Abrogating moral rectitude in mufti….

Posted on April 15, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Since it is Reason which shapes and regulates all other things,
it ought not itself to be left in disorder.”

~~ Epictetus — Discourses, Chap. xvii

Prophetic Globe

Trinity College, Dublin

Hajime…. Little did he know just how little he knew; in this he joins hands with most of humanity…..

Good morrow, ffolkes. No, I’m not sure where that came from. It just sort of flowed out when I began to type, and, voilá! Instant aphorism on human nature, a fascinating subject which continues to elude the understanding of mankind, despite centuries of trying to come to terms with it. An objective view of the way our species has approached the quest to find themselves does not inspire much confidence; most of our history shows a firm intention on the part of most people to deny all which makes us human, in favor of fulfilling their base desires for power and control over their peers, in order to assuage their innate fear of their own inadequacy.

Now, I know it’s not a good policy to rant in the intro, but, hey, I’m human, so, back off, mate. As such, I do what FEELS best, and then try to repeat the feeling as often as possible, regardless of how it affects anyone else. This particularly human trait is, as far as I can see, the fatal flaw in that nature, one which can, and, obviously IS, leading us on a path to self-destruction, through the denial of our own capabilities, and the abrogation of virtue in favor of comfort. This, to me, is clear, yet, for most of mankind, it is an issue of which they seldom, if ever, even contemplate.

SIGH…. At this point in the narrative, it becomes clear this is going not much of anywhere useful for our purpose, which is to post a Pearl of Virtual Wisdom. If I continue this discussion, we may never even get to the music, so, to keep things on an even keel, and moving, we’ll go on now, leaving this subject for discussion below. Perhaps this will save some time, and, if nothing else, makes it seem as if we are sure of what we are doing. The cat seems to agree, even if she would rather I threw some paper for her….

We’re going to go now, and, I’d suggest you hang on; Luigi’s at the helm, so, things can get a bit rambunctious. It won’t take long, though; just remember to breathe through it…. Here we go….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Education is not a preparation for life;
Education is life itself.”

~~ John Dewey ~~

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Playing For Change

Today’s musical selection comes again from the Playing For Change playlist. This one is a recording of 75 Cubans from around the world playing and singing the song that means ‘home’ to them, whether they are in Cuba, or anywhere in the world….. This is for Mari, whose family had to flee Cuba in the latter part of the twentieth century, when she was just a child. She now writes some of the most powerful poetry I’ve ever read, and still dreams of returning one day…. Enjoy, and then go donate to the cause, for it’s a good one, making peace through music….

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Guantanamera

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https://youtu.be/blUSVALW_Z4

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“A rich man has no need of character.”

~~ Hebrew proverb ~~

There is just so much wrong with this statement, it is difficult to know where to begin. To my way of thinking, this piece of folk ‘wisdom’ can be viewed as the single most destructive idea mankind has come up with in our entire cultural history. If one embraces this idea, individually, or as a society, the resulting culture would be, and, to be honest, has become, a parody of human nature, bringing out the very worst of our fears and inadequacies, using them to lie, to cheat, and, live a life of conflict and trouble. To assume this attitude is to deny the connection to all other life, demanding reality conform to the shape of our most degrading fears, with no attempt to reconcile these with any other entity. In short, it gives every person alive the clear permission to act like an asshole.

I see this attitude as a root cause of all the wars mankind has engaged in through history; it fosters divisiveness, bigotry, racism, and discrimination, with no attempt to define justice for anyone at all. To anyone embracing such a position, the needs and rights of others become immaterial; to them, the only thing that is important is their own desires. This, to my mind, is not merely stupid, but, inhuman; those who act without virtue do not belong to the same species as do I; they have abrogated their humanity.

I had originally planned to rant about this for a long time; there is a lot with which to take umbrage in those who live to take advantage of others as a matter of policy. But, I find myself unwilling just now to put myself through the wringer; this subject tends to stimulate my adrenal gland, and I’m not going there today. Instead, I have put together a pretty good seven star pearl to take my shots for me. It’s not a rant, but, it will do for an indictment…. The people who buy into the statement at the top of the section are, in my mind, the root cause of all of the other issues with which humanity is currently engaged; the war, the racism, the injustice, all can be traced to this attitude on the part of one segment of humanity, which decided many thousands of years ago they were better than everyone else, and have maintained that insane delusion, at the expense of the rest of mankind, for all that time….

Here then are some comments on how to spot them, how to look at them, and, hopefully, how to bury them, once and for all….

“Distrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful.” — Nietzsche, “Thus Spake Zarathustra”

“I see little divinity about them or you. You talk to me of Christianity when you are in the act of hanging your enemies. Was there ever such blasphemous nonsense!” — George Bernard Shaw, The Devil’s Disciple

“I know of no book which has been a source of brutality and sadistic conduct, both public and private, that can compare with the Bible.” — Lord Paget

(Need an example? “When Yahweh your gods has settled you in the land you’re about to occupy, and driven out many infidels before you…you’re to cut them down and exterminate them. You’re to make no compromise with them or show them any mercy.” — Deuteronomy 7:1 (KJV) There’s more, even worse insanity in that one short chapter, but, that gives the flavor…)

“Collective responsibility brings a lowering of moral standards.” — Freeman Dyson

“A doctrine insulates the devout not only against the realities around them but also against their own selves. The fanatical believer is not conscious of his envy, malice, pettiness and dishonesty. There is a wall of words between his consciousness and his real self.” — Eric Hoffer

“Without civic morality communities perish; without personal morality their survival has no value.” — Bertrand Russell

“Between those who use their neighbors, and those who use a cane.
Between those in constant power, and those in constant pain.
Between those who run to evil, and those who cannot run.
Tell me which ones are the cripples, and which ones touch the sun.”

~~ Ceili’s Muse “What you do with what you’ve got”~~

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I Must Have Wanton Poets

MUST have wanton poets, pleasant wits,
Musicians, that with touching of a string
May draw the pliant king which way I please:
Music and poetry is his delight;
Therefore I’ll have Italian masks by night,
Sweet speeches, comedies, and pleasing shows;
And in the day, when he shall walk abroad,
Like sylvan nymphs my pages shall be clad;
My men, like satyrs grazing on the lawns,
Shall with their goat-feet dance the antic hay;
Sometime a lovely boy in Dian’s shape,
With hair that gilds the water as it glides,
Crownets of pearl about his naked arms,
And in his sportful hands an olive-tree,
To hide those parts which men delight to see,
Shall bathe him in a spring; and there, hard by,
One like Actæon, peeping through the grove,
Shall by the angry goddess be transform’d,
And running in the likeness of an hart,
By yelping hounds pull’d down, shall seem to die:
Such things as these best please his majesty.

~~ Christopher Marlowe (1563 – 1594) ~~

~~ Edward II, Act 1, Scene One ~~

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Our final pearl is a simple, random collection that talks about Life at Large. Any conclusions not made obvious are the responsibility of the Gentle Reader, just like in the real world….

“All is flux, nothing stays still.” — Heraclitus (540?-480? B.C.)

“Just as there are laws of Conservation of Matter and Energy, so there are in fact Laws of Conservation of Pain and Joy. Neither can ever be created or destroyed. But one can be converted into the other.” — Spider Robinson

“…the greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor. It is the one thing that cannot be learned from others; and it is also a sign of genius, since a good metaphor implies an intuitive perception of the similarity in dissimilars.” — Aristotle, _Poetics_, 22, 1459a 5-7

“The questions remain the same. The answers are eternally variable.” — Subtle Bee

“The great mountains of the world are a great remedy if men but did know it against our modern discontent and ambitions. In the hills is wisdom’s fount. They are deep in time.” — E. R. Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros

“And it is not our part here to take thought only for a season, or for a few lives of Men, or for a passing age of the world.” — Gandalf

“Now he has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me. That means nothing. People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.” — Albert Einstein

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Well, it’s done. Since I was only half-conscious for much of it, I shan’t comment on its quality, or even its quantity. I will however, make another attempt at coherence tomorrow, if all goes as planned. But, then, y’all know what they say about plans. Regardless, I’ll be here; fair warning.

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, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Even podiatrists hate bunions….

Posted on June 10, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“All cruelty springs from weakness.”

~~ Seneca ~~

Willow’s Gull

https://willowdot21.wordpress.com/2015/06/07/if-we-were-having-coffee-gardens-birthdays-and-canals/

Good morning…. or, so it says here on the label…. Why don’t we take it at its word, and get on with this?….

Shall we Pearl?

“The world has taken on a thickness of vulgarity that raises a spiritual man’s contempt to the violence of a passion.” — Charles Baudelaire

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royalty-free-clip-art-vector-logos-of-black-and-orange-floral-acoustic-guitars-by-seamartini-graphics-6573

Only one band sounded like them; no other will ever reach their level of expertise, or passion for the music they made together….. I’ve used this concert in a previous post, but, it bears repetition very well…. Ffolkes, this is music of which you’ll never hear the like again; one of the band members passed away in 2014…. Enjoy, ffolkes…. the best rock band ever….

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Cream Live at Royal Albert Hall
2005

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https://youtu.be/JbQib5v9XJs

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I’m not late, and, I’ve got plenty of angst…. I am, however, also lazy, and not in the right mood to rant…. Here’s a good one, though, from the archives, to keep the pressure on the BRC…. Can’t let them think they’re getting any breaks, you know….

From 8/16/2013:

“I put aside my copy of “BOWLING WORLD” and think about GUN CONTROL legislation..” — Zippy the Pinhead

You know, the most amazing thing, to me, about this whole issue with the spying on our telephone and computer data by the government? It is the absolute genuine surprise on the part of the administration at how upset everyone (i.e. the public, or, more simply, “us”…) is over this issue. It’s as if they can’t believe that people are actually upset that the government is collecting all of our phone conversations, and all of our email correspondence, in order to, according to them, “defeat terrorism”.

They, in their absolute confidence in their own rightness, are having a hard time with the fact that NONE of the rest of the populace, at least, none of those outside of the government itself, agrees with them….. For some unknown reason (well, you know it, and I know it, but, they don’t….), they think they can do whatever they want in the pursuit of their imaginary demons, and we’re all supposed to fall right in line with that…. In truth, it makes me feel a little better about things when I think about the reaction by the public; I had almost given up on them ever caring at all what the BRC did to them….

I’m not going to rant again today about this; it’s all over the news, and many people are presenting some well-thought-out, and well-researched and -written articles on the subject, probably much better than I could do. I like to think I’d be funnier, but, that isn’t necessarily of importance to such pieces, so, for now, I’m leaving it to them to distribute the information people need to be clear on the issue. Clarity is necessary, because this is one of the best opportunities we, as the public, have had in some time to bring light to bear on the clandestine activities being perpetrated on us by our supposed leaders….. I think it is important NOT to let them off the hook on this, and bring all the pressure we can to make reforms, at least in this one area….

Rather than rant, I will put together another pearl on this subject, because I believe that the more we hold the BRC up for examination, whether that regard is focused on humor, their (absent) virtue, their chicanery, or just their displays of idiocy, it’s a good thing to keep to keep the light focused on them as long as possible. If we don’t hold our leaders, such as they are, up for our criticism of their acts against us, then, who will? They certainly aren’t going to be pulling their own covers, or showing off their latest theft from us; it’s in their best interests to keep as much of that away from our attention as they are able to do. So, I’ll keep on making fun of them, just as long as they keep lying to us….

Therefore, here is another seven-star pearl, with the clear intent of either making fun of, or bringing unwanted exposure to, our Beloved Ruling Class, and all of their myrmidons…. (a great word, go ahead, look it up….) (No, I’m serious, you need to look it up, or the first quote won’t make any sense to you….) (Of course, none of it MAY make any sense, but, I do what I can, and no more….) (Ah, the hell with it, it means, essentially, “faceless minions in vast numbers, set to do their bidding”….)

