One might think, given my age, I would know better. In fact, I do, but, it doesn’t prevent me from making poor decisions… My latest foray into public turned overly social on me (forgot the date….), so I ended up socializing too long with my old friend Jack. Now, I can only use two words to explain why there is no fresh Pearl today, which are, hung over…. Go figure, eh? I’ll be back tomorrow. Here, to sublimate, is a quite extensive Pearl from 2014, with a bunch of older Pearls included in the package from that day’s post. I hope you enjoy it; if not, well, c’est la vie, & we’ll try again tomorrow. See ya, ffolkes; I’m gonna go somewhere & groan for a while…. Ugh….
“The velocity with which time flies is infinite, as is most apparent to those who look back.”
~~ Seneca ~~
(B.C. 3-65 A.D.)
Today is a day pregnant with possibilities…. I have high hopes that when I return from my outing today, my life will have undergone some significant alterations, at least in one or two respects, and, all I can say is, it’s about damn time….. I feel as if I’ve been stuck in a rut for months, and have an opportunity to break free of whatever it is that has been keeping me from LIFE….
Hence, the quote from Seneca seems to me to be most appropriate, encouraging us, as it does, to look forward, to see what there is to see, and to learn, rather than wasting precious time trying to hold on to something in the past, expressing the advantage of keeping our eyes…
“Every evil to which we do not succumb is a benefactor.”
~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~
Leelu in play mode, preparing to kill the shoe….
Hajime…. Good morrow, gentle reader. Prey, tell us how you are today; it helps us to determine the potential for disaster if we have some data with which to work. It can also provide sufficient reason to abandon the royal ‘we’, to which we often fall pray ourselves. (And, no, there are no spelling errors in the forgoing; they’re intentional….) Has it worked? Hard to tell, at this point, so, we’ll go on (nope, didn’t happen)….
I must ask for your forgiveness, and patience. Though I’ve managed to drop the ‘we’ so often innocently displayed, it is clear, to me, there isn’t much hope for elegance, nor any particular brilliance. Not this morning. I can’t say why that may be, for I awoke with a deep sense of, well, not confusion, but, perhaps, reluctance, especially at the idea of engaging in deep cogitative exercises. Not that I am particularly tired; I just can’t seem to summon up any enthusiasm toward the idea of thinking too hard. It may have to do with not having enough coffee on board yet; it could be merely a fleeting memory of former times. Or, most likely, I’m feeling lazy today; I have to confess, it’s happened before.
Generally, on such days, I’ll hide it behind some rather pointed nonsense; today, even that seems like too much effort. In fact, this all seems to be exhausting me prematurely. Though I’m fully aware such a reaction is merely another of my subconscious mind’s tricks to get its own way, it is nonetheless difficult to overcome, without expending more of the effort I don’t wish to employ. Go figure, eh? To head off any negative effects on what might show up below, I’ll cut this whole shebang short, with a bit of ruthless literary maneuvering, which, though actually proscribed for anyone with integrity, will work just fine for our purpose today, to just get on with it. Toward that end, here’s my best shot at doing just that….
Shall we Pearl?
A sense of humor keen enough to show a man his own absurdities
will keep him from the commission of all sins, or nearly all,
save those that are worth committing.”
~~ Samuel Butler ~~
********************************
Image from crafthubs.com via Google Images
Recently, I watched this movie, as a means of taking my mind away from modern times. Though obviously filled to the brim with war propaganda, as well as a myriad of examples of the embedded sexism in human culture, it manages to keep one entertained during the entire movie, thanks to some excellent direction, editing, and some good acting (in spots…), the latter being a difficult task in such a light script. I enjoyed it, and, as long as you can get past the inherent flaws, so will y’all….
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Operation Petticoat
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*************************************
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Notes of process and program…
Poems, alas, don’t chase through my head,
bumping and pushing each other like brothers at dinner.
They’re more ripped out of my innards, instead.
Time and circumstance reveal no ultimate winner.
Simmering and bubbling near my unconscious mind
these maddening rhymes blind me sans glimmer.
Building until bursting as if to be dined and wined,
the remaining denizens appear much slimmer.
Fiery visions retain such glorious fatal dimension,
in retrospect, yet fail to leave a permanent scar,
until blessed, or cursed, with focused attention,
singing, crying, bleeding, fast as a movie star.
Pretty soon can’t be soon enough, she said
to a chameleon colored thief bathed in moonlight.
Fancy candles in stripes of blue, gold, and red
foster honest dreams in shades of white.
Passage to daylight is problematic, at best:
beastly ghosts of insomniacs cast no shadow.
