A mess for all seasons….

Posted on December 19, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.”

~~ Samuel Clemens, (Mark Twain) ~~

Galway Bay Sea Wall, looking South East

Hajime…. Having daily examples as to the veracity and ubiquitous nature of Murphy’s Laws, it should’nt have surprised me this morning when he decided to make my title all-too-appropriate. As some of y’all know (because I haven’t explained in a while) the titles of these Pearls are NOT connected, in any way other than subconsciously to what takes place below them, in the blog itself. I create them before actually finishing the blog, when I’m preparting the email version to be sent out.

When creating a title, the primary characteristics I shoot for are two-fold. First, it must make little or no actual sense in reality; second, it should have nothing at all to connect it to the contents of the day’s post. That’s it. If it turns out to be a compelling phrase that actually brings new people in to read, simply because of its weirdness, so much the better. Once it is done, and typed into the subject line, THEN I go finish writing whatever parts of the Pearl aren’t done…. Simple, yes?

Today, however, about 30 seconds after writing it in the email, Murphy himself stepped in; I saw it. An invisible hand pushed a jar of magic cream over the edge of the table where my computer sits (I tend to keep it close by….), knocking it to the floor, where the lid flew off, and the cream flew out, spreading itself in a nicely formed splash pattern, all over the couch and floor, BETWEEN two parts of a shelf, where it was nearly impossible to reach….
Perfect place for me to ruin my back completely to clean it up….. SIGH…. He is SUCH an asshole!

However, I managed to get it cleaned up, in spite of the massive pain in my back, the curious cat, who had to investigate both the spill, and the cleanup process, closely enough to be in the way the whole time, and, the immensely painful, dangerous act of trying to get up from the awkward position on the floor needed to get AT the fucking mess…. Now, it has furnished me with WAY more than enough BS to fill up this intro, so, I suppose that would be the iconic silver lining all those assholes talk of all the time….

Fuck this. Let’s get to the oyster beds before somebody comes to the door, and I end up in jail for killing an innocent person, Not a great start to the day, I’d imagine…. Instead, I’ll employ one of our newest toys, which I found in an old cabinet, in a dark corner of the Tardis….. Looks old, but, serviceable…. I’m going to push this button, right here, marked, “Anywhere at all”…..

Shall we Pearl?….

“When we step into the family, by the act of being born, we do step into a world which is incalculable, into a world which has its own strange laws, into a world which could do without us, into a world we have not made. In other words, when we step into the family we step into a fairy-tale.” — G. K. Chesterton, Heretics, CW, I, p.143

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Ludwig van Beethoven

Image from dectrendsk.esy.es via Google Images

Even though most of the time I choose to ignore my training as a consumer, like every other American child, I was taught how to make decisions based solely on expediency….. I’m making one such today, simply because Leelu is trying to make it impossible to finish this post before taking an hour to play with her; she just wasn’t satisfied with the half-hour I already gave her…. She’s sitting, now, about four inches from the computer, staring at the screen, trying hard to be in the way….

SIGH…. That’s why you get this choice, because it was simple, and, you can take over the finding of any further selections for yourself, by following the link to the page on You Tube where this version of the Fifth lives…. Enjoy! I gotta go figure out how to get the next section done before she starts biting for attention….

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Beethoven’s Fifth

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https://youtu.be/fOk8Tm815lE

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All seems infected that th’ infected spy,
As all looks yellow to the jaundic’d eye.

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

~~ Essay on Criticism, Part ii, Line 358 ~~

buddah-out-to-lunch_s

“In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true.” — Buddha

This particular icon, which I stole from another blogging friend, isn’t often seen atop this section. But, this particular example of mindfulness and insight from Gautama Buddha, made its use mandatory. So be it…..

Let’s examine this assertion for its relevance in today’s world, shall we? Why not? We have little better to do than try to discover some of the reasons our world is in the throes of a desperate need for accepting change, for, if we do not, I suspect there is little hope for our entire species, as well as many others, to survive the coming century. Hopefully, we can find a consensus amongst the people of the world which will afford at least an opportunity to live through it, rather than merely more proof there isn’t any chance at all….

How, you may ask, do the words of the Buddha apply today? Well, let’s see….. Hmm…. Perhaps, the quote above the Buddha’s laughing face, by Pope, says, in essence, much the same as does the Buddha; the difference is only one of POV, and, perhaps, a matter of syntax, and, who the fuck cares about that?

We all SHOULD, of course, but, hey, nobody much even likes to say “syntax”, much less learn what it means, or how important it is to communication…. Humans are funny that way; if they don’t wish to learn something ( which is, in essence, denying their very nature, as the creature most able TO learn….)( Maybe….. Hard to say exactly what the dolphins have figured out already that we don’t…. They are the only ones on this planet with a bigger brain, comparatively….), they just WON’T. Perverse, as well as lazy, it seems….

Since we humans ARE lazy, and, I’m human, I’m going to change directions here. The concept under discussion is the human mind, and, how it works for us, essentially. The accuracy of Buddha’s observation, and understanding of that nature shows us, in an unequivocal fashion, how the world’s status today, in a state of inordinate chaos, in society, in government, in personal relations between people, has, at its root, this part of our nature, for it leads us to depend on the illusions and delusions we are taught from the cradle, to use expedience as a reason for acting, to using Ego to drive ALL of our social interactions, until the confusion reaches the point at which we see it, where nobody on the planet has any sort of peace….. not to mention the simple fact we are going to kill our entire species, taking thousands of other life-forms down with us, if we don’t change rapidly the way we are approaching life.

That said, it seems Smart Bee wants to place much of the blame on our theory, a badly mistaken one, that we NEED to be governed, for our own good…. Such bullshit! Let’s see what he/she/it found for us, rather than listen to my ranting any further, shall we? We shall….

“I believe that all government is evil, and that trying to improve it is largely a waste of time.” — H. L. Mencken

“The sense of justice springs from self-respect; both are coeval with our birth. Children are born with an innate sense of justice; it usually takes twelve years of public schooling and four more years of college to beat it out of them.” — Edward Abbey

“On a throne at the center of a sense of humor sits a capacity for irony. All wit rests on a cheerful awareness of life’s incongruities. It is a gentling a awareness, and no politician without it should be allowed near power.” — George Will

“A hand grenade exploded in a school of fish will supply food for days.” — U.S. Armed Forces Survival Manual

“Lawyers: the best argument against gun control..” — Fuckin’ A Bee

“Money confers the power to command the labor of others. Love of money is love of power. And love of power is the root of evil.” — Edward Abbey

“The “beast” is a myth we have created, a scapegoat, upon which we project the image of ourselves we are unwilling to acknowledge. When anyone behaves in a peculiarly unpleasant manner we tend to answer that he behaved “like a beast,” when the fact is, of course, that no beast every behaves so iniquitously as men frequently does… The myth of the beast is perpetuated from generation to generation. The result is a perversely distorted view of the nature of other animals, and a profoundly impoverishing failure to understand our true kinship with the rest of animated nature. So-called primitive peoples have never lost this kinship with other animals… Without the benefit of a Darwinian theory of evolution our technologically less advanced peoples in their creation myths and in their conduct toward the animal world exhibit a far deeper understanding of the interrelatedness of all living things than does so-called civilized man.” — Ashley Montagu,_The Humanization of Man_, 1962

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Poetry-wise, today, I got nothin’. Here’s a poet damn near everyone has heard of, but, few have read, or appreciated, though she is responsible for the very nature of ALL the poetry we see today…. From a VERY LONG fucking TIME AGO, here is the poetess who began much of it all…..

He Is More Than a Hero

He is more than a hero
he is a god in my eyes–
the man who is allowed
to sit beside you — he

who listens intimately
to the sweet murmur of
your voice, the enticing

laughter that makes my own
heart beat fast. If I meet
you suddenly, I can’t

speak — my tongue is broken;
a thin flame runs under
my skin; seeing nothing,

hearing only my own ears
drumming, I drip with sweat;
trembling shakes my body

and I turn paler than
dry grass. At such times
death isn’t far from me

~~ Sappho ~~

circa 600 BC

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I couldn’t help myself. The picture is too perfect for today’s final pearl. You’ll need to read all of them before you will know why…. Tricky, I know, but, hey, works for me, eh? Enjoy, ffolkes. Oh, some of them may appear weird, or out of place. They’re not; just go with it, you’ll see…. Well, I hope….

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Know then thyself, presume not God to scan;
The proper study of mankind is man.

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

~~ Essay on Man, Epistle ii, Line 1 ~~

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“Most people prefer certainty to truth.”

— Observant Bee

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“Then again, e=mc^2 may only be a local phenomenon.”

— Einstein

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“When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro…”

~~ Dr. Hunter S. Thompson ~~

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“Healthy mindedness is inadequate as a philosophical doctrine,
because the evil facts which it refuses positively to account for
are a genuine portion of reality;
and they may after all
be the best key to life’s significance.”

~~ William James ~~

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“The things you can’t laugh at control you.”

~~ Buddha Bee ~~

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“Take a dog for a companion and a stick in your hand.”

~~ English Proverb ~~

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“Love is a dog from hell.”

~~ Charles Bukowski ~~

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“‘T is but a part we see, and not a whole.”

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

~~ Essay on Man, Epistle i, Line 60 ~~

I like balance. Don’t you? Balance is good….

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Having thus completed THIS duty, I can now go perform the next. That’s how it works; the completion of one duty provides the privilege of acting upon the next. Otherwise, it becomes hard to look one’s self in the eye each morning in the mirror…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, as long as the sun comes up again…. As I’ve said in the past, the odds on that are pretty good….

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….

Use all the teflon you can find….

Posted on December 13, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“A man is not aware of his virtues (if any).

Nevertheless, one hopes that they exist.”

~~ Edward Abbey ~~

Artist rendition of possible Superearth planet found in far reaches of Sol System

Image from:

http://nerdreactor.com/2015/12/11/scientists-discover-a-new-planet-theyve-deemed-as-a-super-earth-in-our-solar-system/

Hajime…. At 0500 this morning, I was given a reminder of the newest duty I’ve chosen. I was awakened at that time by whiskers tickling my nose, followed by a loud purring, as Leelu sniffed at my face to wake me. The purr began when I opened my eyes to see what tickled me…. Thus notified she was ready to be up, and training. Heaving a great SIGH, I arose, & stumbled to the coffee maker to switch it on, as she mewled madly for the morning play time, dropping her crumpled paper at my feet, and looking at me expectantly…. What can one do?….

She got hungry after a few tosses & returns, and is eating, so, I’m going to cut this short, so we can, maybe, get this posted before she requires further attention…. Trust me, it’s not easy being at the beck and call of a 7 lb. princess…. But, she picked me, out of seven billion people, so, whattayagonnado, eh?….. Let’s go to the oyster beds, while we can….

Shall we Pearl?….

“We’re not talking about the same thing,” he said. “For you the world is weird because if you’re not bored with it you’re at odds with it. For me the world is weird because it is stupendous, awesome, mysterious, unfathomable; my interest has been to convince you that you must accept responsibility for being here, in this marvelous world, in this marvelous desert, in this marvelous time. I wanted to convince you that you must learn to make every act count, since you are going to be here for only a short while, in fact, too short for witnessing all the marvels of it.” — Don Juan

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Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young in 1970

Image from en.wikipedia.com via Google Images

Probably, nobody alive hasn’t heard of this group…. Four of the best singer-songwriters alive who got together for a time, to make music still unequaled in quality and impact by any one of them individually…. Their innate harmonic blend of voices created songs no one who heard them will ever forget…. Let’s enjoy some of it, live from Golden Gate Park, their old stomping grounds in SF…. Abondanza, ffolkes!….

