Serendipity strikes….

Posted on March 14, 2017 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“True silence is the rest of the mind.
It is to the spirit what sleep is to the body
–nourishment and refreshment.”

~~ William Penn ~~

Harold & Violet, circa 1910

Hajime…. In summary of the past five plus days, let me just say, whew! What a ride! It has taken me nearly 48 hours of near catatonia, and about 20 hours sleeping, to approach the near-human state I have awakened to this morning. I managed to finish a Pearl over that time, by working at it in spurts, as more energy became available. I can’t say it’s the most compelling Pearl ever created, but, it’s pretty good, all things considered. Any summary of the time leading up to today should also include two comments, to wit: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”, (shout-out here to Chuck Dickens….), and “Regardless of our perceptions, the universe remains in balance.”

I realize those may be a bit obscure, in terms of details which might explain their relevance, but, any such relation of details will have to wait for tomorrow, and/or other Pearls yet to be composed. I will say this now: it was one of the most illuminating periods of time I’ve ever experienced. During the time I spent traveling, and during my stay in Oregon to fulfill death duty, I connected with more new, and old friends than in any previous comparable time in my entire life. Though I am a trifle sad at the passing of my friend, his change of path was accomplished with love, and dignity, and compassion, so, in that, I am content.

I am also more than merely content at the serendipity I found in traveling. On both legs of the train ride to my destination in Oregon, I met people with whom I became incredibly connected, about whom I shall speak in time. Suffice to say, I met one of our species’ Great Souls, one of the most influential men of the 20th and 21st centuries, whom I met when I helped him navigate his way through the coach section in which we found ourselves to the dining car for dinner.

He is 85 years of age, though he appears to be in his 60’s, and spent much of the latter half of the 20th century pursuing his interests on the highest level stages of world events/history, starting with his invitation to come to the US from his home in India to participate in the Manhattan Project. He was traveling in Coach, because he wished to meet new people, to help him achieve a sense of balance lost at his wife’s death the year before. We spent, literally, hours and hours exchanging ideas, and our histories, and our contact information, to ensure we would meet again.

I also met two very intelligent, passionately alive young men, one traveling for pleasure, the other on his way to a Zen Buddhist institute to study advanced Zen mysticism, with whom I debated the existence of God for most of the last night on the train…. Since it is almost impossible for me to sleep on the train, it helped pass the long night in both directions. I’m just now getting over the exhaustion I incurred over the four day trip, having slept very little, but, cannot regret a single moment of the time spent awake, for my mind feasted on joyful cogitation, and discovery, the entire time I was gone…

Now, I’m back, and note I have rambled & blathered quite enough for one intro…. I’m sure I’ll relate more of the trip, as I am still processing all that occurred… In the meantime, let’s get on with today’s mess, so we can all get on with the rest of the day…. See ya down the page, ffolkes… Hang on, we’re goin’ in fast & hard….

Shall we Pearl?

“A man can do something for peace without having to jump into politics.
Each man has inside him a basic decency and goodness.
If he listens to it and acts on it,
he is giving a great deal of what it is the world needs most.”

~~ Pablo Casals ~~

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Image from You Tube via Google Images

I first became aware of this group last year when Leonard Cohen passed away, whereupon a number of artists covered his works in tribute. This A Capella singing group performed Lenny’s “Hallelujah” in a video, with excellent innovative passion. I found this via a link from a friend on FB, & thought it was perfect for today, to honor the passage of my friend, Dennis, and, offer some hope for the future of humanity…. If naught else, it’s grand craic, and, if you can’t appreciate its genius, you are in need of some cultivation of your basic humanity…. Enjoy!….

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Pentatonix

“Imagine”

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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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Naked Pearls

Notes on Life at Large….

*********

“All beginnings are hard.”

~~ Chaim Potok, “In The Beginning”, 1975 ~~

*********

“Big, undreamed-of things.
The people on the edge see them first.”

~~ Kurt Vonnegut Jr ~~

*********

“Only through time time is conquered.”

~~ T.S. Eliot, “Burnt Norton” ~~

*********

“Think of everyone as a idiot.”

~~ MSgt. R. H. Moore, Driving Rule #1 ~~

*********

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

~~ Henry David Thoreau ~~

*********

“To a rational being it is the same thing
to act according to nature and according to reason.”

~~ Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Meditations, vii, 11 ~~

*********

“You think your pain and your heartbreak
are unprecedented in the history of the world,
but then you read.
It was books that taught me
that the things that tormented me most
were the very things that connected me
with all the people who were alive,
or who had ever been alive.”

~~ James Baldwin ~~

*********

“If you are stopping now, then stop.
If you are seeking a time when you finish,
there will never be a time when you finish.”

~~ Zen Koan ~~

*********

“If you get confused, listen to the music play.”

~~ Robert Hunter ~~

*********

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It’s been a number of years since my mornings were so infused with positive energy to any appreciable degree; to feel such again is nothing less than a joy, which I can only work to extend as far as I can. I guess by seeking the balance it brings with it, that can be made real. In point of fact, that’s the plan for the day, and the coming days. Let’s go get a start on it, shall we? I’ll do my best to return tomorrow, with another fine Pearl of Virtual Wisdom, and hope all of y’all have as fine a day as I am having, and intend to maintain…. Be well, be happy as you may, and, remember to stay mindful, and, alert. Things really do work out better that way, y’know….

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

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Rapscallions, most kings is, said Yoda….

Posted on July 7, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Always make allowances for the “duh” factor.”

~~ Murphy Bee ~~

Murphy’s Bar, Spanish Arch, Galway

Hajime…. Today’s opening section has a lesson. The lesson possibly, or even probably, appears more often than not without my mindful appreciation; this too is part of the lesson, one designed to teach us/me how to apply that mindfulness more consistently. To read the lesson, which also requires some thought to identify, one need only look at the two quotes at the bookend position for this section, one after the other, in any order. One is a perfect tautological piece of insight regarding our own mind; the other is a warning, as to how we use that mind. Taken together, the contrasting concepts seem, to me, to provide a pathway toward light, if not full illumination….

This lesson is particularly valuable today for me; it gives me some hope the hole into which I continue to tumble all too regularly may be filling itself in, to some degree. That’s a good sign, as I’ve been getting tired of cleaning up the scrapes and bruises I keep acquiring when it opens up in front of me, and I end up bloody & battered at the bottom, gazing at a small strip of blue or black at a great distance above me. Not much fun when one has plans to fly, and the cost of bandages is becoming prohibitive, to say the least. Total bummer, dudes & dudettes, allow me to assure you. But, with this therapeutic sign grasped firmly in hand, I’ll get on with the slow, & try to get it on the toad…..

Not only will I sally forth with some extra impetus, I’ll do it now, so I don’t lose any of the emotional impact. It comes in handy when energy flags, you know. At any rate, we’ll see if we can come up with something worth spending your time reading, whereupon I will head off to find some clean air, and dirt to play in. Sometimes, when your a human male, getting dirty is a basic need, so, I’ll go back to my simian roots for a time & see if it helps. It should; I’m due….. On that cryptic note, let’s go see what kind of trouble we can find below…..

Shall we pearl?….

“Who sees all beings in his own Self,
and his own Self in all beings,
loses all fear.”

~~ Isa Upanishad ~~

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Sheryl Crow

Image from www.sherylcrow.com via Google Images

Okay, so, maybe trouble was the wrong word to use. This lady’s music certainly won’t give us any of that, will it? I also don’t believe she needs very much introduction, as one of today’s most popular artists. All I’ll say now is, enjoy!…..

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Sheryl Crow Live

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“Think not forever of yourselves, O Chiefs, nor of your own generation. Think of continuing generations of our families, think of our grandchildren and of those yet unborn, whose faces are coming from beneath the ground.” — Peacemaker, founder of the Iroquois Confederacy, (ca. 1000 AD)

I had originally intended to use this quote as the opening thought for a rant; instead, I’ll take it more to heart, by forgoing a new rant in favor of an old one. Here’s a pretty damn good religirant from the archives; it’s more than three and a half years old, but, still on the mark… Enjoy!…..

From 12/12/12:

“He who proselytizes in the cause of unbelief is basically a man in need of belief.” — Eric Hoffer

This is true…. you never see an atheist going door to door, trying to convert the pious to their unbeliefs. However, I would go further on this train of thought, and add that, “He who proselytizes, in any cause, in basically a man in need of a life.” I’m sure it occurred to Mr. Hoffer, but he was too busy trying to explain this statement to somebody who didn’t understand the word ‘proselytize’….. For my own case, I have never, ever understood why people feel compelled to go door to door to try to get other people to believe what they believe; it’s one of the most persistent delusional systems I’ve ever witnessed, to believe that anyone wants to hear what they have to say, much less they will find their beliefs palatable to others, or find anyone who believes them to be superior to their own…..

“More people would learn from their mistakes if they weren’t so busy denying they made them.” — Smart Bee

Humans seem to have an immense blind spot when it comes to their own actions and beliefs. Most of them never seem to question the things they are told, even when those things are presented with no evidence other than faith. Of course, the people who are invested in the religious system, to wit: the preachers, begin their indoctrination when their constituents are very young, when they are still prone to accept whatever an adult says as truth. This ensures a life-long predilection for being simple to control…. or, in short, mental slavery, if you will. Unless there is some sort of rebellion of spirit, where new knowledge is injected, these poor saps will spend their entire lives believing that what they have been told is real, when, in fact, they are fitting themselves with shackles, that will forever imprison their minds, and their imagination…..

“To defend one’s self against fear is simply to insure that one will, one day, be conquered by it; fears must be faced.” — James Baldwin

In my life-long quest for the truth, I’ve come to believe that religions, while originally intended to benefit people, (by their iconic progenitors, anyway…. I’m sure Jesus was a quite nice man, and wanted the best for those to whom he preached his own philosophy of compassion….), have historically been taken over by the predators who live to control others.

To be fair, some of those who become priests, or any of the other varieties of religious fanatic that prevail in our society, may indeed believe that their beliefs are true, and act accordingly, but the majority are, as far as I can tell, only concerned with maintaining status quo, thereby benefiting themselves, while never actually allowing any REAL progress in the development of the human condition. They would have society behave as if we were still living in caves, in essence, still cowering in our meager shelter while the storms and lightning are raging outside, terrified of the power of what we do not understand, and, therefore, allow ourselves to fear….

“A universe of death, which God by curse
Created evil, for evil only good;
Where all life dies, death lives,
and Nature breeds Perverse,
all monstrous, all prodigious things,
Abominable, unutterable and worse
Than fables yet have feigned, or fear conceived,
Gorgons, and Hydras, and Chimeras dire.”

