“If you pray hard enough, water will run uphill.
How hard?
Why, hard enough to make water run uphill, of course!”
~~ Robert Heinlein ~~
Wild sunflowers….
Hajime…. I had intended this Pearl to be rather a bit more ‘together’, so to speak. However, I’ve been co-opted for babysitting again today, and had to cobble this together fast, while my granddaughter is napping (a pastime I’d love to emulate, but for duty….). I’ve shoved it into basic shape, and all the parts are there, just not with the usual degree of consideration or planning… So be it…
In fact, I am in such a hurry, lest she awaken before I’m done & posted, I’m giving up on any more of an intro; instead, I will now proceed to dump y’all unceremoniously down the page, with no compunction, & no regrets. As noted…. So be it…. I do hope you enjoy today’s effort; it was rushed, but, it’s all there….
Shall we Pearl?….
“A master programmer passed a novice programmer one day.
The master noted the novice’s preoccupation with a hand-held computer game.
“Excuse me”, he said, “may I examine it?”
The novice bolted to attention and handed the device to the master.
“I see that the device claims to have three levels of play:
Easy, Medium, and Hard”, said the master.
“Yet every such device has another level of play,
where the device seeks not to conquer the human,
nor to be conquered by the human.”
“Pray, great master,” implored the novice,
“how does one find this mysterious setting?”
The master dropped the device to the ground and crushed it under foot.
And suddenly the novice was enlightened.”
~~ Geoffrey James, “The Tao of Programming” ~~
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Incredibly late, d/t babysitting duties, thus, default is de rigeur, naturally…. Enjoy!….
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Classical Music
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For The Blind Poet, Embraced
I sit to open a vein, exposed in public places,
happy to be written, judging by the faces.
None can see the price so willingly paid,
at the feet of imagination is that cost weighed.
Still shadows of reality shine quite as well
to hide all the bleeding as if under a spell;
While visions and fantasies vie for attention,
hoping to win once-hoped-for final mention.
Technology may or may not rue its day
never knowing or caring its part to play.
All the precious moments of inspiration
Fall ever short of our own imagination.
~~ gigoid ~~
9/30/2012
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Naked Pearls
Like it, or, not….
*******
“Sometimes there’s no point in giving up.”
~~ Louis Wu. in “The Ringworld Engineers” by Larry Niven ~~
*******
“Be not diverted from your duty by any idle reflections
the silly world may make upon you,
for their censures are not in your power,
and consequently should not be any part of your concern.”
~~ Epictetus ~~
*******
“Change your opinions, keep to your principles;
Change your leaves, keep intact your roots.”
~~ Voltaire ~~
*******
“And though mine arm should conquer twenty worlds,
There ‘s a lean fellow beats all conquerors.”
~~ Thomas Dekker, “Old Fortunatus” ~~
*******
“Death is the only inescapable, unavoidable, sure thing.
We are sentenced to die the day we’re born.”
~~ Gary Mark Gilmore ~~
*******
“Life without the courage for death is slavery.”
~~ Seneca ~~
*******
“and what i want to know is how do you like your blueeyed boy Mister Death”
~~ ee cummings, “Buffalo Bill” ~~
*******
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There you go; that’s all you get, because that’s all I’ve got…. I may or may not be back tomorrow morning; depends a lot on whether or not I’m needed again to ‘sit in’, as it were… I’ll be back, ffolkes; the question of “when?” shall remain unanswered until the appropriate time…. I shall, as you may expect, see you then…. Be well, be strange, and be alert…. all will be well, if you can do so….
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.
“As one gets older,
one discovers everything is going to be exactly the same
with different hats on.”
~~ Noel Coward ~~
Wild Fennel in the Wine Country….
Hajime…. The picture you see today is one I took a month or two ago, while pausing on a visit to my kids in Sonoma Valley. I liked the way the fennel, which grows wild along all the roads here in Northern California, framed the picture behind, forming a bucolic country scene reminiscent of an old painting. Well, not so old, as there are phone wires & poles, but, you get the idea, I’m sure. I also like to think of how much money I’ve saved over the years, picking that wild fennel, to use in my catering jobs, and as an ingredient in several recipes I use. It also serves very well as a simple, yet elegant decoration for some table settings, and mirrors displaying foods. Valuable plant, indeed….
There; how’s that for a vague, personal retrospective? Not bad, eh? Well, I think so; I’ll remind you who’s driving this bus. Regardless of what sort of reaction it provokes in the minds of my Gentle readers, it’s done, so, it stays. I’m too much in “odd” mode today to care. What’s “odd” mode? Trust me, you don’t really want to know. We will merely say, it’s one of my more fractious, unreliable modes, (sometimes called ‘moods’….), liable to rather explosive emotional outbursts at minimal provocation, while we simultaneously attempt to mitigate the potential harm it can cause to the environment; it’s been known to cause some rather extensive damage.
Instead, we’ll avoid any and all such temptations, by drawing this intro to a rapid closure, post haste. In this mode, time can be of the essence, so, gather your belongings, send your adult beverage down the hatch, and hang on to your hats, because we’re going in hot. How hot? This hot….
Shall we Pearl?….
“…common human laws and interests and emotions
have no validity or significance in the vast cosmos-at-large…”
~~ H. P. Lovecraft ~~
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Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Image from guitarworld.com via Google Images
A friend on Facebook shared a link with one of this woman’s videos, and I had to share it today. Known by many as the Godmother of Rock and Roll, and The Original Sister Soul, I give you Sister Rosetta Tharpe. I’ve linked to a collection of many of her songs and videos, to give a good sample of some really hot music. Enjoy, ffolkes!….
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Sister Rosetta Tharpe The Godmother of Rock & Roll
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In early 2012, I was living in relative poverty, struggling to maintain any sort of non-depressed state for an entire day, when this poem forced its way into the light, and onto my computer. When it was originally penned, it was in prose form, where it sat for several months, until I opened it again, and saw it was actually a poem. I formatted it the way it logically called for, and haven’t touched it since. In some ways, it’s rather prophetic, of a time we are rapidly approaching out in the real world. I hope you enjoy it, dark as it is….
Gently Came a Wounded Child
But you shall not escape my iambics.
Soft, sinuous patterns of unearthly beauty
blithely commune with sinking stars,
as pale shadows of former virtue hover
near, ever clean, ever tolerant.
These unbidden habits are worn with age and care,
ready now for dissolution,
welcoming gladly the kiss of Death’s handmaiden.
Unknown to all, the child stands aside,
weeping for the lost days of youth,
days that now shall never be,
nor yearned for ever after.
Only darkness shall lay upon the landscape,
cold, hard, eternal.
Such then are the signs and portents
as we enter into the unknown future,
they are grave indeed.
Uncertainty will be our sole companion,
as the search for hope yields no result.
The lamentations of the gods
shall sound the elegy for Man,
who never learned to see the gift that was made,
so many echoes ago, in the hopeful past;
thus will we pass this plane of existence
as we came, baffled and afraid….
~~ gigoid ~~
written 2/2/2012
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Naked Pearls
Things we learn on the journey….
*******
“I’d rather learn from one bird how to sing
than to teach ten thousand stars how not to dance.”
~~ ee cummings ~~
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“You must have been warned about letting the golden hours slip by;
but some of them are golden only because we let them slip by.”
~~ James M. Barrie ~~
*******
“Do not be too moral.
You may cheat yourself out of much of life.
So aim above morality.
Be not simply good;
be good for something.”
~~ Henry David Thoreau ~~
*******
“I am pleased to see that we have differences.
May we together become greater than the sum of both of us.”
~~ Surak of Vulcan, “The Savage Curtain,” stardate 5906.4. ~~
*******
“The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.”
~~ Mark Twain ~~
*******
“None but a fool is always right.”
~~ Hare ~~
*******
“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation.
We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence,
but we rather have those because we have acted rightly.
We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”
~~ Aristotle ~~
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Once again, the process I’ve developed over the years of producing this mess has saved the day. Given the mode/mood I’m in today, I have to give myself a pat on the back. A small one, as it hurts to do so, but, for what it is, it’s not bad, so, good job, dude. Moreover, I can now take my leave, letting y’all off the hook for the day, and try to find a somewhat mellower mood to inhabit. You could wish me luck in that, since I’ll need it, but, if not, that’s okay, too. I’m too weird right now to notice. In fact, here’s an example. Bye….
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.
Hajime…. Since the deadline for posting just went flying past my head, I suppose I’d best get started on today’s Pearl. Considering the fact virtually none of it is done, we’ll be lucky to see one today. Hope does exist, as I’ve begun, & don’t intend to stop until done. But, that could change, of course, well before getting there. Once again, the Metaphorse has stepped in, to apply the duality of nature to our undertakings, as is the Universe’s wont.Why we should wish the Universe to even HAVE a wont, I haven’t a clue, but, I suppose it really doesn’t matter for our purposes here today.
To our complete surprise, we find we have written a relatively normal first paragraph, (‘normal’ in that it is of a certain length, says nothing particularly worthwhile, and, is properly punctuated), we look up, to find ourselves deep in the second paragraph, still without any direction, or hint of a direction, in which to make our effort. It probably doesn’t matter anyway; what with the lack of anything resembling rational thought currently inhabiting my brain, there is little chance of finding anything we can use, without serious alteration, or padding, neither of which we are equipped to handle today. Damn! Y’all know what this means, don’t you? No. Well, if you don’t know, I probably shouldn’t say…
Having thus created the proper frame of stultified indignation, we can get this slow on the toad. What, you may ask, the hell does that mean? Well, if I knew, or cared, I might consider relaying that information. Since I don’t, and, I don’t, we’ll just use it as another fine excuse to go on, before this gets any stranger, and we start losing our audience…. like we ever had one. For all I know, nobody’s out there, and nobody will ever see this but me, and a couple die hards who come every day. But, whether anyone is there, or ever reads this, it still has to get done, or I melt down worse than usual…. So be it. Let’s do it….
