Tag Archives: George Prentice

Your majesty’s attire smacks of deliberate irrelevance….

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Ffolkes,

There are times when a good round of really gross, anatomically incorrect, yet innovative, viciously antagonistic cursing does one more good than anything less vulgar can possibly accomplish, partially because of that selfsame vulgarity….. And, of course, when one breaks down completely, morals-training-wise, stooping to the forceful, heartfelt use of that crowd favorite, the time-tested, universally applicable Anglo-Saxon euphemism for the act of physical love, otherwise known as the F-word, is our only viable recourse…. We all know how much better the mere voicing of this honorable incantation can make us feel, don’t we? Well, those among us who refuse to be hypocrites do, anyway….

So, what happened today that prompted such a long-winded way to say I feel like saying “FUCK”, at the top of my lungs? Well, let me tell you…. Here on Earth, some of us have agreed to live with other species, domiciling together in a form of mutual support and honorable relationship, for no other reason than our own compatibility and liking for each other’s company….

There are several species with whom we have made such an agreement over time, a group that includes some rather exotic creatures, such as snakes, rodents, spiders, and fish of all varieties, including dangerous ones, such as sharks and/or piranha, along with the more mundane mammalian choices such as dogs, horses, etc….. Myself, I’m not sure how I’d enjoy cuddling with a piranha, or petting a python, but, to each his own..

Then, of course, we have cats….. I’m not at all certain that the relationship we have with them is completely agreeable to either party at times; there are too many instances where our purposes and/or desires come into conflict for us to ever be fully at ease in each other’s company…. I spend as much time chasing the damn cat with a squirt bottle of water as I do petting her, and that is mostly at HER insistence…. She seems to enjoy pissing me off & having me chase here around the house, spraying her with the water bottle…. Well, until I catch her anyway…. then, she tends to learn VERY quickly,  whatever it was we were tussling about…. funny how that works….

So, this morning, this 4 lb. furry black menace decided that 2 AM was just the right time for me to be up….. the fucking asshole. She probably heard me making plans to go see my grandson today, & figured she could help out the most by making sure I was up in plenty of time….. Sure she did…. I mean, seven fucking hours should be enough for me to get ready, don’t you think? Apparently, she thinks that’s about right….. bloody nuisance is what she is….. Plus, she KNOWS I’m a softy at heart, and won’t actually HURT her, even if getting her wet isn’t one of her favorite things….. Like most of us do when dealing with our fuzzy companions, I bluster at her a lot, but she knows it’s all bark, and no real bite….

I suppose in her own way, she thought she was being nice, so it’s hard to get too upset…. especially given the weird hours I’ve been putting in of late. Three in the AM isn’t particularly unfamiliar to me these days, so two o’clock is hardly a handicap, or much of a change, for that matter….. So, I guess I’ll let her live…. She DID not only get me up, but provided the material for this intro, such as it is, so, I suppose I should thank her…..

I will…. after I finish being pissed off about being up at this hour, and having so much of the day to fill up, on so little rest…. At least I have good stuff to fill it with; a visit with Zack is always a bonus for me…. I only have the one grandson, so far, so I tend to savor our time together…. and, since I only get to see him a couple of times a year, they’re marked as special days on my calendar…. But, that’s not until way later, so…..

Shall we Pearl?

Cat: “A small, furry beast resembling a meatloaf…” — Smart Bee (honest, it wasn’t me!….)
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“The gods too are fond of a joke.” — Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

One only need look at the platypus to understand this sentiment…. or look at our current crop of legislators…. If you’re anything like me, when you think of one of them, you automatically imagine them wearing their natural coats, which either consists of a big, loudly colored ruffed collar, a harlequin suit, and huge red shoes, or will closely resemble the fur of a polecat, aka, a skunk…. Oh, I know, those are both ancient, cheap shots, but, generally, I’m so direct and insulting, I thought I’d try to slip by y’all with a bit of style and elegance…. No such luck, eh?….

Actually, when I planned out the above paragraph in my mind, it seemed a lot more….. everything…. more funny, more relevant, more gripping….. just…… more. Having failed in that…. miserably, I might add…. we should go on to something more lucrative, or at least, potentially more interesting…. But, damn it, I don’t like to give up on a good pearl…. I know…. I’ll find some others, that match the tone and direction of this one from Ari…. Maybe, just maybe, if I can find enough of them, I can turn this into an adequate old-school pearl, thus saving this Pearl from an immediate disaster…..

Not that there is much that can save it, at this point, but, we’ve got to try, Mr. President!…. It’s too young and innocent to go down like this!…. Let’s see if SB has what it takes to save the day…. again….

“Be content with your lot; one cannot be first in everything.’ — Aesop (620-560 B.C.)

