Oddly enough, snakes HATE apples…

Posted on July 6, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Truth be told, getting up when I do to write these Pearls is becoming more of a chore than it ever has in the past….. While fighting the pre-coffee, pre-magic cream kick-in, and the lethargy that now dogs me each morning, I experienced a small epiphany…. and then lost it….. It’s really too bad, too, because I’m fairly sure it was important, and would have made my life, if not easier, at least more comfortable…. SIGH…. I know it’s going to be a tough day when my own mind fails to get on board with the program, in spite of the offerings made by reality to expiate the difficulty….

I suppose I’ll have to push on, though, as my sense of Duty is so entwined with this purpose, this process will plague me until my last breath…. and possibly beyond…. Isn’t THAT a scary thought? Oh well, it’s not as if I didn’t know all of this coming in; it’s just, as I said, one of those mornings, when it all seems more than I can bear…. Of course, I can bear a lot, but, that doesn’t mean I like it…. I may have, and be able to deal with, a lot of pain, but, in doing so, I tend to lose track of Mr. Nice Guy…. and don’t regret a moment of it when I do….

Since, however, I AM such a nice person, at the core, I always feel bad whenever I chew on someone, even if they deserve it (as is most often the case, I find…. stupid is as stupid does, after all….). I don’t know if that makes up for my grumpiness, karmically speaking, but, it does keep me from chewing all the way down to the bone…. most times….. I can’t help it if people keep doing stupid right in front of me, though, so, I’ve come to the conclusion the whole issue is one I can’t afford to ignore, at least from a legal standpoint….

Now, from analyzing that last paragraph, I see we have reached a point where reality no longer has any influence over my mind at all…. This can be a good thing, or not, depending on how I deal with this last portion of this intro…. If I can work this right, we’ll be okay, just a bit stiff and awkward, especially on the turns…. If not, well, I may as well just go into the archives now, and be done with it…. Either way, my thumb is screaming at me, so it will have to be a fast one, to get done before my right hand becomes useless for typing….

On looking back over what has transpired to this point, I’m afraid my prediction holds…. this could get ugly, or it could turn to shit, in a heartbeat….. or, it could be the best Pearl ever…. at this point, there’s no way to tell…. Well, actually, since this intro is such a hodge-podge of mixed ingredients, some good, some bad, that “best Pearl” category is probably out of the question…. How about we shoot for “coherent”?…. That, at least, sounds doable….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“I may not understand what you say, but I’ll defend to your death my right to deny it.” — Albert Alligator, in Pogo, 26 September 1951

“Ah! don’t say you agree with me. When people agree with me I always feel that I must be wrong.” — Oscar Wilde

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“How is it possible to expect that mankind will take advice, when they will not so much as take warning?” — Jonathan Swift

https://news.yahoo.com/germany-arrests-suspected-double-agent-spying-u-two-124028510.html

Don’t fret…. I’m not going to rant, even though I could….. This article is here to provide the latest development in the ongoing saga of the Snowden Effect…. The poor German spy they arrested was apparently subverted by the NSA, or some other agency in the US government, for what seems to be a pretty paltry sum…. If I’m reading it right, this terminally bozoid personality was paid a measly 2500 Euros to spy for our side…. It doesn’t seem like much, to me, for the risk of destroying one’s entire life, but, then, I’m not stupid, either, even if my nose IS red, and large, and makes a loud noise when squozen….. squuzzed…. squeezed….

Any who, such rampant dumbness doesn’t deserve my rant, though I wouldn’t object to putting it onto the NSA…. Instead, though, to foster a bit of tolerance in me, and avoid becoming even MORE angst-filled than I am already, I’ll go with an old-school pearl, targeted at those same federales who are making such a nuisance of themselves, by stealing not only the public’s money, while destroying its trust, but are also stealing our data, merely to justify their own deeply seated paranoia…. Yes, ffolkes, I give you, The Asininnies!….

“Life is a search after power.” — Emerson

(Well, it certainly is in Washington, D.C…..)

“Waco means the government can kill anyone it doesn’t like and get a 94% approval rating.” — Jeff Chan

(Especially if they can find someone else to blame it on….)

“I smell a rat.” — Patrick Henry, upon hearing about the Constitutional Convention, which eventually overthrew the first Federal Government of the United States

(Guess what, ffolkes…. the rat never left….)

“War loves to seek its victims in the young.” — Sophocles (496-406 BC) — Scyrii, Frag. 507

“CONGRESSIONAL ANTHEM: MOE MONEY, MOE MONEY, MOE MONEY.” — Smart Bee

“A man that should call everything by its right name would hardly pass the streets without being knocked down as a Common Enemy.” — Lord Halifax

(This one is still true….. People have always had a hard time swallowing the truth, and, human nature hasn’t changed a whit…..)

“It is as useless to argue with those that have renounced the use and authority of reason as to administer medication to the dead.” — Thomas Paine

(Gee, sounds like they’re talking about the recent GOP runoff election in Mississippi…. where the Tea Party had a number of candidates running….)

Okay, so, it’s not the best pearl ever, and it’s all littered with comments…. Deal with it…. At least I’m done, and we can go find a poem now….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I believe I have a poem percolating, somewhere in the hidden, far reaches of my mind; I can sort of feel the whirling vortex of burgeoning creative forces gaining speed, sucking in words, ideas, and perceptions to formulate some sort of outburst from my alter-ego, wherever it may be hiding…. That must be why I’ve been using so many of my older poems…. it sort of gives me a push in the right direction when I see the former results of this process in me…. Now, all I have to do is wait until it starts bleeding out, and try to get it on screen….

For now, I’ve been feeling a lot of wanderlust lately; I need to be out and gone, seeing some new part of the world where I’ve never been, or some part I’ve always wanted to explore…. Mostly, when I feel that, Ireland is the place that comes to mind…. I’ve wanted to explore the country, and get to know the people, for much of my adult life, and the day each in Dublin, Cork, and Belfast, while on my cruise last year, just isn’t enough to fulfill that desire…. Hence, I’ve decided that the Emerald Isle will be my next destination; I’ve already started saving up…. To celebrate the decision, here’s a poem I wrote a couple years ago, on that very subject….

Days and Nights of Eire

Comforting, a dream creeps oft into my mind
On the elven hills of Eire lives the vision I find.
Elegant, gracious, everlastingly draped in beauty
Just payment of simple homage lives as joyous duty.

Fairies and druids walk abroad in ghostly parade
Gracing each hearth with its own welcoming shade.
Castles and heroes yet live in tale and song
Proving love for the land in each heart strong.

From cold of winter into glorious young spring
Brown, and gray, to emerald green songs to sing
Soft rains always follow winter’s great tempest
Eire dons its emerald coat from east to west.

Old and strong, connections call out in dreams
Nothing that was known remains as it seems.
Immersion in ancient runes and battle hymns
Offering sanity in place of grievous whims.

Time and place can tell a much different tale
Judgment should never be a final sale.
Yet something solid and real calls me to go see
Where dreams of loving beauty may actually be….

~~ gigoid ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here I am again, lost in space, once again, sans any photos, or other means of producing anything worthwhile…. Having reached the third section, though, I am authorized to go with impulse, which, in this case, apparently bears a strong resemblance to laziness…. You know what that means…. another random, harlequin, old-school pearl, just because I can… Enjoy, ffolkes, this is all you get today…. Chalk it up to post-holiday depression, I guess… That always happens when I hear something like the first quote below, which I have no doubt is based on the truth….

“We have killed more people celebrating Independence Day than we lost fighting for it.” — Will Rogers

“Virtue is a kind of health, beauty and good habit of the soul.” — Plato (B.C. 427?-347?)

“Nothing has such power to broaden the mind as the ability to investigate systematically and truly all that comes under thy observation in life.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, iii, 11

“It is folly for a man to pray to the gods for that which he has the power to obtain by himself.” — The Vatican Sayings, Epicurus

“Things are not always what they seem.” — Phaedrus (c. 8 A.D.) — Book iv, Fable 2, 5

“Ignorance plays the chief part among men, and the multitude of words;” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Cleobulus, iv

“Do you have change for a paradigm?” — Smart Bee

Ah, yes…. An excellent pearl, of its type….. I find it apropos, somehow, that the only inclusion that came from a time period AFTER the first century A.D.. was from Will Rogers….
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m not going to whine, but that turned on me, and became more of an ordeal even than I’d imagined it would be…. It’s done, though, which is probably for the best….. I could conceivably hurt more than just myself by continuing….. Besides, my brain is now empty, so, I’ll be on my way…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, should the universe see fit to give me a small break…..

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
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

Immersed in the cadence of a Treble Bob Major…..

Posted on July 5, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

SNAFU — Situation Normal, All Fucked Up

As I sat staring at the hideously all-white screen this morning, my mind remained blank for, oh, ever so long….. So long, I was afraid it was going to refuse to boot itself up at all, at all…. Not that such an occurrence is totally new; I’ve had some fairly blank days in my time, but, I’m usually a bit more ahead of the game than that when I sit down to write…. So, I retired to Smart Bee, to seek out a quote, or, as it turned out, two, to jump-start my mind…. I find if I throw something in there, the reaction to it will often stimulate activity that serves as a starting point for what passes as thinking at that time of the day….

I left one of the quotes there at the front, or top, to show what I found, and to give y’all an idea of how it is around here most of the time…. The acronym above is, no doubt, familiar to most of us…. I once read a word study of the term, giving its history, and found it was first used by the military, in WWII, I believe, as a radio call to give information on status without official approval, or in conversation, to describe a major clusterfuck, without actually USING vulgarity, as I did here…. I know, I’m shameless…

But, my idiosyncrasies aside, my kick-start technique seems to have worked rather well…. I can’t say I’m fully awake, or even mostly, but, I’ve had some coffee, and have already shown I’m able to touch on my sense of irony, with some minor humor thrown in for good measure…. Can’t ask for more than that from one small acronym, can we? I don’t see how….

The other quote I found is at the end of this opening narrative, as it is a perfect quote for this blog…. I won’t say it is one of my watch-word aphorisms, as I don’t totally agree with the old religious master, in this case…. or, at least, not in every instance where it might be applicable…. My feeling is that each case where the exercise of doubt is used must be judged on a case by case basis, with one’s own participation, or reaction, determined by the details of the issue…. There are times when abstention cannot be entertained as an option, as when one’s doubt leads to the knowledge of wrongdoing, in which case, it is our duty, as a human, to act against any such exercise of evil’s prerogatives….

Hmm…. That paragraph, it seems, sort of unbalanced this whole intro section with the weight of its concerns; it was much “heavier” than any of the rest of this…. I don’t know if I can save it from falling over, but, maybe with some further blather, I can “bring balance to the force”, and to this Pearl, by lightening things back up to where they began…. I was having fun, and all of sudden, there in that last paragraph, it all went sober and weighty on me…. I’m not even sure how, except the aphorism from the ancient Zoroaster was quite a bit more serious than the one at the top….

Ah well, I think it will all be okay; I can feel this getting more stable, the further I write…. Of course, that is most likely just a hallucination, to which I am prone at such moments…. It has to do with my PTSD, and the all-too-natural tendency to try to make reality fit my conception of it, rather than allowing that same reality to set the tone of what goes on in our lives…. It isn’t possible to force change on reality, nor is it necessary, as it will change, all on its own, and whether or not we wish it to do so…. (See Peruaosophy, Axiom #2….)