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Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young 11/03/91 – Golden Gate Park

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https://youtu.be/OPe-bqSXPaM

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SOCIALISM:
You have two cows.
Give one to your neighbour.

COMMUNISM:
You have two cows.
Give both to the government.
The government gives you milk.

CAPITALISM:

You sell one cow and buy a bull.

FASCISM:
You have two cows.
Give milk to the government.
The government sells it.

NAZISM:
The government shoots you and takes the cows.

NEW DEALISM:
The government shoots one cow,
milks the other,
and pours the milk down the sink.

ANARCHISM:
Keep the cows.
Steal another one.
Shoot the government.

CONSERVATISM:
Freeze the milk.
Embalm the cows.

~~ Polly Sye Bee ~~

This was yesterday’s third offering from Smart Bee, and by the time I finished reading the list, and could catch my breath from laughing uproariously, I knew I’d found today’s opening lines for this section…. Since laughing so hard put me in too good a mood to rant, we’ll go with the following two most excellent pieces from an archived Pearl, suggested a day or two ago, at the bottom of the page on ECR…. They go together, as it happened to occur that day…I think you’ll enjoy them; I know I did…. It isn’t exactly about the quoted subject, but, rather about those who must deal with the governments as described…. We do lead off with a statement from a politician, though….

Both pearls from 12/1/2012:

From Section the First:

“I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities, we, too, will be remembered not for victories or defeats in battle or in politics but for our contributions to the human spirit.” — former US President John F. Kennedy

At last! A worthy pearl! JFK, like the current President, was a superb public speaker, “Ich bin ein Berliner” notwithstanding, and whether he wrote his own words, or relied on his speech writers, he delivered, arguably, some of the most memorable, and insightful, aphorisms in US political and social history. The above statement is a perfect example, as he expresses a sentiment that can only be applauded, if not verified. I say verified because there is not a lot of verification from the past that history remembers anything BUT the battles. But, one can hope….

Actually, I believe what Jack said here very strongly, in the sense that there are different histories that are remembered, most of which become altered in some way over time, as does all memory. The great teachers and philosophers who have lived have left their mark on the world in more ways than always show, in spite of the records of their deeds not always surviving intact. But, throughout history, there have been men, and women, who have done much to advance the human condition, whose words and deeds were never seen, and never recorded, but, nonetheless. whose effects still ripple down the river of time.

Some of the great minds in history, such as Lao Tzu, Zoroaster, Genghis Khan, Gautama Buddha, Jesus of Nazareth, Mohammed, Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, and many others, all made such advances in the human spirit, and their ideas keep proving their worth every day by their relativity to modern society. Men like Leonardo da Vinci, whose genius was so bright it shines even today, and modern philosopher/scientists such as Albert Einstein, and Stephen Hawking, have advanced that human spirit as much as anyone.

I’m not being as eloquent as I’d wish for such a deep subject…. What I’m trying to get to here is that we all, each and every one of us, have the power and opportunity to do the same as these historical figures, to advance the human spirit, just by the way we live our lives. What the philosophers say, and write, and the wisdom they pass on, is all very good, and a lesson to the rest of us…. But, what the average person does every day in their lives is just as important to the future as any scientific breakthrough, because what they do will determine what their children learn, and THAT is where the advancement really takes place, in the moments of teaching that happens every moment for children, and their adult teachers.

Living a life of integrity, with honesty and duty as the watchwords for action, is the best teaching method there is; to provide a good example for a child holds no less promise for mankind than all the work of all the genius’ of all time. How each one of us approaches life will, in the end, determine what happens to our species as a whole. It isn’t easy, especially given all of the people in society who do NOT wish to have any part of advancing anything but their own interests…. and especially when so many of those kinds of people are in positions of authority. But, it can be done, and is done, every day, by millions of men and women of good spirit…. They are truly the future of mankind, and, if there is any hope for survival, it lies in their honest hands….

“So live that you can look any man in the eye and tell him to go to hell.”

~~ Smart Bee ~~

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From Section the Third:

“The sage wears clothes of coarse cloth but carries jewels in his bosom; He knows himself but does not display himself; He loves himself but does not hold himself in high esteem. Thus he rejects the latter and takes the former.” — Lao-Tzu

In spite of how it must appear, there is a small degree of organization to this blog’s contents. Most days I try to make sure that the first and third sections, while possibly related, are essentially about different concepts. The second section is, of course, reserved for whatever poetry strikes my fancy that day, whether classic, humorous, or original (Though it does seem that my recent outpouring of original poems has run dry, I don’t think I’m done with that, yet…..). It seems to work for me…. well enough, at least, to keep my internal critics quiet most of the time.

Today, it seems that most of what I’m seeing for pearls are related somehow to what I spoke of peripherally in today’s first section, to wit: the importance of integrity in human life. Integrity…. hmm…. not the precise word, or the characteristic I am thinking of, actually; it’s more than merely integrity. I suppose one could say the concept to which I’m referring is too mystical an idea to be presented clearly, and not be too far off the mark….

However, not being one to ignore a challenge to my vocabulary, I’ll take a few unseen moments here and find the correct word to facilitate further discussion, because, hey, if I can’t, no discussion, right? Right…. Be right back…. instantly, by all you will know and see….. Well, the challenge is a strong one, and I think best answered with more than one word to describe what I’m trying to say. Those words are all contained in Axiom #7 of Peruaosophy, to wit:

“Do your Duty. Honor the Truth. Respect Life. Share your Love. “

I know that it is my own philosophy, and some may think that is cheating, but, not so. All that I hold to be true is in that axiom, and it represents the four cornerstones of my personal foundation. I find that when I am able to live up to all of these concepts, able to use their direction in guiding my actions, my life is much smoother, and my moments of joy are plentiful, to balance the pain that life brings all of us in turn. This, to me, is the best way to advance the human condition, little by little, with the efforts of each man and woman adding its weight to the forward momentum.

Yes, the actions and discoveries that the best of history’s minds bring to us are wonderful, and work to make the lives of every human better…. It is the everyday efforts of each man, though, that takes that wisdom and turns it into reality, by using ideas, and integrity, to add their experience to that of the rest of society. Since there is a large number of folks who do NOT subscribe to this kind of ethical behavior, choosing to make their own self-interest their primary concern, it is the duty of those who do believe in these ideas to carry them out as best they may, so that the world can retain some semblance of harmony. It doesn’t always work, and, in fact, is in constant jeopardy of not working at all, but, it is the only way that will make the changes our society needs to survive…. which is another discussion for another time…..

“And now there is merely silence, silence, silence, saying all we did not know.”

~~ William Rose Benet ~~

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~~ Haiku ~~

Often I don’t see
any reason to exist.
Still, I’m glad I do.

~~ gigoid ~~

12/12/15

Blithely Untitled

A poem came to me today, willy, nilly,
along with a sharp blow to the head.
Since it left me feeling just a bit silly,
anything that rhymes should lessen the dread.

Manifesting destiny into a small, insidious group
we push on toward sanity, concentrating hard.
Full engaging moments spent navigating the loop
shall ever make a difference to victims found in the yard.

Still corpses of creatures, straight out of nightmare
fill up the corners of our tortured minds.
While ever saddened, the iconic male, most debonair,
gazes softly, ironically, at all the mutual interest he finds.

Moronic public statutes compel outbreaks of sanity,
responding to momentary impulses toward inducing peace.
Still, the motions get completed, in fertile stages of inanity
while the bulk of our inmates can find no surcease.

Reluctant motivation to continue is unbound,
striving to ascertain how far there yet remains to go.
No precognitive guesswork will make any less of a sound
to soften the final strains, or teach us to truly know.

~~ gigoid ~~

2/7/2014

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Sunrise ~~ Sunset

Just as with the photo (my own, taken somewhere off the coast of Scotland), I don’t really know, nor can I tell from what I see, exactly what is happening here…. I do know when the photo was taken, since I was the only one there at the time, but, unless one is enough of a polymath to have already totaled up the available clues to know, it can’t be known for sure which time of day it was taken…. The same issue applies to today’s final, old-school pearl, as I don’t have a single clue as to what it all means…. The process of choosing them was rather unconscious; I just clicked on each as it appeared, and fitted it into whatever weird shape my mind was creating…. It works, and I still don’t know why; though beginning and ending with some elegance, most of them are just weird, if as true as the day is long enough…. If y’all have any ideas, feel free to tell me, as it can only help….

“There is a certain majesty in simplicity which is far above all the quaintness of wit.”

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

“If you take something apart and put it back together often enough, you will eventually have two of them.” — Rap’s Law of Inanimate Reproduction

“Feeling good about government is like looking on the bright side of any catastrophe. When you quit looking on the bright side, the catastrophe is still there.” — P. J. O’Rourke, Parliament of Whores (1991)

“Being a politician is like being a football coach: you have to be smart enough to understand the game, but dumb enough to think it’s important.” — Eugene McCarthy ( I get this one; he WAS a politician….)

“Money, it turned out, was exactly like sex. You thought of nothing else if you didn’t have it and thought of other things if you did.” — James Baldwin (1924-1987)

“The whole problem can be stated quite simply by asking, ‘Is there a meaning to music?’ My answer would be, ‘Yes.’ And ‘Can you state in so many words what the meaning is?” My answer to that would be, ‘No.’ — Aaron Copland

:FUBAR: n. The Failed UniBus Address Register in a VAX. A good example of how jargon can occasionally be snuck past the {suit}s; see {foobar}, and {foo} for a fuller etymology.” — from The on-line Hacker Jargon File V423 (For those with access to the File, the original FUBAR was a military term, probably originally from the Army Corps of Engineers, meaning, precisely, “fucked up beyond all repair”….)

“Gentleman: A man who knows how to play bagpipes — and refrains.” — Fred Tart

“Dum vivimus, vivamus.”

While we live, let us live.

~~ Latin, originally from the coat of arms of one Philip Doddering, D.D ~~

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dum_vivimus_vivamus),

with other instances noted in literature.

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Hmm…. Later than usual, but, not bad, given the extra duties I must now perform while trying to get posted…. No complaints, because, hey, chosen duty, right? Besides, it’s done. So, I’ll follow the example set in the intro, and get us out of here in an efficient manner. That works like this: See ya, tomorrow, ffolkes, rain or shine….

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….

Just the fax, Sam….

Posted on December 8, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Solitude makes a wonderful mistress but a terrible wife.”

~~ Emerson ~~

Three Moons over Vallejo

Hajime…. Over the course of time, Pearls of Virtual Wisdom/Exploring Consensual Reality, as a blog, has evolved in structure and appearance, as I became more accustomed to using the WP platform, until settling on the five-sections for each subject we use today. In the past two or three months, it’s shown itself to be flexible enough for me to use even when I am not completely whole, either physically, or mentally. Thus my luck with serendipity is made clear once again, as I chose better than I knew. Thanks, Me!

