Asymmetric consistency enhances any melody….

Ffolkes,

“We dwell at the bottom of the sky.”

~~ Subtle Bee ~~

famine memorial

Memorial of the Exodus, Galway…

Hajime…. Well, here we are again. Rather late, if y’all hadn’t noticed; so late, in fact, there’s no time to explain any of the reasons, none of which could be considered either justifiable, or rational, other than existing as rationalization. So, we’ll skip all that, & get on with today’s mess, which was thrown together, helter-skelter, in just under an hour. This is, unfortunately, much less time than I typically spend on a Pearl, so, I’ll forgo any nonsense about the quality, & merely acknowledge ’tis done…

It is, to my credit, completely fresh & original; the old-school pearl, composed of seven fine gems, came together in, if not record time, a remarkably adequate fashion. There is our usual musical compromise, with some of the world’s greatest music collected for your listening pleasure by some random You Tube user. And, there is a new poem, finished this morning under extreme pressure, the extremity of which I found necessary to get it down on the screen before the blood loss reached a critical level. Go figure, eh? Sometimes, it’s easier than others, so, I hope you enjoy it…. Personally, I think it’s not bad, but, I often don’t really ‘get it’ myself until the metaphors have circled around my head for a while….

Okay, chatty rationale aside, I’d best get posted, before the reality of the day’s agenda strikes home. To do so with dispatch, I’ll employ an old, old literary technique, which I call ‘the dump’…. You’ve seen it before; it works like this….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds
on the heel that has crushed it.”

~~ Mark Twain ~~

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royalty-free-clip-art-vector-logos-of-black-and-orange-floral-acoustic-guitars-by-seamartini-graphics-6573

Those familiar with our habits here on ECR will know just why I chose classical music today; those not so in tune may merely enjoy it, without knowing I’m ‘going with the flow’… Either way, it’s good stuff to read by…. Abondanza!….

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Classical Music

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Comedy_Tragedy

Whispers in the Dark

Contrast burgeons, each moment we exist,
drawing perception, offering simply delicious ambiguity;
imagination gives reality an emotional twist,
we create the dance, step by step, in perpetuity.

Glorious, spinning with uninhibited glee,
joyous in well-fitted shoes, alive in every atom;
Death itself smiles, in gentle wonder, to see
such pure illumination, deeper than any fathom.

Myrmidons stand, helmeted heads shaking in sad confusion,
unable to comprehend the complex notion of simplicity;
multitudes gaze hypnotically into depths of crass illusion
totally ignorant of their own  vile duplicity.

Precluded from taking flight in silent wonder, we fight
to preserve all we believe, ever falling short of kindness.
Beauty remains; we walk through it to the light,
a glimpse of druidic insight leaves us wishing for blindness.

~~ gigoid ~~

8/21/2017

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pearls_3

Naked Pearls

Notes on Process and Program….

*******

“He who conquers himself is the mightiest warrior.”

~~ Confucius ~~

*******

“In memory everything seems to happen to music.”

~~ Tennessee Williams ~~

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“Have the courage to act instead of react.”

~~ Earlene Larson Jenks ~~

*******

“I am not the rose, but I have lived near the rose.”

~~ H. B. Constant ~~

*******

“Because right is right, to follow right
Were wisdom in the scorn of consequence.”

~~ Alfred Tennyson, “Oenone” ~~

*******

“Each man reaps on his own farm.”

~~ Plautus — “Mostellaria”, Act iii, Sc. 2, 112, (799.) ~~

*******

“Life is not meant to be easy, my child; but take courage
— it can be delightful.”

~~ George Bernard Shaw ~~

*******

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I can honestly say I don’t know how I did it, so, I won’t. I will note, however, it’s done, and a damn good thing, as my OCD is building up angst, the later it gets. Over two hours past the artificial, yet compulsory, time I set for myself, & I’m still typing. How about I stop here, & go get this posted? Okay…. See y’all in a day or so, when I find some space in my head to make the effort to ‘pull it together’. Let’s not get into how long that might be; let’s just say, blessed be, & be on our merry, if less than perfectly sane way….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

dozer3

À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

Inflatable Gorgonzola? Aisle three….

Ffolkes,

“I am not the rose, but I have lived near the rose.”

~~ H. B. Constant (1767-1830) ~~

Belfast 010

White’s Tavern, Belfast, Ireland

Opened 1630 by Royal License


Hajime…. Lest I begin to list, either literally, or, metaphorically, let it be said, while there is still time and wherewithal to do so, we have never, ever been so fucking tired, or, for that matter, the other way around. Of course, such presupposes carnal activity, which is, sadly, currently not an issue in this house, so, perhaps we won’t say that after all. After all, if we said it, there’d be no taking it back, right? Okay, so, let’s just forget this entire paragraph, shall we? I think, if we are to make any progress at all today, that would be best.

