“Be not afraid of going slowly; be only afraid of standing still.”
~~ Chinese Proverb ~~
Summer Bloom….
Hajime…. In the light of the full moon, all cats turn to smoke. Still and quiet, the night sings to itself, soft lullabies, long-forgotten, as the stars wheel and dance in delight. Filled with impending joy, nightmarish creatures cavort in carnal glee; seldom seen, never believed, forever cursed, they dance in defiance, daring Life to live. As the crescendo grows, then falls away, reality recedes into a distant memory….
As is now patently clear, the layoff has me a bit rusty. While not bad, the above is NOT up to my usual standards for nonsensical piffle; the absence of a muse is apparently not an insignificant factor. Ah, well, such is life in the blogosphere, a word which, apparently, I’ve already taught the spell checker to recognize. I suppose one might consider that a technological advantage; it doesn’t seem to preclude failure to communicate, does it? It’s been so long since I had a chance to actually compose fresh material, I’m screwing the pooch unmercifully….. obviously, too.
Fuck it. I’ve been beating about this bush so long, my coffee got cold. As we all know, that’s NOT a good thing. I’m going to change direction, as much as possible at such a late juncture, to get this mess back on track. Moreover, I’m gonna be ruthless about it. How so? Well, watch this….
Shall we pearl?….
“I like people better than principles, and I like people with no
principles better than anything else in the world.”
~~ Oscar Wilde ~~
********************************
Naked Pearls
One Path, Many Feet
*******
“Failure to understand reality is not reality’s fault.”
~~ Bill Henneman ~~
*******
“Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life:
the longing for love, the search for knowledge,
and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind.”
~~ Bertrand Russell, Autobiography ~~
*******
“And now there is merely silence, silence, silence, saying all we did not know.”
~~ William Rose Benet ~~
********************************
It may be correctly noted, today’s Pearl is what might be termed a filler. Not much to it, though it’s deeper than it seems. I guess I could say that about all of them, so, I will. Consider it said. All that, being said, frees us to take our leave, before falling into the royal ‘we’ gets too noticeable. In fact, we are, as they say, outta here. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes. Now, if you’ll excuse me, insanity calls….
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.
“I know who I am. Sometimes you go away, but I’m still here.”
~~ Everyone, always… ~~
Sunrise/Sunset
Hajime…. All things considered, this might just work. Some ruthlessness is called for, but, being human, that’s not an issue. The pearls, naturally, take care of themselves. Provided I can come up with just enough to say, this should do well, or, at minimum, do. Nothing more to do but, smile, smile, smile, and be on our way, sans delay. It’s day one of a new beginning, so, what say we head out, and start enjoying it? I think that’s a SWELL idea…
Shall we pearl?….
“Few people have the imagination for reality.”
~~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~~
********************************
“Belief is the death of intelligence.”
~~ Robert Anton Wilson ~~
*******
“As the tempest and the thunder affect not the sun or the stars,
but spend their fury on stones and trees below;
so injuries ascend not to the Soul of the great,
but waste themselves on such as are those who offer them.”
~~ Akhenaton? (c. B.C. 1375) ~~
*******
“The problem with aging
is that you stuffing starts to come out.
You don’t have the youth, looks and energy
to keep stuffing the feelings you tried to hide.
To grow old is to face who you are
behind the mask you created in youth
face the spirit which lives in a decaying body.”
~~ Callan Williams ~~
*******
“I dreamed a thousand new paths… I woke and walked my old one.”
~~ Chinese proverb ~~
*******
“For age is opportunity no less
Than youth itself, though in another dress.
And as the evening twilight fades away,
The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day.
It is never too late to start doing what is right.
Never.”
~~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ~~
*******
********************************
“Is an atheist church a non-prophet organization?”
~~ Smart Bee ~~
That should do for a first try. I like the last quote from SB; it’s a good ending, don’t you think? No? Oh well. So be it. We’re done here, so, regardless of anyone’s contrary opinion, we’re outta here. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, as long as the center holds….
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” ~~
********************************
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
********************************
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
********************************
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 ~~
*******
********************************
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.
The miracle is not to fly in the air,
or to walk on the water,
but to walk on the earth.
~~ Chinese proverb ~~
Festive Display of the Law of the Jungle Galway ~ Ireland
Hajime…. Well, ffolkes, here I am, such as I am. I used up my ranting angst last night for today’s ranting section; it’s a good one. Powerful message, anyway, if not perfectly disseminated. ‘T will do for our purpose. With that said, I believe today just might be the day I create a new record here on ECR; this is going to be, perhaps, the shortest intro I’ve done since 2001, or thereabouts. Hmm, not in the dictionary, but, you get the idea…. Oh, right. Short, I said…. How short? This short….
Shall we Pearl?….
“Dying is a very dull, dreary affair. And my advice to you is to have nothing whatever to do with it.” — W. Somerset Maugham
********************************
Having walked a lot yesterday, I’m tired, & in the mood for some classical music. Here is another mix from someone who also likes to have music while reading…. As usual, I picked the one with a picture I liked the best today….. Enjoy!…
“Of all the animals, the boy is the most unmanageable.”
~~ Plato (428-348? B.C.) ~~
We all know Plato is thought to be one of the most influential thinkers in history; little did we know just HOW correct this particular example of his conjectures/assertions were to be in the final analysis of human nature; nor, I think, did anyone guess/believe how NOT paying attention more closely would cost the entire species.
As humanity exists in today’s world, virtually every man alive is, not merely unaware of this powerful description, personally, but is, as well, completely ignorant of the implications of this simple truth for society, by virtue of their ignorance of self…. This is, essentially, why the most common human male unconsciously bears an unwarranted sense of entitlement, which allows them to put aside any moral, or ethical, rational considerations, in favor of what they WANT….
These boys, for they never become what I would consider men, live their entire lives without examining their own feelings; it is discouraged from birth, by dress, by the attitudes of their parents, siblings, and any peers, all of whom are under the same illusion of superiority, based solely on physical strength, on a gross level. In short, from birth, men are taught “might is right”, and anyone who doesn’t learn to fall in line is branded for life, with any number of labels, which have attached to them a perception of shame for the bearer, all of which discourage individuality and introspection, while simultaneously encouraging the completely unnatural, divisive attitude of false entitlement.
Thus, these ‘boys’, in men’s bodies, learn to abuse women, or any other creature they wish to intimidate, such as the weak and/or vulnerable, or animals. They are taught it is their right, and duty, to “get what they can, and hold it”, usually justifying with such grand logic as “chicks dig dudes with money”… or, a car, or power, or whatever their personal fantasy entails…. and, as behaviorally shaped by commercials on TV….
Finally, without ever having learned any restraint, they learn the most dangerous of these perversions of rationality, they learn it is acceptable to kill to achieve their own desires, at no cost to their own sense of self, or conscience, if any….. These attitudes are all the more insidious for their its most attractive feature, to wit: there is no personal responsibility borne by those who assume the mantle of what I term rogue males of the human species… None of any of what I have described above is ever examined, or discussed, or acknowledged, in public, or in private…. Thus, darkness covers the entire human culture on the planet. Many of the rational men and women in history who HAVE resisted such insanity have noted, “Repression can only exist in silence.”
I saw a picture flash by on my screensaver a moment ago; the subject was a face shot of a lovely young woman, draped in a softly white, almost transparent shawl/scarf, with a pensive expression, fingers of one hand to her chin, with heavily accented eyes… My first thought was of Keats, or another poet’s verses on love…. Then, in a faint echo, from the deep past, I heard, in an accent much as that of the TV character Gomer Pyle (or Goober; perhaps Gomer was talking to his cousin…), a voice saying, “Boy, I’d sure lahk to fuck that!” I realized, even though the thought, or the feeling that spawned such a vile epithet in regard to any woman, was not mine, it was one I have heard so many times, the attitude it represents is embedded in the very culture in which all the men on this planet, mostly (certainly more than 90%…) have been raised since their birth….
I have actually heard, in defense of the human male’s urge to fight, and fuck, whenever he likes, this urge, or, in truth, false sense of entitlement, is based on natural laws, such as the behavior of the lion in re: they will fight over the right to copulate with any female willing & in season. Of course, these idiots, (excuse my mild flame….), when it is pointed out they are completely wrong, both as to motivation of the lion, as well as the consistent non-lethal results of such fighting, and the natural urges involved, (they don’t want to hear how the males never fight the females… ever, unless they are, for their species, insane…) they refuse to listen, or even, if invited, to go actually watch a pride of lions for some time, to try to understand what is actually going on, rather than assuming what they WANT to be true, is as they wish it to be in reality…. (see Plato, above….)
