Y’all may have noticed I haven’t been around; in fact, I’ve been gone a lot, from cyberspace, and my house. I have the feeling I am losing readers left and right, so, here is a re-blog, from 2015, a fine example of a Pearl from back when I was still ranting. No fresh ranting here, but, some pretty decent older work, and one of my best poems… I hope you enjoy it, & I’ll be back tomorrow, most likely. Until then, be well, & happy as you may be….
Boy! Deng Ming sure can be harsh sometimes, eh? I usually enjoy his take on Taoist philosophy in the modern world, but, some of his quotes seem to have suffered in the translation, whether he performed it, or someone else. This one just seems to be a bit more of a “written in stone” sort of approach to a concept which seems to me to call for more flexibility, more fluidity, as does any idea used to express some part of the Tao in a way that helps others understand.
Oh, well. I suppose they can’t ALL be great aphorisms. Much like the picture today, one of my own, taken while waiting for a bus. I’m not sure whether the light patches are normal, due to light reflecting off morning mist, or, just another…
In staying true to my new routines, I spent yesterday again immersed in music, which is, quite frankly, providing me with a LOT of emotional purging… catharsis, in its finest form. In addition, it’s given me an idea of what direction to follow to actually find the bliss I have ever sought… more on that another time. For now, it’s enough to know I’m headed aright, and feeling properly good about it.
Since I didn’t get a Pearl even started yet, here’s a rather fine one from 2013, while I still lived in relative poverty, prior to obtaining my SS benefits on retiring. It’s got some excellent retro- and introspection, diving into the Way of Tao, as outlined in the Tao Teh Ching…. well, you’ll see. There is also a most excellent video, which I could hope the entire world would hear…. Also, one of my best poems is here, so, all in all, it’s a worthy replacement for anything I might create today…& I hope you enjoy it….
Me, I’m gonna go to the water, with my guitar, where I’m going to sit, play, and sing until I get hoarse… might even get some pictures, taken, who knows?
Whatever happens, I hope y’all enjoy today’s old Pearl, and that you have as good a day as the one I intend to find….
The Way that can be known is not the true Way. This is a Truth, so deep, so wide, so all-encompassing, it surpasses the ability of Man to fully comprehend, without a lifetime of study, and thought. In fact, finding the Way can be said to be the very meaning and purpose of Life, for those of us to whom such matters are important. I have sought to understand this principle for a very long time now, and feel I’ve made some progress, to the extent of knowing I still have far to go….
But, as Lao Tzu said, in another part of the Tao Teh Ching, a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step; this means I may yet reach the point where it is possible to become…
“Do you imagine that the universe is agitated?
Go out into the desert at night and look up at the sky.
This practice should answer the question.”
~~ Lao Tzu ~~
Yet another iconic view of SF from the Bay….
Hajime…. A few days ago, I posted a fresh Pearl, followed by a couple days of re-blogs, as I recovered from the physical exertion of babysitting my granddaughter for a full day. Lovely time, but, exhausting…. Now, I’m finding it difficult to explain why, for the past two days, and very nearly this morning, I have completely blown off writing, or posting, at all, in favor of seeking my bliss, so to speak.
My search brought me to the realization I am craving life. Not any life, but, the life that exists when one engages fully in the world outside one’s own sphere…. walking, interacting with people, singing, dancing, playing my guitar, cooking for someone…. all those human activities that reinforce our own humanity by being with other humans. I’m even making plans to attend a local Shakespeare festival, where I hope to reconnect with another part of me I’ve neglected over time…. There is something about live theater that speaks to some part of my soul, even when I don’t particularly care for the play (as I’ve noted, Will was overrated, as a writer, to some degree…brilliant, in spots, but, balanced by a LOT of just plain crap).
I’ve spent a lot of time immersing myself in music, particularly listening to new artists, which I have been exploring on You Tube… I would add, that is the ONLY computer time I’ve been pursuing, ignoring all inner prompts to write; what I found has astounded me, as well as providing some hope, ill-advised as such may be, for humanity’s future, should we be able to survive the consequences of attempting to assert our nature on the rest of reality. If only we could place the same energy and passion we put into music into being rational in our dealings with each other, our chances of surviving into the next century would be greatly enhanced.