Oh! That hurt! I should know better than to pat myself on the back; with my shoulder’s arthritis, such a movement comes with a high price in pain…. Oops. Ah well, even the simplest literary trick can be, well, tricky, eh? That will teach me not to try those sorts of literary shenanigans before I’ve started on my second cuppa; I just don’t have the chops until then to make it work as it should. Now I’m stuck here, talking in real time, exposing my own ignorance, again…. As we who have lived on the street are fond of saying in such situations, FUCK!

Oh, well, sorry if I’ve offended anyone. That particular venting vessel is one that has probably kept me off the WP Freshly Pressed list ever since I began…. It seems even ONE word that MIGHT be offensive will keep a post off that page, so, I’ve never been there, even if I was ever nominated (a fact of which I have absolutely no clue…. especially as it doesn’t matter, since it’ll never happen…. I refuse to edit for PC in any form…). I don’t care, as I don’t write for fame, or money, merely for sanity…. or as close to it as I can get….

All that being said, in such honest, if boring fashion, I suppose we can just get on with today’s mess, and probably be better off for it. I won’t even pretend Luigi, or Guido is here today, nor that we are off to anywhere other than my imagination and ego trips. That’s okay, too…. at least it’s real, which I find to be always a good thing to observe…. really, I do…. So, without further ado, or adon’t, we’ll be off to the nether portions of the blog for today…..

Shall we Pearl?….

“”There’s nothing an agnostic can’t do if he really doesn’t know whether he believes in anything or not.” — Monty Python

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The Irish Rovers in 2010

Image from kpbs.org via Google Images

I hesitate to pull the covers of anyone, but, I remember listening to these lads when I was a lad myself. My parents had an album they enjoyed playing sometimes when I was young; I remember specifically listening to them, often during Christmas when relatives were over…. I still enjoy their music, so, here they are, for your enjoyment as well… If you don’t enjoy traditional Irish music, perhaps you’re ready for the ranting section….. Fair warning; you’d best be so. Ready, that is…. Section three can be a bit of a challenge if you’re not ready for it…… Why don’t you listen to the music while reading; it might help….

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The Irish Rovers

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https://youtu.be/cf0E_PJtJWg?list=PL86CC0AB0FBFD2CDF

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“The shortest and surest way to live with honor in the world is to be in reality what we would appear to be; all human virtues increase and strengthen themselves by the practice and experience of them.” — Socrates (BC 469-399)

In more modern language, the concepts Socrates has presented in this statement could be summarized thus: “The more you practice being honorable and real, the more real and honorable you become.” I’ve stated it thus, so simply, because, it seems to me, the modern person’s mind has not grasped the concept of virtue, or honor, or even reality, with any degree of actual understanding. This, of course, is just the way the people who govern the world, and those in their service, to wit: churches, politicians, lawyers, police, and military myrmidons, want the public to be, that is to say, as ignorant of their true nature as they can make them…..

Now, this sounds like a rant in the making, and, in the normal course of events, you’d be correct. But, I find myself exhausted, still, after my recent long physical ordeal; quite frankly, it’s all I can do in a day to write this blog. Any further activity is confined to keeping Leelu entertained, which takes up more time than one might think; she considers herself in training, and me to be her personal trainer. And, she’s really, really serious about it, so, whenever I pause in my typing, I find her sitting at my chair-side, mewling and crawling into my lap to ask me to play…. like right now….

Okay… I managed to distract her by opening her window, from where she can watch the birds and traffic on the street; it can keep her fascinated for a good twenty minutes, so, I’ll try to get this done before I’m once again summoned to throw crumpled paper about the house. We’ll sublimate my urge to purge my angst with a series of statements from various smart ffolkes, on the subject at hand, to wit, the Asininnies, and our Beloved Ruling Class, including the Dogma Dogs, the Highly Conditioned Uniformed Myrmidons, and the eternal butt of everyone’s favorite jokes, the scum of society, lawyers of practically every ilk…. Let’s see what Smart Bee comes up with today, shall we?…..

“The tank, the B-52, the fighter-bomber, the state controlled police and military are the weapons of dictatorship. The rifle is the weapon of democracy. Not for nothing was the revolver called an ‘equalizer’ Eqalite implies liberte. And always will. Let us hope our weapons are never needed — but do not forget what the common people knew when they demanded the Bill of Rights: An armed citizenry is the first defense, the best defense, and the final defense against tyranny. If guns are outlawed, only the government will have guns. Only the police, secret police, the military, the hired servants of our rulers. Only the government — and a few outlaws. I intend to be among the outlaws.” — Edward Abbey (1927-1989)

(On a personal note, me, too, Ed….)

“A long and wicked life followed by five minutes of perfect grace gets you into Heaven. An equally long life of decent living and good works followed by one outburst of taking the name of the Lord in vain, then have a heart attack at that moment and be damned for eternity. Is that the system?” — Robert A. Heinlein

“I honestly believe that the doctrine of hell was born in the glittering eyes of snakes that run in frightful coils watching for their prey. I believe it was born with the yelping, howling, growling and snarling of wild beasts… I despise it, I defy it, and I hate it.” — Robert G. Ingersoll

“– Bother!”, said Pooh, as he found a politician in his honey pot.” — Twisted Bee

“A professional politician is a professionally dishonorable man. In order to get anywhere near high office he has to make so many compromises and submit to so many humiliations that he becomes indistinguishable from a streetwalker.” — H.L. Mencken

“An honest politician is one who, when he is bought, will stay bought.” — Simon Cameron (1799-1889)

CORSAIR, n. A politician of the seas. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“In order to become the master, the politician poses as the servant.” — Charles de Gaulle

“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.” — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love (1972)

“The doctor is to be feared more than the disease.” — Latin Proverb

Okay, so, it’s a little light on shots against Big Pharma, the AMA, etc…. the last one summarizes that issue quite well, I think…. Okay, off we go, to something a bit more entertaining…. Well, I think so….

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For those Gentle Readers from around the world, who may not know who Joe Friday is, allow me to explain…. Joe Friday was a character in a TV cop show, called Dragnet, which played here in the US in the 1950’s to 60’s. It was, I believe, the first cop show of its kind, fictional, but trying to portray true-to-life situations. The lead actor, whose name I forgot until now, was Jack Webb, and he had absolutely NO acting ability, at all. He played Joe Friday as an emotionless, flat-voiced asshole, (a rather prophetic portrayal, given that the biggest percentage of modern ‘cops’ are quite simply, ignorant assholes with a badge….), whose favorite and completely over-used phrase was “Just the facts, ma’am.”…. Hence, the title of today’s lament re: the illusion upon which Western society is based….

Joe Friday’s lament

Life is short, and though I’m odd, they say
it really doesn’t bother me
to realize there is no God, per se.

Though other folks will disagree
and tell me I’m wrong
I won’t believe it, with naught to see.

Liars called padre tell me, have humility,
and do as the authorities say,
then fondle little boys with facility.

They also tell me to share the wealth
and give them a 10% tithe
so they don’t have get it by stealth.

So spare me the delusions, please
don’t bother with such a tale;
I’m nobody that needs such a tease.

Keep your fantasies under your hat
and out of my face;
I don’t need them, they’ll make me fat….. headed.

~~ gigoid ~~

9/6/2012

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“So then, these are the foundations, as they call them,
of all mixt bodies, and of all wonderful operations:
and whatsoever experiments they proved,
the causes hereof rested
(as they supposed)
and were to be found
in the Elements and their qualities.”

~~ Giambattista Della Porta ~~

~~ Natural Magick ~~

Today’s final old-school pearl is special. Why? Hell, I don’t know. It’s just the way it turned out. Those who are at all familiar with pearls here on ECR received a clue; there is seldom a quote above the picture in this section. Today, the statement from Natural Magick serves perfectly as both warning, and disclaimer…. Enjoy ffolkes, this will take your mind and turn it around so it looks you right in the eyes…. Are you ready to see?….

“All that we see or seem, “

is but a dream within a dream.

~~ Edgar Allen Poe ~~

~~ from “A Dream Within a Dream” ~~

~~~~~~~

“Are you the dreamer or just the dream?” — Alan Edgar Bee

~~~~~~~

“I do not want to die…
until I have faithfully made the most of my talent
and cultivated the seed that was placed in me
until the last small twig has grown.”

~~ Kathe Kollwitz ~~

~~~~~~~

“If a pessimist is always right, is he a realist?”

~~ Cynical Bee ~~

~~~~~~~

“Fortune does not change men, it unmasks them.”

~~ Suzanne Necker ~~

~~~~~~~

“In this world, you have to be oh so smart or oh so pleasant.
I spent years being smart.
I recommend pleasant.”

~~ Elwood P. Dowd ~~

~~ played by James Stewart in “Harvey” ~~

~~~~~~~

“Silence is argument carried out by other means.”

~~ Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara (1928-1967) ~~

~~~~~~~

“Loosen up; the unaimed arrow never misses.”

~~- Zen Bee ~~

~~~~~~~

“Here pigs will fly, lightning will strike twice,

hell will freeze over, and eventually,

things will get really interesting…”

~~ Prophetic Bee ~~

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It’s done. Whew! Boy, Leelu will be glad; she’s been staring holes through me for twenty minutes. I’d best just close this out, and be off to make it up to her…. I shall see y’all tomorrow, I would hope in good spirits, as I am these days, much more often. True freedom is the release from pain…. believe it. I’ll be back, as Hollywood’s favorite assbite has said more than once…. but, I won’t try to eradicate the human race….. Ta, then, luvs…..

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….

Billy! Burn a couple bacon bagel dogs, pronto!….

Posted on December 5, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“It’s you and me against the world! When do we attack?”

~~ Brave Bee ~~

Leelu, putting the ‘lax’ in relaxation….

Hajime…. Today, even the presence and use of a Tardis may not help to save this Pearl. Not that it won’t happen, but, I’m afraid the quality of material may not be up to our usual standards. Of course, those standards are rather nebulous to begin with, but, hey, they DO exist, and we DO try to meet them, if only half-way. That’s today’s worry; half-way isn’t very far, and certainly not far enough to suit me.

Well, as those who live on, on even near the streets, are wont to say in such instances, “fuck it. Let ‘er rip!”, or sometimes, “what’s for dinner?” I suppose they do have some different priorities, but, we’ll go with the former, anyway. Since the reason FOR the condition in which we find ourselves is our fault as much as not, taking responsibility is de rigeur, not to mention the right thing to do. And, my dad is still back there, watching what I do, so, I need to do it right.

Since doing it wrong is no longer an option, it does allow me to focus on the available resources, any of which can, if naught else, provide us with sufficient distraction to get us where we need to go, before we’re even aware we’ve gone. Or, I could break out an emergency method, but, it’s still early to go that route; too many chances for injury. Perhaps it would be best to just go the straight route, without any frills or bells. Whistles would be, as always, optional, so, given our status, no whistles for us….