~~ Milton, Paradise Lost, Book II ~~

(Side note: I’ll bet Milton had a hard time sleeping….)

The Universe is a big place, and there is a lot to learn. Fearing that knowledge, or fearing what changes that knowing will always bring, is the act of a coward, to my mind, and should not be encouraged. Supernatural beings of unlimited power are not a required component to the understanding of Nature and the Universe; we need not fear that our lack of knowledge of how things work is unattainable. Just because we do not understand a part of reality does not mean that whatever it is, is beyond our understanding.

It is not necessary to ask for exemptions, or intervention by our own personal gods, for us to achieve happiness, or even contentment; that is completely within our own power, if we but acknowledge that part of us that is free, and connected to everything else we can perceive. The connections may not be fully understood, but they are there, and if we can only learn to recognize it, the power to change reality lies within us, all the time…. As Epictetus said, “Happiness lies in learning to accept a simple truth. There are some things you can change. And there are some things you cannot.” It’s really quite that easy, you know, once one learns to accept this fact of life…. No dogma required…..

“If brains were outlawed, nothing would change.” — Smart Bee

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Serendipity Morning

My mind wants to fly,
my soul wants to hold close, the source,
strong, the moments of time;
each as precious as golden thread,
binding together such elements of longing desire.

Love hovers, always patient,
seeking the open heart,
reaching for the promise of tomorrow…..
only for one, only for now, only what is real….
Dreaming, the morning calls,
heavy with mordant belief,
replete, and eternally alive…..

~~ gigoid ~~

4/1/2013

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Today’s final, old/new-school pearl is one for the books, for sure, and for certain. (My standard disclaimer for those ideas/events which, in my estimation, are something on which it is safe to place belief, even bordering on faith, up to and including the wagering of serious money, whichever may be appropriate….) Some days, even, or, especially, when I am not really focused on it, I’ll cruise through my source(s) without first setting any parameters. Generally, I think of it as a random harlequin style pearl, and that works just fine, both for the process, and to describe today’s effort.

The difference is, today’s results are particularly well directed. They form a continuous train of thought, sort of, loosely (as ever), but, if followed, leads to some rather valuable concepts, all of which can be applied to our examination of consensual reality with better than average results, in re: personal serenity/happiness/all good things…. If it doesn’t quite do that for you, well, that’s okay; there are only three, maybe four people in the world I know of who would/will get that far in their thinking. If there are more, they’ve never contacted me, or come into my ken, which includes a veritable shit-load of people, what with reading, experience, and all.

In my mind, this one is a self-directed rant, a journey to enlightened thought, an odd sort of poem/song/dance (try reading it out loud to your pet/companion…), and good clean fun. Hell y’all might even like it…. Enjoy!…

Naked Pearls

‘The Head….’

*********

“Neither the water nor the moon make any effort to achieve a reflection.”

~~ Deng Ming-Dao ~~

*********

“The Way of the sage is to act but not to compete.”

~~ Lao Tzu ~~

*********

H = R – E

“Happiness equals Reality minus Expectations”

~~ Subtle Bee ~~

*********

“No one regards what is before his feet; we all gaze at the stars.”

~~ Quintus Ennius ~~

*********

“He does not seem to me to be a free man who does not sometimes do nothing.”

~~ Cicero ~~

*********

“Why is it that we rejoice at a birth and grieve at a funeral?
It is because we are not the person involved”

~~ Mark Twain ~~

*********

“In the beginning, God created the Earth and he said, “Let there be mud.”
And there was mud.
And God said, “Let Us make living creatures out of mud,
so the mud can see what we have done.”
And God created every living creature that now moveth, and one was man.
Mud-as-man alone could speak.
“What is the purpose of all this?” man asked politely.
“Everything must have a purpose?” asked God.
“Certainly,” said man.
“Then I leave it to you to think of one for all of this,” said God.
And He went away.”

~~ Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Between Time and Timbuktu” ~~

*********

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

~~ Rainer Maria Rilke ~~

*********

“C’mon then. My log does not judge.”

~~ Margaret, the Log Lady, from Twin Peaks ~~

*********

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Well, it’s late, and it’s epic, but, most importantly, it’s done. Just in time, too; my deadline angst alarm went off some time ago. I’ll be nice again, & forgo any further tricks, traps, or bullshit, & just say, see y’all tomorrow, when I’ll try again to reach an island of sanity in an insane world….. Ta, then, luvs….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Will Robinson was never IN danger….

Posted on March 15, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Toes, knees, NIPPLES. Toes, knees, nipples, KNUCKLES…
Nipples, dimples, knuckles, NICKLES, wrinkles, pimples!!”~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

Sunrise/Sunset in Florida

Image from http://katiemiafrederick.com/2016/03/09/womens-day-love/

Hajime…. Should this particular Pearl get posted today, it will be a testament to both indulgence and persistence, an odd pairing, if I’ve ever seen one. Nonetheless, ’tis true as the day. Last night, having consumed a rather larger portion of sleep aid in the form of a Toklas brownie of massive strength, (most ffolkes would sleep for days if they ate such a dose), which had the most excellently delightful effect of tumbling me into sleep, hard and fast, & keeping me there for seven straight. Yay, me!…. However, when I awoke, I was still foggy, and in new pain from not moving so long. As I sat with coffee to write today’s Pearl, I was struck by a wave of fatigue so great, I simply got up, & went back to bed…. Hence. the indulgence.

Two hours later, I’m up, and feeling almost real. Now comes the persistence part, for I will try to get this done today, & get it posted in a reasonable time, disappointing, perhaps, a few early readers, but, with the confidence given by getting the damn thing done at all. So be it. I’m not offering any apologies, or any pleas for patience; it all is what it is, and we’ll all just have to deal with the results. Some of your disappointment will, I hope, be mitigated by the most excellent poem I found for today, sent to me by a friend. You’ll like it; if you don’t, well, you don’t know diddly about poetry, so, it’s your loss….

There, I’ve shown my curmudgeonly side, so I suppose that means we should be off to get this done. I do hope y’all enjoy whatever has happened. If nothing else, it’s unique, if in no other way than for the perseverance needed to get it done. Since I can’t think of any tricks, or magic, we’ll simply leave it at that. If you would kindly fasten your belts, we’ll be off…..

Shall we Pearl?

“Is is not true that we have only one life to live;
if we can read, we can live as many lives
and as many kinds of lives as we wish.”~~ S.I. Hayakawa ~~

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

Yep. We’re going default, because I’m in a hurry, and because it always hits the mark. As usual, this compilation was chosen simply for the picture it displays when I see it…. Enjoy!….

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Classical Music

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https://youtu.be/1Cp0ypTnu-8

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Time constraints mean we’re going to the archives, as I didn’t have time to finish the piece upon which I’m working…. Here’s one from a while back; I hope you enjoy it….

From 2/25/2014:

From 12/12/12:

“He who proselytizes in the cause of unbelief is basically a man in need of belief.” — Eric Hoffer

“More people would learn from their mistakes if they weren’t so busy denying they made them.” — Smart Bee

“To defend one’s self against fear is simply to insure that one will, one day, be conquered by it; fears must be faced.” — James Baldwin

(Side note: I’ll bet Milton had a hard time sleeping….)

“If brains were outlawed, nothing would change.” — Smart Bee

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Yesterday, I received an email from a friend, a regular visitor to the blog, who knows I enjoy poetry. She sent me this poem, which she found in her own wanderings around the world of reading. My initial reaction was simply, WOW! My second was to go follow the link to find more of his work, and look forward to seeing more of it. The link is provided below…

Alienation

In the good old days
Before rock and roll
Heroin
The velvet underground
Cocaine
Sid vicious
And assorted bad men
And bad women,
In the good old days

No man and never a woman
Would profess their alienation from society
As society was a god society
And if you were alienated from society
You were in effect alienated from god
Which made you a sinner
An outcast
A candidate for purgatory, hell or if unborn or unbaptised,
Limbo.

Thus a man or woman
Would confess their sins
On the first Friday of each month
In the local church to the priest
Who knew them intimately
Despite the darkness
And the little grilled window
And the closeness of voice to ear

And on the first Saturday
All of society
Would be full again
Of forgiven sinners
And the good old days
Would continue

There are of course flaws in this.
In the new days
You can be alienated
From yourself
Your wife
Your mother
Your father
Your sister
Your whole shit gang bang of people you know
You don’t know

And you listen
To sid vicious
Nirvana
Rammstein
The voices in your head
The dreams of your nightmares
The girls of the canal bank leafy walks
The boys throwing cars at each other in the boreens
The men
The women
The whole gee bang sheebang hee bangs

There are flaws in this

And what you project is no longer god
And so no man or woman is god

Cranky tin pan alleyway of a universe
Cluttered with suffering silence once more
As no one knows the unknown language
Of the unknowable when all you can
Know if the echo chamber of the mind and soul and two pence
Mind we rig up with lights and flashing noise
Known as the modern
Keeps mouthing nonsense on top of nonsense
Without due regard to that fucking boat
That brought us here,

Echos of hades, charon, siren siren siren siren

This morning I watched as crows
Grabbed black pudding left out by my girls
On a small wooden bench

And over the hand made wall of dry stone
A thousand bodies kept each other warm
In that other place, no place, some place, where place, what place,
Marked by lichen crusted stone crosses and then some,

Discord they cawed, discord, discord, as they swooped
And watched with eyes sliding magnetically open and closed
Revealing milky white spectral analysis
Of this small earth ball of mucky matter
Which on closer inspection
Reveals much space between
And the nothing inbetween which makes us more of what we are
Much more so than believing we are flesh or bone or even water

The nothing in between, between, the start of and end of the sentence
That begins I am insert whatever the fuck twixt the blanks,
And no amount of miraculous sonerous beautous melodifications
About blooming effing flower petals nor soulful dirges
Can be the blank in the between

Is it a scream, a whooping holler, a mouth rounded beneath
Roundier eyes miracling a confrontation with all of space
And
Maria Callas does not end on that note, ever.

I told the crows to fuck off. I ate the pudding. It is only fair.
My feathers are darker and more spectacular

Though my girls
Whooped and hollered
As I flew away

A space in space.

~~Brendan McCormack ~~

Dublin, Ireland 1970 –
Irish Poet. Two collections published, ‘Selling Heaven'(2013) and ‘Phuckle – Irish Auf English’, (2014). Both available on Amazon.co.uk.

http://hellopoetry.com/brendan-mccormack/

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Our final old-school pearl today is…. Hmm. Well, it is what it is. It’s somewhat eclectic, though, not really. It’s also rather subtle, but, only in defense of its point, which is, as always, left as an exercise for the Gentle Reader…. Hint: it’s about Life.

