“We turn not older with years, but newer every day.”
~~ Emily Dickinson ~~
Spare any fish, mister?….
Hajime…. As predicted yesterday, and many times previously, I’m back. That isn’t to say I am claiming any kudos, or expect any acknowledgment. It’s merely taking note of what exists, for now. In the final analysis, after all, we don’t have anything else but what exists now; yesterday is a memory, tomorrow is but a dream, right? Right. So, we take it as it comes, do the best we can, and move on down the road to the next moment, all with as much aplomb as we find comfortable…. Simple creatures, we are, in truth. We just don’t remember it often….
I don’t have a lot today; yesterday turned out pretty busy, in a good way. I spent the afternoon reconnecting with an old friend; we hadn’t seen each other for about 12 or more years, so, we had some ground to cover; it was good, especially when one considers all the possibilities that are engendered when two old farts start trading memories. We had a great time, and are both looking forward to staying in touch. Since all this was happening when my physical issues seem to be resolving positively, it turned into a fine day….
In the interests of not pushing our luck, I’m going with what I’ve got. It’s not too shabby; the new poem finished leaking onto the screen, and there’s a pretty fine old-school pearl to ponder. The poem’s a bit strange, but, then, so am I. Go figure, eh? Let’s get on with it, before I lose my nerve…. I say that, of course, in the hope I do have some nerve left…. Ha! Onward into the day, ffolkes. Hang on…..
Shall we pearl?….
“Truth, like surgery, may hurt. But it cures.”
~~ Han Suyin ~~
********************************
Meander….
Inimitable, grieving, garnering mere bargains, to taste;
naked apes, priapic by nature and choice,
filled up the only valid chalice, laid it to waste,
nobody asked, nor ever raised a single voice.
Formidable, dreams becoming so real;
clearly extraordinary, in a tawdry sense.
Deals to make, illusions to steal,
busy, busy, building fence after fence.
True nature’s existence, so to speak,
rests interiorly, as well as in your face.
Duality’s persistent insistence ain’t weak;
ignorance of reality leaves not a single trace.
Herds of commonality congregate before portals
shaking each other by the collar as they dance.
Chasing their illusionary dreams, as if they weren’t mortals,
born believing they ever had a chance.
Irony lives deep in the human soul, part, parcel, post;
holding four aces, betting a pair of jacks, or queens.
Expedience beckons toward mendacity, at most,
fox mocking grapes, while it dances and preens.
The wheel turns, inevitable, ponderously mundane,
grinding grain, chaff, and dust.
Bolstering connections aids those who may abstain
from the paltry tale of the bold, and just.
~~ gigoid ~~
********************************
Naked Pearls
I yam what I yam….
*******
“Our quarrel with the world is an echo
of the endless quarrel proceeding within us.”
~~ Eric Hoffer ~~
*******
“It’s not denial.
I’m just very selective about what I accept as reality.”
~~ Calvin (“Calvin and Hobbes”) ~~
*******
“Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along,
listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.”
~~ Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne ~~
*******
1. Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joy ride.
2. Allow the experience of fresh air
and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.
3. When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
4. When it’s in your best interest, always practice obedience.
5. Let others know when they’ve invaded your territory.
6. Take naps and always stretch before rising.
7. Run, romp, and play daily.
8. Eat with gusto and enthusiasm.
9. Be loyal.
10. Never pretend to be something you’re not.
11. If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.
12. When someone is having a bad day,
be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently.
13. Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.
14. Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
15. Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
16. On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.
17. When you are happy, dance around and wag your entire body.
18. No matter how often you are criticized,
don’t buy into the guilt thing and pout.
Run right back and make friends.
~~ Things We Can Learn from a Dog ~~
*******
“Ah, fill the Cup: – what boots it to repeat
How Time is slipping underneath our Feet:
Unborn To-morrow, and dead Yesterday,
Why fret about them if To-day be sweet!”
~~ Omar Khayyam (fl. 1100) ~~
*******
“I exist as I am, that is enough.”
~~ Walt Whitman ~~
*******
“The supreme irony of life is hardly anyone ever gets out of it alive.”
~~ Robert Heinlein ~~
*******
********************************
That will have to do. Duty, and the events of the upcoming day are calling me. If you’ll pardon me, I shall now go forth, and ignore as much of that call as I can, as is our habit as humans. Y’all have a good one, ffolkes. I’ll see if I can’t put another one together for tomorrow…. 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.
“The attacker must vanquish; the defender need only survive.”
~~ Master Po ~~
Mount Hood from the Coast Starlight….
Hajime…. I’d hoped to have a complete Pearl for y’all today; I’ve been working on one for about a week now, in between sessions of learning completely new physical paradigms developed to keep the various kinds of pain with which I am familiar from becoming so ubiquitous, naught else in my life is relevant. To be honest, it’s something of a PITA, in more ways, and senses, than merely one. In fact, calling it a major PITA wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility; hell, it might just be a colonel PITA…. Sorry, a little military humor there…
I’ll give fair warning; you may find this a bit odd. Not to say we are anything but odd most of the time; today it might be more obvious. I’ve been up since 3 AM, having given up the effort to sleep after a solid seven hours of futility and pain, not necessarily in that order. It’s now 0430, and the pain in my shoulder continues to scream, unabated, every time I lift my arm more than a quarter-inch. To scratch my nose using my left arm right now is a sure invitation for an impromptu bellow, as the motion slips a sharp, hot knife into the shoulder, at first movement…. Yes, it’s annoying, and yes, I’m pushing hard to get this done before I must go kill something…..
A new poem was also on the agenda for today, but, it’s stalled. The essay/rant I’m working on has gone epic, and isn’t quite ready for public consumption. So, what we have is a partial-Pearl, sans rant, but with a fairly recent poem. Music, too, to go along with this insane diatribe, and the old-school pearl, upon which our entire process depends. It’s a pretty good one, so, rather than just talk about it, let’s go get it done, before the authorities get wind of last night’s clandestine foray…. Oh, didn’t I mention that? Oh, well, another time. For now, let’s get this slow on the toad….
Shall we pearl?….
“I’m stealing back to my same old used to be.”
~~ Arlo Guthrie ~~
********************************
Bob Dylan
Image from freegrafix.com via Google Images
**********************************
Blood On The Tracks
**********************************
**********************************
********************************
Retrospective, defined in folly….
Yesterday
I wrote a poem.
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
********************************
Naked Pearls
Grin and bear it….
*******
“Believe me!
The secret of reaping the greatest fruitfulness
and the greatest enjoyment from life
is to live dangerously!”
~~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche ~~
*******
“The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.”
~~ Chinese proverb ~~
*******
“Far more crucial than what we know or do not know
is what we do not want to know.”
~~ Eric Hoffer ~~
*******
“These times of ours are serious and full of calamity,
but all times are essentially alike.
As soon as there is life there is danger.”
~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~
*******
“Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes you get rained out.”
~~ Satchel Paige ~~
*******
“Truth is always exciting.
Speak it, then.
Life is boring without it.”
~~ Pearl S. Buck ~~
*******
“All go down the hooooooole.”
~~ Baby Plucky. ~~
*******
********************************
Having completed my chosen duty, I’m ending this quickly, so as to be able to get it posted in a timely fashion. I can’t say just now when I’ll get another fresh Pearl done; it’s getting hard to predict my ability to sit & write at all. For now, I’ll merely say this: I WILL be back, if only to post another archived Pearl, of which there are legion. For now, y’all be strange; it’s cool out there, and dangerous as hell. Stay alert, & be happy as you may….
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…. Today’s opening section has a lesson. The lesson possibly, or even probably, appears more often than not without my mindful appreciation; this too is part of the lesson, one designed to teach us/me how to apply that mindfulness more consistently. To read the lesson, which also requires some thought to identify, one need only look at the two quotes at the bookend position for this section, one after the other, in any order. One is a perfect tautological piece of insight regarding our own mind; the other is a warning, as to how we use that mind. Taken together, the contrasting concepts seem, to me, to provide a pathway toward light, if not full illumination….
This lesson is particularly valuable today for me; it gives me some hope the hole into which I continue to tumble all too regularly may be filling itself in, to some degree. That’s a good sign, as I’ve been getting tired of cleaning up the scrapes and bruises I keep acquiring when it opens up in front of me, and I end up bloody & battered at the bottom, gazing at a small strip of blue or black at a great distance above me. Not much fun when one has plans to fly, and the cost of bandages is becoming prohibitive, to say the least. Total bummer, dudes & dudettes, allow me to assure you. But, with this therapeutic sign grasped firmly in hand, I’ll get on with the slow, & try to get it on the toad…..
Not only will I sally forth with some extra impetus, I’ll do it now, so I don’t lose any of the emotional impact. It comes in handy when energy flags, you know. At any rate, we’ll see if we can come up with something worth spending your time reading, whereupon I will head off to find some clean air, and dirt to play in. Sometimes, when your a human male, getting dirty is a basic need, so, I’ll go back to my simian roots for a time & see if it helps. It should; I’m due….. On that cryptic note, let’s go see what kind of trouble we can find below…..
Shall we pearl?….
“Who sees all beings in his own Self,
and his own Self in all beings,
loses all fear.”
Okay, so, maybe trouble was the wrong word to use. This lady’s music certainly won’t give us any of that, will it? I also don’t believe she needs very much introduction, as one of today’s most popular artists. All I’ll say now is, enjoy!…..
********************************
Sheryl Crow Live
********************************
********************************
********************************
“Think not forever of yourselves, O Chiefs, nor of your own generation. Think of continuing generations of our families, think of our grandchildren and of those yet unborn, whose faces are coming from beneath the ground.” — Peacemaker, founder of the Iroquois Confederacy, (ca. 1000 AD)
I had originally intended to use this quote as the opening thought for a rant; instead, I’ll take it more to heart, by forgoing a new rant in favor of an old one. Here’s a pretty damn good religirant from the archives; it’s more than three and a half years old, but, still on the mark… Enjoy!…..
