Mmmm…. soft! Is it plucky, too?….

Posted on January 16, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

I saw Eternity the other night,
Like a great ring of pure and endless light,
All calm, as it was bright;
And round beneath it,
Time in hours, days, years,
Driv’n by the spheres
Like a vast shadow mov’d; in which the world
And all her train were hurl’d.

~~ Henry Vaughan ~~

~~ The World ~~

Self Portrait of Curiosity, the Mars Rover, on its search for signs of life on The Red Planet

Down here in The Holler, we been havin’ some fowl weather…. Now, before y’all go & figure I’m just some iggorant hick, let me explain…. Most places, they get some hard rains, they say it’s been rainin’ cats & dogs, right? Well, t’other night, it was rainin’ hard all right, but, ’tweren’t no cats nor dogs comin’ down…. It was chickens! Actually, chicken gizzards! Beautiful, juicy, chicken livers, hearts, necks, & kidneys. Not only was they fallin’, right out o’the sky, but, they was fully cooked! Boy, we was havin’ a BALL that night, nukin’ ’em up in the microwave with some spicy BBQ….. beaudacious! Them necks boiled down just fine, for a big ol’ pot o’ chicken & dumplin’s…. We’re hopin’ next week maybe it’ll rain some beef ribs, and we kin have us a real party!….

Okay, enuff, er, enough of the hillbilly crap. I couldn’t think of anything else, and now, I’m really sorry…. But, it’s done, and we can just forget it. Please?

Sadly, that does leave us here, halfway started, but, nowhere to go. I could go in just about any direction now; the smooth start part of this is already been ditched for the nonsense above. Now I find myself reading over it, and actually editing, to give it more of a hick sound, as if it needed it… I must have had too much sleep. I don’t believe I’ve had this much sleep, three days in a row, for years. An average of five hours a night for those nights, has cleared my head quite a bit, though the effect on the pain itself is minimal; only the strength to fight it is replenished…. But, that is indeed better than the alternative, and I’ll take it….

It almost makes me wish I didn’t have so much of today’s post already done; it would be cool to see how well I could rant, with all this energy…. But, it’s already done, during my little pieces of peace during the day, when I am able to distract myself enough to sit and write. Oh well, I can spend that time proofing & editing, to buff and polish this until it shines…. Well, as much as they ever do so….

I think, before I wander into an area of discussion from which we can’t remove ourselves, we’ll bring this to a close…. Ah, there’s the signal from the pilot, anyway…. I’ve managed to blather long enough today to actually reach one of the scheduled entry points, where there is plenty of room to maneuver, and no danger of any ambush by the locals; it makes for a smoother dive, all around. So, if y’all would kindly hang on, we’ll be going in in just a moment…. Enjoy the dive, ffolkes, I did my best today to make if fun, and/or stimulating…. and, if not, well, at least it’s better than Good Morning, America, right?…. Well, I think so….

Shall we Pearl?

“Diogenes said once to a person who was showing him a dial, “It is a very useful thing to save a man from being too late for supper.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Menedemus, iii

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A few years ago, while surfing the web, I saw a video, which showed a cat and an owl, playing together. They had obviously, by the evidence of the video, been friends for years; watching the video is an excellent lesson in how easy it is for creatures to learn to get along, a lesson far too many people in this world never learn…. Here is that video, or, in this case, videos, as the one that plays first should go right into the next, showing a record of how they met, became friends, and learned how to live in harmony…. Enjoy, ffolkes, this is one of those GOOD stories, that make up, a little, for all the crap we have to see every day….

The Beginnings – How Fum & Gebra met

http://youtu.be/-nih7QllbMU?list=PL3ATEDaAiytqcTkgGQjd8kpANV_6ftRTm

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“Americans like to talk about (or be told about) Democracy but, when put to the test, usually find it to be an ‘inconvenience.’ We have opted instead for an authoritarian system *disguised* as a Democracy. We pay through the nose for an enormous joke-of-a-government, let it push us around, and then wonder how all those assholes got in there.” — Frank Zappa

For a few days now, I’ve been moving this link down the list of material to be covered in a rant. Patently, I found it on my friend Lou’s site, where one may always find a new, and/or different take on the subjects one sees in the mainstream news, with a heavy leaning toward the latest in conspiracy theories, UFO sightings, spiritualism, Zen Buddhism, science, myth, and any number of other subjects, all of interest, especially to someone with my expansive list of interests, all of which is/are found at one time or another on his site…. (Pardon the “is/are”, I couldn’t, and still can’t seem to figure out which of the pronouns the verb should agree with…. SIGH, another clue I need to SIMPLIFY….)

This particular article gives a rather excellent viewpoint, which many people might not have considered in the wake of recent news from around the world, with all of the insanity that seems to be exploding, everywhere…. You should read it, then we’ll talk….

http://talesfromtheconspiratum.com/2015/01/14/exclusive-terror-attack-in-ukraine-world-outraged-je-suis-donbass/#comment-145798

“It is easier to perceive error than to find truth, for the former lies on the surface and is easily seen, while the latter lies in the depth, where few are willing to search for it.” — Goethe

It took me a long time to find the real truth about the current President. He is one of the most skilled politicians (liars) ever to hold that august office, so skilled, he is hard to pin down on those occasions when he does make the error of getting caught at lying, either saying what he didn’t mean to say, or, being exposed, and having to respond. Otherwise, he has developed the incredibly subtle skill, discussed in works by Twain, Heinlein, and, I’m sure, many others, of being able to hide his lies behind the actual truth. The skill lies in being able to shut up at the correct moment, then not speaking again, to allow the listeners to make their own (erroneous) assumptions about what was NOT said…. In other words, he tells a small part of the truth, in a way that leaves room to make excuses later, then shuts up….

But, we see now, since the exposition by Edward Snowden of the scope of what is NOT being told to the American public, it is patently clear how he has maintained the public’s belief in his essential truthfulness, which is a COMPLETE lie. His administration has prosecuted more journalists and private citizens for leaking information they consider secret than any other in our nation’s history, by a factor of 10…. This is not speculation, or information new to me; I saw this in print many months ago in the mainstream press…. though, in a small article, with no follow-up, ever….

The author of the above article shows clearly how this applies to current life on this planet, and gives us a fairly accurate idea, I think, of the scope of the problem…. He also uses what I would call an old school pearl to illustrate his points, most excellently, using a number of pearls used previously on this blog…. It is, I admit, as good a pearl as any I’ve ever done…. I won’t try to match his group; it was nearly perfect, as far as I could see. But, I will end with one last illustration of how it all strikes me….

“Politicians aren’t born, they are excreted.” — Cicero

Trust me. I know. Thousand don’t, and look at them now….

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Here is one of mine we haven’t seen for a while… It’s not bad, all things considered. I hope you enjoy it….

Off the proverbial cuff….

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

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

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

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

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

~~ gigoid ~~

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

This is a very special pearl; it’s too long a story for this section, which is already long enough, but, take my word, they don’t often come out like this…. Too bad, too… Just follow the bouncing ideas, ffolkes, and you’ll get to a nice, warm fuzzy, strangely enough….

For age is opportunity no less
Than youth itself, though in another dress.
And as the evening twilight fades away,
The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day.
It is never too late to start doing what is right.
Never.

~~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow~~

“In the arena of human life the honors and rewards fall to those who show their good qualities in action.” — Aristotle, Nicomachen Ethics (4th c. BC)

“We write our own destiny: we become what we do.” — Madame Chiang Kai-Shek

“Without followers, evil cannot spread.” — Spock, “And The Children Shall Lead”, stardate 5029.5

“He who hurries can not walk with dignity.’ — Chinese Proverb

“There is nothing so arrogant as ignorance.” — Erasmus

“In comparison with heaven and earth, man is like a mayfly. But compared to the great Way, heaven and earth, too, are like a bubble and a shadow. Only the primal spirit and the true nature overcome time and space.” — Lu Yen (fl. 800 A.D.)

“Cato requested old men not to add the disgrace of wickedness to old age, which was accompanied with many other evils.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Roman Apophthegms, Cato the Elder

“One who is to enjoy the purity of both body and mind walks the path to enlightenment, breaking the net of selfish, impure thoughts and evil desires. He who is calm in mind acquires peacefulness and thus is able to cultivate his mind day and night with more diligence.” — Buddha (B.C. 568-488)

“A wide-eyed, innocent UNICORN, poised delicately in a MEADOW filled with LILACS, LOLLIPOPS & small CHILDREN at the HUSH of twilight??” — Zippy the Pinhead

“It is in the shelter of each other that people live.”

~~ Irish proverb ~~

Oops! Sorry, Zippy slipped his restraints again…. But, you know, it almost fits; he tries hard, bless his pointy little head…. (Well, okay it’s a pointy BIG head, but we don’t want to hurt his feelings, do we? No….) I think we’ll let it stay, and just finish with a proper ending quote, if SB is willing to cooperate once more… Ah, yes, this will do nicely; so nicely, I believe I’ll center it, to create a bit of symmetry, and move this paragraph out of the way…. Or, as they would say in the nearest bureaucratic institution, see the above….

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

“Captain! That’s all she’s got! The warp engines canno’ take no more!” — Commander Montgomery Scott, Stardate 2695.2, 2243.5, 2350.0, and a host of other dates….

At this point in today’s narrative, I know exactly how Mr. Scott feels; fortunately, the strain on our warp engines may now cease, and Mr. Scott and the engine crew can stand down, because, we’re done. Lest y’all think this is merely a shallow boast, intended to tease you into thinking we are finished, allow me to say this…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if the world lasts that long…. It’s looking a bit chancy out there in the BBR…..

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….

Is that even legal?…

Posted on January 1, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“How many lawyer jokes are there?

3, the rest are true stories.”

