Suject to serial mobilization, at best….

Posted on November 14, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“A wise man first determines what is within his control; all else is then irrelevant.”

~~ Epictetus ~~

Gate into Trinity College, Dublin….

Hajime…. Good morrow, ffolkes. I am currently extremely busy out in the BBR, as I have a friend staying to visit for the week. Posts here may become sparse, but, that remains to be seen. Putting this one together was a bit problematic, but, since I was able to get it done, perhaps I can do so again later in the week. If not, you may see some re-blogs from the archives. Either way, know I am busy, but, always have this process in mind, and regardless of how many distractions are offered by reality, I’ll be back to regale y’all with the dross and drivel so copiously created by my incredibly confusing mind… count on it.

In the meantime, let’s get started with the process of posting today’s mess, and get on with the rest of the day, and week. I’ll use good ol’ number 4, which is currently undefeated. It works pretty quickly, and quietly, so, hang on & stay alert….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Always obey your superiors–if you have any.”

~~ Mark Twain ~~

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

The Grateful Dead ~ Image from Dead.net via email

In my life, I’ve been to a dozen or more concerts by the Dead, ranging from 1969 to sometime in the 90’s, when I saw them the last time before the passing of their leader, Jerry Garcia. Though the band continues on, with new faces, the legend, and the experience lives on, with a multitude of choices to listen and watch, on You Tube, or on various sites, including Dead.net…. Enjoy, ffolkes; maybe you had to be there, but, there is NOTHING like a Dead concert…..

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

Live Dead

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

While cruising through some old Pearls, I found this. It’s fun, and won’t hurt anyone, unless you try to follow too closely; it makes some abrupt turns and stops, so, stay alert. Oh, and, try to enjoy the stretch….

From 1/20/2013:

“Nothing unreal exists.”

~~ Kiri-Kin-Tha’s Law of Metaphysics ~~

For the uninitiated, this is from Star Trek, a line from the fourth movie, The Voyage Home. It is the answer, and question, posed to Spock by the computer, near the beginning of the movie, just before it asks him, “How do you feel?” Though the quote, and its author, are part of a fictional story, and do not, as far as I know, exist in real life, the idea is nonetheless a potent philosophical assertion, and deserving of some meditation upon its implications, and ramifications. I like it, as it creates a series of doorways, one after another opening for welcome, inviting me to come in and examine its furnishings for their value…. A bit fanciful, perhaps, but then, it IS from Star Trek….

“Trekkies” have always taken the concept behind the show and movies much more seriously than most of us, and have created an entire panorama of alternate universe stories, legends, and characters as an adjunct to the original tales. I am certain that some fan, somewhere in the world, has put together a book that lays out Kiri-Kin-Tha’s philosophy for study, complete with Laws, Axioms, and Arguments. They probably even included material from other fictional works from the ST venue, weaving them into a coherent treatise, all of which is completely fabricated….. People can be pretty amazing when they are obsessed, indeed…..

“Nothing unreal exists.”….. fascinating, as Spock would say. It is reminiscent, in a backwards fashion, of the question posed by the door to Ravenclaw Tower, in the final Harry Potter book, The Deathly Hallows, when Professor McGonagall is queried, “Where do Vanished objects go?” by the door, in order to gain entrance to the Ravenclaw common room. “Into nonbeing, which is to say, everything.”, she answers immediately. “Nicely phrased”, replied the door….. I say backwards only because the ST movie came first in real time, by about 25 years or so…. As can be seen, however, the concepts involved in the two similar episodes are more than mere ideological throw-aways, but have some valid basis for their existence…

This is the power of Imagination at its finest, in my mind. People will take a good idea, and run with it into landscapes where it has never before been conceived, turning it into passionate variations on the original theme whose quality rivals that of it progenitor. At the height of the frenzy over the Harry Potter movies, a few years ago, I visited a site called MuggleNet.com, curious as to what the fans of the movie and stories were doing.

I was completely astounded by the prolific writings by fans, who wrote entire novels, short stories, and alternative plots by the dozens, all populated by the characters from the books by J.K. Rowling. Romances between the various characters abounded in the imagination of the fans, as well as the creation of new characters, and kinds of magic. The variety and depth of talent displayed is incredible, and goes to show how powerful is the influence of obsession on our imagination.

And hence one master-passion in the breast,
Like Aaron’s serpent, swallows up the rest.

~~ Alexander Pope — Essay on Man, Epistle ii, Line 131 ~~

Of course, obsession has the unfortunate tendency to go beyond the bounds of reasonable action in pursuit of its object of attention. It can easily consume all of the mind’s available store of common sense, submerging it in the raging river of passionate belief in whatever idea has emerged as the passion of choice. Pope was speaking no more than simple truth when he wrote these lines, which point again to the same fatal flaw that exists in other areas of human nature, the weakness of will that makes us choose paths that are self-destructive in their intensity, or in their ultimate logical end. Too many of us tend to make our choices in life without using even the most basic of mental tools we have, including imagination; the use of those tools can be hard, in the sense that it is harder to think than it is to allow others to think for you…..

Thus, we come to another point where the subject under discussion can be expanded, and further explored. Or, we can leave it here, with the ideas already discussed as a springboard for private consideration. I have a feeling it could get a bit esoteric from this juncture, and I’d lose a lot of ffolkes to the fatigue factor. I am feeling that a bit meself, having now been sparring with this Pearl for a bit over three hours. I should have eaten some philosophical oatmeal, to increase the fiber content of my output, I guess….

Rather than go any further down that road, we’ll bring this pearl to a close….. Perhaps you can take a bit of what we discussed with you, and chew on it later…. it doesn’t seem to get any less crunchy over time, so it can’t hurt…. Fewer calories than jerky, and it won’t require flossing afterward…..

“You can get anything you want, at Alice’s restaurant (‘ceptin’ Alice).”

~~ Arlo Guthrie ~~

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

Most days, if I don’t have a new poem to share, I’ll put one of my older poems here, to avoid contaminating anyone else’s reputation by proximity to my own work. I wouldn’t care to impugn anyone’s status inadvertently. But, I simply like this little piece of doggerel from the Trilogy of the Rings, so, it’s been chosen to adorn today’s poetry section.

I sit beside the fire and think of all that I have seen,
Of Meadow-flowers and butterflies in summers that have been;
Of yellow leaves and gossamer in autumns that there were,
With morning mist and silver sun and wind upon my hair.
I sit beside the fire and think of how the world will be
When winter comes without a spring that I shall ever see,
For still there are so many things that I have never seen:
In every wood in every spring there is a different green.
I sit beside the fire and think of people long ago,
And people who will see a world that I shall never know.
But all the while I sit and think of times that were before,
I listen for returning feet and voices at the door.

~~ J.R.R. Tolkien ~~

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

Naked Pearls

Notes on process and program….

*******

“You are the Skeptic. You have the power to Doubt.”

~~ Dubious Bee ~~

*******

“Prosperity tries the fortunate: adversity the great.””

~~ Pliny the Younger ~~

*******

“A man ought to do what he thinks is right.”

~~ John Wayne ~~

*******

“Pay attention to your enemies.
They are the first to discover your mistakes.”

~~ Antisthenes ~~

*******

“He who limps is still walking.”

~~ Stanislaw J. Lec ~~

*******

“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.”

~~ Epictetus — Discourses, Book iii, Chap. xxiii ~~

*******

“The reward of a thing well done, is to have done it.”

~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~

*******

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

I’m taking it as a victory to have finished this one, what with the current status around here. Don’t ask. Let it suffice to say, it’s done, and I’ll be back to do this again. The schedule on that is not yet firmly established, so, I’ll confine myself to saying, see y’all later….

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

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Dry it off first, then, slice it….

Posted on August 8, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“One may not reach the dawn save by the path of the night.”

~~ Kahlil Gibran ~~

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Tiananmen Square with the OYA Posse

Hajime…. Observe, then, the bent, grizzled old man, sitting stiffly in front of a computer, perched painfully on the front edge of a chair, typing quickly in his haste to get down what must be said, while moderating the speed to minimize any errors requiring a stop to repair the damage. Grimacing, with a low grunt, as he shifts in the chair, he leans back, stiffly stretching, then leans on the table for support once more, & begins to type…

For very nearly five years, since beginning to blog here on WP, the only extended absence I’ve had was a few days when the cruise ship I was on didn’t offer adequate internet speed to make it worth the time. Even then, I didn’t always miss posting, as I just left out any pictures to decrease the upload/download time; text doesn’t take up much space, http-wise. When this Pearl gets posted, I’ll have missed, at least, four or five days, with the last freshly created work over a week ago, just when I seemed to be hitting some sort of stride. Since the creation of the daily Pearl has been, for all that time, and, remains my form of personal therapy, you can imagine just how much internal stress/angst has accumulated. Well, perhaps you can’t, but, I, sadly, don’t have to imagine, as I’ve lived through it.

I’m working at this now simply as a distraction, taken for a short time to think of something other than the sharp pain in my lower back and right hip, a song of lamentation, sung in concert with the usual pantheon of irritated nerve endings which live to complain at the top of their inner vocal range. Mostly I can tune them out, or sing accompaniment louder to drown them out, at least long enough to get some thoughts down on screen. When the main melody becomes stridently piercing, like an alto soprano in full flight through an aria in the high C, glass-shattering range, it becomes too much to think, much less, hold still long enough in a position that exacerbates the tune’s volume, to get much done in the way of coherent composition.

Here I am anyway, for the nonce, to release some of the pressure, while simultaneously continuing the major effort involved in fixing what is wrong with my physical persona, which, in spite of any thoughts we might entertain to the contrary, cannot be separated from the psychic/mental persona, at any junction or point. They are one and the same; trying to act otherwise is generally how we go wrong in the first place, so, it’s well to begin the correction process with a reminder of that, so our efforts can address the complete picture/issue, & not forget any part of what is needed.

With all that said, we’ll now return to relatively normal space/time, to rejoin today’s exploration of consensual reality where I had originally begun, several days ago. What follows has been patched together in five to ten minute increments over the past week or so; since it’s all a wash, whatever happens, no matter how long, or short, or cogent, or silly, will have to do, for it’s what there is, & I ain’t a gonna do it again. First time damn near killed me, as is…. Let’s see now, where did I put that? Oh, right… Okay, let’s go….

“A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that balances are correct.”

~~ from “Manual of Maud’Dib” by the Princess Irulan ~~

This Pearl has been a difficult one to work on, for a number of reasons. First, as reported, I’m fighting my demons almost full time. In the process, I made some attempts to reconnect with reality, part of which involved going out to be social, at a bar. Friday last, the 29th of July, in fact, I walked to a nearby establishment, actually having a decent time, then cutting myself off at a decent level, (well pre-inebriation to excess, a good sign), to take the walk home. ‘Twas a fine night, and the walk was pleasant, as it naturally would have to be, with half-a-snoot-full of prime bourbon on board….