From 12/12/12:
“He who proselytizes in the cause of unbelief is basically a man in need of belief.” — Eric Hoffer
This is true…. you never see an atheist going door to door, trying to convert the pious to their unbeliefs. However, I would go further on this train of thought, and add that, “He who proselytizes, in any cause, in basically a man in need of a life.” I’m sure it occurred to Mr. Hoffer, but he was too busy trying to explain this statement to somebody who didn’t understand the word ‘proselytize’….. For my own case, I have never, ever understood why people feel compelled to go door to door to try to get other people to believe what they believe; it’s one of the most persistent delusional systems I’ve ever witnessed, to believe that anyone wants to hear what they have to say, much less they will find their beliefs palatable to others, or find anyone who believes them to be superior to their own…..
“More people would learn from their mistakes if they weren’t so busy denying they made them.” — Smart Bee
Humans seem to have an immense blind spot when it comes to their own actions and beliefs. Most of them never seem to question the things they are told, even when those things are presented with no evidence other than faith. Of course, the people who are invested in the religious system, to wit: the preachers, begin their indoctrination when their constituents are very young, when they are still prone to accept whatever an adult says as truth. This ensures a life-long predilection for being simple to control…. or, in short, mental slavery, if you will. Unless there is some sort of rebellion of spirit, where new knowledge is injected, these poor saps will spend their entire lives believing that what they have been told is real, when, in fact, they are fitting themselves with shackles, that will forever imprison their minds, and their imagination…..
“To defend one’s self against fear is simply to insure that one will, one day, be conquered by it; fears must be faced.” — James Baldwin
In my life-long quest for the truth, I’ve come to believe that religions, while originally intended to benefit people, (by their iconic progenitors, anyway…. I’m sure Jesus was a quite nice man, and wanted the best for those to whom he preached his own philosophy of compassion….), have historically been taken over by the predators who live to control others.
To be fair, some of those who become priests, or any of the other varieties of religious fanatic that prevail in our society, may indeed believe that their beliefs are true, and act accordingly, but the majority are, as far as I can tell, only concerned with maintaining status quo, thereby benefiting themselves, while never actually allowing any REAL progress in the development of the human condition. They would have society behave as if we were still living in caves, in essence, still cowering in our meager shelter while the storms and lightning are raging outside, terrified of the power of what we do not understand, and, therefore, allow ourselves to fear….
“A universe of death, which God by curse
Created evil, for evil only good;
Where all life dies, death lives,
and Nature breeds Perverse,
all monstrous, all prodigious things,
Abominable, unutterable and worse
Than fables yet have feigned, or fear conceived,
Gorgons, and Hydras, and Chimeras dire.”
~~ Milton, Paradise Lost, Book II ~~
(Side note: I’ll bet Milton had a hard time sleeping….)
The Universe is a big place, and there is a lot to learn. Fearing that knowledge, or fearing what changes that knowing will always bring, is the act of a coward, to my mind, and should not be encouraged. Supernatural beings of unlimited power are not a required component to the understanding of Nature and the Universe; we need not fear that our lack of knowledge of how things work is unattainable. Just because we do not understand a part of reality does not mean that whatever it is, is beyond our understanding.
It is not necessary to ask for exemptions, or intervention by our own personal gods, for us to achieve happiness, or even contentment; that is completely within our own power, if we but acknowledge that part of us that is free, and connected to everything else we can perceive. The connections may not be fully understood, but they are there, and if we can only learn to recognize it, the power to change reality lies within us, all the time…. As Epictetus said, “Happiness lies in learning to accept a simple truth. There are some things you can change. And there are some things you cannot.” It’s really quite that easy, you know, once one learns to accept this fact of life…. No dogma required…..
“If brains were outlawed, nothing would change.” — Smart Bee
********************************
Serendipity Morning
My mind wants to fly,
my soul wants to hold close, the source,
strong, the moments of time;
each as precious as golden thread,
binding together such elements of longing desire.
Love hovers, always patient,
seeking the open heart,
reaching for the promise of tomorrow…..
only for one, only for now, only what is real….
Dreaming, the morning calls,
heavy with mordant belief,
replete, and eternally alive…..
~~ gigoid ~~
4/1/2013
********************************
Today’s final, old/new-school pearl is one for the books, for sure, and for certain. (My standard disclaimer for those ideas/events which, in my estimation, are something on which it is safe to place belief, even bordering on faith, up to and including the wagering of serious money, whichever may be appropriate….) Some days, even, or, especially, when I am not really focused on it, I’ll cruise through my source(s) without first setting any parameters. Generally, I think of it as a random harlequin style pearl, and that works just fine, both for the process, and to describe today’s effort.
The difference is, today’s results are particularly well directed. They form a continuous train of thought, sort of, loosely (as ever), but, if followed, leads to some rather valuable concepts, all of which can be applied to our examination of consensual reality with better than average results, in re: personal serenity/happiness/all good things…. If it doesn’t quite do that for you, well, that’s okay; there are only three, maybe four people in the world I know of who would/will get that far in their thinking. If there are more, they’ve never contacted me, or come into my ken, which includes a veritable shit-load of people, what with reading, experience, and all.
In my mind, this one is a self-directed rant, a journey to enlightened thought, an odd sort of poem/song/dance (try reading it out loud to your pet/companion…), and good clean fun. Hell y’all might even like it…. Enjoy!…
Naked Pearls
‘The Head….’
*********
“Neither the water nor the moon make any effort to achieve a reflection.”
~~ Deng Ming-Dao ~~
*********
“The Way of the sage is to act but not to compete.”
~~ Lao Tzu ~~
*********
H = R – E
“Happiness equals Reality minus Expectations”
~~ Subtle Bee ~~
*********
“No one regards what is before his feet; we all gaze at the stars.”
~~ Quintus Ennius ~~
*********
“He does not seem to me to be a free man who does not sometimes do nothing.”
~~ Cicero ~~
*********
“Why is it that we rejoice at a birth and grieve at a funeral?
It is because we are not the person involved”
~~ Mark Twain ~~
*********
“In the beginning, God created the Earth and he said, “Let there be mud.”
And there was mud.
And God said, “Let Us make living creatures out of mud,
so the mud can see what we have done.”
And God created every living creature that now moveth, and one was man.
Mud-as-man alone could speak.
“What is the purpose of all this?” man asked politely.
“Everything must have a purpose?” asked God.
“Certainly,” said man.
“Then I leave it to you to think of one for all of this,” said God.
And He went away.”
~~ Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Between Time and Timbuktu” ~~
*********
“Were it possible for us to see further than our knowledge reaches,
and yet a little way beyond the outworks of our divination,
perhaps we would then endure our sorrows with greater confidence than our joys.
For they are the moments when something new has entered us,
something unknown; our feelings grow mute in shy perplexity,
everything in us withdraws, a stillness comes,
and the new, which no one knows,
stands in the midst of it and is silent.”
~~ Rainer Maria Rilke ~~
*********
“C’mon then. My log does not judge.”
~~ Margaret, the Log Lady, from Twin Peaks ~~
*********
********************************
Well, it’s late, and it’s epic, but, most importantly, it’s done. Just in time, too; my deadline angst alarm went off some time ago. I’ll be nice again, & forgo any further tricks, traps, or bullshit, & just say, see y’all tomorrow, when I’ll try again to reach an island of sanity in an insane world….. Ta, then, luvs….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
“In the bigger scheme of things,
the universe is not asking us to do something,
the universe is asking us to be something.
And that’s a whole different thing.”
~~ Lucille Clifton ~~
George Orwell’s House ~ London
Hajime…. In at least one respect, it is heartening to realize one still has things to learn, even at age 65. Today’s lesson was one of patience and mindfulness when the demands of reality become insistent, at what have been accurately termed ‘ungodly’ hours of the night. I have been reminded today of the difficulty in maintaining one’s cool in the face of a Siamese cat in the throes of severe lust, who is demanding attention prior to 3 AM, yowling, scratching to be let out, and generally pitching a fit in the wee hours of the morning, until losing it completely & chasing her out of the bedroom. Then, of course, my own sense of guilt kicked in, so, Leelu & I are getting an early start to the day…
Good morrow, I think…. I’ve calmed down, & the cat’s bloodlust is passing off for a while, so we’re trying to settle into a more normal routine. It’s a bit hard as Leelu wants to be petted every few minutes, wandering around otherwise to the open windows to call into the darkness for any random boy cats who might be within hearing. I hear her in the kitchen now, playing with some of her toys, so, maybe the lust is going to calm down for a bit. That would be good, & give us both a chance to mellow out. This passion business is tough on us old farts….
Ah, well, so be it. Being up so early will give me time to get this Pearl finished, as I keep falling out way early these days, which, all in all, is a good thing, as long as it doesn’t take me four hours to get to sleep. Not being awakened at 3 AM helps, too, but, I’m hoping this is an anomaly. Since further chatty blather is probably not the best idea today, (too much chance of turning weird at this hour….), I’ll employ yet another little device I found in the Tardis to get us where we need to go. It’s a new one, so, I’m unsure of exactly what it does. Perhaps y’all should put your adult beverages down until we see what happens, when I push this button right here….
Shall we Pearl?….
To never see a fool, you lock yourself in an empty room and break all the mirrors.”
~~ Wise Old Bee ~~
********************************
Carlos Santana & John McLaughlin Image from sam-muscilovers.blogspot.com via Google Images
Today, we’re going a bit esoteric, with two of the world’s finest guitarists, who have collaborated for many years. This is a live concert from the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2015, to which I have not listened yet. It promises to be pretty damn hot, I’d say…. Enjoy!….