~~ Smart Bee ~~

From the London Daily Telegraph, 12/27/2014

“Sandra, a 29-year-old orangutan, looks out from her enclosure at Buenos Aires’ zoo. Sandra has been cleared to leave the zoo she has called home for 20 years after a court ruled she was entitled to more desirable living conditions. Argentina’s Association of Professional Lawyers for Animal Rights (AFADA) filed a ‘habeas corpus’ writ (a form of legal redress against unlawful imprisonment) arguing she was “suffering an unwarranted confinement.” The AFADA is in the process of securing Sandra’s release to transfer her to a sanctuary where she is expected to live a more comfortable and happy life, lawyers said.”

~~~~~

One of the most ironic parts of this story, to me, is that the lawyers who obtained the judgment for Sandra, by their actions in doing this, are obviously NOT the sort who become the object/subject of bad lawyer jokes, even though many ignorant people will laugh at them for even considering Sandra as an intelligent creature, worthy of the law’s protection. But, then, the people who laugh at monkeys, especially orangutans, are usually less intelligent than those at whom they laugh, in a relative, but very real sense….

I hate to go to zoos, even though many of the animals are now well taken care of, in the sense that the zoos try to make their prisons (well, they are….) as much like their natural habitat as possible. But, it always occurs to me, at every cage (be real… it’s not an ‘exhibit’; its a cage…) I come to, how sad most of the creatures look. In too many grim places, I’ve seen the animals performing neurotic behaviors they would never feel the need to display in the wild….

Why? Because people want to see the animals, but, don’t want to pay to give them the space to live in without becoming insane…. I once saw a fully grown crescent bear that paced in front of the door to its cage for hours on end, in an exact twelve foot space, which obviously was the same size as his ‘den’…. It moaned piteously the entire time it paced to and fro, in small, eerily grieving moans, all the while looking at all the people with madly terrified eyes…. Even at 13, I cried, right there in public, just as I am at this moment, to think of the pain he felt, and at the cruelty of humans….

I cannot help but feel this strange need in humans is the same sort of elitism we show each other, that sense of special entitlement which gives us leave to believe we have the right to imprison these animals…. It’s especially egregious, and cruel, to do this to the more sentient of them, such as the apes, the elephants, the big cats, dolphins, orcas, seals, polar bears, etc. Taking them out of their natural environment, confining them to a life as a curiosity, on display before the only creature on the planet that would think to so act, as an elitist bully, thinking that their vaunted intelligence puts them at the top of the food chain, acting like spoiled children, with no manners or restraint….

Sorry, but, I calls ’em like I sees ’em, ffolkes, even when I do rant in the intro, like I said I wouldn’t…. But, think about it, and look at that face…. I’d take that face as a friend any time, unlike the vast majority of human faces I ever see…. Wouldn’t you?….. I can think of one celebrity/actor who would, at least, so, Hollywood’s on my side in this…. Who would have thought it?…. Oh well, that’s what I get for trying to be compassionate, and light-hearted at the same time, I suppose…. Accidental liaisons are unavoidable in such instances, I would imagine…. Well, I guess it would be more honest to say, I would hope…. Oh heck, let’s get out of here, okay? Okay….

Shall we Pearl?

“They seem to have learned the habit of cowering before authority even when not actually threatened. How very nice for authority. I decided not to learn this particular lesson.” — Richard Stallman

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

During a recent exchange with my blogger friend of longest-standing, Ms. Willow, whose site you can find by following the link below, I came across this post, on her site, with a guest blogger, named Paul, authoring the community flash writing exercise, If We Were Having Coffee, discussing the events of the pre-Christmas happenings around his place of residence, Ottawa, Canada…. As part of the post, Paul included the video you will see below, which is not merely inspiring, but, the kind of reminder of the kind of behavior ALL of us should be occasionally displaying toward our fellow man… As we hippies used to call it, committing random acts of kindness and beauty…. It should be the law, and is, in the Utopia I keep in my head to go to when all is dark…

You can find the post at:

http://willowdot21.wordpress.com/2014/12/14/if-we-were-having-coffee-dec-142014-guest-post/

The post is well worth a read, but, I like the video so much, I’ve included it here for my readers to enjoy….. It affected me so powerfully, I know this is something I’ll probably do next year, and as long as I’m able to keep it up…. It’s the kind of thing almost anyone who is reasonably situated in our society could do once a year or so, or even more, on a random basis…. It can’t hurt, and the kind of spiritual energy such acts create could bring more people to do the same; then more, and more, until, hey, all of a sudden, the homeless have homes, and a lot of the anger in the world is bled off into space, where it can do us no further harm….

I know it’s a fantasy, but, it’s a nice one, isn’t it?…. And, it’s got more of a chance than a lot of plans out there…..

CHRISTMAS GIFTS FOR THE HOMELESS

http://youtu.be/mm1I3mjDFvA

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“All of us who are concerned for peace and triumph of reason and justice must be keenly aware how small an influence reason and honest good will exert upon events in the political field.” — Albert Einstein

I found the video below on the site of a blogger friend, talesfromtheconspiratum.com, where ‘tales’ continues to post a wide range of information on a very wide range of subjects, all concerned primarily with stuff most people try not to think about…. It is merciless, and I always find some new piece that astounds, or surprises even me, who has seen most every evil mankind has ever been involved in… This one fits right in with a lot of what I’ve ranted about recently, so, I thought I’d put it here, rather than ranting myself…. Believe me, listen to this, and you won’t need to hear me rant for a week…

Ken O’keefe, an ex-US Marine living in London, has shown me I only THOUGHT I knew how to rant…. He rants, verbally and on TV, doing so without a pause, or a misspoken truth, well enough my only possible reaction is to drop my jaw, genuflect and mutter reverently, “awesome, man”…. Just watch the guy listening to his points on the other screen…. He has nothing with which to possibly refute any of it, obviously…. and knows it…. Brilliant indictment of the very people I’ve been trying to throw the light on for years….

Enjoy this little dose of TRUTH, ffolkes…. I did, immensely…. It’s actually a pretty big dose… I thought I could rant, but, I bow to this man’s angst, with shock and awe….

http://talesfromtheconspiratum.com/2014/12/31/ken-okeefe-exposes-obama-bush-isis-bankers-syria-fake-news-856/

Ken O’keefe on PressTv exposes Obama, Bush, ISIS, Bankers, Syria – Demoralizes bald shill – EPIC

http://youtu.be/aYX4WeqQfRo

The expert judgment of an institution, when the matters involve continuation of the institution’s operations, is totally predictable, and hence the finding is totally worthless.” — Robert N. Kharasch

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The state of the world today is not particularly surprising; if we didn’t all expect today’s events, it can’t be from not being warned, for we have all heard this admonition: “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” — George Santayana

As well, poets throughout history have consistently written poems which tell us what in life is worth paying heed…. for example, here is such a sentiment from perhaps the very first of Mankind’s poet laureates….

On What Is Best

Some celebrate the beauty
of knights, or infantry,
or billowing flotillas
at battle on the sea.
Warfare has its glory,
but I place far above
these military splendors
the one thing that you love.

For proof of this contention
examine history:
we all remember Helen,
who left her family,
her child, and royal husband,
to take a stranger’s hand:
her beauty had no equal,
but bowed to love’s command.

As love then is the power
that none can disobey,
so too my thoughts must follow
my darling far away:
the sparkle of her laughter
would give me greater joy
than all the bronze-clad heroes

~~ Sappho ~~

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Today’s final section is an odd little pearl, visually symmetrical, with an apparent whimsical little comment on being human….

A little rule, a little sway,
A sunbeam in a winter’s day,
Is all the proud and mighty have
Between the cradle and the grave.

~~ John Dyer (1700-1758) — Grongar Hill, Line 88 ~~

“I pity men who occupy themselves exclusively with the transitory in things and lose themselves in the study of what is perishable, since we are here for this very end- that we may make the perishable imperishable, which we can do only after we have learned how to approach both.” — Goethe

Under the shade of melancholy boughs,
Lose and neglect the creeping hours of time;
If ever you have look’d on better days,
If ever been where bells have knoll’d to church,
If ever sat at any good man’s feast.

~~ William Shakespeare (1564-1616), As You Like It — Act ii, Sc. 7~~

“All is mystery; but he is a slave who will not struggle to penetrate the dark veil.” — Benjamin Disraeli

I burn to set the imprison’d wranglers free,
And give them voice and utterance once again.
Now stir the fire, and close the shutters fast,
Let fall the curtains, wheel the sofa round,
And while the bubbling and loud-hissing urn
Throws up a steamy column, and the cups
That cheer but not inebriate
So let us welcome peaceful evening in.

~~ William Cowper (1731-1800) ~~

~~ The Task, Book iv, The Winter Evening, Line 34 ~~

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I feel fortunate I was able to finish this at all; ’twas interrupted a myriad of times by breaks and confusion, as much of it was completed during a bout with nerve static, for about two hours just prior to the midnight madness here on the Left Coast of the Northern Hemisphere’s continent with the Pacific Ocean to the East, aka, Amurrica…. ‘Twasn’t much fun, but I still managed to fall out in time to be awakened by all the fireworks at midnight… of which there were a LOT, much more than on the Fourth of July, or any previous years I’ve been here…. I think the world let off a lot of steam last night…. I hope so, maybe it will put off the apocalypse for a day or two….

Hope springs eternal, even when there is little or no reason for it to exist at all…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, for as long as I can keep this up, and civilization continues at a level capable of supporting the use of electric power, and the internet….. a level which is at great risk, I’m afraid…. Well, Happy New Year, anyway….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

She smiles a lot, for a Vulcan….

Posted on December 26, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Ordinary people know little of the time and effort it takes to learn to read.

I have been eighty years at it, and have not reached my goal.”

~~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) ~~

The picture is one almost everyone has seen by now; I got this copy from the London Daily Yell (Telegraph), in their Pictures of the Day feature. It shows the Grand Canyon, filled up by a fog that completely covers the floor of the canyon, as seen from one of the vantage points somewhere in Arizona, or Colorado…. Great shot, but, I couldn’t help thinking about how strange it must be to be on the floor of the canyon when it happens…. Talk about eerie!…. I bet the Indian ghosts who live there have a great time, running about, scaring the tourists….

There…. I’ve started a Pearl with an intro that doesn’t rant…. In addition, it never comes close to anything resembling nonsense…. At the same time, I managed to fulfill attribution requirements, and still get a mild joke in there…. Not bad for a totally new concept for me…. an introduction that actually starts the day out with some relatively common sense, rather than the usual nonsense, or, the overflowing angst that often takes over my fingers on the keyboard. I doubt it comes up to any of the more popular blogs out there, but, it’s a change for here, so, I can deal…. Not that it matters if I don’t, but, like anyone, I don’t like to look foolish any more than necessary….

Probably a little late on that, aren’t I? Oh well, it goes right along with how my week has gone, overall…. There have been some moments of grace and pleasure, such as when my kids came over to visit, and I talked to a friend on the phone, but, mostly, it’s been a week of agonizing pain, leading to the consumption of so much chemical help, my mind turns to mush, or I get sleepy, or just plain can’t think…. For me, THAT is terror…. Yesterday, Christmas, I spent sleeping, or sitting at the comp, staring at the screen, wondering if I had the wherewithal to even watch a movie, or wandering around, trying not to fall into a stupor….

Not my most productive day, though I did manage to get some of this Pearl finished, which will help this morning go faster…. I’m hoping I didn’t annoy anyone out there, by my absence, or any inadvertent failure to fulfill a given promise…. I don’t remember if I gave any, but, I couldn’t be sure of anything I did, or didn’t do that I said I would, so, mea apologia, to anyone to whom I displayed unintentional disrespect…. I can only plead temporary insanity (clinically speaking, severe pain can cause such….), and hope for forgiveness….

On that pathetic little note, I think it’s best if I get on with today’s mess; I have a feeling much of it shows how badly my PTSD has been affecting me this week; it always manages to rear its ugly head when I’m having this much pain…. I suppose it just wants to feel like it’s part of the party, but, I could do without a lot of the tears, and the sudden onset of deep emotional reaction to rather mild stimuli…. such as bursting into tears over a passage in a book that speaks of some powerful interaction between people…. Nobody is here to see, but, it is embarrassing, nonetheless for that….

Ah well, the hell with it…. Be aware, ffolkes, this one may have a few bits of smearing, from the tears getting into the ink, so, if watching someone display inner conflict is disturbing to you, maybe you should just watch the video, (picked, in part, for its ‘lightness’….), and call it a day…. It’s bound to be different tomorrow, right? Right…. Well, we hope so…. No…. It’s too important, and more than mere hope is needed…. We are counting on it being different tomorrow, because today, quite frankly, sucks….

Shall we Pearl?

“All things are the same,–familiar in enterprise, momentary in endurance, coarse in substance. All things now are as they were in the day of those whom we have buried.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, ix, 14

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One of the sure signs I’m getting old seems to be how much time I spend in thinking of past events, and bygone years; one of the sure symptoms of that is the old material I’ve been putting here, as blasts from my past…. If y’all are at all perceptive regarding psychological motivation, the shows I put here will tell you a lot about my inner workings, and what I find important in life….