Besides, now that we’ve gone down the page this far, I’m allowed to just dump overboard anything I don’t want to take along any further, and there’s no penalty…. As if I would pay one, anyway…. All that nonsense aside, I think we’re done here, or, done with the intro, anyway…. In fact, here’s the end, right here….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“When you doubt, abstain.” — Zoroaster

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Will change the pebbles of our puddly thought
To orient pearls.

— Du Bartas (1544-1590) — Divine Weekes and Workes, Second Week, Third Day, Part i

I awoke rather late, for me, so I don’t really have time to rant about any of the following material…. But, rather than say nothing, I’m including the links, and will follow the presentation of information of some of the latest chicanery that has come to light, all because of the courage and patriotism of Eric Snowden, with an old-school pearl, instead of a rant….

It is actually becoming rather obvious that our government is completely corrupted; the complete intransigence they have shown in refusing to acknowledge the rightness of what Mr. Snowden brought to light, to my mind, is their most egregious sign of guilt…. Well, that, and the FACT they are lying through their teeth in every statement they make on the subject of their illegal spying….. Here, read the articles, then enjoy the pearls that make some fun of all those who engage in the charade that we call “democracy”…..

http://www.sfgate.com/business/technology/article/Report-NSA-targeted-German-privacy-activist-5598215.php#photo-6551181

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/24/nsa-surveillance-world-leaders-calls

http://www.theguardian.com/law/2014/jul/03/british-soldier-david-mcintyre-mental-disorder-extradited-us

I know, I felt soiled after reading all of it, too…. Go wash up, then you can more easily enjoy and appreciate the following jabs to the governmental rib cage….

” — How many Reaganists does it take to change a light bulb? Ten: One to deny that the bulb is burned out, one to clarify the denial (“The bulb is really just dim”), one to blame the bulb burning out on the Carter administration, one to blame the bulb burning out on Congress, one to ask for a Constitutional amendment that will prohibit bulbs from burning out, one to replace the bulb with a kerosene lamp, one to borrow money from the Japanese to pay for the kerosene, one former Reaganist to lobby his old colleagues for a special favour for the kerosene importer, one to cash the cheque for investing in the kerosene importer, one to send the bill to the next generation.” — Smart Bee

“After I asked him what he meant, he replied that freedom consisted of the unimpeded right to get rich, to use his ability, no matter what the cost to others, to win advancement.” — Norman Thomas

(Wow! If this ISN’T an American business man talking, I’m a tea pot…. and, let me assure you, I am NOT a tea pot…. Hell, I don’t even LIKE tea very much….)

Sicilian: “Inconceivable!” Westley: “You use that word a lot. I don’t think it means what you think it does.” — The Princess Bride

(Picture this interaction with any Senator as the Sicilian, and just about any reporter as Westley…. then use, instead of “Inconceivable”, substitute the word, “Truth!”. The entire interaction will make perfect sense, and, has the advantage of being more factual than imaginary….)

“As we anarchists say: “There’s no government like no government.”” — D’Arcy J. M. Cain (darcy@druid)

“Do you call yourself free? I want to hear your ruling idea, and not that you have escaped from a yoke.” — Nietzsche, “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”

“Attitudes adjusted, while you wait.” — L.A. Police Car Bumper Sticker

(The fact that this is TRUE is what makes this fit in….I’ve actually SEEN police cars with that sticker on them…. It is yet another example of how the government, and their myrmidons, are not even bothering to hide a lot of their asininity these days…. It’s a bit scary to realize the attitude expressed by that sticker is not just present, but is rampant amongst almost all the metropolitan police forces in this country…)

“Americans have different ways of saying things. They say `elevator’, we say `lift’…they say `President’, we say `stupid psychopathic git’….” — Alexi Sayle

There you go, ffolkes…. I’ll have a real rant for y’all soon…. I can feel the anger/angst building up; I’ll need to let it out soon…. Until then, let’s find a poem that seems appropriate….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Again, I’m late, so, I have to go with one of my own poems, to save time…. Here is one that hits the right spot…. If you remember axiom #1 of Peruaosophy, which I have kindly and conveniently included below the poem, you’ll know why….

Relative Cynicism, with Caramel Sauce

Absolute stillness follows violent movement,
it can happen during a downhill race,
as an immovable piece of asphalt pavement
meets the once handsome racer’s face.

Yuk, yuk, yuk said that asshole Moe,
after poking both of Larry’s eyes,
bashing face, head, & crotch of Curly Joe
and only ever got hit with pies.

Lonely moments never really come along
when Murphy’s got us in his sights.
Not for money, love, or siren’s song
will he abrogate his natural rights.

All we can do is sigh, or laugh in pain,
as Life portions out our ration of shit.
Silver linings melt in the slightest rain,
so we may as well learn to live with it.

~~ gigoid ~~

Peruaosophy, Axiom #1 states: “I think I am. That’s close enough.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rather than cheat, by using an archived piece here, I’ll throw together a random, harlequin pearl, the fastest, most consistent kind….. Let’s see what SB can do for us today….

“You, shall I tell you what knowledge is? When you know a thing, say that you know it. When you do not know a thing, admit you do not know it. This is knowledge.” — Confucius

“Cats know how we feel. They don’t give a damn, but they know.” — Smart Bee

“I’m having BEAUTIFUL THOUGHTS about the INSIPID WIVES of smug and wealthy CORPORATE LAWYERS..” — Zippy the Pinhead

“You know what it’s like to be dead. It’s just like it was before you were born. Remember what it was like before you were born?” — Evan

“Insanity, its not just a plea. Its a way of life.” — Smart Bee

“I have great faith in fools — self confidence my friends call it.” — Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)

“I demand IMPUNITY!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Zowie! It’s been a long while since I made a pearl with two Zippy quotes; add in two entries from Smart Bee, and you’ve got something….. What that might be is a subject I wouldn’t touch with a FIFTY foot pole…. Actually, though, it came out pretty well…. in fact, I think we could go so far as to call it “special”….. Of course, that’s only because it’s all so damn relevant, in spite of not having tried to make it so…. Ah well, even after all this time, the process of Pearling can surprise me with some new facet I’ve never before encountered….. It must be love…..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, whatever it is, it’s done, so we can all take a big breath of relief, if not sheer exuberant joy…. In spite of myself, I’ve managed to create a half-way decent morning Pearl, so, I’ll close the horse’s mouth, and be on my way into the day…. I hope y’all had a nice, quiet, peaceful Fourth of July, which, I know, is damned un-American of me, but, hey, it’s who I am….

Some of us patriots have actually READ the US Flag Code, y’know? Next time I see someone with the flag used as a piece of clothing, I’m going to perform a citizen’s arrest, and drag their ass off to court, just for the humiliation factor, when the judge reads the code to find that such behavior is strictly illegal…. So is writing on one, like the junior Shrub was fond of doing….

Whoops, almost fell into a late rant there…. Sorry…. But, if you get the chance, read the US Flag Code some time; you’ll see that just about nobody, outside the Marine Corps, knows diddly squat about how to treat or honor the flag…. ‘Nuff said, I’m outta here…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…..

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
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

‘Twould be worse in reverse….

Posted on July 4, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Of conundrums, paradox, brouhahas, and over-priced coffee, I am particularly dubious. Being dubious, about everything, is what I do, of course, but, faced in the morning with the sort of stressful issues that such nouns can bring with them, I tend to become rather more certain, at least in terms of how to react…. which isn’t pretty, most of the time.

I’m thinking it’s probably a good idea I am a solitary person while writing early in the morning. Besides the attraction of the quiet and the lack of distracting issues, such as people, the odds are those people, and thus myself, are safer, as there’s no chance of them getting annoyed, injured, or even killed, and less chance of my subsequent arrest and incarceration, for having given in to my homicidal impulses…. especially so early in the day…..

Having thus issued the obligatory warning and disclaimer, I’m safe from prosecution…. unless I snap, and actually end up putting my hands on one of the Gentle Readers…. Hard to do through the Internet Cloud, but, better safe than sorry, I always say…. (Actually, I can honestly say that phrase, “better safe than, etc.”, has never passed my lips, for which I’m eternally grateful….

No worries, ffolkes, I’m just practicing my nonsensical hyperbole, so, none of this either matters, or has any real meaning beyond what it says in the dictionary…..) Also, I’m only being silly, as I’d never harm a Gentle Reader, for ANY reason…. Well, not intentionally; they do take a risk by reading all this, but, that’s part of the package, and covered by the insurance, so, no worries there, either…..

I’m not sure, though, at this point, just how to keep this from getting even stranger….. I seem to be following my fingers with my mind, more than the opposite…. Of course, I could always resort to one of the emergency methods for getting back on track, but, I don’t know, I’m kinda enjoying this sense of undisciplined freedom…. Who knew that complete blather could be so liberating? Not me…..

Of course, I’ll have to figure out, at some point, just how to bring it all back into line, at least enough to get us into the next section… We may not find my sanity waiting for me there, but, it will have the minimum effect of taking us out of this mode…. I hope…..

I’m thinking, given the strength of the WEIRD this intro has engendered so far, we could be in for a wild ride today….. I have been known to become fairly odd (a euphemism, to be sure….), so, if you have any doubts about your ability to cope with such…. feneric garicallery, (No, I know, not the right words, or, even ACTUAL words, but, they’ll do for now, until I can figure out what WILL work there….), don’t forget to fill out the emergency contact cards in the compartment on the seat back in front of you. We prefer knowing WHICH hospital to take you when the strangeness becomes too much to bear….

Of course, it IS always an option to just go ahead and BE strange, right along with me…. which has the added advantage of helping y’all to understand more of what I write, at least from a metaphorical standpoint….. It’s easier to recognize insanity, and/or, genius, from INSIDE an attitude, than it is to try to “get it” by observing from the outside…. Take my word for it, if you opt to NOT enter my world, it will never make as much sense to you…. It can get a bit scary, especially when taking responsibility for one’s own actions, but, trust me, it’s the only way to go…. and, the stranger, the better….

On that note, I need to point out that, once we get to a certain point of strangeness, I can take no further responsibility for any of what may occur…. and don’t tell me that’s not fair, because it’s right there on the contract you signed when you came in…. What do you mean, you didn’t sign anything? How did you get past Luigi, if not? He wouldn’t let anyone in who hadn’t signed…. What? He’s not at the door? Where the hell is he? What am I going to do now? Oh shit….

Well, ffolkes, as I said, things might get strange, and if Luigi isn’t at the door, “persuading” people to sign the contracts, and noting down excuses, we’re in serious trouble…. Nobody, apparently, is legally protected today, so, as we continue on, keep in mind, not only will you NOT be able to sue ME, or WP, but, you won’t even have the right to sue yourself any longer, as you’ll probably be confined to a locked ward, with no electronic devices allowed in your cage, er, room…. The rest of us, having had our inoculation against all forms of oddity, will go on to finish today’s effort…. with some extra effort, it can be done…

Shall we Pearl?….

“Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped.” — Elbert Hubbard

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Wise Old Pine Cone has been putting me off for a full photo shoot, being busy with his new student…. but, he did allow me to get a few shots, along with some pictures of another Cone, whom I met while out walking the other day…. I’ll tell that story below… for now, though, here is a small group of pictures of the Wise Old Cone, his paduan, his girlfriend, and a random Cone on the street…. Enjoy!