Even judges with robes can pass the wrong test
while the rest of us go with what we know.
~~ gigoid ~~
1/13/2013
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Matched Pearls
Regarding ancient wisdom….
*********
“Kindness is more important than wisdom,
and the recognition of this is the beginning of wisdom.”
~~ Theodore Isaac Rubin ~~
*********
“Neither genius, fame, nor love show the greatness of the soul.
Only kindness can do that.”
~~ Jean Baptiste Henri Lacordaire ~~
*********
“Kindness in words creates confidence.
Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.
Kindness in giving creates love.”
~~ Lao-Tzu ~~
*********
“I value kindness to human beings first of all, and kindness to animals.
I don’t respect the law;
I have a total irreverence for anything connected with society
except that which makes the roads safer,
the beer stronger, the food cheaper,
and old men and women warmer in the winter, and happier in the summer.”
~~ Brendan Behan ~~
*********
“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.”
~~ Aesop ~~
*********
“Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.”
~~ Anne Herbert, Co-Evolution Quarterly, 1983 ~~
*********
“Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair,
but manifestations of strength and resolution.”
~~ Kahlil Gibran ~~
*********
“This is my simple religion.
There is no need for temples;
no need for complicated philosophy.
Our own brain, our own heart is our temple;
the philosophy is kindness.”
~~ The Dalai Lama ~~
*********
“What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?”
~~ Jean-Jacques Rousseau ~~
*********
********************************
Well, ffolkes, there you have it. A reluctantly honest intro, fun with history, an honest, if not brilliant poem, and a gorgeous necklace of excellent pearls, joined together in celebration of humanity’s saving grace (perhaps, its only grace….). I can’t say how it will affect others, but, I like it, so, that means we’re done. Oops, there’s that ‘we’ again. Oh, well, it can’t hurt too much now. To distract anyone from filing any charges, let’s do this the right way…. See ya, ffolkes; though the question of ‘when’ is still without clear answer, y’all may rest assured it won’t be long before I’m back to torment your tolerance once again…. Think about that, and be content. Meantime, be well, and happy as you may….
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.
I’ve been watching the crisis here in California at Lake Oroville, whose dam has been neglected long enough it’s threatening to break enough to flood a large area northwest of Sacramento potentially affecting several million people in a wide area… Also don’t much feel like working today, so, I have sublimated by going WAY back into the archives, for a very old-school Pearl from about a month after beginning here on WP. Though it’s a pretty decent Pearl, with some rather fine pearls, it got no traffic, so, I’m giving it a second shot at fame today. I hope you enjoy it; it’s short, simple, but, not altogether unworthy of note… I shall be back tomorrow, I suppose… actually, you may count on it…. See ya. Be well, & stay alert….
Ffolkes, Picking out today’s Pearls turned out to be a marathon. Just couldn’t find the right stuff to lead off a lazy Saturday. So, we’ll have to wing it…. Hmmm…..nothing is rising to the surface. Even stirring the contents briskly has nothing sticking to the spoon. I suppose we could take a few moments here for an advertisement disclaimer, but, it being Saturday, I don’t much feel like diving back in to the oyster beds to find where I left it. I could go nonsensical; that’s always fun. But Lewis Carroll did that already, and I don’t much feel like trying to out-Jabberwock a dead author. I suppose I should find a newsworthy event to share, or comment on the current political scene, but I also don’t feel like putting on the necessary high-top boots for wading around in that filthy pool. It stinks, also, and I’m out of nasal…
Hajime…. Wherever one may reside on the face of this planet, the hours between 3 and 6 AM are pretty quiet. Most ffolkes, as well as most folks, are either asleep, or would like to be. Leelu and I are, perhaps, the exception which proves the rule, in that case, for we arise each day, no matter what time I may fall to sleep, between 3 and 4 AM, with her preference to eat and play, and mine to write. This usually happens soon after feeding her, and throwing her paper to fetch for a short while, until she becomes bored with it, whereupon she has learned to take a nap until I am done posting the day’s mess. I have found the peaceful quiet to be my most productive period of the day, and have come to appreciate the space to think and compose.
That said, we will ignore the concomitant issues, such as a blank, or troubled mind, or a painful body, which may preclude any competent production beyond the most basic. Generally, if the latter instance is in play, I’ll end up re-blogging, which is relatively simple, as I have more than five years of almost daily posts from which to choose. Of late, both the process of re-blogging and/or posting a fresh Pearl have been complicated due to physical issues. Today, beset only by my own predilection to ‘get it done’, I found the means, within me, and in the tools I employ, to get it done fairly efficiently, if not exactly up to the standards I wish to meet. So be it, for, I find myself also unwilling to go the extra ten steps to make it all perfect (in my own mind, anyway). In short, y’all will just have to take it ‘as is’, & be content with that, as that’s just the way it is today.
