Ffolkes,

“What I look forward to is continued immaturity followed by death.”
 
~~ Dave Barry ~~

Old Rocks, New Secrets

Good morning…. Well, that’s what I heard, anyway. I don’t believe it, though; I’ve found, to my regret, that there are many times people lie to me about little things like that. I suppose it’s human to wish to spare others any pain we feel they may not deserve, but, what good does it do, when the pain comes as a surprise? None. So, leave me out of that particular delusion, if you please…. I’d rather be grumpy than all wet….

Hmph. Grumpy is right. Well, you would be, too, if you were up in a chair half the damn night, twitching and fuming. That is all the complaint you will hear, but, you may have to deal with the resultant smarm, which generally follows after such a state of injustice has been endured. I don’t think anyone should have to go through what occurred, but, there is no specific target to be blamed, other than the insanity of the modern world. Not a lot I can do about that at 0430…. So, we’ll just go on, sublimating our need to kill into producing another in a long line of sublimated homicidal impulses. Hey, it’s better than fifteen to life, right? Well, I think so….

Regardless of the social advantages, or, more likely, disadvantages which may or may not be forthcoming in karmic reaction to our foolishness, I suppose we’d best be about our stated purpose today, which, though having never been stated out loud, nonetheless rules our actions. I’ll let you know if it ever gets published. Until such time, which will probably happen right about the same time we get the notice of a severe temperature drop in Hell, but, hey, we’re all trained to wait patiently, right? Sure we are; every corporate entity in the world makes us wait in line to obtain some sort of service, for which we are charged, so, don’t tell me you don’t know whereof we speak…. We know….

Since we do, we’ll let it slide, this time. That’s mainly because I’ve reached the end of my patience with this intro, and intend to issue an immediate cease and desist order, to get us the hell out of here. Luigi! Code Three! Stat!

Hang on, ffolkes; this one can be a bit painful if you don’t….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Everybody thinks himself so well supplied with common sense that even those most difficult to please. . . never desire more of it than they already have.” — Rene Descartes

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    Yesterday, I watched this documentary at another WP blogger’s site (link to that post is below). I was so entranced, I sat for the entire 54+ minutes. without pause, to watch it; as Mr. Spock would say, “Fascinating!”….. SIGH…. Also very disturbing in a personal sense, as now I have to add Rajasthan to my bucket list of places to visit in India, if I ever get a chance to go there…. This would sure make it worthwhile, to be able to spend some time living in and observing this culture up close and personal…. Of course, it might be a little hard to come by a soft bed, but, I’m sure I’d adjust, provided I live long enough…. By then, I will be able to live through just about anything, I think….. This life looks like a hard one, to be sure…. but, the people have made the most of what they have, and live as happily, and peacefully, as any culture I’ve seen…. Enjoy this little change of pace, thanks to Lou over at Tales, who found it for us…. You can find him and his co-blogger Genie, here:

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    Yep. You guessed it. I’m late, so, today’s rant will be from the archives…. Oh, quit yer bellyachin’…. You can always skip down to the poetry section, so, stop whining. The others may enjoy it…. I hope you do, actually, even if it’s not fresh. They’re usually pretty relevant, as not much changes over time in that respect; the revolution is still brewing….

From 12/9/2012:

“The need to be right is the sign of a vulgar mind.” — Albert Camus

Albert is right, but is obviously a proponent of saying what he has to say, then stopping. In this case, stopping does not give enough clarity to this idea, which is a central one to a complete and balanced outlook, or, if you will, a balanced mind. It is indeed vulgar, as well as ultimately unproductive, to NEED to be right. What should be more important is to KNOW, or be able to learn to know, what is right…. only then can a rational decision be made as to the correct action, or non-action to pursue. I think in this particular case, Mr. Camus was telling us something we should all know; he was not telling us all that he knew….

I find this to be true of much of his philosophy, in that it only goes so far before dumping the reader back into a place where they must use their own resources to figure out his exact meaning. I’m not sure if this is deliberate, a method to force people to think, or if it is just his own sense of independence and curmudgeonry that causes him to only share part of what he really understands. I suppose, in its way, it is a very effective technique to encourage others to think, an activity of which I wholeheartedly approve, and is also, I suppose, one of the reasons I’ve always liked his published statements, and use them fairly frequently in pearls, or rather, as pearls….

