Tag Archives: Anne Frank

All that hard work & no braised felafel in sight….

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Ffolkes,

“What doesn’t kill me, makes me stronger.”

~~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~~

CHIJCRnWQAAYxrG.jpg large

Caribbean Sea from the International Space Station

Image by NASA Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti


Good morning…. A glance at the clock instantly sends him into White Rabbit mode….. “I’m late. I’m late….”

Okay, okay, so, I’ll deal with it…. Somehow….

Shall we Pearl?

“Hope is the denial of reality. It is the carrot dangled before the draft horse to keep him plodding along in a vain attempt to reach it. I say we remove the carrot and walk forward with open eyes.” — Raistlin Majere, Dragonlance Chronicles Vol. 1

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

royalty-free-clip-art-vector-logos-of-black-and-orange-floral-acoustic-guitars-by-seamartini-graphics-6573

    Being late around here means one thing, if naught else; we go with our defaults whenever possible…. Here, in the video section, it’s possible….

***********************

The Best of Mozart

***********************

***********************

***********************


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

Dont keep calm

    No way in hell am I going to be able to produce a fresh rant today, even with the proper inducement. Y’all know what that means, don’t you?….

From 5/5/2013:

The thorns which I have reap’d are of the tree
I planted; they have torn me, and I bleed.
I should have known what fruit would spring from such a seed.

~~ Lord Byron — Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Canto iv, Stanza 10 ~~


Here, in a three line verse, Lord Byron has explained the flaw that exists in human nature, a flaw that will one day drive the species to extinction, if we don’t find a way to alter its effect on us, as a species. This flaw doesn’t manifest in every human, only in a certain percentage, not particularly large, but full of the people who affect society the most, i.e., the leaders, the politicians,  the aristocracy (the rich, or as I call them, the bankers….), and the preachers, all of whom are supposed to be ordering society to benefit ALL of its members.

Instead, these individuals, who have this fatal flaw, have ordered events to suit themselves, hoarding the largest part of the available resources, showing absolutely no compassion or willingness to share, and dismissing as unimportant all of the pain and suffering their actions cause to other people…. This selfishness gene will eventually kill us all, because the BRC, or Beloved Ruling Class, are so focused on their goals, and so unwilling to entertain the idea that their actions are wrong, they cannot comprehend the danger they have created by their pathology, to themselves as well as to the rest of us….

That is the unfortunate thing about any mental aberration; it’s very presence tends to limit what the victim can understand, because they are unwilling to look at the evidence….. No one wants to believe they are mentally off; it doesn’t fit in with our self-image as a competent human being. These folks never understand at all that the way they are leading their lives is a threat to the rest of us; they will only accept evidence that supports their unrealistic view of reality.

Unfortunately for the rest of us, these people are also the ones who are the most willing to use violence, and weapons, to enforce their will, and they already have control of more force than the rest of the public can possibly contend with to force a change. It is a very complex, delicate problem, with no solution that I can see as practical, or with any large chance for success….

The time we have to make the necessary changes to society is growing shorter every hour, as more and more millions of tons of CO (carbon monoxide) is pumped into the air, along with other particulate pollutants. This material in our atmosphere has almost completely destroyed the ozone layer, and the amount of heat reaching the planet from the Sun has raised the ambient temperature of the planet a full two degrees…

Two degrees may not seem like much, but, the fact that the change has taken place in less than a hundred years is a clear indicator that it is quite enough, as it continues to change the climate of the planet drastically. The polar ice is melting more rapidly than ever before, and at a geometrically increasing rate. The amount of oxygen in the air is decreasing in relation to other substances; if it changes two percentage points, there won’t be enough of it for our lungs to breathe; we will suffocate ourselves if it continues. The weather is changing all over the world, as the water from the polar ice melts, and changes the chemical balance of the air everywhere…. As plants die, the process will accelerate, and it will be a toss-up to see what will kill us first….

“Whenever I see a photograph of some sportsman grinning over his kill, I am always impressed by the striking moral and aesthetic superiority of the dead animal to the live one.” — Edward Abbey

Not a pretty picture, is it? Unless, of course, you are one of the power elite, the BRC; then, you’re the one with the gun…. I’m sorry to have to bring doom and gloom into the morning, but, this is a subject that won’t go away, so I pound on it whenever I can…. The quote above, from Lord Byron, stimulated my sense of outrage at the sheer selfishness of the 1% (yet another name for those with the flaw of extreme self-interest….), so I ranted, if mildly. What bothers me the most is that what I’m saying here is absolute truth, and the people who read it are NOT the ones who need to change…. Of course, those folks wouldn’t believe it if they did read it, so it’s rather a thankless task, and relatively futile, to boot…..

