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Funk-o-matic accessories are on aisle seven….

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Ffolkes,

I’m afraid I didn’t get the Pearl for today done…. again. I’m having too much fun playing in the BBR & listening to esoteric music. Also, it’s payday, for me & the rest of the retired seniors from state service, & I need a LOT of supplies, having spent the last 10 days sans cash. What I do have is this old Pearl, from 2015, with a bunch of pertinent ranting, along with a pile of great pearls. There’s also one of my best poems, written during my time in hell a couple years ago. I hope you enjoy it, & I promise to do my best to finish off the latest version of what I do here. I guess, these days, I should say, what I do here WHEN I do it. In any case, please accept this offering, & have some patience with me…. I’m still pretty crazy, in the final analysis, & need some slack. If that’s not possible, oh, well…. So be it. I’ll be back as soon as I can find the wherewithal… Until then, be well, & happy as you may be….

Take care, & stay strange…. it may not seem like it, but, it really does keep the worst of it all at bay….

gigoid, the dubious

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Ffolkes,

“Belief is not the beginning but the end of all knowledge.”

~~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~~

buddah-out-to-lunch_s
Picture Stolen from Linda Vernon

https://lindavernon.wordpress.com/2015/02/02/confessions-of-a-new-age-failure/#comment-24530


Yesterday, I was treated to a perfectly graphic demonstration of how today’s world works, in this modern world of digital communications, through the influence of our old friends, the National Security Agency. Oh, no worries; they aren’t quite convinced yet of the degree of danger I represent, so, they didn’t personally tip their hand. But, the casual disregard for privacy, in communication across then internet especially which the political pundits in this country display all too often was brought to my door in quite graphic fashion…. Allow me to elucidate….

As I was dealing with some stress and a great deal of arthritic pain, with a side dish of Tardive Dyskinesia, (all hail the mighty Kaiser, thank you very much!), by pacing the house and ranting…

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The sign said it would float….

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Ffolkes,

No fresh Pearls to be found here today, I’m afraid; I spent way too much time playing…. Oh, well, so be it. Here’s a travelogue Pearl, posted from a ship somewhere off the coast of Scotland in 2013. It got some good traffic, but, I like it so much, I’m reposting it today, just so I can look at the pictures, & reminisce about the trip…. I’ll do my best to have a fresh post tomorrow, but, y’all know how predicting the future goes, eh? Y’all be well, & stay odd; it’s better than even, though I can’t prove it…. You’ll have to trust me, which is good, as I am as odd as it gets….

See ya

gigoid, the dubious

😎

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Ffolkes,
    Greetings to you, from somewhere on the open sea…. We left Greenock, Scotland, the port town of Glasgow city proper, last night about two hours before sunset, and have been cruising the open sea in a generally north-eastern direction ever since. Normally, I get seasick on the deep waters of our dear planets oceans, but so far today I seem to have acclimated to the motion, at least enough that this morning’s coffee has stayed where I put it, internally speaking. This is a good thing, because, having experienced the condition previously, I can vouch for the fact that it is NOT any fun….

    Since I’m not sick, it should be a nice relaxing day, and I’ll try to get some actual writing done, after I post the pictures from yesterday. I didn’t expect to spend a lot of time on shore, but the walk into town…

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No worries, mate. It’s been plugged….

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Ffolkes,

I’m not here; this is just an illusion. Nor will I be here today; it’s Indian Summer here in Northern California, with temps in the low nineties coupled with deep blue skies & I’m going out to wander walkabout with my camera, & maybe even my guitar…. Here’s a pretty good older Pearl, with my grandaughter’s first pix, one of my favorite poems of mine, and some fine pearls. Oh, and a great old TV show to watch, too… I’ll be back, with new pix, and, maybe even some new thoughts… never can tell what might happen, can ya? Y’all be well, & stay strangely alert; trust me, it’s important….

gigoid, the dubious

😎

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Ffolkes,

“Life without the courage for death is slavery.”