That’s probably not the approach best guaranteed to produce a successful post, but, then, I’ve never really cared about success, as I measure that by how many mundanes I haven’t killed in a day; so far, so good, today. Let us hold out hope to reach the end of the day having maintained that status. Not that I’d mind acing a few of them, but, it’s hard to justify when I know they simply can’t help being stupid, or ignorant, whichever the case may be. (Ignorance is amenable to fixing; as we all know, stupid is forever….) But, producing these Pearls has been an invaluable tool in keeping the body count down, so, I suppose we can be content with that. Better than the alternatives, yes?
I think that’s probably quite enough meandering blather for one day, don’t you? Why don’t we just get on with this, since what is to be found below is probably more entertaining than wandering around in my early morning miasma? Moreover, let’s do so with some panache, or, at the very least, some efficiency. Such is relatively simple, you see, for all we have to do is this….
Shall we Pearl?
“A man can only do what he can do.
But if he does that each day he can sleep at night
and do it again the next day.”
~~ Albert Schweitzer ~~
********************************
Cream, Reunited….
Cream was one of the most popular & successful rock bands of the 60’s, lasting until the creative tension amongst the three artists became too much to bear, whereupon they held a farewell concert, in 1968. Thirty-seven years later, they reunited to hold a series of concerts at Royal Albert Hall, a concert that is now legendary for the performances they gave. Here is a video of one of the shows, in its entirety. Enjoy, ffolkes; it doesn’t get any better than this….
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Cream Reunion Royal Albert Hall, 2005
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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 ~~
9/6/2012
********************************
Naked Pearls
Basic Ingredients….
*******
“I’m a man of my word.
In the end, that’s all there is really….”
~~ Avon ~~
*******
“I used to sit on the banks with a raft and watch the water roll lazily by.
One day I pushed my raft into the shallows of the water
and found the water moved swifter than I thought,
but my raft was actually a little rowboat.
Then, after some time, I rowed my little boat into deeper water.
There were great storms, mighty winds, tremendous waves,
and sometimes I felt so alone.
But I have noticed my little rowboat is now
a mighty ship manned by my friends and loved ones,
and beautiful calm seas, warm sunny days,
and nights filled with comfortable dreams always double after a storm.
Now, I could never go back and sit on the bank,
in fact, I search for deeper water.
Such is life when lived.”
~~ B D Gulledge ~~
*******
“Be not afraid of going slowly; be only afraid of standing still.”
~~ Chinese Proverb ~~
*******
“Anybody remotely interesting is mad, in some way or another.”
~~ Dr. Who ~~
*******
“He who sacrifices his conscience to ambition burns a picture to obtain the ashes.”
~~ Chinese Proverb ~~
*******
“Blessed is he who has learned to laugh at himself,
for he shall never cease to be entertained.”
~~ John Powell ~~
*******
“How could the drops of water know themselves to be a river?
Yet the river flows on.”
~~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery ~~
*******
********************************
Well, it’s done. Since the intro provided all the lack of coherence necessary, I think we’ll end this quickly, before it shakes itself apart, which, if I am not mistaken, will happen in the very near future, unless we can beat it to the end. Oh, good, I see the end, right there…. Let’s take this exit, then, rather than risk the alternative. See ya, ffolkes. I’ll be back relatively soon, as I can already feel the creative tension building toward another one…. Funny how that works, isn’t it?….
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.
I had planned to write yesterday, but, events in the BBR took longer and were more exhausting than the plan prepared me to handle. Follow that with an unexpected melt-down of an emotional nature, & the Pearl for today got shuffled into the background. Then, upon awakening today, I found myself unwilling to tolerate the equanimity required to write with any skill; Smart Bee is being fractious, as well, so, I went looking for something from the archives, where I found this ancient Pearl from 2011, only a couple months after starting to post my messes here on WP. It’s a pretty good Pearl, in all, which takes the reader on an extensive trip through my head. Sadly, no one ever came to see it, or gave a Like, so, we’ll give it another shot at fame today, & see what happens…. I’ll be back tomorrow with some fresh material; too much built up in there to deny today, so, after one short trip to obtain critical supplies, I’ll be working at it all day, as much as my toleration for sitting allows. I hope you enjoy this one; at the time it was created, I was still unschooled in how to add any other elements aside from text, so, no music…. Some good poetry though, so, we’ll hope for the best. Y’all be cool, & have a safe, happy weekend….
