Tag Archives: Friederich Nietzsche

Fields of nascent cogitation, fallow in the morning sun….

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Ffolkes,

Feedle farble fristible farum! Or, as we’ve been known to say downtown, with no small degree of intensity, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK! If that isn’t clear enough, I can get more graphic, in a heartbeat….. Sorry, ffolkes, but, nothing relieves built up stress quite as well as a good curse, and, after the four days just passed in my world, relieving stress is the paramount task at hand…. “How can this be?”, you may well ask, as the last time y’all heard from me I was headed off to the indulgently hedonistic country of cruise ships, there to once again soothe my troubled spirit with the balm of overt consumerism, as is my wont….

That was then, this is now….. I should have noted at the outset of the trip, the very first item of note on the trip list failed to meet expectations, indicating a certain lack of cooperation on the part of the universe in falling in with my plans for a nice little four-day getaway….. a failure soon followed by a massive outpouring of chaotic events, along with some covert cosmic interference, with Murphy starring in the leading role, that of the consummate asshole…. Suffice to say at this point, the entire trip was one disappointment and problematic issue after another, compounded at the last by my body’s own frailty, to the tune of a $2000 medical emergency on the final night of the cruise…. and a lovely time was had by all…. NOT!

For the moment, that is all I’ll say on that subject; I am saving the details, and the major part of the angst, to put into letters yet-to-be-written, one to the cruise ship company, and one to my medical insurance company, outlining the series of events that brought home to me the futility of all of Mankind’s hopes and dreams, when the universe has other plans for us…. For four days, one thing after another went badly, to be followed almost immediately by something else going wrong…. which would be immediately prior to spilling something on myself in an embarrassing place, even if it was only something as simple as my own body fluids going astray…. Most excruciatingly upsetting, to be sure!….

I’m really glad to be home, and sleeping, as much as I ever do anymore, in my own bed, with my little computer here to absorb my overwrought feelings, and help me to transform them into some kind of acceptance, thereby regaining some of my hard-won serenity of spirit…. At the least, here at home, there is some chance of success in that venture…. For four days I’ve had every attempt at successful living thrown back in my face, burning hot…..

Okay, all done whining…. I’m sure y’all are somewhat less than riveted by my travails, so I’ll get on with something more entertaining, I hope, as soon as I can wrap up this intro section…. which, I see by the drivel above, has reached a minimum legal limit…. As such, I can actually just stop here…. so, I will….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“It matters not how long you live, but how well.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 829
_____________________________

Any ranting that I do today will be related to the above subject, in order to keep the details fresh in what is left of my mind…. Plus, I haven’t kept up with what is happening out in the Big Blue Room, which tends to keep me from picking a current event to rag upon, more’s the pity….. That does mean a bonus for y’all, as I’ll naturally fall back into the default position here at ECR when this happens….

Yes, you know what it means, ffolkes, another old-school pearl, a group of small but tasty pearls, all in a certain direction, or implying a certain theme…. Sure, those themes may not be immediately apparent, even to the most discriminating of Gentle Readers, but, more often, they simply bash one over the brows, driving home the desired point with all the delicacy of a professional wrestler….

I am, as is already obvious, more than just a little verbose this morning, having not written ANYTHING for over four days…. but, I don’t think that will hurt this section, since I’m going to segue right into the remainder of this section’s contents by using the old magical phrase, “slick as Natty Bumpo’s Chevrolet sedan!”…. Or, as we like to say here on ECR… let’s dive…. Ooh, ooh, let’s go really old school, too, with poetry brackets and everything all mellow….

I knew, by the smoke that so gracefully curl’d
Above the green elms, that a cottage was near;
And I said, “If there ‘s peace to be found in the world,
A heart that was humble might hope for it here.”

— Thomas Moore (1779-1852) — Ballad Stanzas

“I readily relapse into my reflections on the uselessness of our education.  Its aim has been to make us not good and wise, but learned; and in this it has succeeded. It has not taught us to follow and embrace virtue and wisdom, but has imprinted their derivations and etymologies on our minds. We are able
to decline ‘virtue’ even if we are unable to love it; if we do not know what wisdom is in fact and by experience, we are familiar with it as a jargon learned by heart.” — Michael de Montaigne, Essays

In the vacant places, we will build with new bricks.” — T.S. Eliot

“As long as we’re going insane, we might as well go the whole way. A mere shred of sanity is of no value.” — Smart Bee

“Be not ashamed of thy virtues; honor’s a good brooch to wear in a man’s hat at all times.” — Ben Johnson

“We are never deceived; we deceive ourselves.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

Beware the Jabberwock, my son
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch
Beware the jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious bandersnatch

— _Jabberwocky_, by Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson)
_____________________________

As with many of the classical offerings I include, this needs no adornment from my direction…. just enjoy….

A Thing of Beauty (Endymion)

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its lovliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing
A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy and o’er-darkn’d ways
Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,
Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon
For simple sheep; and such are daffodils
With the green world they live in; and clear rills
That for themselves a cooling covert make
‘Gainst the hot season; the mid-forest brake,
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms:
And such too is the grandeur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty dead;
An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven’s brink.

~~John Keats ~~

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Having stated above there would be no rant today, I feel obligated to keep it light… Plus, I’m still not quite feeling as well as I’d like, and need to finish this up, so I can get on with the rest of the day…. So, we again dip into the archives, for a pearl the was fresh the day it was posted, which was in May of this year…. enjoy!….

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

This last pearl for today will be fresh, or as fresh as I can make it from old, unused pearls, that have been lounging around in my stash for some years now…. It should be okay, it’s all straight out of Smart Bee, back when I could trust it to run…. The point of today’s old-school effort will be as obvious as I can make it, but, I’m not giving that a lot of credence, and neither should you…. I would suggest you take notes, as it could be to your advantage later on….

“I have the simplest tastes.  I am always satisfied with the best.” — Oscar Wilde

“One might define adulthood as the age at which a person learns he must die and accepts his sentence undismayed. ” — Robert Heinlein

“Principles have no real force except when one is well fed.” — Mark Twain

40. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a stroke of luck. — Instructions for life

“Cato used to assert that wise men profited more by fools than fools by wise men; for that wise men avoided the faults of fools, but that fools would not imitate the good examples of wise men.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Life of Marcus Cato

All things good to know are difficult to learn. — Greek Proverb

“Was mir nicht umbringt macht mir streng!”  {What does not kill me, makes me strong!”} — Friederich Nietzsche
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Okay, ffolkes, I’ve done what I can do, and don’t have any more in me, so I’m going to send this out to the email group, and get it posted before heading back to bed…. Whoops, better proof….  Not bad for a first effort after a lay-off; I’m going to press my luck, and let if fly with no further ado…. See ya….

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

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

Bowing to history in gratuitous shoes…..

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Ffolkes,

If such were not overtly mundane, I’d let myself go insane today; the weather’s perfect for it….. But, as with any activity whose successful application depends on timing, this one requires the highest degree of precision possible, in order to have even a small hope of making the grade. No doubt, the responsible parties involved won’t assume any blame, should things go badly, even though any such event would be entirely their doing, but, I knew from the get-go that would be the case….

In fact, that is precisely why I allowed them to be present at all; now that the time for action draws nigh, I can admit, at least to y’all, that this whole thing has been a sting operation…. We’re running a clandestine operation to find and gather together the largest collection of bad metaphors ever created in one space, in order to use them as the kindling for a massive concept burning this evening….

No, I haven’t a fucking clue as to what any of the above means, or even if it SHOULD have any meaning…. My brain is so foggy and, well, empty this morning, I just started typing, to see what would come out…. The above paragraphs are the result, and yes, I’m pretty ashamed…. It’s as bad as anything I’ve ever written, I think, and is only saved from immediate deletion because I can use it as an example, of how NOT to go about drawing people into one’s story, or post, with a compelling beginning…. I mean, I’d feel lucky to know that ANYONE got through those paragraphs without retching, or otherwise showing the natural reaction to such dross and drivel…. Hell, even as an example, it’s boring….

I’m still not sure what this will mean for today’s Pearl, but, THAT is nothing unusual, I would guess…. I often haven’t much of a clue as to where I’ll end up…. Hell, I mostly haven’t a clue as to where I’ve started…. All I know right now is that I’m still sleepy, and typing is making me cranky…. I should probably go have some pizza for breakfast, to get back into creative mode….

If the pizza didn’t have jalapeños all over it, I’d do that…. For me, it’s a bit early for hot peppers, no matter how savory they may be after a night’s marination, swapping flavors with the pizza cheese…. In addition, having had a LOT of experience with pizza for breakfast, I can guarantee that consumption of both pepperoni and jalapeños before 6 AM is considered too dangerous for someone of my age…. Someone (not me….) could die before everything returned to normal…. As you are well aware, we HATE dead bodies around here before 8 AM; once the kids are off to school, disposal is much more convenient….

Having lost all sense of proportion and/or culpability, I give up, officially…. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but, this isn’t it….. You may end up with a great deal of recycled material today, which, given what I’ve seen so far, is probably a good thing…. It may well be the only thing that saves my ass, and yours, should you choose to come along for the ride….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“There are no educators. As a thinker, one should speak only of self-education. The education of youth by others is an experiment, conducted on one as yet unknown and unknowable, or a leveling on principle, to make the new character, whatever it may be, conform to the habits and customs that prevail: in both cases, therefore, something unworthy of the thinker – the work of parents and teachers, whom an audaciously honest person has called ‘nos enemis naturels.'” — Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900), The Wanderer and His Shadow
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I was right in at least one respect; you’ll see quite a bit of archived material today, even if this section is all you get to read….. Here is a discussion of the ins and outs of mental health, or the lack thereof, from someone who has a pretty good grasp of BOTH sides of that issue, to wit: yours truly, with over 15 years having worked as a psychiatric therapist, and over three decades of experiencing personal insanity of varying degrees, at various times throughout the latter half of my life…. Been there, done that, so let’s move on shall we?…. Hope you enjoy this small interlude, and short journey into the precepts of madness, gigoid style….

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

How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb? Only one, but it takes a really long time and the light bulb has to want to change.” — Smart Bee

Boy, if it wasn’t for the power of metaphor, I would be lost!….. This statement, though presented in a manner that makes it obviously a joke, is actually quite serious in its relevance to sanity, psychiatry, and how the mind works, in general. I worked for many years in the field of mental health care, as a therapist, and I can tell you quite honestly, that this is absolutely true, in many cases of what the rest of society terms insanity…. which is a word, and a concept, that most of society avoids at all costs, with a complete lack of understanding of what it is, for the most part…. You see, every person who lives in this society on Earth today is just a little insane, with some of them reaching higher levels through their own efforts to excel at what they do…. Society itself is insane, you see, and one needs to be the same in order to effectively cope….

It may surprise some ffolkes to know that they are insane; I know it surprised me when I first became aware of this fact. We all go through our lives with a certain image of ourselves, and very rarely does that image in our minds look insane. But, let me assure you, there really isn’t any visible way to be able to tell if a person is insane, as it is completely invisible, under most circumstances, as long as the person isn’t speaking, or acting in some way that provides a clue as to their inner state of mind. Even for those of us trained in recognizing its presence, through the use of observation of other defining characteristics, there is no guaranteed method for spotting someone with a mental condition, unless they give it to you up front, by acting out in some overt fashion.

Sure, there are tells, as a gambler would say…. When one eye is happily spinning in the opposite direction as the other, it’s a pretty good sign of some inner turmoil…. Pacing and mumbling to oneself, back and forth in a small area, while ignoring everything around them, can be another dead giveaway of someone who is experiencing a few extra perceptions in comparison to the rest of us. Sometimes, really bad grooming can be a sign that the person’s mind isn’t focused on how they affect others…. Staring at a wall, holding what appears to be a conversation with oneself, is generally considered to be a clear indication that not all is well in that person’s world….