“At birth we woke to dream in this world between.” — Kan’ami Kiyotsugu

“If ever I become entirely respectable I shall be quite sure that I have outlived myself.” — Eugene V. Debs

“It is not length of life, but depth of life.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“A wise man first determines what is within his control; all else is then irrelevant.” — Epictetus

“Courage is the complement of fear. A man who is fearless cannot be courageous. (He is also a fool.)” — Lazarus Long

“Fear nothing, for every renewed effort raises all former failures into lessons, all sins into experiences.” — Katherine Tingley

“Life has no other discipline to impose, if we would but realize it, than to accept life unquestioningly. Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate, or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy, and strength, if faced with an open mind. Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such.” — Henry Miller

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I did it. Moreover, in some ways, I did it well, though that may only be my sense of accomplishment talking. Y’all will, of course, make the final judgment on that. Me, I’m gonna go start another Pearl while I’m hot, while simultaneously attempting to distract and entertain my resident familiar, Leelu the Annoyed Magicat. Wish me luck, because I’ll need it. Her routine has been seriously disrupted today, and cats don’t like that much…. Ah, well, I can do it. And, I’ll do it well enough to make another attempt tomorrow…. See y’all then, like it or not….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Incidents of random iridescence….

Posted on December 30, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“We are confronted with insurmountable opportunities.”

~~ Walt Kelly, “Pogo” ~~

A Graceful Death

Hajime…. Not sure why, but, woke up today in a crusty mood; it must be the shoes. Who knows, &, moreover, who cares? I don’t, not today. In fact, it may not be possible to describe just how little a fuck I give today, so I won’t try. I’ll merely refer you to the previous sentence for an example, & be done with it. In point of fact, I’m in such a place right now to be done with this intro; being retired, I can damn well do what I please, so, I say, without caring at all about repeating myself, fuck it. I declare this intro section complete….

So be it….

Shall we Pearl?….

“We hope that, when the insects take over the world, they will remember with gratitude how we took them along on all our picnics.” — Bill Vaughan

********************************

No intro needed, ffolkes. Y’all have been in this section before, when it reset to default…. Enjoy, if you please….

********************************

Classical Music

********************************

https://youtu.be/jgpJVI3tDbY

********************************

Le Penseur ~~ August Rodin

I’m taking a break from ranting; the piece posted recently, on the Plague of Evil, used up quite a bit of the angst I’d collected for a while…. Here, then, is an excellent discussion of Reality and Life, from 2013…. It’s a lot shorter than y’all are used to, believe me….

From 3/26/2013:

“Commonly, physicians, like beer, are best when they are old, and lawyers, like bread, when they are young and new.” — Fuller

“As to Jesus of Nazareth…. I think the system of Morals and his Religion, as he left them to us, the best the World ever saw or is likely to see; but I apprehend it has received various corrupting Changes, and I have, with most of the present Dissenters in England, some doubts as to his divinity.” — Benjamin Franklin

Well, as you can see, Smart Bee is being a bit recalcitrant, an event which, though usually not a good thing, did give me the opportunity to use the word “recalcitrant”; that doesn’t often happen…. Any who, I’m having a bit of trouble finding a pearl, or a group of pearls, that would be suitable for either a rant, or an old-school quest; the two above are the best I can find, in over an hour of searching. Though not too bad, they aren’t quite right for either process, and not strong enough to stand alone, in my opinion. So, I’ll cheat again, with another blast from the past…. this one will be a random choice, the first one I come across that will fit physically into this space, so I have no idea what it will be like….

From 4/10/12:

“We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.”

~~ Proverb ~~

This sort of pearl is much, much deeper than it appears at first glance. (Note: It seems common to find the most complex and deep issues most often described or related in very short sentences. Hmm…. probably something to do with K.I.S.S., in which the universe believes, strongly….) Applied as a metaphor for human interactions with reality, it assumes an even greater degree of relevance, as it implies both choice and hope. Both are always present, but not always in view; such aphorisms as this can help one to find where they are standing, hidden in plain sight….

It is eminently clear to most people, by now, reality does not adjust to our desires; any adjustments made must be on our part, as we have absolutely no power to change any aspect of reality other than our response to it. A hard lesson, one many never learn, or come to terms with; such a failure almost guarantees they will find life to be one long struggle, as their days are spent futilely trying to make what is, into what they wish it to be. To use the analogy provided, they never learn to trim the sails of their vessel, thus, find themselves constantly fighting with, and cursing, the wind, never realizing their own lack of understanding is what sends them scuttling off in confusion, into uncharted waters, or, into the metaphorical rocks.

Thus, from simplicity does great wisdom arise; to reach one’s desired destination in life, one must learn to trim and adjust the sails of our vessel, to make the best use of the wind the universe sends in our direction. Or, more plainly, we can only make changes to ourselves, not reality. Learning this one simple lesson can turn a life out of balance completely around, giving it the direction and stability it has ever sought, allowing the most troubled soul to sail into the light, and out of the darkness that engulfs those who argue with reality….

********************************

Pensive early and late…

Endings aren’t always a new beginning
I’m sad to say.
Sometimes it’s just an ending
there’s always a price to pay.

Still, it’s only money, he said
watching it piss away
Did everything ‘cept meet Fred
‘n had a good time the whole way.

Even the bad stuff turned out well,
life lessons are just that way.
Knowing what’s right, you can’t always tell,
we don’t always know the right things to say.

I’ll take all the hard times, without complaint,
learning isn’t always easy to take.
Kindness, patience, and compassion without restraint,
are still the best decisions we can make.

~~ gigoid ~~

4/26/2013

********************************

Naked Pearls

Know Thy Self

************

“Be what you is,
’cause if you is what you ain’t,
then you ain’t what you is.”

~~ Satchel Paige ~~

************

“Know the enemy and know yourself;
in a hundred battles you will never be in peril.
When you are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself,
your chances of winning or losing are equal.
If ignorant both of your enemy and of yourself,
you are certain in every battle to be in peril.

~~ Sun Tzu (fl. c. B.C. 500) ~~

************

“What’s earth with all its art, verse, music, worth
compared with love, found, gained and kept?”

~~ Robert Browning ~~

************

“Life is more important than art;
that’s what makes art important.

— James Baldwin

************

“A lie never lives to be old.”

— Sophocles — Acrisius, Frag. 59

************

No teacher I of boys or smaller fry,
No teacher I of teachers, no, not I.
Mine was the distant aim, the longer reach,
To teach men how to teach men how to teach.

— A B Ramsay

************

Drop the question what tomorrow may bring,
and count as profit every day that fate allows you.

— Horace

************

“Do I look like someone who cares about what God thinks?”

— Zippy the Pinhead

************

“The Journey is the Reward,
Not the Destination.”

~~ Zen Koan ~~

********************************

That’s it, ffolkes. That’s all I got today. I’m pretty sure I’ve figured out the issue making me so grumpy, & will deal with it as best I may through the day. Hopefully, by tomorrow, it will, at least, not give me such a deep case of the grumps…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, with a bit of luck & perseverance…

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

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Dos Regalos Preciosos….

Posted on December 25, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“He’s not the Messiah, he’s a very Naughty Boy”

~~ Brian’s Mum ~~

Christmas in California….

Hajime…. Do you like my Christmas Tree? It’s the only one I have, so, ’twill have to do…. Now we have the niceties observed, let’s allow them to pass into memory, for the nonce, if only to find a proper beginning to what is, if I do say myself, a damn fine example of a Pearl of Virtual Wisdom, such as they are…. We’ve foregone a rant for the day, in favor of kindness. There’s a fresh poem, written yesterday, just for today’s Gentle Readers, and all those who are crazy enough to follow this outlet for all my insanity…. There’s a slick final pearl, and music to get you through it all serenely…. Not bad for an amateur, eh?….

If I talk any further on what is below, it will spoil any surprises, so, I’ll just get on with this intro, so nobody misses anything…. That said, I see I’ve done it to myself again…. Where to from here? Considering our eventual destination(s), I’m not at all certain we can get there from here. However, let no one ever say I retreated from a challenge to my ability to fill up a page…. If I must retreat into nonsense, or gibberish, in order to get us the required distance from the opening quote, why, then, that’s what I’ll fucking do… I will try not to say fuck again…. Oops…. Oh well, let’s move on shall we? (In short, oh, fuck….)

There, how’s that for the obligatory silliness we all know and love so well… Okay, so, some of us don’t…. Too bad; today, this is what I’ve got, and, if we want to get to the meat of the matter, y’all had best just shut the pie holes, and hang on the best you can, because, now, I’m on a roll, and, it’s entirely possible I’ll never even find the end of this sentence, which has already gone at least a line and a half too far for comfort, or even joy…. Whew, made it! What a PITA!

Thank whomever you care to, we made it. Now I’ve gotten the worst of the idiocy out of the way, I thing we can go enjoy the rest of today’s mess… I’ll use one of our infamous Tardis toys…. Ooh, this one is fun! Hold on; this won’t hurt, and it’s wicked fast; we’ll be there before you can blink twice….

Shall we Pearl?….

“To be sensual is to respect and rejoice in the force of life, of life itself, and to be present in all that one does, from the effort of loving to the breaking of bread” — James Baldwin

********************************

Since today much of the Western world is celebrating their particular beliefs in the divinity of a dead social reformist, in whose divinity I place no credence, I’ll not torture anyone with a bunch of music we’ve all heard since birth, that now is getting rather crusty and disagreeable, for me anyway…. Since I also do not believe any of the other religious philosophies to contain anything close to what exists in the real world I live in, we won’t go with any other type, except one…

You see, as far as I know, Gautama Buddha never claimed any sort of divinity for himself; his philosophy had more to do with our inner beings than how we perceive the outer world, which is, admittedly a scary place, thus setting the stage for the general run of religions to offer their own set of beliefs in a divine creator as a way to answer humanity’s questions as to what happens after death…. Buddha didn’t worry much about that; like everything else in this Reality, he figured we each make our choices, which lead us wherever they take us; no supernatural intervention was deemed necessary to fulfill the requirements needed to achieve this sort of enlightened state….

All that said, as carefully as possible to avoid offense to anyone’s beliefs, we’ll have a bit of Zen meditation music today, to honor what I believe to be the closest philosophy to Reality, Buddhism, as practiced, and modeled perfectly, by the XIVth Dalai Lama of Tibet, whose only religion, by his own words, is Kindness…

Or, as John, and the rest of the lads sung, “All you need is Love….” Enjoy the peace, ffolkes; meditation not required….