Shall we pearl?….
“No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature.
Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this;
the only right is what is after my own constitution;
the only wrong what is against it.”
~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~
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I’m running late, as usual, so we’ll go with something easily available that fits my mood…. Since I feel like I should, or want to be, on the road to anywhere, we’ll take a little trip to the islands, imagining ourselves right onto some beach, where you’ll find us sipping margaritas, & dancing away…. Abondanza!….
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Jimmy Buffett Live at Jones Beach
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“How happy is he born or taught,
That serveth not another’s will;
Whose armour is his honest thought,
And simple truth his utmost skill!”
~~ Sir Henry Wotton — The Character of a Happy Life ~~
I’m very late today, in terms of getting done, and posted. To save the time needed, we’re going to the archives. Don’t worry, it’s a rather light piece, just taking some random shots at some of the world’s biggest fools…. I’m sure I had fun, and you will too… Enjoy!….
From 2/11/2015:
INFIDEL, n. In New York, one who does not believe in the Christian religion; in Constantinople, one who does. (See GIAOUR.) A kind of scoundrel imperfectly reverent of, and niggardly contributory to, divines, ecclesiastics, popes, parsons, canons, monks, mollahs, voodoos, presbyters, hierophants, prelates, obeah-men, abbes, nuns, missionaries, exhorters, deacons, friars, hadjis, high-priests, muezzins, brahmins, medicine-men, confessors, eminences, elders, primates, prebendaries, pilgrims, prophets, imaums, beneficiaries, clerks, vicars-choral, archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, preachers, padres, abbotesses, caloyers, palmers, curates, patriarchs, bonezs, santons, beadsmen, canonesses, residentiaries, diocesans, deans, subdeans, rural deans, abdals, charm-sellers, archdeacons, hierarchs, class-leaders, incumbents, capitulars, sheiks, talapoins, postulants, scribes, gooroos, precentors, beadles, fakeers, sextons, reverences, revivalists, cenobites, perpetual curates, chaplains, mudjoes, readers, novices, vicars, pastors, rabbis, ulemas, lamas, sacristans, vergers, dervises, lectors, church wardens, cardinals, prioresses, suffragans, acolytes, rectors, cures, sophis, mutifs and pumpums. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”
This space left unused for anything.
This space used for gold.
This space folded over into a ring.
This space remained untold.
No, I have not a single clue where the hell that came from, nor will you ever catch me asking, myself, or anyone else. In fact, I am going to state here and now, I didn’t say that, and you can’t prove I did.
I actually did leave this space blank, but, that was because I sort of intended to write a fresh rant this morning; I’ve got plenty of angst built up, trust me, what with crossing blades with large soulless corporate entities, butting heads with power-hungry local yokels, and dealing with my own personal inner demons as a result, well… trust me., I have more than enough about which to rant. But I’m tired of it all, and want something a bit more light hearted…. Let’s see what happens if I do this…..
Soft, intimate notes of romantic violins fills the air, while cooling breezes lift curtains to swirl and wave against the cerulean sky, peeking brightly through the tall windows. Mellow voices murmur quietly, spilling through the balcony doors, standing open to allow the elegantly dressed crowd pass in and out, enjoying the night air. As a young couple strolled hand in hand through the open passageway, a sudden scream rang out, stilling the crowd, piercing through the music as a hot knife through butter. Silence fell over the room, until a loud voice rings out, “Don’t worry, folks. She saw one of the clowns….”
Hmm… No, I don’t think that’s going to do it…. How about we go for an old-school pearl? I think, maybe, it’s the only chance we have left…. Since this is the ranting section, let’s see if SB can find us some nice, funny pokes to take at some of our favorite targets, shall we? (That is a rhetorical question, as, obviously, it’s now our ONLY chance…)…. Come on, we’d best get to it…. Oooh, here’s a good one to start….
We can’t really be wrong if we’re just following Gods orders
You know,
He wrote this book here
And in this book
He says that He made us to be just like Him
So if we’re dumb, then God’s dumb
(and perhaps a little ugly on the side)
~~ Frank Zappa ~~
Not too shabby for a beginner…. let’s see if we can finish this off with some style, or, maybe even some humor….
“I have no problem with God. It’s his fan clubs I hate.” — Smart Bee
“Yow! And then we could sit on the hoods of cars at stop lights!” — Zippy the Pinhead
“Now playing: “Man of La Muncha”” — Hannibal Lecter Dinner Theatre
“It is only the superficial qualities that last. Man’s deeper nature is soon found out.” — Oscar Wilde
(Oops. Sorry, Oscar slipped that one by me…. It’s not too far out there, so, it stays…)
“Rush Limbaugh: The Pillsbury Doughboy on acid.” — Smart Bee
“Ooops.” — Captain of Titanic
“If God is so great, how come everything he makes dies?” — George Carlin
Well. That was…. something. Not exactly your average mind numbing, brain-blowing experience, was it? Oh well. I guess we should go do something else now…. Oh. I see the problem now. How could I have forgotten THIS?
“When a person cannot deceive himself the chances are against his being able to deceive other people.” — Mark Twain
Duh….
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“Poetry and Hums aren’t things which you get,
they’re things which get you.
And all you can do is go where they can find you.”
~~ Winnie-the-Pooh, ~~
~~ Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne ~~
Is It Alive?
Fighting into the light, words push hard to exist
each step closer to real brings another unique twist.
Shedding meaning for meaning, until bright, alone, and right
sculpting useless shapes, yet undefined, in pale morning’s light.
Never knowing the face is part of the lasting charm
bringing elegant focus, before sounding the alarm.
Advantageous time sends out messages, fears finding voice,
mulling options for flexibility, virtually without choice.
Fortunate man, who embraces the power of change;
’tis magical knowledge, bonding common to strange.
Weaving words of wonder, made strong by love and duty,
into a tapestry of life, and everlasting beauty.
~~ gigoid ~~
1/10/2013
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Naked Pearls
It sucks, AND, it blows….
*******
“I can handle reality in small doses,
but as a lifestyle it’s much too confining.”
~~ Lily Tomlin ~~
*******
“It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are.”
~~ ee cummings `~~
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“As for courage and will –
we cannot measure how much of each lies within us,
we can only trust there will be sufficient
to carry through trials which may lie ahead.”
~~ Andre Norton ~~
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“Entropy has us outnumbered.”
~~ Solomon Short ~~
*******
“Really, Crito, why should we care so much
about what ‘most people’ believe?”
~~ The character Socrates, in Plato’s “Crito”, 44d ~~
*******
“Remember: Silly is a state of Mind,
Stupid is a way of Life.”
~~ Dave Butler ~~
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“Pardon me, but do you know what it means
to be TRULY ONE with your BOOTH!”
~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~
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Color me amazed. It’s done, and, not too shabbily, either, if I do say so meself. Before I do something dumb, like try to be witty, we’ll bring this to a somewhat dilatory end. I can’t say it’s the worst ever, but, it certainly isn’t the best. Y’all can decide for yourselves just what you think about it, and, share if you must. Me, I’m gonna go back to bed; it’s supposed to be really hot today, & I’ll need my energy to keep fanning the cat…. Hah! See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes; consider that all the warning you’ll get….
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.
“Loyalty to petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul.”
~~ Mark Twain ~~
~~ Inscription beneath his bust in the Hall of Fame ~~
St. Somebody’s Cathedral, Cobh, Ireland
Hajime…. I almost didn’t do this. The decision to go ahead & make the effort was a difficult one, as I am, again, rather short on material in my head that would be considered adequately erudite enough to warrant posting. Not to say that’s stopped me before; it’s just getting more onerous to make the decision, as the search for new material slams against the wall of angst in my soul. In and of itself, this is not a new conundrum; it is, however, new enough to cause ripples in the generally smooth path into which this process has evolved. It would be nice if Life didn’t bury us in irony, some day….
There would be little purpose to trying to explain the angst; half the time, or more, I haven’t a clue as to where it came from, anyway. I just consider it a leftover gift from the PTSD which continues to haunt my existence, & try to get through it without any new mental scars. Hey, it’s a pain, but, it my pain, and it works for me. Who knows? Perhaps, one of these fine days, (should any of that sort appear….), I’ll get over the 11½ years of damn near daily doses of violence; if not, well, it’s not as bad as it could be, I guess. How that might be isn’t something upon which it is wise, or happy, to dwell…
Ah, well, such is life, eh? We all have our little problems, and, like Plato observed, if everyone brought their troubles together, & laid them in a pile, most folks, after viewing the pile, would be happy to take their own, and go on their way. So be it. I guess I’ll put together a Pearl, to soothe the savage breast; this time of day, it always seems to be the right thing to do. I won’t even use a Tardis Toy, since I’ve blathered quite enough to get us to where we need to be…. We’ve got some decent material today, since I out-sourced today’s rant section by inviting a guest writer; there’s also one of my poems, which I happen to think isn’t bad. The old-school always takes care of itself so, I guess that means we can get on with this now…. Let’s do it….
Shall we Pearl?….
“In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments – there are consequences.”
~~ Robert Ingersoll ~~
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I’m late, again. As is standard for ECR in such instances. we’ll be going with a selection of classical music, compiled by some random You Tube subscriber. Also as usual, the one I picked had the most eye-grabbing picture…. Simple, yet effective….. Enjoy!….
Today’s rant is from a guest writer. Dean Baker is a poet, musician, and friend. In my opinion, he is perhaps the finest poet writing today, in terms of his depth of insight, his classical knowledge base, and, his straightforward, honest, often almost brutal clarity of vision when viewing society at large. Here is one of his rants, from the book whose cover you see below. I’ve included links at the end of the piece, where you can explore more of his work, and, most importantly, buy his books….. Enjoy, ffolkes; this one is a powerful indictment of humanity, and it’s crimes against itself…..
The Stupid
What’s in your diaper? asked as a parody of the American Express commercial to one of the small children nearby might be paraphrased for adults as What do you fear?
