Hajime…. Elements of style & grace notwithstanding, there is a lot to be said for virtuous industry, even if the root cause remains an anomaly. In the larger sense, this implies a certain responsibility, to find purpose wherever it may hide itself, allowing no stray miscreants opportunity to fail, hirsute as they may be. Untidy, as a descriptive adjective, falls consistently short of successful parody, while an old, broken pantheon of forgotten gods sits, weeping silent tears, in memory of faded glory. All remains dark on the horizon, where the sun has forgotten to rise, again….
There. That, I think, is a sufficiently strange opening paragraph, which demonstrates both my erudition, and my insanity. The latter, in particular, holds me at ransom this morning, in spite of waking in a relatively common manner. The oddity of my own mind’s path often washes me up on the shore like this, leaving me high & dry with nothing but what passes for thinking to consume. As you may guess, it can be somewhat tricky to deal with reality, &, as the opening paragraph clearly shows, that’s no small feat. Since the only way to get past all of it is to let it flow out of my head as quickly, & ruthlessly as possible, such displays of perversion become the norm.
Ah, well, one can’t have everything, can one? No, of course not. Where would one put it all? Moreover, one remains responsible for one’s own words, no matter how oddly they strike the psyche of the world. My own manner of coping, as you can plainly see, is to take it to the limit, where the boundaries of sanity are stretched past their own belief; only there can I find my own balance, teetering in jeopardy, but, safely insane…. So be it….
I did manage to put this Pearl together, though without the new poem, which continues to dribble out, rather than gushing. Since all the proper elements are in place, and, we have sufficient blather accumulation here in the intro, why don’t we just cut our losses, & get on with it, so we can all move on to bigger, or better things…. It should be easy today; I’ve already softened the edges of reality, right in front of your eyes, so, the transition should be pretty seamless…. Watch and learn….
Shall we Pearl?….
“Remember that happiness is a way of travel, not a destination.”
~~ Roy Goodman ~~
***************************************
I had a hard time deciding on music today; eventually, I went with my own preferences, which is why y’all are being treated to one of the finest musicians alive today, who has been entertaining millions of people for several decades. Fine, fine blues & slide guitar, a voice like an angel, a red-haired beauty…. what’s not to love about her? Here she is, ffolkes, live in Oakland in 1989, it’s Bonnie….
***************************************
Bonnie Raitt Live in concert 1989
***************************************
***************************************
***************************************
Neurons/Parade Rest
Forlorn, he thought, but, then,
no, not really so.
Old, sad, strong; polluted by time’s red pen.
Nowhere left, to be, nor to go.
Tricks, not treats, forever remote,
strike fear into hearts fettered in fog.
Biting deep, stinging, we simper by common rote,
mired eternally in such bilious bog.
Torturous vision, bloody, capitulates in duplicate;
don’t ask for whom the spell trolls.
Ambiguity is real, impossible to extricate,
that’s how it rocks, then rolls.
Spiteful instruments offer no respite, patently.
Filigree lacks properly significant doubt.
Alternative answers formulate motivation, elegantly,
portraying reality as a vulgar lout.
Poltroons, there’s a good word,
for idiotic farmers, enthusiasts who borrow
time, filled with the blood of a bird;
solitary, the trickster cannot follow.
Affable moments trip the light, fantastic;
salacious intimacies fill a shimmering bower.
Night falls, eventually, monastic;
eternity calls with irresistible power.
~~ gigoid ~~
8/11 – 8/15/2016
***************************************
Naked Pearls
Living & dying in 3/4 time….
*******
“Dum vivimus, vivamus.”
(While we live, let us live…)
~~ Latin proverb ~~
*******
“You see things, and you say “WHY?”
But I dream things that never were,
and I say “WHY NOT?”
~~ George Bernard Shaw, “Back to Methuselah” ~~
*******
“In the bigger scheme of things,
the universe is not asking us to do something,
the universe is asking us to be something.
And that’s a whole different thing.”
~~ Lucille Clifton ~~
*******
“The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.”
~~ Bertrand Russell ~~
*******
“If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else,
you will have succeeded.”
~~ Maya Angelou ~~
*******
“I feel better about world problems now!”
~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~
*******
“Now he has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me.
That means nothing.
People like us, who believe in physics,
know that the distinction between past, present, and future
is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.”
~~ Albert Einstein ~~
*******
***************************************
I am not too sure what happened today, but, it happened, so, I’ll be content with that. And, so will you. By the power vested in me as a human in good standing, I declare this version of the Daily Pearl to be complete. I’ll even forgo the usual nonsense, & merely say, see y’all soon. I’m going walkabout….
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.
“When something irritates you, think of this:
How else would we get pearls?”
~~ Ancient Human Wisdom ~~
Iconic view of SF from the Ferry….
Hajime…. Of the muses imagined by the Greeks, Calliope is considered by most to be the foremost of the nine sisters. She is the muse of epic poetry, which, given human nature, represents, essentially, the written word, as a manifestation of human thought. Her sister Euterpe, mentioned below, has always, for me, been the muse to whom we connect most often, as the music of life, and dance, and lyric poetry flows through us like water through a channel. The times in my life when I have felt closest to Universal Truth have come most often while playing music, or singing, or dancing; at those moments, the music IS me… and the sense of completeness is ecstatic, a feeling of being more alive than any other time, lasting well after the music stops….
Channeling Calliope, while more cerebral, can nonetheless produce the same effect, if far less often. There can be moments, when a truth comes clear, or we write a phrase that rings with truth, flowing from mind to paper/screen, which can produce a quite similar effect, less dramatic, but, just as satisfying…. When a poem leaks out, the sense of release, and the sense of joy, vie for ascendancy with absolute good humor; we can only wish it would last longer…..
All that being said, we now move to today’s Pearl. It’s a good one, I think, though the poem which I’ve been leaking for two weeks now doesn’t seem to want to end itself; to balance the disappointment, the music for today is one of my personal favorites. Additionally, the final section’s old-school pearl is a classic set of gems, which you will see exceeds all standards of excellence…. metaphorically, of course. I’ve included one of my older poems, another favorite, so as to keep anyone else from garnering any of the potential blame. All in all, it’s rather iconic, as Pearls go, & I’m more than content to post it forthwith. In fact, why don’t we end this relatively useless diatribe, & get on with it? Since I have no coherent answer for that, we shall do so, here, and now….
Shall we Pearl?….
“Good for the body is the work of the body,
and good for the soul is the work of the soul,
and good for either
is the work of the other.”