********************************

Zen for Christmas

********************************

https://youtu.be/TwLV3_I8ey8

********************************

As a gift for the season, today, there will be no ranting…. Instead, I’ll go all the way back in the archives, for one of the earliest Pearls I posted on WordPress. I’ve cleaned up the formatting, to reflect what I now know, of how to make the posts LOOK the way I want them. Other than that, it’s just the same little weird story line I came up with to begin that day’s post…. It’s an odd one, I know, but, once you get to the punch line, you’ll laugh, no matter how disgusted with the rest of it you may be…. Any bets?

The short, short-story is followed by a most excellent group of pearls, a necklace of gems, for sure…. Enjoy your gift, ffolkes; it, and my love, and best wishes for a happy, peaceful winter go out to each and every one of my Gentle Readers…. May these words of the Dalai Lama guide your steps, and hearts….

“My only religion is kindness.”

From 9/7/2011:

Technicolor ferrets, and red, red wine….

Ffolkes,

The morning fog was lifting as she stepped outside; the day promised to be bright and hot. Another perfect late summer day in northern paradise; day after gorgeous day had paraded by, seemingly oblivious to the oncoming autumn, lulling the world into a drowsy complacency. Moving briskly, the young woman walked up the street toward the old part of town, past lovely old Victorian homes pressed between newer apartment buildings, and on into the busier streets leading to her morning’s destination.

As she passed others on the street, she looked away, toward the shop windows already sporting fall colors, avoiding any eye contact that might prompt a response, or slow her progress. Just ahead she could see the sign proclaiming “Eats!”, and the crowd of people outside, waiting and hoping for an opening inside. As she drew abreast of the door, she could see the people inside, talking, laughing, eating; she could see the staff rushing from table to table, pouring coffee, delivering food, frantically trying to keep abreast of the horde of orders and demands. She thought to herself, “they won’t have to do that much longer!”.

With that thought, she drew the homemade, baseball shaped bomb from her pocket, twisted the knob at the top, and calmly bent over to roll it across the floor toward the kitchen in the rear of the room. She turned away from the door and walked quickly away, twenty steps, then thirty…. Then, BOOM!, the device exploded, sending large pieces of building and people flying into the street, along with most of the crowd in front. As she strolled away she thought to herself, “That’ll teach ’em to burn my bacon!”…….Justice had prevailed…..

Okay, so they can’t all be classic literature. You try to come up with something new every day, and see how easy it is….NOT! Days such as this one it all comes down to whatever pours out onto the screen; I don’t consciously direct the process, but just let it flow. Sometimes it works, and others, well….not so much. You can decide for yourself, I’m sure…..and I’m sure you will. In the meantime, I like this little group, especially the little poem from Emily; it’s a perfect example of why her level of excellence is difficult to reach. Simple words, strung together in a seemingly random fashion, and POW, the idea smacks you right upside the head. Good stuff…..

The good man is the teacher of the bad,
And the bad is the material from which the good may learn.
He who does not value the teacher,
Or greatly care for the material,
Is greatly deluded although he may be learned.
Such is the essential mystery.

~~ Lao-Tzu (fl. BC 600) ~~

**********

“What seems to be no test, no struggle, is the most deceiving test of all.”

~~ Ezra Taft Benson ~~

**********

“And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make.”

~~ The Beatles, The last lyric of their last song ~~

**********

A word is dead
When it is said
Some say.
I say it just
Begins to live
That day.

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

**********

“I cannot achieve complete humility — although complete humiliation is always within reach.”

~~ Dan Goodman ~~

(I resemble that remark!…)

**********

Doing it the hard way is always easier. — Murphy’s Paradox

**********

Easier, perhaps, in the long run; it is always so hard to know which way is the hardest. It’s why Murphy is so successful at what he does; reality seems to cater to him, and lets him have his way all too often…..SIGH….. Y’all take care out there…..

********************************

A Seasonal Gift

Affordable, these moments in time,
all quite free, not costly, nor for sale at all.
Merely more misspent periods making rhyme.
seeking a peaceful heart, as my words fall.

A price, many will tell you, or me,
is due for every transaction.
In truth, everything you see is free;
Illusion seldom offers any real satisfaction.

Some also tell us we need some sort of god,
we’re told ’tis the only path to immortality.
On the path I’ve followed, that seems rather odd;
I’m quite happy with honorable mortality.

Some days it gets a bit lonely, for a bit,
out here in the cold light of reason.
Solitude is, however, well worth it;
Love, felt and treasured, gives warmth all season.

I suppose one could easily say,
this poem is the only gift I’ll give.
If I can teach love and kindness with the words I say,
such will be fine; it’s enough to live.

Happy Winter to All…

~~ gigoid ~~

12/24/2015

********************************

Naked Pearls

Lessons of Life/Death

One coin, two sides.

**********

“Better a cruel truth than a comfortable delusion.”

~~ Edward Abbey~~

**********

“I am pleased to see that we have differences.
May we together become greater than the sum of both of us.”

~~ Surak of Vulcan, “The Savage Curtain,” stardate 5906.4. ~~

**********

“Any man whose errors take ten years to correct is quite a man.”

~~ J. Robert Oppenheimer, speaking of Albert Einstein ~~

**********

“It’s possible to use karate against a swarm of plankton–but it won’t help.”

~~ Subtle Bee ~~

**********

“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 ~~

**********

“… don’t you know that there are things, in the best of us,
which no outside should dare to touch?
Things sacred because, and only because,
one can say: ‘This is mine’?
Don’t you know that we live only for ourselves,
the best of us do, those who are worthy of it?
Don’t you know that there is something in us which must not be touched
by any state, by any collective, by any number of millions?”

~~ Kira Argounova ~~

**********

“A heart in love with beauty never grows old.”

~~ Turkish Proverb ~~

**********

“Let us overthrow the totems, break the taboos.
Or better, let us consider them canceled.
Coldly, let us be intelligent.”

~~ Pierre Trudeau ~~

**********
“Death the last sleep? No, it is the final awakening.”

~~ Sir Walter Scott ~~

********************************

I do love it when a plan comes together, to steal from the Colonel…. We’re done here, so, I will go now. Promise. In keepong with the spirit of the season, and, since there haven’t been any injuries reported, I’ll play nice, ending this here. I will, however, try to do this again tomorrow….

We now return to our regularly scheduled cat-pampering…. See y’all in the mornin’, ffolkes; that’s the only warning shot I’ll fire…..

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

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Use all the teflon you can find….

Posted on December 13, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“A man is not aware of his virtues (if any).

Nevertheless, one hopes that they exist.”

~~ Edward Abbey ~~

Artist rendition of possible Superearth planet found in far reaches of Sol System

Image from:

http://nerdreactor.com/2015/12/11/scientists-discover-a-new-planet-theyve-deemed-as-a-super-earth-in-our-solar-system/

Hajime…. At 0500 this morning, I was given a reminder of the newest duty I’ve chosen. I was awakened at that time by whiskers tickling my nose, followed by a loud purring, as Leelu sniffed at my face to wake me. The purr began when I opened my eyes to see what tickled me…. Thus notified she was ready to be up, and training. Heaving a great SIGH, I arose, & stumbled to the coffee maker to switch it on, as she mewled madly for the morning play time, dropping her crumpled paper at my feet, and looking at me expectantly…. What can one do?….

She got hungry after a few tosses & returns, and is eating, so, I’m going to cut this short, so we can, maybe, get this posted before she requires further attention…. Trust me, it’s not easy being at the beck and call of a 7 lb. princess…. But, she picked me, out of seven billion people, so, whattayagonnado, eh?….. Let’s go to the oyster beds, while we can….

Shall we Pearl?….

“We’re not talking about the same thing,” he said. “For you the world is weird because if you’re not bored with it you’re at odds with it. For me the world is weird because it is stupendous, awesome, mysterious, unfathomable; my interest has been to convince you that you must accept responsibility for being here, in this marvelous world, in this marvelous desert, in this marvelous time. I wanted to convince you that you must learn to make every act count, since you are going to be here for only a short while, in fact, too short for witnessing all the marvels of it.” — Don Juan

********************************

Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young in 1970

Image from en.wikipedia.com via Google Images

Probably, nobody alive hasn’t heard of this group…. Four of the best singer-songwriters alive who got together for a time, to make music still unequaled in quality and impact by any one of them individually…. Their innate harmonic blend of voices created songs no one who heard them will ever forget…. Let’s enjoy some of it, live from Golden Gate Park, their old stomping grounds in SF…. Abondanza, ffolkes!….

********************************

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young 11/03/91 – Golden Gate Park

********************************

https://youtu.be/OPe-bqSXPaM

********************************

SOCIALISM:
You have two cows.
Give one to your neighbour.

COMMUNISM:
You have two cows.
Give both to the government.
The government gives you milk.

CAPITALISM:

You sell one cow and buy a bull.

FASCISM:
You have two cows.
Give milk to the government.
The government sells it.

NAZISM:
The government shoots you and takes the cows.

NEW DEALISM:
The government shoots one cow,
milks the other,
and pours the milk down the sink.

ANARCHISM:
Keep the cows.
Steal another one.
Shoot the government.

CONSERVATISM:
Freeze the milk.
Embalm the cows.

~~ Polly Sye Bee ~~

This was yesterday’s third offering from Smart Bee, and by the time I finished reading the list, and could catch my breath from laughing uproariously, I knew I’d found today’s opening lines for this section…. Since laughing so hard put me in too good a mood to rant, we’ll go with the following two most excellent pieces from an archived Pearl, suggested a day or two ago, at the bottom of the page on ECR…. They go together, as it happened to occur that day…I think you’ll enjoy them; I know I did…. It isn’t exactly about the quoted subject, but, rather about those who must deal with the governments as described…. We do lead off with a statement from a politician, though….

Both pearls from 12/1/2012:

From Section the First:

“I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities, we, too, will be remembered not for victories or defeats in battle or in politics but for our contributions to the human spirit.” — former US President John F. Kennedy

At last! A worthy pearl! JFK, like the current President, was a superb public speaker, “Ich bin ein Berliner” notwithstanding, and whether he wrote his own words, or relied on his speech writers, he delivered, arguably, some of the most memorable, and insightful, aphorisms in US political and social history. The above statement is a perfect example, as he expresses a sentiment that can only be applauded, if not verified. I say verified because there is not a lot of verification from the past that history remembers anything BUT the battles. But, one can hope….