The problem I now face is deciding whether I want to continue blogging, at all. For years now, I’ve depended on this process to furnish a large portion of rationality with which I try to face Life at Large; it’s kept me relatively sane now for over six years, and well over a thousand posts, & more than a million original words. (Killed at least one keyboard too; even the new one is now missing letters, as I continue to pound away at this poor old machine….). I’ve met a lot of great people, & made some friends I know I’ll have the rest of my life. But, the satisfaction I get from posting a good one seems less important now; making contact with reality, rather than cyber-reality, seems more attractive to my soul/spirit.
What this means for the future of Exploring Consensual Reality remains to be decided; I am unable to completely stop writing. I’d as soon stop breathing, for writing is now as necessary to my peace of mind as the drawing of a clear breath. But, I’m thinking I may post less often, for I intend to make some rather sweeping changes to my daily routine, as I become more physically able to meet the challenges of interacting fully with Life. Walking, playing music, interacting with people, all will assume a greater significance as part of each day, which will, naturally, reduce the number of hours spent hunched over my keyboard, releasing my angst.
So, for those who may wish to converse more often than I may be posting, I’ll point out my email address is in my profile, and I love to write letters; always have, & email makes it even easier than the USPS ever did to stay in touch with those we love…. I’ll be posting, but, perhaps, not so frequently as in the past… I’ll also be spending less time surfing the Net, & more time walking in the real world. As Edward Abbey, one of my favorite modern philosophers, has said, when you walk, the world gets bigger… I’ve still got a LOT of the world to see, so, I guess I’d better get to hoofin’ it, before I can’t walk at all.
For now, let’s go see what I managed to put together while in the midst of all the rest of this; if naught else, you might be happy to know the poem I’ve been slowly leaking is finally done, so, that’s something, eh?….
Shall we Pearl?….
“What each must seek in his life never was on land or sea.
It is something out of his own unique potentiality for experience,
something that never has been
and never could have been experienced by anyone else.”
~~ Joseph Campbell ~~
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Louisa Johnson
~ Image from You Tube via Google Images ~
Below, you’ll find a compilation of the performances this young woman gave during her journey to winning the X-Factor talent competition in 2015. Her initial performance, at the televised audition for the show, will, I predict, completely blow you away, right from the very first note she sings. As the performances follow, you will witness the emergence of a star-to-be, as she blooms into herself. The last few numbers, as with all of them, show her growth as a vocal artist, as well as her growing self-confidence.
It is, to me, a delightful journey, with some of the most compelling, completely mesmerizing vocal performances I’ve EVER seen, from ANY artist. I hope you enjoy her music as much as I have; you’ll be hearing it for many years to come, I am sure….
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Louisa Johnson X-Factor Journey 2015
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Satisfaction guaranteed….
Dreaming, we awaken the dawn;
singing, dancing, composing a rhyme
to greet each new moment, to spawn,
negotiating unreality, seeking the sublime.
Down deep, deeper, daring to clamber
where unconscious dreams haunt relentlessly,
past reason, into the sleeper’s dark chamber
the siren calls, yearning endlessly….
Answers we seek so assiduously hover quietly
around the nearest relevant scenery,
alert to any pertinent intent, inherently
absorbed in metaphor, soberly sedentary.
Proportionate allegory, even the plainly mundane,
though among our most powerful tools,
must remember, the map is not the terrain;
first among Nature’s most basic Rules.
Awakened, craving Life in every fiber of being,
seeking to find the grace of the muses,
reaching back into primitive emotion, seeing
at last, Life never, ever refuses.
~~ gigoid ~~
8/3/2017
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Naked Pearls
The fruit of the vine….
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“Sometimes it takes great effort to discover
that life was meant to be effortless.”
~~ Anonymous ~~
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“The tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he lives.”
~~ Albert Schweitzer ~~
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“Failure is instructive.
The person who really thinks
learns quite as much from his failures
as from his successes.”