Or, tolerate, anyway….
    This is Cicero, a somewhat bedraggled young Cone, whom I met at the bus stop down the street…. Actually, the meeting, it turns out, was NOT a chance encounter, as Cicero had been waiting for me to show up there, he tells me, for a couple of days….. He asked if he could accompany me on my trip that day, so I told him to come along…. We went to one store, where I picked up an item, then went to wait again at another bus stop….
    While there, he informed me he has been studying the Way of the Metaphorse for a couple of years, but, was having trouble getting any further along his path on his own…. He had seen my earlier photos of the Wise Old Cone, and hoped to persuade me to put in a word for him, to see if the Old One would take him on as a student…. He had a photo he’d had taken, of him in a most difficult stance, which you see below….
    We decided to have a bite to eat at a local cafe, during which time he related his background to me, and gave me his contact numbers…. Here we are, waiting for the waitron* to take our order….
    Since I could not commit to the young cone in place of the Master, I told him I’d take his information to him, and put in a good word…. He seemed happy at that, so I felt I’d done a good deed….

I did manage to get a few candid shots, of the Old One in his daily activities around the house, where he’s been staying, with me…. Below, you see the Wise Old Cone, watching a movie with his student, and his girlfriend….

    Next, a picture of the Old Cone and his paduan learner, watching a Harry Potter movie on the computer…. The shapes on the screen are an artist’s rendition of some Dementors, I believe….. Oh, and does anyone know how to keep the flash from reflecting, without moving to the side?….
    Next, here is the ONE photo I have, so far, of the Wise Old Pine Cone, teaching advanced meditation techniques, using a stone as focus…. Well, that’s what I think it is; it COULD be them practicing lifting the stone with their minds, but, I didn’t see it move, so, I’m guessing it’s the meditation lesson this time….
    Okay, so this is NOT the Wise Old Pine Cone, though there is some slight resemblance, around the eyes…. This is a terminally cute penguin, from a zoo somewhere in Europe… The picture was found in the Daily Pictures section of the UK Guardian, I’m pretty sure…. It was that, or the London Daily Telegraph picture section…. I forgot to write it down, but, having seen most of THEIR pictures elsewhere on the net, I’m pretty sure these are fairly public in their attribution…. Any who…. isn’t that the cutest face? I think so, and, it ends this pearl on a slightly less fictional note, that may just save the Pearl at large….. Time will tell, I suppose…. Onward, ffolkes….
“Life has no other discipline to impose, if we would but realize it, than to accept life unquestioningly. Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate, or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy, and strength, if faced with an open mind. Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such.” — Henry Miller
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This poem is the latest of all I’ve written; it was first bled out on February 7 of this year…. I hope you enjoy it, in lieu of anything fresher…. It’s as fresh as I have just now…. and fits today’s theme, as well as anything would….

Blithely Untitled

A poem came to me today, willy, nilly,
along with a sharp blow to the head.
Since it left me feeling just a bit silly,
anything that rhymes should lessen the dread.

Manifesting destiny into a small, insidious group
we push on toward sanity, concentrating hard.
Full engaging moments spent navigating the loop
shall ever make a difference to victims found in the yard.

Still corpses of creatures, straight out of nightmare
fill up the corners of our tortured minds.
While ever saddened, the iconic male, most debonair,
gazes softly, ironically, at all the mutual interest he finds.

Moronic public statutes compel outbreaks of sanity,
responding to momentary impulses toward inducing peace.
Still, the motions get completed, in fertile stages of inanity
while the bulk of our inmates can find no surcease.

Reluctant motivation to continue is unbound,
striving to ascertain how far there yet remains to go.
No precognitive guesswork will make any less of a sound
to soften the final strains, to teach us to really know.

~~ gigoid ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This pearl was composed yesterday, on 7/3/2014, inadvertently, that is to say, accidentally. In sooth, I should probably use the word ‘serendipitously’…. I was just sitting at the computer, taking a few moments to check the calendar about an event…. In opening my calendar, I, in my cute, but, annoyingly absent-minded way, displayed my bozoid tendency by hitting the button to shut down…. Doh!

When I booted back up a couple moments later, Smart Bee had the first quote, by Tacitus, already on screen, which, naturally prompted me to look at the next, and the next, until, all of a sudden, there it was, complete, staring at me, winking at me with a crooked grin. (Well, okay, maybe not, but, it SOUNDS neat, eh?….) With the slightest of editing, to put them in the correct order, according to their meaning, (which is not always clear at first…. but, you knew that….), I had a pearl worthy of the next Pearl, thus, saving me time tomorrow, morning…. which is now today….. And a damn good thing, too, as this seems to be taking FOREVER to finish….

Creating pearls the day before they are used does, I suppose, make it a bit less fresh, in the strictest sense, but, doing so is useful in making it a bit smoother in the morning…. and none of that makes any difference at all, to either of us…. Enjoy the pearl, which, I may add, is one that you could pay attention to…. it COULD be of benefit to you in dealing with REALITY…. just saying….

“A bitter jest, when the satire comes too near the truth, leaves a sharp sting behind.” — Tacitus

“Homo sum; humani nihil a me alienum puto. [I am a human, and nothing human is alien to me] — Publius Terentius Afer, c.190-159 B.C. –Heautontimoroumenos, a. 1, sc. 1, v. 25

“It’s not only what we do, but also what we do not do for which we are accountable.” — Moliere**(see below)

“Alcibiades had a very handsome dog, that cost him seven thousand drachmas; and he cut off his tail, “that,” said he, “the Athenians may have this story to tell of me, and may concern themselves no further with me.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Alcibiades

“Never do anything stupid.” — Ben Crenshaw

“Every animal knows more than you do.” — Native American Proverb (Nez Perce)

“A can of ASPARAGUS, 73 pigeons, some LIVE ammo, and a FROZEN DAQUIRI!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

** Have you ever seen a more complete, simple, yet accurate statement of the basic Principle of Karma? Only in, perhaps, the original discussion in Sanskrit, I think, about 5 or 6 thousand years ago; this is, by far, the best I’ve ever seen in English…. Not too shabby, for an Occidental mind….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If I could spell hallelujah, I’d say it…. Oh, wait, I just did, didn’t I? Oh well, I suppose it’s too late to worry about how weird anything might sound, or look…… for today, anyway. I’m really glad I issued the disclaimer in the intro, otherwise, I’d doubtless be buried in litigation before I could think of a lawyer joke…. which, for me, isn’t hard at all….. I have a friend who USED to be a lawyer, so, I’ve had lots of practice…. What that has to do with anything neither matters, nor is it relevant to our discussion today…. It did, however, slow us down enough I can fully apply the brakes, and bring this behemoth to a full stop….

Thanks fer listenin’, ffolkes…. It may not have been ordinary, but, it’s been real…. See y’all tomorrow, unless I can come up with a good reason to take the day off… Oh, wait, that’s right, TODAY is the holiday! SIGH…. Some day, I’ll get it right…..

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
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

Saved by tea and biscuits….

Posted on July 3, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Reality is an interesting concept. It has some rather compelling qualities that make it attractive, not the least of which is its insistence, as Philip K. Dick observed, on not going away, even when you stop believing in it. Sadly, or perhaps it is inevitably, due to the duality of said reality, it also has many qualities that are less than perfectly attractive, or desirable as a regular experience. In fact, if I had to spend ALL of my time there, I think I’d just shoot myself, and be done with it…..

I suppose, because of it’s dual nature, reality thus could be described as what is called, in legal terms, an attractive nuisance, like having a swimming pool in your back yard…. Our problem is that reality is in everyone’s back yard, and the nuisance factor is not only thus made universal, but, for some unknown reason, multiplied by a factor of at least ten….

Or, it that just me? Am I the only one who has such problems with reality? I shouldn’t think so; I consider myself to be fairly competent at dealing with life. I have, after all, made it this far without any major fuck-ups or jail time. Maybe y’all could tell me if you have the same sort of trouble getting reality to act right?….

Regardless of the answer, it must be dealt with, and therein lies the heart of the matter. None of us, especially those of us with any experience at it, really LIKE to deal with reality; the greatest number of us arrange life so we don’t have to confront it too often…. If you believe that to be untrue, I suggest you take a look at the most recent spate of TV “reality” shows, or consider the fact that, although I’ve been hearing about these Kardashian people for several years now, as so-called “celebrities”, and I still haven’t a clue as to what hole they crawled out of, or why they are said to be such…

Before, oh, say, four years ago, I’d never heard the name Kardashian at all, except as part of a late night commercial, as some rug store by that name kept going out of business and had their rude commercials all over the late night TV screen…. You know the ones, that offer 70% discounts, and overuse the phrase “everything must go!” by a large margin…. Up until their names began showing up in the media, I’d never heard of a Kim, or a Khloe, or any of the others who are now considered part of the glitterati…

Ah well, complaining about reality is a fool’s game, anyway, and the public’s idea of fame is pretty fickle. I suppose, as long as I don’t let reality dictate my emotional state, I’m ahead of the game…. by a long way, it would seem, as the general run of society seems to have trouble getting reality to act in any fashion that suits them…. which is also, in my estimation, pretty normal, as I’ve noted all my life that most folks are oblivious to much of what goes on around them, and haven’t a clue as to the true nature of what they perceive…. It does keep most of them occupied and out of my hair, but, it doesn’t do much toward making things more equitable for everyone, which is, as I see it, our main difficulty as a society….

But, I’m guessing I’m NOT normal, and that’s just fine with me…. In fact, I wouldn’t have it any other way….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Finality is death. Perfection is finality. Nothing is perfect. There are lumps in it.” — James Stephens

I like that; “there are lumps in it.” Now THAT is a fine way to see reality, IMNSHO….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Who is ever secure? Every one of us searches for security. We seek it from our family, from our friends, from our pets, from strangers and from “God.” Once in a while we experience it, only to discover that it was merely an illusion. And yet we never learn that security is an impossibility. For we are only human beings.” — Chen-It Ong

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/one-slender-man-attacker-deemed-mentally-incompetent-20140702

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/meet-slender-man-the-online-phantom-that-inspired-attempted-murder-20140604

Have you been following this story? About the two girls who stabbed another, in perhaps our society’s most telling incident of the century, thus far…. I can’t think of a crime that more perfectly describes what is wrong with our society than this one…. I’m not going to rant about it, any more than this short diatribe; I will however ask this question, which is derived from a fact of media reporting that also indicates where many of our issues begin, to wit: In all of this, no mention is made of any of the parents of any of the 3 girls involved….

My question is “Where the FUCK were the parents of these children when all of this was going on?”…. That’s all…. just think about the answer, whatever it may be, and you will see whereof I speak, when I say we are all going down the tubes to extinction, without a fucking clue that we are even on that path…. But, as noted, I won’t rant any more than this…. Instead, we’ll look for some pearls to provide the pokes to the underbelly of society…. or, whatever portion of that belly I can reach….

“Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.” — Albert Einstein

“Why this is Hell, nor am I out of it.” — Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593)

“It seems these two Airmen decided to rob the local 7-11, a stupid move in and of itself. But wait, its stupid to rob a store when you’re in the military ’cause the haircut will give you away every time. But wait again, its even stupider to do it in UNIFORM with you NAME emblazoned in 1 inch letters on the front. But wait yet again, its even stupider to tie up the clerk and try and ring up customers purchases from behind the register while in uniform outside an Air Force base. Especially when your first customer is a Chief Master Sgt. — Smart Bee

“Don’t overestimate the decency of the human race.” — H.L. Mencken

“His ignorance is encyclopedic.” — Abba Eban

(Hmm…. I wonder… to which President do you think Abba was referring?…..)

“I’m continually AMAZED at th’ breathtaking effects of WIND EROSION!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

(Me, too…. especially if you consider this a metaphorical reference to the effects of TV on the human psyche…..)