Actually, I believe what Jack said here very strongly, in the sense that there are different histories that are remembered, most of which become altered in some way over time, as does all memory. The great teachers and philosophers who have lived have left their mark on the world in more ways than always show, in spite of the records of their deeds not always surviving intact. But, throughout history, there have been men, and women, who have done much to advance the human condition, whose words and deeds were never seen, and never recorded, but, nonetheless. whose effects still ripple down the river of time.

Some of the great minds in history, such as Lao Tzu, Zoroaster, Genghis Khan, Gautama Buddha, Jesus of Nazareth, Mohammed, Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, and many others, all made such advances in the human spirit, and their ideas keep proving their worth every day by their relativity to modern society. Men like Leonardo da Vinci, whose genius was so bright it shines even today, and modern philosopher/scientists such as Albert Einstein, and Stephen Hawking, have advanced that human spirit as much as anyone.

I’m not being as eloquent as I’d wish for such a deep subject…. What I’m trying to get to here is that we all, each and every one of us, have the power and opportunity to do the same as these historical figures, to advance the human spirit, just by the way we live our lives. What the philosophers say, and write, and the wisdom they pass on, is all very good, and a lesson to the rest of us…. But, what the average person does every day in their lives is just as important to the future as any scientific breakthrough, because what they do will determine what their children learn, and THAT is where the advancement really takes place, in the moments of teaching that happens every moment for children, and their adult teachers.

Living a life of integrity, with honesty and duty as the watchwords for action, is the best teaching method there is; to provide a good example for a child holds no less promise for mankind than all the work of all the genius’ of all time. How each one of us approaches life will, in the end, determine what happens to our species as a whole. It isn’t easy, especially given all of the people in society who do NOT wish to have any part of advancing anything but their own interests…. and especially when so many of those kinds of people are in positions of authority. But, it can be done, and is done, every day, by millions of men and women of good spirit…. They are truly the future of mankind, and, if there is any hope for survival, it lies in their honest hands….

“So live that you can look any man in the eye and tell him to go to hell.”

~~ Smart Bee ~~

**********************

From Section the Third:

“The sage wears clothes of coarse cloth but carries jewels in his bosom; He knows himself but does not display himself; He loves himself but does not hold himself in high esteem. Thus he rejects the latter and takes the former.” — Lao-Tzu

In spite of how it must appear, there is a small degree of organization to this blog’s contents. Most days I try to make sure that the first and third sections, while possibly related, are essentially about different concepts. The second section is, of course, reserved for whatever poetry strikes my fancy that day, whether classic, humorous, or original (Though it does seem that my recent outpouring of original poems has run dry, I don’t think I’m done with that, yet…..). It seems to work for me…. well enough, at least, to keep my internal critics quiet most of the time.

Today, it seems that most of what I’m seeing for pearls are related somehow to what I spoke of peripherally in today’s first section, to wit: the importance of integrity in human life. Integrity…. hmm…. not the precise word, or the characteristic I am thinking of, actually; it’s more than merely integrity. I suppose one could say the concept to which I’m referring is too mystical an idea to be presented clearly, and not be too far off the mark….

However, not being one to ignore a challenge to my vocabulary, I’ll take a few unseen moments here and find the correct word to facilitate further discussion, because, hey, if I can’t, no discussion, right? Right…. Be right back…. instantly, by all you will know and see….. Well, the challenge is a strong one, and I think best answered with more than one word to describe what I’m trying to say. Those words are all contained in Axiom #7 of Peruaosophy, to wit:

“Do your Duty. Honor the Truth. Respect Life. Share your Love. “

I know that it is my own philosophy, and some may think that is cheating, but, not so. All that I hold to be true is in that axiom, and it represents the four cornerstones of my personal foundation. I find that when I am able to live up to all of these concepts, able to use their direction in guiding my actions, my life is much smoother, and my moments of joy are plentiful, to balance the pain that life brings all of us in turn. This, to me, is the best way to advance the human condition, little by little, with the efforts of each man and woman adding its weight to the forward momentum.

Yes, the actions and discoveries that the best of history’s minds bring to us are wonderful, and work to make the lives of every human better…. It is the everyday efforts of each man, though, that takes that wisdom and turns it into reality, by using ideas, and integrity, to add their experience to that of the rest of society. Since there is a large number of folks who do NOT subscribe to this kind of ethical behavior, choosing to make their own self-interest their primary concern, it is the duty of those who do believe in these ideas to carry them out as best they may, so that the world can retain some semblance of harmony. It doesn’t always work, and, in fact, is in constant jeopardy of not working at all, but, it is the only way that will make the changes our society needs to survive…. which is another discussion for another time…..

“And now there is merely silence, silence, silence, saying all we did not know.”

~~ William Rose Benet ~~

********************************

~~ Haiku ~~

Often I don’t see
any reason to exist.
Still, I’m glad I do.

~~ gigoid ~~

12/12/15

Blithely Untitled

A poem came to me today, willy, nilly,
along with a sharp blow to the head.
Since it left me feeling just a bit silly,
anything that rhymes should lessen the dread.

Manifesting destiny into a small, insidious group
we push on toward sanity, concentrating hard.
Full engaging moments spent navigating the loop
shall ever make a difference to victims found in the yard.

Still corpses of creatures, straight out of nightmare
fill up the corners of our tortured minds.
While ever saddened, the iconic male, most debonair,
gazes softly, ironically, at all the mutual interest he finds.

Moronic public statutes compel outbreaks of sanity,
responding to momentary impulses toward inducing peace.
Still, the motions get completed, in fertile stages of inanity
while the bulk of our inmates can find no surcease.

Reluctant motivation to continue is unbound,
striving to ascertain how far there yet remains to go.
No precognitive guesswork will make any less of a sound
to soften the final strains, or teach us to truly know.

~~ gigoid ~~

2/7/2014

********************************

Sunrise ~~ Sunset

Just as with the photo (my own, taken somewhere off the coast of Scotland), I don’t really know, nor can I tell from what I see, exactly what is happening here…. I do know when the photo was taken, since I was the only one there at the time, but, unless one is enough of a polymath to have already totaled up the available clues to know, it can’t be known for sure which time of day it was taken…. The same issue applies to today’s final, old-school pearl, as I don’t have a single clue as to what it all means…. The process of choosing them was rather unconscious; I just clicked on each as it appeared, and fitted it into whatever weird shape my mind was creating…. It works, and I still don’t know why; though beginning and ending with some elegance, most of them are just weird, if as true as the day is long enough…. If y’all have any ideas, feel free to tell me, as it can only help….

“There is a certain majesty in simplicity which is far above all the quaintness of wit.”

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

“If you take something apart and put it back together often enough, you will eventually have two of them.” — Rap’s Law of Inanimate Reproduction

“Feeling good about government is like looking on the bright side of any catastrophe. When you quit looking on the bright side, the catastrophe is still there.” — P. J. O’Rourke, Parliament of Whores (1991)

“Being a politician is like being a football coach: you have to be smart enough to understand the game, but dumb enough to think it’s important.” — Eugene McCarthy ( I get this one; he WAS a politician….)

“Money, it turned out, was exactly like sex. You thought of nothing else if you didn’t have it and thought of other things if you did.” — James Baldwin (1924-1987)

“The whole problem can be stated quite simply by asking, ‘Is there a meaning to music?’ My answer would be, ‘Yes.’ And ‘Can you state in so many words what the meaning is?” My answer to that would be, ‘No.’ — Aaron Copland

:FUBAR: n. The Failed UniBus Address Register in a VAX. A good example of how jargon can occasionally be snuck past the {suit}s; see {foobar}, and {foo} for a fuller etymology.” — from The on-line Hacker Jargon File V423 (For those with access to the File, the original FUBAR was a military term, probably originally from the Army Corps of Engineers, meaning, precisely, “fucked up beyond all repair”….)

“Gentleman: A man who knows how to play bagpipes — and refrains.” — Fred Tart

“Dum vivimus, vivamus.”

While we live, let us live.

~~ Latin, originally from the coat of arms of one Philip Doddering, D.D ~~

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dum_vivimus_vivamus),

with other instances noted in literature.

********************************

Hmm…. Later than usual, but, not bad, given the extra duties I must now perform while trying to get posted…. No complaints, because, hey, chosen duty, right? Besides, it’s done. So, I’ll follow the example set in the intro, and get us out of here in an efficient manner. That works like this: See ya, tomorrow, ffolkes, rain or shine….

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

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Epiphany for sale: affordable rates….

Posted on August 21, 2015 by gigoid

☬

Ffolkes,

=-0 * * *

~~ The Enterprise firing photon torpedoes, at a cloaked Klingon Warbird ~~

=-O ~~~~~ =۞≫

~~ The Enterprise firing phasers at an uncloaked Klingon Warbird ~~

This rich view of a tapestry of colourful stars was captured by the Wide Field Imager (WFI) camera, on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile. It shows a open cluster of stars known as IC 4651, a stellar grouping that lies at in the constellation of Ara (The Altar).

Star Cluster IC-4651

Image by European Southern Observatory via Space.com

Good morning…. Boy, what a ride! Life can be pretty unpredictable, especially when you’re awake. Sleep, having been hard to come by of late, has apparently returned to stay for a while; I’m up late (for me; it’s damn near 6 AM….), having again slept more than 6 hours. Yay for me. Now, once again, I’ll have to rush to get posted before my automatic sense of duty kicks in to REALLY send me into panic mode. To forestall any such event, we shall now head out directly to the oyster beds, with no further fooling around…. Watch this!….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.” — James Baldwin (1867-1947)

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

☬

You guessed it. Default music…. This one called itself a mix to improve Brain Power, and gives you about 10 hours to do so…..

***********************

Classical Music

***********************

https://youtu.be/EWDwa5ToY3o

***********************

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

☬

The Dawn of Man

https://youtu.be/ypEaGQb6dJk

As you observe the opening lines of this section, I’d like you to note a couple of details, which were deliberately added for the purpose of directing this discussion. First, I would request you watch the video, either by clicking on the embedded player, or using the link to watch it on You Tube…. Particularly note the development of the habit of violence in the human tribe of simians, with the not unexpected eventual response of stimulating the curiosity and violence in the nature of those abused by that new habitual behavior, thus, perpetuating it as part of the developing embryonic cultures.

Then, note I put the title just below a picture of the part of the film which shows humanity’s progress, with the Blue Danube waltz playing in the background, to highlight the pinnacle of achievement thus represented by the station, the flight, and the music, combined to show what is possible for us as humans. The title, to me, shows the TRUE dawn of Man.

