years ago, relatively soon after emerging from nearly two years in Hell. It’s not too shabby, for what it is, & I hope you enjoy it…. As Arnie said to such good effect, I’ll be back…. Be well, & happy as you may be; being strange is a good way to assume camouflage in this sad, strange world, so, for your own sake, be as strange as you can be….I know I will….
“If a fish is the movement of water embodied, given shape, then a cat is a diagram and pattern of subtle air”
~~ Doris Lessing~~
I deleted ALL your files….
Hajime….. If there were any method available to tell, I would tell you. Since, however, such a method has yet to be discovered, we’ll have to make do with the older version, where I just say it out straight and clean…. Okay, here goes….. Hang on…. Wait for it…. Alright, here you go….
It’s too late. I’m sorry, but, in spite of everything I was able to do, and, in direct opposition to every effort made by a number of compassionate volunteers, it’s just not going to happen…. The sign says we’d have it on sale tomorrow, but, the vendor just couldn’t get his shit together to ship it on time, so, it’s going to be late, again…. I…
“The truth is straight ahead so don’t burn yourself instead;
try to learn instead of burn–hear what I said.”
~~ Jimi Hendrix ~~
Study in light & shadow….
Hajime…. Well, he said, it’s finally done. Since it is, he added, let’s forgo any nonsense, & just get it posted, without any of the usual folderol (great word….). In fact, we’re probably going to cause a bit of surprise, if not outright shock, at the suddenness of the shifts and changes you’ll experience today. Just in case you feel some skepticism, watch closely….
Shall we Pearl?….
“If all our misfortunes were laid in one common heap,
whence everyone must take an equal portion,
most people would be contented to take their own and depart.”
~~ Socrates ~~
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Given the length of time I had to find something, I suppose it’s a bit of a letdown to find I’ve gone with a default selection. So be it; at least it’s done. Moreover, it’s done well, with some of the finest music ever written…. Enjoy!….
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Chopin Classical Music
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Though less troublesome of late, personal demon wars continue to be waged on occasion. This one is from a time when I was trapped in some of Hell’s lower regions…. Thank goodness THAT’S over & done…
Banishing demons….
Endless nights lead inexorably into endless days
while the battle for peace rages.
Lost arts find new meaning used in new ways;
to burn, yearn, and turn all the new pages.
Darkness falls heavily on bowed shoulders, contrite;
fireworks travel fast in nervous tissue.
The pace is kept, clean, but, never erudite;
such a pale tale of ancient issue.
Peering in terror down long, long halls of night
brings only confusion, destitute in sorrow.
Cannot time become our enemy, eager to fight
on the side which may never see tomorrow?
The longing gaze of passion, for reason to live,
must fall ever more faithfully into sedition,
else the clinging visions we claim to give,
shall not prevent reaching inevitable perdition.
Rising up, clarity of purpose shines the light of day
upon such a desolate landscape of absent release.
There is no escape, no furthering of the way.
Time never knows how to grant peace.
~~ gigoid ~~
Yep. It’s new. Written last night, 11/23/2015, amazingly enough, in between bouts of pacing & twitching. Oh, joy!…. It helps. A little…..
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Naked Pearls
Signposts….
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“True merit, like a river, the deeper it is,
the less noise it makes.”
~~ Lord Halifax (1633-1695) ~~
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“It is not only for what we do that we are held responsible,
but also for what we do not do.”
~~ Moliere ~~
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“Fear is the lock and laughter the key to your heart.”
~~ Steven Stills ~~
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“Happiness follows sorrow,
sorrow follows happiness,
but when one no longer discriminates
between happiness and sorrow,
a good deal and a bad deed,
one is able to realize freedom.”
~~ Buddha ~~
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“All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love.”
~~ Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace ~~
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“By space the universe encompasses and swallows me up like a dot;
by thought I encompass the Universe.”
~~ Pascal, Pensees, n. 265 ~~
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“Listen to the colour of your dreams.”
~~ John Lennon 1966 ~~
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There you have it, ffolkes. Not the greatest Pearl ever written, but, it’s got all the correct parts, so, we’re gonna fly with it. I cannot say with any degree of accuracy how long I’ll be absent this time; sitting down has become not merely problematic, but, actively painful to an extreme, to the point where I’m actively reluctant to do so at all. C’est la vie…. no choice but to obey my body’s demands. I’ll do my best to keep in touch, but, I have a feeling my days of consistency in posting are well past…. Sorry for my absence from y’all’s web sites, too; reading is getting harder every day, as I continue to slowly lose visual integrity, (translation: I’m going blind…) SIGH. Ah well, life goes on, & the BBR is calling me. I’ll be spending more time there than here, but, will try to drop in to check in when I can…. Y’all be well & happy, & stay 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.