Ffolkes,
I’m feeling a bit curmudgeonly this morning; I’m down to instant coffee until I can get to a store, and having to drink this nasty stuff has me close to biting myself in irritation. Fortunately, one of my friends is coming by, and will be bringing coffee with him. One of the advantages of advanced years is the improvement in forethought skills; we knew he was coming over today, and arranged to have him pick some up on the way. Too bad it doesn’t improve the flavor of this instant crap…….
____________________________________
Deal with others as thou wouldst thyself be dealt by. Do nothing to thy neighbor which thou wouldst not have him do to thee hereafter. — _The Mahabharata_, c. 800 B. C. (Sounds suspiciously like the Golden Rule to me)
“To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking…
“He took his vorpal sword in hand
Long time the manxom foe he sought
Till rested he by the tumtum tree
And stood awhile in thought”
~~ “Jabberwocky”, by Lewis Carroll ~~
Not falling down yet….
Hajime…. Fortunately for me, today’s Pearl came together smoothly, once begun. I can’t say why, other than to thank SB for being so cooperative this morning, and, thanking Leelu for showing patience with my need to get it done (she’s often less than pleased with me during my writing time; it takes my attention away from her when she wants to play). Perhaps a short shout-out to Murphy is in order, as well, for being busy elsewhere this morning, giving hell to some other poor sap. All in all, I’m pleased with the outcome, too, so, hey, good day, so far….
Kind of like being immortal, right? I AM immortal, so far…. *grin* Okay, no more cheap shots. Instead, I’ll give honor to the process of Pearling, by making this intro of a reasonable size and shape, rather than the customary amorphous mass of contradictory statements, its usual complements. How to go about doing that is a bit tricky, so, maybe we should get right to that, before I lose what little control over this I possess. It’s actually quite a simple technique, involving only a ruthless nature (tough for me, I know). Since we have reached the obvious jumping-off point for said technique, I shall proceed to employ it, while y’all are still unsure of how to react. Watch this, ffolkes….
Shall we Pearl?
“In all affairs it’s a healthy thing now and then
to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted.”
~~ Bertrand Russell ~~
********************************
I’ve used this artist’s music previously, & will likely do so again. The first time I watched one of his videos, my jaw literally dropped open, at almost the first note. His brilliance as a guitarist is undeniable, and it is a joy to watch him play; he plays with intense focus and passion, putting everything he is into making the guitar speak for him. I regard him as one of the finest musicians playing today, and welcome the recent success he has seen. Enjoy, ffolkes; you’ll soon be paying big money to go see him play live….
*************************************
Mariusz Goli
*************************************
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********************************
Seeing is Conducive to Belief
Folly sits so comfortably upon my fevered brow
one would easily believe that I would know how
to look at Life with a jaded, weary eye
seeing enough, and more, to know Why.
Such seems the case, as I will it to be,
an open book of a face, it looks so like me;
what’s known to be so, needs no close attention
familiar sights require no minding, nor mention.
The eye is drawn at once to the stark and new,
and sent back to sleep by successful review.
Once we find evidence we feel we understand,
curiosity languishes, dismissed at command.
Ancient sages knew the insidious value of illusion,
preachers and pundits know the power of confusion.
Each pair of eyes contains its own point of reference,
each mind sets its own standards of preference.
Seeing is believing, for those who live in thrall,
accepting what is perceived is all they ever recall.
Unknown to them, reality follows another set of rules,
Deeper, more dangerous, and no place for fools.
~~ gigoid ~~
10/11/2012
********************************
Naked Pearls
Stones on the path….
*******
“For after all what is man in nature?
A nothing in relation to infinity, all in relation to nothing,
a central point between nothing and all
and infinitely far from understanding either.
The ends of things and their beginnings
are impregnably concealed from him in an impenetrable secret.
He is equally incapable of seeing the nothingness out of which he was drawn
and the infinite in which he is engulfed.”
~~ Blaise Pascal ~~
*******
“It was the saying of Bion, that though the boys throw stones at frogs
in sport, yet the frogs do not die in sport but in earnest.”
~~ Plutarch — Which are the most crafty, Water or Land Animals? 7 ~~
*******
“Hope in reality is the worst of all evils, because it prolongs the torments of man.”
~~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche ~~
*******
“We usually get what we order from life.”
~~ Limon ~~
*******
“Humility is the better part of wisdom, and is most becoming in man.