But, without some overt signs such as these, you just can’t spot mental illness; it is extra hard to see it in one’s own image, since we tend to clean that up before we look at it, or try to share it. And, since EVERYONE ELSE is also insane, at least a little, it can be hard to spot, for the same reason one cow in a herd is hard to pick out. You may have heard the old saw about “one in four people are insane, so if you have three sane friends, it’s you”….. What would be more accurate to say is, “all of you are insane, but three of you are coping with it in an effective manner, and one isn’t…. “

It’s helpful to know that the overt signs one may see are indicative of the severity of the condition, i.e., the more acting out one observes, the more severe the break in the mental state. But, that isn’t always accurate, as normally sane folks, acting in the grip of strong emotion, can show the same kind of acting out, with the difference of not having it occur all the time, but only when provoked. Thus, it can be seen, it can be very difficult to judge whether a person is permanently insane, or merely temporarily out of control….

This is where I bring it all together, by referring back to the original pearl…. Coping with life can drive anyone crazy, and does, every day…. Some  cope with it better than others, and those are the people who are considered to be sane, as they can deal with reality without resorting to outlandish ways of dealing with their fears. Those who cannot find ways of coping with their fears, which arise from what reality gives us to deal with, end up acting in ways that are strange and uncomfortable for the rest of us, and are often dangerous, in a physical sense, for them, and for those around them….

In all my experience, with every kind of mental illness I saw in almost 30 years working in mental hospitals, the primary characteristic of those who got better, was that they made up their own minds to do so…. That’s it…. Simple as it may seem, deciding to give up the methods they used in the past, and make a change, was always based on a personal decision on their part, and is THE key ingredient in the regime of ideas, medicines, therapies, and treatments used to combat their illness. In other words, it took a long time, and they first had to want to change…. Without that, nothing worked…. It is a well known aphorism among mental health therapists that, “they get better IN SPITE of what we do, not because of it….”

So, if you’re getting worried about your own coping skills, just keep in mind that to remain sane, it means you have to want to do so…. But, that’s all it takes, if your are sincere, for you will do whatever else is needed, once your will power has been engaged…. That’s what people do….

“Great minds think alike, apparently so do we.” — D. Bennett

“Falsely luxurious, will not man awake?” — James Thomson (1700-1748) — The Seasons, Summer, Line 67
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As is often the case, I have no idea why this particular poem is the one that ended up here today…. I found it while searching through old Pearls for material for today, and it INSISTED on being included…. I’m a sucker for poetry, as you know, no matter whose it may be, and more so with my own…. so, here it is, such as it is…..

Time, and again….

Life, and/or love, will seldom fit
into any box we keep for them to sit.
Loose and limber, without any reason,
always somewhat out of season.

Surprise, surprise, they seem to say,
can’t help it, it’s just our way.
If only you would learn, instead of know,
maybe you’d find yourself with one to show.

Deal, just the way it is, now and here,
follow the path, on the other side of fear.
Finding the future isn’t all blood, sweat, and pain,
far, far more than mere joy we stand to gain.

The sages all say not to try, just do,
sounds as simple as putting on a shoe.
I’d say we could really go places,
if we could learn, to tie up the laces….

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

Well, it’s two and a half hours since I arose to begin this missive, and my brain continues to function at a level somewhere near the floor, so to speak…. Neither sugar, nor caffeine, nor jalapeños have had any significant effect on my stupor to date, and it’s getting late…. I’m going to go old-school (as if I would go somewhere else….), with the only search parameter being one of simple, basic direction, which will hopefully bring me to where I need to be….. Hmm… I guess that’s a lot to expect from a few little quotes, but, hey, I can be as unreasonable as the next guy….. These are all intended to find ME, or at least, point out where I’ve been hiding….

“I guess a cynic smells different.” — Smart Bee

“The most common lie is that which one lies to himself; lying to others is relatively an exception.” — Nietzsche

“Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” — Buddha

“I admire the serene assurance of those who have religious faith. It is wonderful to observe the calm confidence of a Christian with four aces.” — Mark Twain

“As to values, I was taught — and still believe — that a sense of honor is necessary to personal self-respect; that duty, recognizing an individual’s subordination to community welfare, is as important as rights; that loyalty, which is based on the trustworthiness of honorable men, is still a virtue; and that work and self-discipline are as essential to individual happiness as they are to a viable society. Indeed, I still believe in patriotism — not if it is limited to parades and flag-waving, but because worthy national goals and aspirations can be realized only through love of country and a desire to be a responsible citizen.” — Lewis F. Powell (Former Supreme Court Justice)

“For the skeptic there remains only one consolation: if there should be such a thing as superhuman law it is  administered with subhuman inefficiency.” — Eric Ambler

“There are too many books I haven’t read, too many places I haven’t seen, too many memories I haven’t kept long enough.” — Irwin Shaw
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It seems like I’m forever using this closing statement to apologize in advance for any damage I may have inadvertently caused in my thrashing about; I suppose it’s as good a place as any, and I’m too honest, and compassionate, to ignore the potential damage that my material is capable of causing….. Me father would be proud, if a trifle confused….. and, I can just hear my mother saying, “Oh, Ned!” in that exasperated tone of voice she employed so well to dish out portions of the guilt, which was her weapon and tool of choice for manipulating her offspring….

That may sound a bit critical, but, it really isn’t…. I loved my mother, deeply…. I just learned very early to recognize the ways she had to get her kids to do her bidding; those methods weren’t always what I’d call completely reasonable, but, they were what she knew, what she had been taught to know, and she was no more capable of changing those ways than she could change her gender…. I never held it against her, I just learned to deal with it without letting it affect me greatly, and without hurting her unnecessarily…. I hope….

How did I get off on THAT tangent?…. Oh, right, the closing damage assessment…. Let’s see what happened up there, shall we?….. Well, I don’t think it will cause any loss of blood, unless someone overreacts enough to bash themselves somehow… which would be THEIR problem, now, wouldn’t it? Yep, it would…. Anyone who has been here before knows enough to watch their heads, and first time visitors are covered by the “ignorance of the law” codicil, excluding them from bringing any liability suits for their own reactions…. Well, that’s what the lawyers told me, anyway…. I suppose only time will tell, as it always does….

Okay, I’m giving up trying to make any sense out of all this…. I’m outta here… See ya….

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

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

Fatuous remarks can create structural instability….

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Ffolkes,

Dark days are coming, ffolkes, there’s no denying it. Hard as I tried to work WITH the humongous bureaucracy that constitutes my HMO, the intransigence so natural to such a beast has dictated, once again, that we must do battle…. This time, I may even need a lawyer to help me, to find and use the part of the law that will MAKE them pay attention to my humanity, instead of ignoring it in favor of their own corporate greed, and their own corporate cowardice…. But, it’s okay, cuz I’m ready to take them on this time…. This time we’re going down to the wire, where I will find a way to force them into compliance with what is best for ME, not for them…. If it kills me, well, then, so be it, I’ll be a martyr for the cause of freedom in our bodies, as opposed to having our medical needs abrogated and altered according to the whims of bureaucratic avarice, and corporate selfishness….

That all sounds pretty highfalutin’, doesn’t it? I thought so, mainly because that’s how I tried to write it…. Now that I see it on the screen, I see that it says a lot, with a lot of force, without really giving any clue as to what the hell I’m talking about…. and that’s okay, too. I’m not really going into it now, as it concerns matters best kept, to some degree, private… In addition, it’s not the right time, or place, for this rant; a better choice for that process is to wait until it is done, and I know the outcome of the battle, or at least the projected, most likely outcome…. At that point, I’ll have a better idea of exactly what to rant about, and for how long I should rant, given the level of built-up angst that is sure to accompany such an event…..

Suffice it to say, now, that this battle will be a major one, with consequences that are potentially far-reaching, that could conceivably have a ripple effect on other aspects of modern culture, and how healthcare organizations are allowed to operate…. I’m hoping, anyway…. If not, if I am crushed under the heel of the uncaring corporate machine, then nothing will change, and the HMO’s of our world will be able to continue to operate as they wish, without any consideration for anything other than their own profit line… Of course, that’s the way it is now, so, you might not notice any difference, except for the fact of my non-existence….

As is normal for me, I am, of course, blowing this up, somewhat out of proportion; it’s a natural tendency to do that when one is trying to pump up one’s own confidence, trying to build up the necessary courage to take on one of the behemoths of our society. I’ve been tilting at society’s windmills for a long time now, off and on ever since my college years, so I have at least a modicum of experience in these matters….. Corporations are not like other kinds of living creatures, even though the law gives them the same rights…. Actually, corporations have MORE rights than the average Joe, since THEY have been given the right to make a profit, which is NOT one of the rights of any other live, flesh and blood citizen….

In addition, it’s a hard thing to fight a corporation, because they’re so amorphous….. Their shape shifts each time one looks at them, to serve whatever purpose they currently pursue…. This makes them appear shapeless, always changing in aspect; the net result of this is, they don’t offer a lot of target area at which to aim and fire…. Also, since they are not really alive, killing, crushing, or otherwise destroying, or, simply excising one part of it barely draws its attention, as it has a million of those parts, easily sacrificed, that it can give up without suffering any real, lasting damage…. The trick is to get their hold on a certain law to loosen, so that society can wrest back some of the control that is seized by such entities when laws are written in their favor….

Ah well, I’m starting to rant, if I haven’t already done so, and I hadn’t intended to do that today…. I’ve got other stuff to rant about, and now I’ll have to review that, to see if it will hold to another day…. Damn! Sometimes, I wish I could learn to shut myself up…. but, that just causes other difficulties, when the angst and dross sits in my mind and festers…. NOBODY likes what happens then, so, I try to get this stuff out of my head, and on screen, as soon as I can…. For now, though, I think I’ll bring this once again meandering stroll through my early morning brain to a screeching halt, and call it an intro for today…..

Shall we Pearl?….

“It is not so much what you believe in that matters, as the way in which you believe it and proceed to translate that belief into action.” — Lin Yutang
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So, there I was, cruising through the news site I frequent most often, when I saw the first article listed below, regarding a new public surveillance center being constructed in Oakland…. Apparently, the police forces in that city, who have been losing the battle with criminals in that city for many years, due to the complete and utter ignorance of the leaders of the city, and, a factor completely unknown to the police, their own misplaced,  intransigent sense of entitlement, have decided they need to be able to spy on the public much more effectively….

They haven’t a clue as to how to deal with any of the issues that cause the level of discontent in the city, as they are clueless as to their own part in creating those issues, so they figure they’ll just tighten down the screws even tighter…. never realizing that their own actions are the biggest part of the problem….

(Gee, does that sound suspiciously like the foreign policy attitudes displayed by the US federal government?… Why, yes, yes it does…. Why is it so hard for these idiots to understand, when you treat others like dirt, they aren’t going to like you?…..)

So, anyway, the police asked for a center where they could coordinate all the technological data they have been collecting, from publicly placed cameras, license plate readers, gun-shot detectors, radio dispatch calls, car cameras, and whatever else they can figure out to beg, borrow, or steal from the NSA… Apparently, encouraged by the success of the NSA programs at invading the privacy of normal citizens, the embattled officers have asked the city supervisors permission to build this center, so they can increase their data intake, and collaborate to join forces with other police agencies around the bay area, as well as make best use of all the surveillance they are now allowed to use….

It is a chilling story, all in all, not only in its bare tale of truth, but because of the reactions by the city supervisors, who have completely ignored all the public outcry against the new center, completely removing its construction from the public venue, and accepting no public input as to whether it should or should not be instituted as policy for the future… They just DID it, with no public input at all…. THAT, to me, is the most frightening part, and one that should immediately provoke a number of lawsuits against the city, the police, and whomever else will take the suit for consideration…. In addition, if they won’t change anything, then start actions against the courts and legislature themselves…. But, that’s just me, and the way I would deal with such effrontery…. I’m not one to tolerate a fool for long….

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Oakland-moves-forward-with-surveillance-center-4995249.php

The revelations from Eric Snowden regarding the extent of the spying being done by the NSA are reaching well beyond our borders now…. A number of countries around the world have registered strong protests regarding the privacy invasions by our government, with a number of European countries demanding changes from President Obama in the wake of the news that they had been targets of the spying…. Australia, which has used the same data produced by our agency, and applied the spying techniques and data found by our agencies for their own clandestine spying, have so insulted their neighboring countries that one of them has severed all diplomatic relations with them, at least temporarily, in response to the reported breaches of privacy….