~~ Henry David Thoreau ~~
***************************************
In ancient Greece, Euterpe was the muse of music, songs, and lyric poetry. In our own age, if ever a woman lived who personified Her, Bonnie Raitt must surely be considered as a primary candidate. Ageless beauty, a voice capable of evoking every emotion, including jaw-dropping amazement, a virtuoso guitar player, famous for her smooth blues and slide riffs, all contribute to the image, and reality, of a woman who lives for, and is a part of, the musical essence of Life… It’s hard NOT to gush enthusiastically, so, to refrain from any further fawning adoration, I give you Ms. Bonnie Raitt, live, at her best….
***************************************
Bonnie Raitt Live in Germany 1992
***************************************
***************************************
***************************************
Dead Hands,Typing…
Puzzled anew by anomalous blocks of pain
caught, bemused, chained to routine, insane.
Stilled within breathless beauty
Engaging epiphany, insistent, called to duty.
Knees bent in lieu of a faithful rendition
suffuses, confuses, locked into stale perdition.
Clearing corrosion with hands encased in stone
Singular frozen follicles, masked by bone.
Partial focus brings unfiltered flavors to light
coloring each particle in simple delight.
Forlorn, novel conceptual artists singing in tune
nine notes in harmony, soft as the moon.
Honed blades of carbon steel flash in rhyme,
filling sensual receptors well past closing time.
Borrowed from neighbors in a week-old game
still bloody, without a proper name.
No flooded memories can justify such cost
no simple stationery, bilious, afraid, lost.
Ten times ten will never be enough
To fill so empty a stolen trough.
Bartering simplicity takes well into the night
solidly temporary pillars turned bright.
Unknown to all the pretty children who came
none were called, none had any remaining flame.
~~ gigoid ~~
2/25/2016
***************************************
Naked Pearls
Life is a Metaphor for Death….
*******
“Dear friend, all theory is gray,
And green the golden tree of life.”
~~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, “Faust”
*******
A wise man once said …”I don’t know.”
~~ Subtle Bee ~~
*******
“Inside myself is a place where I live all alone,
and that’s where you renew your springs that never dry up.”
~~ Pearl S. Buck ~~
*******
“I remember my grandfather telling me how each of us must live
with a full measure of loneliness that is inescapable,
and we must not destroy ourselves with our passion to escape this aloneness.”
~~ Jim Harrison, “Dalua” ~~
*******
“After you have exhausted what there is
in business, politics, conviviality, and so on
– have found that none of these finally satisfy, or permanently wear
– what remains?
Nature remains.”
~~ Walt Whitman ~~
*******
“Some things cannot be spoken or discovered until we have been stuck,
incapacitated, or blown off course for awhile.
Plain sailing is pleasant,
buy you are not going to explore many unknown realms that way.”
~~ David Whyte ~~
*******
“It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person,
“Always do what you are afraid to do.””
~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~
*******
“If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else,
you will have succeeded.”
~~ Maya Angelou ~~
*******
“Because I have loved life, I shall have no sorrow to die.”
~~ Amelia Burr ~~
*******
***************************************
Having, in a sense, filled in all the spaces, I shall pronounce this Pearl complete, so as to bring it to a fitting close. Of course, classifying it as ‘fitting’ may be premature, or, at minimum, optimistic, but, hey, it’s all good, cuz nobody’s paying me for this. In fact, having thus proclaimed this process to be, in essence, futility on parade, I shall, with rather more aplomb than is called for, cease and desist for another day. Y’all stay strange; me, I have no choice in the matter…. See y’all, maybe even tomorrow….
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.
“The deeds you do today may be the only sermon some people will hear today.”
~~ St. Francis of Assisi ~~
Calico in sepia….
Hajime…. There is a little place in my head where ideas form; it seems to live between the state of full mindful consciousness and dreams, though the exact location remains mysterious, as it, like everything else, moves around a lot. Some days, I can find it easily, & the words flow like good wine at a bacchanal. Other days, of which today seems to be one, I can wander for what seems to be weeks in the empty hallways of the mansions of my mind without ever encountering even a whiff of fresh thought. When I sat to begin today, I had intended to discuss the process, but, as the hours, and days passed in my head, I realized such an intention would only make the gods laugh….
Finally, I gave up, as you see by the exposition which opens our missive. Not terribly compelling, but, honest. If there were any way, at this juncture, to go back & start over, I’d consider it well; since there doesn’t seem to be anything, in my head, or in the surrounding locus, that might offer such an opportunity, I may as well just get us down the page, where there is some great music, and an interesting group of rather inscrutable pearls, for y’all to chew on. It ain’t Ibsen, but, it’s art, I suppose. Y’all may, of course, make your own judgment on that, but, for now, it’s our story, & we’re sticking to it.
I don’t believe this horse is going to come back to life, so, I’ll quit beating on it, so we can get on with the rest of this mess. If I had any true compassion, I’d offer my apologies for this intro, but, I don’t. Not at this time of the morning, anyway. But, I do have my sense of ruthlessness, which has saved us many times in the past. That, of course, works like this….
Shall we Pearl?
“Bother!”, said Pooh, as time unraveled around him.
~~ Anonymous Bee ~~
***************************************
While cruising old You Tube videos the other day, I came across this old recording from back in the day (1976, in this case), which gives a very clear idea of why I fell in love with this artist’s work, and have carried that torch for all the intervening years. The only reason she is not my favorite redhead in the world is because I know another one personally. She can’t sing, or play guitar like Bonnie, but, she’s even more talented, in her own way…. Bonnie, who plays and sings like an angel, always makes me smile, and sigh…. and dance….
***************************************
Bonnie Raitt Old Grey Whistle Test 1976
***************************************
***************************************
***************************************
“All men are poets at heart.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
“All poets are mad.” — Robert Burton
Ah Ain’t Sho, but Mebbe So….
Fried eggs got nuthin’ on me
Ah’m not even sure of mah name,
or how Ah come to be;
no idea from where Ah came.
Ah does like a mystery tho’,
puzzlin’ things out so’s Ah knows,
good from bad fo sho,
Ah sho don’t want no rock pillows.
If’n Ah cain’t figure out what’s best,
Ah just falls back on mah Daddy’s words,
seems he knowed just whut’d stand the test,
‘n how to gentle the scaredest birds.
‘Course, he’d lived a good long time,
‘n had lots of stuff go on by;
Went to a war, n’ lost a piece or two,
never once used it fer an alibi.
He tol’ me once Ah’d best learn to learn,
school’s only cool if ya ain’t already a fool.
Yer own good measure you can earn,
by startin’ yer learnin’ with the Golden Rule.
Always seemed to me as Ah growed up,
he mostly only spoke if it wuz true,
‘n by doin’ that clued me to what’s up,
kept me from stuff that’d a made me blue.