The Bible is true this I know,
For the Bible tells me so.

~~ Jordan Henderson ~~

“Do not needlessly endanger your lives until I give you the signal.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
(One of the first recorded instances of a President using computer programming techniques on the public….)

“An election year is the time politicians want to help us out of all the trouble they got us into in the first place.” — Smart Bee

“Disco oil bussing will create a throbbing Naugahyde pipeline running straight to the tropics from the rug producing regions and devalue the dollar!” — Zippy the Pinhead

“Muddy water let stand becomes clear.” — Lao Tse

“Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper.” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

“If life is merely a joke, the question still remains: For whose amusement?” — Smart Bee

Well, there you have it…. I can’t make it any clearer than that….. Well, perhaps I can…. we’ll try later…..

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Dreaming, I wait….

In the most patient moments of rationality
kindness flows smoothly in a special milieu,
fallow thoughts speed first from equality
to give no anxious fever, anger to eschew.

Indignant mothers and step-sons in-law
shall fade simply from brilliant to grey,
intoning ritual dogma, fresh, avid, and raw,
falling, falling, in massive pastoral disarray.

Safety lives not, save brightly in ignorant bliss,
it follows us all, silent and infinitely frail,
foremost too often, soft as a virgin kiss,
alive, always eager, willing, and pale.

Intimate knowledge finds only the bold few
with courage and virtue to gift, unbidden.
No solemn royal version may pass in review,
true love for man, never to remain unhidden.

Sweet feathers of Emily’s hope uplift,
calm, drowsy episodes bursting with light,
With final glad cries we set ourselves adrift,
swimming in the oceans of natural delight.

When sorrow is banished, in ages yet to come,
roots solidly anchored, cold and remote,
Ample supplies of kindness sit silent and dumb,
and the old stranger shrugs on his faded coat.

Dreaming, then, I wait with shadows in the night
aspiring to inspire, a message from the muse’s heart
Never forgotten images, framed in color bright,
tempt me only, grieving, steeped in serenity’s arcane art.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 8/18/2013.

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Whenever a pearl like this comes to pass, you’ll see the laughing Buddha, because I often feel as if that is what is happening…. It’s all good stuff, comments on Life, and how to live it, but, it’s a little weird in spots…. You’ll see…. The Buddha knows, you see, about us…. and, he doesn’t mind…. He told me so….

“There is no sin but ignorance.’ — Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593)

“He does not seem to me to be a free man who does not sometimes do nothing.” — Cicero

“The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

Cuando sabes a donde vas, el mundo entero se aparta para abrirte paso. (When you know where you’re going, the whole world will assist you on your way…) — Spanish proverb

“The happiness and unhappiness of the rational, social animal depends not on what he feels but on what he does; just as his virtue and vice consist not in feeling but in doing.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, ix, 16

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910)

“Therefore with the same necessity with which the stone falls to earth, the hungry wolf buries its fangs in the flesh of its prey without the possibility of the knowledge that it itself is the destroyed as well as the destroyer.” — Schopenhauer

There! See? Didn’t I tell you? Ah well, it’s all good…. cuz we’re done….

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Ah, yes…. We are, indeed, done. ‘Tis a fortunate thing, too, as I’m completely out of stuff to say…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, 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, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

No job for a gentleman….

Posted on November 20, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“I count religion but a childish toy … there is no sin but ignorance.”

~~ Machiavel, from The Jew of Malta ~~

~~ Christopher Marlowe ~~

Mei stumbled under the load she carried, as she climbed the path to her parent’s cottage, set upon a small hill just outside the town where they lived…. The town sat on the road leading to the great city of Peking, where the Emperor held court with the great nobles and beautiful ladies Mei saw each day, passing by on the Great Road leading into the city from the south. Mei liked to watch them pass by, seated in their swaying palanquins, distant and aloof, as they stared indolently out at the gaping crowds along the roads, wishing she could see the court, where the bright clothes and sparking jewels of the courtesans were said to outshine the sun…. She just knew it would be the most beautiful sight she would ever see….

Bah, humbug…. I’m already bored with little Mei; I’m pretty sure she’ll end up as another fashion maven, or courtesan, doomed to a short life full of the misery so common to the lower classes in ancient China…. or, at least, if the Emperors back then were of the same ilk as today’s ruling classes, it would be so. I don’t think human nature has undergone any particularly startling changes over the last couple thousand years…. No, the depths of human stupidity are boundless, and I don’t think there are enough of us who can see what is happening to be able to change the direction we’ve taken, one sure to lead us to places we do NOT want to end up….

But, sadly, the Asininnies who run the planet are no smarter than the rest of us….. They refuse to see beyond the needs of their own avarice and lust for power, blithely assuming their invulnerability…. So, I rant, and make my peace with karma, so as to remain ready for the imminent extinction I see as the only remaining outcome to our current state of affairs…. I hate to be pessimistic, as humans do have the potential to make the necessary changes; I just haven’t seen any evidence that would show there are enough ffolkes willing to make those changes, compared to those who prefer to ignore any and all warnings from reality that their actions are not merely unproductive, but, frankly suicidal….

There I go again…. Damn, I sure wish that wouldn’t happen, but, I suppose if it didn’t, this blog wouldn’t have lasted as long as it has…. There is something to be said for stubbornness…. I’m not certain just what that may be, but, hey, I don’t know everything….. That has been made perfectly clear in the past three-plus years, hasn’t it? I do however, have a small degree of control over this vessel, so, I can utilize whatever exit strategies we may need to get us where we need to go…. Well, I’m authorized to do so, even if it isn’t always physically possible…. we do try, though, honest.

Not only do we make a concerted effort to maintain control, we don’t charge any extra fees for doing it, so, I guess that makes us a bunch of bloody altruists, now, doesn’t it? Not a bad reputation for one old, fat fart with flat feet, and a tendency for his nose to grow red and round…. In fact, I think I’ll take this opportunity to rest firmly upon my laurels, insofar as it applies to the task at hand, which, of course, may be seen to be of the category “not at all”….. In point of further fact, I’m now fully in the process of cheating, which hopefully will take us out of this mess, one rapidly losing all hope of ever being rescued…..

In fact, I’m so officially and completely lost, we’re leaving…. NOW….

Shall we Pearl?

Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand.

~~ William Butler Yeats, “The Stolen Child” ~~

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After such a strangely apt opening, I think a bit of music to soothe our now-troubled minds would be in order….

Music for reading – Chopin, Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Debussy, Lizst, Schumann

http://youtu.be/Qc7UzQB8gtI

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“Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.” — From The Notebooks of Lazarus Long, by Robert A. Heinlein

Cognitive Synthesis of Perception. Precognitive Forecasting. Looking At The Big Picture. Multi-tiered thought. There are many phrases/words used to try to describe the process of prognostication of future events in human culture, a pastime obviously fraught with the danger of being wrong more often than not. The future has a past history of surprising us with its unpredictability, almost without fail, as we are not as smart as we would like to believe, IN RELATION TO THE BIG PICTURE.

That last part, you see, is a fatal flaw in all of us; by using our intellect, by removing our minds and thoughts from the plane on which we exist with everything else, spending time in our imagination, we tend to lose the connection we have to what is REAL, thereby failing to account for that source of information/perceptions, and/or its influence on what may come to pass.

In short, we forget to calculate OUR OWN effect on events, which, as is patently obvious, is completely predictable, in its insistence on sticking to a pattern of deliberate stupidity in the face of reality. We humans, as a matter of course, will use all our will to deny reality if it doesn’t fit in with our preconceived notions of what we would LIKE reality to be….

Most of the time, our unwillingness to think puts us, according to those who would have us believe without examination, under the control of supernatural being, who will forever relieve us of any responsibility for our actions, and will never, ever make us try to think for ourselves again, once they have surrendered our will to this delusional entity…. This delusion is particularly powerful in its reliance on “ipse dixit” reasoning, which allows the proponents of the blindness the permission to completely ignore any and all contradictory evidence they may be presented with, whether real, or reasoned…. Nothing will penetrate, because they won’t allow it….

If you think I’m exaggerating, then I offer the following as a relatively strong set of proof, of an ilk even the most ignorant could conceivably find acceptable, in that it’s all direct reporting by other humans, all of whom suffer from the same core set of delusions…. even those who seem to be reporting contradictory evidence…. Very few of them actually express any awareness of THEIR OWN prejudices…. but, one must read SOMETHING in order to find ANY kind of thought stimulus….

Below are a large number of links to articles I read on the Net yesterday…. Most express outrage at the bozoid activities they describe, so, at least those authors have some clue as to what is going on, so, what they report assumes a slightly more acceptable level of what might be held as truth…. My point can be found not by reading and studying each and every article, end to end, (as I MOSTLY did…. sigh, I’m tired, too…), but, rather, by looking at the total picture, the gestalt, as it were, that is suggested by considering them ALL as single pieces of evidence of the problem that exists in humanity’s nature…. Some seem to be good news, some are obviously NOT so encouraging, but, all point to the same conclusion, my friends, using any sort of reasoning method you may choose to apply…

In short, looking at the Big Picture will convince you that THE ENTIRE WORLD HAS GONE INSANE, AND THERE IS NO CURE!

Sorry, ffolkes, but, as far as I can see, all the evidence available points to that conclusion, and I do try to be realistic, if somewhat optimistic at times…. Okay, hell, busted; I’m a cynical old curmudgeon…. Nevertheless, I still don’t see much that convinces me people are going to change, not enough to make enough difference against the inertia created by the mass of STUPIDITY and DELIBERATE IGNORANCE I see surrounding me on this planet…. Meanwhile, well, here I am, stuck on this sorry old ball of mud without my space ship, and no other way to get away before it all goes south….. No hills to head out for, so to speak….

Here, read as many as you like…. There are lots more where these came from, and each one is rant-worthy by itself….. Afterwards, I’ll include a few pearls to help illustrate the point….

http://observer.com/2014/11/breaking-doj-moves-to-disqualify-all-defense-attorneys-who-know-of-govt-misconduct/

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/11/19/3593628/how-did-this-unarmed-schizophrenic-woman-get-killed-by-cleveland-police/

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/11/18/3593645/house-epa-science-advisory-board-bill/

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/11/18/1345795/-Gov-Mike-Pence-says-not-giving-food-to-the-unemployed-will-ennoble-them?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+%28Daily+Kos%29

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/11/18/3593389/congress-postal-service/

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/11/18/1345753/-About-these-pundits-and-their-fetish-for-bipartisanship-Can-t-they-just-find-a-toe-to-suck-instead?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+%28Daily+Kos%29

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/11/18/1345751/-McConnell-Boehner-struggle-to-find-a-way-around-another-government-shutdown?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+%28Daily+Kos%29

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/nov/19/hillsborough-inquest-police-story-forced-gate-liverpool-supporters

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/19/nsa-reform-surveillance-usa-freedom-act-section-215

http://www.theguardian.com/law/2014/nov/19/man-allegedly-tortured-us-ulk-troops-wins-right-sue-damages

http://time.com/3594482/holiday-shopping-black-friday-thanksgiving-christmas-gifts/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+time%2Ftopstories+%28TIME%3A+Top+Stories%29

I would like to point out the sheer avarice our culture encourages as implied by the last article, as well as to have you note that this is an article about buying ‘stuff’ for Christmas, in November, while we are still over a week away from Thanksgiving…. SIGH….

“I never could see why people were so happy about Dickens’ `A Christmas Carol’ because I never had any confidence that Scrooge was going to be any different the next day.” — Dr. Karl Menninger, American psychiatrist (1893-1990), — on the transience of the Christmas spirit.