In case it isn’t clear, I’m weary. And, not just from living with insomnia, either. I’m weary of the world at large, I think. Part of this is my current lack of social interaction, other than here on the internet, which, though pleasant and fulfilling, isn’t the same as face to face time with other people. Last evening, I dined with my daughter to celebrate her birthday a few days ago, a thoroughly enjoyable time. But, I realized it was the first time I’d actually spoken to another person in two weeks, outside my house, who wasn’t on the other side of a counter, or, standing in a line somewhere. Rather a come-uppance to my mindfulness of my own life and times, if you get my drift.

‘S okay, though; no big. It will give me a short-term personal goal for the nonce, just what I’d been looking for, to supplement my other personal plans for this year, all of which will take time to mature, as they involve the collection of resources over time. I know, pretty obscure, but, at the moment, the best I’ve got to talk about. I’ve had so much time with my old friend, and been so locked into flowing to cope with it, I’ve not had any time to think about writing, other than what was absolutely necessary to post each day…. SIGH. I’m such a wimp sometimes…. but, after a few moments, my natural buoyancy reasserts itself, and we go on, in spite of any crap such as this little chat, which has, quite obviously, lost its way in melancholic wandering around in my head.

So be it. We’ve reached at least one of the required levels of idiocy to call this an intro, yet, I feel it needs more. I suppose I could try some…. No, did that last month. I also did THIS last month, so should probably use another method here, too. Aw, fuck it. I’m done. Let’s go on down the page, without any more bullshit, okay? Sometimes, ya just gotta quit banging yer head against the wall….

Shall we Pearl?….

I have realized that the past and future are real illusions,
that they exist in the present,
which is what there is and all there is.”

~~ Alan Watts ~~


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hendrix

Jimi Hendrix

Image from alexpress.com via Google Images


Yesterday, a Gentle Reader mentioned this artist, whereupon I realized I’d never included any of his music here. To rectify such a cultural faux pas, I am including the longest live session I could find on the first page of You Tube, a concert from 1970 in Philadelphia. Since, at the time, he was the best rock guitarist alive, it promises to be pretty good…. When he succumbed to the BRC’s poisons in his life, we lost a man who was, perhaps, destined to be the best ever, for within his short time on Earth, he had already taken the guitar to heights never before seen, or even considered for a musical instrument, of any kind…. Quite simply, he was made of music…. and the PTB of society cannot tolerate such beauty for long…

Think about it…. Why else would drugs STILL be an issue in society, if the PTB didn’t want it that way?…. End of rant; enjoy the music….

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Jimi Hendrix

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Plato-Aristotle

“The truth is that Christian theology, like every other theology, is not only opposed to the scientific spirit; it is also opposed to all other attempts at rational thinking. Not by accident does Genesis 3 make the father of knowledge a serpent- slimy, sneaking and abominable. Since the earliest days the church as an organization has thrown itself violently against every effort to liberate the body and mind of man. It has been, at all times and everywhere, the habitual and incorrigible defender of bad governments, bad laws, bad social theories, bad institutions. It was, for centuries, an apologist for slavery, as it was the apologist for the divine right of kings.” — H. L. Mencken

I’d intended to use Henry’s quote to discuss religion yet again. However, I fell out for a couple hours, awakening in time to finish today’s Pearl, but, not in time to rant on such a subject. As is our attitude today, so be it. Here’s one on the same subject from the archives, to fill in as we may. Enjoy!…

From 12/2/2012:

“There is one God, but which one is He?”

~~ Smart Bee ~~


Now, this is the proper use of reason and inquiry! Such a small question, made gargantuan by the depth of its insight. Which one, indeed, is the real God? There are as many answers to this question as there are what I like to call “preachers”, for want of a better word (I should maybe try to pick a better one, I suppose….); “preachers” are men, or women, who have decided upon one particular system of beliefs on the subject of divinity as being the correct one, to the exclusion of all the others. In spite of the lack of hard evidence on hand for any of the different belief systems, these folks choose one, and stick to it like a barnacle…. which, come to think of it, is probably what it feels like, after a while….