Without ever sayin’ the word itself,
Ah learned ’bout honor, ‘n helpin’ others
not some fake stuff from some shelf,
but, knowin’ whut’s right, ‘n that we’re all brothers.
Ah’ve been around long enough now, Ah think
to get around the block at least two times.
I s’pose long as my head don’t shrink
Ah’ll keep on doin’ right, ‘n makin’ these rhymes…..
~~ gigoid ~~
4/6/2013
***************************************
Naked Pearls
Yet Another Path….
*********
“All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love.”
~~ Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace ~~
*********
“Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing,
of just going along,
listening to all the things you can’t hear,
and not bothering.”
~~ Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne ~~
*********
“He who is unable to live in society,
or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself,
must be either a beast or a god.”
~~ Aristotle ~~
********
“Without the difficulty of being hemmed in,
the tree in the forest would not be forced to marshal its power
to grow toward the light.”
~~ Deng Ming-Dao ~~
*********
“If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.”
~~ Things We Can Learn From Dogs ~~
*********
“In human intercourse the tragedy begins,
not when there is misunderstanding about words,
but when silence is not understood.”
~~ Henry David Thoreau ~~
*********
“Heaven embraces the horizon.
No matter how jagged the profile, the sky faithfully conforms.”
~~ Deng Ming-Dao ~~
*********
“All men should strive to learn before they die
what they are running from, and to, and why.”
~~ James Thurber ~~
*********
“Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave
Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind;
Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave.
I know.
But I do not approve.
And I am not resigned.”
~~ Edna St. Vincent Millay, “Dirge Without Music” ~~
*********
***************************************
Having fulfilled the minimum standards for a Pearl, I declare it done. So done, I can’t think of anything to say that would improve matters; in fact, it all feels like the slightest wrong move will bring it tumbling down around my ears. I’ll just end it here, quickly, & take my chances it will fly. Y’all have a good day out there in the BBR, as best you may. I’ll do the same, & maybe, tomorrow, we can do this again. Worth a shot, right? See ya….
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.
“To him that waits all things reveal themselves,
provided that he has the courage not to deny,
in the darkness,
what he has seen in the light.”
~~ Coventry Patmore ~~
Okay, so, we need to talk….
Hajime…. Yesterday, for unknown reasons, while productive, was a wash in terms of satisfaction, as each task completed bore its own particular individual issues making it more difficult than either anticipated, or desired. I got it all done, but, was exhausted by 10 AM, & ended up NOT making it to the blogs I wanted particularly to get caught up on. Ah, well, such is life in the big city; everything we do has its piece of dissatisfaction, as we struggle to make sense of an insane world….. I’m reminded, at times like this, of Charlie Chaplin’s movie, Modern Times; not necessarily of the actual events, but, the overall feeling of something being wrong with this picture….
As an elder member of a species whose primary survival skill is adaptability, I’ll utilize all I have learned through the years to throw off that feeling, so I can, if nothing else, complete this Pearl & get on with another day of dealing with reality as best I can. I still have tasks to complete out in the Big Blue Room, so, I’ll see if what I’ve managed thus far will work again for today. In the meantime, rather than explore personal idiosyncracies, such as the need to make sense of things that make no sense, I’ll use my recently-honed skills in time management, mainly comprised of the ability to be ruthless in the act of ‘throwing out the dross’, to move this along as swiftly as possible…. Not my favorite new skill, but, handy at such times as these….
I could choose from among a number of different methods to accomplish this, but, I think I’ll just use the one that works best, to wit: the Drop. It isn’t always the most comfortable, to use or to experience, but, it does the job better than all the others, combined. Which one is it? Easy; this one….
Shall we Pearl?
“The notion that faith in Christ
is to be rewarded by an eternity of bliss,
while a dependence upon reason, observation, and experience
merits everlasting pain, is too absurd for refutation,
and can be relieved only by that unhappy mixture
of insanity and ignorance called “faith”.”
~~ Robert G. Ingersoll ~~
***********************************
This morning, I feel like rocking, & one cannot find anyone who can do that better than this lady and her band. From 1989, introduced by Bill Graham at the Oakland Coliseum theater, here is my own choice for redhead of the century (twentieth, if it matters; there’s a different award-winner chosen for this century; if she reads this, she’ll know to whom I refer….)….. Enjoy!….
********************************
Bonnie Raitt Live
********************************
********************************
********************************
Manifesto, sotto voce
In retrospect, I’ve gotta say,
it’s all been rather a muddle.
Life is tough, so ‘they’all say,
Lots of misery, not much cuddle.
Me, I’ve found life a bit different
than ‘they’ seem to have done.
It’s all been rather excellent;
I’ve had loads & loads of fun.
Sure, there’s been some bad shit.
Who can’t say that?
All of that pales, all of it
when one hugs a dog, a child, or a cat.
I’ve seen, fought, and felt, more than my share,
the presence of evil in life.
The pain that remains often seems unfair;
I ask why I chose to deal with such strife.
I can always find the answer in the same place,
right where it has ever resided.
All we need to do is embrace
the joy we’ve given, and been provided.
Simple is good.
Balance is good.
Life can be both.
~~ gigoid ~~
12/19/2015
********************************
After composing this old-school pearl, comprised of nine most subtle thoughts from a wide variety of people who have long been considered to be among humanity’s most respected minds, I found myself breathless, from the massive illumination it induced. Each individual pearl, which points a particular way, is part of the idea which came to me as I pondered them, one by one, each leading me deeper into the idea, until it became a near epiphany…. To try to fully explain that idea here would require a long dissertation, so, I’ll leave its expression as an exercise for the Gentle Reader…. Allow your mind dwell upon it, as you read, & perhaps you can find it, too…. Enjoy!….
*******
“A man may love a paradox without either losing his wit or his honesty.”
~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~
*******
“An ancient buddha said,
Mountains are mountains; waters are waters.
These words do not mean mountains are mountains;
they mean mountains are mountains.”
~~ Dogen ~~
*******
“The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.”
~~ Chinese proverb ~~
*******
“In walking, just walk. In sitting, just sit. Above all, don’t wobble.”
!! Yun-Men !!
*******
“Illusion is the first of all pleasures.”
~~ Voltaire ~~
*******
“Whence come I and whither go I?
That is the great unfathomable question,
the same for every one of us.
Science has no answer to it.”
~~ Max Planck ~~
*******
“Whenever I climb I am followed by a dog called ‘Ego’.”
~~ Friedrich Nietzsche ~~
*******
“The farther you go, the less you know.”