“There live not three good men unhanged in England; and one of them is fat and grows old.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Henry IV — Act ii, Sc. 4

“We are going to have peace even if we have to fight for it.” — Dwight D Eisenhower

“The distinction between Freedom and Liberty is not accurately known; naturalists have been unable to find a living specimen of either.” — Ambrose Bierce “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“Politics is perhaps the only profession for which no preparation is thought necessary.” — Robert Louis Stevenson

“I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinions of himself than on the opinions of others.” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

“I think as long as you suffer for your sins, they don’t count.” — Calvin

“I don’t think we should punish the criminal [a rapist] by killing his child.” — Dr. John Wilke, President, National Right to Life Committee, — Search for Common Ground, taped for television 4/89, as quoted in — The Far Right, Speaking For Themselves, a Planned Parenthood pamphlet

To summarize, once more, with feeling, loud enough for those in the rear of the hall to hear…. say it with me now!…..

“Stupidity is much the same all the world over.” — John Stuart Mill

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

Today’s ending quote in the intro section was a bit of a tease, so, here is another bit of doggerel from our old friend, Willie B…..

When You Are Old

When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim Soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;
And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

~~ William Butler Yeats ~~

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

In an attempt to counter-balance the large load of deliberate mendacity described in section two above, here is an old school pearl with advice, comments, and observations about some of humanity’s more sterling qualities, few as they may be….

Know then this truth (enough for man to know),–

“Virtue alone is happiness below.”

~~ Alexander Pope (1688-1744) ~~

~~ Essay on Man, Epistle iv, Line 309 ~~

“My own life has been spent chronicling the rise and fall of human systems, and I am convinced that we are terribly vulnerable…. We should be reluctant to turn back upon the frontier of this epoch. Space is indifferent to what we do; it has no feeling, no design, no interest in whether or not we grapple with it. But we cannot be indifferent to space, because the grand, slow march of intelligence has brought us, in our generation, to a point from which we can explore and understand and utilize it. To turn back now would be to deny our history, our capabilities.” — James A Michener

“Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate to prefer the latter.” — Thomas Jefferson

And it’s just a box of rain
I don’t know who put it there
Believe it if you need it
Or leave it if you dare
And it’s just a box of rain
Or a ribbon for your hair
Such a long, long time to be gone
And a short time to be there

~~ Box of Rain by Lesh, Hunter ~~

“Have no respect whatsoever for authority; forget who said it and instead look at what he starts with, where he ends up, and ask yourself, “Is it reasonable?” — Richard Feyman’s father

“Everywhere the human soul stands between a hemisphere of light and another of darkness; on the confines of two everlasting hostile empires, Necessity and Freewill.” — Carlyle (1795-1881)

The thought manifests as the word;
The word manifests as the deed;
The deed develops into habit;
And habit hardens into character.
So watch the thought and its ways with care,
And let it spring from love
Born out of concern for all beings.

~~ The Buddha ~~

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

Today’s Pearl came together rather quickly, given the fact the ranting section was completed yesterday as I perused the news…. There were so many egregious examples of just how crazy the world has gone, it put itself together…. So, here I am, at 0545, mostly done, and no idea what to do next…. The rest of the world won’t be up for a couple hours, mostly, so, I may as well just go back to bed…. I could, I suppose, try to find something constructive to do, but, what fun would THAT be, eh? I think I’ll go find a bureaucrat to torment, if I can find one out of bed this early…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
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, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

We’ll bathe it in linseed oil and mint….

Posted on November 10, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“When the fox gnaws — smile.”

~~ Lazarus Long ~~

~~ Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough For Love ~~

The picture, one I took a few days ago at the bus stop down the street, is a perfect metaphor for the lies told to us by our beloved ruling class, and by the perpetrators of public slavery, perpetually the BRC’s most ardent supporters, the preachers, imams, and dogma dogs who spout off about religion, to whomever will listen….

In a quite beautiful setting, we are reminded of how ‘they’ offer us ONE choice to salvation, but, god forbid you should be able to park while making your choice…. Perfect alignment, don’t you think? One Way/No Parking…. What better metaphor/euphemism for how the mass of humanity is treated by those who would control their very lives….

Oh, good grief, stop shouting!…. Control yourselves…. Put down that stick, you’ll hurt yourself with it…. For goodness’ sake, did you think I was going to rant at you in the first paragraph? Shoot, not even I am that cruel, though, if anyone has any comments to the contrary, with evidence, of course, I’d welcome them, as it’s been a long time since I found anyone willing to challenge my conclusions…. It must come from basing them on evidence, instead of faith…. Oops, sorry, didn’t mean to take another shot, this one aimed at those who buy into the delusions they’re offered at every turn….

Okay, you’re right, I’m busted…. Yes, I did mean it…. The people to whom I refer, those who embrace the dark side of human nature, quite simply, are assholes…. As I see them, they deserve every vile curse, every vituperative description, every fucking expletive we can think of to apply to them, in recognition of the thousands of years of deliberate theft, deliberate lies, and deliberate cruelty, to those whom they claim to love, or whom they claim mandate to lead, for their own good…. What a crock of shit THAT is!….

Sorry, I guess I did start ranting, didn’t I? It’s just so damn easy, when every frigging word out of the mouths, of preachers, or politicians, or business moguls, or police chiefs, or any of the other societal “leaders” who purport to work FOR the people, is a bald-faced lie…. In truth, they are busily at work doing every fucking thing they possibly can think of to screw the people over, in a myriad of ways…. Or, even scarier, they are as stupid as those they purport to lead, being brainwashed themselves into believing their own lies….

Every where I turn, every time I turn, I’m presented with new evidence of how often, and how deeply they screw those who trust them, and it just pisses me off anew, each and every time, making me wish I wasn’t so damn ethical/moral myself, and could feel less conflict over treating them the same way they treat us….

If I did that, I’m afraid they’d start dying at a much more rapid pace, which would be just about the length of time it takes me to re-load, then, focus in on another target…. With a well-concealed stand, and a crowd where I can acquire targets quickly, I could make some significant headway in a relatively short amount of time before having to become smoke…

However, those who engage in preying on others, for religious reasons, for political reasons, or whatever their personal justification may be, all believe the same tired old lie, which claims the end justifies the means…. I reject that notion categorically; to abrogate honor and responsibility for the sake of expediency, no matter how compelling the reason, removes any positive moral value such acts may otherwise be due. To do right, for the wrong reason, is to do wrong, in my world. To do wrong, for ANY reason, no matter how well rationalized, deserves nothing from me but disdain, and active resistance….

Well…. where did THAT come from? As I’m not sure just now, I think we’ll just take this opportunity to go on, and see what else may pop up today…..

Shall we Pearl?

“We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success; We often discover what will do, by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery.” — Samuel Smiles

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

Pearls of Virtual Wisdom, like all fields of human endeavor, are subject to Sturgeon’s Law, which states: “90% of everything is crap.” This physical law has been tested repeatedly by scientists, sociologists, and psychologists, with the same results every time…. It is the absolute truth…. Hence, my reluctance to committing perjury, or displaying undue arrogance, by calling the Pearls I create anything but what they are, to wit: occasionally brilliant, but, mostly just acceptable, as entertainment for the strong of stomach…. If they were in the newspaper, they’d be suitable to line birdcages, for sure….

But, as I said, some can be pretty good, because I, too, with due diligence, and a bit of work, can jump into that 10% of human output that actually helps improve life by its presence…. The same is true of all fields in which humans put forth effort, so, naturally, it’s true of TV shows, and literary works…. I guess I’m just saying, some stuff is better than other stuff….. This Sherlock Holmes story, to me, falls into the latter category of stuff….

Sherlock Holmes – Season 5 – The Problem Of Thor Bridge

http://youtu.be/17lht_Ke-1g

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

You may have noted my initial outburst, up in the intro section…. It was a rant, a sharp stick to the eye of religion, mostly, though there was quite a bit of angst left over to take some pokes at the rest of the Asininnies, too, such as politicians, police myrmidons, corporate snakeheads, human traffickers, and any of those ilk, who prey upon their own species, with the full support and tacit approval of those dogma dogs who keep the general populace under control, softening their minds with bilge water, so they are easier to corrupt and manipulate….

It has been a while since I took aim at those delusional buttheads, a group for whom I hold absolutely no respect whatsoever….. They take the words of one of the world’s greatest social reformers, and twist them until they are practically unrecognizable, but, mold the minds of the people who buy into those twists into shapes more amenable to control by others….

‘Tis a natural result of putting one’s faith in ideas that have no visible proof in reality, but are based on blind faith; it leaves the one holding the belief in a vulnerable state of mind, ready to believe all kinds of nonsense, as long as it’s told to them by one of those they have learned to believe, without the benefit of examination for truth….

But, that is what they all count on… all those preachers, and priests, and the others mentioned above…. They all count on the gullibility of the average person to believe what they’re told by authority figures…. And, they are justified in that, as my compatriots around the world seem to fall for their bloody bullshit every time….. SIGH…. I sometimes wonder how mankind even developed the idea of their own mental superiority, when they continuously act as if they haven’t two spare neurons to rub together at all….

However…. Today, I am feeling generous, or, at least, sympathetic to your pain…. So, I shall cease ranting about those assholes, and compose a seven-, or nine-star pearl, which will serve the same purpose, but, with a bit less sobriety, and a lot more tongue-in-cheek fun…. Let’s see what SB can come up with for us, to jab some sharp sticks in the eyes of a few dogma dogs….

“Ignorance is the soil in which belief in miracles grows.” — Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899)

“History does not record anywhere at any time a religion that has any rational basis. Religion is a crutch for people not strong enough to stand up to the unknown without help. But, like dandruff, most people do have a religion and spend time and money on it and seem to derive considerable pleasure from fiddling with it.” — Lazarus Long, The Notebooks of Lazarus Long, by Robert A. Heinlein

“The territory behind rhetoric is too often mined with equivocation.”– Dunne’s Law

“It is an open question whether any behavior based on fear of eternal punishment can be regarded as ethical or should be regarded as merely cowardly.” — Margaret Mead

“A Sunday school is a prison in which children do penance for the evil conscience of their parents.” — H.L. Mencken (1880-1956)

“The mind of the bigot is like the pupil of the eye. The more light you pour upon it, the more it will contract.” — Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894)

“Death, the most dreaded of evils, is therefore of no concern to us; for while we exist death is not present, and when death is present we no longer exist.” — Epicurus

“Religions change; beer and wine remain.” — Harvey Allen

“O imitators, you slavish herd!” — Quintus Horatius Flaccus (Horace) (65-8 B.C.)

“There is no sin but ignorance.” — Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593)

Okay, so, it kept growing; Smart Bee is on a roll today…. To use Winnie Churchill’s method of making a point, I’ll give it a good whack with my sledge hammer, with one final piece of proof, of how the dogma dogs attempt to establish their mind-control, with entries such as the following, in that book they use as their most effective manipulative tool….

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” — Proverbs 3:5,6

Sure, do that…. put your faith in what you cannot see, or touch, or hear, or otherwise prove exists…. That’s a good idea…. NOT!

So be it.

gigoid has spoken…. a lot…..

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

There is so much of my stuff today, with some deep help from SB, I’d best go with my own poetry, to avoid getting any of this on anyone else…. I know, we’ll go with an old favorite….

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 ~~

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

Today’s final pearl is a perfect adjunct to the ranting section…. This group gives us some pretty good observations about being human, at the other end of the scale from those who are unable to find the means to USE the intelligence with which they are endowed…. Reflect upon these, and you’ll find them a map to a rich, fulfilling life….