~~ Seneca ~~

3-1-2015 007

    Since this will be, possibly, the latest Pearl ever, I see little point in worrying overmuch about this intro. The cat in the picture will be sufficient, I believe, to get us down the page; who doesn’t like cats? (Well, we know there are SOME who don’t, but, we consider them to be sub-humans, who wouldn’t be reading this anyway….) Pair it up with a quote with the power of Seneca’s statement, and, you’ve got something…. I’ll leave it as an exercise for the Gentle Reader to ascertain what that something may be….

Me, I’m going to meander on down to the next section, & pick out a video for us all to watch, or listen to, as we finish the rest of this mess today…. Me, while I type, and, y’all, as you read and ponder…

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A bond of legacy weighs heavily….

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Ffolkes,

Since I spent much of yesterday walking (over 3 miles in one fell swoop!), or recovering from it, there’s no fresh Pearl for today. However, in checking the suggestions below yesterday’s post, I found this one, from 2012, with some of the best ranting I’ve done. There are a lot of fine pearls, and some rather pointed, yet elegantly bruising discussion, sure to tickle those neurons. I hope you enjoy it as much as I will enjoy today’s outing…. I’ll try to get one done for tomorrow, but, we’ll see how well the BBR cooperates with that before committing to anything resembling a stone tablet. For now, just be well, & happy as you may be…. As I am fond of saying, that’s all you can do, which is, in the final analysis, all you can do…. See ya soon….

gigoid, the dubious

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Ffolkes,
The following is a post I wrote for a site called GoodBlogs, for this holiday in 2010. You may note that a couple of the pearls were used again recently…. but they remain valid…. and this goes to show that on the subject of patriotism, my viewpoint hasn’t changed in the last couple of years; in fact it is even more pronounced now…. Abondanza!…..

Musings of an Independent Nature

Independence Day is one of the few holidays I respect, since it was not created merely to stimulate the economy, as were many of the  modern days on the calendar that we are told are “special”.  As such, I’d like to pay it the honor of recognition.

In doing so, today’s group of pearls will walk a very dangerous line, as they deal primarily with two subjects that are often unwise to discuss (especially together), i.e. politics and religion. It…

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Working in from the outer edge…..

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Ffolkes,

Since I blew yesterday right off the map, I’m posting this older Pearl today, as sublimation for my rudeness, er, absence. However I justify it to myself, it’s necessary for my relatively small degree of sanity to at least make an effort. Yes, it IS self-indulgent, but, it’s also self-enhancing, if only for the moment. What else, really, do we have but the NOW? I’ll get a Pearl done today, & post a fresh mess tomorrow, if all goes as planned…. Of course, we all know about “the best laid plans’ when it comes to human endeavor, I’m sure…. Just consider that your personal get-out-of-jail card, & pay no attention to whatever else you might see or hear to the contrary….

Hmm… Yes, that’s sufficiently obscure; if anyone can pull any sense out of it, they’re welcome to it. Me, I’m going to go look for some pictures to take today, in between bouts of cudgeling my subconscious to let go of the poem it’s been percolating… it’s GOT to be done by now. In any case, I’m outta here for now, & will see y’all down the road a piece.

Take care, & be strange, if not alert….

gigoid, the dubious, on the fly….

😎

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Ffolkes,
“You tell Bupkes, either he’s there at six o’clock, in full clown regalia, nose and bicycle horn included, or I’m calling the guild, and he’ll never work another Mardi Gras in this town!” Everard Cross, who consistently won the neighborhood grouch award because he believed in living up to his name, growled his threat to the wife of Bupkes the Clown into the phone, then slammed it down hard enough to bounce.