I challenge any one of my readers, male of female, to dispute this assertion> Any who do so, if you would, please provide some sort of justification for doing so. I’d hate to flame anyone on my own blog for trying to do so without any sort of evidence at all. I’m willing to listen to any reasonable contrary opinion, as long as it is presented in the same framework I am offering with mine.
My own evidence lies partially in my own experience as a male growing up in this culture, and, 65 years of experiencing, observing, and studying (with books and social intercourse, i.e. discussion), the human species, and, its society,, throughout human history, with a focus on trying to understand the nature of the bloody beast. I may not be Aristotle, or Plato, but, I’ve sure as hell read more on the subject(s) than they ever had the chance to do, for sure and for certain….
Go ahead. I’ll wait…. While we are waiting, how about an old-school pearl, touching on some of what we’ve been discussing, sort of, in general, or, that vicinity…. You’ll see…. Some of it, if one observes closely, provides some of the evidence for my assertion, if in no other way than to point one’s study/focus/thoughts in a certain direction, in order to find the tangible proof….. Trust me not; follow them to their end, and it will be there for you to perceive, inside yourself, as verified by what you see in the world…. Or, ask/comment below, and we’ll try to come to a consensus both can accept…..
*************
“MTV – Why Johnny can’t read, tie his shoes, speak, think.” — Truthful Bee
“A man would still do something out of sheer perversity – he would create destruction and chaos – just to gain his point…. and if all this could in turn be analyzed and prevented by predicting that it would occur, then man would deliberately go mad to prove his point.” — Feodor Dostoevsky, “Notes From the Underground”
“It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.” — Voltaire
“There are more horses’ asses in this world than there are horses.” — Grandma Soderquist’s conclusion
“A committee is a cul-de-sac down which ideas are lured and then quietly strangled.” — Sir Barnett Cocks
“Independent self-reliant people (would be) a counterproductive anachronism in the collective society of the future […] (where) people will be defined by their associations.” — John Dewey (1859-1953), educational philosopher, — proponent of modern public schools. 1896 — “The Tyranny of Government Schooling”, John Gatto, 1992
“Clinton wants us to sacrifice – We should start with the politicians. Which do you recommend – burning at the stake, an altar & knife job, or the tried-and-true ‘Feed the Volcano’ method?” — Don Meyer dlmeyer@uiuc.edu
“If the Catholic church couldn’t stop Galileo, then governments won’t be able to stop things now.” — Carlo de Benedetti of Olivetti on the folly of trying to regulate information technology
“Give a monkey a brain, and he’ll think he’s the center of the universe.” — Ouch! Bee
“A “pacifist male” is a contradiction in terms.” — Lazarus Long
“He who is bent on doing evil can never want occasion.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 459
********************************
After the odyssey….
Portraits of iconic symbols, crashing, singing, forgotten;
evolving into mature innovation, as yet pale, and rotten.
Still water justly breeds, impenetrable primal verses resound;
unholy moments tarry, emotion swirls in passion unbound.
Spiritual ovulation precedes each pregnant pause;
gravid, time moves on, following destiny’s cause.
Cast adrift on waves of confusion, to a final, damp landing;
salvation beckons sweetly, fed well on understanding.
Dreams directly fall, in night’s grey bower, unbidden;
lingering flavors in simple taste, lovingly, cleverly hidden.
Childish laughter sounds, joyful, bright, and clear;
no need ever to hide, no more monsters to fear.
Temper most foul arrives under unregistered mail;
forgotten taunts live on, lashed by an ancient flail.
Plain dealing delivers such lasting specks of honest hate;
savage in retrospect, never hasty, always running late.
Forever, cries an ambient lover of the pending night;
his pale, weak issue forms its own failing light.
Still, fortune favors such as those who apprehend;
Sweet love of Gaia, let it never end.
~~ gigoid ~~
3/10/2013
********************************
Naked Pearls Being Human
*************
“The more clearly you understand yourself
and your emotions,
the more you become a lover
of what is.”
~~ Spinoza ~~
*************
“When nothing is sure, everything is possible.”
~~ Margaret Drabble ~~
*************
If you can distinguish between good advice and bad advice,
then you don’t need advice.
~~ Van Roy’s Second Law~~
*************
“In our haste to deal with the things that are wrong,
let us not upset the things that are right.”
~~ Unknown Bee ~~
*************
“Man is great by thought.”
~~ Blaise Pascal ~~
*************
There is always more than we see.
~~ Mindful Bee ~~
*************
“He who possesses most must be most afraid of loss.”
~~ Leonardo Da Vinci~~
*************
“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation.
We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence,
but we rather have those because we have acted rightly.
We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”
~~ Aristotle ~~
*************
“Man is free to think as his reason tells him.”
~~ Spinoza ~~
********************************
Not too bad, I think. With the help of the Tardis, it’s even done at a reasonable hour…. To echo the brevity seen in today’s intro, I’ll merely say this: Bye, ffolkes. See y’all mañana, if my luck holds…..
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.
Leelu preying…. A deadly predator to shoes and paper.
Hajime…. Yesterday’s foul mood, while passed into memory, mostly, remains hovering around the edges of my persona; I suppose, given today’s world, a certain amount of angst will be humanity’s lot from now until the world has settled into whatever the future brings….. In other words, “What the fuck?” is the new paradigm for human reality, so, we’d best get used to a higher degree of chaos in our daily lives…. So be it; we have no one but ourselves to blame for any of it….
I’m tired, having spent a restless night, post foulness of mood. Also c’est la fucking vie, so, no sense worrying over it now. It isn’t as if I hadn’t been there before, right? Right. Since we’re being so damn logical and grounded this morning, perhaps it would be best to get the slow on the toad, right away, before we lose any of the competence we may possess by virtue of the new day. Yeah, that’s the ticket…. Hang on, we’ll teleport over to the oyster beds, so we can get started without any further delays, or, opportunities to fuck it up…. Sure, like that will work…. Oh well, let’s go, anyway….
Shall we Pearl?….
“In a room with four mirrored walls — physical, emotional, mental and spiritual — you can easily look in one mirror look in two if you try, and possibly look in three but you can never see yourself in all four. You have to spin around, change your focus or better, have a friend who can watch your back reflecting what they see, and help you grow.” — Callan Williams
********************************
A few days ago, I used the MTV Unplugged video of Eric Clapton’s session on that show. On the page where it resides, I found another concert, from 1988, & decided to listen to it…. The show opens with two of the finest guitarists alive, absolutely killing old Cream songs, for the first 20 minutes or more….. I just sat there smiling, with my jaw dropping on a regular basis, as Eric, or Mark, went off on the guitar solo riffs in both White Room, and another couple of the old tunes…. Amazing…. When Elton joins in, it’s magic, ffolkes…. Enjoy….
“Human beings were invented by water as a device for transporting itself from one place to another.” — Tom Robbins
As an opening for a rant on politics, I can’t think of a better writer than Tom Robbins, to illustrate for us the primary cause for all the problems we humans seem to make for ourselves in that silly, yet, deadly arena of human existence. With one masterful line, he shows exactly how we fail to understand the true nature of not only Reality, but, ourselves, as well. Of course, one must possess the wherewithal to understand the incredibly subtle metaphor he employs, but, hey, if there is anything we know around here, it is the power of the Metaphorse….
With that said, I’m feeling generous today, as well as smarmy, so, I’ll forgo ranting in favor of poking at the BRC, and all the other Asininnies we can include, with the sharpest sticks we can find in the oyster beds today…. Since we have, naturally, using the power of a Time Lord, as bestowed by virtue of a Tardis on loan from the Doctor, already collected all the pearls we shall need, why don’t we get right to it? Okay, that was easy…. Oh, and, fair warning, ffolkes; there are 13 of these puppies. Take it slow….