How can that be surmised from all this? Easy…. remember that each of these shows I have termed my favorites are part of what I grew up believing, or, at least, the stuff society WANTED me to believe…. so, it all makes up a part of my inner picture…. In my case, it’s a pretty esoteric, exotic picture, but, hey, somebody has to exist at the fringes of society, right?…. Right…. Enjoy!….

Gidget’s Summer Reunion

http://youtu.be/_DtcS1BHito

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Yesterday, for me, was a wash, in almost every respect…. I felt absolutely miserable for the best part of the day, with various body parts, and brain sections trading painful cries for attention; I was reduced to coping by cutting myself off from all human contact, (lest I do, or say, or not say, or not do, something I’d regret at a later date….), and, consuming large amounts of pain relieving substances, of various strengths and chemical compositions, necessitating the use of a variety of methods of ingestion/consumption…. a long winded way to say I drugged myself into insensibility for the entire day. The only computer time I spent was to search for material to fill in Pearls for a while, as I know this onset of my PTSD is one that may last a while; I fell into a pretty deep hole, and I’m not yet all the way out….

Much of that time was spent in a state of introspection re: my life, and the darkest moments in the past; this, naturally, leads to thoughts of how those times contributed to my present state of affairs…. The following is an older piece I wrote, during a period when many of the same issues were circling in my head… It’s a bit of a self-confession, so, if honest feelings dismay you, feel free to go on without reading….

From 9/18/2012:

Often of late, I find myself staring at the screen with a vacant expression, listening to the patter that passes for thoughts in my head. I can sit like this for a long time, just meandering here and there in my memory, re-living good and bad moments from what has turned out to be a lot more years than I ever thought about, really. Until I became 60, I had never thought about how it would feel to be that age, a discovery that surprised me to a certain degree.

But, as I thought about it just now, I realized that I really had not considered what I might be doing in my 60’s, either as a career, or as a person. Part of the surprise, I know, is connected to the fact that I am currently without a life-partner, as the one(s) I chose as my supposed mate(s) seem to have chosen to be elsewhere. This state, of living alone, was not part of my plan……

I had thought to be sharing all the joy, and all the pain that my life has brought me, with a person who I thought was as committed to that as I. Instead, I am left wondering, as Tom Robbins put it in “Skinny Legs and All”, “How do you make Love stay?” His premise is is based on the idea that love is easy to find, but impossible to keep, given the craziness of the modern world, and the state of confusion and angst that seems to be the legacy of everyone these days.

I’m not sure I completely agree with his final assessment, but I can see how it came to him, having had many similar experiences in my years. I hope he is wrong, and there are still people out there who can actually give their word to someone else, and mean to keep it….. If not, then the world is beyond hope, to my way of thinking, and we may as well just give up….

Of course, there is still that small part of me that won’t do that; I’m not sure if I should call it being stubborn, or stupid. Maybe it is what Emily calls Hope, that will not die easily. Whatever it is, it keeps me getting out of bed every day, with the view in mind to see what the world has to offer, whether it is more BS like I’ve been putting up with now for a few years, or whether there is some sort of justice to the world, and I’ll soon meet, or get together with, a person with whom I can share all of what I have inside me to give, and who will live up to whatever promises we can make to each other.

And if not, well, I guess I’ll just keep flirting with the young lady at the coffee shop, and listen to her talk about her boyfriends, smiling to myself, grieving for might have been, and hoping for what might yet be…..

Leave the past behind;
leave the future behind;
leave the present behind.
Thou are then ready to go to the other shore.
Never more shalt thou return to a life that ends in death.

~~ The Dhammapada (c. B.C. 300) ~~

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

I also found this, a poem that fits in with the theme above like they were made to go together….

From 9/21/2012:

Playing by the Rules

All my days I looked for love,
And found it everywhere I looked.
The years were joyous and fully booked
Seemingly by command from Above.

In return for all of the beauty in Life I found
I played life by the Rules that we all know,
It was from my father I learned the how,
Honest love, given freely, hand-fasted, gladly bound.

It seemed a while as if it were all real,
that fulfillment and contentment could be
as real as the children given us to oversee,
to teach them of Life and Love, and how to feel.

Then storm clouds of grievous change arrived, unbidden
Insidious, deceitful, three steps forward, then one back.
Tearing holes in our beautiful cloth, a heart heard to crack,
Gleeful demons eating life’s bounty, fangs dirty, and hidden.

Pain and sorrow grew, in defiance of all I tried,
Sanctuary turned into a reluctant scene of ritual battle,
Love still lives, but is herded like doomed and pitiful cattle,
While the keening of my soul sounds as if I’d cried.

Betrayal in love is, allow me to assure, no small pain to take.
Time has no power to reduce its place in my heart or soul.
My truest love became a stranger, a powerfully sharp toll,
Solitude has become my lot, no killing time for necessity’s sake.

Love yet surrounds me, everywhere; I’m not one of those fools…
Children are forgiving, I’m glad to be able to say,
They show me life’s solid purpose, the old, right way,
I guess I don’t know any other, than to Play it by the Rules.

~~ gigoid ~~

Okay, ffolkes, this one hurt, a lot, but it had to come out…. I’ve been in tears for an hour now, first drowning in feeling that arose from inside, unasked, then letting those feelings out onto the screen, and they’re not going to stop anytime soon, I can tell. This is an old, old pain, and apparently has been hiding for a while, buried much deeper than I had previously given credence to; it fucking HURTS!….. It’s a damn good thing that I’m an optimist, and too bloody stubborn to give up believing in Life, and all that is good and beautiful in it…. that’s all I can say…. otherwise, I’d be damned depressed right now….. I gotta go…..

Short note from 2014: Sadly, yesterday was a repeat performance of all this implies… and, as for the last paragraph, well, all I can say is, ditto….

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

I often compose pearls of virtual wisdom with the intention of helping others live life according to their own best potential, according to what I have learned in my life…. None of the pearls I’ve ever composed gives more good, solid advice on how to accomplish that purpose, to live life with dignity, and honor, than the following list…. If you don’t believe me, just compare this to how YOU live, and see which one makes more sense….

(The simplest way to test the validity of each piece of advice? As you read each suggestion, ask yourself, a) is it good advice?, and b) how often do I do this?….)…

~~ Things We Can Learn from a Dog ~~

1. Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joy ride.

2. Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.

3. When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.

4. When it’s in your best interest, always practice obedience.

5. Let others know when they’ve invaded your territory.

6. Take naps and always stretch before rising.

7. Run, romp, and play daily.

8. Eat with gusto and enthusiasm.

9. Be loyal.

10. Never pretend to be something you’re not.

11. If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.

12. When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently.

13. Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.

14. Thrive on attention and let people touch you.

15. Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.

16. On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.

17. When you are happy, dance around and wag your entire body.

18. No matter how often you are criticized, don’t buy into the guilt thing and pout.

Run right back and make friends.

It all sounds pretty sensible to me…. Also, I defy ANYONE to look at this picture, (stolen from Facebook, many moons ago….), and NOT say “Awwww”…..

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

Okay, well, it’s done. Beyond that, I make no implied promises. In fact, I’m going to take this opportunity to take my leave. while I still have a neuron or two working; maybe I can get something done today, other than sleep, or moan…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if only to make another futile attempt to save my sanity…. Maybe, tonight, if I work it right, I might actually sleep past 2 AM….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

“Yes” said the dragon. “I prefer virgins”….

Posted on December 19, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

And here, poor fool, with all my lore

I stand no wiser than before.

~~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~~

Today’s picture is one of my own, taken at a beautiful park in Victoria, B.C., while stopping there as part of a cruise to Alaska. ‘Twas a wonderful park, wide-open, with lots of small wildlife, unafraid of the few humans walking about the grounds, going about their business on the fine, if cold, morning we rode through on a tricycle, powered by our guide, a local lad with strong legs and excellent wind. On a three to four hour trip, he hauled two of us around the city, up a few decent hills, covering about five or six miles altogether, and still looked fresh…. Ah, youth!….

Having thus explored today’s opening photo, we’ll go on to the rest of today’s mess without further delay…. What’s the hurry? Oh, well, nothing much…. Typing is painful today, and my “head’s all empty, & I don’t care”… So, I’ll be archive diving for most of this one, without any guilt at all…. Hey, it’s the holiday season, and I can take a day off if I want to…. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it….

In fact, I’m going to do it without any of the usual angst or discussion around the emptiness and sheer drudgery of making the intro, and head right off into the archives… Well, after picking an appropriately fresh video for your viewing enjoyment, anyway…. I’m hoping y’all won’t get used to this, though, as I can’t guarantee it will be like this again…. For now, just hang on, because this one will be short, but rough….

Shall we Pearl?

“No law or ordinance is mightier than understanding.” — Plato, Laws

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

Here is another of my favorite TV shows from my youth…. The hero in this Western was a true Knight, and, along with my father, provided much of the role modeling I took in as a boy…. Paladin WROTE the Rules….

Have Gun Will Travel Season 1 Full Episodes

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLu-eNGHZ8vvT-_YvXnPeOSHkkqh64BQ8j

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

Here is a relatively short discussion of Self Reliance, Emerson-style, from the archives…. This is pretty good, ffolkes, so, pay attention, if you please….

From 8/23/2012:

“No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature. Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my own constitution; the only wrong what is against it.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

I was about 15 or 16 years old when we first read this in English class, and I remember distinctly when it hit home. I was at home, studying the Essay on Self Reliance as homework. I remember how difficult it was to plow through Emerson’s style of writing, which is thick and convoluted; one must read slowly, and think about what has just been read, to fully ascertain the point he is making at the time. When I came across this line, and thought about it, I experienced an epiphany of understanding, and a lot of what he said in the essay became clear. Most simply put, he admonishes all to “Trust Yourself”…….

“I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever, in religion, in philosophy, in politics or in anything else, where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent. If I could not go to Heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all.” — Thomas Jefferson, Letter To Francis Hopkinson, Paris Mar. 13, 1789

Tom Jefferson lived prior to Emerson, but had a similar approach to life, and to thinking. Individualism could be said to be Jefferson’s God; to him, each man was responsible for making himself into what he wished to be, and the self-reliance so ably encouraged by Emerson came to him naturally. Though a Christian by choice, Jefferson constantly challenged the church authorities in his writing, accusing the priestly hierarchies of the same crimes for which I chastise them today, to wit: twisting the word of Jesus Christ, manipulation of the teachings, and power-seeking behaviors more suited to barbarian chieftains than priests. Tom saw clearly the need for the continued separation of church and state, as he firmly believed that combining the two would inevitably lead to the loss of liberty he feared, and for which he fought so hard.

As we can see today, he was right. He feared both the church leaders, and he feared the bankers and corporations. He wrote on numerous occasions of his lack of trust in those entities, as he clearly saw they were inimical to individual freedom, enemies who would eventually try to subvert the liberties we enjoy by slow encroachment. Guess what, ffolkes….. he was dead right. Between the “corporate personhood” enjoyed by the elite fat cats, and the brainwashing carried out on a daily basis by the churches, the public has been manipulated into willingly giving up most of their rights, for the sake of feeling safe. And why do they fear for their safety? Why, because the politicians, supported by the preachers, have convinced them that the rest of the world is out to get them, and take away what they have; for God’s sake, they’re heathens!…..

Much of the nonsense that is foisted upon the unsuspecting public would be less believable if more people believed as Emerson does, and made up their minds on their own. Instead, most folks give in to their laziness, and, unwilling to think for themselves, allow the preachers and pundits to fill their heads with lies and manipulations. This lack of personal responsibility is what is killing this country; only those who are unwary can be fooled, and one who takes responsibility for themselves cannot be fooled in that manner, for they are aware of the machinations that others will attempt, and react accordingly….. One can only hope that Emerson’s essay on Self Reliance becomes a best seller again, and people awaken from their self-induced state of somnolence…..

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

As threatened, here is another poem of mine from the archives…. Hey, I gave fair warning!…..

Funny Bones

Dreaming the way home, lost, unseen,
from the dance, where
he felt so free, and clean.
Sorrow couldn’t find him there.

Waiting, filling up the hours, hoping,
some connection can be found
keeping busy as bees, coping.
Love creeps in, without a sound.

Fat days, skinny nights, passionate