At the top of his voice, he yelled out, “Honey, get me the Guildmaster on the phone; I need to roast a clown.” Picking up his well-chewed cigar from the ashtray, he chomped down on it and chewed. while he gazed with naturally beady eyes across the desk at his next victim, er, client…. “I hate clowns…” he thought, as he gazed at yet another smiling face surrounded by red curls, and the biggest red nose he’d…

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Three platters of the Gorgonzola Nuggets, please, with extra irony….

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Ffolkes,

A fresh Pearl isn’t in the works for today, as I spent much of yesterday, after posting, either walking, or sleeping…. both of which felt good. To sublimate the remaining dregs of the urge to post, here is a rather good Pearl, complete with a rant about lawyers from 2012, a great poem from Sylvia Plath, and a damn fine old-school pearl. I hope you enjoy it as much as I’m enjoying my hiatus…. I’ll be back with a fresh Pearl in a day or two; in the meantime, y’all know what you have to do…. so, I’ll refrain from issuing any reminders. Be well, be happy as you may, & stay alert…. all the usual caveats still apply.

See ya…

gigoid, the dubious

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Ffolkes,

“I take a simple view of life: keep your eyes open and get on with it.”

~~ Laurence Olivier ~~

pluto from charon

Pluto as seen from Charon

Artist Ron Miller’s Images of Pluto and its Moons

http://gizmodo.com/stunning-pluto-art-makes-me-want-to-hike-the-norgay-mon-1718832094


Good morning…. While perusing more old Pearls, I found the following in an opening section…. It’s pretty cool, so, let’s start the day the same way we did in February of 2012….

Patterns of light, both bright and fearful chase each other madly ’round and ’round, mad peals of laughter shrieking through the cool night air. Ghostly figures of unheralded regrets vie for position closer to the oddly shaped harpsichord in the foyer, while the thief of lost hope and hsi cohorts silently steal away. As the outer walls grow nearer, madness fades, and the silent myrmidons forge ahead, further into the day, further from the night’s insanity, until reality assumes a more familiar…

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Tattered remnants of a once proud machine….

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Ffolkes,

Once again, I didn’t plan to post, but, found myself with a few minutes to play before heading out into the BBR for a morning walk. Here is a Pearl from 2013, written & posted shortly before my first ever trip to Europe…. It’s pretty decent, all in all, & will do nicely for a nostalgia break. I’ll be back in a day or two with a fresh Pearl, hopefully with a new poem to go with whatever else my fractured mind can come up with…. I can’t care too much, for I’m having too much fun in the real world to worry about it. I hope y’all are good, and continue to be so….

Blessed be, my friends….

gigoid, the dubious

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Ffolkes,
Mmmmm…. coffee, good….mmph, grglk, blast, hmph, okay…. Sorry, took a moment for the coffee to kick in…. Let me just say this, and we’re good to go…. Draco! Braz! Mento!  Ah, yes, all fine now…. Having uttered the proper incantation, to prepare the air for such brilliance, and to put up the wards against theft and interruption, we may now proceed to Pearl, if we are able…. We are always willing, but, often, the flesh is weak, so it’s best to “prepare the palette”, as a painter would say…. Not that I paint, no, far from it…. My drawing of a crowd looks like a convention of stick figures, kind of like watching someone count on an abacus; if you look at it for long, it will make you dizzy….

Drawing is one of those skills lacking from my toolbox; for some reason, probably having to do with spatial…

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Safely ensconced in warm socks….

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Ffolkes,

I wasn’t going to post today, as nothing got done at the computer. But, I saw this one in the suggested posts yesterday, which, upon checking, I found to be a most excellent Pearl of an older format, from nearly five years ago, early in my second year here on WP. Excellent pearls, & rather good accompanying discussion made it an enjoyable Pearl, as the number of visitors would indicate. I hope anyone who stops by enjoys what they’ll find today. I’ll be back, in a day or three… Sure is nice outside; y’all should check it out….