“That’s the secret to life… replace one worry with another…. — Charlie Brown (by Charles Schulz)

(Yep…. cartoonists always have their finger on the pulse of society….)

Enough, before I get so worked up, I go LOOK for someone to bite….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today, you’re getting one of mine out of sheer laziness; I’m too much so this morning to even go look for one by someone else. That would require at least three of four clicks before I could even start to copy and paste, which is more than I’m willing to go through right now…. Yep, that’s pretty lazy, and I don’t care…. Hmm… the subject matter in section one today seems to have been a choice for discussion some time back. I was apparently thinking about it, anyway, as I found this poem of mine, that speaks pretty directly to that theme…. I hope you enjoy it; as I recall, this one took about three and a half pints of blood replacement after penning it….

Intelligent Crimes

The value of wit is often said to cause harm,
for those who think, such is its greatest charm.
The new and the bold cannot be fulfilled
if innovation and change is left unwilled.

Society behaves at its base as a mob
conformity and submission its primary job.
Any sign of rebellion against the mob’s rule
is met with resentment, naming such rebel the fool.

Intellect and talent are looked at askance,
expressing artistry stands nary a chance.
To stand out from the rest of mankind
is fraught with danger, for body and mind.

Often I stand to watch in solemn dismay
as beauty and joy are left by the way,
ignored and reviled by the unwashed masses
who prefer darkness, and acting like asses.

With shouts of derision the normals make known
their fear of intelligence, greater than their own.
They hope to stop all semblance of progress;
for thoughts and ideas, they couldn’t care less.

The world struggles on in spite of all opposition,
managing to maintain its advanced position.
Pulling the foolish along in spite of reluctance,
helping each to learn the survival dance.

Hard though it may be to keep up with the future
genius manages its plans to develop and nurture.
In the final analysis, those who live by reason
enjoy life the most, season to season.

~~ gigoid ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As noted previously, at points scattered throughout today’s Pearl (both evidential and direct announcements….), I’m lazy today, which has also made me late getting this done…. These pearls, and therefore this pearl, were gathered while multitasking, looking for the above parameter-bound group. These just jumped up & told me, unequivocally, they were to be used in section three, and would be just fine as a random harlequin batch…. They were right, but, I’d planned to put in pictures here today…. So, you get a bonus…. a weird bonus, but, a bonus….

Above each quote, you’ll see a picture… The pictures are either mine, or taken from the London Daily Telegraph…. If you wish complete attribution, you’ll have to go to their site to get it, as I forgot to note which page of their issue it came from…. All of the pictures are examples, in my view, of extreme beauty, of the sort only Nature can produce, beginning on Earth, and proceeding outward, toward the far galaxies…. but, they DON’T have any connection, that I know of or planned, with the quotes below each one…. Maybe next time….

“Whenever anybody says he’s struggling to become a human being I have to laugh because the apes beat him to it by about a million years. Struggle to become a parrot or something.” — Jack Handey, “Deep Thoughts”
“Of all mankind, each loves himself the best.” — Terence
“This is a revolution, damn it! We’re going to have to offend SOMEbody!” — John Adams (1735-1826), 1776
“Let life happen to you. Believe me: life is in the right, always.” — Rainer Maria Rilke
“Character is that which reveals moral purpose, exposing the class of things a man chooses or avoids.” — Aristotle
“What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite.” — Bertrand Russell (1872-1967), “Sceptical Essays”, 1928
“In America everybody is of the opinion that he has no social superiors, since all men are equal, but he does not admit that he has no social inferiors, for, from the time of Jefferson onward, the doctrine that all men are equal applies only upwards, not downwards.” — Bertrand Russell

There you go…. so be it, such as it is….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’s done, which, today, is all I really was shooting for….. and, since it is, I’ll even be nice, and leave it at that…. You’ve been a wonderful audience, so, each of you may choose from a variety of prizes by the door, in the ugly green box, as a bonus for your attention today…. Me, I’m outta here…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
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

A cornucopia of digital abundance….

Posted on July 2, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Some days are tougher than others…. we all know this….. However, the knowledge of this doesn’t seem, somehow, to make it any less hard to get up on those tougher days. It’s supposed to do so, but, it doesn’t…. Also, I have to say, I am still somewhat disgruntled over being disabled; having been athletically active most of my life, up to the age of 45 or so, it’s tough to swallow having to maintain the policy of spending my time, virtually ALL of it, thinking of ways to AVOID making my pain worse than it always is…. It’s lowering, less than dignified, and, worst of all, makes me grumpy….

That being said, today may be classified as one of the tough ones…. As I type, my pain level is slowly rising from where it was when I awoke, at about 5 or 6 on the usual scale of 10….. I keep shifting, as I can, to relieve it, and get up every couple minutes to stretch a bit…. but, I don’t think it will matter much today; it’s just going to hurt. So, I’m going to try to concentrate long enough to do this, while consuming all the extra drugs I can tolerate without killing myself…. By the time I’m done with this, I should be fairly oblivious, or, even better, unconscious….

Ah well, such is life…. thankfully, axiom # 2 of Peruaosophy, (“The Nature of the Universe is Change, etc…..”), provides me with sufficient reason to keep from falling all the way into despair; this WILL change, as the Universe moves along its path to wherever it is going…. The pain, if I can keep from doing anything to make it worse, WILL get better after a while, and life will go on, perhaps with a bit more aplomb than I’m able to appreciate just now. All I have to do is hang on to that little fact, and all will be well, in the end…..

With that in mind, I’m ending this here, well before I usually do, so I can get on with the meat of the matter…. Also, I can’t think of anything else to say for this, other than, enjoy whatever comes today, ffolkes… it cost me a lot to post it….

Shall we Pearl?….

“I can read your mind, and you should be ashamed of yourself.” — Smart Bee

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ranting today, while indubitably going on uninterrupted in my mind, as long as I am awake today, is pretty much out of the question; sitting long enough to type a thousand words in a row isn’t going to happen…. This means today you’ll have to settle for old-school pearls…. I’m going so far as to make them random, harlequin style, to make it faster yet….. Let’s see if Smart Bee is in a good mood today….

(I know, it’s software, but, like everything in this universe made by the hand of Man, software tends to display a number of humanity’s more obvious characteristics, such as random emotional outbursts, occasional serenity, unpredictable responses to given stimuli, and a whole lot of nonsense…. After all, the code is written by people who refer to the planet Earth as the Big Blue Room…. which is defined as everything on the other side of the door where their computer lives…..) Enjoy!

“Dionysius the Elder, being asked whether he was at leisure, he replied, “God forbid that it should ever befall me!”” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Dionysius

“Those who cling to the untrue doctrine that violence never settles anything would be advised to conjure up the ghosts of Napoleon Bonaparte and of the Duke of Wellington and let them debate it. The ghost of Hitler could referee, and the jury might well be the Dodo, the Great Auk, and the Passenger Pigeon. Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Nations and peoples who forget this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and freedoms.” — R.A. Heinlein

“Truth is a river that is always splitting up into arms that reunite. Islanded between the arms the inhabitants argue for a lifetime as to which is the main river.” — Cyril Connolly, “The Unquiet Grave” 1945

Start with what is right rather than what is acceptable.” — Peter Drucker, American business philosopher and author

“What would happen if the President, the Supreme Court, and all members of both houses of Congress were stoned out of their gourds twenty-four hours a day? The chilling truth is, it might be an improvement.” — Allan Sherman

“For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin — real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way. Something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.” — Fr. Alfred D’Souza

“It is hard to free fools from the chains they revere.” — Voltaire

Well, it’s a bit choppy, but, it works…. Onward….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today, you get one of my old poems, simply because I don’t have to go look for it anywhere else, so it’s faster…. I hope you enjoy it….

Making Room

Our souls, they say, are like shapeless, infinite bags
in which we put all our pain, all our joyous wonder.
Broken hearts and thrilling love, riches to rags,
endless perceptions of serenity, and thunder.

‘Tisn’t simple, this spiritual journey to peace
memory is fickle, easily led astray;
darkness, ever lurking, without surcease
turning innocence to harm, from simple play.

Balance is the key.

Timing is everything.

Good can change bad, bad can change good.

Pain makes room for more joy in our souls.

The only power we need is the power to change ourselves.

~~ gigoid ~~

That went so quickly, I’m going to be really egotistical, and do it again…. Here is another one of mine, that seemed appropriate, somehow…. Okay, full disclosure…. I couldn’t make up my mind between these two, and THAT is why you are being subjected to them both…. Hah! As if poetry is a burden to you, or anyone…. Enjoy, please….

When life calls, ready or not….

Memories are all we have sometimes
to keep our sanity intact,
with learned phrases and subtle rhymes
lessening life’s vicious, vibrant impact.

Presently all seems composed and intent
in stark contrast to hollow day,
forlorn patchwork emotions of unheralded bent,
fill up night’s bower, leaving hell to pay.

Such vigorous and elevated temper
brings us rare moments to ponder,
filled with lessons all need to remember
lest base perception lose valued wonder.

Laugh loud when entropy sticks fast
leaving shameless anger in its wake.
Let bygones pass quietly into the past
reaping only what is left to take.

Final words of wise imagination
tell us living well’s the best revenge, it appears
ever eluding choirs and congregations
finally finding home, never buried in tears.

~~ gigoid ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is another time saver, with the added message that I hope to be able to pin down the Wise Old Pine Cone today for a photo session; he did commit, but, has been a bit flaky of late…. funny how that works, eh? Any who, here is an article from the London Daily Telegraph you really should read, not to be informed about something wrong in the world, but, something right…. It’s a report about a man who, after a life of self-induced trouble and pain, found his way to an inner peace that is a beacon of hope for all of us….. In other words, in contrast to the usual fare here, and in most media venues, it’s a happy tale…. I’ll follow with the document I found on Facebook one time, that defines the parameters of the place this gentleman inhabits within himself….

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/10875975/The-train-dispatcher-who-defines-what-it-means-to-be-a-gentleman.html

To my mind, the most critical characteristic, and the one the gentleman in the article obviously knows, is number 5, to wit: “A Gentleman is one who puts more into the world than he takes out.” It is one I hope will be said of me when I’m gone…..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the movie Robin Hood; Prince of Thieves, Morgan Fairchild, as the Moorish warrior Hasim, kills the evil witch during the final, climactic battle, by heaving his scimitar at her across a room, just in time to save Kevin Costner, playing Robin. His line, as he stands there, feeling much as I do, on his wounded, bleeding leg, is, “I have fulfilled my vow.” That is exactly how I feel at this moment…. I’m going to hurry now, to send and post this, as I want to go deal with my pain, with the application of hot, pulsating water beating on it for a time…. I’ll be back tomorrow, which is not intended so much as a threat, as it is an informational bulletin, of note only to those who have any interest…. On that note, which has a certain bureaucratic ‘look and feel’ to it, I take my leave….. See y’all around the campus, ffolkes….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
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

Savory, succulent sausages slowly simmering…..

Posted on July 1, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Alliteration aside, this morning’s Pearl may get a bit chaotic…. My mind today is racing, driven by inner demons raised overnight by the specter of imminent events of a difficult nature. As a lifelong polymath, multitasking is no stranger, but, it’s never comfortable, or comforting, when the majority of what I perceive promises the necessity of painful resolution.