~~ John Dewey ~~
*******
“Be careless in your dress if you will, but keep a tidy soul.”
~~ Mark Twain ~~
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“It is by not always thinking of yourself,
if you can manage it,
that you might somehow be happy.
Until you make room in your life
for someone as important to you as yourself,
you will always be searching and lost …”
~~ Richard Bach, Spoken by Leslie Parrish, “The Bridge Across Forever” ~~
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“Warned you have been.”
~~ Yoda ~~
*******
“Therefore search and see if there is not some place
where you may invest your humanity.”
~~ Albert Schweitzer ~~
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Part of this process has always been on a deadline, but, I find myself unwilling to acknowledge the angst that accrues when the deadline goes whooshing by, or, to allow it to influence the results. It’s done, and this moment in time, to wit: now, is sufficiently within parameters to fulfill my chosen duty. Even if all that is sheer bullshit, I find myself without remorse. So be it. It’s done, it’s got great music, a new poem, such as it may be, and a rather elegant old-school pearl…. & if it ain’t enough, well, so be it. For now, suffice to say, I’ll be back in a day or three, when I’ve filled up on life, & feel the need to get it out… Until then, be well, & be true to your own spirit….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
Yesterday, I’d intended to catch up some on visiting other blogs; my mind/body, however, seems to have had rather a different idea of how the day should go, & sent me, in a most cavalier fashion, on a day off. I spent it avoiding all human contact, other than in cyberspace, & didn’t really spend much time there. The end result of this, naturally, is no fresh Pearl today…I did, however, find some rather good candidates for re-blogging amongst the archived Pearls, so I’m falling back on one of them today, to keep from getting weirded out by not posting at all….
Here then is a find example of the old format, with a pretty good mini-rant, a most excellent poem from one of the Great Souls, all with good tunes to read by. I hope you enjoy it, well enough to return for a fresh mess tomorrow….
For today, go have fun, or, whatever is on your agenda for today; I’ll do the same, & we’ll meet back here next time….
Stay strange, ffolkes; it’s one of our best defenses these days….
“If you never assume importance you never lose it.”
~~ Lao-tzu~~
Gratuitous image by gigoid
Okay, ffolkes, we’re gonna do this a bit differently today….. This is an introductory section, right? Right. So, here is today’s Pearl of Virtual Wisdom. Pearl, meet your readers. Shake hands. Good boy. Now, go & get to work…. “Okay, boss!”….
There, that was easy, wasn’t it? Now we can just get on with it…. I like this….
Shall we Pearl?
“The truth is always the strongest argument.” — Sophocles (496-406 BC) — Phaedra, Frag. 737
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“If you get confused, listen to the music play.”
~~ Robert Hunter ~~
Robert Hunter, whom you see quoted above, has been the primary lyricist for the Grateful Dead since shortly after their formation, back in the early 1960’s; their 50th anniversary as a group will be celebrated this year, on July 4th in Chicago. The remaining…
“Computers are like Old Testament gods; lots of rules and no mercy.”
~~ Joseph Campbell ~~
Richmond/San Rafael Bridge from the Bay….
Hajime…. Rather than spending two or three paragraphs detailing the extent of the effort necessary to post today’s Pearl, I’ll merely describe the entire episode as ‘epic’, & let it go at that. After all, the introduction of any type of literature implies some sort of ‘introduction’, not a compendium of gratuitous pandering in solicitation of sympathy. As some BBC show once noted God to have said, “I AM the Supreme Deity, y’know. I’m not entirely dim.” In this case, I’m God, with more insight…. I know, sounds not merely blasphemous, but, arrogant. But, give me a break; it’s early yet.
Oh, right. Introduction. What we have here is a Pearl of Virtual Wisdom, comprised of all the standard parts in the current format. As such, there really isn’t much more to say, so, I’ll let today’s collection of assembled thoughts on Life at Large, as expressed in various venues, speak the rest of our message, such as it may be, for itself…. If you don’t quite follow the dots to a clear picture, no worries; the journey is the thing, not the destination, or, as we are so fond of reminding ourself, especially when we get stuck in the royal we, “the map is NOT the terrain.”