I reflected how soon in the cup of desire
The pearl of the soul may be melted away;
How quickly, alas, the pure sparkle of fire
We inherit from heaven, may be quenched in the clay.
~~ Thomas Moore (1779-1852) ~~
I rather like this verse from Tom Moore (obviously a relative, many generations removed…), because he doesn’t make the automatic assumption the gift of life/intelligence with which we are imbued was the gift of any particular entity, but, more, our legacy as humans, a part of a universe whose basic nature is to always be in flux, to never stay just the same from one moment to the next. The key to maintaining the connection to that universe in which we exist, according to almost every philosopher produced by our kind, agrees that desire, driven by the emotions with which we become attached to them, distracts us from realizing the connection, thus losing sight of what is true, and real.
How then does one separate one’s self from desire? How is it possible to not give in to our judgmental nature, but, learn to accept reality as it is, as it occurs, without needlessly applying our feelings about that to affect our response to it? This single question is, perhaps, the most important for any human to answer, for it is the key that opens the lock of freedom, and happiness in life.
The answer, it has long been known, exists already, inside each one of us, pure and unadulterated by outside influences…. but, where? How does one find this inner place of serenity, where good and evil are merely two sides of a balancing act performed by the universe, and not cause for us to either become fearful and angry, or, ecstatic and giddy, but, viewed as a whole, to understand the bigger picture we are perceiving?
I can testify, from personal experience, it is both hard, and easy to do so. Hard, because we are continually distracted by reality from the introspective state of mind needed to find it within ourselves. Easy, because, if approached with an open mind, and heart, it’s right there, in plain view, where we hold those things we know without knowing how we know; our connective tissue to reality as it exists, so to speak.
Finding that space inside us can be a task for a lifetime, but, to understand only takes an instant. The path, I have found, is more easily accessed if one’s own spiritual state (the combination of intelligence and heart which can guide us, when we learn to hear its voice…) is trained to virtue. The discipline one needs to maintain virtue in a world unbalanced is necessary to direct the inner journey with any degree of success.
“Food, sleep, fear, propagation; each is the common property of men with brutes. Virtue is really their additional distinction; devoid of virtue, they are equal with brutes.” — The Hitopadesa (600?-1100? A.D.)
To me, this seems obvious, but, for many, it remains a subject most often ignored completely. Moreover, I have, to some extent, lost the way to my final point, as it appears to need to be made. This means we go epic…. I found the following three pearls from an old Pearl, created & posted in March of 2012, which seems to adequately get close to where we are headed…. So, to finish today’s epic discussion, here are some thoughts on all this from the archives, to move us along to the poem for today….
From 3/4/2012;
“There is in us a tendency to locate the shaping forces of our existence outside ourselves. Success and failure are unavoidably related in our minds with the state of things around us. Hence it is that people with a sense of fulfillment think it is a good world and would like to preserve it as it is, while the frustrated favor radical change. The tendency to look for all causes outside ourselves persists even when it is clear that our state of being is the product of personal qualities such as ability, character, appearance, health and so on.” — Eric Hoffer
Mr. Hoffer makes a good point here, a point that has fallen into disfavor in today’s society. I speak, of course, of the concept of personal responsibility. By always looking for external factors to explain what is wrong with our world, the personal responsibility that each person holds is nullified, or at least ignored. It has become fashionable instead to find a scapegoat for our problems; we blame our upbringing, our parents, our struggling schools, the President, or anybody or anything else we can come up with that might have contributed to our discomfort.
There are very few people left today who will admit to having any part in their difficulties; it’s much easier on the self-image to blame it on one’s parents, who are not there to defend themselves, or on some diffuse entity like society, to which all may point as the perpetrator of whatever problem they have encountered. I’d guesstimate that 95% of the members of society today fall into this category; real integrity and honesty is virtually extinct. Just another in a litany of human folly, one which will not only support our extinction as a species, but will hurry it along like a manic sheepdog worries its flock. And when we’re all dead and gone, the planet isn’t going to care one little bit about whose fault it was……
“There is a perfectly satisfactory explanation for everything, but security prevents its disclosure.” — The Anthony Blunt Excuse
___________________________________
“Already the spirit of our schooling is permeated with the feeling that every subject, every topic, every fact, every professed truth must be
submitted to a certain publicity and impartiality. All proffered samples of learning must go to the same assay-room and be subjected to
common tests. It is the essence of all dogmatic faiths to hold that any such “show-down” is sacrilegious and perverse. The characteristic
of religion, from their point of view, is that it is intellectually secret, not public; peculiarly revealed, not generally known; authoritatively declared, not communicated and tested in ordinary ways…It is pertinent to point out that, as long as religion is conceived as it is now by the great majority of professed religionists, there is something self-contradictory in speaking of education in religion in the same sense in which we speak of education in topics where the method of free inquiry has made its way. The “religious” would be the last to be willing that either the history of the content of religion should be taught in this spirit; while those to whom the scientific standpoint is not merely a technical device, but is the embodiment of the integrity of mind, must protest against its being taught in any other spirit.” — John Dewey (1859-1953), American philosopher, — from “Democracy in the Schools”, 1908
This is long enough, and clear enough, that it needs no more added, by me or anyone else. It’s a well-thought out, and clearly stated premise, and a perfect description of a problem that society has obviously not solved, as this sentiment from 1908 remains as valid today as when it was first uttered. I guess it just goes to show that not only are we bozoid creatures, but stubborn as well, unwilling to give up our prejudices and delusions without a struggle. It’s the old “devil you know” outlook carried to its logical extreme; it doesn’t seem to matter that it will kill us just as dead as a new devil….. as long as we don’t have to think about it…..
___________________________________
The human body produces far more energy than the sun (per unit weight) — Random factoid
It’s simple, really. A human body is an energy conversion tool, or machine, whereas the sun is a source of electromagnetic energy. The body consumes energy in the form of food and converts it first to neuro-chemical energy by the digestive system, then to kinetic energy by the neuromuscular system. The processes they employ to create and convert one form of energy to another are very complex biochemical transformations, involving a number of steps. Electromagnetic energy is produced by the sun by the process of nuclear fission, in subtle and complex processes not fully understood by mankind, as we are not yet able to look inside a star to gather any evidence of how it functions, at least, not to any important degree.
Nonetheless, we can measure and compare the relative levels of each type of energy produced by the human body and the sun; from there it is merely a problem with a solution provided by addition, multiplication, and long division of the defined numbers representing energy produced. Both processes are beautiful examples of how understanding the underlying mathematics of the universe lends itself to harmonious functioning between the various manifestations of which it is comprised, to wit: energy, biology, chemistry, and all of the other branches of physics that make up our mathematical model of reality.
From any direction it is viewed, the existence of Life, Consciousness, and the Universe at large is pretty miraculous, and exceedingly, almost painfully beautiful in its grandeur and scope. Tossing in the concept of Entropy (you know… Chance, randomness, chaos, Satan, free will, statistics, human nature, the power of PMS, etc.) makes Life all the more intriguing…. besides which, as far as I can tell so far, it’s the only game in town….
“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them.- that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality.” — Lao-Tzu
********************************
Dead Hands,Typing…
Puzzled anew by anomalous blocks of pain
caught, bemused, chained to routine, insane.
Stilled within breathless beauty
Engaging epiphany, insistent, called to duty.
Knees bent in lieu of a faithful rendition
suffuses, confuses, locked into stale perdition.
Clearing corrosion with hands encased in stone
Singular frozen follicles, masked by bone.
Partial focus brings unfiltered flavors to light
coloring each particle in simple delight.
Forlorn, novel conceptual artists singing in tune
nine notes in harmony, soft as the moon.
Honed blades of carbon steel flash in rhyme,
filling sensual receptors well past closing time.
Borrowed from neighbors in a week-old game
still bloody, without a proper name.
No flooded memories can justify such cost
no simple stationery, bilious, afraid, lost.
Ten times ten will never be enough
To fill so empty a stolen trough.
Bartering simplicity takes well into the night
solidly temporary pillars turned bright.
Unknown to all the pretty children who came
none were called, none had any remaining flame.
~~ gigoid ~~
2/25/2015
********************************
Naked Pearls
Ibid
*********
“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 ~~
*********
“Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength
which will always spring up if thou wilt always look there.”
~~ Marcus Aurelius ~~
*********
“It is not necessary to change.
Survival is not mandatory.”
~~ W. Edwards Deming ~~
*********
“The fear of death is the beginning of slavery.”
~~ Robert Anton Wilson ~~
*********
“The only abnormality is the incapacity to love.”
~~ Anais Nin ~~
*********
“He is the freeman whom the truth makes free.”
— William Cowper, The Task, Book v, The Winter Morning Walk, Line 733 ~~
*********
“It is an interesting question
how far men would retain their relative rank
if they were divested of their clothes.”
~~ Henry David Thoreau ~~
*********
“When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.”
~~ African proverb ~~
*********
The thought manifests as the word;
The word manifests as the deed;
The deed develops into habit;
And habit hardens into character.
So watch the thought and its ways with care,
And let it spring from love
Born out of concern for all beings.
~~ The Buddha ~~
*********
********************************
Well, it’s done, again, in spite of, or, maybe, because of the hour at which it was created. I think we’ll just post it, without even thinking of how it turned out, much less how it got done. It does, after all, fulfill our most important requirement, in that there is something in every section that is appropriate to that space; the content is judged not as to quantity, or quality, other than as it relates to available space. On that obscure note, I think we’ll call it a day. I will also issue the standard disclaimer and fair warning, of our imminent return tomorrow, sans shame or guilt, yet, somehow, blushing prettily for the camera. Of course, the camera’s lens will likely shatter, but, one can’t have everything. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…. No, no, I insist….
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.