visions of semi-conscious entities,
cannot seem to fully illuminate
or hide our innermost frailties.

Resolute, find the perfect sense, codify
simple rules with every breath
never waiting, anxious to modify.
fear nothing in life, not even Death.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

The following pearl is a nine-star comment on Life at Large, with a tilt toward how to do so with some dignity, or, at minimum, a degree of aplomb…. Really, that’s what it says…. Honest….

“Be not as one that hath ten thousand years to live; death is nigh at hand: while thou livest, while thou hast time, be good.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, iv, 17

“Virtue knowing no base repulse, shines with untarnished honour; nor does she assume or resign her emblems of honour by the will of some popular breeze.” — Horace (B.C. 65-8)

“A wise man never refuses anything to necessity.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 540

“The mightiest rivers lose their force when split up into several streams.” — Ovid

“Tell the truth, and run.” — Yugoslav proverb

“He knows not when to be silent who knows not when to speak.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 930

“Life is too short to be taken seriously.” — Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

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

“Certainly the game is rigged. Don’t let that stop you; if you don’t bet, you can’t win.” — Lazarus Long

See? I’ve been telling y’all for years…. it’s all in the wrist….

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

It is probably a good thing I don’t do this for anyone but myself; if I did, I would, no doubt, be liable for any damage I may have caused, whether inadvertently, or intentionally…. My own rules dictate I take responsibility, but, I do so with the known caveat, to wit: it’s a joke, damn it! Just because it isn’t always funny, doesn’t mean it’s not a joke…. believe me. I know. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, unless someone talks me out of it….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Visions of twisted shorts….

Posted on December 10, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“A man who fears suffering is already suffering from what he fears.”

~~ Montaigne ~~

In the past two weeks, or a bit more, I’ve been experiencing an entirely new kind of pain, to add to the already ample amount I have each day from my back, and hips…. The weather seems to aggravate the arthritis, so, during the times when the barometer is reflecting the conditions which bring us precipitation, my hands, shoulders, and skeleton at large have begun to ache, severely, for long periods of time, ultimately reaching what seems to be a crescendo of pain, where my entire skeleton sings to me of its agony, in no uncertain terms…..

This pain is quite rude, too, in that it pretty much ignores anything I take for it…. The only help seems to come from edible cannabinoids, which is problematic, in that the dose needed to deter some of the effects of the aching joints is sufficient to make me very drowsy, and ready to sleep…. That might be okay, but, it happens in the middle of the day just as often as at night, and I can only sleep so much before even THAT causes more pain, from lying down too long….

Getting these Pearls done has been a nightmare of some proportion, much of the time…. I work on them a day ahead, doing as much as I can before the morning, so I don’t have to do much but write a few lines of introduction, then cut & paste the rest into the right formats for email, and for WordPress…. It seems to me to be a choppy way to compose, but, it’s been working, mostly, so, and, since I don’t have any choice, I’m good with it, as long as my readers are…. Not that there are so many of them it would cause a huge reaction, should I cease to write altogether…. my reason for writing isn’t for them, anyway…. I still don’t know where I’d be if not for this blog; getting a lot of this stuff out of my head has kept me sane for some time now….

So, why am I relating all this, which is probably TMI, anyway? I’m not sure, unless it’s to warn y’all I may not post every day from now on…. If I don’t, it will be because I am unable to write, not unwilling; I just wanted to make that clear…. It isn’t anything anyone should worry about; my pain is here to stay, so, it’s just something I must learn to deal with, no matter how bad it gets….. There is no cure for what ails me, as it goes along with aging…. and there’s no turning back the clock…. I don’t intend to let it keep me from doing what I want to do, so, I’m the one who must learn to cope with its effects….

That said, anyone out there who feels I should do things differently is welcome to say how; I probably won’t listen, but, you’re welcome to chime in with any suggestions you may have…. I’m of an age, and curmudgeon enough, I’ll most likely ignore anything that doesn’t fit in with what I already am doing, but, I’m compassionate enough to know it is well-intended, and will try not to make fun, or be derogatory in my responses…. It’s hard to be nice right now, much of the time, so, I do try to mitigate my responses to reflect less of my mood….

This much typing has taken me almost an hour, in short spurts, and I see I could keep going for almost ever…. but, I won’t…. I’ll mention that the picture, from Space.com, is an artist’s rendition of the Pluto research satellite, which NASA launched years ago; the craft has just been awakened from its hibernation to begin its research, as it is approaching the fly-by range of its cameras, coming ever closer to Pluto, and its companion moon/satellite, Charon after a long voyage from Earth orbit, through the entire solar system…. We humans are on the verge of real space travel, with the only question remaining the question of whether or not we will be extinct before we can get there….

For now, though, I’ve got a Pearl to finish, though it be made much of older, archived material…. which is all my hands will allow today….

Shall we Pearl?

“Slight not what’s near through aiming at what’s far.” — Euripides

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

Just a bit of easy listening to get me through the morning….

50 Golden Moments of Classical Music – The Best of Baroque – Klassische Musik

http://youtu.be/hyHl0Ysteg8

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

Earth felt the wound; and Nature from her seat,
Sighing through all her works, gave signs of woe
That all was lost.

~~ John Milton (1608-1674) — Paradise Lost, Book ix, Line 782~~

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/09/us-usa-cia-torture-idUSKBN0JM24I20141209?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/dec/09/truth-guantanamo-torture-abu-wael-dhiab

Due to my inability to write enough to rant today, here is a shortened rant/old-school pearl from the archives, to highlight the idiocy/insanity implied in the above two articles, just two of hundreds on the subject in the news yesterday…. SIGH…. Same shit, different day….

From 8/9/2012:

Since I have already ranted, I’ll save you from another right away by giving this old school pearl…. These quotations all point in the same direction, and will lead eventually to yet another fine reason to mistrust the beloved ruling class…..

Then came the churches,
then came the schools,
then came the lawyers,
then came the rules.

~~ Mark Knopfler ~~

“A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies.” — Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), “The Picture of Dorian Grey”, 1891

“People are always talking about tradition, but they forget we have a tradition of a few hundred years of nonsense and stupidity, that there is a tradition of idiocy, incompetence and crudity.” — Hugo Demartini, in “Contemporary Artists”, 1977

“People are very open-minded about new things — as long as they’re exactly like the old ones.” — Charles F. Kettering

The Government is my shepherd, I shall not work. It maketh me to lie down on good jobs. It leadeth me beside the still factories. It destroyeth my initiative; It leadeth me in the paths of the parasite for politics sake; Yea, though I walk in the valley of Deficit Spending, I will fear no evil, For the Government is with me; its doles and its vote-getters they comfort me. It prepareth an Economic Utopia for me by appropriating the earnings of my grandchildren. It filleth my head with baloney, my inefficiency runneth over; Surely the Government shall care for me all the days of my life And I shall live in a Fool’s Paradise forever. — The Government’s 23rd Psalm

“By definition, a government has no conscience. Sometimes it has a policy, but nothing more.” — Albert Camus

No matter how you vote, a government still gets elected. — Smart Bee

That should about do it, I think….. if nothing else, one may get a clear picture of how I feel about government…..

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

To go along with the above (not a) rant, and today’s apparent theme(s), here is another fine poem from Ogden Nash, telling it like it is….

À Bas Ben Adhem

My fellow man I do not care for.
I often ask me, What’s he there for?
The only answer I can find
Is, Reproduction of his kind.
If I’m supposed to swallow that,
Winnetka is my habitat.
Isn’t it time to carve Hic Jacet
Above that Reproduction racket?

To make the matter more succinct:
Suppose my fellow man extinct.
Why, who would not approve the plan
Save possibly my fellow man?
Yet with a politician’s voice
He names himself as Nature’s choice.

The finest of the human race
Are bad in figure, worse in face.
Yet just because they have two legs
And come from storks instead of eggs
They count the spacious firmament
As something to be charged and sent.

Though man created cross-town traffic,
The Daily Mirror, News and Graphic,
The pastoral fight and fighting pastor,
And Queen Marie and Lady Astor,
He hails himself with drum and fife
And bullies lower forms of life.

Not that I think much depends
On how we treat our feathered friends,
Or hold the wrinkled elephant
A nobler creature than my aunt.
It’s simply that I’m sure I can
Get on without my fellow man.

~~ Ogden Nash ~~

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

This is the only fresh pearl today; even this was picked out in that haphazard fashion necessitated by dealing with unrelenting pain…. It didn’t come out too badly for all that, I think…. but, you can make your own judgment on that, can’t you?….

“Impartiality is a pompous name for indifference, which is an elegant name for ignorance.” — G. K. Chesterton, The Speaker, 12/15/00

“Our virtues and vices spring from one root.” — Goethe (1749-1832)

“The person who knows how to laugh at himself will never cease to be amused.” — Shirley Maclaine

“It is not the one with many possessions who is rich, but the one who has no needs.” — Philoxenos

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

“A noble spirit disdaineth the malice of fortune; his greatness of Soul is not to be cast down.” — Akhenaton? (c. B.C. 1375)

“Most powerful is he who has himself in his own power.” — Seneca

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

I suppose I should finish this…. By the time I finished that last pearl, I had to take a long break, to feel my hands again…. Never mind…. I’m done, and I can’t, at this point, say whether or not I’ll be back tomorrow…. I hope so, but, I’m not going to get my hopes up…. if you know what I mean…. See ya, ffolkes, some time or another…. maybe….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Monotheism typically requires optimistic pessimism, and pink underwear….

Posted on October 9, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem.”

(Entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity.)

~~ William of Occam, Occam’s Razor ~~

———————————-

“Some people still think you need shaving cream to use Occam’s Razor.”

~~ Sardonic Bee ~~

Miranda, Moon of Uranus, photo taken by Voyager, from an article on Space.com

It seems the battle waging inside my head is leaking over into my process; not only do I have nothing in my mind, but, the vast power of that nothing terrifies me. For over three years now, I’ve used the process of creating this blog to keep me relatively sane, but, sanity seems to be receding in my rear-view mirror, as I type…. For some days now, my mind has taken me for a retrospective ride through my memories, not always to the most comforting destinations therein…. All of us, even those of us who consider ourselves to be Warriors of the Light, know we have failed in life at certain moments; we all have places in our memory which we don’t care to remember often, as they are proof of our weakness….

My problem isn’t that there are too many of them, though, some might say so…. they, however, usually are people who don’t have a clue as to what I’ve lived through, so I figure what they may say doesn’t count, and, in fact, shows their own ignorance & lack of morality more than it does any such failures on my part…. No, I’m talking about memories which we wish we could change, where our actions, and the decisions made, were just wrong, and weak, and, worst of all, may have harmed another creature, whether human or otherwise…. Things we can only admit to ourselves, in the privacy of our own minds…. things so egregiously immoral that we condemn ourselves for having done them….

But, nobody can change the past, and, after a while, weeping over past mistakes gets old, as well as futile…. I KNOW that there are many things in Life we cannot change; the most obvious of those is the past. Feeling bad over past errors in judgment is about as futile as it gets in this dimension, under these laws of universal nature…. and, as long as I continue to whip myself over stuff I can’t change, I’ll continue to suffer these paroxysms of emotionalism and angst…..

I am feeling somewhat stronger, and better, because I’m closer to being able to live with my mistakes again; thanks to the time I spent in therapy, I know how to get through it better, to regain my center, and my balance there…. But, this time, it has leaked over into this process more than in the past, so, that, I think, is something to work on….

All I know at this point is, I’m tired of trying to type while tears are making it tough to see the keyboard, so, it’s got to stop. Putting these Pearls together has been my salvation; I refuse to give it up, even if it does become more work than play…. I guess the fact that it can serve as both is what makes it so valuable to me…. but, that’s another of those things I don’t want to look at too closely, lest it disappear altogether for being exposed….

Now, maybe the picture I chose today will make more sense to you…. Just look at Miranda, the poor wee thing…. a moon of a huge, eccentric planet, with a tilted axis, and a massively elliptical orbit, that over the millennia has pulled, and twisted, and turned her insides out with gravitational stresses. Consequently, the face she shows to the universe has turned into a horrible caricature of a moon, with lines, cracks, and twisted features running in all directions. For such a beautiful name, her face is scarred and terribly disfigured…. as I feel inside…. But, it’s okay, because, I know I don’t need to sweat making any changes in the world…. I only need to make changes within me, as necessary and appropriate….

Shall we Pearl?….

“How are things? Just as they are.” ~~ Smart Alec Bee

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