I could add quite a bit more, I suppose, but, the simple truth is, it wouldn’t help, so, from this point, you’re on your own… No surprise there, eh?….
Shall we Pearl?….
“There is nothing like death. To it, everything is a metaphor.”
~~ Subtle Bee ~~
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‘Tula’ ~~ Image from Playing For Change
Today’s music features a talented singer who works with Playing For Change, as a member of their official touring band. I’ve enjoyed hearing her voice for a couple years now, since first stumbling across my first P4C video…. I consider the organization one of the few worthwhile charitable foundations in existence, & contribute to them regularly. I hope you enjoy what you hear, & visit their site, where you can participate in working for peace through music…. Abondanza!….
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Playing For Change Tal Ben Ari (Tula) & Roberto Luti Teach Your Children
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Vague Glimpses of a Rainbow
All the sad notions of propriety had fled,
Screaming their anger for pausing in song,
Until late came the rabid fog, colored in red,
As serenity cried, unafraid to live so strong.
Fallow fields in faithful patience set free,
Dragged from birth, by their own nature cast
Saving each moment against fear yet to be,
Carved into silence, by ignorance held fast.
Historical forces plod slowly ’tis often said
Anxieties streaming stiffly, one epoch to the next.
Cultural mania stands nonchalant in its stead
No sadder epitaph has such bittersweet context.
Patterned bags of forgotten virtue lie in wait
Blessed by reminders whose souls value affinity
Frozen webs surround the fields in gravid state
Grasping passionately within obvious opportunity.
Passage to future realities isn’t guaranteed
Small favors for deities was left off the menu
No roses, nor manna, nor gallant aerial steed
Left traces of fatal, yet originally gracious venue.
~~ gigoid ~~
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Naked Pearls
A few notes on Life at Large….
*******
“Life is too short to waste
In critic peep or cynic bark,
Quarrel or reprimand:
‘Twill soon be dark;
Up! mind thine own aim, and
God speed the mark!”
~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~
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“Only the madman is absolutely sure.”
~~ Robert Anton Wilson ~~
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“One cannot live without inconsistency.”
~~ C. G. Jung ~~
*******
“When the fox gnaws — smile.”
~~ Lazarus Long ~~
*******
“I say love, it is a flower; and you, it’s only seed.”
~~ Bette Midler, “The Rose” ~~
*******
“My skin,
my bones,
my heretic heart
are my authority.”
~~ Catherine Madsen ~~
*******
“Today is what happened to yesterday.”
~~ Subtle Bee ~~
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Okay, ffolkes; I’m done. As well, it would probably be for the best not to ask. Let’s just keep it simple, & say, see y’all tomorrow. I’d like to think the odds are good, but, then, I’ve been wrong before. Be well, & happy as you may, anyway….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
“If the doors of perception were cleansed
every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite.
For man has closed himself up,
till he sees all things thro’ narrow chinks of his cavern.”
~~ William Blake, English poet, artist, and mystic ~~
Possibilities abound….
Hajime…. Though I never achieved much in the way of balance yesterday, I did manage to stay out of gaol, which wasn’t as simple as it may seem, given the one social encounter of my day was with a cabbie firmly in the ranks of the ignorati. Suffice it to say, I left him (mostly) alive, but, ’twas a close thing…. I stayed in after that, to reduce my chances of failing in my chosen duty, thus keeping myself from the attention of the local myrmidons…. Good thing, there, too; I wasn’t in the mood for dealing with the general run of entitlement seen in many too many officers of the ‘law’ in today’s world; it’s getting rather ubiquitous, & I’m often tempted to abrogate duty in favor of justice.
All in all, though, I digress. I don’t have much time, as I’ve been co-opted again to babysit today; Zoe’s coming, & the adventure begins anew. I did manage to get mostly done with the Pearl for today, though the poem still hasn’t quite come completely clear yet. But, that’s easily remedied with an older poem, so, we’re good to go, and, since we are, we’re going. Moreover, we’re going now, before I lose my chutzpah, or my window of opportunity. See ya down the page, ffolkes. Hang on, we’re going down hot….