My sleep was delayed last night, by a late communication that disturbed my equilibrium enough to keep me up after eleven pip emma; hence, getting up at four ack emma, per my routine, was harder than I’d thought it would be…. That, of course, is not new, or unfamiliar, so I got up anyway, since the coffee was ready…. What the hell, today can’t be any worse than some of those I’ve had in my past, and already survived….

In defense against the looming depression that often accompanies events such as I’m currently experiencing, I’ll probably get a bit silly today; silliness, for me, is a very strong shield against feeling bad…. I suppose the lightheartedness required to be that way fills up all the available space in our hearts, and the less uplifting sort of emotions are unable to find a spot on which to place their ill-will.

Whatever the reason, it helps, when one is feeling sort of down, but not yet sunk, to find some silly, nonsensical activity to occupy one’s attention, until enough inner serenity has been garnered, and the peace of mind needed to effectively deal with the difficult emotional responses is present…. In essence, I squeeze my nose, until the loud honking has stimulated the inner clown, life assumes a more natural state, and I am able to once again “walk in beauty”….

Not everyone, I guess, has an inner Bozo on which they can depend, to lighten their spirit, and provide the emotional space necessary to be able to apply one’s mind and reason to whatever threatens our peace; I’m a lucky man, in that respect. Being a Bozo doesn’t always stimulate in others the highest regard for our demeanor, but, it’s better than pissing them off by taking advantage of them, as our government and churches so easily do with their sober, unsmiling outlook on life at large…. But, then, most of those involved in those two entities are more concerned with what they can get, than what they can give….

In trying to keep my own inner pain at bay, I see I’ve been pretty obscure in my introductory prose; I think I’ve gotten across how I’m doing, without providing more detail than would be prudent…. I see no need to share the more intimate details of my life…. I suppose I’m just trying to get across to y’all the message that whatever happens today is the result of a mind in turmoil, and will most likely reflect that inner chaos to some degree…. To WHAT degree, naturally, depends a lot on what I find to write about…. Perhaps if I were to try to think ahead about that sort of thing, I would have less of a chaotic time with this…. but, what fun would THAT be?….

Shall we Pearl?…. It seems Smart Bee is going to be cooperative today, so, to begin, let’s have a 3-fer…..

“Find time still to be learning somewhat good, and give up being desultory.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD)
— Meditations, ii, 7

“Only through time time is conquered.” — T.S. Eliot, “Burnt Norton”

“Is this an out-take from the “BRADY BUNCH”?” — Zippy the Pinhead

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

However many holy words you read,
However many you speak,
What good will they do you
If you do not act on upon them?

— Buddha

Jimmy C. sez:

http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/carroll/article/The-ancient-fun-tradition-of-all-out-war-5582571.php

Ah! curst ambition! to thy lures we owe, All the great ills that mortals bear below.” — Teckell

Brilliant! Jon Carroll has always been a favorite columnist of mine, but, with this particular essay, he achieves a new level of insight. Actually, he already possesses the insight, and has found a style of expression that brilliantly demonstrates that knowledge with utter clarity. He puts his finger on the precise spot in human nature that not only has led to the most shameful parts of human history, but, in essence, is the same part of that nature that is currently sending the entire species on a headlong rush toward self-inflicted extinction as a life form on this planet….

None of the majority of people in this world who influence the course of events have any interest at all in making the necessary changes in their persona, their world-view, or their actions to stop ANY of it…. War, both religious and political, sexual oppression of women, and children, the creation of an oligarchic society, where the rich get rich, and the poor starve…

All of what is wrong with our culture can be laid at the feet of MEN; there are very few women who lose their humanity so thoroughly as the male of our species, who have littered out history with their crimes… those women who do so are completely influenced by the same set of insane inner principles, or lack thereof, as the men with whom they share the wealth of the resources they have usurped for their own benefit….

The guilt of these men is so plain, it’s hardly necessary for me to expand further on what Mr. Carter, and Mr. Carroll have so eloquently expressed above… Instead, to save any further ranting, which may conceivably drive the less dedicated souls away, I’ll finish this with an old-school collection of pearls, all of which should give a clearer picture of the assholes with penises who have dumped their psychopathy on the rest of humanity, for too long….

I swear, I’m gonna buy a gun, or two, and use them for their intended purpose…. With my training and background, I should be able to take out a decent-sized percentage of them before I’m overcome by their always superior firepower, and resources…. But, I’d feel better, and significant number of THEM would no longer trouble anyone else….

SIGH, it’s a nice thought…. but, let’s see what SB can find for us, for now, to provide us with a bit of release from these depressive, yet never overstated discussions of the evil assholes who have taken mankind hostage for so long….

“There is nothing wrong with feminizts that reincarnation won’t solve.” — anonymous male

(This is a perfect example of how male so-called comedians propagate and spread the attitudes about women that are designed to keep them subjugated and oppressed…. Objectify them, classify them as neo-nazi-like fanatics by using the ‘z’, and imply they are better off dead…. very funny….. NOT!)

“After Mike walked out, she decided to give up Men and raise chickens. Chickens didn’t stay out all night, or come home drunk, or sleep with your best girlfriend… And if they did… you could cut off their heads and eat them…” — Stephanie Piro, in “Women’s Glibber”

(I couldn’t help it…. I laughed, really hard….)

“Coolidge is dead.” “How could they tell?” — Dorothy Parker

(Just a little word from the other side of the gender aisle….)

“She did not think he deserved the compliment of rational opposition.” — Austin

(Good for her!….)

“I have little doubt that when St. George had killed the dragon he was heartily afraid of the princess.” — G. K. Chesterton, The Victorian Age in Literature

(See? The brainwashing began a long time ago, and is made stronger by such platitudes, that promulgate and spread the misguided attitude of male superiority…. with which they protect their actual feelings of inferiority….)

“Show feminizts how you feel — give them half a “peace sign.” — another anonymous male, from the same school of null-thought as the idiot quoted above….

(Nice guy, eh? Such a lovely attitude…. Makes me want to puke, it does….)

“If it weren’t for marriage, men would spend their lives thinking they had no faults at all.” — another idiot male

The last line is yet another example of how the lies about women, and how the male half of our species spread the attitudes and false beliefs, that women are not to be trusted, and marriage is just another way that women try to control men…. which is pure bullshit, as marriage is a ‘male’ idea in the first place, to make official their ownership of their woman, classifying them as property….

Okay, I’m mad, and distracted enough to bite something…. It’s probably a good thing for now that I’m living by myself, as I wouldn’t be the best of company just now…. I suppose as long as I stay out of church, and try not to think about politics, I can get through the day without getting arrested for aggravated assault on an idiot…. It’s a good thing the stores I need the most will deliver…. I’ll leave you with this little thought, which is just about as true as humans ever come to absolute truth….. especially when it comes to men….

“Small is the number of them that see with their own eyes, and feel with their own hearts.” — Albert Einstein

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m not certain as to why, but this poem of mine, written in prose format on Groundhog’s Day in 2012, seems to be appropriate for today…. It has the advantage of being mine; nobody else can be blamed for it, or for any of what I’ve created today…. It may seem egotistical, but, in truth, I do this to keep anyone else from blame…. I can be hurt, like anyone, at undue criticism, but, as an adult, I’m well able to take care of myself, and nurse my own internal wounds…. Whatever the case, I hope you enjoy it….

Gently Came a Wounded Child

But you shall not escape my iambics.

Soft, sinuous patterns of unearthly beauty
blithely commune with sinking stars,
as pale shadows of former virtue hover
near, ever clean, ever tolerant.
These unbidden habits are worn with age and care,
ready now for dissolution,
welcoming gladly the kiss of Death’s handmaiden.

Unknown to all, the child stands aside,
weeping for the lost days of youth,
days that now shall never be,
nor yearned for ever after.
Only darkness shall lay upon the landscape,
cold, hard, eternal.

Such then are the signs and portents
as we enter into the unknown future,
they are grave indeed.

Uncertainty will be our sole companion,
as the search for hope yields no result.
The lamentations of the gods
shall sound the elegy for Man,
who never learned to see the gift that was made,
so many echoes ago, in the hopeful past;
thus will we pass this plane of existence
as we came, baffled and afraid….

~~ gigoid ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This old-school pearl was created in a frenzy of multitasking, while searching out the group of difficult-to-find quotes for the first section…. Individual pearls can be hard to find when the parameters are so strictly defined as today, so it took a while…. but, in doing so, this superior group of ancient and modern wisdom kept popping up, thus providing me with sufficient material for both sections…. Bonus!…. Enjoy, this is a good one, ffolkes….

“It was a favourite expression of Theophrastus that time was the most valuable thing that a man could spend.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD)
— Theophrastus, x

“There’s an old saying that life begins at 40. That’s silly. Life begins every morning when you wake up. Open your mind to it; don’t just sit there, do things.” — George Burns (1896-1996)

“Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you’ve got to say, and say it hot.” — D.H. Lawrence

“All science, even the divine science, is a sublime detective story. Only it is not set to detect why a man is dead; but the darker secret of why he is alive.” — G. K. Chesterton, The Thing. CW. III 191

“A pun is the lowest form of humour, when you don’t think of it first.” — Oscar Levant

“In human intercourse the tragedy begins, not when there is misunderstanding about words, but when silence is not understood.” — Henry David Thoreau

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” — Gandhi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Completing this Pearl is not merely a moral victory; it is a triumph of mind over matter…. Well, sort of…. It’s definitely done, and done as well as I can do this…. which probably isn’t saying all that much, but, we all have our own little fantasies, don’t we? Any who, since it IS done, I’m outta here for now, with an eventful day, no doubt, waiting for me to jump in…. Hasta la mañana, ffolkes…..

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
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

He shrugged his sunburned shoulders in reply….

Posted on June 30, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Winding ever upward, the road grew steep. Trudging along the roadside, next to the cliff falling away toward a glistening ribbon of water, thousands of feet below, an old man, grey hair falling down his back to his hips, leaned heavily on the staff he is using to push himself each weary step up the mountain’s eastern flank. Worn and bent, he struggles slowly, the small pack on his back seemingly bending him into submission, hour after hour, making slow but steady progress toward the pass, a thousand feet higher yet….

As the sun moved over the mountain to the west, the road, switching back as it climbed, came into shadow, which seemed to energize the old man; his steps became longer and stronger, increasing his pace incrementally, until he no longer paced the snails, but, strode up the mountain as if on level ground….. By the time he reached the pass, he had completely changed appearance; no longer bent, or seemingly weary, he stopped at the summit, to peer into the valley below, now fully erect, glowing with strength…. As he stood gazing into the distance, the sun sunk below the far horizon, throwing the entire world into dusk….

Well, ffolkes, there you have my version of the opening of a vampire story…. I can tell you now, it will never be written, not beyond where it is now, as I really have NO interest in writing about vampires…. Not that I am prejudiced against that genre of literature (yes I am….), but, really, who cares about some insane living dead person, or how they get along trying to deal with immortality, living nocturnally, and the whole blood-sucking issue…. I know it is a classic, lending itself naturally to plots involving morality, ethics, religion, and all the other mystical trappings that go along with such mythical creatures….. and is immensely popular among the weak-minded….

Myself, I never saw that much in it, or was impressed by their so-called powers…. Okay, so they can’t die, again, in the normal sense…. but, I’ll bet, if they take a shotgun blast to the head, maybe a couple of times, I don’t think they’re going to want to do much…. Hell, separating that head from their torso, say, with a katana…. (That is a Japanese samurai sword, razor sharp, able to perform beheadings with one stroke…. in the right hands…) Well, I’d like to see one of them regenerate THAT, once the head and body are a few meters apart…. Okay, so, not the nicest visual image to go along with breakfast…. what were you thinking, anyway? Runny eggs and floppy bacon…. I shudder to think about it….