What this means in a practical sense is this. I’ve managed to wander around blathering for going on four paragraphs now, without ever actually getting any closer to action. This means it’s time for old # 4, that harsh but effective emergency escape unit, which has saved our ass innumerable times in the past…. and, before the Tardis, at that…. By now, y’all now how it works, so you’ll know enough to securely store your beverages, and tighten up those belts, because it’s pretty fast-acting…. Okay, hold on, I’m throwing the switch….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Simplicity is always a virtue. One kid on a riverbank working out a Stephen Foster tune on his new harmonica heard from the correct aesthetic distance projects more magic and power than the entire Vienna Philharmonic and Chorus laboring (once again) through the Mozart Requiem or Bach’s B Minor Mass.” — Edward Abbey

********************************

Hot Tuna

Image from examiner.com viq Google Images

Since we’ve covered the Airplane, and the Starship, I decided to finish off the third band of that iconic group of musicians/artists, a spinoff by the instrumentalists…. Jorma Kaukonen on guitar, Jack Cassidy on bass, Papa John Creach on fiddle, and Paul Katner on rhythm guitar were the core members, with a number of others who came and went to play drums, mandolin, and other instruments…. Having seen them a number of times back in the day, I can attest they were one of the best instrumental-based rock bands to ever play; their music never stopped getting better as the years went by…. Enjoy,ffolkes, these guys were special….

********************************

Hot Tuna April 5, 1975
Civic Auditorium, San Francisco

********************************

https://youtu.be/Vq1XJ1cq_i8

********************************

It’s been quite a while since I talked about Pearls, so, today’s rant will be replaced with an older discussion of said Pearls, from the archives….

From 3/28/2012:

“All art is autobiographical. The pearl is the oyster’s autobiography.” — Federico Fellini

It has been a while since I talked about Pearls, so when I stumbled upon the above quote, I knew it was time…. Pearls of Virtual Wisdom come with a caveat and disclaimer, to wit: These Pearls consist of ideas and concepts, and even procedures, that are Virtual Wisdom. They should never be confused with, or used as, Real Wisdom; the results can be somewhat unpredictable, have been known to cause injury, and in one case, (my own), have resulted in months of severe depression. (Of course, that depression may not be due strictly to the intrinsic differences in the Pearls themselves, but rather a direct result of inattention to which variety I was using at the moment) Regardless of how real Pearls of Virtual Wisdom may appear, or how shiny they look to the untrained eye, the author assumes no liability for failure to heed this caveat.

That being said, let us for a moment consider pearls as incarnations of jewels, as the precious gems of rare beauty and great value they become when freed from the oyster, the shelter which created each layer of the pearl’s beauty out of its own pain…. The soft sheen of a fine pearl, luminescent in the dimness, glowing in the light, has captivated the eyes and imaginations of men and women since the first oyster was plucked from the sea bed to become someone’s supper, and has inspired those who fall under its spell to acts of great sacrifice, and acts of great cruelty, in the quest to possess these timeless treasures from the sea.

Thus the metaphorical nature of the Pearls of Virtual Wisdom becomes apparent, as we see that although virtual wisdom looks just like real wisdom, the difference may be likened to the difference between naturally produced pearls, and those that are cultivated in laboratories. One is shiny, and of great value for its rarity and beauty, naturally endowed; the other is shiny, but of lesser value, due to lesser rarity, and a somehow lesser beauty, as made by the hand of man. The subtle differences are of little note, except to Reality, which always knows which wisdom is which, as it knows which pearl is which; hence the caveat and disclaimer, to avoid any conflicts with Reality due to negligence on my part…. so, please use these Pearls with appropriate caution, and they will bring you joy for years to come….

“Did an Italian CRANE OPERATOR just experience uninhibited sensations in a MALIBU HOT TUB?” — Zippy the Pinhead

********************************

Today’s poem is from Mari Sanchez Cayuso, one of my favorite poets. This one is full of her, and, thus, wild and beautiful and human…. Enjoy! I’ve included a link to her site, which is well worth exploring, if you enjoy poetry that will make you feel. You’ll cry, you’ll laugh, you will never forget….

A mole’s domain

Left upper quadrant

Above my spleen

Feel abandoned

Orphaned – delved

But in that nerve of space

Myself dreams of you

Mostly when awake

It is your silhouette

That corners my sight

Climbs out and into

My naked veins

Trying to glisten

Just as these flames

Strong enough to wait

With nowhere left to sit

For now; a vacancy

The myth of our love

Fuck – I am writing outloud

Time – difference and indifference

Inscribed on two memories

Between the things you taught me

And the anarchy of a grieving heart

– home

~~ Mari Sanchez Cayuso ~~

http://starsrainsunmoon.com/2015/12/02/a-moles-domain/

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About Hopi Indian Symbols

You needn’t bother asking, because I just don’t know. It’s just the way it came out; if I knew, I’d have picked a different icon for today. But, whatever this one is saying, it’s powerful, and it’s strange. Hence, Kokopelli…. Enjoy, but, remember the old Arab saying, “Trust God, but row towards the shore.”…..

[There are three classes]:

Those who see.
Those who see when they are shown.
Those who do not see.

~~ Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519) ~~

“Intelligence is a function of imagination.” — Ontological Bee

“Each of us bears his own Hell.” — Publius Maro

“Fear is not in the habit of speaking truth. When perfect sincerity is expected, perfect freedom must be allowed; nor has anyone who is apt to be angry when he hears the truth, any cause to wonder that he does not hear it.” — Tacitus

“When you plant a flower of kindness, you will start a garden of friends.” — Zen Bee

“It is difficult to live in the present, ridiculous to live in the future, and impossible to live in the past. Nothing is as far away as one minute ago.” — Jim Bishop

“The smallest of good deeds exceeds the greatest of good intentions.” — Moral Bee

“Somewhere in Tenafly, New Jersey, a chiropractor is viewing “Leave it to Beaver”!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Extremes in nature equal ends produce;
In man they join to some mysterious use.

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

~~ Essay on Man, Epistle ii, Line 205 ~~

********************************

I often have trouble deciding whether or not a Pearl is adequately constructed to warrant posting. This is a direct result of the rather capricious nature of what occurs each day when I go through the process; some days it just works better than others. This one is so, well, unpredictable, I can’t even make that distinction. Hence, I’m going with my gut, which is gutless, and posting anyway, no matter how it turned out (I’m a coward, and don’t really want to go back and look, in case it becomes obvious it needs doing over…. that ain’t gonna happen). Since I am, I’d best get to it.

See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes. I have to, or the other Time Lords will withhold my medication, and everybody suffers. So, see ya then, by autocratic decree….

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….

Public discussion of private fissures….

Posted on November 30, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“It’s hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.”

~~ Calvin, Bill Watterson’s Calvin & Hobbes ~~

What? It’s comfortable….

Hajime…. It’s been an ‘interesting three months, I have to say. Since the first of September, I’ve been to Ireland, and back, over a period of about nine days, which was intended to be sixteen days. For the entire rest of the time since, I’ve been, mostly, right here at home, miserable from the medication clusterfuck, in severe pain about half the time, and wishing to be in any other body in existence but this one.

For a man such as myself, who has always prided himself on physical prowess, as much as I am proud of anything at all (it’s a pretty useless condition, all in all; causes more trouble than its worth….), it is quite a challenge to accept the limitations I now experience, which extends to how far I can walk, though, as the last three weeks have proved, it doesn’t prevent me from standing and pacing until exhaustion sets in, which takes about, oh, five days or so…. But, it’s a small apartment; in five days, I only put in maybe, oh, five or six miles….

I’ve been spending much of that time, pacing, or sitting, or pacing, or, pacing, mostly in a state of introspection; hard not to when one is battling deep depression, and there’s nobody else around but a cat with only about eight or ten possible sounds to share with me. I love the wee beastie desperately already, after only about two months, but, she isn’t a scintillating conversationalist.

So, I end up either doing what I’m doing now, (writing, if I can sit long enough….), or, pacing, talking to myself, or, mostly, just thinking, about Stuff. You know, Stuff. We all have Stuff we need to think about; it’s not always the same Stuff, or even important Stuff. But, as George Carlin pointed out, it’s OUR Stuff, so back off!….

I cannot say, exactly, with any confidence, just how much longer this cleansing and readjustment of my brain chemistry will take. If the literature is accurate (often, it does not account for physiological differences from one person to the next; instead they create an average…..), it should be no more than eleven more days, hopefully with steadily decreasing intensity of symptoms. Why, last night, I was able to lie down for all of 22 minutes before having to get up to pace, with my nerves on HUM….. Didn’t get anywhere in the vicinity of sleep, but, it was welcome rest…..

Okay, I’m done prattling about myself. I’m coming out of a very dark time in my life, and feel on the verge of babbling much of the time. Right now, I don’t even want to think about very much of the last 12 months; they’ve all been Hell, but for a few days in Ireland…. Other than those few days of sheer joy of existing elsewhere, I have NOT experienced much of anything to remember, much less write home about. Oh, naturally, there were moments, here and there, with friends, with family, where my life approached something like normal socialization; otherwise, I’ve been forced to become a hermit, because of a general revolution in my own body…..

But, it’s all going to be over very soon, and, I will heave a sigh of relief my friends in Ireland, England, India, the Middle East, and all over the world, where my Gentle Readers live, will hear quite clearly, without any technical augmentation….

Guaranteed….

Well, maybe not quite, but, believe me, y’all will know….. For the moment, let’s go out to the oyster beds, so I can get off this soapbox…. Guido, we’re ready when you are…..

Shall we Pearl?….

“The the secret of contentment is knowing how to enjoy what you have, and to be able to lose all desire for things beyond your reach.” — Lin Yutang

********************************

Kenny Loggins & Jim Messina ~ 1974

Image from en.wikipedia.com via Google Images

These two hippies made some of the finest music of the late 60’s and the 70’s. An iconic group from Marin County near SF, they were an influential musical force for several years… The concert below was performed a few years after the above picture was taken….. It’s another blast from the past, and I hope you enjoy it…..

********************************

Loggins and Messina
Live at the Capitol Theater 7/9/76

********************************

https://youtu.be/mQDdpaLKMd4

********************************

Le Penseur ~ The Thinker ~~ August Rodin

Whether I have/had/need a rant for today, I’m using this material, just to be self-indulgent. It’s the intro section from a Pearl posted in 2013, and I think it’s cool. I’d forgotten I wrote this one; to make sense, you’ll need to know the title of that day’s Pearl, as it is part of the discussion below. I know, unusual, when the title never means anything, but, in this case, I knew not how well I had wrought…. Enjoy!…

From the intro section on 10/17/2013. The title of the Pearl on that date was:

Forlorn moments of epistemological apprehension….

Ffolkes,

The unconscious mind is a powerful thing, especially when its function spills over into the world of our conscious perceptions…. Today’s title enters that twilight zone for certain…. Beyond that, this deponent sayeth naught, lest the quest to understand bring me to the brink of insanity. Let it suffice to know that, as far as the title of today’s Pearl goes, I wrought better than I knew, and leave it at that…. I think all of us will be happier in the long run….

Thus it begins…. the slow, inevitable corruption of morality always begins with a single manipulation, performed “in their best interests”…. In this particular case, we are only speaking of our philosophical intentions, rather than any connected to actual manipulation of events, or reality. But, that really doesn’t matter at all, because the corruption doesn’t know that, or care. The weather change whereof I speak happens in the heart of the manipulator, at the moment the decision is made to alter the truth in order to achieve a certain result. Once that decision is made, it is irrevocable, and further manipulations will follow, as certainly as it follows the air will be clearer after it rains….