Shall we Pearl?….
“Small is the number of them that see with their own eyes,
and feel with their own hearts.”
~~ Albert Einstein ~~
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In an attempt to keep relatively current with the world at large, (for the purposes of overall security; it’s wise to know WHEN to jump, as well as in what direction, if & when the time comes….), despite my deliberate hiatus from watching any TV, or other kinds of news cruising, I watched this video, which seemed a good way to hear/see a summarization of all I’d missed. I was so engaged by both the speaker and the content, I am including it here today; I think every American citizen would do well to pay attention to what he says….. not for their own good, directly, but, for the good of the country itself….
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Hasan Minhaj 2017 White House Correspondents Dinner
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Illusory Time
Viewed from askance, the river is long;
deep, uncompromisingly intent, swift and strong.
In duality, perception creates our only reality;
such faux metaphoric paradox enforces mutability.
By two we perceive, both zero, and one;
digital, binary, on or off, such fun.
Separate, melded, we exist, knowing not what we know
ego, striving to be solitary, looking above, seeing below.
Furiously asleep, cultural anomaly claims a victim of choice;
validly unconscious, nobody speaks, nary a voice.
Potential escapees stir in dreams, fighting to wake,
until taking the wheel, for their own bloody sake.
Pots boil in due time, when the fire’s hot,
time exists to our advantage; or, not.
The solitary warrior, head bent in pain,
fights on, with, or without gain.
Night fell, day after day it persisted;
of those who knew, none showed any care, or resisted
Angels, ministers, none had any defense, nor grace;
all that remains is a face.
~~ gigoid ~~
10/22/2016
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Naked Pearls
If you think about it….
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“All of the animals excepting man know
that the principal business of life is to enjoy it.”
~~ Samuel Butler ~~
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“Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”
~~ John Wesley ~~
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“We don’t receive wisdom;
we must discover it for ourselves
after a journey
that no one can take for us
or spare us.”
~~ Marcel Proust ~~
*******
“Always we hope
Someone else has the answer
Some other place will be better
Some other time it will all work out.
This is it.
No one else has the answer
No other place will be better
And it has already turned out.
At the center of your being
You have the answer;
You know who you are and what you want.
There is no need to turn outside
For better seeing.
Rather abide at the center of your being
For the more you leave it
The less you learn.
Search your own heart and see
the way to do is to be.”
~~ Lao Tzu ~~
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“Once you can accept the universe as being
something expanding into an infinite nothing which is something,
wearing stripes with plaid is easy.”
~~ Albert Einstein ~~
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“The only thing I know for sure
is that I know nothing at all, for sure.”
~~ Socrates ~~
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“All this happened, more or less..”
~~ Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut, 1968 ~~
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“In the midst of the word he was trying to say,
In the midst of his laughter and glee,
He had softly and suddenly vanished away
— for the Snark *was* a Boojum, you see.”
~~ Lewis Carroll, The Hunting of the Snark ~~
Neither Snark, nor Boojum here; however, I AM in a hurry now, lest I get stopped in the midst of getting this done. Wish me luck today; she’s a pistol…. See y’all, maybe even soon…. Be well, & alert; it’s the least you can do….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
Having been rudely awakened at 0430 by a hungry cat, my mood upon arising was further affected negatively by a number of Murphy-esque incidents, which are threatening to push today into the crapper. To avoid any of this leaking into a Pearl, I went back to bed at 0445, & tried again at 0700…. No luck there, either; I’m still half-crazy & close to rage… So, I went to look for a re-blog, & found this one…. It’s got some decent ranting going on, as it was created during the final stages of my opioid withdrawal… At the time it was posted, I had almost gotten to a point where I could actually sleep….
Anyway, I’ll work on finding my balance again, & put THAT into the Pearl for tomorrow…. I’ll also make a strong effort not to lose my cool, & do things I’ll later regret, or, at least, be embarrassed by…. Age DOES bring SOME small degree of forethought, you know….