In my world, the search for Truth is pretty much the backbone of all that I do. Even the mundane activities I perform are in some way in support of that search, or, at least, I’d like to think they are…. because the Truth is very important to me, and how I feel about the world. The use of it for manipulation, or its suppression for the same purpose, infuriates me, and makes me want to carve out of any human I see doing so, that part of their soul that makes them misuse the Truth for their own purposes, or allows them to believe that they have any right to do so…. To me, it is the simplest interpretation of the Golden Rule…. If I expect myself to honor the Truth, then I would expect others to do the same….

Sadly, that is MY belief, and very few of the people in the world who are in positions of power over others have any investment at all in promoting Truth, as it doesn’t suit their self-interest…. The statement that started this discussion is, in fact, one of the best ways to identify those in society who tend to act in their own interests before those of others. The need to BE right implies that one need not necessarily be IN the right; in fact, it is often to their advantage to be wrong, and lie about what is right, twisting facts and circumstance to suit their purpose. If someone insists on being right, you can usually bet they are not being entirely truthful….

“If what the philosophers say be true,–that all men’s actions proceed from one source; that as they assent from a persuasion that a thing is so, and dissent from a persuasion that it is not, and suspend their judgment from a persuasion that it is uncertain,–so likewise they seek a thing from a persuasion that it is for their advantage.” — Epictetus (c. 60 AD) — Discourses, Book i, Chap. xviii

Human nature, and the flaws that are part of that nature, afford an endless opportunity for dissection. It’s really too bad that my mind is not in a place to go any further today….. Oh, sure, I could come up with any number of examples of the kind of deliberate selfishness and cupidity that characterizes that part of our tribe that preys on the rest of us; the news is full of their lies and shenanigans every day. But, I’m already exhausted by today’s effort to be rational, and since it is Sunday, have decided to give my mind the rest of the day off, and hope that my emotional state can go with the flow…… If not, well, I can always splurge, spend five bucks on whiskey, and sleep really good tonight…. But, that’s just hiding, and it’s indubitably not a good idea to bust the budget so early in the month….

I wish I COULD offer some simple explanation for why people can be such assholes….. but, I can’t. I guess we’ll all just have to deal with them the best we can, each in our own way….. and hope for the best……

“I feel like I’m in a Toilet Bowl with a thumbtack in my forehead!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

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    Since I’m up late, we’ll go with another archived poem, to spare any embarrassment for any other poets who don’t deserve such treatment….

Written 4/22/2013.

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    Nine pearls of ancient/modern human wisdom; one pearl of virtual wisdom, using the process laboriously developed over the past 15 years. What can be said of such insouciance? Such panache? Very little, I’m sure, but, one may always enjoy, especially when the final bit of advice comes from our old friend, the Zipster…. He is just SO cute!….. Enjoy, ffolkes; even Zippy couldn’t completely screw this one…..

“The shortest and surest way to live with honor in the world is to be in reality what we would appear to be; all human virtues increase and strengthen themselves by the practice and experience of them.” — Socrates (BC 469-399)

“A beautiful eye makes silence eloquent, a kind eye makes contradiction an assent, an enraged eye makes beauty deformed. This little member gives life to every part about us; and I believe the story of Argus implies no more, than the eye is in every part; that is to say, every other part would be mutilated, were not its force represented more by the eye than even by itself.” — Addison

“Faith is believing what you know ain’t so.” — Mark Twain

“At once it struck me what quality went to form a man of achievement, especially in literature, and which Shakespeare possessed so enormously — I mean negative capability, that is, when a man is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason.” — John Keats

“A plough that works glisters, but the still water stinks.” — Proverb

“Intellect annuls fate. So far as a man thinks, he is free.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Our minds possess by nature an insatiable desire to know the truth.” — Marcus Tullius Cicero

“If you can’t say something nice, say something surrealistic.” — Zippy the Pinhead

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Today’s Pearl is a tribute to the process of Pearling, and, no, I’m not going to explain anything here in the closing section; it’s against the rules anyway. I think we can just all be glad this is done, and, nobody died, and nobody bled. I’d call that a good thing, but, I know better. In spite of everything, I think I’ll probably be back tomorrow, if only to see what happened as a result of today’s mess…. Until then, just do as I do, and deny, deny, deny…. Hey, it works for the BRC! See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, unless someone comes up with an effective way to prevent it…. The odds are on my side there….

À bientôt, mon cherí….