“In spite of everything, I still believe that people are good.” — Anne Frank

I think Anne was a better person than I am, because I have lost my  belief in what she says here…. I do believe that the majority of mankind is good, or at least tries to be good; I just don’t believe that those ffolkes are the ones that matter to our future, as much as the folks who are NOT basically good, for as long as the innocents allow the harm their leaders continue to cause to the environment in which we all have to live. I don’t know of a solution, other than the obvious one of becoming violent myself, and doing to them what they want to do to me, but doing it first….. But, then I become like them, and I’d have to kill myself, because I’d never be able to look in a mirror again….. I guess there’s only one thing left to do…..

Petition me no petitions, sir, to-day;
Let other hours be set apart for business.
To-day it is our pleasure to be drunk;
And this our queen shall be as drunk as we.

~~ Henry Fielding — Tom Thumb the Great, Act i, Sc. 2 ~~


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

Comedy_Tragedy

Penance, Made Simple

After all the dross is sent away
a celebration can begin,
time will face up to space, to stay
willing, to shine from within.

Anger and confusion come in to share
brushing reason aside,
eager to welcome all that is fair,
alert to danger, eyes wide.

Re-gift the wicked with their own pain
stand with the just;
fail to partake of the ill-gotten gain,
living in honor, the only must.

Standing fast in the face of wrong
is its own prize and reward.
Holding on to truth makes us strong,
well worth working toward.

Little is left to chance by fate
our lessons are never free of cost.
Seldom does reality make us wait
only when alone, are we lost.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 10/23/2012.

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

buddah-out-to-lunch_s

    I’m afraid today’s final pearl for the old-school section isn’t very mysterious, or esoteric, or hard to figure out at all…. Hell, just follow the bouncing thought balls (Hmm… That doesn’t sound quite right, does it?…. Oh, well….), you’ll get the idea, such as it is…. Actually, it’s a pretty good idea, it’s just silly, by nature of its…. well, nature, quite obviously both sublime AND ridiculous….

Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum — “I think that I think, therefore I think that I am.” — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“Acquittal of the guilty damns the judge.” — Horace

“How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it.” — Marcus Aurelius

“The wise learn many things from their foes.” — Aristophanes — The Birds (414 B.C.), line 375

“Live before you die.” — Smart Bee

“All cats are NOT gray after midnight. Endless variety …” — Lazarus Long, “Time Enough For Love” by Robert Heinlein

“It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.” — W. Edwards Deming

“It is a bad plan that admits of no modification.” — Publius Syrus — Maxim 469

“In walking, just walk. In sitting, just sit. Above all, don’t wobble.” — Yun-Men

There you go, ffolkes. The best summary of the proper functioning of the human animal I’ve ever seen…. Above all, don’t wobble…..

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Having long since lost all sense of propriety, I’m going to go ahead and post this, sans proofing, of either content or intent… In short, I don’t care today; it’s done, & that’s all that’s important…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, unless this one breaks the camel’s back….

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

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

dozer3


À bientôt, mon cherí….


			

			
								

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Passive salivation…

			
						

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Ffolkes,




“Humankind cannot stand very much reality.”


~~ T.S. Eliot ~~


g-ville 026


This is what distracts me.




Hello, ffolkes…. Some of y’all will have noticed the last few days inconsistency in getting posted (gigoid’s long winded way of saying he missed a couple days…). The picture you see is a big part of the why, as the scene you see is right outside the door of where I’m staying…. So, the angst and build-up of inner conflict with which we live in the urban world just doesn’t have a chance to collect to any large degree…. Hence, no posts….


Today’s post will also be truncated, and tomorrow’s may not appear at all, again. But. by Saturday all should be back to normal, if only until I take off again on the road…. We’ll see…


That said, you only get what is already ready, or can be added quickly, because, I’ve got stuff NOT do….


Shall we Pearl?


