If only zucchini was more charitable…..

Posted on January 16, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
In today’s world, it can become hard to maintain a positive outlook, especially about the future. The Beloved Ruling Class is so intransigent, and so self-centered, I can see little hope that the changes needed for us to survive as a species will ever happen. This is, of course, tragic, to say the least, and is possibly NOT the best subject with which to start the day’s effort. A bit dark, don’t y’know?. But, I got an email last night while I was asleep that was extremely touching, and have to deal with the issue before I think too hard about it…..

As a matter of policy, I’ve never given in to chain letters, of any kind, whether, as in olden days, they had stamps, or the more modern email variety. I’m sorry, but I just don’t believe in the idea that an email, or a letter, that I don’t forward to many people, will cause me to have bad luck, or that doing so will bring me good luck. Life, and Murphy, don’t work that way; this I know for a fact. But, occasionally, one will come along that has something else going for it, and for these I will break my policy about sending it on…..

I’ll be forwarding the email to my Pearl Drops on this occasion, and I’ll tell you why….. The letter, though full of all kinds of examples of the assumptions and faith-based beliefs about which I often rant, has something that the other chain letters don’t have, and that is a compassionate reason for sending it. The person who sent this to me did so because of their own compassion, for me, and for others, in spite of, or maybe because of, the fact she has cancer herself, and is currently fighting the battle to stay alive we all will face one day. Yet she has the strength of spirit to want to give to her friends, and to feel that she is helping in some way……

Now, I’m not going to tell you that I’ve changed my mind about the healing power of faith, because it is actually one of the few parts of religious activity that I do believe is real. I fully believe the human mind has the power to heal through its own power of suggestion and belief; in history there are numerous examples of healings that cannot be explained any other way. I won’t allow that the power comes from God; I believe that power already resides within us. We all have the power to heal ourselves, and others, by dint of believing it strongly enough; we may not be able to see, or describe how it works, much less explain it, but, there are too many examples to deny the evidence…..

So, I believe in the power of the human mind, and in some unknown way, letters like these can distribute that power to where it needs to be, and can help people heal themselves….. So, I’ll be sending it along, with my own wishes for good fortune to those of my friends and acquaintances who struggle with physical issues, in hope that all comes out well in the end…. And, it’s like my friend said when she sent it…. it can’t hurt……

I’ve used up my intro section for this, and will double up its usefulness by copying it into the letter I’m forwarding. If anyone would like to see the letter, please leave your email in a comment, and I’ll send it to you; I don’t really want to paste it here, as it might shock some of my regulars out of their socks to see it on my site…. It’s a nice letter, all in all, and I really do appreciate that my friend sent it to me, even though I don’t buy into their faith… it is the impulse of compassion from them that is my concern, and I really feel loved for having them in my life….. Thank you, C….

I believe I’ve managed to accomplish my purpose without falling into either sappiness, or melancholy, so that makes this a GOOD intro, right? Well, whatever it is, it will have to do, as I don’t have the energy to go back and do another one. Time, I have, energy requires a bit more regulation, to ensure I can get as far as I can with what there is to use…. an amount much smaller than in previous periods of my life, to be sure. Before I figure out some way to screw this up, I think we should begin our dive for today….. Shall we Pearl?…..

“I hope something GOOD came in the mail today so I have a REASON to live!!” — Zippy the Pinhead
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“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” — Anne Frank

Statements such as this are the saving grace of mankind, to my mind. It always astounds me how people who have been subjected to evil can react to that treatment by becoming the antithesis of evil, i.e., they simply become more good, in response to the evil perpetrated upon them. Anyone who can deny that Ms. Frank was witness to, and subject to, some of the most evil events in history is a fool; no, they’re an idiot. Probably both…. Yet, in spite of all that she saw happen to her family, her friends, and all she endured to survive in the face of the evil she experienced, her writing is filled with optimism and hope, and faith in the human spirit. It is almost enough to convince me of her insanity, but, I know that, even if considered insane, this kind of goodness is real….

The problem is that this kind of good is nowhere near as plentiful in human culture as are the more evil aspects of personality that we humans display. The kind of activities that took place in Anne Frank’s world are all too common in human history, and indicate the overwhelming majority of those who follow those precepts, of ignorance, hatred, and bigotry, rather than subscribing to more positive rules of conduct. In essence, what I’m saying is, there are more assholes out there than there are nice guys, no matter how we would like it to be otherwise, and no matter how strong our faith in human nature. It is the ugliest part of the dichotomy we experience as part of the universe that is based on opposites, to know that the evil in us, so far throughout history, is stronger than the good.

“As a man can drink water from any side of a full tank, so the skilled theologian can wrest from any scripture that which will serve his purpose.” — Bhagavad Gita

The Bhagavad Gita was written a long time before the birth of Christ, so we know that the human proclivity to turn ideas to their advantage, no matter the original intent of the concepts, has been an issue for society for a long time. This is the difference between those who subscribe to improving human nature, and our understanding of life and our place in it, and those who use their talents to obtain power over others. While the former works toward the betterment of all people with whom they come in contact, the latter spend their effort to manipulate and control everyone they meet. In the real world, these deliberately self-oriented assholes (sorry, gotta let it out now and again….) are the ones who seek elected office, or go to seminary, or study law, or business, or become police officers…. not to help others, but to find every way they can to take advantage of the naive nature of their peers…..

SIGH…. (That’s a sigh as commonly sighed in County Clare, Ireland, indeed, in all the west counties of Eire; long, drawn out, slowly exhaled, complete with mournful expression, shrugging of shoulders, and shaking of head….) I don’t know the answer, though I have some ideas that might work, should they ever be considered. But, they all involve a certain degree of “giving in” to the more violent side of our nature. Though it is a soothing thought to think of all those assholes getting what they deserve, it is, to some extent, assuming the same characteristics that define them in their state of anti-humanity.

To get rid of them, we would have to become them, if only for a short time, and would thereby lose part of what makes us different in the first place…. So far, I haven’t been willing to give in to that extent. I don’t know if that shows that I have integrity, or if it means I am afraid to change to that degree, even if temporary. How to get back to the same ethical standing seems to me to be the issue, and I just don’t know the answer…. My karmic balance is no doubt too delicately perched on the cusp to risk any unreasonable violence without just cause….

But, if it gave the rest of us a chance to make some changes to society that would be of help to all of us, rather than just a few, well, I think I’d be willing to pick up a weapon and join the fray. Maybe having honorable motivation would be enough to get the job done, and still maintain some integrity…. If nothing else, it might give us a bit of breathing space, in order to come up with a more permanent, and more humane, solution to the issue…. Hard to say, as things have been the way they are for a long time, and rooting out the Beloved Ruling Class from their well-fortified position is not going to be a simple task…. As we all can see, human nature is what it is, and it doesn’t WANT to change….. None of us do…. unless, of course, we want to keep on living…..

“Either you think — or else others have to think for you and take power from you, pervert and discipline your natural tastes, civilize and sterilize you.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald
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“A picture is a poem without words.” — Horace (65-8 B.C.)

And a poem is a picture of Life, with words as colors….. Here is what I think is possibly the best poem ever written by an American poet…. No other poem I’ve seen or heard of comes close to matching the depth of its simplicity…. and that phrase is precisely what I mean to imply…. Enjoy!…..

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost
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Okay, so there I was this morning, cruising along through Smart Bee, and all these pearls kept popping up in front of me, demanding inclusion without telling me why. Being the patsy I am in re: my muse, I did so…. and this is the group that ended up as the end result of my indulgence. It makes a good point, or two, actually, and I really like the way it ends, with the pointy finger and all…. The points it makes, of course, are left as an exercise for the Gentle Reader, with bonus points for knowing which parts to chuckle at, and which to guffaw….. (a thinly disguised manipulation on my part to get the word “guffaw” into a pearl…. I love it when a plan comes together…..)…..

“Love of money is the root of all politics.” — Smart Bee

“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire

“Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism — how passionately I hate them!” — Albert Einstein

“The vultures are circling…they have the faces of presidential candidates and carry bowling balls in their buttered claws….” — Smart Bee

“Cato used to assert that wise men profited more by fools than fools by wise men; for that wise men avoided the faults of fools, but that fools would not imitate the good examples of wise men. — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Life of Marcus Cato

‘And if you’ve just tuned in, we’re talking about the red-hot, tight-buttocked, hairy host of Hell.’ — The Church Lady

And there you have it, all wrapped up in a nice big bow….. Ta ta, then, luvs….
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I’ve gone over it thrice, and proof-reading aside, it ain’t too bad….. Not too bad at all…. and, it’s done. So, I’m going to now indulge myself again, and spend the next five minutes leisurely getting this copied, pasted, emailed, and posted to WordPress…. which is all the time it takes, now that I am once again blessed with home internet service.

Strange how things work out sometimes, eh? A state of existence that didn’t exist at all 20 years ago, now becomes an essential ingredient to a comfortable lifestyle….. It isn’t a surprise, so much, to those of us who grew up reading Science Fiction, as it is a gleeful sense of fulfillment that imagination and reality merged into such a powerful societal manifestation. Or, is that infestation? 🙂 Nah, it’s a good thing…. and it sure makes my day a lot more enjoyable, without a doubt….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

Saving the pieces for posterity…..

Posted on January 7, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
For the first time since starting this blog, I’ve missed posting for two days, which one or two of y’all might have noted. On Saturday, I woke up with a raging head cold, spewing fluids from one chamber in my head to another with every cough and sneeze, and aggravating all my incipient pain. It has been, to be brief, a miserable two days, to be sure. I did write…. enough material, in fact, that today’s post won’t suffer for originality, at minimum. In fact, I’m adding an extra section today, just so I don’t have to sit on this stuff for too long….

Having done virtually nothing in the past two days but sleep, to the tune of about 19 hours a day, I’m feeling fairly rested, if still a bit congested. I’ve decided to acknowledge my age, and not test my limits by trying to act normal yet, so, I’ll get to the library later, to post this, but I’ll probably nap first, and afterward, to make up for the effort I know it will entail….. Another point for foresight, eh?…. It’s times like this I kind of wish I could have afforded to keep my car; it would be nice not to have to try to depend on bus schedules, especially with the cold, wet weather we’ve been having. Makes it hard on us poor folk, don’t ya know?….

I wrote an intro section on Saturday, but, most of it has turned irrelevant in the ensuing time, so it is being done over. I hate to throw out anything already composed, but, it really was whiny, anyway, and isn’t any loss. It’s not as if I ever run out of stuff to write, is it? I can’t seem to shut it off, not that I’d wish to, but, some overt control would be welcome at this late date….

Strangely enough, my head is relatively empty this morning, at least of material I want to put down. It is most likely a good thing I already have enough done for today; last time I wrote too much ahead of real time, I got all lost and confused, if only in my own head, and it was a mess, figuratively speaking. Today, instead, you’re getting everything I did while not posting, just to get it out of my way….. Don’t worry, it’s not bad, and not TOO long….relatively….. Without further ado, Shall we Pearl?…..
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“Irreverence is the champion of liberty and its one sure defense.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910), Notebook, 1888

I’m positive I’ve used this in the past; it’s too good, and too familiar an idea for me to have passed it up. Since I have no idea when I did use it, it’s okay to use it again, according to the loose rules I go by around here…. This idea is one I embraced many years ago, even before the Beatles used the Blue Meanies vs. Laughter & Love as a metaphor for life, in their movie, Yellow Submarine. It seems I’ve always known that things that live and thrive in the dark, things that exist only to cause pain and misery in the world, cannot stand up to the light of laughter, or the power of love. It is almost a sad sight to watch a bully deflate and slink off when laughed at, rather than accommodated….. It might be sad, if it weren’t so satisfying….

In the twentieth century, George Carlin was probably the best defender of liberty, one of the most adept at using irreverence, and original critical thought, to poke fun at the ruling cadre. He was merciless at exposing the true motives held by those rulers, making it plain for all how the crap that people put up with in life is deliberate on the part of the ruling classes. His biting wit was graphic, clear, and undeniably true, for he never made statements that weren’t drawn from real life experience, with vivid evidence of chicanery on the part of the elite, in support of his assertion of their evil intent. He did all this, and made us laugh about it, and at them, and, most importantly, at ourselves….. Only the very best can do that…..