What we have below is a pearl composed of elementary ideas re: the American experiment…. If I were to rant, these would all be part of it, in the sense of being all of one theme, of how it is supposed to work… The first thing to remember, is to acknowledge the veracity of the first pearl, just below, by A. F. Tyler, a truism of historical perspective with which we must view all the rest, including the actual historical events we have observed since the inception of our nation…. We must never forget to place the form of government we have in its proper perspective, to keep track of the bigger picture in which it exists, in space, and time…. To wit:

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s great civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage.” — Alexander Frazer Tyler (1748-1813), — The Decline and Fall of the Athenian Republic

With this in mind, we see the following pearls/ideas become even more important, as we realize our own duty, if we wish to have ANY of the freedoms enjoyed by our ancestors. In my lifetime, I’ve witnessed our society progress from abundance into selfishness; we are well on our way to complacency now, as indicated by society’s general refusal to acknowledge the danger of climate change, which is only a PART of the environmental issues with which we are threatened… Given the state of the environment, we may, or may not, have enough time to ever get to the point of apathy, much less dependency…. Nonetheless, if we pay heed to these pearls, it certainly can’t hurt, and it could very well help….

“The voice of protest, of warning, of appeal is never more needed than when the clamor of fife and drum, echoed by the press and too often by the pulpit, is bidding all men fall in step and obey in silence the tyrannous word of command. Then, more than ever, it is the duty of the good citizen not to be silent.” — Charles Eliot Norton, True Patriotism, 1898

“Millions of sensible people are too high-minded to concede that politics is almost always the choice of the lesser evil. “Tweedledum and Tweedledee,” they say, “I will not vote.” Having abstained, they are presented with a President who appoints the people who are going to rummage around in their lives for the next four years. Consider all the people who sat home in a stew in 1968 rather than vote for Hubert Humphrey. They showed Humphrey. Those people who taught Hubert Humphrey a lesson will still be enjoying the Nixon Supreme Court when Tricia and Julie begin to find silver threads among the gold and the black.” — Russell Baker, “Ford without Flummery”

“That truth cannot be material in any respect, is contrary to the nature of things. No tribunal, no codes, no systems can repeal or impair this law of God, for by his eternal laws it is inherent in the nature of things … It is evident that if you cannot apply this mitigated doctrine for which I speak … you must for ever remain ignorant of what your rulers do. I can never think this ought to be; I never did think the truth was a crime; I am glad the day is come in which it is to be decided; for my soul has ever abhorred the thought, that a free man dared not speak the truth.” — Alexander Hamilton

“…I am opposed to all attempts to license or restrict the arming of individuals…I consider such laws a violation of civil liberty, subversive of democratic political institutions, and self-defeating in their purpose.” — Robert A. Heinlein, in a 1949 letter concerning “Red Planet”

“What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms!” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), Letter to Colonel W. S. Smith, 1787

“We have a presidential election coming up. And I think the big problem, of course, is someone will win.” — Barry Crimmins

“He serves the state best, who opposes it the most.” — Smart Bee

Well, there you go…. so be it. gigoid has spoken….

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

We all grew up with the Beach Boys, so, no introduction is necessary, I think…. just enjoy…..

The Beach Boys, 50th Anniversary

http://youtu.be/1ldm-_jKKes

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Again today, especially today, we’ll keep this in-house, to keep from affecting anyone else’s reputation….

Dreaming of Calliope

La belle dame sans merci speaks aloud through endless night,
torturing dreams, with powerful words and stentorian phrases.
Manifest visions bathed in unbearable grace and light,
destroying all direction, standing lost, in unfathomable mazes.

Fate plays a part, one that will never face denial,
as fear and courage eternally vie for ascendancy.
Conflict becomes valid, gifting strength in open trial,
but honest emotion wears no costume so fancy.

Blood, sweat, and tears stroll on avenues of gold,
unlikely heroines heralding as in ancient lore;
Sharp, competent knives cut through tales untold,
eternally shifting reality past the naked shore.

Drifting toward origin, bereft of mandate or cause,
finished, nay, abandoned, tied with a figurative bow.
No simple gift from muses to give comfort or pause,
save that all we need to know, we already know…..

~~ gigoid ~~

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

All in all, the pearls below are not bad advice…. but, like all advice, it’s worth what one pays for it, exactly; for it to be of any value at all, one must pay heed….

“We shall not grow wiser before we learn that much that we have done was very foolish.” — F. A. Hayek

“Never try to reason the prejudice out of a man. It wasn’t reasoned into him, and cannot be reasoned out.” — Sydney Smith

Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life. The only completely consistent people are dead.” — Aldous Huxley (1904-1963)

“In the midst of this chopping sea of civilized life, such are the clouds and storms and quicksands and thousand-and-one items to be allowed for, that a man has to live, if he would not founder and go to the bottom and not make his port at all, by dead reckoning, and he must be a great calculator indeed who succeeds. Simplify, simplify.” — Henry David Thoreau, Walden

“I love to doubt as well as know.’ — Dante

“Most recently, I’ve read so much about the dangers of smoke and drink that I have finally decided to give up reading altogether.” — variation on a theme by Henny Youngman

“Devote each day to the object then in time and every evening will find something done.” — Goethe (1749-1832)

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Well, ’tisn’t evening, but, ’tis done, and I am content with that….. It gives me the rest of the day to try to find more ways to keep myself out of the pit…. I’m sure most of y’all are familiar with the pit…. you know, the deep one we fall into when we give in to the pain in our minds…. Fortunately for us all, there are a myriad of methods to keep from tumbling into its depths; the trick is to have one or more of them handy when the pit materializes right in front of our running feet…. See y’all tomorrow ffolkes, and, that is the best, most hopeful thing I can say…..

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Bound for Bohemia….

Posted on October 7, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“One ought, every day at least,

to hear a little song,

read a good poem,

see a fine picture,

and, if it were possible,

to speak a few reasonable words.”

~~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~~

Since I never learned to speak, or read, or write in Latin, the soothing release of creating a poem in Virgilian hexameter is denied me; this is too bad, since I could use the bleed-off of some of this internal pressure. Beset on all sides, (for how does one escape one’s own memories?…), I have been withdrawing from the outer world, partly for my benefit, but, mostly to keep from inadvertently dumping on those who don’t deserve it, a nasty little habit to which just about everyone alive falls prey, at one point or another in Life. At least I’m old enough to see it coming, isolating myself until the danger passes….

My mind is being stubborn, though, and even staying away from the public as much as possible isn’t doing the trick; waves of dark memories keep assaulting me at odd moments, bringing with them the same passions they held when current, thanks to the now seemingly permanent stripping away of all my distance from them, a distance hard to build, and harder to maintain, apparently… It’s been a couple years since I felt this unstable…. and, I want to go on record as saying I don’t much like it…. a perfectly natural reaction, by the way….

That is my main problem, you see…. One of the psychiatrists I saw for a time told me once that I wasn’t really insane, so much as having a sane reaction to insane conditions in my life…. Not terribly helpful, other than as a directional pointer, but, it does make it a bit easier to accept, as being the only course of action available to keep myself sane…. It’s just that the sanity I’m experiencing resembles too closely the insanity I’ve also seen… more’s the pity….

So, I’m subsisting through each day, minute by torturous minute, trying desperately to find my center again…. It is an old, familiar search, but, sadly, needs to cover new ground each time I have to go looking for it… so, any maps or techniques I’ve managed to keep are not valid, or particularly useful in completing the search…. All the answers are to be found buried in new ground, which I first must find…. It sounds complicated, and, to an extent, it is… but, it’s also very simple, once I find the key, which is knowing not so much what to stop, but, where to look for something to distract me from the insistent remembrances that plague my waking hours…. i.e., finding that distance, between me and the pain, whether physical, or mental….

Ah, the hell with it, I’m just whining, so, fuck it…. I see a place we can break loose here, so, let’s take advantage of it while we can…..

Shall we Pearl?

Let us begin with a pearl that puts a very fine point on a core reason for the state of the world today, concerning how those who prey on others can bring themselves to do so, seemingly without conscience, or empathy of any kind….

“Alienation without must be accompanied by alienation within; that is the law for every social level, even individuals. To harm one’s fellows, even one’s enemies, harms you, takes away some essential element from your self-respect and self-image.” — Greg Bear

Or, as someone said, long ago, in a simpler time….

“It belongs to human nature to hate those you have injured.” — Tacitus (54-119 AD) — Agricola, 42

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

Having spent the last few days in conflict with myself, I accept there is no rant in me just now; one must be confident to spew….. As part of the battle, here is a piece from shortly after this blog was begun, with some words about some of what I’m dealing with…. You could easily skip this section today, as it is chiefly here to assuage my own needs…. But, it’s not a bad little pearl, so, read on, if you’ve got the time….

From 9/24/2011:

Ffolkes,
I once read an article or essay somewhere that made this claim: when we cry or feel deeply sad over the death of a loved one, we are really crying for ourselves, not for the departed. In at least one respect, that is true; the person who has passed away is no longer suffering, and presumably has gone on to a better place, so in truth we ought to be happy, not sad. But we are sad, because it hurts to know that one in whom we have placed our trust and love will not be around anymore for us to be with, to talk to, to enjoy. So in that sense we are crying for ourselves, in lamentation for lost love.

But, unlike the author of the piece I was reading, I believe that is okay. It is, if nothing else, a completely human reaction to feel pain at a loss, and to a certain extent our reaction may be called selfish; no one can deny that selfishness is purely human. But it is more than merely selfish, because humans are never just one thing at a time. We also feel our loss in other ways, and with other feelings.

There is relief, for the ending of whatever pain the loved one may have been experiencing. There may be guilt, too, for taking the presence of the loved one for granted, or for not telling them they were loved. All of these differing reactions, and the many more I haven’t mentioned, only prove our humanity more, for in spite of what some would have us believe, we are not simple creatures. The relationships we build throughout our lives are held together with a myriad of feelings, all relating to the other person and the time we have shared with them. Our feelings don’t occur alone; there are always more than only one, for when they occur, they engender other feelings, which will then cause another, and another, and so on.

These thoughts, and a million more, have been circling around in my head for about a day now, since my brother called yesterday to let me know that our mother had passed away at about 1:00 pm. It was not unexpected; she was 90 years-old, and had been in the hospital for a week after suffering a massive stroke. I am sad, of course, and will miss her very much, but in truth, I don’t think it has really hit me yet.

When my father passed away, 20 or more years ago, the full reaction didn’t come until weeks later, and I have the feeling that in this instance, it may be some time before I can grieve fully. It’s just so hard to accept their absence; there is never any real belief they are gone until one day, all one’s feelings just crash in at once. So, I have that to go through yet, which is okay by me. I have enough problems just now, and can’t really afford to fall apart at present.

Today’s Pearls were picked out before I heard about my Mom, and so have no particular point in light of that. They are. however, well able to make their own point…..

“A ‘No’ uttered from deepest conviction is better and greater than a ‘Yes’ merely uttered to please, or what is worse, to avoid trouble.” — Mahatma Gandhi

“He who is most slow in making a promise, is the most faithful in the performance of it.” — Rousseau

“Here I am in the POSTERIOR OLFACTORY LOBULE but I don’t see CARL SAGAN anywhere!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

“If you never assume importance you never lose it.” — Lao-tzu

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total oblivion. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me and turn my inner eye to follow its path. When the fear is gone, there will be nothing. Only I will remain.” — The Litany Against Fear (Frank Herbert, -Dune-, 1965)

“Before you speak, just remember that you will not be asked to explain what you did not say!” — Smart Bee

Such a fine group of Pearls really deserves some witty or profound remark in response, but I’m afraid that may be asking too much of my Muse today, so we’ll have to make do with this…..y’all take care out there….and don’t forget to tell the people you love that they are appreciated. Ya never know when they might not be there any more to tell…..

Note from 2014: Okay, grieving for today is done…. let’s go on, shall we?…..

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

I picked this out days ago; if you’ve never heard of this artist, I’m not surprised, but, am also disappointed, as he was a legendary performer, and songwriter, perfectly voicing the beliefs and feelings of the time he was performing…. He also is one of the very few artists to give it all up when he started to become famous; he didn’t like the way it was changing his life, so he retired, to a private existence, only re-emerging recently to give us a bit more of his music… This was one of his few live performances, before he retired….

Cat Stevens, Live in Williamsburg, Va., 1976

http://youtu.be/pFuL3_RmxII

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

One thing about angst; it can make me bleed words….

Tempered Flesh, with Blood

Tiresome, the darkness, sitting in the sun,
submissively balancing over the pit.
Quiet as old terror, each brick one by one