We aren’t quite as far along yet, as shown in the film, (directly attributable, it seems clear to me, to the effect our violent nature has had in slowing that progress..); however, to me, our ascent from this planet into space is the only hope we have to get away from that violence, sublimating the power of the emotional content that drives it, by channeling our curiosity, into exploring a Universe large enough to provide us with an unending pursuit of knowledge, and more complex and powerful methods of getting along with the races we encounter out there, rather than into more complex and powerful weaponry, while simultaneously giving us the necessary physical protection of knowing HOW to fight.

The irony of putting the title at that point is this: we are NOT going to get there. Not at the rate we’re going. There is too much instability in the world today to ever believe we won’t end up destroying ourselves, either by consuming conflagration of nuclear war, or by continuing to poison the air we breathe, the food we eat, the plants and animals that support the ecosystem, and, most of all, by our ignorance and lack of courage/virtue….. The signs are too clear to ignore, ffolkes, so, it would behoove all of us to figure out exactly what we’re going to do…. quickly, too, for there are certain issues of physics/biology/chemistry/ecology which will NOT wait until we get around to it….

“As soon as you are willing to discard observational data because it conflicts with religion, you are giving up any hope of ever really understanding the universe. As soon as you pick religion as the touchstone of reality, then we have to start discussing how one can demonstrate the correctness of one religion over another when different *religions* disagree.” — Wilson Heydt

“The answer is simple: kill the heretics. History shows us that this is the actual solution that competing religions apply — trial by combat or trial by ordeal. God is the final arbiter. What a sad waste of human potential it has proven to be.” — Paul Hager

The two quotes above, taken together, give a graphic example of how this irony manifests itself in today’s world. The oligarchs control the politicians and the religions, and the politicians and religions try to control the masses of humanity, playing out their drama of good vs. evil on a global scale, at such a complex, mind-numbing number of times, places, and on so many fronts, the average person is buried in the details and stresses of life, never even realizing how deeply their thoughts and behavior are being influenced by others.

All this sad, yet, somehow glorious and fascinating panorama of human existence in today’s world, is observed by a relatively small group of people, smart enough to understand, and see, the big picture, but, who have never wished to control anything but their own lives. Since we don’t really WANT to have to do so, or to have to take part in any of the other delusional behaviors most of society is pursuing, it becomes a challenge, to find others who see the same, and have the wherewithal to organize, to make some kind of difference, if by nothing else than speaking up to educate the ignorant….

So, that’s what I do…. I seem to have done it enough for today, so, we’ll get on with the remainder of our lives now…..

gigoid has spoken.

So be it.

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

☬

Roses for Noses

I have a bozoid personality, of the first degree;
nobody, I mean nobody, knows that better than me.
I often wonder, as the world goes around, and around
how many others have realized just what I’ve found….

I know for a fact, I’m not the only bozoid one;
too many people laughing out there, having fun.
Is their laughter, though, at themselves first?
Or is it some other impulse, like purple liverwurst”….

I’ve always loved to make others laugh and giggle,
since my tender youth, when my ears began to wiggle.
The world is full of humor, but not always easy to find
so laughing at myself I learned never to mind….

We bozos know each other, here, there, and everywhere
there’s no hiding such joy, it just wouldn’t be fair.
We all have one feature, our great bulbous nose,
and there’s no doubt at all, cuz it just grows….

There’s nothing like a good, big mistake, a disaster,
to show us the folly of living life faster and faster.
Nothing in the world can ever take the place,
of seeing in the mirror, a happy, smiling face….

Don’t be shy, just let it all hang out;
we bozos have more fun, there’s no doubt.
Life’s too somber and gray if we let it get on top
if we don’t stay loose, the pain won’t ever stop….

My advice to all of you, out there in the world,
let noses grow round & red, keep hair tightly curled.
Find a way to let your spirit out often to play,
you’ll never once regret any price you pay.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 1/27/2013.

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

☬

This one was a little rushed at the end, but, I’m pretty sure it came out alright. You tell me….

“A short saying oft contains much wisdom.”

~~ Sophocles (496-406 BC) — Aletes, Frag. 99 ~~

“I know but one freedom, and that is the freedom of the mind.” — Antoine de Saint Exupery

“Wonder is the feeling of a philosopher, and philosophy begins in wonder.” — Socrates (470?-399 B.C.), [quoting Plato]

“Profound Truth differs from simple truth in that the negation of a simple truth is a simple falsehood, while the negation of a Profound Truth may be another Profound Truth. E.g. a button with “Life is just as simple as it seems” on one side and “Life is not as simple as it seems” on the other.” — Smart Bee

“It is… nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry; for this delicate little plant, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom; without this it goes to wreak and ruin. It is a very grave mistake to think that the enjoyment of seeing and searching can be promoted by means of coercion and a sense of duty.” — Albert Einstein, “Autobiographical Notes”

“I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts.” — John Locke

“I am a man, and nothing that concerns a man do I deem a matter of indifference to me.” — Terence — Heautontimoroumenos, Act i, Sc. 1, 25, (77.)

“Your actions prove what you think of yourself.” — Will Limon

“And never think about the past. No regrets, ever.” — Lazarus Long

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

☬

Some of y’all may have noticed a new piece of ASCII-art added to the pearls today. If it wasn’t obvious before, it really ought to be now, for it is sitting right above this paragraph, staring at you as if you are some sort of pond slime for not noticing. It’s a sensitive icon, you see. It will be a part of every pearl henceforth, for as long as I remember to put it there, or, until I figure out the correct way to get it into the template…. So be it.

Now the housekeeping is done, (as Tommy Toilet recommended so aptly to us all, so may years ago….), I note the Pearl for today is as well. Done, that is. Or, at least, I hope it is; I promised it would be. I can’t be sure, as I’m actually writing this yesterday, and leaving it to the Tardis, to put it where it belongs, at the proper time. Handy, that. On that semi-plausible, –in-another-universe–, note, I shall take my leave, with the usual caveat regarding the instability of the Space/Time Continuum, and, of course, the forces of Entropy, which can be whimsical, at best…. I’m gonna go post now…..

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

À bientôt, mon cherí….

We’re off to see the lizard….

Posted on August 18, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

No pleasure is comparable to the standing upon the vantage-ground of truth.

~~ Francis Bacon — Of Truth ~~

Rainbow Lightning

Saguaro Photography via Gizmodo.com

Good morning…. Indeed, it’s actually morning, too. I’m up at an hour more familiar to the rest of the world today, having, for an unknown reason, slept all of seven hours, thanks to the application of a massive dose of helpful herbs. I’m not sure what to do with all the energy, but, I’m sure most of it will be consumed by the sheer rush of putting a Pearl together in no time. As a matter of fact, just thinking about having to work so fast makes me tired…

No, not really, but, it does make me want to get going, so, I’ll reject all temptation to fool around here in the intro, and merely instruct Luigi to get us the hell out of here, now…. Hang on, ffolkes….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Truth is a gem that is found at a great depth; whilst on the surface of this world, all things are weighed by the false scale of custom.” — Lord Byron

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

As you may guess, default music today….. I’ve tried to give it a bit of a new feeling, by going to the last page I could find on You Tube to grab this one, which was chosen just for the picture alongside it on the page…. Enjoy….

***********************

Classical Music for Babies

The Mozart Effect

***********************

https://youtu.be/e3cp9863zuo

***********************

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

As always, the picture tells the story; here’s a rant/discussion from the archives…. This was last posted on 2/25/2014, written earlier.

From 12/12/12:

“He who proselytizes in the cause of unbelief is basically a man in need of belief.” — Eric Hoffer

“More people would learn from their mistakes if they weren’t so busy denying they made them.” — Smart Bee

“To defend one’s self against fear is simply to insure that one will, one day, be conquered by it; fears must be faced.” — James Baldwin

~~ Milton, Paradise Lost, Book II ~~

(Side note: I’ll bet Milton had a hard time sleeping….)

“If brains were outlawed, nothing would change.” — Smart Bee

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

Pensive early and late…

Endings aren’t always a new beginning
I’m sad to say.
Sometimes it’s just an ending
there’s always a price to pay.

Still, it’s only money, he said
watching it piss away
Did everything ‘cept meet Fred
‘n had a good time the whole way.

Even the bad stuff turned out well,
life lessons are just that way.
Knowing what’s right, you can’t always tell,
we don’t always know the right things to say.

I’ll take all the hard times, without complaint,
learning isn’t always easy to take.
Kindness, patience, and compassion without restraint,
are still the best decisions we can make.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 4/26/2013.

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

Okay, so, here is the only fresh pearl you’ll see today…. Try to enjoy it, okay? Thanks….

Every one is bound to bear patiently the results of his own example.” — Phaedrus (c. 8 A.D.) — Book i, Fable 26, 12

“He that feareth is a slave, were he never so rich, were he never so powerful. But he that is without fear is king of all the world.” — E. R. Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros

“Anacharsis said a man’s felicity consists not in the outward and visible favours and blessings of Fortune, but in the inward and unseen perfections and riches of the mind.” — Plutarch — The Banquet of the Seven Wise Men, 11

“The evidence of the emotions, save in cases where it has strong objective support, is really no evidence at all, for every recognizable emotion has its opposite, and if one points one way then another points the other way. Thus the familiar argument that there is an instinctive desire for immortality, and that this desire proves it to be a fact, becomes puerile when it is recalled that there is also a powerful and widespread fear of annihilation, and that this fear, on the same principle proves that there is nothing beyond the grave. Such childish proofs are typically theological, and they remain theological even when they are adduced by men who like to flatter themselves by believing that they are scientific gents…” — H. L. Mencken

Although it is tempting to resent disaster, there is not much use in doing so… Whether we remain ash or become the phoenix is up to us.” — Deng Ming-Dao

“You are all depending for your spirituality on someone else, for your happiness on someone else, for your enlightenment on someone else…. You have been accustomed to being told how far you have advanced, what is your spiritual status. How childish! Who but yourself can tell you if you are incorruptible?… I desire those, who seek to understand me, to be free … from the fear of religion, from the fear of salvation, from the fear of spirituality, from the fear of love, from the fear of death, from the fear of life itself…. You can form other organizations and expect someone else. With that I am not concerned, nor with creating new cages, new decorations for those cages. My only concern is to set men absolutely, unconditionally free.” — Krishnamurti — From his last speech to the Theosophical Society

“When one asked him what boys should learn, “That,” said he, “which they shall use when men.” — Plutarch — Laconic Apophthegms, Of Agesilaus the Great

“The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness, and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival.” — Aristotle

“The only problem with seeing too much is that it makes you insane.” — Phaedrus

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

I don’t even have time to apologize for any breathlessness with which y’all may have been bothered and bewitched, ffolkes. It’s done, and that’s that. See y’all tomorrow, hopefully with a bit less rush to get done. Of course, that will depend on whether or not the Space/Time Continuum continues to breeze along at its current clip…. We’re hoping for the best….