But let no one disparage self-reliance;
it is, of all the rest, the greatest quality of true manliness.”
~~ Ferenc Kossuth ~~
*******
“Yet creeds mean very little,
Coth answered the dark god, still speaking almost gently.
The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds;
and the pessimist fears this is true.”
~~ James Branch Cabell, “The Silver Stallion” ~~
*******
“Independence?
That’s middle class blasphemy.
We are all dependent on one another,
every soul of us on earth.”
~~ George Bernard Shaw ~~
*******
********************************
I have to say it…. that went well. I realize such sentiments, stated aloud, are a temptation to Murphy, but, we’ll make the probably erroneous assumption he’s busy elsewhere; what’s life without some risk, eh? Rather than wait too long, we’ll take our leave post-haste, to increase the odds of successful disengagement. I’ll be back, fairly soon, I’m sure, as I’ve been feeling better, mostly, which increases efficiency, as well as improving mood. Go figure, eh? It may not be tomorrow, but, I’ll be back, of that you may be assured. For now, go have some fun, or work, or whatever floats your boat; I’ll do the same….
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.
“Far from the madding crowd’s ignoble strife
Their sober wishes never learn’d to stray;
Along the cool sequester’d vale of life
They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.”
~~ Thomas Gray — Elegy in a Country Churchyard, Stanza 19 ~~
Simple pleasures….
Hajime…. The picture you see adorning the top of today’s post is one of my own, as can be deduced by the simple fact there is no attribution; if it isn’t mine, I always try to say whose it is. It’s a good one for today, & the comment below describes the feeling I had when taking it, as well as my reaction every time I look at it. I chose it for today because it seems to represent my current life, and what I seek to find in life, every day. To some, it may seem boring; others may find it charming, or even hopeful. However one sees it, I think, says more about the viewer than it does about the picture or its contents, which is, in my mind, exactly what a good picture does….
Today’s Pearl of Virtual Wisdom is fresh, if somewhat esoteric in nature; I suppose, in at least one respect, that’s a good description of my own nature. It came together fairly well over the past two days, as I continue to battle physical and mental demons, both of which, while progressing toward an improved status, are taking their own sweet time getting there. Life is funny, isn’t it? We live it forward, understanding it backward, while seldom taking the time to even consider which direction we take. I guess that’s a fair description of Life at Large, eh? Since that is the case, it’s probably best for our purpose here to acknowledge the truth of it, and get on with the rest of it, before it reaches its expiration date prematurely.
All that really means is I’m clueless as to how to get out of this intro; I seem to have written myself into a rather obscure corner, & finding my way back to rationality isn’t the most attractive option I see. Instead, I’ll take what we’ve already created, and run for the border, or, in this case, on to the next section, with the intention of making it to the end before it all falls down. To assist us in our quest, filled with folly though it may be, we’ll stop, right here, and right now, & head on down the page… That, in case you have forgotten, looks suspiciously like this….
Shall we Pearl?
“He who endeavors to serve, to benefit, and improve the world,
is like a swimmer, who struggles against a rapid current,
in a river lashed into angry waves by the winds.
Often they roar over his head,
often they beat him back and baffle him.
Most men yield to the stress of the current…
Only here and there the stout, strong heart
and vigorous arms struggle on toward ultimate success.”
~~ Albert Pike (1809-1891) ~~
********************************
It’s a default day, but, we’ll go with classical, instead. Go figure, eh?…. I hope you enjoy this collection, chosen at random on You Tube….
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Classical Music
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********************************
Manifesto, sotto voce
In retrospect, I’ve gotta say,
it’s all been rather a muddle.
Life is tough, so ‘they’all say,
Lots of misery, not much cuddle.
Me, I’ve found life a bit different
than ‘they’ seem to have done.
It’s all been rather excellent;
I’ve had loads & loads of fun.
Sure, there’s been some bad shit.
Who can’t say that?
All of that pales, all of it
when one hugs a dog, a child, or a cat.
I’ve seen, fought, and felt, more than my share,
the presence of evil in life.
The pain that remains often seems unfair;
I ask why I chose to deal with such strife.
I can always find the answer in the same place,
right where it has ever resided.
All we need to do is embrace
the joy we’ve given, and been provided.
Simple is good.
Balance is good.
Life can be both.
~~ gigoid ~~
12/19/2015
********************************
Naked Pearls
Notes on the Human Condition
*******
A thing moderately good is not so good as it ought to be.
Moderation in temper is always a virtue;
but moderation in principle is always a vice.”
~~ Thomas Paine ~~
*******
“Boys become men by watching men, by standing close to men.