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 (Charles Dodgson)

In today’s world, manxom foes are much easier to find, so thoughtful moments by the tumtum tree aren’t required as often. By this bit of nonsensical reality, I’m trying to make a point, one that escapes me completely, now that I’ve started the process. I really did have a thought that made this verse appropriate, or at least comprehensible from an odd viewpoint, but, for the life of me, I can’t find it anywhere in my head.

It had to do with bullies, and the Beloved Ruling Class (two interchangeable entities, to be sure….), and was actually, according to my memory, quite elegantly powerful in its indictment of the BRC as assholes….. It’s too bad I can’t remember it…. Just go look at a picture of a politician, or the Pope, or somebody of that ilk, and spit at the image…. you’ll get the idea, and feel better, too…..

“The last Christian died on the cross.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

Now you’re talking! That’s the way, Friedrich, you tell ’em! I happen to agree with this statement quite strongly, and couldn’t have said it better. Tom Jefferson was of the same opinion, in fact, ….

“But a short time elapsed after the death of the great reformer of the Jewish religion, before his principles were departed from by those who professed to be his special servants, and perverted into an engine for enslaving mankind, and aggrandizing their oppressors in Church and State.” — Thomas Jefferson, [letter?] To S. Kercheval, 1810

Tom was quite outspoken in his indictment of the entire class of those who lie to others, for power and personal gain…..

“They [preachers] dread the advance of science as witches do the approach of daylight and scowl on the fatal harbinger announcing the subversions of the duperies on which they live.” — Thomas Jefferson

Ah me, such rants as these can go on forever, if we let them. There is always more ammunition to fire off, so we don’t have to condemn all of them at once, I guess. We’ll leave some for a later date….. For now, let me leave you with more timeless wisdom from our favorite insane person…..

“I know things about TROY DONAHUE that can’t even be PRINTED!!” — Zippy the Pinhead
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” I want to beg you, as much as I can, dear friend, to be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms and like books written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.” — Rainer Maria Rilke

This statement, to me, is the modern version of a literary Holy Grail….. Not merely the beauty of the ideas expressed herein, but the elegance of the expression is of such power it is almost magical. “…you will… live along some distant day into the answer.” Even though presented in prose form, this is poetry at its finest. I say it is the Holy Grail because I can only hope to seek such power and grandeur, such obvious compassion, and love for life, in my writing, and wish with all my being that I find it….. Here is a poem from Rainer….. for balance….

Black Cat

A ghost, though invisible, still is like a place
your sight can knock on, echoing; but here
within this thick black pelt, your strongest gaze
will be absorbed and utterly disappear:

just as a raving madman, when nothing else
can ease him, charges into his dark night
howling, pounds on the padded wall, and feels
the rage being taken in and pacified.

She seems to hide all looks that have ever fallen
into her, so that, like an audience,
she can look them over, menacing and sullen,
and curl to sleep with them. But all at once

as if awakened, she turns her face to yours;
and with a shock, you see yourself, tiny,
inside the golden amber of her eyeballs
suspended, like a prehistoric fly.

Rainer Maria Rilke
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“Reality is the flaw in the perfection of nothingness.” — Nyarlathotep, Reed College, Portland, OR –

“So sure are you! Tried have you? Always with you it can’t be done. Hear you nothing that I say? Try not. Do! Do! Or do not. There is no try.” — Yoda [The Empire Strikes Back]

“And I said to myself be still, wait without hope. For hope would be hope of the wrong thing. Wait without love. For love would be love of the wrong thing. Wait without faith. For the faith and the hope and the love are all in the waiting.” — T.S. Eliot

“Food, sleep, fear, propagation; each is the common property of men with brutes. Virtue is really their additional distinction; devoid of virtue, they are equal with brutes.” — The Hitopadesa (600?-1100? A.D.)

O love, could thou and I with fate conspire
To grasp this sorry scheme of things entire,
Might we not smash it to bits
And mould it closer to our hearts’ desire?

— Omar Khayyam [tr. FitzGerald]

So, there I was, still in relatively massive discomfort, cruising through Smart Bee, and letting my unconscious mind pick out pearls to make a pearl. (Or are those oysters?…. Never mind….) Once again, I am unsure of exactly what my unconscious is trying to say, but, damn, it sure said it well, didn’t it? In reality, or as close as we ever approach that state on this blog, it makes a very cogent statement about the structure of human nature, if not exactly claiming to be a complete explanation, or even representation, of that nature. Given my current mental condition, I think it’s the best for which we can hope….. It’s just been one of THOSE days, y’know?….. But, really, this isn’t a BAD pearl, it’s just obscure… so it should fit right in, right? Right?….. Well, maybe not….. Ah, the hell with it…..
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(This is an extra pearl, brought to you by the cold virus, rhinus virusii, and by the word, “plonk”……)

“When power leads man toward arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the areas of man’s concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses, for art establishes the basic human truths which must serve as the touchstone of our judgment.” — John F. Kennedy

For a long time now, I’ve been ranting periodically, about a certain flaw in human nature I have observed, a flaw that all of us possess to some degree. This flaw is the tendency to manipulate other people for personal gain, rather than mutual benefit. We all manipulate; if we didn’t, we’d starve. This is a lesson we learn in our first days on Earth, as we find out that our cries will bring attention, food, and comfort. To varying degrees, our lessons in this sort of manipulation of other people continue on to adulthood…. The difference in degree we learn arises from several factors, both environmental and genetic, and is the crux of the problem our species faces now…..

You see, after a certain point, most folks don’t wish to make others do for them what they can do for themselves; it is more satisfying to accomplish something when one knows exactly what one has done to achieve it. But, a certain number of people decide, at an early age, usually, that they enjoy the power of getting others to follow their suggestions, and start finding ways to make their manipulations acceptable to others, even though those ways are immoral and unethical. These folks learn how to lie with a straight face, convincing the naive to allow them to act or think for them, because it is to their advantage. In reality, the entire manipulation is designed to benefit only the perpetrator of the lies…..

So, time passes, and these trained liars become preachers, and politicians, and lawyers, and anyone else in society who learns they can have far more than they ever need, or deserve, by hoarding resources for their own use, by writing laws, by manipulating society in ways that are advantageous to them, rather than being a boon to society. They lie, they cheat, they steal, and they tell everyone they are doing it “for YOU!” Most insulting of all, they use the pretense of “morality” to disguise their true intentions.

“Morality is the best device of all for leading mankind by the nose.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

These foul flibbertigibbets have their flunkies to make the laws for them in Congress, they have the hawks in the military to protect them from the “heathens”, they have their judges in their pockets to rule in favor of business rather than people. And, they have the preachers proselytizing the great, unwashed masses of humanity to control them, masses who never question anything they do, but continue to put their heads down and slog away, trying to win a game that was fixed from the start…..

When looking at JFK’s statement above, one might believe that he had the public in mind when he said this, and that he was indeed a champion of the people. Myself, I have a hard time seeing anyone worth over a billion dollars as a champion of the people, no matter how sincere they might sound. More likely, what he says above is merely a sop to public opinion, stated as a means of convincing the common man that he has something in common with them…. a tough sell for a boy who grew up in the biggest compound in Hyannisport, the bastion of the truly rich.

He would, by this assertion, have us believe that exposure to poetry will moderate the impulse to cruelty among the powerful, a statement which, if examined critically, is seen to be completely untrue. I haven’t seen ANYTHING in particular that has that effect, not in this world…. Technically, the statement may be true, regarding art as the touchstone of judgment, but asking me to believe that a Kennedy, a person who has never had to suffer any such judgments, actually AGREES with it, well, that’s asking too much….

“As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; they kill us for their sport.” — William Shakespeare, “King Lear”

To my mind, politicians, and anyone else who lives by the insane dictates which they do, are like these gods to whom Will refers; they do what they do to us, just because they feel they can, and don’t give a rat’s ass for what anyone else believes. That may sound like a strong indictment, which, hopefully, it is…. In my own defense, I defy anyone at all to disprove the statement. Show me the evidence, if you have any, of how the government, or the churches, or the corporations, or the police, or the courts are acting in a way that is beneficial to the public. I’m willing to look at whatever anyone may have to show me, though I am quite convinced that nobody will be able to do so, as I don’t believe there is any such evidence……

“Perhaps we are wiser, less selfish and more far-seeing than we were two hundred years ago. But we are still imperfectly all these good things, and since the turn of the century it has been remarked that neither wisdom nor virtue have increased as rapidly as the need for both.” — Joseph Wood Krutch

This is a statement you may confidently place in the “fer shure” column, and forgeddaboutit. All the wisdom we need is already present in the world, I think, but the amount of virtue, or rather, the amount of influence that virtue commands, is severely limited; it is that lack that our nature shows when put to the test of Reality.

It is unfortunate in the extreme that, in this world, there are those who exhibit the flaw, those who don’t, and literally, billions of folks who don’t know, and don’t have time or energy to care, what we’re talking about. The most unfortunate part of this, is that the former group comprises the Beloved Ruling Class, and will, in all their insane glory, bring the rest of us with them down the path to our inglorious demise, unless we can bestir ourselves to wake up and throw them all out on their asses…..

“Small is the number of them that see with their own eyes, and feel with their own hearts.” — Albert Einstein
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“We have standards and expect you not to exceed them.” — Smart Bee

Plainly, I have succeeded in not exceeding any standards whatsoever…. I am just content that I was able to piece together this Pearl; I wasn’t certain I was going to have the strength of will to push through all the residual pain hanging about. It’s done, though; that’s enough for me….. If all this stuff stays in my head too long, it can cause serious issues, and not just for me…. The rest of the world tends to have to put up with it, too…. Hopefully, it isn’t too whiny, or too self-serving; Yoda’s advice about not trying, but, instead, doing, is always timely, isn’t it?….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

Rooms full of attenuated pilgrims….

Posted on December 31, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Most blogs you’ll visit today will be talking about the day, since it is New Year’s Eve. There will be all sorts of lists, of course, of the most significant events, pictures, ideas, stories, etc. of the past year, as well as speculation and predictions about the upcoming one. Some folks will share their New Year’s resolutions with us, while some will give their reasons for not making them…. All quite predictable, ultimately, and typical of the human need to acknowledge the passage of time with celebratory festivities, and relatively useless discussion of things that can no longer be changed, because they are now in the past . Here at ECR, though, we laugh at such folly….. It’s just another day to us, and another opportunity for Murphy to show his ugly face….

Exploring consensual reality means more than just talking about what people see as real; it means being real, and learning to accept the reality of others, while at the same time rejecting all those realities that are harmful in some way. It means speaking up against all the cruelty and evil that we see, refusing to join the masses who try to ignore what they cannot understand, and therefore, fear. It means exposing those who live their lives without regard for anyone else. It means taking responsibility for one’s own actions, and insisting that others do the same. It means, to me, that even though there is little hope of changing human nature at this late date, a small chance exists that we can survive, provided we learn to embrace ALL of life with honest regard, and can find a way to bring out the best in human nature, rather than allowing the worst to run rampant…..

And that, pompous as it is, is ALL we will say about the future, or the past year, for the time being. Everyone else will, I’m sure, cover that adequately, and it would be a waste of my time to add to what is already a massive outpouring of material to read. I’d much rather provide something a bit different, and shall endeavor to do so, post haste….. Sorry, once pomposity sets in, it’s hard to put down…..

Today’s first pearl is a pretty big one, and fairly deep, in some respects; it’s been growing now for a couple of days, actually, since the first part occurred to me. It’s certainly not a typical article or subject, in that it is somewhat less than tolerant of moral weakness than some might say is warranted; no matter, I’m my own harshest critic, now that I’m not married anymore. If I start being easy on myself in this, it would just spread to other areas of my experience, and that’s not going to happen. Even though I don’t always agree with the logic of societal mores, there is something to be said about the old saw, about how taking the first step toward evil deeds can lead to more of the same, until one has lost the way back to decency. One has to draw the line somewhere….

Enough meandering…. I had intended to be much more artistic this morning…. Alas, though Frank and Earnest remain present, Art seems to have taken a leave of absence…. Ah well, such is life in paradise on a foggy, cold, final day of the year. It seems our only alternative is to begin the Beguine, in a manner of speaking…. Shall we Pearl?……
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Forgiveness. How does a person without faith in a higher power obtain this boon? Certainly not from themselves…. I know, if I have done something for which I feel the need, or desire, to be forgiven, then I most likely don’t deserve it, and refuse to give in to self-indulgence. According to the preachers, God forgives all, but damn me if I can see any reason to do so, no matter how ‘merciful’ he/she/it might be. How can anyone expect moral behavior, if even our most grievous sins are forgiven? Because of the promise of reward for compliance, or threat of punishment for refusal to conform? I agree with Albert Einstein, that any such philosophy is not realistic, and certainly not moral…..