“Over my mask is your mask of me.” — Mitsuye Yamada

“Once when Bion was at sea in the company of some wicked men, he fell into the hands of pirates; and when the rest said, “We are undone if we are known,”–“But I,” said he, “am undone if we are not known.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Bion, iii

“A child is a person who can’t understand why someone would give away a perfectly good kitten.” — Doug Larson

“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

“I believe that part of what propels science is the thirst for wonder. It’s a very powerful emotion. All children feel it. In a first grade classroom everybody feels it; in a twelfth grade classroom almost nobody feels it, or at least acknowledges it. Something happens between first and twelfth grade, and it’s not just puberty. Not only do the schools and the media not teach much skepticism, there is also little encouragement of this stirring sense of wonder. Science and pseudoscience both arouse that feeling. Poor popularizations of science establish an ecological niche for pseudoscience.” — Carl Sagan, The Burden Of Skepticism, The Skeptical Inquirer, — Vol. 12, Fall 87

“When you arise in the morning, think of what a privilege it is to be alive–to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love….” — Marcus Aurelius

“An intelligent mind is a mind which is not satisfied with explanations, with conclusions; nor is it a mind that believes, because belief is again another form of conclusion. An intelligent mind is an inquiring mind, a mind that is watching, learning, studying.” — J. Krishnamuti

“There are many things worth living for, few things worth dying for, nothing worth killing for.” — from Tom Robbins’ “Even Cowgirls Get The Blues”

“Now my own suspicion is that the universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we *can* suppose. I have read and heard many attempts at a systematic account of it, from materialism and theosophy to the Christian systems or that of Kant, and I have always felt that they were too simple. I suspect that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of, or can be dreamed of, in any philosophy. That is the reason why I have no philosophy myself, and must be my excuse for dreaming.” — J. B. S. Haldane, British geneticist (1856-1928) — from “Possible Worlds”, in “Possible Worlds and other essays”, — Chatto & Windus, London, 1927. p286

Smart Bee was in a very generous mood today, eh, what?…..

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

‘Tis a good thing much of this was begun yesterday…. I’m up a bit late, but, it’s all good, as it’s done, and in good time…. If the proofing isn’t too horrendously complicated, I may even get another hour’s sleep before the day can begin out in the BBR, where I’ve several tasks to complete…. Since I do, we’ll leave it at that, and be on our way, royal ‘we’ syndrome notwithstanding…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
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, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Olive, or peanut oil for the fries?….

Posted on July 17, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make.”
— The Beatles, The last lyric of their last song

I’ve begun to put both a pearl, and a picture, at the beginning of the Daily Pearls, which, you may have noted, if you’ve stopped by in the last week or so…. After almost three years of, (literally, AND figuratively) pounding my head against the keyboard, in order to stimulate the wherewithal to create an introduction, I’m resorting to new ideas, and new techniques, to get the “little grey cells” working, or at minimum, provide a starting point for discussion….

Today, my choice of quote and picture, while at first appearing to be be quite normal, even a bit elegant, will actually, over time, create a rather disturbing inner dynamic, which could conceivably turn into unwarranted disaster….

All that, you might wonder, from one little picture of a nearly-dead flower, and a lyric? An old lyric, at that? Well, yes…. it is often a surprise to discover just how dangerous the world really is, so, it isn’t so much surprising, as it is inconvenient, and, to be honest, somewhat of a PITA…. Who needs this kind of crap from a blog, eh? Not me, for sure, and it’s MY damn blog! What the hell is going on here?

Nothing, ffolkes, relax…. that was hyperbole…. Faux panic is always a good way to move on to another subject; one can always claim personal preference, and be assigned to a new counselor…. Of course, you’ll never find another counselor like us, but, hey, if you’re too scared to go on, well, we won’t cast stones… We may jeer and taunt you for a while, but, stones are not allowed under the terms of our insurance….

So, please, just chill, and keep you eye a little closer on the altitude meter….. when you see us approaching a ceiling, see the instruction sheet in the seat back ahead of you, to learn how to don your life vest….

If you should happen to be at a seat without instructions, just observe how the person next to you deals with their own vest, and you should be fine…. We’ve never lost a Gentle Reader, so, that’s something, right? Of course, there was that one time, back in the day, when we couldn’t find that guy from Arkansas for a couple of hours, but, he turned out to be fine….. just passed out in the toilet from accessing the in-flight service bar once or twice too often…. He had a terrific hangover, but, no grounds for any litigation, so it all worked out well….

And look, so has this intro section! I’ve managed to wander, ramble, and blather enough to have found a proper jumping off point, which is all we need to get going on this deal…. So, I’m taking advantage of the suitable environmental structure we’ve come across, and diving right in…. Let’s go, ffolkes, you don’t want to get left behind….

Shall we Pearl?…..

I ‘m armed with more than complete steel,–
The justice of my quarrel.

— Christopher Marlowe (1565-1593) — Lust’s Dominion, Act iii, Sc. 4

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

“Ignorance of one’s ignorance is the greatest ignorance.” — Smart Bee

http://blog.sfgate.com/morford/2014/07/15/not-all-conservative-white-guys/

Fucking brilliant….. No other lesser phrasing would be powerful enough to express how strongly I believe in what Mark has written here…. He is absolutely, 100% on target with his observations, and delivers a message that even the most hardened idiot has to hear…. of course, until they just get that glazed look on their face, and deny, deny, deny…. which they will do, immediately, by the millions, should they get even two paragraphs into this article…. Mark has a way with words like no one else, and he uses them here to once again skewer the GOP, and the group that I call the Asininnies….. He’s done it so well, I’m tempted to say he did it perfectly…..

“Counts his sure gains, and hurries back for more.” — James Montgomery (1771-1854) — The West Indies, Part iii

Sniff…. It brings a tear of joy to my curmudgeonly soul to hear, and feel, the brilliantly sharp sardonicism Mark brings to bear, on the asininity, and the sheer stupidity that permeates the entire rich, white, Judeo-Christian fundamentalist, corporate mentality…. You know, the one that fills the halls of our government in Washington, all 50 state capitals, and every bloody church in this somewhat less than diversified land of ours….. The ranks of those who refuse to use their brains for anything beyond transporting their bowels from one toilet to another are bursting with politicians, lawyers, priests, preachers, quasi-military police nimrods, and corporate raptors, viciously dispassionate in their unending search for more power, and more resources to control…. all without any regard, or concern of any kind, for anyone whose lifestyle and/or beliefs do not match their own limited views….

It took me a while to compose the above paragraph; I tried to be as condemning as possible, without resorting to vulgarity…. I think it worked okay, in that it’s clear how I feel about those assholes…. but, due primarily to my own tendency toward pomposity, it could be better, and leads me to believe you just can’t replace a good round of swearing and cursing for delivering a message like this one…. I could have said most of that, and delivered the same message, with a simple, “the bloody fucking assholes are doing it again”, with minor amplification for corroboration of details….

Shit flows downhill, you know, so, it’s best to fling it before we get any on ourselves…. Besides, with the way most of those in the 1% treat most everyone else, they deserve every bit of our disdain and vituperation, as well as our vulgarity…. THEY are the ones who live their lives in a vulgar manner…. What word, other than “vulgar”, better befits the likes of Rush Limbaugh, or Dick Cheney, or Karl Rove, three of the bastions of conservative thought?…. None I can think of, and my vocabulary is pretty extensive…. Just putting their images in my mind gives me a shudder of revulsion, worse than any I’ve ever gotten from snakes, lizards, or insects, let me tell you….

Once again, Mark has said it better than I am currently capable of doing, so, I’m going to soothe my fevered brow with an old school pearl, to vent some of the angst and anger that builds up in me whenever I consider the egregious immorality of those at the top of the societal pyramid of power…. those fucking assholes…. Here is a seven star old-school pearl, with parameters designed to find some sharp, pointed sticks, which we shall then envision to be flying directly at the lying eyes of the pundits….

“Government of the people, by the lawyers, for the conservatives.” — Smart Bee

“You’re not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can’t face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who says it.” — Malcolm X

“We are doing the right thing and we do not see the bad things.” — Vice President Dan Quayle pretending he is one of the wise monkeys

“If you can’t get a job, get a senate appointment!!!” — Smart Bee

“Basically a dog person. I certainly, though, wouldn’t want to offend my constituents who are cat people, and I should say that being, I hope, a sensitive person, that I have nothing against cats, and had cats when I was a boy, and if we didn’t have the two dogs might very well be interested in having a cat now.” — Incoming Missouri Congressman James Talent, — responding to the question Are you a dog or a cat person? (Mr. Talent is a graduate, summa cum idiotum, of the Dan Quayle School of Political Science-Like Stuff)

“One can imagine a sane, healthy, cheerful human society based on no more than the principles of common sense, as validated each day by work, play, and living experience. But this remains the most Utopian and fantastic of ideals.” — Edward Abbey

“If God had intended for politicians to ski, he would have made bullshit white.” — Smart Bee

This is an example of what I call a “rock-solid” pearl…. When you see quotes from Smart Bee at either end, and smack in the middle, you can trust that this pearl is one that will hold its shape under the most trying of circumstances, as well as being so sharp, it can puncture the eye of a pundit without leaving a permanent mark….. It’s that solid, sharp, and real…. Much like a fine stiletto in the hands of Mack….. You know, Mack, the Knife? Bobby Darin? No…. Oh well, a sharp stiletto, in the hands of one who knows how to use it, is a VERY dangerous weapon…. silent, deadly, and leaves almost no trace of its work….. trust me on this…. Hmm, maybe we’d best go on…..

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

I need some Emily….

No Rack can torture me—
My Soul—at Liberty—
Behind this mortal Bone
There knits a bolder One—

You cannot prick with saw—
Nor pierce with Scimitar—
Two Bodies—therefore be—
Bind One—The Other fly—

The Eagle of his Nest
No easier divest—
And gain the Sky
Than mayest Thou—

Except Thyself may be
Thine Enemy—
Captivity is Consciousness—
So’s Liberty.

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

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

Far be it from me to question reality, but, isn’t this the third section? Aren’t I supposed to be done now? I want to be done now…. Oh well, duty calls, so, I’ll put down my goblet of morning whine, & save it for later…. Instead, we’ll just get started on another old-school pearl, which will go right here, so I can say I did something today, other than just fool around….

I have, of course, fooled around enough so far today to beat the band, but, it works for me….. We’ll just ignore all that, and get on with this random, harlequin style pearl, fresh as a daisy, which, when you think of it, isn’t too fresh, because, hey, it just got picked, and is losing life and strength every second, and perhaps we’d better just get on with it, because, if I don’t take a breath, or end this sentence, I’m going to pass out….. Here, have some pearls….

“Time carves all. Let yourself be carved to attain your true nature.” — Master Po

“Perception is strong and sight weak. In strategy it is important to see distant things as if they were close and to take a distanced view of close things.” — Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645)

“Nothing gives so much direction to a person’s life as a sound set of principles.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Know then this truth (enough for man to know),– “Virtue alone is happiness below.” — Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Essay on Man, Epistle iv, Line 309

“In formal logic, a contradiction is the signal of defeat: but in the evolution of real knowledge, it marks the first step in progress”toward victory.
— Alfred North Whitehead

“The effects which follow too constant and intense a concentration upon evil are always disastrous. Those who crusade, not _for_ God in themselves, but _against_ the devil in others, never succeed in making the world better, but leave it either as it was, or sometimes even perceptibly worse than it was, before the crusade began. By thinking primarily of evil we tend, however excellent our intentions, to create occasions for evil to manifest itself.” — Aldous Huxley — The Devils of Loudun

“What comes from this quarter, set it down as so much gain.” — Terence (185-159 BC) — Adelphoe, Act v, Sc. 3, 30, (816.)

In the eternally relevant words of Edith Ann (Lily Tomlin), “And that’s the TRUTH! Thppppppt!”