In light of the simple fact that I’ve only consumed about four ounces of coffee so far, it might be a bit dangerous to start such a discussion, one with the apparent depth of this one. In fact, the subtle and complex arrangement of thoughts that brought this on seems to be fading from my mind as I sit here and type…. It seemed like a good idea when I started, but, somehow, it’s just a little too deep to dive into first off. I know what it is I was trying to say, but, I’m not sure, at this point, I have the wherewithal to say it with the right degree of clarity…. I’m thinking we’ll shift focus here, and go on to more appropriate material for an intro….

Not that philosophy, or, in this case, epistemology, a branch of philosophy that investigates the origin, nature, methods, and limits of human knowledge, is an inappropriate subject for that…. it’s merely a bit too deep for my current state of intellectual comprehension to cope with efficiently, or more importantly, accurately…. I slept like a log last night, after a night of no sleep at all, and I’m a bit fuzzy thus far this morning; in this state, I’ll be lucky to be able to discuss the relevance of the wisdom of Daffy Duck, so, I think we’ll let the study of the meanings of human knowledge wait a bit longer before we try to take it on…. and, in the process, we’ll keep from making judgments about the morality of manipulation of that knowledge….

It’s too bad, really, as it would have made a great beginning for an epic rant about the mess in Washington D.C…… especially the current budget crisis, brought on by the immoral, not to mention ill-advised, manipulation of events, by a small group of fanatics who found themselves in a unique position, one of having more influence than their actual degree of relevance would normally command…. They took their opportunity in hand, and, being the truly ignorant bastards they are, used it for their own purposes, with complete disregard for the actual dictates of reality, or for the wishes and desires of their own constituents…. As far as I can tell, there isn’t a single point of view one can take in this that doesn’t end up exposing them to as immoral, and, in the final analysis, ignorant and selfish, with marked tendencies toward assholiness….

However, as it sits now, what has happened is that we’ve blathered enough to call this an intro, even though it didn’t introduce anything other than a state of confusion…. but, around here, that can be considered as the status quo for this time of day…. Okay, so this is where I stamp your papers, and say….

Shall we Pearl?…. In fact, let’s do it times three….

“The world is so constructed, that if you wish to enjoy its pleasures, you must also endure its pains. Whether you like it or not, you cannot have one without the other.” — Swami Brahmananda

“Life is not the way it is supposed to be. It is the way it is. The way you cope with it is what makes the difference.” — Virginia Satir

“A good friend, who points out mistakes and imperfections, and rebukes evil, is to be respected as if he reveals a secret of hidden treasure.” — Buddha

********************************

Internal{Vicissitude}External

Life has come, and gone rushing by,
pretty much as expected.
The only surprises, as time did fly
came from people’s
choice of the fears they protected.

Not to say, not even once,
my interest hasn’t been engaged.
I’ve waited patiently, for the nonce,
for those moments
of love and glory, but, never got paged.

I looked all over for love,
….found it everywhere I sought.
What I never found, nor ever came aware of,
was one person
who would stay, no matter what.

Still, it’s been a wonderful time
filled with laughter, love, all grand craic.
I wouldn’t change a moment, nor a rhyme.
If those I love stay happy,
I can die in peace, honor no longer at stake.

I’ve walked the scholar/warrior’s path
since first standing at my father’s knee.
Duty, honor, a dip in love’s warm bath
keeps me strong and content.
Today’s a good day to die, as long as I’m free.

~~ gigoid ~~

11/29/2015

********************************

I was going to try to be scintillating here, but, gosh darn it, I’m just not. Scintillating. Interesting, maybe. Inane, for sure. But, scintillating? No. Ah well, at least the pearl comes close to that; it’s pretty good for a random, harlequin style pearl, that wanders around and around until it arrives a an obvious conclusion re: Life at Large…. What it is will be as personal to each of you, as it is relevant to reality…. We calculated, and it should be right around 78% applicable, with a plus or minus of two, to cover any error in calculation, or statistical anomalies generated by liars who fake their data…. Oh, hell, just go read them; you’ll see….

“Belief in the supernatural reflects a failure of the imagination.” — Edward Abbey

“Whoever lives true life, will love true love.” — Elizabeth Barrett Browning

“A candour affected is a dagger concealed.” — Marcus Aurelius — Meditations, book 9.

“Each morning puts a man on trial and each evening passes judgment.” — Roy L. Smith

“Character is that which reveals moral purpose, exposing the class of things a man chooses or avoids.” — Aristotle

“Fortis fortuna adiuvat.” [“Fortune assists the brave.”] — Terence

“It is best to love wisely, no doubt; but to love foolishly is better than not to be able to love at all.” — William Makepeace Thackeray

“…life is long enough if it is well-spent.” — Erasmus

Inside the museum infinity goes up on trial.
Voices echo, ‘This is what salvation must be like after a while.’
But Mona Lisa must have had the highway blues;
you can tell by the way she smiles.

~~ Bob Dylan ~~

********************************

Well, it’s done. Not surprising, considering it’s still most of a day early…. No worries, that’s why the Doctor lets us borrow the Tardis when we need it…. As for me, well, I’m going to go see if I can’t fool my brain into thinking it’s asleep…. Sometimes, illusion can become reality, if we try to believe it hard enough…. If not, well, I can hack another night or three of being up; I’m getting pretty handy at it, even if I hate it with a passion…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes; I don’t seem to have any choice, given my state of mind…..

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….

A fair wind, a rising tide, and four broken promises….

Posted on November 26, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“When you win, nothing hurts.”

~~ Joe Namath ~~

Miss Leelu the Giantess, A.A.L.I.H.O.M.*, Posing on her Tower

Hajime…. Oh, right. A.A.L.I.H.O.M.* = Already A Legend In Her Own Mind…. Wait ’till I figure out how post videos of her; you’ll either all be sick of her in no time, or she’ll become an internet sensation, make us both rich, and take us out of reach of the worst aspects of reality. Hey, who knows? It could happen, right? Sure.

Well, perhaps, until then, we’ll find something else to discuss. It might be tricky finding it in THIS brain, as I’m quite sure all the ones wobbling around in there just now are suspect, in some fashion or another. But, then, if not this brain, whose, may I ask? Why, nobody’s of course, or, in our case, everybody’s. Ooh, that’s subtle, isn’t it? I should be more careful; I could hurt myself with something that sharp so early in the process. I hate blood on the keyboard.

Why, golly…. I seem to be completely unable to find any sort of rhythm, direction, style, or mode that will get us anywhere. Everything so far has gotten us nowhere, if you don’t count further down the page. Even that is minuscule, in relation to, well, just about anything bigger than a doll’s severed head. Gotta be careful with those, too; they’ll talk to ya, try to fool ya into doing weird stuff. Better than leaving the head in place, though. You don’t want to know.

I’m certain now I don’t want to know anymore, either. In fact, if pressed, I’ll never admit I did, so don’t count on me as a corroborating witness, unless you’re talking about witnessing consistent examples of rampant stupidity, about which I’ll testify at the drop of a cliche. But, for now, you lucked out because I’m sick of this shit. It just won’t gel, and what’s a morning Pearls without a bit of gel, I ask you? So, without even waiting for Luigi to get here, I’m taking us out to the oyster beds myownself. Don’t worry, I’ve completed MOST of the course now; what could happen?

Shall we Pearl?….

Do you want me to tell you something really subversive? Love is everything it’s cracked up to be. That’s why people are so cynical about it. It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don’t risk anything, you risk even more.” — Erica Jong

********************************

“After silence that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.”

~~ Aldous Huxley ~~

Jethro Tull

Image from http://www.last.fm via Google Images

Jethro Tull was another iconic rock band from the 1960’s & early 70’s, famous for hard, driving, rambunctious shows led by their charismatic lead singer and legendary flutist, Ian Anderson. I hope you enjoy another trip down my memory lane; never got to see them live, but, never missed a broadcast of their concerts on fm radio…. A rocking good time, ffolkes…. As we said then, dig it….

********************************

Jethro Tull

********************************

https://youtu.be/ITco4Sj2qNc

********************************

Oddly enough, I got a little sleep last night, near dawn. But, I still don’t have the wherewithal to produce anything particularly cogent, so, I’m sublimating with something from the archives. It’s a long one, but, worth another read, if only because the same shit, but a different day, is still going on; only the dates have changed…..

From 10/17/2013, entitled “Forlorn moments of epistemological apprehension….”:

First, a word from the Founding Fathers….

“I place economy among the first and most important virtues, and public debt as the greatest of dangers. To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt.” — Thomas Jefferson

Now, a bit of insanity, on the identical subject, from a more modern source….

“By all accounts, though, an end seems near for the impasse that has once again exposed a government so divided that it sometimes borders on dysfunction. Though the House failed to muster sufficient support for a conservatives-only bill in the GOP-majority chamber on Tuesday, enough Republicans there seem likely to join House Democrats to approve a bipartisan version if it can be approved by the Senate and sent to them. ”

http://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/Senators-closing-in-on-deal-to-reopen-government-4895884.php

I was reading the news last night, online, and the latest reports from the capitol say that a deal will get done prior to today’s deadline…. as it always does…. The difference in the deals that get done and those that don’t get done are relatively insignificant, in terms of real life; they only make a difference to those involved in whatever struggle is current. Nobody really understands any of it anyway… not the politicians who spout all the platitudes and figures, not the experts who supply the detailed analysis of those figures, and certainly not the public, who don’t even WANT to understand the complexities…. which is something the pundits know well, and, in fact, depend on to assist them in their endeavors…

“Morality is a private and costly luxury.” — Smart Bee

Sadly, this statement, though found without attribution, was made by an observer who knows human nature well, one who has obviously observed our history closely, drawing from those observations the only possible conclusion…. Society, as exemplified by its leaders, in both the secular and clerical arenas, loudly and boldly tout the twin concepts of morality and ethics, laying claim to them as if they were a coat left lying about. The noise they make in making these claims is generally quite noisome, to my ears, but, serves to cover their asses when later accused of impropriety; they can point to their strident statements as being proof of sincerity, though, logically, sincerity and morality have no real connection.

However, sad as the statement is, it is accurate, and never more so when looking at the budget crisis that we are witnessing today. The assholes who inhabit Congress, especially the conservatives in the House of Representatives, ( an oxymoron, if I’ve ever heard one…. ), DO NOT represent the people who elected them, not even close…. They lie to them, they steal from them, they follow their own agendas, but, they DON’T represent them…

How can they? They are not even in the same economic class as most of them, and never have been…. and, please, DON’T try to tell me you don’t think we have economic classes in this society…. Sorry, ffolkes, but American society is NOT classless, and never has been…. It has ALWAYS been separated into classes, based primarily on economic factors, with those who have more money having more influence and, more importantly, more rights, than those with less money…. The most cursory examination of history, of the world, and of this country, will show this as a fact of little possibility of dispute.

The average US income (which doesn’t give a completely accurate picture, but is useful to make the point….) is somewhere in the tens of thousands of dollars ($10, 001 to $99,999, somewhere between the two….). This translates into a basic demographic breakdown of being a very few people making more than they need to survive, as contrasted by a very large number of people who are struggling to even eat on a daily basis…. This accounts for 99% of the population, and about 1% of the actual money available to that 99%….

On the other side of that coin, we have a few thousand people, the remaining 1%, who have 99% of the money, all making more than a million dollars a year, on average…. Of this small percentage, we find that ALL of the Senators, about half of the House members, and the President, of course, are all part of that 1% of the population, a part that has never had to worry about where their next meal came from…. I wish that this were not true, but, these are facts, with the supporting evidence available to anyone with a library card, so they can go there to look up the numbers….