“The Law of Unintended Consequences carries it own penalties…”

~~ Smart Bee ~~

Does anyone else see the problem here? No? Well, allow me to continue, then….

For a couple weeks, since first walking by the route taken to the bar, (though, those times, to somewhere else), I had noticed a small puppy, quite good looking, and friendly, if excitable, in a small enclosure overlooking the sidewalk, not situated in a good spot for a pet, right in the sun, with no shade. There was water, and food, but, nobody was ever around, at any of the various times I went by; the dog was, naturally, starved for attention. He was there on Friday, still in good cheer, though not as happy as usual. I told him if nobody was around when I came back, I’d say hello again, & went on my way….

Got it now? No? Okay, full confession, then…. On the way home from the bar, I stopped to greet the dog, who was happy to have the attention. Since my judgment was gone, into the bottle, I decided to ‘rescue’ the dog, if possible. I went to the door & offered the people $20 for the dog. They turned him over without a whimper of protest, telling me I’d done the right thing. I took the food, and tied one of my ropes to the pup’s collar, & off we went home…. where we were greeted by a very unhappy cat. I got the dog & cat separated, & quieted down enough for all of us to get to sleep….

For the next day and a half, I tried to find a place for the dog, unsuccessfully, while acting as simultaneous animal trainer, referee, and apologist to a cat for subjecting her to such an outrage. She was NOT pleased, to be sure, thought the pup was ecstatic… and therefore boisterous. This, it seems where the law of unintended consequence steps in, you see….

I was a responsible dog owner while he was with us, meaning I walked him at least twice, or three times a day…. As it turns out, walking a boisterous puppy, with no training of how to behave on a leash, is a physical strain on the parts of my body that are not capable of such wear and tear any longer…. By Monday morning, I was in sheer agony, with my lower back and hip on fire, causing spasms and anguish in the other muscles, to the point I could not get out of bed, at all. To my undying embarrassment, I had to call my daughter to come rescue me. and the dog & cat….

I’ve dragged this out about as far as possible, with not much more to go, so, I’ll merely say at this point, this was an act of compassion, for which I am paying a heavy price, with some rather intimidating implications for the future, given my reaction to the strain. I have been unable to write, or sit, or stand, or even lie down for long, without pain interrupting with sharp complaints. It will pass, with rest and the right approach, but, it’s slow, and, damn, it hurts. But, I did the right thing, and the dog, now with a pet rescue organization who will find him a good home, will be a much happier dog. So be it. I’ll take the pain as part of the duty, and be fine with it….

Since that’s probably the longest intro to a Pearl, ever, let’s get to the rest of it, which I’ve been working on for over a week. It’s all fresh, complete with a new poem, and I hope y’all enjoy the output…. Let’s do this, before I forget how….

Shall we pearl?….

“Few, if any, children survive to their teens.
Most surrender to the vague but murderous pressure of adult conformity.”

~~ Maya Angelou ~~

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

Go figure, eh?…. It’s both a great performance of a iconic piece of music, and, a pearl of virtual wisdom, with a message….

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

Mozart
Requiem

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

“The disappearance of a sense of responsibility
is the most far-reaching consequence of submission to authority.”

~~ Stanley Milgram ~~

“Collective responsibility brings a lowering of moral standards.”

~~ Freeman Dyson ~~

“No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible.”

~~ Stanislaw Lem ~~

The three quotes you see above are an example of why I pearl, at all. Each of them is a statement which essentially says the same thing, yet each is distilled, and presented, in such a way the wisdom contained is made clear by its simplicity. Together, they bring to the reader a concept I hold to be the single most critical failure of the American people, and the primary reason they have become willing, if unwitting, slaves….

When beginning this Pearl, I’d intended to produce a considerable rant, if only to show myself I still can do so. The physical constraints I’m currently experiencing has prevented such an event, as I am still in considerable pain when sitting before the computer. So, I’m going to do us all a small favor, and leave today’s lesson at that. I’ll add two more pearls. The first, from our old friend Albert, is echoed by my own feelings on the matter of government sponsored killing, which is made possible by the above clearly cowardly abrogation of honor by most of the American public. Albert states what ought to be a common feeling, and, is not….

“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

Lastly, I give you Emily, for, in spite of how bad things are, or how bad they get, for some reason, I cannot seem to give up hoping we can pull it off, and survive the consequences of our own idiocy… Maybe we will, maybe we won’t; the hope doesn’t seem to want to die….

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all.

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I’ve heard it in the chillest land
And on the strangest sea,
Yet never in extremity
It asked a crumb of me.

~~ Emily Dickenson ~~

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

Bulletin

Patterns exist to bring sanity, if illusory, at best;
follicular, reality seems to slip and slide.
Still, formal insanity consistently fails the ultimate test,
why place faith in answers. from which truth can hide?

Following the music brings us back in good time;
forever seemingly retreats from relevance.
Crazy, time stands still with yet another innovative rhyme,
no burgeoning intentions for sale, to shimmy. or dance.

Folly sits easily upon this brow;
fateful and afraid, entropy bows in shame.
Into the river of time, slowly, forgetful of how
courage gives strength, no matter the game.

Capricious, the muse demands obedient attention
at risk of exhibiting true durance vile.
Bereft, single copies sit unused, despite all intention;
while singular examples of fate pass at the stile.

Seminal events bring their own weight;
no scale necessary, no guessing by eye, or hand.
Only one lesson to learn, just pay the freight;
the music is playing, and you’re part of the band.

~~ gigoid ~~

8/6/2016

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

Naked Pearls

Life at Large

*********

“From hence, ye beauties, undeceived
Know one false step is ne’er retrieved
And be with caution bold.
Not all that tempts your wandering eyes
And heedless hearts is lawful prize,
Not all that glisters gold.”

~~ Thomas Gray ~~

~~ Elegy To A Favourite Cat Drowned In A Bowl Of Goldfishes ~~

*********

“Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
for you are crunchy and good with ketchup.”

~~ Scott Adams, maybe ~~

*********

“Everything has two handles,
–one by which it may be borne;
another by which it cannot.”

~~ Epictetus — Enchiridion, xliii ~~

*********

“Be entirely tolerant or not at all;
follow the good path or the evil one.
To stand at the crossroads requires more strength than you possess.”

~~ Heinrich Heine ~~

*********

“Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”

~~ Hanlon’s Razor ~~

*********

“Do not speak of what men deserve.
For we each of us deserve everything,
every luxury that was ever piled in the tombs of the dead Kings,
and we each of us deserve nothing, not a mouthful of bread in hunger.
Have we not eaten while another starved?
Will you punish us for that?
Will you reward us for the virtue of starving while others ate?
No man earns punishment, no man earns reward.
Free your mind of the idea of *deserving*, of *earning*,
and you will begin to be able to think.”

~~ Odo, The Prison Letters ~~

~~ Ursula LeGuin, “The Dispossessed” ~~

*********

“Do not settle for less than the best your own excellence can command.”

~~ Anne McCaffrey ~~

*********

“It ain’t over until it’s over.”

~~ Casey Stengel ~~

*********

“When the way comes to an end, then change
– having changed, you pass through.”

~~ I Ching ~~

*********

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

In spite of all the handicaps faced, it’s done. I’m going to post it, so I can say I’m still blogging…. sort of. I’ll be back again, though, with my back in the state it’s in, it’s hard to say when that may happen. I can’t promise it will, but, the odds are as good as they ever were, so, we’ll all have to live with the ambiguity for a time. See y’all then, mes amis, with more expulsion of angst, I’m sure…. You may count on that…..

“Don’t embarrass us.”
“Have I ever?”

~~ Buckaroo Banzai and Perfect Tommy ~~

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

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Can we see the blank menu, please?….

Posted on July 28, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Beware the Jubjub bird”

~~ Lewis Carroll ~~

Cork, Ireland

Hajime…. While the funk in which my mind has spent the last days dwelling is lessened, I’m still not in the best of moods. There are signs I’m on a productive path, so, patience is the order of the day. Yesterday’s Pearl proved, once again, how critical the completion of this chosen duty has become to my state of mind; it literally saved me from a full day of bullshit. Since today’s Pearl will serve the same purpose, I’d best get started putting it together, before I lose either my impetus, or my fragile hold on reality….

My introspection seems finally to be approaching a degree of resolution, in the sense I am now convinced of where I’ve been going wrong in my agenda, and how to proceed. If one wishes to get somewhere, it’s a good thing to know where one wishes to go; what I’ve discovered in myself the last few days (hours) will help me keep that in focus. I cannot say, at this point, whether my chances are good, or not so much, but, at this point, I don’t care, & it won’t matter anyway. Saying isn’t doing, is it? Nope. At this point, all I’m doing is typing….

I’m getting a bit silly, as well as losing the thread, so, we’ll just give up trying to bring any real coherence into this intro, & get on with the rest of what needs to be done. I’m pretty sure coherence isn’t in the picture, anyway, so there’s no point going overboard trying to find any; I don’t feel like swimming. Instead, we’ll just go on, as if we actually had a plan, and were working on the list to get it done. Go figure, eh? Let’s pretend we are, and do this…

Shall we pearl?….

“When they turn the pages of history
When these days have passed long ago,
Will they read of us with sadness
For the seeds that we let grow?”

~~ Rush, A Farewell to Kings ~~

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

Aged Hot Tuna

Image from www.bobyehling.wordpress.com via Google Images

I’m in the mood for some old style rock & roll, so here’s a classic rock band, whose members still perform together, and whose music helped define rock and roll. Enjoy, ffolkes; these guys keep getting better….

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

Hot Tuna
Live in 2015

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

Naked Pearls

Thoughts on modern living….

*******

“Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.”

~~ Martin Luther King, Jr. ~~

*******

“God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent-
it says so right here on the label.
If you have a mind capable of believing
all three of these divine attributes simultaneously,
I have a wonderful bargain for you.
No checks, please. Cash, and in small bills.”

~~ Lazarus Long ~~

*******

“No people do so much harm as those who go about doing good.”

~~ Mandell Creighton (1843-1901) ~~

*******

“The truth is that Christian theology, like every other theology,
is not only opposed to the scientific spirit;
it is also opposed to all other attempts at rational thinking.
Not by accident does Genesis 3 make the father of knowledge a serpent
– slimy, sneaking and abominable.
Since the earliest days the church as an organization
has thrown itself violently against every effort
to liberate the body and mind of man.
It has been, at all times and everywhere,
the habitual and incorrigible defender of bad governments,
bad laws, bad social theories, bad institutions.
It was, for centuries, an apologist for slavery,
as it was the apologist for the divine right of kings.”