I’ll see y’all tomorrow, if I get lucky, & stay out of gaol….
“Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them.”
~~ Aristotle (384-322BC) ~~
Did someone say ‘mouse’?….
Hajime…. Thank the Doctor for today’s post. Without having the Tardis to use, it might never have been completed, much less posted on the correct day. Without going into details of a subject I’m not happy about to begin with, I’ll say this: FUCKING ASSHOLE!
That little outburst was not aimed at y’all, naturally. It’s reserved for our resident asshole, Murphy, and his damned ubiquity. Now we’ve properly labeled him, hopefully to his regret, we can go on to bigger, if not better things. Now, that doesn’t mean I’ve put together a particularly outstanding Pearl for today; hell, I’m not sure it’s going to get done at all at this point. But, it WILL be better than anything you might have seen had I not taken the time to roundly…
“When something irritates you, think of this:
How else would we get pearls?”
~~ Ancient Human Wisdom ~~
Iconic view of SF from the Ferry….
Hajime…. Of the muses imagined by the Greeks, Calliope is considered by most to be the foremost of the nine sisters. She is the muse of epic poetry, which, given human nature, represents, essentially, the written word, as a manifestation of human thought. Her sister Euterpe, mentioned below, has always, for me, been the muse to whom we connect most often, as the music of life, and dance, and lyric poetry flows through us like water through a channel. The times in my life when I have felt closest to Universal Truth have come most often while playing music, or singing, or dancing; at those moments, the music IS me… and the sense of completeness is ecstatic, a feeling of being more alive than any other time, lasting well after the music stops….
Channeling Calliope, while more cerebral, can nonetheless produce the same effect, if far less often. There can be moments, when a truth comes clear, or we write a phrase that rings with truth, flowing from mind to paper/screen, which can produce a quite similar effect, less dramatic, but, just as satisfying…. When a poem leaks out, the sense of release, and the sense of joy, vie for ascendancy with absolute good humor; we can only wish it would last longer…..
All that being said, we now move to today’s Pearl. It’s a good one, I think, though the poem which I’ve been leaking for two weeks now doesn’t seem to want to end itself; to balance the disappointment, the music for today is one of my personal favorites. Additionally, the final section’s old-school pearl is a classic set of gems, which you will see exceeds all standards of excellence…. metaphorically, of course. I’ve included one of my older poems, another favorite, so as to keep anyone else from garnering any of the potential blame. All in all, it’s rather iconic, as Pearls go, & I’m more than content to post it forthwith. In fact, why don’t we end this relatively useless diatribe, & get on with it? Since I have no coherent answer for that, we shall do so, here, and now….
Shall we Pearl?….
“Good for the body is the work of the body,
and good for the soul is the work of the soul,
and good for either
is the work of the other.”
~~ Henry David Thoreau ~~
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In ancient Greece, Euterpe was the muse of music, songs, and lyric poetry. In our own age, if ever a woman lived who personified Her, Bonnie Raitt must surely be considered as a primary candidate. Ageless beauty, a voice capable of evoking every emotion, including jaw-dropping amazement, a virtuoso guitar player, famous for her smooth blues and slide riffs, all contribute to the image, and reality, of a woman who lives for, and is a part of, the musical essence of Life… It’s hard NOT to gush enthusiastically, so, to refrain from any further fawning adoration, I give you Ms. Bonnie Raitt, live, at her best….
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Bonnie Raitt Live in Germany 1992
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Dead Hands,Typing…
Puzzled anew by anomalous blocks of pain
caught, bemused, chained to routine, insane.
Stilled within breathless beauty
Engaging epiphany, insistent, called to duty.
Knees bent in lieu of a faithful rendition
suffuses, confuses, locked into stale perdition.
Clearing corrosion with hands encased in stone
Singular frozen follicles, masked by bone.
Partial focus brings unfiltered flavors to light
coloring each particle in simple delight.
Forlorn, novel conceptual artists singing in tune
nine notes in harmony, soft as the moon.
Honed blades of carbon steel flash in rhyme,
filling sensual receptors well past closing time.