Our quarrel with the world is an echo
of the endless quarrel proceeding within us.”
~~ Eric Hoffer ~~
Not in the mood for love….
Hajime…. Considering the state of the world, as we often do around these parts, it can be difficult to maintain any real hope for the future. However, regardless of how my own intellect sees little chance of surviving through another century for our species, one’s hope for change somehow remains strong. Groundless hope, after all, is the only kind there really is for us humans; we tend to put ourselves frequently into situations for which little hope for success is possible, given our less than perfect hold on reality. But, what the hell? It keeps us busy, so, I suppose its all worth it; if nothing else, it keeps us busy NOT killing things, which seems to be our primary talent…..
Now, relax. Though it sounds ominous, the above is not leading into a rant in the intro; I told y’all we wouldn’t do that any more, and, I’m trying to live up to that. No, such statements are a new technique, wherein I make a short reference to such matters, without falling into full ranting mode, thus saving me, and y’all, the effort of extricating ourselves from such a sticky engagement too early in the Pearl. It also provides some new ways to wander around here, just chatting about stuff that matters not at all, a pastime which, if you’ve been here before, you’ll know we enjoy frequently. We do love our blather, even if it makes extra laundry.
Okay, that’s probably enough. Any more & we’d start dropping readers like dead skin cells. Ooh, that’s an ugly image, isn’t it? I think, maybe, we’d best be on our way down the page, before I get actively gross. I can feel the elegance and grace dropping off our demeanor rapidly, so, it’s just as well we planned to use one of the Tardis toys today. Here, let’s see what this one does, shall we?…. I’ll just push this little green button, and….
Shall we Pearl?….
“I slept, and dreamed that life was Beauty;
I woke, and found that life was Duty.
Was thy dream then a shadowy lie?
Toil on, poor heart, unceasingly;
And thou shalt find thy dream to be
A truth and noonday light to thee.”
~~ Ellen Sturgis Hooper — Life a Duty ~~
********************************
“Life without music would be an intolerable insult.”
~~ Edward Abbey ~~
I found the quote you see before picking today’s music, which brings us back to the classical genre we enjoyed yesterday. The quote is one I hold to be completely true, so, here is my all-time favorite piece. It also happens to be the piece of music considered by many to be the best single composition ever written, which, though not necessarily a recommendation, does add to its cache. In any case, I hope you enjoy it; it’s actually pretty damn good…
I’m still working on a fresh piece for this section, which, frankly, is stalled. No worries, it will unjam itself eventually, when the proper sequence of ideas strikes me. To sublimate for today, here is a fairly short discussion of religion, and such relevant nonsense as may apply to that particular delusional state of being…. Enjoy!….
From 9/7/2012:
“Sin lies only in hurting other people unnecessarily. All other “sins” are invented nonsense. (Hurting yourself is NOT a sin–just stupid.)” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”
It would be foolish to try to claim that there is NOT a part of me that wishes there was a God as described by most of the Christian sects, or the Islamic, or Jewish, or any other of the major and/or minor religions in the history of Man. Who wouldn’t want to have all the responsibility for thinking, or for acting within reason, taken out of their hands? It would be wonderful, but as it’s pretty unlikely, to all appearances, that part of me will have to remain unfulfilled….. I’d rather adopt and set the above moral standard as my own, as I happen to agree with it wholeheartedly. It forms the root, the base, the touchstone of all of my morality, the basic raison d’etre for my every decision of whether or not to act, and how to react, from an ethical standpoint of my own choice, without thinking about whether or not it is according to dogma.
I first came across this particular quote from Lazarus when I was about 15 or 16 years old, right when I was taking classes at my parent’s church to fulfill the requirements for admission as an official, saved member of the church (Presbyterian, if it matters….), and wondering how I was going to break it to all of them that I couldn’t do it…. It was a hard decision, but, since the teachers couldn’t answer my questions about Bible incidents that puzzled me (not part of what we studied, but from different chapters I had read…), I stopped attending any services, because I didn’t want to be a hypocrite…. I could even rationalize my decision, as having been made out of concern for the safety of my family and friends, since now the church would conceivably fall down on them if they were with me when I came in…..
“Anybody who wants religion is welcome to it, as far as I’m concerned — I support your right to enjoy it. However, I would appreciate it if you exhibited more respect for the rights of those people who do not wish to share your dogma, rapture or necrodestination.” — Frank Zappa, “The Real Frank Zappa Book”
I also happen to agree with Frank on this one. What I do believe about religion, and the concept of God, or god, or Dog, is my own business, and begins with not pressing it on others, unless they ask; in such cases I will discuss the subject superficially, without expressing any preferences one way or another….. Unless, of course, they begin to proselytize. In THOSE cases, I will use every bit of shock value pop psychology I know of to lead them down some primrose path, messing with their heads until I get bored with them…. which usually doesn’t take long; they’re generally fairly uninteresting people. I tend to prefer people who have a bit of salt to their personality, just a touch of insanity somewhere in their blood…. Such ffolkes are much more fun to be around than folks who spend their time feeling bad about wanting to feel good….. and they annoy me far less often, as a rule…..
If God is omnipotent, why does he need my money? — Smart Bee
“The human condition is such that pain and effort are not just symptoms which can be removed without changing life itself; they are rather the modes in which life itself, together with the necessity to which it is bound, makes itself felt. For mortals, the ‘easy life of the gods’ would be a lifeless life.” — Hannah Arendt
********************************
Unheralded Sagacity…
To many, who will not see beyond their nose
the world becomes a dangerous place,
a bullet in every gun, a thorn with every rose,
no magic comes to save us, reality leaves no trace.
Minds closed, wrapped tight in manufactured fears,
men become clay, easily molded into complacent form.
No chains needed, held in thrall for years,
lies become gospel, when dishonesty is the norm.
Shed the chains you wear in durance, in kind;
Oh, ye of little faith, and much doubt
Strength is found in an unfettered mind,
Cry “freedom” with a great shout.
No help from any gods can hinder so much
as our own lack of confidence;
finding the light within, knowing it as such
confirms us, becoming consequence.
Illumination…..
~~ gigoid ~~
4/17/2013
********************************
Naked Pearls
Words to live by….
*******
“To believe with certainty, we must begin with doubting.”
~~ King Stanislaus of Poland ~~
*******
“Virtue is sufficient of herself for happiness.”
~~ Diogenes Laertius (c. 250 A.D.) ~~
*******
“Enter freely and leave some of the happiness you bring behind.”
~~ The Insidious Wu Han ~~
*******
“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
~~ Oscar Wilde, “Lady Windermere’s Fan”, 1892 ~~
*******
“Death is every man’s final critic. To die well you must live bravely.”
~~ Edward Abbey ~~
*******
“The most important questions in life
can never be answered by anyone except oneself.”
~~ John Fowles, The Magus ~~
*******
“Be excellent to each other. Party on, dude.”
~~- Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure `~~
*******
********************************
I made it. I had my doubts (go figure….), but, all’s well that ends. (We use a slightly more realistic version of that particular phrase around here, as you see….) For the record, it’s Tuesday, and I’m awake. For the balance required, I’ll just say, Whoopee…. No, don’t ask. Just be glad I’m done. I will, as always, issue our standard disclaimer, also known as legally fair warning, I will return tomorrow to do this again. Please don’t ask why, or the auto-defense lasers will start firing. Just wave nicely, and know I’ll be back. It’s pre-ordained….
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.
“Since it is Reason which shapes and regulates all other things,
it ought not itself to be left in disorder.”
~~ Epictetus — Discourses, Chap. xvii
Prophetic Globe Trinity College, Dublin
Hajime…. Little did he know just how little he knew; in this he joins hands with most of humanity…..
Good morrow, ffolkes. No, I’m not sure where that came from. It just sort of flowed out when I began to type, and, voilá! Instant aphorism on human nature, a fascinating subject which continues to elude the understanding of mankind, despite centuries of trying to come to terms with it. An objective view of the way our species has approached the quest to find themselves does not inspire much confidence; most of our history shows a firm intention on the part of most people to deny all which makes us human, in favor of fulfilling their base desires for power and control over their peers, in order to assuage their innate fear of their own inadequacy.
Now, I know it’s not a good policy to rant in the intro, but, hey, I’m human, so, back off, mate. As such, I do what FEELS best, and then try to repeat the feeling as often as possible, regardless of how it affects anyone else. This particularly human trait is, as far as I can see, the fatal flaw in that nature, one which can, and, obviously IS, leading us on a path to self-destruction, through the denial of our own capabilities, and the abrogation of virtue in favor of comfort. This, to me, is clear, yet, for most of mankind, it is an issue of which they seldom, if ever, even contemplate.
SIGH…. At this point in the narrative, it becomes clear this is going not much of anywhere useful for our purpose, which is to post a Pearl of Virtual Wisdom. If I continue this discussion, we may never even get to the music, so, to keep things on an even keel, and moving, we’ll go on now, leaving this subject for discussion below. Perhaps this will save some time, and, if nothing else, makes it seem as if we are sure of what we are doing. The cat seems to agree, even if she would rather I threw some paper for her….
We’re going to go now, and, I’d suggest you hang on; Luigi’s at the helm, so, things can get a bit rambunctious. It won’t take long, though; just remember to breathe through it…. Here we go….
Shall we Pearl?….
“Education is not a preparation for life;
Education is life itself.”
~~ John Dewey ~~
********************************
Playing For Change
Today’s musical selection comes again from the Playing For Change playlist. This one is a recording of 75 Cubans from around the world playing and singing the song that means ‘home’ to them, whether they are in Cuba, or anywhere in the world….. This is for Mari, whose family had to flee Cuba in the latter part of the twentieth century, when she was just a child. She now writes some of the most powerful poetry I’ve ever read, and still dreams of returning one day…. Enjoy, and then go donate to the cause, for it’s a good one, making peace through music….
