Ffolkes,
Can make a stone of the heart.
~~ William Butler Yeats ~~
Public House in Cork, Ireland, with freshly pulled Guinness waiting for your Valentine.
Who is NOT the blond bartender you see in the rear of the pub, more’s the pity.
Somehow or another, the idea of Valentine’s Day got planted in my consciousness this year. Most years, all it takes for me to forget all about it, is to think of how it began, back in the middle of the twentieth century, when that day, along with Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, President’s Day, and probably a number of others I don’t remember, were instituted as official national holidays. The entire reason, well known at the time, was to supply a holiday during those months of the year when there was not a religious, or other well-known date, like Halloween, Christmas, and Easter, to stimulate the sagging economy in those months, giving people a reason to buy gifts…. Not exactly romantic, eh?
This year, I don’t know why, the date keeps popping up in front of me, which is ironic, as I don’t have anyone in my life other than my kids with whom I’d share such sentiments… Plus, I HATE buying useless stuff just because some poor business person isn’t going to be able to keep their cash flow in the black for a day or two. They steal enough of my money, without my helping them out by falling for such egregiously avaricious tricks…. I wouldn’t want to lose my own good self-opinion, now, would I? No, I don’t believe I would…
Ah well, I have now given in to the extent of writing almost three paragraphs about the day, though I wouldn’t say they were particularly filled with joy and happiness at the day’s arrival on the calendar. In addition, in the next section, you’ll find a very indulgent piece, nicely done by some guy with a pair of breeding hamsters (probably wants to start a farm & sell the thousands of offspring to come in the few months they live…), and way too much spare time on his hands…. It’s pretty funny….
But, as far as I can make it so, that’s all the corporations get from me today…. Well, I might reconsider, break down, & buy a Hallmark card, should I happen to walk out of the house and be accosted by a gorgeous, sensual woman, who demand I give her the card, take her out to dinner, then take her home to teach her all I know of the Kama Sutra…. Yeah, sure, like THAT’s going to happen…. So, I’m figuring I’m done with it for the day…
“Now what”, he said, bemusedly. If only he had started out differently; if only some fantastic fictional passage had stormed through his consciousness, ripping control of his fingers from him, to pound the keyboard faster than he could read, filling the screen with gripping, violently graphic, yet, oddly romantic images of intense emotional drama, pitting human nature against itself in an eternal battle of good vs. evil, all the while laughing madly, gleefully drooling all over his own lap, until, finally, he slowed, considered what he had done, and, stopped typing…..
Slowly, he rose, walking calmly to the desk across the room. Opening a concealed drawer, he pulled out a leather case. Unsnapping the fasteners, the case opens to reveal a dark, shiny, evil-looking 9mm Glock automatic pistol. Picking it up, he chambered a round, placed the gun at his temple, and fired one shot right through to the opposite wall, taking quite a bit of brain and bone matter with it, forming a rather striking pattern across the rug and wall….
He then walked over to the computer, sat down, and, naturally enough, typed in the following words….
Shall we Pearl?
“.. I’m IMAGINING a sensuous GIRAFFE, CAVORTING in the BACK ROOM of a KOSHER DELI –” — Zippy the Pinhead
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Well, what did you expect? It IS Valentine’s Day, even if I don’t pay any particular attention to it. The following video, at least, puts it all into the proper perspective…. Thanks to Lou for posting it two days ago, thus, furnishing me with yet another fine pearl…..
Tiny Hamster’s Tiny Date
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first posted by Lou, at:
https://talesfromthelou.wordpress.com/2015/02/12/tiny-hamsters-valentines-date-200/
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“Things true and evident must of necessity be recognized by those who would contradict them.” — Epictetus (c. 60 AD) — Concerning the Epicureans, — Discourses, Book ii, Chap. xx
Ahhh! Bliss…. I’ve always enjoyed the way Epictetus expressed his thoughts. Somehow, his style speaks to me in a way I feel as well as see, and hear, telling me in the simplest, most direct way, how to understand life, and our fellow humans; his sense, apparently, shares commonality with my own. To me, this is an excellent way to show exactly how we can be sure we are being, well, screwed, by those in power…. It is proven true every day, any number of times….
Each day, those in power release some sort of blast of information, designed in some fashion to influence the public in some way. Even when the public KNOWS of this, they still tend to listen to those in power, as they have been trained to do so since entering this world. Still, there is so much of what we are told that isn’t even remotely true, those among the unwashed masses who have not been fully beaten down into slavish acceptance will take note of some obvious discrepancy between reality, and what they are told is reality by those in charge. On the internet, there are literally hundreds of places to find these discrepancies, which clearly show that what we are told is not always true….