Any who, undercooked pig meat and chicken embryos aside, the above, though not necessarily my cup of coffee (I updated that phrase to suit my preferences….), could conceivably become part of my skill set…. But, that would happen only if I chose to develop those chops, and that just isn’t going to take place, not in this century, and, unless medical science takes a leap forward pretty soon, my chances of seeing the next one aren’t too good…. Long odds, for sure; not impossible, given some of the advances I’ve heard about (the research going on with stem cells, and nanotechnology, is incredibly encouraging in re: increasing the human life span….), but, definitely not a sure bet.

More likely, I’ll be gone by the time this century reaches the half-way marker, as that will mark my 100th birthday. I’m pretty sure I’m stubborn enough to make it that far, but I’m also smart enough to realize that, unless some medical magic happens, I probably won’t last much longer than that…. If my current condition is any indicator, getting to 100 will be a definite challenge…. That’s okay, I’ve tried to live my life with the American Indian point of view, to wit: “Today is a good day to die”…. I’ve always liked that phrase; it implies a life lived with passion, and ethics, and strength of character, all of which I hope to continue to hold as the driving forces in my life….

Okay, that’s pretty pompous, but, hey, that doesn’t make it any less true…. It also, by golly, takes us far enough from our opening lines to call this an intro, and a damn decent one at that…. Well, maybe it DID wander a bit, but, it never got completely off the rails, and that is a good sign…. It’s also, as I see, a bit long, but, what else is new? My ability to blather without cease is a finely honed skill by now, so, that’s only to be expected when I get going like this….

I had intended to lament my new routine morning-mind, which seems to require at least 45 minutes, minimum, before it will even consider composition, or creative imagery…. but, then I got caught up in the story line, and lost track of my initial plan in the ~~thrill~~ struggle involved in creating a new story line… Since serendipity has forced its way into the room, let’s let her sit down, and have a cup of coffee…. I always make plenty….

Shall we Pearl?….

A few can touch the magic string,
And noisy Fame is proud to win them;
Alas for those that never sing,
But die with all their music in them!

— Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894) — The Voiceless

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I first read the Desiderata when I was in college, at UC Berkeley in the late 1960’s. It underwent a revival then, as much of it fit into the philosophy of peace that most of the “hippies” of the era took as their own, including myself. I’ve heard arguments that it is too positive, too fanciful about the beauty in life, and doesn’t fit in with a realistic outlook on life…. Well, bullshit….

Yes, it’s positive, but, it’s meant to be. I’ve gone through it, and set apart with bold, italic lettering a few of the most influential phrases from the treatise. Below that, I’ve put the same phrases, as I would if they were pearls, to demonstrate the power of what they have to say. These five statements, or pieces of advice, if you will, have been the pillars upon which much of my philosophy of life rests. I’ve used them countless times in my life, to encourage myself, to admonish myself, and, in general, to provide me with a blueprint for acting rightly, out of right thinking, and compassion…. So, screw the curmudgeonry, that CAN be detrimental, and live your life with this sort of outlook; you’ll find yourself more content than, perhaps, you have ever been… Enjoy!….

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy.

— Max Ehrman (1872-1945) – “Desiderata” (1927)

Listen to others, even to the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly.

Be yourself.

Whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A little change of tempo, without losing quality at all….

Drinking Alone

I take my wine jug out among the flowers
to drink alone, without friends.

I raise my cup to entice the moon.
That, and my shadow, makes us three.

But the moon doesn’t drink,
and my shadow silently follows.

I will travel with moon and shadow,
happy to the end of spring.

When I sing, the moon dances.
When I dance, my shadow dances, too.

We share life’s joys when sober.
Drunk, each goes a separate way.

Constant friends, although we wander,
we’ll meet again in the Milky Way.

~~ Li T’ai-po ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had promised to put another episode of the adventures of Wise Old Pine Cone, but, once again, I got usurped by his schedule, which, apparently, blew up…. I’ll get some pictures of him and his paduan as soon as I can, but, he won’t give me a solid commitment on a day yet, so, I can’t say when that will happen…. In the meantime, here is an old-school pearl, fresh as a daisy, though not as cute…. We’ll go with random, harlequin style, no set parameters, and no paradigms…

“I want everything to be explained to me or nothing…. The absurd springs from this confrontation between the human call and the unreasonable silence of the world.” — Albert Camus (1913-1960), The Myth of Sisyphus (1955)

“Dust is an armor of poor quality.” — Smart Bee

“Ambiguity is invariant.” — Hartz’ Uncertainty Principle

“Who sees all beings in his own Self, and his own Self in all beings, loses all fear.” — Isa Upanishad

” — Bother! said Pooh, as he stomped Barney’s butt to Jello.” — Smart Bee

“Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her. But once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game.” — Voltaire

“Do I look like someone who cares about what God thinks?” — Zippy the Pinhead

Any time a pearl comes with Camus, the Upanishads, and both evil Pooh and Zippy, it can’t go wrong; I offer the above as certifiable verification of that…. This is a special pearl, ffolkes…. Not only is it powerful, erudite, and funny as hell, it took maybe a minute and a half to collect; Smart Bee obviously had been prepping for this, as I looked at a total of 17 pearls to collect this seven…. that’s an INCREDIBLE percentage, compared to normal reality’s output…. This one will, no doubt, be useful to read again in the future; I guarantee that each time you read it, you will get something new from it…..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, that went a lot better than I’d hoped, or expected. I’m not even going to look in the horse’s mouth; I’m just going to bid thee adieu, until tomorrow, given just a bit of luck…. See ya, ffolkes….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
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

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

Posted on June 29, 2014 by gigoid

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 last few years, Murphy got so busy trying to cover it all himself, he decided to hire on some apprentice assholes…. This gives him more time for planning his little strategies, and once they’ve learned most of the appropriate spells and methods of adjusting reality to suit Murphy’s plans, he is actually planning a vacation, his first in millennia…

I also have to report, with great reluctance, that the Wise Old Pine Cone blew me off for our photo session…. Oh, he called to cancel, but, I was counting on having those pix today, and now I won’t, so, it’s a bit bothersome. I know he couldn’t help it; it isn’t every day one’s favorite niece’s tree reaches their majority (however THAT gets figured; I’m not a pine tree, so, I’m not aware of how they decide that….). Plus, he promised to be back in time to re-do the shoot today; since it’s Sunday, I guess we’ll have time to get it done…..

As might be surmised, I’m wandering again, blathering and spewing nonsense and/or silliness, to fill up this space so we can get on with the rest of whatever this might turn out to be…. It’s certainly not going to be your normal Pearl; it’s already broken out of that mold. Hell, this intro, though resembling others from the past superficially, is far from normal, as is patently obvious, once one tries to look at it through normal eyes…. It is, no doubt, somewhat fuzzy-looking, confusing to read, and causing a vague uneasiness…. Well, that’s how it’s affecting ME, anyway….

I suppose I’ll have to use #4 again today; there doesn’t seem to be any other way to get this done, or even to bring some relevance to what otherwise would fall into the “totally useless” category. This, of course, could never be put directly into that box, as it DOES serve a purpose, even if that purpose is vague and generally undefinable. Everybody needs a hobby, right? So, I’m going to apply #4 now, so, stand back, or stand still….

Shall we Pearl?….

Listen to the MUSTN’TS child,
Listen to the DON’TS
Listen to the SHOULDN’TS
The IMPOSSIBLES, the WON’TS
Listen to the NEVER HAVE’S
Then listen close to me-
Anything can happen, child,
ANYTHING can be.

— Shel Silverstein

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Lust of power is the most flagrant of all the passions.” — Tacitus (55?-120?)

This particular pearl is an experiment…. I don’t know what else to do to try to save this, so, I’m picking out pearls, along with articles I’ve read in the last day or two that caught my eye, and either stimulated my ire, or gave me hope…. The part of that which annoys me the most is the fact that these articles are all about MY country, the USA, but, none of this stuff is being covered by any of the American papers or news outlets online that I look at…. and, I try to hit more than one, to get a spread of sources…. The UK Guardian, and the London Daily Telegraph, both publish far more articles than their American counterparts, about issues that concern Americans as well as British citizens.

I’ve noted this for some time now; the American media displays all the symptoms of being controlled by the government, because nothing in the news seems to ever really criticize the idiots who run things….. they merely parrot whatever the pundits say, and report their most ridiculous statements, which are demonstrably fabrications, as if they are gospel truth. I have to go to Europe, it seems, to find anyone willing to be critical of our government, at least to any REAL degree…. The stuff you see in the American press never actually condemns the actions they report; they don’t want to lose whatever sources within the halls of the bureaucrats that they have, so, they toe the party lines, just like good little reporters…

Here’s the experimental part…. I’m going to pick out some pearls, and put them around and between the articles, with the hope that the quotes will bring some clarity and/or open mindedness to the reader, thus enhancing the pearls, and the pearl. I know, it’s a bit confusing, but, hey, what else is new?….. Enjoy!….

“I believe that ideas such as absolute certitude, absolute exactness, final truth, etc. are figments of the imagination which should not be admissible in any field of science…This loosening of thinking seems to me to be the greatest blessing which modern science has given us. For the belief in a single truth and in being the possessor thereof is the root cause of all evil in the world.” — Max Born

There… keep that in the forefront of your mind as you read the articles below, and you’ll be much more comfortable with the resultant conclusions…. Each story is preceded by a pearl that seemed to fit its paradigm…. and the whole mess is closed perfectly by our old friend Pooh, in his evil-twin persona….

“Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,”

~~ Emily Dickinson

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jun/28/leg-government-spying-supreme-court-decision-cellphones

“The child is the father of the man.” — William Wordsworth

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/27/nsa-queries-phone-data-2013-report

“As far as the men who are running for President are concerned, they aren’t even people I would date.” — Nora Ephron

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/28/uk-rendition-flights-diego-garcia

“Ambition is in fact the avarice of power.” — Smart Bee

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/28/illegal-spying-below-blimp-flies-over-nsa-data-centre-in-surveillance-protest

There you go…. I’m pretty sure the experiment failed, though it’s hard to tell from the vantage point of the present time; only the future gives us that sort of value judgments…. But, in the final analysis, a pearl always depends on the final entry to make or break its value point…. and this one is a beaut!…..

” — Bother! said Pooh, as a woozle bit his bottom.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This poem of mine seems to fit the ambiance that we’ve stumbled into today, so, here it is….

Ah Ain’t Sho, but Mebbe So….

Fried eggs got nuthin’ on me
Ah’m not even sure of mah name,
or how Ah come to be;
no idea from where Ah came.

Ah does like a mystery tho’,
puzzlin’ things out so’s Ah knows,
good from bad fo sho,
Ah sho don’t want no rock pillows.

If’n Ah cain’t figure out what’s best,
Ah just falls back on mah Daddy’s words,
seems he knowed just whut’d stand the test,
‘n how to gentle the scaredest birds.

‘Course, he’d lived a good long time,
‘n had lots of stuff go on by;
Went to a war, n’ lost a piece or two,
never once used it fer an alibi.

He tol’ me once Ah’d best learn to learn,
school’s only cool if ya ain’t already a fool.
Yer own good measure you can earn,
by startin’ yer learnin’ with the Golden Rule.