~~ H. L. Mencken ~~

*******

“In our society, sometimes you have to penalize (innocent) people
for the good of everybody else.”

~~ A Pittsburgh Cop 10/16/93 ~~

*******

“Anybody who wants religion is welcome to it, as far as I’m concerned
— I support your right to enjoy it.
However, I would appreciate it if you exhibited more respect
for the rights of those people who do not wish to share
your dogma, rapture or necrodestination.

~~ Frank Zappa, “The Real Frank Zappa Book” ~~

*******

“Every man’s life, liberty, and property are in danger
when the Legislature is in session.”

~~ Gideon J. Tucker ~~

*******

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

Dreaming of Calliope

La belle dame sans merci speaks aloud through endless night,
torturing dreams, with powerful words and stentorian phrases.
Manifest visions bathed in unbearable grace and light,
destroying all direction, standing lost, in unfathomable mazes.

Fate plays a part, one that will never face denial,
as fear and courage eternally vie for ascendancy.
Conflict becomes valid, gifting strength in open trial,
but honest emotion wears no costume so fancy.

Blood, sweat, and tears stroll on avenues of gold,
unlikely heroines heralding as in ancient lore;
Sharp, competent knives cut through tales untold,
eternally shifting reality past the naked shore.

Drifting toward origin, bereft of mandate or cause,
finished, nay, abandoned, tied with a figurative bow.
No simple gift from muses to give comfort or pause,
save that all we need to know, we already know…..

~~ gigoid ~~

12/13/12

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

Five Naked Pearls

The Path taken is irrelevant…

*****

“Before enlightenment, one carries water and chops wood.
After enlightenment, one carries water and chops wood.”

~~ Zen Proverb ~~

*****

“A man who fears suffering is already suffering from what he fears:”

~~ Montaigne ~~

*****

“And though the course may change sometimes,
Rivers always reach the sea.”

~~ Led Zeppelin, Ten Years Gone ~~

*****

“One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.”

~~ Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spake Zarathustra ~~

*****

“May you live all the days of your life.”

Jonathan Swift — Polite Conversation, Dialogue ii ~~

*****

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

Damn! That was rather a surprisingly difficult Pearl to create. SB decided to go on strike when I was nearly finished, which added a lot of time; so much so, I ended up with a five-star pearl at the end, rather than our customary seven to nine stars…. Oh, well. It’s done, so, regardless of anything else, we’ll take it, and run. I hear the starting/stopping gun now, so, let’s do that. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes; on that you may depend….

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

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Buried in bullet lists….

Posted on July 27, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“A friend is one who knows the song in your heart
and can sing it back to you
when you have forgotten the words.”

~~ Donna Twitchell Roberts ~~

George Orwell’s House, London

Hajime…. Weighed down, crushed under the dark, the light beckons, promising endless pain. The foul odor of death permeates reality, a miasma bringing tears, burning, each one a brand. In a vast landscape devoid of hope, fear lives, devouring rational thought in frighteningly vague dreams made real. The beast within is arisen….

Introspection is, for many of us, a valuable tool. It seems, however, there are a few idiosyncratic characteristics involved in its use, of which nobody bothers to inform us. In my own case, it seems there are times I shouldn’t bother, as it merely releases the Beast…. Today is such a time, I’m afraid. My morning thus far has been rather, hmm… hard to describe. Let us just say it’s been somewhat ill-conceived, and ill-managed. Still, I am sitting at the computer, typing, which is where I wanted to be by now. The angst and disturbing elements to which I have already been subjected are slowly fading, while the process of pearling I’ve developed manages to soothe the demon I inadvertently awoke.

I suppose I could spend a little time exploring the cause of today’s major melt, but, that, I think, would be unproductive, since there is an equal chance of reawakening the beast, which is apparently falling back to sleep the longer I type. I imagine I have embedded this process so deeply into my persona, the mere act of trying is enough to provide some relief from the sharp knives of self-denigration. Perhaps, when my mind actually wakes up & starts to think, I will be able to calmly address the cause; for now, let’s let it lie, as a sleeping dog. Instead, we’ll do this….

Shall we pearl?….

“Good people are good because they’ve come to wisdom through failure.
We get very little wisdom from success, you know.”

~~ William Saroyan ~~

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

George Harrison

Without going into superfluous detail, let is suffice to say, today, I want inspiration, and nothing will work any better than this…. Enjoy, please….

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

Concert for George

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

“Invincibility depends on one’s self;
The enemy’s vulnerability on him.”

~~ Sun Tzu ~~

I was planning to write a discussion of the refugee issue, using the above quote from The Art of War as a starting point. However, I can tell anything I wrote today would be, most likely, too inflammatory. Oh, not too much so for the purpose; too much for my current vulnerability… I’d be too tempted to follow up on the anger which would, no doubt, be generated by such a discussion. Instead, here is a somewhat extensive, but, thoroughly accurate, and, relevant, indictment of the Asininnies. If it isn’t clear to whom that term would apply, the following will make it clear as a crystal….

From 3/4/2014:

“Whenever you hear a man speak of his love for his country, it is a sure sign he expects to be paid for it.” — H. L. Mencken

Does anyone else remember what Tom Jefferson had to say about “professional politicians”, and “bankers”, as being the most dangerous threats to a democracy? I remember the tone of it, and the meaning of what he expressed, in a number of letters to others of his contemporaries, even if even if I don’t remember the exact wording in the letters….. Believe me, every single one of the people who inhabit the halls of the White House, the Congressional House and Senate, and the Federal Court system would have been very lucky if Tom had only called them by their true name, that of TRAITOR….. As I recall from my reading about Tom, he was a bit of a hothead, by reputation, and he might have decided to start shooting before speaking, if I read him right…. and, I couldn’t agree more with the sentiment that might have prompted him to start firing away….

It’s funny, (ha ha AND weird, both types…) how the mind plays tricks on itself, even going so far as to use one’s own memories in manipulating to have its way…. however obscure that way may be…. Yesterday, in the rant in section three, (I think…. that’s how unsure I am of my own memory right now; memories as close as yesterday are currently suspect, due to the very issue under discussion IN THIS SENTENCE, thus, demonstrating once again how slippery our hold on Reality is, just all the damn time….), I mentioned the rant from the day before, in which, I was supposed to have spoken about the NSA, and its shenanigans…. That, of course, was either mistaken belief on my part, or just laziness in thinking about what actually was written, as I was writing at the time…. I know, it’s all very confusing, and maybe even moot, but, I have to explain this, or I’ll go crazy…

Crazy, as you know, is always a risk around here…. Anyway…. The rant to which I referred as being about the NSA, (as yesterday’s rant from the archives actually happened to be), was NOT about that, specifically, though that agency WAS mentioned…. No, that rant was about the Shrubs, and the events of 9/11/01 considered as a conspiracy to misdirect the public attention away from election results of the previous two elections, in which certain disputed voting irregularities “fixed” the election in favor of the Republican ticket…. A conspiracy, I will add, whose very existence, due to the very professional, comprehensive planning, and execution, by the elder Shrub’s minions, in eliminating and/or explaining away any evidence of such a conspiracy, is completely unknown to the majority of the American public…. That’s how good they are at this…

My intent in saying the above, long and complicated as it turned out to be, was to be honest, with y’all, and with myself…. and to keep things straight…. There are two different issues at hand in my rants from the last week or so, (Two, at the very least…. most likely more, if truth be told…), with the only connection being the fact that both issues are a result of previously clandestine, illegal, selfish, paranoid actions by the same set of shadowy corporate slave masters, and their political minions…. Thanks to the actions of a single patriotic citizen with a conscience, (E. Snowden), SOME of their actions are now a matter of public record, a fact which they are desperately working to remove from the public’s awareness….

Right now, they’re using the stone wall technique…. They aren’t making comments on any part of the issues, and they won’t address any questions they’re given by journalists on the subject. They’ve planted the seeds they wished to plant, with their lies about intended reforms to the NDAA regulations, and about Eric Snowden’s incompetence, and possible (fabricated) ties to Russian spies….

“All men can be led to believe the lie they want to believe.” — Italo Bombolini

Since that last outrageous, ‘ipse dixit’ proclamation from the House Intelligence Committee’s lead Republican, (….. Wow, talk about an oxymoron!…), about the infamous, totally made-up Soviet spies who “tricked” Eric Snowden into hacking those files, the White House, and every other public mouthpiece in DC, has been giving their best impression of an uncooked clam about the entire issue….. They don’t want to confuse the issue by introducing too many other ideas, especially if they might be found to be true….

They’re letting the lies they told sit and percolate, so it is the last discussion in the public mind; that way, when they come back to re-address the same issue again, those minds, of the mundanes among us, will have already been primed with the previous lies….. Hence, their next round of fabrications can not only be even more outrageous, but, in their minds, will have the additional advantage of being more easily believed by those parts of the public that bought into their previous (false) statements…. ‘Tis an unfortunate truth that it will probably work….

“These activities have their own rules and methods of concealment which seek to mislead and obscure.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower (1960)

Even if only a few people buy into their lies and machinations, they’re content…. They know that, because of human nature, the people who DO fall for that line of crap are generally the loudest, most stridently vocal of their supporters, those who have a strong investment in believing what they’re told by the talking heads on TV, primarily so they don’t appear to be so FUCKING STUPID to the rest of us….

Sorry…. didn’t mean to shout. I just get so frustrated, thinking about the lack of intelligence it takes to NOT be able to see how often these people are lying to us. This rant sort of evolved, all by itself. on Monday morning, as I sat reading the original line from Mr. Mencken, who happens to be one of the most prolific social philosophers of the twentieth century….

Mencken had a sharp eye, a nimble mind, and he wasn’t afraid to call a spade a spade, which, in the end, gets more done than calling it what it isn’t…. His honesty, and his willingness to “call ’em as he saw ’em” is why he was relatively unpopular with, and feared by, the governing elite of his era…. Too many sharp barbs and exposed truths for their taste….

I just wish I could figure out how to convince all the Numbnoids to use their minds, for something more than just carrying their bladders around from toilet, to table, to toilet…. Oh well, I’ll keep at it, and maybe, someday, one of the tabloids, or one of the mainstream papers, or even, GASP!, maybe a major player, like PEOPLE magazine, will pick up one of my rants, it will go viral, and the world will be saved from the all-too-frequently ignored effects of practicing ignorance, and the crushing soulless presence of Evil in our society’s most powerful denizens, who take advantage of that ignorance among the masses to maintain their own supremacy….