Below you’ll find a number of articles describing the extent of the hullabaloo around the world, which will give you an idea of how the rest of the world’s outrage matches our own here in ‘Amurrica’…..

http://dearkitty1.wordpress.com/2013/11/20/nsa-australia-spying-on-indonesian-president/

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/19/world/asia/indonesia-australia-spy-row/index.html

No apologies, no tolerance, no way they’re going to change what they’re doing…. Sound like someone else? Someone, say, from THIS country?….

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/05/world/europe/germany-uk-spy-report/

Oops, caught again…. and still no apology, and no indication of any intent to either stop, or alter what they’re doing…

So, how do our police forces respond to all this talk of spying on the public, and to the huge public outcry AGAINST such spying? Well, apparently, they ask for more ways to invade our privacy….

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/nevius/article/S-F-police-seek-cameras-to-capture-whole-picture-4997404.php

Sick, just plain sick…. To protect their OWN asses, they are going to film ALL public interactions…. Can you say ‘paranoia’? Sure you can…

Oh, and what does our government DO with the data they get from their spying?  Here is an example…..

http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/US-drone-kills-5-outside-of-Pakistan-tribal-region-4997699.php

It’s the day before the anniversary of the John F. Kennedy assassination…. do you know what YOUR government is up to?….
_____________________________

Mining old Pearls is bringing me in touch with a lot of my own old poetry…. Here is another of which I’m fairly proud….

Intelligent Crimes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

I’ve done my ranting for the day, so now I get to let Smart Bee help me pick out a group of pearls, that will make a statement of some sort, in the old-school style we’ve all come to know and love…. I have a feeling I know what kind of statement it will make today…. but, I’ve been wrong before… in this century, too! Any who, let’s see what happens when I give SB the reins…..

“Annual drug deaths: tobacco: 395,000, alcohol: 125,000, ‘legal’ drugs: 38,000, illegal drug overdoses: 5,200, marijuana: 0.  Considering government subsidies of tobacco, just what is our government protecting us from in the drug war?” — William A. Turnbow

“Political truth is libel; religious truth, blasphemy.” — William Hazlitt (1778-1830)

(The battle, begun long ago, goes on today, does it not?…..)

“It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is:  what are we busy about?” — Henry David Thoreau

“A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining, but wants it back the minute it begins to rain.” — Mark Twain

“Soap, Ballot, Jury & Cartridge.” — The Four Boxes of Freedom

“The higher we soar, the smaller we seem to those who cannot fly” — Friedrich Nietzsche

“Let’s all face the facts. This world, in which many, if not most of us live, will never be a better place, until such time as it is occupied by a better class of tenants.” — Smart Bee

This last quote stimulated a thought, which I want to share…. I rant here, a lot, about politics, and religion, and how the people who engage in those particular pastimes are, essentially, sick puppies, and mostly just need to be put out of their misery, before they cause any further harm…. What occurred to me on reading the quote above is this: the real culprit responsible for our problems on this planet is not those who engage in those activities, precisely, though they are the outward manifestation of the problem…. The fatal characteristic that is guiding our downfall is a particular flaw in human nature, one that allows us to pursue those activities, but doesn’t give us, or make us use, the most important quality that makes them viable…

This flaw, which is a lack, (of restraint, a lack of ethics, or morals….) more than an actual flaw, is one that each of us, good and bad, possess, and display, at various times; I identify it as that part of us that can determine that we, as individuals, have the right to work our will on others, to seek and use power and resources to make other people follow what we wish to believe, to manipulate others so as to make what we want to happen the only outcome, to the exclusion of whatever others want, or need, or even think…. This power-hunger is all too prevalent in those who take up politics, as well as those who “are called by God” to enter the church (sorry, but being “called” by supernatural entities is deserving of medication and at best, compassion, not worship, or indulgence…) In the quote below, a wise man gives a short explanation of this flaw, and how it can affect all of us….

“Political tags — such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth — are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire. The former are idealists acting from highest motives for the greatest good of the greatest number. The latter are surly curmudgeons, suspicious and lacking in altruism. But they are more comfortable neighbors than the other sort.” — Lazarus Long, aka Robert Heinlein

Until our species can manage to root out this particular part of our nature, or at minimum, achieve enough control of it so that those who display it cannot affect the rest of us, we, as a species, will never be able to really get any further down the evolutionary road, since the path we are currently following, thanks to this flaw in our nature, which allows the predators to prey on the the rest of us, will only lead us into extinction… and THAT will be sooner than most ffolkes, or folks, believe it will be….

“A certain monk had a habit of pestering the Grand Tortue (the only one who had ever reached the Enlightenment ‘Yond Enlightenment), by asking whether various objects had Buddha-nature or not.  To such a question Tortue invariably sat silent.  The monk had already asked about a bean, a lake, and a moonlit night.  One day he brought to Tortue a piece of string, and asked the same question.  In reply, the Grand Tortue grasped the loop between his feet and, with a few simple manipulations, created a complex string which he proffered wordlessly to the monk.  At that moment, the monk was enlightened.

From then on, the monk did not bother Tortue.  Instead, he made string after string by Tortue’s method; and he passed the method on to his own disciples, who passed it on to theirs.” — Smart Bee

Sadly, neither Tortue, nor his disciple, ever made a copy of the string, and no one now is alive who remembers what it looked like…. SIGH… If nothing else, it might have kept the predatory among us all so busy, (See, that part’s easy… we’d just tell them there was a treasure for them, if they could make the string correctly assume the shape of enlightenment….), they wouldn’t have time to fuck with anyone else….
_____________________________

Well, that was certainly a Pearl, if the way I’m huffing and puffing, and trying to blow down walls is any indication… Of course, the wall is fine, but I’m definitely huffed and puffed out, so I’d best go see just what I’ve done here….. Have some toast and butter, and I’ll be right back….

Once again I’ve created something that is a little bigger than intended, and, in this case, almost up to snuff, conceptually….. It’s certainly fresh, and real, so, if nothing else, it’s probably healthy for you…. or for me, whichever comes first… Let me guess, ah, that would be……. me, of course…. but, I think, if you consume all of this one, it might just healthy for you, too…. Regardless, it’s done, so it’s good to go…. See ya tomorrow, ffolkes, if my luck holds….

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

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

Weeding dead paradigms is honest labor….

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Ffolkes,

Gripped in the tight fist of fear is a terrible way to wake up….. Good thing I didn’t wake up like that…. but, it IS a pretty gripping way to grab your attention, eh? Sorry if I startled y’all; at the moment, it seemed like the only way to wake up completely, and fictional openings, while not frequent, ARE a fairly regular occurrence here, so, I thought it might work out to get things going in a slightly different direction today…. I could be wrong; that’s been known to happen, too….

Let’s just put all that aside, shall we? I often make false starts, but, have always figured it’s just part of writing on a daily basis…. Speaking of which, I’ve noted that WordPress has added another feature to the blog sites we all have here…. At the bottom of the page, three links to previous blogs are shown, all of which, in some way, have a common theme with whatever is in the current post….. It might be the subject of pain, or fear of the blank page, or some other subject, but, they’re all suggested as further reading for whomever is taking in today’s post, should they be interested…. For me, it’s been a real treat, as it brings out a lot of stuff I hadn’t seen in a long while, some of which I find to be pretty good Pearls….

A bonus of this is that each of the new suggestions shown by the links ALSO has three more suggested posts to read, seemingly random, but with that same connection…. As a result, I’m getting to see a LOT of my older stuff, without having to go look for them myself…. It’s grand fun to cruise through some of the older ones, and see what was working then, as compared to the latest material…. It’s also given me the material I need to decide on when I can take a day or two off from writing, now that I have a bunch of archived blogs that are suitable to be re-blogged….. Yay for me….

There, are you thoroughly bored now? Or, at the least, losing interest? It wouldn’t surprise me in the least…. I can get pretty pedantic, and pompous, too, often without even realizing that I’m going there….. Let’s do something new, and cut me off…. I’m not in the habit of shortening this intro; in fact, my usual mode involves running off at the mouth, so to speak, for as long as I can, randomly, and with little purpose, other than mild entertainment…. not what I’d call compelling…. more like surprisingly sticky…. It’s kind of like reaching to pick up what we believe to be is a coin, then finding it to be covered in some slimy invisible substance that makes our skin crawl….

Now that I’ve probably alienated my entire audience, of three, let’s see if there is some further damage I can bring about in my own fumbling way… not that I wish any harm to anyone, but, there HAS to be SOME way to see if what I write is having any effect on the real world, and piles of rubble, if nothing else, indicate a certain type of progress, even if it is destructive, rather than constructive…. Those two always tend to get mixed up in my head, anyway…. Oh hell…. This isn’t working, so, I’m stopping now….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Iron rusts from disuse; water loses its purity from stagnation and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigors of the mind.” — Leonardo da Vinci

Doh! I KNEW there was something I was supposed to be doing….
_____________________________

It has been some time since I sat down to really do a number on what I consider to be one of the world’s greatest handicaps to human progress, to wit: organized religion…. In fact, it may have been over a month since my last formal religirant…. I’ve taken some passing shots, of course, during my discussions of the political scene, as the dear ministers and preachers fall all over themselves in trying to please the corporate masters and political pundits who protect them, working in tandem, in common cause, to keep the common people in their place….

But, there has been no formal ranting, as such, strictly about them…. the popes, cardinals, bishops, priests, imams, sahdis, or any other iconic religious title given to the leaders of the world’s major, and minor religions…. They’re all deluded, to me, and I wish they’d just shut their damn faces….. For thousands of years, they’ve bent their efforts to molding society into a pious, obedient mass of slaves, content with their lot, keeping their tiny little minds focused on the delusional rewards they will receive in the next life…. Of course, they ignore the fact that all of what they promise in heaven could happen right here on Earth, if they would only stop the nonsense, and work on BEING compassionate, rather than just talking about it….

To be honest, though, I’ve been unwilling to rant about them much of late, because it seems they are killing themselves off, having pretty much alienated most everyone with any sort of basic intelligence…. The people who now fall for their nonsense are those who never have a chance to know anything else…. The poor children of the world are indoctrinated in these silly philosophies of pain and suffering from the time they are born, and are brainwashed into belief before their reasoning minds have any defense against it….

But, even the numbers of the faithful who fall for the delusional message they promote are falling, as more and more education is spread around, thanks to technology…. Ignorance will ALWAYS be defeated by education, given any chance at all….. and technology is becoming more and more ubiquitous in the world, so much so that even the churches are attempting to come to terms with it, never realizing it will destroy them, once and for all…. Well, we can hope, anyway…..

Any who…. I’m not really in the mood for a religirant, even though just thinking about them will usually provide me with enough outrage to create one…. (I also note that I’ve leaked out four paragraphs of “not enough for a rant” material….) Smart Bee, however, has provided me with some great shots at them, so, we’ll go old-school for a few minutes, then follow up with another great article/essay from one of my favorite columnists, Mark Morford…

The link below the group of pearls will take you to yet another of his brilliant forays into the depth and scope of reality, to remind us again how we are all just a part of something strange and beautiful, if we just allow ourselves to realize it…. It’s a great read, ffolkes, so please do so, and spread it around to anyone who needs to see it….. which, these days, is just about everyone….. In between here, and there, enjoy these little pointed sticks thrown at the eye of organized religion….

“In the beginning was nonsense, and the nonsense was with God, and the nonsense was God.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

“Let’s do lunch, have your god call my god…” — Smart Bee
(See Peruaosophy, axiom #3….)

“How should one deal with a man who is convinced that he is acting according to God’s will, and who therefore believes that he is doing you a favour by stabbing you in the back?” — Voltaire

“Mystical explanations are considered deep. The truth is that they are not even superficial.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

“God has always been hard on the poor.” — Smart Bee

RELIGION, n.  A daughter of Hope and Fear, explaining to Ignorance the nature of the Unknowable.