Some might answer: guns, Liberals, Conservatives, gays, blacks, Asians, wimmin, old farts, kids, goobers, the Government, the media, etc etc. Endless corollary examples of what is at its source unprincipled, and even unknowing at times, though not often; and what amounts to; The Stupid.
And of course The Stupid chimes in with, ‘Yeh reeeetards!’ You know, those easy response, fast solution, ain’t it simple for the rude and obscene (you remember those designations?) bellowing boneheads. Doesn’t mean there isn’t something to be said for native instinct – though of course I don’t mean ‘native.’ Let’s not go all retrograde here.
Obviously the idea of individualism will always be true, yet so will its abuse by those in power: you can do it. Never mind that we muddy the waters, allow the bankers to screw the economy and thousands of lives so situations become unsupportable since there you can be not stupid and still get boned by circumstances.
But then you’re put in a position of thinking, ‘Hey, by putting the emphasis on individual responsibility while simultaneously allowing wild government and corporate excess, what’s being said socially is: F. You. We don’t care. We got the power and the money. And guess who gave it to us? You.’
Now that’s Stupid.
All of which speaks to the fact of poor public education, enshrined deceit by governments and corporations engendering a fabric of willful stupidity in daily lives for those without power and money, thus without a voice. And those who are truly The Stupid express themselves in imitation of those in power: loud, pushy and overbearing.
Maybe it goes like this. You have a problem. It requires acknowledged and described details presented to authorities who are capable of contriving to bring a solution to the forefront of what you’re dealing with.
But dealing with it through the authorities makes for more problems. And your life doesn’t stand still like a bureaucracy does – and the bureaucraps don’t care because as long as you have a problem, they have a job.
But let’s not imagine a nation of so many smart people it’s been impossible after hundreds of years to arrive at a working solution for the convoluted daily strife of enshrined pettiness and zealous self-interest.
That would change everything, and we can’t have that – just the debates, the philosophies about why and why not.
You can see it could all be altered, the process begun anyway. But too many of the Very Important Stupid won’t have that – and more of the Want To Be Important Stupid will disrupt them. And on the micro scale the Already Important Stupid will do everything they can to prevent others whom they consider Stupid, or else, smart… to even have a voice.
So in this land of the free and the brave, plus other democracies extant, there seems to be a constancy only in the degenerating standards.
What standards? The free-floating retard soup which includes everyone. Each has a place. Only, there aren’t any places when the reasons for uniqueness are given rather than earned. Sort of like some crying baby that shits itself and figures in brilliance when the Stupid comes to clean it up. (Stupid because it’s cleaning crap, not because it’s loving, thoughtful, thinking ahead with diapers on hand, etc)
The Stupid makes no effort except demands of others. The Stupid resorts to violence, in words and tactics.
The Stupid sees no need to be reasonable and glories in its status as Victim. Or, sheep.
The Stupid is beyond intelligence, the reach of morals, the applied understanding of long range all-inclusive plans for a greater economy, country, and people.
The Stupid creates its own enemies and downfall through its unacknowledged methods of deceit, and denial.
As a fine psychologist – Otto Rank – replied one time, when asked, ‘What is beyond Psychology?’, “Stupidity.”
It bled out of my head,
like I’d been struck with
an axe,
right through the artery,
in the neck,
spraying blood around
everywhere,
like a pulsing garden hose….
It hurt, at first,
then came the feeling,
of quick relief,
of timeless beauty,
of pain avenged,
of lust aroused,
of outrage aflame,
of deep compassion,
of endless empathy,
of truest love….
Now it’s gone, cast away
like pearls before twine.
(Grin…)
You thought
I was going to call you
a pig,
didn’t you?
Hah!
Well, you’re not.
You’re a person.
I know, because
you’re reading this poem…
if that’s what it is.
I think it is,
so,
maybe it is.
Or, maybe,
it will be,
someday, when it
grows up,
and learns to rhyme.
Whew…
Just in time…..
That’s all.
Reality often sucks wind,
y’know?
S’okay, though….
It keeps us busy,
and out of some of the
mischief,
so much part
of our
nature.
We all can do
only what we
do.
Or, don’t.
Two sides, one coin.
~~ gigoid ~~
8/31/2014
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Naked Pearls
Randomness
*******
“EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED!”
~~ Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy (Page 7,023) ~~
*******
“Everyone is weird. Some of us are just proud of it.”
~~ gigoid, the dubious ~~
*******
“Do I dare disturb the universe?”
~~ T. S. Eliot ~~
*******
“Sacred cows make the best hamburger.”
~~ Mark Twain ~~
*******
“I’d rather learn from one bird how to sing
than to teach ten thousand stars how not to dance.”
~~ ee cummings ~~
*******
And you may ask yourself
“Am I right? … Am I wrong?”
And you may say to yourself
“MY GOD! … WHAT HAVE I DONE?”
~~ The Talking Heads ~~
*******
“So as this only point among the rest remaineth sure and certain,
namely, that nothing is certain. . .”
~~ Pliny The Elder ~~
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This is one for the books, I think. It will be essential, today, to trust the process, so much so, I’m not going to go back & see what I’ve done. I’ll post it, and go back later, when I’ve reached some kind of equilibrium, which should prevent me from shooting myself with my non-existent gun. On that rather surreal note, I’ll also bid thee adieu for today, as I don’t believe I can do any further damage. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes; don’t know exactly why, but, we’ll be here, nonetheless….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
“The truth you speak has no past and no future.
It is, and that’s all it needs to be.”
~~ Richard Bach, “Illusions” ~~
Beacon Hill Park, Victoria, BC
Hajime…. In retrospect, there was nothing to be done; if there had, I’d have done it. Instead, here I sit, again searching for some small inspiration to get us to our desired destination. In the ineffable, incomparable way of life at large, nothing doing, at least, not so far. Since waiting around for it to show would be rather presumptuous (for it may never show at all), I suppose I’ll need to find some other source for material to put here. That, of course, is also a hit or miss issue, but, given the circumstances, it could be worse. How, I am not sure, but, I know Murphy, and, believe me, if given half a chance, it WILL get worse.
In order to avoid any such conundrum this morning, I’ll use the new degree of ruthlessness I seem to have found, and cut this intro without mercy. It won’t take long, and actually is quite fun, if one doesn’t fight it. All you need to do is put down your adult beverage, take a deep breath, and read on. As for my part, it works pretty well, all things considered. How does it work? Easy, I push this button, and we’re gone…. Watch….
Shall we Pearl?….
Mit der Dummheit kaempfen Goetter selbst vergebens.
One of yesterday’s commenters mentioned today’s featured artist; it’s been a while since we’ve included his work, so, here is a pretty thorough collection of many of his most popular pieces, all in one place. Enjoy!….
Originally, I had a quote picked out for today, to lead into a discussion of the ubiquitous corporate oligarchy as it now exists in our world. However, reality intervened, to prevent any such fresh ranting today. Instead here is a more light-hearted discussion from early in 2014 to fill in for today. It’s a fun one, so, have fun…..
From 1/30/2014:
“We’re not into science fiction because it’s _good literature_, we’re into it because it’s _weird_. Follow your weird, ladies and gentlemen. Forget trying to pass for normal. Follow your geekdom. Embrace your nerditude. In the immortal words of Lafcadio Hearn, a geek of incredible obscurity whose work is still in print after a hundred years, “woo the muse of the odd”.” — Bruce Sterling, addressing a convention of SF writers
A few days ago, I experienced an epiphany regarding the solutions we need to find to the issues of global warming and climate change…. This statement is one that, though not exactly what I’m talking about, is in the right ballpark…. Finding answers to what is happening in the real world has been part of what science fiction writers have done, peripherally, for many years, in the sense that the stories they write explore the concepts involved in ways that demonstrate the questions, and can, hopefully, point the way to finding the answers we now need…
There have been many, many stories…. full length novels, novellas, short stories… all written over the last two hundred years or so, that talk about the most critical issue we now face, to wit: the climate changes produced by our insane pollution of the atmosphere. There has also been a lot of speculation and talk among the people who do the writing, and those who write about them, all discussing possible scenarios for possible futures….. Somewhere among all that talk and discussion, there MUST be an idea that we can use to turn the tide that we have so foolishly turned against us…..
In other words, in a metaphorical sense, we need to go out into the realms of fantasy and imagination, to find the elves, so we can benefit from the wisdom of their counsel…. Even though I already know what they will tell us…. The elves always give the same counsel…. we will need to find a Hero, who can step forward to assume the Quest to save mankind from the folly of his own greed and ambition…. Metaphorically, this is absolutely correct…. what it will translate to in real terms is yet to be seen, but, something needs to be done to find an answer, and soon, for the time we have to accomplish anything that will work is growing smaller rapidly….
“There is something inside all of us that yearns not for reason but for mystery… not for penetrating clear thought but for the whisperings of the irrational… not for science but for wizardry disguised as science.. not for rationally founded influence but for magic.” — Karl Jaspers
In the meantime, rather than ranting at you to get out there and try to find an elf, who can then lead us to his where his people have gone, far over the Western Sea,…. I’ll put together an old-school pearl, with some good advice and/or some snarky comments about the assholes who got us to this point in the first place….
“For me, all I can do is spit in the eye of my fears by living each day with as much passion and commitment as possible to what truly counts, such as love and justice. To give the into the fear and hopelessness would be to declare defeat, something I am not ready to do while there is still the will to struggle.” — Lawrence Paradis
“You shouldn’t think about *how* we’re doing this. You should ask yourself, ‘why?'” — Penn Jillette
“To the uneducated, an A is just three sticks.” — Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne
“I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.” — Agatha Christie
“A little folly is desirable in him that will not be guilty of stupidity.” — Michael de Montaigne — Book iii, Chap. ix
“Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.” — Oscar Wilde
“Must not all things at the last be swallowed up in death?” — Plato
See? There is a perfect example of why I seldom make precognitive assumptions about a particular pearl, especially BEFORE it is constructed…. This is a grand pearl, but, no snarky comments to be seen…. ‘S’okay, it doesn’t need them….