Or, maybe not…. Either way, I’ll keep on pointing out what I see, even if it doesn’t get very far…. Better out than in, I always say….

“Lord, defend me from my friends; I can account for my enemies.” — D’Hericault

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

I feel a poem circling around in my head, but, it’s not anywhere near ready to bleed out. Here is one I wrote in March of this year, which is probably closest to my mood today…. I hope you enjoy the process of watching me find my balance as much as I hope it works….

Augmentation: Inner Aye

Distant, peals of thunder, vividly.
Closer, a patter of rain, falling gravidly.
Between the light and the darkness of fear
find merely the remnants of one lonely tear.

Do not hate us, though we have not sinned;
eager for courage, upon whom all hope is pinned.
Tales of insolence, hatred, or fallen virtue
fill us up, not down, in such pristine foreign venue.

Capable hands severed, able hands tied;
the future is angry, all but now denied.
Multiple times, warnings sounded across the pale
nobody heard, nobody came to tell the tale.

Gifted by time, salience fails in epic rhyme;
watchmakers watching, each a separate crime.
Logical solutions refuse to emulsify
forever pretending to cruelly crucify.

Blood will fly alongside pertinent composure,
never seeking, never finding tea, or closure.
Falsely laid trails on mountains of gold
imply no happy endings, no fortunes told.

Ages past have no time for repetition;
further chances only lead to perdition.
Destiny feels a shameful portion of guilt,
for a thousand sand castles, never built.

~~ gigoid ~~

3/2/2016

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

Naked Pearls

Observations

*******

“In all the many-colored worlds of the universe
no single ethical code shows a universal force.
I am convinced that virtue is but a reflection of good intent.”

~~ Magnus Ridolf ~~

*******

“There is nothing in a caterpillar
that tells you it’s going to be a butterfly.”

~~ Buckminster Fuller ~~

*******

“If you have a skeleton in your closet, take it out and dance with it.”

~~ Carolyn MacKenzie ~~

*******

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

~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~

*******

“To go forth and experience the myriad things is delusion.
That the myriad things spring forth and experience themselves is enlightenment.”

~~ Dogen ~~

*******

“If you can’t change your mind, do you still have one?”

~~ Caroline Malmgren-Davis ~~

*******

Nature, whose sweet rains fall of just and unjust alike,
will have clefts in the rocks where I may hide,
and secret valleys in whose silence I may weep undetected.
She will hang the night with stars so that I may walk abroad
in the darkness without stumbling,
and send the wind over my footprints
so that none may track me to my hurt:
she will cleanse me in great waters,
and with bitter herbs make me whole.”

~~ Oscar Wilde — “De Profundis” ~~

*******

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

Not too shabby for an hour and a half later than planned; I’ll take it. Moreover, I’ll do so without further nonsense, or, sense, for that matter. I’ll merely say, I hope it works, and let it go at that. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes; I’m pretty sure it will be relatively unavoidable….

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

À bientôt, mon cherí….

The labels are peeling off….

Posted on July 26, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“It takes a very long time to become young.”

~~ Pablo Picasso ~~

Late spring at Sonoma Creek

Hajime…. Since the deadline for posting just went flying past my head, I suppose I’d best get started on today’s Pearl. Considering the fact virtually none of it is done, we’ll be lucky to see one today. Hope does exist, as I’ve begun, & don’t intend to stop until done. But, that could change, of course, well before getting there. Once again, the Metaphorse has stepped in, to apply the duality of nature to our undertakings, as is the Universe’s wont.Why we should wish the Universe to even HAVE a wont, I haven’t a clue, but, I suppose it really doesn’t matter for our purposes here today.

To our complete surprise, we find we have written a relatively normal first paragraph, (‘normal’ in that it is of a certain length, says nothing particularly worthwhile, and, is properly punctuated), we look up, to find ourselves deep in the second paragraph, still without any direction, or hint of a direction, in which to make our effort. It probably doesn’t matter anyway; what with the lack of anything resembling rational thought currently inhabiting my brain, there is little chance of finding anything we can use, without serious alteration, or padding, neither of which we are equipped to handle today. Damn! Y’all know what this means, don’t you? No. Well, if you don’t know, I probably shouldn’t say…

Having thus created the proper frame of stultified indignation, we can get this slow on the toad. What, you may ask, the hell does that mean? Well, if I knew, or cared, I might consider relaying that information. Since I don’t, and, I don’t, we’ll just use it as another fine excuse to go on, before this gets any stranger, and we start losing our audience…. like we ever had one. For all I know, nobody’s out there, and nobody will ever see this but me, and a couple die hards who come every day. But, whether anyone is there, or ever reads this, it still has to get done, or I melt down worse than usual…. So be it. Let’s do it….

Shall we pearl?….

“No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature.
Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this;
the only right is what is after my own constitution;
the only wrong what is against it.”

~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~

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

I’m running late, as usual, so we’ll go with something easily available that fits my mood…. Since I feel like I should, or want to be, on the road to anywhere, we’ll take a little trip to the islands, imagining ourselves right onto some beach, where you’ll find us sipping margaritas, & dancing away…. Abondanza!….

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

Jimmy Buffett
Live at Jones Beach

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

“How happy is he born or taught,
That serveth not another’s will;
Whose armour is his honest thought,
And simple truth his utmost skill!”

~~ Sir Henry Wotton — The Character of a Happy Life ~~

I’m very late today, in terms of getting done, and posted. To save the time needed, we’re going to the archives. Don’t worry, it’s a rather light piece, just taking some random shots at some of the world’s biggest fools…. I’m sure I had fun, and you will too… Enjoy!….

From 2/11/2015:

INFIDEL, n. In New York, one who does not believe in the Christian religion; in Constantinople, one who does. (See GIAOUR.) A kind of scoundrel imperfectly reverent of, and niggardly contributory to, divines, ecclesiastics, popes, parsons, canons, monks, mollahs, voodoos, presbyters, hierophants, prelates, obeah-men, abbes, nuns, missionaries, exhorters, deacons, friars, hadjis, high-priests, muezzins, brahmins, medicine-men, confessors, eminences, elders, primates, prebendaries, pilgrims, prophets, imaums, beneficiaries, clerks, vicars-choral, archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, preachers, padres, abbotesses, caloyers, palmers, curates, patriarchs, bonezs, santons, beadsmen, canonesses, residentiaries, diocesans, deans, subdeans, rural deans, abdals, charm-sellers, archdeacons, hierarchs, class-leaders, incumbents, capitulars, sheiks, talapoins, postulants, scribes, gooroos, precentors, beadles, fakeers, sextons, reverences, revivalists, cenobites, perpetual curates, chaplains, mudjoes, readers, novices, vicars, pastors, rabbis, ulemas, lamas, sacristans, vergers, dervises, lectors, church wardens, cardinals, prioresses, suffragans, acolytes, rectors, cures, sophis, mutifs and pumpums. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

This space left unused for anything.

This space used for gold.

This space folded over into a ring.

This space remained untold.

No, I have not a single clue where the hell that came from, nor will you ever catch me asking, myself, or anyone else. In fact, I am going to state here and now, I didn’t say that, and you can’t prove I did.

I actually did leave this space blank, but, that was because I sort of intended to write a fresh rant this morning; I’ve got plenty of angst built up, trust me, what with crossing blades with large soulless corporate entities, butting heads with power-hungry local yokels, and dealing with my own personal inner demons as a result, well… trust me., I have more than enough about which to rant. But I’m tired of it all, and want something a bit more light hearted…. Let’s see what happens if I do this…..

Soft, intimate notes of romantic violins fills the air, while cooling breezes lift curtains to swirl and wave against the cerulean sky, peeking brightly through the tall windows. Mellow voices murmur quietly, spilling through the balcony doors, standing open to allow the elegantly dressed crowd pass in and out, enjoying the night air. As a young couple strolled hand in hand through the open passageway, a sudden scream rang out, stilling the crowd, piercing through the music as a hot knife through butter. Silence fell over the room, until a loud voice rings out, “Don’t worry, folks. She saw one of the clowns….”

Hmm… No, I don’t think that’s going to do it…. How about we go for an old-school pearl? I think, maybe, it’s the only chance we have left…. Since this is the ranting section, let’s see if SB can find us some nice, funny pokes to take at some of our favorite targets, shall we? (That is a rhetorical question, as, obviously, it’s now our ONLY chance…)…. Come on, we’d best get to it…. Oooh, here’s a good one to start….

We can’t really be wrong if we’re just following Gods orders
You know,
He wrote this book here
And in this book
He says that He made us to be just like Him
So if we’re dumb, then God’s dumb
(and perhaps a little ugly on the side)

~~ Frank Zappa ~~

Not too shabby for a beginner…. let’s see if we can finish this off with some style, or, maybe even some humor….

“I have no problem with God. It’s his fan clubs I hate.” — Smart Bee

“Yow! And then we could sit on the hoods of cars at stop lights!” — Zippy the Pinhead

“Now playing: “Man of La Muncha”” — Hannibal Lecter Dinner Theatre

“It is only the superficial qualities that last. Man’s deeper nature is soon found out.” — Oscar Wilde

(Oops. Sorry, Oscar slipped that one by me…. It’s not too far out there, so, it stays…)

“Rush Limbaugh: The Pillsbury Doughboy on acid.” — Smart Bee

“Ooops.” — Captain of Titanic

“If God is so great, how come everything he makes dies?” — George Carlin

Well. That was…. something. Not exactly your average mind numbing, brain-blowing experience, was it? Oh well. I guess we should go do something else now…. Oh. I see the problem now. How could I have forgotten THIS?

“When a person cannot deceive himself the chances are against his being able to deceive other people.” — Mark Twain

Duh….

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

“Poetry and Hums aren’t things which you get,
they’re things which get you.
And all you can do is go where they can find you.”

~~ Winnie-the-Pooh, ~~

~~ Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne ~~

Is It Alive?

Fighting into the light, words push hard to exist
each step closer to real brings another unique twist.
Shedding meaning for meaning, until bright, alone, and right
sculpting useless shapes, yet undefined, in pale morning’s light.

Never knowing the face is part of the lasting charm
bringing elegant focus, before sounding the alarm.
Advantageous time sends out messages, fears finding voice,
mulling options for flexibility, virtually without choice.

Fortunate man, who embraces the power of change;
’tis magical knowledge, bonding common to strange.
Weaving words of wonder, made strong by love and duty,
into a tapestry of life, and everlasting beauty.

~~ gigoid ~~

1/10/2013

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

Naked Pearls

It sucks, AND, it blows….

*******

“I can handle reality in small doses,
but as a lifestyle it’s much too confining.”

~~ Lily Tomlin ~~

*******

“It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are.”