Depending on to whom the question is put, the answer may vary from Odin the All Father of Norse mythology, to the God of Zoroaster, whose specific appellation escapes me just now. In between you will find God, also known as Yahweh/Jehovah to the those of the Tribe, Allah to the Muslims, and just plain old God to most of the Christian sects. There is the voodoo god, Jobu, in the Caribbean; Set, or Mammon, or any of the other ancient earth gods;  Ra of the Egyptians; Krishna, and all his incarnations, i.e., Kali, Yama, Ganesha, Maya, and the others in the Hindu pantheon. The American Indians seemed to favor the Great Spirit. Ancient Druids and Wiccans follow the Goddess, with gods and goddesses from the Greeks and Romans thrown into the mix, just for fun. The list seems as endless as human imagination….. which it is, since all of them spring from that source.

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.
If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”

~~ Smart Bee (and, most likely, the Dalai Lama….) ~~


As far as I know, Buddha never claimed to be a god, and was, to my mind, not particularly clear on the subject of divinity, as directly related to humanity. The same seems true of Taoism, though certain of its sages seem to hold some of the old Chinese mythology beliefs on Heaven, and the creatures who inhabit that domain, another concept for which there is only imaginary evidence to support its veracity, and its reality. In this way, I see these philosophies as superior to the religious doctrines that purport to worship a deity, as they rely on reason, personal responsibility, and compassion to direct action, rather than fear of reprisal, or hope for reward, as is the wont of religious dogma and doctrine.

This perception of mine may be because I have always thought that the entire concept of a deity is not capable of being described, or understood, if one is to assume that a god is what it claims to be. How can a mortal understand an immortal? There is no common ground, other than the assumption of existence, for which there can be any reason for one to be connected to the other, as we could not comprehend their existence. We, limited to our human perceptions, have no direct evidence of a deity that can be experienced by those perceptions.

Anyone who tells you they do is lying, even if they believe it to be true, unless they can share that experience with another human, directly, with evidence for the senses we possess, not merely for what we wish to be true. Feelings don’t count, nor visions only seen by them, or voices in the head, and neither do personal revelations, or religious fevers, or speaking in tongues…. See, hear, touch, smell, taste…. that’s what we have, along with the ability to reason, and our imagination. That is our tool kit, and unless one of the tools fits, it isn’t real, to our perceptive ability. Items purported to be evidence that come from imagination are just that…. imaginary, and cannot be considered proof of anything other than the naivete of the speaker, and of any who choose to believe them.

“It is a great advantage for a system of philosophy to be substantially true.”

~~ George Santayana ~~


SIGH…. People are people, though, and they will choose what to believe according to what they feel, most of the time, rather than according to what is the truth, which requires effort to find. It has even been said that humans have a tendency more often than not to make choices that are bad for them, just for that reason, that it is too much effort to think their way through to the truth that would ultimately help them. As long as this is true, then our species is in danger, from itself, and its own delusions…. Sad, in a species of such promise…..

“And on the 8th day, God woke up and said “Whew! It was just a dream!”

~~ Smart Bee ~~


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Comedy_Tragedy

A Dubiously Soft Morning

Idiosyncratic images, clamoring for regard,
fill up the white, white screen on which I view
my life, never seeing, nor invited to sup
ambrosial remnants of anything new.

Still, yet almost in motion, allegory sails away
bobbing gently, quick and easy to find,
signs of one happy child, seriously at play,
blissfully immersed, focused joy in mind.

Formidable cries of outraged simple justice
echo plaintive relevance, in half the time.
Maladaptive infants, destined for hospice
salvage an only child, daring to sing in rhyme.

Creativity equals unquestioning farce,
often reaching for absurdity, brazenly afire.
Instead, a blow is felt no joy will ever soften,
accepting the price, added to the cost of desire.

~~ gigoid ~~

7/26/2013


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About Hopi Indian Symbols

Naked Pearls

Courage

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“Courage is not the towering oak that sees storms come and go;
it is the fragile blossom that opens in the snow”

~~ Alice M. Swaim ~~

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“It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person,
“Always do what you are afraid to do.”

~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~

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“A coward is incapable of exhibiting love;
it is the prerogative of the brave.”

~~ Mahatma Gandhi ~~

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“No man can be brave who thinks pain the greatest evil;
nor temperate who considers pleasure the highest good.”

~~ Cicero ~~

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“Courage can’t see around corners, but goes around them anyway.”

~~ Mignon McLaughlin (The Neurotic’s Notebook) ~~

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“Courage begins when we can admit that there is no life
without some pain,some frustration;
that there is no tragic accident from which we are immune;
and that beyond the normal exercise of prudence
we can do nothing about it.”

~~ Victoria Lincoln ~~

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“As for courage and will
– we cannot measure how much of each lies within us,
we can only trust there will be sufficient
to carry through trials which may lie ahead.”