“In his private heart no man much respects himself.” — Mark Twain

All of us, without exception, have things we hide inside ourselves, secrets that nobody else will ever be told. Whether it is a memory of an act one is not proud of, or a bit of severe foolishness, or something so shameful that to share it would be to become a pariah, all of us humans have secrets. I would guess that almost all of them are akin to what is described in the first paragraph, to wit: acts that need forgiveness, but do not deserve it. I believe that this may be a method by which one can tell another person’s outlook on religion, for almost all religions are based on this principle, of divine forgiveness. Even though we may do things in life that are unforgivable, the gods, or God, for the monotheistic among us, are so merciful, that they will do so, if you but acknowledge their divinity, and admit they are your higher power…..

It’s a good deal, all in all, if one buys it. Myself, I’m a bit sanguine about it, since I only have the word of the preachers that it is so; there is no real evidence to be found that supports the theory, and the scientist in me wants at least a little bit of proof before accepting something as truth. I’m not going to buy anything just on someone else’s word, or assertion of truth; I’ve been alive long enough to know that doing things like that can only lead to losing something, if only the advantage of self-respect.

“His ignorance covers the world like a blanket, and there’s scarcely a hole in it anywhere.” — Mark Twain

Wait, I thought we were talking about religion, not the last Republican President….. Sorry, couldn’t resist…. Any who, it all comes back to the basic idea of how we view reality, in terms of the concept of God, or a power greater than ourselves, that is responsible somehow for everything that exists, and thus, for us. By giving away that responsibility, I think, we are showing our own cowardice; I’m not willing to do that, not without more compelling evidence than hearsay.

I’m not blind to the other evidence that many religionists claim as being proof of God and his will; I’ve burst into tears myself at the sight of a particularly vivid sunrise, without knowing why, other than the beauty of it was so arrestingly powerful. I’ve seen good things happen everywhere, in human interaction, and in Nature. I’ve witnessed what priests like to call “grace”, and will admit that such events are not explainable by ordinary means. I’ve also witnessed the other side of existence, where human nature turns dark and cruel, while Nature reveals its own complete indifference for human suffering, and cannot accept that the same entity would dare to assume, or want responsibility for such a wicked universe, even if the balance of good and evil is maintained by the presence of the other.

That assumption is purely human, and thus does not qualify, in my mind, as evidence of divinity in the form of God, by any of the visions held by any of the churches of Mankind. Unless, of course, one goes beyond doctrine, into philosophy, where the above contradictions do not apply, or can be explained by one further assumption. That assumption is a hard one for most humans, as it involves taking responsibility for EVERYTHING that they do, and for everything that happens to them. (Yep, that’s a paraphrase of the basic principle of Karma…) In other words, as Robert Heinlein put it so aptly in Stranger In a Strange Land, “Thou art God.” I know, it’s blasphemous, but, hey, been there, done that, let’s get past it…. It is the only explanation that fits ALL the facts in evidence, and even if a bit grandiose, really isn’t, because we are, after all, just a bunch of bozos on the bus.

Being God, though, would be a really boring job, the way the job descriptions in all the churches read, and I don’t think I want to take that on, particularly. It may be the only way I can find any forgiveness for those things I’ve done in my long life of which I am not proud, but, since I don’t feel that I SHOULD be forgiven for them, I think I’ll just accept the responsibility, along with the consequence, a certain lessening of my self-esteem, and try to act in the future in ways that won’t make me feel that way…. It really isn’t hard to be good, in reality, as long as you care…. The problem is, not enough people care, or even think about stuff like this….. Me, I can’t help myself…… Caring, to me, is what being human is about; those who don’t care aren’t fully human, and won’t be until they do…..

“I am covered with pure vegetable oil and I am writing a best seller!” — Zippy the Pinhead
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A Mountain Revelry

To wash and rinse our souls of their age-old sorrows,
We drained a hundred jugs of wine.
A splendid night it was . . . .
In the clear moonlight we were loath to go to bed,
But at last drunkenness overtook us;
And we laid ourselves down on the empty mountain,
The earth for pillow, and the great heaven for coverlet.

Li Po
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“William Shakespeare: Never did any author precipitate himself from such heights of thought to so low expressions, as he often does. He is the very Janus of poets; he wears, almost everywhere, two faces: and you have scarce begun to admire the one, e’er you despise the other.” — John Dryden

At last…. corroboration from an historical figure, one with quite a reputation for intelligence and clarity of thought and expression. It is heartening, and satisfying, to know that there are others in the world who share my opinion of the great majority of Shakespeare’s work. If you’ve been coming to this blog for long, you’ll have seen previous entries detailing how little enthusiasm I have for Will’s writing. He was damn prolific, for sure, and did write some nice stuff. Most of it, however, quite frankly should be shit-piled, as barely comprehensible nonsense, written by a man with an excellent advertising manager, and mediocre talent.

Since I insist on proof of any assertion, I give you the following quotes from various works by Will…. if you can make heads or tails of them, please let me know…. I have about four or five pages of quotes like these of his, all of which stretch the meaning of the word “obscure”….

I were better to be eaten to death with a rust than to be scoured to nothing with perpetual motion. — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Henry IV — Act i, Sc. 2

“To the latter end of a fray and the beginning of a feast
Fits a dull fighter and a keen guest.”

— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Henry IV — Act iv, Sc. 2

“My fate cries out,
And makes each petty artery in this body
As hardy as the Nemean lion’s nerve.”

— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet — Act i, Sc. 4

“Thou troublest me; I am not in the vein.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Richard III — Act iv, Sc. 2

“Much is the force of heaven-bred poesy.” — William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Act III, scene ii

Even taking into account the Middle English, it’s all a crock, as far as I can see…. If y’all fell differently, feel free to comment…. My opinions are flexible, and able to be influenced by rational debate…. I hope…..
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It will have to do…. It’s got a lot of work in it, or, at least, a lot of effort and thought, but, somehow, it seems incomplete. I have yet to pick a poem, but that isn’t it. I can’t quite focus on the reason why it feels like that…. Ah well, c’est la vie, n’est pas? I guess if that is all he can do, Murphy will settle for a bit of feeling unsettled for no good reason….. gotta love that ol’ unspecified diffuse anxiety, otherwise known as general malaise, and so familiar to all of us with PTSD. It seems to always be hovering, just out of sight, ready to slide in without us noticing, until we find ourselves looking through glasses that are not rose colored, but rather, lenses through which the world looks grey and dispirited…. I hope the sun comes out later….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

A valid reason to stay exfoliated….

Posted on December 21, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Reason be damned, and rhyming can go hang; it’s time again to ramble…. As I sat down to begin this morning, two opening scenarios paraded across my inner eye, beginnings for new story ideas. One was pretty good, and would make an excellent opening for a J.D. Robb novel about Eve Dallas and Roarke…. The other was okay, but was basically a rewrite of one I’ve done previously, to a slightly different plot line (different planet, different culture, same basic societal upheaval and heroism in the face of cataclysm…. you know, the usual literary hack stuff….)….

Both, however, failed to meet one of today’s requirements, to wit: it must practically write itself, because I’m just not up to it today…. I decided, in my sleep, that I’ve been way too intense lately, taking everything too seriously, and generally giving myself a hard time, by railing against reality, and its stubborn refusal to give me what I desire….. Bloody a__holes….. Ah, hell….. It’s hard to get angry at reality, since it isn’t an entity we can attack verbally, or physically, not if we expect any reaction, anyway. In fact, we cannot attack it at all. It’s just too much more than we are, in a universal importance kind of way; our ability to affect the way things happen in life is nowhere in the same vicinity as the immutable nature of reality, other than in our imagination. On the scale of cosmic significance, reality trumps just about anything I can come up with…..

“Reality can be hazardous to your health.” — Smart Bee

Perhaps our imagination is the problem; that would make sense, as it is also our strongest asset in dealing with the universe at large, and nothing comes without a price in reality, not even the use of our given tools and characteristics. We imagine how we would like things to be, and when reality does not bother to match what we imagine, the disappointment we feel also becomes real, if not justifiable to our feelings…… Aha! I’ve accidentally uttered the magic word!….. Now I feel really stupid….

Feelings….. I forgot all about feelings. (D’oh!…..) I see it all, now…. It isn’t our imagination that gives us such a difficult time with what reality gives us to deal with, it is our feelings about what we must do that are the problem. Well, that makes much more sense…. What was I thinking?…..

Sheesh, I can’t believe I took myself, and y’all, on a three paragraph trip into nonsense, all because it was too early for me to be using my mind. I forgot to mention it was 0545 AM when I started writing today, and no matter how alert and awake I may have felt, I can see now that I had no business trying to philosophize so early…. Good grief! If I wasn’t such a hypocrite, I’d say I should be taken out and shot…. but, I will accept that derogatory title if I must, as I am ever so allergic to brass cartridges traveling at high velocity in my vicinity, especially if on a vector coinciding with my personal space….

I suppose that I’ve once again left myself with no alternative but to get on with the usual stuff that goes on around here, to wit: diving for pearls. Given my recent ramblings in this section, I’m considering eliminating the introduction, or imposing a limit of one paragraph before beginning the dives each morning. Perhaps not; I’m pretty wishy-washy about that stuff and this blog; I try not to change what works, and much of what I do is sort of an unconscious set of actions anyway, so I don’t pay a lot of attention to it sometimes. And now I really AM rambling, so….. Shall we Pearl?…..
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Mind is the one and only creative power. All attempts to account for creation from any other standpoint are futile… Our most important study, then, is our own consciousness. — Charles Fillmore, “Christian Healing”

“???”

As nearly as I can describe, using the keyboard, this was my immediate response to the above. Three query marks appeared in my inner eye, just as you see them here, surrounded by what I can only say looked like a thought balloon such as you’d see in a comic book. I also must point out that neither the questions, nor the image by which my mind indicated its bemusement, surprised me, somehow, though they certainly should have, since I’ve never, to this point in my life, had anything cause me to respond with an instant immersion into comic-speak….

I guess my reaction is explainable as justified by the contrast between what is said in the statement, and the title of the piece from which it came. For the life of me, I cannot figure out whether the author is being facetious, serious, or merely using the idea as context in some way that isn’t clear with the statements standing alone. As it stands, the statements are perfectly rational, and, as such, could be said to be perfectly antithetical to the precepts of Christianity that I know, and certainly to the precepts of any of the sects that would be involved in mystical healing of imagined flaws in the human soul (Original Sin). Well, I guess that could be any of them, so, that won’t wash, exactly….. but, I’m still confused, as identifying Mind as the “only creative power” seems to go against everything Christians assume about divinity, and creation, unless I’ve missed something important over the last 60 years…..

“There are scores of thousands of sects who are ready at a moment’s notice to reveal the will of God on every possible subject.” — Smart Bee

Bah, humbug! Now I’m going to have to track down this article, or book, or whatever it is, and see the whole thing to get the perspective I need to figure this out. My curiosity won’t let me do anything else…. Besides, once I do get an idea of what the author was doing when he made this assertion, I’ll have a better idea of how to point the ensuing rant. If I go with what I have now, I’ll probably end up making all sorts of contextual assumptions that could be entirely false, and completely ruin any hope of future respect for my opinions, especially from myself, as I should know better than to assume anything about context from just one assertion.

To be continued, after a suitable interval to consult with Google, and subsequent sources…. And besides, even as simple and easy as it is, ranting on the Christians today is more than I want to get into…. Call me lazy, call me irresponsible, call me irresistible, just don’t call me late for lunch…..

“Toes, knees, NIPPLES. Toes, knees, nipples, KNUCKLES… Nipples, dimples, knuckles, NICKLES, wrinkles, pimples!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Nipples, knuckles, and nickles….. Genius! Sheer genius!….. And toes, too!….
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An Old Man, Snoring….

Winter arrives with gusts of wind and rain,
clover spreads green amongst the hedges.
Urban gardens quiver, and dream of spring again,
gargoyles stoically crouch on corniced ledges.

