Tag Archives: Buddha

The only quest I know….

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Ffolkes,
There is always a lot of stuff going on in my head, and, in spite of how it should, or could be otherwise, I’m pretty sure that not all of it is completely under my control. This, as might be deduced, is both blessing and curse, and causes me no end of moments of temporary confusion, moments that can stretch to what seems like eons….. Hell, sometimes, it seems like confusion is my most natural state, especially when reality is going through its contortions right in front of me like it does; reality does not always conform to what I think of it, either regarding expectations, or expedience. Hard to say which is more annoying, having my expectations dashed by reality, or having my time killed by it, used up dealing with mundane details rather than exotic dreams, or even hopeful ones….. (Whew! A four line sentence, desperately trying not to run on, and failing spectacularly!…. Oh well…. I just got up, give me a little slack, here, ‘kay?….Or, just call me Balzac….)

If this all sounds a bit vague, you are paying attention, as it is deliberately so. I’m trying to discuss a point that can easily slip over into whining about how Murphy always f___s with me, without crossing the line of demarcation for that state of asininity. Whining feels good, right up until it leaves the mouth, then it is just pathetic, and the shame and guilt set in…. I really don’t know why we even bother with it, as it has no effect at all on reality, and only makes us look and feel bad. Another of those delightful human characteristics that we are constantly working to eradicate from our personalities, if we have any sense. Of course, the possession of sense is another discussion entirely, and would take up far too much space right now, so let’s not go there, eh?

To get back to our original point of discussion, not being entirely in control of what is happening in my head is a deliberate state on my part. I’ve found that a lot of my artistic impetus comes from that area of my experience, so I’ve developed the habit of allowing part of my consciousness free rein to go wherever it may wish, without any oversight by the tapes and rules that govern most of the rest of my persona. This is my version of allowing my imagination to soar, and it seems to work for me, so I don’t fuss with it, or think about it much, as I don’t want to disturb whatever balance and tension that keeps it running smoothly.

Below you’ll find a poem, an original I composed last night, under non-normal circumstances. It’s okay…. not the best I’ve ever done, but honest, and real in its intent and style. Oh, and, of course, it rhymes…. to me, that is important in one of my own poems these days. I spent a lot of effort in my youth writing free verse, with no structure, and no deliberate rhyming. Most of what I wrote back then was pretty sappy…. emotional, at times powerfully so, but lacking in direction, or a whole lot of style.

S’okay, I’m good with it, because nobody will ever see it again but me, and maybe my kids, when they go through my things after I pass (Oh for goodness sake, I hope they don’t try to publish any of it posthumously, I’d die of shame….   🙂   ….) Any who, this poem was written on the edge, as I was about two sheets to the wind, an unusual state these days, especially on a mere half-pint over the course of an hour and a half…. not exactly the consumption of a lumberjack, or even myself three years ago….. But, it was enough for my payday splurge for the month, and gave me a full three hours of wonderful relief from back pain (I’d forgotten how alcohol can do that…. it’s just not something one can use regularly, for a lot of reasons, but, occasionally, it sure provides a kind, and depth, of relief that is very rare for those of us who suffer constant pain….)

Any who, let’s see what else we can come up with here on an early Sunday morning, with the rain and wind blowing and blustering outside, making me glad to have a warm, dry place to stay, with food, and things to occupy my mind, and time. I am indeed a rich man, for all that I don’t have, that is to say, the worry of those who have no such advantages as these. It’s almost enough to make me rant, but I’ll wait until I find a pearl to base it on…. Shall we Pearl?…..
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“There is one God, but which one is He?”– Smart Bee

Now, this is the proper use of reason and inquiry! Such a small question, made gargantuan by the depth of its insight. Which one, indeed, is the real God? There are as many answers to this question as there are what I like to call “preachers”, for want of a better word (I should maybe try to pick a better one, I suppose….); “preachers” are men, or women, who have decided upon one particular system of beliefs on the subject of divinity as being the correct one, to the exclusion of all the others. In spite of the lack of hard evidence on hand for any of the different belief systems, these folks choose one, and stick to it like a barnacle…. which, come to think of it, is probably what it feels like, after a while….

Depending on to whom the question is put, the answer may vary from Odin the All Father of Norse mythology, to the God of Zoroaster, whose specific appellation escapes me just now. In between you will find God, also known as Yahweh/Jehovah to the those of the Tribe, Allah to the Muslims, and just plain old God to most of the Christian sects. There is the voodoo god, Jobu, in the Caribbean; Set, or Bal, or Mammon, or any of the other ancient earth gods;  Ra of the Egyptians; Krishna, and all his incarnations, i.e., Kali, Yama, Ganesha, Maya, and the others in the Hindu pantheon. The American Indians seemed to favor the Great Spirit. Ancient Druids and Wiccans follow the Goddess, with gods and goddesses from the Greeks and Romans thrown into the mix, just for fun. The list seems as endless as human imagination….. which it is, since all of them spring from that source.

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” — Smart Bee (and, most likely, the Dalai Lama….)

As far as I know, Buddha never claimed to be a god, and was, to my mind, not particularly clear on the subject of divinity, as directly related to humanity. The same seems true of Taoism, though certain of its sages seem to hold some of the old Chinese mythology beliefs on Heaven, and the creatures who inhabit that domain, another concept for which there is only imaginary evidence to support its veracity, and its reality. In this way, I see these philosophies as superior to the religious doctrines that purport to worship a deity, as they rely on reason, personal responsibility, and compassion to direct action, rather than fear of reprisal, or hope for reward, as is the wont of religious dogma and doctrine.

This perception of mine may be because I have always thought that the entire concept of a deity is not capable of being described, or understood, if one is to assume that a god is what it claims to be. How can a mortal understand an immortal? There is no common ground, other than the assumption of existence, for which there can be any reason for one to be connected to the other, as we could not comprehend their existence. We, limited to our human perceptions, have no direct evidence of a deity that can be experienced by those perceptions.

Anyone who tells you they do is lying, even if they believe it to be true, unless they can share that experience with another human, directly, with evidence for the senses we possess, not merely for what we wish to be true. Feelings don’t count, nor visions only seen by them, or voices in the head, and neither do personal revelations, or religious fevers, or speaking in tongues…. See, hear, touch, smell, taste…. that’s what we have, along with the ability to reason, and our imagination. That is our tool kit, and unless one of the tools fits, it isn’t real, to our perceptive ability. Items purported to be evidence that come from imagination are just that…. imaginary, and cannot be considered proof of anything other than the naivete of the speaker, and of any who choose to believe them.

“It is a great advantage for a system of philosophy to be substantially true.” — George Santayana

SIGH…. People are people, though, and they will choose what to believe according to what they feel, most of the time, rather than according to what is the truth, which requires effort to find. It has even been said that humans have a tendency more often than not to make choices that are bad for them, just for that reason, that it is too much effort to think their way through to the truth that would ultimately help them. As long as this is true, then our species is in danger, from itself, and its own delusions…. Sad, in a species of such promise…..

And on the 8th day, God woke up and said “Whew! It was just a dream!” — Smart Bee
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“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
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If birth is a miracle, is not death also a miracle? — Smart Bee

Smart Bee is living up to its name today…. Here is a question that most will avoid asking…. Well, perhaps not so much avoid as ignore, by preference. Which amounts to the same, little as they’d like to admit it. It’s okay, though, nobody is blaming them, or suggesting they do anything other than what is comfortable…. Karma exists, like it or not, as the proper and logical counterbalance to entropy, giving it meaning, and everyone gets out of life exactly what they deserve. This is not an arguable conclusion, it is mere fact of reality, and fighting against it is pointless, as well as tiring…..

“You live in a deranged age, more deranged than usual, because in spite of great scientific and technological advances, man has not the faintest idea of who he is, what he is doing, or where he is going.”– Smart Bee

Everyone gets what they deserve….. what a novel concept! Of course, many folks, of the sort who don’t like to accept merely what they deserve, try to manipulate reality, and end up accumulating much more than they deserve. What they don’t understand is that time is not on their side, and karma will eventually come to them for an accounting, and all will be brought into balance, at their expense. It’s not a pretty sight when it happens, and it is so unnecessary, considering the consequences that can be avoided by simple acts of honor and integrity. Sometimes, living is a worse punishment than dying, in such cases….

Another lesser-known part of karma is one that most folks have a hard time both understanding, and, once they do, accepting. This principle is stated simply as: Not only are you 100% responsible for what you DO, you are 100% responsible for what happens TO you. Yep…. completely. If the world has punched you in the face, well, all I can ask is, what was your face doing in front of that fist? There are no excuses in the eyes of karma, and we become truly ourselves when we learn to understand this, and to make it a part of how we make decisions in life, including those leading up to the second miracle of our existence, dying.

“When the ten thousand things are seen in their oneness, we return to the source to remain where we have always been.” — Seng Ts’un.

In the ultimate sense, this goes back to the discussion in section one above, tying all of it together in this way: “the ten thousand things” is the Chinese literary euphemism for reality, or Heaven, or the universe at large, depending on who one asks at what time of day….. By this statement, Ts’un shows his knowledge, and acceptance of his own divinity, and connection, according to the principles of karma and how we interact with reality, to everything that exists in the universe, including all gods, or ideas about gods, or God. Take your pick, they are ALL correct, in their own little way, or according their own little piece of the Truth. What is actually TRUE for everyone always makes itself obvious…. because that is what happens. What is, is….

“Happiness and freedom begin with a clear understanding of one principle. Some things are within your control. And some things are not.” — Epictetus
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I have to say, this one isn’t bad…. I’m not going to even question why it came out as well as it did, but will go with the flow of karma, and accept what is….. Unless I wish to wait until late this afternoon to post this, I will have to hike through the rain for a few blocks to get to the Wi-Fi spot at the coffee shop, which I believe will be the best way to go. I’m no tireless, invulnerable warrior like I used to be, but I think I can make it three blocks in the rain for this without suffering the tortures of hell. Unless, of course, pneumonia sets in…. Well, no point in tempting Murphy any more than that, so I’ll close this here, and hope for the best…. All I need is twenty minutes of cooperation from the rain gods, and all will be well…..  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

The penny screamed when I pinched it….

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

gigoid

With a fool for a client…

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Ffolkes,
Life is an adventure, with a new lesson to be learned every day. Here’s a new one about aging that I just figured out…. I’ve spoken of how men need purpose to function with integrity and competence, and how having a purpose gives them the ability, and will, to accomplish whatever tasks are needed to fulfill that purpose. Whatever effort it takes is not to be considered an obstacle, but rather a spur to act….

Well, I have found this to have exceptions as one ages… small, but significant exceptions. If I had a task to perform, it used to be I could go out in any weather to work at it, without ever considering how uncomfortable I might get due to rain, or cold, or mud, or whatever inclemency was happening. I find now, at 62, that a morning of wind and rain is sufficient to cause me to adjust my plans to accommodate my frailty, or at least my lack of will to ignore that frailty….. I need to go shopping for food, but the rain, and having to use the bus system for transport, has me altering my original intent, adjusting the schedule to keep from getting all soaked and miserable….