~~ Lao Tzu, “Tao Te Ching”
*******
“And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet
and the winds long to play with your hair.”
~~ Kahlil Gibran, “The Prophet” ~~
*******
********************************
Well, there you go. It’s done, & I have to say, it ain’t bad, all things considered…. I’m off now, though being ‘off’ is nothing new. I’m also going to take my leave, forthwith. Now, seeing that, you might think I have more to say before leaving you, but, you’d be wrong. Not only am I done saying stuff, I’m, as we say downtown, outta here. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, as long as reality doesn’t intrude again….
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.
“In answer to the question of why it happened,
I offer the modest proposal
that our Universe is simply one of those things
which happen from time to time.”
~~ Edward P. Tryon ~~
Midday light show, La Bufadora, Ensenada…
Hajime…. My purpose here today is single-fold; to get done with this, before I reach complete melt-down mode. I don’t know exactly why I’m in such a state, but, to deal with it most efficiently, it’s best to get this done, & move directly into hunker-down mode, my most powerful state of protective insulation from Reality. I don’t even care much today, so, I’m letting the process dictate the results. I’ve trusted it for this long, so, may as well keep on doing so….
I have nothing stirring in my conscious mind to put into this section; even my unconscious is in limbo. To avoid any accusations of either pandering, or, whining, I’ll just quit trying to be coherent, & get on with what we have for your perusal today. Nothing else to do, but, smile, & get on with it. Smiling may be pushing it, so, we’ll just move on to the latter…. It’s simple, really; this is all there is to it….
Shall we Pearl?
“Do not settle for less than the best your own excellence can command.”
~~ Anne McCaffrey ~~
Oops….
********************************
I’ve had a mad crush on this woman for decades, & still regard her as one of humanity’s treasures, for any number of reasons, most of which she displays every time she performs…. Besides, the year is already 3 days old, & we haven’t used her yet…. Enjoy, ffolkes; I will, so, you may as well, too….
*************************************
Bonnie Raitt Live
*************************************
*************************************
********************************
Semblance of Time
The dreams and visions of modern times are pallid and pale
filled with fear and loathing instead of joy and wonder.
Reality is aging poorly, submitting less data to loudly regale
Sad faded images lacking substance, or proof of thunder.
Sisters and brothers of nightly performance speak in spite
building up scars to protect, or keep a semblance of sanity.
Knowing illusion is near and dear, steeped in muscular delight
while compassion and intelligence get smothered by humanity.
Loneliness soon became the friend of many sizes of fools
stealing through mazes of social tests as if truly wise, or old
while companies of sterile opportunity are hiding their tools
from anyone who might be feeling even a little bit bold.
Painful momentary flashes seem to outline society’s fate
until soft, heavy monuments to elder gods fall from grace.
We’re all getting tired of being told we’re far too late
and never ever nearing tolerance, nor regaining any face.
A hard message awaits us all when we dare to even stay
of life’s uncaring disposition and curmudgeonly faux heart
Only with the strength of a hero may such tales make way
Only a poet may turn such pain into a valid work of art.
~~ gigoid ~~
10/5/2012
********************************
Naked Pearls
Gentle reminders….
*******
“Is the glass half empty or half full?
To some the glass is irrelevant.”
~~ Subtle Bee ~~
*******
“Grub first, then ethics.”
~~ Bertolt Brecht ~~
*******
“The higher you climb, the more you show your ass.”
~~ Alexander Pope, “The Dunciad” ~~
*******
“If one studies too zealously, one easily loses his pants.”
~~ Albert Einstein ~~
*******
“‘But he hasn’t got any clothes on,’ a little boy said.”
~~ from The Emperor’s New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen ~~
*******
“The next best thing to doing something smart is not doing something stupid.”
~~ Flo Capp’s Observation ~~
*******
“If you can’t change your mind, do you still have one?”
~~ Caroline Malmgren-Davis ~~
*******
********************************
I did it; it’s done. That is, really, all there is to it today. In fact, it’s so done, I’m outta here, with no ups & no extras. Mark this date on your calendars, ffolkes; it’s likely you’ll never see it like this again…. See ya….
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.
Hajime…. Perspective can be difficult thing to assess, even more so when one doesn’t have much clue as to the starting point of view from which to make the judgment. Having practiced the process for over five years doesn’t seem to be of much help, either. So, I’ll give up, in the interests of both fair play, and, time management. That isn’t to say we don’t always practice both; it just means we remembered at the last moment, which is one of those ‘not-surprising’ items, of which we have heard so much in the past.
Hmm… I suppose, as drivel goes, that’s pretty drivel-ish. As the end result of more than twenty minutes of intense cogitation, it falls well short of the term ‘good’, or even ‘average’, but, then, given that much effort, such a tepid result could only be considered done, without qualification of quality. So, that’s what we’ll do; it’s done, and there’s no more to be said about it. In fact, if I knew a way, without deleting it altogether, to go back & eliminate it from reality’s memory, I would. I don’t, though, so, we’ll just have to go on as if I had.
That’s the best I’ve got today, ffolkes. Don’t ask, because I haven’t a clue as to why. Let’s just chalk it up to advancing senility, and let it go at that, shall we? I think that will not only be the most dignified approach, it’s the only one that has any real chance of working. To help it along with that task, I’ll cut the rest of this short, and just move on down the page, before it collapses altogether, and we’re left with another fine mess to clean up. Oh, look, here’s an old #4! I’ll use it, and we’ll be gone before I can finish typ…..
Shall we Pearl?….
“I know but one freedom, and that is the freedom of the mind.”
~~ Antoine de Saint Exupery ~~
********************************
Some days, you just want to hear an angel sing….. Here is a video, which is mostly audio, of this angel’s greatest hits….
********************************
Bonnie Raitt
********************************
********************************
********************************
Fatal Supplication
But what becomes of our deepest dangerous dreams?
Does fantasy rescue any part of life’s imperiled favor?
Reality becomes but silvery pairs of mismatched teams,
Dining with affable elegance, such diffident waste to savor.
Who decides what sorrows to carry bravely to term?
Will fragrant moments of sanity make hasty manifestation?
Only Time’s patient mutability sends messages so firm,
Yet salient impersonal vexation lends credence to ripe imagination.
Can folly bring out sadness and rampant visions of beauty?
What kindness can be found in distant open relations?
With countless faces the dead disturb with dire impunity,
From separate caches of wisdom come simple stylish privations.
Shall shallow emotion serve to provide such explanations?
When does avaricious intensity assume primary focus?
Plain answers slide softly through with multiple mitigations,
While conceptually indignant concepts engage a fatally personal locus.