~~ ee cummings `~~

*******

“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 ~~

*******

“Entropy has us outnumbered.”

~~ Solomon Short ~~

*******

“Really, Crito, why should we care so much
about what ‘most people’ believe?”

~~ The character Socrates, in Plato’s “Crito”, 44d ~~

*******

“Remember: Silly is a state of Mind,
Stupid is a way of Life.”

~~ Dave Butler ~~

*******

“Pardon me, but do you know what it means
to be TRULY ONE with your BOOTH!”

~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

*******

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

Color me amazed. It’s done, and, not too shabbily, either, if I do say so meself. Before I do something dumb, like try to be witty, we’ll bring this to a somewhat dilatory end. I can’t say it’s the worst ever, but, it certainly isn’t the best. Y’all can decide for yourselves just what you think about it, and, share if you must. Me, I’m gonna go back to bed; it’s supposed to be really hot today, & I’ll need my energy to keep fanning the cat…. Hah! See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes; consider that all the warning you’ll get….

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

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Mild hints of old saffron….

Posted on July 22, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Nature is not human-hearted.”

~~ Lao Tzu ~~

Abbey and Ben, London….

Hajime…. Let me assure you; living with a familiar isn’t always a smooth ride through Life. Without getting into superfluous details, let’s just say we had a domestic crisis of some proportion upon first arising today, & let it go. It’s over now, and all is again peaceful between us, so I can get on with the less mundane aspects of my morning routine. Naturally, the delay has set us back, so the scramble to get it done has now entered White Rabbit mode. One part is done, but, the rest will be…. well, it will be the rest.

I’m not even going to try to fool anyone today. I am not a professional, though I do have some investment in producing quality material. I do this simply to keep myself from falling prey to my own dark side, which threatens to force its way out into action mode, with only one purpose, to destroy. It works fairly well; I have yet to break my personal vow to NOT kill. I will admit, there are moments I don’t know why I keep myself from doing so, for there are many who deserve to die. But, I promised my mom I’d do all I could to keep from allowing nature to take a natural course…. So far, so good.

But, I digress. We’re here to get us down the page, not to get chatty or philosophical, which belongs further down. Who knows? What happens next is still pretty well unplanned, so, y’all could see damn near anything. In fact, let’s get started, before I get any stranger, okay? I can feel things morphing as I type, so, we’d best get on with it, before reality makes a fool of us, yet again….

Shall we pearl?….

“We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

~~ Aristotle ~~

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

Jerry Garcia & David Grisman, “Grateful Dawg”

Image from www.theperfectipodcollection.wordpress.com via Google Images

While looking for music yesterday, I came across this concert from two of the best musicians in the business. The video picture isn’t great, but, the sound is excellent, which is fine with me…. Enjoy!…..

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

Garcia & Grisman
Live in Concert

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

“In the words of Shankarachaya,
“All impossible things can be made possible
save the bringing of the fool’s mind to the point of truth.”

~~ Hazrat Inayat Khan (Sufi writer) ~~

Since the quote you see leading off this section is so versatile, it can stay, though I did not use it for a fresh piece. It leads into the following material, which is from the archives, quite nicely, and will do for today’s off-the-cuff format…. Besides, it’s all still relevant, sadly, even though parts of it are almost four years old…. Enjoy!….

From 1/11/2015:

On December 6 of 2012, the Pearl I wrote turned out pretty well, with two pretty good mini-rants on two subjects. Given the recent spate of killings by police, in this country alone, this outburst is particularly relevant. I don’t think it’s necessary to reiterate my belief the world is over-militarized, whether by local police, or large national police organizations, or military institutions on a national level….

But, then, it is well to remember, the making and selling of arms, and all of the other weapons of war and destruction, IS the oldest, largest, most lucrative business on this planet, a fact of which all governments, all large religious institutions, and all multi-national corporations are fully aware, as evidenced by their uniform complicity, in allowing it to continue to furnish the means by which Man’s insane avarice for power is expressed, endlessly….

From 12/6/2012:

“Who will protect the public when the police violate the law?” — Ramsey Clark

Here is a question that is particularly relevant in today’s society. In my time on this sad little ball of mud, I have studied the various parts that make up our culture, and the police, due to their ubiquitous nature, have always been right there at the forefront of my observations. We all have our stories of how we have had to deal with police in various circumstances, not all of which show them in their best light. In fact, next to lawyers, police officers are probably the most reviled members of society, as well as one of the most admired. There are good reasons to support both views…..

I cannot say that my knowledge of ALL policemen is complete; I don’t know them all. But my observations over the years have indicated that at least half of those who enter the field do so out of a desire to have power over others, rather than an impulse to be of service. It is easy to spot these folks…. They’re the ones who never signal a turn in their cars, and are always moving at a speed greater than the posted limit. They assume that the laws that govern the populace are not applicable to them, and act accordingly. They enter any situation with the attitude that “might is right”, and attempt to intimidate anyone who tries to usurp or question their authority. They don’t serve as policemen to keep the peace, but to control the beasts….. two entirely different goals.

I find myself at this point to be in the beginning stages of a rant; this subject is one that frustrates me a lot, as I believe that the police should be offering themselves as an example of honorable, lawful behavior. Many of them do so, but a large number are no more concerned with serving and protecting than they are in consuming donuts without sprinkles. Due to circumstances well within my control, I’m not in the mood for ranting this morning, so I’m going to let this go without further comment.

Suffice it to say that society needs to consider the question asked above by Mr. Clark, and take a hard, realistic look at the requirements needed to procure police officers who are of the proper frame of mind to assume the responsibilities involved in public protection. It seems to me that psychological testing of potential officers would be a good place to start; perhaps some of those who go into the field for their own purposes might not be given such power, if they could be winnowed out in the testing process…… Perhaps then we would begin to see the police set the example for the rest of society, rather than proving to be one of the problems we need to solve…..

“The superior man is the providence of the inferior. He is eyes for the blind, strength for the weak, and a shield for the defenseless. He stands erect by bending above the fallen. He rises by lifting others.” — Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899)

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

Dreaming, I wait….

In the most patient moments of rationality
kindness flows smoothly in a special milieu,
fallow thoughts speed first from equality
to give no anxious fever, anger to eschew.

Indignant mothers and step-sons in-law
shall fade simply from brilliant to grey,
intoning ritual dogma, fresh, avid, and raw,
falling, falling, in massive pastoral disarray.

Safety lives not, save brightly in ignorant bliss,
it follows us all, silent and infinitely frail,
foremost too often, soft as a virgin kiss,
alive, always eager, willing, and pale.

Intimate knowledge finds only the bold few
with courage and virtue to gift, unbidden.
No solemn royal version may pass in review,
true love for man, never to remain unhidden.

Sweet feathers of Emily’s hope uplift,
calm, drowsy episodes bursting with light,
With final glad cries we set ourselves adrift,
swimming in the oceans of natural delight.

When sorrow is banished, in ages yet to come,
roots solidly anchored, cold and remote,
Ample supplies of kindness sit silent and dumb,
and the old stranger shrugs on his faded coat.

Dreaming, then, I wait with shadows in the night
aspiring to inspire, a message from the muse’s heart
Never forgotten images, framed in color bright,
tempt me only, grieving, steeped in serenity’s arcane art.

~~ gigoid ~~

8/18/2013

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

Our final pearl is also from the archives, simply because SB decided not to cooperate with our high-speed demands for a quick group. On the same day as the rant we used today, the old-school pearl was also a good one, so, we are using it here again today. Go figure, eh? As noted, it’s a good one, so, try to pay attention; you’re almost done…. *grin*

From 1/11/2015:

This is what I’d call a prototypical pearl, which is of a variety which makes it plain life isn’t as simple as it seems, yet, provides us with all we need to understand any complexity, if we are open to developing a character of honor, dignity, and courage, tempered by kindness, and its outgrowth, compassion….

“Life is a struggle with the obvious. We have been so blinkered with expectations or so blinded with choices that seeing and accepting the obvious becomes rare and courageous.” — Callan Williams

“Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue.” — Buddha (B.C. 568-488)

“Man is a religious Animal. He is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion – several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat if his theology isn’t straight” — Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) — The Damned Human Race

“Determine never to be idle…It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing.” — Thomas Jefferson

“Character is much easier kept than recovered.” — Thomas Paine

“Of all the benefits that virtue confers upon us, the contempt of death is one of the greatest.” — Montaigne (1533-1592)

“What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?” — Jean-Jacques Rousseau

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

Okay, I did it. I cheated, badly, but, it’s done, so, who cares? Not me, and, not you, because, hey, you’re done, too. I’ll just take this moment to issue our usual warning, to wit: See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes. Nobody seems willing to try to stop me, so, what the hell…. Why not? It certainly can’t make anything worse than it already seems to be….

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

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Motivation, denigration, invocation, potato….

Posted on July 18, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together!”

~~ The Beatles, “I Am The Walrus ~~

Foxy the Stump….

Hajime…. Today is…. blank? Hmm. As I sat to begin, my mind felt full of relatively creative urges; when I began to type, it all went away. This, of course, tells me our old friend Murphy is hanging somewhere about the premises, looking for trouble. This isn’t to say we can do much about it, except to try to be mindful, so he doesn’t catch us completely flat-footed. It does mean I should speed up this intro a bit, in order to keep ahead of him as long as we can…

I suppose I could abandon all formality, & just dump y’all down the page. But, we’ve got some good stuff here today, so, I’ll ease you in as best I can, with a little prep. For your listening pleasure, I’ve included an hour of Wolfie Mozart, with two of his best pieces one after the other. Our ranting section today is filled with a most excellent guest piece, by our friend Dean Baker, with one of the finest takes on modern culture I’ve seen. Period. There’s also a rather nice old-school pearl, bringing us to the closing section with dispatch if not aplomb. Not bad for an old drunk curmudgeon, eh?

What? Oh, drunk… no, not now, but, much of last night was spent at some level of that condition; kind of fun, & makes sleep come quick…. I guess I could do without the mild hangover, but, the price has to be paid, one way or another, eh? A hot shower, a bit of mild walking, & I’ll be fine. To get moving toward completing some of that, I’ll end this here with my new-found sense of ruthlessness, which, though still a bit uncomfortable, works quite well for this sort of thing…. It works just like this, as you well know….

Shall we pearl?….

“It’s like brother Nietzsche said –being human is a complicated gig,
so give that dark night of the soul a hug and howl the eternal yes.”

~~ Chris, DJ, Northern Exposure ~~

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

Wolfie M….

Today’s musical selection is simple. The two symphonies you’ll hear are both from Wolfgang Mozart, the last two he wrote, considered two of his best. Together, they give us an hour of delightful noise, as fine as any ever produced by humans…. I hope you enjoy it….