“What is your religion my son?” inquired the Archbishop of Rheims.
“Pardon, monseigneur,” replied Rochebriant; “I am ashamed of it.”
“Then why do you not become an atheist?”
“Impossible!  I should be ashamed of atheism.”
“In that case, monsieur, you should join the Protestants.” — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“So, if there’s no God, who changes the water?” — [two goldfish in a bowl, New Yorker Cartoon]

Enough! Or, as our friends in Milan say, “Basta!”…. I have only one more thing to say here…. Read this:

http://blog.sfgate.com/morford/2013/11/12/40-billion-ways-to-dance/
_____________________________

I’ve used this poem before, but, it’s been quite a while, and it’s one of my favorites, so, I’m using it again, not caring at all if I am being repetitious…. I think I put out enough to make it seem fresh…. Besides…. It’s Yeats….

A Drunken Man’s Praise Of Sobriety

COME swish around, my pretty punk,
And keep me dancing still
That I may stay a sober man
Although I drink my fill.

Sobriety is a jewel
That I do much adore;
And therefore keep me dancing
Though drunkards lie and snore.
O mind your feet, O mind your feet,
Keep dancing like a wave,
And under every dancer
A dead man in his grave.
No ups and downs, my pretty,
A mermaid, not a punk;
A drunkard is a dead man,
And all dead men are drunk.

~~ William Butler Yeats ~~

_____________________________

As may be guessed by now, my ranting urge, at least for today, is somewhat blunted… Oh, not for lack of outrage, for the news is still printed each day, and it provides more than enough of that for anyone…. No, I’m just still tired from fighting the cold I’ve had for the last week and a bit…. Better, I am, but not well, if you know what I mean…. Any who, no matter which excuse I choose, the end result will be the same…. an old-school pearl, with the usual suspects as the target of the day…. I’m sure you can figure out of whom I speak….

“The triumph of libertarian anarchy is nearly (in historical terms) at  hand… *if* we can keep the Left from selling us into slavery and the Right from blowing us up for, say, the next twenty years.” — Eric Rayman, usenet guy, about nanotechnology

“Our “neoconservatives” are neither new nor conservative, but old as Babylon and evil as Hell.” — Edward Abbey

POLITICS, n.  A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles.  The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.  — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“Franklin D. Roosevelt: If he became convinced tomorrow that coming out for cannibalism would get him the votes he surely needs, he would begin fattening a missionary in the White House backyard come Wednesday.” — H. L. Mencken

(As the single most successful ‘politician’ our country has ever produced, Frankie D., with his sheer genius at shape-shifting, thus molded every other politician who ever lived…. )

“Every horse thinks his pack is heaviest.” — Smart Bee

(For those who may not quite ‘get’ why this is appropriate for inclusion in a pearl about this subject…. This is the very reason that politics exists in the first place…. think about it…. Go ahead, I dare you….)

“As war and government prove, insanity is the most contagious of diseases.” — Edward Abbey

“As one gets older, one discovers everything is going to be exactly the same with different hats on.” — Noel Coward

Well, there you have it…. This one really took a long time, but, I think it came out perfect…. Goddess knows I worked on it long and hard enough….
_____________________________

“late-60’s variant: Why did the running-dog lackey of the bourgeoisie throw the clock out the window?  Because it was a continual reminder of the imminent doom of capitalism!  Oh, well, you had to be there…” — Smart Bee

I suppose it had to happen someday…. My roots are showing…. At least I haven’t spent the intervening years, since the late 60’s, covering my roots with different shades and colors…. I’ve always been a radical, so far Left I’m Right…. Deal with it, ffolkes, because you know in your heart that everything I’m saying, about the government, and the churches (along with their shadowy, hidden masters, the corporate elite of the world….) is true… I haven’t bothered to alter, or stretch any truths I’ve encountered… I just lay them out for your perusal, mostly using the brilliance of others to demonstrate the points I’m making…. Now, if only my message could spread out to encompass the whole world, there MIGHT be a chance to do something to make things better….

SIGH…. I don’t think I’ll hold my breath until that happens, though… In the meantime, let’s see how this turned out…. Well, it may not be some folk’s cup of tea, but, I think, with a blueberry scone, or a croissant, it would do quite well for an afternoon’s replenishing social gathering, anywhere the culture enjoys the custom of high tea…. Of course, it would, hopefully, have more of the effect of a triple espresso, straight up, rather than a mere cup of soothing tea, but, that’s just me, and my possibly neurotic need to know I’m helping reality by encouraging it to fulfill its nature, to CHANGE….

I guess we all have our dreams….

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

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

Honor is never for sale…..

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Ffolkes,

It isn’t every day one can start off with live Dead before breakfast, or even coffee, and, for many, it might not be exactly their cup of tea, ( I know, mixing my beverages, if not my metaphors….) but, I find it to be a fine way to begin the day, especially when the tune being enjoyed is from a live concert, with a lively, jiving boogie beat, complete with extremely hot licks by one of rock’s greatest improvisational guitarists, one of the earliest virtuosos in that category…. the inimitable, and, sadly, now deceased, Jerry Garcia…. Ah, sublime!….

I guess I just pulled my covers again, as an aging, now aged, hippie, first indoctrinated in the philosophy of free love in 1968 in Berkeley, CA, and a multi-concert attendee at Dead shows….. I never went on the road with the Dead, following after them all over the country, as so many did, but, I’ve made my share of whoopee at their gatherings of the tribes, and don’t regret a single moment of the experience…..

It was a time of great hope in our country….. The passions of the day, and the concepts of liberty and personal freedom that were engendered among the young of our nation back then have been carried forth, and preserved, over time, until, today, the same people who protested the war in Vietnam are now out on the streets, protesting the most recent draconian actions of the government, which, in spite of our efforts, have grown over time to include the latest outrage, wherein they are spying on their own citizens, looking under every rock they can find, in their paranoid search for terrorists….

Of course, the spying began even before the Vietnam conflict; they were putting together files on us at the FBI in 1968, and before that, from 1960 to 1964, during the Free Speech Movement, that preceded the advent of the hippies, and free love…. The government, apparently during WWII sometime, decided that keeping secrets from the public was necessary, whereupon they began to consider themselves as above the law, not subject to the same requirements as the rest of us….. Troops began to go to Southeast Asia, to protect “American interests” there, which, when examined more closely, turned out to be our interests in the heroin trade, a trade that has flourished there for centuries…. About that time, the FBI began to spy on American citizens, looking to root out the “commies” amongst us….

That particular insight, first brought to light in the mid-1960’s, and made very public by the movie, Air America, in the 1970’s, was the beginning of the end of my blind, willing support of the government….. The idea that our elected officials were involved in protecting that industry was completely repugnant to me then, and remains so today, especially since it turned out that such involvement was only the surface of how much corruption, theft, and outright lying our politicians were engaging in, among other revelations, all of which convinced me of their complete lack of virtue, or honor…. They were hiding behind the flag of liberty and justice, using its precepts to engage in destructive, illegal acts that threatened their own people, and didn’t seem to care at all that what they were doing was diametrically opposed to all we have been taught to expect of our leaders….

Hmm…. I seem to have slipped into another early rant, brought on by nostalgia…. Well, that should pass, now that the Dead song is over…. I’ve switched over to the classical station’s stream online, and am now being soothed by J.S. Bach’s “Little Suite”, a familiar piece that never fails to please…. Dum ditty dum, dum ditty doo….. lovely!

Oops, I seem to have pulled another cover here…. Yep, I’m a longhair, and that includes my choices in music; I love classical music, especially that of Mozart, Beethoven, and Bach (all of them…. several of the Bach family wrote good stuff, not just Papa…. PDQ Bach wrote some pretty amazing pieces himself, as did J.S., Junior….) Any who, it’s nice to have a variety to listen to….

I started listening to the genre about 15 years ago, when I got tired of what was passing for rock and roll then, and found that I had discovered an entirely new universe of music to explore, most of which I’d never heard…. What a treasure trove that turned out to be….. Like any field of human endeavor, 90% of it is crap, (Sturgeon’s Law covers ALL human activity….), but, over time, the crap has been winnowed out, for the most part; what is left is some excellent music, and offers me uncounted hours of bliss…..

Well, now that I’ve blathered, and ranted, and just plain babbled about next to nothing, I think we should get on with the day’s dive, saving any further chattiness for any public contact I have to make today….. Yeah, that’s the ticket….

Shall we Pearl?…..

Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe
All mimsy were the borogoves
And the mome raths outgrabe

— _Jabberwocky_, by Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson)
_____________________________

In this section today, you will find an old-school pearl, fresh as SB and I can make it….. I had intended to discuss a more sober, perhaps even significant subject, with every intention of allowing myself to rant thereon….. but, I’m feeling a bit under the weather, rant-wise, which means, basically that I’m not outraged enough at the moment to carry it off successfully…. So, I’ll go with my default in such instances, and let SB figure out something appropriate to the day, and the moment…. It should all be okay, and, if nothing else, you may congratulate yourselves on having dodged another bullet, metaphorically speaking, of course….

“Tip O’Neill is just like Congress; old, fat and out of control.” — J. LeBoutillier

“You can always get the truth from an American statesman after he has turned seventy, or given up all hope of the presidency.” — Wendell Phillips

“As a general rule, the freedom of any people can be judged by the volume of their laughter.” — Smart Bee

(Even the Google algorithm can’t find attribution for this, other than “Anonymous”…. hence, the attribution is given to SB, per ECR policy….)

“I believe I have no prejudices whatsoever.  All I need to know is that a man is a member of the human race.  That’s bad enough for me.” — Mark Twain

“The effectiveness of a politician varies in inverse proportion to his commitment to principle.” — Sam Shaffer

“Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they?” — George Carlin

“The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected.” — G. K. Chesterton, ILN, 4/19/24

Okay, so it turned into a rantish pearl in spite of all my precautions…. oh, well…. So, sue me…. or, if you’d care to just ignore it, we can go on to other things, and just chalk it up to experience…. Let’s do that, shall we? If nothing else, and like nothing else does, it will piss off the lawyers, which is ALWAYS a good thing….

“Great things can be reduced to small things, and small things can be reduced to nothing.” — Chinese Proverb
_____________________________

Since I don’t wish for anyone else to catch the blame for any of this, here is one of my older poems to fill up the necessary space, and time….

Off the proverbial cuff….

I never meant to kill that period of time,
it didn’t give me any choice.
It tried to hem me in without reason, or rhyme,
refused me any vote, or any voice.

You have to admit, I buried it deep and fast,
just as if I cared.
I knew, though, it would never last,
or ever be fully repaired.

No news, no pictures can bring it back,
once is all we get.
No pleas of public good, or even public lack;
in stone the past is set.

Futuristic visions now occupy my dreams,
I’m ready to go on.
Look! It fills up the screen, and it gleams!
Where’s the moment I’m sitting on?

NOW, I remember, at long, long last,
is all we really can hold.
Every moment goes by so bloody fast,
best fill them all with beauty, warm and bold.

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

How did y’all get so lucky? Here I am, already in section three, and still no rantable passions available to get me going…. One might gather the erroneous impression that I’m a wimp today…. I prefer to think of it as a temporary disinclination toward emotional excess, and let it go at that…. I mean, one can’t rant all the damn time, or one takes the chance of becoming entrenched in the same set of attitudes so common to that type of thinking epitomized by the dreaded Limbaugh, that bastion of all that is most ignorant and ugly about America….

I do try to save my outrage for things that have some social significance, hopefully of greater significance than my own prejudices; he doesn’t even bother to try to decide if anything that comes out of his mouth is significant; he only cares that someone listen to his drivel…. Ah well, let’s go in a totally different direction from that fool, and find some thoughts on Life from some of history’s more elegant thinkers….