See you soon…

gigoid, the dubious

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Ffolkes,
Okay, so now I’m officially old. I can start using all those little tricks I’ve been practicing to take advantage of youngsters. Oh, wait, I don’t do that…. well, okay, so now I get to be grouchy, right? No? Why not? I’ve been looking forward a long time to getting old enough to be cranky, whattya mean people don’t do that anymore? 60 is the new 40? What the hell are you talking about? I’m no 40, and if I felt only 40 I’d be doing handsprings, believe me…. Damn it, I’ve waited a long time to be old, why don’t I get some of the perks?…. I don’t get it…..

There are supposed to be perks to this getting old business, you know. Senior discounts, early boarding, special menus, we old ffolkes have done our duty on the front lines of life, and deserve a break or two…

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Chance encounters with entropy, unlimited supply….

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Ffolkes,

My life has suffered an explosion of drama, which kept me from either writing, or even getting started on a Pearl, beyond picking a picture to use. The hardest part to assimilate is the simple fact none of the drama is my own; it is spilling over from next door, where my neighbor’s difficulties are erupting in emotional outbursts and less than rational behavior, most of it loud… which activates my own emotions, thanks to my ‘gift’ of PTSD, which equates noise & strong emotion with danger, due to my past work dealing with such danger. Long story short, I am not able at this time to write, or post, so, you get this rather good re-blog from 2013, with some even older material included. I’ll try to post a fresh Pearl tomorrow, but, must wait to see if the drama gets resolved… In the meantime, be well, and happy as you may…. I’ll see y’all in a day or so….

gigoid, the dubious

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Ffolkes,
In direct contrast to my state of apparent poverty, I consider myself to be a lucky man, all in all. My physical assets, in terms of liquidity of funding, are, shall we say, less than prolific, and my amount of acquired property isn’t what might be termed a fortune. In fact, more accurately, the two combined amounts may be described as a pittance, if you’re feeling generous. My clothes are getting old and somewhat worn, and I’m about to walk out of my shoes. I’m struggling each month to get enough food for the entire month, and have only enough left over to pay for a phone and internet service, which I consider essential in today’s culture.

However, I also have friends, and two children, all of whom taken together make me the richest man alive. I feel very fortunate indeed to have all of them in my life…

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Waffles, drenched in butter, syrup, and love….

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Ffolkes,

I’m reblogging again today, because I am too distracted to either think, or even type very well (one of those invisible conundrums; you’d never know by looking at this it took five minutes to type…). Leelu is sick, & I am a wreck, from having to wait for a vet appointment to find out what’s wrong. She’s lethargic, off her feed, and not drinking, either, unless she’s doing it on the sly. Also, she’s not using her litter box, at all, so, needless to say, I’m worried…. which keeps me too distracted to think of anything less important, which includes the greater portion of reality. So, I’ll try to get one done for tomorrow, but, we’ll see how that goes. She’ll see the vet tomorrow at noon, so, at least there is a limit to how long I’ll stay off kilter….

No apologies, but, I do hope you enjoy today’s older Pearl. I did try to pick a good one, but, with my current state of mind, it’s hard to say if I succeeded. Y’all will have to let me know, if you think it’s important. Otherwise, I’ll see y’all tomorrow, or the day after, when I can relax enough to think about writing again…

Be well, & stay strange….

gigoid, the dubious, in a state of worry….

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Ffolkes,

Having failed, miserably, to wake up in a timely fashion, I sit now, pale and trembling, to make one last attempt to gain even a smidgen of rationality, or, if that isn’t possible, just a little portion of normalcy. If this attempt fails, we’re going to need to find some other way to make this happen; otherwise, it’s back to the choice between a re-blog, or hitting the archives, a recent habit of which I’m sure the Gentle Readers are getting tired….. Not me, though; it’s kind of fun to go through my older material; it’s been so long since I wrote some of it, it’s like reading something fresh and new….

Today’s instance of obstruction is brought to you by that iconic force of nature, Murphy, who asked me to also mention his myrmidons, who do most of the actual work involved in screwing with people…. In the…

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