I don’t feel a bit of guilt, either, which is odd…. I used to hate to have to change my schedule to suit the elements, or even to suit other folks, and doing so added that guilt/angst to my daily emotional stew. This doesn’t seem to bother me at all, which, I suppose, makes me as much of an egotist as anyone else…. but, it is an interesting lesson to learn about myself, and how my attitudes are changing as I get older. Life is strange, is it not?….

“If you want to have a long life, you must give up all those things that would make a long life interesting and fun.” — Smart Bee

What with the change in schedule, my head is now completely disoriented, so I should be ready to start writing…..  funny how that works, eh? The fear of some mere raindrops is enough to stir me up sufficiently to get the old neurons flashing at each other, as my head wraps itself around the concept of staying warm and dry, as opposed to wet and cold, and shivers in relief…… Since I now have at least an hour before the next bus, I will try to re-assume some semblance of efficiency, and start the morning dive…. Shall we Pearl?…..
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Once again, Reality has stepped into my space to give me a message from Murphy, to wit: F___ you…. and the plans you made…. So, in order to assemble an adequate Pearl, I have to go old school…. Here are a series of quotes, all on different subjects, sort of, but all tied together…. Identifying the twine used to tie it is the task of the Gentle Reader, with the caveat that there is no Quiz at the end, and no grades will be given, should it elude your best efforts to pin it down…. Hell, sometimes, it’s a bit murky to me, but, hey, gotta do what we gotta do…. Mmmmm, oatmeal…..

“We are not endeavoring to chain the future but to free the present. … We are the advocates of inquiry, investigation, and thought. … It is grander to think and investigate for yourself than to repeat a creed. … I look for the day when *reason*, throned upon the world’s brains, shall be the King of Kings and the God of Gods.” — Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899)

“Happiness follows sorrow, sorrow follows happiness, but when one no longer discriminates between happiness and sorrow, a good deal and a bad deed, one is able to realize freedom.” — Buddha

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

“All things are to be examined and called into question. There are no limits set on thought.” — Smart Bee

For those who didn’t make it to page 249 of “The Anthropic Cosmological Principle” by John Barrow and Frank Tipler, I quote

“In a randomly infinite Universe, any event occurring here and now with finite probability must be occurring simultaneously at an infinite number of other sites in the Universe. It is hard to evaluate this idea any further, but one thing is certain: if it is true then it is certainly not original!”
— Smart Bee

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

So, there you have it…. and it almost makes sense…. close enough…..
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Tableau at Twilight

I sit in the dusk. I am all alone.
Enter a child and an ice-cream cone.

A parent is easily beguiled
By sight of this coniferous child.

The friendly embers warmer gleam,
The cone begins to drip ice cream.

Cones are composed of many a vitamin.
My lap is not the place to bitamin.

Although my raiment is not chinchilla,
I flinch to see it become vanilla.

Coniferous child, when vanilla melts
I’d rather it melted somewhere else.

Exit child with remains of cone.
I sit in the dusk. I am all alone,

Muttering spells like an angry Druid,
Alone, in the dusk, with the cleaning fluid.

Ogden Nash
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I found this on Facebook a while back, and used it then, because it is exactly what my own father taught to me as a boy, back in the 1950’s. I’m using it again, with no shame…. I still operate by these rules, and believe the world would be a better place if more men did…. a different place, indeed…. If you have any comments, or, heaven forfend, objections, please feel free to discuss it in the comments section, and we can reach a consensus…. always preferable in reality…. Seriously, though, don’t y’all think that society would benefit from having ALL men act this way. Of course…. So, let’s shoot for at least half, and things will HAVE to improve, I’d say….

Rules of a Gentleman

1. A Gentleman is always presentable.

2. Lives a passionate life, with a compassionate nature, and dispassionate judgment.

3. Talent is God-given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.

4. Opening a door for a lady is not optional.

5. A Gentleman is one who puts more into the word than he takes out.

6. Nothing beats a good hat, as long as it is removed indoors.

7. Anything worth having, is worth working hard for.

8. A Gentleman will never instigate a fight, but he is allowed to end one.

9. A Gentleman reads and reflects.

10. The best suits are tailored (ties should never be a focal point).

11. A Gentleman means what he says, and says what he means.

12. Be gracious in manner, humble in tone, and thankful for what is given.

13. A Gentleman lives beyond his zone of comfort.

14. The line between confidence and arrogance is very thin, and a Gentleman is aware of it.

15. Drinks are not meant to be mixed.

16. A Gentleman can drive a stick-shift

17. A Gentleman can jump if need be.

18. Know the differences between courage and stupidity.

19. A Gentleman is observant, and takes action without delay.

20. To a lady, a Gentleman will readily offer both his coat and his hand.

I particularly like numbers two, six, eight, eleven, and eighteen…. but, numbers four and twenty are very cool, too, as they reflect one, or more, of the axioms of Peruaosophy…. I’m referring to the axioms that relate to the relationships between men and women, which are an endless fascination to me…. as they are for all men, I think… Well, for Gentlemen, anyway….
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All things considered, not too bad, if a bit light on actual writing. It will have to do, as I’m now involved in dealing with issues complicating the renewal of my domain… wish me luck….  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

Prior to the arrival of thrills….

Posted on by
1

Ffolkes,
Vague. A very descriptive word, though what it describes is anything but precise in nature. It certainly fits my mind this morning, and looks as if it could slide right over into being the word of the day. It would be an easy choice, as no preparation is needed; I’m already there. I’m not sure it’s the kind of word I want to base a whole day on….. then, again, not picking it may annoy Murphy, who no doubt flung it up there into my head himself. It’s just his style……

As well, it’s not as if it is a condition that is unknown around here. I’ve been known to get vague, and stay that way, for days on end, actually. It’s kind of fun, teasing shop workers, confusing bus drivers, and if a chance to annoy a cop comes up, well, I’m all over it. I know, that can be dangerous here in Vallejo, but, I like to live dangerously sometimes, and if one can’t annoy a cop now and again, where is all the fun in life to come from, I ask you? Though not in the realm of CEO’s yet, the police are pretty well-paid these days, and are the obvious target for anyone who has a gripe against society; they have to know that going in. So, don’t get all righteous and prim on me; they’re supposed to be able to take that kind of harassment from the public, and if they can’t, they’ve no business wearing a badge. To my mind, a sense of humor is the single most important tool a police officer can have, and the ONLY one he/she can’t do without….

Now, how did we get from being vague and curmudgeonly to a discussion of societal mores? Sometimes I amaze even myself…. and I have no idea how it happened this time. Hmm…. must have been the mention of the salary of a CEO that set me off. THAT is certainly a subject well worth dissection, and a bit of people bashing. I can’t think of a single category of society that deserves it more than CEO’s, the assholes. Any one of them will do….. I don’t care how stupid and mean a person is, they have to know that NOBODY is worth the kind of money they are being paid…. NOBODY. NOBODY. NOBODY…… I don’t care how much they spout off, and quote figures, or anything else; they aren’t worth that much money, nor is whatever function they perform. It isn’t, period. And nothing can be produced to support that it is, so they may as well just shut it….

I can see from the last paragraph that a rant is coming on, or could be if I were to allow it…. not surprisingly, I guess. The salaries of those corporate assholes is one of my favorite peeves, and it doesn’t surprise me at all to go from 0 to rant in one half-paragraph. Again, I can’t think of a more deserving group of folks about which to rant, but, I’m not even out of the intro yet…. give me a break, will ya? Hah!…. I’ll bet this is all Murphy’s work…. leading me by the nose into a subject that he knows will cause me to blow up like a puffer fish, then standing back and laughing, as I try to write my way back into some semblance of normalcy (not that normal is ever our goal here….).  I’d call Murphy an asshole, too, but, he already knows he is, and delights in it too much….

Weird…. there’s another fine word, and one that fits well at this point. I guess you could say this was a better than average intro section, as it traversed the land between vague and weird, and never once fell into whining, or complaining about Reality, though goodness knows there is always enough of that to provide ample material for those activities. Not doing so is considered a win around here….. Since we’ve won so handily today, it would most likely be best to go for a dive before things start to fall apart…. which can happen in a heartbeat…..  So…. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

“Be wiser than other people if you can, but do not tell them so.” — Lord Chesterfield (to his son)

One might think that Lord Chesterfield was being somewhat devious, or ingenious, at least, when he said this to his son. But, I can attest, from personal experience, that he is right in every respect, and for anyone who is smarter than your average bear, necessary knowledge, if one wishes to survive. It is a hard truth, and one that many people will find distasteful, but, it is nonetheless true for all that….. That truth is this: some people in the world are smarter than others. If you are one of them, it is well to not advertise that fact too loudly, or try to assume a lot of prominence for one’s intelligence, for several reasons, the foremost of which is that other people, not as smart, will object, merely on the principle of ‘fairness’, or ‘democracy’…..

I’m not sure about why it is so hard for a lot of folks to understand the concept of ‘average’, but it is clear that it doesn’t seem to register with a lot of people that the very meaning of the word implies that at least half of the people alive are well under that average in intelligence. They HAVE to be, or it would not be the average, now, would it? The hard part for people to understand, I suppose, is that the odds are that THEY themselves are part of that lower half. Someone HAS to be, but, nobody wants to be labeled as “below average”, or to think of themselves that way. For anyone who is at all empathetic to inner turmoil, it is hard to watch, knowing controversy and denial is inevitable, yet wishing it weren’t…..

“Every person is an individual; we all have a set of designer genes.” — Smart Bee

Knowing this, and accepting it, is the key to solving the intelligence issue, if it exists for you. Whether smart or dumb, ugly or pretty, thick or thin, each of us is unique, and therein lies the key to living with serenity. Learning to use our abilities to their maximum, at whatever level they exist, is the only use of knowledge that will lead us to success; concentrating on the differences in life that exist is a time wasting proposition, and will lead only to more trouble and pain. Our salvation lies in our uniqueness, not in how we are the same. The knowledge that there are people smarter than us, and there are those who are less so, is knowledge that should give us hope, rather than take it away, for it implies unlimited opportunity. When there is no limit to the kind of people who exist, then there is no limit to what can be done by them when they interact…. That is common sense, not deep logic…. though it is deeply logical as well….

“The logic of worldly success rests on a fallacy: the strange error that our perfection depends on the thoughts and opinions and applause of other men!
A weird life it is, indeed, to be living always in somebody else’s imagination, as if that were the only place in which one could at last become real!” — Thomas Merton, “Seven Storey Mountain”

Sometimes, it seems as if it would be nice if there weren’t so much diversity of ability in the world; it might make things simpler. But, given human nature, probably not…. We’d still find some way to fuss and fight with each other…. If it isn’t about intelligence, it would be about looks, or money, or ancestors, or any of the other myriad of subjects man finds to fight about…. We are contentious creatures, at best…. and often, I am left, after writing such a treatise as this one, with a feeling much like Friedrich gives us here…. in fact, I’ve felt this way often…..

“It is hard enough to remember my opinions, without also remembering my reasons for them.” — Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)
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I Do Not Love You Except Because I Love You

I do not love you except because I love you;
I go from loving to not loving you,
From waiting to not waiting for you
My heart moves from cold to fire.