“The meaning of life is that it stops.” — Franz Kafka

“Where life is more terrible than death, it is then the truest valor to dare to live.” — Thomas Browne

No man is an Island, entire of it self; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” — John Donne (c.1571-1631) — Devotions upon Emergent Occasions (1624) “Meditation XVII”

“It is always a silly thing to give advice, but to give good advice is absolutely fatal.” — Oscar Wilde

“[…] For all our conceits about being the center of the universe, we live in a routine planet of a humdrum star stuck away in an obscure corner […] on an unexceptional galaxy which is one of about 100 billion galaxies. […] That is the fundamental fact of the universe we inhabit, and it is very good for us to understand that.” — Carl Sagan

“Don’t try to have the last word. You might get it.” — Lazarus Long

I would like to have it noted that I took great care in the construction of this Pearl, editing the inclusions numerous times before coming up with this seven-star grouping…. which, I believe, is one of the best pearls ever…. Really, it’s damn fine stuff, ffolkes, so, please, pay heed…. Then, when you’ve finished that, remember this ……

“Never underestimate the importance of a cheap laugh.” — Plucky Duck

Okay, so I could have said that more elegantly…. how’s this?…..

“A little nonsense, now and then, is cherished by the wisest men.” — Willie Wonka, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl
_____________________________

It’s been a long road to this juncture, and I feel every step it has taken to get here….. Let’s see what we picked up along the way….. I am compelled by honesty to admit that it isn’t bad…. at least, not so’s you’d notice, anyway…. It’s certainly long enough for a Pearl; I guess, given my feelings about out versus in, we’ll leave it as it is, and just pretend that I know what I’m about….. If you bought ANY of that, well, thanks…..

😆

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

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

gigoid

dozer3

Honest, mister, I read the manual….

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Ffolkes,

Before beginning to write today, I took a few moments playing solitaire, to calm my nerves, and to help me in beating back the urge to rant, here in the intro section. Not that there is anything inherently wrong with ranting; it’s just not the best place for it, in terms of structure and format. I prefer to wait, at least until section one, before jumping in with both feet, and haven’t been very adept of late at keeping myself from that form of premature ejaculation, an issue which hasn’t been a problem since, oh, before my marriage ended…. at least, not in a verbal sense…. The physical aspects of that descriptive phrase haven’t been a problem for some years, but one must be cautious, lest such things spread to one’s peripheral activities….

Now, I’m sure that, while you probably can appreciate my delicacy in discussing this matter with some discretion, it’s probably somewhat confusing, trying to figure out whether I’m talking about talking, writing, or making love (as opposed to ‘having sex’, a much less enjoyable sport….). In fact, I’m a bit confused myself, but, in this case, that may be an advantage. There are times when a certain degree of “plausible deniability” comes in handy…. just ask any President, or Presidential candidate about that…. Of course, they probably won’t discuss it, at least not on record, but, you can always say you asked; that has to count for something….

Oops, almost got caught up there…. I’ve got to remember to be careful, not to even MENTION a politician, or a preacher-type (even though, as Popes go, this one’s got a lot of class the others never showed….), or I start in on them with a vengeance…. I just don’t think I need to spend that much energy here in the beginning… I need to learn to pace myself, saving the best part for later on in the Pearl, where it will be highlighted by the brilliance of the material that surrounds and supports it…. Ah, yes, dreams..

We all have our dreams, don’t we? Me, I thought, hey, if I call Congress, maybe I can talk to Feinstein, or Pelosi, or one of my actual representatives in the House of Representatives…. They’ve got a lot of representatives there; maybe I can even find the one that is supposed to be representing ME, to ask him/her (I suppose I ought to know which it is, shouldn’t I?….) some of these pertinent questions I have, about the latest news coming down the pike…. I’d love to ask some of them the kind of questions that cause a deep silence on the other end of the phone, you know? The kind that tells me I’ve stumped them, or caught them without a prepared lie…

Whoa, hold on there…. almost went there again…. Oh well, I suppose I’ve blathered enough, and wandered around the edges of coherency without really saying anything, for what is most probably enough material to be able to call it an intro… If not, well, too bloody bad, ffolkes, because I’m done with it now, and no matter how hard you try, you won’t be able to make me start over…. Not that I expect you’d be that silly, but, we’ve had some weird stuff happen, so, I try to cover all the bases in my preparations…. In the meantime….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Honor is the reward of virtue.” — Cicero (B.C. 106-43)

(If this is still true, we’re all in deep shit…. Just thought you should know…. )
_____________________________

Well, I waited until now to begin ranting, which is probably a good thing. Perhaps this will be a bit more effective as a call to action than in the usual position, or wherever it’s been of late that has kept it from at least making me feel a bit better for having ranted…. What a mouthful! And so on topic, too! Gotta love us amateurs, eh?….

At any rate, I found this article yesterday, buried back a few pages, probably because everyone is so tired of hearing of yet ANOTHER outrageous instance of the NSA breaking the law, by once again going far beyond the scope of their legal mandate, in the ever-widening quest by our own government to become the true Evil Empire…. I know, that’s some pretty high-powered language to use to in discussing an agency of our own government, but, as always, I believe in calling a spade a damn shovel, not an indigenous individual digging device, type 2…. and you may as well get used to it….

These assholes over at the NSA have gone completely bonkers; they assumed that because they got practically all they wanted in the way of legal coverage by the administration, they may as well just go ahead and do whatever else they wanted, believing that the people who set them loose on the trail of ostensible terrorists would protect them from any critical attention and/or interference by something as mundane as the law, or the will of the people….. and, for a long time, they were justified in that belief…. But, now that their clandestine activities are being brought to light by that national hero, Eric Snowden, the rats are deserting their ship, and leaving them to their fate without any real support….

Talk around Washington is that the President is going to, belatedly, stop spying on the leaders of our allies, and will move to put limits on what the agencies are allowed to access in the data that is generated by the general public. This is a complete reversal, and I can only hope it is in response to the pressure put on them by the public’s obvious displeasure, and not as a temporary measure to appease while they figure out a diversion in some other area of the public venue, where they can cause some problem that will draw our attention away from this issue, allowing them to continue their illegal, but, in their eyes, oh so necessary theft of the people’s identities….

http://www.sfgate.com/business/technology/article/Report-NSA-broke-into-Yahoo-Google-data-centers-4939585.php

In the article, the most significant part of what is there, to my way of thinking, is that the companies involved say had no idea that they were being compromised, even though their own security measures are considered to be nearly impenetrable… Well, they SAY they had no idea; one must remember they ARE a corporation, and, thus, are very familiar with telling the public what they wish to hear….

However, it appears that the American and British spies went in, got their data, and left, without ever notifying Google, or Yahoo, of what they were taking, though such activities are still illegal, according to the laws in place…. (Not to mention rude… ) The spying mandate they have doesn’t extend to what they stole, theoretically…. Of course, they can say they didn’t KNOW that, but, then, lying is their entire purpose, and the single most critical part of their entire modus vivendi, is it not?…. Even in the Art of War, Sun Tzu acknowledged the importance of the spy in warfare, calling them the most powerful of all the various types of warriors…

Of course it is, just as lying and cheating come naturally to anyone in a nationally elected office; it’s part of their job description these days, even if it is written in invisible ink….. Since Google, and Yahoo, and the other agencies that were hacked, are all corporations, and have pretty much the same characteristics as shown by the BRC pundits, (i.e., a tendency to lie at the drop of a cliche…), it’s a bit hard to tell who is more guilty here….

Is it Google and/or Yahoo, who are gathering all sorts of data about its users without their knowledge or permission (I don’t regard those passive advertisements that one can “control” what data is gathered by adjusting their “preferences” as real permission…. they take whatever data they want, and tell you about it later, if at all….)….? Or, is it the government spy agencies, who are stealing that same stolen data from the corporations, that fit the bill as the villain?

It should make for an interesting contest, to see how this fake argument plays out….. I mean, I can’t really believe that the BRC, who is controlled and supported by the corporations (go ahead, disprove that!….), will continue to try to take data from them without their knowledge. It’s more likely they are playing out this faux-dispute in the public venue in order to confuse the public about who is on their side in this issue…

It seems to be working, as always, as the public is pretty much ignoring these latest revelations, and looking around for almost anything to take their minds elsewhere for a while… I’m almost interested, in a resigned, doubtful sort of way, to see just what they come up with next to draw the public’s attention off this issue…. Probably more to do with the recent roll-out of health care reform laws, which seems to be a hot button for a lot of people….

For me, all of it is dross and spittle…. I believe, absolutely, that if there is an official statement made by anyone in the government printed in the news, it needs to be examined in the light of what it is NOT saying, to ascertain about what it is lying, or what it is trying to hide by distraction, not merely for what it says…. Their motivation in making ANY public statement is manipulation of public attitudes; they’re not trying to make anything better.

They lie outright, they leave stuff out, they point us in all kinds of useless directions, but they almost NEVER tell us what is actually going on, unless we’ve already caught them at it… In those cases, we see all sorts of backing and filling, as they come up with all sorts of “plausible deniability” in order to convince the public that their lies are really the truth…

What a crock! If it wasn’t so damn sad and depressing, it would be amusing…. SIGH… Enough is enough…. Stay alert, ffolkes, because they’re lying to you every day, and doing all they can to improve THEIR lot in life, not yours…. Let them know you’re on to them, at every opportunity…. If nothing else, it will make them nervous, which they deserve….

“You can fool all of the people some of the time; you can fool some of the people all of the time; and that should be sufficient for most purposes.” — Smart Bee, quoting from the true bible, used by both politicians and preachers…..

“The ideal robot, after all, is simply a properly processed human being.” — Edward Abbey
_____________________________

“But groundless hope, like unconditional love, is the only kind worth having.” — EFF co-founder John Perry Barlow, “Cynthia Horner’s Eulogy”, Apr. 1994

Unsolicited Gratitude

Fear becomes familiar when reality bodes us ill
pain assumes first position, no matter our will.
Powerless, we founder, no strength to prevail
anguished and afraid, against unwanted Fate we rail.

Still, a grain of hope deep inside, hidden well against need
gives us reason to survive, our starving souls to feed.
Failure of courage burdens time, of being bested,
until our souls, in submission, become foully infested.

Bitter tears wash through us each day, with little care,
no thought, no feeling, no wish, or need to be fair.
Rendered clueless, confusion falls upon us, as prey,
we surrender a piece of our soul, little as we may.

Yet, always, a bright beam of hope is seen from afar,
no matter how dreary, or dark, it may seem where we are.
None knows, nor would consent to tell, it seems
from whence it hails, or why it so brightly gleams.

Saving our sanity, absolving our unwanted fears,
dispelling the myths and lies that come with the years.
Each man has known the precious gift that hope may give
And gives glad thanks, as long as he may live.

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

Arguably, I could get away with not having a short introductory paragraph here, but, I hate stuff that isn’t either symmetric, or traditionally asymmetric. I’m funny that way, among others….. Nonetheless, it will help today if you just sort of skew your eyes off in another direction for a moment, while I just….. there. You didn’t see that, did you? I hope not, I’d have to kill you if you had….. But, now, we can get on with the rest of this pearl, and finish off this Pearl, thanks to the absence of the government agent I just offed and buried out back….

(For those of you reading this in a cubicle at the NSA, or at any of our fine nation’s other domestic or foreign spy agencies, such as the FBI, the CIA, or any of them…… that’s we we writers call a “joke”, and it has no connection with reality, other than the tenuous resemblance to one that exists only in your own tiny little mind…. in other words, PSYCHE!…. Hah!…. bloody assholes , who have nothing better to do than go around spying on regular folks, they get what they deserve….)

Since I have decided to NOT go without an intro here, well, this is what you get…. Sorry, but, it’s what I could come up with, and y’all will just have to deal with it… I think, though, the power of the following pearl will mitigate any possible discomfort, or discombobulation of any sort, that you may experience today, as it is turning out to be extremely cogent, as well as powerfully poignant…. I should know, I’m a sensitive guy….