~~ Andre Norton ~~


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Considering I put in half a night & part of a day to get this done, I’ll take it, no matter how it floats, or, whether it floats at all. In fact, I’ll use this opportunity to get us all out of here, allowing us to get on with the day. I hardly need to mention, I will be back tomorrow, apparently whether I sleep, or not. Oh, well…. See y’all then….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

Featured Image -- 7198


À bientôt, mon cherí….


It got a great review in the Gazette…..

Ffolkes,
Four times now, I’ve started to write this morning’s intro section, and this is the last one, I swear….. The first three are now seeking new employment at the bottom of the circular file, as I hated each one more than the one before. Not just didn’t like, but hated, and I try to save my hatred for those issues that deserve it, like politics, or religion, or political religion….. To be accurate, I don’t hate those things themselves, but I do  tend to hate the people who use them to further their personal agendas, the ass biters…. Don’t worry, I’m not going to jump off into a rant THIS early…. No way, I just took my blood pressure meds, and I want to give it a chance to work…..

Actually, I’m so dazed and confused today, I may end up pulling from the archives again….. Murphy got me already, yesterday, when he made my broken tooth get infected, on a Friday, so I had to wait until next week for a dental appointment….. The tooth is quite painful, in spite of all the pain meds I take, making it hard not only to type, but to think. In fact, all I can seem to think about is how to make the pain go away, a recurring theme so far today, one that has caused, directly or indirectly, the demise of three perfectly good paragraphs…. It’s not like they grow on trees, you know; they are a big time investment, and I had quite a bit invested in those now defunct missives….. What a waste!

Of course, it could occur to many of you at this point that the phrase, “what a waste!” could be applied to all the time spent here, but only if you consider what we do to be of no value whatsoever. True, a lot of what is seen here isn’t of much help to anyone, unless they need it, and don’t know it…. It is a sad characteristic of those folks who end up as my targets that they are not merely ignorant, but deliberately so, with a lot of defenses in place to prevent anyone from getting any real knowledge into their heads. But, hopefully, what is written here will stimulate some cogitation on their part, or, at minimum, keep someone else from falling into their nonsense…. that stuff stains whatever it touches….

“I just had my entire INTESTINAL TRACT coated with TEFLON!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Teflon is good stuff, in certain circumstances, and this may be one of them….. You see, I’ve completely lost the thread of what this was about, and/or where it is going, and I’m going to need the protection, I think, as the reading public could start throwing things at me in the very near future. Not only have I sunk down into slapstick, but I’m starting to think in the royal “We”. When that starts, there’s no telling where we may end up….. I’m going to have to resort to an emergency procedure to get us out of here, quick….

Look! Over there, by the Dairy Queen! K-Mart is having a Blue Sale today! Let’s go check it out, okay? I’ve got all the plastic we’ll need….. Wait, I forgot my glasses…. you guys go on ahead and start browsing the bargains…. I’ll go get my specs, and meet you inside, okay? Okay……

Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

As you might be able to tell by now, I’m having a LOT of pain, in my lower back, and my jaw, and it is seriously affecting my writing. So much so I’m going to HAVE to resort to an old school pearl here, as I just don’t have a rant in me, unless it is about pain, which would make it more of a whine than a rant…. and I’m out of cheese to go with the whine…. I live with a lot of pain, anyway, so I do get used to it, and I don’t let it keep me from doing what I want to do, but, sometimes, I really wish there was a way to just have it STOP….. Just for a few minutes, that’s all I’m asking….. SIGH… no such luck…. Oh well, let’s go see if Smart Bee can distract me from thinking about it for a time….. No worries, this won’t be on the Quiz, though you can earn extra points for not laughing at the point, which is serious business…. You betcha…..

“I agree with the realistic Irishman who said he preferred to prophesy after the event.” — G. K. Chesterton, ILN, 10/7/16

He said, “Dance for me” and he said,
“You are too beautiful for the wind
To pick at, or the sun to burn.”  He said,
“I’m a poor tattered thing, but not unkind
To the sad dancer and the dancing dead.”

— Sidney Keyes, “Four Postures of Death”

“I am not the rose, but I have lived near the rose.” — H. B. Constant (1767-1830)

“I’ve reached that age when a good day is one when you get up and nothing  hurts.” — H. Martin
(Proof positive of the old saw that says, the truth hurts…..)

“True glory consists in doing what deserves to be written; in writing what deserves to be read; and in so living as to make the world happier and better for our living in it.” — Pliny the Elder

Hmm…. needs just a bit more….