“A lie can travel halfway round the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” — Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) (1835-1910)


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


No video today; I’m not currently watching much of anything…. I can suggest going to You Tube, type your favorite artist or subject’s name into the search box & watch whatever you find… Enjoy! After all, you’ll have chosen it….




royalty-free-clip-art-vector-logos-of-black-and-orange-floral-acoustic-guitars-by-seamartini-graphics-6573





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Dont keep calm



    Anyone who’s been here at least twice should have known I’d use one from the archives…. Here’s a pretty standard politireligirant from April a couple years ago….


From 5/5/2013:




The thorns which I have reap’d are of the tree

I planted; they have torn me, and I bleed.

I should have known what fruit would spring from such a seed.


 ~~ Lord Byron (1788-1824) ~~


~~ Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Canto iv, Stanza 10 ~~




Here, in a three line verse, Lord Byron has explained the flaw that exists in human nature, a flaw that will one day drive the species to extinction, if we don’t find a way to alter its effect on us, as a species. This flaw doesn’t manifest in every human, only in a certain percentage, not particularly large, but full of the people who affect society the most, i.e., the leaders, the politicians,  the aristocracy (the rich, or as I call them, the bankers….), and the preachers, all of whom are supposed to be ordering society to benefit ALL of its members.


Instead, these individuals, who have this fatal flaw, have ordered events to suit themselves, hoarding the largest part of the available resources, showing absolutely no compassion or willingness to share, and dismissing as unimportant all of the pain and suffering their actions cause to other people…. This selfishness gene will eventually kill us all, because the BRC, or Beloved Ruling Class, are so focused on their goals, and so unwilling to entertain the idea that their actions are wrong, they cannot comprehend the danger they have created by their pathology, to themselves as well as to the rest of us….


That is the unfortunate thing about any mental aberration; it’s very presence tends to limit what the victim can understand, because they are unwilling to look at the evidence….. No one wants to believe they are mentally off; it doesn’t fit in with our self-image as a competent human being. These folks never understand at all that the way they are leading their lives is a threat to the rest of us; they will only accept evidence that supports their unrealistic view of reality.


Unfortunately for the rest of us, these people are also the ones who are the most willing to use violence, and weapons, to enforce their will, and they already have control of more force than the rest of the public can possibly contend with to force a change. It is a very complex, delicate problem, with no solution that I can see as practical, or with any large chance for success….


The time we have to make the necessary changes to society is growing shorter every hour, as more and more millions of tons of CO (carbon monoxide) is pumped into the air, along with other particulate pollutants. This material in our atmosphere has almost completely destroyed the ozone layer, and the amount of heat reaching the planet from the Sun has raised the ambient temperature of the planet a full two degrees…


Two degrees may not seem like much, but, the fact that the change has taken place in less than a hundred years is a clear indicator that it is quite enough, as it continues to change the climate of the planet drastically. The polar ice is melting more rapidly than ever before, and at a geometrically increasing rate. The amount of oxygen in the air is decreasing in relation to other substances; if it changes two percentage points, there won’t be enough of it for our lungs to breathe; we will suffocate ourselves if it continues. The weather is changing all over the world, as the water from the polar ice melts, and changes the chemical balance of the air everywhere…. As plants die, the process will accelerate, and it will be a toss-up to see what will kill us first….


“Whenever I see a photograph of some sportsman grinning over his kill, I am always impressed by the striking moral and aesthetic superiority of the dead animal to the live one.” — Edward Abbey


Not a pretty picture, is it? Unless, of course, you are one of the power elite, the BRC; then, you’re the one with the gun…. I’m sorry to have to bring doom and gloom into the morning, but, this is a subject that won’t go away, so I pound on it whenever I can…. The quote above, from Lord Byron, stimulated my sense of outrage at the sheer selfishness of the 1% (yet another name for those with the flaw of extreme self-interest….), so I ranted, if mildly. What bothers me the most is that what I’m saying here is absolute truth, and the people who read it are NOT the ones who need to change…. Of course, those folks wouldn’t believe it if they did read it, so it’s rather a thankless task, and relatively futile, to boot…..


“In spite of everything, I still believe that people are good.” — Anne Frank


I think Anne was a better person than I am, because I have lost my  belief in what she says here…. I do believe that the majority of mankind is good, or at least tries to be good; I just don’t believe that those ffolkes are the ones that matter to our future, as much as the folks who are NOT basically good, for as long as the innocents allow the harm their leaders continue to cause to the environment in which we all have to live. I don’t know of a solution, other than the obvious one of becoming violent myself, and doing to them what they want to do to me, but doing it first….. But, then I become like them, and I’d have to kill myself, because I’d never be able to look in a mirror again….. I guess there’s only one thing left to do…..