There is just so much wrong with this statement, it is difficult to know where to begin. To my way of thinking, this piece of folk ‘wisdom’ can be viewed as the single most destructive idea mankind has come up with in our entire cultural history. If one embraces this idea, individually, or as a society, the resulting culture would be, and, to be honest, has become, a parody of human nature, bringing out the very worst of our fears and inadequacies, using them to lie, to cheat, and, live a life of conflict and trouble. To assume this attitude is to deny the connection to all other life, demanding reality conform to the shape of our most degrading fears, with no attempt to reconcile these with any other entity. In short, it gives every person alive the clear permission to act like an asshole.
I see this attitude as a root cause of all the wars mankind has engaged in through history; it fosters divisiveness, bigotry, racism, and discrimination, with no attempt to define justice for anyone at all. To anyone embracing such a position, the needs and rights of others become immaterial; to them, the only thing that is important is their own desires. This, to my mind, is not merely stupid, but, inhuman; those who act without virtue do not belong to the same species as do I; they have abrogated their humanity.
I had originally planned to rant about this for a long time; there is a lot with which to take umbrage in those who live to take advantage of others as a matter of policy. But, I find myself unwilling just now to put myself through the wringer; this subject tends to stimulate my adrenal gland, and I’m not going there today. Instead, I have put together a pretty good seven star pearl to take my shots for me. It’s not a rant, but, it will do for an indictment…. The people who buy into the statement at the top of the section are, in my mind, the root cause of all of the other issues with which humanity is currently engaged; the war, the racism, the injustice, all can be traced to this attitude on the part of one segment of humanity, which decided many thousands of years ago they were better than everyone else, and have maintained that insane delusion, at the expense of the rest of mankind, for all that time….
Here then are some comments on how to spot them, how to look at them, and, hopefully, how to bury them, once and for all….
“Distrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful.” — Nietzsche, “Thus Spake Zarathustra”
“I see little divinity about them or you. You talk to me of Christianity when you are in the act of hanging your enemies. Was there ever such blasphemous nonsense!” — George Bernard Shaw, The Devil’s Disciple
“I know of no book which has been a source of brutality and sadistic conduct, both public and private, that can compare with the Bible.” — Lord Paget
(Need an example? “When Yahweh your gods has settled you in the land you’re about to occupy, and driven out many infidels before you…you’re to cut them down and exterminate them. You’re to make no compromise with them or show them any mercy.” — Deuteronomy 7:1 (KJV) There’s more, even worse insanity in that one short chapter, but, that gives the flavor…)
“Collective responsibility brings a lowering of moral standards.” — Freeman Dyson
“A doctrine insulates the devout not only against the realities around them but also against their own selves. The fanatical believer is not conscious of his envy, malice, pettiness and dishonesty. There is a wall of words between his consciousness and his real self.” — Eric Hoffer
“Without civic morality communities perish; without personal morality their survival has no value.” — Bertrand Russell
“Between those who use their neighbors, and those who use a cane.
Between those in constant power, and those in constant pain.
Between those who run to evil, and those who cannot run.
Tell me which ones are the cripples, and which ones touch the sun.”
~~ Ceili’s Muse “What you do with what you’ve got”~~
********************************
I Must Have Wanton Poets
MUST have wanton poets, pleasant wits,
Musicians, that with touching of a string
May draw the pliant king which way I please:
Music and poetry is his delight;
Therefore I’ll have Italian masks by night,
Sweet speeches, comedies, and pleasing shows;
And in the day, when he shall walk abroad,
Like sylvan nymphs my pages shall be clad;
My men, like satyrs grazing on the lawns,
Shall with their goat-feet dance the antic hay;
Sometime a lovely boy in Dian’s shape,
With hair that gilds the water as it glides,
Crownets of pearl about his naked arms,
And in his sportful hands an olive-tree,
To hide those parts which men delight to see,
Shall bathe him in a spring; and there, hard by,
One like Actæon, peeping through the grove,
Shall by the angry goddess be transform’d,
And running in the likeness of an hart,
By yelping hounds pull’d down, shall seem to die:
Such things as these best please his majesty.
~~ Christopher Marlowe (1563 – 1594) ~~
~~ Edward II, Act 1, Scene One ~~
********************************
Our final pearl is a simple, random collection that talks about Life at Large. Any conclusions not made obvious are the responsibility of the Gentle Reader, just like in the real world….
“All is flux, nothing stays still.” — Heraclitus (540?-480? B.C.)
“Just as there are laws of Conservation of Matter and Energy, so there are in fact Laws of Conservation of Pain and Joy. Neither can ever be created or destroyed. But one can be converted into the other.” — Spider Robinson
“…the greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor. It is the one thing that cannot be learned from others; and it is also a sign of genius, since a good metaphor implies an intuitive perception of the similarity in dissimilars.” — Aristotle, _Poetics_, 22, 1459a 5-7
“The questions remain the same. The answers are eternally variable.” — Subtle Bee
“The great mountains of the world are a great remedy if men but did know it against our modern discontent and ambitions. In the hills is wisdom’s fount. They are deep in time.” — E. R. Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros
“And it is not our part here to take thought only for a season, or for a few lives of Men, or for a passing age of the world.” — Gandalf
“Now he has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me. That means nothing. People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.” — Albert Einstein
********************************
Well, it’s done. Since I was only half-conscious for much of it, I shan’t comment on its quality, or even its quantity. I will however, make another attempt at coherence tomorrow, if all goes as planned. But, then, y’all know what they say about plans. Regardless, I’ll be here; fair warning.
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
“He who possesses most must be most afraid of loss.”
~~ Leonardo Da Vinci ~~
Practicing dignity at an early age….
Hajime…. Having engaged last night in an epic battle for sleep, (which I fought to a draw), I greet the new day with some anticipation, if only for the passing of the night. A small bonus; it’s St. Paddy’s Day, a day when every Irishman in the world goes out to find another Irishman to make a speech to, while pulling at a Guinness or five. It’s also said an Irishman is the only man alive who will step over ten women to get a bottle of stout, but, then I never did believe that one. I am, after all, part Irish, and I hate stout….
I see I’ve managed to lose my way with my usual efficiency in such matters. ‘Tis of little consequence today; I’m late, I’m tired, I hurt, and the day stretches out ahead of me with a promise of more. C’est la vie, as they say in Burgundy and the Cote du Rhone, which are across the channel from Cork/Cobh, hiding behind the Isle of Guernsey. Well, I guess the Cote du Rhone is also on the other side of France, but, hey, I’m talking mostly to Americans, who are famous for NOT knowing any geography. And, now, I’ve managed to insult my own audience…. SIGH…. Today, that’s a big, West Counties sigh, complete with huge indrawn breath, and a sad expression of sympathy.
Such dramatic expression is handy, as well; for example, it got me this much further down the page without much effort, with the possibility of leading us in yet another direction. Since to do so would be to lose our way even more so than we already have, I think we should pass on that, and go directly on to the oyster beds, before I completely lose my way. It shouldn’t take long, as Luigi decided to start his St. Paddy’s Day binge a bit early, like yesterday, and Guido had to be called in to get us on our way. I guess we should probably do something about Luigi; he’s getting a bit unreliable…. Ah, well, that’s for later…. For now….
Shall we Pearl?
“I tore myself away from the safe comfort of certainties
through my love for truth – and truth rewarded me.”
~~ Simone de Beauvoir ~~
********************************
Riverdance Image from thriftynorthwestmom.com via Google Images
Here is my celebration for Saint Patrick’s Day. I’ve seen this company’s show three times now; it gets better every year, and that is saying something. For your enjoyment, here is a full show, well worth it just for the music; the dance and joy is a bonus…. Enjoy!….
Given my battle during the night, you probably knew we were going to the archives today…. I’ll try to keep it light….
From 2/9/2014:
“The essence of Christianity is told us in the Garden of Eden history. The fruit that was forbidden was on the tree of knowledge. The subtext is, All the suffering you have is because you wanted to find out what was going on. You could be in the Garden of Eden if you had just keep your fucking mouth shut and hadn’t asked any questions.” — Frank Zappa Playboy Interview, April 1993
Hmm…. Frank’s take on matters are such that I generally find myself in complete agreement with what he says. Here, he has again put his finger on one of the more obvious facets of Christianity, one that defies all logical explanation in lieu of subservient belief, to wit: faith vs. knowledge, and the Christian’s unfortunate tendency to embrace the former, without any appeal to the latter….. To my way of thinking, that is not only foolish, but cowardly….. but, perhaps, that’s just me….
The fruit of the tree of knowledge gives mankind the go-ahead to use the brain with which we were furnished at birth; the preachers would have us abrogate that use, having us, instead, give over all our power of belief into the hands of the faithful, who, naturally, have only our best interests at heart….. Sure they do…. NOT. I’m sorry, but, no matter how many times these folks say so, I am not going to accept that they know better than I what is best for me…. Nope, not even if there were twenty Bibles out there, all proclaiming how true they are…. Oh wait, there are twenty of them, aren’t there?…. Oh, well, you know what I meant….
Why do people fall for this? I cannot understand how people, who are normally reasonably intelligent, will, by conscious choice, bury their heads in the sand to buy into this, without ever taking even one moment to examine any of it for truth, or even logical assumption. Is there some kind of mind-control drug in that incense? Maybe in the sacramental wine…. Whatever it is, it turns normally competent, intelligent people into mindless slaves, and does so with their complete agreement and approval….. To my mind, it is one of history’s saddest, most incomprehensible features, when I look at just how easily people fall for such egregious, and so obviously self-serving idiocy, as most of the dogmatic proclamations of the major religions tend to offer up.