Borrowed from neighbors in a week-old game
still bloody, without a proper name.
No flooded memories can justify such cost
no simple stationery, bilious, afraid, lost.
Ten times ten will never be enough
To fill so empty a stolen trough.
Bartering simplicity takes well into the night
solidly temporary pillars turned bright.
Unknown to all the pretty children who came
none were called, none had any remaining flame.
~~ gigoid ~~
2/25/2016
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Naked Pearls
Life is a Metaphor for Death….
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“Dear friend, all theory is gray,
And green the golden tree of life.”
~~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, “Faust”
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A wise man once said …”I don’t know.”
~~ Subtle Bee ~~
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“Inside myself is a place where I live all alone,
and that’s where you renew your springs that never dry up.”
~~ Pearl S. Buck ~~
*******
“I remember my grandfather telling me how each of us must live
with a full measure of loneliness that is inescapable,
and we must not destroy ourselves with our passion to escape this aloneness.”
~~ Jim Harrison, “Dalua” ~~
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“After you have exhausted what there is
in business, politics, conviviality, and so on
– have found that none of these finally satisfy, or permanently wear
– what remains?
Nature remains.”
~~ Walt Whitman ~~
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“Some things cannot be spoken or discovered until we have been stuck,
incapacitated, or blown off course for awhile.
Plain sailing is pleasant,
buy you are not going to explore many unknown realms that way.”
~~ David Whyte ~~
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“It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person,
“Always do what you are afraid to do.””
~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~
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“If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else,
you will have succeeded.”
~~ Maya Angelou ~~
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“Because I have loved life, I shall have no sorrow to die.”
~~ Amelia Burr ~~
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Having, in a sense, filled in all the spaces, I shall pronounce this Pearl complete, so as to bring it to a fitting close. Of course, classifying it as ‘fitting’ may be premature, or, at minimum, optimistic, but, hey, it’s all good, cuz nobody’s paying me for this. In fact, having thus proclaimed this process to be, in essence, futility on parade, I shall, with rather more aplomb than is called for, cease and desist for another day. Y’all stay strange; me, I have no choice in the matter…. See y’all, maybe even tomorrow….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
Two bridges, one strait….(the Carquinez, if you must know…)
Hajime…. In my defense, there are reasons for being so late, as well as for my recent inconsistency in posting. Since going into detail would be both indulgent, and pandering, I’ll skip all that, & just go with ‘there are reasons’…. So be it. All the proper elements of a complete Pearl are in place; it’s all fresh, though not particularly so, since all but the final section includes previously used sources of material. The final, old-school pearl is a good one, though, with some rather telling metaphoric sarcasm shaping the conclusion to be inferred. I like it, and so will you….
Not only am I late in posting today, I’m in a rather strange mood, even for me. It feels as if anything I write could turn on me, should I, even for an instant, lose track of my balance, which, though solidly embedded, nonetheless seems delicate. To head off any outbursts of sanity before they occur, we’ll cut this intro short, so as to maintain the illusion we’ve worked so hard to establish, that of a mind in control of itself, if only for this moment in time. In that vein, I appeal to your sense of compassion, or empathy, whichever works best, to allow some leeway before judging us too harshly. If, for some reason, your own sense of balance is shaky, well, try harder…. I’ve done, as is my wont, all I can do, & that, as you know, is all one can do.
Shall we Pearl?….
“To lead the people, walk behind them.”
~~ Lao-Tzu ~~
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French composer Camille Saint-Saens
In the relatively recent past, I’ve experienced a number of times when my anger… no, my rage… has gotten the better of me, thanks to a combination of physical issues aggravating PTSD symptoms, so generously provided by my broken mind, as a result of past choices in work. Without going into superfluous detail, let’s just say, the music of this man, Camille Saint-Saëns, has helped me to find my way back to some balance more than any other music, save perhaps Bonnie’s, or Eric’s (if I have to include surnames, y’all haven’t been paying attention sufficiently….). In any case, it always hits the right notes, so, please, enjoy….
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Camille Saint-Saëns Symphonies
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Early Observations
Until I knew there was more,
I wanted to know God.