“The Master doesn’t talk, he acts, when his work is done, the people say, “Amazing: We did it all by ourselves!”” — Tao Te Ching

“In writing, fidelity to fact leads eventually to the poetry of truth.” — Edward Abbey

“The comedy of man survives the tragedy of man.” — G. K. Chesterton, Illustrated London News, 2-10-06

“A people who expect to be ignorant and free expect what never will, and never can, be.” — Thomas Jefferson

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

“It is odd, is it not, that a person’s worth to society by is measured by their wealth, when instead their wealth should be measured by their worth to  society.” — A. Cygni

“Reality is a crutch for people who can’t cope with drugs.” — Lily Tomlin
_____________________________

One never knows, do one? This may have turned out better than I’d realized, or even hoped…. let’s see what happened here…. Whatever that was, it seems to have worked fairly well…. Well enough that I’m calling it a done deal, and making my escape, stage left, right about…. now….. See ya….

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

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

Patiently waiting for the flood waters to subside….

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Ffolkes,

It’s an odd feeling, for me, to wish NOT to write…. I am facing the screen today, not with the usual trepidation, but, with actual revulsion. I’m apparently just not in the mood to vent, or to rant, or even to go pearling…. all of it seems counter-productive in my current state of mind. Even though I’m up at the usual hour (0500), I’m not filled with my usual desire to dump the core, where my angst resides…. Instead, my mind is turning to methods whereby I can skip the whole deal, and get on with the day, whatever it may bring….

Rather than worry about it overmuch, I’m going to re-post a Pearl from the archives…. This one is appropriate, though I’ve no clue as to its content; I do know it was first posted on April Fool’s Day of this year, so, it should have something worth our time to go back over; All Fool’s Day is one of my favorite days of the year, so I’m sure I put stuff worth reading in whatever I wrote…. If not, well, April Fool!!!!….
_____________________________

4/1/13
Ffolkes,

As he stepped aboard the waiting train, he turned to look back at her, a small, forlorn figure standing in shadows near the exit turnstile. As he turned, she saw him, and raised a hand, as if to wave, but paused, locking eyes with his across the platform. The hiss of the train’s escaping steam mingled with the hum of the crowds boarding, but all faded into the background, unheard, as the two lovers gazed, with searing pain, into each other’s eyes, hers now flowing with shining tears. She again raised her hand, waving once before quickly turning, and rushing away, losing herself in the crowd. With heavy heart, he turned, walked past the conductor, and moved toward his seat, leaving the past behind…..

Now that my own tears are flowing, let’s leave the star-crossed lovers to their fates, and get on with the day’s work, such as it is….. It may be a bit more work than I usually have to do, as I’m supposed to come up with a poem for the April National Poetry Month Writing Challenge, in which I’ve agreed to participate…. I just spent a few minutes, trying to begin a verse, and experienced about that many minutes of sheer terror and exasperation, as I was able to come up with only two lines before the well went dry…. two….. not a grand start, to be sure. I may just have to resort to a haiku for my first effort; I know I can come up with one of those, as I’m pretty confident of my skill with them…. justified or not.

But, that’s for later…. right now, I still need to come up with a bit more of an intro, and I’ve written myself into a nasty little corner here, with no apparent way out….. I might have had a chance, had I gone one more paragraph into the opening story line, but, I didn’t, so here I am once again, stuck for anything intelligent to write…. I don’t know how I do it, but, maybe I could find some fool who would believe me when I tell them I know what I’m doing, and get them to pay me for this…. That will probably happen just about the time the pigs are ready to fly…..

Oh, look! There’s one taking off now! Gosh, it looks so brave, outlined against the morning sky, tiny wings beating to beat the band, weaving back and forth across the brightening sky like a drunken loon…. SIGH…. Such beauty is uncommon, and a joy to behold…. If you can buy into that statement, I have a deal in a bridge you might be interested in…. It’s a good deal, and a great source of income, once the toll booths are put in. I’ll need cash only, though, no checks, and all deals are final….

Now that we’ve entered into the spirit of the day, I think it’s best if I try to steal silently away, into the dark morning light, and get on with today’s dive…. I have a feeling that if I don’t do that now, this entire operation is going to go down in flames, which always annoys the insurance dudes…. I’ll avoid that whole issue, and get on with it, forthwith…. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

Today’s Pearl is going to resemble the coat of many colors that gave Joseph so much trouble back in Biblical days (I think it was Joseph…. oh well, doesn’t matter, y’all know the story anyway…..)…. It’s just got too much randomness to ever achieve any real coherence, so I’m not even going to try to explain it all…. Below you will find a very rare old-school pearl, a group of seven quotes, freshly chosen for their very randomness, in relation to each other…. As is sometimes the case, the point that emerged is one that defies normal expression, and is actually so intimate, it can only be experienced on a personal level; sharing it would be unwise, if not dangerous to both parties…. So, just enjoy them for what they may bring you, and go on with a bemused smile, and my good wishes….. not that they will help, but, I try…..

“It is a far, far better thing to have a firm anchor in nonsense than to put out on the troubled seas of thought.” — John Kenneth Galbraith

“We view things not only from different sides, but with different eyes — we have no wish to find them alike.” — Pascal

“Silence can be the biggest lie of all.  We have a responsibility to speak up; and whenever the occasion calls for it, we have a responsibility to raise bloody hell.” — Herbert Block

“Je me presse de rire de tout, de peur d’etre oblige de’en pleurer.
(I make myself laugh at everything, in case I should have to weep.)” — Pierre-Augustin de Beaumarchais (1732-1799)

“An assertion produces a stronger effect than an argument, at least among the majority of mankind. That is why public speakers seek to hammer home their party’s arguments with assertions.” — F. Nietzsche, _Human, All to Human_

“It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information.” — Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

“..  Should I get locked in the PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE today — or have a VASECTOMY??” — Zippy the Pinhead

Well, there you go…. I don’t think I can make that any more obscure than it is, so we’ll go on to further adventures in literary suicide…..
__________________________________

Rhyming is better than lying….

It’s all too, too much, he cried
   I can take no more!
It’s all crazy, my brain is fried,
   battered, bloody, and sore.

Talking heads shout out hatred and fear
   jam for my morning toast.
Pointing fingers far, middle, and near
   enemies everywhere, almost.

Women, gays, and seniors fall prey,
   easy targets, slow and weak.
Convenient fools, wanting only to play,
   used, and abused, even as we speak.

It enough to drive me floridly insane,
   or want to buy a gun.
I may end up in jail, or in massive pain,
   but, oh, it would be fun….

~~ gigoid ~~


April Fool! This, such as it is, is the first poem of the month for me, and the first entry in the National Poetry Writing Challenge for April….. It’s not my best effort ever, but, it’s okay, and it’s almost a rant, in its own little way…. I’ll do better as the month goes on, I promise…. Hell, I’m betting tomorrow’s effort will be better…. Just for the hell of it, here is a haiku, too….

To write a poem,
hard as it seems to be, is
not impossible.

~~ gigoid ~~

__________________________________

I have a bunch of stuff to do today in the Big Blue Room, to finish preparations for my trip tonight to Oregon. So, I’m cheating again, and putting in here an old pearl, from the archives…. I can’t say exactly when this first appeared, as I don’t organize them well enough to do so, but, hey, it really doesn’t matter at all…… From the vantage point of the future, I see that Smart Bee was particularly helpful this day…..  Enjoy!….
—————————————————

A few random thoughts on the meaning of insanity, and by implication, sanity…….all came from one dive. Pearl after pearl on the same subject kept presenting itself for my perusal, so after a few, I just gave up & collected them. So here they are, all with a bit to say about those among us who perceive reality from a whole different place than you or me….. (My comments are in parentheses, like this one…. )

‘What garlic is to salad, insanity is to art.’ — Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907), Reminiscences

If sanity were dollars I’d be bankrupt. — Smart Bee

“I come from a long line of Southern psychotics and an environment where madness is currency and conversation is blood sport.” — Elizabeth Ashley

According to figures from the Justice Department, the average rapist serves only 5.2 years on jail, and the average murderer serves only 8.6 years. By contrast, the average time served for possession of LSD is 10.1 years, and many Americans are serving mandatory minimum sentences of 20 to 25 years for possession or sale of marijuana. — Smart Bee

(Insanity comes in many guises…… your choice as to which is real, and which is delusion….)

Avoid reality at all costs! — Smart Bee

And who (in time) knows whither we may vent
The treasure of our tongue? To what strange shores
This gain of our best glory shall be sent
T’ enrich unknowing nations with our stores?
What worlds in the yet unformed Occident
May come refin’d with th’ accents that are ours?

— Samuel Daniel (1562-1619) — Musophilus, Stanza 163

(Psychosis is rooted in fear, and fear assumes many masks…..)

I feel like one
Who treads alone
Some banquet-hall deserted,
Whose lights are fled,
Whose garlands dead,
And all but he departed.

— Thomas Moore (1779-1852) — Oft in the Stilly Night

(An accurate description of the onset of depression…..)

“Why ask me? I’m just visiting reality.” — Smart Bee

We now return you to our regularly scheduled program…..
__________________________________

April Fool! None of the above exists, and we are all an illusion, alleged in our own minds….. Thank goodness! This day, being one of my favorite days of the year, due to its strong connection to the concept of nonsense and bozoid tendencies, is also a new beginning….

Today the future of this blog begins anew, as I will now be writing each day’s post from a different location, beginning tomorrow morning, with a Pearl that will be created on a moving train, as I speed through the Northwest toward Oregon… I’m looking forward to it with great anticipation…. Until then….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..
_____________________________

You have now been returned to real time…. The current date is 10/6/13, the time is approximately 0610, PDT. There will be no further messages today from this quarter…. Thank you for your patience, and your custom…. See you tomorrow….. well, that’s the plan, anyway….

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

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

Novitiates aren’t expected to tango so well….

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Ffolkes,

The glory of autumn’s yearly advent, with it’s increasingly cold temperatures, and ever-growing daily cloud cover, greeted me as I awoke this morning…. Strangely enough, I was NOT outside, camping in a tent, nor was I sleep-walking, so this meant somebody, who shall remain nameless, left the windows wide open! Grabbing the nearest t-shirt, I jumped up (as much as I can at this stage in life…), and came out to get started on today’s Pearl. The entire space-time continuum breathed a heavy sigh of relief as I entered the kitchen, to find my coffee already brewed and waiting for me….. the same heavy sigh that escaped my lips upon taking in that first, life-giving sip…..

Today, and the next few days, promises to be an epic story, as I head off for the wilds of Texas once again, braving the land of the Shrub to honor my friend, a blonde, native California girl, who somehow found herself living there at the end of her life. I’m even flying into the airport in Houston named after the Junior Shrub, (I think it’s his…. it might be Daddy’s airport, but, doesn’t matter; either one is anathema to my mind….)

(Great word, anathema…. just for fun, ((I DO know what it means….)), I looked it up at Thesaurus.com, and got the following list of related words/ideas….

execration
n. hating

abhorrence
abomination
anathema
blasphemy

condemnation
curse
damnation
denunciation

detestation
hatred
imprecation
loathing

malediction
odium
profanity
swearing…..

Excellent, eh? Whenever I contemplate the notion of the two Shrubs, and all the damage they’ve done to my country, I feel, and exhibit, every one of those words….. End of digression…. for now…. they’re such easy targets, y’know?….)

Where was I? Oh, yeah, headed to GWB International Airport in Houston, on the way to meet Carole’s family, which was the essence of my last promise to her…. When I visited Carole back in April, during one of her stays in the hospital for stem cell therapy, my time was short, but, she wanted me to meet them very much, so, our plan was to have a BBQ at her house in Montgomery, when she had recovered enough to do so…. That plan, as is plain, cannot be, so, I am going to the memorial they are planning for Tuesday, and fulfilling my promise to her, though later than I had wished….

Traveling is harder than it used to be, for sure, but, a promise is a promise; in my world, there is no question of whether or not I should go….. I said I would, so I will. End of story, though not the end of fulfilling it; I only hope I can find the right words to give them, that will help to ease them past the pain of losing such a beautiful spirit. I’ve never been very good at that, but, I’ll do all I can to help, and maybe it will…..