Umbrellas sprout over heads shrouded and hatted,
dotting the sidewalks in colorful profusion.
Urban denizens pose sketches, framed and matted,
adding casual beauty to fill the illusion.

Hissing tires, swishing along with the wipers
join nature’s orchestra smoothly, as percussion.
Dripping gutters sound gong tones, true pipers,
a sudden roar of wind hushes all discussion.

Dreams of summer heat form the crux of desire
as winter chills our souls from without.
Sitting in warmth, gazing into an imaginary fire;
content to know spring will come, no doubt.

~~ gigoid
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It is Friday…. I mention this only to point out that the day of the week only has two points of interest for me; hours of operation at the library are different every day, and the bus schedules are different on weekends. Other than that, my only interest in what day it is has to do with whether or not there is a possibility of mail. This lack of pressure about what is required for any particular day is one of the real perks of being retired, one that is seldom mentioned in all that I’ve seen and read on the subject, despite its real significance. I really enjoy the sensation of being in total control of my own time, with no other entity in the world who decides for me what I am to do at any particular moment…. It is a luxury that we do not appreciate when we are not retired, as we almost never experience it…..

Such freedom of time is limited, of course, by other considerations, but those are all connected to personal issues, not to reality’s issues. It is this freedom that allows me the time to create this blog every day, a task to which I dutifully cling as my lifeline to sanity. I guess that the years of work, during which my time was extremely tightly scheduled, for reasons associated with what others wanted/expected of me, created a need for some organization of that time, in order to feel some degree of control that is generally necessitated by conditions from the outside world. So, I try to do my writing when I am most able to do so, physically, which means first thing in the morning…..

None of this really has any point, other than to illustrate that I’m a lucky guy, for one with so many issues to deal with; I am both beset upon by reality, and rewarded by it immensely….. Now, if only I could get reality to hand over some of what is mine, I’d be set….. In the meantime, I needed a pearl, and all I could find were these little gems from a variety of sources, all of which, taken together, make a pretty fair set of principles on which to base one’s life, and one’s attitudes about life….. I’d say anyone who was true to all of these would be considered an asset to whatever part of society he or she inhabited…. Abondanza!……

“I would rather suffer defeat than have cause to be ashamed of victory.” — Quintus Curtius

“It is not the one with many possessions who is rich, but the one who has no needs.” — Philoxenos

“When we look at a rock what we are seeing is not the rock, but the effect of the rock upon us.” — Bertrand Russell

“It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn’t use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like “What about lunch?” — Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne

“Most people seem to think that trampling individual rights is OK if it is “for the good of society as a whole.” However, society is but a large number
of individuals, and how can harming the individual parts better the whole?” — Andrew Ford, forda@agcs.com

“But if a man happens to find himself … he has a mansion which he can inhabit with dignity all the days of his life.” — Google says….

“I should have been a plumber.” — Albert Einstein

I think, without irony, life would be pretty dull….. Don’t you?…..
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Since I can’t seem to find a perfect pearl to finish with…. one more try….. Well, not perfect, perhaps, but close. Bonus points if you can figure out which one it is (hint: It’s not the last one in line, from Albert, though his is one of my favorites….)….. Okay, I’m done. I’ve been playing around in my head now for almost three hours, while the rest of the world is waking up. I’m going to go shower up to face the day, then maybe go back to bed until time to catch the bus to the library….. Just kidding, but, hey, I can if I want to, so, who knows?….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

It is often considered de rigeur to order dessert first….

Posted on December 19, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
That answers THAT question…. When I awoke today, I wasn’t sure how I’d feel, as I’d gone to bed with a lot of pain. But, for some odd reason, I slept well, even going so long at one point that my medication ran low, & I had to take a pill, late, before I got too far awake at 3:00 AM. Even then, I fell back to sleep, and got up feeling pretty normal, all in all…. But, of course, that brings Murphy to mind, and I was a bit worried he might stick his nose in and fuss with me, but so far he must be busy elsewhere…. I’m sure he finds ways to keep busy with other folks when I’m not available…. I just know of his predilection for my life’s events, and try not to draw his attention when he’s not around…..

At any rate, when I sat down to begin, I did so with a relatively clear head, and fell right into a rant in section three, where I had placed a particularly stimulating pearl to await some discussion. It is flowing well, and gives me hope for the rest of this piece; and THAT is encouraging….. Sadly, I’m so acutely aware of the attentions of Murphy, I suspect his hand in this good feeling I have, as if he is setting me up to fall again….. SIGH…..

(BTW, when I write that word, in that way, one should imagine the sigh that is common to the people of the west counties in Ireland, as described by Father Whatsisname who writes the delightful mystery novels about the “Little Archbishop” and the series of books about the wife of Dermott Michael Coyne, whose name also escapes me, a Celtic wise woman, fey as the day is long, and the visions she sees that send them on missions of mercy to solve problems…. Greatly entertaining books, for a priestly author….. Ah yes, his name is Andrew Greely, I believe…. the priest, that is…. Any who, the sigh is a huge production, long, drawn out, and implying the presence of doom, long-suffering, and the futility of fighting against Fate….. now, THAT’s a SIGH……)

I suppose I should just be grateful that I am not blocked up today, and let it go at that; simple is best when it comes to avoiding the attraction of Murphy’s attention….. Since I’ve already started on section three, we’ll get on with today’s effort, finish there, and go for a dive in Smart Bee’s ocean of quotes. I think that, all things considered, that would be best for all of us…. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

Here is the deal…. I’ve become confused already, I think because I began the day in section three, then did the intro…. finished section three, and now am back in section one…. and I’m lost. Smart Bee, however, has been quite accommodating, and has allowed me to put together what I like to call an unconscious pearl…. I picked out these quotes quite randomly, as far as my conscious mind is concerned; it had no part in choosing them, other than controlling the act of pressing the right mouse buttons at the right times….. Each of these was picked by my sub-, or unconscious mind, thus, I have no idea what the resulting concept will take as a shape for consideration…. It’s kind of fun, actually, and quite illuminating in its own way…. Since I have no idea what you will now experience, just try to enjoy it; it’s bound to be an interesting ride…..

The White Rabbit put on his spectacles. “Where shall I begin, please your Majesty ?” he asked. “Begin at the beginning,”, the King said, very gravely, “and go on till you come to the end: then stop.” — Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

“Despite its suffix, skepticism is not an “ism” in the sense of a belief or dogma. It is simply an approach to the problem of telling what is counterfeit and what is genuine. And a recognition of how costly it may be to fail to do so. To be a skeptic is to cultivate “street smarts” in the battle for control of one’s own mind, one’s own money, one’s own allegiances. To be a skeptic, in short, is to refuse to be a victim.” — Robert S. DeBear, “An Agenda for Reason, Realism, and Responsibility,” — New York Skeptic — (newsletter of the New York Area Skeptics, Inc.), Spring 1988

“One should always prefer the probable impossible to the improbable possible.” — Aristotles Dictum.

“Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence.” — Albert Einstein

Thus, God said: “Let there be cats!”, and He was promptly ignored. — Smart Bee

IMAGINATION, n. A warehouse of facts, with poet and liar in joint ownership. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

Whew! That took a nasty dive-turn there at the end, didn’t it? I didn’t see that coming, myself….. but, it is the perfect finish to what now appears to be somewhat inspired…. Even the one about cats has its place in the sequence, don’t you think? Just in case this one caused any discomfort among the Gentle Readership, I think it is a good thing the poetry section is next…. When I get to Google, I’ll look for something soothing…. perhaps some Keats, or Marlowe…. I am a patsy when it comes to the Romantics….
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Apollo And The Graces

APOLLO

WHICH of the fairest three
To-day will ride with me?
My steeds are all pawing at the threshold of the morn:
Which of the fairest three
To-day will ride with me
Across the gold Autumn’s whole Kingdom of corn?

THE GRACES all answer

I will, I – I – I
young Apollo let me fly
Along with thee,
I will- I, I, I,
The many wonders see
I – I – I – I
And thy lyre shall never have a slackened string:
I, I, I, I,
Thro’ the golden day will sing.

John Keats

‘Tis a fine day for singing, is it not?……
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“He was sweet and sincere and giving and good… AND A CHERISHED NEIGHBOR UNDESERVING OF SUCH A FATE!! Nevertheless, better him than me. Amen.” — Eulogy given by Banana PC Jr to Opus in “Bloom County”

As an indictment of modern society, this little remark from Berke Breathed manages to hit just about all of the high points, and is wickedly, viciously sarcastic, to boot. Just plain charming, is what it is….. I forget exactly how Opus died, but I remember it was particularly mundane, as well as inane, and also made the sarcasm grade higher. I really don’t understand why Berke Breathed stopped writing his/her comic strips; he/she may have been the best cartoonist ever, but I thank the stars that for a while, we were able to enjoy his or her wit (I never did know if the person who drew Bloom County was male of female…. didn’t seem to matter….). Between this strip, and Odds Bodkins, which came before Bloom County, my sense of proportion was sculpted into a truer figure, resembling reality a lot closer than before having been exposed to the deadly sharp, brilliantly targeted humor in those comics.

The indictment is brilliantly delivered here, in one simple phrase… “Nevertheless, better him than me.” I don’t know about y’all, but that seems to me like it would be a pretty good slogan for the general attitude society presents in the modern world. It shows of that perfect sense of selfishness and entitlement that is held by so many of today’s folks, given to them mostly by their elitist religions. Of course, this egregious attitude, so common to those in the Western religions, is strengthened and exemplified by the beloved ruling class, as they continue to lie to the public on a daily basis, all while they go about their business of looting the public treasury, and carrying out the wishes of their true masters, the bankers and corporate executives.

The beloved ruling class, and the preachers, are so effective at their work that they have trained most of the public to accept their lies without question. People are so controlled that they believe that the pittance they earn is a blessing, and that they can do anything at all to try to improve their own lot, without fear of consequence. I mean, what other conclusion could be arrived at, given the picture that is presented to us by our leaders? They (the BRC, beloved ruling class….) say whatever they wish, no matter how untrue. They steal, and call it business. They cheat, and call it expedience. They kill, and call it spreading democracy. And, for all this, the public rewards them, by electing to office again, and again…..

“Do not be afraid of enemies; the worst they can do is to kill you. Do not be afraid of friends; the worst they can do is betray you. Be afraid of the indifferent; they do not kill or betray. Yet only because of their silent agreement, betrayal and murder exist on earth.” — Bruno Yasienski, contemporary Soviet novelist

Indifference is a condition of mind the true world masters have refined to an art, one they employ constantly, to ignore the evil they cause. In this, they are not alone…. Humanity at large has become indifferent to the struggles of other people, and have that indifference rewarded regularly, by advantages to their self-interests. Indifference becomes a protection for the weak and vulnerable, who cannot afford to give up any of their own resources to aid another, a situation perfectly set-up by our beloved rulers, and maintained by them as suitable for their purposes.

It must be very satisfying for them to see how people in society have taken in their training, and applied it so well to their own pitiful existence, as this kind of societal attitude is one that is self-protecting, and self-reproducing…. the more people are cruel to each other, the more it will continue to be so…..

“If you have ever seen a four-year-old trying to lord it over a two-year-old, then you know what the basic problem of human nature is — and why government keeps growing larger and ever more intrusive.” — Thomas Sowell

Comedy, as produced by some cartoonists, is a very accurate portrayal of the true nature of society, and can serve as a means of causing change. Unfortunately, our beloved ruling class already knows this, and takes steps to curtail the effect as much as possible. In my opinion, comedians like George Carlin, cartoonists like Berke Breathed, Garry Trudeau, and Walt Kelly (Pogo), should be held up as the heroes and honored philosophers of Society, because they are always fighting to expand the human consciousness, rather than limit it, as is the case for the entire ruling class, and the priestly hierarchies.

They, the masters, do not want a public that can think critically, for then their chicanery is exposed. Oh, they are well enough protected that they are in no real danger; they just don’t like to be in the light, where they can be targeted…. It is the same for all evil; it does better in the dark, where its purposes and methods can be hidden from sight…. which is why I love the comics, both live, stand-up comics, and those who scribble on paper, for they are in the thick of the revolution of the mind, the war that is still raging here on Earth…. The war to see whether reason, or venality, will determine the future of the human race…. I, for one, salute them all….

— Bother! said Pooh, as he bribed Ron Brown.