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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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Naked Pearls
The best wisdom at affordable prices….
*******
“A wise man first determines what is within his control;
all else is then irrelevant.”
~~ Epictetus ~~
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“Between the vision and the act lies the shadow.”
~~ T. S. Eliot ~~
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“Joy is wealth and love is the legal tender of the soul.”
~~ Robert Green Ingersoll ~~
*******
“Always we hope
Someone else has the answer
Some other place will be better
Some other time it will all work out.
This is it.
No one else has the answer
No other place will be better
And it has already turned out.
At the center of your being
You have the answer;
You know who you are and what you want.
There is no need to turn outside
For better seeing.
Rather abide at the center of your being
For the more you leave it
The less you learn.
Search your own heart and see
the way to do is to be.”
~~ Lao Tzu ~~
*******
“we can never be born enough.
We are human beings;
for whom birth is a supremely welcome mystery,
the mystery of growing:
the mystery that happens only and whenever
we are faithful to ourselves.”
~~ e. e. cummings. ~~
*******
“…and remember you’re a Man, not just god,
and for you there aren’t and never will be any easy answers,
only questions, and no reasons,
only causes, and no meaning,
only intelligence, and no destination
and no kindly magic smiling down from above,
and no fires to goad you from below,
only Yourself and the Universe
and what you make out of the interface between the two equals.”
~~ Keith Laumer, _Night of Delusions_ ~~
*******
“On SECOND thought,
maybe I’ll heat up some BAKED BEANS
and watch REGIS PHILBIN..
It’s GREAT to be ALIVE!!”
~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~
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Since Zippy finished off that most excellent old-school pearl with such panache, I don’t think I’ll need to get too fancy here at the close. Rather than make any such faux pas, we’ll just note, it’s done, and we’re done for today. We will, with great anticipation, see y’all again tomorrow, as long as the Universe holds together. It’s got a solid record of doing so; most likely, we’ll see y’all then….
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.
“Remember this,–that very little is needed to make a happy life.”
~~ Marcus Aurelius Antoninus — Meditations, vii, 67 ~~
Choosing the next species of prey….
Hajime…. I shan’t apologize for today’s mess, but, I will say this; it’s a mess. Oh, from an objective standpoint, it probably will seem to be fairly normal, for a Pearl of Virtual Wisdom. But, don’t let that fool you; it’s not normal. But, then, I suppose one could say that about this blog in general, without fear of contradiction, so, we’ll just pretend none of it makes any difference, (which it doesn’t, really…) and be done with it, for the nonce. A nonce, by the way, is middle English for ‘don’t ask’….
Perhaps that was a bit brusque. Yes? Well, so be it; neither we, nor the gods, can change the past, even with a software editor. If you couldn’t tell, my muse is still missing in action; I’m sort of wandering around here in the intro, looking for something to say, or, alternately, to not say, which might make the difference, pulling this pathetic attempt at coherence back from the edge, into the realm of literature worth reading. What? Oh, I think that’s a little harsh, don’t you? Yeah? Wanna step outside & say that?….
Whoa…. Sorry, I didn’t realize we had a hothead in the group today. I’ll have to be more careful from here on. In fact, since that sort of used up all I had to put here, perhaps we’ll just be on our way down the page, to see what sort of other trouble we can get into. Hmm…. I think, even THAT may be more than we’re capable of today, but, what the hell? The insurance is currently paid up, for a change, so, we’ll take a chance. If y’all would kindly resume your seats, and place your adult beverages in the holders provided, we can get this slow on the toad…. Ready or not, here we go…..
Shall we Pearl?….
“The bird of paradise alights only upon the hand that does not grasp.”
~~ John Berry ~~
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It’s been a week or so since I last played any of this organization’s music. Since it is all music from some of the finest ‘unknown’ street artists in the world, playing together, sometimes in a studio, sometimes out of doors, and always with more musicians doing the same song, elsewhere in the world. Some of the best cuts of covered songs I’ve heard in my life have been produced, with more old, and new material coming all the time. Here is one of their most excellent Live Outside series; the rest may be found on You Tube, by checking the choices offered at the end of this video…. Enjoy!…. Then go donate some cash; they’re doing good work, at all the schools for music they’ve opened around the world, and operate solely by donation and sales of music.
One might think since I had a day off, there would be a fresh rant. So much for expectations, eh? I do have one I am working on, but, it’s not done, and I’m not done with it. To fill in today, here is a pretty decent, fairly short little indictment of the Asininnies and Mundanes from the second day of 2014…. I hope you enjoy it….
From 1/2/2014:
Above, in the intro section, I referred to an idea that occurred to me while I sat in the morning air, engaging in my favorite pastime, random thinking about Stuff…. This idea is a delicate one, and needs to be explored a bit more deeply on my part before I bring it out into the light of day…. I’ll just say this: it has to do with the Internet, the Asininnies, and You/Me(Us)…. and it’s a bit disturbing….. In case you don’t recall, Asininnies are those humans on planet Earth who live by the code of Me First, regardless of what other people or animals may have to say about it…
They are the Beloved Ruling Class, those professional politicians (parasites) who claim to lead, but more accurately, crave power; the Shadowy Corporate Masters, those bankers and old money warmongers who buy and sell the world at their whim, including the loyalty of the BRC, and those others who are also Asinine by nature…. There are more… The entitled Police and Military Goons, The Athlete Rock Stupid Role Models, The Media Cowards, who unconsciously help the Asininnies accomplish their manipulations by parroting their lies without complaint, or exposure….
Most heinously, which adjective I use deliberately, these Asininnies are all supported by the efforts of the last group in the category…. the Priestly Hierarchies, those deliberately delusional fanatics who live by faith rather than reason (though they would claim the opposite….) By encouraging their constituencies to follow their lead, and accept all that the worldly authorities tell them to do in their lives, they teach the people how to obey, both by example, and by designed application of guilt over original sin….
What a scam! Convince people they are bad because of what some original member of the tribe did, which may or may not have happened in truth, then, use the ensuing manufactured sense of guilt to cause behavioral changes at direction…. Willing mental slaves, all for the price of a good story line…. gotta love those early Christians and Muslims, eh? They knew human nature, with its susceptibility to the lie, and its gullibility to the apparent truth….. What ticks me off is that it continues unabated after thousands of years…. It goes a long way toward proving Robert Heinlein’s statement on the subject, to wit: “Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.”
That, then, is the current scenario we have in the world today, as I pointed out above…. Internet, Asininnies, and Us…. In the near future, I’ll expand on the idea that occurred to me, but, I’ve taken enough time and energy this morning to make sure all the players are known, and clearly…. I don’t want any confusion about any of that after I begin my rant, whenever that may be…..
For now, I’ll just put together a short five-star pearl, which, hopefully, will give y’all a preview of the rant that is to be…. Let’s see what SB can do about that…..
“I do not distinguish by the eye, but by the mind, which is the proper judge of the man.” — Seneca (8 BC) — On a Happy Life, 2, (L’Estrange’s Abstract, Chap, i.)
“Now that the government is going to balance the budget, it is up to the rest of us to budget the balance. Some folks think we are getting too much government these days. They should be very happy that we are not getting all of the stuff we are paying for.” — Smart Bee
“The devil knew not what he did when he made man politic.” — William Shakespeare
“We are locked into a system of “fouling our own nest,” so long as we behave as independent, rational free-enterprisers.” — Garrett Hardin
“Know yourself. Don’t accept your dog’s admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful.” — Ann Landers
Perfect…. Good enough to go on, for sure…..
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Stray Cats
The veils that billow and fold
between dreams and reality
may sometimes part,
showing the visions of one to the other,
blending, bleeding as one,
only to bring us up short,
closely jammed against immovable fate.
Still, we keep our watch,
seeking to find the vision
that brings with it the mark of reality’s regard,
a humble mind, and a compassionate heart.
Events of broad impact draw us away again,
distracting with shiny glitter and tinny music,
leaving our feelings raw and bruised,
the victim of universal disregard.
Now, in the twilight of years, the music is fading,
and the glitter has all gone….
yet the memory of visions remains sharp and clear,
melancholy reminders of reality’s promises,
unkept…..
~~gigoid~~
4/12/2013
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Yep. It’s another random, harlequin pearl that speaks about Life at Large; this one mostly talks about how to live it with some boldness and style….Or, maybe that’s just me; y’all can decide for yourselves….
“Confront a child, a puppy, and a kitten with a sudden danger; the child will turn instinctively for more assistance, the puppy will grovel in abject submission, the kitten will brace its tiny body for a frantic resistance.” — H. H. Munro
“Keep your fears to yourself; share your courage with others.” — Robert Louis Stevenson
“I am the shadow my words cast.” — Octavio Paz
“Arouse the mind without resting it on anything.” — Diamond Sutra
“Courage is the greatest of all the virtues. You cannot consistently practice any other virtues without being courageous.” — Maya Angelou
“Doubt is the beginning, not the end, of wisdom.” — Subtle Bee
“It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are.” — ee cummings
“For those who believe in God, most of the big questions are answered. But for those of us who can’t readily accept the God formula, the big answers don’t remain stone-written. We adjust to new conditions and discoveries. We are pliable. Love need not be a command or faith a dictum. I am my own God.
We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.” — Charles Bukowski
“Do not go gentle into that good night
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light”
~~ Dylan Thomas ~~
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Well, it’s done. As noted in the intro, it’s a mess, but, it’s my mess, so, back off. Just kidding, of course. I do that sort of thing when I’m trying to distract y’all from thinking about the relative quality of our output…. Is it working? Oh. Okay, then, we’ll just go, and try again tomorrow. Provided I am still alive, (good odds on that), and still crazy, (even better odds there….) I’ll be here, with new stuff to throw at y’all…. See y’all then, for sure and for certain….