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

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphonies 40 & 41

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

https://tormentingthemonkey.wordpress.com/2016/07/14/suicide-citizens-and-lethal-force/

Yesterday, after procrastinating a bit for a day or so, I finally checked out the post of an author/writer/poet/musician/scholar/curmudgeon/magician named Dean J. Baker. I am privileged to be able to call him friend, as I consider him one of the finest artistic souls of our generation. (As a side note of some personal satisfaction, I can safely say I know at least three such souls, none of whom are celebrities in the normal sense, but, are those who, in my more than normal experience, exhibit the qualities I know to be, in human terms, eternal… I guess that will need to be explained further, but, that can be for another time…. To return to reality, real-time…

I found, upon relieving the stress of procrastinating, a literary gem. I’m going to reproduce it today, but, you can read the original at the link above. Considering the recent news, and all the hullabaloo in the news regarding violence in society between the police and the public (which I’ll point out is a mask/metaphor for the true battle, between the narcissist sociopaths and the rational humanists, comprising the two most influential segments of the human bell curve….), this is both an extremely timely examination, as well as both exacting an indictment, and offering a potential direction to take…. I give you, Dean Baker….

Suicide Citizens, and Lethal Force

How stupid do you have to be to get shot by the Police?

Things are obvious. You get stopped. Stopped, not interrupted. Stopped by legal representatives of the Law who are empowered to shoot, and kill you.
They are not going to wait or hesitate to see if you have a gun, if you make a movement. They aren’t saying to themselves, ‘Hey, maybe this guy or girl is reaching for a gummi bear to alleviate their tension at being stopped, so maybe they won’t fire off a quick shot and if they do maybe I won’t get hit.’

Whether or not they’re mean themselves or generally helpful outside the situation has nothing to do with anything. You’re stopped, you stop.

Whether or not the situation dictates that they should shoot you a few more times once you’re down is a legitimate reason for a fast debate since there is reason from examples that they not only shoot to stop you from shooting them, but that they shoot to kill you.

But really, what kind of special retard do you have to be to move, shift, disobey directions meant to keep you safe, them safe, and prevent you from being shot?

Consider this: you likely have one or two .40 caliber guns pointed right at you. In less than five seconds, you can be dead. The news is full of unlawful victims, righteous shootings, and the use basically of lethal force.

Are you an idiot who cannot read? Are you blind that you cannot see these? Or maybe you climbed off the Special Bus that says ‘none of that real world stuff applies to me.’

Then consider the fact that on the side of the Police there is likely an assumption that you are half way intelligent, and/or aware.
And then you move..

Certainly the rules of, and teachings for, policing may need to be reviewed immediately – and more than casually.

I’m not in favor of getting shot, certainly. I detest the idea that people, stupid or not, are getting shot, resulting in trauma all around. What’s going to happen? A citizen-ruled committee that says we must trust that you are a well-intentioned person who may or may not have made an error, so we’ll wait to see.

Duh, no.

The entire idea of policing in regards to stops is to establish bona fides, or not.

The vulnerability rests in the fact that in this society there is a built-in idiot factor.
Doctors won’t inform on a colleague who may be doing irreparable harm. Schools won’t fire a teacher who likely ought to be taking, not teaching, classes. Bureaucracies employ idiots.

You know what I mean – you probably have a relative or friend you know who needs being replaced.

And cops won’t say yeh, some of us are true assholes who ought to be arrested because with their training and knowledge they’re more dangerous than some ignorant citizen.

Until that idiot factor is corrected you’re going to have wrong doing on both sides of the law.

The other side of that idiot factor is punishment that does not fit the crime.

When it’s light, there’s outrage. When it doesn’t exist, and seems to cater to authority, even greater outrage.

People do talk about justice, but make no mistake: there’s also a need for vengeance legally administered. The only real debate is on whether the degree is sufficient to satisfy the counter balanced requirement for justice and revenge combined.

And yes, there are morons who merely want their criminals to say they’re sorry. They’re all sorry they got caught, and those fools who require only acknowledgment are victims-in-waiting.

As for incidents where there are a group of police and one antagonist with a knife, I would think citizens would say ok, disarm the crazy, although from recent reports the Police would say, screw that, kill them.

Citizens would hope that their Police would make an effort to beanbag, taser, or beat the perpetrator. Not simply shoot, then shoot again when they are down as has happened too many times.

If a citizen can defend against such a crazy by shooting them, where’s the difference between them and the Police who do the same if they are in a group?

That sounds and looks like Police rules, not law.

Cops ought to have greater and more useful methods and manners of dealing with the wild ones, most especially if they are contained by being surrounded, or trapped in a vehicle unable to get out because they’re surrounded.

Otherwise, let’s admit to a truth: if you have a knife, and may or may not be crazy, and there is a group of Police around you, rather than finding a way to disarm you, they will kill you instead – all the talk and persuasion is a false idea of Police work when the end result is no different from what a citizen can accomplish.

Let’s at least recognize the idiot factor so changes can be effected, even if it would be stupid to assume people will alter their inclinations.

And as for the retard instigators who are merely glorifying themselves – establishing the fact that they need an authority to rebel against – know that they are simply the other side of authority, without the empowerment, and without the knowledge and practical applications, and thus even more dangerous than what they protest.

Where are they before any incidents? Are they stupid, waiting for a mess to occur before they channel their outrage when it’s more than likely it won’t be organized and thus effective at change? At most that is intellectually lazy and at least it’s a passive violence. Are they really self-servingly waiting for an excuse to exact a self-righteous rage, and thus not to be taken seriously?

However, if they choose the proper channels, establish a grouping of citizens to establish a fair protest against unfair rules and rulings, then to challenge authorities afterwards is as legitimate as the method in which this nation was founded.

Don’t be a tool of the media which enflames for its own end.

Nor the billionaires who fund movements for their own selfish reasons: which are never to the good of the individual citizen. You’re being manipulated by the self-righteous who are getting paid.

©Dean J. Baker

You can purchase Dean’s Books here:

https://deanjbaker.wordpress.com/awards/all-print-books-links/

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

“Poetry is what gets lost in translation.” — Robert Frost

Placidly falling in amber waves: old friends

Whiskey, oh, whiskey, I’d forgotten thy balm,
thy loving spread of lassitude, and nature’s own calm.
Misery and pain flee in squalid disorganization,
leaving mirth, happily embraced, in just consolation.

James, old friend, thou has not abandoned me at all,
steadfast and loyal, ever ready to answer my softest call.
Ephemeral illusions of normality come at your instigation
blessed moments of peaceful joy, sans vilification.

Gasps of coherence pound at the door to conscious thought,
muffled explosive memories of battles already fought.
Malleable as the changeable airs of time and circumstance
plaintive calls to reason stand not a single, honest chance.

Sober again, reality’s cold reign brings a new day
ringing in old changes in a new-fashioned way.
To know true freedom’s release from our everyday pain
Is worth a bit of headache, even in the cold, pouring rain.

~~ gigoid, two sheets to the wind, and back ~~

“You will find poetry nowhere, unless you bring some with you.” — Joseph Joubert

12/2/2012

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

Naked Pearls

Simple Truths

*********

“You can observe a lot by just watching.”

~~ Berra’s Law ~~

~~ Yogi Berra [Brooklyn Dodger’s Catcher & Major League Philosopher] ~~

*********

“Be not afraid of going slowly; be only afraid of standing still.”

~~ Chinese Proverb~~

*********

“Safety is on the shore, but the pearl is in the ocean.”

~~ Chinese Proverb ~~

*********

“The character of human life,
like the character of the human condition,
like the character of all life, is “ambiguity”:
the inseparable mixture of good and evil,
the true and false, the creative and destructive forces —
both individual and social.”

~~ Paul Tillich ~~

*********

“If there is no wind, row.”

~~ Latin Proverb ~~

*********

“Remember that what pulls the strings is the force hidden within;
there lies the power to persuade, there the life,
–there, if one must speak out, the real man.”

~~ Marcus Aurelius Antoninus — Meditations, x, 38 ~~

*********

“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”

~~ Confucius (551-479 BC) ~~

*********

“Costing not less than everything. “

~~ T.S. Eliot ~~

*********

“Love;
While you have life to give
Live;
While you have love to give.”

~~ Piet Hiem ~~

*********

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

Thankfully, this came together well, in spite of my hung over state, and the ubiquitous threat of Murphy hanging about. To show my appreciation in the most relevant way, I’ll end it now, here. I will, however, be back tomorrow to torment, er, try this again. See ya, ffolkes; take that as you will….

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

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Fifty days to grieve in color….

Posted on July 17, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood.
Now is the time to understand more,
so that we may fear less.”

~~ Marie Curie ~~

Leelu ~ The Early Days….

Hajime…. Properly speaking, this isn’t a blog; it’s a self-directed therapeutic activity, designed, from the start, as a means of maintaining a reasonable grasp on reality’s throat, in order to fulfill the implied promise we all make to our mothers, to do our best in Life, in thanks for the invitation. I’ve never spent much effort to promote it, simply because I don’t much care about the fame part of wanting to write. I do care about honesty, accuracy, and the sharing of what we have learned that may be of help to someone else. From a standpoint in view of honor, that’s all I need to worry about. Besides, since I’m retired on disability, I’m not allowed to make any money, lest it prove I can work after all…

That being said, to, as ever, little or no purpose beyond space-filling, the daily completion of what happens here is a rather randomly (un)predictable set of events, any of which, if missed or screwed up somehow, can alter the final results in a way I don’t much appreciate. But, it’s mostly fun, and relatively good for my level of angst to do the work. Now, if only I could find some way to ensure a sufficient degree of motivation each morning, I’d be all set. As it is, it’s a constant struggle to find either the energy, or the will, to get up, and focus on the screen, especially when engaged in a morning altercation with my familiar…. That struggle is lessening, as we adjust to each other’s routines, but, it can be a significant limiting factor….

Why am I going over all this? Ah, who the hell knows; not me, that’s for sure. I just began to type, and this is what came out. Since it’s now clear it isn’t really going much of anywhere, I think we can safely abandon any further examination of the idiosyncrasies of daily blogging, & try to get on with putting together something worthwhile for y’all to enjoy with your morning wake-up routine. Hell, I’ll even try to get something in there to stimulate some degree of cogitation, just to get the juices flowing. We do what we can, even if we cannot claim a full-service menu of offerings. For now, whatever happens will just have to do, because I’m out of stuff to blather…. Let’s do this, instead….

Shall we pearl?….

“He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.”