(See?…. Even Pooh has been corrupted…..)
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To quote the Colonel, “I love it when a plan comes together….”; I only wish I had a big cigar to fire up, to go along with the big grin. (Reference: The A-Team, 1970’s or 1980’s TV show….) Somehow, I’ve managed to complete a Pearl without any disruption from Murphy, a completely unprecedented event, which turns this day’s date into one of major significance. I may even start to celebrate this day in coming years, as it is the first time it has ever occurred, and deserves some acknowledgment. Of course, doing so would probably tempt Murphy into retaliation, implying some disrespect, I suppose…. But, hey, one must take what the universe gives, and learn to like it, or spend one’s time in misery. Not being fond of misery, I opt for the former, rather than the latter….

Such being the case, I shall now go forth into the Big Blue Room, to see what kind of mischief I can find to get into; perhaps a trip to the Social Security Office, to cause a ruckus by a display of stress-related angst for their elucidation and enjoyment. Hell, in a bureaucrat’s day, especially in that office, they probably get pretty bored, and it might be good entertainment for them….. Nah, better not…. nobody these days seems to have much of a sense of humor, and they’d probably end up thinking I’m some kind of terrorist or something, rather than just another stressed out citizen trying to survive with some degree of sanity, and dignity….. I’m in too good of a mood to have to deal with some ignorant cops today…..

Hmm…. no wonder it flowed so well today…. I even figured out a way to put a small rant into the closing section. Actually, the above paragraph is a quite delightful (to me) little poke at Social Security and the federal bureaucracy; very tidy and succinct, with some good zingers cleverly disguised as observations. It’s almost too bad I’m done for the day…. but, since I don’t fell a poem struggling to get out, I am, and must go find a place to find a poem in Google, then, post this gem….. So….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

A simple five-body orbital computation….

Posted on December 11, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
A blank slate is filled with promise, and it is the fortunate man, indeed, who can view the new day as such a slate. Without going into too much detail, suffice it to say that I feel fortunate today, and look forward to the day with pleasure. I’m even feeling positive about this morning’s Pearl, as it seems to be falling right into line with the sense of hopeful anticipation I feel; the screen, and the potential Pearl, was, until I began typing this, completely blank, and therefore, filled with possibilities….. Makes me want to jump up & holler “damn skippy!”

Of course, that entails the risk of tweaking my injury, causing worsening pain throughout the day, so we’ll leave out the jumping part, but keep the rest. It does feel good to wake up in a positive frame of mind, to be sure. So much so, it makes me sad, for all the days of late that have not been so blessed. (Side comment: Yow!, as Zippy would say, some mornings the coffee just really hits the right spot……) I’m going to need to be careful when I go into public…. people will think it strange to see me in this state, given my normal curmudgeonly appearance….

Hell, who knows, I might even shave to greet the day, an act I’ve not performed in, well, a long time, possibly years. Normally, I shave when I feel grubby, which can take a couple weeks, in the right bacheloric frame of mind. (Not sure if ‘bacheloric’ is a word, but it should be…) In my full-on old curmudgeon bachelor cloak, I’ve been known to frighten small children, and cause dogs to bark frenziedly, so it might be a real treat for the neighborhood….. Of course, it will confuse them no end to see me with a clean-shaven, smiling face, anyway, so what the heck….

I can hardly wait to go check out Smart Bee, to see what it has in store for today. Brilliant quotations on profound ideas from the greatest minds in history will literally fall into my lap for inclusion in today’s effort. If it all lives up to its promise, this will be a very shiny one indeed…. And, whatever the poetry section comes up with is bound to be a good one…… Shall we Pearl?….

“Not all birds can fly. What separates the fliers from the walkers is the ability to take off.” — Carl Sagan
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“You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat.” — Albert Einstein, when asked to describe radio…

Ah, Albert…. I love Albert. I hold him in the highest esteem of anyone, alive or dead, of whom I am cognizant; believe me, that is very high esteem, indeed… We’ll not see his like again…. This quote shows one of the reasons why he was such an outstanding human being, aside from his status as the brightest genius of his time. In a few simple words, he makes a complex subject understandable for those whose minds pale in comparison to his own, yet without showing the least bit of condescension. Not to mention, some pretty good humor…. “the difference is that there is no cat.” I laughed out loud, myself, as it is just so appropriate to the subject…..

This also demonstrates the power of his genius. He was able to look at common things in our universe, and see the physical implications of how it worked at its most basic level. He once was asked by a friend, as they walked along the beach, why he thought that sand was so strangely different when in differing amounts of water, i.e., on the ocean floor, fully drenched, it is loosely adherent, and the grains separate easily. When dry, it is also loose, and the grains do not stick together. But, at the ocean’s edge, it is hard, almost like concrete, and will form into any shape, and hold that shape until it dries out…..

Albert paused, picked up a handful of wet sand, and gazed at it for a moment, then launched into what he thought was the reason, to wit: surface tension causes the different properties at the different levels of saturation. This, of course, is absolutely correct, and shows just how his mind almost automatically uses Occam’s Razor to narrow in on the most simple, and most correct, explanation for the question at hand. It is almost as if he was born with software for his organic computer/brain that the rest of us have never heard of, much less loaded onto our machines.

Albert Einstein, to me, is the most perfect example of how a human being can live with honor, integrity, and a deep love of both the physical universe, and for his fellow man. Every act in his life was carried out in a way that demonstrated his passion for living, and showed both the power of his intellect, the depth of his human compassion, and the steadfastness of his love for his fellows. I don’t think there is a better example in all of history to hold up for young people to admire…. Even without the genius which marked his inner life, his actions and statements all show that he lived a life of which anyone could be proud, and could do well to emulate…..
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Beauty crowds me till I die,
Beauty, mercy have on me!
But if I expire today,
Let it be in sight of thee.

~~ Emily Dickinson
————————————

In the 17th century, Kikaku, one of the ten disciples of the great Japanese poet Basho, composed a haiku:

Take a pair of wings
From a dragonfly, you would
Make a pepper-pod.

Basho told Kikaku: “That’s not a haiku. You kill the dragonfly.”

Kikaku recomposed the lines:

Add a pair of wings
To a pepper-pod, you would
Make a dragonfly.

— Amal Naj, PEPPERS
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“Of all the things I’ve ever lost, I miss my mind the most.” — Smart Bee

Having spent the last three hours experiencing typus interruptus, while dealing with issues out in the Big Blue Room, I come back to find this as the first pearl to catch my eye. Such a sad lament, one I can identify with closely, as it parallels my own experience. I first lost my mind back when I was a teen, and have been misplacing it periodically ever since. The set of psychosocial circumstances that lead up to the actual misplacement are often somewhat bizarre, but, then, that could be said of both life in general, and my own in particular….

Brutha: “I mean about … what gods are … how gods came to exist.”

Barman: “Gods don’t like that sort of thing. We get that in here some nights, when someone’s had a few. Cosmic speculation about whether gods really exist. Next thing, there’s a bolt of lightning through the roof with a note wrapped around it saying ‘Yes, we do’ and a pair of sandals with smoke coming out. That sort of thing, it takes all the interest out of metaphysical speculation.” — Terry Pratchett, “Small Gods”

Terry Pratchett is very popular among hackers, among others, mainly for statements such as this, which I’ve included here because it gives the flavor, if not the actual texture, of what I’m trying to say here. This is a particularly apt metaphor for me, because I rail so much about the lack of rationality in religion, and the cupidity of those who choose to follow its precepts. In my way of looking at the Universe, or universe, if you prefer to be politically correct, if there are going to be gods, then they should act like gods, not like spoiled old men with odd ideas about, well, almost everything…. Most of the stuff that I was raised with in the Christian sect my parents chose to expose us to seemed to me to be the actions of someone that modern society would send for psychiatric treatment, not someone who either wanted, or needed, my worship….

“All authority is quite degrading.” — Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

When one couples the mistrust and disbelief, with which I view those points of dogma associated with Christianity, with this truism from the mind of Oscar, it helps to explain my own reason for that mistrust. The concept of God as espoused by those sects gives the ultimate authority to God, with the express implication that this authority extends to his representatives here on Earth, and THAT is ultimate degradation! Especially considering that those same representatives are supposed to also be considered as the ultimate authority on what God wants, or expects, from His creations.

You know, it just annoys me no end to capitalize the He, or His, when in reference to God, just for the sake of literary accuracy…. so, I’m not going to worry about it from now on, as I find the whole concept of a God who wants worship to be distasteful in the first place…. Just WANTING to be worshiped, to my mind, indicates that it is not deserved….

Any who, to get back to the earthly reps of gods…. These charlatans, by the apparent sincerity of their own faith, and their skillfully enthusiastic words, all of which reinforce the underlying, inherent elitism, always manage to convince others that what they are spewing is the truth, and that they are indeed the voice of god, or that a book written by partisans is an unbiased account of reality.

To someone with my severe sensitivity to crap, this makes me itch, and has done so since I was about four years old, the age I first felt some doubts about the stories I was being told…. Even then, a lot of it tended to stretch my sense of rationality to the limit, and caused me to doubt the veracity of the tales we heard. Call me strange, it’s okay…. I’ve heard it before, from a LOT of Sunday School teachers…..

“Always store beer in a dark place.” — Lazarus Long

This kind of thinking is more along the lines of what I hold to be true, according to what I’ve observed in my life. It may seem a bit obscure, but this statement from Lazarus is one I’ve found to be one that grows larger the longer one considers all its implications, and all of its power as metaphor. And, if it has no other effect, it may help someone keep their beer in a drinkable state….. which I’ve found to be as important in the larger picture as just about anything else I can think of….

“It’s all there…. all there inside you already. Happiness, love, serenity, peace, all are waiting for us to discover them, right there where they have always been, inside us, abiding…..” ~~ gigoid
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C’est bon! C’est un fait acompli! Boy, am I glad to finish this one…. It’s been a real experience this morning, and afternoon, what with trips to the pharmacy, surfing in Smart Bee, some rather convoluted reasoning and ranting, etc., I’m bushed…. It must be age-related fatigue, or perhaps just the normal daily letdown after completing the Pearl…. whatever, it’s done. I’m outta here….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

From chaos, order grows….

Posted on December 7, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Sometimes, we are compelled to celebrate days that pass that have some kind of significance, even if we have no real reason for celebrating…. Take today, for example. Seventy-one years ago on this date, this country was attacked at Pearl Harbor, and our involvement in WWII began. Also of note today, if I pull it together enough to get this done, I will post my 550th Pearl of Virtual Wisdom here on WordPress…. Two events on opposite ends of the scale of importance to the world, yet both of equal weight in my mind, due to their relationship to me, i.e., they’re in MY head today…. Self-interest is powerful, neh? It gives a small clue as to how that little quirk of humanity’s can cause so much trouble in the world…..

Don’t worry, I’m not going to start ranting so soon…. This isn’t a lead-in to a rant, it’s an intro, and I couldn’t, for the life of me, find anything else in my early morning brain that would suit. This really doesn’t do it, either, but, it is at least flowing out, rather than sitting there like a lump, saying, “Gee, boss, I thought this would work…”

I’m telling you, the crap one has to put up with from one’s own brain can be really frustrating at times…. I mean, here I am, awake, and ready to write, and all it can come up with is Pearl Harbor Day, and 550 posts. Whoopee…. Besides, given the state of things around here just now, I wouldn’t trust myself to rant…. it might turn on me, and I’d start confessing to all sorts of weird stuff….. Such as admitting to preferring the music of Abba to most anything written by Wagner…..

No, I’m not going there…. Abba is scary enough to keep me out of that. I’m hoping that Smart Bee will have a lot of good material for me, which means, given the ubiquitous attentions of Murphy on which we may count, that there won’t be much of anything to use. Bah! Now I’m getting grumpy, flinching from the blows before they’re even thrown…. I haven’t even seen Murphy yet, but my shoulders are already hunched in preparation…. Oh, wait, there he is…. I just discovered that the heating unit in my room has stopped giving out heat, and is cheerfully blowing out cool air for my comfort, even though it’s cold in here…. SIGH…..

Now I have to call the landlord, and allow someone in my room to fix it…. what a pain. I’ll have to make the bed, and cover up all the burn holes in the carpet (just kidding….no holes, just normal bachelor dirt….)…. It is simply more proof that Murphy hates me, for whatever reason he may have decided on years ago, and will continue to make my life miserable as long as he is around. Since he is an immortal, existing merely as a Natural Law, or Principle of Existence, that promises to be a long time…. Ah well, at least he is something to write about that is always present, and always providing me with new examples of his imaginative creativity in causing chaos for people….