Of course, the fact that they are “more successful” in economic terms is only proof, in their minds, of their inherent right to make the decisions for everyone else in the country, even though they have no real grasp of the needs of those people. The fact of their disconnection from reality cannot penetrate their sense of entitlement, and they fully BELIEVE in their own mandate…. “Somehow, it never hurts to step back occasionally and ask yourself “Am I contributing to the solution of the problem or aiding in making a bigger problem?”…. this is a process, and a question, that never occurs to them…

This is why I call them delusional, and can honestly claim that I believe them to be clinically insane; a person so disconnected to what is real cannot be considered sane…. except, perhaps, in an insane society. Making assumptions about having the right to decide about the wants and needs of others is a sure sign that one has an unreasonable belief in their own importance to the universe, an assumption that can only be termed as a delusion. This kind of behavior is one society cannot afford to allow, because, if nothing else, these types of delusions are dangerous to the rest of us. Allowing these “crazies”, for wont of a more accurate term, to act out their fantasies in the real world tends to lead to trouble for more than just themselves…..

“Lord, Lord, how this world is given to lying! I grant you I was down and out of breath; and so was he. But we rose both at an instant, and fought a long hour by Shrewsbury clock.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Henry IV — Act v, Sc. 4

I’m down, and out of breath, from shouting into the wind, at the mountain… A futile task, at best, I know, but, what else can one do at 5 AM? Mountain moving is my specialty, after all…. The truth of the matter is, after two hours by Shrewsbury clock, I’m tired of shouting at the mountain; it’s hard work, to little effect. I suppose it’s all I can do, and that is why I do it…. It’s cheaper, and, in the long run, less troublesome to my spirit and karma, than going out, buying a gun, and making a list of targets…. Less chance of getting shot back at, too…

There comes a time, however, when even I must admit to the futility of this particular task, and grow a bit discouraged…. I’m just not the kind of person who can give up completely, though, so, I’ll be back to rant on this subject another time…. “They” are always out there doing something on which I can comment. For the time being, I’ll leave you with this final lament…

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

********************************

Made from broken bricks and spit….

I could dodge a bullet train, easy,
if I could find one to dodge.
They aren’t so easy to find, you know
in so unloaded a station as this.

It isn’t like I don’t appreciate the effort;
it isn’t much of a goal anyway.
I only made it up that way to see
if anyone was listening to me.

I never know, you see,
behind all these electrons.
I can only wish for magic to exist;
it’s the only wish I have left.

Wishes make me think of horses.
Funny, huh?
Maybe by the end of this stanza
I’ll find a poem.

Nah.
But I don’t care anymore.
If I did,
it would sing
like the moon in November

Mightier than the sword
I take up my pen.
Oops.
Sword bought a gun.

Try NOT to laugh.

~~ gigoid ~~

Kinda strange, huh?…. Well, you would be too, in my state…. Fuck it; I like it…. Does that make me perverse? So be it.

********************************

I like this one, and not just because it came together fairly easily (SB seems to be in a good space lately ~~ Yay!). No, it’s because it seems to be about the beautiful humor and sad irony that epitomizes so much in the average Life at Large of most human beings. As with any assessment, necessarily a generalization to some extent, this one probably has exceptions. But, I will point out that only helps to validate the connection there is to Truth in what I suggest. In any case, each one is worth the reading, so, that’s enough for me…..

   This cowboy looked at me and said
   With a sort of a smile,
   A sorry hand is in the way all the time,
     A good one just once in awhile.

~~- Cowgirl poet Georgie Sicking ~~

“Those who fear death most are those who enjoy life least.” — Edward Abbey

“If you turn on your side after the hour at which you ought to rise, it is all over. Bolt up at once.” — Sir Walter Scott

“A man is not old as long as he is seeking something.” — Jean Rostand

“In a fight you don’t stop to choose your cudgels.” — Skilled Bee

“Word is a shadow of deed.” — Democritus (400 BC)

“The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and for deeds left undone.” — Harriet Beecher Stowe

“If you can’t solve it, it’s not a problem — it’s a reality that needs to be faced.” — Barbara Coloroso

“Eternity is a mere moment, just long enough for a joke.”

~~ Hermann Hesse ~~

********************************

Not bad at all, if one may consider all things, especially given my current mental state. Fragile is probably the kindest way to describe it, and, for the purpose of keeping to our purpose here, I won’t go into that any further. After all, this IS the ending, right? No time to start up new shit. I can say, though, I will be back again, because, in spite of how good this one may or may not be, it sure ain’t perfect yet…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes; plenty of folks have tried to stop me, and all have died….

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….

Don’t flatter the sycophants, Eddie; they’ll start preening….

Posted on November 19, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Don’t take life too serious. It ain’t no ways permanent.”

~~ Pogo, by Walt Kelly ~~

Subtle colors on an abandoned church ~~ Galway

Hajime…. I’m beginning to like the martial opening we’ve been using lately; my life, for the past nearly thirteen months, in retrospect, seems to have been one long battle with my own body, simply for the sake of expediency on the part of a corporate slave, mistakenly labeled a doctor. I have hopes the battle is nearing an end, but, in the meantime, I remain in a position of being an insomniac for days at a time, in spite of all I have tried to do to hasten or mitigate the process of surviving this external assault upon my health. Tonight is looking as if I’ll be up again until dawn, at which time I’ll either collapse, or find a pocket of energy to pass a semi-normal day. Ah well, at least the pain relief part is working; that’s a big plus….

There. The whine has been served; sorry there aren’t any crackers to go with it. We’ll have to make do with a bit of cheesy humor to cut the acidity a trifle. Hmm, how ’bout this?

What did the chicken say when she laid a square egg?….

“Ouch!”

If that isn’t cheesy enough for y’all, I’ll just have to consider myself a failure, because it’s the best, or, in this case, the worst I can do. Hey, it made a young pitcher smile during a game, many years ago, when I told it to him to calm him down after two straight walks. If it got a smile out of a stressed-out young athlete in the middle of a game, y’all can certainly give it at least a raised eyebrow, or maybe a snicker. Snickers are good; I sure wish I could still eat them. Sadly, the nuts would cause way more trouble than a few moments of bliss is worth.

Okay, so, let’s see how we’re doing…. A bit of complaining disguised as introspection, check. A strong touch of silly, check. Cool childhood memory, check. Surreal non-sequitor following a VERY odd segue from smarm to candy in one and a half sentences, double check. Not bad for somebody who’s been up for, hmm, let’s see now…. oh, right. About 64-plus hours, and counting. Let’s see YOU be funny that far into the throes of clinical insanity! Hah!

I see now, it’s time to get on with this. If I don’t, I’m liable to do, or say something I’ll regret, and, like Lazarus said, “When the ship lifts, all bills are paid. No regrets, ever.” I’m not sure what he means by that (yes, I am….), but, it sounds pretty intelligent, and right now, it’s also the best I can come up with. Rather than try again, I’ll merely say this: Luigi! Get us the hell out of here, now!

Shall we Pearl?….

“I hate mankind, for I think myself one of the best of them, and I know how bad I am.” — Samuel Johnson

********************************

Asleep At The Wheel

Image from amarillo.com via Google Images

I remember growing up on the music style epitomized by this band, later learning to play quite a bit of it myself, when my friend Tommy and I would get together to play guitar. The style is called western swing; this group has epitomized the sound for as long as I can remember…. which is getting to be a pretty long time now…. Enjoy, ffolkes; it’s called easy listening….

********************************

Asleep At The Wheel

********************************

https://youtu.be/CziPAbs3ROY

********************************

Rocky Outcrop on Mars

Image by NASA’s Curiosity Rover, November 2015, from Space.com

You may well wonder why an image from Mars adorns the top of today’s ranting section. Since I’m the one who put it there, I suppose that makes me responsible to tell y’all WHY I would rant about some random piece of rather unattractive real estate on another planet. SIGH….

Well, if I MUST explain something so obvious, I’d best be about doing it, hadn’t I? Okay, it’s like this. The article on Space.com mentioned the picture was causing some excitement among scientists, as it seems a great many of the rocky soil you see is just jam-packed with all sorts of useful minerals, metals, and other substances of industrial use to Earthly technology. In other words, Mars is an untapped treasure chest of materials which are growing scarce on our planet…. Is it becoming any clearer? Does that suggest anything rantable to anyone?

I hope so, for it certainly does to me. Our species has almost turned this planet into one large desert; give us a century or two, and there won’t be a growing thing left on Earth, but for in greenhouses, possibly underground, using solar power to run the machines, since, without plants, the climate and landscape would not be somewhere anyone would wish to live. The resources on Mars means we have an entire NEW planet to rape, and pillage, and turn into another vast series of skyscrapers, freeways, and parking lots.

Oh, joy….. Get it now? When you or I look at such a picture, we see the endless vista as a chance for exploration, and the possibility of increasing our understanding. There are many in our world who will look on it as land to be developed. And, if, as the report mentions, the rock on this hill is a treasure mine of a group of valuable substances, you can bet there is some oligarch or speculator type out there in the banking world who is already looking into securing the mineral rights, and the right to build McDonald’s signs all the way to the horizon….

“Well, they paved Paradise, put up a parking lot, with a pink hotel and a swinging hot spot….” — Joni Mitchell

While I wish I could finish this rant, circumstances have intervened to preclude further diatribe. I know, you’re disappointed. So am I. But, it’s now a bit after 3 AM, and my brain is officially off-duty at 3. Anything I tried to logic from here could turn ugly, so, we’ll leave it for another thyme. It’s nice having access to a Tardis, I’ll admit; even when I fall asleep at the wheel, it takes me where I need to go, which is not Mars. Not today, anyway. I may end up there, should my presence be required, but, that’s a pretty long shot, I’d say.

Basta. Let’s go see what happens down below, before we get silly, and spoil the whole tenor of the section….. Ranting in soprano, or baritone, for that matter, isn’t as easy as it may sound…. Especially in the thin atmosphere on Mars….

********************************

I’m not certain, but, I’m pretty sure this one was written on a day much like today has been/will be, may the memory of it fade quickly from my ken…. again. It’ll do, for now, again….

Dead Hands,Typing…

Puzzled anew by anomalous blocks of pain
caught, bemused, chained to routine, insane.
Stilled within breathless beauty
Engaging epiphany, insistent, called to duty.

Knees bent in lieu of a faithful rendition
suffuses, confuses, locked into stale perdition.
Clearing corrosion with hands encased in stone
Singular frozen follicles, masked by bone.

Partial focus brings unfiltered flavors to light
coloring each particle in simple delight.
Forlorn, novel conceptual artists singing in tune
nine notes in harmony, soft as the moon.

Honed blades of carbon steel flash in rhyme,
filling sensual receptors well past closing time.
Borrowed from neighbors in a week-old game
still bloody, without a proper name.

No flooded memories can justify such cost
no simple stationery, bilious, afraid, lost.
Ten times ten will never be enough
To fill so empty a stolen trough.

Bartering simplicity takes well into the night
solidly temporary pillars turned bright.
Unknown to all the pretty children who came
none were called, none had any remaining flame.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 2/25/2015

********************************

This one is a classic pearl; short, pithy statements, deep, wide, and clear. Of course, you have to follow the bouncing idea ball, but, hey, I can’t do everything! Don’t worry, you’ll see; this one’s easy…..

