Ffolkes,

Pleasant morning distractions finished, I sit to write, after a two-day hiatus…. The lay-off, while necessary, and fairly successful in terms of meeting goals set, was, nonetheless, too long for my sanity. But I’ll not regale y’all with any of the internal indications which complicate matters; instead, I’ll just say, it’s done for now, and we can go on…. It’s no doubt for the best, anyway…. Y’all wouldn’t be either thrilled, or particularly enchanted, by what I’ve put myself through, so, we’ll leave it all where it belongs, in the past….

Since I shan’t be talking about my time off, what can I find to say to get us started? Well, your guess, in this case, as in many in the past, is as good as mine. I suppose I AM in charge, nominally, but, I think it’s obvious that has never made much of a dent in Reality’s attention; if it had, you’d see a lot less dithering and angst displayed here. I wonder what might happen if I…. no, better not. Last time I tried that, I fell into the royal “we” mode, babbling about our opinions, our clothing, and our royal prerogatives until everyone was doubtlessly sick of it. It took me three days to clean it out of my style….

Ah well, I suppose none of it matters now. We’re here, in a new Pearl, with a full tank of gas, and several new oyster beds to explore…. Since I can’t think of anything else to bore you with here, I guess we can bring this to a halting stop, counting our blessings to have made it this far without any explosions…. Tough to do with the pressure gauge running so high, so, we’ll be thankful, while we’re diving, okay?…. Okay….

Shall we Pearl?

“That which does not kill us, makes us stronger.” — Sun Tzu, The Art of War

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

Whenever I think of the world’s best music, ALL of this man’s work must be included…. I listened to this concert, to make sure it was good enough to put here…. I won’t ever forget again just how much genius he displays when playing; he is, truly, one of the finest musicians ever to share his inner vision with the world….. I give you, the One, the Only, Carlos….

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

A small discourse from a couple years ago, since I didn’t write ANYTHING while gone…. I’ll get to it…. For now, this will do….

From 2/25/2013:

“I used to think it was awful that life was so unfair.  Then I thought, wouldn’t it be much worse if life were fair, and all the terrible things that happen to us come because we actually deserve them?  So, now I take great comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the universe.”– Marcus, Babylon 5

Marcus brings up an interesting point here, when he talks of the general hostility of the universe. I don’t think he quite has a handle on the actual shape of Reality, though; in his desire to avoid responsibility for his own cupidity, he casts the universe as the villain in his play. Our universe isn’t hostile to us, as he would like to think. Unfair? Yes. Hostile? No…. The universe really doesn’t give a crap about us, one way or another. Things seem unfair, not because they are stacked against us, but, rather, because they are not stacked in our favor, a slight but distinct difference…..

Reality plays no favorites, beyond a tendency to allow itself to be adjusted by those who have an understanding of how it works, without granting them any dispensation, but rather rewarding their cleverness and wit. Those who believe the universe is out to get them are defenseless against the trials and tribulations that are a natural part of living, because they begin from an attitude of helplessness. Those who at least have the confidence to act in their own behalf, to stand up against the demands of Fate, are much more able to achieve their goals, than anyone who allows Reality to push them wherever they end up, without any direction made by choice…..

Thus, it becomes clear, courage, as well as knowledge, is necessary to the ability to confront Reality on its own terms. Not only is it necessary to pay attention to the way the universe works, seeking to learn how it interacts among all its parts, but, ’tis necessary to have the courage to act on what is known, according to what the person believes to be right, in a moral sense. Of course, the universe doesn’t care one way or another if we are moral; it rewards those who act out of immorality as well, if they are bold enough to act. We just feel better about ourselves if we act from right thought, making it easier for others to do the same. Acting immorally only benefits the one who is doing the acting…..

It should be noted, cowardice is also rewarded by the universe; the rewards aren’t very palatable, seeing our every wish denied, our every act dismissed, as incompetent, illegal, or just plain dumb….. Lack of courage, along with lack of knowledge thus become their own rewards, thereby allowing the person’s misguided views about reality lead them into issue after issue of conflict with the rest of reality. In this way, they continually reinforce their own misapprehensions, and  the universe is out to get them, and everyone else…. This, in spite of the fact that they are looking at, and dealing with, the same Reality as everyone else, who don’t all seem to have the same problem…. Instead of giving them a clue that maybe they should do things differently, they merely assume that the other people have cheated them somehow…. because that is what they would do….