Almost Naked Pearls
How to irritate others, and lose friends…
(All implied criticism is intentional… gigoid)
*************
“A man can’t get rich if he takes proper care of his family.” — Navajo Proverb
“Politics is a pendulum whose swings between anarchy and tyranny are fueled by perennially rejuvenated illusions.” — Albert Einstein
“If the newspapers of a country are filled with good news, the jails will be filled with good people.” — Daniel P. Monynihan
“Of course the US Constitution isn’t perfect; but it’s a lot better than what we have now.” — Eric Sheppard
“Science has proof without any certainty. Creationists have certainty without any proof.” — Ashley Montagu
“Fewer possess virtue, than those who wish us to believe that they possess it.” — Cicero
“A prune is a plum that worried a lot.” — Witty Bee
“It is utterly implausible that a mathematical formula should make the future known to us, and those who think it can would once have believed in witchcraft.” — Betrand de Jouvenel, The Art of Conjecture, 1967
“It’s hard for the modern generation to understand Thoreau, who lived beside a pond but didn’t own water skis or a snorkel.” — Bill Vaughan
“The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern.” — Lord Acton
“That which leads us to the performance of duty by offering pleasure as its reward, is not virtue, but a deceptive copy and imitation of virtue.” — Cicero
“He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.” — Chinese proverb
“A truly wise man never plays leapfrog with a Unicorn.” — Ancient Human Proverb
(Sources on Google ranged through countries & cultures all over the world; the implication of that is obvious…. and, if it isn’t, then, it becomes an exercise for the Gentle Reader to THINK about it….)
********************************
For The Blind Poet, Embraced
I sit to open a vein, exposed in public places,
happy to be written, judging by the faces.
None can see the price so willingly paid,
at the feet of imagination is that cost weighed.
Still shadows of reality shine quite as well
to hide all the bleeding as if under a spell;
While visions and fantasies vie for attention,
hoping to win once-hoped-for final mention.
Technology may or may not rue its day
never knowing or caring its part to play.
All the precious moments of inspiration
Fall ever short of our own imagination.
~~ gigoid ~~
9/30/2012
********************************
Naked Pearls
Thoughts on Life at Large
*************
“Eternity is a mere moment, just long enough for a joke.”
~~ Hermann Hesse ~~
*************
“Do not go where the path may lead,
go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~
*************
“Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.”
~~ Lazarus Long ~~
*************
“It takes a very long time to become young.”
~~ Pablo Picasso ~~
*************
“No man can be brave
who thinks pain the greatest evil;
nor temperate
who considers pleasure the highest good.”
~~ Cicero ~~
*************
“We are all born for love.
It is the principle of existence,
and its only end.”
~~ Benjamin Disraeli ~~
*************
“Don’t reinvent the wheel, just realign it.”
~~ Anthony J. D’Angelo, The College Blue Book ~~
*************
“Every time a man unburdens his heart to a stranger
he reaffirms the love that unites humanity.”
~~ Germaine Greer ~~
*************
Beauty is truth, truth beauty, –that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.
~~ John Keats ~~ Ode on a Grecian Urn ~~
********************************
Well, it’s a Pearl. Further, deponent sayeth not. As to the future, well, one never knows, do one? You can be sure, given today’s post, I WILL be back tomorrow, to try again…. It may not be better, but, it will be different….. For now, I’ll merely say, adieu for now; I’ll be back, as long as I don’t run into anyone meaner, or trickier than myself…. If I do, read the news, for it will probably be there…. If not, I’ll be here….
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 the spirits who dwell in the ether envy man his pain?”
~~ Kahlil Gibran ~~
Monument to the Victims of the Great Famine in Ireland Galway
Hajime…. The monument you see is quite a moving experience in person; the events of that time were horrendous, as well as misnamed in the official history of the time. Even the name of the monument, in my mind, isn’t as it should be, for the Famine was not a famine; it was attempted genocide by the British government. Now, such a statement may not match what the world was told, but, it resembles reality much more than the story that eventually was agreed upon, which is all history really is….
Gosh…. That’s pretty heavy, eh? Well, it’s a heavy monument, so, there’s nothing unusual, or wrong about that. I shan’t continue in such a vein, for it’s already hard enough to see the keyboard, but, everyone alive should take a moment often to remember the victims of such crimes, which happen every day, in almost every country in the world, at one time or another. Man’s inhumanity to his fellow man is a subject that’s been covered by greater minds, and writers, than I, so, I won’t bother to try to cover their work, either. What I can do is put together a Pearl, as best I may. So be it.
Hell, we’ll just go do that now. Take us away, Luigi, before anyone notices….
Shall we Pearl?….
“A sky as pure as water bathed the stars and brought them out.” — Southern mail, by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, 1929
********************************
Image from amazon.com via Google Images
I never was privileged to see Leon play live before he was gone, but, I’ve seen Willie a couple times, here & there over the years. They played together a lot back in the day; here’s a concert from 1979 I missed, being busy preparing to get married at the end of the month, in California….. Nice to get to hear it now; hurray for You Tube, and old hippies….
********************************
Willie Nelson & Leon Russell Live in Passaic, NJ, 3/1/79
“I like the way ONLY their mouths move.. They look like DYING OYSTERS” — Zippy the Pinhead
I’ve seen a lot of the Zippy books & cartoons, but, not this one, so, I don’t know for sure if he’s talking about a choir, or, almost anyone on the floor of the US Senate during almost any session. But, then, he COULD be talking about what I used to do, which was to watch the news without sound. The Zipster’s fond observation could describe practically every newscast team, as well, but for the weather folks, who are generally the most interesting, especially without sound. And, please, don’t get me started on the politicians, or police spokesheeple, or other members of the BRC, (you know, the Asininnies) being interviewed; let’s just note Zippy nailed them in one….
I had intended to rant upon the political group, using Zippy’s quote as a springboard, but, circumstances preclude much besides the sort of thing you see in the first paragraph. So, rather than subject y’all to any more of my occasionally infantile humor, (it happens most often in this situation, after the fourth day of not sleeping; the damn cat gets 20 times the sleep I’m getting…. But, I’m not complaining, just explaining the whyfor….), I went searching in Smart Bee for some off the wall, or ‘different’ thoughts with which to entertain y’all, with each one relating in some fashion to my own thoughts on why we’ve ended up in such a mess….
And, what the hell, because I can….
“More comfortable seeing 2 men holding guns than holding hands?” — Sardonic Bee
“I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to colleges, which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by thread, into the fabric of their lives.” — Tolstoy
“A free life cannot acquire many possessions, because this is not easy to do without servility to mobs or monarchs…” — Epicurus
“If you think the United States has stood still, who built the largest shopping center in the world?” — Richard M. Nixon
“Q: How can you tell when a lawyer is lying? A:His lips are moving.” — Sarcastic Bee
“How many gun control advocates does it take to screw in a light bulb? Let the police do it – private citizens can’t be trusted with light bulbs !” — Smart Alec Bee
de-moc-ra-cy (di mok’ ra see) n. Three wolves and a sheep voting on what’s for dinner. — Realistic Bee
“For neither men nor angel can discern hypocrisy – the only evil that walks invisible.” — Milton, “Paradise Lost”, iii:682-684
“Things are going to get a lot worse before they get worse.” — Lily Tomlin
********************************
Momentary Terror
Absently casual, memories pester endlessly
leaving only bleeding remnants, amiable and loving.
Coming awake, I cry to still the pain, shamelessly.
Elsewhen, time gives surcease, if only to live,
shoring broken pilings, worn and gray.
Passing on, I laugh at the pain, accept all it will give.
Time will build a shelter, warm and ever safe
save for Fate’s busy hands.
Enduring, I follow the pain, knowing it will chafe.
Fixed against a darkened sky of starry black
such beauty brings us to our knees.
Entranced, I welcome the pain, ’tis all I lack…..
~~ gigoid ~~
Written 2/4/2013.
********************************
Sometimes, Smart Bee is a moralist about Life at Large; today was one of those days. We did manage to find some pretty cogent thoughts about the whole shebang, for what they’re worth. In my mind, that isn’t an insignificant value…. You decide for yourself….