~~ gigoid ~~
9/20/2012
********************************
Naked Pearls
Pertinent points to ponder….
*******
“Forget about likes and dislikes.
They are of no consequence.
Just do what must be done.
This may not be happiness, but it is greatness.”
~~ George Bernard Shaw ~~
*******
“Creation is a mighty joke, but the laugh is at my own expense.”
~~ Meher Baba ~~
*******
“Everything in excess!
To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites.
Moderation is for monks.”
~~ Lazarus Long ~~
*******
“Where principle is involved, be deaf to expediency.”
~~ James Webb ~~
*******
“Failure to understand reality is not reality’s fault.”
~~ Bill Henneman ~~
*******
“TO DO IS TO BE”
~~ Socrates ~~
“TO BE IS TO DO”
~~ Sartre ~~
“DO BE DO BE DO”
~~ Sinatra ~~
*******
” …and remember you’re a Man, not just god,
and for you there aren’t and never will be
any easy answers, only questions,
and no reasons, only causes,
and no meaning, only intelligence,
and no destination
and no kindly magic smiling down from above,
and no fires to goad you from below,
only Yourself and the Universe
and what you make out of the interface between the two equals.”
~~ Keith Laumer, “Night of Delusions” ~~
*******
********************************
For what it turned out to be, it ain’t bad. Of course, that is a value judgment on my part, but, then, what else is new? Zip, zilch, nada, and that’s the way we like it. Not really, but, it sounds cool. Before I get to the point of complete and utter foolishness, I think I’ll say fare the well, until next time. When that will be is, as yet, unclear. That it will be, is not. See ya, ffolkes; there doesn’t seem to be any choice in the matter for me….
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.
Hajime…. It isn’t as if I need such indulgence, but, it’s always a good feeling to find a pearl from the past which, in my mind, tends to justify the process of pearling, and, the wisdom of doubt as a policy of mind. I don’t need it, for I’d do this anyway; there are times I can point to which demonstrate clearly how important this is to my sanity. But, it’s still good to know I am not the only person, now, or in history, who believes in the sanctity of human thought, and the necessity for examining our perceptions for truth and accuracy. I’m human, go figure….
Today’s offering almost didn’t happen, but, with a few contortions, and a bit of time with the Tardis, it all worked out. I’m not going to make any foolish predictions, or judgments, about quality, or even quantity; it is what it is, and that’s all it is. So be it…..
To keep from becoming completely maudlin, which often occurs in just this sort of situation (Hey, pain, PTSD, animal husbandry issues, ants…. all in one morning, but, no pressure….), or, worse, fall into full-blown curmdugeonry, I’ll cut this section short. Oh, not too short, and certainly not as short as some of our most recent efforts. Just short enough to save us from looking so awkward and sophomoric; we do have our standards. Of course, those standards are not what most would term ‘normal’, or even ‘slightly eccentric’; in fact, we won’t go into what we have been termed at all, to save us, and y’all, a plethora of embarrassment.
Why, look! It’s the end of the intro, coming up fast. We’d best stop fooling around, (as if we did anything else around here….), and get to it. Let’s save some time, and electrons, okay? Watch that last step there….
Shall we pearl?….
“Obey the spur of the moment.These accumulated it is
that make the impulse and the impetus of the life of genius.”
~~ Henry David Thoreau ~~
********************************
When I can’t think of anything else to put here, I fall back to my default position, where I find this lady waiting, every time…. Enjoy, ffolkes; you can’t find better music….
********************************
Bonnie Raitt
********************************
********************************
********************************
Penance, Made Simple
After all the dross is sent away
a celebration can begin,
time will face up to space, to stay
willing, to shine from within.
Anger and confusion come in to share
brushing reason aside,
eager to welcome all that is fair,
alert to danger, eyes wide.
Re-gift the wicked with their own pain
stand with the just;
fail to partake of the ill-gotten gain,
living in honor, the only must.
Standing fast in the face of wrong
is its own prize and reward.
Holding on to truth makes us strong,
well worth working toward.
Little is left to chance by fate
our lessons are never free of cost.
Seldom does reality make us wait
only when alone, are we lost.
~~ gigoid ~~
10/23/2012
********************************
Naked Pearls
“Notes on Process and Program…”
*******
“If you are out of trouble, watch for danger.”
~~ Sophocles ~~
*******
“Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.”
~~ Things We Can Learn From Dogs ~~
*******
“Common sense isn’t.”
~~ Practical Bee ~~
*******
“If you call a tail a leg, how many legs has a dog? Five? No, four.
Calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg.”
~~ Abraham Lincoln ~~
*******
“There is a kind of poetry in simple fact.”
~~ Edward Abbey ~~
*******
“Sometimes it takes great effort
to discover that life was meant to be effortless.”
~~ Anonymous ~~
*******
“Before enlightenment, one carries water and chops wood.
After enlightenment, one carries water and chops wood.”
~~ Zen Proverb ~~
*******
********************************
Since I wasn’t completely certain of finishing this in time to post, I’m happy. Well, happy as may be expected. Moreover, such lightness of spirit bodes well for the rest of the day. I think I’ll go find it while I’m in the mood. Fair warning, though; I will return tomorrow, most likely, with another attempt to find sanity in an insane world…. Maybe you could help me find it?….. Well, maybe not. But, I’ll be back, anyway…. 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.
“For one human being to love another human being:
that is perhaps the most difficult task
that has been entrusted to us,
the ultimate task, the final test and proof,
the work for which all other work
is merely preparation.”
~~ Rainer Maria Rilke ~~
Reluctantly poised….
Hajime…. We humans are weird. While such a statement could be construed as critical, in this case, it is more of an observation, based on personal experience. To fully comprehend the depth and meaning would require more time than I’m willing to spend today, so, y’all will once more have to deal with any disappointment on your own, cuz I ain’t talkin’…. Don’t worry, it’s nothing untoward, merely, well, weird, and it won’t delay the production of today’s Pearl any more than it already has with this paragraph.
Of course, this means we don’t have anything more to put here in the intro, a not unusual conundrum. One might think, after two days of sloughing off the work, I’d be a bit more organized, but, then, thinking can often lead to inaccurate conclusions, especially when the subject matter, i.e., me, is rather an ambiguous figure, to say the least. If we said more than the least, we could be sued rather heavily, which is why we never do. And, yes, we have now devolved, rather suddenly, I might add, into complete blather & nonsense. It’s our default when we are thus challenged, as you may remember.