Petition me no petitions, sir, to-day;

Let other hours be set apart for business.

To-day it is our pleasure to be drunk;

And this our queen shall be as drunk as we.


~~ Henry Fielding (1707-1754) 




~~ Tom Thumb the Great, Act i, Sc. 2 ~~




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





Comedy_Tragedy








Early Observations


Until I knew there was more,

I wanted to know God.

They said he was a nice guy,

and would let me live forever.


All I had to do, they said,

was live my life for Him,

always living by scripture

cleaving only to his Way.


But, everyone I saw in church,

acted different at home.

Living wild, cussin’ and fussin’,

nobody lived like they said.


Still, I tried to be like Jesus,

he was sort of cool.

He never hurt nobody

and walked on the right path.


‘Course they killed him for that,

they couldn’t stand his example.

Turned him into a martyr,

 hid his real words among their own.


Then I found the Buddha,

and met Lao Tzu at the gate.

They saw things real different,

showed me how to see straight.


Right thought, and right action

replace blind obedience and faith.

Reality becomes manageable,

fear retreats, the universe expands.


Brother John said it pretty well,

“Imagine there’s no heaven,

it’s easy if you try.”

Sounds like he knew why.


Day to day, life is grand,

we walk in eternal beauty.

Open your eyes and hearts,

find yourself already immortal.


~~ gigoid ~~




Written 5/12/2013


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





buddah-out-to-lunch_s




However many holy words you read,

However many you speak,

What good will they do you

If you do not act on upon them?


~~ Buddha ~~




You know? I don’t think this pearl needs any more; that pretty much says it all for me…


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


That’s all, ffolkes…. for now. I’ll be back Saturday…. Be real, stay alert, & try not to hurt anyone, okay?…




Y’all take care out there, 

and May the Metaphorse be with you;

Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy

and everyone else, too…


When I works, I works hard.

When I sits, I sits loose.

When I thinks, I falls asleep.


Which is Why….


Sometimes I sits and thinks,

   and sometimes,

I just sits.


gigoid, the dubious


The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.


PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.


“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch








dozer3




À bientôt, mon cherí….







		
	
					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
You can join the looters AFTER church, Billy….

			
						

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Ffolkes,

I didn’t wake up today; Murphy kicked my bed covers to the floor and made me get up early. He wanted to make sure I saw how thoroughly he fucked me over today….  He has done something to Smart Bee, and it is crashing and burning on me…. Well, not burning, exactly…. It just won’t come off the task bar…. This has happened previously, and usually, an uninstall, followed by a fresh re-install will take care of the problem….. Not today, though. I’ve downloaded a new copy and re-installed three times now, and nothing doing. It still won’t open up on the desktop in a window; it just sits there on the taskbar, laughing at me….. Murphy is such an ASSHOLE!…..


This is a disaster of major proportion around here. I depend on Smart Bee for my quotes, fresh on a daily basis. With over 110,000 quotes in the program’s database, it has never failed to give me what I needed, to supply me with appropriate or stimulating quotes with no fuss. Now, I will have to use my books, and copy them down by hand, or go to a website that has quotes, and look around there. All in all, it’s a huge pain in my ass to have to do without SB, and I am thoroughly pissed now, at that asshole Murphy…. I don’t know what makes this program go wonky like this, and the fact that he does, well, it’s a pisser of major degree.


Since I won’t have the time I generally have, thanks to the convenience of SB, I’d best leave this morning whine in the bottle, and get on with the pearls for today. It’s going to take a while, and I’m really, really pissed, and will need to take a few moments to compose myself, so we’ll let this die a quick death today, and get on with it….. Shall we Pearl?…..

__________________________________


The thorns which I have reap’d are of the tree

I planted; they have torn me, and I bleed.

I should have known what fruit would spring from such a seed.


— Lord Byron (1788-1824) — Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Canto iv, Stanza 10


Here, in a three line verse, Lord Byron has explained the flaw that exists in human nature, a flaw that will one day drive the species to extinction, if we don’t find a way to alter its effect on us, as a species. This flaw doesn’t manifest in every human, only in a certain percentage, not particularly large, but full of the people who affect society the most, i.e., the leaders, the politicians,  the aristocracy (the rich, or as I call them, the bankers….), and the preachers, all of whom are supposed to be ordering society to benefit ALL of its members.