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

Okay, so, here we are again, at the end of another fine mess, created fresh this morning by yours truly, gigoid, the dubious, who has, in every respect, lived up to his sobriquet today…. If that confuses you, or makes you feel angry, and afraid, or even just silly, well, it can’t be helped…. I’ve never made any bones about this being a safe occupation; we do what we can to satisfy the insurance drones, but, if there is no risk, where is the motivation to stay alert, eh? The world needs as many lerts as it can get…..

So be it….. gigoid has spoken. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
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 the dubious

Saved by tea and biscuits….

Posted on July 3, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Reality is an interesting concept. It has some rather compelling qualities that make it attractive, not the least of which is its insistence, as Philip K. Dick observed, on not going away, even when you stop believing in it. Sadly, or perhaps it is inevitably, due to the duality of said reality, it also has many qualities that are less than perfectly attractive, or desirable as a regular experience. In fact, if I had to spend ALL of my time there, I think I’d just shoot myself, and be done with it…..

I suppose, because of it’s dual nature, reality thus could be described as what is called, in legal terms, an attractive nuisance, like having a swimming pool in your back yard…. Our problem is that reality is in everyone’s back yard, and the nuisance factor is not only thus made universal, but, for some unknown reason, multiplied by a factor of at least ten….

Or, it that just me? Am I the only one who has such problems with reality? I shouldn’t think so; I consider myself to be fairly competent at dealing with life. I have, after all, made it this far without any major fuck-ups or jail time. Maybe y’all could tell me if you have the same sort of trouble getting reality to act right?….

Regardless of the answer, it must be dealt with, and therein lies the heart of the matter. None of us, especially those of us with any experience at it, really LIKE to deal with reality; the greatest number of us arrange life so we don’t have to confront it too often…. If you believe that to be untrue, I suggest you take a look at the most recent spate of TV “reality” shows, or consider the fact that, although I’ve been hearing about these Kardashian people for several years now, as so-called “celebrities”, and I still haven’t a clue as to what hole they crawled out of, or why they are said to be such…

Before, oh, say, four years ago, I’d never heard the name Kardashian at all, except as part of a late night commercial, as some rug store by that name kept going out of business and had their rude commercials all over the late night TV screen…. You know the ones, that offer 70% discounts, and overuse the phrase “everything must go!” by a large margin…. Up until their names began showing up in the media, I’d never heard of a Kim, or a Khloe, or any of the others who are now considered part of the glitterati…

Ah well, complaining about reality is a fool’s game, anyway, and the public’s idea of fame is pretty fickle. I suppose, as long as I don’t let reality dictate my emotional state, I’m ahead of the game…. by a long way, it would seem, as the general run of society seems to have trouble getting reality to act in any fashion that suits them…. which is also, in my estimation, pretty normal, as I’ve noted all my life that most folks are oblivious to much of what goes on around them, and haven’t a clue as to the true nature of what they perceive…. It does keep most of them occupied and out of my hair, but, it doesn’t do much toward making things more equitable for everyone, which is, as I see it, our main difficulty as a society….

But, I’m guessing I’m NOT normal, and that’s just fine with me…. In fact, I wouldn’t have it any other way….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Finality is death. Perfection is finality. Nothing is perfect. There are lumps in it.” — James Stephens

I like that; “there are lumps in it.” Now THAT is a fine way to see reality, IMNSHO….

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

“Who is ever secure? Every one of us searches for security. We seek it from our family, from our friends, from our pets, from strangers and from “God.” Once in a while we experience it, only to discover that it was merely an illusion. And yet we never learn that security is an impossibility. For we are only human beings.” — Chen-It Ong

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/one-slender-man-attacker-deemed-mentally-incompetent-20140702

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/meet-slender-man-the-online-phantom-that-inspired-attempted-murder-20140604

Have you been following this story? About the two girls who stabbed another, in perhaps our society’s most telling incident of the century, thus far…. I can’t think of a crime that more perfectly describes what is wrong with our society than this one…. I’m not going to rant about it, any more than this short diatribe; I will however ask this question, which is derived from a fact of media reporting that also indicates where many of our issues begin, to wit: In all of this, no mention is made of any of the parents of any of the 3 girls involved….

My question is “Where the FUCK were the parents of these children when all of this was going on?”…. That’s all…. just think about the answer, whatever it may be, and you will see whereof I speak, when I say we are all going down the tubes to extinction, without a fucking clue that we are even on that path…. But, as noted, I won’t rant any more than this…. Instead, we’ll look for some pearls to provide the pokes to the underbelly of society…. or, whatever portion of that belly I can reach….

“Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.” — Albert Einstein

“Why this is Hell, nor am I out of it.” — Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593)

“It seems these two Airmen decided to rob the local 7-11, a stupid move in and of itself. But wait, its stupid to rob a store when you’re in the military ’cause the haircut will give you away every time. But wait again, its even stupider to do it in UNIFORM with you NAME emblazoned in 1 inch letters on the front. But wait yet again, its even stupider to tie up the clerk and try and ring up customers purchases from behind the register while in uniform outside an Air Force base. Especially when your first customer is a Chief Master Sgt. — Smart Bee

“Don’t overestimate the decency of the human race.” — H.L. Mencken

“His ignorance is encyclopedic.” — Abba Eban

(Hmm…. I wonder… to which President do you think Abba was referring?…..)

“I’m continually AMAZED at th’ breathtaking effects of WIND EROSION!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

(Me, too…. especially if you consider this a metaphorical reference to the effects of TV on the human psyche…..)

“That’s the secret to life… replace one worry with another…. — Charlie Brown (by Charles Schulz)

(Yep…. cartoonists always have their finger on the pulse of society….)

Enough, before I get so worked up, I go LOOK for someone to bite….

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

Today, you’re getting one of mine out of sheer laziness; I’m too much so this morning to even go look for one by someone else. That would require at least three of four clicks before I could even start to copy and paste, which is more than I’m willing to go through right now…. Yep, that’s pretty lazy, and I don’t care…. Hmm… the subject matter in section one today seems to have been a choice for discussion some time back. I was apparently thinking about it, anyway, as I found this poem of mine, that speaks pretty directly to that theme…. I hope you enjoy it; as I recall, this one took about three and a half pints of blood replacement after penning it….

Intelligent Crimes

The value of wit is often said to cause harm,
for those who think, such is its greatest charm.
The new and the bold cannot be fulfilled
if innovation and change is left unwilled.

Society behaves at its base as a mob
conformity and submission its primary job.
Any sign of rebellion against the mob’s rule
is met with resentment, naming such rebel the fool.

Intellect and talent are looked at askance,
expressing artistry stands nary a chance.
To stand out from the rest of mankind
is fraught with danger, for body and mind.

Often I stand to watch in solemn dismay
as beauty and joy are left by the way,
ignored and reviled by the unwashed masses
who prefer darkness, and acting like asses.

With shouts of derision the normals make known
their fear of intelligence, greater than their own.
They hope to stop all semblance of progress;
for thoughts and ideas, they couldn’t care less.

The world struggles on in spite of all opposition,
managing to maintain its advanced position.
Pulling the foolish along in spite of reluctance,
helping each to learn the survival dance.

Hard though it may be to keep up with the future
genius manages its plans to develop and nurture.
In the final analysis, those who live by reason
enjoy life the most, season to season.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

As noted previously, at points scattered throughout today’s Pearl (both evidential and direct announcements….), I’m lazy today, which has also made me late getting this done…. These pearls, and therefore this pearl, were gathered while multitasking, looking for the above parameter-bound group. These just jumped up & told me, unequivocally, they were to be used in section three, and would be just fine as a random harlequin batch…. They were right, but, I’d planned to put in pictures here today…. So, you get a bonus…. a weird bonus, but, a bonus….

Above each quote, you’ll see a picture… The pictures are either mine, or taken from the London Daily Telegraph…. If you wish complete attribution, you’ll have to go to their site to get it, as I forgot to note which page of their issue it came from…. All of the pictures are examples, in my view, of extreme beauty, of the sort only Nature can produce, beginning on Earth, and proceeding outward, toward the far galaxies…. but, they DON’T have any connection, that I know of or planned, with the quotes below each one…. Maybe next time….

“Whenever anybody says he’s struggling to become a human being I have to laugh because the apes beat him to it by about a million years. Struggle to become a parrot or something.” — Jack Handey, “Deep Thoughts”
“Of all mankind, each loves himself the best.” — Terence
“This is a revolution, damn it! We’re going to have to offend SOMEbody!” — John Adams (1735-1826), 1776
“Let life happen to you. Believe me: life is in the right, always.” — Rainer Maria Rilke
“Character is that which reveals moral purpose, exposing the class of things a man chooses or avoids.” — Aristotle
“What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite.” — Bertrand Russell (1872-1967), “Sceptical Essays”, 1928
“In America everybody is of the opinion that he has no social superiors, since all men are equal, but he does not admit that he has no social inferiors, for, from the time of Jefferson onward, the doctrine that all men are equal applies only upwards, not downwards.” — Bertrand Russell

There you go…. so be it, such as it is….

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

It’s done, which, today, is all I really was shooting for….. and, since it is, I’ll even be nice, and leave it at that…. You’ve been a wonderful audience, so, each of you may choose from a variety of prizes by the door, in the ugly green box, as a bonus for your attention today…. Me, I’m outta here…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
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 the dubious

Charged with gluttonous stockpiling of salient rationalizations….

Posted on September 13, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Oh, yay…. I’m home from the wars…. well, okay, from Texas…. and slept like a baby in my own bed, once the travel-buzz wore off long enough to sleep. Now, here I am, only a few hours later, up, and burning to write…. Okay, so I’m not burning up with literary fervor, either; I AM up, though, and at 5:30 AM there isn’t a whole lot else to do but write, so…. Now, don’t take that as putting y’all second-best, or that I’m settling for this; it’s just that my whole reason for being up at all is to write; otherwise, I’d gladly still be sawing logs in dreamland….

A word here about the day…. I always have a good day on Friday the 13th; something about being a triple Scorpio, or something, not that I put a lot of faith in astrology….. But, astrologers, as good con men and women always have to be, are good observers of human nature, and over the centuries have incorporated their observations into their “science” so that some of what they say, especially about how humans behave, is true…. or, at least, sounds true…. Otherwise, they couldn’t convince people that ALL of it is true, which is just ridiculous….. I mean, the basic law of conservation of energy puts the lie to astrology, which claims that the motions of the stars and planets determine the events of our lives, and our personality traits, which determine how we approach life…..

Even if one considers that to be true (a pretty fair stretch of the imagination, logic-wise….), it doesn’t account for the fact that in our Universe, physical law is such that, if it IS true, the opposite concept must also be true, to wit: the events of our lives, and our personalities, affect the motion of the planets and stars, equally as much as they affect us. The Universe exists in duality; symmetry must be maintained, in reality, though not in the human imagination…This is basic physical law in our space-time continuum, and not to be discounted, but, they don’t want to see that part of it, so they just ignore it…. Hmm…. sounds like a politician, doesn’t it?….

Sorry, it’s a bit early for shots at the BRC, especially when we’re still in the intro…. I know I’ve been ranting here a lot lately, but, that really is no excuse for rudeness…. Ah, what the hell, let’s go for it…. It’s not as if they’re not used to it, is it? Nope, and anyone with a thin skin should never go into politics anyway; there’s just too much name-calling and oneupmanship going on to allow anyone without a good, thick, rhinoceros-style epidermis to last for long…. Plus, it isn’t as if they listen much to what the peons say, anyway….