“I grow old ever learning many things.” — Solon
“I certainly wasn’t happy. Happiness has to do with reason, and only reason earns it. What I was given was the thing you can’t earn, and can’t keep, and often don’t even recognize at the time; I mean joy.” — Ursula K. LeGuin
“Hunger is the best seasoning for meat, and thirst for drink.” — Cicero
“Be not ashamed of thy virtues; honor’s a good brooch to wear in a man’s hat at all times.” — Ben Johnson
“Fuck ’em if they can’t take a joke.” — J. R. “Bob” Dobbs
“It is loneliness that makes the loudest noise. This is true of men as of dogs.” — Eric Hoffer
“The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water, but to walk on the earth.” — Chinese proverb
“The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus — Meditations, iv, 3
“Better clean death than dirty life.” — Frank Herbert
********************************
It’s done. The mere fact of its doneness is a testament, to be sure; whether to my will and perseverance, or to obsessive-compulsiveness, is both unclear, and, ultimately, unimportant. To me, anyway, because, hey, done. We’ll try it again tomorrow, ffolkes; one of these times I’ll get it right…. Sure I will….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
“The opposite of Galileo’s defense is also true;
surely it is harmful to souls to make it mandatory to believe what is unprovable.
History is a long litany of absolute proof of such harm.”
~~ gigoid, the dubious ~~
Good morning…. Well, I have the proof now. After all this time, what we’ve always known to be true has now been thoroughly, scientifically tested, and found to be true, to wit: Shit happens, and there’s nothing to be done about it.
Good to know, don’t you think? I do; it’ll save us all a lot of time worrying. Myself, I plan to use a good part of today, just contemplating the simple fact of my own innocence…. I mean, I can’t do anything about it, right? That means, by logical concatenation, I can’t be held responsible for it if it goes wrong. What a bonus!
Now we’ve thoroughly, and scientifically destroyed any chance at all of having y’all take any of the following seriously, we’d best be off to the oyster beds. At least underwater your shouting at me in frustration won’t be so loud. Wait! Sit down! If y’all rush me now, we’ll never get this poor old thing off the ground! Luigi, get us outta here! Hang on, ffolkes; you can take your shots at the end….
Shall we Pearl?….
Calvin: “Do you believe our destinies are determined by the stars?”
Hobbes: “Nah.”
Calvin: “Oh, I do.”
Hobbes: “Really? How come?”
Calvin: “Life’s a lot more fun when you’re not responsible for your actions.”
~~ “Calvin and Hobbes,” Bill Watterson ~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’m modeling a new version of the White Rabbit syndrome today; that means I only have time to fall back on our default musical choice…. It’s hard to feel guilty about it when I know it will be enjoyed, if only for it’s own inherent beauty and peace to be found within its space and time…. See, we can use fantasy and metaphor ANYWHERE!…. Oh, and if the choice is confusing, don’t fret; I just picked the one you see because I liked the picture the best…. Enjoy, ffolkes…..
If you wish to know
Why there are disasters
Of Armies and Weapons in the world
Listen to the piteous cries
From the slaughterhouse at midnight
~~ Old Chinese Saying ~~
**************
“The Meaning Of Life:
The reason that we’re all here is that
it was too crowded where we were supposed to go.”
~~ Steven Wright ~~
At last! A statement so perfectly attuned to actual Reality as to be indistinguishable from a slap in the face, which is mankind’s most favored form of testing the strength of a proposition to, and for, each other…. Sure, there are some issues in the implications, but, I’d say it fits the available evidence as well as any of our current major religious philosophies, and a damn sight better than most of them.
To me, quite frankly, it makes a lot more sense than some old fart with a long beard up in the sky who gives a rat’s patootie about what the hell I’m up to here where He is supposed to have dumped me, into this shit pile of violence, mutual abuse, and, an overall atmosphere of bigotry and all-around IDIOCY that permeates every level of society, all around the world. If that shit is true, I’m supposed to THANK the butt hole? I don’t think so….
Besides,if Steven is wright, (and, of course, he is, obviously), that means everyone on this planet is somebody who failed whatever test they had to take to make it into the country club, which goes a long way toward explaining the past 10,000 years of history, filled with blood, aggression, and very little progress toward any sort of intelligent response to life at large….
“Are you sure it isn’t time for another colorful metaphor?”
~~ Spock, “The Voyage Home,” stardate 8390 ~~
I would say, in this case, Spock is correct; it’s time for a long series of colorful metaphors, which, if vulgar and distressing to the faint of heart, still offers a relief from the angst of knowledge unavailable with any other activity, such as prayer, or, kicking an unsuspecting furry creature, which, though a temporary relief, can bring both a large rise in one’s karmic account, and, if one possesses any sensitivity and compassion at all, a large dose of guilt, well-deserved. ( This, I might add, is true of the metaphoric “kicking of the cat” one commits when they take their anger out on any creature undeserving of it…. A child, a woman, a dog, a man, a cat… what’s the difference? None at all, when they are innocent…)
I would also say our entire species is deserving of any epithet applied to us by the Universe; if so, it, too, will be a metaphor, of the failure of spirit which will lead to our eventual extinction as a species…. The only possible other result, survival into the far future, will only occur if we can act to change our very nature, and quickly; the planet’s ecosystem is not going to give us much longer to make the necessary alterations in the way we treat LIFE, of which we are a much less important part than that for which we give ourselves credit. When we are gone, the Universe will barely blink; it is only our towering egos, propelled by the power of our imagination, which gives an unfortunate few of us the idea we are more important than a single grain of sand….
There are a hundred issues confronting society today, any and all of which are disruptive to our progress as a species and a culture. War, sickness, greed, abuse of all kinds, education, racism, sexism, government corruption by business…. Let’s take a moment to review some information I re-blogged yesterday here on ECR, having first noticed its publication on our old friend Lou’s site, Tales From The Conspiratum, on WordPress (here: http://talesfromtheconspiratum.com/2015/10/14/we-are-anonymous-cannabis-cures-cancer-525 )
As I said yesterday, how much truth can you handle, ffolkes…. Here is just ONE example of a rather egregious example of how our government has been corrupted by big business, and the ambition and greed of professional politicians, who do the bidding of their corporate masters, at the expense of the rest of us…. Check this out….
If they would lie to us about something like this, at the same time they lied to us about Vietnam, and all the other crap they did during that shameful period of our history, why would anyone think they are, all of a sudden, now telling us the truth, about ANYTHING?…. I ask you if can believe them; if you do, I have a wonderful deal for you in a bridge…. Cash only, no credit…. And, uh, can you tell me the way to the bus station?….
I say again, ffolkes. They are lying to us; they know it, we know it. How much longer can this situation go on, before the societal version of critical mass is reached?
Not long, I’d say….
So be it.
gigoid has spoken, with the help and support of We Are Anonymous, and hundreds of millions of unhappy slaves of the corporate nightmare in which we are all entrapped…. But, only until enough wake up, & see the truth…. I have only three thoughts with which to leave you…. An observation, a reminder of what CAN happen if we don’t pay attention, and, a last bit of hope….
“Recorded history is largely an account of the crimes and disasters committed by banal little men at the levers of imperial machines.” — Edward Abbey
“All military type firearms are to be handed in immediately… The SS, SA and Stahlhelm give every respectable German man the opportunity of campaigning with them. Therefore anyone who does not belong to one of the above named organizations and who unjustifiably nevertheless keeps his weapon… must be regarded as an enemy of the national government.” — SA Oberfuhrer of Bad Tolz, March, 1933
“Though all the winds of doctrine were let loose to play upon the earth, so Truth be in the field, we do ingloriously, by licensing and prohibiting, to misdoubt her strength. Let her and Falsehood grapple: who ever knew Truth put to the worse in a free and open encounter?” — John Milton — Areopagitica
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I have followed this poet’s blog for over four years, since first discovering her website, soon after starting my own blog here on WordPress. Each and every time I read one of her poems, I am astounded, or deeply moved, or shocked into clarity, or just plain slack-jawed in awe of the power that moves through her sometimes, when her Art, her pain, her love, and her imagination merge to make magic with words…. mostly in her second language.
In my mind, her spirit is Art, a muse come to life; in a world once painted in a story by Samuel R. Delaney, she would be called a Singer, an artist at large in the world, allowed to go anywhere, and do anything, from singing in a fountain during a fire, to acts of self-mutilation after a performance, even to murder, in the pursuit of their Art, whether it be poetry, song, sculpture, all of it, or none…. so long as the Art moves through them…. Believe me, Art moves through Mari Sanchez Cayuso…. This poem was a recent offering, a simple poem that spoke to me somehow, and can be found here:
This one’s pretty simple. It begins and ends with an idea presented by a Taoist master, which explains the choice of today’s icon for this section. It’s another pearl about Life at Large, and how to approach the whole ball of wax with some intelligence, dignity, and honor…. with a bit of good advice thrown in on how to nurture one’s inner garden…. Enjoy! It won’t be on the Quiz, though all of it is stuff you probably would be wise to remember….