Here is where Epictetus’ words come into play…. In order for the officials making the statement to contradict reality in this way shows how it is not possible for them to do so in ignorance of what they do…. By the very act of lying, they prove they know the truth, but, choose to withhold it, to serve some purpose of their own…. Often that purpose is apparent; more often it is not. Either way, I think you could easily say they weren’t doing it for OUR benefit, without feeling as if you were telling a lie yourself….
“Though all the winds of doctrine were let loose to play upon the earth, so Truth be in the field, we do ingloriously, by licensing and prohibiting, to misdoubt her strength. Let her and Falsehood grapple: who ever knew Truth put to the worse in a free and open encounter?” — John Milton (1608-1674) — Areopagitica
This is MY solution to this question, and, my intention as one who rants. Given the simple fact of the degree of control already established over our society/world by those who would be king, the Truth is the only weapon remaining to us…. Those who rule have already perverted much of Truth to their own purposes, by the simple expedient of convincing almost everyone they have always told the truth, when they actually merely convinced people what is true was not…. If there is one thing I’ve always believed, with some trepidation, admittedly, it is the Truth will out; ultimately, it will make itself clear, usually in a painful way… I don’t think it LIKES to be hidden, or used to promote evil…. But, in time, it always wins out over a lie… I’m hoping, anyway….
Sounds complicated, but, it’s quite simple actually; the problem is this: once the lies are accepted as truth, the actual truth has no more power to be heard; those convinced they are right, possessing the only right answers, will not listen to any evidence otherwise, even if it slaps them right in the face….. It is one of human nature’s most destructive traits, in spite of also being one of its most endearing faults…. I only wish I knew another way to get through to them, but, they made the decision long ago, to never discover the truth of reality for themselves, but, to allow others to tell them what to believe, to mold the shape of reality for them…. To turn back now, for almost all of them, is impossible….
“It’s called EVIL, kid.” — Smart Bee
SIGH….. We had such promise, too….
but the will to find out,
which is the exact opposite.
~~ Bertrand Russell (1872-1967), “Sceptical Essays”, 1928 ~~
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A poem of mine is going to have to do for today. I hope you like it…..
Lucky are we who live with some adversity,
Such strife to bear leaves us strong and free.
Time is no better spent at a fine university
Teaching us the kind of person we wish to be.
We humans are such contrary creatures
Life lived in ease is our fondest intent.
New perceptions are our strongest features
Learning to cope with troubles we cannot prevent.
Lessons we learn at Trouble’s bent knee
Stay on top in the bag of tools we carry.
Knowledge so earned can keep us free
On our long, strange trip to Charon’s ferry.
Pain is the least favorite of our teachers
Yet such powerful lessons stay forever and a day.
No matter how life presents its features
Strength of will equals what life sends our way.
T’is well to consider such time-tested tools,
To carry them with us as we travel through Life.
Events are less likely to show us as fools,
as we deal with Reality, where peril is rife.
~~ gigoid ~~
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Back and forth, back and forth, like a damn tennis ball; Smart Bee must have been watching tennis on TV or something, during whatever moments this batch of pearls were chosen. All I did was ask for a simple old school pearl already made up, so I didn’t need to think too hard about parameters… This is what came back to me…. I can’t figure it out, other than maybe as a metaphor for Life as a Ping Pong Ball…. Oh, well, at least they’re all one-liners…
“A wise man never refuses anything to necessity.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 540
“If truth is beauty, how come no one has their hair done in the library?” — Lily Tomlin
“Democritus says, “But we know nothing really; for truth lies deep down.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Pyrrho, viii
“Those who do things in a noble spirit of self-sacrifice are to be avoided at all costs.” — N. Alexander
“Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.” — Mao Zedong, “Quotations from Chairman Mao”, 1966
“Each of us bears his own Hell.” — Publius Maro
“Reality is a sandwich I did not order.” — Zippy the Pinhead
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Ffolkes, the world has gone mad; not just mad, but, stark, raving mad. I’m not certain, at this point, exactly what I will do about it, but, it’s not going to fix itself; it has made that perfectly clear. Thus, it leaves it to us to try to figure out what the hell we are going to do; given the options, I’m pretty sure what I’ll do; how ’bout y’all? Well, it’s late, or early, or something; you can think about it, and hopefully, there will be a tomorrow, when you might think about sharing that with us…. Meantime, keep your head down, and your powder dry, ffolkes; it’s a hard rain that’s gonna fall…. Hopefully, I’ll see you tomorrow; if not, fare thee well, until we meet again….
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
PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.
“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch
À bientôt, mon cherí….
gigoid 