“True artists scorn nothing.” — Albert Camus (1913-1960) — Nobel Prize speech (1957)

“For here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate error so long as reason is left free to combat it.” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) — First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1801

“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.’ — Voltaire

“A bare assertion is not necessarily the naked truth.” — George Prentice

“Look to the essence of a thing, whether it be a point of doctrine, of practice, or of interpretation.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, viii, 22

I suppose this just goes to show that sometimes you just have to dig deeper to find the jewels…. or, in this case, dive deeper to find the pearls…. Here they are, and they’re all from the deepest part of the ocean….. which may explain their relative elusiveness, as well as their esotericism….. Nonetheless, it does have a point, even if that point isn’t exactly scalpel-grade….
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I have a feeling today is one of those days I’d best use something of my own here, so as not to bring harm to the reputation of anyone else by negative association…. So, here you go, with the first poem of mine that caught my eye, and my fancy, when I went to look for it…. It’s also one of the first I wrote in 2012, when I started writing poetry again, after a forty-some year hiatus…. This was written on 9/10/2012…..

When life calls, ready or not….

Memories are all we have sometimes
to keep our sanity intact,
with learned phrases and subtle rhymes
lessening life’s vicious, vibrant impact.

Presently all seems composed and intent
in stark contrast to hollow day,
forlorn patchwork emotions of unheralded bent,
fill up night’s bower, leaving hell to pay.

Such vigorous and elevated temper
brings us rare moments to ponder,
filled with lessons all need to remember
lest base perception lose valued wonder.

Laugh loud when entropy sticks fast
leaving shameless anger in its wake.
Let bygones pass quietly into the past
reaping only what is left to take.

Final words of wise imagination
tell us living well’s the best revenge, it appears
ever eluding choirs and congregations
finally finding home, never buried in tears.

~~ gigoid ~~

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“A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.” — George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

“We ought never to do wrong when people are looking.” — Mark Twain

For a long time now, I’ve been immersed in the study of modern society, locking myself in to the close observation of what transpires in the public arena, using, for the most part, the same criteria to pick my subject matter as do the major news organizations…. Small wonder, they’re people, and so am I…. it only figures we’d do things in a similar way…. Unfortunately, as it turns out, this includes a strong preference for morbidity, seemingly, as 99% or more of what gets published in the major newspapers and online outlets is rather negative in terms of its subject matter….. Blood sells, as they say in the game….

When I have used articles from the news as the springboard for a rant, they generally fall into that same negative pattern; this, of course, is a natural hazard in ranting, and not entirely unexpected, or unwanted…. But, it does get old, as does any kind of negativity after a while, and it’s a good idea to occasionally give oneself a break from such anti-frivolity….

All of these contrary sort of thoughts occurred to me today as I went to look for something to rant about in the daily news…. I was pleasantly surprised to find the following article on what would be considered the front page of one of the news sites I frequent, SFGATE.com, run by the same folks who run the SF Chronicle newspaper…. It’s a charming little piece, not for its style or power of writing, but for the subject matter…. I cried, but, then, I’m a softy, with all my emotions right up near the surface, susceptible to babies, animals, & kids, and very partial to romantic interludes…. It’s such a heartwarming post, I defy anyone to read it and NOT feel at least a twinge of “Awwww”….

It also fits in with my own view on animals vs. humans as compassionate creatures….. I believe most animals on the planet to be far superior to any human, when it comes to essential morality…. Sure, they’ll obey their instinctual survival imperatives, to protect their territory, and to survive as either prey or predator, but, they’ll never do so out of of spite, or greed, or, ignorance, or sheer cussedness. (Okay, full disclosure… I HAVE known a couple of horses that were pretty fractious when it came to cooperating with people… but, they were anomalies for their species, I’m sure….I also knew this one blue jay that REALLY didn’t like people, too, but, hey, he probably had a reason…. We humans have a reputation for being assholes to other creatures….)

I have collected more than 2000 pictures from the internet over time, just for my own viewing pleasure…. A great many of them are examples of animals interacting between species, showing how the two, or more, species can get along with each other…. Also, I’ve observed animals all my life, and can state without hesitation that Man is the LEAST compassionate of ALL the mammalian species, and, really, hasn’t shown me any evidence that very many of them can be much much nicer than most reptiles, avians, or insects, in my experience (I THINK that covers the major phyla, doesn’t it?….) I haven’t studied the fish very deeply, in terms of interactive or relational skills, but, I know for sure and for certain that the sea-going mammals are ALL more intelligent, and more compassionate to other species, than is our own …..