“Every day passes whether you participate or not.” — Deng Ming-Dao
“Freedom begins between the ears.” — Edward Abbey
“Eat not thy heart; which forbids to afflict our souls, and waste them with vexatious cares.” — Plutarch — Of the Training of Children
“It is far more impressive when others discover your good qualities without your help.” — Miss Manners (Judith Martin)
“The truth is always the strongest argument.” — Sophocles — Phaedra, Frag. 737
“As long as you live, keep learning how to live.” — Seneca
“The soul is healed by being with children.” — Fyodor Dostoyevski
“You’re never too old to become younger.” — Mae West
“Use a mirror in difficult times: You will see both cause and resolution.” — Deng Ming-Dao
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I did it…. barely, and a bit late, but, hey, it’s done, so, who cares? Not me, obviously. Nor should you, as this means you can now go do something that might actually help the situation…. I’d suggest washing up first; reading ECR can create a build-up difficult to clean off if it dries…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, provided Space and Time can hold together that long….
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.
International Space Station 2, orbiting Mars ~~ Artist: Ville Ericsson Image from Space.com
Good morning…. Coming up with a justifiable reason might be problematic, but, evidence doesn’t lie; that means, sadly, no further dallying will be tolerated. It’s a shame, too, as we’re really, really good at dallying. Furthermore, the fabrication of reasons, of all categories and strengths, is sort of an avocation with us, (Luigi has his certificate already; who knew?), which means we could have come up with the correct one almost in our sleep, had we had any….
No, wait, that’s a lie. Don’t want y’all to think we’re falling into the habits displayed so frequently by our Beloved Ruling Class, now, would we? Nope. But, no worries, we didn’t do it; the lie was merely for the purposes of distraction; I actually did sleep, oddly enough, for the unheard of period of six FULL hours. Perhaps that’s why we’re so flippant thus far today; it matters little, since it’s gotten us two paragraphs deep into the intro, without breaking a sweat…..
That cover, officially pulled now, we will fold neatly, and, place right over here for later. Now, where was I? Oh, right. Okay, so, I’ve got a Pearl here for ya, but, it was put together yesterday, mostly, while I was battling some pretty fierce arthritic pain, to go along with the oppressive weather (got up to about 96ºF, & no A/C….), so, I can’t be entirely sure of the quality of any of it…. It looks okay, though, so, we’ll go with it, and trust to the process, which has proven itself to be up to the task many times…. sort of.
All that aside, where it belongs, it’s time to quit fooling about; we have no boats anyway, so, we are unable to fulfill Mr. Toad’s most excellent advice. (20 pt. bonus for knowing the reference) It wouldn’t have mattered anyway, as we don’t have time to spend on such frivolity now. We have oysters to harvest! Luigi, fire that puppy up, and get us outta here; I can hear the sirens coming up the drive….
Shall we Pearl?….
A thousand cups of wine do not suffice when true friends meet, but half a sentence is too much when there is no meeting of minds.” — Chinese proverb
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Star Trek: Renegades ~ Scene from official movie
Screenshot Image via Space.com
An independent group of young filmmakers has created an entire movie based on the Star Trek Universe. It isn’t an official movie, made in Hollywood, but, an independent effort. I’ve watched the first few minutes; it’s excellently done. (Gotta love Admiral Checkov as a major character) I’m saving the rest to watch on my upcoming long flight, and really looking forward to it…. I managed to grab a copy, which will hopefully still be up on You Tube by the time you try to watch it…. It’s free to watch, so, enjoy!….
Since I was up so early (0300…) I’d intended to see if I had a rant on tap in my head…. It doesn’t seem to be happening, so, we’ll go with a pretty decent politirant from last year. It is, of course, all still completely relevant, as our Beloved Ruling Class has no intentions to make any changes on its own. But, that’s a rant for another day; for now, let’s consider this:
From 5/21/2014:
Today’s rant comes to you courtesy of a couple of news articles, to which you will find links below…. It helps me if y’all read the article(s) first; then, my comments make more sense…. I also feel compelled to comment here; I find it very disturbing, though not particularly surprising, that many of the articles about the chicanery, and, illegal, immoral activities in which our government and police forces are engaged, are to be found only in foreign news sites… The sites in this country seem to ignore/pass over much of what is obvious to other countries, tending to softball any criticism about the people in power here…. I’m assuming that is because they are afraid of retribution; why else keep silent? It certainly is not to their advantage to do so, in the ultimate sense….
Any who, please go ahead & read them, after which, I’ll show some excerpts, upon which I’ll comment, as to the key points to be found…. Hopefully, my comments will make themselves obvious, but, to be clear, the excerpts will be in quotation marks; comments are not….
“On Monday, Occupy Wall Street activist Cecily McMillan was sentenced to three months in jail and five years of probation, after she faced down a maximum sentence of seven years in prison for her conviction of assaulting a police officer. Her supporters, unsurprisingly, feel the sentencing is excessive – especially given her testimony that the officer in question first grabbed her breast – but it’s also clearer than ever that McMillan’s conviction will have a chilling effect on the future of serious activism.”
“The most famous example of this is probably NYPD deputy inspector Anthony Bologna, who pepper-sprayed peaceful female protesters during an OWS march. In 2013, the district attorney’s office announced that it would not prosecute Bologna – and the NYPD docked him just ten vacation days and reassigned him to Staten Island.”
A large number of people are surprised when they see articles such as this; I can only figure it’s because they are really, really stupid, (sorry, I calls ’em as I sees ’em….). I make that assessment due to their implicit trust in the police forces in this country, for the simple reason they assume, in complete error, those entities are to be dedicated professionals, with integrity, honor, and compassion for others; they actually believe that bullshit. They have a hard time when an article like this comes out; if they paid attention to anything outside their own narrow world, they would see such event happen, pretty much, every fucking day, in every state in this country.
Yep, every damn day, I go through the news, and there is ALWAYS at least one, often more, article reporting (often with video evidence) another cop gone rogue, or some piece of corruption exposed, or another forcible rape by a sheriff deputy, or some other example of one of the BRC’s faceless myrmidons abusing the power of authority that comes with their job…. EVERY DAY ffolkes, and that is NOT an exaggeration; look at it yourself…. If I can find at least one article about a corrupt cop every day, how many do you think there actually ARE? A LOT, wouldn’t you guess? I would….
Except, it’s not a guess… My estimate is that at least half, & most likely more than half, of the assholes wearing a badge in this country are totally unqualified to carry a gun to enforce the law, because they are they type of person who will abuse that power…. Way, way more than half is my actual gut feeling, but, we’ll be conservative, & keep the estimate there at 50%…. Believe me, when it comes to corrupt cops, half of them is MORE than enough…. Especially when the other half generally refuse to acknowledge that fact….
My question is: how can any intelligent citizen think that these people could be trusted to use their weapons ONLY in defense of the law, if they were the only ones allowed to carry them? Do you think that most police would show integrity, or would they abuse their position, using their weapons to control and intimidate citizens, rather than protecting them? I’m sorry, but, I just don’t think they are any more trustworthy than the average citizen; in fact, I would wager serious money on them being far less honest, and far less honorable than the average joe on the street, and that is a fact….. Hell, they can’t even bring themselves to use their turn signals…. what makes people think they’ll not pull the trigger?….
“Christie, who says he is still considering running for president and will decide his political future later, recently said the lane closings would be “a footnote” by 2016. But his prediction last week came the same day his former campaign manager contradicted Christie’s timeline of the bridge scandal…..Political operative Bill Stepien said Christie misspoke Dec. 13 when he told reporters he had received assurances that no one close to him knew about the lane closings.”
Misspoke? Misspoke? What the fuck does that mean, if not “he lied”? As far as I can see, it can’t mean anything but that, but, this guy, Stepien, remember, is a “political operative”, and, as such, has been extensively trained to use the English language in ways no other sane person would think to do…. He is obviously pissed off at Christie for making him fall on his sword, but manages to still try to minimize the key fact of the matter, to wit: Christie was involved…. his governing style encouraged that sort of thing; it’s clear that he knew about it, and he lied about it….
