It’s one of those Heyoka days, as the Sioux used to say…. I think it was the Sioux, or one of the other tribes from the Midwest plains, who had the Heyoka concept in their pantheon of beliefs…. Heyoka most easily translates as “opposite” or “contrary to an extreme”…. A Heyoka woman, in their tribe, would always say yes, when she meant no, & no when she meant yes; she would walk backwards, talks backwards, and generally behave in a manner that was completely reversed from normal…. As can be imagined, it made for some interesting times around the old tipi….

I’m up at the usual time, but, so is everyone else, which isn’t all THAT unusual, just odd… The cat is happy, anyway, to have all her human toys awake and available to torment play with; for her, it’s cat heaven. I’m unused to having anyone around while I’m writing, so it’s a bit distracting, but not too much so…. just enough to complain about, as is my custom when presented with a glitch in reality’s normal facade…. I’m not a whiner, as such; I merely believe, as do cats, that it doesn’t hurt to let the universe know what you feel and think about things, with the bonus of getting it OUT of my head, and into the ether, where any negativity clinging to it can be dissipated….

This morning, though, everything seems to be a bit chaotic, somehow… or, perhaps a better word would be “unsettled”…. That’s probably closer to the actual “look and feel” of today (No worries about any suit from Apple on this, we didn’t get anywhere near THEIR “look and feel”…. HAH!….). The upshot of all this has  been to take a big bite out of my motivation… In fact, I almost feel like going back to bed, and may just do that after getting this posted….

In fact, since I’m suffering from this motivational mini-crisis, I think I’ll resort to a very early use of method #4, to get this ball rolling down the appropriate hill…. Hmm, I’m guessing, though, it will probably more resemble a the annual Rolling Cheese Chase in England, where all the crazy fools go running down a big hill, chasing after a rolling wheel of cheddar cheese (I THINK it’s cheddar….), in essence to see who is the fastest fool down the hill; the one who reaches bottom first gets the cheese as the prize….. But, it’s okay, I’m not proud, at least not in that respect, so…. just hang on, or sit down & strap in, ‘kay?….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is doing it.” — David Star Jordan, The Philosophy of Despair

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I’m a bit lazy today, as noted above; the coffee doesn’t seem to be quite getting me to where I need to go…. But, I found this older pearl, which is clearly one of the finest pearls I’ve ever done…. and THAT makes it an excellent one to recycle…. Enjoy!….

From 6/4/2012:

To make a long story short:  Once upon a time….It was a dark and stormy night……..and they lived happily ever after. — Smart Bee

And I oft have heard defended,
–Little said is soonest mended.

— George Wither (1588-1667) — The Shepherd’s Hunting

As he sat staring into the screen at the last two seemingly unconnected pearls, he began to laugh, slowly at first, then rising in pitch and volume, until the walls rang with the maniacal cacophony. “Madness!”, he thinks, “madness is here, and owns my wretched soul!” Caught in the maelstrom of his own inner conflict, he felt as if he were a drift of snow, blowing away in the howling winds, scattering to all parts of creation, never to be connected, or whole, again….

Yet, even more terrifyingly, Murphy’s henchman, the unthinkable terror of dissolution, holds him prisoner here, refusing to yield the pleasure of devouring every last bit of agony that can be dragged screaming from his beleaguered existence, keeping him anchored to the endless Now, with fear and loathing. Tears flow freely, long undefended by social convention, tears of grief for the lost possibilities, and tears of sadness for the loss of the years gone past.

Yet all things must pass….Remembering at last that the existence of pain is only confirmed by an equal amount of joy, the scale tips, and the duality of reality severs the hold of entropy on his emotions. The clouds disperse, and Murphy, well-pleased, slips laughing into the remaining mists….. Shattered and bloody, he sits, and thinks….

There you go…. long story short….

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

“Insanity destroys reason, but not wit.” — Nathaniel Emmons

I believe the word you’re looking for is ‘AAAUUGHHH’.

(Note from 2014: Obviously, I found the word I was looking for….)

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Once again, to avoid the possibility of anyone else catching blame for any of this, here is one of my older poems….

Plus, yesterday, I got a bunch of pretty good shots, of which you’ll find five included below, each with a pearl, and a comment…. Enjoy, please….

“Anyone who isn’t confused really doesn’t understand the situation.” — Edward R. Murrow

Mr. Murrow has been around for most of my life; I seem to remember hearing his name on TV as a very young child, in the 1950’s, which is a fairly long time ago now…. This statement of his has also been around as long as I remember, accepted by almost all as gospel truth, and a pretty good indication of how most people feel about both the world at large, and their own lives…. I would like to point out, with some reluctance, that our beloved ruling class KNOWS this, and likes us to feel this way…. People who are uncertain, and a little afraid, are much easier to control, than those who feel a sense of confidence and hope.

I won’t rant on this, not now; plus, I’ve ranted on this often in the past, so my views are well-known, at least, around here…. Just be sure, if you’re feeling confused at what is going on in the real world, you’re not alone, and you are experiencing the same as most other folks in society…. just the way our beloved rulers like…. Hell, they probably feel a large sense of satisfaction, knowing the majority of mankind is so easily manipulated and controlled…. ‘Nuff said….