On a housekeeping note, I will continue to post the daily Pearls, as long as my new travel computer lives up to expectation. I’m pretty sure I’ve got it ready to go, so, we’ll see…. This one is being written on the old, home laptop, and will be the last one so created for three or four days…. Here’s hoping it works, and Murphy loses track of where I am…. I guess I’ve meandered and blathered sufficiently to make this legal, if not exactly compelling, hauntingly unforgettable prose….. Though excellence is always the goal, one must occasionally remember that excellence can be a relative term….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“What thing is man, that thou art mindful of him?” — Heb 2:6, wyclif, 1382

“Don’t try this at home, kids. This should only be done by trained, professional idiots.” — Plucky Duck
_____________________________

“An Irishman is not drunk as long as he can hang onto a single blade of grass and not fall off the face of the earth.” — Smart Bee

Okay, so this really isn’t a pearl…. but, it IS about the funniest mental image I can imagine; I literally burst out with a guffaw when I first read this, and almost lived up to the text meme, ROFLMAO…. Since I am taking off in just a couple of hours, this has to be a relatively quick creative process, so, for this first section, I’ll go with an old school pearl, a harlequin random variety, which is the quickest to come together, even though it is also generally the most obscure type…. go figure, eh?…. Let’s see what SB has for us today…..

“We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh.” — Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm (1844-1900)

“I know not any thing more pleasant, or more instructive, than to compare experience with expectation, or to register from time to time the difference between idea and reality. It is by this kind of observation that we grow daily less liable to be disappointed.” — Samuel Johnson (Boswell: Life of Johnson)

“Regrets and complaints about relations are to be attributed to the same cause, which is not old age, but men’s characters and tempers; for he who is of a calm and happy nature will hardly feel the pressure of age, but for someone with the opposite deposition, youth and old age are equally a burden.” — Plato,_The Republic_, Book 1

“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

“If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.” — Albert Einstein

“If you want to know all about the sea, you go and ask a sailor, or a marine biologist, or an oceanographer, and they can tell you a lot about the sea. But if you go and ask the sea itself, what does it say? Grumble, grumble, swish swish. It is too busy being itself to know anything about itself.” — Ursula K. LeGuin

“Hello.  Just walk along and try NOT to think about your INTESTINES being almost FORTY YARDS LONG!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Brilliant…. just brilliant….. I am humbled in the face of true greatness…. Okay, I’ll explain this one, because it’s turned itself into an important pearl…. First, look at all of the first six, one after another, then consider them together. Try to imagine living your life according to the precepts implied in the statements….. Then, add in the last one, but, don’t allow it to color any of the others, merely append it, as an example of what the first one is gives us, if we only let it….

Don’t fret if it doesn’t gel for you…. it’s all good, and tomorrow’s another day…..
_____________________________

Since I’m feeling the build up of weird that will protect me as I travel today, I am convinced that one of my own poems will have to be included, if only to remind me of my own limitations…. I hope you enjoy this little piece of my soul…. Actually, now that I think about it, here are two pieces….

Haiku

Bright sun rises up,
glory against a blue sky.
Joy is now, today.

~~ gigoid ~~

After the odyssey….

Portraits of iconic symbols, crashing, singing, forgotten;
evolving into mature innovation, as yet pale, and rotten.
Still water justly breeds, impenetrable primal verses resound;
unholy moments tarry, emotion swirls in passion unbound

Spiritual ovulation precedes each pregnant pause;
gravid, time moves on, following destiny’s cause.
Cast adrift on waves of confusion, to a final, damp landing;
salvation beckons sweetly, fed well on understanding.

Dreams directly fall, in night’s grey bower, unbidden;
lingering flavors in simple taste, lovingly, cleverly hidden.
Childish laughter sounds, joyful, bright, and clear;
no need ever to hide, no more monsters to fear.

Temper most foul arrives under unregistered mail;
forgotten taunts live on, lashed by an ancient flail.
Plain dealing delivers such lasting specks of honest hate;
savage in retrospect, never hasty, always running late.

Forever, cries an ambient lover of the pending night;
his pale, weak issue forms its own failing light.
Still, fortune favors such as those who apprehend;
Sweet love of Gaea, let it never end.

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

“If it takes a man and a half a day and a half to dig a hole and a half, how  many days does it take a monkey with a wooden leg to kick the seeds out of a dill pickle?  Thirteen, because boy dogs can’t have puppies.” — Smart Bee

It isn’t often that I am brought to my knees in humility, but, when I read this little piece of absolute nonsense, I did so, and did not feel a bit of embarrassment. This is so brilliantly off center, it should be enshrined at the entrance to the building where the Pulitzer Committee meets each year to pick out the best of what has been written…. This, with no connection whatsoever to a single piece of reality, is the perfect frame for the pictures painted by the committee’s choices…. Well, to my mind, anyway….

If it isn’t already clear, I’m not having the easiest time this morning with original thought, or prose. It’s perfectly understandable, given the number of things my mind is chewing on, in order to feel like I’m not forgetting something before I go off to the hinterlands. In fact, I’m so distracted, I’m going to do something entirely unprecedented, and quit this Pearl in the middle….

Well, okay, it’s almost the end anyway…. Shhh, I’m trying to write here…. No, really, I’m done. I’ve done enough damage for one day, and will have another shot at it tomorrow, anyway, so, I’m going to find the perfect pearl to shut this down at this point, and get on with the rest of today, which, obviously, promises to be “interesting”, at the very least….

“The more a man is imbued with the ordered regularity of all events, the firmer becomes his conviction that there is no room left by the side of this ordered regularity for causes of a different nature.  For him neither the rule of human nor the rule of divine will exists as an independent cause of natural events.  To be sure, the doctrine of a personal God interfering with natural events could never be refuted, in the real sense, by science, for this doctrine can always take refuge in those domains in which scientific knowledge has not yet been able to set foot.

But I am persuaded that such behavior on the part of the representatives of religion would not only be unworthy but also fatal. For a doctrine which is able to maintain itself not in clear light, but only in the dark, will of necessity lose its effect on mankind, with incalculable harm to human progress.  In their struggle for the ethical good, teachers of religion must have the stature to give up the doctrine of a personal God, that is, give up that source of fear and hope which in the past placed such vast powers in the hands of priests.  In their labors they will have to avail themselves of those forces which are capable of cultivating the Good, the True, and the Beautiful in humanity itself.  This is, to be sure, a more difficult but an incomparably more worthy task.” — Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Perfect!….
_____________________________

Well, it FEELS like a good one…. let’s see…. Well, it may be only my opinion, but, I think this IS a good one…. As such, it deserves to be left alone now, and allowed to go off on its own, to seek and fulfill its destiny…. So be it…. gigoid has spoken….. and will, no doubt, do so again tomorrow….

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

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

A maelstrom of multitasking clerics….

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Ffolkes,

I seem to have come up against some sort of wall with my writing in the last few weeks. I’m finding it harder each morning to get myself out of bed to begin, although the sheer habit of routine does compel me to pull myself up eventually, such as now…. Today, it is almost 0800, and I’m just beginning to think about what to write about today….. I’m guessing that even my prolific brain has a finite limit to how much it can produce, which now can be seen to lie at about one and a half million words, more or less…. That’s as close as I can figure, going by the average number of words per day, times slightly more than 760 posted blogs….

In looking over the last few posts, I see that my content has become a bit redundant; I’m relying on old-school pearls more, and ranting less. This has to do with living with less stress, I’m sure, but, the lack of angst isn’t helping me to produce the outrage I need to get vituperative enough for the purpose at hand, which is to chastise and indict those among us in society who are selfish in working toward their own agendas, not caring how it affects other people, or the world at large, as long as they get what they want.

I do this because the greatest number of those people are those who have sought public office in our world, and their shenanigans (for lack of a more angry word….) are going to kill us all if we don’t do something about it….. (It also gives me a chance to write long, wordy, incredibly boring sentences such as the one in the previous paragraph, that cover far too many subjects at one time, and would be better off just not existing at all, but, then what would I do, to keep myself interested in getting up each day? And, you’ll please note, the sentence just prior to this one is one of the same variety….  Whew, breathe, Ned, breathe…. Sorry, I get carried away, once I’ve had a couple sips of coffee….)

I’ve been looking at the world, and what happens in it, for a long time now, since just before I left home for college. For many years, I kept a lot of what I thought about things to myself, mostly, as it seemed to always provoke arguments or discussions of a passionate nature that never led to good outcomes; it was better in a social sense to not discuss either politics (the participants of which I hold to be primarily responsible for the mess we are in….), or religion (whose proponents and acolytes I hold to have the secondary responsibility, though only by a small margin, for the rest of our problems as a society….).

I’m not alone in my hesitation to discuss those subjects; everybody alive seems to have strong opinions on them, one way or another, and each is highly protective, and overly emotional, to my way of thinking, about all of it….. Investing one’s emotions in what is happening out in the real world is, in my experience, a sure way to have those feelings ripped apart, or turned upside down, or, in general, abused until they surrender, and either strike out, or turn within to hide….

Neither of those solutions is very practical, or comfortable, so I’ve learned to keep my emotional state separate from, and, thus, immune to the depredations of the discussion of politics and/or religion, at least, and am slow to hold any such talks in person…. Here, on this blog, I found the outlet for all the anger and frustration that builds up over time, anger at the selfishness of the politicians, and frustration at the insistent delusional support they receive from the preachers.

Each of them, in this country, and in my estimation, have lost sight of the intent our forefathers had when they created the separation of state and church that characterizes our form of government. These entities have worked, tirelessly, ever since the signing of the  Constitution, to undermine that principle, and turn our semi-democratic republic into a church hegemony, wherein all morality, as dictated by the church, becomes law, as dictated by the politicians…..

“I admire the serene assurance of those who have religious faith. It is wonderful to observe the calm confidence of a Christian with four aces.” — Mark Twain

That idea scares me to death, every day, as I read the latest nonsense in the news about the new abortion laws in Texas and Ohio, or the Martin/Zimmerman murder trial verdict. Even worse, I read of late all the latest revelations about how extensive the spying and data mining by the government has become, without any public disclosure, until exposed, with proof, by the bravery shown by Eric Snowden, the whistleblower extraordinaire, who is now, oddly enough, seeking asylum from our “freedom loving government” in that bastion of personal freedoms, Russia, or the USSR, or whichever name the government of Moscow is using now…. So far, I haven’t seen any articles that commented on the irony of THAT situation, a failure I find to be a very telling point….

I’m not sure where I’m going with this meander…. I’m not sure how much more I have in me to say. I kept my mouth shut for 60 years, and have been spouting off pretty regularly now for close to three years… It doesn’t seem like I should be running out of stuff to say, yet, though, even given my output level, so, I suppose I’ll keep on doing this for a while longer, unless I find a more compelling activity to take up my time and energy….

Moving from our apartments into a house nearby at the end of next month will probably cause at least a short hiatus, as the internet service may not get switched over smoothly…. One never knows with modern companies just how many obstacles they’ll throw up in our way…. But, if that looks like it may happen, or if I decide to take a longer break, to take inventory of what is in my head, and heart, I’ll try to let y’all know beforehand….

Meanwhile, shall we pearl?….
_____________________________

As noted above, I’ve been depending a lot on old-school style pearls to fill in these sections…. Fortunately, Smart Bee has been cooperative, to the point of giving me just the right category of quotes needed for whatever subject I’ve decided to use as a parameter for the search…. I hope that continues with today’s first pearl, as I’m so late, I may end up eating lunch before I get around to posting…. Ah well, it will be worth it to see what I can do when I’m operating during the same hours as everyone else in the 9 to 5 world…. I hope…. Let’s see what SB has to say today….

“It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress.” — Mark Twain  Following the Equator (1897)

Oh, what a grand start! Now that we have a direction, let’s see where it takes us, shall we?….

“How do you make a cat go moo?  Ask it “Does a dog have the Buddha-nature?” — Smart Bee

Hmm…. now I’m worried….