building crescendo, sans music, sans style, sans wit.
Shadows thrown offer speculative fiction,
earning respite from burgeoning miscellany.
Light’s presence offers potential benediction,
if not divine, perhaps, then, beautifully zany.

Hours pass in days, minutes in a week,
challenging Reality to argue, adding a subtle smirk.
One humbly submits in hope of grace, small respite to seek,
in spite of prescient insistence ’twill never work.
Wave upon wave crash against the bloodied shore,
wearing down all natural defense.
All light is extinguished, darkness evermore;
if preserving life and love, sin no more.

~~ gigoid ~~

I’m not certain it’s done, but, that’s all there is for now…. I have a feeling it will grow further; for now, it’s all I have in me….

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

Now we come to the freshes part of this pearl…. picked out yesterday, in the midst of the cacophony in my head, I cannot vouch for how it came out, though I do accept responsibility…. Try to enjoy it anyway, okay?….

“What then in the last resort are the truths of mankind? — They are the’ _irrefutable_ errors of mankind.” — Nietzsche

“Freedom of speech and freedom of action are meaningless without freedom to think. And there is no freedom of thought without doubt.” — Bergen Evans, The Natural History of Nonsense (1946)

“Human Kind cannot bear very much reality.” — T.S. Eliot, “Burnt Norton”

“To see what is right and not to do it, is want of courage.” — Confucius Analects

“We learn from experience that men never learn anything from experience.” — George Bernard Shaw

“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.” — Aldous Huxley

Far or forgot to me is near;
Shadow and sunlight are the same;
The vanished gods to me appear;
And one to me are shame and fame.
They reckon ill who leave me out;
When me they fly, I am the wings;
I am the doubter and the doubt,
And I the hymn the Brahmin sings.

~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~

“Brahma”

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

Before I forget, today’s first photo, of the beaver family, is another shot from the London Daily Telegraph Animal Pictures of the Week series. This one had a nice story: A young couple started observing two beavers in the wild, watching from a distance as they built their dam, had a baby, living their peaceful lives… After a couple years, the beavers became so accustomed to their presence, they allowed them to approach closer, to the point of greeting them whenever they came to visit, and posing for this picture…. It’s nice to see a story about something other than bombs, and rape, and police aggression…. hence, the inclusion here, as a reminder of something good in the world….

Thus far today, I have abused a surly security guard, two smarmy lab technicians, and one way-too-perky nurse, who dared address me prior to having coffee, but, I didn’t kill anyone while I was out, in spite of being caffeine-challenged…. Even when the sunshiny little perkette smiled at me & gave out with a classic cliche, (She actually said, “you’re alive!”, when I growled at her), I managed not to hit her with my stick, though sorely tempted. I did, however, reply to that statement with “Yeah, and not real f__ing happy about it, either!”, so, she went away with a bit less of a shine on her day…. I was sorry for it, but, it was her own fault for talking to me after I’d already growled a warning….

On that note, I’ll be leaving now, before I dump on somebody else…. See y’all tomorrow…. maybe…. I might have fled the country by then….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Sir! Curb your cellulite!….

Posted on September 12, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic.”

— Muad’dib, from Dune, by Frank Herbert

It was a tough choice, but, I’m sticking with the mouse…. This wee beastie is a Kangaroo mouse. Some photographer captured the image & sent it to the London Daily Yell (Telegraph), where it was included in their series of Weekly Animal Pictures. There are, no doubt, a number of people who, at this point, are thinking to themselves, “Why is he prattling on about a mouse, cute though it may be?” Pay them no mind; they are impatient, and deserve to wait. Instead, listen up….

The quote above, from Dune, was uttered by the character Muad’dib, which, in Fremen, the language of the people who gave him the name, means, approximately “Little old man of the desert” or “Teacher of boys”; it was the Fremen word/name for the type of mouse you see here, a co-denizen of the desert planet, Dune…. They called him that because the creatures were considered by them to be the ultimate survivors, able to thrive on the surface of Dune, in an environment that challenged the adaptability of every creature who lived there…. To survive, Fremen children were taught to emulate the habits of the mice, and to respect them as the teachers they were…

Why am I going with the mouse, rather than the brilliant quote, which would, obviously, make a perfect opening for a sober philosophical discussion of reality, and our manner of regarding it, or any number of related subjects? Easy….. which would YOU rather read? Yet another rant in the intro section, detailing one of the many horribly depressing issues we face as humans in a sick society, or a fluff piece about a terminally cute mouse? See, no-brainer, right? Right….

Now, the only question that remains is how to turn this fluff piece into an intro…. I had a few ideas originally, but, as usual with my planning ahead, it is now useless, as I can’t remember a single one of them…. Plus, the newest issue with my hands is surfacing, causing my left hand to go numb as I type… Oh, thrilling…

Oh, well, another little reminder from my abused body, of my poor decision at age 8, to become skilled at sports, at least as much as learning in classes, thus determining the course of my athletic involvement, which eventually led me into the martial arts…. and, a lifetime of physical activity, much of which stressed my body to its personal limits on a daily basis…. Which is what I am now paying for, in early onset of age-related conditions, and, quite simply, a world of hurt….

Ah well, I have drugs, and more drugs, and a long-time habit of being able to ignore much of the pain, by focusing intensely on whatever my mind is chewing on at the moment….There are times, of course, when the pain is stronger than my focus and will, but, fortunately, they are, thus far, not too frequent….. and, it passes off, eventually… As long as that remains true, I’ll be content to go on as I am, in pain, but, not debilitated to the point it interferes with my wants and desires…. It IS causing a bit of adjustment, and flexibility of planning, but, hey, that’s a piece of cake for a retired executive assistant….

I see now I’ve managed to whine, and meander in my head to a point where we can jump off this bandwagon, and get on with the rest of this mess… I am thinking, as well, it’s probably a good thing, because I can’t see me winding my way to anything particularly gripping by continuing in this vein…. So, I think it’s time to boogie on down…. whatever that means these days…

Shall we Pearl?…..

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.”

— The Litany Against Fear, a Bene-Gesserit lesson, from Dune, by Frank Herbert

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

“Do not be angry with me if I tell you the truth.” — Socrates (470?-399 B.C.)

Yesterday, I found quite a lot of material about which I would normally rant; in keeping with my new policy, instead, I’ve gathered some of the links to the articles that stimulated either my outrage, my sorrow, my pity, or whatever rantable material was found… Think of this as, sort of, a RSS feed, without having to set up any connections…. and with parameters that are only known to my subconscious mind…. Trust me, it’ll be better than a rant, even IF I end up having to throw in a comment or two, as is my wont with this type of pearl…. I’m also working on avoiding typos, which have been annoying me no end of late….

For now, forget all that, just read, and think, and, if necessary, or just desired, feel free to comment on any of them… I’ll get to a response within a few hours or so, hopefully; and, always, eventually…. Enjoy!….

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/09/towards-internet-nation

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/09/senators-and-other-experts-appeals-court-nsas-phone-records-program-massive

At the time of the inclusion of the following list in this pearl, these were the most popular stories being read by the SFGATE readers on 8/11/2014 at their home page, at http://www.sfgate.com/….. where, if you like, you can find all of the links to the stories in the list…. It’s just a bit pathetic, wouldn’t you agree, in re: what the subject matter, as the headlines denote, implies about the taste, and the intelligence, of the average readers on the site? I’d say that is patently obvious, without my usual dose of doubt, but, then, we all know I’m a cynic…. This list, though, is pretty compelling evidence, to my mind….

    49ers suspend announcer Ted Robinson two games for…
    ‘Scarf Guy’ steals show at Apple keynote
    Bay Area boasts top counties in California
    What was that mystery mega-yacht in San Francisco Bay?
    Frank Gore and Bruce Miller believe running game can improve
    Best and worst of New York Fashion Week
    La Taqueria in San Francisco named America’s Best Burrito

Below, I’ve placed a trio of the more “serious” pieces of journalism than those on the list, from the same site, which show well the prejudices and flaws in the media moguls who run the site; they always take a very obvious company line when talking about any political or foreign policy subjects, parroting and supporting whatever the administration is trying to get the public to believe….

This site also tends to get into the old “yellow journalism” sensationalism crap, with headlines screaming of danger from this, that, or the other, labeling them with hyperbolic adjectives, screaming of extreme dangers, only to read the actual statements made, and learn it’s no big deal at all, and is unlikely to cause any real problems… Apparently, though, the SFGATE news director felt that wouldn’t draw any readers, so they “pumped it up” so it could create feelings of panic in the gullible…. The link to which I refer is the first one; check it out, and realize, if you will, this sort of thing happens all the time, everywhere, whenever they feel they can get away with it….

www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Scientists-Extreme-solar-storm-heading-to-Earth-5746629.php

There…. Do you see what it says on the link? “Scientists: Extreme solar storm heading to Earth” Once you’ve clicked over to the article, the following excerpt is what you will find, after a couple of paragraphs of basic information stretching….

“New calculations from satellite data show that the worst of the energetic particles streaming from the sun likely will go north or above Earth this time, Berger said late Wednesday…..So while the power grid may see fluctuations because the storm will cause changes in Earth’s magnetic field, it won’t knock power systems off line, Berger said. It may cause slight disturbances in satellites and radio transmissions but nothing major…..”We’re not scared of this one,” Berger said.”

Did you catch that? Headline: reason for panic trumpeted… and, the supporting quote? “We’re not scared of this one,” Berger said. ‘

Brilliant, eh?

http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/Ferguson-reforms-met-with-rancor-at-city-meeting-5745305.php?cmpid=hp-hc-nationworld

http://www.sfgate.com/news/us/article/Changes-surround-9-11-anniversary-commemoration-5747443.php?cmpid=hp-hc-nationworld

I often find it instructive to compare the news coverage by the media from different countries; my favorite site to visit overseas is the UK Guardian, which is the agency responsible for publishing the revelations regarding spying by the NSA, leaked to them by the patriot, Edward Snowden, to bring the illegal activities out into the public arena…. Below are two links, which cover two of the subjects from above…

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/sep/10/nipplegate-dethroned-net-neutrality-fcc-public-comments

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/10/ferguson-courts-system-fines-residents-council

Differences found? Yes, a few, just on the surface… In the Guardian, there were four links on the front page to stories connected to the Net Neutrality issue, of which this link was one. There were two other articles, and one op/ed piece on that one subject IN A FOREIGN NEWSPAPER!…. On SFGATE, there was one fluff piece on it…. EFF is one of the organizations leading the legal battle against the corporations in that battle, so, they are very involved in that, and many other areas involving computers and the internet….

Another difference is in the 911 coverage; the American article is emotionally manipulative, and attempts to re-establish the fear generated by the original act, by, in the same sentence, the first one in the article, by reporting the celebration in NYC, then, at once, adding in a mention of the newest terrorist threats, from the newest acronym for a terrorist group, ISIL, and our president’s intention to intensify the illegal bombing in Syria, ostensibly as part of his stated campaign to, well, essentially, kill them all…. thereby, as noted, parroting the administration’s talking points and lies…. The Guardian’s article takes an entirely different tone and approach to the very same subject….

Also, the front page story on SFGATE, about the non-existent solar flare danger, was nowhere to be found on the UK site; apparently, it wasn’t important enough to print, as there wasn’t any danger involved, or, anything out of the ordinary to report….

Okay, so it turned into a rant anyway…. I won’t say, sue me, because, damn it, somebody would take that personally, and try to do so…. but, otherwise, all I can say is too bad, so sad. You’re all done now, anyway, so quit complaining, and just go read the poem, okay?

“And don’t think any more. I do the thinking around here.” — Sark

One last word, that came to me… well, later… but, in spite of what some may think, it fits with the overall conclusions to be made from the above diatribe…. plus, it’s such an appropriate indictment of today’s culture, of cruelly, and dangerously, asinine inanity that characterizes modern life in this country, from a historical sense, if no other, I had to throw it out here… I’m just crazy that way, I suppose…

“The late rebellion in Massachusetts has given more alarm than I think it should have done. Calculate that one rebellion in 13 states in the course of 11 years, is but one for each state in a century and a half. No country should be so long without one.” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), in letter to James Madison, 20 December 1787

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It’s a day….. I’m not sure, at this point, that I would like to commit myself further than that…. Such being the case, it is clearly best if I use a poem of my own, to keep from having anyone else’s reputation tarnished by association…. I’ll see if I can find one that either fits, or will give a break to your sensibilities, which are doubtlessly being given a workout today…. Enjoy, please…. Oh, technical note: reading this in a Missouri accent helps the comprehension level, as well as making it sound more genuine, more true-to-life…. Well, I think so…. and, I wrote it, so, you might show a bit of respect for my feelings on my own blog…. Now, I’m hurt…. just kidding, enjoy the poem…