~~ Lao Tzu ~~

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

Lily Tomlin

Image from www.quoteaddicts.com via Google Images

Our featured artist today should need little introduction. For over forty-six years, this woman has made us laugh, sometimes to the point of blowing snot. She’d love to know that, too, I think…. Ffolkes, here is George Carlin’s nearest competitor for the best ever, in my opinion…. Her character, Ernestine, is iconic, as is she….. Enjoy! I’ve included audio versions of her stage performances, collected by a You Tube fan….

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

Lily Tomlin On Stage

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

“Think like a mountain.”

~~ Aldo Leopold ~~

To be honest, I have within me the power to rant today; I can feel the outrage and angst just sitting there, trembling with the urge to vent. But, I’m late again, thanks to evolving routines, so we’ll go instead with something from the archives, after a short statement on current reality…. The following short pearl, composed of three deep little pearls, makes a cogent comment on the culture which has evolved on this planet, which bears an uncomfortable resemblance to those societies described by George Orwell and Aldous Huxley in their frightening visions of our possible future. After the pearls, you’ll find an archived rant, just because I feel like some overkill…. Enjoy!….

“Abroad in the world today is a monstrous falsehood, a consummate fabrication, to which all social agencies have loaned themselves and into which most men, women, and children have been seduced … “the Eleventh Commandment”; for such, indeed, has become the injunction: You Must Adjust.” — Robert M. Lindner

“I’m frequently appalled by the low regard you Earthmen have for life.” — Spock, “The Galileo Seven,” stardate 2822.3.

“Arguments derived from probabilities are idle.” — Plato

From 7/17/2014:

“Ignorance of one’s ignorance is the greatest ignorance.” — Smart Bee

http://blog.sfgate.com/morford/2014/07/15/not-all-conservative-white-guys/

Fucking brilliant….. No other lesser phrasing would be powerful enough to express how strongly I believe in what Mark has written here…. He is absolutely, 100% on target with his observations, and delivers a message that even the most hardened idiot has to hear…. of course, until they just get that glazed look on their face, and deny, deny, deny…. which they will do, immediately, by the millions, should they get even two paragraphs into this article…. Mark has a way with words like no one else, and he uses them here to once again skewer the GOP, and the group that I call the Asininnies, so well I’m tempted to say he did it perfectly…..

“Counts his sure gains, and hurries back for more.” — James Montgomery (1771-1854) — The West Indies, Part iii

Sniff…. It brings a tear of joy to my curmudgeonly soul to hear, and feel, the brilliantly sharp sardonicism Mark brings to bear, on the asininity, and the sheer stupidity that permeates the entire rich white Judeo-Christian fundamentalist, corporate mentality…. You know, the one that fills the halls of our government in Washington, all 50 state capitals, and every bloody church in this somewhat less than diversified land of ours….. The ranks of those who refuse to use their brains for anything beyond transporting their bowels from one toilet to another are bursting with politicians, lawyers, priests, preachers, quasi-military police, and corporate raptors, viciously dispassionate in their unending search for more power, and more resources to control…. all without any regard, or concern of any kind, for anyone whose lifestyle and/or beliefs do not match their own limited views….

It took me a while to compose the above paragraph; I tried to be as condemning as possible, without resorting to vulgarity…. I think it worked okay, in that it’s clear how I feel about those assholes…. but, due primarily to my own tendency toward pomposity, it could be better, and leads me to believe you just can’t replace a good round of swearing and cursing for delivering a message like this one…. I could have said most of that, and delivered the message, with a simple, “the bloody fucking assholes are doing it again”, with minor amplification for corroboration of details….

Shit flows downhill, you know, so, it’s best to fling it before we get any on ourselves…. Besides, with the way most of those in the 1% treat most everyone else, they deserve every bit of our disdain and vituperation, as well as our vulgarity…. THEY are the ones who live their lives in a vulgar manner…. What other word fits better than “vulgar”, to describe the likes of Rush Limbaugh, or Dick Cheney, or Karl Rove, three of the bastions of conservative thought?…. None I can think of, and my vocabulary is pretty extensive…. Just putting their images in my mind gives me a shudder of revulsion, worse than any I’ve ever gotten from snakes, lizards, or insects, let me tell you….

Once again, Mark has said it better than I am currently capable of doing, so, I’m going to soothe my fevered brow with an old school pearl, to vent some of the angst and anger that builds up in me whenever I consider the egregious immorality of those at the top of the societal pyramid of power…. those fucking assholes…. Here is a seven star old-school pearl, with parameters designed to find some sharp, pointed sticks, which we shall then envision to be flying directly at the lying eyes of the pundits….

“Government of the people, by the lawyers, for the conservatives.” — Smart Bee

“You’re not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can’t face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who says it.” — Malcolm X

“We are doing the right thing and we do not see the bad things.” — Vice President Dan Quayle pretending he is one of the wise monkeys

“If you can’t get a job, get a senate appointment!!!” — Smart Bee

“Basically a dog person. I certainly, though, wouldn’t want to offend my constituents who are cat people, and I should say that being, I hope, a sensitive person, that I have nothing against cats, and had cats when I was a boy, and if we didn’t have the two dogs might very well be interested in having a cat now.” — Incoming Missouri Congressman James Talent, — responding to the question Are you a dog or a cat person? (Mr. Talent is a graduate, summa cum idiotum, of the Dan Quayle School of Political Science-Like Stuff)

“One can imagine a sane, healthy, cheerful human society based on no more than the principles of common sense, as validated each day by work, play, and
living experience. But this remains the most Utopian and fantastic of ideals.” — Edward Abbey

“If God had intended for politicians to ski, he would have made bullshit white.” — Smart Bee

This is an example of what I call a “rock-solid” pearl…. When you see quotes from Smart Bee at either end, and smack in the middle, you can trust that this pearl is one that will hold its shape under the most trying of circumstances, and can puncture the eye of a pundit without leaving a permanent mark….. It’s that solid, sharp, and real….

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

Some years ago, since retiring at the start of 2011, I spent a lot of time in pretty constant pain. Now I am using Phoenix Tears, it is much better, but, sometimes it’s good to go back & re-live it, to keep my feeling of progress intact…. Here’s a report I wrote after a particularly trying day, which gives a good idea of how it goes…. or, can go, some days, even now…. I’ve left it with the addendum I originally posted with it, which tells us why we write such poems….

Gauges of Pain

Consciousness devolves in pools of gripping fears
holding hostage any hope of serenity,
sharp stabbing motions and greedy tears
nary a moment passes without common calamity.

Always a surprise, nothing soothing ever found,
leaving only breathless clinging pain,
salvation seemingly absent, it muffles all sound,
bringing ever more sadness and rain.

Solitude is ever present to claim my time,
lonely hours and relentlessly long days,
no radio plays such music in secular rhyme
happy, vibrant voices belong to elder ways.

Life can be justified it seems to say,
by hopeful favored moments of pleasure,
seemingly friendly, pointing out the only way,
to bring back happiness in minimal measure.

Days of horror and embarrassing tears
serve ever to drive wretched hours to withhold
promising naught but sorrow in coming years,
black, bitter memories that never grow old.

Cold, cold the days fly by,
can it really be our only token?
Never to say, or know just why
the pain never stops, even when spoken…

~~ gigoid ~~

9/10/2012

(Yes, yesterday was NOT a good day…. why do you ask?…..)

Griefe brought to numbers cannot be so fierce,
For, he tames it, that fetters it in verse.
— John Donne ~~

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

Naked Pearls

This way to the lighted area….

*******

“To teach is to learn.”

~~ Japanese Proverb ~~

*******

“Should I start with the time I SWITCHED personalities
with a BEATNIK hair stylist
or my failure to refer five TEENAGERS to a good OCULIST?”

— Zippy the Pinhead

*******

“One doesn’t discover new lands
without consenting to lose sight of the shore
for a very long time.”

~~ Andre Gide ~~

*******

“What can we gain by sailing to the moon
if we are not able to cross the abyss
that separates us from ourselves?
This is the most important of all voyages of discovery,
and without it,
all the rest are not only useless,
but disastrous…”

~~ Thomas Merton ~~

*******

“Adventure is not outside a man; it is within.”

~~ David Grayson ~~

*******

“Every ordinary moment, every little detail
should be a celebration of your personal understanding.
Your smallest act should be permeated with reverence.”

~~ Deng Ming-Dao ~~

*******

“He declared that he knew nothing, except the fact of his ignorance.”

~~ Diogenes Laertius — Socrates, xvi ~~

*******

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

I’m not entirely sure how, (much less why….), but, it’s done. Since I blew off yesterday, I have to say, it’s not bad for one thrown together at the last minute. Regardless of how it may have turned out, we’re going with it, as it’s too late to do it over. I will, however, maintain our standard of honesty, to give you fair warning, I’ll be back tomorrow to try again; you might want to mark your calendars. Until then, y’all be strange, because, why not?…. See ya, ffolkes….

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

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Billions and billions of bogus bargains….

Posted on July 15, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“I may be going to hell in a bucket, but at least I’m enjoying the ride.”

~~ Bob Weir ~~

Stability….

Hajime…. Today’s Pearl reflects the evolution of which I spoke, briefly and obscurely, yesterday. It seems to have evolved along with my new routine, with just as much forethought put into its institution, i.e., none at all. It just happened that way, much like the Universe. Go figure, eh? In this particular case, it works, perhaps as well as any new thing in the Universe, if somewhat less comprehensibly. In the end, it won’t matter, unless the relative degree of confusion I’ve created turns out to be less than called for in the contract. What contract, you ask? Well, you may ask; it doesn’t mean you’ll ever find out.

Hmph. I guess I slipped over into curmudgeon mode, without realizing it. Must be the shoes, which I’m not wearing today. Whatever it is, it has created a rather odd, if creative, Pearl. We have a multitude of pearls today, all strung together into a self-directed rant to offset the romantic qualities of our old-school offering. None of that tells you much, but, that’s the way it’s supposed to be; what fun is it to know it all ahead of time? The Doctor wouldn’t like that. So, why don’t we stop teasing, and tempting the Fates, & save ourselves some of the mess that can engender? We’ll pull out the good, ol’ ruthless gene, & get where we need to be in a New York minute….

Shall we pearl?….

“Live the questions now.
Perhaps then, someday far in the future,
you will gradually, without even noticing it,
live your way in the answer.”

~~ Rainer Maria Rilke ~~

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

Ron White

Image from www.maxmp3.co via Google Images

While conversing with a friend yesterday, I had occasion to use the title of today’s video selection, a quite valuable factoid, which you see below, under the artist’s name. I call it a factoid, when, in truth, it is more like a solid, immutable truth about human nature, which all of us need to be aware of, and use in all our interactions. When we don’t remember this little gem, it costs us, every time…. Ffolkes, I give you Ron White, with any number of examples of how You Can’t Fix Stupid…. Enjoy!….