Well, this intro has gotten completely out of hand. It started off weakly, got worse, and proceeded to wander all over the landscape. I’d best start today’s dive soon, as this is looking as if it could spend the whole day just spewing out irrelevant nonsense, about nothing much at all. Of course, that phrase might conceivably apply to all that I write, but I won’t tell anybody if you won’t. Six paragraphs, I think, is quite enough torture for one day, so I’ll now attempt to get on with the rest of this post…. Shall we Pearl?…..
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“Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in.” — Mark Twain

As is his stock in trade, Mr. Twain once again gives humanity a solid poke in the ribs, in a humorous, even comfortable way that makes us want to laugh about our all-too-human foibles, instead of crying, which would really be more appropriate. In his assessment of both the character of most men, and most dogs, he is absolutely correct, and shows in one simple, sardonic phrase, just how ugly people can be. In fact, I can honestly say that, in my life, I have met many more dogs who deserve to go to Heaven, than I have men or women. Of course, I wouldn’t wish that on any dog, but, you know what I mean. Dogs are better ffolkes than most folks, in the world I see around me….

And this leads me into a perfect ranting jump-off point…. “Heaven goes by favor” This is all too accurate; in order to get into the club, one has to meet a certain standard, that of faith. Of course that standard is pretty easy to meet, as all it requires is a verbal commitment ( accompanied, I suppose by a heart-felt commitment….) that one believes in JC, or Mohammed, or Buddha, or whomever, and will try to follow their teachings. No pressure to actually do so, just commit to it, and you’re in. Or, go ahead and live your life walking the path of evil, then convert on the deathbed, and you’re in…. according to their rules…. Or, in other words, it’s all who you know…..

“An ancient buddha said, Mountains are mountains; waters are waters. These words do not mean mountains are mountains; they mean mountains are mountains.” — Dogen

I’ve recently been reading an author whose work I had read in my youth, when I was devouring science fiction on a daily basis. Samuel R. Delany has written some powerful novels, as well as shorter works. The most recent I read, Babel-17, uses the structure and meaning of words in language as the basis for the plot. In the book, he relates how important perception is to meaning, and how the way we use language can actually work to program the brain, just like the organic computer it is. What struck me is how the process he describes, which is what can be observed in people, if you look closely, shows just how powerful a tool language can be, when used in full consciousness of what it means, and what it CAN do…..

People base their entire existence on a few words, and what those words mean to them. If someone else (say, a preacher?) is able to influence the person’s choice of the words that have that power, then that person becomes the willing slave of whomever supplies him with the words. This is a subtle process, that operates below the level of consciousness that most folks are aware of; they don’t realize how they are being manipulated by the very words they use, into thinking along certain lines, and in certain ways, all of which benefit the manipulator in some way, much more than they do the one whose thoughts are being channeled.

“This is Daddy’s bedtime secret for today: Man is born broken. He lives by mending. The grace of God is glue.” — Eugene O’Neill

Mr. O’Neill was a decent playwright, but as a philosopher, he sucked, plain and simple. This is merely the parroting of basic Christian dogma, and as such stands as a perfect example of how religious institutions tend to lie to their constituents….. I can say this because I have my own secret for today: Man is NOT born broken; he is born as a blank slate, and what is written upon it is only what they are taught to write. Since the first premise is false, the rest of the train of thought becomes irrelevant, and you can easily see where it is just an attempt to get people to accept the untruths, and keep their patterns of thought within the boundaries drawn by dogma….

Sorry if such an idea is offensive, but, I don’t need to be “born again”, I did just fine the first time. I’m not broken. I’m not guilty of original sin, any more than is anyone else. That single concept, original sin, has been the most destructive idea that Man has come up with in all of our long history, and is responsible for much of the torture, warfare, and egregiously evil events of the last 3000 years. I kid you not…. That simple lie, that we are all somehow born inherently sinful, and guilty of something, is pure hogwash; it is the most blatant falsehood to have been thought up, and perpetrated upon the rest of mankind, EVER!

What a ridiculous idea! To think that a newborn, of any species, should bear the guilt for an action performed before their birth, is just plain stupid, and self-serving. Not to mention that the act we are supposedly guilty of is the acquisition of knowledge, which is, to me, NOT something for which we should be punished, but rather deserve to be rewarded. Of course, knowledge is its own reward, so that really doesn’t matter, or shouldn’t.

But, in order to gain control over others, preachers have, since the beginning of history, tried to convince the rest of us that they are the only ones who have the right answer, all based on a bald-faced lie, and a false assumption….. And, since a large percentage of mankind is too lazy to think for themselves, or to risk thinking independently of others, THEY FALL FOR IT! It almost makes me ashamed to be human, to be truthful….

But, we have dogs as our companions, and they love us, so we must not be ALL bad…. right? Right…. so, just follow your dog’s example, and just BE moral, don’t try to follow what others may tell you is moral. You’ll do a lot better, in life, and when it counts, after life…..

“#8 Go back. Everything you need to know is in the first seven axioms.” ~~ Peruaosophy, Axiom #8, by gigoid
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Of late, say, in the last two months, my pain level has gone up near the top of the scale more than once. I try not to complain too much about it, as I’m not the only one in the world who lives with pain, and I know it could be worse than it is (because it often is worse than it is…. Also, I see others with worse conditions to deal with, and it brings mine into perspective….).

Earlier, I was perusing the book of poems I took from the library with Emily D’s collected works, and found one of hers that I have loved for a long time, since way before I really understood pain. She certainly had some deep insight into its nature, which leads me to surmise she had some experience with it in some way…. Hard to achieve this kind of insight without some direct exposure. Whether that is true or not, this poem is a very accurate take on pain, and tends to soothe my soul, whenever I come across it again…..

Pain has an element of blank;
It cannot recollect
When it began, or if there were
A day when it was not.

It has no future but itself,
Its infinite realms contain
Its past, enlightened to perceive
New periods of pain

One of the reasons I love Emily’s work is its breadth of expression, of all the human emotions on which it touches. After seeing the above poem, on the very next page I found the following, and knew again the sheer genius of her spirit…..

I had no time to hate, because
The grave would hinder me,
And life was not so ample I
Could finish enmity.

Nor had I time to love; but since
Some industry must be,
The little toil of love, I thought
Was large enough for me.

~~ Emily Dickinson
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It is now two plus hours since starting this morning’s effort, and I’m beat. I’m afraid I’ll have to go to my default position when feeling thus; old school pearls are that default. Here are a series of pearls, pointing in an obvious direction today. It’s all about how to live life in such a way that you can get up in the morning, and be able to look yourself in the eye in the mirror…..

“What is left when honour is lost?” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 265

“Men become civilized, not in proportion to their willingness to believe, but in their readiness to doubt.” — H. L. Mencken

“Avoid fried foods which angry up the blood.” — Satchel Paige

“If you have a particular faith or religion, that is good. But you can survive without it if you have love, compassion, and tolerance. The clear truth of a person’s love of God is if that person genuinely shows love to fellow human beings.” — Dalai Lama

“Any fool can know. The point is to understand.” — Albert Einstein

“When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.” — Old Indian saying

“Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving in words evidence of the fact.” — George Eliot (1819-1880) — Impressions on Theophrastus Such (1879)

On that note, I’m outta here…. to refrain from giving any further evidence….
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SIGH…. One of these days, I’ll find out where the rest of my mind went…. Hope springs eternal, eh what? I’m again uncertain of how to look at today’s effort, but, since that is not anything unusual, we’ll just go with the flow, and let it fly. I’ve seen, and done, worse…… Pontius rhea, as they say in Piraeus, meaning, “it all flows”, sort of….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

The penny screamed when I pinched it….

Posted on December 1, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
What an odd sensation I’m experiencing this morning! I am awake, almost fully, it seems, but every bone and muscle in my body wants me to go back to sleep….. I can barely hold my head up from what feels like fatigue (after almost 10 hours in bed….), but my mind is alert and ready for the day, so to speak. Weird…. I’m typing while leaning on my right arm, and my back is bowed, all because I’m tired, or feel that way. I know I shouldn’t be tired, but, there you go…. More gifts from an aging body, I guess, and not one I’m going to worry about, or give in to. Not that I’m bursting with creativity or anything like that this morning…. I’m just tired of giving ground, and I’m not ready for my rocking chair yet….

Oops…. that was a conclusion, given too early, I think. Now I don’t know where to go with this intro section, having already delivered the punch line, so to speak. But, in keeping with the theme of no complaints, I’ll forge onward, despite the self-induced literary suicide I just performed. Well, suicide is maybe a bit harsh…. let’s just call it a faux pas, and let it go at that. A faux pas is much easier to repair than a suicide, that’s for sure…..

Trite, trite, trite…. what was I thinking? Oh well….. It’s looking like today may just be more of an adventure than even I was prepared for; so far, I’ve found myself performing several little contortions that do not bode well for the rest of the day. An egoistic curmudgeonly moment, followed immediately by clumsy lexicography are not the most hopeful signs of brilliance I can think of, off hand. This may take some rather severe mental contortions to make it to the end. Ah well, I had a feeling when I awoke that this would be one of those days, so I mentally “girded my grid for the big one”, as the bozos say….

Hmm…. “gird your grid for a big one” is a phrase that I see might need some clarification, but, oh well. Now is not the time, so unless you feel like plugging it into Google, to see if it knows where it is from, I guess you are S.O.L., as they say downtown, because I’m not going to do that right now. I could, but, I’m not…. leftover curmudgeon, I guess. But, I’ll soften enough to give you a hint…. it comes from one of the Firesign Theater’s albums, and the word “bozo” is a second hint….

Well, none of the above is going to win me any literary prizes, and I have sputtered through five or six paragraphs already, so it’s probably all for the best to go on to the regular program. Not that I think that will be of any use, or help…. this one is already too far off the tracks to worry about trying to get back on…. we’ll just wander through the uncharted territories today, and let the chips fall where they may…. Shall we Pearl?….
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“I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities, we, too, will be remembered not for victories or defeats in battle or in politics but for our contributions to the human spirit.” — former US President John F. Kennedy

At last! A worthy pearl! JFK, like the current President, was a superb public speaker, “Ich bin ein Berliner” notwithstanding, and whether he wrote his own words, or relied on his speech writers, he delivered, arguably, some of the most memorable, and insightful, aphorisms in US political and social history. The above statement is a perfect example, as he expresses a sentiment that can only be applauded, if not verified. I say verified because there is not a lot of verification from the past that history remembers anything BUT the battles. But, one can hope….

Actually, I believe what Jack said very strongly, in the sense that there are different histories that are remembered, most of which become altered in some way over time, as does all memory. The great teachers and philosophers who have lived have left their mark on the world in more ways than always show, in spite of the records of their deeds not always surviving intact. But, throughout history, there have been men, and women, who have done much to advance the human condition, whose words and deeds were never seen, and never recorded, but, nonetheless. whose effects still ripple down the river of time.

Some of the great minds in history, such as Lao Tzu, Zoroaster, Genghis Khan, Gautama Buddha, Jesus of Nazareth, Mohammed, Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, and many others, all made such advances in the human spirit, and their ideas keep proving their worth every day by their relativity to modern society. Men like Leonardo da Vinci, whose genius was so bright it shines even today, and modern philosopher/scientists such as Albert Einstein, and Stephen Hawking, have advanced that human spirit as much as anyone.

I’m not being as eloquent as I’d wish for such a deep subject…. What I’m trying to get to here is that we all, each and every one of us, have the power and opportunity to do the same as these historical figures, to advance the human spirit, just by the way we live our lives. What the philosophers say, and write, and the wisdom they pass on, is all very good, and a lesson to the rest of us…. But, what the average person does every day in their lives is just as important to the future as any scientific breakthrough, because what they do will determine what their children learn, and THAT is where the advancement really takes place, in the moments of teaching that happens every moment for children, and their adult teachers.

Living a life of integrity, with honesty and duty as the watchwords for action, is the best teaching method there is; to provide a good example for a child holds no less promise for mankind than all the work of all the genius’ of all time. How each one of us approaches life will, in the end, determine what happens to our species as a whole. It isn’t easy, especially given all of the people in society who do NOT wish to have any part of advancing anything but their own interests…. especially when so many of those kinds of people are in positions of authority. But, it can be done, and is done, every day, by millions of men and women of good spirit…. They are truly the future of mankind, and, if there is any hope for survival, it lies in their honest hands….