So, I thought, for a change, I’d show a bit of compassion myself, and just give you the link to this uplifting post, then, follow it with some simple, easy-going pearls, with the only parameter being “nice”…. See? No rant, one of my poems, two old-schools, both light-hearted, and a “nice” link…. See how I can make nice when I try?…. At least as nice as a legislator, I think, and much more honest…. Plus, I don’t want anything from y’all, except your kind attention…  Enjoy!…..

http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/Giraffe-licks-dying-zoo-worker-5340478.php

“Men show their character in nothing more clearly than by what they think laughable.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

‘He was once asked what a friend is, and his answer was, “One soul abiding in two bodies.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Aristotle, xi

The thought manifests as the word;
The word manifests as the deed;
The deed develops into habit;
And habit hardens into character.
So watch the thought and its ways with care,
And let it spring from love
Born out of concern for all beings.

— The Buddha

“By the accident of fortune a man may rule the world for a time, but by virtue of love he may rule the world forever.” — Lao Tzu

“At the touch of Love every one becomes a poet.” — Plato

‘How pleasant then to be insane.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald

“…just when I had you wriggling in the crushing grip of reason, too…” — Calvin & Hobbes
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I’m not sure how to feel about this one…. It has taken somewhat over three hours to complete all of the necessary operations to get this done, interspersed with frequent breaks, and it still, as far as I can tell, could use some work, or something….. more…. But, since it’s already longer than intended (which is NOT unusual, I assure you….), I’m going to continue to demonstrate my compassionate side, and let it go the way it is….. Lucky you, eh?….

See you tomorrow, and, yes, I know I threaten you like that every day…. Y’all should be used to it by now…. I know I’m getting pretty calloused in that respect, so, maybe I’ll think about doing something about it, some day…. Sure I will….  Well, as they are fond of saying downtown, so be it…. Ta, then….

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 the dubious

dozer3

Hip-deep in tuning forks….

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Ffolkes,

Almost very morning, for the last two or so years, I have arisen from my bed relatively early in the day, anywhere from 4 AM to 6 or 7 AM, and set myself to write. Every time I do, without fail, I suffer a pang of fear, that what I have to say will come out badly, or be boring, or most often, I”m afraid I won’t be able to think of anything worthwhile to write about. This morning, that fear has reached major proportions, because a) not only have I once again broken routine by staying up late, and arising late, so, I’m feeling rushed, and, b) not only can I not think of anything about which I feel like writing, but, worst of all, c) I don’t feel like writing at all….

Now, THAT is a huge change! I’ve depended on this process for quite a while now to maintain my sanity, and NOT having any urge to produce is a completely new feeling for me…. This process has all become habitual, often running by itself, without any conscious direction from me. I haven’t even bothered to consider whether or not I wanted to write; I just wrote. This morning I’m suffering from a lack of motivation as much as my usual lack of palatable, or at least acceptable, material, and I don’t know how to deal with it….

In at least one sense, this feeling, or lack of feeling, is a positive note in my existence, as it implies that those things in my life that cause me to feel depressed are either not presently active, or, are not bad enough to trigger any of my more destructive symptoms, such as labile emotionalism, angst, diffuse anxiety, and unreasoned fear. This leads me to feel competent, able to deal with any other difficulties with a higher degree of success, which, happily, leads to a further reduction of overall stress….

In addition, I seem to be getting the hang of living with my back and hips in this condition, (that is to say, weak, and constantly threatening a higher pain level), by not making mistakes about physical activities that cause me to tweak it, sending me into crescendos of spasms and severe pain; I haven’t had that problem in some time… My use of meds is not necessarily reduced, as I still get breakthrough pain at times, but it seems much more consistent in the average number per day….

All this means I don’t fear for my sanity as much as previously… This is, no doubt, probably not a wise course of action, as sanity can be a pretty slippery slope, and Murphy is always lurking around somewhere, just waiting to fuck with me for no good reason. But, it also means a period of time when it will be a struggle to find the motivation to write, perhaps even a bigger struggle than the daily one I have now in looking for something to write about…. Motivation is much harder to create than prose, I’ve found, especially within ourselves. I find it uplifting, and easier, to help others find motivation than I do finding it for myself; that’s probably very human of me, but, hey, you can’t pick your parents, or your species….

I do seem to be getting pretty good at this intro business, from an output standpoint, anyway. I can’t speak to the quality of what comes after, but I’d say the intro is fairly consistent these days, starting each day’s post with a four-to-six-or-seven-paragraph discussion of pretty much nothing at all, confusingly, but, firmly, leading the Gentle Reader deeper into the morass, until they have to go on to the end just to find their way back to reality…..

Hopefully, the poetry, and some of the virtual wisdom that is presented, makes the trip worthwhile… because, now, it’s no longer all about keeping me sane, which implies that I will spend less time in that state… or, not, which may or may nt completely destroy all my creative urges, and I’ll just fade away into blog limbo, never to be heard from again…. Sadly, I am unable to judge whether or not that is a comforting thought, or a scary one…. and I don’t think I want y’all to decide, either…. which means I’d best get on with this….