Instead, these individuals, who have this fatal flaw, have ordered events to suit themselves, hoarding the largest part of the available resources, showing absolutely no compassion or willingness to share, and dismissing as unimportant all of the pain and suffering their actions cause to other people…. 


This selfishness gene will eventually kill us all, because the BRC, or Beloved Ruling Class, are so focused on their goals, and so unwilling to entertain the idea that their actions are wrong, they cannot comprehend the danger they have created by their pathology, to themselves as well as to the rest of us….


That is the unfortunate thing about any mental aberration; it’s very presence tends to limit what the victim can understand, because they are unwilling to look at the evidence….. No one wants to believe they are mentally off; it doesn’t fit in with our self-image as a competent human being. These folks never understand at all that the way they are leading their lives is a threat to the rest of us; they will only accept evidence that supports their unrealistic view of reality.


Unfortunately for the rest of us, these people are also the ones who are the most willing to use violence, and weapons, to enforce their will, and they already have control of more force than the rest of the public can possibly contend with to force a change. It is a very complex, delicate problem, with no solution that I can see as practical, or with any large chance for success….


The time we have to make the necessary changes to society is growing shorter every hour, as more and more millions of tons of CO (carbon monoxide) is pumped into the air, along with other particulate pollutants. This material in our atmosphere has almost completely destroyed the ozone layer, and the amount of heat reaching the planet from the Sun has raised the ambient temperature of the planet a full two degrees…


Two degrees may not seem like much, but, the fact that the change has taken place in less than a hundred years is a clear indicator that it is quite enough, as it continues to change the climate of the planet drastically. The polar ice is melting more rapidly than ever before, and at a geometrically increasing rate. The amount of oxygen in the air is decreasing in relation to other substances; if it changes two percentage points, there won’t be enough of it for our lungs to breathe; we will suffocate ourselves if it continues. The weather is changing all over the world, as the water from the polar ice melts, and changes the chemical balance of the air everywhere…. As plants die, the process will accelerate, and it will be a toss-up to see what will kill us first….


“Whenever I see a photograph of some sportsman grinning over his kill, I am always impressed by the striking moral and aesthetic superiority of the dead animal to the live one.” — Edward Abbey


Not a pretty picture, is it? Unless, of course, you are one of the power elite, the BRC; then, you’re the one with the gun…. I’m sorry to have to bring doom and gloom into the morning, but, this is a subject that won’t go away, so I pound on it whenever I can…. The quote above, from Lord Byron, stimulated my sense of outrage at the sheer selfishness of the 1% (yet another name for those with the flaw of extreme self-interest….), so I ranted, if mildly. What bothers me the most is that what I’m saying here is absolute truth, and the people who read it are NOT the ones who need to change…. Of course, those folks wouldn’t believe it if they did read it, so it’s rather a thankless task, and relatively futile, to boot…..


“In spite of everything, I still believe that people are good.” — Anne Frank


I think Anne was a better person than I am, because I have lost my  belief in what she says here…. I do believe that the majority of mankind is good, or at least tries to be good; I just don’t believe that those ffolkes are the ones that matter to our future, as much as the folks who are NOT basically good, for as long as the innocents allow the harm their leaders continue to cause to the environment in which we all have to live. I don’t know of a solution, other than the obvious one of becoming violent myself, and doing to them what they want to do to me, but doing it first….. But, then I become like them, and I’d have to kill myself, because I’d never be able to look in a mirror again….. I guess there’s only one thing left to do…..


Petition me no petitions, sir, to-day;

Let other hours be set apart for business.

To-day it is our pleasure to be drunk;

And this our queen shall be as drunk as we.


— Henry Fielding (1707-1754) — Tom Thumb the Great, Act i, Sc. 2

__________________________________


Last month was great, in terms of writing poetry, but I missed reading it…. That probably sounds contradictory, but what I mean is that I missed reading other people’s poems, as I haven’t been able to read other blogs as much as I’d like in the last couple of months…. I’m busier out in the BBR, and can’t sit very long anyway. Now, however, the challenge to write a poem is over, and I get to find my old favorites and find new stuff from them…. Call me odd, I don’t care, because I am… Most poets are….






A Song About Myself


I.