Okay, that’s enough for now…. I’m too glad to be home to be very nasty today, so I may skip a rant altogether…. We’ll see when I look at the news this morning, to see if there is anything new to report on the “spying on their own people” front, or the “let’s all get worked up over some asshole’s newest outrage, and start World War III” front…. both of which have dominated the news of late. I’m glad to see the danger of world-wide conflagration has receded a bit, thanks to some last-minute contortions, and a touch of common sense that somehow got worked into the whole issue, out of nowhere…. It was getting a bit scary there for a bit…. even the POTUS was, and is, leaning toward an idiotic response that goes against everything the public wants him to do….

SIGH…. sorry, I said I wasn’t going to rant, and there I went, straight into the same old story…. We’d best dive in soon, and start the search for some suitable pearls for today; I have a feeling I was getting lost there, and wouldn’t have found my way back any time soon, so, good thing I caught myself…. Hell, this is already getting out of hand, and, once again, we’re still only in the first section…. Well, I know the solution for THAT, anyway….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“C is for cookie, it’s good enough for me; oh cookie cookie cookie starts with C.” — Cookie Monster
_____________________________

Thankfully, I was right, for the moment…. I checked the headlines, and little of note is happening just now on the world’s stage, beyond some stupid remarks made by our Secretary of State (nothing unusual there….); that’s encouraging in that they are at least talking, and not bombing yet…. To relieve a bit of the heavy-handedness that has been seen, here and everywhere, of late, here is an old-school pearl, with the parameters left up to Smart Bee…. I just told it to look for stuff to make fun of stuffed shirts and closet bozos…..

“Before you have sex you have to be elected to a high government position.” — Zippy

“It’s better the world wonder why you *AREN’T* President.” — Smart Bee

“I think the mistake a lot of us make is thinking the state-appointed psychiatrist is our “friend.” — Deep Thoughts, by Jack Handey

“Truth exists. Only lies have to be invented.” — Georges Braque

“A drill is a tool. A hole is a solution.” — Smart Bee

“The United States has got some of the dumbest people in the world. I want you to know that we know that.” — Ted Turner, media mogul, author, actor, and baseball team owner, — addressing international journalists, 1996

“When in doubt, think.” — Smart Bee

Damn! I love it when a plan comes together…. Hell, I like it when it only breathes hard by itself…. 😆 No, really, though, thanks to Smart Bee, this turned out to be one of the best pearls in quite a while…. Well, I think so….
_____________________________

I find myself lately wondering about motivation when I’m picking poems for this section, mostly because I don’t seem to know just what it is that makes me pick some poems…. Sometimes it is for the power of it, the breadth and width and height, and presence it creates; other times it is because it strikes a chord of beauty in my soul/spirit…. But, often, I just don’t know, and, moreover, don’t care…. This is one of those times, so, just enjoy the genius of this woman’s unique view….

Doomsday

The idiot bird leaps out and drunken leans
Atop the broken universal clock:
The hour is crowed in lunatic thirteens.
Out painted stages fall apart by scenes
While all the actors halt in mortal shock:
The idiot bird leaps out and drunken leans.

Streets crack through in havoc-split ravines
As the doomstruck city crumbles block by block:
The hour is crowed in lunatic thirteens.

Fractured glass flies down in smithereens;
Our lucky relics have been put in hock:
The idiot bird leaps out and drunken leans.

The monkey’s wrench has blasted all machines;
We never thought to hear the holy cock:
The hour is crowed in lunatic thirteens.

Too late to ask if end was worth the means,
Too late to calculate the toppling stock:
The idiot bird leaps out and drunken leans,
The hour is crowed in lunatic thirteens.

~~ Sylvia Plath ~~

_____________________________

“A promise must never be broken.” — Alexander Hamilton

It’s interesting to me that this statement is made by one of our country’s first politicians…. It was possible for him to utter such a thought, I suppose because, in a very real sense, they were unique politicians, unlike what we know as such today…. You see, most folks forget that most of the founding fathers didn’t start out as politicians…. They only became labeled as such because they took the responsibility for their fate, and went forth to change history….. Today, politicians are more closely defined and described by the Smart Bee quote I often use, from either Daniel Bowen’s Toxic Custarpedia, or Ambrose Bierce’s, “The Devil’s Dictionary”, (I forget which, and am too lazy to go look…. but, it’s one of the two, for sure….) to wit:

Politics: from the Greek, “poly”, meaning “many”, and “tics”, meaning “blood-sucking insects”…. a most apt definition, if I do say so….

There is a corollary statement to this assertion by Mssr. Hamilton: I would say it is an obvious evolution of the concept of the inviolability of such moral laws. It says, simply, “If you can’t keep a promise, don’t make it.” In light of that, I can only say, not only do today’s version of politicians NOT display any knowledge of the above moral rule, they DO firmly believe in making promises they have no intention of keeping…. If anyone out there has an opposing view of this, please, please, say something that actually has evidence to back it up; it is common knowledge, among the people I know, that politicians will say anything to get people to vote for them, then have absolutely no memory of any such statements, once they are safely ensconced in office….

I’m not going to bore y’all with a long rant today, and I don’t think it will improve your day, or mine, for me to list a huge number of examples that DO provide evidence of the lies told by politicians in this country, or any other….. besides, all you have to do is go read a newspaper to get that list, anyway. Instead, I’m going to go old-school again, this time having Smart Bee look for humorous ways to drive this point home, or at least to a luxurious motel…. Or, in other words, I shall explain this by waving my hands about in an appropriate manner….

“And now am I, if a man should speak truly, little better than one of the wicked.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Henry IV– Act i, Sc. 2
(However, I am nothing, if not an honest man…. unlike SOME people I could name….)

“Anacharsis said a man’s felicity consists not in the outward and visible favours and blessings of Fortune, but in the inward and unseen perfections and riches of the mind.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — The Banquet of the Seven Wise Men, 11

“Bush? OK, he’s experienced, but he’s never going to be a GREAT liar. He can hardly bamboozle Dan Rather. How’s he going to do up against a bloodthirsty, power-mad dictator, like Margaret Thatcher?” — A. Whitney Brown

“There is no sin but ignorance.” — Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593)

“If I could find a way to get [Saddam Hussein] out of there, even putting a contract out on him, if the CIA still did that sort of a thing, assuming it ever did, I would be for it.” — Richard M. Nixon

“Civil liberties are always safe as long as their exercise doesn’t bother anyone.” — New York Times editorial, 1-3-41

“Cato requested old men not to add the disgrace of wickedness to old age, which was accompanied with many other evils.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) —

I think this is still a bit unclear, so, we’ll add one more, that will bring it all into perspective….

“Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under.” — H.L. Mencken
_____________________________

While searching for the pearls for the above section, the following pearls kept popping up to distract me…. Each of these is a real gem, of highest quality, but, they aren’t necessarily connected, other than by that same universal sameness of being absolutely true, and/or humorously logical…. or even logically humorous…. In short, they’re all perfect, in their own way…. I’m adding them in here today because I can….. It isn’t meant as torture, you know, but as a bonus round…. Regardless of all that, I hope you enjoy them, and pay heed to the wisdom herein….

“May the Forces of Evil become confused on the way to your house.” — George Carlin

“Experience has proved that some people indeed know everything.” — Russell Baker

How To Keep A Healthy Level Of Insanity: 4. Put your garbage can on your desk and label it “in”.

I am the mother of all things, and all things should wear a sweater.

“Imagine the Creator as a low comedian, and at once the world becomes explicable.” — H. L. Mencken (1880-1956)

The ruins of himself! now worn away
With age, yet still majestic in decay.

— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — The Odyssey of Homer, Book xxiv, Line 271

” Again, Again! Again, again, even if we know the countryside of love, and the tiny churchyard with its names mourning, and the chasm, more and more silent, terrifying, into which the others dropped: we walk out together anyway beneath the ancient trees, we lie down again, again, among the flowers, and face the sky.” — Rainer Maria Rilke
_____________________________

This is what happens when I lose my routine…. I get all blocked up; once it has an outlet, it pours out all over the place. I do hope none of it splashed on any of your good clothing…. There’s a lot here, I know, so let’s see if it’s worth the effort…. I’d say it will pass, though it IS somewhat lengthy…. (I do love understatement, don’t you?….) It’s certainly enough, and he who has enough is rich indeed…. To prevent any more damage to my mind, your mind, or the space-time continuum we share, or, indeed, any danger of same, I’ll stop now….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole…
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

Diligently dancing, despite the incandescent horror…

Posted on July 30, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Shadows danced over the walls, cast by flames from the logs flickering in the ancient hearth. Savory smells of onions and meat filled the air, as the stew simmered in the pot hanging over the fire, stirred slowly by the old woman in a tattered, grey dress. Though she had lived alone for many years, she showed no surprise at the loud knock on the wooden door, only shrugging her bony shoulders as she walked across to open it. Wind and snow blew in the door, pushing into the room a huge, heavily bearded man, in grimy buckskins, carrying a long, evil rifle, and a large pack on his back.

Following the giant into the single room of the old cabin, a dire-wolf, all black, large as a small pony, eyes gleaming with intelligent ferocity, stopped in the doorway to peer behind him, into the darkness, then trotted through the door, sinking to the floor in front of the fire with a weary sigh. The wolf, glancing at the old woman, spoke, in a wheezing, gravely voice, asking, “Will they attack tonight?”……

Whoa, wait a minute, there, big fella…. attack? Where did that come from?…. Oh, hi there… and good morning. I thought I’d try my hand at another fictional opening to a story, and, all in all, I think it came out fairly well, though I have no idea from what odd corner of my brain the last line emerged. It kind of fits, though, don’t you think? I mean, it did throw in a swift change of direction, which I always find to be an interesting plot device; it always snags my attention when I read something that surprises me like that…. But, once again, it’s a story I’m not going to pursue, at least not now…. too many pearls to find and share, don’t y’know?….

Of course, this assumes there is anyone out there to read these epics, and that is not, it seems, necessarily true. It doesn’t matter, though, as I have to get this stuff out of my head, or it makes me even crazier than I already am, and that is NOT a good thing. In fact, it can get downright ugly…. and none of us wants that so early in the day, no matter what the weather is like….. The weather has been even crazier than I am lately; the naysayers who claim that global warming is a myth are being proven wrong, definitively, and completely, by the strangeness of the weather patterns, or rather, broken weather patterns, that we have been experiencing in the last month or two…..

Alaska, when we cruised there, was warm, more so than usual, according to the locals, while down here in northern California, it was sweltering, in late May, and early June… Now, for this entire month of July, the weather has been cloudy, windy, and often chilly, causing people to dress in layers as if it were the middle of winter. For the entire month, we’ve had temperatures in the 70’s, with only a couple of days of more heat than that…. People, this is JULY, in CALIFORNIA. It is ALWAYS HOT IN JULY in California…. at least, that has been my experience over the last 60 some years…. Summers are supposed to be hot, with the weather pattens in July, August, and often September, frequently climbing to temperatures in triple digits for days on end. It is almost as if we had moved north about a thousand miles, into a different climate category, due to our location in relation to the equator….

Ah well, I could go on for quite a while, cataloging all the strange new weather the world is seeing, now that the temperature of the oceans, and the planet as a whole, is rising. We, as people, aren’t doing anything that will cause that to stop anytime soon, so, we may as well get used to not knowing what the weather is going to do next…. Its’ kind of ironic, that just at that point in our history when we are finally able to predict the weather with some small degree of accuracy, we mess up our own base of knowledge by changing the rules, causing the weather to become unpredictable by any means…. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot!….

If I did go on though, y’all would accuse me of ranting in the intro again, and you’d be right in that. Rather than go through all that again, we’ll just dive in, and start the search for some pearls for today’s effort….. Besides, everybody always talks about the weather, but nobody ever DOES anything about it, at least not in a positive sense… For now, I think we should let this die an unnatural death, and get on with it…..