“It is important to do what you don’t know how to do.  It is important to see your skills as keeping you from learning what is deepest and most mysterious. If you know how to focus, unfocus. If your tendency is to make sense out of chaos, start chaos.” — Carlos Casteñeda

This is really an important lesson, and one that many in the Western world have trouble assimilating fully. It is well worth anyone’s consideration, as it is truer than most will believe on first sight; such is the value of serendipity in life. Beauty, like wisdom, can be found in the most unlikely of places, often when least expected…. As I walked home yesterday, I didn’t expect to see this little sphere, sitting on top of a metal pole, next to a building on the street where I walked…. The overall effect of the weather and time on the surface, of both the pole, and the sphere, turned it into a vision of exquisite beauty; it looks like an artist’s rendition of the mega-planet recently discovered by the Hubble telescope.

I can just see that sphere, just as it appears here, majestically swinging through space around another star, with its own civilization of people, who, hopefully, have a better grasp of virtue and responsibility that we do here on Earth….. Maybe, if we listen to our sages, such as Carlos, we’d have a chance to learn those values, to our benefit, rather than killing ourselves, as a result of the depths of our stupidity and contrary natures….

“As a net is made up of a series of ties, so everything in this world is connected by a series of ties. If anyone thinks that this mesh of a net is an independent, isolated thing, he is mistaken. It is called a net because it is made up of a series of interconnected meshes, and each mesh has its place and responsibility in relation to other meshes.” — Buddha

This small park in the downtown area shows perfectly how this works in the real world…. What? You mean you DON’T see the meshed net, with all its connections, all through this picture? Ah, then, I see now how life has become unknown to you…. Look again, ffolkes, the connections of which the Buddha spoke are all over this picture… Hint: one of them is the connection that society has to its members, which prompts the creation of inner city park areas, where people can gather, thus giving meaning to the word, “community”… That’s how it works, which, unfortunately for all of us, is NOT commonly understood… which is most likely why the park is empty….

“It is not every question that deserves an answer.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 581

What more perfect quote could go with this? Obviously, the parasol needs no excuses, nor any explanations…. Such boldness deserves whatever kudos it can garner, and no one alive could possibly say this is NOT special…. I’m hoping it is still there when I go back to buy it; it’s perfect for my daughter for Christmas…. and, yes, I’m a sucker for the romantic era…. But, since I never question any of the qualities of romance in life, I never run up against the issues implied in this statement from Publius Syrus…. I don’t NEED any answers about that….

“There await men after they are dead things which they do not expect or imagine.” — Heraclitus

“What is inconceivable about the universe is that it is at all conceivable.” — Albert Einstein

The picture you see here is the first of many to come; I call it Pine/Fire/Cone/Hydrant, for lack of anything more original. On my camera safari yesterday, I found a pine cone, conveniently waiting for me underneath a pine tree on the street where I walked. I had the idea to use it as a picture prop, so, I will…. I’ll be seeking out different items and/or places to pose the pine cone (or, it’s smaller clone, which is easier to carry…. and will give y’all something to look for, to see which cone is up for the day….), with the basic intent to create images that will lend themselves to the process of pearling….

I think it’s going to work out very well; this one is so compelling an image for me, I decided it was worthy of a two-fer, and, it seems I was right, as these two are perfectly suited to the image, in my estimation…. See, now, there’s another unintended, but valuable, facet of this; you also get to see just how strange and, well, tuned in to entropy, my mind is on any particular day, as the pearls I pick for the pictures will provide you with very accurate clues…. This one is no exception, even if what it says about me is a little critical, or shall we say, it pulls to many covers? Sure, why not….

Any who, I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s little trip through the vast, empty landscape, that comprises the bulk of my imagination when pearling…. Maybe that’s not the best image with which to leave you, but, hey, gotta call ’em as I see ’em…. To prevent any further madness, I declare this pearl complete….

“Go into yourself and see how deep the place is from which your life flows.” — Rainer Maria Rilke in Letters to a Young Poet

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Some days, this process works better than others, a truism I’ve noted previously, but, which has no real bearing on whether or not it gets done. I suppose the effect it has lies in the quality of whatever comes out of my head during the morning’s leakage; when it goes smoothly, the Pearls seem a bit more coherent. It matters little in the final analysis, as it will get posted either way, to go along with our basic philosophy of “better out than in”….

Since there isn’t anything more I can damage, or, for that matter, repair, I will now go do what I can to prepare to get through today’s continuing heat wave…. It SAYS it’s only going to be 86, but, it’s only a bit after 6 AM, & there’s no fog…. That usually means it will get up to at least 90….  Now, where did I put that coma-inducing book I was saving for just this occasion?….. The coma state is the ONLY way to get through such days…. I know, I’m a native Californian…. I’ve got priors…. See ya, tomorrow, ffolkes, if I can keep from melting…..