Our Pearl today will be okay, anyway. I finally put together a decent rant, stimulated by, of all things, a question somebody asked me on Facebook. The rest is pretty standard, and, if I don’t get started putting it together, it won’t get done. To make that happen, I’ll end this now, here, so there won’t be any further forays into the outer reaches. Hell, at this point, I’m thinking, if I don’t do this right now, the end results will be completely unpredictable, never a good thing for us….. Let’s just get the hell out of here, while we can….
Shall we pearl?….
“By definition, when you are investigating the unknown,
you do not know what you will find.”
~~ The Ultimate Principle ~~
********************************
Herself, Ms. Raitt
Some days, it’s just got to be the best. Here’s a session I haven’t heard yet, so, let’s have a listen, shall we?….
********************************
Bonnie Raitt BBC Four Sessions
********************************
********************************
********************************
“I know but one freedom, and that is the freedom of the mind.”
~~ Antoine de Saint Exupery ~~
In the most recent months, my thoughts have begun crystallizing, in a large sense. By ‘large’, I refer to Life at Large, the panorama of human experience on Planet Earth, in all its hideously insane, yet, somehow, vividly fascinating glory. In a cosmic sense, we humans haven’t been around very long; it’s only been about 10 or so thousand years since we left off living on the land full time, without the civilizing (?) influence of writing, gunpowder, and the concept of religion. (Thank you to Tom Carlyle…). Yet, in that minuscule portion of close to five billion years of known Universal history, we have come to the rather grandiose opinion we are the pinnacle of the whole shebang, the highest form of life as we know it, with all the attendant privileges and rights, whatever we conceive those to be.
So, here we are, a motley, unrestrictedly reproductive organism, in season all year round, barely past the time of sleeping on soft leaves in a cave lit by torches, wandering over the face of the planet, even probing our proboscis’ all over the solar system, in our search for new places to fuck. By ‘fuck’ I mean fuck in all its incarnations. We are always looking to fuck; each other, other species, the environment, space/time, biologic creation, the physical universe, the moon, other planets, etc. We want to fuck with, around, on, and up against damn near everything we encounter, from dirt, to atoms, to practically anything our wicked, inventive imaginations can think of, and/or turn into reality….
See, that’s our problem, too. We can’t seem to stop ourselves for any appreciable time from fucking with everything, yet, our overactive, innovative imagination is too powerful for us to keep up with, being the simple animals we really still are, in terms of our nervous systems, perceptive and cognitive abilities, and, some of our physical characteristics, which, in and of themselves, can override any of the other talents/abilities/natural characteristics we may possess. For example, certain smells can literally stop your entire metabolism, instantly creating urges to run, vomit, scream, or otherwise indicate systemic panic; the same can happen with a subliminal perception, which, under given circumstances, can send the bravest, strongest human running in terror, without even knowing why they have panicked.
But, we think we are so cool; Terry Pratchett, I think, described it well when he accused us of being so primitive we still thought digital watches were cool. In truth, we are simply out of our depths, for the most part, though it may seem otherwise, if you listen to TV, or, mostly, anyone else who has an opinion. The only REAL truths we now can depend on are the ones we find within our selves, for everything in the world we have created around us is based on false data and conclusions, which, in the face of their relation to actual physical reality, become delusional, and thus, dangerous to us.
One of the most commonly notions regarding human nature is our Ego, which I have capitalized, for that is how it affects us. However, to promote a more productive frame of mind I have found to be of value, I will forgo further capitalization, to encourage each one reading to devalue the importance of how ego drives your bus, so to speak…. You see, we are more than merely a mind, or, and ego. In fact, the ego may only be a hallucination, as some philosophers AND neuroscientists have suggested. Our existence is also greatly affected, in reality, by physical forces, not all of which we directly perceive, and, by spiritual forces, which are also not necessarily easily identified. Yet, each of those two forces, physical, and spiritual, can instantly assume greater significance than anything our mind perceives, up to and including the potential loss of life…
For example, in the physical world, there are many forces we don’t perceive directly; magnetic, gravitational (other than as motion induced by its presence), certain wavelengths of light and electromagnetic, and, others we can only perceive by instruments. Any of these, sufficiently strong, can be dangerous to us. Spiritually, who can deny the power of what happens to us under the influence of love? Or fear of losing love? There are also many spiritual/emotional forces in our makeup we don’t perceive, or comprehend at all….
However, the ego, due to its own nature as part of us, believes in itself so strongly, it acts as if none of that is anything it cannot overcome to achieve its own ends…. To my current way of thinking, this is a bit grandiose, given our history of success at making reality do what we want. Yes, we have made great technological advances, but, none of them have improved the human condition a whit, and, in fact, are now becoming a danger to the entire species, by continuing to treat the universe as its own toy…. simply because we deny our own nature, which remains divided, unaware of the potential progress to be made by ‘merging the three parts…. which, in truth are but two, the mental and the physical; the spirit is the bridge between them, upon which we refuse to walk…
This discussion was provoked by an exchange I had on Facebook yesterday, prompted by a not unusually provocative statement by a friend (Red, the Fabulous), who is, in my estimation, one of the five smartest people alive. And, yes, I know y’all might think that’s hyperbole, but, it isn’t. In any case, the following exchange took place, which I reproduce now because it is a fine summary of all I’m trying to say here today, in just a few lines…. To wit:
Red: “I want to live in a world where people know how to merge. ”
Me: “If you’re talking traffic, you;re dreaming. If you’re talking life, well, it might be some time yet… *wink* ”
Red: “Yes.”
T.C: “Physically, mentally or spiritually? ”
Me: “They are all three the same exact thing; our inability to ‘merge’ them is a big part of all the troubles you see in the world… I, too, would like to live in such a world, in which we all could look past our ego’s need to divide them, and us… ”
That’s the word I needed… divided. We have a divided nature. It’s natural, in a universe that exists in duality. But, we let one part of our nature overmaster the rest of what the universe has to tell us; by doing so, we create our own inner conflict, which is reflected into the society we have created. Until we learn to ‘merge’ the different parts of our nature, to see the connections there are in life, then we will remain separated, from ourselves, from each other, and from our own universe. In doing so, we condemn ourselves to our only real hell, which is living disconnected from life…. and the love that is possible when we are part of everything…
Serendipitously, I have already shown the exactly right pearl with which this discussion should be closed… Here, then, is the correct path, as indicated by, naturally, a poet….
“For one human being to love another human being:
that is perhaps the most difficult task
that has been entrusted to us,
the ultimate task, the final test and proof,
the work for which all other work
is merely preparation.”
~~ Rainer Maria Rilke ~~
********************************
A Failure to Germinate
Marking the days in elements of sad disarray
only holds me thrall, as I laugh while I may.
With cold, hard hands so impatient and cruel
pulling me to this vale of tears, a pathetic old fool.