Shall we Pearl?…..
_____________________________

Here is an example of why I pearl…. The following seven quotes were searched out with absolutely no pre-planning. I had nothing in mind when I started, and was willing to take whatever Smart Bee came up with. What I got, obviously, was an example of Smart Bee showing off, because these quotes just fell through the cracks in my mind, to formulate a precís, a summary, as it were, of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s famous Essay on Self-Reliance, only without all the torturous twists and turns his words built into the path to wisdom… Just let your mind float, read these, and voilá, illumination!….. Enjoy!….

“It is hard enough to remember my opinions, without also remembering my reasons for them.” — Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)

“That’s the effect of living backwards: it always makes one a little giddy at first, but there’s one great advantage in it, that one’s memory works both
ways.” — Lewis Carroll, “Through the Looking-Glass”

“I count religion but a childish toy … there is no sin but ignorance.” — Christopher Marlowe

“Did YOU find a DIGITAL WATCH in YOUR box of VELVEETA?” — Zippy the Pinhead

“Human beings are perhaps never more frightening than when they are convinced beyond doubt that they are right.” — Laurens Van der Post, The Lost World of the Kalahari (1958)

“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” — Krishnamurti

“Thus it is said that one who knows the enemy and knows himself will not be endangered in a hundred engagements.” — Sun Tzu

I rest my case….
_____________________________

“Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.” — G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

This observation, fortunately, includes myself…. as will be seen by the following two poems of mine. The haiku was written during the poetry challenge earlier this year, in April; the other is from sometime in 2012…..

Haiku II

An inner light glows
shining out of open eyes;
madness or wisdom?

~~ gigoid ~~

Raging at Aging

As old as you feel, we are told, is old as you are,
custom assures such vision will carry us far.
Reality begs to differ, may it be so bold
it is really quite painful, and very, very cold.

The power and strength felt in our halcyon youth
desert us with age, yet another unwelcome truth.
Irony rules our time here on this bountiful earth
as we reflect the changes over time since our birth.

As physical powers fade from this fragile shell,
we learn our mind can serve us quite as well.
The strength that once filled our bones and hearts
is now applied by our will, to more arcane arts.

Life’s greatest gift is our freedom of choice
no matter how often we forget, we still get a voice.
Energy, or apathy, by our will we may choose,
failing to do so, our only way to lose.

Each of us lives in the grip of time and space,
always seeking our balance, our own chosen place.
One must accept reality, for it is true at the core,
all we can do, is all we can do, and nothing more.

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

“One should seek virtue for its own sake and not from hope or fear, or any external motive. It is in virtue that happiness consists, for virtue is the state of mind which tends to make the whole of life harmonious.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Zeno, (B.C. 335?-264), liii

Sounds simple, eh? Scholar Laertius has put his thumb print squarely on what I see as the basic flaw in human nature, the one characteristic that will eventually lead us to perdition, if not extinction. Every day, every minute, mankind, as a whole, and as individuals, are presented with a choice of actions, some of which are virtuous in nature, and others that are not…. These actions are chosen by each individual according to their own degree of virtue, or, more simply, they choose what to do according to what they believe…. What they choose to embrace as their life’s viewpoint will generally determine the nature of their choices, whether it is virtuous, or not….

I could rant about this; I do so frequently. Today, though, rather than rant, which just doesn’t seem to fit my mood this morning, I’ve put together a group of pearls that speak to this subject, at least peripherally…. Taken together, they poke a stick at the eye of humanity, trying to turn the mob back from the edge of extinction….

“The moral test of government is how it treats those who are in the dawn of life — the children; those who are in the twilight of life — the aged; and those who are in the shadows of life — the sick, the needy and the handicapped.” — Hubert Humphrey

“Virtue is that perfect good which is the complement of a happy life; the only immortal thing that belongs to mortality.” — Seneca (B.C. 3-65 A.D.)

“I have a feeling that at any time about three million Americans can be had for any militant reaction against law, decency, the Constitution, the Supreme Court, compassion and the rule of reason.” — John Kenneth Galbraith

“I’m just hoping that one day the sheep will realize that the shepherd is really a wolf in disguise.” — Sanjay Singh

“Every man is a damn fool for at least five minutes every day; wisdom consists in not exceeding the limit.” — Elbert Hubbard

To produce things and to rear them,
To produce, but not to take possession of them,
To act, but not to rely on one’s own ability.
To lead them, but not to master them –
This is called profound and secret virtue.

— Lao-Tzu (fl. B.C. 600)

“Make no mistake: the weeds will win. Nature bats last.” — Robert Pyle
_____________________________

At the end of each day’s Pearl, I try to measure, if I can, how it might be received by the Gentle Readers…. I have to point out, however, that I am handicapped in these assessments, by having to do so using my own viewpoint, which rather scotches the whole concept of judging it objectively. This may explain the lack of Likes, quite plainly, so I’m going to just forget the whole issue, and just get on with it…. Let’s see now…..

Days such as today tend to keep this process alive, reminding me that I do this to stay sane, not to win prizes… It’s all strange, and a little bit obscure, but, all in all, I think it’s pretty good, for all that it is an exercise in singing to the choir (regarding the danger of extinction; I think most of my readers will agree with my assessment… If not, they’re not saying so…). Nonetheless, I like it, so, it stays, or rather, goes…. And, so do I…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you….

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

Entirely too much fun for one penguin….

Posted on June 30, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
We made it, and now are happily sailing along the coast of the great Northwest, somewhere near Oregon or Washington, perhaps, headed for the Inside Passage. Not much scenery as yet, we’re a bit far from shore, and from the sea, one can see the effects of pollution, as most of the coastline we are passing is covered in a light to heavy haze, and it isn’t fog….. But, the water is calm, the sky is blue, and the food is plentiful…. Score!

This promises to be a wonderful trip, though I may not be as able to post as much as I did from Europe…. I’ve already realized that this time, I’m not alone, and my time isn’t as flexible as when I am…. I have to say, I am much happier with Patricia here with me than I was traveling alone, and not just because I love her, but because it means I can share all the good times….

That’s really all I have right now…. I’ve gotten my internet hookup done, and shouldn’t have a problem there, but, I’m not yet sure about the email version of the Pearls. This new computer is balking at installing Thunderbird, the email browser I normally use, so I may have to access it all online, which I am not sure will work for posting… I can access my yahoo mail, though, so contact is possible, just reduced…. Ah well, travel makes it all a bit more complicated, but, is well worth it…..

That’s all I really have to say today… I don’t have a rant, and I’m having too much fun to break away to write just now, so, I’m afraid y’all will have to wait for fresh material until tomorrow…. For today, I’ll merely dip into the archives for a couple of old school pearls, and find a nice, tasty poem…. Shall we Pearl?….
_________________________

Rather than an old-school pearl, I found this rant, from election day in 2012…. it’s a good one….

“Americans have the right and advantage of being armed – unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.” — James Madison

I found this yesterday; I’d seen it before, and it seemed serendipitous that it showed up just in time for the event today (psst!…. go vote!….). In my mind, a good standard for figuring out if a person is a true patriot is to get their take on the Second Amendment, and the idea of gun control by the government. As I’ve stated before, I believe the risk of letting the government restrict our rights in this regard, IN ANY WAY, can only lead to the eventual loss of the right altogether, and that is an event that is completely unacceptable to me. Yes, it means that the world will be a dangerous place, but, guess what, ffolkes, that is something that happened a long time before guns. Taking them away from the general populace is not going to stop mass killings, or unjust, insane use of guns against innocent people. That occurs on a daily basis, anyway, but with the guns in the hands of police officers; that is a fact….. So, don’t tell me that the government is more qualified to use guns than I am, because that is just stupid….

Now that I’ve insulted many of you, we’ll try to go on to the election…. didn’t mean to get off into a rant on that, but, wanted to get it out of the way, so that the discussion may go on to other ways that the government is, quite simply, fucking us left and right…. George Carlin had a lot of good points about the corporate masters and their lackeys, the beloved ruling classes, and the priestly hierarchies. He often pointed out that the world has turned into a massive corporate conglomerate, with all the world governments at the mercy of those few individuals who actually control all the resources, and money. Those are people you never hear about, or see in the news, unless it is by intent…. they don’t allow accidents like that to happen…. But rest assured, they exist, and are perfectly content to let the world believe whatever it wants, as long as their profits, their power, and their control over others continues to grow….

“The rifle and handgun are “equalizers”–the weapons of a democracy. Tanks and bombers represent dictatorship.” — Edward Abbey

But, the invisible rulers don’t like the Second Amendment…. it leaves too much chance for independence in the hands of the people, and in case the people ever find out what they have been up to, they want to be able to know where all the guns are that might threaten them….. Having the general populace of this country continue to have access to any significant firepower is not in their best interests, so they work behind the scenes to get people to believe the nonsense about gun control, and how keeping guns from the hands of the citizenry will make life safer…. which is just so much bullshit… plain and simple. Ultimately, the only real effect of making guns illegal will be to make a large percentage of the American people outlaws, because I don’t think any of us will give them up without resistance, whether overt, or covert…..

“The right to buy weapons is the right to be free.” — A. E. Van Vogt, The Weapon Shops, — in Astounding Science Fiction, December 1942

How, you may ask, does this relate to the election? Well, it doesn’t, directly…. it’s just a pet peeve of mine, and an example of another of our basic rights that are being eroded by politicians, preachers, and those who ignorantly buy into their lies. I don’t trust the Democrats any more than I do the Republicans; perhaps even less, because the Republicans seem to be far more open about their lack of concern with the rights of the people. In that sense, they are easier to spot, and to resist. The Dems are being more subtle, but that doesn’t make them trustworthy; they do, after all, seek that power over others as well. There just seem to be more of them who are motivated to do so out of some community feeling, and concern for others, and those are trying to encompass reforms that are sorely needed.

“A politician thinks of the next election; a statesman, of the next generation.” — James Clarke

The difference between the two parties that have the only chance at the seats of power is extreme in this election; very seldom has the choice that needs to be made been clearer. One can choose to move forward into a future of change, or one can try to return society to the middle ages, with all of its injustice, and misery. It is that simple, and anyone who wishes to argue with that is welcome to present their views…. I’ll knock them down easily, with headlines from the daily news that, although not exactly unbiased or always true, are nonetheless balanced out by the outrageousness of each side’s contributions.

“Giving every man a vote has no more made men wise and free than Christianity has made them good.” — H.L. Mencken

The facts are all our there to see, and they clearly show one candidate whose only interest is in increasing his own power and wealth, and protecting his cronies on Wall Street, his cultish church, and the ruling class; he cares noting about the common man, and makes his disdain obvious. The other is, well, definitely the lesser of two evils…. on the apparent surface he is a dedicated, honest man, seeking reform and change, but, there are indications of less than stellar activity in his administration, too. But, he obviously cares about the common man much more than his opponent, and since the common man is the one who will be affected the most by what happens this time, the choice is clear. If you don’t want to have to take up regular use of Vaseline and Preparation H, then vote the incumbent…. If you really want to get a good screwing in the nether regions, then vote the opposition…. it is that simple ffolkes…..

“There is but one element of government, and that is THE PEOPLE. From this element spring all governments. “For a nation to be free, it is only necessary that she wills it.” For a nation to be slave, it is only necessary that she wills it.” — John Adams (1735-1826), Letter to John Taylor, 1814
_________________________

I Must Have Wanton Poets

~~ Christopher Marlowe ~~

_________________________

Here is another good one from a day or two after the above rant was posted…..