“I hope I never get so old I get religious.” — Ingmar Bergman
I am compelled to add, “Me, too!” to this sentiment…. In the recent past, I’ve been taking a lot of shots at religions, and need to make clear that I do not hate Christians, or Buddhists, or Muslims, or the followers of any religion. I think they are being silly, deliberately and evilly so, at worst, or at best, misguidedly so, but I don’t hate, or fear them, as is the case on their part whenever they consider me, or my criticisms of their beliefs. I don’t hold that against them, either, as it is logically consistent for them to do so, given the limitations of their dogmatic position. Since, however, the fervor with which they will often defend their position can reach a rather fevered pitch, I tend to treat many of them like a stinging insect, so I will move, and speak, slowly and carefully, so as not to frighten them more than they already are….
Ethical and moral behavior is not confined to those who follow the precepts of one religion or another, despite what any of the proponents of those religions will try to tell you. In fact, if you look closely, the number of folks who are believers have a much higher percentage of failure in that area than do the non-believers, which only makes sense…. The believers all have a sense of entitlement that gives them the idea that the rules of behavior don’t always apply to them, in terms of how they treat people who are not of the same faith, so, to those who are not of their own sect, they don’t bother being truthful, or honest, or ethical, as those people don’t count, in their eyes. People who make their own moral codes tend to follow them, and are much more tolerant of those who do not share their beliefs.
Basic human nature dictates these responses in people; thus, one can see how dangerous it is to remain ignorant, in the Biblical sense. Those who choose to buy into the myth of the Garden of Eden, giving up all their personal independence of mind for the comfort and safety of dogma, will always fail to act according to their own morality much of the time, generally acting, instead, out of their sense of entitlement, and the belief that all of their sins will be forgiven, merely by the act of confessing them. Only those who consciously choose their moral code have the courage to act it out, it seems, except for those few people who actually try to live according to the morality that is espoused, and is seldom embraced by their less ethical peers.
Having the strength of mind to make one’s own moral code also implies the courage to act it out…. This is why I choose to deny the dogma I’ve been exposed to all my life, as being illogical, and, ultimately, immoral…. It makes more sense to me to make my own decisions on such matters, and tell the busybodies who assume they know best for all to go jump in a lake…. Even better, just shut the hell up, and get out of the way, so the rest of us can get something relevant done, without having to put up with all the nonsense from that quarter….
“What is a church? Our honest sexton tells, ‘Tis a tall building, with a tower and bells.” — Crabbe
Note from 2014: Since the validity of the above remains strong, I leave you with the following pearl, to finish off this discussion with the proper tone of accusation, and indictment, of those guilty of this sort of crime against humanity….
“The impression somehow prevails that the true believer, particularly the religious individual, is a humble person. The truth is that the surrendering and humbling of the self breeds pride and arrogance.” — Eric Hoffer
********************************
Finisterre
This was the land’s end: the last fingers, knuckled and rheumatic,
Cramped on nothing. Black
Admonitory cliffs, and the sea exploding
With no bottom, or anything on the other side of it,
Whitened by the faces of the drowned.
Now it is only gloomy, a dump of rocks —-
Leftover soldiers from old, messy wars.
The sea cannons into their ear, but they don’t budge.
Other rocks hide their grudges under the water.
The cliffs are edged with trefoils, stars and bells
Such as fingers might embroider, close to death,
Almost too small for the mists to bother with.
The mists are part of the ancient paraphernalia —-
Souls, rolled in the doom-noise of the sea.
They bruise the rocks out of existence, then resurrect them.
They go up without hope, like sighs.
I walk among them, and they stuff my mouth with cotton.
When they free me, I am beaded with tears.
Our Lady of the Shipwrecked is striding toward the horizon,
Her marble skirts blown back in two pink wings.
A marble sailor kneels at her foot distractedly, and at his foot
A peasant woman in black
Is praying to the monument of the sailor praying.
Our Lady of the Shipwrecked is three times life size,
Her lips sweet with divinity.
She does not hear what the sailor or the peasant is saying —-
She is in love with the beautiful formlessness of the sea.
Gull-colored laces flap in the sea drafts
Beside the postcard stalls.
The peasants anchor them with conches. One is told:
“These are the pretty trinkets the sea hides,
Little shells made up into necklaces and toy ladies.
They do not come from the Bay of the Dead down there,
But from another place, tropical and blue,
We have never been to.
These are our crêpes. Eat them before they blow cold.”
~~ Sylvia Plath ~~
********************************
Our final pearl today is an eclectic, slightly humorous random, harlequin version of an old-school pearl. I hope you enjoy it, for it is one of my better efforts in a while….
The lake rises above the trees:
The image of Preponderance of the Great.
Thus the superior man, when he stands alone,
Is unconcerned,
And if he has to renounce the world,
He is undaunted.
~~ I Ching ~
“It really doesn’t matter if you’re the prey or the predator, if you want to live to see the sunset, you’ve got to start the day running.” — Realist Bee
“Are we THERE yet?” — Zippy the Pinhead
“Brains first and then Hard Work.” — Eeyore, Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne
“A life lived in fear is only half lived.” — Spanish proverb
“You can observe a lot just by watchin’.” — Yogi Berra
“The best way out is always through.” — Robert Frost
“If you’re ridin’ ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it’s still there.” — The Cowboy’s Guide to Life
“Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself
(I am large, I contain multitudes).”
~~ Walt Whitman, Song of Myself ~~
********************************
Well, it’s done, in spite of some severe demands for attention from our resident familiar, who, for some reason, seems to think today is HER day. Maybe she’s Irish, mixed in with the very apparent Siamese; must be the Calico in her. At any rate, it’s done, and pretty damn fresh, aside from the rant and the poem, which speak for themselves. I’m going to take this opportunity to take my leave, as it were, so, I’ll leave you with my usual caveat, to wit: See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…. Consider it a matter of submitting to the inevitable….
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…. Should this particular Pearl get posted today, it will be a testament to both indulgence and persistence, an odd pairing, if I’ve ever seen one. Nonetheless, ’tis true as the day. Last night, having consumed a rather larger portion of sleep aid in the form of a Toklas brownie of massive strength, (most ffolkes would sleep for days if they ate such a dose), which had the most excellently delightful effect of tumbling me into sleep, hard and fast, & keeping me there for seven straight. Yay, me!…. However, when I awoke, I was still foggy, and in new pain from not moving so long. As I sat with coffee to write today’s Pearl, I was struck by a wave of fatigue so great, I simply got up, & went back to bed…. Hence. the indulgence.
Two hours later, I’m up, and feeling almost real. Now comes the persistence part, for I will try to get this done today, & get it posted in a reasonable time, disappointing, perhaps, a few early readers, but, with the confidence given by getting the damn thing done at all. So be it. I’m not offering any apologies, or any pleas for patience; it all is what it is, and we’ll all just have to deal with the results. Some of your disappointment will, I hope, be mitigated by the most excellent poem I found for today, sent to me by a friend. You’ll like it; if you don’t, well, you don’t know diddly about poetry, so, it’s your loss….
There, I’ve shown my curmudgeonly side, so I suppose that means we should be off to get this done. I do hope y’all enjoy whatever has happened. If nothing else, it’s unique, if in no other way than for the perseverance needed to get it done. Since I can’t think of any tricks, or magic, we’ll simply leave it at that. If you would kindly fasten your belts, we’ll be off…..
Shall we Pearl?
“Is is not true that we have only one life to live;
if we can read, we can live as many lives
and as many kinds of lives as we wish.”~~ S.I. Hayakawa ~~
********************************
Yep. We’re going default, because I’m in a hurry, and because it always hits the mark. As usual, this compilation was chosen simply for the picture it displays when I see it…. Enjoy!….
Time constraints mean we’re going to the archives, as I didn’t have time to finish the piece upon which I’m working…. Here’s one from a while back; I hope you enjoy it….
From 2/25/2014:
From 12/12/12:
“He who proselytizes in the cause of unbelief is basically a man in need of belief.” — Eric Hoffer
This is true…. you never see an atheist going door to door, trying to convert the pious to their unbeliefs. However, I would go further on this train of thought, and add that, “He who proselytizes, in any cause, in basically a man in need of a life.” I’m sure it occurred to Mr. Hoffer, but he was too busy trying to explain this statement to somebody who didn’t understand the word ‘proselytize’….. For my own case, I have never, ever understood why people feel compelled to go door to door to try to get other people to believe what they believe; it’s one of the most persistent delusional systems I’ve ever witnessed, to believe that anyone wants to hear what they have to say, much less they will find their beliefs palatable to others, or find anyone who believes them to be superior to their own…..
“More people would learn from their mistakes if they weren’t so busy denying they made them.” — Smart Bee
Humans seem to have an immense blind spot when it comes to their own actions and beliefs. Most of them never seem to question the things they are told, even when those things are presented with no evidence other than faith. Of course, the people who are invested in the religious system, to wit: the preachers, begin their indoctrination when their constituents are very young, when they are still prone to accept whatever an adult says as truth. This ensures a life-long predilection for being simple to control…. or, in short, mental slavery, if you will. Unless there is some sort of rebellion of spirit, where new knowledge is injected, these poor saps will spend their entire lives believing that what they have been told is real, when, in fact, they are fitting themselves with shackles, that will forever imprison their minds, and their imagination…..
“To defend one’s self against fear is simply to insure that one will, one day, be conquered by it; fears must be faced.” — James Baldwin
In my life-long quest for the truth, I’ve come to believe that religions, while originally intended to benefit people, (by their iconic progenitors, anyway…. I’m sure Jesus was a quite nice man, and wanted the best for those to whom he preached his own philosophy of compassion….), have historically been taken over by the predators who live to control others.