Feelings sit silent, cast in shadows and light
breaking forth to implicate such vengeful might.
Just below the surface they patiently hide
to sally forth bravely, colors bright as they ride.
Tears and pain transform valued assets in hand
while comfort and serenity retreat to a far land.
Bold, bright patterns of hope garnish my ruinous state
until reality enters, full of disdainful portions of hate.
I sort out the illustrious measures of vision gone mild
only to find them transformed, now vicious and wild.
In my deepest desires I find myself calloused and cold
with faithless advocates whose souls have been sold.
My search finds little to support any hope of relief
far too much time has passed to bolster such belief.
The sad becomes real, and real becomes unfounded
until flights of such fancy are all dead, and grounded.
Nature has informed me of the newly hatched crime
of which reality boasted proudly, time after time.
The last answer we think of is always the best
as we come to terms with fate, our hope at rest.
~~ gigoid ~~
9/27/2012
********************************
I couldn’t, in good conscience, call this one a Naked Pearl grouping; it’s just too odd. It starts oddly, ends oddly, and uses an odd path to get where it ends up. The best I can call it is to say it’s a random harlequin pearl, and let it go at that…. For one thrown together in jig time, it’s really not bad…. Enjoy!…
*******
“To be, or what?”
~~ Sylvester Stallone ~~
*******
“There’s no easy quick way out,
we’re gonna have to live through our whole lives,
win, lose, or draw.”
~~ Walt Kelly ~~
*******
“Self-improvement is a dangerous form of vanity.”
~~ Alan Watts ~~
*******
But where shall I start?
The world is so fast, I shall start with the country I know best, my own.
But my country is so very large, I had better start with my town.
But my town, too, is large. I had best start with my street.
No, my home.
No, my family.
Never mind,
I shall start with myself.”
~~ Elie Wiesel ~~
*******
“Depend not on fortune, but on conduct.”
~~ Publius Syrus ~~
*******
It is the heart afraid of breaking
that never learns to dance.
It is the dream afraid of waking
that never takes a chance.
It is the one who won’t be taken
who cannot seem to give.
And the soul afraid of dying
that never learns to live.”
~~ Bette Midler, The Rose ~~
*******
“A child of five would understand this.
Send someone to fetch a child of five.”
~~ Groucho Marx ~~
*******
********************************
This is pretty late getting done, compared to our usual time to post; oh, well. Such is life in the fast lane, ffolkes, so, we may as well just deal, and get on with the day. Hopefully, this will help make that go better than it otherwise might. Then again, perhaps not. Time will tell, as it always does, the mouthy bastard. I, personally, shall merely say, see y’all tomorrow…. and, that’s 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.
“If a million people believe a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.”
~~ Anatole France ~~
Yeehaw! Next stop,Times Square!
Image from the UK Telegraph POTD 8/4/2015
Hajime…. In the recent past, I’ve been spending a lot of time inside my head, searching even further inside myself, to find the answers to all the issues presented to me by my reactions to reality. The primary result, in re: writing this blog each day, has been to make it difficult to feel any connection to the creative process. It might have to do with how I deal with pain, since I’m having less; it’s been clear for quite a while my pain has been one of the more stimulating factors in creating the angst needed to supply fuel to the fires of my meager creativity. So, perhaps that is the whole problem; sort of an anti-problem, since it’s because my pain is reduced in total.
With that being said, I find myself, this morning, rather reluctant to even begin putting together a Pearl for today. I do have pieces partly done, but, the energy to make the effort to bring it together seems to be missing, gone poof while talking on Skype to a friend about today’s Brexit vote. The political/sociological depths we explored while talking seems to have eliminated any desire to write. This, of course, is a bit frustrating, since it took place BEFORE beginning, and removed most of the stimulating factors in conversation. Therefore, I’ve made a decision, to post only a truncated Pearl. Another WYSIWYG post, as it were.
So, at this juncture, I can’t even say what you’ll find below this intro. What I do know is, whatever you find is all there is for today. You won’t need to worry about it being over-long today, that’s for sure. In order to get even that much done in a timely fashion is impossible, since I’m already almost an hour past my personal deadline to post, I’ll have to cut it ruthlessly, and get it done in what we like to call jig-time. Don’t know what that means, but, we say it anyway.
That’s all for today, ffolkes. I’ll see y’all tomorrow…. Maybe. If not, I’ll leave a note, with another whiny apology. Actually, no, I won’t, but, hey, it sounds good, and it takes up a little more space. Let’s go see what we can find to help get this done….
Shall we Pearl?….
“Cease to be ruled by dogmas and authorities; look at the world!”
~~ H.G. Wells paraphrase of Roger Bacon’s works ~~
Puzzled anew by anomalous blocks of pain
caught, bemused, chained to routine, insane.
Stilled within breathless beauty
Engaging epiphany, insistent, called to duty.
Knees bent in lieu of a faithful rendition
suffuses, confuses, locked into stale perdition.
Clearing corrosion with hands encased in stone
Singular frozen follicles, masked by bone.
Partial focus brings unfiltered flavors to light
coloring each particle in simple delight.
Forlorn, novel conceptual artists singing in tune
nine notes in harmony, soft as the moon.
Honed blades of carbon steel flash in rhyme,
filling sensual receptors well past closing time.
Borrowed from neighbors in a week-old game
still bloody, without a proper name.
No flooded memories can justify such cost
no simple stationery, bilious, afraid, lost.
Ten times ten will never be enough
To fill so empty a stolen trough.
Bartering simplicity takes well into the night
solidly temporary pillars turned bright.
Unknown to all the pretty children who came
none were called, none had any remaining flame.
~~ gigoid ~~
2/25/2015
It just seemed appropriate…..
********************************
Naked Pearls
Three Blind Mice
*****
“I know but one freedom, and that is the freedom of the mind.”
~~ Antoine de Saint Exupery ~~
*****
Believe me!
“The secret of reaping the greatest fruitfulness
and the greatest enjoyment from life is to live dangerously!”
~~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche ~~
*****
How could the drops of water know themselves to be a river? Yet the river flows on.”
~~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery ~~
*****
********************************
Well, I did it. It’s not much, but, there ’tis, in all its faded glory. So be it. I’ll be back, ffolkes. Count on it….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
Hajime…. My morning routines are evolving again. I’ve had to set the deadline for getting the Pearls done in the morning an hour or two ahead, as I’m now able to sleep, and not up every morning about 3 AM. Yay, me…. In addition, it’s good to know my age is not keeping me from undergoing changes needed to keep on a balanced, steady course. Once we lose the ability to change, our time here is done, pretty much, for only the dead do not change. Well, as pointed out to me once, they do rot, which is change, but, it no longer concerns them, does it now? Right.