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

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Slinky dresses under bright neon lights….

Posted on March 3, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“No evil can happen to a good man.”

~~ Plato (428-348? B.C.) ~~

Cat

Insidiously terrifying ghosts, silently screaming in eternal agony of fear, flit past my vision, breaking my hold on Reality…. As the familiar slips away, fast-moving water under a fallen bridge, hope is drowned, slipping under a third time, never known. More painful still, is knowing this will never be finished, thanks to the sheer impossibility of typing with one hand numb….

Ah well, so much for fantasy today; I’d hoped to find a bit of it floating in my head as I began, but, no such luck. I was struggling mightily to get it done anyway, when True Reality stepped in to put a stop to it, numbing up my left arm and hand to the point where it became impractical to continue…. Ah well, such is life with arthritis, I suppose…. I guess I’ll have to talk about the Cat….

I don’t know whose cat it was; he/she was sunning prettily in a yard near where I was waiting for a bus. When I took a few pictures, it assumed a very cat-like expression of annoyance, got up, & stalked away, obviously less than gruntled at having its peaceful nap disturbed by another rude human with a camera. It reminded me of one of my favorite cat quotes, to wit: “Cats were worshiped as gods in ancient Egypt. They have never forgotten this.” This one apparently has nothing wrong with its memory, as it wore a mantle of royal disdain with perfect grace….

As is now painfully clear, this intro section is kaput. It’s not going anywhere, nor can it go back anywhere useful; one cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, as we all know. Nor can I continue to type with only one hand functioning normally. This means, once again, we have to break out #4 to gt us where we need to go…. Damn, I’d so hoped for something better today!…. Oh well, fuck it. Hang on, ffolkes, we’re going in, & it looks a bit rough out there…..

Shall we Pearl?

“A man does not look behind the door unless he has stood there himself.” — Du Bois

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

I’ve used this video a couple of times, simply because it is one of the best indictments of the BRC in existence. Combine that with the brilliance of George’s humor, and we’ve got a show worth watching as often as it takes…. Enjoy, ffolkes; he’s gone, but, never forgotten….

***********************

The Best of George Carlin: Exposing our government and fall of humanity one joke at a time

***********************

http://youtu.be/6_zwB6GLpo4

***********************

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

“To be black and conscious in America is to be in a constant state of rage.”

~~ James Baldwin ~~

James Baldwin wrote during the twentieth century, in America, a nation, at the time, embroiled in deep conflict with its own inner nature, and, the cumulative effects of more than a hundred and fifty years of hypocrisy. In truth, hypocrisy has been a greater influence on human culture than anyone who is a part of it would care to admit. In a culture in which lying is considered an art form, hypocrisy is a precursor. In fact, it is such an integral part of our culture, I would amend the above statement to read, “To be alive and conscious in America is to be in a constant state of rage.”…..

One must, after all, decide to whom one will lie, thus, placing them in a certain order; those considered friends receive the courtesy of lying behind their back, those considered enemies are lied to as a matter of course, to their faces. Only those with whom there is no common interest are not important enough to lie to…. thus being the only ones who receive the truth, only by silence, which, if necessary, may be used to lie by omission.

If there is anyone who doubts this series of inner motivational processes, so apparent in virtually all humans, as common stimuli to our cultural behaviors, I would have to suggest it to be entirely possible, we have very likely been watching two entirely different species of human beings…. Those I’ve observed, mostly, use the given method of reasoning to decide how they will act, toward most everyone they encounter, with a certain amount filtered through whatever laws they’ve learned to obey, in order to avoid difficulties. Some cover up these impulses with religious dogma as their code, which either gives them leave to treat non-believers with the usual disdain, or forgives them when they do “out of bad impulses”….

Gee, ffolkes, do you think I’m getting a bit grumpy about most people? You’d be right, of course, and too damn bad. I’m done NOT speaking up about what I see in the world; maybe if more ffolkes spoke up, to point out what others do that is not right, when it happens, creating discussion and/or learning, maybe the world would be a little easier for everybody; there sure would be fewer racists, bigots, and/or other sub-humans running around bothering all the nice ffolkes there are…. which, sadly, in self-defense, are becoming fewer and fewer, at least in public….

Of course, that’s because the people in ostensible charge of society are the worst examples of liars, cheats, thieves, and bullies…. But, then, perhaps that’s just MY opinion. Just because I see it every day in the news doesn’t make it real, right? Right. In fact, it’s getting so I doubt seriously if there is more than 5 minutes per hour of news that is something that is NOT intended just to manipulate those watching it in some way; those five minutes are shrinking as well, getting harder to spot. Real information, usable for making life better, or just more pleasant somehow, is pretty much gone from human ken…..

Bah! You know, I’m so disgusted with the human race, so damn much of the time, I’m sick of it…. Enough so I’m even losing my taste for ranting, especially when I know very few people who need to hear this message will ever hear it…. The hell with it, I’m going to sublimate the rest of this diatribe into an old-school pearl, aimed at those who would be kings….. You know who they are, and so do they…. Here, then, is a plethora, of eleven dandy pointed sticks, all jabbing at the eyes of the Beloved Ruling Class…. Somehow, Smart Bee never seems to show any lack of this type of pearl….

“The mystery of government is not how Washington works but how to make it stop.” — P. J. O’Rourke, Parliament of Whores

“To steal from one person is theft.To steal from many is taxation.” — Daiell’s Law (a take-off on Felson’s Law)

“It had all the earmarks of a CIA operation; the bomb killed everybody in the room except the intended target.” — William F. Buckley

“Is there a Lemon Law for Presidents too?” — Smart Bee

“Buy when there’s blood in the streets.” — Baron Guy de Rothschild

“A lot of what I say comes off as political satire. In that, I have a lot in common with Congress.” — Solomon Short

“When I see a congressman giving his opinion on something, I always wonder if it represents his *real* opinion or if it represents an opinion that he’s designed in order to be elected. It seems to be a central problem for politicians. So I often wonder: what is the relation of integrity to working in the government?” — Richard Phillips Feynman (1918-1988), “What Do You Care What Other People Think?”

“Eternal boyhood is the dream of a depressing percentage of American males, and the locker room is the temple where they worship arrested development.” — Russell Baker

“In our society, the Republicans set out to prove that the Democrats can not be trusted to run the government. And the Democrats set out to prove that the Republicans can not be trusted to run our government. The real problem here is that both the Democrats and the Republicans have come up with something which is absolutely true and perfectly correct. This means that the people get to pull some sort of horrible trick on themselves and live with their choice for four years.” — Smart Bee

“This is no time for consensus government. It’s a time for leadership. The average citizen doesn’t know what the stakes are in Vietnam.” — Richard Milhouse Nixon, February 11, 1965

Gee, but I’d like to be a G-Man
And go Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Just like Dick Tracy, what a he-man
And go Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

I’d do as I please, act high-handed and regal
‘Cause when you’re a G-Man there’s nothing illegal.

~~ Harold Rome, from The G-Man Song, 1937 ~~

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

Only one poem will do today….

Geezer to Congress, with Love

Politicos don’t care much ’bout seniors and their ilk,
except for their money, I thinks;
Though they talk as if they’d cozen them in silk,
what they actually do, it stinks.

“The banks are failing, we can’t allow that!”,
steal from the aged, that’s their plan.
“Their life’s ending, that’s plainly where they’re at,”
lie shamelessly, because they can.

Maybe just once, if we all act together,
it couldn’t miss.
Right on their shoes, no matter the weather,
take careful aim, and piss.

Why the hell not?
It’s worth a shot!

~~ gigoid ~~

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

I let Smart Bee have its head, while my subconscious mind monitored, from wherever it watches from, with instructions to find some carefully chosen random quotes to use for upcoming pearls…. Put most simply, SB went a bit crazy on me, coming up with more than enough pearls for three separate pearls, each grouped into a series pointed at one concept or idea…. This one is one of them; it seems to be comments on the human experience, from a number of viewpoints leading to a rather amorphous, but somehow, both realistically dubious, yet strangely comforting end point….. Go figure….

“It is not only for what we do that we are held responsible, but also for what we do not do.”– Moliere

“Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.” — Albert Einstein

“Great minds always meet at infinity.” — Smart Bee

“Look for a tough wedge for a tough log.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 723

“There is no gathering the rose without being pricked by the thorns.’ — Pilpay (or Bidpai) — The Two Travellers, Chap. ii, Fable vi

“Five senses; an incurably abstract intellect; a haphazardly selective memory; a set of preconceptions and assumptions so numerous that I can never examine more than minority of them – never become conscious of them all. How much of total reality can such an apparatus let through?” — C. S. Lewis

“The Soul is born old, but it grows young; that is the comedy of life. The Body is born young and grows old; that is life’s tragedy.” — Oscar Wilde (1856-1900)

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

It’s done; at this point, NOTHING matters more. I won’t detail the struggle it took to complete today’s Pearl, having already whined to our prescribed limit for the day, other than to say, Whew!…. Moreover, I’ll show some tact, by letting this die a natural death, now it has accepted its fate. Well, we like to think so, anyway…. On that note, such as it may be, I shall take my leave, stage left…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

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

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Sweet sorrow, my ass….

Posted on February 19, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Every day passes whether you participate or not.”

~~ Deng Ming-Dao ~~

Another View Outside the Door Into Summer

“One of these things is not like the other…” — Numerous Sesame Street characters at various times

A few days ago, the opening picture was also one of my own photos, taken outside my back door, here in Northern California, this February, in what the rest of the world considers the dead of winter, almost two-thirds of the way to Spring. The East Coast has been pounded by massive storms; blizzards, hurricanes, all sorts of weather which, though seasonal, keeps breaking old records for the most massive storms in history. Today, as I write this, I’m sitting in my living room, with no heat on, a window and door open for ventilation, without a shirt, because it’s too warm to wear one indoors…. even for an old man who can’t take the cold like he used to….

But, hey, there’s no such thing as global warming, or unalterable climate changes taking place, so, why worry about it? It certainly isn’t snowing here, so, I guess I’ll go for a walk today in the sunshine, to take some more pictures of evidence of the world, trying to warn us of our impending doom….