“Were it possible for us to see further than our knowledge reaches, and yet a little way beyond the outworks of our divination, perhaps we would then endure our sorrows with greater confidence than our joys.  For they are the moments when something new has entered us, something unknown; our feelings grow mute in shy perplexity, everything in us withdraws, a stillness comes, and the new, which no one knows, stands in the midst of it and is silent.” — Rainer Maria Rilke

“Now, let’s SEND OUT for QUICHE!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

I’m not sure why, but Zippy always seems to know just the right thing to say!……
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Well, I cheated a little, but, knowing it’s ethically problematic has never stopped me before, and it’s really only a cultural tradition, anyway… Who am I to break with tradition?

The haiku below, and the poem below it, are both fresh, in the sense that I just wrote them a few moments ago… But, as I write this, it is last night, at least where I am, whereas I’ll be writing the other sections of this Pearl tomorrow morning (if I ever get to sleep tonight…. chances are looking iffy….), and posting it for y’all to read tomorrow, too. Is that cheating? You tell me…. Not that it will change anything, but, hey, gotta get the dialogue going any way I can….

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 VIII

Softly steals the night,
everywhere is darkness,
but for in the heart.

~~ gigoid ~~

I know I’m in the now, if only…..

Oh, there it is again, fiddle faddle;
  Begone, I said, vamoose, skedaddle!
It looked at me as if I were insane:
  Scoffed, it did, filled me up with pain.

Where does it come from?
Where does it live?
I’d stick out my thumb,
if I had more to give.

If only, should, would, could it be?
  It went away again, this time free.
It will be back again, this I know;
  or I’m wrong, and it won’t show.

Who cares?
Who hears?
Such goings on wobble the sphere,
I wish it wouldn’t do that here.

I’ve been wrong before…..

~~ gigoid ~~

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Quis custodiet ipsos Custodes? [Who guards the Guardians?] — Smart Bee

This is the perfect opening for a discussion of gun control, for me, as I believe strongly that this is the bottom line issue for that particular subject…… Sure, taking guns out of the hands of people who are insane is a good thing; nobody, I think, can argue that. The problem lies in figuring out WHO gets to decide what sanity is, the same issue that comes up in discussing getting rid of firearms altogether.

You see, I’m sorry, but, I just can’t bring myself to trust the Beloved Ruling Class to decide who is sane, and who isn’t. Part of this stems from the fact that I don’t consider anyone in public office to have a very tight grip on sanity to begin with…. How effective can it be to have insane people making the rules for deciding who is insane? Not very, I suspect….

Yet, I read many articles that profess the belief that the police, and the army, who naturally would have to have guns (Why? If nobody is supposed to have guns, why would they need them?), are more trustworthy than the common citizen. I’m sorry, but, just what planet did you say you came from? It certainly isn’t Earth, because, last time I looked, all the police, and all the folks in the army, and all the folks who tell them what to do, are all PEOPLE, just like anyone else, suffering the same fears, the same delusions or preconceptions, and the same lack of morality, as does the average joe on the street. In fact, due to my experience at observing and identifying psychiatric symptoms common to the insane, I can honestly state that I see a higher percentage of police and military personnel who have a demonstrable lack of moral compass in them, than I do in the general public.

Part of the problem is that the police and military end up as being attractive to the type of person who enjoys having power over others, whose self-image requires them to be in positions of authority, to be able to view themselves in a positive light, as successful. They equate money and power with success, and so gravitate to those sectors of society that deal in those commodities. Normal, stable personality types seldom need to exercise power over others, and so avoid such pastimes, but to the selfish, and the sociopathic, the police and the army are seen as a path to what they term as success. If you see a flaw in this logic, please, enlighten me…. Until I see some evidence to the contrary, though, I find this to be a valuable, and accurate summation of the situation, thereby affording myself the opportunity to avoid the majority of their machinations, at least in a directly personal sense….

We all have to deal with them eventually though, so it’s good, I think, to be aware of the above argument, as it will forewarn anyone who absorbs it, and takes it to heart, allowing them to defend themselves from the worst of the BRC’s attempts at repression, and/or oppression, if not all.  Maintain a high level of doubt when considering announcements and decrees, stay alert to the news, and the meaning behind what you see there, and be ready to jump when the balloon goes up. Things out in the Big Blue Room are getting a bit serious in spots, with potentially disastrous possibilities being threatened, so it would be a good thing to be ready for whatever may take place, no matter how insane…. And remember, guard yourself, against the Guardians themselves, if need be…..

“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift; the rational mind is faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” — Albert Einstein
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Well, it FEELS like it should float…. let’s throw it in the water and see…..  Well, I wasn’t sure there for a few seconds, but it popped up, and there it sits, floating on the scum, suds in the water….. Lovely little bugger, eh? Okay, I’ll release y’all from my own personal insanity, and let you get back to your own now….   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