The physical issue which makes it difficult to sit for any length of time again kept me from completing the Pearl upon which I’ve been working. In the few moments this morning I’ve had at the computer, I managed to find a very good archived Pearl, with a very fine poem from our old friend Charles, (Bukowski, that is…), and some decent ranting by yours truly. It will do for now. It will have to, for it’s all I’ve got. In fact, I’m outta here, having reached my limit for this morning. I’ll see y’all soon; the latest effort is almost there…. SIGH… What with going slowly blind, and not being able to sit, it’s getting tough… but, I am determined….
Jumping straight up, I twisted in air, spinning around in a full aerial circle, hands out, like an ice-skater imitating a top…. As the Frisbee flew toward me, I caught it, behind my back, while still in the air, spinning…. Hitting the ground, continuing the spin, I flung the Frisbee back to my cohort, in a backhand toss, to where he stood, a bit over 75 yards away, with two equally placed skips, before hitting him in his hand, in exactly the spot from where he had thrown to me, in which he had frozen in position, to receive the return throw…..
Across Sproul Plaza, applause and shouts rang out, as the other members of our group of hippie Frisbee hounds showed their appreciation, of a difficult, flawlessly executed trick catch and throw…. For a young hippie such as myself, it was a watershed moment, exceeded in emotional impact…
Well, he said, it just goes to show… Life is strange. Of course, he added, it always was, so, we may as well go with the flow, eh? Once again, my own body has intervened to preclude completing a fresh Pearl. In addition, it served notice that will also preclude spending much time in a chair, or reading, or doing any of the tasks needed to get one finished. SIGH…. Gettin’ old sucks.
As sublimation for my failure of flesh, not spirit, here’s an old Pearl, with one of the best titles ever, and a lot of discussion on the very subject we’ve been relating so far today, i.e., learning new paradigms as we age. Go figure, eh? It’s almost like I planned it….
I’ll try really hard to get it done for tomorrow, but, no promises shall be forthcoming, as I’m tired of not being able to live up to them. Let’s just say, if all goes as planned, you’ll see a fresh Pearl in the morning… Oh, yay, they cried!…
Perhaps they didn’t, but, it’s a nice thought anyway. I’ll see y’all soon enough, I hope; after all, hope DOES spring eternal, even for those of us who don’t quite believe it….
Take care, & be well, ffolkes. In the infamous words of the ex-governator, I’ll be back….
Ffolkes,
Well, I survived the Lone Star state, albeit a bit worse for wear, and my pockets significantly lighter. All in all, it was an instructive journey, in a lot of ways….. A number of events that happened during the trip were obvious life-lessons, and have taught me that a) I’m not a kid anymore; b) packing light is a good thing; and c) take what is offered, especially perks due to age or disability…..
Oh, and I also found out that not only does Murphy follow me around, he delights in taking advantage of the subtle cruelties offered by travel…. such as convincing myself to take a cab home from the airport, giving me an clueless driver who proceeded to take the wrong freeway on the way to Vallejo, treating me to a memory-filled jaunt through the streets of Berkeley, in order to get back on the right freeway…
Well, so much for predictions. I had said I’d be spending time at the computer, working on a Pearl, but, thanks to the stress of helping a friend with a legal issue over the last few days, my own gut decided to give me fits for a few days, making it nearly impossible to sit at all, much less for extended periods in front of my screen. SIGH… So be it.
It’s better now, & a day or two of walking & eating right should fix what’s wrong well enough… with ‘well enough’ as the best for which I may hope at my age. Given the existent paradigm, I’d say I’ll have one ready to post by tomorrow or the next day….. but, don’t hold me to that. Murphy’s been watching me, I can feel it….
In any case, here is a travelogue from my second trip to Ireland; the following posts can fill you in on some of that trip, which began well & ended…. well, let’s just say it ended early, & leave it at that….
Meanwhile, I’ll work on writing something actually worth reading, & go from there. See y’all real soon, relatively speaking. Until then, be well, be happy as you may be, and, stay alert….
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,
The muttering retreats
Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels
And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:
Streets that follow like a tedious argument
Of insidious intent
To lead you to an overwhelming question…
Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”
~~ T. S. Eliot, “Love song of J. Alfred Prufrock” ~~
Dublin, Ireland
Good morning, ffolkes. Last night, Wednesday night, I spent in Dublin, having flown from San Francisco on a flight with a connection in Washington D.C.. Total time from walking out my door (at 0630 Tuesday) to falling into a bed at 12 noon Wednesday for a nap, was about 29 hours, or a bit more. When I managed to get a bit of rest, and some dinner, I hit the rack at 7 PM to engage in my nightly battle to sleep, this time with the added complications of extreme…
I deleted ALL your files….
gigoid 