They said he was a nice guy,
and would let me live forever.
All I had to do, they said,
was live my life for Him,
always living by scripture
cleaving only to his Way.
But, everyone I saw in church,
acted different at home.
Living wild, cussin’ and fussin’,
nobody lived like they said.
Still, I tried to be like Jesus,
he was sort of cool.
He never hurt nobody
and walked on the right path.
‘Course they killed him for that,
they couldn’t stand his example.
Turned him into a martyr,
hid his real words among their own.
Then I found the Buddha,
and met Lao Tzu at the gate.
They saw things real different,
showed me how to see straight.
Right thought, and right action
replace blind obedience and faith.
Reality becomes manageable,
fear retreats, the universe expands.
Brother John said it pretty well,
“Imagine there’s no heaven,
it’s easy if you try.”
Sounds like he knew why.
Day to day, life is grand,
we walk in eternal beauty.
Open your eyes and hearts,
find yourself already immortal.
~~ gigoid ~~
4/12/2013
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Naked Pearls
A metaphoric précis of Human History….
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“Yes, many primitive people still believe this myth…
But in today’s technical vastness of the future,
we can guess that surely things were much different.”
~~ The Firesign Theater ~~
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“One never realizes
how much and how little he knows
until he starts talking.”
~~ Louis L’Amour ~~
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“Ancient custom has the force of law.”
~~ Wise Bee ~~
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“When the need arises — and it does —
you must be able to shoot your own dog.
Don’t farm it out —
that doesn’t make it nicer, it makes it worse.”
~~ Lazarus Long ~~
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“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”
~~ Anais Nin ~~
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“It has yet to be proven that intelligence has any survival value.”
~~ Arthur C. Clarke ~~
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“Ward, I’m worried about the Beaver.”
~~ June Cleaver ~~
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I’ve checked to make sure, & all the parts are where they’re supposed to be; on a morning such as this, that’s more than merely satisfying, moving right past that into edifying, as well as encouraging. I’ll take it, and run. See y’all next time, whenever that may be; it’s too iffy today to make a prediction. I’ll shoot for tomorrow, & with a bit of luck & perseverance, we’ll see y’all then. Be well, be alert, be strange, and…. well, you know the rest…. Don’t worry; if you don’t, reality will provide you with clues…. so, pay attention!….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
As noted in yesterday’s post, I spent most of the day babysitting my two year old granddaughter, Zoe…. Naturally, today, I am in the throes of exhaustion. Well, perhaps not quite in the throes, but, nearby, to be sure. This precludes anything fresh this morning, other than this intro blurb for the re-blog I’ve chosen for your reading pleasure. Well, perhaps THAT may be a trifle optimistic, but, y’all know what I mean, right? Given that this process is in existence for the sole purpose of keeping me in the vicinity of sane, one must allow some leeway in expressions of intention.
If that isn’t clear, well, it’s simply too bad, because not only do I not have the time or inclination to clean it up until it IS clear, but, there’s little chance I could do so, anyway, as there simply isn’t much to work with. Go figure, eh?
I’ll be back tomorrow, I’m sure, & if not, well, I imagine the sun will come up anyway. In any case, I shall see you then….
Be well, be alert, and, keep ’em guessing, ffolkes….
Spintharus, speaking in commendation of Epaminondas, says he scarce ever met with any man who knew more and spoke less.
~~ Plutarch (46-120 AD) ~~ Of Hearing, 6
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True is suffering; this is true cause; this is true cessation; this is the true path.
Know the sufferings; give up they causes; attain the cessation of the suffering; follow the true paths.
Know the sufferings although there is nothing to know; relinquish the causes of misery although there is nothing to relinquish; be earnest in cessation although there is nothing to cease; practice the means of cessation although there is nothing to practice.
~~ Buddha, The Four Noble Truths ~~
In case there is ANY question as to the meaning of any of the above…. The first quote is there to set the tone…. The next quote, from the Buddha, is there to show how the Buddha understood…
Did someone say ‘mouse’?….
gigoid 