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.
There is great beauty in going through life without anxiety or fear.
Half our fears are baseless, and the other half discreditable.
~~ Bovee ~~
Winter Memories
Hajime….. Since my life has evolved into one long session of being domesticated by a female cat, producing Pearls has assumed a smaller size and shape, at least in terms of how much time I am allowed to spend in the creative mode necessary to do so. In fact, I’m slipping in this intro section during a time I had to enforce as being time to type; otherwise, I’d be playing ‘chase the mouse’ or ‘roll the balls’ until one of us dropped… and, I think we all know which of us would drop first…..
Given the state of affairs in which I find myself, it becomes thus even more significant to have completed ANY of the material you’ll find below today. I’ve been bleeding it out in small pieces, as I find the time, much like those times in Hell when my pain makes it impossible to either sit, stand, walk, hold still, or twiddle a finger. So, you see, I actually already possess the necessary skills to do this; maybe that’s why I continue to do so. Or, maybe it’s the ever-present specter of insanity and darkness that threatens to engulf me when I DON’T get this out of my system…. Who knows? If I did, I’d probably be doing something else, so, I may as well go with the flow…. right?
Ah, hell, there I go again, waffling. Since I promised myself to stop that, I’ll play nice, & finish this torturous beginning so we can get something a bit more constructive, if not enlightening, done before they bring in my medications…. Oops. Did I say that out loud? Crap. Oh, well, there goes the credibility gap again…. Fuck it, I’m outta here, and so are y’all, because, hey, closed cabin…. Better hang on, Luigi’s back….
Shall we Pearl?….
“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, and die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.” — Robert A. Heinlein, The Notebooks of Lazarus Long
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I was trying to decide what kind of music to include today, when I realized I wanted to hear the ‘best’ of whatever type I felt like hearing…. That, naturally, led me to think of this organization, for the music I hear every time is, without doubt, the best I’ve heard in my life, for it is ALL straight from the human heart…. every note, every voice, every instrument is played with love, and joy….. so, enjoy!….
The piece upon which I’ve been working is still incomplete; hence, yet another archived post. Here is a discussion of perception, and how it affects our daily lives, in a political/social sense…. Enjoy!….
From 1/12/2014:
Perception is, perhaps, the most elementally intricate quality we possess as living creatures. Through the five-plus senses we bring to the process, we receive information from the universe that gives us what we require, in order to be able to interact with Reality, (another term for the Universe… for the purposes of this discussion, anyway….) in some sort of way that is meaningful to us. This information comes to us in a variety of forms, and our minds must utilize the complex, yet subtle qualities of imagination, reason, logic, and all those mental functions that our minds have discovered to organize the information, functions whose etiology are basically unknown to us, as part of our basic nature. We don’t think about, or feel in any way, the process of seeing, or smelling, or touching, except in the context of the sense itself…. We just DO it….
Yet each sense is such that it works WITH all the others, in ways we don’t really understand, to give us the pictures in our heads that show us how our minds perceive the world outside us…. We, being the imaginative creatures we are, have evolved all sorts of ways to organize and utilize our perceptions, all of which are again connected (remember that complexity part…) to another facet of Reality, which is our motivation for what we do, an outgrowth of our judgments of what we perceive…. We perceive, we judge, we act on that judgment, all according to our basic outlook on life, and how we choose to accept, and use, what we perceive….
This subject, I know, is a bit esoteric for such a venue, but, I’m leading up to a point, which is this…. We all perceive the world differently, but, that doesn’t mean the world takes that into any account…. It’s one of our hardest lessons to accept when we are forced to admit that the Universe, in all its majestic glory, couldn’t give a tiny little crap for us, or for what we think of the way things are…. If we choose to interact with it in such a way that we are breaking the basic rules that everything works by, then we will have to pay the price, in the only way that the Universe uses to exact payment, to wit: extinction….
Now, given that, it seems to me that my ranting about all of this*** is a bit like that ant crawling up the elephant’s leg, with belligerent intentions…. In short, it’s not really a productive way to achieve whatever it is I’m trying to do, as I can see only one possible outcome, which, the odds, and logic, would tend to dictate doesn’t include any need for any worry on the part of the elephant…. All that is a long winded, pedantic way of saying that my rants, while satisfying on a personal level for the release they provide, are mostly a waste of breath, in a practical sense…. Nothing will change because I rant, in spite of the need for change being the whole purpose behind the rant…
The major part of that reason, I think, lies in the fact that I’m preaching to the choir…. None of the ffolkes, or folks, who read my blog, (with the possible exception of any bored NSA drones who may be assigned to do so merely because of my anti-government stance, shown by the use of key phrases indicating my opposition….), are in any position to make any of the changes themselves, even though many of them would be willing to do so, I think…. But, the people who inhabit the halls of our government in Washington, and in other capitols around the world, DON’T read my blog, nor do they agree with most of the things about which I rant….
Why is that, do you think? Why don’t the people who govern us agree with any of what I say in my rants? It’s all stuff that can be proven, and is certainly important enough to all of us to warrant discussion… But, they don’t agree… They have their own agendas, which don’t look like anything that anyone in the great unwashed masses could come up with, even though they supposedly represent US…. These are our representatives, ffolkes…. I found this short comment in an old Pearl, which I think sums up most of my point pretty well…..
(From May 12, 2012):
“Such bickerings to recount, met often in these our writers, what more worth is it than to chronicle the wars of kites or crows flocking and fighting in the air?” — John Milton (1608-1674) — The History of England, Book iv
Did you ever wonder why a group of crows is called a congress? I didn’t. It makes perfect sense to me…. Dark, sinister looking creatures who act in odd ways, even for birds. Their behaviors tend to lean toward stealing shiny objects from wherever, or stealing the food of people or other animals and birds. When they speak, it is in a voice that grates on the ear like fingernails on a slate. In groups, they mill around, cackling and grumbling and jostling each other, until they all fly off to different areas to carry out whatever nefarious schemes they have hatched among themselves.
No, I have no problem envisioning a congress of crows; in fact, I believe they are in session, now, in Washington, D.C. …. Why, look! Here’s a list of them now!…..
Them’s some affluent crows, ain’t they?…. That’s what happens when any politician is given the keys to the treasury….. One last query…. Who gets to say how much money members of Congress get paid? Answer: They are authorized to set that themselves…. Okay, one more… Who authorized them? Why, they authorized that themselves, of course….
I’m tired now…. I’ve managed to spout off now about the Asininnies, or, at least, about the 545 of them who inhabit the top levels of OUR democratic bureaucracy, for a good, oh, thousand words or so, and once again, it will end up being read by those who mostly agree… (I’m making the assumption, reluctantly, but, with confidence, that if they DIDN’T agree, they’d leave a comment to say so…. I know MY Gentle Readers would do so….), so, I’m perfectly aware that no changes will happen because of what I’ve written….
I don’t feel any better, either, damn it!….. 😦
*** It must be noted that “all of this” should be understood to include: global warming, and the impending ecological disaster, overpopulation, criminality of the Asininnies, most especially the egregiously selfish actions of the Beloved Ruling Class, the Shadowy Corporate Masters, Snakeheads in general, (human predators…. pimps, slavers, pedophiles, and the ilk…), and the Priestly Hierarchies….. Oh, yes, and, on the rare occasion, exposing Pooh’s evil twin….
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Fatal Supplication
But what becomes of our deepest dangerous dreams?
Does fantasy rescue any part of life’s imperiled favor?
Reality becomes but silvery pairs of mismatched teams,
Dining with affable elegance, such diffident waste to savor.
Who decides what sorrows to carry bravely to term?
Will fragrant moments of sanity make hasty manifestation?
Only Time’s patient mutability sends messages so firm,
Yet salient impersonal vexation lends credence to ripe imagination.
Can folly bring out sadness and rampant visions of beauty?
What kindness can be found in distant open relations?
With countless faces the dead disturb with dire impunity,
From separate caches of wisdom come simple stylish privations.
Shall shallow emotion serve to provide such explanations?
When does avaricious intensity assume primary focus?
Plain answers slide softly through with multiple mitigations,
While conceptually indignant concepts engage a fatally personal locus.
~~ gigoid ~~
9/20/2012
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Naked Pearls
The Search for Meaning
*********
“Though leaves are many, the root is one ;
Through all the lying days of my youth,
I swayed my leaves and flowers in the sun.
Now I may wither into the truth.”
~~ W B Yeats ~~
“I am, therefore I am.” — Akira
“It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are.” — ee cummings
“Become what you are.” — Buddha
“Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look there.” — Marcus Aurelius
“Reason is not measured by size or height, but by principle.” — Epictetus (c. 60 AD) — Discourses, Book i, Chap. xii
“There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better or worse as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given him to till.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance
“Once upon a time, I dreamed of becoming a great man. Later, a good man. Now, finally, I find it difficult enough and honor enough to be–a man.” — Edward Abbey
“The ideals which have always shone before me and filled me with the joy of living are goodness, beauty, and truth. To make a goal of comfort or happiness has never appealed to me; a system of ethics built on this basis would be sufficient only for a herd of cattle.” — Albert Einstein
“If you can see a thing whole… it seems that it’s always beautiful. Planets, lives…But close up, a world’s all dirt and rocks. And day to day, life’s a hard job, you get tired, you lose the pattern. You need distance, interval. The way to see how beautiful the earth is, is to see it as the moon. The way to see how beautiful a life is, is to see it from the vantage point of death.” — Ursula K. Le Guin, Dispossessed
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Having completed my chosen duty, I shall, forthwith, take my leave, as is my wont upon finishing. Go figure…. I’m on cat time now, so, I’d best be on my way, with the usual caveat, a warning, as it were, that I’ll be back tomorrow to try again…. Go figure…..
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.
“Hate, the price you pay
For thinking you got the only way…”
~~ Blues Traveler ~~
Is that a spider?….