Manhood is a ritual passed from generation to generation
with precious few spoken instructions.
Passing the torch of manhood is a fragile, tedious task.
If the rite of passage is successfully completed,
the boy-become-man is like an oak of hardwood character.
His shade and influence will bless all those
who are fortunate enough to lean on him
and rest under his canopy.”
~~ Preston Gilham ~~
*******
“Do not speak of what men deserve.
For we each of us deserve everything,
every luxury that was ever piled in the tombs of the dead Kings,
and we each of us deserve nothing,
not a mouthful of bread in hunger.
Have we not eaten while another starved?
Will you punish us for that?
Will you reward us for the virtue of starving while others ate?
No man earns punishment, no man earns reward.
Free your mind of the idea of *deserving*, of *earning*,
and you will begin to be able to think.”
~~ Odo, The Prison Letters~~
~~Ursula LeGuin, “The Dispossessed” ~~
*******
“The good life, as I conceive it, is a happy life.
I do not mean that if you are good you will be happy
– I mean that if you are happy you will be good.”
~~ Bertrand Russell ~~
*******
“We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute.
We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race.
And the human race is filled with passion.
And medicine, law, business, engineering,
these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life.
But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.
To quote from Whitman,
‘O me! O life!…
of the questions of these recurring;
of the endless trains of the faithless
–of cities filled with the foolish;
what good amid these,
O me, O life?
Answer.
That you are here
– that life exists, and identity;
that the powerful play goes on
and you may contribute a verse.’
That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse.
What will your verse be?”
~~ John Keating, Dead Poet’s Society ~~
*******
“It is a terrible thing
for a man to find out suddenly
that all his life he has been
speaking nothing but the truth.”
~~ Oscar Wilde ~~
*******
“The truth you speak has no past and no future.
It is, and that’s all it needs to be.”
~~ Richard Bach, “Illusions” ~~
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I made it. It’s unclear to me, exactly, how that came to be, but, then, I’m used to a fairly extensive degree of ambiguity, so, no big deal, right? Right. In fact, it offers me the opportunity to continue the ruthless efficiency I applied so well in ending the intro, by cutting this off before it becomes unwieldy. To make sure of it, I’ll bid thee adieu without further delay, with the concomitant wish your day goes well. Mine, such as it is, has made a decent start, so, our goal thus becomes clear…. to maintain that direction throughout the day. I’ll even forgo any analysis of the efficacy of such a wish, & merely say, see y’all next time, which, given the progress made, may be sooner than any of us believe. Stay strange, ffolkes; it’s cool out there….
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, after posting, I was fortunate to be able to contact a friend via Skype, with whom I held a great conversation, for almost two hours.
Since she is perhaps the most grounded person I know, as well as possibly the smartest woman in the entire world (no joke), the time spent had the result of putting me into an excellent mood, & sending me out to foray in the BBR. Soon after arriving home, my demons attacked, & I spent the remainder of the day getting back to the grounded position I’d found earlier. That, naturally, kept me out of my chair & away from the computer, so, no fresh Pearl for today. To carry us over until I can get it done, here is one from late 2012, that got some decent traffic, but, deserves more…. It will have to do for now, as I’m still engaged in skirmishes with my own psyche; it will pass, as it always does, but, in the meantime, please enjoy this blast from the past, one with a pretty hefty level of mandatory cogitation made necessary by its content… Enjoy, ffolkes, & I’ll be back as soon as I’ve buried these demons….
Ffolkes, It’s a long road to Tipperary, so it is said…. It is certainly taking me long enough to get there. Of course, I’ve been somewhere near there every night, it seems, in dreams, but it just isn’t the same. I’m guessing that the fact that traveling to Ireland is so much on my mind has to do with wanting so badly to be able to do so, or, for that matter, to be able to travel ANYWHERE!….. I’m going stir crazy sitting here in one place for so long. I’ve traveled enough in my life to know that it is perhaps my greatest joy, if one doesn’t count my children, or love. Take those out of the calculation, and it wins, hands down, as my absolute favorite thing to do…. and don’t even go there…. I know what you’re thinking, but this is a family blog, and children will…
“A man is a very small thing, and the night is very large and full of wonders.”
~~ Lord Dunsany, The Laughter of the Gods ~~
Morning glorious….
Hajime…. For more than six years now, I have used the creation of this blog as a means of finding my inner balance. The process I developed over that time has furnished me with a routine upon which I could depend to produce a product I considered worthy of publishing for peer review, while simultaneously providing me with a means to organize my thoughts into the mold it most favors, in order to maintain the balance so essential to the peace sought so diligently by our inner self.