To be fair, some of those who become priests, or any of the other varieties of religious fanatic that prevail in our society, may indeed believe that their beliefs are true, and act accordingly, but the majority are, as far as I can tell, only concerned with maintaining status quo, thereby benefiting themselves, while never actually allowing any REAL progress in the development of the human condition. They would have society behave as if we were still living in caves, in essence, still cowering in our meager shelter while the storms and lightning are raging outside, terrified of the power of what we do not understand, and, therefore, allow ourselves to fear….
“A universe of death, which God by curse
Created evil, for evil only good;
Where all life dies, death lives,
and Nature breeds Perverse,
all monstrous, all prodigious things,
Abominable, unutterable and worse
Than fables yet have feigned, or fear conceived,
Gorgons, and Hydras, and Chimeras dire.” ~~ Milton, Paradise Lost, Book II ~~
(Side note: I’ll bet Milton had a hard time sleeping….)
The Universe is a big place, and there is a lot to learn. Fearing that knowledge, or fearing what changes that knowing will always bring, is the act of a coward, to my mind, and should not be encouraged. Supernatural beings of unlimited power are not a required component to the understanding of Nature and the Universe; we need not fear that our lack of knowledge of how things work is unattainable. Just because we do not understand a part of reality does not mean that whatever it is, is beyond our understanding.
It is not necessary to ask for exemptions, or intervention by our own personal gods, for us to achieve happiness, or even contentment; that is completely within our own power, if we but acknowledge that part of us that is free, and connected to everything else we can perceive. The connections may not be fully understood, but they are there, and if we can only learn to recognize it, the power to change reality lies within us, all the time…. As Epictetus said, “Happiness lies in learning to accept a simple truth. There are some things you can change. And there are some things you cannot.” It’s really quite that easy, you know, once one learns to accept this fact of life…. No dogma required…..
“If brains were outlawed, nothing would change.” — Smart Bee
********************************
Yesterday, I received an email from a friend, a regular visitor to the blog, who knows I enjoy poetry. She sent me this poem, which she found in her own wanderings around the world of reading. My initial reaction was simply, WOW! My second was to go follow the link to find more of his work, and look forward to seeing more of it. The link is provided below…
Alienation
In the good old days
Before rock and roll
Heroin
The velvet underground
Cocaine
Sid vicious
And assorted bad men
And bad women,
In the good old days
No man and never a woman
Would profess their alienation from society
As society was a god society
And if you were alienated from society
You were in effect alienated from god
Which made you a sinner
An outcast
A candidate for purgatory, hell or if unborn or unbaptised,
Limbo.
Thus a man or woman
Would confess their sins
On the first Friday of each month
In the local church to the priest
Who knew them intimately
Despite the darkness
And the little grilled window
And the closeness of voice to ear
And on the first Saturday
All of society
Would be full again
Of forgiven sinners
And the good old days
Would continue
There are of course flaws in this.
In the new days
You can be alienated
From yourself
Your wife
Your mother
Your father
Your sister
Your whole shit gang bang of people you know
You don’t know
And you listen
To sid vicious
Nirvana
Rammstein
The voices in your head
The dreams of your nightmares
The girls of the canal bank leafy walks
The boys throwing cars at each other in the boreens
The men
The women
The whole gee bang sheebang hee bangs
There are flaws in this
And what you project is no longer god
And so no man or woman is god
Cranky tin pan alleyway of a universe
Cluttered with suffering silence once more
As no one knows the unknown language
Of the unknowable when all you can
Know if the echo chamber of the mind and soul and two pence
Mind we rig up with lights and flashing noise
Known as the modern
Keeps mouthing nonsense on top of nonsense
Without due regard to that fucking boat
That brought us here,
Echos of hades, charon, siren siren siren siren
This morning I watched as crows
Grabbed black pudding left out by my girls
On a small wooden bench
And over the hand made wall of dry stone
A thousand bodies kept each other warm
In that other place, no place, some place, where place, what place,
Marked by lichen crusted stone crosses and then some,
Discord they cawed, discord, discord, as they swooped
And watched with eyes sliding magnetically open and closed
Revealing milky white spectral analysis
Of this small earth ball of mucky matter
Which on closer inspection
Reveals much space between
And the nothing inbetween which makes us more of what we are
Much more so than believing we are flesh or bone or even water
The nothing in between, between, the start of and end of the sentence
That begins I am insert whatever the fuck twixt the blanks,
And no amount of miraculous sonerous beautous melodifications
About blooming effing flower petals nor soulful dirges
Can be the blank in the between
Is it a scream, a whooping holler, a mouth rounded beneath
Roundier eyes miracling a confrontation with all of space
And
Maria Callas does not end on that note, ever.
I told the crows to fuck off. I ate the pudding. It is only fair.
My feathers are darker and more spectacular
Though my girls
Whooped and hollered
As I flew away
A space in space.
~~Brendan McCormack ~~
Dublin, Ireland 1970 –
Irish Poet. Two collections published, ‘Selling Heaven'(2013) and ‘Phuckle – Irish Auf English’, (2014). Both available on Amazon.co.uk.
Our final old-school pearl today is…. Hmm. Well, it is what it is. It’s somewhat eclectic, though, not really. It’s also rather subtle, but, only in defense of its point, which is, as always, left as an exercise for the Gentle Reader…. Hint: it’s about Life.
“At birth we woke to dream in this world between.” — Kan’ami Kiyotsugu
“If ever I become entirely respectable I shall be quite sure that I have outlived myself.” — Eugene V. Debs
“It is not length of life, but depth of life.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
“A wise man first determines what is within his control; all else is then irrelevant.” — Epictetus
“Courage is the complement of fear. A man who is fearless cannot be courageous. (He is also a fool.)” — Lazarus Long
“Fear nothing, for every renewed effort raises all former failures into lessons, all sins into experiences.” — Katherine Tingley
“Life has no other discipline to impose, if we would but realize it, than to accept life unquestioningly. Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate, or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy, and strength, if faced with an open mind. Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such.” — Henry Miller
********************************
I did it. Moreover, in some ways, I did it well, though that may only be my sense of accomplishment talking. Y’all will, of course, make the final judgment on that. Me, I’m gonna go start another Pearl while I’m hot, while simultaneously attempting to distract and entertain my resident familiar, Leelu the Annoyed Magicat. Wish me luck, because I’ll need it. Her routine has been seriously disrupted today, and cats don’t like that much…. Ah, well, I can do it. And, I’ll do it well enough to make another attempt tomorrow…. See y’all then, like it or not….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
“Do not the spirits who dwell in the ether envy man his pain?”
~~ Kahlil Gibran ~~
Monument to the Victims of the Great Famine in Ireland Galway
Hajime…. The monument you see is quite a moving experience in person; the events of that time were horrendous, as well as misnamed in the official history of the time. Even the name of the monument, in my mind, isn’t as it should be, for the Famine was not a famine; it was attempted genocide by the British government. Now, such a statement may not match what the world was told, but, it resembles reality much more than the story that eventually was agreed upon, which is all history really is….
Gosh…. That’s pretty heavy, eh? Well, it’s a heavy monument, so, there’s nothing unusual, or wrong about that. I shan’t continue in such a vein, for it’s already hard enough to see the keyboard, but, everyone alive should take a moment often to remember the victims of such crimes, which happen every day, in almost every country in the world, at one time or another. Man’s inhumanity to his fellow man is a subject that’s been covered by greater minds, and writers, than I, so, I won’t bother to try to cover their work, either. What I can do is put together a Pearl, as best I may. So be it.
Hell, we’ll just go do that now. Take us away, Luigi, before anyone notices….
Shall we Pearl?….
“A sky as pure as water bathed the stars and brought them out.” — Southern mail, by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, 1929
********************************
Image from amazon.com via Google Images
I never was privileged to see Leon play live before he was gone, but, I’ve seen Willie a couple times, here & there over the years. They played together a lot back in the day; here’s a concert from 1979 I missed, being busy preparing to get married at the end of the month, in California….. Nice to get to hear it now; hurray for You Tube, and old hippies….
********************************
Willie Nelson & Leon Russell Live in Passaic, NJ, 3/1/79
“I like the way ONLY their mouths move.. They look like DYING OYSTERS” — Zippy the Pinhead
I’ve seen a lot of the Zippy books & cartoons, but, not this one, so, I don’t know for sure if he’s talking about a choir, or, almost anyone on the floor of the US Senate during almost any session. But, then, he COULD be talking about what I used to do, which was to watch the news without sound. The Zipster’s fond observation could describe practically every newscast team, as well, but for the weather folks, who are generally the most interesting, especially without sound. And, please, don’t get me started on the politicians, or police spokesheeple, or other members of the BRC, (you know, the Asininnies) being interviewed; let’s just note Zippy nailed them in one….
I had intended to rant upon the political group, using Zippy’s quote as a springboard, but, circumstances preclude much besides the sort of thing you see in the first paragraph. So, rather than subject y’all to any more of my occasionally infantile humor, (it happens most often in this situation, after the fourth day of not sleeping; the damn cat gets 20 times the sleep I’m getting…. But, I’m not complaining, just explaining the whyfor….), I went searching in Smart Bee for some off the wall, or ‘different’ thoughts with which to entertain y’all, with each one relating in some fashion to my own thoughts on why we’ve ended up in such a mess….
And, what the hell, because I can….