Hmm…. I can’t say that’s the most gripping, or compelling opening I’ve done, but, I can say it’s not even close to being either one. I’d delete it & start again, but, I’m already later than I’d hoped to be this morning, so we’ll just pretend it’s fine, and get on with it. I still have three sections to complete, & we won’t get there if I keep waffling. Of course, the question as to whether or not ‘getting there’ is a worthwhile pastime is one we won’t bother to justify with a response. That would be both self-serving, and inefficient, and we do try to avoid both of those, when we can…. Today, that’s looking a bit iffy….
Ah, well, so much for vaulting ambition; I think even moderate ambition, or modest, will also be out of our purview, so, let’s not even go there, okay? Instead, I’ll stop fooling around with this, & get on with it. After all, it’s only a matter of time until none of much anything will really matter to us, so, really, what’s the point, eh? Of course, that’s giving in to despair, but, we’re getting rather adept at that, so…. I think, most likely, this would be a good time for me to push this button, which will take us where we need to be, without any further idiocy from the author, who has completely lost his way, and is now stuck speaking in a completely different person. Damn it…. Fuck it, I’m pushing it now….
Shall we Pearl?….
“To find a fault is easy; to do better may be difficult.”
~~ Plutarch ~~
********************************
I couldn’t think of anything new and different, and we just did classical yesterday. So, today, I’ll please myself. Here is my favorite female artist. Red hair, hot guitar licks, and a voice that can send chills up your spine…. The video I chose was the latest I could find, from 2013 BBC sessions she preformed…. Enjoy, ffolkes; I will, for sure….
“The only way to combat criminals is by not voting for them.”
~~ Dayton Allen ~~
In the past couple weeks, I’ve avoided ranting extensively here. I’ve been putting most of that angst into comments on other blogs, so there hasn’t been enough left here to stimulate my outrage, even though there is more than enough in the news to do so. What I see there only convinces me my bad feelings about what may happen in the next few years are not unjustified….. In fact, the above quote mirrors much of my thought process, for I’ve come to the conclusion that that longer we encourage the idiots who are ostensibly in charge of society, by voting, by paying taxes, by allowing their lies to be truth, the longer the trouble we face will be with us, eventually leading us inexorably to our extinction.
Rather than try to force out all that is in there, boiling over, I’ll throw out some pearls, from which you can build your own rant in your mind. Oh, it’s not hard; don’t be afraid. Just follow the bouncing ideas, and you’ll see how much fun it can be to take the Asininnies for a spin down Insult Lane…. Here, then, for your viewing pleasure are today’s pearls, to string together & throw at the Beloved Ruling Class, the Dogma Dogs, the Faceless Mrymidons, and all the other Asininnies we have come to know and, hate so well….
“All riches come from iniquity, and unless one has lost, another cannot gain. Hence that common opinion seems to be very true, “the rich man is unjust, or the heir to an unjust one.” Opulence is always the result of theft, if not committed by the actual possessor, than by his predecessor.” — St. Jerome (340?-420)
“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it’s natural manure.” — Thomas Jefferson, Letter to William S. Smith, Paris, Nov. 13, 1787
“Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status.” — Laurence J. Peter
“Lysander said that the law spoke too softly to be heard in such a noise of war.” — Plutarch — Life of Caius Marius
” When cryptography is outlawed, bayl bhgynjf jvyy unir cevinpl!” [When cryptography is outlawed, only outlaws will have privacy!”, ROT-13 encrypted] — Brad Templeton of ClariNet
“We fear things in proportion to our ignorance of them.” — Titus Livius
“Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction.” — New Testament — Matthew vii, 13
Lions in the street and roaming,
Dogs in heat, rabid, foaming,
A beast caged in the heart of the city.
The body of his mother lying in the summer ground,
He fled the town.
Went down south across the border,
Left the chaos and disorder
Back there, over his shoulder.
One morning he awoke in a green hotel,
A strange creature groaning beside him.
Sweat oozed from its shiny skin.
Is everybody in? The ceremony is about to begin.
~~ Jim Morrison, “Celebration of the Lizard” ~~
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I’ve been feeling as if there’s a poem in me, percolating, but, it has not yet reached the stage where I can open a vein to let it out. Here, instead, is the last one I wrote, not so long ago…. I hope you enjoy it…..
Augmentation: Inner Aye
Distant, peals of thunder, vividly.
Closer, a patter of rain, falling gravidly.
Between the light and the darkness of fear
find merely the remnants of one lonely tear.
Do not hate us, though we have not sinned;
eager for courage, upon whom all hope is pinned.
Tales of insolence, hatred, or fallen virtue
fill us up, not down, in such pristine foreign venue.
Capable hands severed, able hands tied;
the future is angry, all but now denied.
Multiple times, warnings sounded across the pale
nobody heard, nobody came to tell the tale.
Gifted by time, salience fails in epic rhyme;
watchmakers watching, each a separate crime.
Logical solutions refuse to emulsify
forever pretending to cruelly crucify.
Blood will fly alongside pertinent composure,
never seeking, never finding tea, or closure.
Falsely laid trails on mountains of gold
imply no happy endings, no fortunes told.
Ages past have no time for repetition;
further chances only lead to perdition.
Destiny feels a shameful portion of guilt,
for a thousand sand castles, never built.
~~ gigoid ~~
3/2/2016
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Naked Pearls
Dragon Bookends/Random Thoughts
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“Safety is on the shore, but the pearl is in the ocean.”
~~ Chinese Proverb ~~
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“When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth.”
~~ George Bernard Shaw ~~
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“Clouds come floating into my life,
no longer to carry rain or usher storm
but to add color to my sunset sky.”
~~ Rabindranath Tagore ~~
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“Art has an obligation to offend.”
~~ Edward Albee ~~
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“When I was a lark, I sang; when I was a worm, I devoured.”
~~ Theodore Roethke ~~
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“Man needs, for his happiness,
not only the enjoyment of this or that,
but hope and enterprise and change.”
~~ Bertrand Russell ~~
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“No falsehood lingers into old age.”
~~ Sophocles ~~
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“If you can, help others. If you can’t, at least don’t hurt others.”
~~ the Dalai Lama ~~
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“Enjoy yourself–it’s later than you think.”
~~ Chinese Proverb ~~
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Well, I beat the odds, though slowly. It’s all fresh though, except for the poem, which is about as fresh as I can do. Regardless of aught else we might say, it’s done, so, I’ll be nice, and end it here, and now. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, unless somebody comes up with a better plan….
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 