Always seemed to me as Ah growed up,
he mostly only spoke if it wuz true,
‘n by doin’ that clued me to what’s up,
kept me from stuff that’d a made me blue.

Without ever sayin’ the word itself,
Ah learned ’bout honor, ‘n helpin’ others
not some fake stuff from some shelf,
but, knowin’ whut’s right, ‘n that we’re all brothers.

Ah’ve been around long enough now, Ah think
to get around the block at least two times.
I s’pose long as my head don’t shrink
Ah’ll keep on doin’ right, ‘n makin’ these rhymes…..

~~ gigoid ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, so, to make up for the failed experiment, and for the absence of the Wise Old Pine Cone, here are a group of pictures guaranteed to make you go “Awwww”, no matter how grumpily you woke up…. These pix might even be stronger than the need for coffee, so you might want to grab yours FIRST…. All of them were found at the London Daily Telegraph, in two of their photo features, called the Day in Animal Pictures, and Best Animal Photobombs…. all from June 27 or 28, I forget…. I guess that’s close enough for attribution….
There you have it, ffolkes, a plethora of cuteness to take with you wherever you go today….. I know, it pulls my curmudgeon covers, but, hey, I do what I must to make this a valuable experience for the Gentle Reader, even if it means resorting to pandering….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This has to be one of the weirdest, most fractured Pearls I’ve ever created…. It is, however, a testament to my dedication to this purpose, because, obviously, I wasn’t much into this today…. not from a creative standpoint, anyway….. Probably has a lot to do with my current mental state, which is somewhat muddled…. No worries, the good thing about this is, I get another chance tomorrow, to try to improve…. Given today’s results, that shouldn’t be too hard to do…. See ya, ffolkes…..

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
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

Another day in Paradox….

Posted on June 28, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Shot to hell, it is…. bowed, bloody, completely in tatters…. Fortunately, we’re referring to my routine, and, perhaps, my mind, not my corpus; typing would be even more difficult, if that were the case. It’s complicated, and challenging enough already, what with the revolt being carried out by the physical side of my persona; it has taken me well over an hour, and more than a single cup of coffee, just to be able to get this simple paragraph onto the screen.

Without going into details that might curdle the milk you just poured over your oatmeal, let’s just say that getting this done will be an act of monumental courage and perseverance, to push through the haze veiling my mind, and put some clarity into what goes onto the page. Brilliance, or even moderate style may be out of the question; we’ll have to wait and see what happens. I could conceivably loosen up a bit, and find a pocket of energy, and/or sanity, (either will do….) that will carry me through to the end of this, but, I can’t count on it, and it’s not too likely at this point, anyway…. I’ll be lucky to get dressed all the way, much less display any real creativity in my prose….

I had no idea at the start of this blog how hard it is to write something fresh and creative every day; it gives me a bit more respect for those columnists who manage to do that for many years, maintaining a witty, accessible, and fun atmosphere in their work over periods of time far greater than what I’ve done here for the last three or so years….. Herb Caen, Walter Winchell, Grantland Rice, Jon Carroll, and a number of other daily columnists now have my complete admiration, as well as my burning curiosity, wondering how the hell they managed it for all that time…

But, long discussions of old time heroes won’t get me any further toward finishing this; it’s barely given me a start. I suppose it’s some sort of solution to the lack of freshly minted material, which, combined with my fuzzy head and overall schmeckiness, (a fine old word, that I just made up…. It sure SOUNDS like I feel…. Schmecky….), but, I don’t think it will do in the long run, except as filler, which has already shown itself to be an acceptable pathway for taking such side trips into tangential subject matter…. It may be fun, and take up time & space, but, it won’t last for more than a few paragraphs before becoming detrimental to the larger picture….

Nonesuch…. what a great word. I’m not entirely sure why it floated up to the surface of my mind, unless it’s trying to give me a hint, that it’s time to try to regain our foothold on sanity, or, at minimum, make the attempt to return to reality, before we get so far lost we can’t even find a GPS, much less our own behinds…. In fact, I’d say that y’all might do well to find your own way back to your seats, because I’m about to bail out of here, and fight my way back overland….. It’s hard to fly when weighted down by depression, as we all know, and I’m not going to sit here any longer, pretending I’m okay….

On that cryptic turn, we’ll head out into the wilds of the pearl beds, where I may be able to locate my sanity…. If not, well, I’ve been there before, so, it shouldn’t take too long to fight my way out…. In the meantime, since I’ve got nothing better to do this morning….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“He should not vow to walk in the dark, who has not seen the nightfall.’ — Elrond

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Panting and wheezing, I clamber to the next level, only to find another sheer rock face, the only way to proceed…. Having climbed this far, I’m not willing to go back down, and besides, I get vertigo thinking about it…. I’ll just have to go on…. I know, I’ll make an old school pearl, and that will bring me right back to earth, if I do it right….. Let’s see what we can do…

“Each man reaps on his own farm.” — Plautus (254-184 BC) — Mostellaria, Act iii, Sc. 2, 112, (799.)

“A Puritan is someone who is deathly afraid that someone, somewhere, is having fun.” — H. L. Mencken

“To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge.” — Benjamin Disraeli (Earl Beaconsfield) (1805-1881) — Sybil, Book i, Chap. v

“A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.” — Gerald R. Ford

“A clown is a clown and will always be a clown.” — Babbaluche the cobbler

“I’m not a god, I was misquoted.” — Lister, Red Dwarf

“I only wish I may see your head stroked down with a slipper.” — Terence (185-159 BC) — Act v, Sc. 7, 4, (1028.)

Well…. I have to say this…. That’s the oddest pearl I think I’ve ever put together…. It is a bit esoteric, to be sure, but, I think the last quote, from Terence, just makes it all okay…. If you have any clues as to what he might have been referring to, or talking about, I’d love to hear them, because I don’t have one, at all….. But, I am not required to have one, legally, so, onward….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is a poem I wrote to try to describe this process, of creating Pearls…. It’s not bad, and will hopefully expiate some of the potential ire that may be engendered by today’s apparent, no, today’s all-too-real fragility, of both purpose, and intelligence…. The poem describes what I go through each day pretty well, which is, after all, WHY I wrote it to begin with…. Better out than in, I always say….

How It Works….

Retreat, retreat, he cries in vain
we cannot stand such pain!
Another battle, another day’s fight
Eternally at war, both day and night.

Storms within, crashing and thrashing about,
filling each moment with fear and doubt.
Cries of anguish, hopes for a swift end
Denied with wounds that will not mend.

The crisis approaches, time will not wait.
It marches on, driven madly by fate.
We have no recourse, no other road to walk,
No great power to whom we may talk.

Morning arrives, seemingly mild and free
Until one considers all that must be
An intro, some pearls, a photo or two
Today’s magnificent Pearl, created just for you…..

~~gigoid ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Due to the lack of any sort of intelligent activity going on in my mind, and the time constraints involved in my being so late getting to this, here is a religirant from the archives, with some closing comments to freshen it up a bit…..

From 5/09/2012:

“It is ridiculous to suppose that the great head of things, whatever it be, pays any regard to human affairs.” — Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD) — Natural History, Book ii, Sect. 20

This has always been an issue in my mind, from the very earliest times I was exposed to religious instruction, in some Presbyterian Sunday School when I was a young lad. Even at the age of five or six, I had a hard time understanding two things about God, if what they were telling me about Him was true. First, I couldn’t believe that a God, supposedly able to create an entire universe, would take the time and/or energy to care whether or not I was paying attention to His rules (I also questioned why He would make rules in the first place….)

Secondly, the whole idea of worship made me uneasy…. it seemed a bit, hmm, needy, or vulnerable, to me. I knew that the admiration of others made me feel weird; uneasy and uncomfortable with their fawning (baby sisters & brothers, little kids, and others who show such feelings for their older, more accomplished siblings….). Even the admiration I held for my older siblings, and my heroes, made me a bit uncomfortable. So, I could never understand why an all-powerful being would want any part of such a thing.

So, even then, before I had any real defenses, I suppose my ability to reason made it hard for me to accept a lot of what I was told. It never made sense to me that the pictures I saw of God made him look just like some human patriarch (hmm… no Freudian comments?); I mean, if he was so far above us, how did we know what He looked like? I didn’t remember seeing any photos of Him, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, (another questionable entity to the mind of a five-year old….) playing in the Dead Sea surf, nor did I recall any such word from God Himself. There were a lot of folks saying that the Bible is the Word of God, but the only ones saying so were people, not Gods.

So, maybe I was a bit different than the average young bear cub, but much of what they tried to foist upon my unsuspecting mind never took hold, as I found it completely unbelievable. It just didn’t make any sense, even by the rules they claimed to be those by which reality operated. If I, a little kid, didn’t like to be worshiped, why would an omnipotent being have anything to do with it? Give me a reasonable, rational answer, and I will consider the concept. But, I think you’d best bring a new and different set of arguments, because the ones that have been in play for several thousand years just don’t cut it in my book….

“Everybody has the right to be stupid, but they’re abusing the privilege.” — Smart Bee
________________________

From the vantage point of two-plus years in the future, I’m compelled to expand upon what I wrote then…. which, advantageously, makes this a fresh rant, rather than one lazily pulled from the archives, and left to stand alone…. I can be nice, and diligent, when I want to be…. Of course, doing so only adds to my curmudgeonry when discussing the whole divinity scam, otherwise known as The Dogma Game….

In the above rant, in my attempts to make fun of the lack of logical structure which comprises, (or perhaps the word, infests, is better), the whole of the Christian credo, while not bad, fall short of hilarious…. I’m also aware that this current manifesto has assumed my pedantic, pontificating style, which is liable to put even me to sleep, should I insist on carrying it through to the arguments to follow…. or, that will presumably follow, once I get done deciding how to approach such a daunting task….

There, was that stiff and awkward enough for you? It was for me….. But, that’s okay, God won’t mind; from what I can tell, IF there is a God, even one remotely similar to the one the Christians, Muslims, et al envision in their holy writings, no matter what He/She/It wants to be called, I would guess His/Her/Its sense of humor would extend to include something like this essay will become, if it ever begins…. It (a divine sense of humor….), I would assume, by definition, would be infinite in scope, so, I’m pretty sure I’m covered….. If not, I should be….

Rather than bore y’all any further with all this, why don’t I find just the right pearl to close this off…. I’ll just leave you with this thought…. IF there is a GOD, and He is responsible for making us the way we are, then He MUST have a good sense of humor…. I mean, just LOOK at us! Ridiculously weak, physically fragile, and easily duped by our more aggressive, more unscrupulous peers; what was He thinking? Plus, we have noses, which grow red and make funny noises when squeezed…. If that isn’t funny, I’m a fire hydrant…. Not a funny fire hydrant, but, hey, what do you want from an inanimate object so early in the morning?….

And in your dreams you can see yourself
As a prophet saving the world
The words from your lips
I just can’t believe you are such
A fool.

— Frank Zappa, “Oh No”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Y’all are now fully aware of how strange it can get around here, so it won’t surprise you to hear that the Wise Old Pine Cone is still busy with his student, but has agreed to a photo session today…. It’s a good thing, too, as I’m starting to get a lot of fan mail on him; I’ve even received several proposals for him, from a number of traffic and ice cream cones…. Tomorrow, I promise, we’ll have more pix of him, and his handsome young paduan learner…. Who knows? Maybe I’ll devote an entire Pearl to the Old Cone’s world; we’ll see how today’s shoot comes off….