Hajime…. Thirty-six years ago, I was blessed by the birth of a son. It’s been a long road, far from over yet, but, I wouldn’t trade a single second of it for anything anyone could possibly offer. He’s turned into a very good person; devoted to, and, patient with his own children, and fair in his dealings with others. What more could a father ask? Moreover, he still talks with me, and, even listens to my advice. I’m as proud of him as I can be of anything in the world, and, can only wish my own father could have known him longer….
That said, with tears flowing, it might be best to just get on with this. I completed much of yesterday, and filled in the rest this morning, so, it is probably a bit choppy in its structure, and may not flow like usual. But, I really like the video selection today; I feel strongly about how music may be our one remaining chance to bring the masses of humanity together to fight the oligarchy, so as to sustain humanity as a whole species, one with any chance to survive the next century. The ranting section is from the archives, and isn’t too hard on the reader, and the poem is one of my favorites….. The final section, naturally, takes care of itself….
I guess that covers all that an intro section requires; it did get us three paragraphs in without much struggle. To carry on in the same efficient fashion, I’ll forgo any further literary tricks or, well, fillers, and just get on with it. We’ll use the Tardis, and a couple of the toys it comes with, and won’t need any of the usual crap to get us going…. See, that works like this….
Shall we Pearl?….
“…common human laws and interests and emotions have no validity or significance in the vast cosmos-at-large…” — H. P. Lovecraft
As I’ve related in previous posts, I’m a softie, in some ways; it’s a reaction, in a strange way, to my understanding of human nature…. We humans are a vicious, brutish lot, mostly; a bundle of contradictory sensory organs supplying an overwhelming amount of sensory data to an overly imaginative brain, with more intelligence than is needed to survive, all of which leaves us a confused, mostly mindless, as opposef to mindful, milling mass of hairless apes, who cannot comprehend most of their own perceptions, much less make any sense of a complex, wonderful universe that doesn’t give a crap about us in any way…. It kinda left us in a grumpy mood, I think….
I’ve seen, and dealt with a lot of violence in my life, on a personal level, as a specialist in managing assaultive behavior in humans, during their loss of control during active psychosis, or other mental disorder. In short, I’ve had my fill, and plenty more, of hand-to-hand combat. I didn’t go to war; having been raised in the Army, by a Master Sergeant, I was already quite familiar with the whole idea, as well as the knowledge and skills taught to the child of any soldier. I understood the principles of politics in deciding where the Army was sent; having moved every couple years until the age of 10, it was clear personal choices were not an issue…..
So, I decided to avoid the whole Vietnam issue; I registered as a C.O, & eventually beat the draft. This meant I went to work in mental hospitals, where I spent 11.5 years, approximately, engaging in over 750 serious incidents of interpersonal violence (i.e., fighting hand-to-hand),in order to keep someone from hurting another person, or, destroying property, or, often enough, making a serious attempt to rip my head off….
In all those incidents, I was efficient enough to only get hurt once, & accidentally hurt only one person (a teenager who rushed me…. I was holding the one who attacked him on the floor when he attacked me; I had to take him down quickly, & couldn’t be as careful as usual…. He hit the floor a bit hard….)…. but, mostly, just got sicker and sicker of seeing people lose control, without ever learning why it happened to them….
Kinda like the average person in society…. and, in a larger sense, exactly like what the entities called ‘governments’ have always used as their primary method of interacting, to wit; they fight, and squabble, and act like little children having their toys taken away….
When the war in Vietnam began, I, like the American I was raised to be, informed myself as to the reasons for engaging our troops in S. E. Asia. It was clear to me at 17, the ONLY reason we were there was to protect the business interests of the heroin trade. (As an aside, Safeway, and a small number of companies made a literal fortune in Vietnam, supplying all the food & supplies for the armed forces there….) The BS being fed to the public at the time, about the Red Menace, and how it would be on our shores in California if we didn’t stop it first, was, to my mind, the purest sort of shit imaginable…. Japan had already tried that, and look how well that went for them….
All that said, I’ve watched our country, and the arms dealers who run it, for the most part, engage our young, impressionable teens and young adult males in seemingly endless, viciously destructive, illegal wars, all completely without any Constitutional consent, nor any rational, or even true reason stated, for 65 years now. ALL of our engagements since WWII have been solely to protect business…. period. Anyone who believes differently just hasn’t been paying attention, and, seemingly would believe a politician if they told them their own asshole was a threat was to society….
Hmph….. and, these fucking idiots think they’re Americans…. What they are is a huge group of ignorant slaves to illusion….
So, here’s this organization, Playing for Change, (https://playingforchange.com/), made up of musicians, both professional and amateur, as well as regular, average people, from around the entire world, who make songs, and send them out as a message to the world’s people, of the need to stand up and fight back, to take our planet, and our lives, back from the hands of the oligarchs, who have forsaken all their humanity for the sake of Ego driven desire…. I wept all the way through the first one I heard (also the first one here), a Grateful Dead tune called Ripple, from the late 1960’s. Some absolutely fantastic singers, musicians, and regular folks from all over the world sing together, in their own words at times, to spread the message needed to unite the people in a spirit of humanity, rather than in fear, so desired by those would be kings…
Listen, and join in the songs, ffolkes…. It’s time for revolution, which, after all, just means change…. and, nobody can stop change…..
“If you’re going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance.”
~~ Fatalist Bee ~~
********
“If you can walk, you can dance; if you can talk, you can sing.””
The video section today was quite enough of a rant for me; to save y’all from any further bludgeoning of your sensitivities, I’ll bring in an archived pearl, of a type I used fairly often in that year, a pearl with comments on each entry…. It will do for our purpose here today, which is to merely get out of this while still sane…
From 9/12/2012:
This is an old school pearl for your reading pleasure, or nearest approximation of same…. a bit different, with some internal comments from yours truly (in parentheses for your convenience….), to give directional hints that may or may not lead you to the point being developed…. but, funny, at least, as much as I can make them….
“… But when he [the people’s champion] has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader.” — Plato (428-348? B.C.), “The Republic”
(When I read this, or sentiments like it, I always get a picture in my head of the two Bushes…. GW and GHW, otherwise known as the Senior Shrub and the Junior Shrub, or vice versa…. The national mourning that took place yesterday is the best example of their work in this arena….)
“My first American ancestor, gentlemen, was an Indian-an early Indian. Your ancestors skinned him alive, and I am an orphan. All those Salem witches were ancestors of mine. Your people made it tropical for them…. The first slave brought into New England out of Africa was an ancestor of mine-for I am a mixed breed, an infinitely shaded and exquisite Mongrel.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910)
(Me too! I loved this when I first saw it, back in High School, a VERY LONG time ago… so long ago, it was hot off the press…… The best part is, every one of those folks who believe themselves to be blue-blooded Americans are exactly the same make-up… There are very few real pure-bloods left anywhere in the world, and certainly not in a country with the diverse population we have….. we’re all, technically speaking, close to being “mutts”, every one of us…..)
“Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.” — Galbraith’s Law
(I am reminded of those folks who are busy trying to convince everyone that they aren’t against Obama because he’s black, and then turn around and support R&R, who have all but guaranteed to return racism and bigotry to government….. Hell, just look at one of their primary talking point slogans, the key part of which is, and I quote, “…we’ll take America back….” Take it back? From whom? From other Americans? Does this mean the current government aren’t real Americans? That sounds suspiciously of both racism, AND treason, to me…..)
“The clinching proof of my reasoning is that I will cut anyone who argues further into dog meat.” — Sir Geoffery de Tourneville (ca. 1350)
(Ah, the good old days…. sometimes, I wish we would see someone in the House, or the Senate, say this at the end of a speech, just to see if anyone is paying attention…)
“Somewhere in suburban Honolulu, an unemployed bellhop is whipping up a batch of illegal psilocybin chop suey!!” — Zippy the Pinhead
(Okay, I admit it… this one isn’t part of the message inherent in the other quotes…. I just like it….. Though, now that I think about it, the fact that it is entirely possible this is true, does say something about the subject at hand, to wit: society and government thereof…. What it says could be paraphrased as “If God is in charge here, I am angry; if He is not, I am frightened….” — Smart Bee)
No one ever made laws keeping people from making fools of themselves. — Smart Bee
(This is a wonderful end point for this discussion, or at least, it is such an ending for the discussion going on in my head….. I think this is very, very true, sadly…. Moreover, I believe that the laws we do pass actually are the proof of the pudding, in terms of people making fools of themselves…. especially when we try to legislate morality…..)
That’s enough mental torture for one day….. I hope the conclusion these quotes led to is clear…. if not, well, that’s okay, because I never hold quizzes…. and hopefully, you got a chuckle or two from reading it…. and if not, well, console yourself with the fact that it is done…..
********************************
When life calls, ready or not….
Memories are all we have sometimes
to keep our sanity intact,
with learned phrases and subtle rhymes
lessening life’s vicious, vibrant impact.
Presently all seems composed and intent
in stark contrast to hollow day,
forlorn patchwork emotions of unheralded bent,
fill up night’s bower, leaving hell to pay.
Such vigorous and elevated temper
brings us rare moments to ponder,
filled with lessons all need to remember
lest base perception lose valued wonder.
Laugh loud when entropy sticks fast
leaving shameless anger in its wake.
Let bygones pass quietly into the past
reaping only what is left to take.
Final words of wise imagination
tell us living well’s the best revenge, it appears
ever eluding choirs and congregations
finally finding home, never buried in tears.
~~ gigoid ~~
9/6/2012
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By any other name, ‘t would smell as sweet….
Today’s final pearl is, I think, not too shabby. It’s a simple pearl, speaking only of “things we learn in life….” Enjoy!
********
“They hear a voice in every wind,
And snatch a fearful joy.”
~~ Thomas Gray — On a Distant Prospect of Eton College, Stanza 4 ~~
********
“But evil is wrought by want of thought,
As well as want of heart.”