Ah Ain’t Sho, but Mebbe So….

Fried eggs got nuthin’ on me
Ah’m not even sure of mah name,
or how Ah come to be;
no idea from where Ah came.

Ah does like a mystery tho’,
puzzlin’ things out so’s Ah knows,
good from bad fo sho,
Ah sho don’t want no rock pillows.

If’n Ah cain’t figure out what’s best,
Ah just falls back on mah Daddy’s words,
seems he knowed just whut’d stand the test,
‘n how to gentle the scaredest birds.

‘Course, he’d lived a good long time,
‘n had lots of stuff go on by;
Went to a war, n’ lost a piece or two,
never once used it fer an alibi.

He tol’ me once Ah’d best learn to learn,
school’s only cool if ya ain’t already a fool.
Yer own good measure you can earn,
by startin’ yer learnin’ with the Golden Rule.

Always seemed to me as Ah growed up,
he mostly only spoke if it wuz true,
‘n by doin’ that clued me to what’s up,
kept me from stuff that’d a made me blue.

Without ever sayin’ the word itself,
Ah learned ’bout honor, ‘n helpin’ others
not some fake stuff from some shelf,
but, knowin’ whut’s right, ‘n that we’re all brothers.

Ah’ve been around long enough now, Ah think
to get around the block at least two times.
I s’pose long as my head don’t shrink
Ah’ll keep on doin’ right, ‘n makin’ these rhymes…..

~~ gigoid ~~

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

SATAN, n. One of the Creator’s lamentable mistakes, repented in sashcloth and axes. Being instated as an archangel, Satan made himself multifariously objectionable and was finally expelled from Heaven. Halfway in his descent he paused, bent his head in thought a moment and at last went back.

“There is one favor that I should like to ask,” said he.
“Name it.”
“Man, I understand, is about to be created. He will need laws.”
“What, wretch! you his appointed adversary, charged from the dawn of eternity with hatred of his soul — you ask for the right to make his laws?”
“Pardon; what I have to ask is that he be permitted to make them himself.”

It was so ordered.

— Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

While lamenting the necessity, I must acknowledge, and, take advantage of this opportunity to state the obvious, in light of the above entry from Bierce’s masterpiece, to wit:

And, the rest is history…..

Sorry, couldn’t resist…. it isn’t often such a perfect opening for a pun…. Since this section is now useless for anything else, I’ll just throw together a pearl, with the key word, with qualifier, “*fun*”, which should give us the results I’m seeking, after such a shameful start…. Besides, count your blessings; with that opening, I COULD have easily fallen into a religirant, but, refrained, to, no doubt, your immense relief… Mine, too, if you want to know the truth, and, since you’re here at ECR, I’m assuming you do, or, if not, can take it anyway….

Basta! Abondanza! Have fun, in any and/or all its conjugations, definitions, adjectival or adverbial status changes, stages, and permutations….. Y’all should be able to find something to enjoy from that list….

“When choosing between two evils I always like to take the one I’ve never tried before.” — Mae West, in “Klondike Annie” 1936

“We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of the dreams” — Willy Wonka, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”

“I do not know myself, and God forbid that I should.’ — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Each generation has its sages. Ancient Greece had Socrates. We have bumper stickers.” — Smart Bee, chiming right in….

“Immorality: The morality of those who are having a better time.” — H. L. Mencken

“This is the Nineties, Bubba, and there is no such thing as Paranoia. It’s all true.” — Hunter S Thompson

“If nothing went wrong today, you’re probably dead.” — Murphy’s Last Law

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I am, patently, a Bozo. This we know. I am, also, done. Go figure…. And, in the interests of practicing the promised brevity, I’ll now bid thee adieu for another day, with the caveat, warning, and disclaimer, as required by law, to wit: see y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

I’ll see your platitudes, & raise you a euphemism….

Posted on August 5, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Wisdom and good sense guard life from harm.” — Smart Bee

The aphorism above the picture of the owl is mostly true, in the sense that it is ages old wisdom, time-tested, part of the legacy of such ideas that are passed down from generation to generation, throughout all of our common history as humans…. I use the term “mostly true” because, in spite of the good things that happen when one pays attention to the truth (wisdom), and uses that to try to avoid mischance in life, (good sense), there are times when nothing will protect us from the hardships that life can dump on us without any warning…. All of us, no matter how stable, intelligent, and careful we are, step in a pile of crap we failed to note, now and again….

In a very real, and yet, foolish sense, the presence of the owl is an attempt by someone to acknowledge the truth of the aphorism, and to try to utilize the information…. but, in a different way, that fails to recognize their own part in maintaining a state of being where wisdom is useful, and welcome, and good sense is merely a matter of paying attention to what is real. In short, they hope, that by having the owl (a SYMBOL of wisdom, not the real thing….) outside their home, it will provide the shield that good sense would otherwise engender, thus making the home a sanctuary from reality’s demands….

Thinking is too hard, so, the owl is supposed to prevent the necessity from arising for these folks, a concept far too common for my taste, and, to my way of thinking, a big part of why things are so messed up in our world….. But, that’s a topic for another section, since this is only supposed to be a warm-up…. It does, as a matter of course, often grow out of that mold, but, I do try to keep it within reason…. Whether or not that actually happens is somewhat of a risky proposition, much of the time, so, I tend to take it the way it comes, then go with the flow….. whatever that means, or entails….

What it shouldn’t entail is a complete new beginning….. Somehow, since penning the above opening paragraphs, my brain dropped into hibernation, or some sort of frozen state that began to affect my typing….. I almost started to apologize for using a picture of my own, but, caught myself before I would have needed to resort to any sort of force. I’m thinking, though…. at this point, some sort of forceful tactic may be necessary, as there doesn’t seem to be a lot of movement in there yet, that I can see…. but, then what I expect to see when peering into my own frozen brain, I couldn’t say…

Perhaps I should try to….. Nah. Last time I tried that, I had to carry out three unconscious Gentle Readers myself, and almost ended up in bed for a week. Maybe we should…. nope. Better not. That one almost exploded, last time I broke it out. It seems just about ALL of our emergency intro-killing methodologies have either been over-used, or, as we used to say down at the rodeo, they’ve been rode hard, and put away wet, thereby making them all but useless for our purposes….

Shoot, that means we have to use #4 again, and I just got over the last time…. Oh well, such is life in the fast lane, I suppose…. Okay, stand back….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“There is much pleasure to be gained in useless knowledge.” — Bertrand Russell

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

Albert Einstein was a late talker as a child. His parents were understandably worried. finally at the supper table one evening, He broke his silence to say, The soup is too hot. Greatly relieved, his parents asked why he never said a word before. Young Albert replied, “Because up to now everything was in order.” — From ‘The Little, Brown Book Of Anecdotes’ by Clifton Fadiman

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-presidency-and-the-press-20140804?utm_source=regular&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter&email=alphagigoid@gmail.com

“Even before Obama and his new politics burst onto the scene in 2008, we knew we lived in a country that is evenly but drastically split in its worldview. Now that the opposition can rewrite the news as it’s happening, the two sides can essentially live in separate realities – which is perhaps what we’ve always wanted. It’s becoming clear, though, that two casualties of this new order are efficacious, fact-based governing and an independent, fact-based press.

Amid the barrage of criticism, as Obama strains to respond to every new crisis, the White House’s moves begin to look like guesses, or even shrugs. “When you don’t know what you can plan for,” Gibbs says, “then you’re watching and reacting. And in this town, if you’re just watching and reacting, it never ends well.”” — excerpted from the above article

Okay…. So, I bet, at this point in the post, you’re preparing yourself for a rant, which, I know you know, requires some rather extensive preparation in order to be able to fully appreciate all the nuances of the arguments presented…. You gotta be able to suspend belief in what is often held to be true, which can be frightening for some…. that’s why we offer the Valium before heading out…. Today, however, I’ve decided to forgo the usual diatribe, in favor of another old school pearl that will accomplish the same poking and prodding, but with less effort….

The above article was interesting, if a bit on the pollyanna-ish side…. but, then, what could be expected by someone who is a former presidential press secretary…. He does provide a rather cogent insider’s viewpoint of the issue of political coverage by the media, and in the process, manages to give a pretty clear picture of some of the issues and problems we have observed in the relationship between the media and the administration of all previous presidents…. It’s a situation that, as is pointed out here, has been deteriorating for many years, and is now at a point where neither side is able to trust the other….

That’s fine with me, as that way, we don’t have to pretend to believe any of it…. so, for now, let’s take some shots at the bozos who play in that particular game of bones….

“The extravagance of government rhetoric is inversely proportional to the seriousness of the act involved.” — Smart Bee

“It is only the ignorant who despise education.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 571

“Politics is perhaps the only profession for which no preparation is thought necessary.” — Robert Louis Stevenson

“I don’t vote. It just encourages them.” — A Maine woman

“If good intentions are combined with stupidity, it is impossible to outthink them.” — Marion J. Levy, Jr.

“No one loves the man whom he fears.” — Aristotle

“I got out of bed for *this*?” — Smart Bee

Perfect! Bracketed by SB, seven one-liners, all of which make a pointed criticism about those who engage in the disgusting practice of running for office, which, together, form an indictment, based on ample evidence of rampant cupidity….

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

Once again, I’m subjecting y’all to another of my older poems, mainly because I don’t feel much like either searching out something worthwhile, or opening a vein to write a new one…. So be it, gigoid has spoken… Here’s one of the older ones, from October of 2012…..

Raging at Aging

As old as you feel, we are told, is old as you are,
custom assures such vision will carry us far.
Reality begs to differ, may it be so bold
it is really quite painful, and very, very cold.

The power and strength felt in our halcyon youth
desert us with age, yet another unwelcome truth.
Irony rules our time here on this bountiful earth
as we reflect the changes over time since our birth.

As physical powers fade from this fragile shell,
we learn our mind can serve us quite as well.
The strength that once filled our bones and hearts
is now applied by our will, to more arcane arts.

Life’s greatest gift is our freedom of choice
no matter how often we forget, we still get a voice.
Energy, or apathy, by our will we may choose,
failing to do so, our only way to lose.

Each of us lives in the grip of time and space,
always seeking our balance, our own chosen place.
One must accept reality, for it is true at the core,
all we can do, is all we can do, and nothing more.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

“Know thyself”? If I knew myself, I’d run away.” — Goethe

Some might accuse me of a level of laziness beyond the boundaries of acceptability, of setting a poor example for others to emulate; to them, I can only say, “well, there you go.” Everyone’s entitled to their opinions, right? If it makes them feel better to point out what I consider to be one of my finest qualities, with the apparent intent of convincing me it is a flaw, well, they’re welcome to speak their minds. It’s a free country, and last time I checked, we still had free speech…. not private, but, free… Of course, they’d also be welcome to do it somewhere else, which I usually will insist upon, even going so far as to provide them with a parting boot to the ass, as a token of my respect and esteem…

Having thus disposed of such petty annoyances, I can proceed to the reason for any such derogatory judgments, which, as you’ve probably guessed by now, is yet another pearl from the archives…. This one won’t be a burden, so much, as, A) it isn’t a rant, or a discussion…. and, B) it’s original intent was to be fun, or funny, or, at minimum, a reasonable facsimile of either one…. I think it hits that nail a couple of good whacks, but, then, I’m not the best judge of that, I’m thinking…. I might be the laziest judge, but, not the best, from more than one standpoint, and, I’m sure, legal position….

Now that I’ve blathered sufficiently, here is what I found for section three today…. Please enjoy it, or, what the good of wading through such a healthy dose of my best nonsense?…..

From 10/1/2012:

Life can be a confusing time, especially for those unequipped for its sense of whimsy….. It can make us look foolish, a lot, and easily, but think of how amusing that is for other people, eh? There are small benefits hidden in the most egregious tasks, if undertaken cheerfully…. Today, I find myself out of ranting mode, and into Pearling mode…. Thus, I present for your amusement and edification, the following group of pearls, and though all are of the stand-alone variety, they can be, and have been, woven together into an monumental idea of great stature, one that could conceivably make great changes happen in the life of anyone who takes it to heart….

It could also be ignored completely, and your life will not suffer at all for its loss…. That’s the magic of true pearls of virtual wisdom…. They are only good for what you use them, and nothing else…. It’s not exactly an efficient process, but one that satisfies…. So, enjoy this short trip through logic, past deduction, around wild fantasy, and onward even further, into relative meaning, though, sadly, with bells and whistles absent their traditional positions of honor…..

“Even for a wizard there will often come times when someone close to you, perhaps even your spouse, criticizes your habits by comparing them to those of animals. This is distinctly unfair to the animals, who have far better habits than we in many areas. When, for example, have you seen a frog collecting taxes or a squirrel running for electoral office? Present arguments like these to those people who criticize you. If they still do not see the wisdom of your ways, you may then feel free to bite them.” — The Teachings of Ebenezum, Vol. IX