“More comfortable seeing 2 men holding guns than holding hands?” — Sardonic Bee
“I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to colleges, which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by thread, into the fabric of their lives.” — Tolstoy
“A free life cannot acquire many possessions, because this is not easy to do without servility to mobs or monarchs…” — Epicurus
“If you think the United States has stood still, who built the largest shopping center in the world?” — Richard M. Nixon
“Q: How can you tell when a lawyer is lying? A:His lips are moving.” — Sarcastic Bee
“How many gun control advocates does it take to screw in a light bulb? Let the police do it – private citizens can’t be trusted with light bulbs !” — Smart Alec Bee
de-moc-ra-cy (di mok’ ra see) n. Three wolves and a sheep voting on what’s for dinner. — Realistic Bee
“For neither men nor angel can discern hypocrisy – the only evil that walks invisible.” — Milton, “Paradise Lost”, iii:682-684
“Things are going to get a lot worse before they get worse.” — Lily Tomlin
********************************
Momentary Terror
Absently casual, memories pester endlessly
leaving only bleeding remnants, amiable and loving.
Coming awake, I cry to still the pain, shamelessly.
Elsewhen, time gives surcease, if only to live,
shoring broken pilings, worn and gray.
Passing on, I laugh at the pain, accept all it will give.
Time will build a shelter, warm and ever safe
save for Fate’s busy hands.
Enduring, I follow the pain, knowing it will chafe.
Fixed against a darkened sky of starry black
such beauty brings us to our knees.
Entranced, I welcome the pain, ’tis all I lack…..
~~ gigoid ~~
Written 2/4/2013.
********************************
Sometimes, Smart Bee is a moralist about Life at Large; today was one of those days. We did manage to find some pretty cogent thoughts about the whole shebang, for what they’re worth. In my mind, that isn’t an insignificant value…. You decide for yourself….
“I grow old ever learning many things.” — Solon
“I certainly wasn’t happy. Happiness has to do with reason, and only reason earns it. What I was given was the thing you can’t earn, and can’t keep, and often don’t even recognize at the time; I mean joy.” — Ursula K. LeGuin
“Hunger is the best seasoning for meat, and thirst for drink.” — Cicero
“Be not ashamed of thy virtues; honor’s a good brooch to wear in a man’s hat at all times.” — Ben Johnson
“Fuck ’em if they can’t take a joke.” — J. R. “Bob” Dobbs
“It is loneliness that makes the loudest noise. This is true of men as of dogs.” — Eric Hoffer
“The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water, but to walk on the earth.” — Chinese proverb
“The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus — Meditations, iv, 3
“Better clean death than dirty life.” — Frank Herbert
********************************
It’s done. The mere fact of its doneness is a testament, to be sure; whether to my will and perseverance, or to obsessive-compulsiveness, is both unclear, and, ultimately, unimportant. To me, anyway, because, hey, done. We’ll try it again tomorrow, ffolkes; one of these times I’ll get it right…. Sure I will….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
Good morning…. Well… Since I must begin my day by taking up my mantle of justice, to begin battle with a multi-national, soulless corporation and its myrmidons, this post may be late when posted, if posted today at all. If things don’t go well with AT&T, I may need to pop down to Starbucks to post it. SIGH…. I HATE corporations!
That said, I’ll go finish the Pearl, so at least it will be ready to go when I am….. Hmm…. It’s ready, sort of, but, the internet is not. I’ve had to cease engagement with the corporate ghost; not going to deal with them if they’re going to try to have it all their own way. So, internet service is a day or two away yet, so this will have to be done downtown, and I’ve already missed a day. That’s no big; we’ve still got the Tardis. But ot IS a PITA, to be sure….
In the interests of efficiency, we’ll take off now, so we’re in position at the proper moment….. Luigi, take it away….
Shall we Pearl?….
“Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped.”
~~ Elbert Hubbard ~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today’s video is a random default selection, with one of my favorite composers highlighted. If you don’t like this, you need work on your cultural education a bit…. Enjoy!….
I began collecting pearls this morning, each of which chosen seemed to be an excellent beginning for a rant about our BRC, those Asininnies of great renown. However, the group grew so large, I couldn’t think of enough to say; they said it all. So, instead, below we have an indictment pearl, with a bunch of great little statements that point out the major, and, perhaps, some of the minor, flaws in our current crop of assholes who believe they are in charge of the world….. Let’s see what they have to say, shall we?….
“We would like to apologize for the way in which politicians are represented in this programme. It was never our intention to imply that politicians are weak-kneed, political time-servers who are more concerned with their personal vendettas and private power struggles than the problems of government, nor to suggest at any point that they sacrifice their credibility by denying free debate on vital matters in the mistaken impression that party unity comes before the well-being of the people they supposedly represent, nor to imply at any stage that they are squabbling little toadies without an ounce of concern for the vital social problems of today. Nor indeed do we intend that viewers should consider them as crabby ulcerous little self-seeking vermin with furry legs and an excessive addiction to alcohol and certain explicit sexual practices which some people might find offensive. We are sorry if this impression has come across.” — Monty Python
(Actually, no, we’re not…)
“Bias used to say that men ought to calculate life both as if they were fated to live a long and a short time, and that they ought to love one another as if at a future time they would come to hate one another; for that most men were bad.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Bias, v
“What’s the matter with the world? Why, there ain’t but one thing wrong with every one of us- and that’s “selfishness.” — Will Rogers
“If guns are outlawed, only the government will have guns.” — Edward Abbey
(REMEMBER!…)
Asking politicians to vote themselves out of power is like asking rabbits not to multiply, it ain’t natural. — Bob Beckel, on term limits, CBS This Morning, 3/30/95
“Every actual State is corrupt. Good men must not obey laws too well.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), “Politics”
“Corruptissima republica plurimae leges.” [The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws.] — Cornelius Tacitus, 56-120 A.D., Annals III 27
“Quem metuunt, oderunt.” (They hate whom they fear.) — Ennius (239-169 BC)
“A doctrine insulates the devout not only against the realities around them but also against their own selves. The fanatical believer is not conscious of his envy, malice, pettiness and dishonesty. There is a wall of words between his consciousness and his real self.” — Eric Hoffer
There. That should drive that point home with a sledge. Now we’ve seen just how nasty a creature the average politician is in today’s world, I’d like to leave our Gentle Reader with two thoughts, which, if utilized properly, are also an open message to the American people, and the people of all the countries in the world whose governments are trying to convince them they are in terrible danger from the forces of evil, i.e, “terrorists”….. while the entire time, THE GOVERNMENTS are the perpetrators of all the violence we see all around us…. If you just remember the truth of these two short statements, your ‘terror’ will become superfluous, and easily dismissed for the lie it is….
“We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves.” — Eric Hoffer
“When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.” — African proverb
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today, you get a two-fer, both mine, to go right along with today’s ranting section…. Enjoy!
Geezer to Congress, with Love
Politicos don’t care much ’bout seniors and their ilk,
except for their money, I thinks;
Though they talk as if they’d cozen them in silk,
what they actually do, it stinks.
“The banks are failing, we can’t allow that!”,
steal from the aged, that’s their plan.
“Their life’s ending, that’s plainly where they’re at,”
lie shamelessly, because they can.
Maybe just once, if we all act together,
it couldn’t miss.
Right on their shoes, no matter the weather,
take careful aim, and piss.
Why the hell not?
It’s worth a shot!
~~ gigoid ~~
Written 12/23/2012
********************************
Terror at Constitution Hall
Standing quiet, waiting on hope’s bright wing,
a stranger heralds the gift of Time.
Lyrical, spherical melodies we sing,
yet with silence, as a mime.
If fortune favors the bold and free,
truth may be spoken with courage unveiled.
But fortune’s oft capricious and cruel,
then truth is naught but cold, with freedom failed.
Humanity has rights, ’tis often said,
if courage and truth can prevail.
If fear and ignorance are the diet we’re fed,
Life without liberty can be the only end to this tale.
~~ gigoid ~~
Written 7/21/2015
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What better icon to choose for a pearl whose core meaning has to do with the mind, and our use of it…. Of all the human beings who have ever lived, Aristotle’s name is, perhaps, the most well-known of all, and all who know it, know of him because of the power and scope of his thoughts. Acknowledged as one of Mankind’s most treasured representatives, he is the first example used to teach the concept of excellence, in every aspect of life. This pearl, (which, btw, has some unusual contributors today…. Hey, y’all KNOW I’m shameless about my pearls; if the foo shits, wear it…), while not quite as powerfully broad as Aristotle’s field of work, still speaks in a manner of which he would approve, as a good way to promote the proper use of the mind, our most important survival tool as humans…. Enjoy!….
“Errors, like straws, upon the surface flow;
He who would search for pearls must dive below.”
~~ John Dryden — All for Love, Prologue ~~
“The chief object of education is not to learn things but to unlearn things.” — G.K. Chesterton
“I respect faith, but doubt is what gets you an education.” — Wilson Mizner
“A man’s silence is wonderful to listen to.” — Thomas Hardy
“If it is not seemly, do it not; if it is not true, speak it not.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, xii, 17
“By the worldly standards of public life, all scholars in their work are of course oddly virtuous. They do not make wild claims, they do not cheat,they do not try to persuade at any cost, they appeal neither to prejudice nor to authority, they are often frank about their ignorance, their disputes are fairly decorous, they do not confuse what is being argued with race, politics, sex or age, they listen patiently to the young and to the old who both know everything. These are the general virtues of scholarship, and they are peculiarly the virtues of science.” — Jacob Bronowski
“‘Truth’ never set anyone free. It is only *doubt* which will bring mental emancipation.” — Anton LaVey
“Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous mind.” — Samuel Johnson
“We are what we repeatedly do.” — Aristotle
“For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his mind will be the greatest enemy.” — Bhagavad Gita (c. B.C. 400)
“The answer my friend, is blowing in the wind.”
~~ Bob Dylan ~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, I’m done, even if I can’t post yet; fucking corporations. In the further interests of efficiency, I’ll forgo any attempts at a brilliant closing paragraph, settling, instead, for saying, see y’all next time, whenever it may be. My internet at home is down, so, I’ll be hoofing it for a day or three, to the nearest free Wi-fi spot to get posted. SIGH…. I’ll get there, you’ll see….
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 