It’s really too bad in some ways, that so large a percentage of humanity is so lacking in courage and wit as to find the view stated above to be congruent with their own view of the way the universe operates; it’s part of what makes it so easy for those in the BRC and the 1% to control them, and to pull the wool over their eyes. These folks are so convinced of their own helplessness in the face of all they don’t understand, they will latch onto almost anything someone tells them, if it soothes their fears, and gives them someone or something other than themselves to blame for their misfortunes…. Sad, but true, and a perfect description of what has transpired in society for several thousand years now, as the BRC keeps the majority of humanity in the proverbial dark about what is true, and what is real….. They’ve had a lot of practice, and they’re very good at it….

But, then, it isn’t hard to control someone who is brainwashed to believe that it is the way reality is, so I can’t say it is due to any particularly large degree of wit or talent that allows them to do so…. It is more that the folks who they control are so stupid, they ask to be controlled, because they can’t, and more importantly, won’t, trust themselves to do it….. Sad, but true….

At his point in this narrative, I am becoming a bit enraged, a not uncommon reaction to a rant about the BRC and the 1%…. Heck, this time, I didn’t even have to mention the papists or preachers who are their shock troops, on the front lines of the brainwashing process, in order to get upset and angry over their machinations…. until now. My rage is growing, as it always tends to do when I start to rant on this subject, and I’m not ready to deal with the consequences of letting it get any bigger right now…. too much other stuff to get to today. But, just let me say this…..

Those in our society who deliberately control others for their own benefit are my enemies. I believe them to be responsible for virtually ALL of the social ills we have, as well as the global and environmental issues that are threatening our very survival as a species. They are, for their own personal benefit, hoarding the resources of the planet, and refusing to share them with the remainder of humanity, all because they can, and they want to. The welfare of others is of no concern to them, so they automatically become my foes, in my battle to try to make a world my children, and grandchild, can have the opportunity to live a full and complete life of their own, without being oppressed and controlled by assholes who don’t give a shit about anyone but themselves….. As my old martial arts instructor used to say…. “Fuck ’em….. hard.”…..

— “Bother!”, said Pooh, as he dropped his bombs.

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

This one just seems to fit here….

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

    Today’s final, old-school pearl is as fresh, and as classical a pearl you’ll ever see. Well, fresh when created, anyway. Let it be enough to know, it’s all new, to me, and y’all, so, y’all should likely pay close attention. This one’s about life, but, not exactly from the viewpoint to which we’re all accustomed. I can’t say exactly what my subconscious mind was up to, but, it seems to work just fine…. I’ll let it percolate, as should you, to let it bring whatever piece/peace there may be to perceive into focus….

“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” — Confucius

“Iron rusts from disuse; water loses its purity from stagnation and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigors of the mind.” — Leonardo da Vinci

“I like a bit of a mongrel myself, whether it’s a man or a dog; they’re the best for every day.” — George Bernard Shaw  1856-1950, Misalliance [1910], episode I

“Like jug, like lid” — Ingrained Serbian Proverb

“He who dies with the most FRIENDS wins.” — Smart Bee

“The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.” — Charles DuBois

“What I like is when you’re looking and thinking and looking and thinking…  and suddenly you wake up.” — Hobbes

“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.” — Philip K. Dick

“How could the drops of water know themselves to be a river? Yet the river flows on.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupery

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

It feels pretty good to be back; I hope the results justify the process, and the break taken. If not, well, we do get another chance tomorrow, don’t we? Or, rather, don’t I? I suppose, in this case, “we” isn’t all that inappropriate, as I continue to drag y’all along with me while I pursue my personal folly…. Ah well, it could be worse, I suppose…. I could have left out all the artwork…. think how boring THAT would be….. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…. fair warning….

À bientôt, mon cherí….