How admirable, he who thinks not,
Life is fleeting,
When he sees the lightning!

~~ Basho ~~

“Wonders never cease, as long as you never cease to wonder.” — Reflective Bee

“If you do not wish a thing heard, do not say it.” — Klingon proverb

“Except for our thoughts, there is nothing absolutely in our power.” — Descartes

“Without music, life would be a mistake.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

“Ignorance of one’s misfortunes is clear gain.” — Euripides

“There is no God. But it does not matter. Man is enough.” — Edna St. Vincent Milay, Conversation at Midnight

“Better a cruel truth than a comfortable delusion.” — Edward Abbey

“Everything is simpler than you think and at the same time more complex than you imagine.” — Goethe

********************************

Though I have little recollection of doing so, it seems to be done. I’ll take it, as it’s getting hard to stay focused. I think I’ll go pace a while. Y’all can go do whatever you like; me, I’m going to pace, and dream of sleep….. See y’all tomorrow, unless I AM sleeping….

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….

Perspective ALWAYS matters….

Posted on November 16, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“According to the proverb, the best things are the most difficult.”

~~ Plutarch (46-120 AD) ~~

~~ Of the Training of Children ~~

A Garden Path in Galway

Hajime…. We take drugs very seriously at my house… Now, before anyone goes off on some weird tangent, I’ll say this: first, I found the statement in Smart Bee, and it fit so well, I had to steal it…. Second, it’s perfectly true, but, not in the way most folks would think it might be construed. What I mean by such a statement is exactly what it says; we take them, and very seriously.

That being said, we may now proceed on to more important things, such as getting this fucking Pearl done, as it didn’t get done yesterday, thanks to some levels of pain I haven’t experienced in over a decade…. What great fun we had, remembering back to those days of yesteryear, when life was shit, with no cherry, on top or anywhere else….. ‘Twas indeed a day to remember to forget…..

Fortunately for us all, pain, like any memory, fades in time, and, though this morning bodes ill for another such day, I have my plans to deal with it, involving yet more drugs…. But, don’t worry, they’re legal in this state. I mean, OF COURSE, they’re legal, if reluctantly. I’m quite sure, if the Big Pharma companies had their way, it wouldn’t be, for the use of these “drugs”, which have been used my mankind since the time we lived in trees and caves, promises, in time, to put them out of their very lucrative business, which involves keeping everyone sick, so they can sell them more poisons.

End of mini-rant. Let’s go on to the rest of today’s mess, shall we? It promises to be a little more pleasant, at least in tone, if not quality. But, then, if you wanted quality, you’d be somewhere else, now, wouldn’t you? Yep. Don’t worry, I know exactly how good all this is, compared to the general run of things online, so, don’t worry you’ll hurt my feelings. Besides, me and pain, we’re old friends…. For now…..

Shall we Pearl?….

“Your enemy is never a villain in his own eyes. Keep this in mind; it may offer a way to make him your friend. If not, you can kill him without hate -and quickly.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

********************************

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

Yep, you know what that picture means, don’t you? Yep. Classical music, which is all I can think of to play right now…. might have something to do with the Grateful Dead jam I’m listening to, which sounds much like a long classical, bohemian piece….. until now, as they begin to break into a jauntier tune, (I Know You Rider), in a famous jam from 1979 or so….. Ah well, you can’t hear it, anyway, unless you’re a Deadhead, and go download it yourself…. But, you can enjoy this collection of great older stuff…. Your choice, as always…..

********************************

Classical Music

********************************

https://youtu.be/jgpJVI3tDbY

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I don’t have it in me to rant, but, given the above statement from Albert, I think we can put together an old-school pearl to show just how the world has been put into the position we now find ourselves, as well as who is to blame, and, how we can make the necessary changes…. Quite a lot for a few quotes, isn’t it? Well, you’ll see…. Enjoy….

“Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man’s original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.” — Oscar Wilde

“The most costly of all follies is to believe passionately in the palpably not true. It is the chief occupation of mankind.” — H. L. Mencken (1880-1956)

“You cannot conquer a free man, the most you can do is kill him.” — Lazarus Long

“Forbid a man to think for himself or to act for himself and you may add the joy of piracy and the zest of smuggling to his life.” — Elbert Hubbard

“As soon as men decide that all means are permitted to fight an evil, then their good becomes indistinguishable from the evil that they set out to destroy.” — Christopher Dawson, “The Judgement of the Nations”

“It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place.” — H. L. Mencken

“For every disease that doctors cure with medicine, they produce ten in healthy people by inoculating them with that virus which is a thousand times more powerful than any microbe: the idea that one is ill.” — Marcel Proust (1871-1922)

“The highest treason, the meanest treason, is to deny the holiness of this little blue planet on which we journey through the cold void of space.” — Edward Abbey

********************************

Since yesterday was one of my worst days ever, I thought a poem written on a very similar day might work. You tell me….

Gauges of Pain

Consciousness devolves in pools of gripping fears
holding hostage any hope of serenity,
sharp stabbing motions and greedy tears
nary a moment passes without common calamity.

Always a surprise, nothing soothing ever found,
leaving only breathless clinging pain,
salvation seemingly absent, it muffles all sound,
bringing ever more sadness and rain.

Solitude is ever present to claim my time,
lonely hours and relentlessly long days,
no radio plays such music in secular rhyme
happy, vibrant voices belong to elder ways.

Life can be justified it seems to say,
by hopeful favored moments of pleasure,
seemingly friendly, pointing out the only way,
to bring back happiness in minimal measure.

Days of horror and embarrassing tears
serve ever to drive wretched hours to withhold
promising naught but sorrow in coming years,
black, bitter memories that never grow old.

Cold, cold the days fly by,
can it really be our only token?
Never to say, or know just why
the pain never stops, even when spoken…

~~ gigoid ~~

(Yes, yesterday was NOT a good day…. why do you ask?…..)

Griefe brought to numbers cannot be so fierce,
For, he tames it, that fetters it in verse.

~~ John Donne ~~

********************************

I’m somewhat surprised at how this pearl turned out; it was mostly serendipity at work, I believe, which dictated the icon you see adorning the top of this final section. It’s a long pearl, with 13 gems shining out with some brilliance. The opening from Keats, and the close by Bryant may, at first seem out of place with the rest of the pearls, but, in truth, the form the perfect bookends to the ideas between, marking a section with some of the more off the beaten track when it comes to advice on living life with some style to go along with the virtue we all seek…. (Sure we do..) Enjoy!

In a drear-nighted December,
Too happy, happy tree,
Thy branches ne’er remember
Their green felicity.

~~- John Keats ~~

~~ Stanzas ~~

“A priest advised Voltaire on his death bed to renounce the devil. Voltaire said, “This is no time to make new enemies” — Attribution unclear

“A gift of flowers will soon be made to you. Don’t eat them this time.” — Cute Bee

“First, learn to love yourself, and then you will learn to love others.” — Chen-It Ong

“Waiting is.” — R.A. Heinlein, ‘Stranger in a Strange Land’

“Think it more satisfactory to live richly than die rich.” — Sir Thomas Browne

“Smile, but sharpen your knives.” — Found without attribution; probably a Fremen proverb (the original would have said “chyrsknife”)

“None but a fool is always right.” — Hare

“It’s not true that life is one damn thing after another; it is one damn thing over and over.” — Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950)

“Be not as one that hath ten thousand years to live; death is nigh at hand: while thou livest, while thou hast time, be good.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus — Meditations, iv, 17

“Character is a victory, not a gift.” — Our old friend, Anonymous

“Courage conquers all things.” — Ovid

The melancholy days are come, the saddest of the year,
Of wailing winds and naked woods and meadows brown and sear.

~~ William Cullen Bryant ~~

~~ The Death of the Flowers ~~

********************************

It’s done. In the final analysis, that is all that can be said of it, as it should be. Having fulfilled my self-imposed duty for the day, (while making no claims of quality, lest we find ourselves in court), I’ll take my leave, post-haste, to go begin the process of consuming sufficient herbal oils and essences to mitigate my agony…. Wish me luck, ffolkes, I’ll need it…. See y’all tomorrow, come Hell, or High Water…. I’ve been through both of late, so, that’s no empty promise….

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….

The forecast is for extremely fluffy….

Posted on November 4, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Do not say a little in many words but a great deal in a few.”

~~ Pythagoras (BC 582-507) ~~

Triple Full Moon Over Vallejo

G’day…. Given the state of my life over the past month or two, it’s rather nice to feel even a moment of hope, even one based on what may or may not be an omen of things to come….. Ooh, I like that, it’s wonderfully obscure, yet gives a sense of intimacy that encourages further interest. More good omen material…. Omens of good have been sadly infrequent of late, so, twice in one paragraph, even if both are completely unidentified, is, well, a good sign….

It may have to do with the relief of being back online, at home, though the mere presence of relief indicates a dependency I’m not sure I entirely can be comfortable with. Nonetheless, it’s nice not having to go drink somebody else’s coffee to get posted. It’ll sure make sticking to the diet easier, too; way too many pastries lately have taken up the entire morning’s calorie count, leaving me starving until dinner time. Ah well, I’m a sucker for a blueberry muffin, what can I say?

Okay, enough innocent chatter; it’s not really our style anyway. We’re gonna go Pearl now ffolkes. I’ve been waiting too long to do this from home, again, so, I’m a bit impatient (Could you tell?…). In fact, so impatient, we’re skipping all the usual folderol, in favor of just getting on with it…. How does that look? Like this….

Shall we Pearl?….

“When you said “HEAVILY FORESTED” it reminded me of an overdue CLEANING BILL.. Don’t you SEE? O’Grogan SWALLOWED a VALUABLE COIN COLLECTION and HAD to murder the ONLY MAN who KNEW!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

********************************

Weird Al

Image from riverfrontimes.com via Google Images

Here’s another artist who needs no introduction; all that is required is to enjoy!….

********************************

Weird Al Yankovic

*********************************

https://youtu.be/qpMvS1Q1sos?list=PLXjuyl3vwK6X5lBD7yogtDDBLqu3m_HGR

*********************************

********************************

“If guns are outlawed, only the government will have guns.”

~~- Edward Abbey ~~

Mr. Abbey, with this short statement, nails my opinion on gun control right on the bloody head. My entire objection to the fools who cry out to “take away the guns” from everyone, (so, what, this will ensure nobody will ever die? Right….), is exactly the point he makes. None of the advocates of disallowing citizens to own guns seem to think about this point; do they really believe the government will give up THEIR guns? Really? I’d be really interested to hear from which planet they came to visit us here on Earth?….

Of course, most Earthlings have trouble bumping neurons together; it’s not just an immigrant problem…. Most earthlings, for some unknown reason, choose, soon after birth, to stop using their brain as a tool for making their life better, choosing instead to use it merely to transport their ass from one toilet to another…. I am often amazed at how many people, who are of an age to reproduce, seemingly can’t formulate a complete sentence, unless it has the word “fries” in it, or, have yet to learn the actions involved in tying their shoes. And, please, let us not begin to discuss how many lost brain cells it takes to follow the current street style of wearing one’s pants around the thighs rather than the waist, necessitating the use of one hand just to hold them up….