This particular brouhaha, in fact, is one of the easiest issues to understand, as history has shown us that we can, for sure and for certain, count on one characteristic of politicians to be a fact…. WHATEVER a major politician says. especially regarding their own guilt or innocence, about ANYTHING, is going be an outright lie…. It’s knee jerk for them; they have no other behavioral response to fall back on, so, in such instances, when they are accused of ANY wrongdoing, they deny, deny, deny…. If pushed to the wall, they will say that the person they scapegoated, fired, had lied to them, which, as we know, is a crock of shit….. If they hadn’t trusted the idiots, they wouldn’t have been where they were….
Two things bother me about issues of this nature…. One, the lies that are told by the perpetrators of such acts are reported as if they have validity; the media doesn’t even TRY to point out any discrepancy in fact, or suggest any alternatives to accepting it as truth…. when, in truth, they KNOW it all to be a crock…. Second, people in the public read this crap, and believe it…. They have no clue, and are unwilling to believe, that they are being lied to at every turn…. If they do that, they would have to first admit their own FUCKING STUPIDITY….
Sorry, I get a bit worked up when I think of how gullible the average American is; it makes me ashamed of what the forefathers foresaw for this country, to see that the corporate assholes have won…. They’ve taken over all three branches of the government, and the majority of people in this country have no clue they are nothing more than slaves….
The average American is no longer an educated, honorable citizen of a democracy, who watches the government with cautious regard…. Mostly they are grossly overweight couch potatoes, carrying fifty extra pounds from eating all the crap the corporations want them to eat, locked into their own brand of indulgence, stupidly believing everything a talking head on their TV tells them, making them extremely easy to lead around by the nose, as they give up their legacy of rights to unprincipled, immoral, INSANE assholes with more money than common sense, or compassion, ignoring and/or denying as much of what goes on around them as they can…. It’s a wonder we aren’t all wearing collars….
Just wait, though, that day will come, if the monied elite have their way…. They sure as hell haven’t shown any inclination to share any of what they’ve usurped stolen from everyone else, nor do they exhibit any willingness to change their nature from being predatory, so, I’d wager they’ll just keep on doing what they’ve been doing, and continue to do, which is lie, cheat, and steal to and from everyone else, always seeking to maintain and extend their control over the rest of the world…. while the sociopathic assholes they have trained as their puppets and myrmidons, whom we call politicians, preachers, and policemen, continue to run roughshod over the rest of society….
So be it.
gigoid has spoken….
“Jesus died too soon.
If he had lived to my age he would have repudiated his doctrine.”
~~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche ~~
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It’s been quite a while since I used anyone else’s work, aside from a couple of bloggers whose work impresses me. So, here is a classic poem, from the man I consider the best American poet. Period…. Enjoy, please; it’s pretty hard not to like this man’s work…. It’s a long poem; to save some time, I only posted the first verses, the beginning stanzas only. I’ve included a link at the end to Poetryfoundation.com, where you can read the rest….
Song of Myself
I Celebrate myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.
I loafe and invite my soul,
I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.
My tongue, every atom of my blood, form’d from this soil,
this air,
Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and
their parents the same,
I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin,
Hoping to cease not till death.
Creeds and schools in abeyance,
Retiring back a while sufficed at what they are, but never
forgotten,
I harbor for good or bad, I permit to speak at every hazard,
Nature without check with original energy.
~~ Walt Whitman ~~
You can read the entire poem, in the version published in 1892, here:
This is a strange pearl; it doesn’t, at first, seem as if it’s going anywhere specific, but, manages somehow to create a lesson worth some attention…. I hope you enjoy it; it’s a pretty good one….
The modest front of this small floor,
Believe me, reader, can say more
Than many a braver marble can,–
“Here lies a truly honest man!”
~~ Richard Crashaw ~~
~~ Epitaph upon Mr. Ashton ~~
—————–
“If water derives lucidity from stillness,
how much more the faculties of the mind!
The mind of the sage, being in repose,
becomes the mirror of the universe,
the speculum of all creation.”
~~ Chuang Tzu ~~
—————–
“Any idiot can face a crisis.
It’s this day-to-day living that wears you out.”
~~ Anton Checkov ~~
—————–
“Curiosity will conquer fear even more than bravery will.”
~~ James Stephens ~~
—————–
“It is the ability to choose which makes us human.”
~~ Madeleine L’Engle (Walking on Water) ~~
—————–
“When you come right down to it, all you have is your self.
Your self is a sun with a thousand rays in your belly.
The rest is nothing.”
~~ Pablo Picasso ~~
—————–
“It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.”
~~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery ~~
—————–
“No one can see their reflection in running water.
It is only in still water that we can see.”
~~- Taoist Proverb ~~
—————–
“The Magician of the Ivory Tower brought his latest invention for the master programmer to examine.
The magician wheeled a large black box into the master’s office while the master waited in silence.
“This is an integrated, distributed, general-purpose workstation,” began the magician,
“ergonomically designed with a proprietary operating system,
sixth generation languages, and multiple state of the art user interfaces.
It took my assistants several hundred man years to construct. Is it not amazing?”
The master raised his eyebrows slightly. “It is indeed amazing,” he said.
“Corporate Headquarters has commanded,” continued the magician,
“that everyone use this workstation as a platform for new programs.
Do you agree to this?”
“Certainly,” replied the master,
“I will have it transported to the data center immediately!”
And the magician returned to his tower, well pleased.
Several days later, a novice wandered into the office of the master programmer and said,
“I cannot find the listing for my new program. Do you know where it might be?”
“Yes,” replied the master, “the listings are stacked on the platform in the data center.”
— Geoffrey James, “The Tao of Programming” ~~
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Contrary to all precepts of scientific endeavor, we’ve finished. Not only finished, but, done. And, just in time, I might add. The myrmidons seem to be somewhat persistent today; I can hear the sirens coming right here to the oyster beds…. How convenient we will be gone when they arrive; funny how that worked out, isn’t it? Ah well, we’ll worry about all that later; once y’all have exited the premises, we can break out the heavier artillery. Of course, we’re not allowed to tell you what it is, but, trust me; you’re safe…..See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes. Count on it….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the Lagoon Nebula, an object with a deceptively tranquil name. The region is filled with intense winds from hot stars, churning funnels of gas, and energetic star formation, all embedded within an intricate haze of gas and pitch-dark dust.
The Lagoon Nebula Image by the ESA/NASA Hubble Deep Space Telescope
Good morning…. Thanks to the machinations I’m compelled to use in order to get any sleep at all, I was up for almost three hours last night, (in the middle of the damn thing, at that!), then fell out so hard I overslept my usual time for posting…. SIGH…. So much for the best laid plans, eh? Ah well, it’s a good thing I had some time yesterday, & got the rant done then…. That saves almost half the available time, right there….
So, I’ll use my newest grand technique to explain myself, thus,
[dignified silence]
There, we have now regained at least a modicum of our dignity, while simultaneously saving a bunch of time…. It also, to my intense relief, reestablished to some degree my aplomb, without which I feel naked in public…. Ah, that’s better…. Okay, Luigi, hit it!….
Shall we Pearl?….
“Education is the best provision for old age.”
~~ Aristotle ~~
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Image from melauspartners.com via Google Images
To find a different mix for y’all, I went back several pages in the You Tube search, and found a perfect batch…. It’s advertised as over 3 hours of classical music for babies…. Probably better for them than anything but mother’s milk…. If the expression on that babies face is any indication, it’s pretty damn good, for sure….That would be my guess, anyway…. Enjoy!…
“In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.”
~~ Genesis 1:1 ~~
See, now, THERE! Right there! The very first time I heard that, as a child, I remember thinking to myself, “The beginning of what?” My second thought was, “Did anybody SEE that? Must’ve been cool.” Well, okay, the second one I just made up. But, the first one is still clear in my mind, and, still pretty thoroughly unanswered in any meaningful way, by anybody I know, or have heard about. Since then, of course, a number of other thoughts and comments have occurred to me at various moments, but, they’re mostly sarcastic, sardonic, or downright cruel, so, we’ll just go on…
The absolute uncertainty I perceived as inherent in the statement, clearly obvious to me even at that age, at that precise moment, was thus established in my mind as the prevailing tenor of all such proclamations, before those telling it to me could reinforce it as something I was supposed to accept as true…. I believe this revelation, which occurred at the age of about 4 or 5, if I recall correctly, is primarily responsible for having saved me from so much of the anguish and trouble I observe in so many of my peers…. In short, it set off my crap detector, and, I listened…
In the intervening 60 years, I’ve made a fairly wide, thorough study of religion(s), as much as possible for an overly literate layman. Whether my conclusions based on my studies are correct, or not, is for me to decide; y’all can make up your own, if you’ve a mind to (Little joke there….) I guess it’s obvious by now, I’m going to tell you some of those conclusions…. See how sharp y’all are?….