Oops…. Sorry, ffolkes, I forgot. No ranting in the intro…. But, but, ffolkes, it’s just so bloody tempting! SIGH…. Ah me, so much for this attempt to open up with aplomb, or, even, coherency. Not that I care overmuch about coherency, so long as I can find it in myself to spout some nonsense, but, I’m not sure how I’d do at that today. I’m not feeling very silly; that generally means if I try to be funny, or apply silly to what I write, I end up displaying bozoid tendencies, more so than any wisdom, or style, or any other sort of communication to stimulate the slightest interest, beyond the expected snickering at my discomfiture….

Y’all should remember, though, anyone who can use the word discomfiture isn’t going to let a little thing like propriety, or mainstream morality get in the way of getting this Pearl done. No way. I’ve done this too long now to listen to the ignorant, any more than I ever did, other than to keep track of whatever they are babbling about, just for the purposes of intel…. Remember? “Keep your friends close, etc…..” Beyond the bare minimum necessary to keep them in my sights, I ignore them as much as possible…. It doesn’t mean I don’t know they’re there…. (Not bad… two of the three “there’s”, each used correctly…)

It does mean my paranoia is in good working order, though, so, perhaps it would be best now to get on with the making of today’s mess, so I can get back afterward in time to take the appropriate medication to keep me from going postal on anyone before lunch. Perhaps it would be best if you ducked now….

Shall we Pearl?

“A form of open-mindedness is the pathway to wisdom. Close your mind and you open the way for ignorance to flourish, but you will never even know it.” — Smart Bee

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

These two artists are responsible for a LOT of the tunes I grew up with in the 60’s and 70’s. Watching them play together after all these years was a more emotional experience than I’d imagined; I found myself tearing up at song after song. It was also fun to see the two of them having such fun playing together; they were feuding for many years, and it’s nice to know they’ve healed the breach…. Enjoy, ffolkes, this one is a real treat, a true walk through a gentler past…

***********************

Carole King and James Taylor Live at the Troubadour

***********************

http://youtu.be/3IMntLIgIq8

***********************

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

Le Penseur, The Thinker, Auguste Rodin, photo from The Rodin Museum web site

Sometime during my teens, I stopped trying to convince myself to give in to the pressure applied by peers, and well-meaning adults, to join the Presbyterian Church, where I’d been attending with my family for some years. I had begun a study of as many different faiths as I could find time to do, without ever getting so far into it as to call myself a religious scholar, discovering in those studies I could not bring myself to be hypocritical enough to claim belief in the credo they espoused. Any of them.

This decision was not because of a lack of spiritual feeling (I wouldn’t have bothered to look for answers, if that were the case), but, more of an acceptance of the rightness of my choice, to NOT pretend to believe what I could only consider a very complex set of dogmatic derivations, having nothing to do with reality, but, in truth, were deductively and erroneously based on specific delusions, regarding forces of nature we humans do not, as yet, fully understand. Ascribing those forces to be the result of supernatural causes seemed a bit specious, if not completely lacking in evidence to support such their existence, thus, highly unlikely.

I suppose I always felt what H. L. Mencken said in the third pearl below; everything I heard about how cool and special God, and religion were supposed to be, all seemed to me to be pretty improbable. Since this improbability was supposedly supported by what I found to be merely interpretations, and opinions of reality, not reality itself, I could never find any good reason to buy into any of it…. In short, I recognized what I heard as a made-up story, designed to soothe people’s fears about a universe they could not comprehend…. I always figured, if we don’t know, well, let’s find out. Why make something up? But, I guess that’s just me…. At the time, I’d never heard of Nancy Reagan, but, I’ve always been glad I “just said no.”

Below are seven pearls which, sort of, speak to how I view the concept of religion, as one of the primary reasons for a large part of the reason Mankind continues to act more like an brutish naked ape than an advanced, ethical sentient entity. The God of the Christians, as is apparently true with most Gods I’ve looked into, acts much like a wounded, maddened predator, insanely attacking all who come near. Almost all of the deities I found in my reading over the years, all had a common cruelty, a mercilessness completely antagonistic to human feeling, which, naturally, mirrors the trait in humans, thus giving divine attribution to our most base emotions…. According to what I read, most gods show the behavior of a spoiled child, a trait unfortunately reproduced in His followers….

HE, Yahweh, or Allah, all same/same, seemed, to me, always ready to use any cruelty or violence to achieve His ends, threatening Hellfire and damnation for the slightest disobedience, while claiming to be merciful. Have you seen some of the stuff God has had his followers do in His name? In today’s world, they all continue to act out their insane bigotry and ignorance…. but, now, there are billions upon billions of followers, of all sorts of vicious butthead gods, and they have shiny new toys to kill each other with, with increasing ferocity and destructiveness…. What a bloody mess….

Nope, God just never has been my kind of dude, for sure, much less what I’d be looking for a in a god…. But, even I could see, back before I had so much rational proof of how wise was my decision, it sure does make life easy for those who hang with God, using his ‘grace’ to either justify their actions, or remove the blame for any of them, as long as the conditions of membership in the club are met….

Ah, well, here, this is what I mean, more glibly, if not more clearly…. Sometimes, that’s how it works with metaphor….

Say first, of God above or man below,

What can we reason but from what we know?

~~ Alexander Pope — Essay on Man, Epistle i, Line 17 ~~

“Any system of religion which has anything in it which offends the mind of a child cannot be a true system.” — Thomas Paine

“Faith may be defined briefly as an illogical belief in the occurrence of the improbable.” — H. L. Mencken, “Prejudices”, Series iii

“Preacher to me: “A dollar for the Lord, brother?” Me to preacher: “That’s all right, I’m headed his way. I’ll give it to him when I see him.” — Edward Abbey

“Pray, pray very much; but beware of telling God what you want.” — French Proverb

“If the average man is made in God’s image, then such a man as Beethoven or Aristotle is plainly superior to God.” — H. L. Mencken

“…and remember you’re a Man, not just a god, and for you there aren’t and never will be any easy answers, only questions, and no reasons, only causes, and no meaning, only intelligence, and no destination and no kindly magic smiling down from above, and no fires to goad you from below, only Yourself and the Universe and what you make out of the interface between the two equals.” — Keith Laumer, _Night of Delusions_

Okay, so, it wasn’t all THAT…. Look at it this way. It wasn’t a rant…. Well, not much of one…. After all, I didn’t shout, not once….

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

“Poetry is what gets lost in translation.” — Robert Frost

Placidly falling in amber waves: old friends

Whiskey, oh, whiskey, I’d forgotten thy balm,
thy loving spread of lassitude, and nature’s own calm.
Misery and pain flee in squalid disorganization,
leaving mirth, happily embraced, in just consolation.

James, old friend, thou has not abandoned me at all,
steadfast and loyal, ever ready to answer my softest call.
Ephemeral illusions of normality come at your instigation
blessed moments of peaceful joy, sans vilification.

Gasps of coherence pound at the door to conscious thought,
muffled explosive memories of battles already fought.
Malleable as the changeable airs of time and circumstance
plaintive calls to reason stand not a single, honest chance.

Sober again, reality’s cold reign brings a new day
ringing in old changes in a new-fashioned way.
To know true freedom’s release from our everyday pain
Is worth a bit of headache, even in the cold, pouring rain.

~~ gigoid ~~

~~ two sheets to the wind, and back ~~

“You will find poetry nowhere, unless you bring some with you.”

~~ Joseph Joubert ~~

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

It occurred to me the other day, as I sat to peruse SB for an old-school pearl, my greatest enemy is reality. I’ve fought it successfully for 64 years, now, finally reaching a point where I am relatively certain of the outcome; in short, I’m winning, mostly.

On the heels of such a perfectly egotistical proclamation, allow me to also say, in this case, given much of what history has taught me, a draw may be considered a win, so, don’t think I’m getting too big for my britches. I’m well aware of my bozoid tendencies; in my mind, that makes coming out dead even (so to speak) all the more an admirable, if not impossibly unlikely, outcome, to an what has certainly been an epic ordeal… and, it’s not over yet!

Hence, the following nine-star, sort of fresh pearl, which, you will note, is bookended by Zippy. That ought to give you a clue as to the meaning of the gestalt concept at which SB apparently took aim, with unusual precision; all nine came up one after the other, with only one extra, usable elsewhere… Pretty nifty, I thought…. and, so will you. Enjoy, ffolkes, and try not to hurt yourself falling out of the chair…

“I’m having an emotional outburst!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum — “I think that I think, therefore I think that I am.” — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“…life is long enough if it is well-spent.” — Erasmus

“I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they’ve always worked for me.” — Hunter S. Thompson

“But Aristarchus of Samos brought out a book consisting of certain hypotheses, in which the premises lead to the conclusion that the universe is many times greater than that now so called. His hypotheses are that the fixed stars and the sun remain motionless, that the earth revolves about the sun in the circumference of a circle, the sun lying in the middle of the orbit, and that the sphere of the fixed stars, situated about the same center as the sun, is so great that the circle in which he supposes the earth to revolve bears such a proportion to the distance of the fixed stars as the center of the sphere bears to its surface.” — Archimedes, The Sand-Reckoner, Third Century B.C.

“Humorous or profound remark or quotation pending.” — Smart Bee

“When two goats met on a bridge which was to narrow to allow either to pass or return, the goat which lay down that the other might walk over it was a finer gentleman than Lord Chesterfield.” — Cecil

“All those things which are now held to be of the greatest antiquity, were at one time new; and what we today hold up by example, will rank hereafter as precedent.” — Tacitus

“Life is full of surprises when you’re up th’ stream of consciousness without a paddle…” — Zippy the Pinhead

See what I meant? Okay, I’ve been cruel long enough. You may go now….

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

Fortunately for me, most of this Pearl was already constructed, in pieces, which I only had to piece together today to get this done. I’m glad because I’m just not in the best of spaces, for unknown reasons…. I think I’ll take today off from dealing with anything at all complicated…. nothing more complex than, oh, say, planning my next nap…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I can work up the energy….

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

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

gigoid

Ned Moore, aka gigoid, is a 70 year-old, (!!!… When did that happen?….), retired dilettante, who would rather read than eat, most days. His first blog, "gigoid’s folly", has been emailed out to folks he knows for about 18 years now. He still considers it his best defense against angst, and the ever-present specter of sheer insanity..... Due to rigorous curmudgeon training requirements, he has discontinued his Facebook presence, but still indulges in the occasional Twitter session... In essence, he's socialized, but, not overly sociable; all labels and stereotypes are forbidden in his presence... and he doesn't care what anyone thinks about that..... In fact, he doesn't want to talk anymore.... If you feel you MUST contact gigoid, his email address is: alphagigoid@gmail.com You can go read now.... Go on, beat it.... gigoid, the dubious

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Tag Archives: James Baldwin

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