Since the real world, which I call consensual reality, seldom provides any of these for us, ( in truth, it often works in the opposite direction, making it hard to find any such means….), it has worked pretty well, such as it is. Of course, I am the sole judge of how well it works, & I am, deliberately, inconsistent in judging its efficacy, thus, most probably, detracting from its efficiency to some degree. But, as the closing introductory quote from Ralphie notes, consistency is just as well left out of the issue. By my standards, writing has worked well to keep me relatively sane, by public standards, if not my own, or, those of others less familiar with my personality); as proof, I offer a simple statistic, to wit: I have yet to kill anyone. Given the almost hourly occurrence of homicidal urges that come to me as I perceive the world, that’s not bad.
In truth, it occurs to me, much of my life has been a long struggle to keep myself from killing people; there are just so many of them who deserve killing, by almost any standard! Oligarchs, politicians, priests, pimps, corrupt cops, the list, to me, seems endless. Each of those categories of humans, on a consistent basis, exhibit the worst traits of humanity…. Fear, cowardice, the ability to lie, or deny reality, without guilt, shame, or the slightest degree of compassion; most of my fellow humans, to my mind, seem to abrogate their very humanity at every turn, refusing to use the intelligence they have been imbued with by nature, and denying their own connection to the rest of creation, insisting they are so special, the rules of the universe do not apply to them.
Moreover, the most basic flaw our species demonstrates regularly, seems to not even enter their perception. This flaw, as I see it, is the ability to deny their own nature, such that their entire approach to reality becomes their own worst enemy. We humans seem to have the unfortunate ability to make the assumption we have the power to alter reality at our whim, a belief not shared by that reality. Moreover, we are so convinced of this false power, we make the automatic assumption we are thus better than the rest of reality. This sense of entitlement, false as it may be, will, in the long run, prove to be a fatal flaw, for it is leading us inexorably to an ignoble end…. which is another simple deduction people refuse to make….
I have wandered around in my mind now for some time today, trying to find a way to succinctly state my feelings & thoughts, trying to explain, to myself as much as y’all, why I haven’t been writing much. I suppose I should take a shot at summarizing, so we can get on with the rest of this mess….
I don’t see much hope for humanity. The flaws in our nature, which we refuse to acknowledge, or attempt to abrogate, are killing us. If we cannot change the paradigm with which we now live, we are ALL going to die, and not comfortably. I suppose the angst and lack of balance I have been experiencing for the past year or so, since regaining a bit of clear-mindedness I had misplaced is a direct result of my sorrow at such an outcome. As a species, we show a lot of promise; it’s unfortunate our own nature prevents us from reaching out to grasp that promise, and make it our own. Instead, we fuss, we fight, we act as if the lies and delusions, upon which our entire culture is based, are real, and will help us live, when, in fact, all we can ever expect, if we don’t change, is ongoing conflict, and misery for the major portion of humanity.
My angst thus, is a persistent sense of sorrow, and anger at those humans who refuse to acknowledge the problems our own nature creates for us…. Since I, too, am human, my feelings cause me to want to strike out, hard, at those who will not see the truth of reality, and how our choices, to live in fear and delusion, have brought us to the brink of extinction. I’ve managed thus far to control those urges, human as they are; I’m having a hard time doing so these days, as there just doesn’t seem to be much reason NOT to follow the injunction of nature, so aptly described by H. L. Mencken, when he said, “Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.”
I have to admit, the temptation is great. However, I see I have, without realizing it, ranted in the intro again. So much so, I’ve made the rant I had started superfluous, & will proceed to delete it, in favor of finishing the rest of this now overlong mess. I can’t say I’m sorry for having done so; if naught else, it was rather cathartic for me, so, we’ll let it go, as is, & trust the chips to fall in convenient places. Since I can’t think of any easy, comfortable method for getting us out of the intro, I’ll just stop here, & hope for the best. I hope you enjoy today’s interlude….
Shall we Pearl?
“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds,
adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.
With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do.”
~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays: First Series (1841) “Self-Reliance” ~~
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Today, I feel like listening to the Dead (go figure). Here is the second set (over two hours long) from their 50th Anniversary/Farewell Tour in 2015. Though Jerry, Robert Hunter, & Pigpen are long gone, the music and culture lives on…. Enjoy!….