There was a naughty boy,

A naughty boy was he,

He would not stop at home,

He could not quiet be-

He took

In his knapsack

A book

Full of vowels

And a shirt

With some towels,

A slight cap

For night cap,

A hair brush,

Comb ditto,

New stockings

For old ones

Would split O!

This knapsack

Tight at’s back

He rivetted close

And followed his nose

To the north,

To the north,

And follow’d his nose

To the north.


II.

There was a naughty boy

And a naughty boy was he,

For nothing would he do

But scribble poetry-

He took

An ink stand

In his hand

And a pen

Big as ten

In the other,

And away

In a pother

He ran

To the mountains

And fountains

And ghostes

And postes

And witches

And ditches

And wrote

In his coat

When the weather

Was cool,

Fear of gout,

And without

When the weather

Was warm-

Och the charm

When we choose

To follow one’s nose

To the north,

To the north,

To follow one’s nose

To the north!


III.

There was a naughty boy

And a naughty boy was he,

He kept little fishes

In washing tubs three

In spite

Of the might

Of the maid

Nor afraid

Of his Granny-good-

He often would

Hurly burly

Get up early

And go

By hook or crook

To the brook

And bring home

Miller’s thumb,

Tittlebat

Not over fat,

Minnows small

As the stall

Of a glove,

Not above

The size

Of a nice

Little baby’s

Little fingers-

O he made

‘Twas his trade

Of fish a pretty kettle

A kettle-

A kettle

Of fish a pretty kettle

A kettle!


IV.

There was a naughty boy,

And a naughty boy was he,

He ran away to Scotland

The people for to see-

There he found

That the ground

Was as hard,

That a yard

Was as long,

That a song

Was as merry,

That a cherry

Was as red,

That lead

Was as weighty,

That fourscore

Was as eighty,

That a door

Was as wooden

As in England-

So he stood in his shoes

And he wonder’d,

He wonder’d,

He stood in his

Shoes and he wonder’d.


~~ John Keats ~~


__________________________________


Today has turned into a traditional Pearl… though the intro is shorter than usual, the rest of it follows format perfectly, with a rant in section one, a classic poet, and poem, in section two, and a third section, which obviously is supposed to be an old-school grouping of pearls…. I confess that I keep a stash of quotes from Smart be, to the tune of about eighty-seven pages of a document, so I’m not as short of quotes as I’d thought to be. I’m going to use it for a couple days, & let the real Smart Bee have a vacation, to see if that will fix the corruption in the file….


I know, wishful thinking, but, it’s worth a shot… If it works, it will piss Murphy off, so I’d do it that way anyway, for just that reason…. Any who, today’s group will be VERY random, so bear with me…. Buckle up, please, we can’t proceed until all seat-belts are fastened securely…. insurance rules…


“A competent and self-confident person is incapable of jealousy in anything. Jealousy is invariably a symptom of neurotic insecurity.” — Robert Heinlein


“Life is a long lesson in humility.” — James M. Barrie


“Ridicule is the best test of truth. — Lord Chesterfield (1694-1773)


“If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn’t part of ourselves doesn’t disturb us.” — Hermann Hesse, _Damian_, 1919


But the sunshine aye shall light the sky,

As round and round we run;

And the truth shall ever come uppermost,

And justice shall be done.


— Charles Mackay (1814-1889) — Eternal Justice, Stanza 4


“There are two sentences inscribed upon the Delphic oracle, hugely accommodated to the usages of man’s life: “Know thyself”, and “Nothing too much”; and upon these all other precepts depend.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Consolation to Apollonius


“Now and then it’s good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.” — Smart Bee


Now, that’s not bad at all…. a very cogent grouping, I think…. Let yourself flow with it, and you’ll end up in a place you will like, I guarantee… If not, well, that’s okay too…. some of us need to let things stir around a while before consuming it… or something…. Ah hell, just listen to the last one, and all will be well….

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Things are just all at sixes and sevens, and I don’t know what I shall do…. I guess I’ll proof it first, then see if I need to kill myself….  It will have to do, as I’d say it meets minimum requirements, and it’s time to go out into the BBR, if the bus is on time….. Enough, she said…..  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..


When I works, I works hard.

When I sits, I sits loose.

When I thinks, I falls asleep.


Which is Why….




—

Sometimes I sits and thinks,

and sometimes

I just sits.


gigoid


dozer3



					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
If only zucchini was more charitable…..

			
						

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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


Kowabunga!