~~ Thomas Hood — The Lady’s Dream ~~
********
“A church is a place in which gentlemen who have never been to heaven
brag about it to persons who will never get there.”
— H. L. Mencken
********
“Too rashly charged the troops of error,
and remain as trophies unto the enemies of truth.”
~~ Sir Thomas Browne — Religio Medici, Part i, Sect. vi ~~
********
“Doubt is the key to knowledge.”
~~ Persian Proverb ~~
********
“No method nor discipline can supersede the necessity of being forever on the alert.”
~~ Henry Thoreau ~~
********
“To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing it’s best, night
and day to make you everybody else, means to fight the hardest battle
which any human can fight and never stop fighting.”
~~ e.e. cummings, “A Miscellany” ~~
********
“Everything hurts!”
~~ Michaelangelo Antonioni ~~
********
“Alone, I look down the road.
Each must walk one’s own path.
~~ 365 Tao ~~
********************************
Well, it’s done. Leelu isn’t happy with me, as I had to ignore her for a time; ignoring doesn’t sit well with any cat; they consider it their sole provenance. But, in spite of the new bite and scratch marks, I’m reasonably content this won’t hurt anyone. Offend, perhaps, but, that is fine; that’s part of what I’m shooting for, anyway. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I can stop this bleeding in time…. Leelu isn’t happy right now…. No worries. A bit of tuna, and some crumpled up paper, and we’ll be fine….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
“The company of just and righteous men is better than wealth and a rich estate.”
~~ Euripides ~~
Trained consumers on Portobello Road
Another day dawns, bringing with it the promise of change, as it does each morning…. How we meet that possibility can determine not only how goes the day, but, lest we find some alertness quickly enough, for many days to follow…. It would be swell if I could figure out a way to recapture the feeling of power and hope with which it has been my wont to greet the day; these days it’s more a feeling of resignation combined with the will required to actually move my aching bones out of bed….
Fortunately for me, and, quite frankly, for everyone else who may come into contact with me today, there is coffee. Also quite frankly, on the day anyone tells me I would have to give it up, or die, well, I’m afraid that’s the day I’d die, even if it were true. Harsh, maybe, but, true as the day. But, I digress….
Not bad for trivial, eh? How else to start such a grand day at the office. Oh, wait. Never mind. Well, the triviality part is true, so, we’re good, even if we don’t have to go into any office any more. Hey, look, it’s a literary device! What will he think of next to get out of actually coming up with a real introduction? Easy, duh…. Anything at all will do, since the only way to find out is to keep coming back to see. Hah!
Whoops. No teasing the GR’s, dude, or I’ll take away the time you’re allowed to access the keyboard. Who am I talking to? Why? Does it matter? It COULD be one of my alternate personalities, ala The Belle Jar. It could be robot I once used to write, the day I didn’t feel like it. Or, it could just be another device, which, for those of y’all who’ve been here before, is the surest bet for any real money. But, again, I digress.
Why look, ffolkes! It’s an intro. It’s of legal length, has been in and out of reality at least three times in four paragraphs, and is still at a point where it could fall into a mini-rant, had I less discipline. As it is, I’ll once again bow to the one fatal flaw we humans share, our tendency to go for what is most expedient, by using this as another plot device to get us the hell out of here, and, on with the slow, er, show…. What did you expect at these prices, eh?
Shall we Pearl?….
“Don’t be confused by surfaces; in the depths everything becomes law. What is necessary, after all, is only this: solitude, vast inner solitude. Walk inside yourself and meet no one for hours–that is what you must be able to attain.” — Rainer Maria Rilke
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The Divine Miss M in Flight
Image from wsj.com via Google Images
Okay, so, the recording quality on this one isn’t the best; You Tube can be inconsistent, depending on the age of the recording and the skill of the recorder. But, Bette’s laser voice is in clear evidence, and that’s good enough for me…. Enjoy, ffolkes; she’s one of the best performers ever, in my opinion, with one of the most expressive voices I’ve ever heard.
Having been offline so long, I’m still getting caught up to what’s been in the news of late (I don’t watch TV or listen to radio anymore….), my rants have little upon which to fix their focus, so, we’re dipping into the archives to sublimate…. Here’s one about the wealth gap, and the Asininnies, which I think remains relative…. Enjoy!….
From 1/31/2013:
“A power has risen up in the government greater than the people themselves, consisting of many and various and powerful interests, combined into one mass, and held together by the cohesive power of the vast surplus in the banks.” — Johann L. Uhland (1787-1862) — Speech, May 27, 1836
Mr. Uhland is correct in his observation, if a bit slow in making it. In truth, most likely, the usurpation of the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights began within moments of its adoption as law, and has been continuing on a daily basis ever since. In the fight against that usurpation, a major battle was lost sometime around the middle of the 19th century, around 1836 or so, when a corrupt federal judge, at the insistence of his corporate masters, approved a legal decision that gave corporations the same rights as people, opening the door to further machinations by which the banks and corporations could, have, and continue to, steal from the public without consequence…..
Today, there is a new push to reform some of the laws that enable the moneylenders to control society as they do; the concept of corporate personhood is under fire by an enraged public, tired of the endless cycle of working to try to get ahead, only to find that there is no path visible to go anywhere but down. As that astute social philosopher, George Carlin, pointed out, they (the bankers and corporate rogues) don’t want a populace capable of critical thinking; they just want workers smart enough to operate the machines, but not smart enough to wonder why they are doing so for so little compensation.
Modern technology has, thanks to the Internet, made keeping this issue out of the public eye impossible, and the corporate stranglehold on society is being challenged much more often. In one sense, this newfound spread of information is holding back the needed changes, as a lot of energy is dissipated in the public discourse that might otherwise build up into the kind of frustration that leads to revolution, and societal upheaval. But, it is also making it much harder for the miscreants who want to control everyone else keep their machinations out of the public eye. There are too many holes for them to plug….
The power these self-serving assholes hold over the rest of us is accustomed to being able to hide from public scrutiny, and I’m sure there will be attempts made to curtail some of the information they are concerned about making common knowledge. In fact, according to some of my latest email updates from the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation), there are a number of bills trying to get forced through Congress, without public discussion when possible, that are intended to limit the freedom of speech that is currently unrestricted, for the most part. A recent setback occurred when an honest judge (i.e., one that stayed bought….) rewarded his corporate masters with a decision regarding cell phones that is a serious threat to a number of technological freedoms…. In other words, the fight continues today, and it is just as important today as it was back in 1776, and 1836, when the battle was joined…
The Beloved Ruling Class, and their corporate owners, will do all they can to limit the public’s awareness of what they are doing, and they will continue to try to erode the rights of the common man. They have, by their historical behavior, and their current actions, indicated their intent quite clearly… and that intent is to arrange matters so that what they want is law, and the rest of us can go fuck ourselves silly…. because they don’t care. These people are not concerned with anything that does not serve their own ends, and will lie, cheat, steal, and kill to maintain their power…. This is not supposition, this is fact, based on history, and on observation of current events….
I guess the only real question to be answered is, how long are the rest of us going to allow them to have their way? They are killing us all with their indifference to anything but their own purposes, and we are letting them do it. Myself, I’m getting a bit tired of it, and would like to see society become a bit more active in the resistance shown to the chicanery toward the rest of us, all perpetrated by the Powers That Be… up to and including revolution…. But, then, that’s me…. I’m a bit impatient, and I’m tired of their shit….. I’m hoping more people are getting that way, as our only hope of survival in the long run is to kick the bastards out…..
“All the world over, I will back the masses against the classes.” — William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898)
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Old/New Glory
Political truth…
Oxymoronic, and trite.
Politics is crap.
~~ gigoid~~
written 7/29/2014
********
Confidentially Paranoid
Only when the bright sunlight of dreams draws nigh
can the dark glass of reality factor true value..
Destiny’s horses run in fear as time goes dry,
for grappling with fate in such traitorous venue.
In pallid costumes made of graven cast-off tales,
fallen angels and demons show the measure of faith.
No sad transactions should escape these well-marked trails,
no angry relatives cast insults to a sedentary wraith.
Meaning can always hide in literal cold intent,
yet show mere facets of honor to perishable youth.
Sincere contentions leave with sorrowful bent,
while bastardly arguments fill in poorly for the truth.
Gone are moments filled with florid blasts of rhyme
left to moulder on the shoulders of unreasonable hope.
Only courage can save these measures of unspoken time
to gather new issues, powerfully broad, painful in scope.
~~ gigoid ~~
written 2/25/2015
********************************
This is what I’d call a pearl of destiny… Oh, not because I believe in destiny, naturally; way too constricting, especially if one attempts to account for reality. But, I digress. I call it that because it just sort of found its way to where it needed to be, all on its own. All I did is keep hitting the correct key to examine the next random oyster to find the right pearls. At first, it seemed to head one way, then veered off in another, finally settling in the form you see before you. Actually, I like the way it turned out, a lot; it has, if I may say so, a certain elegance, which can be a good indicator of the quality of the results…. You tell me, and, please, enjoy the exercise…..
“knowledge is a polite word for dead but unburied imagination….
think twice before thinking.”
~~ e.e. cummings ~~
“What kind of conflict do you like? Where will you jump in and fight the good fight — body, heart, mind or spirit? If you say you don’t like conflict at all, then you have stopped growing, because it is only through engaging differences to find common ground or to triumph that we become new and invigorated. Pick your battles, but always have some place you embrace conflict.” — Callan Williams
“In charity there is no excess.” — Francis Bacon
“Great occasions do not make heroes or cowards; they simply unveil them to the eyes of men. Silently and imperceptibly, as we wake or sleep, we grow strong or weak; and at last some crisis shows what we have become.” — Brooke Foss Westcott
“You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.” — Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
WARNING: The Meaning Of Life Is Subject To Change Without Notice. — Classic Smart Bee
“Any fool can know. The point is to understand.” — Albert Einstein
“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 (1533-1592), 1580
“My life is light, waiting for the death wind,
Like a feather on the back of my hand.”