“So live that you can look any man in the eye and tell him to go to hell.” — Smart Bee
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The Wild Old Wicked Man

BECAUSE I am mad about women
I am mad about the hills,’
Said that wild old wicked man
Who travels where God wills.
‘Not to die on the straw at home.
Those hands to close these eyes,
That is all I ask, my dear,
From the old man in the skies.
Daybreak and a candle-end.

‘Kind are all your words, my dear,
Do not the rest withhold.
Who can know the year, my dear,
when an old man’s blood grows cold? ‘
I have what no young man can have
Because he loves too much.
Words I have that can pierce the heart,
But what can he do but touch?’
Daybreak and a candle-end.

Then Said she to that wild old man,
His stout stick under his hand,
‘Love to give or to withhold
Is not at my command.
I gave it all to an older man:
That old man in the skies.
Hands that are busy with His beads
Can never close those eyes.’
Daybreak and a candle-end.

‘Go your ways, O go your ways,
I choose another mark,
Girls down on the seashore
Who understand the dark;
Bawdy talk for the fishermen;
A dance for the fisher-lads;
When dark hangs upon the water
They turn down their beds.
Daybreak and a candle-end.

‘A young man in the dark am I,
But a wild old man in the light,
That can make a cat laugh, or
Can touch by mother wit
Things hid in their marrow-bones
From time long passed away,
Hid from all those warty lads
That by their bodies lay.
Daybreak and a candle-end.

‘All men live in suffering,
I know as few can know,
Whether they take the upper road
Or stay content on the low,
Rower bent in his row-boat
Or weaver bent at his loom,
Horseman erect upon horseback
Or child hid in the womb.
Daybreak and a candlc-cnd.

‘That some stream of lightning
From the old man in the skies
Can burn out that suffering
No right-taught man denies.
But a coarse old man am I,
I choose the second-best,
I forget it all awhile
Upon a woman’s breast.’
Daybreak and a candlc-end.

~~ William Butler Yeats
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“The sage wears clothes of coarse cloth but carries jewels in his bosom; He knows himself but does not display himself; He loves himself but does not hold himself in high esteem. Thus he rejects the latter and takes the former.” — Lao-Tzu

In spite of how it must appear, there is a small degree of organization to this blog’s contents. Most days I try to make sure that the first and third sections, while possibly related, are essentially about different concepts. The second section is, of course, reserved for whatever poetry strikes my fancy that day, whether classic, humorous, or original (Though it does seem that my recent outpouring of original poems has run dry, I don’t think I’m done with that, yet…..). It seems to work for me…. well enough, at least, to keep my internal critics quiet most of the time.

Today, it seems that most of what I’m seeing for pearls are related somehow to what I spoke of peripherally in today’s first section, to wit: the importance of integrity in human life. Integrity…. hmm…. not the precise word, or the characteristic I am thinking of, actually; it’s more than merely integrity. I suppose one could say the concept to which I’m referring is too mystical an idea to be presented clearly, and not be too far off the mark….

However, not being one to ignore a challenge to my vocabulary, I’ll take a few unseen moments here and find the correct word to facilitate further discussion, because, hey, if I can’t, no discussion, right? Right…. Be right back…. instantly, by all you will know and see….. Well, the challenge is a strong one, and I think best answered with more than one word to describe what I’m trying to say. Those words are all contained in Axiom #7 of Peruaosophy, to wit: Do your Duty. Honor the Truth. Respect Life. Share your Love.

I know that it is my own philosophy, and some may think that is cheating, but, not so. All that I hold to be true is in that axiom, and it represents the four cornerstones of my personal foundation. I find that when I am able to live up to all of these concepts, when I am able to use their direction in guiding my actions, my life is much smoother, and my moments of joy are plentiful, to balance the pain that life brings all of us in turn. This, to me, is the best way to advance the human condition, little by little, with the efforts of each man and woman adding its weight to the forward momentum.

Yes, the actions and discoveries that the best of history’s minds bring to us are wonderful, and work to make the lives of every human better…. It is the everyday efforts of each man, though, that takes that wisdom and turns it into reality, by using ideas, and integrity, to add their experience to that of the rest of society. Since there is a large number of folks who do NOT subscribe to this kind of ethical behavior, choosing to make their own self-interest their primary concern, it is the duty of those who do believe in these ideas to carry them out as best they may, so that the world can retain some semblance of harmony. It doesn’t always work, and, in fact, is in constant jeopardy of not working at all, but, it is the only way that will make the changes our society needs to survive…. which is another discussion for another time…..

“And now there is merely silence, silence, silence, saying all we did not know.” — William Rose Benet
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All in all, not a bad start to December. Now, if the configuration issues I noted yesterday on my site have been cleared up by my renewal of the domain name, all will be well. I am hopeful, if not sanguine…. And, if I want to get this posted today in time to get anything else constructive done, I’d best draw this to a close…. No poem, yet, but, I think you’ll like what I’ve added there…. I’m off to the library and farmer’s market…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

On the rooftop, stealing wax…..

Posted on November 17, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Oddly enough, time continues to pass, whether or not I care to acknowledge it or not. Of course, that has always been true, but I never really thought it deserved comment before now. Why now, you ask? Hell, I don’t know…. I am in the dark probably half the time, or more, when I’m writing anything, so why should this morning be any different? Maybe it’s because time seems to be passing more noticeably today; kind of like the stubble on one’s chin, you only notice it after a couple of days, when it achieves just that right state for scratching an itch on the hand…. and, if this is the kind of material we have to work with all day, I resign….

Whoops…. I can’t do that; it’s my blog. Well, I can sure complain about the material, then. But, I won’t, because that would be just too self-serving, and obvious; I’m already skirting the edge of reality by writing like this, just as if I were on a sail boat, tacking into the wind, instead of sitting in my lonely garret, feeling my artistic angst, and trying to convince y’all I’m a writer….. Fantasy abounds everywhere, n’est pas?….. It’s no doubt a good thing I don’t have to depend on my writing to support myself right now, or I’d definitely starve….

Of course, starving is still an issue, at least part of the time, but one that I refuse to worry about until it is imminent. I have enough to eat for the rest of this month, and that is far more than many folks who are my age, and in my somewhat precarious financial position. When I am feeling sorry for myself, I just think about how much worse it could be, and feel thankful for the friends I have, who have already proved that they won’t allow me to hit rock bottom without them for company. So, as can be seen, I am indeed, in reality, a very rich man….

“A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down.” ~~ Smart Bee

Once more, I’ve managed to blither and dally sufficiently to make up a four-paragraph intro section, all without ever saying anything meaningful, or even entertaining, I’m sure…. It’s getting to be pretty old hat, all things considered…. Besides, it’s much simpler than trying to come up with something worth the effort, just to get to where we will end up anyway…. Hmmm….. Did I just say that? Does it mean anything? I’m confused, which, considering where we are in today’s program, is probably not a good thing… But, here I am, just as real as a hive of bees living in my head….. Shall we Pearl? It may be the only thing that can save us…..
__________________________________

“Man has always sacrificed truth to his vanity, comfort and advantage. He lives by make-believe.” — W. Somerset Maugham, The Summing Up, 1938

Funny, isn’t it? Whenever anyone, such as Mr. Maugham in this instance, says something that is a core truth, it sounds rather rude…. or, will be said to be so by those hearing it, because it speaks so close to home. It might be said that it is fortunate for Man that he has an imagination with which he can make believe whatever he likes, otherwise he could not survive. I’m not sure what it says about the universe to say that acting in such a selfish way would be more successful than acting in a more righteous manner, but I’m sure it’s not a good recommendation. I suppose it’s best to say the universe doesn’t give a damn one way or another, and only the results count at the final reckoning…. A shame, too….

“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” — Anais Nin

Of course, the reckoning may not take the form that most folks would believe will happen…. Actually, that uncertainty is a given, since it hasn’t happened yet, and nobody at all really has any knowledge of what MIGHT happen, or whether we ever will have to justify ourselves to some reckoning agency/entity. There is, in reality, no evidence at all to be found that really says anything concrete about the subject; the future just doesn’t yield well to prescience, much as some folks would like you to believe it does. I’m pretty certain myself that I don’t WANT to know what’s coming, beyond some of my own concerns regarding events to come; those are related to human agencies, and have no bearing on this subject, anyway. The rest of it I can wait for…. knowing would spoil the surprise, too…. Who doesn’t like surprises?…. 🙂 Well, some surprises….

“It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes.” — The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Silly as it sounds, this statement fits what I am saying here…. which, as I’m sure you noticed, is still a bit unclear. To put it most simply, I’m trying to say what philosophers have been saying for so many years it is useless to count them, to wit: Selfishness isn’t going to work as a successful primary motivation for determining what we do, or what happens to us, in this universe. Period. It isn’t working, and it has never worked, for anyone except those who live by it, and then only in the short run of their life. In the long run, the universe, and truth, will assert itself, in all its harsh and unforgiving reality, and nothing we do will be capable of changing it. I’m no seer, but that much is obvious, given the state of the world, and the intransigence of its current inhabitants. All it takes to make such a prediction is an understanding of basic physics, which, in spite of our increasing understanding of its natural laws, does not allow us to make editorial changes in the way they work…. Hence, just potatoes won’t solve the problem….

“A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depends on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the measure as I have received and am still receiving.” — Albert Einstein

Albert is correct, again…. We are all in this together, and only by the efforts of all of us can we ever hope to survive our own foolishness. There is no other way to say it, and no better time to make the decisions we need to make. Soon enough, those decisions will be out of our hands; by not changing, the decisions are made for us…. and I’m pretty sure nobody will be happy with the consequences…. Of course, I’m a cynic, sometimes to my chagrin…. It’s a good thing I’m also an optimist…. We are right less often, but we have more fun……

“If you never assume importance you never lose it.” — Lao-tzu
__________________________________

If you were coming in the fall,
I’d brush the summer by
With half a smile and half a spum,
As housewives do a fly.

If I could see you in a year,
I’d wind the months in balls,
And put them each in separate drawers,
Until their time befalls.

If only centuries delayed,
I’d count them on my hand,
Subtracting till my fingers dropped
Into Van Diemen’s land.

If certain, when this life was out,
That yours and mine should be,
I’d toss it yonder like a rind,
And taste eternity.

But now, all ignorant of the length
Of time’s uncertain wing,
It goads me, like the goblin bee,
That will not state its sting.

~~ Emily Dickinson
__________________________________

I first read a Robert Heinlein novel when I was about 10 years old. Then, when about 11, I read his masterpiece work, Stranger In a Strange Land, and my mind was forever changed. His characters were real to me, and the words they spoke were filled with Meaning and Truth, capitalization required. Over time, he has continued to be my favorite author, and I was saddened beyond measure when he passed on, as was the entire Science Fiction world of readers and authors (I’m sure his editors and publishers were also saddened, but for different reasons, the ghouls…). He was considered, by all of SF fandom and all the other writers, to be the Grand Master of the genre, and deserved every bit of praise he garnered in his lifetime.

His character, Lazarus Long, continues to be my favorite of all his protagonists, though it is a close race with Miss Friday…. Lazarus’ character is one that gave Mr. Heinlein unlimited scope for the wisdom he wished to impart to his readers. At the beginning of the book, Time Enough For Love, Lazarus has just reached the age of approximately 2600 years, having been born in 1912, with that age somewhat skewed by some travel through hyperspace, which does funny stuff to Time. But, as near as he can remember, he has survived through all those centuries, and, in the course of the book’s plot, agrees to share some of the wisdom he has collected over the years, in the form of his Notebooks of Lazarus Long, a short chapter in Time Enough for Love. Here are a few of the most cogent aphorisms in the Notebooks; all of them are used by me on a daily basis, if not more often, and one can do no better than to keep them in the forefront of their mind, to ward off the insanity the world can foist upon us with no notice…..