It seems to me, from all my studies, the only reasonable conclusion I can make, basing my reason on my extensive reading, is this: all the major religions were created…. They are all just fabulous stories, thought up by unscrupulous sociopaths, more interested in other people’s morals than their own (or, possessing an even greater measure of fear of Life than the average insane person…), who wished to manipulate the others of our species, who were also too afraid of life to face it directly.
All they saw around them, this large, terrifying, UNKNOWN universe, full of strange noises and powerful elements they did not comprehend, caused them to retreat in fear into their own minds, rather than screwing up their courage to go out into the world, to try to find out what it all meant, or how it worked, and, most importantly, to understand, and to see what else there was to see…. It’s easy to give in to fear like that; I know it, you know it. We’ve all felt fear at the unknown… But, one has to make a choice, to face it like a human, with curiosity, and courage, or, like a sub-human, running for his mama back in the cave….
Rather than THINK about what they heard, and about what they saw, these unfortunates, many of whom were brainwashed before they had a real chance to learn how to reason, accepted the first thing they heard to explain what they feared, the first one to offer surcease, most often hearing this from a person who had been brainwashed the same way at the same age, never questioning what they were told, thus removing from them any responsibility to ever make up their own minds about anything.
It’s a harsh reality about Reality; once one gives away their right, or willingness to make their own personal decisions about what to believe, one may as well fasten a slave’s collar around their own neck, willingly…. Better yet, through the nose, for that is how they’ll be led around for the rest of their lives. The saddest part of this is that such people will never break free, for, to do so, they would have to give up believing what they’ve always held to be true…. and, we already know how they feel about facing their fears. They’d have to first admit they were wrong, then decide to do what they’ve NEVER done…. which is to have the courage to take responsibility for their own actions….
It’s a tough world out there; I think it’s really too bad so many ffolkes have such a hard time with a) understanding what they perceive, and b) understanding themselves…. I find it sad, that so many people miss out on most of the real beauty in life, which comes from connecting with that understanding, and making it connect yet again to the real world…. Believe me, the rewards are much greater, and much more tangible than promises of immortality one cannot help but disdain; immortality is not just an Illusion, it is also Reality…. Two sides, one coin, ffolkes…. No God needed…. Actually, I just thought of a way you can see God, right now…. Go into the bathroom, turn on the light, and, look in the mirror…. There you go….
Hah! Gotcha! The funny thing is… you think it was a joke, when, in fact, it’s the absolute gospel truth…. Dig it.
Gosh, look, ffolkes! It’s a pearl, without any pearls…. I guess we’ll have to fix that before we get to today’s poetry section, which I think you’ll find says much the same as I just spouted off, but, in a slightly different scansion….
First, let’s see what SB has to say about this subject…. Usually, when I ask for this, I have to be picky…. we’ll see….
“Let’s leave religion to the televangelists. After all, they’re the professionals.” — Smart Bee
“John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he temporarily died to save it from himself. But none of that really matters because most people will be tortured for eternity anyways.” — Matt Miller
“If you follow the flock, you step in shit!” — Darkwisdom
“Anyone who can’t laugh at himself is taking life too seriously for my taste.” — Smart Bee
“Things don’t bug you if you don’t think about them.” — Calvin
(Think about it….)
“The common dogma [of fundamentalists] is fear of modern knowledge, inability to cope with the fast change in a scientific-technological society, and the real breakdown in apparent moral order in recent years That is why hate is the major fuel, fear is the cement of the movement, and superstitious ignorance is the best defence against the dangerous new knowledge. When you bring up arguments that cast serious doubts on their cherished beliefs you are not simply making a rhetorical point, you are threatening their whole Universe and their immortality. That provokes anger and quite frequently violence.” — G. Gaia
“It is amusing that a virtue is made of the vice of chastity; and it’s a pretty odd sort of chastity at that, which leads men straight into the sin of Onan, and girls to the waning of their color.” — Voltaire
“The disappearance of a sense of responsibility is the most far-reaching consequence of submission to authority.” — Stanley Milgram
“Maybe Jesus was right when he said that the meek shall inherit the earth — but they inherit very small plots, about six feet by three.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”
Okay, nine is probably enough…. However, I couldn’t resist two last thoughts provided by SB’s largess in this subject; one is a question I’m fond of asking priests/preachers, the other is my usual response to those twenty-two year old ‘elders’ the LDS bozos send around to my door…. I promise, then, I’m done with this…. for today.
For the priests, when they ask me if I believe in God….
“Is being an idiot like being high all the time?”
~~ Janeane Garofolo ~~
And, for the traveling side-show carnies, when they ask me, “Have you been saved?”….
“Bite off, dirtball.”
~~ Richard Sexton, richard@gryphon.COM ~~
Naturally, as soon as I considered this done, Smart Bee presents me with the absolutely perfect pearl to finish off this religirant….
Calvin: “Do you believe our destinies are determined by the stars?”
Hobbes: “Nah.”
Calvin: “Oh, I do.”
Hobbes: “Really? How come?”
Calvin: “Life’s a lot more fun when you’re not responsible for your actions.”
— “Calvin and Hobbes,” Bill Watterson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rejection
“Jesus loves me, this I know,
For the Bible tells me so…”
I’d be crying a river, I thought
if ever such crap I bought.
Sorry if it hurts your sense of style,
but, hypocrisy always gives me bile.
Being lied to accidentally is okay,
but, deliberate lies make me angry, and fey.
Oh, God, hear what I pray!
Keep me from your followers today.
Having to listen to so much that is wrong
makes me puke, before it makes me strong.
I don’t know why it isn’t clear to other folks,
which is alright, you know, different strokes.
But, why should that mean that they must
force me to believe, or fail in trust?
Spare me the lies, and the make-believe,
fairy tales are easier to hear, and to weave.
They give us a lesson which we can feel
but don’t pretend at all to be real.
Reality can scare us, that’s a given fact,
still, met with care it will leave us mostly intact.
Met without fear, standing tall and alone
Life will allow us to make it our own.
Folly beckons, and so many follow
mass delusions seem to me most hollow.
I’ll have to stick to my own chosen way
while so many go so sadly astray.
It’s lonely at times, it may seem sad,
but really isn’t, and I’m quite glad,
that knowledge is always stronger than fear,
year after year, tear after tear…..
~~ gigoid ~~
Written 3/18/2013.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today’s final old-school pearl is a true nine-star gem, with some really good ideas of how to live Life, not just in a way that brings honor, and peace of mind, but, with also with Love, and respect for Life’s other side…. Death…. Enjoy!….
“When eating bamboo sprouts, remember the man who planted them.” — Chinese Proverb
“Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.” — Robert A. Heinlein
“A good friend who points out mistakes and imperfections and rebukes evil is to be respected as if he reveals a secret of hidden treasure.” — Buddha
“After the verb “to love,” “to help” is the most beautiful verb in the world.” — Baroness Bertha von Suttner
“One kind word can warm three winter months.” — Japanese proverb
“When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you.” — Lao-Tzu
“Don’t SAY things. What you ARE stands over you the while, and thunders so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
— Social Aims
“After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.” — Albus Dumbledore, in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
“There’s this to say for blood and breath,
They give a man a taste for death.”
~~ Housman ~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Not too shabby for panic mode… I hate being late, as I’ve related previously, so, I’m happy to have (apparently) saved this Pearl from the shit pile… Oh, sorry, too gross for this early…. Ah well, chalk it up to a bit of left-over curmudgeonry, from arising late…. Hey, nobody’s bleeding, or missing any major body parts, right? All is well, then. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, as long as I continue to elude the authorities….
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.
“Is consciousness just a special form of hallucination?”
~~ Frank Herbert ~~
Emma, suffering nappus interruptus
Good morning…. But, then, you know that already, or you wouldn’t be reading this.
I hope.
Regardless, here we are again. As a consequence of such consistency, (or, insanity. Take your pick….), I hereby pronounce this intro complete….. There, that was simple, wasn’t it? Completely legal, too….. Since we are, and, it’s where we wanted to be, let’s just take advantage of the unusual, yet, more than welcome opportunity to get on with it….