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

Now, THAT is a good attitude toward living! Carpe diem, and all that, don’t y’know? I like to think that I approach life in much this same manner, even though I have my moments spent in depression and despair; those moments I consider to be anomalous, and not fully representative of my take on life in general. Many people may not feel this way, and I cannot disparage them for that, as living often requires more of our attention that can be spared to make sure we are positively motivated; it’s not easy to get by in this world, and maintaining a positive outlook can become secondary to just having the wherewithal to do anything at all. But, George points out a pretty good way to think about it, even if one hasn’t the time or resources to fully appreciate, or apply, the principle as given….. As such, it joins a number of other viewpoints of famous historical figures, all of whom had advice to give to people about how to live well…. below you will find several of these suggestions for living life as well as one is able to live….

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

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

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

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

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

Well, there you go…. now, all you have to do is put all of this into practice…. sounds like fun, eh?….
_________________________

Okay, it’s long, but it’s done…. and being old pearls, I don’t have to proof them, having done so already, last time they were used…. I’m calling it a done deal, and going to go spend more time having fun…. See you tomorrow…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Calls to adjourn are always in order….

Posted on June 21, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
For the first time in a coon’s age, I slept like a baby last night. That isn’t to say I woke up every few hours to eat, or get my drawers freshened, or to play, as my own son liked to do at 3 AM; in point of fact, the opposite is true. I slept more deeply than usual, and didn’t even awaken myself to turn over more than twice, falling back to sleep easily…. This is good, as in a normal night, I’m up and down most of it, and struggle to get back to sleep once awake. So, it’s a nice feeling to wake up refreshed, at an hour that approaches what the rest of the world observes…. Strange, but nice….

It might have to do with being in love; I find myself to be quite giddy at times, and spend a lot of time figuring out ways to spend more time with her, rather than figuring out how to pass the time with myself. Or, it could be that my aged old bod has finally gotten over the stress and fatigue that has plagued me since my return from Europe…. I tend to go with the first reason, as it makes me feel better to think about that, than it does to consider how old I’m getting…. Not that getting old has prevented me from wanting to act like a youngster, one with unlimited energy, provided by the strong drug that is Love…..

My only problem, as I see it, is how I can use these feelings in my writing…. Oh, sure, I could just start talking about my lady; I have enough in me that I could easily write a few thousand words in celebration of the beauty I see in her, or about how much I admire her gritty resolve in dealing with the crap life has thrown her way, or the kindness of her spirit, or how much I appreciate having someone to talk to who understands me, and seems to like me anyway. I could, no doubt at all, spend the rest of my life voicing how I feel about her, and intend to do so, to her….. I don’t think, however, that would be of much interest to other folks, or even ffolkes, after the first ten thousand words or so… Even sweetness and light can be overdone…..

I could use my feelings metaphorically, I guess, which would fit in appropriately with the rest of what goes on here…. and, in sooth, may end up doing that at some point…. But, I have a small problem with writing about my feelings in this area, which has to do with privacy issues, not with literary ones. Our relationship is OUR business, and putting it out on the street, so to speak, is not only egotistical and tacky, but could, conceivably, be dangerous.

When writing about personal issues, it is too easy to give away information that COULD be used against me, or even worse, against my paramour. I am nobody’s fool, and I’m well aware there are dire wolves (as opposed to most wolves, who are strong, loyal, and honorable….) who mine the internet for information that can be used for nefarious purposes…. I have no intention of ever drawing their attention, or giving away any information they can use against me…. I know what you are thinking, as it occurs to me as well…. Some of those dire wolves work in Washington D. C., and are supposedly using such information to protect me….

I say to that…. Bullshit! If you believe what the politicos, on both sides of the political fence, are saying, that the process is “transparent”, and the information gathered isn’t being abused, well, all I can say is that I am sorry for you…. They are lying about this, just as they lie about everything else they tell us, and anyone who believes otherwise needs to have their medications checked, because they aren’t working….

Hmm…. how did I get from being in love in paragraphs one and two, to ranting against the machine in paragraph four? Oh, okay, I see where I turned left, when I should have gone straight on…. Oh well, at least I got an intro section out of it, which is a good thing, I think…. We’ll have to see how the rest of this goes, starting as I do with a full bucket of energy, rather than a leaky one….. Shall we Pearl?…..
_____________________________

I’m in the mood for an old school pearl, and, as I am still driving, and diving, that’s what we’ll do…. This pearl’s direction, and any point it makes, will be determined as randomly as I can make it. The first pearl I find will give me the basic idea, and we’ll see what else Smart Bee can come up with in the same vein…. Generally, I find these to be the best type of pearls, both for me, in that they pretty much write themselves, and for you, as they are the least obscure, and most easily translated into reality, or, into something that can be used in real time…. Enjoy!….

“Don’t worry about avoiding temptation — as you grow older, it starts avoiding you.” — The Old Farmer’s Almanac

“All things considered, insanity may be the only reasonable alternative.” — Smart Bee

“Anyone without a sense of humor is at the mercy of everyone else.” — William Rotsler

“A gentleman is one who never hurts anyone’s feelings unintentionally.” — Oscar Wilde

“The difference between solitude and loneliness is the quality of the company we keep.” — Smart Bee

“How ridiculous and unrealistic is the man who is astonished at anything that happens in life.” — Marcus Aurelius

Ooh! Ooh! I just had a great idea, prompted by something SB came up with…. So, here is the deal… The six quotes above delineate the main thrust of the idea being presented, but, it is at a cusp, and could complete at least two different thoughts… Below you will find two more pearls, either of which would be a fitting close to the concept as it is… Your mission, should you etc., etc…. is to choose whichever one suits your fancy to complete the pearl for today…. Or, choose the other one, I don’t care… either one works, and I hope you’ve enjoyed this little pre-breakfast mental challenge….

“I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they’ve always worked for me.” — Hunter S. Thompson

As half in shade and half in sun
This world along its path advances,
May that side the sun ‘s upon
Be all that e’er shall meet thy glances!

— Thomas Moore (1779-1852) — Peace be around Thee
_____________________________

On mornings like this, (which is a damn lie, as this morning has never been done before…. but, call it literary license, and we can go on….), I tend to go with a classic poem, from one of history’s more famous poets. Today is no exception, in spite of my recent stats on readership….. In other words, I hope you enjoy it, but, since almost nobody will read it, my sentiment will fall upon empty ears, or some such metaphor for zero…. I like it, though….

Being the sucker for romance that I am, and in deference to the delicacy of feelings I expressed above, I went to find a love poem, and found two…. Unable to decide which to use, I give you both…..

Who Ever Loved That Loved Not at First Sight?

It lies not in our power to love or hate,
For will in us is overruled by fate.
When two are stripped, long ere the course begin,
We wish that one should love, the other win;

And one especially do we affect
Of two gold ingots, like in each respect:
The reason no man knows; let it suffice
What we behold is censured by our eyes.
Where both deliberate, the love is slight:
Who ever loved, that loved not at first sight?

~~ Christopher Marlowe ~~

The face that launch’d a thousand ships

Was this the face that launch’d a thousand ships,
And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?
Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss.
Her lips suck forth my soul: see where it flies!
Come, Helen, come, give me my soul again.
Here will I dwell, for heaven is in these lips,
And all is dross that is not Helena.
I will be Paris, and for love of thee,
Instead of Troy, shall Wittenberg be sack’d;
And I will combat with weak Menelaus,
And wear thy colours on my plumed crest;
Yea, I will wound Achilles in the heel,
And then return to Helen for a kiss.
O, thou art fairer than the evening air
Clad in the beauty of a thousand stars;
Brighter art thou than flaming Jupiter
When he appear’d to hapless Semele;
More lovely than the monarch of the sky
In wanton Arethusa’s azur’d arms;
And none but thou shalt be my paramour!

~~ Christopher Marlowe ~~

_____________________________

I had intended to rant here, and even had a beginning quote all picked out…. but, my angst disappeared somewhere, and the quote I chose deserves full outrage to drive it, so I’ll save it for tomorrow, or the next day. For now, I found this perfect pearl from an archived post, from back in August of last year…. It’s an excellent pearl, of its type, and should bring today’s effort to a good ending…. Smooth, if not short or simple…. Enjoy!….

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

This pearl consists of a series of statements from Smart Bee (meaning they were found without attribution….). The statements form an old-school pearl, all pointing in a particular direction…. the test is to see where they lead you, and whether or not that is where they will lead others…. At the end, there will be one last pearl, which generally is the best indicator of where the rest have been pointing…. just let your mind go, and allow the pearls to point the way….

Definition of Terror: A female Klingon with PMS. — Smart Bee

If you can believe ten impossible things before breakfast, then you should join: The Church of Counterfactual Belief. The Church of Counterfactual Belief has been set up to cater to all who don’t allow demonstrable truth to get in the way of their beliefs. In addition to creation science and the flatness of the earth, the following beliefs have been certified by Pope Duane as Church dogma: that there is a hole in the Earth at the North Pole from which UFOs come. That pi equals precisely 3.000. That sex can be enjoyed only by blacks and homosexuals. That Billy Joe Wilson (Hoopla, Miss.) has successfully squared the circle. That Harry Truman is still president, and doing a fine job. That pi equals precisely 22/7. Several other important counterfactual beliefs are presently being studied, including Reaganomics, A.I., and that the moon landings were done in a Hollywood special effects studio. These will be the subject of a forthcoming Papal Bull… — Smart Bee

You will be surprised by a loud noise. — Smart Bee

Don’t need to be born again – Did it right the 1st time. — Smart Bee

When a person brags about his ancestors, the best part of him is underground. — Smart Bee

You buttered your bread, now lie in it. — Smart Bee

“Well, it’s no use your talking about waking him,” said Tweedledum, “when you’re only one of the things in his dream. You know very well you’re not real.”
“I am real!” said Alice, and began to cry.
“You won’t make yourself a bit realer by crying,” Tweedledee remarked: “there’s nothing to cry about.”
“If I wasn’t real,” Alice said- half laughing through her tears, it all seemed so ridiculous- “I shouldn’t be able to cry.”
“I hope you don’t think those are real tears?” Tweedledee interrupted in a tone of great contempt.

— Lewis Carroll, in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Okay, I lied…. the last one isn’t a Smart Bee quote. But, it still points the way to the desired end point, so it will do quite nicely for our purposes. We may now return to our regularly scheduled program….
_____________________________

Well, regularly scheduled or not, we’ve reached an end point, and no blood yet….. Bonus…. Let’s see if it floats, and, if so, whether it will stay afloat…. Okay, not too shabby at all. Good enough for the loose standards we use here, anyway…. Maybe today I’ll get more than one or two readers, and they’ll enjoy themselves half as much as I did in writing this, with abundant energy, and a, most likely, sickeningly positive attitude…. Ah well, Murphy is, I’m sure, hanging about somewhere, and will make his presence known in good time…. In the meantime…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

Ned Moore, aka gigoid, is a 70 year-old, (!!!… When did that happen?….), retired dilettante, who would rather read than eat, most days. His first blog, "gigoid’s folly", has been emailed out to folks he knows for about 18 years now. He still considers it his best defense against angst, and the ever-present specter of sheer insanity..... Due to rigorous curmudgeon training requirements, he has discontinued his Facebook presence, but still indulges in the occasional Twitter session... In essence, he's socialized, but, not overly sociable; all labels and stereotypes are forbidden in his presence... and he doesn't care what anyone thinks about that..... In fact, he doesn't want to talk anymore.... If you feel you MUST contact gigoid, his email address is: alphagigoid@gmail.com You can go read now.... Go on, beat it.... gigoid, the dubious

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gigoid

Exploring Consensual Reality

Tag Archives: Christopher Marlowe

Olive, or peanut oil for the fries?….

Saved by tea and biscuits….

Diligently dancing, despite the incandescent horror…

Entirely too much fun for one penguin….

Calls to adjourn are always in order….

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