“..  I think I’d better go back to my DESK and toy with a few common MISAPPREHENSIONS…” — Zippy the Pinhead

Aha, now I see where it’s going…. okay, here is the rest, so pay close attention, as it promises to be a good one!…..

“Moral relativism is wrong. But that’s only my opinion.” — George Jones

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality.” — Lao-Tzu

“In a republic this rule ought to be observed: that the majority should not have the predominant power.” — Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.) Roman Orator, poet, statesman — De Re Publica (54-51 B.C.)

“Is not life a hundred times too short for us to bore ourselves?” — Friedrich Nietzsche

Indeed…..
_____________________________

“We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, ‘O me! O life!… of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless–of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life? Answer. That you are here – that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse.’ That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?” — John Keating, Dead Poet’s Society

Early Observations

Until I knew there was more,
I wanted to know God.
They said he was a nice guy,
and would let me live forever.

All I had to do, they said,
was live my life for Him,
always living by scripture
cleaving only to his Way.

But, everyone I saw in church,
acted different at home.
Living wild, cussin’ and fussin’,
nobody lived like they said.

Still, I tried to be like Jesus,
he was sort of cool.
He never hurt nobody
and walked on the right path.

‘Course they killed him for that,
they couldn’t stand his example.
Turned him into a martyr,
 hid his real words among their own.

Then I found the Buddha,
and met Lao Tzu at the gate.
They saw things real different,
showed me how to see straight.

Right thought, and right action
replace blind obedience and faith.
Reality becomes manageable,
fear retreats, the universe expands.

Brother John said it pretty well,
“Imagine there’s no heaven,
it’s easy if you try.”
Sounds like he knew why.

Day to day, life is grand,
we walk in eternal beauty.
Open your eyes and hearts,
find yourself already immortal.

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

Today’s intro section was long, sort of rant-like, and the poem kind of went in a similar direction, so, rather than subject y’all to another long-winded self-indulgent exposition on something I can’t change, at least, not at this moment, I’ll go with another old-school pearl, one put together with fun, or irony, or sarcasm, or humor of one category or another in mind, to use as the search parameter for inclusion…. Enjoy!….

“Dope will get you through times of no money better that money will get you through times of no dope.” — Freewheelin’ Franklin, “The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers”

“My way of joking is to tell the truth. It’s the funniest joke in the world.” — George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

“Years ago fairy tales all began with “Once upon a time…”, now we know they all begin with, “If I am elected…” — Carolyn Warner

“Dear Auntie Em: Hate you, hate Kansas. Goodbye. I’m taking the dog.” — Dorothy

“I don’t see no p’ints about that frog that’s any better’n any other frog.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910), The Celebrated Jumping Frog

“Everyone knows that dragons don’t exist.  But while this simplistic formulation may satisfy the layman, it does not suffice for the scientific mind.  The School of Higher Neantical Nihility is in fact wholly unconcerned with what does exist.  Indeed, the banality of existence has been so amply demonstrated, there is no need for us to discuss it any further here.  The brilliant Cerebron, attacking the problem analytically, discovered three distinct kinds of dragon: the mythical, the chimerical, and the purely hypothetical.  They were all, one might say, nonexistent, but each non-existed in an entirely different way …” — Stanislaw Lem, Cyberiad

Okay, so that one’s not so funny…. until you really stop to think about it, and what it says about human nature…. You may not see it, but I about busted a garter…. Any who, lastly, I give you…. (Alright, I heard those huge sighs of relief…. you could have waited thirty seconds, couldn’t you?…. Ah well, try to enjoy it anyway…. )

“I don’t think it would have all got me down quite so much if just once in a while- just once in a while- there was at least some polite little perfunctory implication that knowledge should lead to wisdom, and that if it doesn’t, it’s just a disgusting waste of time.” — J.D. Salinger, Franny & Zooey

Okay, so it takes a certain type of person to find Salinger’s depressive style funny, but, that’s nothing new, just perverted…. which I’ve never denied for a moment…. It’s okay, ffolkes, I don’t understand me most of the time, either…
_____________________________

“I have found power in the mysteries of thought.”– Euripides

Me, too, though I doubt seriously I’ll ever achieve the lasting fame for my thoughts that Euripides can claim; should that happen, well, I’ll be mighty surprised, for a lot of reasons…. Today’s effort was more original than I had intended when I began; somewhere along the way, I forgot to care about the time, which is, I suppose, a good thing…. Be right back after proofing…. Okay, so, knowing how low my standards are, it shouldn’t surprise me to see this exceeds them…. I should be resigned to it by now, but, hey, I suppose that’s at least partly why I can still do it at all….  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

Save that lanolin, we’ll use it on the new busboy….

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Ffolkes,
I know, now, how the White Rabbit felt, as he hurried down the rabbit hole to Wonderland, “I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date…”  Even though the only thing I’m late for is posting this Pearl, I feel the same sense of panic and hurry as did he….. No reason, really. I did sleep a bit late, and had to spend the first twenty minutes repairing and reloading Smart Bee…. it pulled its bi-monthly corrupted file trick, which requires a quick delete and re-load of the entire program, plus a re-start of the computer…. No big deal, but time consuming…. which brings us to the present moment….

Egad, what a mess…. I’ve managed to completely screw up my transaction record, so I have no idea of exactly how much is in my account, and it’s time to pay bills for the month. I’m going to have to pay everything, then stop using the cards at all until it all catches up, and I can reconcile the record with reality…. SIGH…. I never was very good with money; it comes from never having much of it to deal with, along with a hearty disregard for the concept itself… “If you want a life of trouble, fill your house with treasures.”  I first heard this, and took it to heart, when I was about 11 years old, and made a conscious decision at that time to never try to get rich…. I’ve done that, quite well, actually…..

That’s all Big Blue Room stuff, though, and has no place here in ECR…. though it IS reality, I question the relevance for anyone reading this missive, so we’ll leave that behind, and find some other way to lead into today’s post…. That will be quite a trick, as I haven’t a clue as to what will happen today. I left the entire template blank, other than the usual suspects, intending to let myself go into an artistic trance, just typing away until my fingers wore out, and then seeing what was worth keeping…. much like I write a poem, in truth. But, my left wrist hurts from too much typing anyway, and I can’t seem to find a trance-state anywhere, in my head, or out. So much for that idea….

But, look, we’ve got three paragraphs again, just chock full of irrelevant BS, about rabbits, corrupted files, checkbooks, and mysticism colored by whimsy. Perhaps it isn’t exactly Hemingway-esque, but it’s certainly better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, and it does allow us to move on to something that MIGHT be instructive, if not entertaining. We often blur the two around here, so it’s best not to ask which it is supposed to be…. we don’t always know, and hate to be embarrassed…… Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

“I can’t keep from fooling around with our irrefutable certainties.  It is, for example, a pleasure knowingly to mix up two and three dimensionalities, flat and spatial, and to make fun of gravity.” — M. C. Escher

If you’ve seen Escher’s work, you’ll know that what he says here is truth, a truth graphically demonstrated by the visions he transfers to each  canvas. Though I doubt I’ll ever be hailed as such a genius as he, I like to think that what I write attempts to do the same, but rather than with dimensions of space, I play with the elements of belief that we humans hold, regarding certain aspects of society. In other words, it is a pleasure to knowingly point out the lies and the truths that people hold as certainties, and to make fun of how seriously the lies are taken, which we can equate to the force of gravity…. believing these lies is what holds us back from our potential, just as gravity holds us bound to the surface of the Earth…..

Just as Escher’s paintings release us from the laws of space and time, and of how to perceive them, our imaginations can release us from the repression heaped on us by the BRC and the 1%. When we stop believing the lies we are told, we can stop being puppets of the power of custom. Just because a lot of people believe something doesn’t make it true; only the facts of the matter can do that. In the act of accepting the lies we are told by those in authority, we become party to their chicanery, accessories, before and after the fact, to the crimes being perpetrated on society, and on the Earth as a whole….

“It happened that a fire broke out backstage in a theater.  The clown came out to inform the public.  They thought it was just a jest and applauded.  He repeated his warning, they shouted even louder.  So I think the world will come to an end amid general applause from all the wits, who believe that it is a joke.” — Smart Bee

I think Smart Bee might have a point here….. Most people don’t look past the surface of what they perceive; they accept whatever they are told, as long as the one delivering the message is in the appropriate costume, or setting. Put a moderately good looking man in a suit, have him sit at a desk looking studious and concerned, and people will pretty much take whatever he says as gospel, even if it has absolutely no truth in it, or any connection to reality whatsoever….. The public’s reaction to the possibility of global warming resembles the above statement quite a lot. Same with the question of overpopulation, either of which issue will certainly lead to war and misery, as a minimum, or extinction as a species, eventually, as a maximum result….

Whenever I bring this up, though, I am met with a silence that is deafening, and which serves as proof of exactly what I am saying…. This is the kind of message that no one wants, to hear, or to believe is real…. So, they don’t. Or, they just ignore it, thinking it will go away if they look at it again in a few days…. Guess what, ffolkes….. It”s real, it’s not going away, and that is a FACT, not a supposition, or speculation, or misread data, or conspiracy, or anything else…. it’s a fact…. And the only way to change it, is for EVERYONE to decide to turn 180 degrees from the path we are on, even if it means getting rid of those among us who don’t want to go that way… because that way means DEATH…. for all of us, without exception…. Deal with it…..

“I used to be an idealist, but I got mugged by reality.” — Smart Bee
__________________________________

Okay, no cheating today…. It’s the last day of the National Poetry Writing Month, so I’m going to do my best to come up with a fresh haiku, and a fresh poem…. We’ll see how it goes, eh?….. As every day this month, these are being included as part of the April National Poetry Writing Month Challenge, with the updates to be found here:  http://www.napowrimo.net/    I hope you enjoy them…..

Haiku XVIII

More beautiful days,
the weather is amazing.
Soaking up the sun.

Off the proverbial cuff…

I never meant to kill that period of time,
it didn’t give me any choice.
It tried to hem me in without reason, or rhyme,
refused me any vote, or any voice.

You have to admit, I buried it deep and fast,
just as if I cared.
I knew, though, it would never last,
or ever be fully repaired.

No news, no pictures can bring it back,
once is all we get.
No pleas of public good, or even public lack;
in stone the past is set.

Futuristic visions now occupy my dreams,
I’m ready to go on.
Look! It fills up the screen, and it gleams!
Where’s the moment I’m sitting on?

Now, I remembered, at long, long last,
is all we really can hold.
Every moment goes by so bloody fast,
we’d best fill them all with beauty, warm and bold.

~~ gigoid ~~

__________________________________

Though today’s first section cannot be strictly considered as a rant, it was an indictment, so we’ll count it as one…. That gives me the excuse to go with an old-school pearl. Today we’ll go completely random, with Smart Bee as the only one deciding what should be included…. Let’s see what comes up from the depths today, shall we?…..

“The earth hath skin, and the skin hath diseases.  One of these…is called man.” — Nietzsche

“Labour to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire,–conscience.” — George Washington (1732-1799) — Rule from the Copy-book of Washington when a schoolboy

When asked, “If you find so much that is unworthy of reverence in the United States, then why do you live here?” Mencken replied, “Why do men go to zoos?”

“Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem. (Entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity.)”  — William of Occam, Occam’s Razor

“It is impossible for a man to be cheated by anyone but himself.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“You know, of course, that the Tasmanians, who never committed adultery, are now extinct.” — W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965)

“UH-OH!!  We’re out of AUTOMOBILE PARTS and RUBBER GOODS!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Perhaps going TOTALLY random was a mistake; this is pretty inscrutable. So inscrutable, even I am not sure what the point is, other than to point a finger at Man, for….. something…. Maybe the finger should go up the nose, to remove any foreign bodies that may have been inadvertently ingested through the proboscis….. Oh, well, it isn’t bad, so just enjoy them individually, and I’ll leave them off the Quiz….
__________________________________

Aye, very late indeed…. let’s see how it proofs….. Hmm…. it’s not responding; it may be dead…. Oh well, it’s done, so I’m not going to fuss with it any further…. Besides, I’m hungry….  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3