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Ron White
You Can’t Fix Stupid

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Naked Pearls/Self Directed Rant

*******

“To use power
is to make yourself infinitely vulnerable
to greater powers”

.~~- Bene Gesserit ~~

“In dealing with the State, we ought to remember that its institutions are not aboriginal, though they existed before we were born: that they are not superior to the citizen: that every one of them was once the act of a single man: every law and usage was a man’s expedient to meet a particular case: that they all are imitable, all alterable; we may make as good; we may make better.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Man is ready to die for an idea, provided that idea is not quite clear to him.” — Paul Eldridge

“It’s silly to go on pretending that under the skin we are all brothers. The truth is more likely that under the skin we are all cannibals, assassins, traitors, liars, hypocrites, poltroons.” — Henry Miller

“The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth.” — H.L. Mencken

“Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members. The virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion. It loves not realities and creators, but names and customs.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays,”Self-Reliance” (First Series, 1841)

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” — Edmund Burke (1729-1797), in a letter to William Smith

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Intelligent Crimes

The value of wit is often said to cause harm,
for those who think, such is its greatest charm.
The new and the bold cannot be fulfilled
if innovation and change is left unwilled.

Society behaves at its base as a mob
conformity and submission its primary job.
Any sign of rebellion against the mob’s rule
is met with resentment, naming such rebel the fool.

Intellect and talent are looked at askance,
expressing artistry stands nary a chance.
To stand out from the rest of mankind
is fraught with danger, for body and mind.

Often I stand to watch in solemn dismay
as beauty and joy are left by the way,
ignored and reviled by the unwashed masses
who prefer darkness, and acting like asses.

With shouts of derision the normals make known
their fear of intelligence, greater than their own.
They hope to stop all semblance of progress;
for thoughts and ideas, they couldn’t care less.

The world struggles on in spite of all opposition,
managing to maintain its advanced position.
Pulling the foolish along in spite of reluctance,
helping each to learn the survival dance.

Hard though it may be to keep up with the future
genius manages its plans to develop and nurture.
In the final analysis, those who live by reason
enjoy life the most, season to season.

~~ gigoid ~~

10/7/2012

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Naked Pearls

Life & Love

*******

“When you arise in the morning,
think of what a privilege it is to be alive
–to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love….”

~~ Marcus Aurelius ~~

*******

“I must say that the biggest lesson
you can learn in life, or teach your children,
is that life is not castles in the skies, happily ever after.
The biggest lesson we have to give our children is truth.
We’re all built with illusions.
And they break.”

~~ Goldie Hawn ~~

*******

“Hold tenderly that which you cherish,
for it is precious and a tight grip may crush it.
Do not let the fear of dropping it cause you to hold it too tightly:
the chances are, it’s holding you, too.”

~~ Bob Alberti ~~

*******

“We are shaped and fashioned by what we love.”

~~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~~

*******

“Love is a verb.”

~~ Limon ~~

*******

“For those who believe in God, most of the big questions are answered.
But for those of us who can’t readily accept the God formula,
the big answers don’t remain stone-written.
We adjust to new conditions and discoveries.
We are pliable.
Love need not be a command or faith a dictum.
I am my own God.
We are here to unlearn the teachings
of the church, state, and our educational system.
We are here to drink beer.
We are here to kill war.
We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well
that Death will tremble to take us.”

~~ Charles Bukowski ~~

*******

Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be.

~~ Grandma Moses ~~

*******

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

Having thus assuaged my own sense of duty, I may now escape into the day, to find some real-time trouble to cause for the machine. I guess I’m really going to have to do what I’ve always thought would be necessary, & learn to program computers. The time is coming when it may become our final weapon in the upcoming societal wars…. Guess it’s time to begin the tactical/strategic planning, and begin the campaign…. Ah, well, tomorrow is soon enough, right after I post another mess like this one. See y’all then, ffolkes; I can’t make myself stop….

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

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Intricately crafted examples of metaphoric paradox….

Posted on July 13, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Ignorance doesn’t kill you, but it makes you sweat a lot.”

~~ Haitian proverb ~~

Did you say ‘chase paper’?….

Hajime…. I’m posting very late again today, but, not for any bad reason. On the contrary, it’s been a fine morning. I would share it, but, it’s still too intimate an experience to do so; I’m greedy sometimes, & want to savor it for a time. The time I spent will, eventually, be a big part of my personal cache of memories, in the folder simply labeled “joy”. Can’t say exactly why ’tis so, but, gift horse, right? Don’t want to examine it too closely….

Rather than torture all of us by trying to create some grandiose, compelling intro today, I’ll make these two paragraphs do as a sublimation for the real thing. I doubt seriously y’all will miss it, any more than will I. We also will not be discussing any of the personal quirks, and/or mental issues which would tend to complicate matters in the normal course of events. Of course, around here, there is no such thing as a normal course of events, but, we won’t talk about that, either. Instead, we’ll just do this….

Shall we pearl?….

“Get thee down. Be thou funky.”

~~ Retro Bee ~~

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Máiréad Nesbitt

Image from http://www.celticwoman.com via Google Images

Today’s musical selection features an Irish artist, a fiddler, who currently plays with the Celtic Woman group. I’ve seen the group on stage a couple of times; each time, this woman’s performance, for me, made the show as special as it was. Quite simply, her performance is infectiously joyous, sharing her own pleasure at playing her music to such a degree it is tangible…. I hope you enjoy it….

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Celtic Woman

Máiréad – Granuaile’s Dance

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“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.”

~~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~~

*******

“No slave is ever freed, save he freeth himself.”

~~ Bob Marley, paraphrased ~~

Today’s rant is self-directed, as it should be, given the opening quotes…. Enjoy! Oh, and, keep an open mind on this one; you’ll need it….

From 5/6/2015:

Dubiousity, Redux

In the virtual world, I call myself gigoid, the dubious, for specific reasons…. Rather than use my own words to delineate/describe those reasons, here are some of them, in the form of pearls, (naturally….), as collected by Smart Bee, just as an exercise…. It turned out to be a nice, eleven-star pearl, all centered around the concept of doubt as a function of wisdom…. It seems I’m not the only person in history to put my faith in doubt, rather than the other way around, so to speak…. There are a lot of big names here, and, I only went through the first half of the collection….

Pay particular heed today, ffolkes; these little bits of shiny stuff are more subtly important, to you, than you may realize…. Oh, and, ALL of this will be on your final Quiz…. Don’t blame me, I didn’t make it up….

Shadow and sunlight are the same;
The vanished gods to me appear;
And one to me are shame and fame.
They reckon ill who leave me out;
When me they fly, I am the wings;
I am the doubter and the doubt,
And I the hymn the Brahmin sings.

~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, Brahma ~~

“Philosophy, means, first, doubt; and afterwards the consciousness of what knowledge means, the consciousness of uncertainty and of ignorance, the consciousness of limit, shade, degree, possibility. The ordinary man doubts nothing and suspects nothing.” — Henri Frederick Amiel

“A lizard ran out on a rock and looked up, listening no doubt to the sounding of the spheres. And what a dandy fellow! the right toss of a chin for you and swirl of a tail! If men were as much men as lizards are lizards they’d be worth looking at.” — D. H. Lawrence (1928)

“Authority has every reason to fear the skeptic, for authority can rarely survive in the face of doubt.” — Robert Lindner

“Doubt is not a pleasant condition but certainty is an absurd one.” — Voltaire

Modest doubt is call’d
The beacon of the wise, the tent that searches
To the bottom of the worst.

~~ William Shakespeare ~~

~~ Troilus and Cressida — Act ii, Sc. 2 ~~

Doubt is the beginning, not the end, of wisdom. — Smart Bee

“Freedom of speech and freedom of action are meaningless without freedom to think. And there is no freedom of thought without doubt.” — Bergen Evans, The Natural History of Nonsense (1946)

“If you understand, or if you don’t. If you believe, or if you doubt. There is a universal justice and the eyes of truth are always watching.” — Enigma

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

My guard stood hard when abstract threats too noble to neglect
deceived me into thinking I had something to protect.
Good and bad I defined these terms, quite clear, no doubt, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then;
I’m younger than that now.

~~ Bob Dylan ~~

Ah, yes, indeed…. I AM younger than that now….. so, there will be more on this subject later…. Ta, then….

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Retrospective, defined in folly….

Yesterday
I wrote a poem.

It bled out of my head,
like I’d been struck with
an axe,
right through the artery,
in the neck,
spraying blood around
everywhere,
like a pulsing garden hose….

It hurt, at first,
then came the feeling,

of quick relief,
of timeless beauty,

of pain avenged,
of lust aroused,

of outrage aflame,
of deep compassion,

of endless empathy,
of truest love….

Now it’s gone, cast away
like pearls before twine.

(Grin…)

You thought
I was going to call you
a pig,
didn’t you?

Hah!

Well, you’re not.
You’re a person.

I know, because
you’re reading this poem…
if that’s what it is.
I think it is,
so,
maybe it is.

Or, maybe,
it will be,
someday, when it
grows up,
and learns to rhyme.
Whew…
Just in time…..

That’s all.
Reality often sucks wind,
y’know?

S’okay, though….
It keeps us busy,
and out of some of the
mischief,
so much part
of our
nature.

We all can do
only what we
do.

Or, don’t.

Two sides, one coin.

~~ gigoid ~~

9/1/2014

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Naked Pearls

Not so obvious truths….

*********

“I think, therefore I am… dangerous, that is…”

~~ Master Bee ~~

*********

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

~~ Anais Nin ~~

*********

“Do what you love.
Know your own bone;
gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it, and gnaw it still.”

~~ Thoreau ~~

*********

“A man cannot speak but he judges himself…
no man thoroughly understands a truth
until he has contended against it.”

~~ Emerson ~~

*********

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

~~ Yun-Men ~~

*********

“Really to see the sun rise or go down every day…
would preserve us sane forever.”

~~ Thoreau ~~

*********

“… as sight is in the body, so is reason in the soul…”

~~ Aristotle — Nicomachean Ethics, Bl. I, Ch. 6, 10966, lines 29-30 ~~

*********

“I have realized that the past and future are real illusions,
that they exist in the present,
which is what there is and all there is.”

~~ Alan Watts ~~

*********

“If it had been a bear it would have bit you.”

~~ Jonathan Swift — Polite Conversation, Dialogue i”

*********

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

Did it. Down, dirty, done. Moreover, got nothin’ left to say, so, I’ll just say, see y’all tomorrow. I’m as certain of that as I am of anything in the world…. Fair warning, I’d say….

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

À bientôt, mon cherí….

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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Exploring Consensual Reality

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