I love you only because it’s you the one I love;
I hate you deeply, and hating you
Bend to you, and the measure of my changing love for you
Is that I do not see you but love you blindly.

Maybe January light will consume
My heart with its cruel
Ray, stealing my key to true calm.

In this part of the story I am the one who
Dies, the only one, and I will die of love because I love you,
Because I love you, Love, in fire and blood.

Pablo Neruda
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“No one can see their reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see.” — Taoist Proverb

“Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” — Buddha

Monk:   Where can I enter Zen?
Master Gensha:  Can you hear the babbling brook?
Monk:    Yes, I can hear it.
Master Gensha:  Then enter it there.

A bird can fly, but a fly can’t bird. — Tao of Pooh.
(Not as undeep as it seems…. think on it….)

“I wanted to change the world.  But I have found that the only thing one can be sure of changing is oneself.” — Aldous Huxley

Okay, so here is a bass-ackwards pearl, just because…. I started off collecting for a pearl on a point of Eastern philosophy, and how it differs from Western. That changed, into what seemed to be a collection of different ideas from separate philosophies, all of which were connected somehow. But, then it came to the final pearl, and it all fell into place…. What we have here is nothing more, and nothing less, than a complete philosophy of life, in five short lessons. Encompassed within the relatively non-existent confines of these principles, one from each of five different parts of the world, each from a different time in history, and from a different master of thought, is everything that one would need to live a life of complete rationality and peace. Sometimes, I just don’t know how I do it…..    🙂

‘Nuff said…. just meditate on the five truths, and you’ll get where you need to go….. and remember axiom 7 of Peruaosophy…. “Do your Duty. Honor the truth. Respect Life. Share your Love.”…. and all will be well….
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Smart Bee was particularly cooperative today…. one of the best things it showed me was a new disclaimer. I am adding it below, because it mirrors my thoughts on this subject perfectly…… enjoy! Just replace the words “All software” with “Whatever gigoid wrote”, and it will all apply perfectly…..

NOTE: “No warranties, either express or implied, are hereby given. All software is supplied as is, without guarantee.  The user assumes all responsibility for damages resulting from the use of these features, including, but not limited to, frustration, disgust, system abends, disk head-crashes, general malfeasance, floods, fires, shark attack, nerve gas, locust infestation, cyclones, hurricanes, tsunamis, local electromagnetic disruptions, hydraulic brake system failure, invasion, hashing collisions, normal wear and tear of friction surfaces, comic radiation, inadvertent destruction of sensitive electronic components, windstorms, the Riders of Nazgul, infuriated chickens, malfunctioning mechanical or electrical sexual devices, premature activation of the
distant early warning system, peasant uprisings, halitosis, artillery bombardment, explosions, cave-ins, and/or frogs falling from the sky.” — Smart Bee

I think that should about cover it….. if not, well, I’m sure you’ll let me know what I’ve forgotten, won’t you?…… Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Poorly constructed fuzzy bears sold here….

Posted on by
5

Ffolkes,
Provided the reports I heard last night are true, the election proved to be just what I’d hoped… a solid victory in the name of Reason. As of 9:00 PM, the report I got from a friend with a TV, said that Obama had won the election, with enough electoral votes to secure the win, and ample extra to provide a mandate from the people. I am hopeful the final count of the popular vote is equally weighted, and that a significant majority of the people who voted gave the mandate to the President, to continue trying to repair the damage done by the last 25 years of Republican piracy.

Even if the vote is closer than I hope to see, I imagine the attempted fraud on the part of the Republicans will be unearthed (I understand there is already some video proof circulating on Facebook of voting machine tampering on their part in Pennsylvania….), and hopefully, prosecuted to the full extent of the law. One can hope…. but, I’ll be satisfied with just knowing the danger, if not past entirely, is at least mitigated for another four years….

I’ve now read the morning papers, and feel a bit better. Obama’s victory is confirmed, and the immediate danger is past. However, I was appalled at the sheer number of IDIOTS in this country who voted for Romney; it is clear that if the whites in this country were not now in the minority, the story might have been different. Fortunately, they are not in the majority any longer….

It was also appalling to learn that there were actually small percentages of blacks and Latinos who actually voted for the Republican liar; I can’t imagine WHAT they were thinking, when he made it so obvious that he hates and fears both groups. I also have a hard time understanding why a single woman would vote for a man who so obviously hates them….. I guess it just goes to show the depths to which human stupidity can take someone who makes no effort to determine the truth, or is in denial of that truth….

If 150,000 people do something really stupid………it’s still stupid. — Smart Bee

Or, in the case of yesterday, right around 50,000,000 (fifty million) people provided proof positive of their stupidity…..So be it…. The Republicans somehow managed to maintain their majority in the House, so we can look forward to another four years of them blocking every attempt to make any progress in easing the burdens of the middle and lower classes, and placing a fairer share of those burdens on the people who can afford them, i.e. the 1%….. Only time will tell if any of the attempts to curtail their blatant elitism, and mitigate the damages that catering to them has caused over time, have been at all effective. For us bloggers, it promises to provide a wealth of material over the next few years, as the ongoing battle between the classes continues to wage….

For now, though, some of the tension is released, and I feel better knowing that this particular issue, of the forces of evil threatening to usurp the White House, is now on hold for another four years. So much better, I think it must be time to go for a dive, and see what we can come up with for an interesting discussion today…. Shall we Pearl?…..
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Originally this morning, I had intended to write something less controversial here…. but, Smart Bee is being a bit recalcitrant this morning in coming up with suitable stuff…. so, I’m going ahead with this discussion of religious thought, even though I was trying not to be so sober today….SIGH…. “The best laid plans of mice and men, etc….”  Such are the mysterious ways of Smart Bee….

I believe in god, I just don’t like him. — Smart Bee

Now, here is a concept I can get behind…. I am often unsure of how to express my own beliefs about the idea of a God, or god,  capitalization depending, I suppose, on one’s sense of reverence regarding same. All the twaddle I was taught in Sunday School was an obvious pack of lies; even at age 5 I was unconvinced of the stories they told me. None of them seemed any more real, or plausible, than the cartoons I watched on Saturday morning, and there was certainly no bloodshed in the cartoons…. mayhem, yes, bloodshed, no…. But, the story of the crucifixion is enough to give even the most ghoulish of child nightmares, for sure and for certain…. What were they thinking?….

But, the statement above goes along better with what I would like to believe (which is no more, and no less, than any other human…. believing what we’d LIKE to believe is always more attractive than what MIGHT be true…. neither of which necessarily has anything to do with what is actually REAL….), because most of the stories and lessons we heard as children about God make him out to be a petty, narcissistic, vindictive asshole, to be quite frank. Well, there is that, plus, most of the preachers, to me, seemed to me to be much more interested in other people’s business than their own, with many of the same characteristics of their ignoble so-called creator. None of them were much of a recommendation to me as proper examples of what a good man should be, and none of what I heard about god, or God, put (H)him in that category, either.

“If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.” — Jesus Christ (Gnostic Gospel Of Thomas, Saying 70)

Or, better out than in…. so to speak. Which, as you know if you’ve been reading here previously, is something I believe in wholeheartedly….. Jesus, for me, falls into a similar category for me as God, or preachers…. kind of in limbo regarding all the stuff that was, and is, said about him. He was obviously a real historical figure, and not a mythical supernatural being, and as such his words and actions were recorded for posterity. The accuracy of what was written is, to say the least, questionable, if for no other reason that he spoke Aramaic as his primary language…. that is pretty well established.

What many fail to consider is this…. in order for us to hear his words, we have to hear what was translated through at least four or five languages, from the original Aramaic, which is a language no longer spoken anywhere. First, it would have been translated to Latin, or possibly another middle eastern dialect of the time, then into Latin. Then it was translated to probably Italian, French, and Spanish; then into German and, possibly, its first change into English, back when it was still considered to be Middle English…. the first King James version didn’t occur until well after the Renaissance period.

So, my question is this…. how much of the original meaning of his words came through into the English translation? It’s funny, but when, as a teen, I asked this of my pastor, all I could get from him was that, because the words were inspired by God, then the meaning would have been accurately translated by all those different people, as they were doing God’s work…. which, even then, made me go, “Hmm? Could you explain that again, in English, with something, anything, that approaches an answer?” (This was before I spoke Spanish, or German, or anything else but English….)

That seems to be a problem with preachers/priests… they tend to lump everything into the same mold, and expect us to believe that what they say is true, even though there is no direct evidence to support any such twaddle. “The Bible says God said it, I believe it, and that’s the end of it!” seems to be their logical train of deduction, even though there is no logic, or deduction, to it. I wasn’t born in Missouri, but, you’ve got to SHOW ME the evidence before I’ll waste my time trying to place any belief into such grandiose ideas. When one of the church minions asks me, sarcastically, if I expect God to send me a telegram, I usually reply, “Well, that WOULD be more persuasive than expecting me to take it on your word, now, wouldn’t it?”  Idiots….

“God is the immemorial refuge of the incompetent, the helpless, the miserable. They find not only sanctuary in His arms, but also a kind of superiority, soothing to their macerated egos; He will set them above their betters.” — H.L. Mencken

This attitude, the elitist idea that those who believe are somehow superior to those who do not, is one of the root causes of most of the trouble our species is having today. The insane attitude that this planet, and all the other creatures on it, was placed here specifically for our benefit and use, is responsible for all of the pollution that continues to pump into the ecosystem, for all the abuse and chauvinism against the other life forms who live here, and for a great number of the social issues, such as poverty, racism, misogyny, and violence, that plague us as a culture.  We are not only NOT the masters of creation, we are not even qualified to be our own masters; we cause ourselves as much trouble as we do the rest of creation, if not more, all because religionists insist that those who believe them are good, and everyone else is bad…. a stupid idea at best.

“God made Man to his image and likeness, and Man, being a gentleman, returned the compliment.” — Voltaire

Hence, my lack of faith in the nonsensical claptrap that the various religions attempt to pass off as truth. Reality, to me, is scary enough, without the idea of some insane supernatural creature, sitting up in some fanciful Utopia, looking down and giving a rat’s ass about what I’m doing with my life. It just doesn’t make any sense to me to try to visualize a god…. by the very definition of the beast, they cannot be imagined by a creature of lesser scope…. and telling me that you have a direct line to God, and know what he wants me to do with my life, only makes me wish I could order your new medications personally…. Oh, didn’t I mention it? We now have medications that will keep people from believing delusional material, or at least keep them from acting on those beliefs before thinking about them at least a bit….. but, who’s going to give it to a priest, when the doctor believes the same bilge?

Now that I’ve alienated any number of true believers out there, I guess I’ll let this discussion die a natural death. I could obviously continue indefinitely, but, the rest of the day calls, and I should get to it…. If you have any thoughts on these conclusions of mine, please feel free to leave them in the comments section below…. and remember, please, the rules of engagement prohibit outright flaming on this site…. Confine name-calling to short, impersonal epithets, and please, include some logical thought in your responses, as neglecting to do so wastes my time, and everyone else’s…. I don’t mind being called a fool, but, as I said, let’s see your evidence….

“I find your lack of faith in the Force disturbing….” — Darth Vader (Star Wars)
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The Little Boy and the Old Man

Said the little boy, “Sometimes I drop my spoon.”
Said the old man, “I do that too.”
The little boy whispered, “I wet my pants.”
“I do that too,” laughed the little old man.
Said the little boy, “I often cry.”
The old man nodded, “So do I.”
“But worst of all,” said the boy, “it seems
Grown-ups don’t pay attention to me.”
And he felt the warmth of a wrinkled old hand.
“I know what you mean,” said the little old man.

~~  Shel Silverstein
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“I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the community, and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.  I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live.  Life is no ‘brief candle’ to me.  It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for a moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.” — George Bernard Shaw

Now, THAT is a good attitude toward living! Carpe diem, and all that, don’t y’know? I like to think that I approach life in much this same manner, even though I have my moments spent in depression and despair; those moments I consider to be anomalous, and not fully representative of my take on life in general. Many people may not feel this way, and I cannot disparage them for that, as living often requires more of our attention that can be spared to make sure we are positively motivated; it’s not easy to get by in this world, and maintaining a positive outlook can become secondary to just having the wherewithal to do anything at all.

But, George points out a pretty good way to think about it, even if one hasn’t the time or resources to fully appreciate, or apply, the principle as given….. As such, it joins a number of other viewpoints of famous historical figures, all of whom had advice to give to people about how to live well…. below you will find several of these suggestions for living life as well as one is able to live….

“Believe nothing merely because you have been told it… Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher.  But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings — that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide.” — Buddha

“Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority.” — Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)

“Honor has not to be won; it must only not be lost.” — Arthur Schopenhauer, Parerga and Paralipomena

In dwelling, live close to the ground.
In thinking, keep to the simple.
In conflict, be fair and generous.
In governing, don’t try to control.
In work, do what you enjoy.
In family life, be completely present.
— Tao Te Ching

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

Well, there you go…. now, all you have to do is put all of this into practice…. sounds like fun, eh?….
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Another day, another post…. If I didn’t know better, I’d think I was getting pretty good at this…. We all need to have our little illusions in life, so, remember what has been said so often, in so many ways…. It’s all good….  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Trapped in porcine orbs of vision….

Posted on by
9

Ffolkes,
Herein is set forth the last will and testament of Ned Russell Moore…. Not really, but it is, perhaps, fitting to begin today’s Pearl with that opening line. I am now, as of some hours ago this morning, sixty-two (62) years old, or young, take your pick. The opening line is actually there as a reminder, that I have yet to take care of that little chore, i.e., making a will. Being a non-materialist for virtually all my life (I decided at age 12 I had no interest in getting rich…. seriously, that’s when it happened, because I remember making a conscious decision about it, as it kind of determined the path I would take, academically….), I won’t have a lot to leave, but, there are personal items to bequeath to my children, such as my father’s bronze star, and my books, and hopefully, before I check out, I’ll have saved some of the money I’ll make between now and the fateful day….. which, I hope, is still another 30 or 40 years away. With today’s medical knowledge, that is a distinct possibility, provided my own physical condition doesn’t get any worse than it already is….

It’s funny, in a way…. all my life I’ve never made enough to save a lot of money…. and have been successful at that, having thus far saved none, in fact,  other than the money that went into my retirement and SS accounts, and that was taken out before I saw it, so I’m not sure it really counts as savings. I have always believed that “if you wish a life full of trouble, fill your house with treasures,” so the accumulation of gelt never attracted me very much. I do like to make enough to be comfortable, with an occasional foray into luxury, but the acquisition of a lot of property just never appealed to me. I guess that makes me a bit different than most Americans, who seem to enjoy the piling up of stuff they’ll never be able to use in the next life, or often, even in this one….. makes no sense to me….

“The supreme irony of life is hardly anyone ever gets out of it alive.” — Robert Heinlein

Aha! Eureka! He said, happily…. sorry, silliness seems so appropriate today, somehow…. Any who, while searching for pearls, I found one that explains my whole problem, and gives me a solution, all at once. Gotta love that real wisdom when it rears its ugly if welcome head, right? It’s like this….

“The time to begin writing an article is when you have finished it to your satisfaction. By that time you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is that you really want to say.” — Mark Twain

See? Perfect…. This is why it has all gone the way it has, and shows clearly the way to fix whatever may be wrong with it. Of course, that’s assuming there is something wrong with it, “it” being all the stuff I write. Of late, I’ve been less than totally thrilled with the quality, of the material,  of the discussion…. it all seems redundant, or repetitive, which, is, obviously, proof of that part of the assumption, if nothing else. Maybe I need some new subjects to discuss…. I’ll have to think about that…. I had thought that discussing Life, Society, Philosophy, and so forth would pretty much cover the bases, but I’m thinking I need something more down to earth, or lighter in nature, perhaps…. Ah me, the choices are endless, thank goodness…

As you can see, the introspection part of the birthday program has already begun, even though I spent some time at it already. I should probably save some of it for the pearls, rather than using up a bunch of good thoughts in this intro, but, hey, this only happens once a year, thankfully, so I don’t mind splurging a bit. It’ll all come out in the wash, so to speak….. I have yet to find any good material about which to expound, but, since I’ve been very productive already today (you didn’t even notice that I slipped out to go to the grocery store, did you?…. Hah!….), I can afford a bit of slack…. better up my meds though, I can feel the stiffness building…. no worries…. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

T’is now almost 1030, and it has already been a very busy little day for me…. For reasons which I’ll not go into now, I got up early to go to the grocery store, and was back here by 0845, sweaty but unbowed, and still with time to work on a Pearl…. I’ve been dutifully doing that since then, and fell pretty accomplished, all in all, having written some decent prose, percolated a bit of poetry, and researched, formatted, and put together a very nice Art Deco pearl…. so, we are going for an old school pearl here…. they are less time consuming all in all, and require less pure cogitation on my part, since there is distinctly less original material to include…. Any who, all excuses and rationalizations aside, here is a pearl to think about, as it directs your mind hither and thither through the realms of madness and reality…. all at once, hopefully, because Life tastes better in Big Bites!….

“One of the most frightening things in the Western world, and in this country in particular, is the number of people who believe in things that are scientifically false.  If someone tells me that the earth is less than 10,000 years old, in my opinion he should see a psychiatrist.” — Francis H.C. Crick

“Too many people have decided that perfection is boring, preferring a mess that supports their habits instead of a quest that challenges them, but what they forget is that while perfection may be boring the quest for it never is for it reveals the human and the divine inside of us.” — Callan Williams

“I live in my own place have never copied nobody even half, and at any master who lacks the grace to laugh at himself — I laugh.”
— inscribed over the door to Friedrich Nietzsche’s house

This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.” — H.H. the Dalai Lama

“All art is autobiographical. The pearl is the oyster’s autobiography.” — Federico Fellini
(So THAT’S what I’m doing here!….. Writing the autobiography of an oyster…. hmmm….)

“{I believe in looking reality straight in the eye and denying it.” — Garrison Keillor
(Now I know why this show was so popular with middle America….)

Eat with gusto and enthusiasm. — Things We Can Learn From Dogs

Well, there’s an eclectic group of pearls, eh, what? I’m not sure just what my subconscious mind was shooting for, but, I have to assume it knows and we’ll let it slide this time…. maybe next time, it will make it a bit more obvious, eh?…… I think it all works, anyway, even if I’m unsure of its precise purpose and meaning…. I guess that makes it a good metaphor for life…..
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The poem I’m gestating is stalled today…. couldn’t get it even a line further on toward completion. Oh well, you, and I, will just have to settle for whatever I come up with via Google when I get to the internet this morning…. let’s see, whom shall we persecute, er, sorry, peruse, today?….. Ah, here is one that appeals to that introspection of which I have spoken…. Enjoy!

A Dialogue Of Self And Soul

i{My Soul} I summon to the winding ancient stair;
Set all your mind upon the steep ascent,
Upon the broken, crumbling battlement,
Upon the breathless starlit air,
‘Upon the star that marks the hidden pole;
Fix every wandering thought upon
That quarter where all thought is done:
Who can distinguish darkness from the soul
i{My Self}. The consecrates blade upon my knees
Is Sato’s ancient blade, still as it was,
Still razor-keen, still like a looking-glass
Unspotted by the centuries;
That flowering, silken, old embroidery, torn
From some court-lady’s dress and round
The wooden scabbard bound and wound
Can, tattered, still protect, faded adorn
i{My Soul.} Why should the imagination of a man
Long past his prime remember things that are
Emblematical of love and war?
Think of ancestral night that can,
If but imagination scorn the earth
And intellect is wandering
To this and that and t’other thing,
Deliver from the crime of death and birth.
i{My self.} Montashigi, third of his family, fashioned it
Five hundred years ago, about it lie
Flowers from I know not what embroidery —
Heart’s purple — and all these I set
For emblems of the day against the tower
Emblematical of the night,
And claim as by a soldier’s right
A charter to commit the crime once more.
i{My Soul.} Such fullness in that quarter overflows
And falls into the basin of the mind
That man is stricken deaf and dumb and blind,
For intellect no longer knows
i{Is} from the i{Ought,} or i{knower} from the i{Known — }
That is to say, ascends to Heaven;
Only the dead can be forgiven;
But when I think of that my tongue’s a stone.
i{My Self.} A living man is blind and drinks his drop.
What matter if the ditches are impure?
What matter if I live it all once more?
Endure that toil of growing up;
The ignominy of boyhood; the distress
Of boyhood changing into man;
The unfinished man and his pain
Brought face to face with his own clumsiness;
The finished man among his enemies? —
How in the name of Heaven can he escape
That defiling and disfigured shape
The mirror of malicious eyes
Casts upon his eyes until at last
He thinks that shape must be his shape?
And what’s the good of an escape
If honour find him in the wintry blast?
I am content to live it all again
And yet again, if it be life to pitch
Into the frog-spawn of a blind man’s ditch,
A blind man battering blind men;
Or into that most fecund ditch of all,
The folly that man does
Or must suffer, if he woos
A proud woman not kindred of his soul.
I am content to follow to its source
Every event in action or in thought;
Measure the lot; forgive myself the lot!
When such as I cast out remorse
So great a sweetness flows into the breast
We must laugh and we must sing,
We are blest by everything,
Everything we look upon is blest.

William Butler Yeats
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_____oOOo_=^..^=_oOOo_____ — The cats ARE watching… — Smart Bee

No deep concept here…. I just thought this was cute, as well as creative. I miss my cat, Tony, who lived with Noah and I for several years…. He thought Noah was his big brother, and followed him around everywhere. When Noah got old, and it got hard for him to get up the stairs where we lived, Tony would walk behind Noah, batting at his butt with his paws to encourage and help him get him up the steps. His favorite place to sleep was cuddled up to Noah, too. Once, when Noah was feeling a bit stiff, and feeling his age, Tony walked up to him, sniffed gently at his ear, then gave him a couple of head bumps, then a couple licks on the muzzle, before settling in next to him, where he lay next to him and purred for hours…. He really loved ol’ Noah, Tony did….

I’m going to go for what I call an Art Deco pearl here…. below are some quotes about cats, and some very fine pictures that show the many sides of Cat…..

“The only mystery about the cat is why it ever decided to become a domestic animal.” — Compton MacKenzie, “Cats’ Company”

“A man who carries a cat by the tail is learning a valuable lesson. He’ll never be dim, or doubtful. Chances are he won’t carry the cat that way again, but, I say, if he wants to, let him!” — Mark Twain
In ancient Egypt, cats were worshiped as gods; they have not forgotten this. — Smart Bee
    And, how can we not love an animal who starts out life like this?…..
    I believe these pictures were all found on Facebook…. including this perfect picture to bid thee adieu!….
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“Hi there!  This is just a note from me, to you, to tell you, the person reading this note, that I can’t think up any more famous quotes, jokes,  nor bizarre stories, so you may as well go home.” — Smart Bee

Ack! Nooooooo! It can’t be true…. Smart Bee is just messing with me, I know it…. and I am so confident of that, I will trust that it will be there just chock full of new, funny stuff the next time I open it up…. And, if not, well, I’ll tear out my hair then, what little is left…. It has been a very interesting path this morning, getting to this point. Now that I’ve completed this Pearl, I must go out and deal with the real world, so as to get it posted today…. and take care of online business while I’m at it…. I’m having a very productive birthday, so here is wishing you all the same kind of positive energy today, and every day….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

—

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Unwrapping a silver cocoon under moonlight….

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Ffolkes,
On some bright future day, I’ll wake up, and inspiration will smite me forcefully on the forehead, sending me reeling to my keyboard, where the profound thoughts that have been circulating behind the scenes in my mind will all come pouring forth, to impart beauty and wisdom to the masses in inimitable style…. The sheer brilliance and enlightenment of what I will write will become as a beacon of knowledge that shines into every corner of the darkness that holds society at risk, saving mankind from the consequences of our insensitivity and foolishness….. SIGH…. sadly, that day isn’t today….

Had some mildly disappointing news soon after getting up to start this morning’s Pearl; my grandson isn’t feeling well, and the visit originally set  for today was put off to next week…. Since I’m not at top form today, that is alright with me, but I know it is much more disappointing for my son, who has to wait another week to see his boy, when he’d rather be taking care of him while he is sick…. Justice does not live in this country anymore, not with any consistency….. and, unfortunately, there are no requirements for motherhood regarding intelligence or benevolence of nature….

Yet the law thinks that…. ah shit, I’m not getting into it again…… The idiotic collection of nonsense that makes up family law in this state, and country, is a mess of major proportion, without any real connection to reality, as far as I can tell…. and is so entrenched in its own circular illogic, not only can’t I fix it, it can’t be fixed, so the entire subject just pisses me off…. as do so many things about modern society, and the way that it fails to act in the best interests of its children….

Rather than dwell on the legal and moral idiocy that prevails in this country, let’s go searching for dirt to throw at some of my favorite targets…. politicians,  priests, and the foibles of human nature…. Shall we Pearl?
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“I believed in the Constitution. I believed in Congress’ constitutional right to investigate the intelligence community; and I believed that, as head of that community, I was required by the Constitution to cooperate with the Congress. I also believed that any other approach just wouldn’t work.” — Said no head of the intelligence community, ever….

And, if one of them did say it, I would bet serious money he was lying through his teeth…. We all know that, first of all, military intelligence is an oxymoron. Even if it weren’t, the entire intelligence community, as it is named here, would, by necessity, and by definition, be based on Sun Tzu’s Art of War, which clearly states, “all warfare is based on deception.” (A direct, literal translation from the original Chinese….) Sun Tzu’s most valuable and respected form of warrior was the spy; he considered an accomplished spy worth more than whole armies, with good reason. One man, infiltrated and trusted by the enemy, can cause more damage, by spreading disinformation, than months of siege by massive numbers of troops, and will bring about success much more speedily….. Yet, this unknown head of the NSA, or the CIA, or whichever clandestine organization was under scrutiny, would have us believe that he was being entirely truthful in what he revealed of their activities to Congress…. Riiiiight….. and I’m the Queen of Sheba, reincarnated as an overweight, long-haired, overeducated, dyspeptic Caucasian male…. I guess it’s possible, but, not too likely….

“If the obstacles of bigotry and priestcraft can be surmounted, we may hope that common sense will suffice to do everything else.” — Thomas Jefferson

Tom made an error in judgment here, assuming, as is common, perhaps, that common sense is, well, common. Alas, such is not the case, and priestcraft, of which I regard warfare and politics to be mere offshoots, remains the greatest obstacle to maintaining the freedom and liberties that Tom and his mates secured for us in the 18th century. With the full support of corporate business, the other greatest enemy of freedom, churches and government officials have conspired to manipulate, obfuscate, and bamboozle the American public into allowing them to lie, cheat, steal, and control the legislature and courts, until the freedoms we were given as our legacy have all but disappeared…..

I read a number of articles today, in the newspaper, and on the internet, that spoke of a recent poll taken by some independent agency (i.e., not connected to any political parties…. at least not on paper….). Any who, this poll determined that the choices being made about who people were going to vote for in the 2012 Presidential election were not in any way being decided by any disagreement on issues. The votes were being made according to race….. period. Over 50% of the responders, if I recall the number correctly (it amazed me, and I consider myself to be pretty phlegmatic, so factor that in….), of those voting for Romney, said they had made their decision to vote for Romney simply because Obama is black…. Martin Luther King, no doubt, is crying, wherever he may be…. as are any number of true Americans, such as myself, who had hoped that our nation had gotten beyond that sort of bigotry manifesting itself in the mainstream of society.

“After all there is but one race – humanity.” — George Moore

Is it any wonder I was amazed? Though there has been constant evidence of the part that race has played thus far in the election campaign, I don’t think any of us expected the issue to be so polarizing as to reveal the vast number of cowardly, fearful, STUPID people who refuse to join the rest of the human race. They have apparently been hiding their ignorance, completely accepting on faith all the loud, flag-waving, faith-based slogans and fear-mongering, all designed to whip the peasants into a frenzy under the canopy of false patriotism, and to the cry of “Take back America”…. as if someone had snatched it away from them when they weren’t looking….

“The worst vice of the fanatic is his sincerity.” — Oscar Wilde

All of their noxious, bilious posturing is designed to ensure the racist, bigoted, ignorant cowards who buy into their lies will all come crawling out from under their rocks on election day, to cast their unwitting vote for the forces of Evil, never realizing they are signing their own warrants of economic doom, because they are only aware of their fear of the Black Bogie Man, and his liberal myrmidons…. a word they would have to look up, if they were in the habit of reading anything tougher than TV Guide…. (don’t worry, I had to look it up, too, when I first saw it, years ago, in a Sherlock Holmes story…. I love it, it is such a “precise” word….)

“Instead of giving a politician the keys to the city, it might be better to change the locks.” — Smart Bee

Here is a piece of that common sense so prized by our forefathers…. Unfortunately, instead of changing the locks, we keep allowing the politicians to make copies, and don’t even change the locks after they leave. Have you ever heard about the retirement system that the federal government has given itself? All federal judges, and federal court officials, along with both the House of Representatives and the Senate, are guaranteed their salaries, and their most excellent healthcare coverage, EVEN AFTER THEY RETIRE, OR ARE NOT RE-ELECTED.

For life….. including a health care system, with coverage for life, that is much superior to MediCare, or anything available to the unwashed masses, i.e. the general citizenry of the country. All of it is paid for by our taxes… for life, for all of them…. and guess who voted all that stuff into existence? Why, they gave it to themselves, of course! As a reward, I guess, for having screwed us in the first place, and sort of as an ongoing pat on the back for the success of their lies….

“Ignorance is not bliss — it’s oblivion.” — Phillip Wylie

Once again, I seem to have tapped into a subject ripe for ranting, and we’re still ten days shy of the election. Let’s let this percolate for a bit, and see what else we can find in there on this path to perdition or profundity, your choice…. Me, I always go for the perdition…. more exciting, like when Mom drove on the freeway….  🙂

Regardless of the truth or lie of any of the above, profundity has fled, no doubt concerned about its reputation, and further pearls along this line of thought are not forthcoming from Smart Bee…. it did, however, give me a couple of pretty good ending pearls, so I will go with the flow, and leave you with this final thought…..

Government is a necessary evil, and it makes sense to me that having to pick between the lesser of two evils, while distasteful, is nonetheless necessary, and in the case of this election, more than merely necessary…. It is essential in the current world that reason remain paramount, and the obvious decision here can be ascertained with one eye shut. If one is a woman, a senior, LGBT, or a supporter of gay marriage and human rights for trans gender individuals, a black, Latino, Asian, or anyone else who is not white, and who makes more than $250,000/year, then you will be voting to save your own civil rights, because it is for sure and for certain that if the Republican party gets into office, all of these categories of citizens will be in a new classification…. they will be known as victims…. Don’t trust me, read the papers, all of what I’ve just related is documented there…. So, get out there and vote, ffolkes, and for goodness sake, use your head about it!……

“If you don’t control your mind, someone else will.” — John Allston

“Hold the MAYO & pass the COSMIC AWARENESS…” — Zippy the Pinhead
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Li Po, in my mind, is one of the five best poets who ever lived (no, I’m not going to pin myself down to the other four right now, so forget it….); indeed, his translator deserves a lot of credit, as well, for being able to indicate the simplicity, power, and depth of Li Po’s words from Chinese to English, no simple task, for certain….. We all know of the Taoist/Zen koan about the man dreaming of being a butterfly…. this is how a poet of genius first asked that universal question…..

Chuang Tzu And The Butterfly

Chuang Tzu in dream became a butterfly,
And the butterfly became Chuang Tzu at waking.
Which was the real—the butterfly or the man ?
Who can tell the end of the endless changes of things?
The water that flows into the depth of the distant sea
Returns anon to the shallows of a transparent stream.
The man, raising melons outside the green gate of the city,
Was once the Prince of the East Hill.
So must rank and riches vanish.
You know it, still you toil and toil,—what for?

Li Po

Indeed, for what do we toil? As for me, I’m still trying to find an answer…. asking the right question is only half the task…. Hope you enjoyed this one as much as I did….   🙂
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In  keeping with the theme above, here is a group of pearls, collected old-school style, and put together to lead the gentle reader to more insightful ideas about human nature, and the importance of intelligence, or more accurately, the absence of same….

“In view of the fact that God limited the intelligence of man, it seems unfair that He did not also limit his stupidity.” — Konrad Adenauer

‘Man has made use of his intelligence, he invented stupidity.” — Remy De Gourmant

“A human being has a natural desire to have more of a good thing than he needs.” — Mark Twain

“The beauty of America is that the average person always thinks she is above average.” — Sam Levenson

“The problem with America is that the average person always thinks she is above average.” — Smart Bee

Cogito, ergo doleo. I think, therefore I am depressed. — Smart Bee

“In such a strait the wisest may well be perplexed and the boldest staggered.” — Edmund Burke (1729-1797) — Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontent, Vol. i, p. 516

“I can’t give you a brain, but I can give you a degree” — Wizard of Oz to the Scarecrow

In light of such wisdom, virtual or not, I rest my case……
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Some days, as Mama said, there will be days like that…. and we all know she was right, don’t we? Logically, this means that some days it will be easier than others, to find, do, or be what we wish…. even if we know what that may be. If you aren’t confused now, then you haven’t been paying attention…. and my work here is done…..  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Penny has yet to dance the lambada….

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Ffolkes,
Yesterday, I corrected Time, so we are all caught up in that respect; the missing day has been banished, and no longer exists, for our purposes. This has, unfortunately, allowed Murphy a whole new 24 hour period in which to plan his persecutory activities, and I’m a bit timorous about diving right into a day where he’s had so much leeway for setting up potential chaos. I don’t even have a clue as to where he might strike…. my head seems fairly clear, but I have yet to examine or test out Smart Bee. He could have messed with the program somehow, as I don’t think geeking is beyond his skill set; I’ve been hit too often with little glitches that only could have come from him….. Ya never know, with Murphy….

I suppose one of the reasons I make such a good target for him, and his minions, is that I really, really hate his guts. I don’t care how often he claims it’s his job; I don’t care that the universe HAS to have someone like him, to maintain balances. He’s an asshole, plain and simple, and I don’t care how important he is to the universe. He could figure out ways to fuck with people less than he does; it is obvious to the most casual, and causal, observer that he goes above and beyond the call of his job to create special pain for people. To me, this is unacceptable, and unforgivable…. to have the choice, to make pain for innocent folks, or to mess with them, just because you can, is completely the work of an asshole, and is deserving of the disrespect of every honorable man alive….

If you can’t tell, I’m still angry at Murphy from his actions on Friday morning…. Having the Social Security case worker call me at 0801, to suggest I might wish to WAIT LONGER to get my benefits, was a  brilliant stroke on his part, if one considers such acts dispassionately. Nothing could have ruined my day, and my month, any better than that simple call. I did make the analyst pay, after a fashion…. Since his question had to do with my PTSD, I treated him to a full-on episode of emotional breakdown, at flash speed, complete with blubbering, shouting, and pressured speech, with the particular added bonus of my erudition at full out attack mode…. the man definitely got an earful in a short time….

I don’t know if that will help or hinder, and since the lawyer has yet to return my call (they’re a bit lax about that…. we’ll have to have another word or two on the subject, I can see…..), I am not sure how to think about it. I’m hoping I made it clear to the analyst that any further delays in awarding my benefits would only have a bad effect on me, and that their intransigent dallying is causing me no end of problems, both physical and emotional. Not that they care, particularly, that I can see, but at least I’ve made my position clear to them…. I can only hope the lawyer agrees…. and if not, well, they are the ones who are supposed to be guiding and controlling this process; they should start doing that, to my way of looking at it…. As may be apparent, my patience with the entire process is getting a bit thin…. and if something doesn’t break soon, I’m going to start looking for targets for my angst, which, I can assure you, is building up to a nice, big explosion….

Since I’m up and writing, and it’s only 0710 (bounced up at 0635 for some reason…. might have been the falling asleep at 2100 that did it…. but, hey, how ’bout them Giants, eh?…..) I suppose I’d best get started on today’s Pearl. Once again, I’m starting with zero material…. no quotes yet, and no incipient poetry, at least not at this juncture. Ah well, it’s been worse, for sure…. Shall we Pearl?……
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“Why does this magnificent applied science, which saves work and makes life easier, bring us so little happiness?  The simple answer runs: Because we have not yet learned to make sensible use of it.” — Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

“That is the key to history. Terrific energy is expended, civilizations are built up, excellent institutions devised; but each time something goes wrong. Some fatal flaw always brings the selfish and cruel people to the top, and then it all slides back into misery and ruin. In fact, the machine conks. It seems to start up all right and runs a few yards, and then it breaks down.” — C. S. Lewis

Sometimes it takes two to make the correct point….. Between these two quotes, we are given a glimpse of both the problem that mankind suffers from most, and the solution to that problem. Of course, the solution is one that, so far, has been unpalatable to most people, but, it is at least visible for discussion…. Most simply put, the whole problem that our species confronts can be ascribed to our spiritual deficits, as they pertain to both our treatment of each other, and our treatment of the world in which we live…..

In the first case, there are still too many people who think it is acceptable to seek power over others; in the second case, that spiritual flaw translates into a sense of entitlement that extends to how we utilize the resources of the planet, to wit: without proper or even minimal restraint. In the sphere of interactions between people, this deficit leads to misunderstandings, cruelty, slavery, and war…. in the case of planetary resources, it leads to strip-mining and unsustainable industry, unchecked pollution, and ecological suicide…..

I could spend a long time detailing just how far along the path to extinction our species has come; in fact, I’ve done so many times in the past. Such detailing is to little effect, however, so today we will assume it is already done, and we have established the fact that we are further along the road to perdition than most folks want to admit. At the same time, it is necessary to admit that we are also no closer to finding an answer to the question of how we are going to persuade the majority of mankind to make major internal changes, to their beliefs, their spiritual compass, and indeed, the very foundations of their entire existence, if they wish to live, and to give their children an even chance of the same….. This is a difficult proposition, as most folks won’t even admit to the necessity for change, much less what they themselves need to do…..

The depth of ignorance, you see, is not the only problem. For many, that ignorance will keep them from ever realizing just how bad things are, right up until the Grim Reaper comes knocking on their door. But, there are many, many people out there who know exactly what they do that is wrong, and they don’t care, because they believe it will have no ultimate effect on them, only on others…. To be so uncaring as to the fates of others, it is required that one be disconnected from reality, including the reality of one’s own motivation. These folks, who live for power, will not even examine their own motives, because they already know that they are flawed; they chose to be flawed deliberately, because it serves their own self-interests, and they are incapable of understanding that they will be as affected by the end game that is coming as everyone else…. and, in this case, one can see how deliberate ignorance becomes its own justice, eventually….

I wish I had an answer…. I wish I knew a way to convince those who need to know that what they, and the fools they allow to control the world through their own inability to see clearly, their own choice to remain ignorant, cannot continue to expect to live if they do not learn to open up their minds to a new way of seeing life. These fools are rushing into oblivion with their eyes closed, believing they are blessed and protected from harm by their faith in a mirage, when in reality, their faith, and their ignorance is guaranteeing their extinction…. and unfortunately, mine along with it… So, yes, I wish I had an answer…. but, I don’t, so I’ll have to make do with my plans to wreak severe havoc amongst the philistines when the time is ripe…. If we are all marked for extermination by the universe, I’m making sure some of the guilty are going down with me…. Trust me….

“In the dark colony of night, when I consider man’s magnificent capacity for malice, madness, folly, envy, rage, and destructiveness, and I wonder whether we shall not end up as breakfast for newts and polyps, I seem to hear the muffled cries of all the words in all the books with covers closed.” — Leo Rosten

“Here pigs will fly, lightning will strike twice, hell will freeze over, and eventually, things will get really interesting…” — Smart Bee
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I’ve looked inside, and nothing is turning up in any of the dark corners where they hide, mumbling to themselves until I rip them out into the open air…. so we will have to make do, and settle for something from a proven source…. which shall remain nameless, until I find out who it is today…. Be patient, you will know soon enough…..

Portrait of the Artist as a Prematurely Old Man

It is common knowledge to every schoolboy and even every Bachelor of Arts,
That all sin is divided into two parts.
One kind of sin is called a sin of commission, and that is very important,
And it is what you are doing when you are doing something you ortant,
And the other kind of sin is just the opposite and is called a sin of omission
and is equally bad in the eyes of all right-thinking people, from
Billy Sunday to Buddha,
And it consists of not having done something you shuddha.
I might as well give you my opinion of these two kinds of sin as long as,
in a way, against each other we are pitting them,
And that is, don’t bother your head about the sins of commission because
however sinful, they must at least be fun or else you wouldn’t be
committing them.
It is the sin of omission, the second kind of sin,
That lays eggs under your skin.
The way you really get painfully bitten
Is by the insurance you haven’t taken out and the checks you haven’t added up
the stubs of and the appointments you haven’t kept and the bills you
haven’t paid and the letters you haven’t written.
Also, about sins of omission there is one particularly painful lack of beauty,
Namely, it isn’t as though it had been a riotous red-letter day or night every
time you neglected to do your duty;
You didn’t get a wicked forbidden thrill
Every time you let a policy lapse or forget to pay a bill;
You didn’t slap the lads in the tavern on the back and loudly cry Whee,
Let’s all fail to write just one more letter before we go home, and this round
of unwritten letters is on me.
No, you never get any fun
Out of things you haven’t done,
But they are the things that I do not like to be amid,
Because the suitable things you didn’t do give you a lot more trouble than the
unsuitable things you did.
The moral is that it is probably better not to sin at all, but if some kind of
sin you must be pursuing,
Well, remember to do it by doing rather than by not doing.

Ogden Nash
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“Don’t ever become a pessimist, Ira; a pessimist is correct oftener than an optimist, but an optimist has more fun — and neither can stop the march of events.” — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough For Love

As with many important truths, this one does not comfort one to know it; a common attribute of remarks by Lazarus, who has a tendency to voice the truth regardless of its potential, or even certain, effect on the audience. And, damn it, it is just so much simpler to let all the bad stuff hold sway on our attention, and give in to the depressive urge to berate and chastise the universe for its lack of tact and consideration for human sensibilities. It never listens, anyway….

My semi-rant in section one today is a perfect example of this principle at work; I do try to maintain some optimism in the face of reality; I even have learned to try to explain away all the weird stuff as being outside the statistical universe being considered. It’s a lie, but it’s my lie, so I usually can buy into it, long enough to allow denial to set in, and thus preventing the otherwise inevitable depression over how bad things have gotten…..

Actually, right now, it is fairly simple to stay completely distracted, as we always have the election, and all the shenanigans taking place on that stage, to draw our attention away from the imminent demise we face as a species, or even, more importantly, our personal concerns of everyday living. It’s easy to deny the inevitability of carbon monoxide pollution when we have Mitt the Twitt’s lies to chase down, or Biden’s latest zinger to admire, or Lyin’ Ryan’s latest example of elitism to watch with dropped jaw….. it’s a veritable circus, and the clowns are in full swing….

It’s not just the candidates providing the entertainment, either…. every Tom, Dickwad, and Mary is chiming in with their two cents, on TV, radio, and, most prodigiously, on the Internet, all trying to get SOMEONE to listen to them during the run-up to the election. Those two cents can get very, very strange, as each commenter tries to make the most outrageous statements and/or claims/accusations about all the actors on stage, and is a whole new package of entertainment for us to have on hand, each one vying for our attention at the top of their lungs, figuratively speaking…..

This is where the metaphor of the circus gains its credibility, although, more accurately, I am reminded by this, most emphatically, of just about any carnival at the County Fairs I’ve been to….. Disheveled, sinister-looking barkers, complete with suspenders and a cigar in their mouth, yelling out the prizes they promise, each one grander than the next, and easy as pie to win: exotic visions that promise endless satisfaction of desires, enormously valuable jewels and objet’s d’art for virtually nothing, and endless illusions to draw the eye away from the seediness and underlying, almost frenetic despair permeating the air….

Yes, indeed, the political scene here in America has always reminded me of a carnival, and the events and activities that prompt my impression of the election as an illusionary device, designed to fool the public into thinking that things will change if they vote, has never been stronger than it is now. I have hope that by voting against the obviously evil side of the campaign, the overall effect on the immediate future will be mitigated to some degree. But, I can find within me very little hope that the eventual outcome is in doubt, and that outcome is not one that anyone is going to like…. at all.

My optimism is fairly natural to me; I’ve always been a hopeful kind of person, and I continue to hold hope that mankind’s future will extend beyond this century, groundless as it may be. My pessimism, unfortunately, has the advantage of having the most evidence in it’s favor right now, even if Obama wins the election, as I expect he will. He is only one man, and the course of human events is very difficult to change once it is headed in a particular direction. My hope is based on the wish that more than just he will learn to make the inner changes needed for us all to survive the storms that are coming…. a slim hope, yes, but hey, it happens to be all we’ve got…..
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I seem to have gotten stuck today, harping on the same general issue in both of the prose sections. This is no doubt the result of the intense mind-control I have now assumed, in order to keep from going stark raving mad….. That severe control is causing some stilted thought patterns, falling into short, but seemingly endless loops…. I suppose I will have to sacrifice a standard or two today, in order to clear the internal censors…. but, that is simple enough. I’m human, and temporarily setting aside standards is pretty simple for us, as a rule….

Besides, I have to decide on whether to write a poem, or find one, and that can be a decision of some magnitude, depending on, well, stuff…. stuff that isn’t always clear, to me, or for me… so the decision is made more tedious, as it were…. and I’m babbling now, so I’m going to put a stop to this, with some ruthless use of the power of will…. just watch me, I’m going to stop typing any moment now, and you’ll see…. keep a sharp eye out, or you’ll miss it….  Oops, there you see, all done…. did you catch it?….. I’m just happy there’s no blood…..  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

In defense of inconvenient innuendo….

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10/20/12, aka 10/21/12 ~~ Time, or the labeling of same, is mine to dictate, so, today is tomorrow…. the missing day is banished from memory. So Be It….

Ffolkes,
It seems my unconscious mind has taken a hand in directing my conscious life as well…. but, in this case, it seems to work fairly well, all in all, so I’m going to leave it alone for the time being. I know that sound mysterious, but saying this precisely this way is merely withholding details that would be unenlightening, and at the same time, counter-productive to discussion. Suffice it to say that I am here now, sitting down to write, with more than average clarity, and a degree of unusual comfort…. Thank goodness for coffee, eh?……

I know, I know, that was a less than illuminating paragraph, but, believe me, you really don’t want any more details, so let’s just get on with our regular business, shall we? Suffice it to say that this is a case where you need to trust me, you don’t want to know any more than you do now…. So, you may as well give it up, because I ain’t talking…. Well, I wouldn’t be, but this IS the intro section, and I have to say SOMETHING….

I could point out that, here at Exploring Consensual Reality, you do get more respect…. I could have skipped the above two paragraphs entirely, and not even mentioned the new schedule changes, thus avoiding inadvertently letting out TMI, but figured that my readers are too smart, and might notice something…. so, I figure it’s better to just mention it in passing, rather than try to fool you all into a false sense of complacency. Such a condition is anathema to me, and I refuse to create it in others, if at all possible…. I’d rather create a small bit of confusion, than a great deal of it….

With all that being said, and so cheerfully, we should probably get on with the search for pearls; it promises to be somewhat of a hard line search, as I am starting off with zero to work with (as might have been surmised by this intro, and it’s obvious stretching of ingredients…). This will be posted from the library again, as it is that time of the month when my available cash is scarce…. Until we can get to that point, though, we need to find some pearls…. so, shall we Pearl?…..

“It’s OKAY — I’m an INTELLECTUAL, too.” — Zippy the Pinhead
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Okay, so there I was, cruising through Smart Bee, and these little gems popped up. Each one tempted me to begin a rant, or a discussion, but, none of them completely grabbed my attention enough to do the trick. They are all much too valuable to throw out, so I had this idea to include them as a “new-school” pearl….. Y’all can take the ideas herein described, and formulate them into your own pearl of virtual wisdom…. there is plenty here to work with; I’ve used many similar pearls myself to create unforgettable rants, or brilliantly funny forays into nonsense. (Sure I have….. trust me….)

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

“In certain trying circumstances, urgent circumstances, desperate circumstances, profanity furnishes a relief denied even to prayer.” — Mark Twain

“In regard to disagreeable and formidable things, prudence does not consist in evasion, or in flight, but in courage. He who wishes to walk in the most peaceful parts of life with any serenity must screw himself up to resolution. Let him front the object of his worst apprehension, and his stoutness will commonly make his fear groundless” — Ralph Waldo Emerson, _Essays_, Prudence

“I figure that if God actually does exist, He’s big enough to understand an honest difference of opinion.”  – Isaac Asimov

“There’s more than one way to skin a cat, but there  ain’t no way to make the cat enjoy it.” — Jed Clampett

“Man is certainly stark mad; he cannot make a worm, and yet he will be making gods by dozens.” — Michael de Montaigne (1533-1592) — Essays, Book ii, Chap. xii, Apology for Raimond Sebond

“Once you can accept the universe as being something expanding into an infinite nothing which is something, wearing stripes with plaid is easy.” — Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

So, you should find it reasonably simple to do the same yourselves (creating a pearl, that is, not wearing plaid…) …. and if not, well, they are all fairly strong stand-alone dribbles of good advice/good observations, so you aren’t completely without recourse…. No refunds, though, we’re not completely without shame…. Remember, you get what you pay for in this world, right? TANSTAAFL….. (for the uninitiated, that is, There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch….)
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Choosing a Theme

Powerful words playing hide and seek in my mind,
teasing with subtle cruelty, pretending to be kind.
Grand visions and flowery verses of beauty and truth
evaded my inner eye all through the days of my youth.

Affable interludes interspersed with allegorical wit
softened the crimes, against all reason, to finally acquit.
Time became at once an enemy, and an ally
Never once compelled to provide an answer why.

Giving gifts of simple kindness are their own pay,
spreading ripples of compassion are felt far and away.
Love given freely is precious, we are ever told,
increasing love received, more than a hundred fold.

Living long and with passion has centered my soul,
allowing me room, and time, to choose my own goal.
Now that I’ve gone past any need to pretend
I love everything in life, even knowing it will end.

~~ gigoid
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I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.

— Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) — Just So Stories (1902) “The Elephant’s Child”

I first read the phrase “feeding the Elephant’s Child” in a Robert Heinlein novel, many years ago, and enjoyed it as a metaphor for reading/learning, before I knew from whence it originally came. Once I did know (a moment of illumination whose exact placement in time is hazy….), I liked it even more, from an aesthetic standpoint. The above little ditty is brilliant doggerel, astute observation, and deep insight, all presented in a simple, straightforward style, with a powerful, basic lesson for any would-be philosopher, or any one who wishes to encompass reason as their modus operandi, so to speak. Besides which, I find that another piece of Bob’s advice fits well with this one, to wit: “Life tastes better in big bites….”

“Never wear anything that panics the cat.” — P. J. O’Rourke

I like this, a lot. It summarizes perhaps one of the most elemental rules of getting along in the Universe, in essence saying, “You can learn a lot by watching what happens around you…” It is the perfect companion to the concept of learning as presented above, as it contrives to speak to both sides of Reality, i.e., how you approach reality (the clothing you choose to show to the cat….) and how reality will change to react to your approach (the cat’s opinion of your clothing….) It also gives one a subtle warning about how the wrong clothing can produce unwanted consequences, and we all know how an offended cat is likely to respond…. as Mark Twain once remarked…. “A man who carries a cat by the tail is learning valuable things. He will never again be dim or doubtful. Chances are he’ll not carry the cat that way again, but, I say, if he wants to, let him!”  You can’t say fairer than that….

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought.” — Buddha

One can always trust the Buddha to state the most profound thoughts in the simplest way…. I often wonder how he came to such a complete understanding of Murphy, whose presence is acknowledged in all of what the Buddha stated, but whose ministrations seem to have passed by the Buddha’s existence…. either that, or Murphy shows him a lot more respect than he does anyone else alive. At times, it seems that what the Buddha states, such as in this statement, is, in at least one respect, an answer to a question that is raised when Murphy intervenes in our lives…. in simpler words, he explains why Murphy is able to affect us as he does, by cutting through the bullshite we perceive to the truth of what is real….. SIGH…. one of these days, enlightenment will slap me upside the head, and I’ll be able to see Murphy coming…. I hope…

There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.” — Bob Dylan

Often I feel as if not only is life a joke, but it is our duty and purpose on this plane of existence to codify that joke, to put it down on paper, or on screen/disc, to free ourselves from the prison of sobriety, achieving an understanding that everything in this silly universe is here for our amusement, and we have been taking it, and ourselves, seriously for entirely too long….. So seriously, we have begun to offend those parts of the universe that just want us to relax and enjoy ourselves, and the time is growing nearer when we will have to admit that the joke is on us, for not being able to change our inner selves enough to be able to handle the humor of our situation…. See, the universe thinks death is funny…. not because it is cruel, but because death is just another part of life, and it doesn’t care about one more than the other…. See, now, isn’t it funny how you never noticed that?…..

I once read a science fiction novel, whose title and author escape me completely; in all it was very poorly written, with prose that did not live up to the good ideas contained in the plot line. However, it was a great plot line, in all….Specifically, there was one chapter I liked, which had a super-genius taking on the task of finding the solution to a mathematical treatise, an equation so complex and advanced that no civilization in the galaxy had ever been able to completely solve it.

The genius/hero of the book shut himself up in his room for three weeks, working on the problem. At the end, he was thinking so hard he entered a trance-like state, computing while nearly dead…. after a week of this, he suddenly opened his eyes, gave a look of astonishment, and burst into uncontrollable laughter for approximately 25 minutes. When he could finally control himself, he simply said, “It’s a joke….” and would never discuss it again….

In a pearl such as this one has grown to be, there comes a time when I have to decide whether to continue on, to try to reach the conclusion that was nebulously hovering somewhere in my mind as I began, or to admit that I have once again wandered into uncharted territory, and might find it a bit tricky to find my way back to clarity. This is that time…. and I’m leaving it up to Smart Bee, as always…. If I don’t find a proper pearl to carry on the tenuous chain of thought I’ve created, then we’ll take the first one that will appropriately wrap it up as a lost cause….. all within a specified number of attempts…. so, here we go… You’ll know in a moment what will happen….

“In a word, neither death, nor exile, nor pain, nor anything of this kind is the real cause of our doing or not doing any action, but our inward opinions and principles.” — Epictetus (c. 60 AD) — Discourses, Book i, Chap xi

There, see?…. That didn’t take long at all…. and I managed to find the perfect pearl to cover both bases…. In this case, we will use it as an ending quote, since it sort of summarizes a lot of the discussion, after a fashion. It could conceivably also be used as a springboard for further discussion, but this has gone on long enough, and I wouldn’t want to lose anybody due to an injudicious application of excess verbiage, culminating in tedium…. Of course, we may have reached that point some time ago, but, hey, who’s counting?…. Any who, I hope you enjoyed this little foray into not very much….  🙂
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Well, there you have it…. Yesterday, or recently, I said, in a poem, “All you can do, is all you can do… and nothing more.” I’ve done all I can do today…. A couple thousand words, mostly all original, an old-school pearl, a new-school pearl, a poem…. it’s going to take me some time to close all the veins I’ve had to open up this morning…. but, it was worth it. It kept me from considering Reality for quite some time, other than as an objective subject for thought, so, that is a good thing…. and, it has the added positive characteristic of being DONE…. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing this one…..  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Mired in the prime of strife…..

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Ffolkes,
Ah yes, the delights of awakening to the tender mercies of emotional distress…. Within 10 minutes of getting up today (Thursday, the 19th), at the reasonable hour of 0755, I received a call from Social Security, to ask me, in essence, whether I would like to extend the time it takes to secure my disability benefits, another six months, by adding on a visit to a psychiatrist to determine the status of my PTSD….. As you might expect, this caused my emotions to boil over instantly, whereupon I treated the case analyst who had called to a graphic example of just what state I’m in, PTSD-wise, blubbering in incoherent anger, bemoaning in no uncertain terms the federal government’s apparent desire to put me in a grave before letting go of my money….. It was NOT the way I would have chosen to start my morning, to say the least….

Now I have no idea how much longer this will take; I’ll need to talk with my lawyer now, and that can be stressful as well, so I may as well prepare myself for a period of insensibility, as my mind tends to want to shut down when stuff like this threatens my equilibrium. But, sadly, it looks as if I may as well resign myself to another long period of waiting in the dark, and can pretty much kiss the idea of Christmas goodbye for another year….. Too bad, really…. I had hoped to be able to actually go to a store and buy something for my kids for the occasion, but, I guess I’ll once again be trying to ignore the whole scene, and making do with giving them one of my own pieces of family history as a gift, or perhaps writing a poem for them…. not exactly the most thrilling of gifts, but, it’s the thought that counts, right?

Yesterday, the 18th, I didn’t post again, for the second time since starting this blog. It felt weird to not post, just like it did last month when it happened for the first time. As the poor federal case worker found out this morning, there is a lot of pressurized material stuffed into my head, and it needs to come out on a regular basis…. I did complete a Pearl yesterday, but couldn’t get to the library in time to post it, due to waiting for other folks to get stuff done…. SIGH….. Add a few more hit points to that stress level, ffolkes, and start counting!…..

Being a day behind, even though ahead, this will get posted on the 20th of October, 2012…. which, had he lived, would be my father’s 100th birthday…. and is now my youngest brother’s 57th, 58th, or 59th, I can never keep him and my younger sister’s ages straight…. Any who, happy happy to Kevin, and to my Dad’s memory….

As a result of this morning’s folderol, I am retreating, and will start looking for pearls as a substitute for going out to look for a victim; I always find beating up on somebody to be liberating, but inconvenient, what with all the criminal charges and all…. Instead, I’ll just pour all that angst into a rant, or a poem, or something…. maybe even a piece on Zippy, or Pooh, to bring out a few smiles. They (smiles) are buried pretty deep right now, but, a bit of Zippy can do wonders…. Let’s get to it….. Shall we Pearl?…..
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Raquel Welch:  36-24-36
Bo Derek:  35-24-36
Ann-Margaret:  37-25-36
Bette Middler:  37-25-36
Marilyn Monroe:  37-24-37
Jane Russell:  39-27-38
Jayne Mansfield: 40-23-37
Sophia Loren:  37-25-36

— Smart Bee (?)

So, sue me. It isn’t what you think, unless you are thinking what I’m thinking. I’m not going to say that isn’t possible, or even unlikely…. unless you  are thinking it is about some sexist premise that identifies women as objects. Being male, I’m not an expert on spotting or exposing that, but I’ve been around a long time, and have never held with most of what society holds as true about women, unless spoken by a woman who hasn’t proved to be one of the brainwashed….

No, this list is only here to note that what society seems to project, in magazines and advertising, through fashions and trends sponsored by those who determine such matters (i.e., the moneymen…) as the image of beauty, is not the same as what public opinion obviously feels about what makes a woman beautiful, in terms of weight and shape. All of the women in the above list were, and/or are, considered to be the visual pinnacle of what the public believes is beautiful, as evidenced by the popularity of their work, in film or on stage…. but none of them are at all similar to what the manipulators of fashion would have us believe is the ideal shape…. Whereas models can only be described as slender or willowy, all these women are what we might call zaftig, or rubenesque, in their visual proportions….. Personally, I agree with the public…. I find Ann Margaret to be much more pleasant to look at than any model in a magazine that I have EVER seen….. And, the fact that I feel entitled to make a judgment makes me as guilty of objectifying women as a man who utilizes brothels for sex…

Thus, if we grant the truth of that revelation, the mere existence of the list becomes the most objectionable piece of it….. It illustrates that the process of objectification is subtle; just applying such standards to women at all tends to cause people to think of them as objects, rather than as people. Society has been male-oriented for a very long time, a state of affairs justified as “might makes right.” Sadly; a lot of what is wrong in the world can be traced to that unfortunate fact. Men have, out of their own insecurities and fears, set things up so that women have very little say about what happens to them in life; those decisions are made for them by fathers, brothers, or husbands in most of the world. In order to do this, and not suffer pangs of guilt at every turn, men, and women, are taught that it is okay to objectify women, and to treat them as if they are property…. and property needs to be labeled, hence lists such as the one above….

Yesterday, rmott62 posted a blog, (http://rmott62.wordpress.com/2012/10/19/your-lies-are-part-of-our-genocide/), which I re-blogged on my site, speaking about this very subject, to wit: how the language we choose can objectify those of whom it speaks.  You can probably get a better idea of how insidiously the issue of victimizing women permeates society by visiting her blog; she speaks powerfully, with no punches pulled, from experience, and with great insight, much more forcefully than I ever can, so I recommend to you very strongly that you go to her site, and read what she has to say…. It will change the way you look at much of what passes in our society for normal, and make you ashamed for not noticing…. if not, it should, for we are all guilty of perpetrating the evil, if only by not acting or speaking up, for as long as the victimization of women, and the entire prostitution industry, continues to objectify, demean, and drag women of all ages into perpetual slavery…..

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I keep hoping, but the poem I feel in my head isn’t ready to come out yet, and time is passing (at the leisurely pace so beloved of the federal bureaucracies…..)….. so, if I want to get this Pearl posted today, I’d best be coming up with another poem for this space. I’ve become somewhat addicted to this morning dose of verse; it seems to make the prose taste better somehow….. Whatever the reason, I like it…. Here, then, is another fine piece from the annals of history, with some whimsy applied as the primary search criterion…. hell, whimsy could easily be construed as an algorithm, almost, in this sense…. Besides, the poem I’ve found is the perfect choice to follow the first pearl’s message. Any who, sensible nonsense aside, enjoy!…..

Men

When I was young, I used to
Watch behind the curtains
As men walked up and down the street. Wino men, old men.
Young men sharp as mustard.
See them. Men are always
Going somewhere.
They knew I was there. Fifteen
Years old and starving for them.
Under my window, they would pauses,
Their shoulders high like the
Breasts of a young girl,
Jacket tails slapping over
Those behinds,
Men.

One day they hold you in the
Palms of their hands, gentle, as if you
Were the last raw egg in the world. Then
They tighten up. Just a little. The
First squeeze is nice. A quick hug.
Soft into your defenselessness. A little
More. The hurt begins. Wrench out a
Smile that slides around the fear. When the
Air disappears,
Your mind pops, exploding fiercely, briefly,
Like the head of a kitchen match. Shattered.
It is your juice
That runs down their legs. Staining their shoes.
When the earth rights itself again,
And taste tries to return to the tongue,
Your body has slammed shut. Forever.
No keys exist.

Then the window draws full upon
Your mind. There, just beyond
The sway of curtains, men walk.
Knowing something.
Going someplace.
But this time, I will simply
Stand and watch.

Maybe.

Maya Angelou

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As always, when lacking the wherewithal to rant, or to discourse intelligently (if that can be said to ever happen….) I retreat into the wisdom of the ages, developing an idea with pearls that says, well, whatever it says…. I do try to make it enlightening in some fashion, even if only by providing some comic relief to the sober nature of much of the other material here. Here, then, are some pearls that spoke to me about enlightenment, each in its own little whisper….

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” — Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), “Lady Windermere’s Fan”, 1892

With virtue you cannot be entirely poor… Without it you cannot be really rich. — Chinese Proverb

A master programmer passed a novice programmer one day.  The master noted the novice’s preoccupation with a hand-held computer game.  “Excuse me”, he said, “may I examine it?”   The novice bolted to attention and handed the device to the master. “I see that the device claims to have three levels of play: Easy, Medium, and Hard”, said the master.  “Yet every such device has another level of play, where the device seeks not to conquer the human, nor to be conquered by the human.”  “Pray, great master,” implored the novice, “how does one find this mysterious setting?”   The master dropped the device to the ground and crushed it under foot. And suddenly the novice was enlightened. — Geoffrey James, “The Tao of Programming”

“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

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” — Alvin Toffler

“Avoid fried foods which angry up the blood.” — Satchel Paige, early to mid-20th century sage

“The Buddha, the Godhead, resides quite as comfortably in the circuits of a digital computer or the gears of a cycle transmission as he does at the top of a mountain or in the petals of a flower.  To think otherwise is to demean the Buddha — which is to demean oneself.” — Robert Pirsig, “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”

“Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst.” — Thomas Paine

The Journey is the Reward, Not the Destination. — Zen Koan

A Native American elder once described his own inner struggles in this manner: “Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time.” When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied, “The one I feed the most.” — George Bernard Shaw

Well, there you go…. If you’re not enlightened by now, well, you’re on your own, because that’s the best I’ve got in stock. Hmm…. gee, you don’t get the impression this is a metaphoric manipulation, do you? …….  Nah! Trust me!  No hidden agendas here, or metaphoric stimuli intended to create moments of zazen illumination….It’s all the real deal, and used properly, has been known to produce wonderful results…. and, well, the price is right, yes? Free advice is always worth what you pay for it….. Ta for now, luvs…..
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Well, the gods of literature can relax now…. I didn’t need to resort to either Zippy, or Pooh to get the Pearl done. I even managed to avoid using Will Shakespeare again…. though I do have a LOT of material of his that is appropriate for target shooting, it wasn’t needed today. Some might be thankful for that, but, they’re just jealous, for not thinking of it first….. Today we are back in waiting mode, with the added hope that the federal game of slow-them-down-as-much-as-possible won’t be able to find the dice, and won’t hold things up any more than they already have been….. Fat chance, I know, but, hey, gotta have our groundless hope, eh?…..  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!