But, then, that’s just how the elite want the public to be; distracted and stupid. These asininnies want the average person so busy trying to just maintain their current place in life they have no time to inspect all the ways they are being controlled by their own ignorance, and their inability to use their imagination to see beyond their immediate needs…. Our world-wide society has three characteristics which, to me, indicate just how sick it is…. The belief that Mankind was made by a god…. By accepting this sort of belief, one’s mind is left open to other false truths, which allow the perfect vehicle for manipulation of behavior by those who do not believe, but, play the part for the reward of power over others, and a complete lack of personal responsibility for how others are affected by their acts.

Second, this belief in a delusion allowed the predatory members to convince everyone that money actually exists, and has some sort of real power over reality…. This, of course, is ridiculous. Money is simply an idea, a way to organize barter, by placing an artificial value on a person’s time and effort, when, in fact, it has only the value we give it. It is only important because we believe it to be, not because of any inherent real value…. This idea, though, is probably too complex for those who have given up the right to think, and operate totally on the theory of doing whatever is the most expedient….

Then, for the final insult to our humanity, the concept of government as a beneficial facet of society, to ensure the ‘safety’ of all, is thrust upon these unsuspecting fools, who are already primed to believe anything someone in a ‘position of authority’ (preacher, teacher, policeman, elected official, etc…. bureaucrats and sycophants, all…) tells them to believe…. That’s the whole problem, right there, in a nutshell…. If you believe the first false idea, the rest of them form the remaining cords of their slave collars…. and, the saddest part is, most of them never even know they’re slaves at all…

I could, no doubt, carry on in this vein for a long time; there are a thousand examples in daily life of how the average person has no clue as to how easily they are controlled by the forces who wish to have power over others…. But, I’m getting tired, and, am well aware most of those who will read this are NOT part of those who can be controlled; they don’t end up here very often, somehow…. If they do, they don’t talk much…. For the rest of us, I’ll show some pity, and finish off with a 13 star pearl with as many indictments, and examples of how things got the way they are…. Enjoy!….

*******************************

“In morals, what begins in fear usually ends in wickedness; in religion, what begins in fear usually ends in fanaticism. Fear, either as a principle or a motive, is the beginning of all evil.” — Mrs. Jameson

“No people in the world ever did achieve their freedom by goody-goody talk and moral suasion: it being immutable law that all revolutions that will succeed, must begin in blood, whatever the answer afterward. If history teaches anything, it teaches that” — Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889)

“These PRESERVES should be FORCE-FED to PENTAGON OFFICIALS!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

“The amassing of wealth is one of the worst species of idolatry, no idol is more debasing.” — Andrew Carnegie

“The missionaries go forth to Christianize the savages–as if the savages weren’t dangerous enough already.” — Edward Abbey

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

“Our safety, our liberty depends on preserving the Constitution of the United States as our fathers made it inviolate. The people of the US are the rightful masters both Congress and the courts – Not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution” — Abraham Lincoln

“Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.” — Denis Diderot in “Dithrambe sur la fete de rois”

“Have in readiness this saying of Solon, “But we will not give up our virtue in exchange for their wealth.” — Plutarch — How to profit by our Enemies

DEBT, n. An ingenious substitute for the chain and whip of the slave- driver.

As, pent in an aquarium, the troutlet
Swims round and round his tank to find an outlet,
Pressing his nose against the glass that holds him,
Nor ever sees the prison that enfolds him;
So the poor debtor, seeing naught around him,
Yet feels the narrow limits that impound him,
Grieves at his debt and studies to evade it,
And finds at last he might as well have paid it.~~ Barlow S. Vode~~

— Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

********************************

Future Shocked:

Weeping, I wake;
waking, I weep, I weep.
I weep for the ages to be lost,
for the children never to be born.

Time comes calling, strident and spare,
nudging us toward the future with bony hands.
No pausing, no waiting, always away,
Frantic hearts unseen, unheard.

Spirits are dark, afraid.
And the Beast hunts, hungry and cruel,
seeking out the weak, and the foolish.

We all weep now…..

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 7/22/2013.

********************************

An odd little pearl, with seven excellent statements to help us find some meaning in Life. Of course, if you’ve already found meaning that works for you, you don’t have to do it again…. Those are the rules…. I think. Anyway, enjoy!….

“The value of passion, like fire, is judged finally by the amount of warmth and light it creates. Fanatics, like forest fires, burn bright but destroy all in their path that is tender and green. To be useful, fire must be confined. To live passionately, we must develop discipline; to love powerfully, we must forge bonds of commitment. Passion is inseparable from compassion.” — Sam Keen

“You can’t get wet from the word ‘water’.” — Alan Watts

“To find a fault is easy; to do better may be difficult.” — Plutarch

“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 — Meditations, ix, 16

“Truth that has merely been learned is like an artificial limb, a false tooth, a waxen nose; it adheres to us only because it is put on. But truth acquired by thought of our own is like a natural limb; it alone really belongs to us.” — Arthur Schopenhauer

“As a matter of self-preservation, a man needs good friends or ardent enemies, for the former instruct him and the latter take him to task.” — Diogenes

“If you don’t laugh at all, you’ve missed the point. If you only laugh, you’ve missed your chance for illumination.” — Robert Anton Wilson

********************************

Since I’m back online a day before I’d thought to be, I’ll end this here, in the proper spot, and get it posted. This also means I’ll be back tomorrow, unless something historically compelling, like a revolution, gets in the way….. See ya then, ffolkes; count on it….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

If only it were visible….

Posted on October 28, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“While it is true that you are free to say what you think in this great land,

it should be said that it is helpful to think what you are going to say

before you do it.”

~~ Sardonic Bee ~~

Backyard Springing

Good morrow…. Somehow, it hardly seems worthwhile worrying too much about an introductory section; not knowing when, or, at this point, IF this will get posted precludes any sort of relevance, or, any solid connection to real-time in reality. So, I won’t. Worry much, that is, a state made patently obvious by the tenor of what you’ve thus far seen. So be it. If I don’t need to care, then, I won’t care…. Wowie! That means I can go right off the edge, and nobody can say anything!….

Okay, so, maybe I’ll save that for later; there’s always time to go insane in my world. That, however, being the case, perhaps we’d best not push our luck, taking this, instead, as an indicator of some rather unusual politeness by the Universe, reminding us just because we can do something, doesn’t mean we should do it. I’ve probably made a bad habit of choosing poorly in that respect, a number of times, so, maybe it’s time to admit I’m getting older, and make the choice to be sane, rather than heading out for the fringes immediately upon noting the open door…..

Damn! Sounds really boring…. But, what the hell? It can’t hurt to try it this once. Luigi, fire it up, but, take it nice and easy, okay? We’re gonna do it right for a change…. maybe. The rest of you, look busy, or, at least, interested….

Shall we Pearl?

“Science is a way of talking about the universe in words that bind it to a common reality. Magic is a method of talking to the universe in words that it cannot ignore. The two are rarely compatible.” — The Phantom Stranger, “The Books of Magic”, by Neil Gaiman

********************************

Image from jacksonville.com via Google Images

Here is a nice little piece to listen to while enjoying today’s Pearl; Emmylou is one of my favorites, and I think it’s a perfect start to the day…. Enjoy, ffolkes….

********************************

Emmylou Harris

*********************************

https://youtu.be/NsyI1dpL7s8

*********************************

********************************

I had thought to rant; however, being without internet service causes a dearth of fresh headlines; finding new events about which to rant is a bit problematic, as is patently obvious. But, the first quote below, which had been destined for a discussion, will instead be used to head a nine-star group of thoughts on our BRC, or, as they are known in the mainstream media, our “leaders”, as well as some more general thoughts on democracy, government as a whole, and some of the reasons things have gotten as ugly as they appear…. You’ll see, and, if any of it strikes a chord, well, feel free to comment, to which I will eventually respond…. Enjoy!….

“When I see a congressman giving his opinion on something, I always wonder if it represents his *real* opinion or if it represents an opinion that he’s designed in order to be elected. It seems to be a central problem for politicians. So I often wonder: what is the relation of integrity to working in the government?” — Richard Phillips Feynman (1918-1988), “What Do You Care What Other People Think?”

“The strength of the Constitution lies entirely in the determination of each citizen to defend it. Only if every single citizen feels duty bound to do his share in this defense are the constitutional rights secure.” — Albert Einstein

“To see what is right and not to do it is cowardice.” — Cervantes

“Fleas can be taught nearly anything that a congressperson can.” — Ridiculously Observant Bee, mimicking Mark Twain

“All over the place, from the popular culture to the propaganda system, there is constant pressure to make people feel that they are helpless, that the only role they can have is to ratify decisions and to consume.” — Noam Chomsky

“Moral certainty is always a sign of cultural inferiority. The more uncivilized the man, the surer he is that he knows precisely what is right and what is wrong. All human progress, even in morals, has been the work of men who have doubted the current moral values, not of men who have whooped them up and tried to enforce them. The truly civilized man is always skeptical and tolerant, in this field as in all others. His culture is based on “I am not too sure.” — H.L. Mencken

“The devil is the father of lies, but he neglected to patent the idea, and the business now suffers from competition.” — Josh Billings

“Terrorism: deadly violence against humans and other living things, usually conducted by government against its own people.” — Edward Abbey

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.” — Dwight Eisenhower, April 16, 1953

********************************

Chaos of thought and passion, all confused;
Still by himself abused or disabused;
Created half to rise, and half to fall;
Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;
Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurled,–
The glory, jest, and riddle of the world.

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

~~ Essay on Man, Epistle ii, Line 13 ~~

Above, in the ranting section, we spoke of political man; in his famous epic poem, Alexander Pope speaks of the whole man, and, as far as I’m concerned, nailed it with every last verse. It’s a very long work, so, to save space and time, I’ve only included the above excerpt to read here; the rest of it can be found at the link below. It’s worth reading, and thinking about, no matter how long it takes….

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/essay-on-man/

********************************

Seven stars, birth to death…. what more would a pearl need? Nothing…. Enjoy!….

“It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end.” — Ursula K. LeGuin

“Learning is not compulsory… neither is survival.” — W. Edwards Deming

“We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is in it – and stop there; lest we be like the cat that sits down on a hot stove-lid. She will never sit down on a hot stove-lid again, and that is well; but also she will never sit down on a cold one anymore.” — Mark Twain

“The value of life lies not in the length of days, but in the use we make of them… Whether you find satisfaction in life depends not on your tale of years, but on your will.” — Michel Eyquem de Montaigne,1580

“Doubt is not a pleasant condition but certainty is an absurd one.” — Voltaire

“Our virtues and vices spring from one root.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Dharma: What is the greatest mystery of all?

Yudishthira: That each day, death walks the earth, and we continue to live as though we were immortal.

~~ The Bhagvad Gita ~~

********************************

By the time anyone sees this online, it will probably be tomorrow, relative to when it is actually being written; thank goodness for the Tardis, eh? We’ll carry over the discovery made in the intro, re: “don’t worry, it don’t matter”, and let this little spew serve as our closing thoughts. Hmm… risky, but, probably okay, given the state of entropy today. If the Space/Time Continuum can hold together, it’ll all be fine. I’ll see y’all on the other side of that decision, if it goes the way we hope; if not, well, most likely, nobody will notice, anyway….

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….

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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