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Fare Thee Well Grateful Dead, 7/5/2015 Second Set
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I can feel poems percolating, but, none are ready to leak. Here is one from last year, written during the time I was attempting to regain some balance after more than a year of fighting the symptoms of opioid withdrawal, so kindly foisted upon me by the ignorance & cowardice of the medical industry in this country. Needless to say, it’s a bit more intense than my usual fare, & I hope you enjoy it….
Augmentation: Inner Aye
Distant, peals of thunder, vividly.
Closer, a patter of rain, falling gravidly.
Between the light and the darkness of fear
find merely the remnants of one lonely tear.
Do not hate us, though we have not sinned;
eager for courage, upon whom all hope is pinned.
Tales of insolence, hatred, or fallen virtue
fill us up, not down, in such pristine foreign venue.
Capable hands severed, able hands tied;
the future is angry, all but now denied.
Multiple times, warnings sounded across the pale
nobody heard, nobody came to tell the tale.
Gifted by time, salience fails in epic rhyme;
watchmakers watching, each a separate crime.
Logical solutions refuse to emulsify
forever pretending to cruelly crucify.
Blood will fly alongside pertinent composure,
never seeking, never finding tea, or closure.
Falsely laid trails on mountains of gold
imply no happy endings, no fortunes told.
Ages past have no time for repetition;
further chances only lead to perdition.
Destiny feels a shameful portion of guilt,
for a thousand sand castles, never built.
~~ gigoid ~~
3/2/2016
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Naked Pearls
Esoterica
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“A person needs a little madness,
or else they never dare cut the rope and be free.”
~~ Nikos Kazantzakis ~~
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“Every man is guilty of all the good he didn’t do.”
~~ Voltaire ~~
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True glory consists in doing what deserves to be written;
in writing what deserves to be read;
and in so living as to make the world
happier and better for our living in it.
~~ Pliny the Elder ~~
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It is something to be able to paint a particular picture,
or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful;
but it is far more glorious to carve and paint
the very atmosphere and medium through which we look,
which morally we can do.
To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts.”
~~ Henry David Thoreau, “Where I Live” ~~
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“The world is full of cactus, but we don’t have to sit on it.”
~~ Will Foley ~~
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“He knows not how to know who knows not also how to unknow.”
~~ Richard Burton ~~
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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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Although today’s missive is extensive, it feels a bit underdone, if obese. But, so be it; I’m done, & not willing to either start over, or edit. Instead, I’ll trust the process, as I’ve learned to do so well, & let it go without further ado. In fact, I’ll even go so far as to end it swiftly, rather than drawing it out to resemble the intro. I’ll be back as soon as I have enough to say; it won’t be long, I’m sure, as I’m a naturally voluble study in contradictions and subtle notes of irony. Go figure, eh? See ya, ffolkes; that’s a promise I hope to live long enough to fulfill….
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.
For three days now, two issues have prevented my finishing a fresh Pearl. One, SB is being VERY rude, hiding any good pearls behind a ton of poor ones. Second, I’m suffering from a severe lack of ambition, in regards to Pearling at all. This is, naturally, what happens in the midst of demonic wars for sanity, so, there’s nothing to be done for the nonce, but, to go with the flow, & try not to become homicidal. I guess staying out of mundane territory helps, but, sometimes, ya gotta eat, and the only food is out there in the BBR. Ah, well, such is life for those of us who think, and feel, too much…. So be it.
This Pearl is pretty good; it’s from right about a year ago, & shows off several good sections. It got a lot of views & likes, so, there must be something about it that fills the bill for today. In any case, it’s what I’ve got, and it’s all I’ve got.
At this point, I can’t say when a fresh one will be done; all I know is, I’ll keep at it until it is. Until then, try to enjoy this one, & wish me luck in the wars…. I’m gettin’ tired, but, there seems to be fewer demons with each attack, so, that’s progress, I guess….
See y’all later, ffolkes… Gonna go look for my mind….
“Inside every old person is a young person wondering what happened.”
~~ Terry Pratchett. ~~
The Road Goes Ever On….
Hajime….. The process here at ECR has become a bit choppy, in terms of how smoothly it progresses. This, in turn, may, or, may not have an effect on the Pearls. Either way, I don’t really care, as long as they’re done. Quality, as you know, is NOT job 1 around here; we leave shit like that to Ford. I do make every attempt to make it as good as I can, but, hey, I’m human, and definitely bozoid, so, I know better than to expect reality to match my expectations…. Hell, I’m damn close to having none, anyway, what with the state of affairs on this sad old ball o’mud…..
Without going into THAT subject, which would, no doubt, keep me here relatively indefinitely, we’ll go for…
The Road Goes Ever On….
gigoid 