“The interval between the decay of the old and the formation and establishment of the new constitutes a period of transition which must always necessarily be one of uncertainty, confusion, error, and wild and fierce fanaticism.” — John C. Calhoun (Careful, this one is real, and should not be treated without due care and respect, just as you would with any stinging insect…..)

DUMBO- sucked into the engine of a 747. — The TRUE fates of your favorite Disney characters (Sad, but true…..)

“The universe has fascinated mankind for many, many years, dating back to the very earliest episodes of Star Trek, when the brave crew of the Enterprise set out, wearing pajamas, to explore the boundless voids of space, which turned out to be as densely populated as Queens, New York. Virtually every planet they found was inhabited, usually by evil beings with cheap costumes and Russian accents, so finally the brave crew of the Enterprise returned to Earth to gain weight and make movies.” — Dave Barry

Anything free is worth what you pay for it. — Smart Bee (Caution: this one is also real…. ignore at your peril…..)

Death is only a state of mind. Only it doesn’t leave you much time to think about anything else. — Smart Bee

And finally, as the perfect finish to such an entropically enhanced pearl…..

“You were s’posed to laugh!” — Zippy the Pinhead

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“I don’t like talking to philosophers. I’m always worried that they might be laughing behind my back because they know I don’t exist.” — Smart Bee

I like being able to end the day’s work with a personal pearl; I like to smile, what can I say? This one is perfectly ME, as it makes me do what I do best, which is laugh at myself, and my pedantic, pathetic need to pretend I’m an intellectual, when what I really am is a hedonistic polymath with bozoid tendencies, and a large portion of chutzpah…. It works for me…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

Practical methods simply won’t do…..

Posted on July 21, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“All truly wise thoughts have been thought already thousands of times; but to make them truly ours, we must think them over again honestly, till they take root in our personal experience.” — Goethe

More often than not, sitting down to write in the morning becomes problematic, at least from a mental standpoint…. These days, the physical aspect of almost everything is complicated by the aging process, thus removing itself from the onus of discussion; I decided if I can’t feel 25 any more, at least I can show some dignity about it, and quit whining about it…. Sure, I wake up tired… doesn’t everybody this age do that? It sure has become more common over MY lifetime, so, I figure it must be one of those things they forgot to put in the manual, and one of those things we just have to deal with….

Fortunately, today’s physical outlook was greatly improved, by the application of a long-needed massage to this tired old wreck of a body…. Yep, I broke down, & spent the extra money to get a massage, and I feel at least 100% better for it….. The effects last for days, before the pain levels again get to the point of ridiculousness, and I have to drug myself into oblivion, so I’m cruising on good vibes now, left over from yesterday morning’s hedonistic, most welcome rubdown…. It also makes me realize I’m going to be doing it more often…. it’s just too damn good for me to ignore….

It’s pretty nice to wake up without the usual degree of stiffness & pain; one forgets what it is like to go without such morning gifts….. which probably explains the picture…. The flowers were arranged for maximum color effect, as part of the display at a Farmer’s Market, and appealed to my sense of artistic appreciation, as a form of art that creates itself, so to speak…. Looking at the picture makes me feel good…. it’s really just that simple, and that good feeling will, I can tell, get me through a lot of the day before it wears off….

I feel so good, I’m afraid I’m not going to be able to rant, even though there is a good headline to work with; sexual predators are one of my favorite targets for vituperation and/or vitriol, but, today, I won’t be vicious enough to do it justice….. Pedophiles, as a group, and individually, are one of my most hated categories of human perversity, right up there with pimps, politicians, bankers, and preachers…. If and/or when one of them appears before me, my hands tend to curl into claw-like appendages that I cannot prevent from reaching for their throat, to throttle them, and watch them die right in front of me, experiencing the fear and shame they give their victims, as they steal, and pervert their victims’ innocence….

I’m not sure what may happen at this point…. I’m going to take a break, then come back and decide how to proceed…. In the meantime, refresh your coffee, or your adult beverage of choice, and make sure you are well-fastened in, because the ride today could get a bit bumpy…. or, it could go as smooth as a baby’s bottom…. Let’s go see….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“You’re aware the boy failed my grade school math class, I take it? And not that many years later he’s teaching college. Now I ask you: Is that the sorriest indictment of the American educational system you ever heard? [pauses to light cigarette.] No aptitude at all for long division, but never mind. It’s him they ask to split the atom. How he talked his way into the Nobel prize is beyond me. But then, I suppose it’s like the man says, It’s not what you know…” — Karl Arbeiter: former teacher of Albert Einstein

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

Below is the article I mentioned above, about the newest information from Britain, regarding the revelations of a pedophile ring in the Houses of Parliament, what they call “Westminster”, back in the 60’s and 70’s, a ring that included numerous peers of the realm, dukes, earls, and the like, and a number of Members of Parliament (MP’s), of both houses, all of whom used their positions of authority to hide their perversions…. I read it, and, can only say, one has to consider the source that printed it….

It’s pretty salacious, and depends a lot on hearsay…. but, it’s clear that, in spite of any lack of hard evidence at this point, the investigation is going to reveal a LOT of cover-ups and abuses of power…. In short, there will be more examples coming out, you can be sure…. Before they are done, I’m pretty sure that a large percentage of the British aristocracy, and a significant number of the political class, will have been taken down due to their part in the crimes being found out….

Count on it…. and that’s all I’ll say on the matter, for now…. Below the link, you’ll find a seven-star pearl, to drive home some of what I’m trying to say by not ranting…. whatever THAT means….

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/jimmy-savile/10978492/My-father-was-a-sexual-predator-like-Jimmy-Savile-says-son-of-former-Tory-MP.html

“America will tolerate the taking of a human life without giving it a second thought. But don’t misuse a household pet.” — Dick Gregory, The Shadow that Scares Me, 1968

“Wherever there is a crowd there is untruth.” — Soren Kierkegaard

“The ass is still an ass, e’en though he wears a lion’s hide.” — William Shakespeare

“We don’t pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes.” — Leona Helmsley, quoted in the NY Times, July 22, 1989

“Populus vult decipi.” [The people like to be deceived.] — Some random Caesar

The Bible is true this I know,
For the Bible tells me so.

— Jordan Henderson

(A most perfect example of the term “ipse dixit”….)

“What kind of sordid business are you on now? I mean, man, whither goest thou? Whither goest thou, America, in thy shiny car in the night?” — Jack Kerouac

Hmm…. It came out a bit eclectic, but, I think you’ll get the picture…. Onward, he said, hopefully….

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To keep from spreading the blame around to those who don’t deserve it, we’re going with another of mine…. Enjoy, please….

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 ~~

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

I’m running late, having slept too well, and too long….. So, sue me….. Here, then, as a time-saver, is a discussion from last year, a “retrospective” that is actually pretty okay…. Enjoy….

From 11/30/2013:

A man who can fool chiefs, and even gods, must still face the monsters he himself created.” — Old Maori saying

Introspection has always been a hobby of mine, but, since turning the ripe old age of 63, it seems to have become even more of a time-consuming process for me than has been true for most of my life….

I can remember lying on my bed in the state of Washington, when my father was stationed there at Fort Lewis…. I would stare at the bottom of my brother’s upper bunk, and imagine all manner of things, including about myself, and my place in the universe…. Even at the tender age of 8 or 9, as the son of an Army sergeant, I had been many places, and seen more of the world than is usual for anyone other than Army brats…. our proud designation for ourselves…. The quest to maintain one’s personality in the face of all the changes going on around us gave me the impetus to perpetually be aware of more than is the norm for kids of that age; at least, it always seemed so, from what I can tell from my knowledge of others of that age….

Now that I’ve reached an age that completely got skipped in my earlier musings of what life would be like, I seem to be thinking back and forth more often, making connections with the past that explain certain elements of my own persona as they manifest today…. My hair, for example…. (I know, I know, my hair isn’t generally the subject of a rant, but, that’s not really what this is…. this is more of a…. a retrospective, yeah, that’s it…. a retrospective…. so, calm down, I’m not going to get all graphic, or gloomy, or pick at anyone in particular, other than myself…. ‘kay?…. ‘Kay!….)

So, I was looking at my picture on my About page, and can only say that, well, there I am…. My hair is even longer now, (a bit grayer, too….). as I see no particular reason to cut it…. which is the root thought that stimulated this entire subject today…. A little while ago, I was standing outside a moment, with my hair not yet tied back into the usual ponytail, and the wind was blowing it around a bit…. I started to get annoyed, then realized I could only blame myself for it getting in my face, because the solution to that problem is right over there in the drawer, where the scissors live…. I thought to myself, how many times has someone asked me, “why don’t you cut your hair?”, and realized I couldn’t count that high….

My own reaction to that particular query is to think, (again…), to myself, “Well, actually, the question that occurs to me to ask is, why don’t I NOT cut my hair?”…. It seems to me, when I stop to consider the matter logically, and reasonably, that if the hair grows, as it has always done, it must have some sort of evolutionary purpose for doing so, right? It seems logical to me…. Therefore, it seems logical to ask, as well, “who am I to fuss with evolution?” This line of reasoning, naturally, tends to piss of most of the folks who make the original statement to me…. but, I figure that sort of anger is a personal problem, don’t you? I can’t go around taking the heat for what other people don’t like about me, when their anger is based on THEIR beliefs, not mine….

In a way, I suppose it’s the old hippie in me…. Aha, you say, now we’re getting to the meat of the matter! And, typically, I am supposed to say, at this point, “Just what do you mean by that? I don’t know what you’re talking about….” Then, I smile, and get on with what I was doing, which is explaining why being a hippie is not what most people would think…. I mean, there were a lot of popular misconceptions floating around all during the 60’s (Believe me, it was a very confusing time…. I know, I was there….), when there were a lot of people who thought that there was something wrong, or even evil, about being described as one of those misunderstood knights of the sub-culture….

Yes, I said knights…. Jedi knights, before they were the iconic, eternal, peaceful warrior as made popular in later years…. Hippies were the knights of the 60’s and 70’s, diligently tilting at all the windmills we could find, poking our noses into the business of the military-industrial complex, which I now refer to as the BRC, until they were sick of the sight of anyone with long hair…. Back in the day, even the most rigid of conservative hawks understood that they were witnessing a change of culture, and there was nothing they could do to alter the course that history was taking…. The power of love, and compassion, and freedom swept through the entire world, as well as refreshing American society, with repercussions still being felt today….

One of the most important characteristics of hippies that I don’t think most people understood is that we were only interested in revolution in the sense that revolution means change; no hippie worth the name ever wished to violently overthrow anything that didn’t threaten violence first…. But, it is also true that real hippies have no objection to using violence to defend themselves, a fact which always comes as a big surprise to those who would try to oppress them. As with any tool, honor has to be the regulatory agency for determining which tool should be used, and how…. This, sadly, is a concept that those who prey on other people, who seek power over them, can never truly understand, as it is not a part of their perception of reality….

I see that I’ve reached a point where this must either get very pointed, or fade into the background for the time being…. I’m feeling mellow, due to re-connecting with the halcyon days of my youth, so I’ll show mercy here, and opt for the latter…. Besides, I’m all out of introspection for the nonce, and there’s no telling when it might drop back by…. I’ll leave y’all with one final pearl, to seal the deal….

“Oh, how we fear the metamorphoses through which we truly become fledged humans, real mensches of the species homo sapiens. Yet even if we do not willingly undergo them, changes pursue us just the same. The woman who never bears a child metamorphoses in different ways. We may dig in our heels and dare life never to change, but, all the same, it changes under our feet like sand under the feet of a sea gazer as the tide runs out. Life is forever undermining us. Life is forever washing away our castles, reminding us that they were, after all, only sand and sea water.” — Erica Jong: Parachutes and Kisses

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

All things considered, it came out okay; that’s actually just a guess, but, I guess we’ll go with it, trusting to my basic skills to carry the day…. That may be ill-considered, but, what the hell…. It’s Monday, right? I can always blame it on that….. Tomorrow, it’ll be Tuesday, which means all bets are off, so, we may as well get started on getting there…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…..

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

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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gigoid

Exploring Consensual Reality

Tag Archives: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

She smiles a lot, for a Vulcan….

“Yes” said the dragon. “I prefer virgins”….

Monotheism typically requires optimistic pessimism, and pink underwear….

Bound for Bohemia….

Sir! Curb your cellulite!….

I’ll see your platitudes, & raise you a euphemism….

Practical methods simply won’t do…..

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