Shall we Pearl?…..
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Since my own level of creativity is in the dumps, I’ll be depending on Smart Bee heavily today…. Let’s see what it has for us today…. What happens now is as much of a surprise for me as it is for you, as this is my favorite kind of old-school pearl, one that I have started my search by typing in “star dot star”, or *.*, a search parameter that tells the search engine to look for anything, everywhere, which means one never knows what will be found…..

“How’s the wife?  Is she at home enjoying capitalism?” — Zippy the Pinhead

“Since my cat learned to type, there is no guarantee whose thoughts these are…” — Smart Bee

“One of my favorite philosophical tenets is that people will agree with you only if they already agree with you. You do not change people’s minds.” — Frank Zappa, 1979

“The day the child realizes that all adults are imperfect, he becomes an adolescent; the day he forgives them, he becomes an adult; the day he forgives himself, he becomes wise.” — Alden Nowlan

“Fools! they know not how much half exceeds the whole.” — Hesiod (c. 700 BC) — Works and Days, Line 40

Hmm… okay, I admit, it’s a bit obscure…. Let’s see if two more will fix it….

“Think of doubt as an invitation to think.” — Smart Bee

“One of the annoying things about believing in free will and individual responsibility is the difficulty in finding someone to blame your troubles on. And when you do find someone, it’s remarkable how often their picture turns up on your driver’s license.” — P. J. O’Rourke

Yep, perfect…. Enjoy!…..
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“Emily Dickinson didn’t even publish books, she just wrote these demented little poems with a quill pen and hid them in her desk, but they still fought their way into the world, and lasted on and on and on. It’s damned hard to get rid of Emily Dickinson, she hangs on like a tick in a dog’s ear. And everybody who writes from then on in some sense has to measure up to this woman. In the art of book-writing the classics are still living competition, they tend to elevate the entire art-form by their persistent presence.” — Bruce Sterling

This is quite true, but, it’s like that hive of bees…. Eventually, you just have to say to yourself, “Well, yes, having this urge to write poems IS much like having a hive of bees live in my head….. But, there they are!” Acceptance is hard, but in Emily’s case, not quite as hard for me as for some folks, as I KNOW I’ll never reach her level of genius when it comes to poetic expression, so I don’t bother to fret over it…. Here is an example of what I mean….

Safe in their alabaster chambers,
Untouched by morning and untouched by noon,
Sleep the meek members of the resurrection,
Rafter of satin, and roof of stone.

Light laughs the breeze in her castle of sunshine;
Babbles the bee in a stolid ear;
Pipe the sweet birds in ignorant cadences, —
Ah, what sagacity perished here!

Grand go the years in the crescent above them;
Worlds scoop their arcs, and firmaments row,
Diadems drop and Doges surrender,
Soundless as dots on a disk of snow.

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

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As I iterated above, and shall now reiterate, I’m lacking in inspiration, and motivation, which means I’m lazy, and I don’t care…. Not so lazy as to go to the archives, but, lazy enough to go with another old-school pearl in place of a rant, which, though I believe there is one in there, just primed to come out to play, it’s not quite the right moment for it…. Another rationalization, but, then, rationalization has always been one of my better skills. It’s particularly handy when trying to decide whether to indulge my own whims, such as this one, to pearl….. The first four of these presented themselves as a group when I was searching for the material in section one of today’s post, and seemed to have something to say…. Who am I to keep words from expressing themselves?….

“When an idea is wanting a word can always be found to take its place.” — J.W. von Goethe

“Let’s not be too tough on our own ignorance.  It’s the thing that makes  America great.  If America weren’t incomparably ignorant, how could we  have tolerated the last eight years?” — Frank Zappa, Feb 1, 1989

“…this would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it.” — John Adams, Letter to Thomas Jefferson, 1816

“I sometimes think that God in creating Man somewhat overestimated his ability.” — Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

“Pardon him, Theodotus, he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature.” — George Bernard Shaw

“A bare assertion is not necessarily the naked truth.” — George Prentice

“He may look like an idiot and talk like and idiot but don’t let that fool you. He really is an idiot.” — Groucho Marx

See, even when I’m being lazy, I can still take shots at pundits…. Gotta keep in practice, y’know?…..
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3.141592653589793238462643383279502883197116939937.. I forget the rest….

A friend is one who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.

Both of the above quotes came from Smart Bee, which is often the only one who knows where it originated… They are both there just because I like them, and they seem to be appropriate for both the mood of today’s Pearl, and for my own mood…. I would say I just like them, but, since I did that already, I’ll just get on with the proofing…. It shouldn’t take long, as there isn’t that much that I composed fresh, which cuts down on editing…. Didn’t seem to cut down much today… that took almost as long as the intro…. But, it’s done, you’ll be thankful to know, and we can all get on with the rest of the day….. 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