“Beware of the “Black Swan” fallacy. Deductive logic is tautological; there is no way to get a new truth out of it, and it manipulates false statements as readily as true ones. If you fail to remember this, it can trip you – with perfect logic. The designers of the earliest computers called this the “Gigo Law”, i.e. “garbage in, garbage out”. Inductive logic is MUCH more difficult – but can produce new truths.” — Lazarus Long

“Place your clothes and weapons where you can find them in the dark.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

“The correct way to punctuate a sentence that starts: “Of course it is none of my business, but –” is to place a period after the word “but.” Don’t use excessive force in supplying such a moron with a period. Cutting his throat is only a momentary pleasure and is bound to get you talked about.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

“One man’s theology is another man’s belly laugh.” — Lazarus Long, Time Enough for Love

“A competent and self-confident person is incapable of jealousy in anything. Jealousy is invariably a symptom of neurotic insecurity.” ~~ from the Notebooks of Lazarus Long

“If you don’t like yourself, you can’t like other people.”~~ from the Notebooks of Lazarus Long

“Bromidic though it may sound, some questions don’t have answers, which is a terribly difficult lesson to learn.” — Katharine Graham
(Okay, not Lazarus, but, it’s one he might have said, perhaps in the character of Lorelei, or Lapis Lazuli, his cloned twin sisters, had he/she/they thought about it…. )

“Always store beer in a dark place.” ~~ from the Notebooks of Lazarus Long

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”~~ from the Notebooks of Lazarus Long

That’s enough for one day; his ideas are not as simple as they may appear at first read, and should be absorbed only after considerable rumination over their meaning…. like any chocolate for the soul, it needs to be thoroughly mixed into the milk…. 🙂
__________________________________

Another NTS result, making it consecutive. There’s a word…. a good word. Solid, descriptive, precise in meaning, yet with built in possibilities of growth…. I know, I know, I’m a strange guy…. Sorry, got distracted. Any who, I’m content with this Pearl, and will be posting it as soon as I decide where to do so…. Rain happening here, so logistics are crucial…. I hope you enjoy today’s effort, scattershot as it is….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

Kowabunga!

With piteous disregard for the weak of mind….

Posted on November 16, 2012 by gigoid

Special note: To all my Facebook, Yahoo, WordPress, and Internet friends….. I feel this Pearl is an important one to share…. I don’t usually try to promote my work this hard, but today’s message is one of importance for all Americans, if only for the links I’ve added to my comments. Those links need to be seen by millions of our countrymen, whereby we have a real opportunity to fix a big part of the problems faced by our Society at large, in light of the results of our recent election…. Please read these ideas, and spread them around for discussion, as far as you can, by Sharing on Facebook, by Pressing on WordPress, and wherever else on the Web they may get to…. thanks….

Ffolkes,
Several days ago, I spoke here about the embittered asses who have been spouting off in Facebook, and other places, regarding seceding from the Union, since their bigoted racism was struck down by the majority of right-thinking people in this country on election day. I spoke fairly eloquently to express my chagrin, and my anger at their intransigence, but yesterday, I read a response to those people that was not just better than mine, but was, in my mind, perfect. The author had researched his law well, and was forthright in outlining the very illegality of their so-called “right to secede”, as well as being quite forthcoming in his anger at them for their treason. That article can be found here: http://90degrees2theleft.com/2012/11/15/when-a-comment-is-better-than-the-article/#comment-333

Yes, treason, the same word I used previously. You see, the South LOST the Civil War, though they don’t seem to realize it, just the same as they lost this election. When they did, they lost the right to secede from the Union, forever; that is clearly stated in the articles of government that were set in place during the Reconstruction after the War. I was fairly lenient, saying they should just be allowed to leave, if they wish; this man is more righteous in that sense, and would have these traitors prosecuted and jailed, and not merely allowed to leave, but EXILED in shame, for their treasonous statements and actions. And you know what? I wouldn’t stand in the way of that at all…. Stupidity should have SOME consequences attached to it, especially when it is deliberate….

Apparently, these ffolkes aren’t leaving it there, at just expressing their displeasure at this treason, but are following up their words with action…. They’re submitting a petition to the White House, suggesting that these secessionists be arrested for their treason, have their citizenship stripped from them, and be sent into exile. Their position as citizens would then be offered to resident immigrants in this country, who all WANT to be Americans, with educational assistance given to complete the naturalization process. I think this is a GRAND idea, and will be signing that petition as soon as I can get online again. That petition is easy to find, too, here: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/revoke-citizenship-those-who-petition-secession-our-union-and-grant-their-citizenship-working/LQ9sXmmh?utm_source=wh.gov&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl

Once again, the intro section has been usurped into political ranting mode, but, that’s one of the risks around here; political or religious ranting fervor may strike at any time. Apparently, right after I wake up is one of the times when that is likely; my outrage is set to kick in at a moment’s notice at this time of the day, I guess, which is, all in all, a good thing, I think….. Whether y’all agree with that may not be immaterial, but it is moot, since we’re about done with it for today, anyway…. But, lest one think that I’m not serious about this, let me reiterate….

Reason prevailed at the polls on November 6, and the MAJORITY has spoken. These, sad, white, racists cannot stand having their delusions shattered, and are deathly afraid, knowing their prejudices are no longer in control of society, and they are now exposed as the bigots they really are. This talk of secession is just one more piece of evidence that shows their complete ignorance, of history, of reality, and of the laws of their own country.

Fuck them…. fuck them all. Arrest them for treason, strip them of their citizenship, and send them off to Africa, or wherever in the world there is a haven for such assholes (Now, there’s a thought…. Who will take them? I don’t know that any country will want them, as they’ve already proven their inability to live with others, and shown just how bigoted and racist they are…. There might not be anywhere for them to go…. Oh, well…. too bad, so sad…. I guess we’ll just have to dump them on some island that nobody else wants…..).

Give their rights as citizens to working immigrants, who have already shown their commitment to be good Americans by their actions in support of this country. Maybe then, we can see the last of the Southern fried idiots who have been keeping this country from joining the rest of the human race in the struggle to survive…. and the Civil War will finally be over….

Well, now that my political/religious* rant for this morning is done, I may have a hard time finding something else to discuss…. time will tell, I suppose, as it always does (how does the Doctor always know?….) At any rate, I can do no more damage here, so we’ll get on with today’s dive for pearls…. Shall we Pearl?…..

*I say religious, as well as political, because I hold religion, or more accurately, preachers/priests, to be equally responsible for the attitudes these secessionists hold; it is the combination of the bigotry and elitism promulgated by the Christian religions (and others, they’re not alone….) with the ignorant political and historical throwbacks to the Old South who have usurped the GOP, that has created this group of hard-core fundamentalist fanatics, who cannot, and will not, learn to get along with anyone who isn’t in their chosen group…. If there is a group of people on this planet worthy of my hatred and complete disgust, it is these religious politicians, and political preachers, who preach their litanies of hate to their congregations just as if it was some kind of truth, while simultaneously claiming their own innocence and God-given mission, and calling it Peace and Love…. Despicable, sad excuses for human beings, which is why I try to pity them, because they are not even worth the mental energy it takes to hate….
__________________________________

Having ranted enough for the time being, here is an old school pearl. This one is a bit different, as it doesn’t lead to one central concept, as such, but rather a number of related ideas. All of it is good food for thought, and are things I believe in….. as if that matters….. Nonetheless, it is all good stuff, and one can never have too much good stuff….

“He who joyfully marches to music rank and file, has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an action. It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder.” — Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

“He was a wise man who invented God.” — Plato
(You’ve got to think about this one, and go a bit deeper than the first level or two….)

“All wars are civil wars, because all men are brothers … Each one owes infinitely more to the human race than to the particular country in which he was born.” — Francois Fenelon

“I don’t know but I’ve been told
the streets of heaven are lined with gold
I ask you how things could get much worse
if the Russians happened to get up there first
wowee, pretty scary”

— Robert Zimmerman
(Bonus points if you know his stage name…..)

“I just didn’t say it.” — Ronald Reagan –Associated Press, 10/5/66
(When asked to explain a “recorded” statement…. i.e., it was on tape….)

“Anyway, no drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we’re looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn’t test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power.” — P.J. O’Rourke

As a final note, here is a fitting finish to this subtle, yet pointed group of sharp sticks to the eye of ignorance…..

“As for courage and will – we cannot measure how much of each lies within us, we can only trust there will be sufficient to carry through trials which may lie ahead.” — Andre Norton

I love it…. yet another proof of what I’ve said before… “All you can do, is all you can do…..” Having done so, we will pass on to another pearl…. a poetic one….
__________________________________

Shui Tiao Ko Tou

Will a moon so bright ever arise again?
Drink a cupful of wine and ask of the sky.
I don’t know where the palace gate of heaven is,
Or even the year in which tonight slips by.
I want to return riding the whirl-wind! But I
Feel afraid that this heaven of jasper and jade
Lets in the cold, its palaces rear so high.
I shall get up and dance with my own shadow.
From life endured among men how far a cry!

Round the red pavilion
Slanting through the lattices
Onto every wakeful eye,
Moon, why should you bear a grudge, O why
Insist in time of separation so th fill the sky?
Men know joy and sorow, parting and reunion;
The moon lacks lustre, brightly shines; is al, is less.
Perfection was never easily come by.
Though miles apart, could men but live for ever
Dreaming they shared this moonlight endlessly!

Su Tung-po
__________________________________

Here is what may properly be called a minimalist pearl…. at least, that’s what I’m calling it, and I’m the one in charge, so…. any who, below you will find two statements, one purely textual, and one with some attached art (well, a facial photo of Jimmy Carter may not exactly be art, but, it IS a picture….). Both statements cut to the heart of one of the modern world’s most basic root problems, in my mind, which is the disparity of purpose and unity between males and females of the human species. I regard this “battle” to be the most destructive element of what is wrong with our culture, and believe very strongly that it needs to change…. I’m not so narcissistic or egotistical to believe that I have all the answers as to how that might be accomplished, but, a clear examination of the truth is generally a pretty good place to start….

“In the early twelfth century century the Virgin had been the supreme protectress of civilisation. She had taught a race of tough and ruthless barbarians the virtues of tenderness and compassion. The great cathedrals of the Middle Ages were her dwelling places upon earth. In the Renaissance, while remaining the Queen of Heaven, she became also the human mother in whom everyone could recognise qualities of warmth and love and approachability… The stabilising, comprehensive religions of the world, the religions which penetrate to every part of a man’s being– in Egypt, India or China– gave the female principle of creation at least as much importance as the male, and wouldn’t have taken seriously a philosophy that failed to include them both… It’s a curious fact that the all-male religions have produced no religious imagery– in most cases have positively forbidden it. The great religious art of the world is deeply involved with the female principle.” — Kenneth Clark, 1969

Now that Mr. Clark has thrown some light on some of the historical elements, one of this country’s former Presidents (whom history will judge much more fairly, and admirably, than current society…..) has some words about how the political, and religious leaders of the world have conspired to keep things the way the are for so long, just because they are assholes (Sorry, my phrase, not his…. But, they are, though…. assholes, that is….)…..

I could go on in this vein for a very long time, and promise to do so again at a later date…. Suffice it to say here that we all need to think about this sort of stuff, every day…. That is the only way to sustain the outrage long enough to stimulate us to act. Action will be necessary for changes to be made, as is always true…. True, is what every word above is…..
__________________________________

“All right, then, Harry?” “All right, Hagrid….” I have to say, this one came out worthy of an NTS rating (Not Too Shabby). I can’t say it’s exactly inspired, or even inspirational, but it sure came down heavy on the side of Reason and Truth, eh? For a day when there is so much more happening, I feel a fair sense of accomplishment, merely for completing it. And, since that is an award I give myself, nobody can take it away from me, without much more effort than it would ever be worth…. If you are now confused, my work here is done….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

Any Use of This Product, in Any Manner Whatsoever, Will Increase the Amount of Disorder in the Universe. Although No Liability Is Implied Herein, the Consumer Is Warned That This Process Will Ultimately Lead to the Heat Death of the Universe. — PUBLIC NOTICE AS REQUIRED BY LAW

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

Kowabunga!

gigoid

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

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gigoid

Exploring Consensual Reality

Tag Archives: Albert Einstein

If only zucchini was more charitable…..

Saving the pieces for posterity…..

Rooms full of attenuated pilgrims….

A valid reason to stay exfoliated….

It is often considered de rigeur to order dessert first….

A simple five-body orbital computation….

From chaos, order grows….

The penny screamed when I pinched it….

On the rooftop, stealing wax…..

With piteous disregard for the weak of mind….

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