But, for now, I’m done, and a damn good thing, too, as I’m about to scream, and you don’t want to know why….. Suffice it to say, I’ll be back tomorrow, if I’m still able, and the internet doesn’t crash…. See y’all then…..

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
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

Oliver twisted reality until it screamed….

Posted on June 27, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

As I approach the creation of yet another day’s Pearl of Virtual Wisdom, I find myself, once again, torn completely into mental shreds, by my self-inflected, arguably insane adherence to this chosen duty…. I’ve been sitting here in front of the computer screen, staring blankly at the vast whiteness, hoping beyond hope to find some small bit of inspiration, or some fantastic, interesting direction to take that will possibly stimulate what little creative talent I possess, for close to 55 minutes now, and this bit of whiny confession is the best I’ve been able to come up with…. Pathetic….

It almost makes me want to go back to bed, and try again later…. That would probably be a mistake, though, as I find myself reluctant to get any further away from the routine I’ve established in the past three years or so; my experience is, if I don’t get this done as my first task of the day, the rest of it is all broken up, confused, and susceptible to all sorts of Murphyish intervention….. more so even than the customary number of pokes he takes at me. Since I don’t feel like dealing with any of his shenanigans just now, we’ll keep plugging away at this, and hope for the best…..

That being said, it might be best to jump into the rest of today’s effort right away; that might throw Murphy off, and certainly couldn’t hurt what is happening here, as there’s NOTHING happening in this section, at least, not so far. Other than a bit of minor whining, and some off-the-wall discussion of mundane matters of routine, with some, no doubt, shaky speculation about reality thrown in, we haven’t managed to create anything at all…. well, three paragraphs of inanity, but, that, I believe, won’t even register on any sensors, much less count toward any available prizes….

Thus, therefore, and hence, we’ll just abandon ship again, to head off into the hinterlands of the pearl beds with our usual panache; the pearl beds are to be found, of course, somewhere out there in the massive ocean of knowledge that is the world wide web…. which I’m trying to enjoy, as the deadline approaches for the takeover of the Net by corporate interests, who want to use it as their own cash cow….. Face it, ffolkes, AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, and the other communication giants aren’t going to rest until they have us all under the gun, with the internet as their hostage…. Have you called or emailed the FCC yet to register your opposition to that?…. If not, please do so…. and call your Congressman, too….

There, you’ve also been treated to an impromptu mini-rant; that makes this intro more than merely complete. It makes it legal, as you well know, freeing us to get on with the rest of this mess…. By mess, of course, I refer to the entire process, AND the end result, which, as always, remains somewhat amorphously unpredictable to either describe or contain in one small area…. That’s why we have three sections, after all…. Bet that one slipped by you, didn’t it? I knew it…. This isn’t as easy, or as disorganized as it may seem to the casual observer, so, take heed, and remember to stand back when I throw this switch, right here….

Shall we Pearl?….

“I drank WHAT???????” — Socrates (470?-399 B.C.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“A group of the unwilling, composed of the unfit, to do the unnecessary for the unaware in an untidy manner at an untimely moment employing unseemly tactics for the uninformed. Ah, give me a chance at that committee and we can really go nowhere fast and get there before most people even know that we left. This is nothing more than the formula for good government, or it seems that way from what I have been able to observe so far in this life.” — Smart bee

I tried to find out who first said this, but, the one place Google found it listed it several times as a related quote to others, with no attribution given on any of those occasions…. so, Smart Bee gets the credit, for the time being…. It’s here, as you can probably guess, to act as a prelude to a rant….. a phrase which sounds like a fairly good title for a book, or an essay, or, I’ve got it!…. a movie…. ( See Ava Gardner and Cary Grant, starring in the classic epic, “Prelude to a Rant”….) Well, okay, maybe not…. but, it certainly works for one of our protracted discussions about our Beloved Ruling Class, and all they do to, er, for us….

However, I’m not in the mood for one of MY rants; what I’m in the mood for is a Carlinesque rant, a stand-up routine like the ones George used to go through on stage, when he would spend about five minutes straight, talking really fast, New York style, poking sharp, pointed concepts at the leaders of society, barbs so sharp, you could see the fat cats, politicians, preachers, and pundits of every variety, blushing, wincing and bleeding…. Now, if I only had his talent, I’d be set…. I can be funny, on occasion, when I stumble into it; sadly, my skill at that is still a bit underdeveloped for my standards. But, approaching Carlin’s level of genius is out of the question, at least, at this point….

So, we’ll go old-school, using parameters for choosing our pearls that show some teeth, and have the distinct possibility of causing blood loss…. Don’t fret, they can afford to bleed off some; they’re all vampires anyway, and don’t really NEED the blood…. Oh wait, that’s backwards, isn’t it? Okay, so fuck it, I don’t care anyway…. let ’em bleed out, I say, the assholes…. Let’s see if I can make my disgust with government, and those who engage in any form of it, any plainer than that….

“Artificial hearts are nothing new. Politicians have had them for years.” — Mack McGinnis

Voter’s Block: The attempt, however futile, to register dissent with the current political system by simply not voting. — Douglas Coupland, Generation X

“I feel like I am sharing a “CORN-DOG” with NIKITA KHRUSCHEV..” — Zippy the Pinhead

“Every actual State is corrupt. Good men must not obey laws too well.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), “Politics”

“What would this country be without this great land of ours?” — Ronald W. Reagan, philosopher

“If an ass goes traveling he will not come home a horse.” — Thomas Fuller

This is the way the world ends,
This is the way the world ends,
This is the way the world ends,
Not with a bang but with a whimper.

— T. S. Eliot, “The Hollow Men”

Okay, so, it’s a bit esoteric, if not completely abstract, but, I like the way it chortles, gleefully, in anticipation of causing offense to some poor sap in elected office….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is a poem I wrote in September of 2012, when I was in the throes of depression, engendered in major part by the grinding of the wheels of bureaucracy…. I’m not entirely sure why, but, it seems to feel like the right poem for today…. I hope you enjoy it….

A Failure to Germinate

Marking the days in elements of sad disarray
only holds me thrall, as I laugh while I may.
With cold, hard hands so impatient and cruel
pulling me to this vale of tears, a pathetic old fool.

Feelings sit silent, cast in shadows and light
breaking forth to implicate such vengeful might.
Just below the surface they patiently hide
to sally forth bravely, colors bright as they ride.

Tears and pain transform valued assets in hand
while comfort and serenity retreat to a far land.
Bold, bright patterns of hope garnish my ruinous state
until reality enters, full of disdainful portions of hate.

I sort out the illustrious measures of vision gone mild
only to find them transformed, now vicious and wild.
In my deepest desires I find myself calloused and cold
with faithless advocates whose souls have been sold.

My search finds little to support any hope of relief
far too much time has passed to bolster such belief.
The sad becomes real, and real becomes unfounded
until flights of such fancy are all dead, and grounded.

Nature has informed me of the newly hatched crime
that reality has boasted of proudly, time after time.
The last answer we think of is always the best
as we come to terms with fate, our hope at rest.

~~ gigoid ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Waste not the remnant of thy life in those imaginations touching other folk, whereby thou contributest not to the common weal.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, iii, 4

I end up using a lot of quotes from Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, all of which seem, to me, to be pretty well-reasoned, as well as insightful re: human nature, and ethical/moral behavior….. In fact, I find there are as many, or more, insightful, reasoned philosophers who lived before Christ was born, (not that I care that much, but, it’s the point in time our society has agreed upon to use as the basis for our calendar, thus making it the obvious, most convenient, and expedient, choice as a marker, in order to organize people into their time periods for reference and identification), as there are who have lived in the time since then…. Mathematics says there HAS to be more of them in modern society, because there are more people alive, but, somehow, the percentages don’t seem to fit that preconception….

Marcus Aurelius, Socrates, Plato, Plutarch, Aristotle, Cato, the Elder and the Younger, Gautama Buddha, Lao Tzu, Confucius, and a veritable host of others, from all cultures in the world, passed their wisdom to us throughout the ages, and have always seemed to me to be superior in their reasoning to any of the more modern philosophers to whom I’ve been exposed….. an opinion you will see reflected in the quotes you see here…. I have no apology for that, and don’t plan to change it, so, I hope y’all enjoy them, because they’re not going away…. In fact, I’m going to put together a pearl with parameters limiting it to quotes over 1500 years old…. I would suggest you enjoy it, but, it’s not necessary with such classical wisdom to offer….

“Before enlightenment, one carries water and chops wood. After enlightenment, one carries water and chops wood.” — Zen Proverb

“Whatever you can lose, you should reckon of no account.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 191

“…for the most part happiness consists in being willing to be what you are.” — Erasmus

“As surgeons keep their instruments and knives always at hand for cases requiring immediate treatment, so shouldst thou have thy thoughts ready to understand things divine and human, remembering in thy every act, even the smallest, how close is the bond that unites the two.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, iii, 13

“Nothing made the horse so fat as the king’s eye.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Of the Training of Children

“He is a fool who lets slip a bird in the hand for a bird in the bush.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Of Garrulity

“The trouble with Nixon is that he’s a serious politics junkie. He’s totally hooked… and like any other junkie, he’s a bummer to have around: especially as President.” — Hunter S. Thompson (b. 1939), journalist — The Great Shark Hunt, Jacket Copy for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1979)

(Oops! Sorry, that slipped in there due to appending to the clipboard, rather than overwriting…. but, it’s kinda cool, I think, so, it can stay…. just ignore it after reading, and go on to the final pearl, which you see in its designated place, right down there on the line below this….)

“It behooves a prudent person to make trial of everything before arms.” — Terence (185-159 BC) — Act iv, Sc. 7, 19, (789.)

Since we were so rudely interrupted by Hunter’s oh-so-poignant observation of reality, I’ll add one more, to show that the ancients possessed as subtle a sense of humor as any modern pundit, for sure and for certain….

“Anaximander used to assert that the primary cause of all things was the Infinite,–not defining exactly whether he meant air or water or anything else.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Anaximander, ii

Well, a bit disjointed, but, it works for me…. So be it…. gigoid has spoken

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, I don’t know about y’all, but, I needed that…. or, more accurately, I needed to get that out of my head…. Since it is, I think it would be prudent of me to just take my leave now, to avoid any potential unpleasantness from Murphy, or folks out there who might take offense at one of my little shots at politics, or, more commonly, religion, such as it is…. Nevertheless, I will be back tomorrow, unless the Sun goes dark…. See ya, ffolkes…. Oh, and, I promise, the Wise Old Pine Cone will return soon….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
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

gigoid

Ned Moore, aka gigoid, is a 70 year-old, (!!!… When did that happen?….), retired dilettante, who would rather read than eat, most days. His first blog, "gigoid’s folly", has been emailed out to folks he knows for about 18 years now. He still considers it his best defense against angst, and the ever-present specter of sheer insanity..... Due to rigorous curmudgeon training requirements, he has discontinued his Facebook presence, but still indulges in the occasional Twitter session... In essence, he's socialized, but, not overly sociable; all labels and stereotypes are forbidden in his presence... and he doesn't care what anyone thinks about that..... In fact, he doesn't want to talk anymore.... If you feel you MUST contact gigoid, his email address is: alphagigoid@gmail.com You can go read now.... Go on, beat it.... gigoid, the dubious

View Full Profile →

	katiemiafrederick on Are those Foster Grants to blo…
	katiemiafrederick on Funk-o-matic accessories are o…
	katiemiafrederick on Dodge those taxes with dignity…
	katiemiafrederick on Dodge those taxes with dignity…
	katiemiafrederick on But…. but…. what a…

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: