“Thou hast commanded that an ill-regulated mind should be its own punishment.”
~~ Saint Augustine ~~
Dunphy’s Tavern…
One day, perhaps, I’ll find & resume the routine which allows me to produce these posts on a consistent basis; my deliberate absence, and the resultant lack of practice, along with the lifestyle alterations I’ve made, don’t seem to lend themselves particularly well to the single-minded focus I once displayed in that respect. All I can say about that is, oh, well; too bad, so sad. For the current time & place, that will have to suffice, for I feel no guilt, nor any particular shame. All I feel is a vague, unfocused feeling, much like thinking we’ve forgotten something important.
But, like any human of my age, I have numerous techniques to put all that sort of crap aside, & just go on as if it didn’t matter. Which, if you note, it doesn’t, at all. Not only doesn’t it matter, it’s probably only me who either cares, or even thinks about stuff like that. I mean, what’s the point? Well, I’ll tell ya…. When your mind is as empty of ideas on how to get going, or keep going, you (or, rather I….) will put damn near anything down, just to get a little further down the page….
SIGH…. However, even such shameless blather as I’ve employed thus far can only take us so far, & never quite far enough. In fact, it;s so pitifully bad, I’m giving up. If you listen closely, you can hear me muttering to myself as I do the only thing I have left to do….
Shall we Pearl?
“I prefer the folly of enthusiasm to the indifference of wisdom.”
~~ Anatole France ~~
(So do I. Doesn’t mean I can muster up much of either some days…. )
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Lena Horne
Image from Pinterest.com via Google Images…
I suppose it might be said I’m feeling rather nostalgic of late…. In keeping with that observation, here is a You Tube Mix of this artist’s works, which I have listened to all my life…. A strong soul, and a pure, smooth voice…. True beauty lasts forever; I hope you enjoy it….
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Confidentially Paranoid
Only when the bright sunlight of dreams draws nigh
can the dark glass of reality factor true value..
Destiny’s horses run in fear as time goes dry,
for grappling with fate in such traitorous venue.
In pallid costumes made of graven cast-off tales,
fallen angels and demons show the measure of faith.
No sad transactions should escape these well-marked trails,
no angry relatives cast insults to a sedentary wraith.
Meaning can always hide in literal cold intent,
yet show mere facets of honor to perishable youth.
Sincere contentions leave with sorrowful bent,
while bastardly arguments fill in poorly for the truth.
Gone are moments filled with florid blasts of rhyme
left to molder on the shoulders of unreasonable hope.
Only courage can save these measures of unspoken time
to gather new issues, powerfully broad, painful in scope.
~~ gigoid ~~
2/25/2015
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Naked Pearls
“Be obscure clearly.”
~~ E.B. White ~~
*******
“The universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with human ambition.”
~~ Carl Sagan ~~
*******
“Believe me!
The secret of reaping the greatest fruitfulness
and the greatest enjoyment from life
is to live dangerously”
~~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900) ~~
*******
“Apollo, the God of light, of reason, of proportion, harmony, number —
Apollo blinds those who press too close in worship.
Don’t look straight at the sun.
Go into a dark bar and have a beer with Dionysos, every now and then.”
~~ Ursula K. LeGuin ~~
*******
“I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
~~ Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken” ~~
*******
“If you never assume importance you never lose it.”
~~ Lao-tzu ~~
*******
“It is not the oath that makes us believe the man, but the man the oath.”
~~ Aeschylus (525-456 BC), Frag. 385 ~~
*******
“Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.”
~~ Buddha ~~
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Since I’ve already ‘made do’ with what came before, we’ll continue in that vein, & make do with it for today. Hopefully, there was a nugget or two for your pouch, or a pearl for your collection. In any case, I’ll try again, perhaps even tomorrow. Until then, be well, be happy as you may be, & remember: whatever you do, it’s all your choice. Make good ones….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.”
~~ Carl Sagan ~~
The bar at White’s Tavern, Belfast, Ireland ~ Est. 1630
Hajime…. Some of y’all may have noticed, a few years ago, when the world went totally insane. Mostly, people either chose to ignore the clear signs, or, actively & passionately celebrated the general loss of rationality, both of which, naturally, contributed heavily to the original problem, now in the critical stages. In the larger sense, it doesn’t much matter whether we acknowledge the insanity; what will be, will be. But, in the smaller sense, it promises to be a rather difficult time for individuals, especially those without the wit to understand why it all seems so crazy. In short, time is now NOT on our side, and the shit, stinky as it is, is about to hit the fan….
But, as they are wont to say downtown, oh, well. All you can do is all you can do, & I, personally, have done pretty much all I can do. So, I sit, and watch, as the world steadily marches to the end game. As T. S. wrote, “This is how the world ends; with a whimper, not a bang.” I am not sure if it makes me sad, glad, or just as confused as ever; since none of them matter, or can have any lasting effect, I’ll just be all three, & continue to observe, shaking my head every now & again, as things get weirder, & weirder out in the Big Blue Room.
For now, though, I suppose I should quit lamenting the state of the world, which I can’t control, and move on to something I can. If nothing else, I still have this, right? Right. Not that it’s fair compensation for extinction, but, it will do for this morning’s purpose, which is merely to reach the point where I may say, it’s done. To further that purpose, I’m dumping the rest of this intro, in favor of a quick flight to the rest of what I’ve managed to put together. I can’t say it’s the best ever, but, it does have that incredibly satisfying characteristic, to wit, it’s done. Or, it will be, as soon as I do this….
Shall we Pearl?
“God, to me, it seems
is a verb
not a noun
proper or improper.”
~~ R. Buckminster Fuller ~~
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I’m feeling both lazy and in need of elegance; this should do nicely to cover both needs/desires…. Enjoy!…..
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Chopin Piano Concertos #’s 1 & 2
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A Failure to Germinate
Marking the days in elements of sad disarray
only holds me thrall, as I laugh while I may.
With cold, hard hands so impatient and cruel
pulling me to this vale of tears, a pathetic old fool.
Feelings sit silent, cast in shadows and light
breaking forth to implicate such vengeful might.
Just below the surface they patiently hide
to sally forth bravely, colors bright as they ride.
Tears and pain transform valued assets in hand
while comfort and serenity retreat to a far land.
Bold, bright patterns of hope garnish my ruinous state
until reality enters, full of disdainful portions of hate.
I sort out the illustrious measures of vision gone mild
only to find them transformed, now vicious and wild.
In my deepest desires I find myself calloused and cold
with faithless advocates whose souls have been sold.
My search finds little to support any hope of relief
far too much time has passed to bolster such belief.
The sad becomes real, and real becomes unfounded
until flights of such fancy are all dead, and grounded.
Nature has informed me of the newly hatched crime
of which reality boasted proudly, time after time.
The last answer we think of is always the best
as we come to terms with fate, our hope at rest.
~~ gigoid ~~
9/27/2012
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Naked Pearls
Elements of Illumination….
*******
“Courage is the greatest of all the virtues.
You cannot consistently practice any other virtues
without being courageous.”
~~ Maya Angelou ~~
*******
“Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”
~~ Hanlon’s Razor ~~
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“It is in changing that things find repose”
~~ ~~ Heraclitus
*******
“Anywhere is walking distance, if you’ve got the time.”
~~ Steven Wright ~~
*******
“In this world there is always danger
for those who are afraid of it.”
~~ George Bernard Shaw ~~
*******
“However many holy words you read,
However many you speak,
What good will they do you
If you do not act on upon them?”
~~ Buddha ~~
*******
“Fuck ’em if they can’t take a joke.”
~~ J. R. “Bob” Dobbs ~~
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Once more, having displayed the idiosyncratic nature of what we do here, I can say my self-appointed duties are complete. I’ll skip any comments on quality, or even quantity, & stay on the course set in the intro, which seems to have worked well to get us this far. We’re going to make that assumption, anyway, even at the risk of being right. I suppose that’s getting a little smarmy, so, why don’t I end this here, & see what I can do about trying to put one together for tomorrow? Yeah, that’s what we’ll do; besides, I can’t think of anything else to say. So, I’ll say, see ya, ffolkes, & be done with it….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
“The enemy is fear. We think it is hate; but, it is fear.”
~~ Mohandas K., ‘Mahatma’ Gandhi ~~
I know I left it in here….
Hajime…. To say so may engender comments, or, at least, the general impression, that my curmudgeon status is in full force, but, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of discomfort and chagrin for much of yesterday, as I observed a large portion of humanity celebrating their particular form of madness, in the form of a paroxysm of common delusion, sharing the apparent unconscious joy of surrendering their rationality for a promise of supernatural intervention after they die. I suppose it is only fitting to also observe a world on the brink of a nuclear holocaust, as those most lacking in rationality lead the mass of their unwitting accomplices to extinction….
But, nonetheless, that’s the way I see it, & it wouldn’t be honest to not say so. Regardless of anyone’s beliefs, reality has come to a cusp for our species, & I can’t see much, or, for that matter, any evidence we will alter our rush to our own demise, for there are not nearly enough of us who can see the problem we face, or help the rest realize their failure to reason. Moreover, though it is difficult to accept, there is little reason to think reality will allow us to deny our own nature any longer, but, will assert its prerogatives in a way we will have no choice but to accede. In short, we’re pretty well up the creek, and there’s no paddle in sight.
Rather than dwell on that which I cannot personally change, I think I’ll just put together a Pearl, with some of what I see, and can guess, as some of the elements; this, while not likely to cause anyone to turn activist, or reformer, or any other possibly helpful state of mind, will have the simple effect of keeping me from hurrying anyone along the path we are already treading; I have to keep reminding myself it isn’t my job, or, my destiny, to fix anything; it’s only my task to observe, and report. So be it. It may not be the most ethical path, but, ’tis the one I can choose without abandoning all I know to be true….
That’s a bit cryptic, & possibly depressing, as well, but, such is life, sometimes. Wait a minute! What’s this?
A gray, bent old man just appeared; he’s wandering about the room, touching my stuff, & giggling to himself, somewhat madly….. Suddenly, he says, “Don’t you have something you’re supposed to be doing?”…. SIGH…. He’s right, so, we’ll go ahead, now, & just do it…..
Shall we Pearl?
“You can’t get wet from the word ‘water’.”
~~ Alan Watts ~~
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I’m in the mood for some old-time rock & roll, & for a blog that posts Pearls, what better music to turn to than that of this lady? She was, after all, known for a time as ‘Pearl’….. The video I’ve included is part of a collection of most of her live concert videos…. Enjoy, ffolkes; Janis had a voice that arrowed straight into the bones, & made itself felt….
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Janis Joplin Live
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Augmentation: Inner Aye
Distant, peals of thunder, vividly.
Closer, a patter of rain, falling gravidly.
Between the light and the darkness of fear
find merely the remnants of one lonely tear.
Do not hate us, though we have not sinned;
eager for courage, upon whom all hope is pinned.
Tales of insolence, hatred, or fallen virtue
fill us up, not down, in such pristine foreign venue.
Capable hands severed, able hands tied;
the future is angry, all but now denied.
Multiple times, warnings sounded across the pale
nobody heard, nobody came to tell the tale.
Gifted by time, salience fails in epic rhyme;
watchmakers watching, each a separate crime.
Logical solutions refuse to emulsify
forever pretending to cruelly crucify.
Blood will fly alongside pertinent composure,
never seeking, never finding tea, or closure.
Falsely laid trails on mountains of gold
imply no happy endings, no fortunes told.
Ages past have no time for repetition;
further chances only lead to perdition.
Destiny feels a shameful portion of guilt,
for a thousand sand castles, never built.
~~ gigoid ~~
3/2/2016
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Naked Pearls
Notes on Transcendence….
*******
“It’s that moment of dawning comprehension I live for.”
~~ Hobbes ~~
*******
“In order to make an apple pie from scratch,
you must first create the universe.”
~~ Carl Sagan, “Cosmos” ~~
*******
“Never let the future disturb you.
You will meet it, if you have to,
with the same weapons of reason
which today arm you against the present.”
~~ Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ~~
*******
“I say love, it is a flower; and you, it’s only seed.”
~~ Bette Midler. “The Rose” ~~
*******
“Education is an admirable thing,
but it is well to remember from time to time
that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.”
~~ Oscar Wilde ~~
*******
“Time present and time past
are both perhaps present in time future.
What might have been and what is
all point to the same end,
that which is always present.”
~~ T.S. Eliot, “Burnt Norton” ~~
*******
“You only live twice:
Once when you’re born,
Once when you look death in the face.”
~~ Ian Fleming ~~
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Well, it’s done, in spite of having to resort to literary trickery, just to free ourselves from the burgeoning rant in the intro section. All the elements are present, so, we’ll go ahead & post this, just as if it were worthy. I’ll make it a point to try again, perhaps tomorrow…. Until then, y’all be careful out there, & stay alert. Things are becoming even more strange than we can imagine….. Imagine what THAT is going to be like, if you dare….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
“True merit, like a river, the deeper it is, the less noise it makes.”
~~ Halifax ~~
Morning Glory in Blue
Hajime…. Bozoid, or not, it’s got to be done. Since my degree of bozoid is rather highly developed, that will require an incredible amount of focus, and will, in order to fulfill our chosen duty. Given the last night’s draw, having fought for sleep until successful (well, to a degree… three sets of two hours isn’t too bad… that’s more down than up, so, hey, bonus….), and the concomitant extra smegs of energy, I have no real excuse for not getting it done, unless I retreat into whine and sour cheese. Therefore, what you see is what I’ve got, and it’s all you get.
Today, that isn’t an insignificant amount of material. In fact, there’s a rather extensive diatribe in the ranting section, with a seven-star pearl that grew to nine, and a complex poem from about 4 years ago. I also think you’ll enjoy today’s music; I know I did, and will again. So, in spite of any possible glitches, or, spanners in the works, we have a pretty good example of a Pearl of Virtual Wisdom for your reading pleasure. I know, that’s a bit presumptuous, but, hey, I think so, and, in the final analysis, that’s all that matters…. Deal with it, just as if it were a part of Reality As We Know It….
Now I’ve set the stage, so to speak, I think I’ll use my somewhat underused executive decision making powers, as held by law and custom, I’ll cut the intro down to a proper size, with the simple decree, “it’s enough, and, it’s done.” So be it. I hope you enjoy today’s mess; I enjoyed putting it together, mostly, so, that will probably show through. If not, well, you can ask for a refund. You won’t get one, but, you can ask. On that curmudgeonly note, I say we should be on our way, and, in this blog, what I say, necessarily, goes….
Shall we Pearl?….
“Dope will get you through times of no money
better that money will get you through times of no dope.”
~~ Freewheelin’ Franklin, “The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers” ~~
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Image from youtube.com via Google Images
Some days, you just need it to be as real as it can get. Today is such a day for me. When ‘real’ is called for, I call for Tom Waits….
I had a quote by Plato picked out, but, ranting is not in the picture for this morning; given the state of my mind, it wouldn’t be a good idea. Here for your reading enjoyment is a rather extensive discussion/diatribe, which pokes some rather cogent indictments against certain members of the BRC, or, as we like to call them, Asininnies…. Enjoy!….
From 2/1/2013:
“I wouldn’t recommend sex, drugs or insanity for everyone, but they’ve always worked for me.” — Hunter S. Thompson (b. 1939), journalist
So, this is going to be fun…. I think. I have no idea what to put here today. I’m not ready to rant; besides which, there’s nothing particularly rantable on tap… Oh, there’s stuff to talk about, silly stuff, bad stuff, even some good stuff…. but, none of it tickles my rant bone…. So, I’m just going to use some links to subject matter, as well as links to today’s headlines, to make short, hopefully pithy comments, infused with with and wisdom, (well, insofar as I am capable of doing so…you can never tell just how that will work out….), thereby defusing the otherwise potentially explosive possibilities that arise when I don’t rant….
First, one of my gentle readers left me a link yesterday, that led to some rather interesting information, about a concept that, oddly enough, I’d never before encountered in all my reading…. though, come to think of it now, I did read the book in which the the first appearance of the idea appeared, according to the article, a tome by Philip K. Dick…. I must have passed over the concept as part of the book’s plot, because it is a deep one, and deserves some thought….
Pronoia…. the belief that there is a conspiracy on the part of the universe to make my life better…. It is the exact reverse state of mind of paranoia, the belief in a conspiracy by reality to do us harm; as such, the concept offers the best sort of contrast to that, contrast that outlines and reveals the true state of mind we need, in order to see ALL the picture that Reality presents to us… The state of mind that shows us how to be aware of the true nature of Reality, that of duality….
It’s also a very nice way to think about living, as one of the natural results of following this train of thought is to become more compassionate, and more tolerant of others…. more able to love, and be loved… If you need an example of someone who displays the characteristics of a pronoiac, think of Elwood P. Dowd, the character played by Jimmy Stewart in the movie, “Harvey”….. Elwood believed in acting just as if the world was a place that had no other purpose than to give him different opportunities to find happiness, and, as a result of his beliefs, he found it, everywhere he looked….
Read the article, ffolkes, it will give you something to think about other than the gloom and doom that is our usual fare, if nothing else….
In another example of how frigging CRAZY this world is, and just how little respect for the public the BRC has, I offer the following, which, though it appears to be encouraging, is actually quite scary, and I’ll tell you why…. after you read what he said….
While Barry claims to value net neutrality, his minions at the NSA and the US Cyber Security Forces are actively pursuing complete CONTROL of that internet, seeking to find ways to be able to access ANY computer ANYWHERE on the planet, as long as it is connected to the Net. When he was first elected, I sent an email to the White House, in answer to a call for opinions on some subject or another…. My hope, though small, was that someone would actually READ what I sent, and possibly, a response from an actual person would be elicited….
No such luck… I never have received anything from them via this contact other than obvious form letters, asking for donations, telling me I should join this movement, or support the president in some project or another…. Since sending that ONE email, I have been inundated with two, and sometimes three or four emails a day from the White House…. That’s every day, since 2009…. I get begging letters, letters to try to engage me enough to click on links to send me to places where they can present more attempts to brainwash me…. This administration has embrace the internet, social media, and email as marketing tools of the highest order, and obviously, have learned a lot from the spam industry about how to use email as a marketing tool…
Not only that, they are definitely mining me for whatever data they can find…. They know my name, and that I’ve never responded, because I keep getting emails from them telling me my name isn’t on their list as a supporter or a donor…. I would opt out of getting them, but, I believe in the old adage about keeping one’s enemies close enough to know what they’re up to, at least on the surface….
Immediately upon emailing the WH, I also got new, begging-type emails from a number of liberal causes, all of whom are big supporters of the pOTUS’s agenda…. Even Al Franken, a smart comedian turned Senator, started hitting me up for donations, along with the Human Rights Commission, MoveOn.org, Causes, Greenpeace, etc….. all are dunning me to get my spare dollars, and put my name, and computer address, into their database….
No, thanks…. I’ll keep accepting the emails, because it gives me a fair idea of what’s up in those arenas, but, I won’t ever respond again to them, even though I have no fear of the delete button, and can get rid of them without mercy, or regret…. which I do, every day…. But, damn, I wish I was a good enough hacker to be able to send back an email bomb, that would explode their database when my data got entered…. That would be too cool for words….
I see this statement by the president as a self-serving one, designed to make people believe he has the same concerns they have; but, at the same time, he is actively working to make the internet completely his to control…. and THAT’s dangerous, because, people are BELIEVING him….
Lastly today, here is an article which I am including, even though I won’t read it…. If this project gets passed, it will be a significant victory for the Asininnies in the fight to save the Arctic (Oh, yeah, I get emails about that, too…) from the oil companies’ limitless avarice. I have a feeling, though, even if passed, it will never get built, due to eco-terrorist sabotage…..Though not one of them, per se, I know there are a LOT of people out there who are VERY committed to stopping this pipeline, and won’t give up….
Seems to me, though I’ve never studied those particular warfare techniques, it wouldn’t be all that difficult to stop the pipeline from being built, considering the vulnerability of the areas through which it must pass…..Time will tell, but, I think the shadowy corporate masters may have bitten off a bite from a very bitter apple, which may end up being more than they can chew, this time….
Such articles tend to depress me, so I’m going to give this a rest now…. This will have to suffice as today’s rant, because, ffolkes, that’s all I’ve got in me today…. I’m pretty sure that most ffolkes would say it’s enough…. I’ll finish up with this short, five-star pearl, which seems appropriate to the above discussions….
“According to Descartes, Rush Limbaugh doesn’t exist.” — Smart Bee
“If good intentions are combined with stupidity, it is impossible to outthink them.” — Marion J. Levy, Jr.
“Prefer loss to the wealth of dishonest gain; the former vexes you for a time; the latter will bring you lasting remorse.” — Chilo
“Remember: it’s only American television.” — David Letterman
“Life, as we know it, does not exist.” — Smart Bee
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A bit less than five years ago, after a hiatus covering nearly 40 years, I began writing poetry again. This one is one of those first attempts to stretch my mind a bit; it seems to have worked. Last night, for some unknown reason, while up in the middle of the night, the title floated up into my head. So, here it is, for, who am I to ignore messages from my own unconscious mind?
Fatal Supplication
But what becomes of our deepest dangerous dreams?
Does fantasy rescue any part of life’s imperiled favor?
Reality becomes but silvery pairs of mismatched teams,
Dining with affable elegance, such diffident waste to savor.
Who decides what sorrows to carry bravely to term?
Will fragrant moments of sanity make hasty manifestation?
Only Time’s patient mutability sends messages so firm,
Yet salient impersonal vexation lends credence to ripe imagination.
Can folly bring out sadness and rampant visions of beauty?
What kindness can be found in distant open relations?
With countless faces the dead disturb with dire impunity,
From separate caches of wisdom come simple stylish privations.
Shall shallow emotion serve to provide such explanations?
When does avaricious intensity assume primary focus?
Plain answers slide softly through with multiple mitigations,
While conceptually indignant concepts engage a fatally personal locus.
~~ gigoid ~~
9/20/2012
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Naked Pearls
Guess….
*******
“Sure, understanding today’s complex world of the future is a little
like having bees live in your head. But there they are . . .”
~~ The Firesign Theater ~~
*******
“We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever.”
~~ Carl Sagan ~~
*******
“Be loyal.”
~~ Things We Can Learn From Dogs ~~
*******
“How could the drops of water know themselves to be a river?
Yet the river flows on.”
~~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery ~~
*******
“Sacred cows make the best hamburger.”
~~ Mark Twain ~~
*******
“Never be boastful; someone may come along who knew you as a child.”
~~ Chinese Proverb ~~
*******
“It’s not only what we do,
but also what we do not do for which we are accountable.”
~~ Moliere ~~
*******
“Pain exists to measure pleasure by.”
~~ Tibetan Proverb ~~
*******
“The game isn’t over till it’s over.”
~~ Yogi Berra ~~
*******
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It’s always a good feeling to complete a chosen duty; given my background, and my father, it’s about the best feeling there is in my world. I’m not sure I want to try to figure out what THAT means, so, we’ll take this opportunity to take our leave, before I do, or say, anything untoward. It happens. Instead, I’ll bid thee adieu for another day, with our usual caveat, to wit: I’ll be back tomorrow, ffolkes. Just try to stop me….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
“Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.”
~~ J.R.R Tolkien ~~
Tianenmen Square, 2004
Hajime…. Today’s Pearl is late. Again. Chalk it up to the return of our old friend, insomnia, whose presence over the past four days has NOT been appreciated, nor celebrated. It has, however, been a pain in the proverbial ass. Naturally, y’all will realize that means a bit more archive diving today, but, hey, the archives are deep, and wide, so, we’ll see if we can’t find something worth reading. Our old-school pearl is fresh, as is the music, just released by Playing For Change, the organization which plays music for peace…. It’s a great cut, with some outstanding artists and celebrities joining in with the kids and street artists.
Lack of sleep has cleared out my head of any useful material, as is its habit. This means you get lucky, since I’ll have to truncate this intro again, so as to maintain any sort of schedule. As I am already damn near an hour past my usual time to post, I will delay no further, & get us the hell out of here post haste. I will say this; I’m tired of having to make excuses for these Pearls, so, tomorrow’s effort will be better, come hell, or high water. On that relatively positive note, let’s get this slow on the toad for today….
Shall we Pearl?….
“Against the assault of laughter, nothing can stand.”
~~ Mark Twain ~~
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Here is the latest cut from Playing For Change…. It’s an organization well worth your support; stop by their website after listening, and consider joining me as an Ambassador…. You won’t regret it, for you will be notified of every new song they make…. Enjoy!….
I’m late again, thanks to the return of insomnia to my life. SIGH…. Oh, well. Y’all know what that means, right? Right…. Enjoy!
From 2/1/2013:
“The secret of life is to appreciate the pleasure of being terribly deceived.” — Oscar Wilde
Oscar’s speech, and his grasp of the art of conversation, were legendary for showing wit along with intelligent insight. Often, with aphorisms like this one, that depth of insight became quite shiny….. It doesn’t seem like much, at first glance, but is actually quite good advice, though given with tongue firmly planted in cheek. In one simple sentence, he condemns modern society for its lack of integrity, and offers to mankind the only true way to be content with our lot…..
In this society, we, the people, are deceived on what is essentially an hourly basis, by our leaders, by our priests, by businesses, by the police, by each other for the sake of expedience; almost every minute of our lives we are being lied to by someone, especially if one watches a lot of TV. We have, culturally, become so inured to being lied to that we have come to assume it is not just okay, but is the only way to get ahead in life…. Sadly, this may be true…. The presence of honesty in human interaction has become so rare that most people just expect the lies, and learn to live with them per Oscar’s suggestion.
In its simplicity, and in its Zen-like attitude, what Oscar shared is very much Eastern in its outlook. It isn’t a common idea in Western culture to “go with the flow”, but rather to “fight on”; the concept of acceptance to deal with challenge is foreign to most of us raised under Christian standards. But, regardless of where one is raised, the lies are still out there, being used by those in power to confuse, distract, and manipulate the voting public, and I think we can count on them to continue in that vein for as long as it continues to work for them….
So, maybe it is time to look at what Oscar said as a challenge, rather than advice. Perhaps, if the public began to NOT accept the lies, but began to question those in authority, to demand that the truth be told, then maybe there is a chance for us to survive the coming collapse….. Maybe…. it may already be too late….
I read an interesting article the other day, and I use the word ‘interesting’ in its most dangerous sense, as is common in Eastern culture, where being wished an “interesting life” is a curse…. The article made this statement, to wit: the climate is not changing. It has changed…… In other words, the moment that the environmentalists have been fearing for years has arrived, and we have reached a point of no return.
The millions of tons of particulate matter (“pollution”) we have been pumping into the air for the last 100 years has reached a point where irreversible changes in the balance of the planetary ecosystem have been made, and the climate, which has just begun to alter its centuries-old patterns, will now continue to grow more unpredictable, and more violently destructive than has ever been seen before in history. These changes are not going to stop, and in fact, will worsen over time…. and, I am unhappy to report, this is not fear-mongering, this is not speculation, this is not a lie…. this is demonstrable fact. See for yourself, here:
I am so pissed off about this that I am going to have to stop this pearl right here; I’m already trembling from the jolt of adrenaline the anger stimulated in me. Those in power over society have ignored the warnings that scientists and environmentalists have issued for decades, and their intransigence is now going to kill all of us, slowly and with great pain for many, as life on this planet becomes more and more of a challenge, to live, nay, just to survive. There is only one reason this is happening, and that is the FACT that the Beloved Ruling Class has, for centuries, lied and cheated the rest of humanity, and have arranged matters so that they are the only ones who are truly comfortable… most of humanity has to struggle to obtain just enough of the resources being hoarded to live in hunger, barely able to survive.
Bah! I am incensed, and can hardly contain my rage…. It makes me want to go out and start….. well, I started to say “killing”, referring to the members of the BRC, but, on second thought, killing is too good for them. I think I’d rather keep them alive, but make them suffer, just as much as they have made others suffer their entire lives….. It’s time, ffolkes, for humanity to step up, and boot the assholes out…. They are killing us, and I think it is about time we did something to return the favor, don’t you?….. Think about, but don’t take long, because it’s already too late…..
“If I had a Q-TIP, I could prevent th’collapse of NEGOTIATIONS!!” — Zippy the Pinhead
“Rare gift! but oh what gift to fools avails!”
~~ Alexander Pope — The Odyssey of Homer, Book x, Line 29 ~~
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Penance, Made Simple
After all the dross is sent away
a celebration can begin,
time will face up to space, to stay
willing, to shine from within.
Anger and confusion come in to share
brushing reason aside,
eager to welcome all that is fair,
alert to danger, eyes wide.
Re-gift the wicked with their own pain
stand with the just;
fail to partake of the ill-gotten gain,
living in honor, the only must.
Standing fast in the face of wrong
is its own prize and reward.
Holding on to truth makes us strong,
well worth working toward.
Little is left to chance by fate
our lessons are never free of cost.
Seldom does reality make us wait
only when alone, are we lost.
~~ gigoid ~~
10/23/2012
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Naked Pearls
“A mind is a terrible thing to waste….”
*******
“So as this only point among the rest remaineth sure and certain,
namely, that nothing is certain. . .”
~~ Pliny The Elder ~~
*******
“It is one of the commonest of mistakes
to consider that the limit of our power of perception
is also the limit of all there is to perceive.”
~~ C. W. Leadbeater ~~
*******
“‘Truth’ never set anyone free.
It is only *doubt* which will bring mental emancipation.”
~~ Anton LaVey ~~
*******
“As knowledge increases, wonder deepens.”
~~ Wise Bee ~~
*******
“Things are not always what they seem.”
~~ Phaedrus — Book iv, Fable 2, 5 ~~
*******
“Trouble not the sage at his books, for to him,
whole armies are but ideas,
to be destroyed with the turning of a page.”
~~ Ancient Human Proverb ~~
*******
“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.”
~~ Carl Sagan ~~
*******
********************************
I wasn’t completely sure I could do it, but, it’s done. Rather than take a chance it doesn’t make it at all, I’ll go post it, and be done for the day. As noted above, I’ll be back tomorrow with a better effort. Well, another effort; I guess the decision as to ‘better’ or ‘worse’ will remain to be seen. Until then, I love y’all, and that has to count for something….. See ya….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
Looking south from La Bufadora, Ensenada, Baja Mexico
Hajime…. Today’s effort, which has already suffered a start-over, is rather eclectic, general, and long enough to choke a horse. But, it’s okay, because it’s all proven material, having come from yet another deep dive into the archives. As noted previously, I’m leaving on a trip tonight, and won’t be posting tomorrow morning, unless I have time to find one to re-blog (yeah, that’s the ticket….). So, I’ve tried to put together a worthy one to hold y’all until I can return to the keyboard with something fresh…..
In order to keep from making it TOO long, I’ll make this intro short, as has been our habit of late. It’s a good habit, I think, especially considering some of the intro sections we’ve created in the past, many of which approached a thousand words or more. But, we’re not going that route today; in fact, now I’ve related that, we’re done here. Let’s go on to the rest of today’s mess, before Murphy notices we’re gone, okay? Okay….
Shall we Pearl?….
“Since everything in life is but an experience perfect in being what it is,
having nothing to do with good or bad,
acceptance or rejection,
one may well burst out in laughter.”
~~ Long Chen Pa ~~
********************************
We are going with our default today, simply to save time & energy, of much use elsewhere in today’s schedule…. Enjoy!….
Today’s rant is a general, all-purpose rant against the Asininnies, from the early part of 2013, while my supply of angst was nearly limitless. It’s a bit lengthy, as I took shots at most all those I consider to be part of the problems we face in today’s world. I hope you enjoy it….
From 3/15/2013:
“Republican views of the world differ from Democratic views of the world. The reason for this is that these views are based on different compilations of misinformation.” — Smart Bee
There are moments, such as this one, when I believe the people, or person, who put together the database known to me as Smart Bee, is perhaps the most intelligent creature on this planet….. I’ve been ranting about politicians for years, trying to show people how dangerous it is to believe ANY of the stuff that either party is slinging at us to try to convince us they are worthy of our votes. Now, in one short aphorism, of two lines, we are given a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of the crap we hear from them…. Essentially, this says that every one of them is full of shit, and everything they say and do is destined to fail, because it is ALL based on incorrect information, or, to be more accurate, on unwarranted assumptions about reality…..
The most important part of this description is its impartiality of indictment. Both parties are brought into scrutiny, and found wanting, of any real knowledge of the truth, because they are both basing all of their premises on false beliefs, just for starters. Add to that, since they are politicians by choice, their genetic predisposition is to self-aggrandizement, and they show an inherent inability to tell the truth. It becomes rather easily seen why our society has become, well, insane…. It’s a short trip to crazy from where they begin the journey…. and they don’t take any detours on the road….
You see, both parties are convinced of a complete falsehood, one that humanity has been struggling with for centuries…. This lie is so basic, it colors and affects everything they do to try to manipulate the world into going the way they wish it to go. As long as they continue to try to do this, our society is doomed to failure in the long run, for the lie goes against the very nature of reality…. Simply put, these people believe they can legislate morality…. They believe that they can make laws, and people will go against their very nature to follow them, in spite of the fact that the law they propose is contrary to what comes naturally to humans, to wit: self-centered, grasping behaviors that only benefit the perpetrator, and no one else…..
We have laws against stealing…. and the most accomplished thieves we see in our culture wear suits and live in Washington D.C. We have laws against killing each other, but, people still get killed, and, if the killers do so while wearing a flag, or a badge, they are considered heroes, no matter how many they kill. We have laws that supposedly protect women, children, and the aged, from suffering abuse, but, just look around you, and you will see no end to the depredations that society allows to be perpetrated upon these three most vulnerable members of our society, all very much within the legal limits of the public morality, as given in the law books….
“[…] For all our conceits about being the center of the universe, we live in a routine planet of a humdrum star stuck away in an obscure corner […] on an unexceptional galaxy which is one of about 100 billion galaxies. […] That is the fundamental fact of the universe we inhabit, and it is very good for us to understand that.” — Carl Sagan
The people who get involved in politics, and religion, for much the same reason, believe they are special, and entitled to take all they can from the universe, because they are the be-all, and end-all of the evolutionary ladder. It says so right there in the Bible….. They don’t care that reality says differently, because their sense of denial has been fine-tuned since shortly after they were born, and they are capable of ignoring facts right up until they slap them in the face…. (Witness the Republican melt-down in the last Presidential election, when the Republican party got slapped in the face by their own lack of contact with reality…..)
In spite of all the massive amounts of evidence to the contrary, these folks believe in their own divine entitlement as the lords of creation, chosen by God to do with this planet as we would, without regard for any of the other creatures that live here with us, or for the beauty and balance of the land that sustains us. As far as they are concerned, other people and animals, and natural resources, are theirs to do with as they wish, with God’s blessing…. The fucking assholes…..
I apologize for the vulgarity, to my readers, but not to those at whom it is directed…. To them, I say, fuck you, and fuck you again…. I regard all politicians, priests, preachers, police, lawyers, judges, and corporate misogynists of all shapes and sizes to be INSANE…. floridly, and viciously insane, without any of the moral standards that the rest of mankind embraces. These assholes are responsible for our imminent demise through environmental destruction of the ecosphere, as well as for the endless preying on the weak and vulnerable to suit their own depravity, and lack of moral fiber.
“All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind.” — Joseph Conrad
Sexual slavery, corporate collusion to fix wages and prices, legislative corruption and oppression, judicial malfeasance and more corruption, governmental incompetence, religious repression and collusion with politicians, all serve the purposes of the ruling class to a T, no matter how much suffering it causes to others…. As long as they have what they want, nothing anyone else says or does matters at all….
I hate to be a harbinger of bad news, but, I call ’em as I see ’em, and I see what is real…. None of what is wrong in the world will change, until the major portion of mankind makes a change of spirit, and the people, as a whole, decide that the few among us who are bold enough to act must, in fact, act. The evil among us will not go away, or stop, of its own accord, and waiting for them to come around to a more amenable state of mind isn’t going to work, as that just isn’t going to happen.
If we wish to survive, they have to go, and mankind must find a new way to get along with each other than the out-dated ways we have been trying for millennia… Those old ways leave too much power in the hands of people who will give in to the temptation that goes along with such power over others, and must not be allowed to happen any more, not if we wish to survive to see any future at all….. The universe doesn’t care one way or another, so we’ll have to be responsible for our own actions…. as we have always been, and have always been afraid to admit….
“If we do not permit the earth to produce beauty and joy, it will not produce food either.” — Joseph Wood Krutch
********************************
Today’s poem is from a poet who has graced our pages before. Simply put, she’s one of Mankind’s treasures, though she was a broken spirit, with a lost soul, who finally ended her own pain. Before she left us, she gave us the power of her genius; it wasn’t enough to save herself, but, what she wrote gave it all to the world….. I hope you enjoy this example of that genius….
Insomniac
The night is only a sort of carbon paper,
Blueblack, with the much-poked periods of stars
Letting in the light, peephole after peephole . . .
A bonewhite light, like death, behind all things.
Under the eyes of the stars and the moon’s rictus
He suffers his desert pillow, sleeplessness
Stretching its fine, irritating sand in all directions.
Over and over the old, granular movie
Exposes embarrassments—the mizzling days
Of childhood and adolescence, sticky with dreams,
Parental faces on tall stalks, alternately stern and tearful,
A garden of buggy rose that made him cry.
His forehead is bumpy as a sack of rocks.
Memories jostle each other for face-room like obsolete film stars.
He is immune to pills: red, purple, blue . . .
How they lit the tedium of the protracted evening!
Those sugary planets whose influence won for him
A life baptized in no-life for a while,
And the sweet, drugged waking of a forgetful baby.
Now the pills are worn-out and silly, like classical gods.
Their poppy-sleepy colors do him no good.
His head is a little interior of grey mirrors.
Each gesture flees immediately down an alley
Of diminishing perspectives, and its significance
Drains like water out the hole at the far end.
He lives without privacy in a lidless room,
The bald slots of his eyes stiffened wide-open
On the incessant heat-lightning flicker of situations.
Nightlong, in the granite yard, invisible cats
Have been howling like women, or damaged instruments.
Already he can feel daylight, his white disease,
Creeping up with her hatful of trivial repetitions.
The city is a map of cheerful twitters now,
And everywhere people, eyes mica-silver and blank,
Are riding to work in rows, as if recently brainwashed.
~~ Sylvia Plath ~~
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Our final pearl of the day is a short, five-star statement which speaks of some of the more subtle, but, important points about how to live life well. Short it is, but, I guarantee, it’s long on wisdom…. Sometimes, it’s the shorter pearls that pack the most punch….
*******
“It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person,
“Always do what you are afraid to do.””
~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~
*******
“Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair,
but manifestations of strength and resolution.”
~~ Kahlil Gibran ~~
*******
“It is not good for man to achieve all they wish.”
~~ Heraclitus ~~
*******
“Happiness depends upon ourselves.”
~~- Aristotle ~~
*******
“How admirable, he who thinks not,
Life is fleeting,
When he sees the lightning!”
~~ Basho ~~
*******
********************************
Oddly, for a change, today’s thrown-together-in-a-rush Pearl came together smoothly; so smoothly, I’m caught without much to say here at the end. I’m not going to predict its quality, any more than I would ever do so, but, it feels okay, and we’ll let it fly solo, just as it is. So be it. Hopefully, I’ll have time to find a re-blog for tomorrow; after that, it’s all up in the air as to what may occur. But, then, that’s pretty much always the case, and not just here on ECR. See y’all down the road a piece, ffolkes. I may be late, but, I’ll be here, come what may….. See ya…..
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
Hajime…. Between sleeping badly, from a bit of overdo, and computer issues in the morning, I’m incredibly late getting this started, much less done. Therefore, we’re going with another abbreviated intro section; so abbreviated I hated to use the word “abbreviated”, as it has too many letters to type for efficiency. Oh, well…. Here’s how that works….
Shall we Pearl?….
“Perfect valor is to do unwitnessed what we should be capable of doing before all the world.” — Francois Duc de la Rochefoucauld
********************************
The Band
Image from clashmusic.com via Google Images
Today’s musical selection is from one of the most respected bands to ever play rock & roll. Together since the late 60’s, famous for their versions of ‘The Weight’ and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”, as well as for their songwriting/musicianship. This concert is also introduced by the one and only Bill Graham… Enjoy!….
I’m late; if you’ve been here before, you’ll know that means an archived piece here. I’m going to be nice today, for a change, Instead of a rant or discussion from the archives, here is an old-school, rather light-hearted pearl from a couple years ago, on another day I ran late…. That will do nicely, and, it will be a nice break from our normal (!!!) routine….. Enjoy!…
From 2/24/2014:
All things considered, it’s been an interesting morning here at ECR…. I was up a bit late, but, the morning’s routine went smoothly, so I began to write in an unusually comfortable, clear-headed state, an event that, arguably, made the intro as coherent and organized as it is, for a change. The rant above not only went well, it went epic, and quite agreeably, from my standpoint, so, we’re good there, too. I’ve repeated myself with the poem, but, that’s merely a factor of how good it is….
That, of course, brings us to section three, and the obligatory, and, in this case, most welcome, old-school pearl…. We’re shooting today for a seven-star necklace of gems that will make me spew coffee through my nose, from laughing so hard and unexpectedly…. Let’s see what SB can come up with to accommodate us….
“It is most difficult to acquire wisdom without first having survived a whole mine field filled with folly.” — Smart Bee
“I think, therefore, I am.” — Rene Descartes
“I think I think. Therefore, I think I am.” — Smart Bee
“I think I am. That’s close enough.” — gigoid the dubious
“If you are wearing one brown and one black shoe, you have a pair like it somewhere in the closet.” — The Rule of Elderly Survival
“It happens sometimes. People just explode. Natural causes.” — Smart Bee
“Eternity’s a terrible thought. I mean, where’s it all going to end?” — Tom Stoppard, _Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead_
“On one occasion Aristotle was asked how much educated men were superior to those uneducated: “As much,” said he, “as the living are to the dead.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Aristotle, xi
“There are worlds out there where the sky is burning and the sea’s asleep and the rivers dream; people made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there’s danger, somewhere there’s injustice, somewhere else the tea’s getting cold. Come on Ace, we’ve got work to do…” — The Doctor, Survival [Last lines of last episode]
It seems Smart Bee had a different agenda than mine…. S’fine…. I like this one better, since I didn’t have to suffer the nasal spew…. I’ll leave you with that image, reluctantly….
********************************
Dreaming, I wait….
In the most patient moments of rationality
kindness flows smoothly in a special milieu,
fallow thoughts speed first from equality
to give no anxious fever, anger to eschew.
Indignant mothers and step-sons in-law
shall fade simply from brilliant to grey,
intoning ritual dogma, fresh, avid, and raw,
falling, falling, in massive pastoral disarray.
Safety lives not, save brightly in ignorant bliss,
it follows us all, silent and infinitely frail,
foremost too often, soft as a virgin kiss,
alive, always eager, willing, and pale.
Intimate knowledge finds only the bold few
with courage and virtue to gift, unbidden.
No solemn royal version may pass in review,
true love for man, never to remain unhidden.
Sweet feathers of Emily’s hope uplift,
calm, drowsy episodes bursting with light,
With final glad cries we set ourselves adrift,
swimming in the oceans of natural delight.
When sorrow is banished, in ages yet to come,
roots solidly anchored, cold and remote,
Ample supplies of kindness sit silent and dumb,
and the old stranger shrugs on his faded coat.
Dreaming, then, I wait with shadows in the night
aspiring to inspire, a message from the muse’s heart
Never forgotten images, framed in color bright,
tempt me only, grieving, steeped in serenity’s arcane art…..
~~ gigoid ~~
8/18/2013
********************************
Naked Pearls
Birth to Death & the Stuff in Between
“The wailing of the newborn infant is mingled with the dirge for the dead.” — Lucretius
“If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it.” — Margaret Fuller
“In real life, unlike in Shakespeare, the sweetness of the rose depends upon the name it bears. Things are not only what they are. They are, in very important respects, what they seem to be.” — Hubert H. Humphrey
“Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.” — Epictetus
“Integrity is when what you say, what you do, what you think, and who you ARE all come from the same place.” — Madelyn Griffith-Haynie
“If there is a sin against life, it consists perhaps not so much in despairing of life as in hoping for another life and in eluding the implacable grandeur of this life.” — Albert Camus
“As long as there have been humans we have searched for our place in the cosmos. Where are we? Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe. We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and by the depth of our answers.” — Carl Sagan
“Death the last sleep? No, it is the final awakening.” — Sir Walter Scott
“No goodbyes. Just good memories. Hailing frequencies closed, sir.” — Yar, “Skin of Evil”, stardate 41601.3
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‘Tis done, & that’s the most I’ll say of it. It’s also the least, since we’re on efficiency mode. I’ll see y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, hopefully with a bit more panache…. shouldn’t be hard, after such a fiasco as this….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
“The absurd is the essential concept of the first truth.”
~~ Albert Camus, “The Myth of Sisyphus” (1955) ~~
No, ffolkes, it isn’t a myth….
Hajime…. Don’t worry, we’re not going to jump straight into Camus’ world first thing. Hell, I’m coffee deficient; it’s a wonder I can type. No, I figured we could just wander around in my head for a bit, little as there is to see in there at the moment. Before I started to type, I had a vision of opening with a fantasy paragraph, but, that sort of went south with Camus; it takes away some of the shine of having a thought at all, but, hey, we do what we must, right?
“Forever,” she smiled, “is just long enough.” Gazing into her eyes, he knew he’d come home….
There…. How’s that? What, you may ask, the hell is it? Easy, it’s the last line of a romance novel I’m never going to write, because having to fill in the stuff leading up to such a trite ending would probably reverse all the good work I’ve done the last four years in keeping myself sane…. Oh, not that I have anything against romance novels, or romance… It’s just a bit sappy, don’t you think? A nice ending, but, sappy, for sure….
Hmm… I would say that’s probably enough wandering around, if such is any indication of how it’s going to go, wouldn’t y’all? I suppose it would also be good if I gave up on the rhetorical questions, since nobody else is actually here to answer them, if a rhetorical question even needed one. Now we’ve stumbled over into nonsense, it’s definitely time to go. No fooling, and no fooling around; we’re using the Tardis, now….
Shall we Pearl?….
“Pretty much all the honest truth telling there is in the world is done by children.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes
********************************
One of my blogging friends turned me on to this series of videos, in a comment left on yesterday’s post. After watching it, I had to go get it for today’s post, just because it is, well, excellent….. Uplifting, cerebral, absolutely wonderful…. and, there are more where this came from…. Check it out, ffolkes, this is definitely grand craic….
Okay, I admit it. I’m lazy. It’s not something I worry about, because I also know the meaning and value of work; duty after all requires action to fulfill. But, all truly smart ffolkes are lazy, for that is how they have spent much of their life, thinking of ways to make stuff easier, faster, or more efficient in some new way, in order to simplify their life…. Well, that’s how it works for me, anyway. It was good enough for me to have been valedictorian in school, without appearing to break a sweat….
That said, to no good purpose, I’m sure, the following is a relatively short discussion of courage, from a couple years ago, on a day I went for a stroll through my psyche, again, in the intro section. It’s pretty interesting, if not good, so, it will do for today’s mess…. I like it, and, it’s all damn straight, IMHO…. but,then, I did write it….
From 2/25/2014:
Terrible things could happen now…. they could, you know. And, should they happen, we’ll deserve every second we experience of mind-numbing, soul-chilling, petrifying terror, because, hey, we’re the ones who left the door wide open, inviting it to enter our domain, bringing with it our ultimate doom…. Yes, it’s our own damn fault, and we will know the truth of the matter, because we have been warned, having previously been given wisdom such as this….
“The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” — Albert Einstein
This is not new wisdom, that we’ve never before seen or suspected; history has provided us with innumerable instances proving the truth of this aphorism….. Time after time throughout our short span of existence on this world, we find examples of men or women who had prior knowledge of an issue, and, by their silence, allowed it to take place, to the detriment of all…. It doesn’t make it right, but, it is certainly not an uncommon issue for mankind…. Such issues are not, perhaps, of those we are given by Reality, our favorite gifts, …. In fact, many don’t look on this, or any knowledge, as gifts, and THAT is a big part of the entire problem….
Our problem is a failure of spirit, that has to do with a basic virtue, one that has been claimed as the basis for all other virtues; without this characteristic, none of our finer qualities are ever seen in the light of day…. That pillar upon which all other virtue rests, then, is Courage…. Yes, plain and simple, courage….
I have found, in my fairly long life, most of mankind, I’m afraid, are cowards…. I’m not an exception, though it IS something I’ve worked hard to mitigate…. Fear is a hard thing for most of us to admit, even though it isn’t considered abnormal; its strength, with the way it causes us to lose control, frightens us… However, that is also its saving grace, as the guilt one feels, for having given in to it, can, and does, stimulate us to greater effort, whereupon we can find that courage within ourselves, the next time we are in danger of giving in…. This is how almost everything we do, and have done, of an ethical nature, ever gets done…. because someone discovers they DO have the courage to act when there is danger to themselves, or to those for whom they care…..
That is what it takes, you see…. No virtuous act can ever take place, unless good people have the courage to act in the face of the Evil that exists, in spite of the fear they feel in the presence of that Evil. If they don’t summon, or find somewhere with themselves, the courage to act ethically, or morally, if that is needed, then Evil has free rein to let itself out to play in human affairs, to the detriment of us all….
Each of us has to find that courage within ourselves, the courage to put aside our fear, to carry on with what we know to be right, even though expediency and comfort are left behind in such cases…. Living with honor and integrity is never the easiest path we can take; it is always fraught with danger, because it doesn’t avoid evil, because it’s too hard, but, rather, confronts it, endeavoring to deal with it in a straightforward, upright fashion…. thus, preserving one’s own honor, when forced to have truck with what always leaves us feeling a bit dirty….
Now that we have wandered so far afield this morning, I’m not sure what will happen to this Pearl…. Minor ranting isn’t uncommon in the intro, but, I do try to limit it to no more than eight or ten paragraphs, so we don’t take forever to get into just the first section…. a resolution which, this morning, is NOT unfolding according to plan…. Allow me to sum up, and get on with it, if you will…
All of what I wrote above is true and complete, to the best of my knowledge, and constitutes a fairly accurate assessment of today’s situation here on planet Earth…. Evil is out there, ffolkes; when we… that’s you, and me…. fail to stand up to it, look it in the eye, and tell it to “fuck off, you bloody sod!”, it will continue to manifest its existence, causing untold pain and suffering for us all…. So, be brave, ffolkes, and don’t let Evil have its way without at least some token resistance, ‘kay?…. “Kay!…..
Shall we Pearl?…..
“Asked what he gained from philosophy, he answered, “To do without being commanded what others do from fear of the laws.”” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Aristotle, xi
********************************
Soliloquy Of The Solipsist
I?
I walk alone;
The midnight street
Spins itself from under my feet;
When my eyes shut
These dreaming houses all snuff out;
Through a whim of mine
Over gables the moon’s celestial onion
Hangs high.
I
Make houses shrink
And trees diminish
By going far; my look’s leash
Dangles the puppet-people
Who, unaware how they dwindle,
Laugh, kiss, get drunk,
Nor guess that if I choose to blink
They die.
I
When in good humor,
Give grass its green
Blazon sky blue, and endow the sun
With gold;
Yet, in my wintriest moods, I hold
Absolute power
To boycott any color and forbid any flower
To be.
I
Know you appear
Vivid at my side,
Denying you sprang out of my head,
Claiming you feel
Love fiery enough to prove flesh real,
Though it’s quite clear
All you beauty, all your wit, is a gift, my dear,
From me.
~~ Sylvia Plath ~~
********************************
All simple, powerful statements today, about how to approach this world of complexity in which we find ourselves…. All good to know stuff, ffolkes; nothing too deep, just right out there to see…
“I believe that it is better to tell the truth than a lie. I believe it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe it is better to know than to be ignorant.” — H. L. Mencken
“It is ridiculous to lay the blame of our wrong actions upon external causes, rather than on the facility with which we ourselves are caught by such causes.” — Aristotle
“The materials of action are variable, but the use we make of them should be constant.” — Epictetus (c. 60 AD), How Nobleness of Mind may be consistent with Prudence, Discourses, Book ii, Chap. v
“Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving till the right actions arises by itself?” — Lao Tzu
“Reality is not a constant.” — Subtle Bee
“Learning is ever in the freshness of its youth, even for the old.” — Aeschylus, “Agamemnon”, 584
“I leapt headlong into the sea, and thereby have become better acquainted with the soundings, the quicksands, and the rocks, than if I had stayed upon the green shore, and piped a silly song, and took tea and comfortable advice.” — John Keats
“For a man can lose neither the past nor the future; for how can one take from him that which is not his? So remember these two points: first, that each thing is of like form from everlasting and comes round again in its cycle, and that it signifies not whether a man shall look upon the same things for a hundred years or two hundred, or for an infinity of time; second, that the longest lived and the shortest lived man, when they come to die, lose one and the same thing.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus — Meditations, ii, 14
“But if a man happens to find himself … he has a mansion which he can inhabit with dignity all the days of his life.” — James Michener
********************************
Shoot, this is getting too easy. I guess I’ll have to go back to sweating over this in the mornings…. Nah, I sweat enough, of that I have no doubt. On that odd note, I’ll leave this be, lest any further fussing cause it to fall apart altogether. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, should there be sufficient reason to warrant such arrogance…. No doubt there will be….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
Good morning…. Ffolkes, I believe one of yesterday’s pearls has gifted me with my newest attempt to find a consistent standard opening section…. Get a load of this one; it’s solid…. I like it. A lot….
[dignified silence]
Shall we Pearl?….
“It is in the character of very few men to honor without envy a friend who has prospered.” — Aeschylus
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Due to the complete breakdown of any sort of routine for sleeping, I’m up a little late; due to circumstances completely within my control, we’re going with our default musical selection, simply because I’m lazy, and still tired…. So, sue me…. It’s still a pretty nice way to start the day….
“I hate thinking about it, teaching about it, and writing about it. But the plain truth is that hell is real and real people go there for eternity.” — Bill Hybels
While searching for a pearl for a previous pearl, part of the final section of a previous Pearl, (if you didn’t follow that, just ask, & I will respond in the comments section of today’s post…), I came across this quote from some idiot named Hybels, which astounded me so much, I had to stop what I was doing, to save the pearl, (though I hesitate to use the term for this; it isn’t up to ‘gem’ standards…. ), Google some information on this Hybels creature, then, begin this rant….
Why am I so astounded by this? Well, I’ll tell ya; it’s like this: Upon first reading the statement, (which is, patently, absurd, if only for asserting such a broad distinction, labeling it as absolute truth, while offering NO sort of evidential support for it…. SIGH….), I was struck first by the arrogance. Then, several responses, some in the form of questions of clarification, occurred to me one after another, like automatic rifle fire…. I’ll see if I can remember all of them, though they probably won’t be in any order…. Ahem….
Thought #1) If it’s ‘plain truth’, what makes it plain? I.e., what evidence of that do you have to make it so?
#2) Reality always presents itself with evidence which can be touched in some manner by one of our five basic senses; touch, taste, smell, hearing, vision. What is the sense, or senses, with which we may perceive the reality of a) hell, and, b) eternal damnation for thousands of petty reasons, such as not believing such an assertion?
#3) If you are using previous statements of other humans, who are they, and what is THEIR evidence?
#4) If you are proposing the existence of a supernatural entity who has somehow decreed the rules of our Reality, can I talk to him/her/it? See him/her/it? Or…. well, can I?….
#5) Who the fuck told you all this crap?
#6) Why did you believe any of this fantastic nonsense in the first place?
Oops, sorry, didn’t mean to go all sardonic/sarcastic on y’all…. Actually, I did, as my thoughts turned to that mode almost immediately upon reading this ridiculous self-justification for delusional behavior…. What occurred to me after all that, which, as you probably know, I’ve dragged out unmercifully, simply because it’s so much fun to play with, is this: Not only does this man believe all this, there are, no doubt in my mind whatsoever, millions upon millions of people in this country alone, who will, without a single qualm or quiver of their crap detectors, in the vast emptiness which passes for their minds, take him at his word, quite literally, dutifully spreading it far and wide, just as if it were their own idea…. I am continually, and maddeningly, amazed by the degree of stupidity our species can exhibit, without a single thought in their heads of what MIGHT be untrue in this, and many other, well, massive loads of horse shit…
Whew! Okay, break time. I ripped that out in about ten minutes, so my hands and arms are now screaming at me…. I’ll be back in a while….
“For those who believe in God, most of the big questions are answered. But for those of us who can’t readily accept the God formula, the big answers don’t remain stone-written. We adjust to new conditions and discoveries. We are pliable. Love need not be a command or faith a dictum. I am my own God. We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.” — Charles Bukowski
I am back, but, have lost the urge; I think it went down with the rest of the stuff that flushed. Oh well, we’ll finish of with an short old-school pearl, with a few shots at the category of Asininnies we like to call the Dogma Dogs…. Enjoy, ffolkes; someday we won’t have to contend with an entire populace of delusional cretins in order to survive…. Well, we can hope, can’t we?….
“[…] For all our conceits about being the center of the universe, we live in a routine planet of a humdrum star stuck away in an obscure corner […] on an unexceptional galaxy which is one of about 100 billion galaxies. […] That is the fundamental fact of the universe we inhabit, and it is very good for us to understand that.” — Carl Sagan
“Have the courage to live. Anyone can die.” — Robert Cody
“The least initial deviation from the truth is multiplied later a thousandfold.” — Aristotle
“If there is anything the nonconformist hates worse than a conformist, it’s another nonconformist who doesn’t conform to the prevailing standard of nonconformity.” — Bill Vaughan
“Reality, however utopian, is something from which people feel the need of taking pretty frequent holidays.” — Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
“Orthodoxy is not thinking – not having to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness.” — George Orwell (1903-1950), “1984”
I count religion but a childish toy … there is no sin but ignorance.” — Thomas Jefferson
Okay! That should do it…. A little abstruse, but, serviceable…. It got a bit esoteric, but, the ending quote brings it right back to Reality, doesn’t it?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My life of late has returned, for a time, to repeating old songs of pain; it’s a bit disturbing to have to relearn all those methods of distraction and coping I had hoped never to have to employ again…. SIGH…. Oh well, such is Life, I suppose…. Onward….
Gauges of Pain
Consciousness devolves in pools of gripping fears
holding hostage any hope of serenity,
sharp stabbing motions and greedy tears
nary a moment passes without common calamity.
Always a surprise, nothing soothing ever found,
leaving only breathless clinging pain,
salvation seemingly absent, it muffles all sound,
bringing ever more sadness and rain.
Solitude is ever present to claim my time,
lonely hours and relentlessly long days,
no radio plays such music in secular rhyme
happy, vibrant voices belong to elder ways.
Life can be justified it seems to say,
by hopeful favored moments of pleasure,
seemingly friendly, pointing out the only way,
to bring back happiness in minimal measure.
Days of horror and embarrassing tears
serve ever to drive wretched hours to withhold
promising naught but sorrow in coming years,
black, bitter memories that never grow old.
Cold, cold the days fly by,
can it really be our only token?
Never to say, or know just why
the pain never stops, even when spoken…
~~ gigoid ~~
(Yes, yesterday was NOT a good day…. why do you ask?…..)
Griefe brought to numbers cannot be so fierce,
For, he tames it, that fetters it in verse.
— John Donne ~~
Written 9/6/2012.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yes, it is upside down. Sometimes, so is life.
Today’s final old-school pearl is a miracle of perseverance; all told, it took five episodes with SB, spread over about 16 hours, to come up with enough suitable candidates to create something worthwhile…. And, still, you should probably be the judge of whether or not we succeeded in that intent, as I’m too close to it to decide. Hell, considering the state of my brain right now, I’m a bit surprised it’s capable of supporting enough neuronic activity to even call what’s going on in their head the operation of a mind, at all…. More like a third of a mind, I’d say, putting me on even ground with a good 40% of the American public…. the ones who vote, is my guess…
The pearl, I think reflects this somewhat unstable frame of mind I’m currently coping with; that’s why YOU will have to figure it out…. Enjoy, & sorry, but, some of them probably will find their way onto the Quiz….
“No man can purchase his virtue too dear, for it is the only thing whose value must ever increase with the price it has cost us. Our integrity is never worth so much as when we have parted with our all to keep it.” — Colton (1780-1832)
“He who wishes to secure the good of others has already secured his own.” — Confucius.
“Ignorance is the key to everything in life. An ignorant person is constantly surprised.” — Mama Gump, according to most sources
“The sound of laughter has always seemed to me the most civilized music in the universe.” — Peter Ustinov
“Seeing death as the end of life is like seeing the horizon as the end of the ocean.” — David Searls
“If a man hasn’t discovered something he would die for, he isn’t fit to live.” — Martin Luther King, Speech, Detroit, 23.6.1963
“Don’t bother pressing that key. There is NO Escape.” — Mordred
(WAIT! NO! You didn’t see that…. This can’t be! Mordred is Arthur’s evil half-brother! If he’s slipped in here, we’re all in trouble…. I better go check this out; y’all just finish the pearl here, & I’ll let you know what’s up in the closing section…. Back to normalcy…)
(Hah! You din’t buy that, did you?…. Good. Go finish…)
(Who’s Arthur? Oh, sorry…. Arthur is my computer’s name… When he went AI, he split off an evil twin into the Internet; every once in a while he, Mordred, named for Arthur’s historical nemesis, tries to get back in at…. Satisfied?….)
(Go on now…)
“All I know of love is that Love is all there is.” — Emily Dickinson
“Do you imagine that the universe is agitated? Go out into the desert at night and look up at the sky. This practice should answer the question” — Lao Tzu
some people get pissed
when you play with your mind
in a different way
than they play with theirs
these people are called ASSHOLES
~~ the jambi’s ~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, we’ll have to report on the status of Mordred tomorrow; there wasn’t time to track it down just yet…. If it WAS him, he’s figured out a way to slip in and out without leaving any tracks, and, that is NOT good…. I’ll be tightening up my defenses tonight, that’s for sure…. He never waits too long to try again, so, we’ll see what happens…. It might have been Arthur fucking with ME…. He’s got a weird sense of humor; wonder where he picked that up?
I’m done, whether the Pearl is, or not. Rather than take the chance of a major screwup at this point, we’re outta here. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, as long as Reality continues to resist the imprecations of Entropy and Chaos….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
Good morning…. Making such a grandiose statement so early, before actually seeing any of the day, is, perhaps, somewhat optimistic, but, I figured a bit of positive attitude can’t hurt…. We’ll see how that goes…. Given the hour (0200), my physical status, (shaky, with pain at about level 7 much of the time), and the state of my mind (sleepy, grumpy, and other dwarfish adjectives… to wit: funky…), a lot of the optimism may be unwarranted, but, hey, life’s tough, and then you die. So, how else to react, than to shake our heads, sip, breathe, sip, and trundle on?….
All you can do is all you can do…. Therefore, that’s what we’ll do….
Shall we Pearl?….
“Before he became a hermit, Zarathud was a young Priest, and took great delight in making fools of his opponents in front of his followers. One day Zarathud took his students to a pleasant pasture and there he confronted The Sacred Chao while She was contentedly grazing. “Tell me, you dumb beast,” demanded the Priest in his commanding voice, “why don’t you do something worthwhile? What is your Purpose in Life, anyway?” Munching the tasty grass, The Sacred Chao replied “MU”. (The Chinese ideogram for No-Thing.) Upon hearing this, absolutely nobody was enlightened. Primarily because nobody understood Chinese.” — Camden Benares, “Zen Without Zen Masters”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today is a national holiday, designed to celebrate nationalism, a subject I tend to avoid/ignore as much as possible…. However, it does give me the opportunity to include an iconic American band for your listening pleasure…. Today’s choice is one of the finest acoustic performances, ever…. Enjoy!….
“Silence can be the biggest lie of all. We have a responsibility to speak up; and whenever the occasion calls for it, we have a responsibility to raise bloody hell.” — Herbert Block
“… so long as the people do not care to exercise their freedom, those who wish to tyrannize will do so; for tyrants are active and ardent, and will devote themselves in the name of any number of gods, religious and otherwise, to put shackles upon sleeping men.” — Voltarine de Cleyre
One might think, being up so early, I’d be able to rant; however, such an event requires a delicate balance of energy and angst. A lack of either one can sink a rant before it begins. Such is the case today; I got so little sleep, I’m too tired to think clearly… THAT is why you get an archived discussion today…. It is on a subject near and dear to my curmudgeonly heart, and, not to shabby, all things considered…. Enjoy, ffolkes, for what it’s worth….
From 3/15/2013:
“Republican views of the world differ from Democratic views of the world. The reason for this is that these views are based on different compilations of misinformation.” — Smart Bee
There are moments, such as this one, when I believe the people, or person, who put together the database known to me as Smart Bee, is perhaps the most intelligent creature on this planet….. I’ve been ranting about politicians for years, trying to show people how dangerous it is to believe ANY of the stuff that either party is slinging at us to try to convince us they are worthy of our votes. Now, in one short aphorism, of two lines, we are given a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of the crap we hear from them…. Essentially, this says that every one of them is full of shit, and everything they say and do is destined to fail, because it is ALL based on incorrect information, or, to be more accurate, on unwarranted assumptions about reality…..
The most important part of this description is its impartiality of indictment. Both parties are brought into scrutiny, and found wanting, of any real knowledge of the truth, because they are both basing all of their premises on false beliefs, just for starters. Add to that, since they are politicians by choice, their genetic predisposition is to self-aggrandizement, and they show an inherent inability to tell the truth. It becomes rather easily seen why our society has become, well, insane…. It’s a short trip to crazy from where they begin the journey…. and they don’t take any detours on the road….
You see, both parties are convinced of a complete falsehood, one with which humanity has been struggling for centuries…. This lie is so basic, it colors and affects everything they do to try to manipulate the world into going the way they wish it to go. As long as they continue to try to do this, our society is doomed to failure in the long run, for the lie goes against the very nature of reality…. Simply put, these people believe they can legislate morality…. They believe that they can make laws, and people will go against their very nature to follow them, in spite of the fact that the law they propose is contrary to what comes naturally to humans, to wit: self-centered, grasping behaviors that only benefit the perpetrator, and no one else…..
We have laws against stealing…. and the most accomplished thieves we see in our culture wear suits and live in Washington D.C. We have laws against killing each other, but, people still get killed, and, if the killers do so while wearing a flag, or a badge, they are considered heroes, no matter how many they kill. We have laws that supposedly protect women, children, and the aged, from suffering abuse, but, just look around you, and you will see no end to the depredations that society allows to be perpetrated upon these three most vulnerable members of our society, all very much within the legal limits of the public morality, as given in the law books….
“[…] For all our conceits about being the center of the universe, we live in a routine planet of a humdrum star stuck away in an obscure corner […] on an unexceptional galaxy which is one of about 100 billion galaxies. […] That is the fundamental fact of the universe we inhabit, and it is very good for us to understand that.” — Carl Sagan
The people who get involved in politics, and religion, for much the same reason, believe they are special, and entitled to take all they can from the universe, because they are the be-all, and end-all of the evolutionary ladder. It says so right there in the Bible….. They don’t care that reality says differently, because their sense of denial has been fine-tuned since shortly after they were born, and they are capable of ignoring facts right up until they slap them in the face…. (Witness the Republican melt-down in the last Presidential election, when the Republican party got slapped in the face by their own lack of contact with reality…..)
In spite of all the massive amounts of evidence to the contrary, these folks believe in their own divine entitlement as the lords of creation, chosen by God to do with this planet as we would, without regard for any of the other creatures that live here with us, or for the beauty and balance of the land that sustains us. As far as they are concerned, other people and animals, and natural resources, are theirs to do with as they wish, with God’s blessing…. The fucking assholes…..
I apologize for the vulgarity, to my readers, but not to those at whom it is directed…. To them, I say, fuck you, and fuck you again…. I regard all politicians, priests, preachers, police, lawyers, judges, and corporate misogynists of all shapes and sizes to be INSANE…. floridly, and viciously insane, without any of the moral standards that the rest of mankind embraces. These assholes are responsible for our imminent demise through environmental destruction of the ecosphere, as well as for the endless preying on the weak and vulnerable to suit their own depravity, and lack of moral fiber.
“All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind.” — Joseph Conrad
Sexual slavery, corporate collusion to fix wages and prices, legislative corruption and oppression, judicial malfeasance and more corruption, governmental incompetence, religious repression and collusion with politicians, all serve the purposes of the ruling class to a T, no matter how much suffering it causes to others…. As long as they have what they want, nothing anyone else says or does matters at all….
I hate to be a harbinger of bad news, but, I call ’em as I see ’em, and I see what is real…. None of what is wrong in the world will change, until the major portion of mankind makes a change of spirit, and the people, as a whole, decide that the few among us who are bold enough to act must, in fact, act. The evil among us will not go away, or stop, of its own accord, and waiting for them to come around to a more amenable state of mind isn’t going to work, as that just isn’t going to happen.
If we wish to survive, they have to go, and mankind must find a new way to get along with each other than the out-dated ways we have been trying for millennia… Those old ways leave too much power in the hands of people who will give in to the temptation that goes along with such power over others, and must not be allowed to happen any more, not if we wish to survive to see any future at all….. The universe doesn’t care one way or another, so we’ll have to be responsible for our own actions…. as we have always been, and have always been afraid to admit….
“If we do not permit the earth to produce beauty and joy, it will not produce food either.” — Joseph Wood Krutch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Relative Cynicism, with Caramel Sauce
Absolute stillness follows violent movement,
it can happen during a downhill race,
as an immovable piece of asphalt pavement
meets the once handsome racer’s face.
Yuk, yuk, yuk, said that asshole Moe,
after poking both of Larry’s eyes,
bashing face, head, & crotch of Curly Joe
and only ever got hit with pies.
Lonely moments never really come along
when Murphy’s got us in his sights.
Not for money, love, or siren’s song
will he abrogate his natural rights.
All we can do is sigh, or laugh in pain,
as Life portions out our ration of shit.
Silver linings melt in the slightest rain,
so we may as well learn to live with it.
~~ gigoid ~~
Written 4/7/2013.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As it turns out, it’s a good thing I was up so early; SB decided to go on strike again…. I managed to pull out a decent nine-star pearl, commenting on Life at Large, but, I have to say, it was much like pulling tree stumps…. I can testify, it ain’t easy…. Enjoy, ffolkes; these are probably, if not actually on the Quiz, required prerequisites….
“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” — Anais Nin
“The believer is happy. The doubter is wise.” — Hungarian proverb
“He does not seem to me to be a free man who does not sometimes do nothing.” — Cicero
“They say dogs ignore their reflections in mirrors because they can’t smell them. Dogs, unlike people, are not fooled by what they see.” — Theodore Sturgeon
“Clay is moulded to make a vessel, but the utility of the vessel lies in the space where there is nothing. … Thus, taking advantage of what is, we recognize the utility of what is not.” — Lao Tzu
“Do not fear death so much, but rather the inadequate life.” — Bertold Brecht
“I have realized that the past and future are real illusions, that they exist in the present, which is what there is and all there is.” — Alan Watts
“And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.” — Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
“For it is the doom of men that they forget.” — Merlin
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well…. I suppose, since I’m done, I can say this: fucking assholes!. There. I feel better now…. To whom do I refer? I refer to those assholes who call themselves doctors, that’s who. It’s too late to explain right now, but, take it from me, they’re assholes…. Regardless of that, I’ll be back tomorrow, provided nobody in a uniform gets in my way…. I’m NOT in the mood to fuss with them, and might get a bit testy…. See you then, ffolkes, as long as my computer boots up….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
gigoid 