Shall we Pearl?
“I’d rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach ten thousand stars how not to dance.” — ee cummings
Me, too….
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Image from rockbandaide.com via Google Images
This band doesn’t need much introduction to anyone near my age…. One of a number of aging groups, the Who have recently celebrated their own 50 year anniversary….. Here is a live concert; having seen them once, back in the early 70’s, I can attest they put on a good show…. Enjoy!….
My sleep pattern has lost all consistency, which makes me irritable, if not completely grumped out…. Since I can barely see, much less maintain a coherent train of logical thought, unless it has to do with the process of consuming coffee, we’ll go with a philosophical meander from the archives…. I always have fun with Descartes; he was so damned positive!…. Any who, enjoy!….
Or, not…. We like to give ffolkes the choice….
From 2/10/2013:
“…it is now some years since I detected how many were the false beliefs that I had believed to be true since my earliest youth. And since that time, I have been convinced that I must once and for all seriously try to rid myself of all the opinions which I had formerly accepted, and begin to build anew, if I wanted to establish any firm and permanent structure for my beliefs.” — Rene Descartes, Meditations
And, after due consideration, he came up with, “I think, therefore I am.” That’s it…. after all his steady cogitation, all his heavy thought, he comes up with six words….. Seems like he might have gone a bit further with it, since he was already thinking, but, hey, that’s just me….. He probably got distracted solving a quadratic equation in his head, or something equally fascinating, and just wrote down the first thing that came to him….. I suspect a lot of philosophies start that way, if what is in them is any indication…. Many of the ancient philosophies seem to me to have been put together during a drunken night around a campfire, and copied down the next day while hung over….
Actually, Descartes “I think” statement is one of the more consistent and logical of the statements that speak to belief, and its origins. I cannot say it is logically unassailable, for it is not, but, it is consistent within its own paradigm. This logical flaw is one reason I modified the idea when I came to make my own set of philosophical assertions, Peruaosophy…. where I said, in Axiom #1, “I think I am…. that’s close enough.”….. Much more tautological, I would say, and not subject to the same sort of picking apart, as it has no holes in it. Well, actually, it’s so holey it doesn’t need air-conditioning, but that is what supplies that logical strength, as it is a flexible enough proposition to fit any size mind….
It is not what we eat but what we digest that makes us strong,
It is not what we read but what we remember that makes us wise,
It is not what we earn but what we save that makes us rich,
It is not what beliefs we hold but what we do with those beliefs that make us what we are.
— Old Chinese misquotation.
You gotta love honesty…. I love that this is so aptly named as a misquotation; that kind of honesty just tickles my fancy, and makes for some good mental exercise…. In this case, it means trying to figure out WHICH part is misquoted, a process by which one can learn a lot, both about what is said in the quote, or misquote, and about themselves, and how their mind works. If it works, that is….
I am not sure exactly where this pearl is going…. it started out okay, but seems to be wandering a bit now, and I can’t seem to figure out how to find the way back to my original intent….. must be time for fresh coffee…. be right back….
“We begin life with a seemingly blank slate, and, though the writing that gradually appears on that slate is not our own, our judgment of the things written thereon determines what we are and what we will become. In much the same way, our work will be judged by the use to which other people put it…” — Marion Zimmer Bradley, _The Codex of Riveda_
What, then, is the mind? What is consciousness? We know they exist, for we perceive ourselves as a separate entity from the rest of what we perceive. Encountering other minds serves as corroboration of our perceptions, while at the same time offering solace for our separation from the universe, trapped alone in the confines of our minds, with only our own thoughts as company. I don’t know about anyone else, but just knowing there are others who are in the same boat is a comforting thought….. It’s a big universe, full of dark and dangerous energy, as well as beauty and opportunities for joy, and it would be a shame to have no one with whom to share it all….
“The mind of man is far from the nature of a clear and equal glass, wherein the beams of things should reflect according to their true incidence.” — Sir Francis Bacon
I suppose I’m just wandering now, rambling around in my own mind, without a clue as to how to bring this to a close…. but, here goes….
“I think I am…. that’s close enough.” This is MY philosophy of life, and my take on consciousness…. As I see it, I know I’m here, and I know what I can do in my own mind….. and no matter what the rest of the universe is up to, or believes, that’s enough for me. I don’t need confirmation of my existence, or permission from a supernatural entity, or anyone else, to live my life the way I choose.
Mssr. Descartes statement is, to my mind, too stiff, too formal, and doesn’t meet the test of illogic…. We all interpret Reality in our own way, according to our own perceptions of that Reality, and our own set of decisions about how we will approach life…. our attitudes, as it were. We can make those attitudes whatever we choose, regardless of how clear are our motives to others; in my mind, all living creatures have that right…. with, of course, the caveat that whatever attitudes we choose must be able to merge with the attitudes of others, or, at least, not step on the other person’s right to the same freedom of choice…..
In short…. You were issued a mind when you came into this universe…. It would be a good thing, for you, and, for the universe, to learn to use it….
Just a suggestion…. The reason I urge each and every one to make this effort is my strong belief in Axiom #2 of Peruaosophy, perhaps the most accurate, and powerfully influential, of all the axioms therein…. to wit:
Axiom #2: “The Nature of the Universe is Change. Unpredictable, innovative Transformation of Reality is the Norm. If you have a problem with this, you are in for a Rough Ride.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Because the poem percolating somewhere in my head isn’t ready, and, simply because I can, here’s another of my own poems from the archives….
Momentary Terror
Absently casual, memories pester endlessly
leaving only bleeding remnants, amiable and loving.
Coming awake, I cry to still the pain, shamelessly.
Elsewhen, time gives surcease, if only to live,
shoring broken pilings, worn and gray.
Passing on, I laugh at the pain, accept all it will give.
Time will build a shelter, warm and ever safe
save for Fate’s busy hands.
Enduring, I follow the pain, knowing it will chafe.
Fixed against a darkened sky of starry black
such beauty brings us to our knees.
Entranced, I welcome the pain, ’tis all I lack…..
~~ gigoid ~~
Written 2/10/2013.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Smart Bee is showing some recalcitrance this week, making the process of creating new pearls a bit sticky, as well as time consuming…. This one turned out pretty well, if a bit more esoteric than our usual fare…. As the logo icon indicates, it’s about Life at Large, with some ideas on how it might be lived with some dignity….
Full little knowest thou that hast not tride,
What hell it is in suing long to bide:
To loose good dayes, that might be better spent;
To wast long nights in pensive discontent;
To speed to-day, to be put back to-morrow;
To feed on hope, to pine with feare and sorrow.
To fret thy soule with crosses and with cares;
To eate thy heart through comfortlesse dispaires;
To fawne, to crowche, to waite, to ride, to ronne,
To spend, to give, to want, to be undonne.
Unhappie wight, borne to desastrous end,
That doth his life in so long tendance spend!
~~ Edmund Spenser ~~
~~ Mother Hubberds Tale, Line 895 ~~
“Virtue is a habit of the mind, consistent with nature and moderation and reason.” — Cicero
“I value kindness to human beings first of all, and kindness to animals. I don’t respect the law; I have a total irreverence for anything connected with society except that which makes the roads safer, the beer stronger, the food cheaper, and old men and women warmer in the winter, and happier in the summer.” — Brendan Behan
“If life must not be taken too seriously, then so neither must death.” — Samuel Butler
“If it is not seemly, do it not; if it is not true, speak it not.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus — Meditations, xii, 17
“Cursed is he that does not know when to shut his mind. An open mind is all very well in its way, but it ought not to be so open that there is no keeping anything in or out of it. It should be capable of shutting its doors sometimes, or may be found a little draughty.” — Samuel Butler
A fiery soul, which, working out its way,
Fretted the pygmy-body to decay,
And o’er-inform’d the tenement of clay.
A daring pilot in extremity;
Pleas’d with the danger, when the waves went high
He sought the storms.
~~ John Dryden ~~
~~ Absalom and Achitophel, Part i, Line 156 ~~
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Considering the state of mind with which this Pearl was begun, combined with the state now extant, it’s a damn good thing it’s done. I don’t think I’d want to be responsible for what happens if this were to go on any longer…. That said, I’ll add, it’s been completely real, ffolkes, but, I think we whupped ’em good…. If not, we get another chance tomorrow, as long as the sun comes up as it did today….
Odds are good…. See ya tomorrow, most likely….
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 