~~ T.S. Eliot ~~
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Well, we’re up a bit late, so this is a bit late getting posted; oh, well…. Such is life in the blog world, so they say; of course, nobody listens, but, hey, they said it, and it’s got to count for something!…. Enough, she said. I’ll see y’all tomorrow; as I’ve noted previously, nothing seems to keep me from doing it, so, why not, eh? See ya…..
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.
“If you can’t think for yerself, you shouldn’t think at all.”
~~ Smart Bee ~~
Oh, really? Image from the UK Telegraph Animal Pictures of the Week, June, 2015
Good morning…. While recognizing the complete lack of a pattern to the sleep I’ve managed to find of late, I’ve noted one characteristic that seems common; I’m up at least two hours, at least once per night, dealing with the drama of tardive dyskinesia, which is merely fancy terminology for the twitches, or, as we not fond of calling them, the true heebee jeebees…. If you haven’t had the dubious pleasure of experiencing this condition, allow me to congratulate you on having missed out on one of Life’s LEAST pleasurable events…. Quite frankly, it sucks….
If I’m able to sleep after the shakes have passed, all is fairly well; often, that doesn’t happen, as the process of finding ways to distract myself from the jitters, plus distractions from the pain that’s always nearby, will often wake me up so I can’t return to the arms of Morpheus…. who wouldn’t hold me, anyway, as I’m too shaky & grumpy….
Which is where y’all have the dubious distinction of finding me today…. I’m going to issue a warning, to have a care today. I’m in a really rotten mood, and I can’t seem to find any reason in me to be nice…. If I did, I’d toss it in somebody’s face. In fact, I’m going to have Luigi take y’all on to the oyster beds, while I go consume some marginally legal drugs, to see if I can find a bit of peace inside somewhere…. I’ll meet y’all down the road apiece, if I can shake this off…… If not, well, too fucking bad….. Get ’em outta here, Lou, while there’s still time….
Shall we Pearl?….
“There’s no easy quick way out, we’re gonna have to live through our whole lives, win, lose, or draw.” — Walt Kelly
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I don’t think I have to explain why I chose this music today; if you don’t get it, go back & read the intro again, you will….
“Why doesn’t everybody leave everybody else the hell alone?” — Jimmy Durante
Oh, what a perfect opening line for a rant…. Too bad I’m in such a snarky mood; I’m even too pissed off at the world at large to rant well…. Oh, there’s plenty of emotion available…. So much, I can’t afford to let it out, lest it shoot the wounded, and attack the white flag; I’m afraid any ranting I do today would leave too many open wounds and dead bodies to make it practical. Here’s one from the archives that will have to do…..
From 4/13/2013:
“Custom does often reason overrule and only serves for reason to the fool.” — John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester
This aphorism is one that I think most people would accept as true, at least part of the time. It also points up what I see as a basic flaw in human nature, a characteristic that everyone possesses, and few overmaster. It has to do with our core beliefs, and the attitude we assume as our method of perception, the orientation of our world-view, as it were. We all perceive what is out there in the universe, but we are not capable, at this time, of understanding, or even noting, all that is there to be perceived, as we are limited to what we can see, hear, feel, touch, taste, or deduce, in our immediate vicinity…. We don’t yet know how to include the input of anything not in our physical presence, other than vicariously (via TV, radio, books, etc…..).
We do, however perceive what we are near, and what we do with those perceptions is what determines how the events of our lives will proceed. What is more, each one of us perceives all of this IN A DIFFERENT WAY….. Two people can look at the same article, or event, and see two entirely different things; just ask them….. We use the same senses, the same KIND of brains to process the data, at the same time to observe the same event, yet the interpretation of those events will vary, by as many degrees as there are people perceiving them. This unique ability, to process data in a completely new and different way from anyone else’s method, is, as might be guessed, both a blessing, and a curse….. It is the latter that concerns me today…..
In order to coexist in the same place and time, people have learned to accept certain perceptions as being identical, for the purposes of communication, e.g., everyone knows what “fire” is, and knows not to touch it barehanded…. (Note: in a way, this blog is all about the process of such communications…. we explore the reality that is consensual, that we all agree to deal with as being the same for all of us…..) This is the blessing it gives, the opportunity to increase understanding, to allow people to work in tandem, making both much more capable, making two more than just one plus one….. This is a very useful tool in the real world, and has helped our species achieve the degree of civilization we now enjoy….
But, the other side of this characteristic has an equal part in our destiny, and may in fact be the more important of the two, in the ultimate sense….. You see, we are all herd animals, and desire the approval and company of our peers; without it, we suffer, much more than we even know. It is not “human” to remain alone too long…. Oh, there is nothing wrong with solitude, and much great thought is achieved when one is not distracted by others….. On the other hand, a human who is alone for too long becomes a pale imitation of his/her true self, without the presence of other minds to test his/her theories, to discuss and share their feelings and accomplishments, to vent their frustrations, to experience love….. Without these things, our spirits become small, and lose their moral compass, leaving us adrift in a reality that seems dark, and dangerous….
This dependence on custom (which I define as the total construct of human society, the set of rules and regulations, all unwritten, by which all of us shape our behavior in respect to each other…..) is so strong that, as the aphorism states, one becomes willing to set reason aside, in order to keep and maintain our feeling of having a place in society. We will assume whatever mask that society demands, at times, in order to not have to wear a mask of our own devising, one that we do not find comfortable…. This is the curse of which I spoke….
You see, there are a number of people who have no compunctions whatsoever in using this human characteristic to their own ends….. They don’t believe in any of the crap they spew, but will say or do anything to make sure that others do, because this is how they control the general populace… They spread their lies, fast and often, until they are believed…. these lies promulgate fear amongst the uneducated and timid, who then demand that “something be done!” by those in charge…. which is exactly what those people wanted, for they can now proceed to further fan the flames of fear, while surreptitiously looting the public treasury to make it seem as if they are doing something constructive…. “Hey, they’re stealing our oil! Let’s spend a few billion to bomb the crap out of them so we can keep driving SUV’s, with great cup holders!”
Oh well, I guess that’s all the rant I’ve got in me today…. It’s kind of mild I know, but I was trying to be scholarly, rather than controversial and accusatory…. I think I’ve succeeded in that, but, it doesn’t quite give the same thrill and/or release as a good, nasty rant, with some great name-calling… Well, I can always call them assholes, because, hey, it fits, and it’s easy to type…. Any who, I’ll stop now, right on the edge of illumination, and allow the Gentle Reader to follow the train of my thought to its obvious conclusion…. For those too busy, or too lazy to do so, I’ll summarize….
Don’t listen to what anyone else says, not about YOUR perceptions. And, for sure, kick the asses of anyone who tries to convince you of their integrity in an elected capacity, or any position of authority…. A lot of people, on every level of society, are just trying to control you for their own purposes, and deserve any ass-kicking that comes their way…. Be like a cat…. cats don’t give a SHIT what anybody thinks, they just are….. No apologies, no fuss, just leave me alone, because I’m busy being a cat….. This is good advice, so, listen up, I’m trying to do you a favor….. 😆
“We need very strong ears to hear ourselves judged frankly, and because there are few who can endure frank criticism without being stung by it, those who venture to criticize us perform a remarkable act of friendship, for to undertake to wound or offend a man for his own good is to have a healthy love for him.” — Michel Eyquem de Montaigne _Essays_, bk. III, ch. 11 [1595]
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Savory
Blown across steppes of imagination, a spore
finds a niche, takes root,
tries to live longer than now, before
chaos/peace descends, and desire is moot.
Feathered into fecundity, another possibility
builds a nest, hatches kin,
aims at immortality, sans responsibility,
chance manifests, as it does, again.
Leading toward peril, entropy saves creativity,
making tools, and lazy time;
solid signs imply such simple nativity,
as another snitch drops his dime.
Subtle compassion billows, passion to unfold,
covering hearts bloodied by time,
burning flesh made valid, unwaveringly bold,
turning love to brilliant rhyme.
Years weigh lightly, supported by youth,
gaining weight with each year,
only the old men know the actual truth,
peace comes only by losing our fear.
~~ gigoid ~~
Written 4/9/2013.
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Again from the archives…. Enjoy!….
From 4/12/2013:
Time now for an old school pearl, harlequin style…. Don’t fret if that makes no sense to you, it’s just the way things go around here….. Today’s group of pearls all have something in common, but, it really doesn’t matter, because the point of it all is too weird to even vocalize. Just enjoy them for their relevance in a world gone mad….
“One is not idle because one is absorbed. There is both visible and invisible labor. To contemplate is to toil. To think is to do.” — Victor Hugo
“Forget the cake, go for the icing.” — from Observations on Life From Children
“.. bleakness…. desolation…. plastic forks…” — Zippy the Pinhead
Go, Soul, the body’s guest,
Upon a thankless arrant:
Fear not to touch the best,
The truth shall be thy warrant:
Go, since I needs must die,
And give the world the lie.
~~ Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618) — The Lie ~~
“Don’t try this at home, kids. This should only be done by trained, professional idiots.” — Plucky Duck
“and what i want to know is how do you like your blueeyed boy Mister Death” — ee cummings, Buffalo Bill
“When I was five years old, my mother used to tell me that happiness was the key to Life. When I went to school, they asked me to write down what I would like to be when I grew up. I wrote down, “happy”. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment. I told them they didn’t understand Life.” — John Lennon
Just so you know, the above is one of the finest seven star pearls I’ve ever created, I think….. Mark it down…. you were here when it was first made…. fresh from the wilds of inner space…..
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I did it. It’s done, and I don’t care at all what it looks like, feels like, or hell, I don’t care if it shimmies like my sister Kate. It’s done, so, it stays…. I’m outta here, too, before I say something I’ll later regret….. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I’m still free of incarceration….
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 